Journal of Consumer Affairs
The Journal of Consumer Affairs is published by the American Council on Consumer Affairs. It features analysis of individual, business, and/or government decisions and actions that can impact the interests of consumers in the marketplace. Research topics that can be addressed from the consumer's point of view include communications, consumer education, economics, finance, law, nutrition, public policy, psychology and marketing. The journal is edited by
Herbert Jack Rotfeld of Auburn University
The ISI impact score of Journal of Consumer Affairs now places it among the leading business journals and one of the top handful of marketing- related publications. The immediacy index score, showing how swiftly the published studies are cited or applied in other publications, places JCA seventh of those same 77 journals. More importantly, in these difficult economic times, JCA is the leading journal whose focus for over four decades has been on the interests of consumers in the marketplace. With the journal's origins in the consumer movement and consumer protection concerns, the focus for papers in terms of both research questions and implications must involve the consumer's interest and topics must be addressed from the consumers point of view. As the journal's first editor Gordon E. Bivens wrote in his editorial for the inaugural issue in Summer 1967: "The Journal recognizes as one of its prime functions that of making available the research findings of a number of disciplines which have a major thrust toward understanding the consumer, his behavior and the implications of his economic, social, legal, and political environment...items of interest to scholars, teachers, students, and professional activists with a major, or even minor, parts of their activities in consumer affairs."
The journal enjoys an ISI Journal Citation Reports® Ranking of 21/87 journals in the Business category in 2009. Its Impact Factor is 2.175.
A subscription to JCA is included in ACCI membership ($110/year). For more about membership, click here.
New Article Submission System
The Journal of Consumer Affairs is now using Scholar One, an online journal article submission and review management system. Submit your articles here.
Table of Contents
Summer, 2011: Volume 45, Issue 2
Articles
Ivan L. Preston: 1931–2011
Does Calculating Retirement Needs Boost Retirement Savings? by Robert N. Mayer, Cathleen D. Zick, and Mitchell Marsden
Unintended Consequences of Health Supplement Information Regulations: The
Importance of Recognizing Consumer Motivations by Marlys J. Mason and Debra L. Scammon
The Impetus for (and Limited Power of) Business Self-Regulation: The Example
of Advergames by Elizabeth Taylor Quilliam, Mira Lee, Richard T. Cole, and Mikyoung Kim
Information Accessibility and Consumers’ Knowledge of Prescription Drug
Benefits and Risks by Janet Hoek, Philip Gendall, Lara Rapson, and Jordan Louviere
The Influence of the Self-Regulatory Focus on the Effectiveness of Stop-Smoking
Campaigns for Young Smokers by Leen Adams, Tineke Faseur, and Maggie Geuens
Insights into University Freshman Weight Issues and How They Make Decisions
About Eating by Courtney Carpenter Childers, Eric Haley, and Lisa Jahns
Bits, Briefs & Applications:
The Public Health Implications of Consumers’ Environmental Concern and
Their Willingness to Pay for an Eco-Friendly Product by Marla B. Royne, Marian Levy, and Jennifer Martinez
Commentary Notes & Observations
Consumer Acumen: Augmenting Consumer Literacy by Sue L. T. McGregor
Editor's Postlude by Herbert J. Rotfeld
Summer 2011: Researchers, Scholars and Ivan
Over the decades, schools of higher education seem to evolve, or
at least change. Colleges that in the 1970s had some moderate
expectations for faculty research activity changed their names to
universities, started doctoral programs, and now require faculty to
produce “significant” research publications for tenure or promotions.
Other schools moved from expecting minimal evidence of research to
requiring publications in “major” journals. Where business faculty
used to be professionally qualified by running consulting businesses,
they now have to obtain doctorates and publish research work on a
regular basis. Unasked is whether the proliferation of researchers and
their output is desirable. In some ways, there is a potential value to
have faculty doing research that isn’t good enough to be published
in Journal of Consumer Affairs. But to have that value, the faculty
themselves must be wise enough to perceive it.
for the complete article
Spring 2011: The Public as the Problem for Public Health
Fall 2010: Editors Talking
Summer 2010: A Pessimist's Simplistic Historial Perspective on the Fourth Wave of Consumer Protection
Past Issues
For the Table of Contents from Past Issues
Volume 45, Issue 1: Sprint 2011
Volume 44, Issue 3: Fall 2010
Volume 44, Issue 2: Summer 2010
Volume 44, Issue 1: Spring 2010
Volume 43, Issue 3: Fall 2009
Volume 43, Issue 2: Summer 2009
Volume 43, Issue 1: Spring 2009
Volume 42, Issue 3: Fall 2008
Volume 42, Issue 2: Summer 2008
Volume 42, Issue 1: Spring 2008
Volume 41, Issue 3: Fall 2007
Volume 41, Issue 2: Summer 2007
Volume 41, Issue 1: Spring 2007
Volume 40, Issue 3: Fall 2006
Volume 40, Issue 2: Summer 2006
Volume 40, Issue 1: Spring 2006
Volume 39, Issue 2: Winter 2005
Volume 39, Issue 1: Summer 2005
Volume 38, Issue 2: Winter 2004
Volume 38, Issue 1: Summer 2004
Volume 37, Issue 2: Winter 2003
Volume 37, Issue 1: Summer 2003
Volume 36, Issue 2: Winter 2002
Volume 36, Issue 1: Summer 2002
Editorial Board
Editor
Herbert J. Rotfeld
Department of Marketing
201 Business Building
415 W. Magnolia
Auburn University, AL 36849-5246
(334) 844-2459
email the editor
Associate Editor
Brenda J. Cude
Department of Housing and Consumer Economics
Dawson Hall
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
Phone: (706) 542-4857
Fax: (706) 583-0313
email the associate editor
Editorial Board
Peter Basiotis, USDA/CNPP, retired
Vibha Bhargava, University of Georgia
Les G. Carlson, University of Nebraska Lincolnr
Larry Compeau, Clarkson University
Brenda Cude, University of Georgia
Lucy M. Delgadillo, Utah State University
Sharon DeVaney, Purdue University
Patricia A. Duffy, Auburn University
Jessie X. Fan, University of Utah
Richard Feinberg, Purdue University
Michael S. Finke, Texas Tech University
Paula Fitzgerald, West Virginia University
Monroe Friedman, Eastern Michigan University
Loren Geistfeld, The Ohio State University
Darryl E. Getter, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress
John Grable, Kansas State University
Deana Grobe, Oregon State University
Michael S. Gutter, University of Florida
Sherman D. Hanna, The Ohio State University
Ronald Paul Hill, Villanova University
Jeanne M. Hogarth, Federal Reserve Board
Dan Horne, Providence College
Sandra Huston, Texas Tech University
Russell James III, Texas Tech University
Colin Jevons, Monash University, Australia
Phyllis Johnson, University of British Columbia, Canada
Elyria Kemp, Texas State University-San Marcos
Patricia Kendall, Colorado State University
Robert Kerton, University of Waterloo, Canada
Balaji Krishnan, University of Memphis
Jeff Langenderfer, Meredith College
Chung-Tung Jordan Lin, Food and Drug Administration
May Lwin, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Angela C. Lyons, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Alan Mathios, Cornell University
Robert N. Mayer, University of Utah
Sue McGregor, Mount St. Vincent University, Canada
Urvi Neelakantan, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Robert Nielsen, University of Georgia
Geoffrey D. Paulin, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Vanessa Gail Perry, George Washington University
Constance Porter, University of Notre Dame
Sherrie L.W. Rhine, U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Jef I. Richards, Michigan State University
Nora J. Rifon, Michigan State University
Cliff Robb, University of Alabama
Marla B. Royne, University of Memphis
Marlene S. Stum, University of Minnesota
Charles R. Taylor, Villanova University
Michael L. Walden, North Carolina State University
Parke Wilde, Tufts University
Joyce M. Wolburg, Marquette University
Jing J. Xiao, University of Arizona
JungSung Yeo, Seoul National University, Korea
Past Editors of JCA
Gordon E. Bivens 1967-1973, volumes 1-7
Joseph N. Uhl, 1974-1977, volumes 8-11.1
Robert O. Herrmann, 1977-1980, vol. 11.2-14.1
Monroe Friedman, 1980-1984, vol. 14.2-18.1
David B. Eastwood, 1984-1990, vol. 18.2-24.1
Carole J. Makela, 1990-1997, vol. 24.2-31.1
Claudia J. Peck-Heath, 1997-2001, vol. 31.2-35.2
Herbert Jack Rotfeld, 2002-- , volumes 36.1-