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Financial Behaviors of Consumers in Credit Counseling

Article  in  International IJC · March 2006

DOI: 10.1111/j.1470-6431.2005.00455.x

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56 Journal of Personal Finance

VOICES OF DEBT TROUBLED CONSUMERS:

A THEORY-BASED QUALITATIVE INQUIRY
Jing Jian Xiao
University of Rhode Island
Barbara M. Newman
University of Rhode Island
Janice M. Prochaska
Pro-Change Behavior Systems
Berta Leon
University of Rhode Island
Robert L. Bassett
University of Rhode Island

ABSTRACT

The Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) provided the frame-

work for the study of behavioral changes of consumers with
troubling debt. This paper reports findings from interviews with five
experts who are professionals in personal financial services and
education and 15 consumers who are having troubling consumer
debts. The findings demonstrate how key concepts of TTM are
linked to authentic concerns and experiences described by consum-
ers who have tried to reduce their credit card debts, which are
informative for professionals, educators, and researchers in personal
finances.

Introduction

“I don’t think our society makes it easy at all. I

mean there are credit cards everywhere. They
promote credit cards everywhere, grocery stores,
vacation trips, everything on the television. And
you see logos everywhere. You don’t see signs
that say use cash.” – a female credit counseling
client in Southern New England

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Volume 3, Issue 2 57

Debt management is one of the important components in household

financial management (Hilgert & Hogarth, 2003; Hogarth, Beverly, & Hilgert,
2003). The popularity of consumer credit counseling businesses has grown in
recent years because more and more consumers are faced with serious credit
card debt troubles (Boas, Gardener, Hogarth, & Xiao, 2003; Consumer
Federation of America & National Law Center, 2003; Staten, Elliehausen, &
Lundquist, 2002). The solvency status, in which debt is an important element,
is associated with financial stress and financial well-being of families (Joo &
Grable, 2004). Evidence is beginning to support a link between financial stress
and mental as well as physical health (Drentea & Lavrakas, 2000). Previous
research on credit card debt behavior falls in two categories: to describe the
current status and trends (Aizcorbe, Kennickell, & Moore, 2003; Durkin, 2000;
Godwin, 1997) and to identify factors that are associated with credit card
debts (Chien & DeVaney, 2001; Godwin, 1998; Hayhoe, Leach, & Turner, 1999;
Hayhoe, Leach, Turner, Bruin, & Lawrence, 2000; Kim, & DeVaney, 2001; Lee,
& Hogarth, 1999; Lee, J., & Kwon, 2002; Zhu & Meeks, 1994. Also see
DeVaney & Lytton, 1996, for an earlier but informative survey of research in
this area). Few studies have focused on psychological, social, or economic
barriers to getting out of debt or on how to help consumers actually change
their behaviors to eliminate undesirable credit card debts. This study attempts
to address the research gap by using a theory-based procedure to collect
qualitative information that will be useful for professionals who help consum-
ers change their behaviors to reduce and eliminate the debt. The framework
used in this study is the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM), which is
commonly used in the health area to help people stop unhealthy behaviors
and/or develop healthy behaviors. This paper reports findings that are from

Research & Theory

semi-structured expert interviews and telephone interviews among consumers
who use credit counseling services. The findings will be informative for
practitioners in personal financial services to better help their clients, for
educators to design and deliver effective financial education programs, and
for researchers to develop quantitative measurements to gauge the experien-
tial and behavioral change processes consumers use when they are getting rid
of their undesirable credit card debts.

The Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) and its

Applications
Dr. James O. Prochaska and his colleagues developed the
Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) in the 1970s (Prochaska, 1979). The
Model was first applied to cessation of smoking and then to a variety of other
health-related behaviors, including alcohol abuse, drug abuse, low fat diet and
weight control, psychological distress, stress and sun exposure (for a
comprehensive list of published studies, see Prochaska, Redding, Harlow,
Rossi, & Velicer, 1994). A few studies applied TTM to other areas, such as
 58 Journal of Personal Finance

organizational change (Prochaska, 2000), collaborative service delivery

(Levesque, Prochaska, & Prochaska, 1999), and domestic violence (Levesque,
Geller, & Velicer, 2000).
The key constructs of TTM include stages of change, processes of
change, decisional balance, and self-efficacy. The five stages of change are:
precontemplation (not intending to take action within the next 6 months),
contemplation (intending to take action within the next 6 months), prepara-
tion (intending to take action within the next 30 days), action (made overt
changes less than six months ago), and maintenance (made overt changes
more than six months ago). The ten processes of change are: consciousness-
raising, social liberation, dramatic relief, environmental reevaluation, self-
reevaluation, self-liberation, counterconditioning, stimulus control,
contingency management, and helping relationships. Table 1 presents
definitions of the processes of change. In the early stages, people apply
experiential processes that are cognitive, affective, and evaluative to progress
through the stages. In the later stages, people rely more on the behavioral
processes of conditioning, contingency management, environmental controls,
and support for progressing toward termination (Prochaska, Redding, &
Evers, 1996). The key to fostering successful change is to understand what
stage a person is in and then decide what strategies (processes) she or he
could use to move forward. Decisional balance reflects an individual’s relative
weighing of the pros and cons of changing (Prochaska et al, 1996). Confi-
dence, the primary construct in self-efficacy, is the situation-specific confi-
dence people have that they can cope with high-risk situations without
relapsing back to their unhealthy or high-risk habits (Prochaska et al., 1996).

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Volume 3, Issue 2 59

Table 1
Definitions of Change Processes

Change Process Defined by TTM

Consciousness-raising Finding and learning new facts, ideas, and tips
that support the healthy behavior change
Social liberation Realizing that the social norms are changing in
the direction of supporting the healthy
behavior change
Dramatic relief Experiencing the negative emotions that go
along with unhealthy behavior risks
Self-reevaluation Realizing that the behavior change is an
important part of one’s identity as a person
Self-liberation Making a firm commitment to change
Counter-conditioning Substituting healthy alternative behaviors and
cognitions for the unhealthy behaviors
Stimulus control Removing reminders or cues to engage in the
unhealthy behavior and adding cues or
reminders to engage in the healthy behavior
Contingency management Increasing the rewards for the positive
behavior change and decreasing the rewards
of the unhealthy behavior
Helping relationships Seeking and using social support for the
healthy behavior change
Environmental reevaluation Realizing the negative impact of the unhealthy

Research & Theory

behavior or the positive impact of the healthy
behavior on one’s proximal social and physical
environment
Source: Prochaska, Redding, and Evers (1996).

Applying TTM to financial behavior started in the last few years.

Kerkman (1998) discussed how to use TTM in financial counseling and
presented a case to demonstrate her approach. Bristow (1997) suggested that
this model could be used to change people’s financial behavior in
Money2000, a USDA extension program on financial education. Money2000 is
a successful financial education program, which was adapted by 29 states and
reported a total dollar impact of $20 million (O’Neill, 1999, 2001). Based on the
data collected among the program participants in New Jersey and New York in
1998, preliminary evidence indicated that certain processes of change were
used more frequently by the participants who reported behavioral changes
(Xiao, O’Neill, Prochaska, Kerbel, Brennan, & Bristow, 2004). However, the
 60 Journal of Personal Finance

aforementioned study had two limitations. First, the measurements used are
rudimentary and need to be refined. Second, two key constructs of TTM,
decisional balance and self-efficacy, are not included. This research attempts
to generate information related to key constructs of TTM in the context of
credit card debt reduction that may be useful for personal financial profes-
sionals, educators, and researchers.

Method

Expert and consumer interviews were completed in 2002. Five experts

who are familiar with consumer debt problems were identified. Among them
are a president of a regional consumer credit counseling services (CCCS), a
dean of a business school who once worked in a bankruptcy court, a director
of a college financial aid office, a director of a consumer financial education
center, and an extension agent who works with low income consumers. The
first four experts were interviewed face to face. The last expert sent answers
for interview questions in writing.
The research team intended to recruit consumers with troubling
credit card debt to participate in focus groups. The regional president of
CCCS, who served as one of the experts for this study, suggested that
telephone interviews may be better. Consumers with debt problems may not
want to show up in-person because of the negative social stigma and
sensitivity of the topic. Another major barrier was that potential participants
live in various geographical areas that would necessitate long distance travel
to the focus group meeting locations. With assistance of the regional CCCS
that put an ad in their newsletter, we recruited 15 consumers (13 females and 2
males) who were CCCS clients and agreed to participate in a telephone
interview. Each of the interviews lasted one to one and half hours. Each of the
consumers interviewed was paid $25 for the participation. Based on these
interviews, items were identified that are relevant to several key constructs
specified by TTM: definition of the targeted behavior, decisional balance
(pros and cons), self-efficacy, and processes of change.

Findings and Discussion

The targeted behavior: Getting rid of credit card debt

Based on the literature (Greninger, Hampton, Kitt, &

Achacoso, 1996; Lytton, Garman, & Porter, 1991; O’Neill, 1995), consumers
who are in debt trouble were defined as those who pay 20% or more of their
take home income for their monthly credit card minimum payment. In qualita-
tive interviews, the definition of being rid of credit card debts was presented

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Volume 3, Issue 2 61

as follows:
Being rid of credit card debt means:
• Paying significantly more than the minimum each month
• Stopping impulse buying
• Stopping credit card use
• Going for credit counseling
• Consolidating debts
• Paying with cash
The definition was used in the qualitative interviews and feedback
from the experts and consumers suggested that two improvements were
needed. First, the wording “Getting rid of credit card debts” is better than
“Being rid of credit card debts” since the former implies a more active and on-
going behavioral change. Second, the first three behaviors are adequate for
describing the behavioral changes in this regard. Some consumers suggested
that going for credit counseling may be stigmatizing and is not necessary for
getting rid of debt. Some experts suggested that debt consolidation can result
in continuing, costly indebtedness. Based on the input from the expert and
consumer interviews, the definition of the target behavior was defined as
follows:
Getting rid of credit card debts means:
• Paying more than the minimum required each month
• Stopping unnecessary purchasing
• Stopping credit card use.
If a consumer with credit card debt problems is practicing those three
behaviors, she or he would be in the action or maintenance stage.

Research & Theory

Decisional balance

Experts and consumers in the qualitative interviews were asked to

provide detailed information relevant to the key constructs of TTM. Experts of
qualitative interviews are presented in the appendix. Decisional balance has
two aspects, pros and cons (or benefits and costs), of the targeted behavioral
change. Based on the qualitative interviews, nine pros and nine cons were
identified. In future research, these items could be used to develop scales.
Here these items are presented for use by those who are interested in apply-
ing TTM concepts to their financial counseling and educational activities.
Items generated for decisional balance are as follows:
Decisional balance - Pros
Getting rid of credit card debt would:
• Increase your self-esteem
• Increase your family’s security
• Get rid of bill collectors
 62 Journal of Personal Finance

• Make you feel in control of your money and your future

• Give you less stress
• Build you a positive credit card history
• Make you to set a good example for others
• Have the weight of debt lifted from your shoulders
• Others wouldn’t have to worry about you.

Decisional balance – Cons

Getting rid of credit card debt would/might:
• Eliminate impulse buying
• Reduce the material goods in your home
• Take away credit cards to rent a car or buy online
• Require you to have a second job
• Take a long time
• Not allow you to keep up with “the neighbors” on status purchases
• Make family members unhappy
• Limit family activities
• Create more tension in your home
Based on the theory of TTM, consumers would realize more pros and
reduce the number of cons as they move from an earlier to a later stage of
change. To help consumers eliminate undesirable credit card debt, personal
financial professionals should emphasize the pros of getting out of the debt.
The aforementioned pro items can be used by professionals to encourage and
support their clients in various stages of change when working to change
their undesirable debt behaviors. Also, the items in the con category could
help professionals understand their clients’ reluctance for getting out of credit
card debt and develop strategies to reduce the psychological costs of doing
so.

Self-efficacy
The construct of self-efficacy describes how confident a consumer is
when facing a tempting situation. The qualitative interviews revealed ten
items relevant to the concept of self-efficacy that are presented as follows:
• Your friends call you to go out
• You hear about a big sale
• Your car breaks down
• You can’t get a good paying job
• You become ill
• It’s the holidays
• You are feeling stressed

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Volume 3, Issue 2 63

• It is taking longer than expected to get rid of your credit card debt
• Your relationship with your partner is strained
The theory of TTM postulates that the level of self-efficacy should
increase as a client moves from an earlier to a later stage of change. Personal
financial professionals could use the above items to assess their clients’
intentions when faced with some of these temptations and test their confi-
dence level. The items can also be used to explore why some clients have
relapsed from a later change stage to an earlier stage.

Processes of Change

Based on the expert and consumer interviews, five to six items were
generated for each of the ten change processes (Table 2).

Table 2
Change Process Items Reported by the Consumers
Change Process Items suggested by consumers and experts
Consciousness-raising How often did you look for information on getting
rid of credit card debt?
How often did you hear about how to get rid of
credit card debt?
How often did you read literature or magazine
articles on reducing debt?
How often did you see TV shows or movies about

Research & Theory

people in debt?
How often did you learn about credit card debt
from others?
Social liberation How often did you notice that there are places that
can assist with credit card debt such as
cooperative extensions and consumer credit
counseling services?
How often did you notice that there are financial
advantages to getting rid of credit card debt?
How often were you aware of financial workshops
being offered?
How often were you aware of AmeriDebt and other
such credit card consolidation commercials?
How often did you notice agencies that are willing
to help?
64 Journal of Personal Finance

Dramatic relief How often did you hear stories about bankruptcy
and how it can effect being unable to buy a home
or rent a car?
How often were you upset by sad stories about
the pain caused to others by credit card debt?
How often were you inspired by someone who
has gotten out of credit card debt?
How often were you worried about getting
harassed by bill collectors?
How often were you upset realizing how much of
your income was paying for interest on your
debt?
How often were you worried that you might need
to declare bankruptcy?
Self-reevaluation How often did you see yourself as someone who
can get out of credit card debt?
How often did you see yourself as someone who
can focus on getting rid of credit card debt?
How often were you disappointed in yourself for
not putting more effort into getting rid of credit
card debt?
How often did you imagine yourself as someone
who can get to good credit standing?
How often did you see yourself as irresponsible if
you were not working at getting out of credit card
debt?
Self-liberation How often did you promise yourself that you
would get out of credit card debt?
How often did you tell others about your
commitment to get out of credit card debt?
How often did you set goals to help you do the
work of getting out of credit card debt?
How often did you tell yourself that you can make
a commitment to get out of credit card debt?
How often did you believe that you can get out of
credit card debt?
How often did you promise yourself that you are
willing to do the work to get out of credit card
debt?
Counter-conditioning How often did you push away negative thoughts
about the difficulties of getting rid of credit card
debt?

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Volume 3, Issue 2 65

When you felt stressed about getting out of credit

card debt, how often did you tell yourself it is
going to be worth it in the end?
When feeling discouraged how often did you
remind yourself about the benefits of getting out
of credit card debt?
When you felt like spending money how often did
you go visit friends and family instead?
When you wanted to buy items how often did you
tell yourself you don’t need them?
When you felt like getting out of credit card debt
takes too much effort, how often did you remind
yourself it will be good to be credit card debt free?
Stimulus control How often did you stay away from people, places,
and things that make it difficult for you to get rid
of credit card debt?
How often did you leave reminders (like notes on
the refrigerator) to work at getting out of credit
card debt?
How often did you avoid places (malls, online
shopping) where you spend money on things you
don’t need?
How often did you set time aside to work on
getting out of credit card debt?
How often did you spend time with those who
agree with your goal of getting out of credit card

Research & Theory

debt?
How often did you cut back on purchases in order
to get rid of credit card debt?
Contingency
management How often did you give yourself an inexpensive
reward when you reached small goals for getting
rid of credit card debt?
How often did family and friends provide
encouragement for your efforts in reducing credit
card debt?
How often did you inexpensively celebrate the
progress you are making?
How often did you reinforce yourself with positive
statements like “I can do this”?
 66 Journal of Personal Finance

How often did you find the work of getting out of

credit card debt rewarding?
Helping relationships How often did you realize that there are family,
friends, or coworkers who could help you get rid of
credit card debt?
How often were you aware that there are
counselors at debt programs to help you get rid of
credit card debt?
How often did you realize there are people that you
can go to for advice?
How often did friends and relatives let you know
they are there to help you get rid of credit card
debt?
How often did you know you have someone to call
if you needed to talk about getting out of credit
card debt?
How often did you realize there are others you
could talk with who have gone through similar
experiences with getting out of credit card debt?
Environmental
reevaluation How often did you consider that your family would
have more stability if you didn’t have credit card
debt?
How often did you consider your family would
worry less if you got rid of credit card debt?
How often did you consider there would be less
fights caused by anger over debt?
How often did you consider others would be
relieved if you didn’t have credit card debt?
How often did you think society would be better
off with less money caught up in debt?
How often did you realize you would be setting a
good example for others if you got out of credit
card debt?

According to TTM, change processes are related to change stages.

Some change processes are more effective than others in facilitating the
change in a particular stage of change. Specifically, the relationship between
the change processes and stages is demonstrated in Figure 1.

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Volume 3, Issue 2 67

Figure 1
Stages by Processes of Change
(Pro-Change Behavior Systems, 2002)

Precontemplation Contemplation Preparation Action Maintenance

Conciousness Raising
Environmental Reevaluation
Dramatic Relief
Self-Reevaluation
Self-Liberation
Helping Relationships
Contingency
Management
Counter Conditioning

Social Liberation

For example, if a client is in the precomtemplation stage, three change

processes, consciousness raising, environmental reevaluation, and dramatic
relief, are more effective than other change processes. The professionals who
help consumers get out of the debt could use items generated for these
categories to move consumers from precomtemplation to contemplation. If a
client is in the maintenance stage, five change processes, helping relation-

Research & Theory

ships, contingency management, counter-conditioning, stimulus control, and
social liberation, are more effective to help clients maintain the positive
behavioral change and avoid relapse back to an earlier stage. Items generated
for these change processes can be used by professionals to develop strate-
gies to help their clients maintain the positive change and eliminate the
undesirable debt behavior permanently.

Summary and Implications

In this paper, findings are reported from five expert interviews and 15
telephone interviews with clients of a regional consumer credit counseling
services. The interviews were guided by basic concepts linked to the
Transtheoretical Model of Chang (TTM). The findings presented in this paper
can be informative for professionals and educators who help consumers in the
area of personal finances, especially for those who help consumers get rid of
undesirable credit card debts. The findings are also useful for future research.
 68 Journal of Personal Finance

Implications For Professionals In Personal Financial Services

Professionals in personal financial services may want to become

familiar with the major concepts of the TTM, which are well published and
specified. Using TTM, professionals can identify what stage their clients are
in and then provide different approaches to help the clients. According to
TTM, certain processes of change are more effective in certain stages of
change. Using the findings reported here, professionals can develop strate-
gies to encourage their clients to use appropriate processes of change so as
to effectively move to the next stage. Professionals could use the list of pros
and cons reported from this study as a reference and encourage their clients
to list their own pros and cons on whether or not to get out of credit card
debt. By comparing the pros and cons reported from this study and those
provided by consumers, professionals may have better idea to develop
focused strategies to help consumers modify their undesirable behaviors. For
clients in maintenance, professionals can use findings to detect if their clients
reach the level of self-efficacy using various difficult situations reported by
the consumers in this study.

Implications For Financial Educators

Financial educators should understand the role of education in the

behavioral change processes. Using TTM as a framework, educators could
use different strategies to reach consumers at various stages of change and
more effectively help them change their undesirable behavior. For example, in
the first stage of change, precontemplation, educators can provide more
material to raise their clients’ consciousness about the economic, psychologi-
cal, and social costs of credit card debts. If the targeted clients are in a later
stage of change, for example, action, educators can provide support (helping
relationships) and practical tips for their clients to enhance their desirable
behavioral change. Findings from this study provide counter conditioning
and stimulus control guidance to educators so as to develop effective
educational programs, encouraging appropriate change processes for
consumers at a certain stage of change. Findings about decisional balance
and self-efficacy can also help educators develop teaching material and
approaches to enhance pros, reduce cons, and sustain self-efficacy when
consumers are deciding to get rid of undesirable credit card debt.

©2004, IARFC All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

Volume 3, Issue 2 69

Implications For Future Research And Call For Cooperation

The items collected from the qualitative interviews can be used to

develop a survey instrument, which can be distributed to a group of consum-
ers who have credit card debt problems but are in various stages of change.
Data from the survey can be analyzed based on the TTM theory to develop a
valid and reliable instrument to quantitatively measure processes of change,
decisional balance, and self-efficacy. Then, the finalized instrument can be
used by personal financial service professionals and educators who help
consumers get out of troubling credit card debt. Guidelines on how to use the
instrument and supporting programs can be developed. The processes of
change can be monitored and effectiveness of intervention and education
programs be evaluated.
As researchers, we are looking for cooperative opportunities from
professionals and educators in personal financial services who are interested
in applying the TTM to their services and educational programs to better
serve their clients. We believe applying TTM will enhance your services and
programs and increase the well-being of both your clients and business. If
you are interested in a cooperative project, please contact us.

Appendix

To demonstrate the wording of exploratory questions used in the

qualitative interviews, the excerpts of interviews are presented as follows:

Research & Theory

Decisional Balance – Pro:
Interviewer (I): What are the reasons why people may want to get rid of
credit card debt?
Respondent (R): Because they are paying extra money, it’s like wasting money.
I: How would they benefit?
R: Umm…well I’m going to say it another way, it’s like getting weight off their
shoulders. It’s extra baggage. They can plan other things that they want to
do.
I: Would they feel better about themselves? In what way?
R: I would think it would make them feel more in control. Higher self esteem.
Umm…a little more freedom and they can breathe easier because they are not
tied down to cards they might be able to look at other avenues, investment,
and leisure.
 70 Journal of Personal Finance

Decisional Balance – Con:

I: What are the reasons why people might not want to get rid of credit card
debt?
R: Because a lot of things demand a credit card, you can’t do a lot of things
without one, like renting a car or blockbusters. You know? And then when
you are really in a jam it is there.
I: How could they be worse off?
R: I don’t really think they would be worse off. I really don’t.
I: Could they feel worse about themselves? In what way?
R: Some people would if they are really hooked on it and like their gold
platinum and the show it to really impress people I would say.
I: How could others be worse off if someone made changes?
R: I don’t see how they would be worse off. Well only in one, like a mortgage
or something or you know if you are trying to get some credit for something
important and you don’t have current use of credit card you know, they do
look at that too.

Self-Efficacy:
I: People can run into difficult situations that test their confidence that they
can keep up the changes they’re making to get out of debt. What are some of
these difficult situations?
R: They may not be able to make the minimum payment, and they may want to
do something fun and they know they have to make that payment and they
chose to do the fun event which puts them more behind which therefore adds
more stress to them.
I: If people were to run into these situations, for example unemployment or a
sickness in the family, what could help them “stick with it” and continue
getting rid of credit card debt?
R: They could go to like a consumer credit counseling agency and enlist their
help, which I would recommend highly to anyone. It’s a life saver, speaking
from experience (laughs).
I: What can others do to help people “stick with it” in these difficult
situations?
R: Get the word out. You know inform them, give them any information they
have received from any of the places. I don’t want to keep saying one name
but it’s the only one I know, and enlighten them. I know I’ve done that and
told people you know the amount of stress that is relieved is unbelievable.

Change processes (Consciousness-raising):

I: What might make people more “open-minded” about making changes and
staying out of credit card debt?
R: I think if they could see what the debt really looks like, I don’t think people
really get their statement every month and really understand it. If they could

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Volume 3, Issue 2 71

see what they are really paying over the course of time what they are paying
for 100 dollars or so. That might make them think twice about buying with
credit. Umm...maybe looking at it and saying look all those late payments
really add up. People might be less willing to extend a mortgage to you or
maybe even opening a checking account Umm…so I think once they really
see the big picture and understand it they might start thinking. They might
become more open minded. “I really need to get out of this I need to put a
stop to this now.”
I: How/where can people learn about HOW to stay out of credit card debt?
R: I went to consumer credit counseling. I found out about them through my
parents they went through them. Umm…quite a few years ago also I had
worked at several banks and we had customers that would say “I can’t make
payments.” We would always refer them to any sort of financial counseling.
Those are the ones I am familiar with. CCCS was very good.
I: Do you think people learn about why/how to stay out of credit card debt
from the TV (commercials, shows)? Magazines? Other people? Stories?
Internet?
R: I think they could if they were really interested. I know magazines I read
have articles about how to stay out of debt and there was a website that I
went to regularly and got a newsletter on how to cut down on expenses every
day every week every year and how to save. Yeah definitely.

Acknowledgments

We appreciate the invaluable input from five experts to the study

design and interviews. They are Horace Amaral, Steve Bucci, Claudia Kerbel,

Research & Theory

Phyliss Lamidi, and Edward Mazze. Also we thank Steve Bucci for allowing us
to use the newsletter of his company to recruit consumers for the telephone
interviews. In addition, Maura McCandless provided excellent assistance in
expert interviews. This research is partly funded by the USDA Rhode Island
Agricultural Experiment Station.

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Contact Information: Jing Jian Xiao, Professor, University of Rhode Island,

Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Transition Center,
Kingston, RI 02881; Phone: (401) 874-4036; Fax: (401) 874-4020; E-mail:
xiao@uri.edu; Barbara M. Newman, Professor and Chair; E-mail:
bnewman@uri.edu; Janice M. Prochaska, President, Pro-Change Behavior
Systems; E-mail: jmprochaska@prochange.com; Berta Leon, Research
Assistant; E-mail: bertaleon@yahoo.com; Robert L. Bassett, Research
Assistant; E-mail: cleorlb_2000@yahoo.com

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