Alternative Channels of Luxury Consumption by the Low-Income Segment

Alternative luxury consumption refers to all forms of luxury access and usage that can substitute for the original luxury and this can be in the form of second-hand, rented and counterfeit luxury. For the low-income segment, the luxury concept is very fluid, hence the ease of transition between available alternative options. This segment easily transits between these three forms of alternative luxury channels to meet their self-defined goals. Therefore, while the three forms of luxury consumption may look different in practice, they share very important underlying similarities from the point of view of people from the low-income segment, who use them interchangeably to meet their personal needs and goals. This alternative consumption behaviour presents a huge risk to the authentic luxury market as the massification of luxury through the growing alternative channels will continue to weaken the aspirational meaning of luxury. The original buyers of authentic luxury may find reasons to detach from luxury usage because it is no longer serving its exclusive value for social distinction. Previous literature investigating alternative luxury consumption has focused on an isolated understanding of each of these alternative options to luxury consumption, thus leaving a gap of assessing individuals’ readiness to partake in any kind of alternative luxury consumption from an integrated perspective. This study fills that gap by focusing on alternative luxury consumption in its holistic and unified manner using various theories as the basis, including Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 2001), the theory of goal-directed behaviours (Perugini and Bagozzi, 2001), theory of goals systems (Kruglanski et al., 2015), and the functional theory of attitudes (Kazu, 1960). It attempts to jointly understand what any of the three alternative luxury access dimensions means to low-income groups and how this understanding can be useful in determining how best to de-risk the global authentic market. The study aimed to investigate alternative luxury consumption in the young, low income population of Nigeria. There are two parts to the study. The first part is qualitative and consisted of two focus groups from which I understood the main themes related to alternative luxury consumption from the low-income viewpoint. The second part consisted of theorizing, constructing and validating a construct, Alternative Luxury Consumption Readiness (ALCR), as a measure of an individuals’ readiness to use, promote and recommend any of the three forms of alternative luxury options. Furthermore, a theoretical model which placed ALCR as a mediator between the functions of attitude towards alternative luxury and alternative luxury consumption was tested. Using various statistical analyses, it was determined that ALCR has great reliability and validity. In the model, four of the five attitude functions predicted ALCR, and that their relationship with alternative luxury consumption behaviour was mediated by ALCR. The utility function, which allows people from the low-income segment of a population to experiment, explore and enjoy luxury on their own terms, has the highest predictive ability of behaviour. Furthermore, ALCR was found as similar but distinct from other existing concepts in the luxury literature. Therefore, it was determined that ALCR is a reliable and valid instrument which may be used to assess alternative consumption readiness. The implications of these findings are also discussed

SOCIAL INFORMATION PROCESSING AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IN CHILDHOOD: THEORY AND PRACTICE

Social-emotional skills training is ubiquitous in American public schools; however, the effectiveness of these programs has not been well-established. Small effect sizes plus mixed and contradictory findings raise the importance of refining existing programs by incorporating new knowledge in social cognitive and behavioral sciences and investigating factors that contribute to discrepancies across evaluation findings. This three-paper dissertation is an effort to address these issues. The first paper reviews an important theoretical advance in social cognitive research: the social information processing (SIP) theory. The paper develops a general framework for applying SIP theory to social-emotional skills training, and reviews issues in applying SIP to practice. The paper distinguishes SIP-based interventions from traditional social problem-solving (SPS) interventions. Several methodological issues in conducting SIP intervention research are discussed. The second and the third papers investigate one implementation factor--the length of treatment exposure or dosage--to help explain the contradictory findings from evaluation studies of social-emotional skills training programs. Investigating the effects of varying dosage (i.e., dosage analysis) is an important but critically understudied area of social intervention research. Dosage analysis requires advanced statistical techniques to balance multiple dosage groups and estimate valid effects by treatment exposure level. The second paper reviews a recent development in the family of propensity score-based methods--generalized propensity score-based (GPS) methods--with potential utility for balancing multiple dosage groups. In addition to discussing GPS application principles, this paper demonstrates the use of one GPS method with a continuous treatment variable. The third paper investigates dosage effects of a SIP-based social-emotional skills training program, the Making Choices program. The analysis uses the GPS method with a continuous treatment variable. Data were drawn from a national evaluation study of Making Choices. Dosage effects were evaluated for eight key outcomes at the end of Grade 3 and Grade 4 years. Findings indicate dosage effects on social competence and emotional regulation at the end of Grade 3. No effects were observed at the end of Grade 4. Further, findings suggest characteristics of the quality of implementation (e.g., level of student engagement, teacher-student relationship) are important areas for future investigation.Doctor of Philosoph

A multi-method inquiry on online communities

This dissertation studies the behavioral characteristics of participants engaged in information exchange in the context of online communities. Online communities are defined as collectives of individuals that use computer mediated communication to facilitate interaction over a shared purpose and/or objective. It is argued that this interaction creates externalities, for example, in the form of codified information that others can use through web search tools. These externalities assemble a virtual form of social capital, a commonly shared resource. The research objective of this thesis is to examine how the behavioral tendencies of the participants in online communities are affected by the way this common resource is formatted, administered and shared. The dissertation consists of two parts: a theoretical part where the empirical background and the object of research inquiry is highlighted, and an empirical part which consists of four empirical studies carried out in the context of three online communities, namely, Google Answers, Yahoo!Answers and Amazon Online Reviews. The empirical part of this dissertation starts with a controlled experiment emulating a well known social dilemma: the public goods game. It provides substance as to whether and when participants in online communities behave (un) cooperatively. The next two studies focus on a special case of online communities where participants ask questions and other participants post answers conditionally on social and monetary incentives. The results of these two studies confirm that community participants do care about the contributions of others and engage in incentive compatible behavior. Yahoo!Answers participants exercise effort in the community by posting answers to questions conditionally on benefits provided by other participants. The empirical findings show that contributing participants in an online community receive answers faster, while those that do not contribute much effort are sanctioned in the form of longer response-time to their questions. In Google Answers this thesis, interactions can be observed that are based on monetary rewards (rather than social rewards in the form of a reputation index as in Yahoo Answers). Participants make use of voluntarily awarded payoffs (tips) along with stated rewards, in order to motivate those that provide answers (answerers) to provide better quality in their responses. The findings of this study confirm the symmetric effect between monetary rewards and quality. However, this study also identifies cases where social norms have a significant effect on response behavior. When participants seek to get better service with less effort (in terms of total cost), a reputation index which is constructed by the history of their previous interactions supports such an attempt. In other words, reputation history influences information sharing behavior in online communities. The last chapter of the empirical part focuses on another crucial aspect of information as a shared resource: Clarity and understandability. The study examines online product reviews on Amazon.com. The results suggest that participants do care about the clarity of this codified form of experience which increases a helpfulness index accordingly. The thesis overall finds symmetric effects between participation in online communities and output of interaction, but also identifies the ability of the participants to interact strategically as they seek to minimize the effort they provide in order to find the information they seek. The results underline the importance of signaling and quality evaluation mechanisms as counter-balancing control that can enhance activity on online communities

Self-Monitoring in Military Consumer Research

Underutilized military products exist among soldiers and can reduce safety, performance, and morale. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which self-monitoring constructs (Self-Monitoring, Acting, Extraversion, and Other-Directedness), gender, leadership, length of service, deployments, and combat experience predict military consumer attitudes. Self-monitoring theory describes differences in expressive control and self-presentation to predict consumer attitudes and behavior. High self-monitors alter their consumer behavior to gain social favor and low self-monitors base their consumer decisions on product quality, functionality, and internally held views of self. An archival dataset was used with 220 active-duty soldiers who provided liking ratings of military food, clothing, and equipment presented in written scenarios. A quantitative, nonexperimental, correlational design was used. Standard multiple regression analyses determined that none of the self-monitoring constructs predicted liking ratings except Extraversion. Higher levels of Extraversion predicted higher liking ratings. Females rated all product scenarios significantly lower than males did. Leadership, years in service, and combat experience were also significant predictors of liking ratings in some of the product scenarios. Liking ratings appeared to be related to military cultural conditions and a need for social connectedness among soldiers. These results suggested that evaluation of military products is influenced by military culture, gender, and social connectedness. The results from this study may be used for positive social change by military product developers to reduce waste of military resources and improve soldier morale through more desirable product offerings

Spatial implications of energy performance certificates on housing prices in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area

The concepts of “energy sustainability” and “environmentally friendly” arouse extensive attention and the discussion on how to utilize, save and regulate energy and reduce pollution has become a dominant issue. The building sector in Europe is responsible for 40% of total energy consumption and 38% of total CO2 emissions, leading to economic, geopolitical and environmental concerns. An increasing number of studies have recognized the significant role that energy efficiency played in the residential market and the energy policies and the inner implication that promote or hinder the EPC program has aroused researchers’ concerns. This dissertation aims to explore the spatial implications of energy efficiency on housing price in Barcelona Metropolitan Area and furtherly detect the energy premium submarket in details as well as their policy implications. To well-fulfil this general objective, there are four specific objectives proposed: 1) To explore the possibility of selection biases when detecting the “green premium” in Barcelona residential market; 2) To explore the EPC impacts on housing price in different residential segmentations are uneven or not; 3) To explore the presence of spatial dependence (i.e. autocorrelation) when analyzing the impact of EPC on housing price; 4) To explore the presence of spatial heterogeneity when analyzing the impact of EPC on housing price. This dissertation has employed a series of Hedonic Price Models (HPMs) and spatial econometric models as well as other approaches or methods to fulfil the specific objectives. It has drawn a series of conclusion concerning each empirical study. Firstly, sample selection bias indeed exists and will lower the energy efficiency’s impacts on housing price. In our case, the green premium will reach to an increase of 12% if an apartment improves its energy efficiency from rating G to rating A. From an ordinal EPC perspective, about 2% growth of housing price along with energy efficiency rating improvement gradually (i.e. step by step in the G to A Spanish EPC Scale). At the same time, we found that selection biases in Barcelona mainly happened surrounding the area with a higher housing price and more university-educated citizens. From a real estate segmentation perspective, there are several highlights of energy premium performance. Secondly, consumers are willing to pay more for those tangible characteristics (e.g. heating or air conditioning) rather than an intangible and composite indicator. Interestingly, the housing price in “new apartment” segmentation market does not sensitive at all to energy efficiency which supposed that the EPC implication has been captured by new buildings’ structural quality. However, those cheapest apartments with a worst structural quality can enjoy considerable “energy premium” (reaching to 33%) if they renovated certificates from rating G to rating A. It is inferred that the poor people may regard this EPC label as one of the quality indicators for an apartment. It highlights that the spread and transparency of energy efficiency may fail to the public with a lower income/lower social class. Thirdly, empirical study III and IV confirmed the existence of spatial dependence and heterogeneity which contributed to the non-stationary distribution of energy premium. In sum, there are many limitations to this dissertation but it has synthesized a comprehensive model to check the spatial implication of energy efficiency on housing prices. In the future how to improve this compositive model and apply it in other case study are our aims.Los conceptos de “sostenibilidad energética” y “ambientalmente amigable” han ganado relevancia, y la discusión sobre cómo utilizar, ahorrar y regular la energía para reducir la contaminación, se ha convertido en un tema dominante. El sector de la construcción en Europa es responsable del 40% del consumo total de energía y del 38% de las emisiones totales de CO2, lo que genera preocupaciones económicas, geopolíticas y medioambientales. Por esta razón, varios países y distritos de Europa han comenzado a establecer sistemas de gestión energética de edificios para controlar, supervisar y mejorar la eficiencia energética de las edificaciones. Entre ellos se incluyen los Certificados de Eficiencia Energética (EPC), lanzados en 2003, el Método de Evaluación Ambiental del Building Research Establishment (BREEAM), que se lanzó en el Reino Unido en 1990, la certificación de Alta Calidad Ambiental (HQE) en Francia y Minergie en Suiza. Asimismo, una gran cantidad de estudios han reconocido la importancia de la eficiencia energética en el mercado residencial. Donde las implicaciones internas de las políticas energéticas que promueven o dificultan el programa de EPC, han despertado la preocupación de los investigadores. En este contexto, la presente tesis doctoral ha buscado contribuir en este campo de investigación, con especial atención a la Zona Climática Mediterránea que no ha sido bien discutida hasta el momento. En general, El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo explorar las implicaciones espaciales de la eficiencia energética en el precio de la vivienda en el Área Metropolitana de Barcelona y detectar con más detalle el submercado de la prima energética, así como sus implicaciones políticas. Para cumplir con este objetivo general, se proponen cuatro objetivos específicos: 1) evaluar los posibles sesgos de selección a la hora de detectar la “prima verde” en el mercado residencial de Barcelona; 2) analizar la desigualdad de los impactos del EPC en el precio de la vivienda en diferentes segmentaciones residenciales; 3) evaluar la dependencia espacial (es decir, autocorrelación) al analizar el impacto del EPC en el precio de la vivienda; 4) examinar la heterogeneidad espacial al analizar el impacto del EPC en el precio de la vivienda. Como la segunda zona urbana más grande con clima mediterráneo y con las viviendas más eficientes energéticamente de España, el Área Metropolitana de Barcelona es un buen ejemplo para analizar el comportamiento de la eficiencia energética de esta región. En nuestro caso, el precio de venta de los apartamentos y otras variables relativas que impactan en los precios de la vivienda se recopilaron en 2014 y 2016 respectivamente. Para esta investigación se han empleado una serie de Modelos de Precios Hedónicos (HPM) y modelos econométricos espaciales, así como otros enfoques o métodos para cumplir con los objetivos específicos. En estudio empírico I, se aplica el modelo de dos pasos de Heckman para determinar si existen sesgos en la selección de la muestra. Una vez que haya un sesgo de selección, se introducirá una variable de instrumento - "relación inversa de Mills" en el HPM para corregir dichos sesgos. Finalmente, se presenta una breve comparación entre los resultados de la estimación de OLS y HPM sin sesgo para ver cómo los sesgos de la muestra de selección influyen en los resultados, positiva o negativamente. Después de corregir los sesgos mediante la selección de la muestra, el estudio empírico II empleó un HPM tradicional con una variable de sistema integral en cuanto a calidad estructural, accesibilidad, vecindario y medio ambiente, así como el aspecto socioeconómico. Luego, se utiliza un análisis de conglomerados de dos pasos para identificar la existencia de segmentación inmobiliaria. De acuerdo con el desempeño de varias características de la segmentación, se especifican varios HPM para explorar cómo la eficiencia energética impacta en el precio de la vivienda a nivel local. Los estudios empíricos III y IV, introducen el Modelo de Error Espacial (SEM) y el Modelo de Regresión Ponderada Geográficamente (GWR) para resolver las implicaciones espaciales, donde el primero es para el problema de la dependencia espacial y el segundo para la heterogeneidad espacial. Cada uno de los estudios empíricos ha arrojado conclusiones particulares. En primer lugar, existe un sesgo de selección de la muestra que reducirá los impactos de la eficiencia energética en el precio de la vivienda. En nuestro caso, la prima verde alcanzará un aumento del 12% si un apartamento mejora su eficiencia energética de la calificación G a la calificación A. Desde una perspectiva EPC ordinal, alrededor del 2% de crecimiento del precio de la vivienda junto con la mejora de la calificación de eficiencia energética gradualmente (es decir, paso a paso en la escala EPC española de G a A). Al mismo tiempo, encontramos que los sesgos de selección en Barcelona ocurrieron principalmente en las zonas de mayor precio de vivienda y el mayor número de ciudadanos con educación universitaria. Desde una perspectiva de segmentación inmobiliaria, hay varios aspectos destacados del desempeño de la prima energética. En segundo lugar, los consumidores están dispuestos a pagar más por aspectos tangibles (por ejemplo, calefacción o aire acondicionado) que intangibles y compuestos. Curiosamente, el precio de la vivienda en el mercado de segmentación de "apartamentos nuevos" no es sensible en absoluto a la eficiencia energética, lo que supuso que la implicación del EPC se había reflejado en la calidad estructural de los nuevos edificios. Sin embargo, aquellos apartamentos más baratos y de menor calidad estructural son acreedores de una considerable “prima energética” (llegando al 33%) si renovaron los certificados de la calificación G a la calificación A. Se infiere que las personas de menos ingresos pueden considerar la etiqueta del EPC como un indicador de calidad para un apartamento, aunque se destaca que la difusión y transparencia de la certificación de la eficiencia energética puede presentar más fallas al público de las clases sociales más bajas. En tercer lugar, los estudios empíricos III y IV confirmaron la existencia de dependencia espacial y heterogeneidad que contribuyó a la distribución no estacionaria de la prima energética. En resumen, aunque existe una gran cantidad de limitaciones en el estudio de este tema, el presente trabajo ha logrado sintetizar un modelo integral para verificar la implicación espacial de la eficiencia energética en los precios de la vivienda. Por lo que, en futuras investigaciones buscará mejorar este modelo y replicarlo en otros casos de estudio.Gestió i valoració urbana i arquitectònic

UTPA Undergraduate Catalog 2009-2011

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/edinburglegacycatalogs/1075/thumbnail.jp

Databook for human factors engineers. Volume 2 - Common formulas, metrics, definitions

Human factors engineering manual including mathematical formulas, nomographs, conversion tables, units of measurement, and nomenclature

UTPA Undergraduate Catalog 2007-2009

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/edinburglegacycatalogs/1074/thumbnail.jp

Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog of the University of Rhode Island 1997-1998

This is a digitized, downloadable version of the Undergraduate and Graduate course catalog.https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/course-catalogs/1049/thumbnail.jp