The death of a loved one causes a deterioration in decision-making skills at a time when new decision roles may be required and financial resources suddenly constricted or increased. The authors investigate this phenomenon by studying grievers’ interfaces with the marketplace to uncover how rituals help grievers cope with their desire to avoid decision making. The authors interview survivors and persons who interact with grievers on a regular basis. Although most of the transactions discussed were ethical and honest, there were some cases of insensitivity and overcharging or mischarging. The authors note that underlying the post-death transactions was the grievers’ desire to withdraw from them, which indicates their reduced awareness of what transpired during the transactions. They conclude with recommendations for service providers and an appeal for broadened legislation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdelmanMara (1992), “Rituals of Adversity and Remembering: The Role of Possessions for Persons and Community Living with AIDS,”Advances in Consumer Research, 19, 401–403.
2.
AdelmanMara, AhuviaAaron, and GoodwinCathy (1994), “Beyond Smiling: Social Support and Service Quality,” in Service Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice, RustRoland, and OliverRichard, eds. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
3.
AndreasenAlan R. (1984), “Life Status Changes and Changes in Consumer Preferences and Satisfaction,”Journal of Consumer Research, 11(December), 784–94.
4.
AriesPhilippe (1974), Western Attitudes toward Death: From the Middle Ages to the Present, Patricia M. Ranum, trans. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
5.
BelkRussell W. (1988), “Possessions and the Extended Self,”Journal of Consumer Research, 15(September), 139–68.
6.
BelkRussell W. (1991), “Possessions and the Sense of Past,” in Highways and Buyways: Naturalistic Research from the Consumer Behavior Odyssey, BelkRussell W., ed. Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 114–30.
7.
BelkRussell W. (1992), “Moving Possessions: An Analysis Based on Personal Documents from the 1847–1869 Mormon Migration,”Journal of Consumer Research, 19(December), 339–61.
8.
BelkRussell W., WallendorfMelanie, and SherryJohn F. (1989), “The Sacred and Profane in Consumer Behavior: Theodicy on the Odyssey,”Journal of Consumer Research, 16(June), 1–38.
9.
BowmanLeroy (1959), The American Funeral: A Study in Guilt, Extravagance and Subliminality.Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press.
10.
BrooksA. M. (1985), The Grieving Time: A Year's Account of Recovery from Loss.New York: Harmony Books.
11.
CarrollRuth, and ShaeferSarah (1993/94), “Similarities and Differences in Spouses Coping with SIDS,”Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying, 28(4), 273–84.
12.
CatlinGeorge (1993), “The Role of Culture in Grief,”Journal of Social Psychology, 133(2), 173–84.
13.
CsikszentmihalyiMihalyi (1975), “Play and Intrinsic Rewards,”Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 15(Summer), 41–63.
14.
DickinsonG., and FritzJ. (1981), “Death in the Family: An Overlooked Area in Marriage and Family Textbooks,”Journal of Family Issues, 2(September), 379–84.
15.
DokaKenneth J. (1984–85), “Expectation of Death, Participation in Funeral Arrangements, and Grief Adjustment,”Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying, 15(2), 119–28.
16.
DokaKenneth J. (1990), “Grief Education: Educating about Death for Life,” in Courage to Care: Responding to the Crisis of Children with AIDS, AndersonGary R., ed. 285–93.
17.
A Family in Grief (1985), 30 min. Group Two Productions, Baltimore, MD.
18.
FordGary T., and CalfeeJohn E. (1986), “Recent Developments in FTC Policy on Deception,”Journal of Marketing, 50(July), 82–103.
19.
GentryJames W., KennedyPatricia F., PaulCatherine, and HillRonald Paul (Forthcoming), “Family Transition During Grief: Discontinuities in Household Consumption Patterns,”Journal of Business Research.
20.
GoodwinCathy (1994), “Private Roles in Public Encounters: Communal Relationships in Service Exchanges,”Proceedings, Third International Research Seminar in Services Management, Institut d'Administration des Enterpris, University d'Aix-Marseille, France.
21.
GorerGeoffrey (1965), Death, Grief and Mourning in Contemporary Britain.London: Cresset Press.
22.
GrabowskiJo-Anne, and FrantzThomas T. (1992–93), “Latinos and Anglos: Cultural Experiences of Grief Intensity,”Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying, 26(4), 273–85.
23.
GramlichE. P. (1974), “Recognition and Management of Grief in Elderly Patients,” in Normal and Pathological Responses in Bereavement, EllardJ., VolkanV. D., and PaulN. L., eds. New York: MSS Information Corporation, 186–202.
24.
HagedornW. (1990), “FTC Tightens Scrutiny of Funeral Homes,”Wall Street Journal, (November 30), B1.
25.
HillRonald Paul (1994), “Bill Collectors and Consumers: A View from the Inside,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 13(1), 20–35.
26.
HillRonald Paul, CaciaMaria, and ShamseyJohn (1992), “Managed Care and the Physician: An Exploratory Study,” in Enhancing Knowledge and Development in Marketing, LeoneRobert P., and KumarV., eds. Chicago: American Marketing Association, 557–62.
27.
HimelsteinLinda, DeGeorgeGail, and SchineEric (1994), “Is Fraud Poisoning Home Health Care?”Business Week, (March 14), 70–73.
28.
HirschmanElizabeth C. (1992), “The Consciousness of Addiction: Toward a General Theory of Compulsive Consumption,”Journal of Consumer Behavior, 19(September), 155–79.
29.
InmanJ. Jeffrey, McAlisterLeigh, and HoyerWayne D. (1990), “Promotion Signal: Proxy for a Price Cut?”Journal of Consumer Research, 17(June), 53–65.
30.
LaquerThomas (1983), “Bodies, Death, and Pauper Funerals,”Representations, 1(February), 109–31.
31.
LeahyJulia M. (1992–1993), “A Comparison of Depression in Women Bereaved of a Spouse, Child, or a Parent,”Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying, 26(3), 207–17.
32.
LevineJoshua (1992), “Cash and Bury,”Forbes, (May 11), 162–66.
33.
LevyLeon H. (1991), “Anticipatory Grief: Its Measurement and Proposed Reconceptualization,”The Hospice Journal, 7(4), 1–28.
34.
LevyLeon H., and DerbyJoyce F. (1992), “Bereavement Support Groups: Who Joins, Who Does Not, and Why,”American Journal of Community Psychology, 20(5), 649–62.
35.
LevyLeon H., DerbyJoyce F., and MartinkowskiKaren S. (1992), “The Question of Who Participates in Bereavement Research and the Bereavement Risk Index,”Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying, 25(3), 225–38.
36.
LevyLeon H., DerbyJoyce F., and MartinkowskiKaren S. (1993), “Effects of Membership in Bereavement Support Groups on Adaptation to Conjugal Bereavement,”American Journal of Community Psychology, 21(3), 361–81.
37.
LoflandLyn (1982), “Loss and Human Connection: An Exploration into the Nature of the Social Bond,” in Personality, Roles, and Social Behavior, IckesWilliam, and KnowlesEric S., eds. New York: Springer-Verlang, 219–42.
38.
MallardKina (1993), “An Examination of Gift Exchange at Funerals,”Advances in Consumer Research, 19, 319.
39.
MallardKina (1994), “Men in Mourning: Gift Receipt and Funeral Planning from a Male Point of View,”Advances in Consumer Research, 20, 158.
40.
MaynesE. Scott (1976), Decision Making for Consumers: An Introduction to Consumer Economics.New York: Macmillan Publishing.
41.
McAlexanderJames H., SchoutenJohn W., and RobertsScott D. (1993), “Consumer Behavior and Divorce,”Research in Consumer Research, 6, 153–84.
42.
McChesneyFred S. (1990), “Consumer Ignorance and Consumer Protection Law: Empress Evidence from the FTC Funeral Rule,”Journal of Law and Politics, 7(1), 1–72.
43.
MetcalfPeter, and HuntingtonRichard (1991), Celebrations of Death.New York: Cambridge University Press.
44.
MilesMargaret Shandoor, and DemiAlice Sterner (1991–92), “A Comparison of Guilt in Bereaved Parents Whose Children Died of Suicide, Accident, or Chronic Disease,”Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying, 24(3), 203–15.
45.
MillarHeather (1993), “Financial Housekeepers for the Elderly,”Business Week, (April 12), 94–95.
46.
MitfordJessica (1963), The American Way of Death.New York: Simon and Schuster.
47.
MurphyRobert F., ScheerJessica, MurphyYolanda, and MackRichard (1988), “Physical Disability and Social Liminality: A Study in the Rituals of Adversity,”Social Science and Medicine, 26(2), 235–42.
48.
ParkesC. M., and WeissR. S. (1983), Recovery from Bereavement.New York: Basic Books.
49.
PikeMartha (1980), “In Memory of: Artifacts Relating to Mourning in Nineteenth Century America,” in Rituals and Ceremonies in Popular Culture, BrownRay B., ed. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 296–315.
50.
RosenblattPaul C., Patricia WalshR., and JacksonDouglas A. (1976), Grief and Mourning in Cross-Cultural Perspective.New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files.
51.
SchoutenJohn W. (1991), “Personal Rites of Passage and the Reconstruction of Self,”Advances in Consumer Research, 18, 49–51.
52.
ShillingChris (1993), The Body and Social Theory.London: Sage Publications, Inc.
53.
SimmonsMarilyn G. (1975), “Funeral Practices and Public Awareness,”Human Ecology Forum, 5(Winter), 9–13.
54.
SmithJonathan Z. (1987), To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
55.
ThompsonCraig J., LocanderWilliam B., and PollioHoward R. (1989), “Putting Consumer Experience Back into Consumer Research: The Philosophy and Method of Existential-Phenomenology,”Journal of Consumer Research, 16(September), 133–46.
56.
TurnerVictor (1977), “Variations on a Theme of Liminality,” in Secular Ritual, MooreSally F., and MyerhoffBarbara G., eds. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 36–52.
57.
van GennepArnold (1960), The Rites of Passage, M. B. Vizedom and G. L. Caffee, trans. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
58.
WelshAlexander (1963), “The Religion of Life Insurance,”Christian Century, 80(December 11), 1541–43, 1574–76.
59.
WertzFrederick J. (1983), “From Everyday to Psychological Description: Analyzing the Moments of a Qualitative Data Analysis,”Journal of Phenomenonological Psychology, 14(2), 197–241.
60.
ZelizerViviana A. (1978), “Human Values and the Market: The Case of Life Insurance and Death in 19th-century America,”
