<p> Consumers often must choose between mutually exclusive products or beliefs related to products, such as to believe or ignore social and environmental causes. Cognitive dissonance (CD) (Festinger, 1957) is a common psychological discomfort that must be resolved, when experienced between inconsistent beliefs, attitudes, or choices. Advertising and marketing promotion to influence consumer decision making often uses celebrity / expert endorsers (Hollensen &amp; Schimmelpfennig, 2013) to improve brand effectiveness and increase sales, yet how endorsements affect consumer attitudes and CD has not been explored. </p><p> During an attempt to revise models of predicting consumer behavior to include CD measurement (e.g., theory of reasoned action in Ajzen &amp; Fishbein, 1980; theory of planned behavior in Ajzen, 1991) it was noted that attempts to add scales to measure social norms improved model effectiveness. Moreover, attempts to measure CD (e.g., Cassel &amp; Chow, 2002; Elliot &amp; Devine, 1994; Hausknecht, Sweeney, Soutar, &amp; Johnson, 1998; Sakai, 1999; Shultz &amp; Lepper, 1996; and Sweeney, Hausknecht, &amp; Soutar, 2000) did not measure the social context of CD as originally conceived by Festinger to explain illogical behaviors given observable facts such as cigarette smoking and cult activities, etc. After review of the CD phenomenon and its common origins in Lewin (1936, 1951), Osgood and Tannenbaum (1955), Heider (1946, 1958), and Festinger (1954, 1957), it was discovered that CD is a multivariate phenomenon and more complex than existing models of decision making or measurement instruments could accommodate. </p><p> This dissertation derived a CD instrument with semantic differential scales from congruity theory (Osgood &amp; Tannenbaum, 1955) and balance theory (Heider, 1946, 1958) to measure multivariate CD during attitude change using endorsement by former U.S. Vice President Albert Gore, Jr. of an important social cause: global warming. With a repeated measures procedure, CD was induced using a social comparison referent (SCR) of Mr. Gore for a snowball sample of 567 respondents recruited from online political groups and social media websites. Information about global warming was presented within simulated news headlines to 16 randomly assigned groups of 567 respondents with alternating combinations of positively / negatively toned messages, high credibility / low credibility publications, and domestic-attributed research / foreign-attributed research. The instrument was tested for sensitivity, validity, and reliability. </p><p> The results indicated that when presented with information in opposition to their original opinion, regardless of their view of the endorser SCR&rsquo;s opinion, respondents, in this order: 1. Changed their perception of the endorser&rsquo;s attitude toward global warming (termed social meaning in this dissertation); 2. Changed their view of the value of the endorser&rsquo;s opinion (i.e., referent meaning); and, lastly, 3. Changed their own opinion on global warming (i.e., object meaning). </p><p> This dissertation demonstrated that due to the effect of CD, attitude measurement of an endorsement can be improved by adding additional scales to measure the perceived social context (i.e., a social comparison referent [SCR]) of the endorsement. Evidence has shown that to change a consumer attitude toward a belief or product, the mediating effect of the endorser SCR on the attitude should be considered. The presence of the endorser SCR shows the relationship between congruity theory and balance theory, and is evidence that Lewin&rsquo;s (1936) topological psychology suggested examination of the social context of attitude measurement will increase accuracy in estimating behavior. Measurement of the SCR is an important step in attitude measurement to minimize the effect of unintended or unknown social comparison threats to internal validity on measurement scales.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Case Western Reserve University, 2009 / Title from PDF (viewed on 19 August 2009) Department of Organizational Behavior Includes abstract Includes bibliographical references Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.A.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-142). Also available via the Internet.

What kinds of social organisations (SOs) are more likely to succeed in promoting policy change? How and why can some SOs promote policy change in China? This thesis argues that the emerging tendency of social marketisation - social entrepreneurship and government purchase of services from SOs - can empower social organisations to facilitate policy change from the government. Based on three survey databases, this research shows that when social organisations become social enterprises or obtained government contracts for purchasing services, their likelihoods of success in promoting policy change increased and their influence on government policy making improved, after controlling for other resource and institutional factors. This research subsequently draws upon two in-depth case studies on Nonprofit Incubator (NPI) and China Foundation Centre (CFC) to demonstrate how social organisations can use entrepreneurial and marketised strategies to promote the emergence and spread of five new government policies in China. The underlying mechanism of their successes is the formation of social organisation chains (SOCs), which consist of infrastructure, financial, support, and operational organisations. The formation of SOCs created positive social change. Positive social change facilitated policy change. This study further applies the perspective of SOCs to examine how the three local states (Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen) re-regulate the social organisation sector, and reveals a wider applicability of SOCs at the city level. Finally, this thesis has discussed the relations between social marketisation and other significant theoretical and practical issues. The contribution of this thesis is that it finds a positive relationship between social marketisation and policy change in China, and reveals the process and the underlying mechanism.

This study addresses violent urban disturbances which occurred in England in the early 1980s with particular reference to the Bristol ‘riots’ of April 1980 and the numerous disorders which followed in July 1981. Revisiting two concepts traditionally utilised to explain the spread of collective violence, namely ‘diffusion’ and ‘contagion,’ it argues that the latter offers a more useful model for understanding the above-mentioned events. Diffusion used in this context implies that such disturbances are independent of each other and occur randomly. It is associated with the concept of ‘copycat riots’, which were commonly invoked by the national media as a way of explaining the spread of urban disturbances in July 1981. Contagion by contrast holds that urban disturbances are related to one another and involve a variety of communication processes and rational collective decision-making. This implies that such events can only be fully understood if they are studied in terms of their local dynamics. Providing the first comprehensive macro-historical analysis of the disturbances of July 1981, this thesis utilises a range of quantitative techniques to argue that the temporal and spatial spread of the unrest exhibited patterns of contagion. These mini-waves of disorder located in several conurbations were precipitated by major disturbances in inner-city multi-ethnic areas. This contradicts more conventional explanations which credit the national media as the sole driver of riotous behaviour. The thesis then proceeds to offer a micro analysis of disturbances in Bristol in April 1980, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Exploiting previously unexplored primary sources and recently collected oral histories from participants, it establishes detailed narratives of three related disturbances in the city. The anatomy of the individual incidents and local contagious effects are examined using spatial mapping, social network and ethnographic analyses. The results suggest that previously ignored educational, sub-cultural and ethnographic intra- and inter-community linkages were important factors in the spread of the disorders in Bristol. The case studies of the Bristol disorders are then used to illuminate our understanding of the processes at work during the July 1981 disturbances. It is argued that the latter events were essentially characterised by anti-police and anti-racist collective violence, which marked a momentary recomposition of working-class youth across ethnic divides.

塗爾幹的機械團結理論和有機團結理論假設了同步一致性/互補配合性的儀式表演可以提升群體內的團結感。已有的心理學研究通過實驗發現同步一致性的群體表演促進了群體內的合作行為。本研究在上述實驗的基礎上，進一步檢驗了互補配合性促進群體內團結感的假說，并對二者的結果進行了比較。在實驗中，100名參加者以4人為一組被隨機分配到“同步一致擊鼓“、“互補配合擊鼓“和“非協調擊鼓“(控制組)三個實驗條件下；進而報告其信任感、同組歸屬感和愉悦感水平；最後參加一個標準化的、包含五輪決策任務的公共物品博弈。實驗結果表明，互補配合性的擊鼓表演與同步一致性的擊鼓表演都能促進人們在公共物品博弈中的合作行為。 / The Durkheimian theory of mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity hypothesized that synchrony/complementarity promotes social solidarity. Previous psychological experiments suggested that synchronous ritual performance improves the level of cooperation among group members. This study replicated their experimental design while further testing the complementaritysolidarity hypothesis to make a comparative analysis. In this experiment, 100 participants in groups of four were first randomly allocated to one of three conditions: synchronous drumming, complementary drumming, and asynchronous drumming (control); then they self-reported on questions about in-group trust, same-group feeling, and happiness; and finally, they played a five-round standardised public good game. The experimental result revealed that both the complementary and the synchronous drumming promoted cooperative behaviour in a social dilemma situation. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Liu, Yue. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-39). / Abstracts also in Chinese; appendixes in Chinese. / Introduction --- p.1 / Literature review --- p.3 / Social solidarity as a solution to the problem of social order --- p.3 / Ritual performance and social solidarity --- p.4 / Synchronous ritual and mechanical solidarity --- p.6 / Complementary ritual and organic solidarity --- p.10 / Method and hypotheses --- p.12 / Participants --- p.12 / Materials --- p.13 / Design --- p.14 / Procedure --- p.17 / Result and analysis --- p.19 / Discussion --- p.23 / Appendix --- p.25 / Chapter Appendix 1. --- Recruitment message and application sheet --- p.25 / Chapter Appendix 2. --- Consent form --- p.26 / Chapter Appendix 3. --- Instruction for subjects --- p.27 / Chapter Appendix 4. --- Evaluation questionnaire for the drumbeat task --- p.31 / Chapter Appendix 5. --- End questionnaire --- p.33 / Chapter Table 1. --- T-test result for synchronous vs. asynchronous condition (one-tailed) --- p.35 / Chapter Table 2. --- T-test result for complementary vs. asynchronous condition (one-tailed) --- p.36 / Chapter Table 3. --- T-test result for experimental vs. control condition (one-tailed) --- p.37 / References --- p.38

This dissertation focuses on three different organizational approaches to introducing change in the Global South. In so doing, it explores how organizations can design and structure 'solutions' for deep-rooted social problems and support marginalized groups who lack voice to speak for themselves. Theoretically, I draw on institutional theory and social movement theory, and it is to these perspectives that my research seeks to contribute. Empirically, my work focuses on Tanzania, Indonesia and Nigeria. Studying how and why three different types of organizational forms - including a social enterprise (Paper 1), a quasi-social movement (Paper 2) and a social movement (Paper 3) - succeeded or failed in their attempts to introduce change in the Global South provides an intriguing opportunity to build new theoretical insights and to shed light on strategic and organizational processes about which relatively little is known.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-178).

Thesis (M.Sc.(Geography)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-107).