Search results

This longitudinal study assessed student perceptions of sustainable design issues in the context of an accredited interior design program. Although literature exists documenting the integration of sustainable strategies into interior design curriculum, more analysis is needed to determine the impact of program experiences on students’ attitudes.

Over a four-year period, a questionnaire was administered to 245 freshmen in an introduction to interior design survey course and to 122 seniors enrolled in a professional practice in interior design seminar. In addition to statistically analyzing category responses between the two subject groups, the authors also looked for patterns in responses within each subject group.

Results indicated that the seniors were significantly more aware of the term “sustainable design” than the freshmen were. Understanding the students’ perceptions of more specific principles including life cycle thinking, environmentally and socially responsible materials sourcing and sustainable design practice required a more nuanced discussion. Although statistical significance of differences between the two groups was small to moderate throughout the survey categories, the seniors tended to be more deliberate in their responses.

This study is the first of its kind to conduct a longitudinal investigation of an interior design student body from freshman through senior cohorts regarding perceptions of sustainable design. Findings from the large sample size provide direction for interior design programs and form the basis for further study.

Alcohol sponsorship of sport is common in Australia, with much debate about the appropriateness of linking sport with alcohol advertising and promotion. This paper provides examples of such sponsorships to appreciate the extent and nature of the complex relationship between sport and alcohol sponsors. The public health and policy implications of alcohol sponsorship of sport extending to creating a sporting competition purely to promote an alcohol brand are considered.

Barack Obama has had considerable support among scholarly circles since his win in the Iowa primary in early 2008. A segment of the Association of Black Sociologists (ABS), “Black and Progressive Sociologists Obama Working Group (BPSOWG),” was particularly active during the 2008 campaign. The purpose of this chapter was to determine if the level and type of activism among this group differed from other progressive groups of sociologists.

The data for this study were collected from a web-based survey administered to approximately 800 professional sociologists in the United States. The survey consisted of items that focused on the extent to which respondents supported the Obama campaign for the presidency and the extent to which they were satisfied with and/or agreed with his policies during first two years of his presidency.

The response rate for the survey was 40% (N=305) and 96% of respondents (N=293) submitted surveys with complete information. Over two-thirds of participants were members of the American Sociological Association Section on Race and Ethnic Relations and 5.5% of respondents identified themselves as members of the BPSOWG. A slight majority (53.6%) of study participants were females and the largest two racial groups making up the study population were whites (47.1%) and African Americans (36.1%). Most of the respondents provided support for President Obama during his first campaign, including financial contributions (66%).

Sociologists who responded to the survey were generally positive about Barack Obama as a candidate and a President. However, the subtle differences between groups about Obama administration policies and the use Presidential power highlighted key areas in which diverse coalitions for progressive change are needed.

The second decade of the twenty-first century finds Brazil racked by a series of scandals that are extreme even by world standards. This chapter presents an explanation for one of the behaviors that have produced these scandals. Specifically, it is the offering of bribes to public officials by individuals or companies that stand to benefit from contracts to perform public services and, furthermore, the paying of kickbacks to the officials if the contract is awarded. I liken this behavior to the making of vows to the saints in the “popular” or “folk” form of Catholicism – and other popular religions that accept its basic premises – and the fulfillment of the promise if and when the otherworldly being provides what the petitioner requested. Part 1 of the chapter examines an election for mayor of the city of Fortaleza in 2012 in which the office was “bought” for what seemed to be an exorbitant amount of money. I hypothesize that this is to be explained by the anticipation of the city receiving government contracts to build a soccer stadium, a rail system, and other projects related to the 2014 World Cup. In Part 2, I examine Brazil’s religions beginning with popular Catholicism, to show that the normative way of gaining something desired from a supernatural – be it the restoration of health or the recovery of a lost item – is to offer it something it values and then fulfilling the promise if and when the petitioner receives what was requested. I contend that this important religious pattern continues to provide the template for the secular behavior that is being judged to be corrupt by standards other than those found in the religiously based worldview of many Brazilians.

The purpose of this paper is to facilitate further understanding of project complexity by highlighting the factors contributing to project complexity as reported by the practitioners facing the “actuality” of projects.

A qualitative research approach was undertaken by conducting semi‐structured interviews with the primary focus on the aerospace industry. Participants are involved in a variety of project settings, exhibiting different types and levels of complexity.

Analysis of responses highlights “people” issues as the main factor contributing to project complexity and the importance of soft skills in managing complex projects.

The research is based on a limited number of respondents from the aerospace sector. This will be further refined and improved upon by compiling views of additional practitioners involved in multiple aerospace projects.

The main research conclusions are that “hard” project management skills help to organise, plan and manage, and track changes during the course of the project. However, understanding of project complexity and its contributing factors helps practitioners to understand the dynamic, social and complex contexts of projects, thus highlighting the importance of “soft” skills.

This paper proposes the “project complexity triangle – people, product and process”, highlighting their importance as the three major areas contributing to project complexity.

Although women have been represented in advertising since WWII, the themes were laden with stereotypes – from working roles in the 1940s to superwomen in the 1970 and 1980s, second-wave feminism. Contemporary women-centric advertising (or femvertising) strives towards women empowerment and gender equality by stripping down stereotypes. However, through closer inspection, this study examines if this femvertising by brands nowadays is a gimmick to sell their products and further the neoliberal, postfeminist perspective.

Semiotic content analysis (SCA) explored the post-feminist discourses, as categorised by Windels et al. (2020) – in the internationally awarded 80 advertisements produced from 2013 to 2023 in the global West and South. Codes generated from SCA were then quantitatively analysed using chi-square and p-values, comparing the three themes: post-feminist elements and discourses, the form of self-surveillance and product ads and measuring the changes in post-feminist discourses in recent years.

After 2018, advertisements used more post-feminist discourse, especially commodity feminism, self-surveillance and love-your-body parameters. Brands reacted in their campaigns, conforming to gender stereotypes under empowerment and modifying feminist values.

The study lacked a phenomenological understanding of the perspective of the consumers, the advertisers and the panel judges of these awards through a qualitative study on the post-feminist aspects of the femvertisements, the importance of depoliticising the women’s struggle or the feminist movement in communicating with the audience and how such a strategy has helped in empowering (or disempowering) real women.

The study highlights the need for inclusive marketing communication and also outlines implications for the brand owners, advertisers and the creative team. The research emphasises determining the fit between brands and the social issue, eventually leading to positive brand attitude and purchase intention among consumers.

The research helps inform the young consumers about gender equity, the role played by the social, cultural, political, environmental and structural elements in shaping women’s empowerment and how their identity and experiences affect their empowerment. An inclusive communication approach would enable projects with real people with whom consumers, irrespective of gender, can resonate.

The study highlighted the femvertising issue from an inclusive marketing communication spectrum, implying its importance for brands’ attempts to connect with feminist and women consumers authentically.