This paper presents a simple evolutionary model to study the diffusion patterns of product innovations for consumer goods. Following a Veblenian theme, we interpret consumption as a social activity constrained by social norms and equality of opportunity. Societies that allow for more behavioral variety will experience faster adoption of new consumer goods. We also find that the speed of diffusion as well as the saturation levels reached highly depend on the equality of opportunity. Combining these two effects, we conclude that a social structure displaying behavioral variety and equal opportunities dominates any other social set-up in terms of the speed of adoption of product innovations. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers Series "Growth and Employment in Europe: Sustainability and Competitiveness"

This paper explores the concepts of rules, norms, and ethics as they pertain to intercollegiate forensic competition. The perspective is taken that these concepts tend to be conflated. Definitions of rules and ethics are drawn primarily from the National Forensics Association (NFA). The pertinent literature is reviewed, methods are explained, and results are reported and discussed. The conclusions pertain to the idea that forensics coaches and students alike are hesitant to accept universal rules and ethics, and prefer more contextualized standards. Suggestions for future research are also offered. / Department of Communication Studies

国立情報学研究所で電子化したコンテンツを使用している。

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 106 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 24, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-58).

Written for the Institute of Comparative Law. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2010/04/20). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-116). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2005. / Title from title screen. LeeAnne Richardson, committee chair; Marilynn Richtarik, Margaret Mills Harper, committee members. Electronic text (56 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed May 2, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-56).

Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar o efeito gerado pelo uso de diferentes normas sociais descritivas e pelo uso do selo de orgânico em produtos alimentícios sobre as preferências do consumidor por produtos orgânicos durante uma simulação de compras online. Tendo como marco teórico as novas ferramentas da economia comportamental, como nudges e arquitetura da escolha, num contexto de Paternalismo Libertário, a análise contou com a realização de um experimento através de um site de compras no qual os participantes foram expostos a diferentes mensagens normativas descritivas durante o processo de tomada de decisão na compra de alimentos. Participaram do experimento 1.965 estudantes de graduação da UFRGS e as análises dos resultados foram realizadas utilizando regressões por Mínimos Quadrados Ordinários e o Propensity Score Matching (PSM) para cálculo do Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT). Para ambas estratégias os resultados mostraram um efeito positivo e significativo no uso das normas descritivas para o consumo de orgânicos e no percentual consumido de produtos orgânicos. No entanto, no caso do uso do selo de produto orgânico esses resultados não foram significativos. A análise sugere que o uso de normas descritivas pode promover o consumo de produtos orgânicos por estudantes e estas podem ser incorporadas na formulação de políticas públicas que visem a incentivar o consumo desse tipo de produto. / This work aims to analyze the effect caused by the use of different descriptive social norms and by the use of the organic label in food products about consumer preferences for organic products during an online shopping simulation. Within the theoretical framework of the new tools of behavioral economics, as nudges and architecture of choice in a context of Paternalism Libertarian. The analysis included the realization of an experiment through a shopping site where participants were exposed to different descriptive normative messages during the decision-making process when buying food. Experiment participants were 1.965 graduate students from UFRGS and the analysis of the results were performed using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions and the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) for calculation of the Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT). For both strategies the results showed a positive and significant effect on the use of descriptive social norms for the consumption of organics and for the percentage of organic products consumed. However, in the case of the use of the product’s organic label these results were not significant. The analysis suggests that the use of descriptive social norms can promote the consumption of organic products by students and these can be incorporated into the formulation of public policies to encourage consumption of this type of product.

The main goal of this study is to investigate stimulus that can be used to increase consumers purchase intentions toward suboptimal food products. Consumers seem to have low preferences to buy fruits and vegetables with unusual appearance, products with damaged package and close to the expiration date, usually called suboptimal food products. However, rejection of suboptimal food is an important contributor to food waste levels. Interventions aimed at encouraging the purchase of suboptimal food are scarce, however needed. This study used the theory of normative influence to test the effect of both descriptive and injunctive norms on a product with an unusual appearance, a product with a reduced expiration date and a product with a damaged package. The first study tested different messages appeals to create a realistic norm in study 2. From this study, it was selected the social message appeal and the frequencies of purchase toward each product, using them in the messages as the prevalent norm The second study analysed the effect of injunctive and descriptive norms of purchase intentions toward suboptimal food and also tested the effect of environmental concern and food waste problem awareness. Results show that both environmental concern and food waste problem awareness impact purchase intentions toward suboptimal food. Additionally, appeals employing social norms proved to affect purchases intentions toward these products. However, this effect only occurred for the vegetable with an unusual appearance and the product with a package damaged. For the product with a reduced expiration date the norms had no effect. Moreover, for the product with an unusual appearance, food waste problem awareness mediated the effect of injunctive norm on purchase intentions. Based on the results, this study contributes to the theory of normative influences by showing that, in a general way, this theory is applied to food waste reduction issues, more specifically, with suboptimal food consumption. However, it is necessary to consider the type of sub-optimally and the context where the influence is applied. Additionally, was discussed how social norms can be used to tackle food waste and the implications for marketing and policy actions.