Using Content Analysis to Examine Consumer Behaviors Portrayed on Television: A Pilot Study in a Consumer Education Context

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of content analysis methodology for clarifying the nature of one agent of consumer socialization, prime-time television. The results indicated that the consumer-related content of prime-time television programs can be identified with this technique and that it may be useful in studying a variety of issues in consumer affairs. Special issues that should be considered in using the methodology are outlined, as are some promising avenues for future research concerning the socialization of consumers.     

Commitment Approach to Motivating Community Recycling: New Zealand Curbside Trial

An urban community in New Zealand was the site of a field experiment designed to assess different approaches to increasing household participation in a cnrbside recycling program. Two different commitment interventions were delivered using a 2 × 2 factorial design, and weekly participation data were collected over 12 weeks. Half of the households were asked to make an explicit verbal commitment to participate in the program, while half were not. Half of the households were also requested to pay for their recycling bins, while half received bins free of charge. All households received the same educational and promotional information, specifically designed to maximize participation, regarding program details. The verbal commitment intervention significantly increased participation relative to the no commitment intervention, while difficulties in the operationalization of the financial commitment intervention made it difficult to assess its validity as a construct. Notably, differences in participation rates between the control group, who received only educational and promotional materials, and the experimental treatment groups were not statistically significant. The discussion focuses oh the increasing importance of well-designed educational materials for encouraging voluntary curb-side recycling.     

PRACTICAL USE OF ENERGY IN THE HOME

This paper is based on evidence submitted to the Watt Committee on Energy by members of the Association of Home Economists working in relevant fuel and appliance industries and in consumer advice. The paper considers the evidence available about practical energy use in the home and its relation to energy saving. The energy management of different categories of domestic equipment is considered together with the concept of energy labelling. The educational aspects are considered and recommendations are made.     

Consumer acceptance of irradiated food: A study of symbolic adoption

Previous research reveals mixed signals regarding the potential for consumer acceptance of irradiated food. Consumer acceptance seems to depend upon the nature and amount of information provided about irradiation. Survey research finds that only about 20–30% of respondents initially express favourable opinions of irradiation with some cautionary signals concerning consumer suspicion of the process and its benefits to the public. Some laboratory experiments and market tests, on the other hand, indicate a willingness of the consumer to accept a high quality, government-approved product, especially when irradiation is placed within the context of alternative pest and bacteria control treatments. However, these studies fail to provide the consumer with negative information about irradiation. This study examines the relative impact of social persuasion and both favourable and unfavourable information on consumer acceptance of food irradiation. The study takes the approach that consumer acceptance is a social process, wherein acceptance becomes subject to societal approval through word-of-mouth conversations. Previous literature suggests that social persuasion, particularly negative social persuasion, should outweigh favourable information on consumer acceptance of a new technology. This proposition is supported by the results of our study, which indicates that responses that were initially favourable to irradiation, especially those opinions formed in the absence of unfavourable information, should be interpreted with caution. The study supports previous research, therefore, suggesting that industry and governmental agencies would benefit from close inspection of societal attitudes towards the food irradiation process.     

Social construction of consumer risk assessments

Subjects in a laboratory experiment were randomly assigned to a condition wherein they were able to discuss potential benefits and risks of a new technology within a small group, or a condition wherein they evaluated the new technology as individuals only. Structural equation analysis indicated that perceived risk, when formed through contact with others, had a significantly different impact on risk response, as measured by intentions and behaviour, than perceived risk that was formed without contact with others. Incorporating a social process perspective and methodology into future research may provide improved understanding of the determinates of consumer risk perception and of the relationship between risk perception and risk response.     

'Late Mobilization': Transnational Peasant Networks and Grassroots Organizing in Brazil and South Africa

In this paper, we analyze the political dynamics of the contemporary 'transnational peasant network' through a comparison of two movements: the Brazilian Movimento Dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) and the South African Landless People's Movement (LPM). We argue that transnational visions of 'peasants' often obscure relations between or within rural movements. One tangible benefit of the transnational peasant network is the exchange of ideas, experiences and information, but this exchange does not happen in a vacuum, rather it happens in the historically-situated, power-laden context of an uneven world system. Organized in 1984, MST activists from Brazil helped to train, educate and inspire South African activists after the LPM formed in 2001, but key elements of the MST's success were inappropriate or unworkable in the South African context. Ultimately, the transfer of movement knowledge from the MST to the LPM may have worked against the long-term success of the latter.