MEASURING CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR ECOLABELED SEAFOOD: AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON

An analysis of consumer preferences for seafood labeled with information about environmental production attributes is introduced into the food labeling literature. International seafood ecolabeling programs have proposed to create market-based incentives for fisheries managers to promote sustainable fisheries. We investigate differences in consumer preferences for ecolabeled seafood across the United States and Norway. Using a contingent-choice telephone survey of random households in each nation, a wide range of factors is found to influence consumers' likelihood of purchasing ecolabeled seafood. Consumer preferences differ by price premium, species, consumer group, and certifying agency. The effect of these factors often differs between the United States and Norway, suggesting heterogeneity in international reactions to seafood ecolabels.Consumer/Household Economics,

An exploratory study of associations between social capital and selfassessed health in Norway

The objective of this study is to estimate associations between social capital and health when other factors are controlled for. Data from the survey of level-of-living conditions by Statistics Norway are merged with data from several other sources. The merged files combine data at the individual level with data that describe indicators of community-level social capital related to each person’s county of residence. Both cross-sectional and panel data are used. We find that one indicator of community-level social capital — voting participation in local elections — was positively associated with self-assessed health in the cross-sectional study and in the panel data study. While we find that religious activity at the community-level has a positive effect in the cross-sectional survey and a non-significant effect in the panel survey, we find that sports organizations have a negative effect on health in the cross-sectional survey and a non-significant effect in the panel study. This result indicates that sports organizations represent bonding social capital.social capital; health; Norway

Evaluating implementation of the WHO set of recommendations on the marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children: Progress, challenges and guidance for next steps in the WHO European Region

This paper describes the status of the implementation of the WHO Set of Recommendations on the Marketing of Foods and Non-alcoholic Beverages to Children (2010). The Set of Recommendations, adopted by the World Health Assembly, urges Member States to reduce the impact on children of the marketing of energy-dense, highly processed foods and beverages that are high in saturated fats, trans fats, free sugars and/or salt (HFSS). A growing body of independent monitoring and research indicates that existing policies and regulations are markedly insufficient to address the continuing challenges in this field. This report identifies loopholes, ongoing challenges, and factors that Member States need to consider to effectively limit the harmful impact that HFSS food marketing has on children, their health and their rights. Policies and regulations tend to use narrow definitions and criteria (they frequently apply to pre-digital media only, to younger children and not to adolescents, and to “child-directed” media, rather than those with the greatest child audiences), and they almost never address the complex challenges of crossborder marketing. This situation can be explained, in part, by the strong scrutiny and opposition that countries have faced from parts of the private sector, and by weak self-regulatory schemes. As a result, and in order to ensure that States uphold their legal obligations to protect the child’s right to health and related rights, the World Health Assembly requested that WHO provides additional technical support to Member States in implementing the Set of Recommendations. This report identifies challenges States need to address

How business models in the newspaper industry are selected and innovated : a case study of two Norwegian media groups

The newspaper industry is a dynamic industry and the extent of this has increased in recent years. A likely consequence of this is a need to adjust and innovate the business models applied in the industry. Through a qualitative study of two media groups, this thesis explores the design of digital business models used in the newspapers of these groups, by assessing them through a framework. It further considers the rationale for why the current design has been selected, and in what manner relevant driving forces seem to influence innovation of the business models. Key findings are that group affiliation, experimentation, and the two external forces technological innovation and changing customer behavior, influence the choice of digital business models applied in the two media groups today. These aspects are found to be influencing the examined newspapers’ selection of business models both directly, and both external factors and experiments are found to influence indirectly through one or both of the other aspects as well.nhhma

Environmental Communication on Social Media: Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and The Public. A Comparison between South Korea and Norway

Along with the emphasis on environmental communication, this thesis examines how environmental groups and the public communicate through social media in Norway and South Korea. Environmental communication plays a key role in navigating how we understand the imminent climate change and environmental issues, and achieve a transition to a sustainable future. However, environmental communication is a complex process because it involves various stakeholders and their own interests. Thus, setting appropriate environmental communication is a task that conveys information and encourages various stakeholders to take relevant actions to solve the problem. Specifically, environmental NGOs have been dedicated to serving as intermediaries between the public and other groups including scientists and politicians by bridging each other, who is to be engaged in environmental issues. Meanwhile, the rise of social media use has dramatically transformed the landscape of this environmental communication by fostering abundant networks across different spheres, both environmental groups and the public. Consequently, social media tools are currently used to disseminate environmental advocacy by environmental NGOs (Non-governmental Organizations), as well as to learn about the issues of individuals. Therefore, this thesis presents the interaction between environmental NGOs and public individuals using social media and compares Norwegian and Korean cases. This thesis aims to detect environmental communication gaps among all those distinct spheres, including cultural differences, and provide empirical details capturing valuable implications based on the linked findings. Accordingly, this thesis is organized as a case study based on in-depth interviews using qualitative research methods. The interviews were conducted with selected environmental NGOs and individuals from Norway and Korea. The NGOs and individual participants were investigated for how NGOs disseminate their agenda using social media, and how individuals perceive environmental information of NGOs and become motivated to take action, respectively. In addition, Agenda-Setting theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior are mainly used to analyze and discuss the findings of results, linking this study to established hypotheses. The discussion focuses on connecting respective findings across the spheres investigated. The results of this thesis generally confirm the principles of environmental communication, but also identify some gaps in investigated spheres across the levels. The findings show gaps between the communication strategies of NGOs and public perception, individual attitude-behavior gaps, and disparities between Norwegian and Korean groups. These differences encompass framing and perceiving the environmental issue salience, message tones, targeted scale of mitigation efforts, implementation of pro-environmental behaviors, and relationships with relevant stakeholders. This thesis portrays various intersections in the current environmental communication ecosystem and sheds light on the relationship between cultural context and environmental communication

Determinants of Voluntary Organizations’ Attention on Facebook: The Case of Norwegian Voluntary Organizations

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"Rarely we see them for all that they do": Examining the Civic Participation of Immigrant Women in Norway

Often immigrant women are assumed to be politically apathetic due to statistically lower rates of involvement in traditional political participation strategies. These measurements neglect the different strategies immigrant women may utilize to influence positive change, such as of civic participation. This thesis explores the strategies and arenas of civic participation immigrant women in Norway use as well as the accessibility and appeal of civic and alternative forms of participation to immigrant women. This was a qualitative, interpretive phenomenological study utilizing six semi-structured interviews. The participants were immigrant women who were involved in the community. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data and identify codes and themes. This study found that participants were involved in the community in many ways, including participating in NGOs with social justice aims, the neighborhood, in dugnad, and more. Their insights also revealed more informal strategies of participation, such as personal interactions to challenge stereotypes and racism. Experiences of marginalization influence the type and aim of participation. Participants’ involvement was constrained by factors applying particularly to their intersecting identities, such as unfamiliar and exclusionary social codes and organizational power imbalances. As immigrant women, they also felt they were seen as victims and not recognized for their competences. The way in which participants persisted despite barriers to affect change represents a potential for empowerment in civic engagement. Many participants held transformative aims and saw civic participation as a valuable arena to this purpose. However, the conception of active citizenship reveals the normative values inherent in valorizing high levels of participation. Immigrant women in particular are pressured to perform their belonging through acts of contribution to the community without recognition of the barriers they face. Valuable participation is defined by the dominant society, and dominant spaces that reproduce hierarchies and constrain possibilities for truly transformative change are privileged. This study concludes that while civic participation holds a potential for empowerment, it must be evaluated contextually, and the participation of immigrant women in informal arenas should be further explored and uncovered.Master's ThesisGLODE33

THE IMPACT OF HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES OF SALMON CHOICE IN THE UNITED STATES

In recent years, U.S. consumers have increasingly sought information about the health implications of their food purchases, as well as the environmental and social impact of the food production process. While this growing consumer demand has helped facilitate the development of several seafood certification programs, no accessible public or private data shows that U.S. shoppers are willing to pay a premium for certified seafood. To estimate whether a price premium exists for current and forthcoming certifications for wild and farmed salmon producers, and to better understand U.S. consumers’ preferences for salmon, we surveyed a representative sample of 955 shoppers from the United States. We then conducted a conjoint analysis on their willingness to pay for different methods of production (wild or farmed), countries or regions of origin, the Marine Stewardship Council’s wild seafood ‘ecolabel’, and hypothetical certifications assuring that the salmon product is associated with fewer health risks, environmental impacts, or negative social issues. Of the factors which affect consumers’ salmon purchasing decisions, the combination of fresh salmon’s method of production and its region of origin is generally a stronger determinant of U.S. salmon shopper’s purchasing decisions than the salmon’s certifications. Consumers strongly favor wild salmon to farmed salmon, prefer salmon from the United States to salmon from other countries, are willing to pay the largest premiums for environmental certifications, and state they are willing to pay the lowest premium for the health and safety certification. Results show that 1) fresh salmon producers and retailers have financial incentives to display social and environmental labels at seafood counters in markets, 2) a price premium for a health and safety certification of farmed salmon would be limited, since salmon consumers are more responsive to negative than positive information related to health issues associated with the salmon that they purchase, and 3) certifying agencies, and all retailers have financial incentives to inform consumers about the benefits and risks of salmon production and consumption, because informed consumers are willing to pay more for certified fresh salmon as well as most types of uncertified fresh salmon.Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy,

Perspectives on a long-term stakeholder dialogue : lessons learned from the Snøhvit project - Statoil and the Fishermen's Association

Masteroppgave i Energy management - Høgskolen i Bodø, 2010The point of departure for my research is to conduct a case study of Statoil's stakeholder approach from the establishment of the Snøhvit project until the current situation in Nordland VI, VII and Troms II. This research is based on the communication process that evolved between Statoil and the Fishermen’s Association from the initial contact regarding the Snøhvit1 project up to a pending situation for coexistence on waters off Lofoten Islands. Anyone who has followed the media focus on the topic of coexistence in the waters off the Lofoten Islands will understand that this is a major challenge to an oil company’s stakeholder approach. The Fishermen’s Association represents a major stakeholder and claims its rights and respect from the oil industry based on its long-lasting history of operating in these waters without interference. A passionate debate has evolved ranging from the view of the fisheries’ rights to these marine resources to the fear of negative environmental impact due to oil activity in these waters. The pending political decision, based on the fisheries’ position, the authorities’ advice, NGOs and general public opinion, may finally lead to an opening for oil activity in these waters in the near future. My curiosity regarding the fisheries’ different attitudes for coexistence to different waters encouraged me to conduct a qualitative research to interpret meanings and different constructions of my respondents experiences, thus reveal aspects of Statoil's stakeholder approach. As demonstrated in my findings, Statoil’s interaction with different social networks managed to externalize knowledge and understanding that modified attitudes in this key stakeholder, which internalized this as trustworthy. Derived from my findings, it emerged that Statoil was collaborating with the Fishermen’s Association based on deliberate strategies, where its purpose was solely to develop conditions for good establishment and coexistence in the Barents Sea. My findings demonstrated that Statoil’s social interaction with the Fishermen’s Association corresponds with its stated obligations. The management team from Statoil managed to develop a long and continuous dialogue with this stakeholder during the establishment of the Snøhvit project, all the way to the end. Derived from my findings it appears that Statoil have considered their perspective on their stakeholder approach. My findings indicate that a long-term dialogue with local stakeholders should be considered beyond a one-by-one project, which could ease their access to more sensitive fields