The decision to patronize a particular store usually starts with a set of characteristics or attributes that consumers consider important. Consumers then use these attributes to make decisions regarding what store or stores can cater to their particular needs. Past retail and marketing studies have identified several consumer-oriented store attributes such as price, quality, variety, discounts, store reputation and their relationship to store patronage, but these studies overlooked how the physical environment affects retail store patronage. In addition, very few studies have addressed the issue of shopping scenarios and how they affect store patronage. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of selected environmental dimensions on store patronage using specific apparel shopping scenarios. Data were collected using a random sample of women age 18 and over throughout the United States. The final sample consisted of 151 women. Four hypotheses were formulated and tested using factor analysis, cluster analysis, MANOVA, and Chi-square. The hypotheses tested for differences in (a) importance of environmental dimensions relative to three shopping scenarios, (b) importance of environmental dimensions relative to shopping orientations, (c) perceptions of first store choice relative to shopping orientations, and (d) attitude toward first store choice. Results revealed no difference in importance ratings of two environmental dimension factors, Sensory/Layout (Factor 1) and Music/Aesthetics (Factor 2), for three shopping scenarios (i.e., a dress for a formal social gathering, family gathering, work or community activity). Significant differences were found in the importance ratings of the Sensory/Layout and Music Aesthetics dimension factors across shopping orientation clusters. The clusters were named Decisive Apparel Shoppers (Cluster 1), Confident Apparel Shoppers (Cluster 2), Bargain Apparel Shoppers (Cluster 3), and Appearance Conscious Apparel Shoppers. The Bargain Apparel Shoppers had higher mean scores on the environmental factors than the other shopper groups. With regard to first store choice, the department store was chosen most often as first store choice. Furthermore, differences were found in perception of the environment for first store choice across the shopping orientation clusters. No differences were found for the Ventilation/Sensory factor; however, differences were found for the Signs perception factor. Respondents expressed relatively unfavorable attitudes toward their first store choice. However, of those that expressed an unfavorable attitude, several respondents indicated they were likely to visit their first store choice again. / Ph. D.

Since 1997, the retail industry of South Korea has suffered a decline in sales due to the nation's financial crisis. Because of the increase of price consciousness, discount stores have become the stores most attractive to South Korean consumers. The purpose of this study was to (a) compare the differences between South Korean and the U.S. consumers in demographics, shopping orientation, perception of the importance of store and product attributes, and store evaluation, satisfaction and patronage in discount stores and (b) examine the relationships among the six variables. In addition, South Korean consumers' preferences toward the strategies used in the U.S. discount stores were examined to determine whether these strategies could be adapted to South Korean discount stores. The proposed model suggests that consumers' shopping orientation affects their perception of the importance of store and product attributes. Consumers' perception of the importance of attributes affects how they evaluate a store. Consumers' evaluation of the store then influences their satisfaction with the store. If consumers are satisfied with the store, they choose to patronize the store. A total of 234 participants recruited at Wal-Mart were included in this study, 117 from South Korea and 117 from the U.S. Results showed that there were significant differences between the two countries in participants' occupation, marital status, age, education, the perception of the importance of attributes in discount stores, and store evaluation and satisfaction. When the relationships between variables were examined, results showed that the proposed model is partially supported. When South Korean participants' preferences toward the strategies used in the U.S. were examined, they showed high preferences toward some strategies. The implication of the results were discussed. / Master of Science

Chapter 1 reviews the background to the rise of art patronage studies and their development and its influence on studies of Chinese art history. It also provides alternative approaches to studying activities related to patronage and their influence and role in Chinese art history by criticising traditional analysis of Chinese art based on social and economic theories. / Chapter 2 examines the life of Wang and explores the intentions and meaning to his patronage activities through studying his political involvement, literary activities and his social background and connections. / Chapter 3 discusses how Wang, given his knowledge in history and passion for art and its collection, reinterprets art history with reference to his private collection of art, and thereby consolidating his status as a leading figure of literary and cultural circle of his time. / Chapter 4 explains and reflects on the formation of the "artist-patron" relationship through examining the relationship and interaction between Wang and the literary circle and by appraising the financial background and standing of artists and calligraphers at the time. / Chapter 5 examines the direct impact that Wang, as a literary leader and patron of the art, has on the styles and subject matter of art work by examining and decoding several pieces of art commissioned by himself, thus revealing a distinct mechanism in which art was produced at the time. / Chapter 6 discusses the "artist-patron" relationship and the "trading of cultural resources" by examining diverse pieces of art work given to Wang as gifts by different individual artists and calligraphers. / Chapter 7 analyses the significance of the patronage activities of Wang and provides a new approach to understanding the issue of traditional Chinese art patronage in Chinese art history. / Through a case study of the life of Wang Shizhen, this research attempts to analyse the influence of literary leader and patron of the arts on the development of painting and calligraphy during the mid-Ming period. By analysing the "artist-patron" relationship, this paper attempts to explain alternative mechanism through which traditional Chinese art was produced. The thesis also examines art patronage activities in Suzhou during the sixteenth century and thereby attempts to examine these activities from the broader cultural and historical context at the time. This paper is divided into seven chapters: / 鄧民亮. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(p. 298-320). / Advisers: Tsung-i Jao; Kar Leung Mok. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: A, page: 0378. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (p. 298-320). / Deng Minliang.

This dissertation aims to provide a comprehensive study of Francesco Salviati’s portraits, analyzed within a chronological framework. Traditional attributions are re-examined and recent discoveries included to establish a reliable core group of the artist’s portraits, one exhibiting a stylistic coherence. Salviati’s activities as a portraitist are placed in the historical, political, cultural and artistic context of his time, with particular emphasis on patronage. Versatile and well-connected, Francesco served a number of top-ranking patrons of his time, including Cardinal Giovanni Salviati, Pier Luigi and Alessandro Farnese (in Rome), Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici (in Florence), the Grimani family (in Venice), King Henri II, and the Cardinal of Lorraine in France. This study intends to navigate portraiture’s role in the relationships between the courtier-artist and his princely patrons. Characterized by innovation and experimentation, Salviati’s portraits vary in composition, media and supports. As one of the earliest artists to produce portrait miniatures in Italy, Francesco evidently introduced the genre to Cosimo I de’ Medici’s court to create an aura of a royal court equal to that in France and England. His experiments with the use of various stone supports for portraits are discussed in relation to his status as the leading painter in Rome after the death of Sebastiano del Piombo in 1547. Lastly, the artist’s career as a book illustrator is explored to shed light on his interactions with well-known literati of his time, such as Pietro Aretino, Anton Francesco Doni and Giambattista Gelli. The designs Salviati provided for their author portraits are not only testimony to their acquaintance, but also evidence of the artist’s participation in their intellectual communities. / Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-29 15:59:52.863

This thesis is an ethnography of a community of professional thieves called the Kanjar-a 'caste of thieves' by practice, public perception and self-designation-in the northern Indian province of Rajasthan. It is also an argument that spells out the broader logic of rank in local society. Insofar as it offers the first ethnography of the Kanjar community- and of caste-based, professional, hereditary theft-this study is new. My analytical concern with hierarchy and rank, however, is old, engaging in the once central, and now largely out-fashioned, discussion in the sociology of South Asia. My project began with a narrow set of concerns with the place of thieving and thieves in local society. In the course of my fieldwork, however, it became apparent that the received wisdom of South Asian sociology regarding the principles of rank did not offer useful explanatory tools and that a different conception of rank was necessary to make sense of what I observed, both about the social position of Kanjars and the hierarchical social formation at large. As is so often the case, what began as a study of historically and sociologically particular circumstances became an inquiry into the pervasive regnant aspects of the local order of things.

Relatively little is known of European artists who worked for short periods of time in the American Colonies during the eighteenth century. Perhaps Cosmo Alexander was typical of other artists who came to America seeking greater opportunity than in their homeland, only to leave several years later, perhaps disillusioned and no wealthier. Artists who are better known stayed in America long enough to build up clientele in a broad area and produced enough works to have many survive long enough to be documented by later sources. As the subjects in many of Alexander's portraits show, there was a large prosperous middle-class patronage of the art of portraiture. Considering the social conventions of the time, personal references and letters of recommendation would have facilitated travel and introduction to prospective clients. The emphasis of this research is the patronage which Cosmo Alexander found in the American Colonies as evidenced by portraits executed between 1765 and 1771. Family connections, Scottish ancestry and communities having large Scottish populations have played a part in determining probable routes. In 1961 Gavin L. M. Goodfellow submitted a thesis to Oberlin College on Cosmo Alexander. This was the first and (to date) the only extensive monograph on the artist. The thesis was general in nature, covering Alexander's life and listing all paintings known at that time, only sixteen of which were believed to have been painted in America. Because he dealt in detail with Alexander's total biography and stylistic characteristics, only one chapter was devoted to American works. Since Goodfellow's research the number of American paintings signed by or attributed to Alexander has increased from sixteen to twenty-six. With greater documentary evidence available, patterns can be established and generalizations made which possibly are typical of other artists in similar circumstances.

In my Diploma thesis I wanted to explore a theme which is close to my region. I decided to write about Josefina Kablíková, a modern and progressive woman of the 19th century. Josefina was an emancipated woman with a very intriguing life story. She was one of a few women botanists of her period. At first, I will present her own biography and a biography of her husband, Vojtěch Kablík. Vrchlabí in the 19th century and its specification is described. The following chapter is devoted to Josefina Kablíková as a botanist. Her botanical research far surpassed the region of Krkonoše. She became famous for her gathering of the Krkonoše flora. Even several botanical species are named after her. Another section illustrates the scientific research of Vojtěch Kablík, a pharmacist and a chemist in Vrchlabí. The last section concerns the Mánes family, who were frequent guests in the house of Kablíkovi. A large number of Mánes's drawings, paintings and portraits came into existence depicting Vrchlabí, its surroundings and Kablíkovi themselves. The aim of this Diploma thesis is to explain significance as well as the life story of the Kablíkovi couple in the context of the period and the region.

Dealing with both practical and consequently theoretical aspects, the thesis treats the Saxon Renaissance with the emphasis on the architecture in the Czech Republic. The purpose of the first part was to put together a list of historical monuments. Supported by previous research the selection method was determined and the individual buildings described. As a result we organized them into types and specified the Saxon Renaissance architectural features. Then we discussed broader issues related to the Saxon Renaissance architecture that were: the influence of Saxon timber-framed architecture, the origins and the role of the portal with seat shaped niches in the jambs; we re-examined the importance of the architectural commissions of the house of Pernštejn and we proposed to link the Bohemian Saxon Renaissance architecture with Czech early renaissance terracotta pieces. The second part of the thesis further explores the contextual issues. It tracks the early sixteen century French architecture and focuses on the German renaissance architecture, that of Saxony in particular. Then some theoretical reflections on the character of transalpine architecture are presented. Consequently, the thesis analyses the particularities of the region where the Saxon Renaissance architecture appeared - North-western...

Riche banquier siennois, Agostino Chigi est un homme d’affaires puissant. Il est également célèbre pour les commandes qu’il passe et qui feront bientôt partie des trésors de l’histoire de l’art de la Renaissance. L’actuelle villa Farnésine est alors un modèle d’architecture du début du XVIème siècle. Les fresques qui la décorent exaltent la créativité des peintres qui, après leur passage à la Villa, deviendront les artistes les plus « famosi » de Rome, et la chapelle Chigi, en l’église Santa Maria del Popolo, offre une véritable synthèse du néoplatonisme. Toutes ces commandes participent à la valorisation du banquier et témoignent de son mécénat fastueux. Pourtant, le mécénat d’Agostino Chigi ne se limitait pas aux seules commandes picturales, ou architecturales, et le rayonnement de l’homme d’affaires s’étendait à de nombreux autres secteurs. Quelles sont alors les particularités du mécénat d’un des banquiers les plus puissants de la Rome du début du Cinquecento ? Archétype de la Renaissance, le marchand-banquier est un des principaux artisans de la nouvelle société qui se met en place. Ainsi, de nombreux secteurs en développement éveillent son intérêt. Il investit dans le secteur éditorial à travers le financement d’imprimeries, la marchandisation et la démocratisation des savoirs. Il soutient les scientifiques, se passionne pour l’astrologie, la médecine, la botanique. Le mécénat d’Agostino Chigi nous plonge au cœur d’une société moderne naissante, notre société. Étroitement lié à ses préoccupations d’homme d’affaires moderne, ce mécénat met en lumière le bouleversement des mentalités et les profondes transformations de cette société. / As a rich banker from Sienna, Agostino Chigi was a powerful businessman. He was also famous for the works of arts he commissioned and that now count as the treasures of Italian Renaissance art history. The contemporary Villa Farnesina was at the time a model of early sixteenth century architecture and stood as a cultural centre. The frescos that adorn it are an illustration of the creativity and inventiveness of the painters who, after their stay at the Villa, became the most renowned artists in Rome. The Chigi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo’s church, displays the epitome of Neoplatonism. All these commissions made the banker an important figure and testify to his sumptuous patronage. Yet, Agostino Chigi’s patronage was not only about commissions for paintings or architectural designs: the businessman’s influence actually spread to many other areas. Then, what were the specificities of the patronage of one of the most powerful bankers in early-Cinquecento Rome? An archetype of the Renaissance period, the merchant-banker was one of the main actors in the establishment of a new society. Thus, many developing sectors caught his attention: he invested in publishing by funding printing houses and encouraging the sale and democratization of knowledge. He also supported scientists and he showed interest for astrology, medicine and botany. Agostino Chigi’s patronage takes us into the heart of a developing modern society: ours. Because it is intimately connected to a modern businessman’s concerns, this patronage brings some light into the important changes in people’s mentalities and the deep transformations of this society.

[pt] O presente estudo tem como objetivo geral discutir o papel e o poder da tradução como difusora das Sagradas Escrituras e, como objetivos específicos, (i) investigar o processo de reescrita pelo qual passou a Bíblia desde sua formação até suas traduções, (ii) examinar os diferentes posicionamentos da Igreja perante as traduções vernaculares, e (iii) discutir a sua chancela a projetos tradutórios distintos, a partir da análise do projeto tradutório/editorial da Bíblia Sagrada - Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, da Paulinas Editora, versão católica da Bíblia protestante editada pela Sociedade Bíblica do Brasil. Conceitos como reescrita e patronagem são centrais na pesquisa, que apresenta, ainda, os projetos tradutórios significativos da história da tradução bíblica, examinando questões pertinentes e suas abordagens tradutórias. O estudo adota uma abordagem descritivista, nos moldes dos Descriptive Translation Studies e da teoria dos polissistemas de Itamar Even-Zohar (1990). A descrição estrutural dessa Bíblia de traços ecumênicos, incluindo seus paratextos e metatextos, parte do esquema de análise de traduções proposto por José Lambert e Hendrick van Gorp (1985) e revela não apenas o seu contexto sistêmico frente a outras traduções, mas também o quanto os projetos tradutórios/editoriais bíblicos refletem os propósitos ideológicos e/ou institucionais de sua patronagem. Sua recepção também é investigada através de uma pesquisa de campo entre Círculos Bíblicos católicos, e seu confronto microestrutural com outras traduções, como a Bíblia de Jerusalém e a Bíblia Ave-Maria, revela a existência de textos finais muito distintos, os quais são igualmente autorizados pela Igreja como o mesmo texto sagrado. / [en] The general aim of this study is to reflect upon the role and power of translation as disseminator of the Holy Scriptures. Regarding specific aims, the study intends to (i) investigate the process of rewriting the Bible has experienced from its formation to its translations, (ii) examine the different positions taken by the Church on vernacular translations, as well as (iii) discuss its seal of approval to various translation projects based on the analysis of Paulinas Editora s translation/editorial project of Bíblia Sagrada - Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, a Catholic version of a Protestant Bible published by Sociedade Bíblica do Brasil. Concepts as rewriting and patronage are central to this research, which also presents the significant translation projects in the history of Bible translation, considering translation approaches and some relevant related issues. The study adopts a descriptive approach grounded on Descriptive Translation Studies and Itamar Even-Zohar s polysystem theory (1990). The structural description of this ecumenically-designed Bible, including its paratexts and metatexts, departs from José Lambert and Hendrick van Gorp s scheme for translation analysis (1985) and reveals not only its systemic context regarding other translations, but also to what extent biblical translation/editorial projects mirror the ideological and/or institutional aims of their patronage. This Bible s reception is investigated through a field research among Catholic Biblical Circles, and a micro-level comparison with other translations, such as Bíblia de Jerusalém and Bíblia Ave-Maria, unveils the existence of very different final texts, which are equally authorized by the Church as being the same holy text.