Enablers and Disablers in the Communication of Sustainability Discourses between Local Government and Businesses

Abstract New Zealand businesses have looked to position themselves within the global market place as pioneers of environmentally sustainable business practice. This strategic development of environmental sustainability as part of our national ‘brand’ gives us an innovative edge in the market place. But as environmental sustainability becomes an ever more contentious issue we need to ask questions about how we will continue to define and negotiate our understanding so we can continue to compete within a growing market of educated consumers. Our ideas of what it means to be environmentally sustainable are continually shifting under the influence of competing worldviews. And for New Zealand to continue to compete we must understand the negotiation of the meaning of environmental sustainability and ensure that each party is represented in this negotiation. Within wider society government and business operate to set benchmarks for environmentally sustainable practice. Thus the communication between these two stakeholder groups is to negotiate and create discourses and ideas about sustainable business practice which businesses take to the market place as their competitive advantage. The ways in which discourses regarding the issue are communicated between government and businesses within New Zealand’s Waikato region are important to understand in order to understand how this affects the potential for business to use sustainable practices within local and global market places. This is because our understanding of what sustainable business practice is directly affects the ways in which we in act it. The way we think is the way we act. This paper uses stakeholder theory to address two key research questions; what discourses are employed by key stakeholders in understanding and negotiating issues of sustainability within and between local government and local business sectors? And how do these discourses facilitate or impede the implementation of sustainable business practices? Using a mixed method approach of both quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews of business leaders and governmental agencies this case study develops a snapshot of negotiated meanings of environmentally sustainable business practice. This project identifies distinct difficulties in the areas of stakeholder engagement stemming from a lack of clearly defined shared goals, differences which exist between the communication styles of various stakeholders, the presence of stakeholder hegemony and the lack of a clearly defined authority on sustainable action. The results from this project have drawn the researcher to provide recommendations to local government institutions which include a realignment of communication goals to more closely match business interests, a use of business orientated language and the development of a stream of communication which is aimed at educating small to medium enterprises on the benefits of sustainable action both within the local market place and within the international market place for those looking to trade internationally

Are Generational Attitudes Toward Digital Marketing Technology Exhibited in Automobile Purchase Behaviors?

This dissertation was focused on the current digital purchasing trend in the used automotive industry in order to understand which factors impacted the growth of this trend through the lens of generational cohort theory. The growth of consumer informedness in the automotive sector has created drastic changes in how consumers are able, and willing, to purchase vehicles. Used car dealerships who adopt successful internet marketing techniques can capture and engage potential customers and then convert that engagement into sales. Companies like Carvana, Vroom, and CarMax have seized this opportunity and created a digital marketing phenomenon with major impacts on consumer purchasing behavior throughout the durable goods sector. As consumer behavior trends toward an increase in digital shopping and purchasing, this research shows that the generations considered digital natives are mostly driving that trend, which has significant implications for the sales and marketing efforts of automobile dealers. While there was ample literature available regarding generational cohort theory and its impact on consumer behavior, there remained a noticeable gap in the academic body of knowledge examining this behavior in relation to large online purchases, such as automobiles. The research question under review was, to what extent do trust, social factors, and sales strategies impact online automobile purchase behaviors, and are the relationships among the constructs moderated by generational cohort theory? For this dissertation, a survey simulation of 1361 respondents was conducted to understand which key factors impact a consumer’s willingness to purchase an automobile online. The statistical testing revealed three variables that can help predict this behavior. Further, one of the hypotheses was rejected after testing, and the others were confirmed, but only with the moderation of certain generational cohorts. Future research should be considered that follows the trend of these cohorts in their high-involvement purchase decisions, particularly in the wake of Covid-19 and the impact from brick-and-mortar stores closing during the pandemic

Perceptions of Iowa beginning farmers toward beginning farmer education

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3931540

Help seeking for cancer 'alarm' symptoms: a qualitative interview study of primary care patients in the UK.

Delay in help seeking for cancer 'alarm' symptoms has been identified as a contributor to delayed diagnosis

Perceptions of Iowa Beginning Farmers Toward the Delivery of Education

The results of this research show that Iowa beginning farmers prefer radio and information services for the delivery of beginning farmer education. At the same time, these same farmers viewed the Extension Service as an important educational provider. Research was conducted to identify the perceptions of beginning farmers toward education, educational providers, and educational media. A sample of beginning farmers was surveyed in 1997. This study revealed they prefer on-site educational instruction, single meetings, community-based education, and were “neutral” (had no opinion) about the future usefulness of cutting-edge technologies as a delivery method. The results of this study should be useful to educational providers who plan and deliver education to beginning farmers

Emotional responses to the experience of cancer 'alarm' symptoms

To qualitatively explore associations between emotional responses to experience of cancer 'alarm' symptoms and help-seeking in a community sample of adults