Search results

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of nutritional warning (NW) labels on the behavior of consumers of processed foods, considering demographic and psychological factors associated with the theory of planned behavior (TPB).

The study had a descriptive and cross-sectional design. A survey was applied to 200 household food decision makers from central Chile. This questionnaire was developed based on the planned behavior theory that evaluates the psychological constructs of human behavior: Attitude (ATT), Subjective Norms (SN), Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) and Purchase Intention (PI) toward processed foods with NW. Sociodemographic variables were also included. The data were analyzed by using a multinomial logit (MNL) model, where three types of categories are established depending on the choice made by the consumer. Thus, the dependent variable responds to the effect of the following probabilities: Eliminate from Consumption, Do Not Eliminate from Consumption and Do Not Know whether or not to eliminate from consumption when selecting a food processed with NW.

The results show that the implementation of NW has significant effects on the choice of processed foods purchases made by Chilean consumers. Consumers with negative ATT and PBC in the presence of NW on processed foods eliminated this type of food from their consumption. On the other hand, those who did not eliminate processed foods with NW from their consumption made that choice because they had a positive PBC. In addition, consumers who were unsure about eliminating or consuming processed foods with NW also had a positive PBC. In addition, SN and sociodemographic variables did not affect consumer choice.

The results of this study are crucial in informing public policy strategies seeking to alert consumers about the content of processed foods, thus raising awareness for decision making in order to reduce noncommunicable diseases associated with poor eating habits.

The study provides evidence on the effect of NWs for processed foods on consumer decisions based on the TPB.

The first paper by Hernando de Soto is titled, “Trust, Institutions and Entrepreneurship.” Hernando de Soto certainly needs no introduction. As the author of two best-selling books, The Other Path and The Mystery of Capital, and the founder of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy in Peru, Hernando de Soto has made his mark on examining critical issues related to economic development among poor people. In 1999, Time magazine chose Hernando de Soto as one of the five leading Latin American innovators of the century. Forbes magazine highlighted him as one of 15 innovators “who will re-invent your future.” The Economist magazine identified his Institute for Liberty and Democracy as one of the top two think tanks in the world. The essay in this volume, based upon a speech given at the University of North Carolina on October 26, 2004, examines the important relationships between institutions, trust, property rights, and the ability of entrepreneurs to participate in economic growth and development. This stimulating essay sets a foundation for much of what is discussed in this volume.

Teacher effectiveness in diverse school environments depends highly on the multicultural education courses provided by Educator Preparation Programs (EPP). Research measuring new teachers’ (i.e. teachers having 0-3 years of teaching experience) effectiveness as a result of EPPs’ multicultural education courses is limited. The purpose of this study was to examine if any association occurred between the number of multicultural courses offered to pre-service teacher candidates by EPPs and their graduates rating of effectiveness, as it pertains to creating a culturally diverse classroom environment.

Using data from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) and public EPPs course catalogs for North Carolina, this descriptive study investigates multicultural education course offerings and recent teacher graduate data for North Carolina for 2015, as it pertains to creating culturally diverse learning environments for students of color.

The results indicate that multiple EPPs in North Carolina are not providing multicultural courses for their pre-service teachers, and that novice teachers in North Carolina are lacking the ability to produce diverse learning environments for students of color at a high capacity as defined by the North Carolina Teacher Effectiveness definition.

Data were retrieved from 2015. In the current year, EPPs could have boosted their offerings of multicultural courses since that time.

It is anticipated that the lack course offerings by EPPs will directly reflect new teachers’ ability to create respectful learning environment for students of color, suggesting that EPPs may be counterproductive towards teacher candidates’ understanding of race in the classroom.

This study’s originality exists in its ability to begin to connect new teachers’ productivity with regards for promoting diversity or multiculturalism and the multicultural courses offered by EPPs.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on studying the impact of collaborative technologies on firm performance. The methodology used analyzes the influence of collaborative technologies not only directly but through an intermediary variable. This variable represents different intranet use orientations (e‐information, e‐communication and e‐transaction).

A structured questionnaire consisting of close‐ended questions was developed. Face‐to‐face surveys were conducted on a sample comprising 310 Spanish firms in May 2005. Research hypotheses were tested through ANOVA and hierarchical regression analyses.

Empirical results show that distinct collaborative technologies are associated with different intranet use orientations and demonstrate there is a positive relationship between e‐information and organizational performance. That is, the use of collaborative technologies with an informational orientation contributes to increased organizational performance. In addition, the existence of complementarities between e‐information and e‐communication were found. Thus, firms using collaborative technologies for e‐information in conjunction with e‐communication achieve better performance. The collaborative technology that has the greatest impact on firm performance is in fact the less employed.

This study confirms collaborative technologies are oriented to different, but compatible, uses. However, only certain uses present complementarities and have a direct impact on firm performance.

This research aims to contribute to the marketing and entrepreneurship literature by showing that there is a new, different digital divide for rural small businesses based not on access to the internet but on its use for digital marketing.

This research uses data from the state of North Carolina, examining 1,000 businesses across both rural and non-rural geographies in terms of their deployment of Web and social media marketing technologies. Further, within the rural category, analysis proceeded to ascertain potential differences between “western” (mountainous) and “eastern” (coastal) rural areas.

The research concludes that despite significant improvements in broadband access in rural areas, rural small businesses still lagged in terms of adoption of state-of-the-art Web and social media marketing practices. However, between western and eastern rural areas, differences in this lag in best practice were not discovered.

Although the data collected were limited to small businesses in North Carolina, the results may not generalize all small businesses.

While underserved, rural economies received apt attention with regard to closing the proverbial “digital divide” in terms of broadband (high-speed internet) services. Resolution of this disparity does not necessarily portend that those same constituents also closed the gap in terms of using online, marketing best practices that are facilitated by broadband. Policymakers wishing to promote rural economies need to address not only the existence of an internet infrastructure but also the small businesses’ willingness and ability to use it effectively.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the reason for the discrepancy in estimated and observed damage caused by fragmenting charges in closed environments.

A series of carefully conducted physical and numerical experiments was conducted. The results were analyzed and compared.

The analysis shows that for fragmenting charges in closed environments, dust plays a far larger role than previously thought, leading to much lower pressures and damage.

In light of these findings, many assumptions and results for fragmenting charges in closed environments need to be reconsidered.

This implies that for a far larger class of problems than previously estimated it is imperative to take into consideration dust production and its effect on the resulting pressures.

This is the first time such a finding has been reported in this context.

We explored social studies teachers’ dispositions towards working with immigrant students in an Atlantic new gateway state. We surveyed 99 middle and high school social studies teachers using the additive versus subtractive models as a theoretical framework. Although teachers’ professional backgrounds and school contexts were connected to teaching inclusively, their academic expectations of immigrant students, their beliefs on assimilation (regarding schools’ and teachers’ roles in maintaining heritage cultures and languages), and their opinions on the effective implementation of school policies concerning immigrant students’ learning were significant contributors to teaching inclusiveness.