The influence of consumption vocabulary on the encoding and retrieval of haptic information

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsSensory stimuli are often ambiguous, which makes it difficult for consumers to encode and retrieve them, and to construct their preferences. This project studies whether, in a prepurchase context, consumption vocabulary can help consumers to perceive what products are superior on haptic attributes. In an experiment with bed pillows, participants provided with evaluative criteria preferred the pillow with superior haptic attributes more often and to a larger extent than participants who had no evaluative criteria, which suggests the provision of criteria has a positive influence on preference construction. Improvements in memory for haptic attributes and disconnection from incongruent market information derived from that provision were not confirmed

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved