Green Advertising Using Sick-, Well-, and Healed-Appeals

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sick, well, and healed appeals while examining the interaction effect of the saliency of environmental issues in the fashion industry on consumer responses. A 3 x 2 experimental study was conducted with the appeals (sick vs. well vs. healed appeals) and the salience for environmental issues in fashion (low vs. high) as independents and positive and negative anticipated emotions as mediators, leading to purchase intentions. A total of 195 usable responses were collected through MTurk. While all appeals worked well with consumers with high saliency through anticipated positive emotions, a sick appeal was not effective regardless of the consumer’s position on the saliency of environmental issues in the fashion industry. The findings suggest that markers should convince consumers in a positive manner and promote positive emotions that consumers will have from buying their environmentally sustainable fashion products

Beneficiary Foci Types and Performance Appeals in Green Advertising

In green advertising, the message focus is often associated with one of two benefits: the self-benefit focus and the other-benefit focus. However, determining which of the two benefit foci is more effective in generating positive consumer responses is still debatable. To explain the complexity of the mixed findings, we have explored advertising appeals that influence the perception of the environmental performance of the product, or green performance perception. Specifically, we have examined the self- and other-benefit types with three performance-based appeals (before, after, and before–after appeals) in relation to perceived green performance and brand attitudes. A 2 × 3 ANOVA of perceived green performance with data from 390 participants reveals a significant two-way interaction. Results from comparing the three types of performance-based appeals indicate that, regardless of the beneficiary foci type, the before–after appeal works best in generating greater perceived green performance, which, in turn, leads to positive brand attitudes. When promoting the green benefit of others, we recommend using before-appeals to enhance a product’s green performance perceptions and after-appeals for self-benefit-focused advertisements; if not, before–after appeals are used

Can I Touch the Clothes on the Screen? The Touch Effect in Online Shopping

We examined the interplay effects of device types (touch vs. non-touch) and the tactile sensitivity (fur vs. woven) on the product attitudes mediated by the mental simulation for touch. The participants from MTurk were randomly assigned to one of two tactile conditions. Responses from those who used tablets (n=83, touch device) and laptops (n=96, non-touch device) were included in the analysis. The main effects of device types and tactile-sensitivity on the mental simulation for touch were significant. The interaction effect of device types and tactile sensitivity was also significant. Those participants seeing the less tactile-sensitive product showed greater mental simulation for touch when using a touch device (vs. non-touch device). However, those participants seeing the high tactile-sensitive product showed similar mental simulations for touch regardless of the device types. This indicates that using a touch device can strengthen the mental simulation for touch of a non-haptic centric product

The Relationship Between Self-Sexualization and Sexually Objectified Experience

Will women who use their sexuality as a source of power, empowering themselves through self-sexualization, experience negative consequences resulting from sexually objectifying experiences? This study explored the relationship between self-sexualization and sexually objectifying experiences, which leads to body shame, with age as a moderator. An online questionnaire was created to measure the four variables (self-empowering sexualization, general self-sexualization, sexually objectified experiences; body shame). A total of 308 female respondents participated through MTurk, and the data were analyzed with SEM. The findings showed that not all self-sexualizing women experienced a negative consequence from sexually objectified experiences; the use of self-sexualization for power was not related to negative consequences. However, young women were at greater risk from self-sexualization because regardless of differences in self-sexualization, self-sexualization can not only lead to more sexual objectification but also directly lead to a feeling of body shame even in the absence of sexual objectification

Performance Appeals, Environmental Knowledge, and Emotions for Green Advertising

This study aims to investigate the effect of the green performance appeals in an advertisement on purchase intentions, which are mediated by anticipated positive emotions (i.e., happiness and hope). This study also explores that the mediation model is moderated by individuals’ environmental knowledge. Three experimental conditions were utilized in which three types of green performance appeals (before, after, before–after appeal) were presented in the advertisement of a mock denim brand. Web-based online survey data (N = 201; Amazon MTurk) were analyzed by using ANOVA and PROCESS procedure using SPSS 23.0. The results of this study indicated that when the green-message of fashion products used after-use and before-after appeals, the effect of the green-message can increase individuals’ anticipated happiness and hope, leading to purchase intentions. This strategy of message-appeals especially works for people with low environmental knowledge

Which Osteotomy for Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head and Which Patient for the Osteotomy?

Transtrochanteric curved varus osteotomy (TCVO) and transtrochanteric rotational osteotomy (TRO) are joint-preserving procedures for osteonecrosis of the femoral head. The purpose of this review is to provide up-to-date guidelines for the osteotomies. One retrospective comparison revealed that TCVO has shorter operation time, less bleeding, lower incidence of osteophyte formation, and lower rate of secondary collapse. To obtain successful results of the osteotomy, the patient should be younger than 40 years and should have a body mass index of less than 24 kg/m2. The osteotomy should be performed in early stages of femoral head osteonecrosis before marked collapse of the femoral head. The patient should have a medium-size lesion and an enough viable bone to restore the intact articular surface and subchondral bone in the weight-bearing area

The Effect of Touch Simulation in Virtual Reality Shopping

This study aims to explore the effect of touch simulation on virtual reality (VR) store satisfaction mediated by VR shopping self-efficacy and VR shopping pleasure. The moderation effects of the autotelic and instrumental need for touch between touch simulation and VR store satisfaction are also explored. Participants wear a head-mounted display VR device (Oculus Go) in a controlled laboratory environment, and their VR store experience is recorded as data. All participants’ responses (n = 58) are analyzed using SPSS 20.0 for descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and the Process macro model analysis. The results show that touch simulation positively influences VR store satisfaction, which is mediated by the self-efficacy and by the dual path of the self-efficacy and the pleasure. Furthermore, the relation between touch simulation and pleasure is moderated by need for touch. For individuals with a high level of autotelic need for touch, the effect of touch simulation on the pleasure is heightened. However, instrumental need for touch does not moderate the path of touch simulation on the self-efficacy

Suspension upgrades for future gravitational wave detectors

To further increase the sensitivity of the aLIGO detectors, upgrading the monolithic fused silica suspension is considered for an upgrade option: a higher stress in the fibre and a longer final stage. One of the challenges for this upgrade will be producing thinner and longer fibres that can hold the test mass safely. Since laser power fluctuations during the fibre fabrication process can produce potentially weak fibres, we present a laser intensity stabilisation technology for fused silica fibre fabrication that was investigated to allow further improvements on fibre production consistency which could be applied to aLIGO upgrades. Fibres fabricated with this new technique showed 30% decreased standard deviation of breaking stress, which indicates that the application of intensity stabilisation technology can improve the statistical strength of fused silica fibres. Combined with a longer polishing duration, the average breaking stress also improved by 9%. As higher stress in the fibre and the longer final stage can improve the detector’s sensitivity, these enhanced technologies will enable us to fabricate thin and robust fibres that can achieve future suspension upgrade requirements

Selective uptake of epidermal growth factor-conjugated gold nanoparticle (EGF-GNP) facilitates non-thermal plasma (NTP)-mediated cell death

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma (NTP) has been shown to induce cell death in various mammalian cancer cells. Accumulated evidence also shows that NTP could be clinically used in cancer therapy. However, the current NTP-based applications lack target specificity. Here, a novel method in NTP-mediated cancer therapeutics was described with enhanced target specificity by treating EGF (epidermal growth factor)-conjugated GNP (gold nanoparticle). The treatment with EGF-conjugated GNP complex, followed by NTP irradiation showed selective apoptosis of cells having receptor-mediated endocytosis. NTP triggered gamma-H2AX elevation which is a typical response elicited by DNA damage. These results suggest that EGF-conjugated GNP functions as an important adjuvant which gives target specificity in applications of conventional plasma therapy.111Ysciescopu

A Portrait of Emotion: Empowering Self-Expression through AI-Generated Art

We investigated the potential and limitations of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in reflecting the authors' cognitive processes through creative expression. The focus is on the AI-generated artwork's ability to understand human intent (alignment) and visually represent emotions based on criteria such as creativity, aesthetic, novelty, amusement, and depth. Results show a preference for images based on the descriptions of the authors' emotions over the main events. We also found that images that overrepresent specific elements or stereotypes negatively impact AI alignment. Our findings suggest that AI could facilitate creativity and the self-expression of emotions. Our research framework with generative AIs can help design AI-based interventions in related fields (e.g., mental health education, therapy, and counseling).Comment: Accepted CogSci 202