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A study to determine the effectiveness of PAC on the removal of COD and colour from dye wastewater. Factors affecting treatment efficiency were investigated and included PAC particle sizes, initial dye concentration and contact time. The adsorption parameters for Langmuir, Freundlich and Dziubek′s isotherms were determined. Results indicated that a very short contact time of one hour was needed to reach equilibrium of adsorption. A COD (chemical oxygen demand) removal efficiency of 90 per cent for disperse‐red‐60 dye wastewater was obtained with PAC (powdered activated carbon). With PAC dosage of less than 15g/l the adsorption followed both Freundlich′s and Langmuir′s isotherms. The ultimate capacity of the adsorption increased with decreasing PAC particle sizes or the initial dye concentration. The mass transfer coefficient was determined in this study.

The category of ‘child’ is often presumed to be underpinned by ‘natural’ biological differences from the category of ‘adult’, and the category of ‘family’ is open to similar ‘naturalising’ and universalizing tendencies. Challenging this view has been a central tenet of the New Social Studies of Childhood, arguing instead that ‘child’ and ‘childhood’ are socially constructed, and highlighting children’s agency in shaping their social worlds. More complex frameworks have since emerged, whether concerning the need for a relational ontology of ‘child’, or for a recognition of the diversity of childhoods and families globally. Here we extend the debate to engage with the problematic of the very nature of ‘categories’ themselves, to explore how categorical thinking varies across, and is embedded within, linguistic, historical and philosophical processes and world views. Drawing on the examples of the categories of ‘child’ in China, and ‘family’ in Senegal, West Africa, we consider aspects of fluidity in their indigenous linguistic framing, and how their translation into European terms may fail to fully capture their meanings, which may ‘slip away’ in the process. Such ‘gaps’ between divergent linguistic framings include underlying world views, and assumptions about what it means to be human, raising issues of individuality, relationality and connectedness. Through this discussion we raise new questions concerning the processes of categorical thinking in relation to ‘child’ and ‘family’, calling for cautious consideration of what may be ‘unthought’ in these categories as they feature in much of contemporary childhood and family studies.

This study was conducted to examine the effect of co-branding, a brand partnership tactic involving two or more brands, on consumer behavior within the sport industry. As such, the primary aim was to examine differences regarding consumers' perceptions of self-image congruence and perceived product quality when considering solo-branding and co-branding conditions. Further, under the co-branding condition, relationships among consumers' self-image congruence, perceived product quality, image fit, product evaluation and purchase intention were investigated.

A scenario-based quasi-experiment consisting of hypothetical co-branding initiatives between existing brands was conducted.

Results from a repeated multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that consumers' symbolic and functional perceptions of co-branding as well as evaluations were statistically higher than in the solo-branding condition. Additionally, structural equation modeling indicated positive relationships between consumers' symbolic and functional perceptions, image fit, evaluation and behavior intention.

This study is one of the first papers to investigate the impact of co-branding on consumers within the sport industry and provides evidence of the positive impact of co-branding strategies on consumer behavior within the sport industry.

This research examines cultural differences between Thais and Americans in recipients' attitudes and behaviors throughout all three stages of Sherry's (1983) gift-giving model and the moderating effect of relationship closeness on the gift-giving process.

Three experiments tested recipients' attitudes and behaviors across cultures in each gift-giving stage. Study 1 explored the gestation stage (gift search and purchase). Study 2 tested recipients in the prestation stage (actual exchange), and Study 3 examined the reformulation stage (gift disposition and realignment of the relationship).

Results show that relationship closeness between the giver and the recipient plays a role among interdependent self-construals. Thais (interdependent self-construals) are more likely to give a hint or make a request for a gift to close friends than distant friends and are also more likely to accept, keep and use gifts from close friends than from distant friends. Moreover, for interdependent self-construals, a gift from a close friend improved the relationship more than a gift from a distant friend. In contrast, Americans (independent self-construals) present no differences between close and distant friends.

This research provides a comprehensive picture of the recipient's perspective in cross-cultural gift-giving and expands the notion of relationship closeness as a moderator.

This paper aims to explore the impact intentional non-consumption has on consumer practices, the resulting consumption experiences and meanings attached to the actions of participants and what is learned from this relative to voluntary simplicity, most specifically when participants are asked to become voluntary simplifiers versus volunteering to do so.

A phenomenological approach was applied utilising unstructured interviews and autoethnography. Data were analysed through the theoretical lens of voluntary simplicity within the contexts of contemporary Irish consumer culture and the collapse of the Celtic Tiger.

The study highlights findings in four key areas: self-imposed parameters of intentional non-consumption and subsequent voluntary simplicity categories; motivations, practices and experiences of participants; the role intentional non-consumption plays relative to personal satisfaction, fulfilment and happiness; and how participant consumption practices reverted to “normal” once the study was complete.

This study focuses on an all-female group of participants; future research is warranted that explores the issue from a male perspective.

Findings are of particular interest to policy makers seeking to develop initiatives that reduce consumption practices and contribute to discussions that explore the role of consumption in modern society – in particular the wide-ranging debate on whether consumption leads to happiness and how consumers might be persuaded to consume in a more sustainable manner.

This study adopts an innovative methodology that explores voluntary simplicity and contributes to an understanding of consumption culture by exploring what happens when consumers are asked to reduce their consumption and become voluntary simplifiers. An extension of Huneke’s definition of voluntary simplicity is offered, which recognises the role non-material consumption plays in consumption practices, and explores voluntary simplicity relative not only to individuals’ values and beliefs, as discussed in the literature, but also to their lifestyle activities and wider sociocultural and institutional factors.

This study aims to explore the dual identity role of joint gift-giving among adolescents. Studying this phenomenon through the lens of impression management theory enabled us to analyze private and group motives, drivers of these motives (givers’ public self-consciousness and self-monitoring and group cohesiveness) and the influence of group motives on the joint process. The characteristics of the joint process reflect a mutual social activity that enables adolescents to strengthen social group ties and define and nurture group identity. This research showed how a mutual consumer process, specifically, joint gift-giving, enhances the outcomes of social resources by defining groups’ mutual extended selves.

In this study, quantitative tools were used. Selection of constructs for the study was based on a literature review and existing qualitative research. To test the validity and the reliability of the scales, a convenience sample of 103 adolescents (13 to 16 years old) was used in a pre-test survey. In the main study, a convenience sample of 129 adolescences was used. Self-report questionnaires were distributed to adolescents (aged 13-16 years). The survey included scales covering private and group motives for joint gift-giving, givers’ personality, group cohesiveness and the characteristics of the joint process.

Givers’ public self-consciousness and self-monitoring were positively related to the motivation to engage in joint gift-giving to facilitate the development of desired private identities. High public self-consciousness and self-monitoring givers were motivated to enhance their private role in the group task and managed their impression among multiple audiences. We found that high-cohesiveness groups were motivated to nurture and strengthen social resources through joint gift-giving. Engaging in joint gift-giving is motivated not only by functional motives (e.g. saving money) but also by social motives that strengthen a group’s extended-self and social resources that all members enjoy.

Although gift-giving is a three-stage process per gestation presentation and reformulation stage, the current study explored joint gift-giving behavior only in the gestation stage. Future research should include the other two stages. Also the current research concentrated on adolescents. Exploring joint gift-giving among adults is recommended as well. Comparing the two age groups should allow a better understanding of the special characteristics of adolescents and adults. Additionally, other personality characteristics could affect givers private identity in the group task and other group characteristics such as group size gender of members and group context in the workplace could affect identity.

This research can provide marketers with a deeper understanding of the joint gift-giving process. For example, marketers should recognize that joint gift-giving involves adolescent groups’ time-consuming activities in the joint process, i.e. gift selection effort, making handmade gifts and putting special efforts in gift appearance that enable them to define and nurture their group identity.

Parents and educators should recognize the importance of social identity dual role in participating in joint gift-giving. Hence, we recommend them to encourage adolescents to participate in this joint consuming process to enable them to protect and define their identity.

Adolescents are an important market segment with unique cognitive, social and personality processes. While these processes have been explored in several consumer behavior studies, adolescents’ gift-giving has been largely ignored in the literature. This study contributes to an understanding of the drivers of private and group joint gift-giving motives, how sense of belonging and group identity are reflected in the social dynamics of joint gift-giving and how adolescents manage group and private impressions in the eyes of a single receiver and in the eyes of multiple peers participating in the group task.

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.

This study aims to examine the effects of three green information quality dimensions – persuasiveness, completeness and credibility – on green brand evaluation and whether this is mediated by green brand credibility. It also examines the moderating effects of eco-label credibility and consumer knowledge on green information quality dimensions and green brand credibility relationships.

Using a structured questionnaire on environmentally-friendly electrical goods/electronics, cosmetic and apparel product advertisements, involving an elaboration task, this study collected usable data from 1,282 Indian consumers across 50 cities. It also undertook an assessment for three different product groups using structural equation modelling to examine proposed hypotheses and assessed moderated mediation using the Hays process model.

The study indicates that: green brand credibility mediates the effects of green information quality dimensions on green brand evaluation; consumer knowledge moderates the effects of persuasiveness and completeness on green brand credibility and eco-label credibility moderates the effects of persuasiveness and credibility on green brand credibility.

In green information processing, this study supports the relevance of the elaboration likelihood model and the mediation effect of green brand credibility. It also presents evidence that credible eco-labels enhance green information processing. While the results are broadly consistent across the three product categories, the results may only generalizable to the environmentally-aware urban populations.

Help brand managers to design advertisements that add brand credibility in environmentally-aware urban markets.

It helps to define green information quality and the interacting effects of eco-label credibility and consumer knowledge in green information processing.

Outlines the evolution of the idea of private property in the West and in early Islamic states; and its practical translation into property rights in land in the UK, Islamic territories and South Asia. Provides a glossary of terms which may be unfamiliar to Western readers and argues that the East India Company’s Permanent Settlement Regulation in South Asia recognized existing rights and did not create new ones. Believes that understanding this is important for any evolutionary theory of the South Asian economy.

Relational norms, referring to shared values about behavioral rules, distinguish communal and exchange relationships based on different reciprocal expectations between actors. This research explains how reciprocal expectations behind the two relationships trigger gift givers' disparate behavioral goals and further determine their gift choices.

The current work uses three lab experiments (N = 482) and one consumer survey (N = 422) to collect Chinese gifting data. Multiple data-analysis methods – crosstab analysis, ANOVA, linear regression and bootstrapping procedures – confirm the hypotheses.

Gift givers distinguish communal and exchange recipients. When selecting gifts for communal (exchange) recipients, people depended more strongly on rational analyses (intuition), preferring products superior on cognitive (affective) attributions. Further, givers primed to be rational decision-makers by anticipating that recipients would evaluate the gifts immediately in their presence, regardless of the communal or exchange context, preferred cognitively superior products.

From a managerial perspective, marketers can make targeted recommendations by highlighting the appropriate attribute dimension (cognitive or affective) after learning givers' reciprocal expectations.

This work contributes to the gift-giving literature by revealing the direct link between gifting goals and gift choices, extending the understanding of consumers' gift-selection strategies.