This thesis empirically investigates the impact of an individual’s dominant independent self-construal, interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan and local orientation on the effect of the four self-congruity types (actual, ideal, social, ideal social) on brand attitude. A widely used practice among marketers focuses on communicating the notion that using their brands will bring consumers closer to how they would like to see themselves, their ideal self-concept (e.g. being a slim person like the models in the ads), instead of how they actually see themselves, their actual self-concept. However, recent research shows that there is no “universality” of a superior self-congruity effect. Specifically, individual-level characteristics (e.g. public self-consciousness) determine whether actual or ideal self-congruity impacts brand perceptions more strongly (Malär et al., 2011). This study extends that research by considering (a) all four self-congruity types and (b) additional individual-level characteristics (independent and interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan and local orientation), which are valuable for segmenting consumer markets within and across countries. Survey data from a non-student sample were collected in two countries (the US and India). After performing data cleaning procedures, over 800 usable responses in each country were analysed with the use of PLS-SEM. The findings show that, as expected, these individual-level characteristics have an impact in regard to which of the four self-congruity types has the strongest effect on brand attitude. For instance, for individuals with a local orientation or interdependent self-construal, actual self-congruity has the strongest effect on brand attitude. These findings extend self-congruity theory by considering how an individual’s dominant independent and interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan and local orientation impact the effect of the four self-congruity types on brand attitude. Moreover, the findings offer marketers insights into which self-concept type they should try to match with their brand communications when targeting these specific consumer groups. Details on the contributions as well as managerial implications are presented.

This thesis empirically investigates the impact of an individual’s dominant independent self-construal, interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan and local orientation on the effect of the four self-congruity types (actual, ideal, social, ideal social) on brand attitude. A widely used practice among marketers focuses on communicating the notion that using their brands will bring consumers closer to how they would like to see themselves, their ideal self-concept (e.g. being a slim person like the models in the ads), instead of how they actually see themselves, their actual self-concept. However, recent research shows that there is no “universality” of a superior self-congruity effect. Specifically, individual-level characteristics (e.g. public self-consciousness) determine whether actual or ideal self-congruity impacts brand perceptions more strongly (Malär et al., 2011). This study extends that research by considering (a) all four self-congruity types and (b) additional individual-level characteristics (independent and interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan and local orientation), which are valuable for segmenting consumer markets within and across countries. Survey data from a non-student sample were collected in two countries (the US and India). After performing data cleaning procedures, over 800 usable responses in each country were analysed with the use of PLS-SEM. The findings show that, as expected, these individual-level characteristics have an impact in regard to which of the four self-congruity types has the strongest effect on brand attitude. For instance, for individuals with a local orientation or interdependent self-construal, actual self-congruity has the strongest effect on brand attitude. These findings extend self-congruity theory by considering how an individual’s dominant independent and interdependent self-construal, cosmopolitan and local orientation impact the effect of the four self-congruity types on brand attitude. Moreover, the findings offer marketers insights into which self-concept type they should try to match with their brand communications when targeting these specific consumer groups. Details on the contributions as well as managerial implications are presented.

No / Smart mobile devices, which are hand-held electronic devices with an advanced operating system (such as the Android platform) connected via a wireless protocol, have become an integral and essential part of our everyday life, and support both social and workplace activities. However, adopting mobile technology within the workplace setting can give rise to challenges that impact user behaviour and performance. A study was carried out amongst 90 participants located in two countries, using internet connectivity as a case study. Confidence and frustration have previously been connected with technology competence, but this was not applied to a workplace scenario during problem-solving, when users are assigned an unfamiliar smart mobile device. This research focuses on identifying the link between workplace users' levels of confidence and frustration when seeking to independently solve problems whilst completing familiar tasks on new smart mobile devices. A detailed video analysis of users' attitudes and behaviour during problem-solving was conducted, emphasising a correlation between attitudes and behaviour towards completing a task.

This research program aimed to identify the factors that influence the Voluntary Donation payment decision in a cohort of parents (N = 250) with a child (or children) at a New Zealand state school. A voluntary donation is a charitable contribution to the running of the school collected from the parents of the school’s students. A survey questionnaire was constructed to examine the attitudes parents hold towards the voluntary donation funding system, the current New Zealand Government and the school the respondent’s child attends. The parents were ‘naturally’ separated into two conditions based on their last voluntary donation payment decision – Paid versus Not Paid – to compare the differences in attitudes on the various statements from the survey and their demographic composition. The results revealed that payment decision was positively correlated with educational achievement, annual household income and age. Individual contributions exhibited strong positive relationships with beliefs about the contributions of others, which was consistent with previous public goods field experiments. The research extended the existing public goods research by examining the social norms of voluntary donation behaviour and assimilating the results with theories of altruism, conditional cooperation and reciprocity. The strongest overall contribution to the prediction of payment decision was parents’ attitudes towards the current Government and the voluntary donation funding system. The results identified that pressures existed in the voluntary donation environment, a result most prevalent in high decile schools. Additionally, a marginal level of comprehension of the voluntary donations characterised the majority of respondents. Overall, the research found that the best predictor of contribution was attitudes towards the voluntary donation funding system.

Ghana subscribed to the global target of reaching at least 50% of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of birth by the year 2030. Policies and programmes to promote exclusive breastfeeding have been formulated and implemented in the country. In spite of these efforts, existing evidence showed that the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months post-delivery has been declining over the past decade. It was therefore important to understand behavioural factors that influence exclusive breastfeeding among teenage-mothers and propose a behavioural conceptual model based on the understanding of exclusive breastfeeding from the perspective of the teenage-mothers and their social environments. The study was conducted in three phases using multistrand mixed methods within the pragmatism philosophical framework. The Theory of Planned Behaviour and the six steps framework for developing models to address public health issues were used as frameworks in the study. In the first phase, the researcher used qualitative exploratory descriptive design to gain an understanding of the behavioural determinants of exclusive breastfeeding from the perspective of teenagers aged between 13 - 19 years attending antenatal care services at public facilities. Data were generated through focus group discussions and analysed using Group-level thematic and content analysis. In the second phase, longitudinal descriptive correlational designs were used to establish the relationships between the exclusive breastfeeding intentions during the prenatal period and actual breastfeeding practices at six months post-delivery. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data during the last visit of antenatal care visits and six months post-delivery. Data generated were analysed through descriptive inferential statistics. In the last phase, the researcher used meta-inferences to identify the key concepts of conceptual model from the integrated qualitative and quantitative results. Theoretical triangulations were used to define and establish relationships between the concepts and to structure the conceptual model. The integrated results of the two phases of the study showed that exclusive breastfeeding practices among teenage-mothers within the social context of Ghana are determined by certain personal and social related behavioural factors. The approval of the exclusive breastfeeding practice by the teenagers’ mothers and nurses/midwives’ capabilities to provide effective breastfeeding education were the strongest determinants of exclusive breastfeeding up to six months among teenage-mothers in Ghana. From these results, the researcher proposed an integrated behavioural conceptual model that provides an understanding of exclusive breastfeeding practice and the process of promoting exclusive breastfeeding among teenage-mothers in the social context of Ghana. The findings of this study have implications for public health policy-makers, health services managers, health sciences education and further research. / Health Studies / D. Lit. et Phil. (Health Studies)