508 research outputs found
The determinants of hotels' marketing managers' green marketing behaviour
Little is known about the factors underlying the pro-environmental behaviour of marketing managers. This paper explores the determinants of green marketing practices in the Red Sea hotel sector in Egypt. The research model assesses green marketing practices against the personal and organisational values of the marketing managers, together with a range of organisational and demographic variables expected to influence hotels' environmental behaviour. From a valid sample of 89 marketing managers responsible for 194 hotels, it was found that organisational contextual variables, and in particular targeting Western tourists, being affiliated to an international hotel chain and the marketers' own demographics, including age, academic subject studied and gender, were the best predictors of more proactive green marketing. Personal environmental values did not explain the pro-environmental behaviour of marketers, and the organisational environmental values that had explained part of their ethical behaviour had resulted from voluntarism rather than utilitarian or conformance-based values. Government policies also appeared to be ineffective determinants. The implications for green marketing practices are also discussed. © 2010 Taylor & Francis
Design of a High-Throughput Flow Perfusion Bioreactor System for Tissue Engineering
Flow perfusion culture is used in many areas of tissue engineering and offers several key advantages. However,
one challenge to these cultures is the relatively low-throughput nature of perfusion bioreactors. Here, a flow
perfusion bioreactor with increased throughput was designed and built for tissue engineering. This design uses
an integrated medium reservoir and flow chamber in order to increase the throughput, limit the volume of
medium required to operate the system, and simplify the assembly and operation
Acid functionalized conjugated microporous polymers as a reusable catalyst for biodiesel production
A series of conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) based on bromophenol blue (BB) and bromocresol green (BG) have been synthesized via Sonogashira-Hagihara cross coupling reaction with surface areas up to 747 m2/g. The CMPs can be post functionalized with chlorosulfonic acid to yield corresponding sulfonated polymers with high acidity up to 7.67 mmol/g. The sulfonated CMPs showed excellent catalytic activity for the esterification of free fatty acids and transesterification of various vegetable oils and waste cooking oil as well as excellent reusability up to 4 consecutive runs without significant activity loss. These sulfonated CMPs have potential applications as recyclable acid catalysts for environmentally friendly biodiesel production from waste cooking oil
Tempo and mode of performance evolution across multiple independent origins of adhesive toe pads in lizards
Understanding macroevolutionary dynamics of trait evolution is an important endeavor in evolutionary biology. Ecological opportunity can liberate a trait as it diversifies through trait space, while genetic and selective constraints can limit diversification. While many studies have examined the dynamics of morphological traits, diverse morphological traits may yield the same or similar performance and as performance is often more proximately the target of selection, examining only morphology may give an incomplete understanding of evolutionary dynamics. Here, we ask whether convergent evolution of pad‐bearing lizards has followed similar evolutionary dynamics, or whether independent origins are accompanied by unique constraints and selective pressures over macroevolutionary time. We hypothesized that geckos and anoles each have unique evolutionary tempos and modes. Using performance data from 59 species, we modified Brownian motion (BM) and Ornstein–Uhlenbeck (OU) models to account for repeated origins estimated using Bayesian ancestral state reconstructions. We discovered that adhesive performance in geckos evolved in a fashion consistent with Brownian motion with a trend, whereas anoles evolved in bounded performance space consistent with more constrained evolution (an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck model). Our results suggest that convergent phenotypes can have quite distinctive evolutionary patterns, likely as a result of idiosyncratic constraints or ecological opportunities
Behaviour and Climate Change: Consumer Perceptions of Responsibility
This paper explores the under-researched notion of consumer responsibility, a potentially significant influence on consumer behaviour that marketers and policymakers may be able to harness as they attempt to respond to environmental challenges such as climate change. The paper uses data derived from a commercially motivated survey (n = 1513) to explore domestic consumption behaviours most closely associated with the issue of disruptive climate change. A measure of 'General Environmental Responsiveness' (GER) is used to test: (1) the effects of consumers both taking responsibility for their actions and placing responsibility on others for the consequences of their consumption behaviour; and (2) whether sociodemographic variables can aid the targeting of consumers by the level and type of responsibility and pro-environmental behavioural intentions expressed. The study's findings demonstrate clear, if not strong, relationships between consumer conceptions of responsibilities for causing and tackling climate change and environment-related consumer behaviour. The study's implications both challenge accepted wisdom about environment-related consumer behaviour and suggest avenues for future research
Green consumer segmentation: managerial and environmental implications from the perspective of business strategies and practices
With the new millennium, environmental concern entered a new phase,
with stricter governmental regulations and incentives. Currently, within environmental
issues, there is a broader challenge to commitment with economic and social
goals. This is motivating companies and organizations to participate in transformation
processes with the aim of minimizing the negative impacts of their activities.
Within this context, new business philosophies, emerged empowering organizations
to consider sustainability issues that have come to be viewed as an innovative and
differentiating factor, providing competitive advantages (Fraj-Andres, MartinezSalinas,
& Matute-Vallejo. Journal of Business Ethics, 88,263-286, 2009; Leipziger.
The corporate responsibility code book. Greenleaf Publishing Limited, 2016;
Leipziger. The corporate responsibility code book. Greenleaf Publishing Limited,
2016). Therefore, organizations have begun incorporating these concerns in their
processes, adopting green management policies, and including green marketing
strategies in order to remain competitive (Straughan & Roberts. Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 16(6), 558-575, 1999; Rivera-Camino. European Journal of Marketing,
41, 1328-1358, 2007). From the marketing perspective, the importance of understanding
green consumer behaviour in order to develop better segmentation and
targeting strategies is highlighted. Green consumers are changing significantly.
Consumers, although with some reluctance, are moving to greener products. The
Mintel organization reported that the number of consumers buying green has tripled in recent years. Furthermore, it found that the number of consumers that never
bought green products have decreased. These results show that widespread environmental
awareness had an important role in purchasing behaviour, with more consumers
considering the environmental impact of their buying decisions and looking
for a greener alternative to their conventional purchasing options. The existing literature suggests that previous research regarding the green consumer profile has
different perspectives. The first group of researchers attempted to characterize green
consumer profile using sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, education,
income and occupation. In tum, the second group of researchers used psychographic
variables instead of sociodemographic ones (Mainieri, Barnett, Valdero, Unipan, &
Oskamp. Journal of Social Psychology, 137(2), 189-204, 1997). This chapter aims
to better explore the importance of green consumer segmentation and its implications
from a management point of view. More specifically, the aim is to analyze
which variables better characterize green consumers (sociodemographic and psychographic).
At the end, a theoretical framework is proposed to enable and support
organizations to better understand green consumer profile. It also enables managers
and marketers to target and develop better marketing strategies for these segments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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