The subjective reactions of listeners from various backgrounds to speech varieties used in Medellin, Colombia, were investigated using the matched-guise technique with a series of measuring scales. In all three dimensions of a semantic differential scale-namely, competence, personal integrity, and social attractiveness-Non-Antioqueno Dialect (NAD) speakers were rated significantly higher than Antioqueno Dialect (AD) speakers regardless of the sex or the dialect of the subject, or the sex of the speaker. In the case of social attractiveness, however, for female subjects the difference between NAD speakers and AD speakers was somewhat larger than for the male subjects.The evaluations of male speakers were significantly higher than those of female speakers regardless of the sex of the subject, the dialect of the subject, or the dialect of the speaker. For AD subjects the difference in ratings between male and female speakers was about the same for male and female subjects; however, for NAD female subjects this difference was somewhat larger than for the NAD male subjects.In general, the evaluations of speakers by different age groups indicated a significant difference, between older and younger subjects. The younger subjects rated speakers significantly lower. than the older subjects did for all three variables of evaluation, that is, competence, personal integrity and social attractiveness.While no significant effect was found for socio-economic status (SES) non the variables of personal integrity and social attractiveness, SES was found to have a significant effect on evaluations of competence. In this dimension of evaluation, lowermiddle class subjects rated speakers significantly differently from the middle-middle class and the upper-middle class subjects. The former ranked speakers higher on competence than the middle-middle class and the upper-middle class subjects did.Finally, subjects assigned prestigious professions to NAD speakers, while only non-prestigious occupations were matched with the AD speakers. Additionally, the proportion of times male speakers were judged to have a prestigious occupation was significantly higher than the proportion of times female speakers were judged so.Within the theoretical framework of this study, differential reactions to the guises assumed by the speakers were interpreted as revealing differential attitudes towards the speech varieties. The evaluations are taken to be attitudes not only toward the speakers themselves, but also toward the language forms of the varieties involved. / Department of English

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This thesis analyzes the marketing activities of the companies in the consumer society of today and their social impacts on the consumption habits of individuals. The creation of a social environment with the mass oriented marketing activities of the producers and the association of individuals with the products that they or others consume are studied. The perception of the products as symbols of social status or their utilization to have distinction from others are analyzed. Throughout this thesis, the question of how brands are socially accepted and appreciated were addressed within the frame of the analysis of the mass oriented marketing activities of producers. Under these activities how the new consumer stereotypes are artificially created are criticized. This thesis also seeks to answer the question of how the social image of the brands and logos reach beyond the product sphere and used as a medium for creating social, cultural and individual identifications.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 373-381). / Microfiche. / x, 381 leaves, bound 29 cm

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 361-378). Also available on microfiche.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 196-204).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: B, page: 0972. Adviser: Benjamn C. Amick, III. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-227).