M. Tech. (Department of Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Counterfeiting is a global phenomenon in developed and developing countries, causing a threat to national economies and societies. It negatively harms new investment and progressively endangers public health and safety as well. Known and famous brands are often targeted for counterfeiting. This phenomenon is primarily driven by consumers’ aspiring attitudes, social media pressures and the need to differentiate oneself. The aim of the study is to examine the influence of materialism, hedonic consumption motive, utilitarian consumption motive, personal gratification and novelty-seeking on attitudes and the influence of attitudes on willingness to purchase counterfeit sportswear products at a selected HEI. The study is grounded within the positivist philosophy, in which a quantitative research approach was followed, since positivists prefer an analytic and factual interpretation of quantitative data. An online structured questionnaire was used to collect data through an online survey. The study sample was conveniently selected from a population of registered students at a selected HEI in Southern Gauteng in the 2020 academic year. Data were collected on demographic variables, materialism (MAT), hedonic motivation (HED), utilitarian motive (UTL), personal gratification (PGT), novelty-seeking (NOS), attitude towards counterfeits (ATC) and willingness to purchase (WTP) counterfeit sportswear. A total of 327 questionnaires were completed and used in the final data analysis. Descriptive statistics techniques, correlations and regression analysis were used to evaluate perceptions and relationships between the study constructs. The research results revealed the existence of significant positive associations amongst the study constructs. Of the five antecedents, two of the five predictor variables, namely, UTL and NOS showed significant predictive relationships with attitudes towards counterfeit sportswear purchases. Attitudes towards counterfeits (ATC) also emerged as a significant predictor of students’ WTP counterfeit sportswear. Since NOS and UTL seem to predict a positive attitude towards counterfeit sportswear, the study recommends that brand owners develop awareness about ethical purchasing behaviour. They should also educate consumers on the social and economic downside of buying counterfeit products and that seeking novelty when purchasing counterfeit products may soon wane and wear off, leading to regret and cognitive dissonance. Further, brand marketers should also emphasise the utility value inherent in the purchase of authentic branded products instead of buying counterfeits. Since consumers cannot often readily distinguish between genuine and fake sportswear, it is therefore critical for marketers of branded products to promote the contrast of originals and fakes and to underline the quality, longevity, and dependability of their authentic products in the market. These results make a valuable contribution to academics, brand managers and marketers, as the results reveal that consumer buying can be influenced by personality and social interests of different individuals. The study notes that laws only cannot prohibit the sale and purchase of counterfeit products. It requires the stricter implementation thereof. Further, there is a need for behavioural change strategies to counter the effects of counterfeiting. Nudges such as promotions and loyalty programmes may encourage the purchase of authentic products as opposed to the purchase of counterfeits.

Throughout these last few decades, phenomenology and modern physics have slowly started to approach each other in order to bridge the gap between the subjective and objective. In this thesis I aim to show an approach done with the help of Karen Barad's agential realism; a quantum interpretation enabling us to better understand and analyse our complex world, as well as our perception of it.Taking inspiration from new materialism, phenomenology and physics, I see a need to properly leave discrete dualism behind, in order to be able to describe cultural and material structures as continuous manifolds. Instead of endlessly searching for their binary and changeless parts. / Under de senaste decennierna har fenomenologin och den moderna fysiken sakta men säkert börjat närma sig varandra, för att försöka fylla gapet mellan det subjektiva och det objektiva. I den här uppsatsen vill jag visa på ett av dessa tillvägagångssätt genom att använda mig av Karen Barads agentisk realism; en kvantfysisk tolkning som underlättar vår förståelse och förmåga att analysera en komplex värld, samt vår perception av den.Med inspiration från nymaterialism, fenomenologi och fysik, så ser jag ett behov att lämna en diskret dualism bakom oss, för att istället beskriva kulturella och materialistiska strukturer som en kontinuerlig mångfald. Till skillnad från det ändlösa sökandet efter deras binära och oföränderliga delar.

[pt] Os adultos emergentes de 18 a 29 anos estão na fase do desenvolvimento que precede a vida adulta marcada pela autonomia e independência. Além dos desafios peculiares, a pandemia da COVID 19 os expôs à maior tragédia humanitária desde a segunda guerra mundial. O estudo propôs avaliar a espiritualidade, religiosidade, materialismo e ansiedade perante a morte como preditores para presença e busca de sentido neste contexto sociocultural com intensas ameaças psíquicas. A pesquisa obteve 434 respondentes brasileiros e 615 portugueses. O objetivo da investigação foi verificar o quanto religiosidade, espiritualidade, materialismo e ansiedade perante a morte podem explicar a presença e a busca de sentido de vida. Após averiguar os dados de cada país, fez-se uma comparação dos resultados. O estudo utilizou-se dos instrumentos: Escala de Sentido de Vida (Steger et al., 2006); Escala de Não-Religiosidade e Não-Espiritualidade (Cragun, 2015); Escala de Materialismo (Richins, 2004) e o Questionário de Ansiedade Perante a Morte (Conte et al., 1982). Os resultados demonstraram seguintes os resultados tanto para os respondentes brasileiros quanto portugueses: (1) a religiosidade predisse a presença de sentido na vida. Uma menor religiosidade explicou a busca pelo sentido; (2) a espiritualidade não explicou presença de sentido, mas explicou a busca pelo sentido na vida; (3) o materialismo não explicou nem a presença e nem a busca do sentido de vida; (4) por fim, a menor ansiedade de morte predisse a presença de sentido. A análise qualitativa da pergunta Sena, Alexandre Rodrigues; Pessôa Luciana Fontes; Lins, Samuel Lincoln Bezerra. Religiosidade, espiritualidade, materialismo e ansiedade de morte como preditores do sentido de vida dos adultos emergentes. Rio de Janeiro, 2023. 240p. Tese de Doutorado – Departamento de Psicologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro. aberta: o que lhe vem à mente quando pensa sobre o sentido da vida?, foi realizada a partir do software IRAMUTEQ. O estudo dos dados textuais revelou que agnósticos e sem religião possuem menor presença de sentido e, consequentemente, estão numa busca mais intensa pelo sentido de vida. A análise de correlações e o teste t corroboraram com os resultados encontrados nas regressões e na análise qualitativa. A investigação contribui para a compreensão do sentido de vida dos adultos emergentes. A presença de sentido de vida demonstrou a possibilidade de maior saúde psicológica e bem-estar durante o enfrentamento da pandemia da COVID 19. / [en] Emerging adults from 18 to 29 years old are in the development phase that precedes adult life marked by autonomy and independence. In addition to the unique challenges, the COVID 19 pandemic has exposed them to the greatest humanitarian tragedy since the second World War. The study aims at evaluating spirituality, religiosity, materialism and anxiety before death as predictors for presence and search for meaning in this sociocultural context with intense psychic threats. The survey obtained 434 Brazilian and 615 Portuguese respondents. The objective was to verify how much religiosity, spirituality, materialism and anxiety before death can explain the presence and the search for meaning in life. After examining the data for each country, the results were compared. The study used instruments as Meaning of Life Scale (Steger et al., 2006); Non-Religiousness and Non-Spirituality Scale (Cragun, 2015); Materialism Scale (Richins, 2004) and the Death Anxiety Questionnaire (Conte et al., 1982). The results showed the following results for both Brazilian and Portuguese respondents: (1) religiosity predicted the presence of meaning in life. Less religiosity explained the search for meaning; (2) spirituality did not explain the presence of meaning, but it did explain the search for meaning in life; (3) materialism did not explain neither the presence nor the search for the meaning of life; (4) finally, lower death anxiety predicted the presence of meaning. The qualitative analysis of the open question: What comes Sena, Alexandre Rodrigues; Pessôa Luciana Fontes (Advisor); Lins, Samuel Lincoln Bezerra (Co-advisor). Religiosity, spirituality, materialism and death anxiety as predictors of the meaning of life of emerging adults. Rio de Janeiro, 2023. 240p. Tese de Doutorado – Departamento de Psicologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro. to your mind when you think about the meaning of life? was performed using the IRAMUTEQ software. The study of textual data revealed that agnostics and those without religion have less presence of meaning and, consequently, are in a more intense search for life meaning. The analysis of correlations and the t test corroborated the results found in the regressions and in the qualitative analysis. The investigation contributes to understanding the life meaning of emerging adults. The presence of meaning in life demonstrated the possibility of greater psychological health and well-being while facing the COVID 19 pandemic.

The overall aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of how a pervasive digitalization and mediatization takes part in shaping and reshaping the relations between science and society and popular understanding of scientific epistemologies. In recent years, the prevalence of disinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories together with suggestions on how to combat this have come to characterize general discourses on knowledge, science, truth and digital media. Encounters with myths or disinformation can give impetus to what is usually called myth debukning. On social media, there are discussions and debates about whats should be considered as truth and facts and what we should reject as disinformation. The digital platform Tiktok has in a short time become one of the most popular places for digital social interaction and is today part of public discourse. The purpose of this study is to study examples of science myth debunking or the exposure of myths about science on the digital social platform Tiktok. The study shows that discursive practices for myth debunking are formed through the interaction between a variety of human and non-human actors. Myth debunking can be seen as to shed light on scientific development and how scientific knowledge production plays out in interplay with society in general. Understanding the role of science communication as a means of disseminating scientific knowledge in some popularized form separates science from the social and cultural contexts in which learning and reflection usually take place. Here, Tiktok, with its "messyness" and as a place for diversity of expressions, palys an important role.

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Ce mémoire de recherche-création explore la possibilité, pour un réalisateur/chercheur identifié socialement comme homme, de réaliser un documentaire proféministe sur le sujet de la domination de genre dans le milieu musical. La première partie consiste en la description d’un cadre méthodologique. Théoriquement, celui-ci permet d’identifier les relations de pouvoir au cœur du dispositif documentaire à l’aide, notamment, des théories de Michel Foucault sur les dispositifs de pouvoir et des théories de Dupuis-Déri et Thiers-Vidal sur les hommes proféministes. Pratiquement, ce cadre constitue une capacité d’agir sur ces mêmes relations de pouvoir, dans le but de les restructurer afin de documenter l’oppression sans la reproduire. La deuxième partie, de création, décrit la mise en place et l’exécution de huit dispositifs documentaires (entre 5 et 15 minutes) en cocréation suivant une démarche exploratoire et expérimentale d’essai/erreur. Les personnes filmées sont des musicien·ne·s abordant, sous différents angles, la domination de genre dans le milieu musical. Cette méthodologie exploratoire et située, en plus de démontrer sa pertinence dans ce type de projet, a permis d’identifier certaines structures de pouvoir inhérentes à l’entrevue documentaire. Elle a également illuminé le besoin d’explorer de nouvelles pistes de recherches, théoriques et pratiques, afin d’aboutir à une compréhension plus précise et une reconfiguration plus profonde des relations de pouvoir entre documentariste et protagonistes. / This master’s study in research‐creation explores the possibility, for a director/scientist, who socially appears as a man, to direct a feminist documentary about gender domination in musical practice. The first part of this research describes the methodological framework. Theoretically, this makes it possible to identify the power relations at the heart of the documentary system using in particular the theories of Michel Foucault on power systems and the theories of Dupuis‐ Déri and Thiers‐Vidal on profeminist men. Practically this framework constitutes a capacity to act on these same power relations, with the aim of restructuring them in order to document oppression without reproducing it. The second part describes the implementation and execution of eight documentary “dispositif” (between 5 and 15 minutes) in co‐creation following an exploratory and experimental trial/error approach. The people filmed are musicians describing gender domination in the musical world from different angles. This exploratory and situated methodology, in addition to demonstrating its relevance in this type of project, made it possible to identify certain power structures inherent to the documentary interview. It also highlighted the need to explore new avenues of research, theoretical and practical, in order to achieve a more precise understanding and a deeper reconfiguration of the power relations between documentarist and protagonist.

In this essay I examine scenography as a verb, to scenograph, and what it means to consider scenography as a process of development rather than an artifact placed on stage. Based on Deleuze and Guattari's ideas about rhizomatic structures and becomings, carnal aesthetics and phenomenology, I weave together tactile knowledge, the agency of the materials themselves and collective processes in a text about finding the inherent is of a scenography. / I den här essän undersöker jag scenografi som ett verb, att scenografa, och vad det innebär att betrakta scenografi som en process istället för en artefakt placerad på scen. Utifrån Deleuze och Guattaris idéer om rhizomatiska strukturer och blivande, carnal aesthetics och fenomenologi väver jag samman taktil kunskap, materials egen agens och kollektiva processer i en text om att hitta scenografins inneboende själv.

This research is concerned with the notion of being human. It acknowledges the dislocation of black people through themselves, a process which was exacerbated during, the colonial era and further through apartheid. The interest in this research is due to the historical dehumanisation of black people through dispossession and subjection to foreign rule and culture, by white people. The historical accounts of dehumanisation and disparity, through either pigmentation, poverty or an inferiority complex, led to black people viewing their humanity in terms of materialism and individualism in the present context. This research explores how materialism and individualism have affected black people's understanding of themselves and self-determinism. It is argued in the United States through Black Theology, the notion of the Black Church in the South African context and through Black Consciousness that the humanity of black people is affirmed historically and to date. / Philosophy & Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)