Abstract Purpose - The purpose of this research aims to explore the consumers’ behaviors in multicultural context, for low product involvement. Design/Methodology/Approach - Researchers of this study had chosen a qualitative research which is in accordance with the purpose. Eight interviews were led with respondents from seven different nationalities having lived in multicultural environment. The goal was to analyze which behaviors come up when consumers are guided by six particular external and internal factors in their consumption (namely culture, reference groups, situational factors, personal needs and motives, attitudes and consumer orientation towards multiculturalism). Findings - Firstly, findings showed that consumers are guided in their behavior by the six mentioned factors in multicultural context for low product involvement. Secondly, six consumers’ behaviors, guided by external and internal factors, have been found during this research. Research limitations/Implications - As this research is qualitative, not all the aspects of the topic were explored. Another exploratory research could be led to detect other behaviors or other factors guiding consumers’ behaviors in multicultural context. There is also a need for a quantitative research in order to confirmed findings. Thus thanks to this study, marketers have now a broader view on consumers’ behaviors in multicultural context, especially for low product involvement. Originality/Value - This study is one of the first research conducted about consumers’ behaviors in multicultural context. Researchers deepened the existing literature by exploring and bringing possible consumers’ behavior’ in multicultural context for low product involvement. Existing literature was not as specific as this one concerning factors guiding consumers’ behaviors in multicultural context, as well as concerning low product involvement.

Our interactions with objects build cultural codes, reflecting lifestyles, values, and identities beyond functional expectations. With open connectivity in the contemporary consumer environments, we have access to homogenized material cultures not only for daily activities but also for ceremonies and rituals to mark important events, such as birth, marriage, and death. What will happen to our cultural codes and diverse traditions when various cultural norms meet, exchange, clash, hybridize, and evolve? In this research, globalized material cultures were investigated to discover metaphoric comparisons, to formulate conceptual frameworks, and to develop informed design, which can address evolving cultural conditions appropriately, in comparison with commercialized goods. Considering we often ritualize sequential stages of life course or challenging events, but rarely divorce, I explored the socio-cultural norms of marriage and divorce in the current social construct to anticipate globally evolving divorce phenomena. My thesis focused on relatively unknown material cultures in ritualizing divorce by combining speculative design with semiotic, hybrid, idiosyncratic approaches to communicate desirable future scenarios for the emerging multi-cultural context. This research aims to explore how artifacts and rituals can help people cope with transitional events and how design practices can provide meaningful and reflective material cultures.

In the 21st century, the mobility of world population has posed greater challenges to healthcare practitioners, since they are facing an increasingly diverse patient population from all over the world. At the same time, patients also find it difficult to access and utilize quality health care services in a culturally diverse context. This study examines the role of culture in Chinese international students’ health-seeking behaviours in Canada. The study explores any barriers/perceived barriers that Chinese international students may confront when accessing health care which can prevent them from obtaining quality health care services in Canada. To this end, an intercultural health communication model was employed as a theoretical framework, and semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection tool. While contributing to existing literature on health communication and culture, this study also hopes to contribute to providing Canadian universities and institutions important information regarding Chinese international students’ access to and utilization of health care services with the hope of enhancing the quality of ethnic health care and promoting better health outcomes.

In the 21st century, the mobility of world population has posed greater challenges to healthcare practitioners, since they are facing an increasingly diverse patient population from all over the world. At the same time, patients also find it difficult to access and utilize quality health care services in a culturally diverse context. This study examines the role of culture in Chinese international students’ health-seeking behaviours in Canada. The study explores any barriers/perceived barriers that Chinese international students may confront when accessing health care which can prevent them from obtaining quality health care services in Canada. To this end, an intercultural health communication model was employed as a theoretical framework, and semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection tool. While contributing to existing literature on health communication and culture, this study also hopes to contribute to providing Canadian universities and institutions important information regarding Chinese international students’ access to and utilization of health care services with the hope of enhancing the quality of ethnic health care and promoting better health outcomes.

In the 21st century, the mobility of world population has posed greater challenges to healthcare practitioners, since they are facing an increasingly diverse patient population from all over the world. At the same time, patients also find it difficult to access and utilize quality health care services in a culturally diverse context. This study examines the role of culture in Chinese international students’ health-seeking behaviours in Canada. The study explores any barriers/perceived barriers that Chinese international students may confront when accessing health care which can prevent them from obtaining quality health care services in Canada. To this end, an intercultural health communication model was employed as a theoretical framework, and semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection tool. While contributing to existing literature on health communication and culture, this study also hopes to contribute to providing Canadian universities and institutions important information regarding Chinese international students’ access to and utilization of health care services with the hope of enhancing the quality of ethnic health care and promoting better health outcomes.

Over the last twenty years there has been growing evidence of a distinct Islamic identity emerging from within the Western world, an identity that has been portrayed as incompatible with Western ideals. This thesis is based on a small-scale qualitative study of the reality of this identity, as experienced by twenty-three South Asian Muslims living in the south of England, and the impact on notions of citizenship and the rights and obligations this infers. The thesis contrasts Western notions of citizenship with Islamic thinking. It recognises that although there are points of convergence between the two, a fundamental difference remains. It is argued, where Western notions of citizenship give priority to individual sovereignty, Islamic notions place sovereignty in God and as such define citizenship as the relationship of the individual not to the state, but to God via the state. The thesis explores how this Islamic ideal is made relevant by South Asian Muslims living in Britain. Theoretically the thesis explores the way in which Muslim identity is universal, group centred and individual. It is argued that, despite differences, as humans we do share some universally shared values that give us a 'cornman human identity'. However these shared values are culturally embedded and experienced through distinct (albeit complex) 'cultural communities'. It is argued that just because people have, in certain circumstances, a group identity, it should not necessarily lead to the conclusion that everyone in that group will experience that identity in the same way. As such identity is simultaneously individual. Results of the research suggest that for South Asian Muslims of Britain assimilation is impossible and largely undesirable. However, they suggest that this does not mean that most Muslims do not want to be an 'integrated' aspect of British life. However integration does not mean 'being the same as'. There is a strong recognition that Muslims are different and there is to a large extent a desire for this difference to be maintained. Final analysis, of the data generated, indicates that there are four ideal typical strategies employed by British Muslims in making sense of their faith in the British context. These are identified as: That of 'Lapsed'/ambivalent Muslims where Islam is deemed important in that is provides a 'moral code' by which to live life but is, in the main, relegated to the private sphere. That of Selective Muslims where being a Muslim is of importance but for whom Islam does not impact on their lives in any substantive way. That of 'Traditional' Muslims where being a Muslim is very important but of equal importance is the ethno-cultural similarities they have with other Muslims. That of Engaged Muslims where there is an active engagement with Islam and a conscientious effort to implement Islam in all aspects of life Three levels of engagement with British society are also identified (although it must be recognised engagement with Islam does not necessarily lead to (dis)engagement with citizenship/the public sphere): engagement, partial engagement and disengagement. The thesis recognises that a multiculturalist paradigm has encouraged difference to be seen as static and unchanging, rather then fluid and dynamic as it is in reality. In this context Muslims' desire to keep to their faith (even if it is variously expressed), and retain (certain) social differences can be misunderstood as an unwillingness to 'integrate'. An ethnic notion of citizenship has made it hard for Muslims to be equal citizens contributing to their sense of being an 'outsider'. This thesis argues for a more inclusive definition of citizenship that understands that citizens will have multiple loyalties and responsibilities. Essentialist notions of Islam have perpetuated the misconception of Muslims as different with no commonalties with majority society. This is at the expense of historically rooted social and economic deprivation, and continuing (albeit not as obvious) prejudice and discrimination that many Muslim communities experience.

In the 21st century, the mobility of world population has posed greater challenges to healthcare practitioners, since they are facing an increasingly diverse patient population from all over the world. At the same time, patients also find it difficult to access and utilize quality health care services in a culturally diverse context. This study examines the role of culture in Chinese international students’ health-seeking behaviours in Canada. The study explores any barriers/perceived barriers that Chinese international students may confront when accessing health care which can prevent them from obtaining quality health care services in Canada. To this end, an intercultural health communication model was employed as a theoretical framework, and semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection tool. While contributing to existing literature on health communication and culture, this study also hopes to contribute to providing Canadian universities and institutions important information regarding Chinese international students’ access to and utilization of health care services with the hope of enhancing the quality of ethnic health care and promoting better health outcomes.

Sous l’impulsion des travaux du Conseil de l’Europe, l’éducation plurilingue et interculturelle s’est développée jusqu’à devenir aujourd’hui une option morale dominante en didactique des langues-cultures. En vue de clarifier la question de l’éthique professionnelle des enseignants de langue-culture en contexte multiculturel et de la constituer comme un véritable champ de recherche, notre thèse se propose d’abord d’interroger les conceptions morales véhiculées par les discours du Conseil de l’Europe en didactique des langues-cultures. Pour cela, nous recourons principalement aux apports conceptuels de la philosophie morale et plus particulièrement à la distinction entre le maximalisme et le minimalisme. Dans une perspective normative, nous montrons que l’éducation plurilingue et interculturelle, en ce qu’elle repose notamment sur l’idée de perfectionnement personnel, correspond à une conception maximaliste de la morale. Face à la dérive moraliste d’une telle visée éducative, nous prônons une conception plus minimaliste, laquelle apparaît aussi comme mieux adaptée à des contextes marqués par le pluralisme moral. Dans une perspective empirique, notre étude montre un décalage entre les repères moraux mobilisés par les enseignants dans leur pratique et ceux mobilisés par les experts du Conseil de l’Europe dans leur discours. Sur la base de cette observation, nous en appelons à une prise en compte des limites contextuelles de l’éducation plurilingue et interculturelle. Contre la logique de l’expertise caractéristique des travaux du Conseil de l’Europe et contre le monisme de l’éducation plurilingue et interculturelle, nous proposons finalement l’idée d’une formation complexe à l’éthique, laquelle suppose une diversification des options morales disponibles en didactique des langues-cultures et, consécutivement, le développement des recherches empiriques menées sur l’éthique professionnelle des enseignants de langue-culture. / Under the impetus of the Council of Europe’s work, plurilingual and intercultural education has now grown to be a dominant moral choice in language and culture didactics. The primary aim of our dissertation is to examine the moral concepts conveyed by the Council of Europe’s discourse on language and culture didactics. This is for the purposes of clarifying the issue of professional ethics for teachers of language and culture in a multicultural context, and making it into a genuine field of research. To this end, we shall turn principally to the conceptual contributions of moral philosophy and, more specifically, to the distinction between maximalism and minimalism. From a prescriptive standpoint, we shall show that plurilingual and intercultural education, inasmuch as it is based on the notion of personal development, represents a maximalist concept of morality. Faced with the drift into excessive moralism of such an educational aim, we advocate a more minimalist model which also seems best suited to contexts marked by moral pluralism. Taking an empirical approach, our study shows a discrepancy between the moral reference points incorporated by teachers into their classroom practice and those taken up by the Council of Europe in their discourse. Based on this observation, we call for the contextual limitations of plurilingual, intercultural education to be taken into consideration. Lastly, in opposition to the system of expert assessment which is typical of the Council of Europe’s work, and contrary to the monism of plurilingual, intercultural education, we put forward the idea of sophisticated ethical training. This presupposes a diversification of the moral options available in language and culture pedagogy and, consecutively, the development of empirical research conducted into the professional ethics of teachers of language and culture.

<p>The purpose of this narrative inquiry is to portray a complex picture of Mexican origin immigrants living in the United States. This study portrays their lives, their experiences, and their thought processes from the moment they made their life-changing decision to immigrate to the USA until their current realities of life in the American Midwest. The stories discussed and the interpretations made are the result of oral interviews with four families conducted in their native language of Spanish. The personal experiences of the seven participants are familiar to thousands of immigrants who arrive to the USA daily. Although these immigrants experience a great deal of hardship, they also develop a strong layer of resilience and solidarity with each other. The study also provides an in-depth analysis of key works of literature written by, and about, Mexican and Hispanic immigrants. These books are: <i>Con Respeto: Bridging the Distances Between Culturally Diverse Families and Schools, An Ethnographic Portrait </i>(Valdés, 1996); <i>Of Borders and Dreams: A Mexican-American Experience of Urban Education </i>(Carger, 1996)<i>; The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child </i>(Jiménez, 1997)<i>; The Undocumented Americans</i> (Cornejo Villavicencio, 2020)<i>; </i>and <i>The House on Mango Street</i> (Cisneros, 1984). The experiences portrayed within these masterful works are then connected to those of the participants of this narrative inquiry. Additionally, connections are made by the researcher, a scholar of Mexican origin living in the American Midwest. This work illustrates why people choose to emigrate, their family and gender roles, their focus on educating the next generation, and their strong religious faith. It also depicts their challenges, fears, and resilience as they navigate living “between two worlds.”<br></p><p></p>