Exploring the consumer decision journey and online shoping experience through an emotional prespective: an interpretive phemenological analysis

Traditional consumer decision-making models have long used quantitative research to address a link between emotional and rational behavior. However, little qualitative research has been conducted in the area of online shopping as an end-to-end experience. This study aims to provide a detailed phenomenological account of consumers’ online shopping experience and extend Mckinsey & Companys’s consumer decision journey model from an emotional perspective. Six semi-structured interviews and a focus group of nine people are analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenology Analysis and five superordinate themes emerged from the results: emotional experience, empathy and encouragement, in relation to brand preference, emotional encounters in relation to consumer satisfaction and emotional exchange and relationship with a company or brand. A model interrelating these themes is then introduced to visually represent the emotional essence of a large online purchase. This study promises to be applicable as a descriptive, and perhaps, better predictive report for understanding the complex consumer decision-making process as it relates to online consumer behavior. Future research topics are also identified

The development of official discourse and popular consciousness : a case study of language planning in Mozambique.

The objective of this study is to identify factors influencing language planning decisions in Mozambique by analyzing the relationship between official language policy and popular language practice. The study presents a macro perspective by examining historic and current accounts of the formulation of national policies, the official discourse, and focuses on a micro perspective by revealing ethnic and linguistic realities facing adults in Maputo, the popular consciousness. An ethnographic approach is used to gather artifacts, documents, in-depth interviews, and participant observations which together formulate the official and popular discourses. In the analysis, the promotion of a national ideology in a newly formed multilingual state is related to the realities of a multiethnic, multicultural community. During the struggle for independence, the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) promoted Portuguese as the language of liberation, due to Mozambique\u27s diverse linguistic composition of more than thirteen major languages and their many dialects. Since independence in 1975, Portuguese has been used as the official language, promoting national unity with the explicit intention of eliminating tribalism, regionalism and racism. However, fourteen years after independence, an estimated 70% of the population remains illiterate in Portuguese as Mozambique faces war and political and economic change. Participants in the study identify three major areas of conflict regarding current popular uses of Mozambican languages versus Portuguese: the maintenance of traditional knowledge, language strategies for survival in the Mozambican state, and perceptions of Mozambican identity. The official discourse indicates that the national ideology, which mandates unity and modernity, has not promoted language policy accommodating ethnic and linguistic diversity. Language planning theory, especially related to the promotion of nationalism, is examined and discrepancies between language policy and language practice are identified. The study reveals that language planning necessitates historic and ethnographic accounts of official and popular discourses to arrive at new appropriate language planning strategies meeting official and popular needs

When Intensions Do not Map Onto Extensions: Individual Differences in Conceptualization

Concepts are represented in the mind through knowledge of their extensions (the class of items to which the concept applies) and intensions (features that distinguish that class of items). A common assumption among theories of concepts is that the 2 aspects are intimately related. Hence if there is systematic individual variation in concept representation, the variation should correlate between extensional and intensional measures. A pair of individuals with similar extensional beliefs about a given concept should also share similar intensional beliefs. To test this notion, exemplars (extensions) and features (intensions) of common categories were rated for typicality and importance respectively across 2 occasions. Withinsubject consistency was greater than between-subjects consensus on each task, providing evidence for systematic individual variation. Furthermore, the similarity structure between individuals for each task was stable across occasions. However, across 5 samples, similarity between individuals for extensional judgments did not map onto similarity between individuals for intensional judgments. The results challenge the assumption common to many theories of conceptual representation that intensions determine extensions and support a hybrid view of concepts where there is a disconnection between the conceptual resources that are used for the 2 tasks

The Relationship Between Guilt, Shame and Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Middle School Students☆

Abstract The perception of the self is one of the fundamental constructs in the psychology of personality together with shame, guilt and self-efficacy, one's perception of ability to influence a situation. This study investigated the possible link between the psychological components of guilt and shame and the self-efficacy beliefs. 228 middle school students, aged between 12 and 13 years, were administered the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA), the Self-Efficacy in Interpersonal and Social Communication Scale (SEISC) and the Self-Regulatory Self-Efficacy Scale (SRE). Females scored significantly higher than males on guilt proneness and on SEISC. Guilt resulted positively and significantly associated with SEISC and SRE. Results suggest that guilt-prone individuals perceive themselves as capable of managing interpersonal relationships in a proper way and are able to resist negative peer pressure

Sviluppo di un metodo di dimensionamento semplificato per cassoni alari in materiale metallico.

Il lavoro rappresenta il risultato di una analisi che deriva dallo sviluppo di un metodo semplificato che ha come scopo il dimensionamento degli elementi che compongono la struttura del cassone di ali in materiale metallico. Lo sviluppo del metodo attraverso software di calcolo numerico (MATLAB®), partendo da considerazioni teoriche consolidate nel progetto di strutture aeronautiche, consente di fornire una struttura teorico - pratica consistente con le semplificazioni effettuate, di mettere in luce le motivazioni che portano alla scelta di ottimizzare o modificare dati parametri geometrici mostrando l'influenza che queste scelte determineranno sui risultati di interesse (tensioni di lavoro)

Gambling Disorders Among Young Women Regular Gamblers: The Unique and Common Contribution of Executive Thinking Style and Mindfulness

The aim of this study is to investigate the role played by mindfulness in the relationship between cognitive styles and gambling disorders in a sample of female young adults. Participants in this study (125 women; Mage = 18.64 years; SD = 1.7) were recruited in betting or bingo halls. They completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen, the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure, and Sternberg's questionnaire on thinking styles. The results from the mediation analyses revealed that the executive thinking style increases gambling and that the deficit in mindfulness ability mediates this relationship. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed

Coping Strategies, Creativity, Social Self-Efficacy, and Hypercompetitiveness in Gambling Behaviors: A Study on Male Adolescent Regular Gamblers

The purpose of this research was to explore the cognitive and personality characteristics of male adolescent gamblers. Participants were 273 teenage males (M = 18.04, SD = 2.10) attending betting centers in Sicily, who completed self-report questionnaires on gambling, creativity, perceived social self-efficacy, hypercompetitiveness, and coping strategies. Pathological gamblers reported higher levels of avoidant coping strategies than occasional gamblers. They also scored higher on hypercompetitiveness than both occasional and problem gamblers. Further, problem gamblers scored higher than occasional gamblers on the complexity domain of creative personality. Finally, poor perceived social self-efficacy, higher levels of avoidant coping, and hypercompetitiveness predicted pathological gambling. Theoretical, psycho-educational, and clinical implications are discussed