Class of 2012 Abstract / Specific Aims: The objective of this study is to evaluate consumers’ knowledge about over the counter (OTC) products containing acetaminophen (APAP). Methods: Doctor of pharmacy student researchers set up a booth at consenting community pharmacies and invited consumers to participate in a 10-15 minute knowledge assessment. The booth contained a table displaying several OTC medication bottles/packages. Adult participants: a) answered baseline questions verbally about their APAP knowledge and associated risks; b) identified OTC products at the booth that contain APAP; and c) calculated and demonstrated dosing of APAP. The researchers asked follow-up questions and assessed the accuracy of the dosing. Participants received APAP educational brochures upon completion. Main Results: Eighty percent of subjects reported not knowing what the abbreviation “APAP” means, and almost half of those who said that they knew what it means were incorrect. Very few participants were able to correctly identify the products containing APAP even with the product packaging information, with the percentage of incorrect responses as to whether a product contains APAP or not varying from 4.9% to 31.6%. More than 40% of the pediatric doses were incorrectly dosed for both of the pediatric formulations, even with the majority of subjects being parents. Conclusions: Consumers are not able to identify which over-the-counter products contain APAP even with the product packaging before them, and they do not know what the abbreviation “APAP” means. Better packaging and product ingredient information should be developed, and the abbreviation “APAP” should be avoided. Pediatric APAP products should be re-evaluated regarding safety and dosing.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of different types of consumer knowledge and values on their attitude towards buying organic personal care products and their purchase intentions of organic personal care products. The aim was to make a theoretical contribution to the research area of consumer behaviour in the context of organic products. As no research had been conducted on how different types of consumers’ knowledge affect their attitudes towards buying organic products and their purchase intentions of organic products, this study aims to address this research gap. In addition, while previous studies have mainly focused on organic foods this study aims to enhance knowledge about the little researched sector of organic personal care products.

Fisk är ett hälsosamt livsmedel och allt eftersom världsbefolkningen har växt och hälsotrenden blossat upp, har trycket på fiskerinäringen ökat. Bakgrundens fakta tog upp olika konsekvenser som fiskodling kan medföra och hur stor kunskap konsumenten har om detta och deras makt att påverka industrin. Syftet med studien var att belysa brister i fiskodling kopplat till konsumenters kunskap, samt hur de etiska frågorna påverkar konsumentens val. I metod och materialstycket lades det fram att studien var en litteraturstudie som baserades på vetenskapliga artiklar från olika databaser som gick att tillgå vid Örebro universitet. Resultatet av undersökningen gav inblickar i vad konsumenter visste om odlad fisk, vad de tyckte om produkten och hur eller om de utövade sin makt. Resultatet visar även hur hanteringen av fisk går till på fiskodlingar runt om i Europa. I diskussionsavsnittet i studien lades bakgrundsfakta ihop med fakta ur resultatavsnittet. I diskussionen framkom information om att konsumenters uppfattning och kännedom om odlad fisk inte var tillräcklig, trots de märkningar och informationskällor som presenteras i bakgrunden.I diskussionsavsnittet diskuteras även processen som ledde fram till den här studien och vad som fungerat respektive inte fungerat. / B-uppsatser

"Farmers Market", is selling seasonal local fresh food. These foods grow up without any pesticides, fertilizer, and unhealthy natural GM-free ingredients. Farmers work hard to plant seasonal vegetables and fruits. Consumers can buy the "production and consumption planted locally" pesticide-free and healthy seasonal fruits and vegetables. This study is according to the consumer knowledge, attitude and behavior of farmers' markets of organic products¡¦ relation and differences and to discuss whether the relationship between population statistical variance and consumer knowledge, attitude and behavior have differences or not. In this study, we use farmers' markets of Kaohsiung area for the researching object. The researching method is convenience sampling survey of questionnaire, and total valid samples are 372. Through descriptive statistics, single factor analysis of variance, multiple linear regression analysis and other statistical methods for data processing and analysis. And results of distribution of demographic variables are as follow: that the, (1) women are the mainly consumption group; (2) education level is university most; (3) consumers¡¦ age between 21-40 years old pay more attention to organic agricultural products and also tend to buy organic products; (4)the occupation of most respondents are in service industry; (5) family income per month from 20001 to 40000 is the most; (6) most of respondents are unmarried; (7) most of respondents¡¦ religion are Buddhism and Taoism; (8) to meat or fish-based diet The proportion of most. In this study, test hypotheses H1 consumer knowledge on consumer attitude has a significant effect. When the consumer knowledge is higher, the consumer attitude is also higher, but also vice versa. Test hypotheses H2 consumer attitudes on consumer behavior have a significant effect. When attitude and behavior are more particular and specific, the two inter-related degrees will be more remarkable. Test hypotheses H3 consumer knowledge and consumer behavior have a significant effect. When the consumer knowledge and consumer behavior have casual relationship, knowledge will cause the behavior. It means knowledge forming will affect the behavior.

In the postmodern society we live in whereby citizens create their unique identities and sense of belonging not by whom they associate with but rather with what they consume (Arrow & Dasgupta, 2009; Berner & Van Tonder, 2003; Kacen, 2000). Addressing the fast-paced lifestyles postmodern consumers are leading and the impact thereof on the natural environment is in many political, economic, academic and social circles high on the agenda (Benton & Ferry, 2010). Studies relating more specifically, to the true impact of consumer behaviour on the environment and the ultimate sustainability thereof for future generations is becoming of great importance. In order to assure future generations the same quality of life and access to natural resources it becomes paramount that investigation sets forth the behaviour of consumers today. This study investigated postmodern consumers’ consciousness of climate change and subsequent food procurement practices. The research identified certain sustainable consumption practices and uncovered very clear deficits with regards to consumers’ knowledge of climate change. Overall results revealed that most consumers either portray or aspire towards lifestyles that reflect luxury and convenience. It was found those who were willing to live more sustainably struggled to do so due to societal pressures, poor support and a knowledge deficit in terms of mitigating skills. This research further discovered that the current lifestyles postmodern consumers’ aspire to encourage very definite changes in terms of gender roles (i.e. more women competing on par with men), which have detrimental effects on their ability to lessen unsustainable behaviour. Recent literature states that women should be viewed as positive agents of change due to their prominent role in socialising their household members (Buckley, Cowan, McCarthy, & O'Sullivan, 2005) and therefore a portion of the research focused on the specific contribution or lack thereof females have toward sustainable consumption practices within a postmodern society. However, this research identified that with a proper knowledge of sustainable consumption practises and mitigating skills the postmodern consumer is able to have a profound impact on curbing the detrimental effects of unsustainable practices and therefore rightfully deserves more attention. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Consumer Science / MA / unrestricted

Syfte: Vår studie tar avstamp i det som tidigare forskning beskrivit som ett gap mellan konsumenters attityd och beteende till etisk konsumtion. Utifrån en efterfråga om ytterligare kartläggning och en upplevd avsaknad av studier som undersöker betydelsen av kunskap för betalningsvilja och konsumtion till fairtrade-produkter har vi därför formulerat följande syfte: "Syftet med studien är att få djupare förståelse för förhållandet mellan konsumenters kunskap om etisk märkning och deras konsumtion samt betalningsvilja för etiskt märkta-produkter." Metod: En enkätundersökning utfördes på Ica Maxi i Gävle där 143 slumpvis valda respondenter deltog. Respondenterna fick besvara frågor angående deras subjektiva ochobjektiva kunskap i avseende till fairtrade och därefter värdesätta priset för märkningen på tre utvalda produkter; banan, kaffe och honung. Utifrån detta kunde ett förhållande utläsas mellan kunskap och betalningsvilja. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet av vår undersökning visar ett positiv samband mellan konsumentkunskap och betalningsvilja samt konsumtion. Objektiv kunskap hade en större positiv påverkan på respondenternas betalningsvilja för fairtrade-produkter medan subjektiv kunskap hade större påverkan på uppskattad konsumtion och inställning. Fortsättningsvis kunde vi utläsa en generellt förhöjd betalningsvilja för fairtrade på samtliga utvalda produkter. Förslag till vidare forskning: Vi har i denna studie inte mätt respondenternas faktiska betalningsvilja eller faktiska konsumtion. Vidare forskning skulle således kunna undersöka betydelsen av kunskap om etisk märkning för betalningsviljan i verkliga marknadssituationer. Uppsatsens bidrag: Denna studie pekar på vikten av konsumentkunskap för etisk konsumtion. Bidraget är förståelsen för rollen objektiv och subjektiv kunskap spelar för att få konsumenter att inkludera etiskt märkta produkter i deras konsumentval samt  vara villiga att betala det pris premium som vanligtvis föreligger på fairtrade-märkta produkter. / Aim: Our study builds on what previous research has described as a gap between consumers' attitudes and behaviour to ethical consumption. Based on the request for additional mapping and a perceived lack of studies investigating the importance of knowledge to willingness to pay and consumption for fair trade products, we have formulated the following purpose: "The purpose of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between consumers' knowledge on ethical labelling and their consumption together with willingness to pay for ethical labelled products." Method: In this study, we performed a quantitative survey at the food store Ica Maxi in Gävle with 143 randomly selected respondents' who completed the questionnaire.The respondents where asked to answer questions regarding their subjective and objective knowledge regarding fairtrade and then price three different food products labelled with fairtrade with the price of the equivalent product without label stated as a reference point. The products were; banana, coffee and honey. Through this we could examine the relationship between knowledge and willingness to pay. Result &amp; Conclusion: The result of our survey show that the level of knowledge affects purchase intent and willingness to pay for fairtrade products. We also found a distinction between subjective and objective knowledge. Subjective knowledge had a more distinct affect on consumption and attitude while objective knowledge affected the willingness to pay to a greater extent. Furthermore it was found that the average willingness to pay for a fairtrade label exceeded the equivalent products without label for all examined products.<img src="file:///page5image1176" /> Further research: In this thesis we did not research the respondents' actual willingness to pay nor actual consumption behaviour. Further research should hence examine the importance of knowledge on ethical labelling for willingness to pay in actual market situations Contribution of the thesis: This study points out the importance of consumer knowledge for ethical consumption. The contribution is additional understanding to therole subjective and objective knowledge plays for consumers to include ethical labelled products in their product choice and also being willing to pay the current market price premium for fairtrade labelled products.

The industry of mobile communication in Taiwan has recently become the fastest growing representative in the mobile communication related industries in the world. After several years of development, the industry has moved into the application development stage for 3rd generation (3G) technologies. Within the related services offered by 3G technologies, the most noticeable and the earliest one to set into promotion are video phone service. However, since 3G technologies become available in year 2005, the utilization of video phone service and its popularity keeps at slow growth. Scholars have pointed out that the consumers¡¦ perception of the products can have impact on their purchasing and using decisions. Further, some scholars also think that if the consumers believe the risk of change is high; their willingness to accept new services is lowered. Based on the above two factors, this research examines the current status on consumers¡¦ perception on 3G technologies and also investigates the interrelationships among consumers¡¦ perception of the cost of change and the utilization of 3G video phone service. After going through the literature on the subject, this research has categorized consumer knowledge into 4 types. In addition, the switching cost which arising from the change of voice service to 3G video phone service by consumers has also been included into the study. The conclusions and recommendations resulting from the investigation and analysis of current consumer knowledge and the switching cost are as follows: 1.Consumers¡¦ product existence knowledge on 3G video phone service and the persuasion knowledge does not have noticeable impact on its usage intention. However, the product attributes knowledge and the knowledge to purchase and usage have positive noticeable impact on its usage intention. 2.The switching cost for consumers to move from voice services to 3G video phone service has noticeable negative impact on its usage intention for 3G video phone service. 3.Consumers¡¦ persuasion knowledge for 3G video phone service has a negative relationship on the switching cost of change for 3G video phone service.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the influential factors on consumer attitude towards organic food in a rapid growing market and how the attitude influences consumer purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach – after reviewing relevant literatures, a research model was developed based on six hypotheses. The model was tested by conducting an online survey on Chinese consumers. Findings – Four out of six hypotheses were accepted. In specific, health consciousness, consumer knowledge and personal norms obviously showed their impacts on Chinese consumer attitude and the last hypothesis indicates the positive relationship between attitude and purchase intention. Originality/value – Since two hypotheses from the research model were rejected, a new model was developed which is particularly represented for Chinese market. Keywords - Consumer attitude, Organic food, Health, Consumer knowledge, Environmental, Norms, China, Purchase intention Paper type - Research paper

This research tested a conceptual model predicting the propensity to engage in two distinct forms of conspicuous consumption (bandwagon and snob consumption) that was developed by Kastanakis and Balabanis (2014) in a collectivistic Iranian context. This study found that this conceptual model was more successful in accounting for the variance in bandwagon consumption (i.e., conformity seeking conspicuous luxury consumption) than snob consumption (i.e., uniqueness seeking conspicuous luxury consumption) in the Iranian context. In addition to status seeking, it was found that consumer susceptibility to normative influence (CSNI) and consumer need for uniqueness (CNFU) mediates the influence of self-concept on bandwagon consumption. This finding suggests that the relationship between snob consumption and CNFU may differ in the Iranian context. Results also show that the relationships between CSNI, unpopular counter choice conformity (a sub-construct of CNFU) and status seeking with bandwagon consumption were all negatively moderated by consumer knowledge for fashion luxury goods. These findings extend the original conspicuous consumption model and provide some insight for the development of marketing strategies in Iran.

The aim of this study is to investigate how the semiotic modalities interact (or not) in two ’domestic science- and consumer knowledge’ books. Unfortunately this interaction is often lost when the multimodal perspective is forgotten. The fact that this type of literature often is uninspiring and poorly designed does not make things better. This paper will use a wider text concept as a stepping stone toward an understanding of the interplay between multimodalities and semiotic resources in the books. A theoretical literature study combined with an empirical analysis will lay the foundation to answering my research questions: how do the modalities in two ’domestic science- and consumer knowledge’ books interact and how do these books relate to earlier research on multimodal texts? The result was somewhat surprising as it showed that from a collaboration point of view, the book that was perceived as the least inspiring was as good as the one that was perceived as the more interesting. The conclusion drawn was that design plays a greater role than one might think and that is just as important as as a well functioning interaction between modalities. In textbooks, all parts are important to create meaning.