Search results

This paper expounds theoretical reasons behind and practical applications of urban natural space as part of the ontological whole of the city.

In this paper, nonsecular and secular relationships between humans and nature are explored from an ontological perspective.

The characteristics of the savanna hypothesis are shown to be tectonic elements that have been used historically in human-defined landscapes and can be implemented in urban planning and design to enhance urban green spaces and improve the overall quality of urban life.

The human–nature relationship has morphed and adapted as civilizations and their belief systems have grown and fallen aside. The human–nature relationship has affected the form of cities while human development and technological advancements have affected nature’s representation in the urban realm. Throughout the periods of nonsecular affection for nature and secular applications of nature, one theme has persisted: human innate preference for certain arrangements of certain natural elements. Though existing long before the first human settlements were formed, the savanna hypothesis was not coined until the 20th century.

Ultimately, the savanna hypothesis is exhibited as a joining concept that connects nonsecular affection for nature to secular qualities of urban nature and natural infrastructure.

Given the observable increase in images of nature in advertising on a global scale, this study aims to ask whether such creative strategies should adapt imagery to the natural environment of the target audiences or could it be standardised globally.

Two samples of respondents living in different geographic locations with contrasted climates and natural environments were exposed to a set of experimental green advertisements visually featuring different categories of natural scenery and one urban landscape. Attitude towards each advertisement and emotional responses evoked by it were measured and compared across the range of stimuli and the two samples.

Results did not support either the hypothesis that individuals prefer advertisements showing the natural habitat in which they had grown up or the hypothesized universal preference for advertising imagery displaying savannah type landscapes. However, the observed preferences across both samples for advertisements featuring natural landscapes with abundant green vegetation and clear water are consistent with evolutionary psychology, which proposes that perception of beauty in a landscape is universal and hypothesizes preferences for landscapes with those characteristics.

The study was experimental in nature and based on only two specific geographic locations, as well as on one product and experimental brand. Findings and conclusions must therefore be adopted with due caution. Future research should be conducted on a broader geographic scale, across a wider range of natural and cultural environments, and with a greater variety of products and brands.

Results discourage the adaptation of nature imagery to the geographic location of a target audience, and support a global strategy based on the standardised use of landscapes universally perceived to be beautiful, following the principles of environmental aesthetics.

This is the first study to apply evolutionary and environmental psychology to an investigation of the influence of a target audience's natural environment on its behavioural responses to natural imagery in advertising.

This paper aims to address the role of product involvement in the brand preference formation of men and women. Product involvement can be defined as a consumer’s motivation for product purchase that affects their information processing strategies when forming a brand preference (e.g. more automatic at low levels vs more deliberative at high levels). Given that gender differences are found to be context-dependent, it was expected that, when forming a single brand preference, men would emphasize instrumental aspects (functional and socially conspicuous utilities) and women the experiential utility of the brand only with high-involvement-level products.

A descriptive survey (n = 459) using structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was used following an online experiment where involvement level was manipulated (n = 255) to validate the results.

Stereotypical gender differences appeared at high, but not low-involvement levels. Theoretically, these findings question the evolutionary basis of gender differences, as differences were not consistent at both levels.

The findings raise questions about the efficacy of segmenting by gender when aiming to increase brand preference of low-involvement products, whereas stereotypical targeting seem to be effective for increasing preference for high-involvement ones.

For the first time, the role of product involvement and gender was examined in brand preference formation. This can theoretically clarify whether gender differences are consistent or dependent on the level of involvement. This information can help in designing efficient marketing strategies for products with different involvement levels.

The purpose of this paper is to construct a series of narratives by assessing a selection of the key literature generated by Open House International (OHI) over a period of 15 years. The paper also presents a brief review of the latest developments of the journal while introducing concise observations on the articles published in this edition – Volume 45, Issues 1 and 2.

Through a classification procedure of selected special issues published by OHI since 2006, 10 issues were identified based on the currency of the issues they generated. Following the review of the editorials, the key content of more than 100 articles within these special issues, the content of this edition and relevant seminal literature, the analysis engages, through critical reflection, with various themes that echo the polyphonic nature of built environment research.

The analysis conveys the plurality and diversity in built environment research where generic types of narratives are established to include three categories, namely, leitmotif, contextual/conceptual and open-ended narratives. Each of which includes sub-narrative classifications. The leitmotif narrative includes design studio pedagogy, sustainable environments for tourism, responsive learning environments, affordable housing environments, diversity in urban environments and urbanism in globalised environments. The contextual/conceptual narrative encompasses architecture and urbanism in the global south and the tripartite urban performance and transformation. The open-ended narrative embraces thematic reflections on the contributions of this edition of OHI.

Constructing polyphonic narratives in built environment research based on contemporary knowledge is original in the sense of capturing the crux of the themes within these narratives and articulating this in a pithy form. The elocution of the narratives stimulates a sustained quest for re-thinking concepts, notions and issues of concerns while invigorating research prospects and setting the future direction of OHI.

This paper aims to use geographical information systems kriging interpolation technique to examine and map the spatiotemporal variation in rainfall in Guinea Savanna of Nigeria.

Rainfall data, for the periods between 1970 and 2000, are collected from the archives of the Nigerian Meteorological Services, Oshodi Lagos. In this paper, rainfall is considered as the primary and input for crop yield. It is observed that the most important climatic element is rainfall; particularly inter‐annual variation and the spatiotemporal distribution of rainfall. Three spatial interpolation methods are chosen for this research work: inverse distance weighting method and the spline (completely regularized) as the determinist methods; and ordinary kriging as the stochastic methods. In order to analyze the interpolation quality, an evaluation by cross validation has been carried out. Ordinary kriging method was discovered suitable for this paper because it allows the sharpest interpolation rainfall data and is the most representative.

The results of the analysis show that rainfall varies both in time and space. Rainfall variability is very high in most of Northern Guinea Savanna (e.g. Yola, Minna, and Ilorin) with values of coefficient of variation (CV) between 26 and 49 percent while in Southern Guinea Savanna, the CV is very low especially, in Enugu (9 percent), and Shaki (8 percent). These anomalies (such as decline in annual rainfall, change in the peak and retreat of rainfall and false start of rainfall) are detrimental to crop germination and yield, resulting in little or no harvest at the end of the season.

The paper concludes that geospatial techniques are powerful tools that should be explored further for realistic analysis of the effects of seasonal variability in rainfall.

This study seeks to investigate the influence of human activities on the patterns of species diversities along the forest‐savanna boundary in Oyo state of Nigeria.

A transect was placed along the study area from the rainforest belt, through the forest savanna ecotone to the southern fringe of the Guinea savanna vegetation belt. Each study site was identified as forest or savanna or ecotone using the species found within them. Samples from trees with diameter at breast height ≥ 6 cm were collected and the numbers from the different species counted. Species diversity patterns were analysed using the Shannon and Simpson's Index.

Analysis of patterns of species diversity with the Shannon and Simpson's Index showed a decrease in the species diversity from sites with mature vegetation to the areas of vegetation succession irrespective of whether they contained forest or savanna vegetation. Also, species diversities was greater in the forest vegetation than in the savanna vegetation. The decrease in species diversity and loss in some species is attributable to the effect of landuse and other human interference along the forest savanna ecotone.

The study suggested measures to reduce biodiversity loss in the forest savanna zones of Nigeria.

Examines the effect of an ethnically identifiable name on the initial résumé/application review process. Also examines raters’ salary expectations.

Ambient advertising is a unique, intimate and non-traditional form of communication between the product and the consumer; and uses all physical and environmental elements leading to stronger customer engagement. The purpose of this paper is to explore the innovations in ambient advertising including flash mob dancing, use of structures, posters, props, bus tickets, supermarket floors, shopping carts, bank receipts, animals, and other strange and unusual venues in developed economies (e.g. the USA) vs emerging economies (e.g. India).

The research proposes relationship strength (R)-inherent drama (I)-prodigious execution (P) or R-I-P conceptual framework to measure ambient advertising and delves into the R-I-P constructs of ambient advertising.

The results of Study 1 demonstrate that consumers’ global consumption orientation positively influences their attitudes toward ambient advertising. Results from Studies 2 and 3 exhibit interesting comparisons of innovations in ambient advertising between the USA and India; which improves understanding of globalization of ambient advertising in both developed and emerging economies. Relationship strength (R) between the product and the customer strengthens ad believability in both developed and emerging economies; while inherent dramatic surprise (I) displays contrasting results for developed and emerging economies. Prodigious execution (P) results in ad irritation for developed economies while it has no impact for emerging economies.

Overall R-I-P constructs of ambient advertising strengthen brand and ad attitudes and purchase intentions. The research has strong implications for advertising innovations in the USA vis-à-vis India, and demonstrates stronger implications of advertising internationalization across developed and emerging economies.

The research is valuable in the context of emerging and developed economies of the world with respect to ambient advertising. The research explores the trends in ambient advertising and develops measures for testing perceptions of consumers in various world markets toward ambient advertising. The world economies exhibit varying levels of acceptance and appreciation to the global emerging advertising trends, and this presents a huge challenge to the companies worldwide.