This study evaluates the research method of means–end in a cross-cultural research context in order to understand Japanese tourists’ values that drive travel choices in New Zealand. It contributes an extensive critique of means–end analysis and its advantages over quantitative research methods in cross-cultural research. Its theoretical contribution comes in the form of a set of values or travel motivators, including a number of culturally motivated values that reveal unique insights into Japanese travel experiences. The article argues that meaningful values research must consider not only those values that are commonly understood across cultures but also those that are particular to the culture of interest, in order to understand what drives perception and satisfaction relevant for destination management and marketing. The data can be used to address a number of practical issues facing tourism practitioners such as segmenting the Japanese market, positioning tourism offerings within this market, and developing communication strategies.

Marketing promotes values of consumerism and overconsumption, and negatively affects children's wellbeing and psychological development. The threat marketing poses to planetary health is just being realised. However, little is known about children's exposure to marketing at an aggregate level. Using an objective method of wearable cameras, we aimed to determine the nature and extent of children's exposure to marketing. Kids'Cam was a cross-sectional study of children aged 11-13 years in New Zealand, from which we randomly selected a sample of 90 children. Children wore cameras from when they woke up until they went to sleep for four consecutive days (Thursday-Sunday) that captured images at an angle of 136° every 7 s for exposure to marketing. Marketing brands were categorised into three groups: core food and social marketing messages, harmful commodities (eg, non-core food, alcohol, and gambling), or other. Exposure rates by marketing medium, setting, and product category were calculated using negative binomial regression models. From June 21, 2014, to June 30, 2015, we recruited 168 children, and randomly selected data from 90 children for the present study. Children in this study were exposed to a mean of 554 brands per 10 h day (95% CI 491-625), nearly a brand a minute, through multiple mediums (predominantly brand labels [36% of exposures] and product packaging [22%]) and mostly in schools (43%) and at home (30%). Food and beverages (20% of exposures) were the dominant product category. The most pervasive marketing brands typically sold a range of products across more than one product category (eg, children were exposed to Nike on average 20 exposures per day). Children were exposed to more than twice as many harmful commodities (mean 76 per 10 h day [95% CI 55-105]) as core food and social marketing messages (32 [26-39]) per day. We found that children are repeatedly exposed to marketing through multiple mediums and across all settings, and our findings suggests that marketing privileges particular messages, for example, marketing of harmful commodities. Given the key role marketing plays in establishing and supporting consumption norms, and perpetuating the normalisation of overconsumption which contributes to environmental degradation, these findings suggest an urgent need to reduce marketing to promote planetary health. This research was funded by a University of Otago, Dean's Research Grant. The Kids'Cam study was funded by a Health Research Council of New Zealand Programme Grant (13/724).

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors influencing young children’s (aged three to five years) understanding of brand symbolism. Design/methodology/approach: Multiple hierarchical regression was used to analyse the relationships between age, gender and environmental factors, including family and the media, on the development of brand symbolism in pre-school children based on 56 children and parent dyad interviews. Findings: Results confirmed the primary influence of age, television exposure and parental communication style on three to five-year-old children’s understanding of brand symbolism. The study demonstrates that the tendency to infer symbolic user attributes and non-product-related associations with brands starts as early as two years, and increases with age throughout the pre-school years. Children exposed to more television and less critical parental consumer socialisation strategies are more likely to prefer branded products, believe that brands are better quality and that they make people happy and popular. Social implications: Identifying the factors that influence the development of symbolic brand associations in pre-school children provides an important contribution to public policy discussions on the impact of marketing to young children. Originality/value: The paper extends existing research by considering, for the first time, the role of environmental factors in pre-schooler’s understanding of brand symbolism. The results provide a more informed basis for discussion about the impact of marketing messages on very young children and the environmental factors that may lead to a more critical engagement with brands.