Selling brotherhood like soap: influencing everyday disposal decisions

Sorting garbage during disposal is effortful for the individual and the household, but beneficial to society in the long run. This makes recycling a typical example of a social dilemma, and a prime target for social marketing interventions. Household disposal acts are relatively mindless routine behaviors embedded in daily housekeeping tasks of a well-managed household. Higher-order goals to support compliance with recycling guidelines are readily available for reflection, but so are justifications for defection. We argue that the current theoretical basis for social marketing in social dilemmas is not well suited for this class of prosocial behaviors. Social marketing may benefit from strategies that make values and higher order goals accessible as a basis for decision making without promoting further elaborative thought.status: publishe

Measuring product liking in preschool children: An evaluation of the Smileyometer and This or That method

This article provides a detailed evaluation of two summative evaluation methods, This or That and Smileyometer. The methods’ reliability and validity were examined, using a sample of 113 preschoolers (ages from 33 to 90 months). The results show considerable promise for This or That for measuring preferences across entertainment products. This or That resulted in reliable and valid responses in preschool children aged four and older. Nevertheless, low reliability and validity scores were obtained for This or That in preschoolers younger than four years old. As for the Smileyometer results, preschoolers’ responses clearly indicated an overrepresentation of extreme positive scores that were inconsistent with their actual product preferences. Consequently, the validity of these young children’s responses evoked through the Smileyometer was not supported.status: publishe

Exploring the recycling dilemma: consumer motivation and experiences in mandatory garbage recycling programs

Household recycling is conceptualized as a social dilemma in which households have a choice between cooperative and defective options. Promoting cooperative choice in the recycling dilemma has emerged as an important issue for social marketing in recent years. Most of the available insights that could guide policy makers in designing appropriate social marketing strategies are based on research conducted in the context of voluntary recycling programs. Increasingly social marketing action takes the form of mandatory programs, though suffering from a lack of transparency and imperfect coercion. On the basis of two explorative studies into the underlying values and consumer experiences with mandatory programs, we argue that the primary motivational basis for cooperation has shifted from environmental values to 'civic duty' related values. We describe how these values drive both individual experiences of recycling behavior and the reactions to non-cooperative behavior by others. Implications for public policy and social marketing are discussed.status: publishe

Predicting vocal outcome by means of a vocal endurance test : a 5-year follow-up study in female teachers

Objectives: Investigate whether vocal problems in future professional activities can be predicted by early laryngeal and phoniatric evaluation and whether a vocal endurance test can contribute to this evaluation. Study Design: Five-year follow-up study of 30 female education majors, initially documented with a standard voice assessment and a vocal endurance test. Measurements before and after vocal endurance testing were compared and related to the vocal outcome 5 years after the initial testing. Methods: Voice assessment included perceptual evaluation, airflow measurements, Fo and SPL measurements, voice range profile and laryngeal (stroboscopic) examination. The Standard Tolerance Test, as recommended by the Union of European Phoniatricians, was followed. This data set was completed with a questionnaire concerning the subjects' vocal behavior. This questionnaire was repeated 5 years later. Results: No significant differences were found for ENT scores (laryngostroboscopy) (P = .018). Logistic regression was used to determine a relationship between initial observations and the final outcome. Conclusions: The role of an endurance test as used in this study is negligible for the prediction of vocal outcome. A combination of laryngeal examination, maximum phonation time, and perceptual evaluation, assessed prior to the endurance test, reveals a prediction of the vocal outcome with a specificity of 90% and a sensitivity of 70%

COVID-19 and olfactory dysfunction : an ENT perspective to the current COVID-19 pandemic

The current COVID-19 or Sars-CoV-2 pandemic increased awareness of hyposmia or anosmia, as this can be an accompanying symptom. In mild cases, anosmia without rhinorrhea can be the only presenting symptom of this infection. Timely identification can lead to early detection of otherwise asymptomatic carriers. History taking and essential clinical assessment with appropriate protective measures can be performed in patients in whom COVID-19 is suspected. Patients with anosmia without nasal obstruction should be considered COVID-19 suspect and this should initiate testing or self-isolation. As for treatment of hyposmia or anosmia, the authors do not advise treatment with systemic corticosteroids in patients with COVID-19. Based on expert opinion, nasal corticosteroids can be considered, with a preference for spray formulation. Patients who were already using topical or inhalation corticosteroids for proven pre-existing disease (such as asthma and/or allergy) should be advised to continue their maintenance therapy. ENT (Ear Nose Throat) focus on hyposmia and anosmia should be continued, to gain additional knowledge of the disease mechanisms of COVID-19 and improve follow-up, not only on the pneumological aspects but also to evaluate the impact on quality of life of potentially long-term side effects caused by anosmia

COVID-19 and olfactory dysfunction - an ENT perspective to the current COVID-19 pandemic

status: publishe