Search results

The image of cyclists has been increasingly recognised as an important factor in social marketing programmes aimed at increasing cycling. The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a multi‐stage research project exploring image incongruencies between cyclists and non‐cyclists in the UK.

The theoretical framework of self‐image congruency was used to explore a possible “image gap” between the current image(s) of cyclists and the self concept of the GB population. The first stage of the research was a quantitative nationally representative survey of 3,855 British adults. The second phase involved a qualitative study involving ten in‐depth interviews and nine focus groups (n=60) exploring the image of cyclists with groups of non‐cyclists, lapsed cyclists, occasional cyclists, sports cyclists and utility cyclists.

Quantitative findings indicated that a gap exists between the perceived image of cyclists by GB adults and their collective self concept. Qualitative findings suggested that cyclists images were frequently viewed as negative or sometimes “out of reach” for non‐cyclists.

Social marketers have a role to play in overcoming self‐image incongruencies of this type. The authors' intention was to enable social marketers to encourage non‐cyclists to view cycling in a more positive light by encouraging a perceptual shift in their image of cyclists in the UK. The implication is that this would form a bridging mechanism that narrows the gap between non‐cyclists' current image of cyclists and their image of themselves.

This work prompts reflections on the nature of self‐image congruency within the social marketing field. Initial observations are made as to the contribution that self‐image congruency may play in behaviour change.

This chapter explains the added value of learning the EU via interactive academic teaching and focused training provided by experts and practitioners. The EUMedEA Crash Course (CC) is an intensive training course mixing teaching, research and expertise funded by the European Commission via the EUMedEA Jean Monnet Chair. It was held for three editions (2016–2018) at the University of Catania. Based upon studying and sharing the expertise on crisis at the EU Mediterranean borders, this intensive learning experience allowed young and senior researchers to interact in a qualified academic context by looking at the on-field activities of the experts directly involved in the crisis management, in Italy or in other Mediterranean countries. The selected topic – crises at the EU Mediterranean borders and migration in particular – has involved an international group of instructors and researchers who profited of the expertise of those who experience practices on the ground. The EUMedEA CC tried to bridge the gap between academia and experts by providing excellence teaching, focusing on a various range of crisis managers willing to share their everyday business. New crises require new actors, strategies and instruments, thus new analytical tools to understand new and old practices to address crises in the Mediterranean area are needed. In sum, by providing an innovative teaching based upon experience on the ground, this CC has brought the EU as a crisis manager closer to European (young) researchers.

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on principal preparation by examining the experiences of novice principals and what their experiences mean for principal preparation in the USA.

The researchers employed qualitative methods to examine the experiences of four novice principals over a two‐year period.

The findings suggest that the current climate of efficiency and accountability is contributing to the socialization of principals who focus on the technical aspects of administration over the of relational aspects leadership.

This study focuses on the link between preparation programs and the practice of novice principals, an area that has not been fully explored in the literature.

The purpose of this research project was to improve public awareness to improve public awareness of the importance of energy conservation and to improve the use of simple conservation strategies. A thorough evaluation of the net gain from the numerous energy campaigns rolled out to the public every year is lacking. This study conducted pre- and post-campaign surveys and focus groups to evaluate one campaign’s impact on self-reported energy behaviors.

The campaign used television public service announcements and a website to improve awareness of the city’s efforts to conserve energy and to increase individual energy conservation practices. Focus groups (n = 40) were used to identify common barriers to conservation, and pre- and post-surveys (n = 533, 479) were conducted to evaluate the campaign’s effectiveness.

Results indicated that the campaign increased positive changes in changing light bulbs and confidence in taking action to turn down thermostats, unplug devices and turn off lights. While follow-up research is needed on the precise mechanism of the psychological process at work, the findings are consistent with the concepts of self and response efficacy as needed components of any behavior change. The authors advocate the adoption of research-informed message design to maximize communication campaign effects.

This paper demonstrates how the combination of three prominent persuasion theories can be used to develop behavior change campaigns. Also, it is one of the few studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the Energy Star campaign.

The purpose of this paper is to: (1) better understand the structure (hierarchy) of customer goals providing conceptual clarity; and (2) propose a hierarchy of customer goals conceptual framework that explicates how healthcare customer goals are linked to drivers and outcomes, thus building theory and informing practice.

The research draws on 21 in-depth interviews of patients with a chronic disease. Drawing principally on construal-level theory and using manual thematic analysis and Leximancer, this article provides new insights into customer goals.

In a first, the authors identify a two-dimensional structure for each of the three main goal types, which previously had been viewed as unidimensional. The authors develop a conceptual framework linking drivers of goal setting (promotion/prevention focus world view and perceived role) with goal type (life goals, focal goals and action plan goals and their respective subgoals) and outcomes (four forms of subjective well-being). Visual concept maps illustrate the relative importance of certain health-related goals over others.

The usefulness of the authors’ conceptual framework is demonstrated through the application of their framework to goal setting among healthcare customers, showing links between the structure of goals (life goals, focal goals and action plan goals) to drivers (promotion/prevention focus world view and perceived role) and outcomes (subjective well-being) and the framework's potential application to other service settings.

This study contributes to healthcare marketing and service management literature by providing new insights into goal setting and proposing a novel hierarchy of customer goals conceptual framework linking drivers, goal types and outcomes.

This application brief describes the exploratory assessment of a mentoring program between current students and alumni of a leadership studies minor program. We connect leadership education research and practice in two ways: first, we describe a process of qualitative program evaluation to inform program best practices and improvement. In doing so, we also highlight the value of an alumni mentoring program as a strategic component of leadership education. Our findings demonstrate the mentoring program supported students’ leadership development in the areas of career transition, personal growth, and application to “real-life.” Recommendations are offered for creating formal and informal mentoring opportunities.

The current study aimed to investigate potential sex differences in the use of verbal aggression in romantic relationships.

The current study used meta‐analytic methodology to analyze 20 studies to understand gender differences in the use of verbal aggression in romantic relationships.

The results found that women used more verbal aggression than men in romantic relationships; however, overall levels of verbal aggression use were relatively high regardless of sex.

Limitations of the current research, such as calling for less exploratory research and the need for theories grounded in human coupling research, and suggestions for future research are provided.

Advice for clinicians and practitioners regarding verbal aggression in romantic relationships is discussed with particular emphasis on the possibility of including measures against verbal aggression in interventions on positive couple communication.

The current study adds to the literature by addressing which sex uses more verbal aggression in romantic relationships and providing a critical review of the existing literature with recommendations and limitations of the field.