Fernand Braudel (1972) in his study The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II suggested, among other things, that the Mediterranean world despite its differences should be conceived of as a unit. The present study is not an attempt to challenge Braudel's entire work on historical, empirical or pragmatological grounds, but an effort to question the unitary and totalitarian conception of the Mediterranean region. Specifically, I explore how a small Mediterranean town, Rethemnos, Crete, Southern Greece, was theorized on the back of this widespread conception that wants the Mediterranean to be a unit, and how a differential reading of the town is possible once various theories and conceptions of postmodernism and poststructuralism are put forward with respect to Rethemnos. I will be drawing on theories of the consumer society (Jean Baudrillard's and Zygmunt Bauman's analyses) in an attempt to document that Rethemnos is a society that is currently organized by recourse to the internal contradictions of the consumer society and on theories of the event and the subject (Alain Badiou's analysis) in order to explain that the Rethemniot subject is undecidable and bound to truth procedures as long as there is an event named after an intervention. Prior to that, I will be challenging, with respect to how the Greek subject was depicted on the back of the unitary fashion of conceiving of the Mediterranean region, a variety of studies of anthropological origin, based on Greece; and I will be also criticizing with respect to how the Greek social formation was dissected, on the back of the same unitary fashion, a variety of other studies of politico-economic origin this time, based on Greece as well, by focusing and drawing on certain aspects of Jacques Derrida's deconstructive strategies and Gilles Deleuze's and Felix Guattari's geo-philosophy's lines of flight.

In the war to win the consumer’s attention traditional media is steadily losing ground to new media platforms; which are distributed and consumed digitally, are ubiquitous with the explosive uptake of smart internet connected devices and provide interconnections amongst platforms, devices and even consumers. New media is changing the balance of power in the media landscape from media businesses to media consumers, who now have unlimited choices available to them from which they can decide on what, when, where and how to consume content. So from the traditional outlook of ―mass media‖ there is a transition happening towards ―my media‖ which provide personalised experiences to consumers. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discussion on how consumer control is changing the media landscape by applying the dichotomy of push vs. pull in media consumption. The study sought to explore if with increasing consumer empowerment, the consumer instead of passively relying on content push from media businesses is now actively pulling content to fulfil his/her individual needs. The study was qualitative and exploratory in nature and utilised in depth and semi structured interviews of media consumers and experts to understand in how the role of the consumer is changing in the media landscape, the factors influencing the change, how the empowered consumer is effecting changes in the way he/she consumes content and media business response to the empowered consumer The study empirically established that consumer control is definitely on the rise in media consumption with consumers preferring to pull content as per their liking. Furthermore it was empirically validated that consumers from lower income levels were as much in control and pulling content as consumers from higher income levels which is a significant departure from the literature. The study also found that even though media businesses acknowledge consumer control in media consumption their response to it is applying certain tactics without any accompanying change in strategies and business models. The study recommended that for media businesses to stay relevant in the age of consumer control and the accompanying content pull; they need to be more customer centric in their approach where they design their strategies and business models by being consumer focussed and trying to fulfil their needs. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Consumers are becoming more socially conscious in their purchasing behaviours (Freestone & McGoldrick, 2008), and for some it is becoming a more salient aspect of buying criteria (Memery et al., 2005). Individuals‟ conceptions of themselves can influence behaviour (Aquino et al., 2009). An on-line experiment demonstrated the importance of consumers' ethical self-identity (ESI) in the mental processing of socially conscious consumer decisions. Findings reveal not only how individuals process decisions, but how they react to external stimuli. This study categorizes consumers into three levels of ESI, and shows differences and similarities between them. Individuals who feel an ethical orientation is part of their core self-identity were more inclined to mentally consult upon their previous behaviours when considering their current choice. Additional findings indicate that an assimilation effect took place; priming the environment led to more environmental purchase intentions (Herr, 1989). This study provides important insight into socially conscious consumer behaviour. / viii, 102 leaves ; 29 cm

Assignment (MComm) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: According to Costa and Basommy (1995) ethno-consumerism is the study of consumption from the point of view of a social or cultural group, which is the subject of the study. The purpose of the study was to document and critically analyse the use of modern household technologies by Swazi families and their experiences with them. The focus of analysis was at micro leveL A combined sample (N= 1449), consisting of Swazi females (N=810) and Swazi males (N=639) was requested to complete a questionnaire concerning the research project with issues relating to the adoption of household technologies. To explore the research issues concerning household technologies in Swaziland an ethno consumeristic framework consisting of four elements were developed: The Cultural context, Modernisation in the Swazi Culture, Rising Consumerism in Swaziland and the Technological Context. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Etniese verbruikersgedrag is volgens Costa & Basommy (1995) 'n studie van verbruiking vanuit die oogpunt van 'n kulturele of sosiale groep wat die onderwerp van die studie vorm. Die doel van die studie was om die gebruik van huishoudelike tegnologie deur Swazi families en hulle ondervinding daarmee te dokumenteer en analiseer. Die fokus van analise was op mikro vlak. 'n Gekombineerde steekproef (N=1449) was saamgestel uit Swazi dames (N=810) en Swazi mans (N=639). Die Swazi families het die navorsings projek van inligting voorsien oor kwessies wat verband hou met die aanvaarding van huishoudelike tegnologie. Om die navorsings kwessies aangaande huishoudelike tegnologie te ondersoek was 'n etniese verbruikersraamwerk saamgestel wat uit die volgende vier elemente bestaan het naamlik: Die Swazi se Kulturele Konteks, Modernisering in die Swazi Konteks, Toenemende Verbruikersorientasie en die Tegnologiese Konteks.