Faculty have been identified as critical players in the implementation of textbook affordability efforts at community colleges. Furthermore, emerging lower-cost alternatives to traditional textbooks present a wide and growing range of options that may help further efforts. This study sought to examine more closely the role of faculty with respect to textbook cost-lowering initiatives. The researcher utilized in-depth interviews to gain a rich picture of the experiences, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of nine full-time community college faculty as they confronted textbook affordability efforts and textbook alternatives. The interview data were analyzed using a thematic analysis process. Five major themes and three minor themes were identified. The five major themes were: (a) campus administrators support, but do not mandate, efforts; (b) frequent edition revisions frustrate faculty; (c) departmental approaches to textbook selection vary; (d) content, then affordability, drive selection choices; and (e) faculty have mixed feelings about textbook alternatives. The three minor themes were: (a) faculty efforts to save students money are thwarted by campus bookstores and financial aid policies; (b) English faculty benefit from public domain readings; and (c) more faculty participating in textbook selection means more difficulty deciding on a text. Implications and recommendations were offered for community college leaders, campus bookstores, publishers, and future researchers.

Antropogena klimatförändringar, förkortat AK, är ett av nutidens stora miljöproblem. För att hantera AK är människors motivation och intention att agera klimatvänligt viktigt, eftersom avsaknad motivation och intention att adressera AK kan bringa negativa konsekvenser för samhället. Individers motivation och intention att agera klimatvänligt kan influeras av framing, vilket syftar till att betona specifika delar av verkligheten. Vilken framing som används kan vara avgörande ifall individer agerar klimatvänligt eller inte. Den konventionella framing som dominerar samhället grundas i att betona fakta och de negativa effekterna av AK. AK framställs som en inkräktande katastrof vilken bör hanteras via uppoffringar, förluster och kostnader. Konventionella klimatkommunikationen kan leda till passivitet hos individer och en önskan att undvika ämnet. Eftersom motivation och intention att agera klimatvänligt är betydande uppstår behovet att skapa en icke-konventionell framing som tar människors psykologiska barriärer i åtanke. Syftet med studien var att applicera Stoknes (2015) teori om de fem psykologiska barriärerna som hindrar en effektiv klimatkommunikation och hur dessa barriärer kan tas i åtanke för att uppnå en mer effektiv klimatkommunikation. Två olika framing alternativ i form av berättelser var fokus för studien. Frågeställningen var: Hur påverkar konventionell respektive icke-konventionell framing individers motivation och intention att agera klimatvänligt? För att testa berättelserna utfördes ett kontrollerat experiment och en sluten enkät utgjorde mätinstrument för att kvantifiera motivation och intention. Data från enkäten analyserades med Mann-Whitney U test och Cohen’s d test. En viss ökning av motivation och intention ägde rum, men det fanns inte en statistisk signifikant skillnad i motivation och intention att agera klimatvänligt efter deltagarna utsatts för en berättelse. Data antyder förändringar i motivation och intention skett för gruppen som tog del av icke-konventionella framing alternativet, och därmed bör fortsättningsstudier genomföras med normalfördelad population av betydligt större skala. Vidare kan potentiellt en annan vetenskapsteoretisk utgångspunkt nyttjas, specifikt flermetodsforskning. / Anthropogenic climate change, abbreviated ACC, is a major environmental problem. People’s motivation and intention to act climate-friendly is important in addressing ACC since lacking motivation and intention to address ACC can have dire consequences for society and the environment. Individuals’ motivation and intention to act climate-friendly can be influenced by framing, which refers to the practice of emphasizing certain aspects of reality. What type of framing is being utilized can be crucial regarding individuals acting climate-friendly. The conventional framing dominating society is based on emphasizing facts and negative consequences of ACC. ACC is portrayed as an encroaching disaster managed via sacrifices, losses, and costs. However, this can lead to passivity and a desire to avoid the topic. Since motivation and intention to act climate-friendly is important, the need for a non-conventional framing arises. The study's purpose was to create a framing that took psychological barriers into account based on Stoknes (2015) theories regarding climate communication and to investigate how it affected motivation and intention to act climate-friendly. The research question was: How do conventional framing and non-conventional framing affect individuals’ motivation and intention to act climate-friendly? Two framing alternatives made up of stories about ACC were tested during a controlled experiment, and motivation and intention were quantified utilizing a closed-ended questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and Cohen’s d test. A slight increase in motivation and intention was measured, but no statistically significant difference existed in motivation and intention to act climate-friendly after the participants had been subjected to a framing alternative. Data suggests changes in motivation and intention to act climate-friendly occurred for the group subjected to the non-conventional framing, and thus further research should be conducted with a normally distributed population of a significantly larger scale. Furthermore, future studies could pursue mixed methods research.

Le Nazioni Unite hanno espresso la necessità che aziende e consumatori si orientino ad una maggiore sostenibilità. Questa tesi parte da tale constatazione e analizza l’impatto che la sostenibilità ha sulle strategie aziendali, sull’orientamento all’innovazione di prodotto e processo e, infine, sulle relazioni che si sviluppano nella filiera produttiva. Inoltre, viene analizzata la relazione tra le strategie di marketing e le scelte di consumo sostenibili. Vengono analizzate, innanzitutto, due aziende di moda. L’analisi qualitativa mira a definire cosa sia per loro la sostenibilità, in che modo questa le metta alla prova e cosa possa garantire il successo duraturo di una strategia sostenibile. Viene successivamente analizzato un campione di 1104 intervistati per comprendere come le aziende di moda dovrebbero comunicare il loro impegno nella sostenibilità, attraverso mezzi di comunicazione specifici e ben definiti, soprattutto a quei consumatori che sono propensi - ma non del tutto convinti - ad acquistare abbigliamento sostenibile. Infine, viene analizzato un campione di 99 aziende vinicole a cui è stato sottoposto un questionario per capire se esiste una relazione tra la collaborazione tra i partner lungo la filiera produttiva e la performance sostenibile dell’impresa. I risultati evidenziano i fattori che orientano le strategie sostenibili delle aziende vinicole e della moda, e il comportamento dei consumatori. Vengono evidenziate soluzioni pratiche che possano accompagnare le aziende verso un crescente orientamento alla sostenibilità. / This doctoral thesis aims at shedding light on the United Nations’ call-to-action for producers and consumers who, jointly, have to contribute to sustainable development. The aim is to investigate the impact of sustainability on companies’ strategies by exploring their orientation towards process and product innovation, and the consequent business relationships that develop along the supply chain. Furthermore, the thesis seeks to investigate the role of some marketing strategies and the consumers’ sustainable attitudes. Two fashion companies are analyzed to explore what sustainability is for them and how they are challenged by sustainability concerns. Propositions are formulated that can help companies define long-term and effective sustainability-oriented strategies. A sample of 1104 respondents is then analyzed to understand how sustainability-oriented fashion companies should communicate their commitment, through specific and well defined communication tools, to those consumers who are positively disposed towards sustainable clothing but are still afraid of these “new” products. Lastly, a sample of 99 wine companies is analyzed. They were asked to answer a questionnaire whose purpose is to understand if there is a relationship between collaboration among partners along the supply chain and sustainable performance. Results allow for a better understanding of the factors driving sustainable strategies of fashion and wine companies, and consumer behavior. Practical solutions are highlighted.