This dissertation explores the role of social context in advertisement responses, specifically focusing on how the interaction between the social identities to which a person ascribes influence the manner in which they respond to advertisements. The first essay explores how social context and social identity influence perceptions of an advertisement's authenticity. A multi-method, four-study inquiry into perceptions of advertising authenticity combining depth interview, survey, and experimental techniques finds consumer perceptions of authenticity play a key role in attitudes toward advertisements. Findings show consumers naturally assess ads in terms of authenticity and that these perceptions are entwined with self-referencing. In addition, other-referencing is shown to also be linked to authenticity perceptions and ad liking. Finally, a boundary condition on the relationship between authenticity perceptions, self-referencing, and ad liking is discussed, where consumers' reflected appraisals of how they think others will view an advertisement moderates the relationship between self-referencing and attitude towards the ad.The second essay explores, using three experiments, the relationship between reflected appraisals, self-referencing, and ad liking in more detail. Specifically, this essay determines the conditions under which negative reflected appraisals do and not decrease attitude towards the ad. First, this essay shows that when identity and self-referencing are primed, consumers resist negative appraisals about an identity congruent advertisement such that negative appraisals do not decrease ad attitudes. This effect however, does not hold when the target market for an advertisement is external to the social identity and negative appraisals are attributed to out-group members. Here, consumers pay attention to the negative appraisals and decease their attitude toward the ad. This effect, referred to as the dirty laundry effect, occurs because consumers conceptualize identity congruent advertisements as a type of self-presentation. Thus, instead of engaging in defensive behaviors in the face of negative appraisals, consumers become concerned with how they think other people will view them based on the content of the advertisement.

ABSTRACT STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF ENGAGEMENT IN SCHOOLS: A DEWEYAN ANALYSIS OF AUTHENTICITY IN HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOMS by Gloria D. Richards Perry This qualitative study of the nature of engagement in schools explored how students viewed the work assigned to them by their teachers. Using normative and theoretical frameworks, research was conducted to determine whether students found work to be authentic and engaging in the manner that Dewey proposes school work should be. Phenomenological interviews were used with individual participants as well as in a focus group session. Interviews and further questioning probed for information in order to gain a greater understanding of engagement from the student perspective. Furthermore, these methods afforded depth and richness that could further saturate the data. The research questions were: What do students identify as important factors that influence the degree to which they can be engaged in their learning experiences? As described by students, do the values, norms, and requirements that constitute school mirror similar elements of a student’s life outside of school? The analysis of participant responses supported the notion that these learners want their learning experiences to be personal, relevant, meaningful, and active. If they felt they were not getting these experiences, they shut down and/or turned the teacher off in their own head. These particular participants reported numerous examples of data that supported their need to be heard as students in the learning environment. They know what they want as learners and expect their teachers to provide the learning experiences they desire for their improvement. Participants in this study of engagement placed a high degree of emphasis on authentic learning. The data supported the notion that these participants want to have fun as they are learning but of far more importance, the data have shown they want their learning to be meaningful beyond the classroom setting.

Autentiškumo išsaugojimo problema stiprėja augant visuomenės siekiams dalyvauti kultūros paveldo apsaugoje. Spartėjanti istorinės aplinkos pertvarka skatina daugiau dėmesio skirti urbanistikos paveldui ir plėsti leistinos jos pokyčių ribos paieškas. Lietuvos urbanistikos paveldo vertingųjų savybių išsaugojimo būtinybė ir poreikis keisti jo pavidalo bruožus ir susiklosčiusias paskirtis yra vienas svarbiausių iššūkių dabartiniame mūsų didmiesčių teritorinės plėtros laikmetyje. / This scientific research introduces the method of evaluation of authenticity of Vilnius historic suburbs. Proposed model of the investigation could be applied for research of other urban heritage sites of similar origin. Established criteria could be adjusted for evaluation of other urban areas and should result particular indications of authenticity.

Since their original formation in the summer of 1997, Detroit rock duo, the White Stripes have occupied a formidable and well-publicized position within the context of American music. Despite this accomplished status, the majority of discourse surrounding the White Stripes has tended toward sensationalized fandom or immediate and callous dismissal, with little investigation as to how the duo have been so polarizing. Recognizing a key analytical void in such a treatment of the duo, this thesis examines the White Stripes with the tools of postmodern thought, considering their artful use of kitsch and sincerity in their image, musical language, and aesthetic. In so doing, it offers much-needed insight into the band’s widespread appeal as a blues revival band at the end of the rock era.

The purpose of this thesis is to address the question, "Is Peer Counselling a way of fostering or promoting the existential notion of authenticity?" The intention of Peer Counselling is to improve the psychological health and well being of its participants (both counsellors and counsellees) through peer intervention and education. Peer Counselling training is a curriculum and method wherein students are taught to listen to and help in the choice-making process of their peers. Peer Counselling, both training and outreach interaction, encourages the development of positive identity and responsible independence as individuals exercise more control over their experiences. It seeks to create opportunities to learn how to actively and intentionally use experiences to gain new levels of confidence and competence. A process oriented, experiential training approach, it ensures the content is relevant to the learner. The self-directed attitude and approach of peer counselling encourages counsellors and counsellees alike to become active participants in their own development, in their own life choices. The acquisition of interpersonal communication skills such as empathic listening, facilitative questioning, decision making and values clarification may aid both counsellor and counsellee in a movement towards the existential notion of authenticity. Authenticity includes such characteristics and qualities as: genuineness in 'good faith'; autonomy; discovery of one's 'care structure'; creative choice making; critical examination of societally imposed norms; radical responsibility for the conditions and perspectives of one's life; and an openness to the dynamic nature of one's unique being. Re-constructions of peer counselling interactions provide opportunity to examine the theoretical possiblities for peer counselling to promote authenticity. Finally the implications of merging this curriculum with the philosophical notion of authenticity is examined in the light of actual classroom experience. Implications for pedagogy are discussed. / vi, 129 leaves ; 29 cm.

This dissertation analyzes what a corporate brand is and what motivates it. Using qualitative methods the corporate brand of IBM is investigated from the viewpoint of many of its stakeholders. It is discovered that IBM’s corporate brand is outside the control of IBM, and is a social construction of IBM and its stakeholders. It is a special type of story – a saga – to which not only the company contributes to the storyline, but also its stakeholders. As such, the corporate brand is a dynamic process driven along by IBM’s attempt to be authentic. That is, as IBM shapes its identity in response to the expectations of its stakeholders, and tries to be true to its identity, it is constantly changing. From this process the corporate brand emerges and is propelled and motivated by the force of authenticity. These findings contribute to the marketing literature by providing a revised view of the corporate brand. Not only does this have theoretical implications, but it also significantly changes how managers deal with and try to manage their corporate brands as they now recognize that they are only one of the contributors to the ongoing saga. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2012-06-20 14:10:19.316

This thesis forms a sociological investigation of the ‘hipster’ subculture that has grown in importance in recent years. Using the methodology of semiotic analysis, it examines the trends and themes shown by the images that hipsters post on the microblogging website Tumblr, as well as analysing hipster journalism, texts and companies. This communication is conceptualised with reference to Jean Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality in order to show that hipsters communicate in a way that distorts the perception of real space and results in the abstraction of the meaning of ideas like “global” and “local”. It also explores the importance of secret knowledge in a community that manages to be both secretive and extremely open, comparing this example with the historical case of the Beat Generation, who hipsters have adopted as their progenitors, and discusses how their influence drives the hipster to view the world as a literary text to be re-read and re-interpreted.

This dissertation aims to analyse how spatial design affects experiences and meaning making in museums. The overarching question is what the spatial elements and forms within museums communicate to those who visit them. This is specifically explored in five museums in Rome: Museo dell’Ara Pacis, Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Centrale Montemartini, and MAXXI. The method used for analysing the museum spaces was based on observations that followed a method plan consisting of visiting the spaces on several occasions and describing the spaces and my own experiences of them with a focus on spatial aspects such as layout, disposition of exhibitions, material, volume, light, and colours. This also included conversations with first-time visitors, one in each of the five museums, about their experiences of the visit. My own experiences and the five visitors’ descriptions are analysed in dialogue with theoretical perspectives. The theoretical framework consists of perspectives from diverse academic disciplines. The most essential of these are museological aspects on museum experiences, authenticity, and spatial matters. Multimodality, semiotics, hermeneutics, and art-architecture theory are applied in relation to analysis of spatial factors and symbolic meanings as well as to authentic experiences and understanding of history. Phenomenological approaches to the body as the medium through which we perceive the world is central in this study. The five museums are treated and analysed individually in each of their chapters and the results reveal that although they are radically different from each other in terms of their contents and display concepts, they have corresponding factors in common. In the final chapter, the museums are discussed in relation to perspectives on spatial design in museums in a broader sense and the conclusions are drawn on a more general level. The discussions include aspects of authentic experiences of both historical and contemporary factors as well as on the issue of balance and imbalance in relation to museum spaces. Museum spaces are inseparable from their contents. Space and exhibition elements influence each other and meaning is formed in their relationship. When imbalanced, museum spaces might evoke sensations of confusion and frustration. When balanced, on the other hand, they can create atmospheres that evoke sensations of excitement, comfort, and curiosity. Museum spaces can stimulate the motivation to understand the exhibition context or encourage visitors to imagine themselves situated in another time and place. Different kinds of experiences occur when we are present in a museum, but it is not always obvious to us that spatial design is a contributing factor. The impact that spatial design has on our experiences and meaning making is considerable and as this study argues, there is reason to further acknowledge space as an essential element in museums. / <p>Av rättighetsskäl har några av bilderna inte publicerats i den digitala versionen av denna avhandling. För att se samtliga bilder, se den tryckta versionen.</p><p>For copyright reasons, some of the images have not been published in the digital version of this dissertation. To see all of the images, see the printed version.</p>

This paper uses blogs as a starting point for an examination of how identity is constructed collaboratively through a series of linguistically mediated social processes. The goal is to establish a theoretical framework for understanding individual identity as rooted in media, language, and society and the result of collective social processes as opposed to their genesis. It draws together conceptual models from theorists in sociology, media studies, and genre theory to explore how selves are created in the online contexts of blogs and how those concepts relate to wider cultural concerns and anxieties related to the construction of individual identity. By examining issues of privacy, anonymity, and authenticity as they relate to blogs and bloggers, this paper aims to provide a view of individual identity as contextually situated yet continuous across social contexts and which is the result of collaborative, collective social processes.

The aim of this thesis is to acquire a deeper understanding of the relationship betweenheritage management, the tourism industry and perceptions of authenticity in the worldheritage site of Stone Town in Zanzibar, Tanzania. This is a case study within the field ofheritage studies with a focus on planning and the production of authenticity. In this study Iintend to shed light on the ideas and perceptions on authenticity that shapes the conservationand promotion of the world heritage of Stone Town. Furthermore I wish to examine how thetourists in Stone Town interact and relates to this imagery. This study contains number ofqualitative interviews with planners, heritage officials, policy-makers and tourists in StoneTown who gives their perspective on culture, history and perceptions on authenticity. Theconcept of authenticity will be discussed using a constructivistic approach in order to revealinherent power relations within Zanzibari interpretations on authenticity. One of the keyfindings in this study is that the focus on historic cosmopolitanism, which is seen as a majorpart of the Zanzibari heritage, is believed to be threatened by new influences from heritagetourism and immigration from East Africa. This results in a exclusionary policy-making andnarrow perspectives on Zanzibari culture.