In Ghana, over 70% of urban dwellers do not have private sanitation facilities in their home and rely instead on an informal network of shared toilets. The predominance of shared toilets in Ghana is the result of unplanned urbanization, specific features of housing, socio-economic characteristics of the population and political orientations. Shared sanitation includes a whole range of models from large toilets blocks owned by the municipality to toilet cubicles shared by tenants of the same house. Shared toilets are not considered as improved sanitation facilities as access for vulnerable groups, maintenance, hygiene, privacy and safety of the users are not always guaranteed. However, for millions of urban dwellers, shared toilets are the only alternative to open defecation and are used daily. Some of these facilities, through better management models and through better standards, provide services appreciated by the users. The aim of this research is to determine which models of shared facilities are acceptable sanitation solutions for urban dwellers, depending on the local circumstances. To do so, the research framework compares the perspectives of dwellers and sanitation providers, acknowledges the characteristics of the specific urban context and considers the relationships between the key stakeholders. In a fast growing city in Ghana, Ashaiman, 432 house units representing over 8000 residents were surveyed, over 40 participatory exercises and 38 interviews with a range of stakeholders were conducted. This research concludes on four main points. Firstly, many apparently similar areas are actually not uniform; the heterogeneity of urban planning and housing influences any past and future sanitation developments. Urban planners need to integrate sanitation in their future decisions but base these on appropriate solutions. The second finding is that some models of shared sanitation can be considered as adequate given the particular context and its likely evolution. The different models have legitimacy at different stages of urban development and their successful selection depends on the quality of the contextual understanding. Thirdly, cleanliness and affordability are key determinants when the dwellers select shared toilets. Given the toilet options available, these determinants are often mutually exclusive and are a dilemma for the users. This dilemmas result in variations in use of shared toilets within a neighbourhood, and at intra household and individual levels. The final point is that choice and then acceptability of a facility depends on the options available. Therefore deciding which facilities are best adapted to the local context should be in the hands of both local providers and dwellers, supported by other local stakeholders who enable relationships through adapted policies and facilitated dialogues.

Este trabalho propõe um método para avaliação das condições de fluidez do tráfego em vias arteriais da cidade de Porto Alegre sob a ótica de seus usuários, de modo a subsidiar a apresentação destas informações através dos painéis de mensagem variável (PMV). Para atingir o objetivo proposto, foram levantados: (i) estado-da-arte e da prática sobre a utilização de PMV; (ii) características das vias arteriais da cidade; (iii) imagens de vídeo e dados de tráfego destas vias; (iv) a percepção dos usuários sobre a fluidez do tráfego. O levantamento do estado-da-arte e da prática permitiu conhecer quais as características das mensagens, sejam elas do padrão construtivo ou do conteúdo, podem influenciar no comportamento do usuário. O estudo do sistema viário permitiu a escolha de vias de grande importância para a mobilidade da população para a aplicação do estudo. Os dados de tráfego e as imagens de vídeo destas vias foram utilizados na elaboração de cenários que buscaram representar situações de tráfego encontradas nos grandes centros urbanos. Os cenários foram avaliados por usuários das vias em questão. A partir dos resultados da pesquisa qualitativa, foram realizadas modelagens e obtidas equações que relacionam a percepção de fluidez do tráfego por parte dos usuários com a velocidade média do trecho. Os resultados indicaram que: (i) a velocidade média tem grande influência sobre a percepção de fluidez por parte dos motoristas; (ii) a avaliação sobre a fluidez do tráfego piora significativamente com a redução da velocidade média; (iii) os modelos para vias em estudo tem comportamentos semelhantes. Além disso, este trabalho propõe uma escala de qualificação da fluidez do tráfego levando em consideração a percepção dos usuários, utilizando a velocidade média com indicador de desempenho. / This paper proposes a method for analyzing the conditions of traffic flow on arterial roads of the Porto Alegre city from the perspective of its users in order to submit this information by variable message signs (VMS). To reach that goal has been raised: (i) state of the art and practice on the use of VMS; (ii) characteristics of the arterial roads of the city; (iii) video images and data traffic from these roads; ( iv) the perception of users about the traffic flow. The lifting of the state of the art and practice which helped identify the characteristics of messages, whether constructive or the standard of content, can influence the behavior of the user. The study of the road system allowed the choice of channels of great importance to the mobility of the population to implement the study. Traffic data and video images of these routes were used in the preparation of scenarios that sought to represent traffic situations found in large urban centers. The scenarios were evaluated by users of the roads in question. From the results of qualitative research, modeling was performed and obtained equations that relate the perception of traffic flow for users with average speed of the stretch. The results indicated that: (i) the average speed has great influence on the perception of fluidity by the drivers, (ii) the assessment of traffic flow worsened significantly with the reduction of average speed, (iii) models for railway under study have similar behaviors. In addition, this paper proposes scales qualification of traffic flow from the perspective of users, using the average speed with performance indicator.

Este trabalho propõe um método para avaliação das condições de fluidez do tráfego em vias arteriais da cidade de Porto Alegre sob a ótica de seus usuários, de modo a subsidiar a apresentação destas informações através dos painéis de mensagem variável (PMV). Para atingir o objetivo proposto, foram levantados: (i) estado-da-arte e da prática sobre a utilização de PMV; (ii) características das vias arteriais da cidade; (iii) imagens de vídeo e dados de tráfego destas vias; (iv) a percepção dos usuários sobre a fluidez do tráfego. O levantamento do estado-da-arte e da prática permitiu conhecer quais as características das mensagens, sejam elas do padrão construtivo ou do conteúdo, podem influenciar no comportamento do usuário. O estudo do sistema viário permitiu a escolha de vias de grande importância para a mobilidade da população para a aplicação do estudo. Os dados de tráfego e as imagens de vídeo destas vias foram utilizados na elaboração de cenários que buscaram representar situações de tráfego encontradas nos grandes centros urbanos. Os cenários foram avaliados por usuários das vias em questão. A partir dos resultados da pesquisa qualitativa, foram realizadas modelagens e obtidas equações que relacionam a percepção de fluidez do tráfego por parte dos usuários com a velocidade média do trecho. Os resultados indicaram que: (i) a velocidade média tem grande influência sobre a percepção de fluidez por parte dos motoristas; (ii) a avaliação sobre a fluidez do tráfego piora significativamente com a redução da velocidade média; (iii) os modelos para vias em estudo tem comportamentos semelhantes. Além disso, este trabalho propõe uma escala de qualificação da fluidez do tráfego levando em consideração a percepção dos usuários, utilizando a velocidade média com indicador de desempenho. / This paper proposes a method for analyzing the conditions of traffic flow on arterial roads of the Porto Alegre city from the perspective of its users in order to submit this information by variable message signs (VMS). To reach that goal has been raised: (i) state of the art and practice on the use of VMS; (ii) characteristics of the arterial roads of the city; (iii) video images and data traffic from these roads; ( iv) the perception of users about the traffic flow. The lifting of the state of the art and practice which helped identify the characteristics of messages, whether constructive or the standard of content, can influence the behavior of the user. The study of the road system allowed the choice of channels of great importance to the mobility of the population to implement the study. Traffic data and video images of these routes were used in the preparation of scenarios that sought to represent traffic situations found in large urban centers. The scenarios were evaluated by users of the roads in question. From the results of qualitative research, modeling was performed and obtained equations that relate the perception of traffic flow for users with average speed of the stretch. The results indicated that: (i) the average speed has great influence on the perception of fluidity by the drivers, (ii) the assessment of traffic flow worsened significantly with the reduction of average speed, (iii) models for railway under study have similar behaviors. In addition, this paper proposes scales qualification of traffic flow from the perspective of users, using the average speed with performance indicator.

Este trabalho propõe um método para avaliação das condições de fluidez do tráfego em vias arteriais da cidade de Porto Alegre sob a ótica de seus usuários, de modo a subsidiar a apresentação destas informações através dos painéis de mensagem variável (PMV). Para atingir o objetivo proposto, foram levantados: (i) estado-da-arte e da prática sobre a utilização de PMV; (ii) características das vias arteriais da cidade; (iii) imagens de vídeo e dados de tráfego destas vias; (iv) a percepção dos usuários sobre a fluidez do tráfego. O levantamento do estado-da-arte e da prática permitiu conhecer quais as características das mensagens, sejam elas do padrão construtivo ou do conteúdo, podem influenciar no comportamento do usuário. O estudo do sistema viário permitiu a escolha de vias de grande importância para a mobilidade da população para a aplicação do estudo. Os dados de tráfego e as imagens de vídeo destas vias foram utilizados na elaboração de cenários que buscaram representar situações de tráfego encontradas nos grandes centros urbanos. Os cenários foram avaliados por usuários das vias em questão. A partir dos resultados da pesquisa qualitativa, foram realizadas modelagens e obtidas equações que relacionam a percepção de fluidez do tráfego por parte dos usuários com a velocidade média do trecho. Os resultados indicaram que: (i) a velocidade média tem grande influência sobre a percepção de fluidez por parte dos motoristas; (ii) a avaliação sobre a fluidez do tráfego piora significativamente com a redução da velocidade média; (iii) os modelos para vias em estudo tem comportamentos semelhantes. Além disso, este trabalho propõe uma escala de qualificação da fluidez do tráfego levando em consideração a percepção dos usuários, utilizando a velocidade média com indicador de desempenho. / This paper proposes a method for analyzing the conditions of traffic flow on arterial roads of the Porto Alegre city from the perspective of its users in order to submit this information by variable message signs (VMS). To reach that goal has been raised: (i) state of the art and practice on the use of VMS; (ii) characteristics of the arterial roads of the city; (iii) video images and data traffic from these roads; ( iv) the perception of users about the traffic flow. The lifting of the state of the art and practice which helped identify the characteristics of messages, whether constructive or the standard of content, can influence the behavior of the user. The study of the road system allowed the choice of channels of great importance to the mobility of the population to implement the study. Traffic data and video images of these routes were used in the preparation of scenarios that sought to represent traffic situations found in large urban centers. The scenarios were evaluated by users of the roads in question. From the results of qualitative research, modeling was performed and obtained equations that relate the perception of traffic flow for users with average speed of the stretch. The results indicated that: (i) the average speed has great influence on the perception of fluidity by the drivers, (ii) the assessment of traffic flow worsened significantly with the reduction of average speed, (iii) models for railway under study have similar behaviors. In addition, this paper proposes scales qualification of traffic flow from the perspective of users, using the average speed with performance indicator.

La mobilité est un objet de recherche complexe, en émergence, qui n’est pas dissociable d’un autre objet, tout aussi complexe : la ville. Ces deux objets appellent naturellement une approche interdisciplinaire. Nous avons voulu aborder cette problématique à partir du bus urbain en villes moyennes. L’enjeu principal de cette thèse était d’appréhender la question du bus par les deux bouts de la chaîne : du côté des usages comme du côté des images ; du côté des organisateurs des politiques de transport comme du côté des utilisateurs, que ce soit dans leur pratiques ou leur perception de ce mode de déplacement, ce qui permettait de révéler les consonances ou les dissonances de perceptions/de pratiques qui pouvaient surgir entre ce que les premiers ont imaginé et la manière dont les deuxièmes se l’approprient.La question de la mobilité se pose aussi de manière différente en fonction des cultures nationales et urbaines. Ce qui justifie une approche comparatiste entre une ville de référence (Belfort), d’une part, une ville moyenne proche (Montbéliard), en Franche-Comté, et une ville moyenne très lointaine se situant en Corée du Sud (Changwon), d’autre part. Ces trois villes partagent une identité industrielle commune et sont dotées d’un bus de ville comme unique moyen de transport en commun. La culture urbaine de la France (urbanisme horizontal) et celle de la Corée (urbanisme vertical) ont engendré des solutions de transport urbain différentes et influencé la caractérisation des comportements vis-à-vis du système et des perceptions du service de bus, d’autre part. / Mobility is a subject of complex research, which is inseparable from another complex subject: the city. Both subjects naturally request an interdisciplinary approach that has been engaged in this work. We wanted to study this subject with the city bus system of medium sized cities. The main challenge of this thesis was to understand the issue of the bus by examining the interactions between its uses and its images, between the organizers of transport policies and the users (in their practices or their perceptions of bus travel), which would reveal the consonance or dissonance in perceptions / practices that can appear between what the first imagined and how the second appropriates it.The mobility issue can also be brought up in different ways according to national and urban cultures. We compare our reference city (Belfort) and its neighbor city (Montbéliard) in Franche-Comte, with a far-away medium sized city (Changwon) in South Korea. These three cities share a common industrial identity and have a city bus as their only means of public transportation. The urban culture of France (horizontal structure) and that of Korea (vertical structure) have generated different urban transport systems and influenced the behavior of its use, and also the perceptions of the bus service.

The everlasting noise in today's marketing landscape has given rise to provocative marketing, which has become a frequently applied technique by marketers in an attempt to attract individuals’ attention. Provocative marketing can be defined as a deliberate appeal within the content of a marketing message, expected to shock its audience, since it is signified with values, norms or taboos that are not generally challenged in marketing because of its equivocalness and distinctiveness. Profit-seeking companies are increasingly applying provocative marketing techniques in order to gain attention, and simultaneously, the World Wide Web has given rise to the phenomena of social media, which presents a new context for provocative marketing messages. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how provocative marketing from profit-seeking companies is perceived by users’ in a social media context. In order to answer the purpose of the study, the research question is: ‘What makes advertisements provocative in social media?’ The study is of qualitative nature, and uses a cross-sectional research design by conducting a semi-structured focus group. The results reveal that provocative marketing is seen as a risky venture for profit-seeking companies to apply in the context of social media, however, the receiver would not be as shocked to see provocative marketing messages with sexual content in the context of social media as in the traditional media context. Moreover, provocative marketing in the context of social media runs the risk of becoming habitualized if displayed over a long period of time, and the element of shock can become dimished. Therefore, profit-seeking companies who apply provocative marketing in the context of social media need to constantly innovate and revive their advertisements to avoid tediousness.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-23T13:42:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Patricia Krauss Serrano.pdf: 1564474 bytes, checksum: 60351ac85983d55077adee196bddc250 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-15 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) stands out worldwide in order to minimize perceived quality problems in Sustainability Reports. One of GRI s initiatives is the development of environmental indicators. In the context of growing concern about environmental impacts of human activity, and considering environmental disclosure tool relevance for users depends on their relevance perception on the information it contains, the purpose of this study is: to analyze the perceived relevance by environmentalists non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Espírito Santo (Brazilian state) on the essential environmental indicators in GRI s third version. Questionnaires were sent to 52 NGOs, resulting in 24 responses. Indicators and respondents were analyzed according to their responses profiles. It was found that all the environmental indicators considered essential by GRI were mostly indicated as being of significant importance, by respondents, what means GRI has the ability to meet this segment of Brazilian society s expectations. The results signalize the GRI essential environmental indicators importance on sustainability reports, and that disclosure standards internationalization for basic global issues related to the environment does not diminish its importance to users, in specific locations / A iniciativa da ONG internacional Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) se destaca mundialmente, no intuito de minimizar problemas percebidos na qualidade das informações divulgadas em Relatórios de Sustentabilidade. Dentre as iniciativas da GRI, tem-se a elaboração de indicadores relacionados a aspectos ambientais. No contexto de crescente preocupação em relação aos impactos da atividade humana no meio ambiente, e considerando que a relevância dessa ferramenta de evidenciação ambiental depende da percepção por parte dos usuários da relevância das informações nela contidas, o objetivo deste trabalho é: analisar a percepção de organizações não governamentais (ONGs) ambientalistas atuantes no Espírito Santo acerca da relevância dos indicadores ambientais essenciais na terceira versão do modelo GRI. Para tanto, um questionário foi encaminhado a 52 ONGs, obtendo-se 24 respostas. Indicadores e respondentes foram analisados de acordo com os perfis de respostas atribuídas. Verificou-se que todos os indicadores ambientais considerados essenciais pela GRI foram julgados, majoritariamente, como de significativa relevância, pelas ONGs respondentes, ou seja, o modelo GRI tem capacidade de atender a anseios desse segmento da sociedade, atuante no Espírito Santo. Os resultados sinalizam a importância dos indicadores ambientais essenciais da GRI nos relatórios de sustentabilidade, e que a crescente internacionalização de padrões para evidenciação de aspectos relacionados a problemáticas globais relativas ao meio ambiente não diminui, necessariamente, a sua relevância para usuários em localidades específicas