Bournemouth University

About: Bournemouth University is a education organization based out in Poole, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Tourism & Population. The organization has 3032 authors who have published 9672 publications receiving 220403 citations. The organization is also known as: Bournemouth Municipal College.

Mapping Consumer Power: An Integrative Framework for Marketing and Consumer Research

Abstract: To help shape a more cohesive research program in marketing and consumer research, this paper presents a systematic effort to integrate current research on consumer empowerment with highly influential theories of power. We develop a conceptual overview of power consisting of three dominant theoretical models onto which we map existing consumer empowerment research. A synthetic review focuses on three perspectives of consumer power: consumer sovereignty, cultural power and discursive power, drawing from sociological, philosophical and economic literature. These models are then applied to consumer research to illuminate research applications and insights. Research of consumer empowerment has grown significantly over the last decade. Yet, researchers drawing from a variety of intellectual and methodological traditions have generated a multitude of heuristic simplifications and mid-level theories of power to inform their empirical and conceptual explorations. This reviews helps clarify consumer empowerment, and offers a useful map for future research. Researchers in consumer empowerment need to understand the historical development of power, and to contextualize research within conflicting perspectives on empowerment. The paper makes several contributions: 1) organizes a currently cluttered field of consumer empowerment research, 2) connects consumer and marketing research to high-level theorizations of power, and 3) outlines specific avenues for future research.

Microblogging, Constituency Service and Impression Management: UK MPs and the Use of Twitter

Abstract: Twitter, a microblogging site which allows users to deliver statements, thoughts and links in 140 characters to followers as well as a wider Internet audience, is the latest online communications technology adopted by MPs. Assessing the use by early adopters, this article considers which MPs are most likely to use Twitter (for example, tweeting), and how. Content analysis of MPs' Twitter feeds was conducted, and personal and political characteristics identified which may influence use. The data suggested that of the six characteristics tested, gender, party and seniority had most impact on adoption. Applying Jones and Pittman's 1982 typology, there is clear evidence that MPs use Twitter as a tool of impression management. Constituency service is a secondary function of the use of Twitter by MPs. Where MPs use Twitter as part of their constituency role it is to promote their local activity. This article notes that a small group of MPs use Twitter as a regular communication channel, but most are only occasi...

Interprofessional perceptions of health care students.

Abstract: Effective interprofessional working, which is widely considered as essential to high-quality health care, is influenced by the attitudes of health care professionals towards their own and other professional groups. Relatively little is known, however, about interprofessional attitudes, particularly of students in health care professions. This study aimed to increase our understanding of students' attitudes towards their own and other professional groups on entry to a programme of professional education. Hypothesised relationships between stereotypes, professional identity and readiness for professional learning were tested by means of a questionnaire survey of 933 undergraduate health care students drawn from five health care groups (medicine, nursing, dietetics, pharmacy and physiotherapy) within a multi-faculty UK university. Positive statistically significant correlations were found between stereotypes, professional identity and readiness for interprofessional learning. As predicted, students identified strongly with their own professional group at the start of pre-registration education. They were also willing to engage in interprofessional learning. More unexpected was the positive association found between heterostereotype and professional identity scores. There are potential benefits of introducing active interprofessional education activities at an early stage of professional preparation to capitalise on students' positive attitudes towards their own and other professional groups.

Lifeworld-led healthcare: revisiting a humanising philosophy that integrates emerging trends.

Abstract: In this paper, we describe the value and philosophy of lifeworld-led care. Our purpose is to give a philosophically coherent foundation for lifeworld-led care and its core value as a humanising force that moderates technological progress. We begin by indicating the timeliness of these concerns within the current context of citizen-oriented, participative approaches to healthcare. We believe that this context is in need of a deepening philosophy if it is not to succumb to the discourses of mere consumerism. We thus revisit the potential of Husserl’s notion of the lifeworld and how lifeworld-led care could provide important ideas and values that are central to the humanisation of healthcare practice. This framework provides a synthesis of the main arguments of the paper and is finally expressed in a model of lifeworld-led care that includes its core value, core perspectives, relevant indicative methodologies and main benefits. The model is offered as a potentially broad-based approach for integrating many existing practices and trends. In the spirit of Husserl’s interest in both commonality and variation, we highlight the central, less contestable foundations of lifeworld-led care, without constraining the possible varieties of confluent practices.