Self-Monitoring and Advertising: Evaluations of Image- versus Quality-Oriented Advertisements for Public/Private and Public Luxury/Necessity Products

High self-monitors tend to prefer image-oriented advertisements, whereas low self-monitors favor quality-oriented advertisements. Past research has found that image congruence had a stronger affect on product evaluations of high self-monitors relative to low self-monitors for public products, while this effect did not emerge for private products. Study 1 extended these findings by examining the effect of self-monitoring and public/private products on evaluations of image- versus quality-oriented advertisements. The participants were shown two sunglasses (public product) advertisements and two toilet paper (private product) advertisements; for each product, one advertisement was image-oriented and was quality-focused. The participants completed two questionnaires—one for each product type—and the self-monitoring scale. Study 2 employed a similar method but extended the self-monitoring propensity to different public products: Ice cream (luxury product) and a winter coat (necessity product). Past findings suggest that high self-monitors are influenced more when considering luxury, rather than necessity, products. Although not significant, analyses of Study 1 showed that high self-monitors preferred the image-oriented sunglasses advertisement, while low self-monitors preferred the quality-focused sunglasses advertisement. Both high and low self-monitors preferred the quality-oriented toilet paper advertisement. Although also not significant, the results of Study 2 illustrated that high self-monitors preferred the image-focused advertisement for both the luxury and necessity advertisements more than low self-monitors. The results of both studies confirm that high self-monitors prefer image-oriented advertisements for public products more than low self-monitors. Possible limitations and future research directions are discussed

Influence of land use and hydrologic variability on seasonal dissolved organic carbon and nitrate export: insights from a multi-year regional analysis for the northeastern USA

Land use/land cover (LULC) change has significant impacts on nutrient loading to aquatic systems and has been linked to deteriorating water quality globally. While many relationships between LULC and nutrient loading have been identified, characterization of the interaction between LULC, climate (specifically variable hydrologic forcing) and solute export across seasonal and interannual time scales is needed to understand the processes that determine nutrient loading and responses to change. Recent advances in high-frequency water quality sensors provide opportunities to assess these interannual relationships with sufficiently high temporal resolution to capture the unpredictable, short-term storm events that likely drive important export mechanisms for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrate (NO3−–N). We deployed a network of in situ sensors in forested, agricultural, and urban watersheds across the northeastern United States. Using 2 years of high-frequency sensor data, we provide a regional assessment of how LULC and hydrologic variability affected the timing and magnitude of dissolved organic carbon and nitrate export, and the status of watershed fluxes as either supply or transport controlled. Analysis of annual export dynamics revealed systematic differences in the timing and magnitude of DOC and NO3−–N delivery among different LULC classes, with distinct regional similarities in the timing of DOC and NO3−–N fluxes from forested and urban watersheds. Conversely, export dynamics at agricultural sites appeared to be highly site-specific, likely driven by local agricultural practices and regulations. Furthermore, the magnitude of solute fluxes across watersheds responded strongly to interannual variability in rainfall, suggesting a high degree of hydrologic control over nutrient loading across the region. Thus, there is strong potential for climate-driven changes in regional hydrologic cycles to drive variation in the magnitude of downstream nutrient fluxes, particularly in watersheds where solute supply and/or transport has been modified