Wintertime for Deceptive Advertising?

Casual empiricism suggests that deceptive advertising about product quality is prevalent, and several classes of theories explore its causes and consequences. We provide some unusually sharp empirical evidence on the extent, mechanics, and dynamics of deceptive advertising. Ski resorts self-report substantially more natural snowfall on weekends. Resorts that plausibly reap greater benefits from exaggerating do it more. Data on website visits suggests that consumers are appropriately skeptical of weekend reports. We find little evidence that competition restrains or encourages exaggeration. Near the end of our sample period, a new iPhone application feature makes it easier for skiers share information on ski conditions in real time. Exaggeration falls sharply, especially at resorts with better iPhone reception.

How context influences the segmentation of movement trajectories - an experimental approach for environmental and behavioral context

In the digital information age where large amounts of movement data are generated daily through technological devices, such as mobile phones, GPS, and digital navigation aids, the exploration of moving point datasets for identifying movement patterns has become a research focus in GIScience (Dykes and Mountain 2003). Visual analytics (VA) tools, such as GeoVISTA Studio (Gahegan 2001), have been developed to explore large amounts of movement data based on the contention that VA combine computational methods with the outstanding human capabilities for pattern recognition, imagination, association, and reasoning (Andrienko et al. 2008). However, exploring, extracting and understanding the meaning encapsulated in movement data from a user perspective has become a major bottleneck, not only in GIScience, but in all areas of science where this kind of data is collected (Holyoak et al. 2008). Specifically the inherent complex and multidimensional nature of spatio-temporal data has not been sufficiently integrated into visual analytics tools. To ensure the inclusion of cognitive principles for the integration of space-time data, visual analytics has to consider how users conceptualize and understand movement data (Fabrikant et al. 2008). A review on cognitively motivated work exemplifies the urgent need to identify how humans make inferences and derive knowledge from movement data. In order to enhance visual analytics tools by integrating cognitive principles we have to first ask to what extent cognitive factors influence our understanding, reasoning, and analysis of movement pattern extraction. It is especially important to comprehend human knowledge construction and reasoning about spatial and temporal phenomena and processes. This paper proposes an experimental approach with human subject testing to evaluate the importance of contextual information in visual displays of movement patterns. This research question is part of a larger research project, with two main objectives, namely * getting a better understanding of how humans process spatio-temporal information * and empirically validating guidelines to improve the design of visual analytics tools to enhance visual data exploration

Conflict and Recreation Behaviors Among Snowmobilers: The Role of Organizational Membership

This study explores the relationship between conflict and recreation behaviors among snowmobilers at western Montana snowmobile access sites (WMSAS) and investigates whether organizational membership influences the types of conflict experienced and attitudes towards appropriate recreation behaviors. Data were collected through an intercept survey, and responses from 250 snowmobilers were analyzed. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to examine the research questions. The findings suggest that snowmobilers at WMSAS experienced minimal conflict, with interpersonal conflict related to hearing others being the most observed. However, this conflict was not necessarily perceived as a problem by the majority of respondents. Snowmobilers demonstrated an aligned set of attitudes towards appropriate recreation behaviors, indicating the effectiveness of education and messaging regarding responsible snowmobiling practices. Organizational membership did not significantly influence the types of conflict experienced by snowmobilers. Nonmembers tended to perceive more problems with behaviors, while members reported lower levels of conflict typologies. Skill level differences were also identified, highlighting the importance of considering this factor when understanding conflict among recreation snowmobilers. Managers should focus on indirect management strategies, such as promoting TreadLightly! guidelines and providing educational materials, to enhance snowmobilers\u27 understanding of appropriate behaviors. Collaborating with snowmobile clubs and organizations can facilitate the dissemination of messaging and encourage responsible recreation practices. Future research should explore the impact of these strategies on actual behavior and consider a broader range of variables to gain a more comprehensive understanding of snowmobilers\u27 experiences and attitudes. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the conflict dynamics and attitudes of snowmobilers in the WMSAS. It provides valuable insights for managers to develop effective strategies for promoting responsible recreation and mitigating potential conflicts in snowmobiling areas

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationIn 2002, the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine (NRCIM) developed a framework designed to guide practitioners in optimizing youth development. It proposes that settings characterized by particular external assets positively impact youth's internal assets and thus foster youth development. Although popular belief suggests that participation in sports fosters positive youth development (PYD), NRCIM's framework has been underutilized and not examined empirically. Consequently, this mixed methods study sought to understand the relationship between youth's perceptions of the external assets captured by the social psychological climate (ego-involving climate, task-involving climate, and caring climate) and internal personal and social assets (e.g., self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, fun, and connectedness) in early adolescent competitive ski athletes. Boys and girls (n = 88, Mage = 13.44 years old, SD = .50) from nine alpine ski racing teams across the Western Unites States volunteered to complete reliable and valid measurements. Quantitatively, simple correlation and multiple regression analysis examined the relationships between the external, social psychological climate and the internal, psychosocial assets. Simple correlation analysis revealed that task and caring climates were positively associated to psychosocial assets. Perceptions of an ego-involving climate were negatively related to fun. Findings from the regression analysis revealed that athletes positive perceptions of a task-involving climate significantly predicted intrinsic motivation, positive perceptions of a caring climate significantly predicted connectedness, skiing self-efficacy, and general self-efficacy, whereas perceiving an ego-involving climate was a significant negative predictor of fun. Collectively the quantitative findings suggest a task-involving, caring climate may benefit youth athletes. Qualitatively, semistructured interviews with seven (Mage = 13.42 years) girls (n = 5) and boys (n = 2) explored the facets of the social psychological climate that optimize PYD. A general inductive approach analyzed the data, which resulted in the emergence of four overarching themes: (a) fun environment; (b) atmosphere of nurturance and support; (c) teamworks; and (d) coaching style. Based on these four themes, elements of enjoyment, cooperation, and supportive behaviors were identified as strategies in promoting PYD. These findings improve our understanding of the unique factors that contribute to healthy, psychosocial development within early adolescent ski racers

Wintertime for Deceptive Advertising?

Casual empiricism suggests that deceptive advertising about product quality is prevalent, and several classes of theories explore its causes and consequences. We provide unusually sharp empirical evidence on its extent, mechanics, and dynamics. Ski resorts self-report substantially more natural snowfall than comparable government sources. The difference is more pronounced on weekends, despite third-party evidence that snowfall is uniform throughout the week—as one would expect given plausibly greater returns to exaggeration on weekends. Exaggeration is greater for resorts that plausibly reap greater benefits from it: those with expert terrain and those not offering money back guarantees. (JEL D83, L15, L83, M37, Z31

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis thesis analyzed biped stability through a qualitative likelihood of falling and quantitative Potential to Fall (PF) analysis. Both analyses were applied to walking and skiing to better understand behaviors across a wider spectrum of bipedal gaits. For both walking and skiing, two types of locomotion were analyzed. Walking studies compared normal locomotion (gait) to an unexpected slip. Skiing studies compared wedge style locomotion (more common to beginning and intermediate skiers) to parallel style locomotion (more common to advanced and expert skiers). Two mediums of data collection were used. A motion capture laboratory with stereographic cameras and force plates were used for walking studies, and instrumented insoles, capable of force and inertial measurement, were used for skiing studies. Both kinematics and kinetics were used to evaluate the likelihood of falling. The PF metric, based on root mean squared error, was used to quantify the likelihood of falling for multiple subjects both in walking and skiing. PF was based on foot kinematics for walking and skiing studies. PF also included center of pressure for skiing studies. The PF was lower for normal gaits in walking studies and wedge style locomotion for skiing studies

Computational Thinking: The Essential Skill for being Successful in Knowledge Science Research

The VUCA world concept was established in 2016 as the new challenge universe in the 21st century. Humans live in Society 5.0 and the VUCA world simultaneously. The digital word has been a noisy word since then. There are a lot of requisite skills to be a survival kit for this kind of era. The VUCA world's affection is spreading in the way of thinking and creating innovation, especially in the research domain. As a newcomer, Knowledge Science should state the requisite skills for its researchers to conduct their research successfully. Many researchers offered computational thinking as a candidate for an essential skill to satisfy the effect of the VUCA world. This study was focused on conducting a descriptive analysis method based on several literature reviews for mapping how computational thinking can serve as a best practice for Knowledge Science research. This study successfully revealed the connection between Computational Thinking

Climate change impacts on winter tourism in the Pyrenees and adaptation strategies

Climate Change has become no longer a conjecture but an objective reality. The increase of the global average temperature, the seas level rise or the increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events are some examples observed during the past century that have turned the global warming into a sharply contrasted evidence. In this context of climate change, mountain regions have been defined as especially vulnerable areas. The rapid retreat of glaciers and permafrost surfaces, the decrease of snow precipitations, the increase of natural risks such as landslides or the alteration in the amount and distribution of some species prove the high sensitivity of mountain ecosystems. Moreover, in many mountain economies, reliable snowpack plays a key role as an important resource for the winter tourism industry, one of the main income source and driving force of local development in such regions. For this reason, research on the effects of Climate Change on the snowpack depth and duration is particularly necessary in order to assess the potential socioeconomic impacts in mountain regions. If we focus on Andorra and the Pyrenees, there is a research gap due to a clearly lack of academic studies in this field. For this reason, it is not accurately known how Climate Change will affect the ski industry and which are the most suitable adaptation strategies for this specific region. The main goal of this research is to analyze how climate change could affect the snow cover and the snowpack in the Pyrenean ski resorts and to assess the resulting vulnerability of the ski industry of this region. Moreover, the adaptive behavior of skiers to climate change has been included in the analysis in order to analyze the potential redistribution of visitors among the ski resorts due to heterogeneous climate change vulnerability. Based on the results, this study analyzes the suitability and sustainability of the adaptation techniques and strategies to offset the climate variability, first in a case study of Andorra in order to develop a preliminary model and finally extending the analysis to the whole Pyrenees in order to assess the potential concurrence among ski resorts with differentiated climate vulnerability and tourism attractiveness and the resulting redistribution of skiers based on their behavioral adaptation to climate effects. Four different scenarios are considered. Two scenarios assume an increase of winter mean temperature of +2°C and +4°C respectively, taking into account only natural snow conditions and two more including the effect of snowmaking. Results show differing vulnerability levels, allowing the classification of ski resorts into three distinct groups: (1) highly vulnerable ski resorts with a strong reduction in visitors attendance for all climate change scenarios, characterized by unfavorable geographical and attractiveness conditions, making it difficult to ensure snow availability in the future; (2) low vulnerability ski resorts, with moderate reduction in season length during a high climate change scenario but no reduction (or even an increase) in a low one, characterized by ski resorts with a medium capacity and attractiveness to ensure enough snow conditions and capture skiers from other ski resorts; and (3) resilient ski resorts, with good conditions to ensure future snow-reliable seasons and outstanding attractiveness, allowing them to offer longer ski seasons than their competitors and potentially attracting skiers from other closed or marginal resorts. Ski resorts included in this last group increase their skier attendance in all climate change scenarios. Although similar studies in the literature foretell a significant reduction of the ski market in the near future, another probable effect outlined in this study is a redefinition of this market due to a redistribution of skiers, from vulnerable ski resorts to more resilient ones.En els darrers anys, el canvi climàtic ha passat de ser una conjectura a una realitat objectiva. L'increment de la temperatura en superfície, l'increment del nivell del mar o l'increment de la freqüència i la magnitud d'alguns fenòmens meteorològics extrems són alguns exemples de canvis observats durant el segle passat que han fet el canvi climàtic una evidència contrastada. En aquest context, les regions de muntanya han estat identificades com a zones especialment vulnerables. El retrocès de les glaceres, els canvis en els patrons de precipitacions en forma de neu o les alteracions en la quantitat i la distribució d'algunes espècies animals i vegetals són algunes proves de l'alta sensitivitat dels ecosistemes de muntanya. A més a més, en moltes economies de muntanya, la disponibilitat de neu juga un paper clau com a recurs fonamental del turisme d'hivern, una de les principals activitats econòmiques i important motor de desenvolupament local en aquestes regions. Per aquest motiu, entendre els efectes del canvi climàtic sobre la cobertura de neu, i especialment en les zones d'esquí, és especialment necessària per tal d'avaluar alguns dels possibles impactes socioeconòmics en les regions de muntanya. Si ens centrem en el cas d'Andorra i el Pirineu en general, existeix una manca d'estudis acadèmics que analitzin amb detall com el canvi climàtic pot afectar el turisme d'hivern i quines serien les estratègies d'adaptació més adequades. El principal objectiu d'aquesta tesi és analitzar com el canvi climàtic projectat pot afectar la cobertura de neu a les estacions d'esquí alpí del Pirineu i avaluar la vulnerabilitat del sector de l'esquí en aquesta regió. Degut a que la vulnerabilitat de les estacions no és homogenia a tota la regió Pirenaica, la tesi també analitza la capacitat adaptativa dels esquiadors per tal d'avaluar la potencial redistribució entre estacions menys vulnerables i més resilients. A partir d'aquests resultats, s'analitza la ideneïtat i sostenibilitat de les opcions d'adaptació en funció del grau de vulnerabilitat. Primer de tot, s'ha realitzat un primer cas d'estudi centrat en Andorra, per tal de desenvolupar la metodologia i un model preliminar. Finalment s'ha estés l'estudi a la resta del Pirineu afegint-ne l'efecte de l'adaptació dels esquiadors i la possible redistribució resultant entre les estacions amb una atractivitat turística i vulnerabilitat climàtica diferenciada. S'han considerat 4 escenaris diferents. Dos assumint un increment de la temperatura mitjana de +2°C i +4°C respectivament i tenint en compte només condicions de neu natural i dos més incorporant-ne l'efecte de la producció de neu de cultiu pels mateixos increments de temperatura. Els resultats mostren diferents graus de vulnerabilitat de les estacions, permetent-ne la seva classificació en tres grups: (1) estacions altament vulnerables amb fortes reduccions de la cobertura de neu i de la freqüentació per a tots els escenaris, caracteritzades per unes condicions geogràfiques i d'atractivitat turístiques menys favorables; (2) estacions de baixa vulnerabilitat, amb una reducció moderada de la temporada d'esquí en un escenari de major increment de temperatura pero amb poca o nula afectació en un escenari moderat, caracteritzades per una atractivitat mitja i millors condicions per assegurar una major temporada que les estacions més vulnerables; i (3) estacions resilients amb condicions geogràfiques privilegiades i una alta atractivitat turística, amb capacitat d'oferir temporades més llargues i amb millors condicions de neu i per tant amb el potencial d'atraure esquiadors d'aquelles estacions més vulnerables. Tot i que estudis similars projecten una reducció significativa del turisme d'hivern en diverses regions del planeta degut al canvi climàtic, els resultats d'aquesta tesi s'inclinen cap a una futura redefinició del sector com a conseqüència de la redistribució d'esquiadors de les estacions més vulnerables cap a les més resilients

Effects of Hikers and Boats on Tule Elk Behavior in a National Park Wilderness Area

Human disturbance of wildlife may cause disruption of normal feeding, resting, reproduction, or care for juveniles. Such disturbance may be particularly undesirable in federally managed wilderness areas designed to minimize human influences on natural resources. We recorded tule elk (Cervus elephus nannodes) responses (standing, walking away, running) to off-trail hikers, off-shore boats, and other natural and anthropogenic factors in Point Reyes National Seashore in northern California during 2002 to 2008. Most disturbance behaviors were related to other elk exhibiting rutting behaviors, but off-trail hikers still explained a 100% increase and off-shore boats a 15% increase in baseline disturbance behaviors by elk. However, off-trail hikers and boats did not cause elk to enter or leave the study area during the sample periods. Elk were more prone to human disturbance when herd sizes wereand, to a lesser extent, offshore boats appear to disturb natural tule elk behavior, but the physiological or population-level effects of this disturbance are unknown. Our quantitative results may help park managers minimize or mitigate human–elk interactions in wilderness areas

The psychosocial content area in athletic training education: perceptions of athletic training educators and outcomes in athletic training students

Athletic trainers are often a significant source of support for athletes coping with psychosocial issues, both in terms of directly assisting the athlete through psychosocial interventions (e.g., goal setting, motivations) and offering access to other resources (i.e., mental health counseling referrals), as well as providing various types of social support (Barefield & McCallister, 1997; Robbins & Rosenfeld, 2001; Tracey, 2008). Moreover, athletic training education includes a specific content area, Psychosocial Strategies and Referral, to prepare students to meet the athletes’ needs. Athletic trainers (ATs) have expressed an interest in, and increasing acceptance of, the use of psychological skills with athletes who are injured (Clement, Granquist & Arvenin-Barrow, 2013; Cramer Roh & Perna, 2000; Hamson-Utley, Martin & Walters, 2008; Larson, Starky & Zaichowsky, 1996). However, ATs often feel underprepared to assist athletes through the use of psychological skills (Stiller-Ostrowski & Ostrowski, 2009; Moulton, Molstad, & Turner, 1997; Misasi, Davis, Morin, & Stockman, 1996). This study aims to further understand the gap between required athletic training education and feelings of lack of preparedness on behalf of athletic training students. To that end, athletic training Program Directors, Preceptors, and Students were surveyed regarding five specific psychosocial competencies. It was found that while there was no difference in how Program Directors value the selected competencies, there was differentiation among both Preceptors and Students. Students value, feel prepared to use, and are more likely to use competencies PS6, PS7 and PS8, but not PS9 or PS10. Preceptors also valued PS9 and PS10 the least. For Preceptors, modeling the behavior was the strongest predictor of competency value. Multiple regressions were run to determine predictors of student values, preparedness, and likelihood of use. Results were inconsistent across competencies, however where the competency is taught and the value of the Program Director for that competency emerged the most often as significant predictors. Lastly, a regression was run to predict students’ likelihood of using a competency from value and preparedness. Across all competencies, value and preparedness were significantly predictive of likelihood of use, and in only one competency was value the only predictor. Results indicate that more research is necessary to understand student values of competencies as well as the influence of clinical instructors on educational experiences. Implications of the results and directions for further research are discussed