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To determine where, when, how, and wherefore European social theory hit upon the formula of “the True, the Good, and the Beautiful,” and how its structural position as a skeleton for the theory of action has changed.

Genealogy, library research, and unusually good fortune were used to trace back the origin of what was to become a ubiquitous phrase, and to reconstruct the debates that made deploying the term seem important to writers.

The triad, although sometimes used accidentally in the renaissance, assumed a key structural place with a rise of Neo-Platonism in the eighteenth century associated with a new interest in providing a serious analysis of taste. It was a focus on taste that allowed the Beautiful to assume a position that was structurally homologous to those of the True and the Good, long understood as potential parallels. Although the first efforts were ones that attempted to emphasize the unification of the human spirit, the triad, once formulated, was attractive to faculties theorists more interested in decomposing the soul. They seized upon the triad as corresponding to an emerging sense of a tripartition of the soul. Finally, the members of the triad became re-understood as values, now as orthogonal dimensions.

This seems to be the first time the story of the development of the triad – one of the most ubiquitous architectonics in social thought – has been told.

In daily marketing practices, when launching and promoting new products, marketers often induce consumers’ awe of nature via exposing consumers to beautiful natural scenes. Does this marketing practice really facilitate consumers’ subsequent new product choice? Existing awe research and new product research have not examined this issue yet. The purpose of this study is to study whether the marketing practice of awe induction faciliates consumers' new product choice.

This paper examines the double-edged sword effect of different types of awe on consumers’ adoption of new products. The authors conducted five experiments using various product categories (soft drinks, juices, cookies and watches), various many sources of sample types (college student samples and adult samples) and various manipulation of awe. The authors also focused on both new products with incongruent visual appearance (Experiment 1a, Experiment 1c, Experiment 2 and Experiment 3) and new products with incongruent conceptual attributes (Experiment 1b) to enhance the rigor of the experiments and the generalizability of the conclusions.

The authors find that when consumers perceive awe of threatening natural phenomena, they decrease their choice of moderately incongruent new products (positive effect), while when consumers perceive awe of beautiful natural phenomena, they increase their choice of moderately incongruent new products (negative effect). Also, this paper finds that the emergence of the positive of the double-edged sword effect is driven by the sequential mediation of the need for accommodation and openness to new experiences, while the emergence of the negative of the double-edged sword effect is driven by the uncertainty reduction motive.

This research has important theoretical implications. First, this paper advances existing awe research by reconciling the inconsistent findings in existing awe research by categorizing awe of nature. Second, this paper advances existing research on new products and moderate incongruity effects by exploring when the moderate incongruity effect exists and when it reverses in the new products field through the classification of awe of nature.

This study has rich implications for marketing management. First, marketers can facilitate consumers’ adoption of moderate incongruent new product via priming consumers’ awe of beautiful nature. Second, this paper suggests that marketers and brand managers should carefully choose the timing of new product launches to avoid inducing consumer awe of threatening nature (e.g. immediately after a severe natural disaster). Finally, the results of Experiment 3 in this paper suggest that when marketers want to launch new products with moderate incongruity, they need to target consumers with high cognitive flexibility.

This paper discusses how different types of awe affect consumers’ attitudes and choice of moderately new products. This research question has its social value in helping marketers, companies, consumers and society know the power of awe of nature on the behaviors and decision-making.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is among the first ones to examine the double-edged sword effect of different types of awe of nature on consumers’ new product adoption.

Uses a qualitative research method (depth interviews) to examine the multidimensionality of beauty and then uses a quantitative research technique (factor analysis) to propose a scale to measure beauty. Based on the results from these procedures, concludes that beauty is certainly more than skin deep. Physical attractiveness may be the initial criterion on which people evaluate beauty but the evidence indicates that values, habits, personality, and behavior are the “soul″ of beauty – essential ingredients in the creation of a truly beautiful person.

This study aims to analyze the possibilities for the development of an association of the most beautiful villages of Russia using an experience economy approach.

This study uses a case study approach based on the practices of the federation of the most beautiful villages of the Earth and the associations of the most beautiful villages of France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Germany.

Based on the analysis of the case studies of beautiful villages marketing in different countries and the methodology of the experience economy, the paper recommends essential changes in the management practices of the association of the most beautiful villages of Russia and its participants.

Several recommendations have been suggested for exploring, scripting and staging the experiences in beautiful villages of Russia.

The main output of this study is designed to provide guidance for the management of the association of the most beautiful villages of Russia, inhabitants of the most beautiful villages, rural tourism companies and local authorities in transition to the new experience economy approach accelerating the socioeconomic development of beautiful villages.

Purpose – The goal of my study is to investigate women's tattooing in a phenomenological way, and to go in-depth into a “handful” of cases with the purpose of discussing tattooed women's daily lives and experiences. The main purpose of this study is to contribute to the scholarly literature on the sociology of the body, and particularly to women and tattoos.

Methodology/approach – Open-ended conversational interviews and feminist phenomenological methods together shed light on the possible connection between gendered attitudes about women's bodies and tattoos and tattooed women's personal feelings of beauty and femininity.

Findings – In this particular chapter, I describe the connections between women's tattoos: (1) personal or individual beauty and (2) femininity. Findings show that although women tend to think that tattooing goes against current societal beauty norms and ideas of femininity, many women feel that their tattoos make them more beautiful.

Originality/value of chapter – This study offers important insights into the social experiences of extensively tattooed women and, therefore, contributes to a more sociological and gender-specific glimpse of women's lives and tattooing. My discussion of and findings on tattooed women's lived experiences, however partial, should promote wider conceptualizations of the tattooing phenomenon, allow a wealth of tattoo meanings and experiences to come into the spotlight, and point to new ways to study tattoos and gendered bodies in the future.

So What’s New? is a play that centres on the lives of four female characters, Dee, her daughter Mercedes, Thandi and Pat. The play text provides a structural oppressive and gender specific framework exposing a social, political and economic background which demonstrates how African women used the informal sector in order to survive economically. It also provides a discussion about mothers and daughters and sexual activity. As the play progresses Mercedes talks to Thandi about the harm of selling illegal drugs to young people. The play centres on the impact of these relationships on the women and how they deal with their problems and fears. In this play African women’s experiences are not peripheral but are brought to the fore and celebrated with humour, pathos and admiration. Dike uses the play text to juxtapose two very different images of South Africa. One is the background of violence (perpetrated mainly by males) and the other is the lives of three women and one young girl centred round The Bold and The Beautiful, a soap opera (a feminine genre). Dike used the lives and stories of three women on which to base her play. All three women are independent and obsessed with the soap The Bold and The Beautiful. Dee’s daughter, Mercedes, is a schoolgirl who is politically aware and her boyfriend, Victor, is a political activist. These two characters provide the political background that underpins the fighting and the continuation of the struggle. By locating the play in a shebeen Dike is acknowledging the important role shebeens play in their communities.

The primary purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the key perspectives that emerge in this Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (AAAJ) Special Issue as a basis for determining the existence or otherwise of a Soccer Society, as well as reflecting on the challenges that evidence of corruption in soccer (the beautiful game) has had on the game to date. Reflections on these matters are then utilised to offer a prospective analysis of issues for further research.

The paper is a reflective analysis that draws on existing societal work to provide key dimensions of accounting and accountability for significant organisations in the world of sport in general and soccer in particular.

Much prior research on soccer has largely focussed on the internal workings of soccer organisations, with little discussion of the importance of context. This paper explores the influence of the game more broadly. Moreover, a number of the papers included illustrate an overwhelming sense of joy and pleasure from experiences of the beautiful game, as well as providing evidence of the general societal good that can flow from it. However, the study also highlights concerns emanating from weak, and seemingly pliable, governance, regulatory and accountability regimes that provide a fertile field for corruption and sportswashing.

This paper highlights a research agenda as an encouragement to interdisciplinary accounting researchers to investigate accountability and governance issues as a basis for evidence-based discussions of the impact of soccer and its regulation.

This paper specifically, and the Special Issue more broadly, offers a set of original empirical and theoretical contributions with respect to an activity that has faced limited scrutiny and consideration by academic accountants. Together, they offer a substantive body of work to enable future research in this area.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a suitable position for the bustline of the upper garment and its effect on appearance for various body types. It also provides an appropriate balance between the bustline and the waistline.

The authors manufactured five upper garments using a patternmaking method that allows for the distance between the side neck point and the bust point (BL) to be altered. The appearance of the garments on four dress forms with different values of BL was compared using Scheffe’s paired comparison (Nakaya’s variation) of seven scales. In total, 20 Japanese subjects in their 20s evaluated the garments. Six evaluation items – wrinkle amount, fit, attractiveness, beauty, youthfulness and slimness – were used. The vertical ratios of the garments on each dress form, a (projected distance between the horizontal line of the shoulder points and the bustline) and b (projected distance between the bustline and waistline), were measured using 3D scanned data. The relationship between the ratios and the results of the sensory test was investigated.

It was found that changing the values of the BL influenced the appearance of the upper garments. The upper garment for which the BL was adjusted according to dress form was determined to not be well-fitting, attractive and beautiful. The garment with an a:b ratio of close to 1 was evaluated as beautiful, attractive and better fitting than all others.

The results of this study will help designers and patternmakers create more beautiful, attractive and fitting upper garments.