The purpose of this research is to identify the forces that impact the intention of employees to misuse the Internet at the workplace, called cyberloafing. Although cyberloafing literature has suggested several antecedents that predict cyberloafing such as job attitudes, organizational characteristics, work stressors, locus of control (Blanchard & Henle, 2008; Henle & Blanchard, 2008; Liberman, Seidman, McKenna, & Buffardi, 2011), this research adopted attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and organizational citizenship behavior to predict the intention to cyberloaf. Additionally, this research adopted organizational justice and the mechanisms of general deterrence theory as moderating variables to better understand the relationship between attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, organizational citizenship behavior, and the intention to cyberloaf. We believe it is essential to investigate the antecedents of cyberloafing to help predict its existence and occurrence. The existing research, which examined employees' abuse of the Internet, remains greatly atheoretical; thus, it supplies limited insights to researchers as to why cyberloafing continues to take place (Lim, 2002). It is important to recognize what motivates employees to engage in cyberloafing for organizations to implement specific polices and intervention programs to limit or deter its occurrence. This is necessary, as employees' abuse of the Internet can negatively affect an organization through decreased profitability, reduced productivity levels, and exposure to a diverse range of legal liabilities (Liberman et al., 2011). The results of the study showed that an employee's attitude and subjective norm can significantly predict his or her intention to engage in cyberloafing. Both of the dimensions of general deterrence theory (punishment severity and certainty) significantly moderated the relationship between attitude, subjective norm, and the intention to cyberloaf. Additionally, punishment severity significantly moderated the relationship between perceived behavioral control and the intention to cyberloaf. From this study, we concluded that cyberloafing is a social phenomenon that needs to be studied further to fully comprehend the organizational contexts, motivational factors, and consequences. Our study should be analyzed as a positive step toward learning the key components that can influence employees' intentions to abuse the Internet in the workplace.

Low consumption of fruits and vegetables due to various barriers among food insecure populations presents a significant health risk across all ages. Nutrition education is available to low-income populations, but due to the complexity and variety of influences that determine dietary behavior, increasing nutrition knowledge as a singular approach does not successfully result in behavior change. This may be supported by low Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) redemption rates at farmers markets. There is a lack of data using the Theory of Planned Behavior to assess intentions to purchase fruits and vegetables by SNAP-Ed participants at farmers markets in Southern Illinois. There is also a lack of research on the interest in using social media for nutrition education on fruit and vegetable consumption in low-income populations throughout Southern Illinois. A cross-sectional survey was used to understand SNAP-Ed participants’ intentions to purchase fruits and vegetables at farmers markets, as well as their interest in receiving and using online nutrition education through various social media applications. A survey instrument was distributed to low-income participants of various SNAP-Ed nutrition classes hosted by the University of Illinois-Extension throughout the 16 southernmost counties of Illinois. The survey analyzed constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior and relationships with intentions using regression analysis. Additionally, questions regarding social media usage were used to determine what technologies and social media applications are most commonly used among the sample, and any interest in receiving nutrition education through such applications. A total sample of n=189 SNAP-Ed participants completed the survey. The study found that attitude regarding fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers markets was the strongest predictor of intent to purchase fruits and vegetables for SNAP-Ed participants who receive SNAP benefits. Second, online nutrition education focused on fruit and vegetable purchases at farmers markets may be more generalizable regarding certain socio-demographic factors for SNAP-Ed participants who receive SNAP benefits. Third, results from the study demonstrate that 76.9% of respondents had Internet access, which is higher than current national rates for Internet accessibility in rural areas. Therefore, it is important to consider an increased Internet accessibility beyond at-home broadband coverage, which may include public libraries, work, school, or on a Smartphone. The most important socio-demographic characteristic to consider regarding social media use was age in the context of generations (Millennials, Working Adults, Seniors). Overall, SNAP-Ed participants were most likely to exhibit interest in nutrition education from text messages, email, or on Facebook. SNAP-Ed participants would like to receive online nutrition education via email (30.1%), Facebook (24.7%), and text messaging (21.0%). Online nutrition education in the form of email, Facebook, and text messaging would be the most successful in terms of recruitment and interaction for SNAP-Ed participants. Therefore, using social media to deliver nutrition education may be an effective supplement to reinforce the current classroom curriculum used in SNAP-Ed programming. Findings from this study support the use of online nutrition education through social media applications as an avenue to increase fruit and vegetable purchases at farmers markets in the Southern Illinois Mississippi Delta Region.

Entrepreneurs face constraints that more mature organizations may not. These constraints cause unique pressures within entrepreneurship. Although ethics and entrepreneurship have individually received much attention in the academic literature, not enough research has investigated ethics within entrepreneurship. This study addresses the need of ethics research within entrepreneurship. Utilizing the theory of planned behavior, this research investigates the ethical decision making process of entrepreneurs. Not all ethical situations are created equally, and not all entrepreneurs are created equally. The ethical environment of any situation can be financially concerned or socially concerned. Likewise, entrepreneurs can be motivated by a private financial gain or a social impact. A multi-scenario approach known as policy-capturing is used to examine the relative importance entrepreneurs place on attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and self-identity when faced with a financial and a social ethical decision. The findings suggest that the environment does affect the ethical decision making process as defined by the relative importance of the variables. Within each environment, personal demographic variables of entrepreneurs were also found to affect their ethical decision making process. Such variables included entrepreneurial orientation, gender, love of money, financial security, spirituality/religiosity, idealism, and relativism. By considering the effects of the ethical environment along with the demographics of the entrepreneur, potential investors may be able to more accurately gauge investment opportunities. Implications of the findings, limitations of the study, and future research areas are discussed.

O plano de intervenção planejada dirigido ao Projeto Jaíba (PJ) e elaborado pelas agências de desenvolvimento atendeu à recomendação de mudança de beneficiários determinada pelo Banco Mundial. A pretensão inicial das agências era acolher empresários rurais e, a partir da atividade desses, gerar empregos às famílias rurais locais, para, sob a responsabilidade da CODEVASF e RURALMINAS, assentar aqueles que seriam empregados e transformá-los em empresários rurais sob o estilo de agricultura irrigada. O Projeto Jaíba apresenta contexto favorável à pesquisa, pois foi contemplado com estruturas similares e esperavam, seus idealizadores, acolherem respostas similares dos envolvidos ao processo de intervenção planejada. Além de sua população, está sendo afetado por mais de 25 anos por duas políticas públicas: a constituição de um perímetro de irrigação com o intuito de modernização da agricultura e outra de assentamento rural. O interesse da pesquisa deu-se em compreender por que os Colonos Irrigantes (CIs) adotam estratégias de diversificação mesmo quando submetidos a uma forte pressão por homogeneização dos seus meios de sustento. Para responder ao questionamento, foi realizada pesquisa de campo, tendo como aporte teórico a Perspectiva Orientada aos Atores – POA. A alquimia entre o aporte teórico e os dados recolhidos por meio de questionário semiestruturado, entrevista em profundidade, observação não participante e análise documental permitiu compreender a organização do PJ não como um plano físico ou um plano de ação controlada pelos idealizadores que determinariam o seu funcionamento, e sim como arranjos sociais compostos pelas partes envolvidas, estando presentes os Colonos Irrigantes, Mediadores Institucionais (MIs) e as organizações locais e a distância. Também, permitiu averiguar a ocorrência de lutas e negociações entre atores com diferentes visões, interesses sociais, estratégias, interface de conhecimento e experiência, estabelecendo espaço de manobra, rompendo-se com a possibilidade de antecipar em um plano o jogo e seus resultados. Concluiu-se que o plano idealizado não se realizou de forma linear e executado por indivíduos vazios, ao contrário, os Colonos Irrigantes transformaram o plano em processo dinâmico e negociado socialmente. Deste modo, mesmo diante de intervenção planejada com estabelecimento de resultados prévios, os Colonos Irrigantes do PJ ampliaram a heterogeneidade dos seus meios de sustento e, em muitos momentos, fizeram diferente e fizeram a diferença. Assim, após mais de 25 anos de intensa intervenção planejada e com forte direcionamento em conformar os meios de sustento dos CIs em um sistema homogêneo e mercantilizado, direcionado principalmente à fruticultura, observa-se a diversificação tanto nos estilos de produzir quanto nas estratégias de inserção no mercado e modos de viver. Extraem-se como proposições que as agências de desenvolvimento deveriam afastar-se de estratégias de replicar experiências identificadas e avaliadas como exitosas, transformando-as em plano ou receituário indicativo de ser generalizado em outros territórios. / The planned intervention plan designed for the Jaíba Project prepared by development agencies met the recommended changes of beneficiaries determined by the World Bank. The initial intention of these agencies was to welcome rural entrepreneurs and generate jobs for local rural families in their activities for, under the responsibility of CODEVASF and RURALMINAS, settle those who would become employees and turn them into rural entrepreneurs working with irrigated agriculture. The Jaíba Project presents a favorable scenario for research, since it was contemplated with similar structures and its creators wished to receive similar responses from those involved in the process of planned intervention. Besides its population, [the project] has been affected for more than 25 years by two public policies: the establishment of an irrigation perimeter in order to modernize agriculture and another for rural settlements. The interest of the research was to understand why the Irrigation Settlers adopt agricultural diversification strategies even when subjected to a strong pressure for homogenization of their livelihoods. To this end, it was conducted a field research, having as theoretical foundation the Actor-Oriented Approach. The alchemy between the theoretical framework and the data collected through semi-structured questionnaire, in-depth interviews, non-participant observation and document analysis allowed us to understand the organization of the Jaíba Project not as a physical plan or a plan of action controlled by the developers that would determine its operation, but as social arrangements made by the involved parties, being present the Irrigation Settlers, Institutional Mediators and local and distant organizations. It also allowed to verify the occurrence of struggles and negotiations between actors with different views, social interests, strategies, interface between knowledge and expertise, establishing a leeway and breaking with the possibility of advancing in the plan all the game and its results. It was concluded that the designed plan was not realized linearly nor run by empty individuals, on the contrary - the Irrigation Settlers transformed the plan into a dynamic and socially negotiated process. Thus, even before the planned intervention with previously established results, the Irrigation Settlers of the Jaíba Project widened the heterogeneity of their livelihoods and in many different times they made the difference. Thus, after more than twenty-five years of intensive planned intervention with a strong orientation to conform the livelihoods of the Irrigation Settlers in a homogeneous, commodified system directed mainly at fruit production, diversification is observed both in kinds of production and in strategies for entering the market and ways of living. As propositions, it is noticed that development agencies should move away from strategies that merely replicate experiments identified and evaluated as successful, transforming them into prescription plans recommended for being generalized in other territories.

Houve um crescimento substancial constatado nos últimos anos no número de pessoas adotando dietas veganas em várias áreas do mundo, incluindo nas Américas, na Europa e em diferentes regiões da Ásia. Em 2012, já existiam cerca de 16 milhões, 5 milhões e 1,68 milhão de pessoas veganas nos Estados Unidos, Brasil e Inglaterra, respectivamente. Questões de saúde, de meio ambiente e de direitos dos animais são algumas das preocupações do consumidor vegano. Essas causalidades também são características do consumo consciente. O consumo de produtos está conduzido por fatores econômicos, sociais, culturais, pessoais e ambientais que atuam sobre o fator a decisão de compra e de o comportamento do consumidor. Nesse sentido, questiona-se qual é o perfil e suas principais motivações que influenciam o comportamento do consumidor vegano no Brasil Para obter essa resposta, foram escritos dois artigos, a fim de atender os seguintes objetivos: Artigo I) contextualizar o estado da arte do consumo vegano; e Artigo II) caracterizar o perfil dos consumidores veganos; e identificar e analisar as motivações que orientam e influenciam o comportamento de consumidores veganos, com base na Teoria do Comportamento Planejado (TCP). Para o consumidor vegano, a TCP auxilia na abordagem das motivações que fazem parte para a compreensão do comportamento do consumidor planejado. Os resultados encontrados no primeiro artigo apresentam que as pesquisas sobre o consumo vegano cresce a partir de 2009, sendo um dos países que mais pesquisam sobre o assunto são os Estados Unidos, com 22 artigos. Além disso, ressalta-se que ao longo dos anos foram descobertas novas pesquisas que ratificam a importância de os indivíduos aderirem uma dieta vegana, por questões de saúde, de meio ambiente, corroborando para o consumo consciente Já no segundo artigo, os resultados mostram que a maioria dos consumidores veganos são do sexo feminino, jovens, solteiros, com ensino superior completo e pós-graduação e com menos e mais de um ano de veganismo. As principais variáveis que influenciam e orientam o comportamento do consumidor vegano estão relacionadas a sua saúde, às intenções comportamentais, aos alimentos ecoinovadores, ao direito dos animais e ao meio ambiente. Portanto, o comportamento do consumidor vegano, quando aplicado à TCP, revela que as atitudes, normas subjetivas e controle percebido geram um comportamento do consumidor planejado ao veganismo. Conclui-se que o consumo vegano tornou-se um nicho de mercado, contribuindo para a produção de alimentos ecoinovadores. Sob o ponto de vista do agronegócio, salienta-se que novas cadeias de produção de alimentos, diferenciação de produtos, estímulo à produção de orgânicos, estratégias de mercado e ampliação da oferta para atender a demanda são algumas ações positivas que podem impactar e promover a expansão desse nicho de mercado. / There has been substantial growth in recent years in the number of people adopting vegan diets in various areas of the world, including in the Americas, Europe and different regions of Asia. In 2012, there were already around 16 million, 5 million and 1.68 million vegans in the United States, Brazil and England, respectively. Health, environment and animal rights issues are some of the concerns of the vegan consumer. These causalities are also characteristic of conscious consumption. The consumption of products is driven by economic, social, cultural, personal and environmental factors that act on the buying decision factor and consumer behavior. In this sense, it is questioned what is the profile and its main motivations that influence the behavior of the vegan consumer in Brazil To obtain this answer, two articles were written in order to meet the following objectives: Article I) contextualize the state of the art of vegan consumption; and Article II) characterize the profile of vegan consumers; and to identify and analyze the motivations that guide and influence the behavior of vegan consumers, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TCP). For the vegan consumer, TCP assists in approaching the motivations that are part of understanding the intended consumer behavior. The results found in the first article show that research on vegan consumption grows from 2009, with one of the most researched countries being the United States, with 22 articles. In addition, it is emphasized that over the years new research has been discovered that ratify the importance of individuals adhering to a vegan diet, for health reasons, of the environment, corroborating for conscious consumption. The second article, the results show that the majority of vegan consumers are female, young, single, with full college and postgraduate education and with less than and more than one year of veganism. The main variables that influence and guide the behavior of the vegan consumer are related to their health, behavioral intentions, ecoinovator foods, animal rights and the environment Therefore, vegan consumer behavior, when applied to TCP, reveals that attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control generate consumer behavior designed for veganism. Concluded that vegan consumption has become a niche market, contributing to the production of ecoinovadores foods. The point of view of agribusiness, it should be pointed out that new food production chains, product differentiation, organic production incentives, market strategies and supply expansion to meet demand are some positive actions that can impact and promote expansion of this niche market.

A área de marketing tem sido cada vez mais demanda a prestar contas de suas ações, na forma de avaliação dos investimentos realizados. No marketing social não é diferente. A presente tese examinou propostas de avaliação de programas de marketing social, em busca do que seria uma estrutura conceitual ideal para esse tipo de avaliação, a partir da literatura, prática de mercado, opinião de experts e exame empírico da proposta em dois diferentes estudos de caso, o programa Novo Sinal, da Prefeitura Municipal de Porto Alegre e os programas de imunização do Centro Estadual de Vigilância em Saúde do Governo do Rio Grande do Sul. A metodologia, qualitativa em sua essência, fez uso da técnica Delphi, entrevistas em profundidade e estudo de casos. A estrutura conceitual desenvolvida engloba as dimensões de avaliação de Input, Processo e Resultados, com respectivas variáveis e indicadores para cada dimensão, e ao longo de cujas dimensões a avaliação ética se faz presente, mas ainda de difícil avaliação na prática. / Marketing, as a whole, has been demanded on its accountability to give evidence of good practice in return of investments. The same situation challenges social marketing. This doctoral thesis examined evaluation structural frameworks brought by marketing literature, in quest of the “ideal” framework of evaluation, based on academic articles review, market actual practice, experts opinion, and an empirical examination of the proposal in two real cases, the “pedestrian crossing new signal case” of Porto Alegre City Hall, and the Immunological Programme of the Public Health State Center (CESV/RS) of the Government of Rio Grande do Sul. The essentially qualitative methodology involved Delphi research, in-depth interviews and case studies. The structural framework eventually developed integrates Input, Process and Outcomes dimensions of evaluation, each one with its due variables, indicators and forms or measurement. The ethical issue is pervasive in all dimensions, but not with a easy way of assessment.

Master of Science - Agricultural Education and Communication / Department of Communications and Agricultural Education / Lauri M. Baker / The equine industry is an established part of Maryland Agriculture; the most recent equine census placed 79,100 equines valued at approximately $714 million in the state, with approximately ten percent of those animals housed in Montgomery County. But, equine operators are a unique demographic in the agricultural realm. They are not managing their lands to produce food or fiber and often are employed in other professions unrelated to agriculture. Unlike other agricultural operators, they are often unaware of conservation terms or practices and programs available to help implement these practices on their land. The basic objective of this study was to explore the level of understanding equine operators in Montgomery County, Maryland have of conservation best management practices (BMPs), associated cost-share programs, industry regulations and the aspects and methods of communication that influence them in gaining awareness of and the adoption of these practices on their properties. The study applied the tenets of the decomposed theory of planned behavior (DTPB), which combines the theory of planned behavior (TPB), diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) and economic constraint theory gathered through semi-structured qualitative interviews with participants, selected using purposive and snowball sampling. Utilizing the grounded theory method to discover emerging patterns in the data resulting from these interviews aided in identifying the most effective means of educating equine operators regarding BMPs and increasing the adoption of these practices on equine properties within the County. Equine operators in the study were found to use a variety of informational sources, had a high level of adaptation of the BMPs they used and overall saw their role as land stewards as an important aspect of their environmental actions.

abstract: This dissertation examines a planned missing data design in the context of mediational analysis. The study considered a scenario in which the high cost of an expensive mediator limited sample size, but in which less expensive mediators could be gathered on a larger sample size. Simulated multivariate normal data were generated from a latent variable mediation model with three observed indicator variables, M1, M2, and M3. Planned missingness was implemented on M1 under the missing completely at random mechanism. Five analysis methods were employed: latent variable mediation model with all three mediators as indicators of a latent construct (Method 1), auxiliary variable model with M1 as the mediator and M2 and M3 as auxiliary variables (Method 2), auxiliary variable model with M1 as the mediator and M2 as a single auxiliary variable (Method 3), maximum likelihood estimation including all available data but incorporating only mediator M1 (Method 4), and listwise deletion (Method 5). The main outcome of interest was empirical power to detect the mediated effect. The main effects of mediation effect size, sample size, and missing data rate performed as expected with power increasing for increasing mediation effect sizes, increasing sample sizes, and decreasing missing data rates. Consistent with expectations, power was the greatest for analysis methods that included all three mediators, and power decreased with analysis methods that included less information. Across all design cells relative to the complete data condition, Method 1 with 20% missingness on M1 produced only 2.06% loss in power for the mediated effect; with 50% missingness, 6.02% loss; and 80% missingess, only 11.86% loss. Method 2 exhibited 20.72% power loss at 80% missingness, even though the total amount of data utilized was the same as Method 1. Methods 3 – 5 exhibited greater power loss. Compared to an average power loss of 11.55% across all levels of missingness for Method 1, average power losses for Methods 3, 4, and 5 were 23.87%, 29.35%, and 32.40%, respectively. In conclusion, planned missingness in a multiple mediator design may permit higher quality characterization of the mediator construct at feasible cost. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2015

abstract: Despite the widely recognized health benefits of breastfeeding and its endorsement by leading health organizations, as a preventative public health intervention, inadequate breastfeeding knowledge and lactation management skills among healthcare providers continues to be a major barrier for women who choose to initiate breastfeeding. Breastfeeding competencies are not standardized in healthcare education for any of the health professions. To address this gap, a few continuing education and professional development programs have been implemented, but paucity in research regarding the efficacy of these programs exists. The purpose of this study was to explore the changes in healthcare providers’ learning outcomes related to breastfeeding support and promotion. A non-experimental pre-posttest self-report survey design was used to assess the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an online breastfeeding educational intervention for healthcare providers. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) provided the framework for exploring the participants’ psychological and behavioral outcomes. The research questions were: (1) What is the feasibility of an online breastfeeding course for healthcare providers? (2) What are healthcare providers’ psychological and behavioral changes occurring after completion of an online course? (3) How do the post-intervention psychological and behavioral outcomes of the online format compare with those of the previous format (hybrid) of this breastfeeding course? Although participants’ favorably assessed the feasibility (i.e., acceptability) of the 45-hour course, several factors contributed to participants’ satisfaction level: Previous online learning experience, connectedness with others, and the degree of structural support. Significant positive changes occurring in participants were increases in their knowledge and beliefs about breastfeeding; attitudes toward formula feeding; perceived behavioral control; perceptions about being able to perform breastfeeding supportive behaviors; and intentions to perform actions that are consistent with evidence-based breastfeeding supportive behaviors. Significant changes in the beliefs about formula feeding were not in the expected direction raising conceptual and pedagogical issues. Participants had negative perceptions about being able to implement what they learned in their workplaces or to affect policy. Findings support the use of online breastfeeding education programs for healthcare providers; changes at both individual and institutional levels are necessary to change provider practices. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Nursing and Healthcare Innovation 2015

abstract: With the rapid rise of distributed generation, Internet of Things, and mobile Internet, both U.S. and European smart home manufacturers have developed energy management solutions for individual usage. These applications help people manage their energy consumption more efficiently. Domestic manufacturers have also launched similar products. This paper focuses on the factors influencing Energy Management Behaviour (EMB) at the individual level. By reviewing academic literature, conducting surveys in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the author builds an integrated behavioural energy management model of the Chinese energy consumers. This paper takes the vague term of EMB and redefines it as a function of two separate behavioural concepts: Energy Management Intention (EMI), and the traditional Energy Saving Intention (ESI). Secondly, the author conducts statistical analyses on these two behavioural concepts. EMI is the main driver behind an individual’s EMB. EMI is affected by Behavioural Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC). Among these three key factors, PBC exerts the strongest influence. This implies that the promotion of the energy management concept is mainly driven by good application user experience (UX). The traditional ESI also demonstrates positive influence on EMB, but its impact is weaker than the impacts arising under EMI’s three factors. In other words, the government and manufacturers may not be able to change an individual's energy management behaviour if they rely solely on their traditional promotion strategies. In addition, the study finds that the government may achieve better promotional results by launching subsidies to the manufacturers of these kinds of applications and smart appliances. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2016