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1 – 10 of 258The purpose of this paper is to validate the Higgins regulatory focus/goal orientation questionnaire (RFQ) in the Indian context on a sample of urbanized young Indians: one of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to validate the Higgins regulatory focus/goal orientation questionnaire (RFQ) in the Indian context on a sample of urbanized young Indians: one of the most important consumer segments in India.
Design/methodology/approach
Items were validated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, through both parametric and non parametric approaches to estimation.
Findings
Scale validity and reliability was established in the Indian context.
Research limitations/implications
A sample of 152 final year students enrolled in professional courses, conforming to the characteristics of urbanized young Indians, was used. Consumers' goal orientation may now be successfully measured in the Indian context.
Practical implications
Marketers may use the questionnaire to measure consumers' goal orientation and design products and advertisements catering specifically to promotion and prevention oriented customers. According to Cesario, Grant, and Hissing and Avnet and Higgins, this is important as message persuasiveness and product evaluation is dependent on consumer's goal orientation.
Originality/value
Given the aspirational and goal directed nature of the dominant consumer segment of young Indians in India, it is essential that regulatory focus is measured well. This study establishes the validity of the scale for young Indians whose chronic regulatory focus can now be measured effectively.
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This study reports on a four-month ethnographic project conducted among young Catholic women in Mumbai, India. Here, the author examines how the media consumption of participants…
Abstract
This study reports on a four-month ethnographic project conducted among young Catholic women in Mumbai, India. Here, the author examines how the media consumption of participants is implicated in reconstituting Indian national identity. Because Hinduism is closely tied to conceptualizations of Indianness and because women continue to be marginalized in Indian society, Catholic women in India are viewed as second-class citizens or “not Indian enough” or “appropriately Indian” by virtue of their gender and religious affiliation. However, through media consumption that emphasizes hybridity, participants destabilize narrow definitions of Indian identity. Specifically, participants cultivate hybridity as central to an Indian identity that is viable in an increasingly global society. Within this formulation of hybridity, markers of their marginalization are reframed as markers of distinction. By centering hybridity in their media consumption, young, middle-class Catholic women (re)imagine their national identity in translocal cosmopolitan terms that subverts marginalization experienced by virtue of their religion and leverages privileges they enjoy by virtue of their middle-class status. Importantly, this version of Indian identity remains elitist in that it remains inaccessible to poor women, including poor women of minority groups.
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Mona Kratzert and Debora Richey
Over the past 30 years there has been a growing interest in fiction by Native American authors. An increasingly diverse crop of Indian writers have produced innovative and…
Abstract
Over the past 30 years there has been a growing interest in fiction by Native American authors. An increasingly diverse crop of Indian writers have produced innovative and sometimes controversial works, but often critics, readers and the book publishing community have concentrated their attention on older, more established writers. This article identifies younger and up‐and‐coming Native American authors, many of whom are producing major literary works, but have not received the attention they deserve. The article also discusses ways researchers and those involved in collection development can track down information on rising Indian authors and their novels.
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Despite the recognition that contextual factors play a key role in shaping individuals’ work-family (WF) interface, empirical research that simultaneously considers individual…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the recognition that contextual factors play a key role in shaping individuals’ work-family (WF) interface, empirical research that simultaneously considers individual, roles and contextual factors is scarce. Drawing on the pyramid model of work-home interface, we delve into the intersection among sex, gender role ideology (GRI) and urbanization (URB) in relation to WF conflict and enrichment in India. Specifically, we explored whether and how sex (male vs female), GRI (traditional vs egalitarian) and URB (big vs small city) interact to predict WF conflict and WF enrichment.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 586 full-time employees working in both more and less urbanized cities in India. Moderation analyses were utilized to study the interaction effects on WF conflict and enrichment.
Findings
Results indicate that GRI is a stronger driver of WF experiences, especially WF enrichment, for women regardless of location. The study contributes to the understanding of WF experiences in India and addresses the complexity of WF experiences, especially with respect to sex and gender.
Originality/value
Our study offers a nuanced understanding of WF experiences in India by integrating micro- to macro-level antecedents, thereby addressing the complexity of WF experiences. While a lot of research explains sex and gender differences in WF experiences, our study highlights how these experiences vary with the degree of URB.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the structure of employment in the most urbanized state in India during the period 1983-2010. The paper also analyses the determinants of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the structure of employment in the most urbanized state in India during the period 1983-2010. The paper also analyses the determinants of growth of farm employment in urban areas in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper compares trends in employment in Tamil Nadu with that of the country as a whole. In order to see whether there is evidence of Lewisian labor transfer, the study examines labor transfer between sectors and percentage distribution of workers in the rural and urban areas.
Findings
The paper finds that employment in the entire non-agricultural sector slowed down in 2009-2010 compared to 2004-05 in Tamil Nadu. The share of employment in primary sector in urban areas increased more sharply, experiencing slow economic transformation in the post-reform years. The analysis reveals that rapid rural-urban transformation could be one reason for more people in the primary sector in urban areas.
Research limitations/implications
Studying the employment structure at the district level, for which analyzing the district-level data collected and published by state’s Bureau of Economics and Statistics is required, would be helpful to discern a deeper influence of urbanization on structure of employment.
Practical implications
The results suggest that the issue needs further examination with analysis of the district-level data. Policy reforms should, therefore, be suitably oriented toward tapping the employment potential of both unorganized and organized segments in manufacturing, trade and services sectors. It is also necessary to ensure robust economic growth that creates decent jobs for all young educated people in the state.
Originality/value
The study explains the domination of farm employment in urban Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is considered to be the most urbanized state in India. The reason for an increase in the share of primary sector employment in urban areas of Tamil Nadu is due to high urbanization in the post-reform periods.
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Kajal Patel and Ian Shaw
This paper explores issues surrounding the under‐representation of people from the Gujarati community in mental health statistics and services in the UK and asks why people from…
Abstract
This paper explores issues surrounding the under‐representation of people from the Gujarati community in mental health statistics and services in the UK and asks why people from the Gujarati communities are less likely to seek assistance for mental health problems. It is well known that members of the African‐Caribbean community are over‐represented in mental health statistics, and this is attributed to factors such as racial discrimination, social adversity and stress of migration. However, members of the Gujarati community have also been exposed to these hardships, but are not similarly represented in the mental health statistics. The paper explores a selection of the key literature. Two questions are considered: first, whether this group genuinely has very good mental health (and if so why); and second, whether there are any factors that hold members of this community back from seeking help.
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Abhijit Mitra, Sufia Zaman and Subhra Bikash Bhattacharyya
The Gangetic delta, sustaining the Sundarbans mangrove forest at the apex of the Bay of Bengal is recognized as one of the most diversified and productive ecosystems in the Indian…
Abstract
The Gangetic delta, sustaining the Sundarbans mangrove forest at the apex of the Bay of Bengal is recognized as one of the most diversified and productive ecosystems in the Indian subcontinent. The deltaic lobe is unique for its wilderness, mangrove gene pool and tiger habitat. However, due to intense industrial activities in the upstream zone, and several anthropogenic factors, the aquatic phase in the western part of the deltaic complex is exposed to pollution from domestic sewage and industrial effluents leading to serious impacts on biota. The presence of Haldia port-cum-industrial complex in the upstream region of the lower Gangetic delta (adjacent to western sector of Indian Sundarbans) has accelerated the pollution problem to a much greater dimension. The organic and inorganic wastes released from industries and urban units contain substantial concentrations of heavy metals. The present article aims to highlight the level of selective heavy metals (zinc, copper, and lead) in the water and muscle of a commercially important shellfish species (Penaeus monodon, commonly known as tiger prawn) collected from two sectors (western and central) in the Indian Sundarbans. Heavy metals are accumulated in the prawn muscle in the following order – zinc > copper > lead – which is similar to the order in the ambient estuarine water. Significant spatial variations of heavy metal concentrations in estuarine water and prawn muscle were observed between the selected sectors, which reflect the adverse impact of intense industrialization, unplanned tourism, and rapid urbanization on the mangrove ecosystem and its biotic community, particularly in the western Indian Sundarbans.
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San Diego County (California, USA) contains 18 Indian reservations—more than any other county in the United States. Citizens of these reservations, each recognized as a sovereign…
Abstract
San Diego County (California, USA) contains 18 Indian reservations—more than any other county in the United States. Citizens of these reservations, each recognized as a sovereign nation, have information needs that are highly sophisticated. Coming from a civilization that preserved history through oral tradition, they have only recently made the transition to writing things down and collecting books into buildings. In spite of many tragic events that drastically reduced their population, San Diego County's Indians have retained much of their heritage through efforts of tribal elders and non-Indian historians. With federal and local assistance, tribal libraries were constructed on about half of San Diego County's reservations during the 1980s. Over the next few years, reduction of grant funds adversely affected them, resulting in some closures. Thanks to creative efforts made by many individuals at a local university, the state library, professional associations, and most of all by the Indians themselves, a number of San Diego County's tribal libraries are growing and taking on new shapes. Five local tribal librarians were surveyed twice over a 12-month period regarding their respective libraries. Analysis yielded four key factors for success: (1) the presence of a designated librarian; (2) support from the tribal government; (3) plans and a vision for the future; and (4) partnerships and connections with other entities. The research suggests that these factors are applicable toward ensuring success for small, geographically and culturally isolated libraries in any context.
The purpose of this paper is to trace the personal and intellectual evolution of the author via an autobiographic approach.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to trace the personal and intellectual evolution of the author via an autobiographic approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Personal, reflective, interpretive, historical narrative.
Findings
For the author, the writing of this paper opened new and reflective windows on personal and intellectual evolution, and similar effects may happen with some of the readers.
Research limitations/implications
Some of the critical directions suggested herein could possibly inspire innovative critical marketing work.
Practical implications
There may be some insights on how to blend observations of the world at large with critical theories gleaned from the literature.
Social implications
The paper offers reflections of the unequal, unjust state of the world, and this could inspire others to seek innovative ameliorative pathways.
Originality/value
As an autobiographical narrative, this paper – by definition – is original and unique.
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