Information and Knowledge as Antecedents of Consumer Attitudes and Intentions to Buy and Recommend Fair-Trade Products

The authors propose and empirically test a causal model to understand how the availability of fair-trade information and consumer knowledge about this issue affect consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward fair-trade products. The model is built upon the attitude-behavior paradigm and the premises of agency theory. It is tested through structural equation modeling with a sample of 292 Spanish consumers. The findings are that consumers do not have good knowledge about fair trade and that this is significantly determined by the lack of information about this in the market. It is also observed that consumers’ perceptions about the availability of fair-trade information have negative effects on their concern about this issue and that such information as is available is not effective in reducing consumer skepticism. The research represents an extension of previous fair-trade literature because the role of information and communication in improving consumer attitudes and buying intentions has rarely been explored in the case of ethical products.     

Discovering India's three levels of luxury consumption: An exploratory research to find a conceptual framework

Luxury marketing research has moved from functional product attributes to a ‘democratized’ view in emerging economies. This seems to be based on the development of interactive and digital communications. Luxury research studies have historically focused on the brand's and marketer's perspectives. Thus, little attention has been given to the consumer's view of what we consider to be the individual drivers, i.e., the ‘inner and outer self’ and how that impacts luxury consumption. This paper presents a framework of luxury and self, using concepts such as interdependent or outer, independent or inner, and a new concept of ‘digital self’. These appear as three levels of luxury consumption, i.e., conspicuous, individual, and interactive. The interdependent self is influenced by the external motives and leads to conspicuous luxury behavior. Individual self is affected by internal motives and thus influences individual luxury consumption. Digital self affects the networks of motive and relationships and thereby impacts interactive luxury consumption and behavior.     

Economic development,food demand and the consequences for agricultural resource requirements: an application to Indonesia

We analyse food demand patterns of Indonesian households from a resource intensity perspective and quantify the impact of changed demand patterns on the use of three major resource inputs: fossil fuel; land; and water in agricultural production. Using Indonesian Family Life Survey data, 13 major food items (which constitute 70 per cent of food expenditure) are categorised into low, moderate and high resource intensity, and income elasticity and Engel curves are estimated for the period from 1997 to 2007. Our results show that income growth in Indonesia is associated with demand patterns that are more resource intensive. By 2007, per capita requirements of fossil fuel, land and water increased by 42.7 per cent (3.13 MJ), 44.9 per cent (1.24 m²) and 50.4 per cent (2.1 kL), respectively, relative to 1997. The results imply that, at least for Indonesia, changed food demand patterns resulting from economic development will increase the demand for natural resources substantially.     

Do firms leverage the FDA nutrient label rounding rules to generate favorable nutrition fact panels or health claims?

The increasing incidence of nutrition related health concerns has made food labeling an important policy issue. Previous work suggests the importance of communicating nutrition information to consumers through product packaging. This paper investigates the role of labeling guidelines, which allow the rounding of calorie and nutrient levels on nutrition fact panels and affects front of package claims. We examine ready-to-eat cereal products as a bundle of nutrient attributes, and estimate the likelihood and magnitude of the rounding of specific nutrients and calories. We find systematic rounding, both up and down, of several nutrients, which affects allowable health claims and may influence consumer product choice and health outcomes.     

The daughter effect: do CEOs with daughters hire more women to their board?

Using a sample of S&P 100 firms, we find that CEOs with a daughter are more likely to hire new women to their board of directors than CEOs without a daughter. Our results provide additional evidence that parents’ attitudes and actions are affected by the gender of their children and that the effect is strong enough to influence important decisions at large corporations.     

生态旅游视域下的岷江上游贫困山区生态安全评价

[目的]构建科学合理的评价指标体系,准确评价生态旅游影响下的区域生态安全状况,是推动少数民族山区实现旅游资源环境与区域社会、经济协同发展的前提和基础。[方法]以岷江上游贫困山区为例,应用灰色系统理论与熵值赋权法相结合,基于压力—状态—响应模型,构建生态旅游视域下的区域生态安全评估指标体系,并将评估指数与经济收入状况及贫困人口分布进行空间耦合。[结果](1)区域当前处于较安全水平,生态旅游开发适度;(2)综合评估指数与城镇居民可支配收入增长率、旅游收入对国民经济增长的贡献率呈正相关,且城镇居民在旅游开发中受益与机会较农牧民多;(3)综合评估指数与贫困人口比重呈负相关,与农牧民纯收入增长率没有必然联系。[结论]区域脱贫能够改善当地的生态安全状况,适度生态旅游开发是区域脱贫的有效手段,但应注重扶持农牧民在旅游业中的参与度,增加其旅游收益。     

Tourism as a discipline in light of the non-classical sociology of science

Embedding the issue of the recognition of tourism by the academia in the context of the scientific identity of the researchers of tourism can bring valuable insights into the debate. Moreover, such an approach is aligned with the main assumptions of social constructionism and the non-classical sociology of science (knowledge) stemming from the paradigm theory of science formulated by Kuhn. These concepts served as the foundations for the present research, allowing for the formulation of its main hypothesis: that every academic community has the right to decide whether it accepts tourism as a separate academic discipline or not, and that there is no reason why any opinion on this matter should be imposed on everyone. Another useful piece of information can be gained by adopting an epistemological perspective in the form of the questions: will separating tourism from other disciplines make it possible for us to learn more about it? Or should we continue considering it through the prisms of other disciplines? These were the premises which drove both parts of the present research: literature query and empirical study (which featured results from researchers from all around the world), and were addressed in the conclusion.     

关于加快农田水利供给侧改革的几点思考

我国灌溉面积位居世界第一,主要矛盾由总量不足转变为结构性矛盾,深入推进供给侧结构性改革提上议程。针对存在的主要结构性矛盾,研究提出系统解决方案,即调整结构、去除库存、提升品质、降低成本、补齐短板。调整结构重点是严格落实"以水定地",着力以水资源、水生态、水环境承载能力倒逼灌溉面积调整;去除库存重点是依法实施"僵尸"工程降等报废,及时办理注销登记;提升品质重点是大力发展高效节水灌溉,提升灌溉服务质量;降低成本重点是深化国有灌区管理体制改革,创新"最后一公里"管理模式;补齐短板重点是坚持统分结合、重点在统的原则推进农田水利产权改革,深化农业水价综合改革,建立准确补贴机制。     

Chinese tourists' views of nature and natural landscape interpretation: a generational perspective

This study investigates Chinese tourists’ views of nature, interest in animal experiences and their preferred natural landscape interpretation content from a generational perspective. Eight hundred and eight self-administered questionnaires were collected at Wulingyuan, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, in China. It suggests that overall Chinese traditional cultural values and beliefs, notably the thinking of tian ren he yi (oneness of nature with humans), still have considerable impacts on Chinese tourists. They were found to have a strong sense of connection with nature and a preference for cultural interpretations of natural landscapes. Meanwhile, Chinese might be reaching a point of convergence in terms of attitude towards nature and animals with their Western counterparts, as reflected by their weak anthropocentric view, and strong ethical and aesthetic appreciation of animals, regardless of generation cohorts. Yet, the study shows significant generational gaps: older generations have a stronger connection with nature, are more concerned about environmental issues and show more support for the Western approach towards nature protection; the younger generations hold weaker anthropocentrism, and are more interested in animals, yet are less likely to learn about nature through tourism interpretation.     

国有资本经营预算能够提高地方国有企业投资效率吗？

以A股地方国有上市公司为研究对象，从投资效率的角度考察国有资本经营预算制度的实施效果，并进一步检验其对企业价值的影响。研究发现，国有资本经营预算能够显著抑制地方国有企业的非效率投资，尤其是抑制过度投资行为,并且这种影响对处于市场化程度较低地区的地方国有企业更加显著。进一步研究发现，国有资本经营预算能够通过抑制非效率投资来促进地方国有企业价值的提升。