Consumer coping in really high-risk, high-stress settings: The roles of social support and information in complex health situations

Although marketers have studied consumer decision making since at least 1917, there is a scarcity of research to better understand consumer coping and decision making in really high-risk, high-stress situations in a services environment. This dissertation addresses this deficiency and seeks answers to an important but as yet unaddressed set of questions: What coping behaviors do people employ, what specific support do they seek when faced with high-risk, high-stress medical decisions? What benefits are derived when one seeks social support from others? What effects do social support and social capital have on outcomes? What characteristics of the individual, the members of his/her social support network, and the relationships between them, affect the individual's overall well-being and satisfaction with access to information and support?; The conceptual model extends prior research in behavioral science, consumer behavior, and health beliefs, and incorporates concepts of consumer coping and social support into a theoretical framework that explains their impact on outcomes of social capital and overall well-being. The model is tested on data collected from cancer patients who are in treatment or follow-up care in the northeast United States. Survey and network-analytic methods were used to collect attribute and relational data to examine consumer coping behaviors during their cancer experience. Analysis concentrates on identifying and understanding the multiple sources and roles of information and social support and the influence of key individual (e.g., desire for control, self-efficacy, gender) and context-specific (e.g., disease category, level of complexity) variables on the types of support sought by individuals, and on outcomes.; This research has important implications for marketing theory and practice. First, it will expand our understanding of consumers' decision making and coping behaviors by enriching existing models and examining the sources, roles and multiple dimensions of social support in the consumption of services in a high-risk, high-stress environment. Second, it will provide guidance to health care service practitioners and policymakers by identifying specific types of support sought by patients, the characteristics of their social networks, and the implications for intervention strategies that may lead to improved medical and mental well-being for patients.