In a time where environmental issues have become an important topic on the political agenda, car companies have begun transitioning from fossil-fueled vehicles to battery-driven electric vehicles. In this transition, multiple Chinese electric car manufacturers have emerged on the European car market. The purpose with this study has been to investigate Norwegian consumers' perception of Chinese electric car manufacturers. Empirical data was gathered through a self-completion questionnaire that was sent out to Norwegian electric car-related forums and Facebook groups. The results showed that Norwegians had a positive attitude towards electric cars and large intentions of purchasing one. This did not correlate with their attitude and intention of purchasing a Chinese electric car. A contributor to the Norwegians’ negative effect on Chinese electric cars consisted of the individuals’ political views of China. Lastly, it was seen that social norms and perceived behavioral control cannot be considered predictors of the intention. / I en tid där miljöfrågor har blivit ett viktigt ämne på den politiska agendan har bilföretagen påbörjat en övergång från fossildrivna fordon till batteridrivna elfordon. I denna övergång har flera kinesiska elbilstillverkare dykt upp på den europeiska bilmarknaden. Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka norska konsumenters uppfattning om kinesiska elbilstillverkare. Empirisk data samlades in genom ett självfyllande frågeformulär som skickades ut till norska elbilsrelaterade forum och Facebook-grupper. Resultaten visade att norrmän hade en positiv inställning mot elbilar och hade stora avsikter att köpa en. Det här korrelerade inte med deras inställning och avsikt om att köpa en kinesisk elbil. En stor bidragande faktor till norrmännens negativa effekt på kinesiska elbilar var individernas politiska syn på Kina. Slutligen uppmärksammades det att sociala normer och upplevd beteendekontroll inte kan betraktas som prediktorer för deras avsikt.

Generic medicines are very important in driving down the health care cost. In a country like South Africa, where more than 80% of the population depend on the state health care, it is important to find ways to reduce cost. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the attitude towards generic medicines by pharmacists in Gauteng province of South Africa. Gauteng as the economic hub of the country, with the highest population and the highest number of pharmacies and pharmacists, obtaining a picture around the attitude towards generic medicines would help the all the stakeholders in the health care sector to identify areas of concern and address them to drive a positive attitude. In order to evaluate the attitude, Fishbein models, which noted the intention to perform the behaviour in question as the immediate antecedent of any behaviour, were used. The models identified two conceptually independent determinants of intention, which are attitude towards the behaviour (personal) and subjective norm (social). Depending of which model one is using, one more determinant of the intention “perceived behavioural control” can be added on the theory of reasoned action to form model of planned behaviour. By evaluating the attitude one can therefore determine the level of intention to perform the behaviour of interest which is generic substitution in this study. An empirical study was conducted among 116 pharmacists and assistants in Gauteng province. The methodology included research design, instrument development, sampling methods, data collection, capturing and statistical analysis. The results were analysed using Cronbach Alpha coefficients to measure reliability of the research instrument, t-test and ANOVA to test the hypothesis and the variance between groups; the effect sizes and Spearman's rho to determine the correlation and relationship between two variables of interest. The results of the study showed that, 94% of the respondents believe that generics are viable alternatives to innovator medicines. On the question of pharmacists’ attitude towards generic medicines results showed that there was no significant difference in almost all the demographic characteristics gender, age, qualifications, employment level, years of experience and type of pharmacy one practices. The only significant driver of the difference in attitude is the location of the pharmacy where pharmacists practicing in the townships and the city centre were found to be more receptive to generics than those in the suburbs. Due to reliability failure on the control belief construct, the theory of planned behaviour was downgraded to theory of reasoned action, to exclude the control belief construct for further statistical analysis. Correlation between the two attitudes constructs, behavioural belief and evaluation of behavioural outcome was one of the highest, where behavioural belief was identified as the direct measure of attitude and also the main driver. The study concluded that attitude is one of the most important personal factors influencing both the organisation and individual consumer buying behaviour. Evaluating individuals’ attitude to the behaviour (use of a product or service) would help marketers to communicate the right message to the right customers. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Generic medicines are very important in driving down the health care cost. In a country like South Africa, where more than 80% of the population depend on the state health care, it is important to find ways to reduce cost. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the attitude towards generic medicines by pharmacists in Gauteng province of South Africa. Gauteng as the economic hub of the country, with the highest population and the highest number of pharmacies and pharmacists, obtaining a picture around the attitude towards generic medicines would help the all the stakeholders in the health care sector to identify areas of concern and address them to drive a positive attitude. In order to evaluate the attitude, Fishbein models, which noted the intention to perform the behaviour in question as the immediate antecedent of any behaviour, were used. The models identified two conceptually independent determinants of intention, which are attitude towards the behaviour (personal) and subjective norm (social). Depending of which model one is using, one more determinant of the intention “perceived behavioural control” can be added on the theory of reasoned action to form model of planned behaviour. By evaluating the attitude one can therefore determine the level of intention to perform the behaviour of interest which is generic substitution in this study. An empirical study was conducted among 116 pharmacists and assistants in Gauteng province. The methodology included research design, instrument development, sampling methods, data collection, capturing and statistical analysis. The results were analysed using Cronbach Alpha coefficients to measure reliability of the research instrument, t-test and ANOVA to test the hypothesis and the variance between groups; the effect sizes and Spearman's rho to determine the correlation and relationship between two variables of interest. The results of the study showed that, 94% of the respondents believe that generics are viable alternatives to innovator medicines. On the question of pharmacists’ attitude towards generic medicines results showed that there was no significant difference in almost all the demographic characteristics gender, age, qualifications, employment level, years of experience and type of pharmacy one practices. The only significant driver of the difference in attitude is the location of the pharmacy where pharmacists practicing in the townships and the city centre were found to be more receptive to generics than those in the suburbs. Due to reliability failure on the control belief construct, the theory of planned behaviour was downgraded to theory of reasoned action, to exclude the control belief construct for further statistical analysis. Correlation between the two attitudes constructs, behavioural belief and evaluation of behavioural outcome was one of the highest, where behavioural belief was identified as the direct measure of attitude and also the main driver. The study concluded that attitude is one of the most important personal factors influencing both the organisation and individual consumer buying behaviour. Evaluating individuals’ attitude to the behaviour (use of a product or service) would help marketers to communicate the right message to the right customers. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Accomplishing desired benefits from investments in planned change is problematical for organizations, their leaders and the change agents charged with delivery. This is despite a well-developed literature, replete with advice on how change should be achieved. Examination of this literature shows the primary focus on change agents and their practices. This research widens the focus by observing the influence of change agents, change recipients and line managers on organizational routines undergoing planned change. It examines the interplay between stability and change in organizational routines, adopting a social practice perspective, and the routine intended to change as the unit of analysis (Feldman and Pentland, 2003, 2005). The research builds on claims that to understand the patterns of action within routines requires the internal dynamics – the claimed duality between ostensive (in principle) and performative (in practice) aspects - to be examined. A research method to operationalize the study of this claimed duality was devised following the principles of Strong Structuration (Stones, 2005). This method enabled a unique conceptualization of the study of routine dynamics, focused on planned change from the perspective of multiple, interdependent actors. Two cases of change agents following the advice in the planned change literature were explored. In one case, stability of the routine persisted when change was intended. In the other, change was relatively easy to achieve irrespective of change agent actions. The primary contribution is the demonstration of how the attitudes to change of change recipients, line managers and change agents influence the internal dynamics of routines undergoing planned change. Other contributions pertain to the method of ‘unpacking’ organizational routines and its potential for shaping future practice. This research does not offer new ‘normative’ advice but instead sensitizes planned change practitioners to the level of analysis they need to carry out to ensure that their interventions are suitably designed.

This thesis attempts to bridge the gap between Social Psychology and Sociolinguistics by exploring the relationship between language attitudes and language use. Using a sample of 71 university students in Spain, it investigates how learners deal with phonological variation in the English language, what language attitudes are held towards American and British models of English speech and which social and psychological factors are linked with learners' language attitudes and language use. A social-psychological model was adopted and adapted, allowing learners' use of intervocalic /t/ to be successfully predicted from measures of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. Direct measures of learners' preferred accent and pronunciation class were also highly predictive of learners' language use. Several trends were found in the attitudinal data. Firstly, British English speech was rated more favourably overall, though American English speech was often viewed as more socially attractive. Secondly, the evaluative dimensions of competence and social attractiveness were salient amongst learners in the Spanish context. Each of these findings endorses those of previous language attitude studies conducted elsewhere. Thirdly, female speakers were consistently rated more favourably than male speakers; thus, highlighting the need for further investigation into the variable of speaker sex. Familiarity with the speech varieties under investigation – most often gained through education, media exposure, time spent abroad and/or contact with native speakers – seemed to result in learners challenging rigid stereotypes and expressing more individualised attitudes. Overall, British speech emerged as formal and functional, while American speech was thought to fulfil more informal and interpersonal functions. This thesis provides compelling evidence of attitude-behaviour relations, adds to the growing volume of language attitude research being conducted across the globe, and establishes – for the first time – which social and psychological variables are relevant and salient within English-language learning contexts in Spain.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Wes Wise / Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) contamination has been a long-existing concern for those engaged in cattle production, often causing negative public health and economic consequences. The existence of pre-harvest practices that reduce E. coli contamination creates the opportunity to support human health by focusing on modifying behaviors in cattle production through educational communication. It is vital to consider how the communication can be modified to persuade the audience. This study examined the effects of different sources, such as a veterinarian or a cattle producer, presenting the educational message in a training video. An experimental design was used to examine how the information source used in a video relates to the source’s credibility, as well as testing concepts related to the theory of planned behavior. A link to a video and an online questionnaire were distributed to cattle producers through the weekly news e-mail distributed by several beef industry organizations. The data analysis of 106 complete questionnaires found that no matter how a presenter was described in a training video there was no difference in the perceived credibility of the presenter. Also, no matter how the source was identified there was no difference in the variables related to the theory of planned behavior and possible behavior adoption. In addition to these results, this study found that no matter how the source was labeled, higher perceived credibility correlated with more positive attitudes, perceived norms, perceived behavior control and reported intention to adopt the suggested behaviors. This pattern provides evidence for credibility’s relationship with possible behavior adoption, indicating that credibility of the source is an important consideration when message designers are constructing training videos.

The purpose of this essay called is to examine how preschool teachers understand planned and spontaneous physical activities in preschool. We also search to elucidate if there is some difference between a preschool with a pedagogical orientation based on outdoor physical activities and a traditional preschool in which outdoor physical activities are not a part of their pedagogical orientation. We want even to examine how teachers understand their own role in children's physical development. The study draws on a phenomenographic approach and we apply a qualitative method to collect our data. The data is mainly based on interviews with preschool teachers from preschools with the two forms of pedagogical orientation that we mentioned earlier. We interviewed a total of six preschool teachers, three from each preschool. The results of the study showed that the informants from both preschools understand planned physical activities as an activity that is initiated and organised by the teachers. On the contrary they understand spontaneous physical activities as an activity initiated by the children, often in the form of games. Another important result is that the informants in our study agree in that spontaneous physical activities are given quite more time in the preschool’s everyday than planned activities. Finally, the study shows that the informants in the study feel confident as leaders in physical activities, regardless of the preschools pedagogical orientation. It is rather a question of education and personal interests than pedagogical focus.

No description available.

Movement and motor development for children is a current issue. Research shows that children are becoming more sedentary in front of the television, computer, iPad, etc. The purpose of my thesis is to study how pedagogues work with movement and motor development in the preschool yard. In my attempt to investigate this, a qualitative research in the form of face-to-face interviews was performed. Qualitative interviews is the chosen method for my research to provide as extensive and detailed answers as possible. Six preschool teachers (both with and without pedagogic education) from three different preschools participated in the research. The results show that none of the teachers worked with planned movement activities to support the development of children’s physical development. However, they all felt that movement and motor development are important for the children and that a lot of movement and motor training are already performed naturally in the outdoor stay. / Rörelse och motorisk utveckling hos barn är idag ett mycket aktuellt ämne. Forskning visar att barn nu för tiden blir alltmer stillasittande framför bland annat tv, dator, Ipad. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur pedagoger arbetar med rörelse och motorisk utveckling på förskolegården. För att undersöka detta gjordes en kvalitativ undersökning i form av kvalitativa intervjuer. Totalt intervjuades sex pedagoger (både barnskötare och förskollärare) från tre olika förskolor. Resultatet visar att ingen av pedagogerna har arbetat med planerade rörelseaktiviteter för att främja barns motoriska utveckling. Däremot ansåg de intervjuade pedagogerna att rörelse och motorisk utveckling är viktigt för barnen och att det till stor del sker naturligt i utomhusvistelsen.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Architecture / Master / Master of Philosophy