Elizabeth C. Hirschman’s research while affiliated with University of Virginia's College at Wise and other places

Using a 5,000-person DNA database from the Cumberland Gap Region of Appalachia, we document the presence of a Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jewish settlement in Central Appalachia. The settlement may have begun as early as the mid-sixteenth century with the Pardo Expedition and been substantially supplemented from the early seventeenth century onward with Jewish colonists from England, Scotland, and Wales. Additional persons found in this mountainous region show DNA origins from Southeastern Europe, North Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. Thus the region may have served as a refuge for non-white, non-Christian persons arriving in Colonial North America.

Résumé La diffusion, à des fins marketing, d’images controversées représentant l’islam dans les pays occidentaux a récemment eu comme conséquence plusieurs décès. Il serait opportun que les chercheurs en comportement du consommateur s’intéressent à l’impact sociétal de ces représentations qui sont idéologiquement chargées. Notre recherche analyse et interprète les stéréotypes liés aux musulmans dans les films américains, en mobilisant un cadre qui intègre des notions d’économie politique et des perspectives coloniales/postcoloniales occidentales.

Marketing controversial Islamic images in Western settings led recently to several deaths. Consumer researchers should examine the societal impact of such ideologically laden commercial representations. Our research analyses and interprets the stereotypes applied to Muslims in American motion pictures, within a political economic framework that incorporates notions of historic Western colonial/postcolonial perspectives.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify occupational stressors impacting retail employees in the MENA region. Design/methodology/approach To construct an initial platform for theory development and management practice, we conducted a large set of in-depth interviews with Tunisian retail employees in a specific product area: home furnishings. Findings We identify three categories of stressors that seem characteristic of the MENA cultural context: retail employees’ feelings of depression within the retail store, low social status; and cultural sexual and religious stereotypes. Our findings may be applicable to the Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) region generally, since this region displays substantial cultural homogeneity with regard to retail practices. Research limitations/implications We develop a set of recommendations for improving employees’ performance and reducing their stress within the MENA region. These recommendations are related to store atmospherics management, training sessions for retail employees, and internal communication. Social implications This research study highlights retail employee’s low status in countries of the MENA region. It may constitute a first reflection contributing to face the disdain and the contempt these actors are facing. Originality/value The first originality of this paper is that it brings a cultural perspective to the framework dealing with retail employees’ stress. The second originality is related to the research context: while most contemporary retailing and salesperson research has been conducted in developed, stable Western countries, this article is carried out in the MENA region.

Branding Masculinity examines two ideologies of masculinity - one typifying rural agricultural areas and the other found in urban, business settings. Comparisons are made between these two current forms of masculinity and both similarities and differences are identified. Six product categories compose the Constellation of Masculinity for both groups. Hirschman selects a masculine prototype brand from each category and presents a detailed analysis of the images, language and marketing actions used to create the brand's masculinity over time. Using her method, marketers for other brands will be equipped to enhance the masculine status of their brands, as well. Branding Masculinity proposes that masculine brands are made, not born. Masculinity is an enduring cultural ideal which can be attached to a variety of products and brands by the appropriate use of symbols, icons and images. Scholars from various disciplines within the fields of branding, marketing, public relations and corporate identity will see this book as vital in continuing the academic discourse in the field. It will serve as a respected reference resource for researchers, academics, students and policy makers, alike.

Contesting Religious Identity in the Marketplace: Consumption Ideology and the Boycott Halal Movement Elizabeth C. Hirschman, Mourad Touzani Abstract This article aims to introduce the life and contribution of Sa‘idNursi in reviving the belief and practice of Islam among Muslim society in Turkey. Throughout his life, Sa‘idNursiencountered a number of challenges, notably ignorance, misconception and negligence about Islam as a result of secularism which became apparent in modern societyin Turkey in particular and accordingly they were inclined towards a worldly life. These challenges forced him to form his unique outlook, thought and method of understanding Islam in the context of contemporary Muslim society and along with his strong commitment to Islam he waged a war against the current ofdisbelief, skeptic and doubt about Islam as well as irreligious and atheistic thoughts prevailing in modern Turkey and the Muslim world. The biography of Bediuzzaman, his thought, struggle and contribution has now been written in many languages. His enormous work, Risale-i Nur has also been translated into many languages. This article attempts to representa vast and massive literature available on Bediuzzaman's life, struggle and works offered to the Muslim world with the aims at describing his contribution to reawaken Islam and Muslim in modern Turkey. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jisc.v4n1a3 Contesting Religious Identity in the Marketplace: Consumption Ideology and the Boycott Halal Movement Elizabeth C. Hirschman, Mourad Touzani Abstract This article aims to introduce the life and contribution of Sa‘idNursi in reviving the belief and practice of Islam among Muslim society in Turkey. Throughout his life, Sa‘idNursiencountered a number of challenges, notably ignorance, misconception and negligence about Islam as a result of secularism which became apparent in modern societyin Turkey in particular and accordingly they were inclined towards a worldly life. These challenges forced him to form his unique outlook, thought and method of understanding Islam in the context of contemporary Muslim society and along with his strong commitment to Islam he waged a war against the current ofdisbelief, skeptic and doubt about Islam as well as irreligious and atheistic thoughts prevailing in modern Turkey and the Muslim world. The biography of Bediuzzaman, his thought, struggle and contribution has now been written in many languages. His enormous work, Risale-i Nur has also been translated into many languages. This article attempts to representa vast and massive literature available on Bediuzzaman's life, struggle and works offered to the Muslim world with the aims at describing his contribution to reawaken Islam and Muslim in modern Turkey. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jisc.v4n1a3

As a service innovation the credit card has been issued in three forms--the retail store card, the travel and entertainment card, and the bank card. The credit card in all three forms may be conceptualized as a service system for facilitating value exchanges. Each type of card, however, represents a system possessing a different degree of identification with attributes salient to the use of these cards for making purchases. This paper empirically investigates these attributes and the perceptions consumers have regarding the performance of each type of card on a given attribute.

Behavioral scientists have noted an increasing emphasis on ethnicity and ethnically defined identities among diverse social groups. The relationships between ethnicity and two concepts central to the innovation diffusion paradigm - opinion leadership and innovativeness - are empirically investigated within the Black American subculture. Tests on seven hypotheses derived from prior research on black-white consumption patterns reveal significant differences in the correlates of these two diffusion contracts which appear to be attributable to both ethnic and socioeconomic influences.

This paper puts forward several conceptual propositions relating style diffusion and adoption to reference group theory. These propositions are contrasted with the traditional diffusion of innovations paradigm, which has been most often used as an empirical and conceptual framework for studying styled products.