Background: Mindful consumption is considered to be a process that is beneficial forconsumers, society and environment. Food consumption and mindfulness are two concepts thatwork very well together. Practicing mindful food consumption often results in behaviour that issocially and environmentally responsible. For the vast majority of consumers consumption isviewed in a positive light.In modern day society mindful consumption is on the rise. This isespecially true for food consumption. Practitioners of mindful consumption contribute topreservation of the environment and are socially responsible and this has a correlation withindividual consumers interest and societal interest.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe what the driving forces of mindfulconsumerism are from the perspective of food consumption.Methodology: Researchers decided on deductive approach, established theory of plannedbehaviour is used to observe. Furthermore the researchers used qualitative research sincemindful consumerism is not expanded enough to test in a quantitative approach. The researchdesign of the study is defining a research question, actually defining the research, data collectionprocess, analysing the data and writing a research report on it. For the data collected theresearchers focused on primary data collection methods in order to better understand thephenomenon and lastly for the data collection instruments a focus group interview has beenchosen with a thematic analysis to analyze the results. Lastly the sampling method chosen is thegeneric purposive sampling where researchers chose specific participants that exhibit certaincharacteristics.Theoretical framework: The researchers question was what leads to mindful consumerism, inorder to achieve that the planned behavioural model was used. In this paper the researchers havefocused on four themes that can be connected to mindful food consumption. Environment andsustainability, health and wellbeing, self preservation, social and moral implications. By applying3theory of planned behaviour to these four topics the researchers could pinpoint what factorsexactly lead to mindful consumerism.Findings: The authors argue that some of the four themes have more influence on mindfulconsumption of food and lastly that consumers themselves are responsible for the decision toengage in mindful consumption of their food.

This diploma thesis deals with the controlling in Skanska, a.s. More in particular, it focuses on the forming of the financial plan for the years 2014-2018 in this company. The theoretical part delimits the basic terminology connected with controlling and company planning. The analytical part consists of the analysis of the current state of the company. The final part of the thesis comprises the elaborated financial plan for the individual years.

Thesis advisor: Christina Matz / Thesis advisor: Ce Shen / The aging of the population has imposed sustainability issues to Social Security, which has led to a glowing debate about what the full retirement age (FRA) should be and whether working longer is a fair and realistic expectation for everyone – or just for those who have a certain level of control over their retirement decision. It was estimated that by 2013, there were over 50% household at risk of financial insecurity in retirement. Thus, having to retire earlier might mean that individuals are in a particular precarious situation financially. Evidence suggests that in order to make ends meet, workers intend to stay on the job longer. About 27% of workers state they plan to work at retirement and 24% state they plan to continue to work until they are not able to do so. However, 50% of retiree retired earlier than planned, and only 24% of them did so because they realized they could afford retirement, while the remaining 76% retired involuntarily due to health or lay-offs. Evidence suggest that there are startling ethno-racial differences regarding retirement preparedness and planning. Hispanics tend to do little to none retirement planning, and tend to face retirement insecurity, which is expressed as high dependency in Social Security and poverty rates three times higher compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Some recent qualitative research has pointed out that for Hispanics there might be cultural elements at play. Few studies have explored ethno-racial disparities regarding retirement planning and decisions and the results are inconsistent. Ethno-racial and cultural variables are some of the most understudied variables in the retirement planning literature. The present dissertation seeks to contribute to fill some of these gaps by exploring ethno-racial differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanics in the U.S. regarding, retirement planning, retirement decisions and retirement outcomes. Results indicate that there are significant differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanics, especially foreign-born Hispanics. This as the result of the complex relationship of Hispanics’ culture and their migration experience that has been marked by diminished labor market conditions, which along with Hispanics’ lack of education and English proficiency has limited their working opportunities / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

abstract: This dissertation investigates congestion mitigation during the ingress of a planned special event (PSE). PSEs would impact the regular operation of the transportation system within certain time periods due to increased travel demand or reduced capacities on certain road segments. For individual attendees, cruising for parking during a PSE could be a struggle given the severe congestion and scarcity of parking spaces in the network. With the development of smartphones-based ridesharing services such as Uber/Lyft, more and more attendees are turning to ridesharing rather than driving by themselves. This study explores congestion mitigation during a planned special event considering parking, ridesharing and network configuration from both attendees and planner’s perspectives. Parking availability (occupancy of parking facility) information is the fundamental building block for both travelers and planners to make parking-related decisions. It is highly valued by travelers and is one of the most important inputs to many parking models. This dissertation proposes a model-based practical framework to predict future occupancy from historical occupancy data alone. The framework consists of two modules: estimation of model parameters, and occupancy prediction. At the core of the predictive framework, a queuing model is employed to describe the stochastic occupancy change of a parking facility. From an attendee’s perspective, the probability of finding parking at a particular parking facility is more treasured than occupancy information for parking search. However, it is hard to estimate parking probabilities even with accurate occupancy data in a dynamic environment. In the second part of this dissertation, taking one step further, the idea of introducing learning algorithms into parking guidance and information systems that employ a central server is investigated, in order to provide estimated optimal parking searching strategies to travelers. With the help of the Markov Decision Process (MDP), the parking searching process on a network with uncertain parking availabilities can be modeled and analyzed. Finally, from a planner’s perspective, a bi-level model is proposed to generate a comprehensive PSE traffic management plan considering parking, ridesharing and route recommendations at the same time. The upper level is an optimization model aiming to minimize total travel time experienced by travelers. In the lower level, a link transmission model incorporating parking and ridesharing is used to evaluate decisions from and provide feedback to the upper level. A congestion relief algorithm is proposed and tested on a real-world network. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2019

abstract: As of 2018, 61% of all jobs in Arizona require additional training/education beyond the high school diploma. With only 35% of Arizona’s population holding a post-secondary degree, there is high demand and need for more Arizonans to complete degrees or certificates in the coming years. As the largest minority population in the state and one-third of the college-aged population, Latinx students are not successfully attaining these degrees. While Latinx degree attainment has increased, this increase was due primarily to higher rates of high school and degree completion of Latinas. Of those Latino males that continue to post-secondary education, the majority (71%) will enroll at the community college level. However, the road to academic success at community college is dim. Despite their high enrollment rates at community college, 13% will leave after their first year, 35.2% after their second, and 56.7% after six years (Urias & Wood, 2015). Research on Latino males in higher education has been primarily focused on access, persistence, and retention at the university level. Further, research has been centered on identity, critical race theory, language behaviors, and engagement of Latino males in higher education. Little to no research has been done to identify the factors, characteristics, or the internal will that propels a Latino male community college student to complete their degree. This research is intended to contribute to this void in research, utilizing a human behavioral theoretical approach to address the phenomena of Latino male attrition. This exploratory mixed method research approach incorporated both qualitative and quantitative instruments to test the validity of the Theory of Planned Behavior as a plausible model to assess intention of Latino males to graduate from community college. The research examined whether intention to graduate could be assessed on the behavioral beliefs associated with a Latino male’s attitude, perceived norms, and their perceived behavioral controls towards completing a degree. Further, the research sought to determine that if the theory could accurately assess intention, could the model assess differences in intention for first-year versus second-year students, and currently enrolled students versus those who have dropped out. The premise was that if the theory is an acceptable model to predict intention, the study could also model behavioral interventions to support Latino male student persistence and completion. The results indicate that the Theory of Planned Behavior is an acceptable model to assess and predict behavioral beliefs that drive Latino male intention to graduate from community college. Latino male students’ attitudes toward degree attainment is the most significant factor in predicting their intention to graduate. Additionally, behavioral beliefs of enrolled students are significantly different than their peers who dropped out. However, there is no significant difference in the behavioral beliefs of students in their first-year of enrollment versus those in their second-year of enrollment. Using the theory’s behavioral intervention implementation strategy, the research provided implications for practice that support Latino male student recruitment, retention, and completion measures for community colleges. Additionally, the research provides implications for future research that supports more studies on Latino male community college degree attainment, and for preparing more Latino men for the workforce needs of Arizona. / Dissertation/Thesis / Appendix L - Regression Codes / Doctoral Dissertation Community Resources and Development 2020

The apparel and textile industry plays an enormous role in the depletion of natural resources, pollution and other environmental problems. Pro-environmental efforts should thus be encouraged in all stages of the apparel supply chain, but also more specifically at the disposal stage during which consumers should be encouraged to adopt eco-friendly options such as donating, recycling and/ or reselling apparel. The aim of this study was to explore and describe female consumers' pro-environmental disposal motivation and intent regarding apparel in the South African context. The hypothesis and conceptual framework for this study was based on a combination of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Norm Activation Theory's (NAT) constructs as the underlying motivational factors that contribute to pro-environmental disposal intent. The research was carried out in the Gauteng province, South Africa. The sample comprised of 315 female consumers; female consumers were of particular interest since they tend to engage in pro-environmental behaviour to a larger extent than males. This quantitative study used a cross-sectional survey design for which a Qualtrics web-based questionnaire was developed. Data was captured and coded to be further subjected to descriptive and inferential analyses. The findings indicated that most respondents are aware of environmental consequences related to the disposal of apparel. Social norms influenced respondents' personal norms, as well as their behavioural intent to make pro-environmental decisions regarding the disposal of apparel. It seems that consumers' attitudes also influence their pro-environmental behavioural intent significantly. In contrast, perceived behavioural control had a weaker influence on pro-environmental intent. The theoretical contribution of this study relates to the relevance of TPB and NAT constructs in the local context. In so far as practical implications are concerned, it was concluded that government and businesses should get involved in promoting pro-environmental apparel disposal options and educating consumers about the benefits of disposing apparel in a pro-environmental manner. / Die klere en tekstiel bedryf speel 'n noodsaaklike rol in die vermindering van natuurlike bronne, besoedeling en ander omgewingsprobleme. Pro-omgewings pogings moet dus aangemoedig word in alle stadiums van die klere voorsienings kettings, maar meer spesifiek ook in die wegdoen fase waarin verbruikers aangemoedig moet word om omgewings vriendelike opsies te oorweeg soos skenking, herwinning en herverkoping. Die doel van hierdie studie was vroulike verbruikers se pro-omgewings klere beskikkings motivering en bedoeling te verken en beskryf in 'n Suid Afrikaanse konteks. Die hipotese en konseptuele raamwerk vir hierdie studie is gebaseer op 'n kombinasie van die Teorie van Beplande Gedrag (TPB) en die Norm Aktiverings Teorie (NAT) se konsepte as die onderliggende motiverende faktore wat bydra tot verbruikers se pro-omgewings wegdoen voorneme. Die navorsing was uitgevoer in Gauteng provinsie, Suid Afrika. Die steekproef het uit 315 vroulike verbruikers bestaan; vroulike verbruikers was van besondere belang aangesien hulle geneig is om betrokke te raak in pro-omgewings gedrag tot 'n groter mate as mans. Hierdie kwantitatiewe studie het 'n deursnit opname-ontwerp gebruik waarvoor 'n Qualtrics web-gebaseerde vraelys ontwikkel is. Die data was ingevoer en verder gekodeer om beskrywende en inferentiële statistiek ontledings te ontwikkel. Die bevindings het aangedui dat die meeste respondente bewus is van hoe die wegdoen van klere die omgewing beïnvloed. Sosiale norme het die respondente se persoonlike norme beïnvloed, asook hul gedragspatrone intensie om pro-omgewings besluite te maak ten opsigte van die wegdoen van klere. Dit blyk dat die houdings van verbruikers hul pro-omgewings gedrags intensie ook aansienlik beïnvloed. In teenstelling hiermee, het waargeneemde gedrags beheer 'n swakker invloed op pro-omgewings voorneme. Die teoretiese bydrae van hierdie studie het betrekking tot die toepaslikheid van TPB en NAT konsepte in 'n plaaslike konteks. In terme van praktiese implikasies, was die gevolgtrekking dat die regering en besighede betrokke moet raak in die bevordering van pro-omgewings wegdoen opsies en die opvoeding van verbruikers oor die voordele van die afhandeling van klere op 'n pro-omgewings wyse. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Consumer Science / MConsumer Science / Unrestricted

Background: Due to increasing environmental issues, the social marketing efforts from organisations are increasing with the aim to push for more sustainable behaviour. One recurring issue in these campaigns is palm oil production. Generally, social marketing relies on negative emotional appeals, such as fear, shame, and guilt, to generate desired responses to the message. This paper focuses on the use of both positive and negative emotional appeals in social marketing within the area of environmental sustainability.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between the elements of the theory of planned behaviour with the addition of the social marketing appeal and how it, in turn, affects the intention to avoid palm oil. Further, the research aims to study the effects of positive emotional appeals within pro-environmental social marketing.   Method: To conduct this study, a quantitative approach was taken. Two questionnaires were made with the aim to measure respondents’ motivational factors leading to an intention to behavioural change based on the marketing appeal. One questionnaire included an advertisement using a positive appeal whereas the other utilised a negative appeal.   Conclusion: Both marketing appeals show positive relationships between the elements in the adapted theoretical framework, with perceived behavioural control being the strongest predictor of the intention to behavioural change. Further, it was discovered that the financial factor can be important to consider when it comes to sustainable consumption.

Till följd av att klimatet utmanas har miljömässig hållbarhet utvecklats och blivit svenskars vedertagna livsstil. Allt fler konsumenter värdesätter miljömedvetna företag samtidigt som forskning påvisar ett miljömässigt attityd-beteendegap. Som effekt har snabbmatsrestauranger börjat använda grön marknadsföring, däribland Sveriges största snabbmatsföretag; McDonald’s och klimatpositiva MAX. Studien syftar till att undersöka samband mellan grön marknadsföring och miljömässigt konsumentbeteende hos MAX och McDonald’s samt om grön marknadsföring har ett samband med intentionen att ha en grön matkonsumtion. Theory of Planned Behavior utgör den teoretiska utgångspunkten och ligger till grund för den kvantitativa enkätundersökningen. Resultatet visar att miljömässigt konsumentbeteende påverkas av intentionen, grön marknadsföring och begreppet klimatpositiv. Resultatet visar även att konsumenter hellre äter på MAX än McDonald’s, då MAX uppfattas ha ett bättre miljöarbete och grön marknadsföringsstrategi. Förslag ges att vidare undersöka angelägenheten av att vara klimatpositiv inom andra branscher samt om andra attribut än miljöaspekten har betydelse för miljömässigt konsumentbeteende hos snabbmatsrestauranger.

The rapid development of sharing economy in the past decade has spawned a number of excellent products such as Airbnb and Uber. As one of the representative products of the sharing economy, the emergence and development of shared bikes are of great significance to the country, the government and citizens. In this context, this study aims to use Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) to investigate the factors influencing consumers’ intentions to use shared bikes. We collected primary data from 268 respondents from different districts as input, finally using SPSS 25.0 to conduct a regression analysis to test 9 antecedent variables and 3 intermediate variables to verify 12 hypotheses. The empirical results indicate that perceived usefulness, perceived joviality and perceived environmental protection have a positive influence on users' attitude towards using while perceived risk has a negative influence; peer influence and superior influence have a positive influence on subjective norm; self-efficacy and resource facilitating condition have a positive influence on perceived behavior control; attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavior control are positively related to the intentions to use shared bikes. This study provides important and new insights into shared bikes adoption and intentions about consumer behavior.

The primary aim of the investigation was to explore the entrepreneurship intent (EI) of South African TVET students by applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Additional factors (demographics, community valuation, prior exposure to entrepreneurship and COVID-19 perceptions) were included as control variables within the model to assess the utility of the TPB. Student participants (N = 128) completed an online survey administered through two institutions in the Western Cape and made available by a Facebook link. The application of the TPB model scales was strongly supported by the results of the exploratory factor analyses (EFA) conducted as well as reliability analyses. Regression analyses indicated that the Theory of Planned Behaviour explained approximately 80% of the variance in entrepreneurial intention (p < .001). However, only attitudes were a significant determinant of entrepreneurial intention, whereas subjective norms and perceived behavioural control were not significant determinants of EI. Moreover, the control variables (demographic factors, community valuation, prior exposure to entrepreneurship) did not explain significant variance in EI, with the exception of COVID-19 perception, which was a significant determinant (β = .259, t = 3.159, p < .05). Hayes (2018) PROCESS macro was thereby used to investigate the moderation effect of COVID-19 perceptions, which were found to significantly moderate the relationship between perceived behavioural control and entrepreneurial intention. The contributions of the investigation are discussed and recommendations for future research are presented.