Purpose – The aim of this thesis is to explain the factors that influence consumers’ willingness to contribute to crowdsourcing organizations, by applying the reciprocity theory. Design/methodology/approach – This is a quantitative research which used a cross sectional research design with an explanatory approach. The data was collected with a questionnaire survey that was distributed using face-to-face and online methods. Findings – The findings of this research revealed that social proof is positively influencing willingness to contribute, either direct or indirect, through reciprocity. In addition, trust, commitment and identification were not directly influencing willingness to contribute, however they have an indirect positive impact on willingness to contribute through reciprocity. Research limitations/implications – This study has created a research model by the use of relevant literature in regards to reciprocity and willingness to contribute. Moreover, the limitations of this study are related to the chosen sample, since the generalization of the results is done based on three countries. Practical implications – The study provides some valuable insights for crowdsourcing organizations managers who aim to increase the amount of contributions through their online communities by the use of the reciprocity theory. Detailed explanation goes in the managerial implications section. Originality/value – This research is unique in that it presents a new model that shows reciprocity as a mediating factor for improving online communities’ users attitudes towards contributing to crowdsourcing organizations.

To overcome the limitations of starch-based and sugar-based ethanol, scientists propose to expand the use of cellulosic ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants. As the U.S. has a large cellulosic biomass production base (Perlack et al., 2006), production of ethanol from cellulosic feedstock and use of ethanol as a substitute for gasoline could help promote rural development, reduce green house gases emissions, and increase energy independence. This study focuses on the cost of producing cellulosic ethanol along with the amount of carbon sequestered and emitted using switchgrass as a feedstock. In the first part of this study, willingness to adopt (WTA) switchgrass is evaluated. The amount of farmland available for growing switchgrass was estimated using Probit and Tobit models of switchgrass production survey data developed in the University of Tennessee’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. The estimated results from these two models show that when switchgrass prices increase, the probability of farmers to grow switchgrass and land acreages used for switchgrass production will increase. In the second part of this study, based on the results of estimated, farmland availability within an optimal draw area of 50 miles of a biorefinery and a switchgrass delivery schedule could be determined from the biorefinery’s perspective considering different bale types and storage methods. A cost minimization programming model was developed to estimate the year-round switchgrass delivery schedule within fifty miles of three selected biorefinery locations in the southeastern U.S. Also in this study, the carbon credit effect was considered in the model. The results from the programming model suggest that with the carbon credit paid to biorefineries, more marginal land will be used for growing switchgrass, and carbon will be sequestered in the soil at a level that exceeds emitted carbon by at least 1.5 times. Lower feedstock costs would be available to the biorefineries if a carbon payment was available to producers for net carbon sequestered.

The research presented in this thesis focuses on determining the value of irrigation water in southern Alberta. Utilizing a stated preference method, the research represents a successful attempt at applying contingent behavior scenarios to estimate irrigation water supply and demand, and thus irrigators willingness to pay/accept (WTP/WTA) for water through a hypothetical water market during droughts. The research also aims to assess the effectiveness of water markets in conserving water and promoting water productivity and efficiency. The findings reveal that irrigators WTP during droughts is within the range of $1.22-4.90/acre-inch ($0.012-$0.048/m3), varying over various levels of water scarcity. It is found that the presence of water markets plays a crucial role in water reallocation and improves water productivity and efficiency, the extent of which depends on how active are water markets. / Agricultural and Resource Economics

The worldwide organ shortage occurs despite people’s positive organ donation attitudes. The discrepancy between attitudes and behaviour is evident in Australia particularly, with widespread public support for organ donation but low donation and communication rates. This problem is compounded further by the paucity of theoretically based research to improve our understanding of people’s organ donation decisions. This program of research contributes to our knowledge of individual decision making processes for three aspects of organ donation: (1) posthumous (upon death) donation, (2) living donation (to a known and unknown recipient), and (3) providing consent for donation by communicating donation wishes on an organ donor consent register (registering) and discussing the donation decision with significant others (discussing). The research program used extended versions of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Prototype/Willingness Model (PWM), incorporating additional influences (moral norm, self-identity, organ recipient prototypes), to explicate the relationship between people’s positive attitudes and low rates of organ donation behaviours. Adopting the TPB and PWM (and their extensions) as a theoretical basis overcomes several key limitations of the extant organ donation literature including the often atheoretical nature of organ donation research, thefocus on individual difference factors to construct organ donor profiles and the omission of important psychosocial influences (e.g., control perceptions, moral values) that may impact on people’s decision-making in this context. In addition, the use of the TPB and PWM adds further to our understanding of the decision making process for communicating organ donation wishes. Specifically, the extent to which people’s registering and discussing decisions may be explained by a reasoned and/or a reactive decision making pathway is examined (Stage 3) with the novel application of the TPB augmented with the social reaction pathway in the PWM. This program of research was conducted in three discrete stages: a qualitative stage (Stage 1), a quantitative stage with extended models (Stage 2), and a quantitative stage with augmented models (Stage 3). The findings of the research program are reported in nine papers which are presented according to the three aspects of organ donation examined (posthumous donation, living donation, and providing consent for donation by registering or discussing the donation preference). Stage One of the research program comprised qualitative focus groups/interviews with university students and community members (N = 54) (Papers 1 and 2). Drawing broadly on the TPB framework (Paper 1), content analysed responses revealed people’s commonly held beliefs about the advantages and disadvantages (e.g., prolonging/saving life), important people or groups (e.g., family), and barriers and motivators (e.g., a family’s objection to donation), related to living and posthumous organ donation. Guided by a PWM perspective, Paper Two identified people’s commonly held perceptions of organ donors (e.g., altruistic and giving), non-donors (e.g., self-absorbed and unaware), and transplant recipients (e.g., unfortunate, and in some cases responsible/blameworthy for their predicament). Stage Two encompassed quantitative examinations of people’s decision makingfor living (Papers 3 and 4) and posthumous (Paper 5) organ donation, and for registering and discussing donation wishes (Papers 6 to 8) to test extensions to both the TPB and PWM. Comparisons of health students’ (N = 487) motivations and willingness for living related and anonymous donation (Paper 3) revealed that a person’s donor identity, attitude, past blood donation, and knowing a posthumous donor were four common determinants of willingness, with the results highlighting students’ identification as a living donor as an important motive. An extended PWM is presented in Papers Four and Five. University students’ (N = 284) willingness for living related and anonymous donation was tested in Paper Four with attitude, subjective norm, donor prototype similarity, and moral norm (but not donor prototype favourability) predicting students’ willingness to donate organs in both living situations. Students’ and community members’ (N = 471) posthumous organ donation willingness was assessed in Paper Five with attitude, subjective norm, past behaviour, moral norm, self-identity, and prior blood donation all significantly directly predicting posthumous donation willingness, with only an indirect role for organ donor prototype evaluations. The results of two studies examining people’s decisions to register and/or discuss their organ donation wishes are reported in Paper Six. People’s (N = 24) commonly held beliefs about communicating their organ donation wishes were explored initially in a TPB based qualitative elicitation study. The TPB belief determinants of intentions to register and discuss the donation preference were then assessed for people who had not previously communicated their donation wishes (N = 123). Behavioural and normative beliefs were important determinants of registering and discussing intentions; however, control beliefs influenced people’s registering intentions only. Paper Seven represented the first empirical test of the role of organ transplant recipient prototypes (i.e., perceptions of organ transplant recipients) in people’s (N = 465) decisions to register consent for organ donation. Two factors, Substance Use and Responsibility, were identified and Responsibility predicted people’s organ donor registration status. Results demonstrated that unregistered respondents were the most likely to evaluate transplant recipients negatively. Paper Eight established the role of organ donor prototype evaluations, within an extended TPB model, in predicting students’ and community members’ registering (n = 359) and discussing (n = 282) decisions. Results supported the utility of an extended TPB and suggested a role for donor prototype evaluations in predicting people’s discussing intentions only. Strong intentions to discuss donation wishes increased the likelihood that respondents reported discussing their decision 1-month later. Stage Three of the research program comprised an examination of augmented models (Paper 9). A test of the TPB augmented with elements from the social reaction pathway in the PWM, and extensions to these models was conducted to explore whether people’s registering (N = 339) and discussing (N = 315) decisions are explained via a reasoned (intention) and/or social reaction (willingness) pathway. Results suggested that people’s decisions to communicate their organ donation wishes may be better explained via the reasoned pathway, particularly for registering consent; however, discussing also involves reactive elements. Overall, the current research program represents an important step toward clarifying the relationship between people’s positive organ donation attitudes but low rates of organ donation and communication behaviours. Support has been demonstrated for the use of extensions to two complementary theories, the TPB and PWM, which can inform future research aiming to explicate further the organ donation attitude-behaviour relationship. The focus on a range of organ donation behaviours enables the identification of key targets for future interventions encouraging people’s posthumous and living donation decisions, and communication of their organ donation preference.

The number of people shopping on the Internet has grown rapidly in recent years and it has been suggested that the growth rate of Internet transactions now exceeds that of traditional retailing. Despite the significant growth in the use of the Internet for business transactions, there is evidence to suggest that many customers abandon web sites without completing their transactions. It is clearly important to understand why people buy from the Internet and also the way consumers examine websites. There had been limited research undertaken to investigate the relationships between the various antecedents and the willingness to buy in the Internet environment, especially within a single study. The main trust of this research is to examine the antecedents that influence the willingness to buy from the Internet and also how these antecedents influence one another. The antecedents included in this research were brand image (Dodds, Monroe & Grewal, 1991), perceived risk (Sweeney & Soutar, 2001), trust (Lynch & Beck, 2001), affect (Lynch & Beck, 2001), convenience (Szymanski & Hise, 2000), relative price (Sweeney, Soutar & Johnson, 1999), site reputation (Baker, Grewal & Parasuraman, 1994) and web design (Szymanski & Hise, 2000). Some of the antecedents were found to be unsuitable and they were dropped from the study. The empirical results from the final model suggest that perceived value is positively influenced by affect and brand image. Both brand image and affect also positively influence the trust of the website. Willingness to buy from the website is influenced by perceived value and trust of the website.

Wash., Washington State Univ., School of Economic Sciences, Diss.--Pullman, 2004. / Kopie, ersch. im Verl. UMI, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Univ., Diss--Kiel, 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xvi, 354 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 243-262).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-217).

Univ., Diss.--Giessen, 2004. / Literaturverz. S. 259 - 286.