A Swedish excavation took place in the settlement of San Giovenale between the years 1956 to 1965 to shed further light on Etruscan settlements. During the excavation, a great amount of bucchero was uncovered at the site. This study focusses on the forms of bucchero that were uncovered in the San Giovenale area and how these vessels might be connected to a broader network of the ware. By identifying the forms of bucchero found in the area and by bringing together all the earlier publications concerned with the bucchero finds from San Giovenale, this study tries to look at the bucchero material in its totality. By locating and counting the forms and context in which the bucchero was found, together with the other finds from the area, this study attempts to contextualize and uncover the status of the bucchero ware within the settlement and how this particular ware might be connected with the Etruscan banquets. By bringing all the material together from all the areas in San Giovenale, this study hopes to paint a clearer picture of the bucchero in San Giovenale in terms of form, amount, chronology and spread of bucchero. By studying the bucchero from the settlement of San Giovenale we might greatly enhance our understanding of the bucchero ware outside of the tomb context that it is usually found within.

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Cette thèse traite de deux sujets principaux : l’impact du territoire d’origine de la marque sur le comportement du consommateur, et l’impact de la consommation ostentatoire sur le bien-être subjectif du consommateur.D’une part, notre étude met en évidence l’importance du territoire d’origine de la marque dans la création de la perception de l’authenticité du consommateur. Elle valide d’une manière empirique une chaine d’effets, depuis les associations du territoire d’origine d’un produit en passant par son authenticité perçue jusqu’à la connexion du consommateur à la marque. Une méthode d’expérimentation et la régression des moindres carrés partielle ont été choisies, afin de tester les hypothèses avec 665 consommateurs chinois. Les résultats montrent que le territoire d’origine a un effet positif sur la perception de l’authenticité du consommateur, qui ensuite a un effet positif sur la connexion du consommateur à la marque. De plus, par rapport au pays d’origine, le territoire d’origine est le facteur unique qui a un effet positif sur l’authenticité perçue du produit et contribue à créer la connexion du consommateur au produit. Nous avons aussi montré que la familiarité au territoire d’origine du consommateur et la congruence de la catégorie du produit avec son origine territoriale renforcent l’effet positif du territoire d’origine sur la perception de l’authenticité du consommateur. Cependant, une seule catégorie de produit (savon à la lavande) et une seule variable dépendante (l’authenticité perçue) ont été considérés dans cette étude. Compte tenu de la pertinence décroissante des associations du pays d’origine, cette étude démontre que le territoire d'origine est une stratégie alternative intéressante pour le renforcement de la valeur de la marque.D’autre part, malgré l’importance croissante de la consommation ostentatoire dans le monde, peu de recherches s’intéressent à l’impact de la consommation ostentatoire sur le bien-être subjectif du consommateur. De plus, il existe des avis contradictoires sur leur relation. Cette étude propose une explication de la motivation duale et considère que la consommation ostentatoire a un effet positif sur le bien-être du consommateur si le consommateur utilise l’objet pour se prouver sa valeur, et un effet négatif sur le bien-être subjectif du consommateur si l’objet est utilisé afin d’éveiller l’attention des autres. Les résultats des trois études empiriques montrent que le sens de l’impact de la consommation ostentatoire sur le bien-être subjectif du consommateur dépend de ce qui motive la consommation. Ainsi, le matérialisme du consommateur augmente l’effet de la consommation ostentatoire pour éveiller l’attention des autres sur le bien-être subjectif du consommateur. / This thesis consists of two main topics: the impact of brand territory of origin (TOO) on consumer behaviour, and the impact of conspicuous consumption on consumer subjective well-being (SWB).On one side, this thesis highlights the importance of territory associations for consumers’ perception of product authenticity and empirically tests the chain of effects, from a TOO association to perceived authenticity to consumers’ self–brand connections. An experimental method and a partial least square (PLS) approach were adopted to test hypotheses with 665 Chinese consumers. Results demonstrate that TOO exerts a positive impact on perceived product authenticity, which improves consumers’ self–brand connections. In addition, compared with country of origin (COO), TOO has a unique positive impact on perceived authenticity and a direct positive effect on consumers’ self–brand connections. Also, the positive impact of TOO on perceived authenticity is enhanced by consumers’ familiarity with the TOO and congruence between the product category and TOO. But only one outcome of TOO (perceived authenticity) and one product category (lavender soap) have been considered in this study. Noting the diminishing relevance of COO associations, this study demonstrates that territory of origin is an appealing alternative strategy for strengthening brand equity.On the other side, despite the growing importance of conspicuous consumption in all parts of the world, little research focuses on the effect of conspicuous consumption on consumer SWB, and when this is the case, the results are controversial. We propose and test a bi-motive hypothesis whereby the valence of the effect of conspicuous consumption on consumer SWB depends on whether the conspicuous object is used as self-signaling conspicuous consumption or other-signaling conspicuous consumption. The results of three studies demonstrate that the self-signaling conspicuous consumer has a significantly higher level of SWB than the other-signaling conspicuous consumer. Furthermore, consumer materialism enhances the negative relationship between other-signaling conspicuous consumption and consumer SWB.

Tiden före den senaste finanskrisen präglades av generös kreditgivning och ökande inkomstskillnader. Det är väl bevisat att hög skuldsättning ökar risken för finansiell instabilitet, och bevisen blir fler för att inkomstojämlikhet påverkar överskuldsättning i en positiv riktning. Flera, däribland Frank et. al. (2010), vill förklara sambandet mellan inkomstojämlikhet och skuldsättning med att människor ägnar sig åt statuskonsumtion. Frank et. al. (2010) formulerar en hypotes för att empiriskt undersöka huruvida konsumtionsfunktionen bör innehålla en relativ faktor, och syftet för denna uppsats är att undersöka giltigheten i ”hypotesen om utgiftskaskader” i en svensk kontext. Hypotesen testas genom regression av förändringen i andelen skuldsatta hos Kronofogdemyndigheten på förändringen i gini-koefficienten inom kommuner mellan åren 2011-2016. Studien finner inget signifikant samband mellan andelen skuldsatta och gini-koefficientens förändring. Resultatet kan möjligen förklaras med att den geografiska enheten som observeras är för stor. / The years leading up to the latest financial crisis were characterized by generous credit markets and growing income inequality. It is well proven that high indebtedness increases the risk of financial instability, and there is growing evidence of income inequality affecting the debt-rate in a positive direction. Several, including Frank et. al. (2010), believes that the relationship between indebtedness and income inequality can be explained by people engaging in status-seeking consumption. Frank et. al. (2010) formulates a hypothesis to empirically investigate whether the consumption function should contain a relative factor, and the purpose of this paper is to test the validity of the expenditure cascade-hypothesis in a Swedish context.  The hypothesis is tested by regressing the change in the number of people with debt registered at the Swedish Enforcement Authority on the changes in the gini-coefficient within municipalities in the years 2011-2016. The study finds no significant correlation between the number of debtors and the change in the gini-coefficient. The results may be explained by the fact that the geographical unit of observation is too large.

This article contributes to the field of evolutionary macroeconomics by highlighting the dynamic interlinkages between micro-meso-macro with a Veblenian meso foundation in an agent-based macroeconomic model. Consumption is dependent on endogenously changing social class and signaling, such as bandwagon, Veblen and snob effects. In particular, we test the macroeconomic effects of this meso foundation in a generic agent-based model of a closed artificial economy. The model is stock-flow consistent and builds upon local decision heuristics of heterogeneous agents characterized by bounded rationality and satisficing behavior. These agents include a multitude of households (workers and capitalists), firms, banks as well as a capital goods firm, a government and a central bank. Simulation experiments indicate coevolutionary dynamics between signaling-by-consuming and firm specialization that eventually effect employment and consumer prices, as well as other macroeconomic aggregates.

This study sought to understand factors driving repurchase intentions for consumer electronics (CE) hardware and in particular mobile phones. The outcome of the study was expected to be of interest in academia and practice because it develops upon existing literature and identifies actionable variables that could be used to optimise market offerings. Based on a literature review it was hypothesised that the intent was driven by hedonic and utilitarian factors. These included conspicuousness and visibility; product bundling; reliability; technological features, usability of the product and the buyers’ age. The study tested these hypotheses using primary data. The method was employed to confirm the postulated drivers as well as to determine the direction of the effects. Data collection was conducted through a cross sectional internet survey enumerated in August 2010. The survey reached a broad sample of 144 responders. The analysis supported two of the six hypothesised drivers. The supported drivers were conspicuousness and usability. The recommendation was therefore to encourage the CE industry to focus on creating aesthetically appealing, fashionable devices that were intuitively easy to use requiring minimal assistance or product manuals. It also recommends that less emphasis be placed on durability, advanced features, on bundling additional extras and on targeting particular age groups. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Conspicuous consumption is a form of economic behaviour in which social pressure influences consumption decisions. Considering the current understanding of the detrimental ecological impact of excessive consumption practices, this paper overviews the potential to lessen wasteful consumption trends by utilising conspicuous consumption. This paper overviews research into this phenomenon, commencing with Thorstein Veblen’s work at the end of the nineteenth century. Combining this with research from sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this paper suggests potential indicators of sustainable consumption tendencies, including personality traits and group dynamics. The empirical aspect of this study successfully replicates the findings of a recent investigation into conspicuous consumption; that is, that consumption increases when conducted in public and income is linked to status. This study has been updated to include various aspects of sustainability behaviour and knowledge and has found trends associated with students of sustainability in Uppsala, Sweden. Furthermore, this paper suggests that the encouragement of conspicuous forms of sustainability could inspire sustainable consumption trends, or potentially lead to a reduction of overall consumption. Finally, this paper makes recommendations for policy makers in order to encourage social sustainability practices, building upon nascent movements such as 'Flygskam' ('Flight Shame') and successful anti-smoking strategies.

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