Emotional antecedents of schadenfreude-joy experienced when observing another's downfall-were investigated in a status consumption context. Across 3 studies, status product failure produced schadenfreude and led to intentions to spread negative word-of-mouth (studies 1, 2), and increased negative affect and overall negative attitudes toward the status brand (study 3). Furthermore, studies 1 and 2 suggest that envy (particularly of social attention) can lead to schadenfreude by transmuting into hostile emotions. Finally, these studies suggest that schadenfreude in a consumption context can be precipitated by factors such as degree of target advantage and flaunting of the status product.

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Consumers increasingly subscribe to community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs as an alternative retail channel for fresh produce. Compared with supermarket retailers, CSAs are built around an ethos of community rather than efficiency and economies of scale; and CSA programs demand far greater customer co-production than supermarket retailers. For instance, CSA members (customers) assume responsibilities for physical distribution, market timing, and financial risk taking-activities that, for customers of traditional supermarkets, are assumed by the retailer or other market intermediaries. Service-dominant logic suggests that such co-production activities provide value for consumers. And the expanding demand for CSA programs anecdotally supports the notion that consumers find value in co-producing fresh produce. However, whether or not co-production leads to greater satisfaction with a product category remains largely untested. We draw on community theory to test if engagement in co-production activities leads to satisfaction with a product category. By examining product satisfaction, we test an outcome of co-production that is consumer-centric. Results from an exploratory field study suggest that two types of value co-creation-commitment to co-production and behavioral involvement in product-related activities-are positively correlated with product satisfaction. Our results support the notion that value co-creation provides value for consumers. Interestingly, these findings are antithetical to studies that suggest service convenience constitutes non-monetary value for consumers. Our study suggests that the community theory is a viable theoretical frame for consumer research on co-production. Further, our findings suggest that consumer research into the co-creation of value should incorporate measures of product satisfaction and draw on behavioral as opposed to exclusively attitudinal assessments of co-production activities.

An alternative trade organization (ATO) is one where philosophies of social justice and/or environmental well-being preside over mission-based marketing transactions. The primary mission of such organizations is to develop equal partnerships among members of a marketing channel—the producers, retailers, and consumers. The present research uses data from one such ATO, TransFair USA, to examine the impact of Fair Trade marketing practices on coffee producers in Latin America. In this context, this study contributes to previous research by empirically testing the idea that participants in the Latin American fair trade coffee channel benefit from their participation as claimed by proponents of ATOs. Results show that producers belonging to a FairTrade organization reported a greater overall sense of well-being and a more positive outlook for their future as a result of their participation in the TransFair, USA coffee marketing channel as compared to nonmembers. Higher levels of participation in the cooperatives among participants with longer tenure in the organizations also enjoyed higher subjective quality-of-life perceptions. Results suggest that researchers should be cautious not to over generalize the effects of fair trade marketing on producers quality of life across contexts, marketing channels or countries.