Planned Obsolescence is a threat to sustainability and is a practice that has increased in recent years. Manufacturers and companies are often blamed, but recent research has shown that consumers play a significant role and thus hold considerable responsibility for Planned Obsolescence practices. This thesis explores the effect that Planned Obsolescence in smartphones has on sustainable consumers who reside in Sweden. Focus groups and individual interviews were carried out with sixteen participants who were identified as sustainable consumers. The results were diverse and related to different situational, social, and psychological aspects classified into four categories: social elements, implied premature upgrading, psychological elements, and misalignment in sustainable values and behaviour. The study concludes that Planned Obsolescence in smartphones creates a social barrier that does not allow sustainable consumers to maintain their sustainable consuming habits within this sector and provokes negative feelings within them, which interlink with social circumstances. Moreover, this phenomenon affects consumers by implying that they constantly should replace their devices even though they are rather satisfied with their current ones. Finally, Planned Obsolescence in smartphones broadens the gap between consumers’ sustainable values and behaviours, and this inconsistency seems to be more significant for smartphones than in other sectors.

I dagens samhälle blir miljöfrågor allt viktigare och överkonsumtion av kläder är ett problem. Samtidigt som miljömedvetenheten hos dagens unga ökar, har second hand-mode blivit en växande trend. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur attityder, sociala normer och upplevd beteendekontroll påverkar konsumenter inom Generation Zs köp av second hand. Detta görs genom att applicera teorin om planerat beteende på tre delar av den traditionella köpprocessen, för att ta reda emotionella värderingars inflytande. Studien baseras på intervjuer med individer i Generation Z, och kompletteras med enkätfrågor. Resultatet visar att informationssökning påverkas av sociala normer och individens attityder till second hand, där sociala normer även har en indirekt påverkan på individers attityder. Alternativutvärderingen påverkas av individens attityder men endast delvis av sociala normer. Vidare framgår det att även en individs upplevda beteendekontroll har ett inflytande över attityder samt att den upplevda beteendekontrollen är avgöranade vid köpbeslutet.

In the thesis the author attempts to focus on what value Career theories (such as turning points, planned happenstance, SCCT and PEC) may have for guidance counselors, and their clients. The author describes a number of theories, then put them to use on a number of interviews where clients describe their present career situation to guidance counselor students. The author reaches the conclusion that career theories have an important value for guidance counselors and their clients; Career theories play an important role in helping to understand the client´s behavior and history of choices. Career theories can also be used by the guidance counselor to help the client in future choices.

The prevalence of overweight and obese children has increased dramatically in the United States over the past 20 years and is a symptom of multiple systemic and cultural changes that have significantly influenced alterations in energy intake, energy expenditures, and the energy balance of children across the nation. School-based obesity prevention programs addressing nutrition and healthy eating behaviors within the school environment and cultural context provide a unique opportunity to educate and engage students in healthy food consumption practices. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a three-year elementary school nutrition education program for students in grades kindergarten through fifth using a longitudinal analysis of two separate data sets, a nutrition skills behavior assessment survey of self-reported eating behaviors, and body mass index (BMI) scores derived from height and weight measurements of program participants. Nutrition survey results indicated that students reported making healthier food choices from August 2001 to November 2004, with a significant decrease in reported consumption of fats/oils/sweets and significant increases in reported consumption of milk, meat, vegetables, fruit and grains. BMI results indicated a 7.8% decline in the percentage of students in the "overweight" and "at-risk for overweight" categories between August 2001 and October 2004. The combined results of both measures indicate that the nutrition education program appeared to positively affect eating behaviors and body mass index percentages. Implications of the study and strategies for further research are proposed.

The purpose of this study was to apply the Revised Theory of Planned Behavior and EVENTQUAL models to explore (1) event qualities that significantly impact guests’ satisfaction with a university event that they attend, (2) significant factors influencing university loyalty as a result of an event, and (3) willingness to make a charitable donation to a university as a result of attending an event. An online survey was sent to attendees of an annual Cal Poly auction event between 2002 and 2016 that directly benefits Cal Poly students. The data were used to test a series of hypotheses to determine the fit of a proposed theoretical model. Although the study was limited by a small sample size of 74 subjects, it resulted in the creation of a revised event fundraising model. Student involvement proved to be the only quality significantly predicting a guest’s overall satisfaction with the event, explaining 12% of the variance. The combination of overall event satisfaction with a subset of the revised theory of planned behavior variables (attitude, descriptive norm, and moral norm) explained 51% of the variance in predicting university loyalty. Finally, intention to donate was best predicted as a combination of prescriptive norm, attitude, and university loyalty, accounting for 57% of the variance. Overall, the revised model is applicable in aspects of university event planning including event branding, marketing, and the involvement of students at the event. Of serious note is the statistically significant attitude variable. If an event planner can utilize a university event to shift the guests’ attitudes towards the event and university, this can greatly enhance not only intention to donate at one particular event, but the loyalty these people feel to the university or program.

The City of Arroyo Grande, California has a problem administering the regulations of five Planned Developments in the City. This problem arises from these regulations being included in a 167-page appendix at the back of the City’s Development Code. This appendix includes the original approvals for the Developments. It also includes amendments to those approvals. These amendments are only added to the appendix. Therefore, changes to the regulations governing the Planned Developments are not tracked. It takes City staff considerable amounts of time to research answers when members of the public have questions regarding development in one of these Developments. Because of the numerous pages that must be read through to track the changes to one of the districts, there is no guarantee that the information presented to the inquirer is accurate. This can lead to issues when the rules are not consistently applied. The purpose of this project is to investigate an appropriate method to address this problem.

Sharing automated vehicles (AVs) is a possible future, where shared automated vehicles (SAVs) and pooled automated vehicles (PooledAVs) are prospective on-demand AV configurations. While SAVs and PooledAVs can contribute to the sustainability of transport systems, the success of on-demand AVs depends on whether and how the public adopts them as regular travel modes. As such, this dissertation investigates five objectives: (1) to scrutinize the essential steps of designing a future mobility survey , while the primary focus of the survey is on respondents’ intentions to adopt various AV configurations (2) to propose and validate a theoretical model for on-demand AV adoption by extending the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), (3) to identify the prospective use cases of SAVs as the potential precursor of on-demand AVs, (4) to identify individual characteristics that may trigger different behavioral intentions among the on-demand AV service types, and finally (5) to investigate Canadians’ intentions to adopt on-demand AVs. A nationwide Canadian survey was designed and administered in fall 2021 (n = 5002) among adults (18 to 75 years old) residing in six major Canadian metropolitan areas: Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montréal, Calgary, and Hamilton. The findings of this dissertation paint a complex picture of on-demand AV adoption in the Canadian context with respect to the application of constructs from common technology adoption models and will help researchers investigating the characteristics of prospective consumers of on-demand AVs to identify the importance of affective motivations regarding adopting such emerging travel modes. The results reveal that many Canadians are yet either uncertain or reluctant to adopt AV technology in shared mobility services. In this light, policymakers and planners should adjust and moderate their expectations regarding the future market for on-demand AVs and be prepared for potential changes in travel behavior by examining incremental changes in existing on-demand ride-hailing services. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This dissertation assesses the conditions under which Canadians are willing to use fully automated vehicles (AVs) and investigates public perceptions and intentions to use “automated ride-hailing services,” which function as a taxi or Uber/Lyft service without a driver, and “pooled automated ride-hailing services,” which are a form of ride-hailing services, where passengers share a ride with someone they do not know to save on the cost of travel. To this end, an online survey (n = 5002) was designed and administered in October and November 2021 across six major Canadian metropolitan areas: Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal, Calgary, and Hamilton. Overall, results suggest that expectations towards AVs suddenly transforming the entire transportation sector, should be moderated and “automated ride-hailing services” and “pooled automated ride-hailing services” (when they are available in the entire Canadian market) are likely to be adopted as a supplementary mobility tool rather than a substitution for current travel modes.

The Covid-19 pandemic outbreak has caused social destruction all across the world. In this thesis, we focus on the impact of Covid-19 on online consumer behavior. Understanding whatis generating these behavioral changes among online shoppers is essential, but it is even moreimportant to investigate and assess if these behavioral changes will persist among onlineshoppers beyond the pandemic. In this study, the primary objective is to examine changes inthe online consumer behavior of the Swedish ready-made clothing industry in response toCovid-19 and determine if these changes will affect future online shopping intentions using thetheory of planned behavior. We thus pay attention to three key components: subjective norms,attitudes, and behavioral controls. We conducted a qualitative study and gathered rich insightsthrough 10 semi-structured interviews with online clothing shoppers in Sweden. The findingsdemonstrate that participants' intentions to shop online in the future are predominantly impactedby factors such as perceived behavioral control, attitude toward behavior, and media, rather thansubjective norms factors like family and friends. Furthermore, in the post-pandemic era,behavioral patterns related to online clothes purchases have changed significantly due to issuesassociated with Covid-19.

Background: Despite implementation efforts, most anxious youth do not receive evidence-based treatment. Dissemination initiatives can increase consumer knowledge of evidence-based treatments. Opinion leaders (OLs) have been used in public health campaigns, but this strategy has not been examined for the dissemination of mental health treatments. This study uses the theory of planned behavior to test the dissemination strategies of (1) involving an OL and (2) using an educational presentation to increase caregiver demand for CBT for youth anxiety. Methods: Participants (N=262; 92% Female; 69% White, 82% non-Hispanic) were caregivers who registered for a virtual presentation on youth anxiety and how to seek treatment. Caregivers were cluster-randomized by school (N=25) to the OL condition (presented by a clinical researcher and local caregiver OL) or the researcher-only condition (presented by two clinical researchers). Presentations occurred from May 2021-May 2022. Measures were completed pre- and post-presentation, and at three-month follow-up. Results: One hundred and nine participants attended the presentations. Relative to the researcher co-presenter, participants rated the OL as significantly more relatable, familiar, similar, and understanding of their community, but significantly less credible. Across conditions, there was a significant increase in participants’ (a) knowledge of, (b) subjective norms related to, and (c) intention to seek CBT for youth anxiety, but no change in stigma or attitudes about CBT. Presentation conditions did not differ in change on these measures, or on rates of seeking youth anxiety CBT at three-month follow-up. Conclusion: Although involvement of a caregiver OL did not increase caregiver demand for EBT for youth anxiety, the overall outreach presentation was an effective dissemination strategy. Involving OLs may not be necessary for all consumer audiences, but may be beneficial for individuals with higher levels of stigma or scientific skepticism than participants in this study. / Psychology

Digital technologies can be used to provide consumers in the clothing industry with information in a transparent way that supports sustainable consumer behaviour. Consumers expect more information that can support their sustainable behaviour but have little trust in the information, thus introducing the consumer need for more information transparency in the clothing industry which is the subject of this research study. A qualitative interview study is used to explore consumer informational needs and sustainable consumer behaviour in the clothing industry by purchasing second-hand clothing or adopting a digital clothing sharing service. The theory of planned behaviour was applied in the construction of the study and in the thematic analysis to understand consumer behaviour. Findings show that information transparency can be designed to provide subjective relevance, social -, financial-, and temporal transparency and information accessibility to support sustainable consumer behaviour in the clothing industry because it increases trust, understandability and accessibility. The study contributes with knowledge of additional dimensions for information transparency and particularly to service research by showing that consumers need information transparency to promote a collaborative relation between consumers and companies.