This study sought to determine differential importance of environmental criteria on product labels as judged by consumers in relation to socio-demographic factors. Five product categories and thirteen criteria were used in this study. Characterizing the `ecologically concerned consumer' may be helpful in developing market segmentation strategies. Findings from this study may provide knowledge about predictors of environmentally responsible consumption behavior. Such research may guide environmental labeling efforts to reduce environmental burdens of consumption.In this study consumers differentially endorsed ecolabel criteria. Further, differential importance was significant for gender, ethnicity, and income. Research is needed to explore the relationships between respondent demographics and eco-label criteria importance.It is necessary to consider importance of criteria to consumers. Without consumer interest, eco-labeling schemes are doomed to fail. Thus, it is recommended that ecolabeling schemes consider the importance of eco-label criteria, particularly, criteria related to social welfare. / Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management

Eco-labels inform consumers about the environmental aspects of a product or a service. Consumers who are concerned with environmental issues can use the information on eco-labels to learn the environmental aspects of the products that they buy. The aim of this study is to determine how often the students of higher education pay attention to eco-labels when they are purchasing and the levels of the five internal factors that may motivate the consumers to pay attention to eco-labels. These factors are pro-environmental attitude (willingness to pay higher prices for products with eco-label), perceived consumer effectiveness (how much they believe that individual actions can improve the environment), belief in environment-friendly buying, trust in eco-label and knowledge in eco-labels. This study provided an opportunity to learn if the students consider the environmental aspects when they are buying and what teachers and education professionals can do to encourage the students to pay attention to eco-labels. Three textbooks used for General Studies for Primary students, three textbooks used in Integrated Science for Secondary 1-3 students and six teaching materials published by publishers (there is no textbook for Liberal Studies that is standardized by Education Bureau) used in Science, Technology and the Environment in Liberal Studies for Secondary 4-6 students were reviewed to find if the topic of eco-labeling was mentioned in them. It was found that none of the textbooks used for General Studies for Primary students mentioned eco-labeling, all textbooks used in Integrated Science used for Secondary 1-3 mentioned the Energy Efficiency Label and all teaching material used in liberal studies also mentioned Energy Efficiency Label, among them, one book mentioned the European Union’s Eco-label. A survey was carried out to assess how often students pay attention to eco-labels and how much they agree to statements relating to the five internal factors that may motivate them to pay attention to eco-labels. A test was given to assess their knowledge in the Energy Efficiency Label Scheme (EELS) issued by the Electrical and Mechanical Service Department and eco-labels issued to food and wood products respectively. The mean was 2.8(on a scale of 6, in which 1 means strongly disagree and 6 means strongly agree), when asked if they agreed that they often pay attention to eco- label when they were buying 3.5 for pro-environmental attitude, 4.2 for perceived consumer effectiveness, 3.4 for belief in environmental buying, 3.6 for trust in eco-labels and 3.6 in perceived knowledge in eco-labels. 63.2% of the students correctly answered that there are five grades in EELS, 40% of students correctly chose that the lower the grading, the more efficient is the electrical appliance. 8.4% of students correctly chose all five kind of electrical applicants that are mandated to show EEL. 2.1% attempted to name any eco-labels issued to wood products and 3.1% attempted to name any eco-labels issued to food products. It was concluded that students do not often pay attention to eco-labels when they are buying and that the limited knowledge in eco-labels was the potential cause. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2004. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.) in Resource Economics and Policy--University of Maine, 2005. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-84).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 1999. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-147). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p9948020.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 18, 2009). Thesis advisor: Dr. Glenn Leshner Includes bibliographical references.

Aquaculture and fisheries hold promise for supplying a growing world population with healthy food produced without undermining the earth’s carrying capacity. However, just as livestock production and agriculture, seafood production can have negative environmental impacts and if a continuous or even increased supply is to be guaranteed, the pressure on affected ecosystems needs to be limited. Due in part to a perceived failure of other governance mechanisms in improving the environmental performance of the sector, a large number of voluntary market based standards for farmed and wild caught seafood have been developed. Nonetheless, the knowledge base on the extent to which implementation leads to environmental improvements remains limited. Moreover, the role of consumers in driving demand for eco-labeled seafood is presently an under-researched area. This thesis aims at reducing this knowledge gap through an examination of the potential environmental effectiveness of aquaculture eco-certification and internal, psychological variables predicted to be of importance for sustainable seafood consumption. Put differently, what is the potential of eco-certification in greening the blue revolution and fuel ‘turquoise growth’, and how can consumer demand be spurred? In Paper I, the role of eco-certification in improving the growing aquaculture sector at large was explored. Results showed that environmental effects at global scale likely will be limited due to e.g. partial coverage of species groups and environmental impacts, and a lack of focus on Asian markets and consumers. In Paper II the environmental performance of eco-certified and non-certified mangrove-integrated shrimp farms in Vietnam was compared by using Life Cycle Assessment and put in relation to conventional, more intensive farms. While there was no substantial difference between certified and non-certified farms in terms of environmental impacts, emissions of greenhouse gasses were higher for mangrove-integrated than conventional farms due to mangrove land use change. The results from Paper III demonstrated that the body of literature investigating ecological effects of seafood eco-certification is limited. ‘Spatially explicit ecosystem service information’ (ES-information) on e.g. key ecosystem services and biodiversity in a given area is suggested to have potential to improve sustainability standards. Taking guidance from the pro-environmental behavior literature, consumers in Stockholm, Sweden were consulted on awareness of and attitudes towards eco-labeled seafood (Paper IV-V). Two variables, concern for environmental impacts and knowledge about seafood eco-labels were the best predictors for stated eco-labeled seafood purchasing. Moreover, there seemed to be a misalignment between consumers’ expectations on eco-labeled food in general and certification requirements for eco-labeled seafood. From this set of findings, a number of improvements of current seafood eco-certification are suggested. First, include an LCA-perspective in standards to a higher degree than presently done and provide readily available ES-information in the implementation and evaluation phase of certification. Second, introduce standardized mechanisms for capturing potential environmental improvements over time. And finally, stimulate demand by targeting Asian consumers and markets as well as strengthen consumer eco-label awareness and emotional involvement. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 5: Manuscript.</p><p> </p>

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Europos Komisija ieško būdų mažinti gaminių daromą poveikį aplinkai, vertinant visą jų būvio ciklą. Siekiant šio tikslo taikomos ekologinio projektavimo ir būvio ciklo vertinimo priemonės saugesnių aplinkos atžvilgiu gaminių gamybai ir ekonominės (pvz., mokesčių diferenciacija, gamintojo atsakomybė) bei informacinės (pvz., ekoženklinimas) priemonės tokių gaminių paklausos kūrimui. Yra daug veiksnių, skatinančių ūkio subjektus taikyti ekoženklinimą. Viena iš paprastų priežasčių – aplinkos apsaugos (ar darnaus vystymosi) pokyčiai, vykstantys visuomenėje. Darbo tikslas – atlikti ekologinių, prekių ženklų panaudojimo plėtros aplinkosauginėje politikoje galimybių tyrimą Lietuvoje. Šio tikslo bus siekiama atliekant tokius uždavinius: 1.Remiants užsienio ir lietuvių mokslininkų teoriniais ir empiriniais darbais išnagrinėti aplinkosauginių, socialinių ir etinių ženklų vaidmenį aplinkosauginėje politikoje 2.Išanalizuoti ekologinių ženklų vaidmenį įgyvendinat ES aplinkosauginę politiką bei kitų šalių patirtį, diegiant ekologinius prekių ženklus; 3.Išanalizuoti apinkosauginę Lietuvos politiką ir Lietuvoje naudojamus aplinkosauginės politikos instrumentus, taikant SSGG analizę; 4.Aprašyti ekologinius ir kt. prekių ženklus taikomus Lietuvoje, bei išnanalizuoti jų plėtros tendencijas ir palyginti su kitų šalių; 5.Nustatyti ekologinių ženklų panaudojimo perspektyvas, kliūtis ir skatinimo priemones Lietuvoje; 6.Parengti rekomendacijas Lietuvai dėl ekologinių ženklų plėtros. Darbo objektas –... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / European Commission is constantly looking for ways of reducing the whole product life cycle impact on environment. Means of ecological engineering and valuation of product’s life cycle are being implemented in order to produce environmentally friendly products together with economical and media tools for creation of demand for such products. There are many factors stimulating economical entities to use eco-labelling. Environment protection change taking place in the society is one of those factors. Demand for ecological products is one of the main factors forcing companies to produce such products, taking into consideration influence on environment through the all stages of production. The aim of this paper – is to analyze the possibility of using eco-labeling in development of environmental policy of Lithuania. Such tasks have been formulated in order to reach this aim: •To analyze the role of social, ethical and ecological labeling for environmental policy based on works of foreign and Lithuanian authors. •To analyze the role of eco-labeling in EU environmental policy and the experience of other countries in usage of eco-labeling. •To analyze environmental policy and its instruments in Lithuania, by using SWOT analyze. •To describe ecological and other labeling used in Lithuania, and its development tendencies and compare it with experience of other countries. •To prepare recommendations of eco-labeling development in Lithuania. The object of this work is the possibility of... [to full text]

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