Adolescents engage in a range of risk behaviors during their transition from childhood to adulthood. Identifying and understanding interpersonal and socio-environmental factors that may influence risk-taking is imperative in order to meet the Healthy People 2020 goals of reducing the incidence of unintended pregnancies, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections among youth. The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in the predictors of HIV risk behaviors among South Florida youth. More specifically, this study examined how protective factors, risk factors, and health risk behaviors, derived from a guiding framework using the Theory of Problem Behavior and Theory of Gender and Power, were associated with HIV risk behavior. A secondary analysis of 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data sets from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach school districts tested hypotheses for factors associated with HIV risk behaviors. The sample consisted of 5,869 high school students (mean age 16.1 years), with 69% identifying as Black or Hispanic. Logistic regression analyses revealed gender differences in the predictors of HIV risk behavior. An increase in the health risk behaviors was related to an increase in the odds that a student would engage in HIV risk behavior. An increase in risk factors was also found to significantly predict an increase in the odds of HIV risk behavior, but only in females. Also, the probability of participation in HIV risk behavior increased with grade level. Post-hoc analyses identified recent sexual activity (past 3 months) as the strongest predictor of condom nonuse and having four or more sexual partners for both genders. The strongest predictors of having sex under the influence of drugs/alcohol were alcohol use in both genders, marijuana use in females, and physical fighting in males. Gender differences in the predictors of unprotected sex, multiple sexual partners, and having sex under the influence were also found. Additional studies are warranted to understand the gender differences in predictors of HIV risk behavior among youth in order to better inform prevention programming and policy, as well as meet the national Healthy People 2020 goals.

During the last few years, awareness of environmental- and health related problems have grown dramatically. An area that has a contributed to these concerns are the food industry. It has affected the demand of greener products such as organic food, which aims to be healthier and better for the environment. Although there are different views on the exact benefits of organic food, it is considered to have a general positive effect on its surroundings. However, organic food has been costly, both for farmers and consumers, which has created an imbalance in supply and demand for organic products. Even if the sales of organic food has increased, the consumption is not enough for prices to decrease. It has also been found that people claim to buy that they buy organic to a higher extent than they actually do. Therefore this thesis focus on understanding how sales of organic food can be increased further, by identifying existing customer values and brand knowledge about organic products, in order to use the findings to improve problem areas and change buying behavior. The result is based on several research methods, although the greatest part comes from empirical tests examine the research questions derived from earlier research and interviews. The tests main focus was to investigate perceptions about price sensitivity, the effect of place and promotion, and finally the effect of clarifying the concept of organic food through arguments on the packages. The main conclusion is that the greatest opportunity to change consumer behavior towards buying more organic products is held by the retailers. The majority of all decisions are made in store, which is why the greatest change to influence consumer behavior is located there. Down- and upstream activities are recommended depending on the customer’s readiness to change purchase behaviors into new once. However, further studies of the arguments actual impact on sales are proposed to be further studied, and has been left out due to the limited scope of the tests and the possibility to measure it. Also, further research on to what extent the customer is willing to let the retail chains take decisions for them is proposed. / Under de senaste åren har medvetenheten om miljö- och hälsorelaterade problem ökat dramatiskt. Ett område som har bidragit till denna oro är livsmedelsindustrin. Detta har påverkat efterfrågan på miljövänliga produkter som ekologiska livsmedel, vars syfte är att främja hälsa och miljö. Även om det finns olika uppfattningar om de exakta fördelarna med ekologisk anses det i allmänhet ha positiva effekter på omgivningen. Ekologiska livsmedel är dock kostsamt, både för jordbrukare och konsumenter, vilket har skapat en obalans i utbud och efterfrågan. Även om försäljningen har ökat, är konsumtionen inte tillräcklig för att priset ska minska. Det har också visat sig att människor ofta utger sig för att köpa ekologiska produkter i högre grad än vad de faktiskt gör. Därför avser denna studie att analysera hur försäljningen av ekologiska livsmedel kan öka ytterligare genom att identifiera befintliga kundvärderingar och varumärkes kunskap om ekologiska produkter för sedan använda resultaten till att förbättra problemområden och förändra köpbeteendet. Resultatet bygger på flera forskningsmetoder, även om den största delen kommer från empiriska tester som undersöker forskningsfrågor skapade utifrån tidigare litteraturen på området samt intervjuer. Testernas huvudfokus var att pröva uppfattningar om priskänslighet, effekten av produktplacering och uppmärkning, samt effekten av förtydligande argument av ekologiska produkters innebörd. Den viktigaste slutsatsen av denna studie är att den största möjligheten att ändra konsumenternas beteende till att köpa mer ekologiska produkter innehas av återförsäljarna. Majoriteten av alla beslut fattas i butiken, vilket gör att de har störst möjlighet att påverka. Ned- och uppströms aktiviteter rekommenderas beroende på kundens benägenhet att ändra beteende. Det krävs dock ytterligare studier på argumentens inverkan på försäljningen Ytterligare forskning om hur villig kunden är att låta butikskedjorna fatta beslut åt dem rekommenderas.

Low consumer loyalty threatens the sustainability of the fair trade (FT) coffee market and corporate social responsibility investment. To provide business owners with strategies and decision-making processes to market FT coffee products successfully in the United States, this phenomenological study explored the lived experiences, perceptions, and insights of 20 FT coffee marketing managers. Planned behavior theory served as the conceptual framework. Face-to-face or Skype interviews were conducted with each of the 20 purposefully sampled FT coffee marketing managers. The data from these interviews were analyzed using Moustakas' modified van Kaam method and qualitative analytic software to collect, group, reduce, validate, and organize the interview data into themes. Nine themes emerged from the analyses. The theme analysis revealed the importance of including consumer education as a part of a marketing strategy to improve consumer understanding of the FT label and to catalyze demand. Based upon the topics participants emphasized during the interviews, another principal theme was the importance of establishing a direct relationship with a farm. Furthermore, 2 of the 20 participants provided unique insights on achieving consumer trust and the importance consumers attribute to consistent taste. Educating consumers on the effects and implications of the FT label is instrumental in increasing profits from FT coffee. The findings could catalyze beneficial social change by enabling business owners to educate consumers through marketing communications, which increase their market share of FT coffee and thereby enhance the lives of third-world farmers.

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In recent years, tightening budgets have forced school districts to find new ways to save money. One way that has become increasingly popular is to shorten the traditional five-day school week to only four-days a week. This change is budget friendly and may act through efficiency wage theory as a recruitment tool for better teachers. Despite the increasing prevalence of districts running on four-day weeks, many of the effects of the shorter week on students are still unclear. Utilizing district-level panel data from the Colorado Department of Education, Study One took a difference-in-differences approach to determine the effect of the implementation of the four-day week on various delinquency measures, including suspensions, expulsions, and juvenile arrest rates. No significant results were found with robust standard errors, but trends suggested that juvenile crime may be increasing while school related incidents may be decreasing in areas with four-day school weeks. To offset these trends, this paper also proposes a second study aimed at investigating the effects of different types of fifth-day programs on adolescent well-being, academic achievement, and problem behaviors. Schools using the four-day week that agree to participate will be randomly assigned to receive either a career-prep program, an academic program, a recreational program, a social skills/mentoring program, or no program at all. Students (N=XXX) will fill out a survey at the beginning and at the end of the program or school year, reporting their subjective well-being and recent engagement in problem behaviors. It is expected that students who participate in the social skills/mentoring program will show the highest levels of well-being and little engagement in problem behaviors. This study will help to advance the research on after school programming, particularly in rural environments.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-16T14:49:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 738281 bytes, checksum: 3e9b0556a6e418a8076daa4b0deb6d05 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The aim of the study was to analyze the behavior purchase of the high school students by Planed Behavior Theory (PBT) and their relationship with marketing actions in social choice study in a private college. When behavior consumer investigation is performed, the researchers had highlighted the attitude evaluation by PBT. This kind of theory was developed to explain the intention to perform a behavior based on little set of explanatory constructions - attitude, subjective NORMA, perceived control. The methodology was followed by the instruction proposed by Azen (1991). A qualitative research was performed with 219 high school subjects in two private schools, in Barreiras city, state of Bahia. Descriptive statistics was used (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) to characterize the sample and factorial analysis and confirmatory analysis. The SPSS (version 15.0) and AMOS (version 7.0) were used to data analysis. The family (subjective norm) is decisive to choice intention in college studies and the family considerer the college study a job security in the future. The college infrastructure and the courses offered are important in perception control. It is important that the college keeps projects to the community as traveling library, legal nucleus, nursing and physical therapy clinic (behavior intention). In conclusion, it is expected that the objectives of this dissertation have been achieved. It is showed a contribution to administration field, specially in marketing and social psychology, and the action theories that try to understand consumer behavior. / Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar o comportamento de compra dos estudantes de ensino médio à luz da Teoria do Comportamento Planejado (TCP) e sua relação com as ações de marketing relacionadas ao social para a escolha de ensino superior privado. Em se tratando de investigação em Comportamento do Consumidor, os pesquisadores têm se debruçado e dado destaque à avaliação de atitudes através da TCP que foi desenvolvida para explicar a intenção de realizar um comportamento, com base em um conjunto reduzido de construtos explicativos - atitude, norma subjetiva e controle percebido. Seguindo as instruções metodológicas propostas por Azen (1991) realizou-se uma pesquisa de caráter quantitativo com 219 estudantes de ensino médio, de duas escolas particulares, na cidade de Barreiras - Bahia. Foram utilizadas estatísticas descritivas (frequência, percentual, média e desvio-padrão) a fim de caracterizar a amostra estudada e análise fatorial e análise confirmatória na análise dos dados, sendo utilizado o software SPPS (versão 15,0) e o AMOS (versão 7,0) para a análise dos resultados obtidos com a pesquisa de campo. A família (norma subjetiva) é decisiva para a intenção de escolha de ensino superior, bem como fazer ensino superior é considerado como garantia de emprego no futuro pelos participantes (família). A infra-estupora que a instituição dispõem bem como a oferta de cursos é também importante nesta questão de escolha de ensino superior privado (controle percebido). É importante que a instituição de ensino superior mantenha projetos voltados para a comunidade, como biblioteca itinerante, núcleo jurídico, clínica escola de enfermagem e fisioterapia (intenção comportamental). Concluindo, espera-se que os objetivos propostos nesta dissertação tenham sido alcançados, apresentando-se nesta oportunidade uma contribuição para um campo de estudo escassamente considerado na Administração, em especial na área de Marketing, como também na Psicologia Social, em específico sobre as teorias da ação que buscam compreender o comportamento do consumidor.

This thesis explores the influence of User-Generated Content (UGC) on the purchasingdecisions of millennials in the fast fashion industry, particularly through the platformsInstagram and TikTok. The research delves into the transformation from offline to onlinemarketing within the fast fashion sector, examining both fast-fashion and ultra-fast fashion tounderstand UGC's impact on consumer behavior, including environmental and ethicalconcerns. Employing a qualitative research methodology, this study focuses on thematic and contentanalysis to unravel the intricate ways in which UGC shapes millennials' purchasing decisions.The research provides an in-depth exploration of the subjective experiences, perceptions, andmotivations of this demographic, offering rich insights into their interaction with UGC.Additionally, the study integrates social influence theory and buying behavior theory tounderstand the dynamics of digital consumer engagement and the role of UGC incontemporary marketing strategies. Through interviews with Millennial consumers and analysis of their interactions with UGC,the research uncovers patterns and trends that highlight the significant role of UGC in digitalmarketing and consumer decision-making. The results suggest that while UGC significantlyinfluences Millennials, the impact varies across different aspects of the fast fashion sector.This research fills a void in current literature by providing a focused analysis of UGC'sinfluence across generational divides, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of digitalbehavior in the fast fashion industry.

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Doctor of Philosophy / Family Studies and Human Services / Duane W. Crawford Jr / Farrell J. Webb / This investigation sought to examine the role of acculturation and generational theory and influenced social and cultural practices among Saudi Arabian students who were currently residing in the United States. Theoretically, it sought to answers questions that help determine how Americanization—the adaptation and acculturation of a visiting culture to absorb and incorporate the host culture into their lives, customs, and social practices, and in this case savings behavior. A comprehensive model was developed to test the idea that living in America can and does have an influence on social and cultural practices. What was of interest in this study was whether or not these same influences could have an impact on particular cultural practices, in this case how people felt about, reacted to, and addressed the concept of savings—the stockpiling of funds for future needs. Information was gathered from a sample of over 500 Saudi Arabian students living in the United States. The model as structured was tested using SEM analytic techniques in an effort to fully explore and expose the nuanced and subtle differences among the respondents. The concept of savings behavior being influenced by Americanization as originally discussed was not substantiated by the model even though some of the indicators were within expected parameters (χ² = 217.241, p < .001; CFI = 0.839, TLI = 0.732, RMSEA = 0.034). Despite the general problems the overall model revealed that at least 17% of what was termed as savings behavior could be explained by the model. The study still retained its value because it has made inroads into an area that has not yet been explored. Future investigations should take care to find better ways to incorporate some of the cultural elements of savings behavior directly into the instrument based on the perspective of their test populations rather than assume value in and use instruments tested and normed with US samples.

El comportamiento de los consumidores hacia los productos sostenibles ha crecido favorablemente en los últimos años. Esto brinda una oportunidad enorme a que la categoría de la moda entienda la intención de compra del cliente y aporten en el cuidado del medioambiente a través de sus productos. En este sentido, el presente estudio analiza los factores que interceden en la intención de compra en la categoría de ropa sostenible. El objetivo principal es identificar las relaciones entre las actitudes, normas subjetivas, y control conductual percibido de la persona y la disposición a pagar por estos productos para revelar la intención de compra sobre la misma. La metodología empleada será cuantitativa a través de datos extraídos de una encuesta desarrollada en Google Forms y analizada a través de ecuaciones estructurales SEM. De esta manera, el estudio pone en manifiesto factores que influyen en concretar el recorrido a una intención de compra hacia la categoría de ropa sostenible. / Consumer behavior towards sustainable products has grown favorably in recent years. This provides a huge opportunity for the fashion category to understand the customer's purchase intention and contribute to caring for the environment through its products. In this sense, this study analyzes the factors that intervene in the purchase intention in the sustainable clothing category. The main objective is to identify the relationships between the attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control of the person and the willingness to pay for these products to reveal the purchase intention on the same. The methodology used will be quantitative through data extracted from a survey developed in Google Forms and analyzed through SEM structural equations. In this way, the study reveals factors that influence the path towards a purchase intention towards the sustainable clothing category. / Trabajo de investigación