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Delivering effective messages is critical to creating a more sustainable and resilient culture. The explosion of social media has enhanced information access but has often reinforced and polarized pre-existing viewpoints and norms. In contrast, digital signs are an "in your face in your space" technology that have the potential to deliver common content to a diverse local audience. Environmental Dashboard (ED) is a communications platform and set of content applications that combines information on current environmental conditions, real-time resource consumption, positive actions being taken by community members, and a community calendar. We conducted a longitudinal study to assess whether ED content delivered via digital signs in public locations would result in desirable psychological changes within a community. Participants completed surveys in six designated signage locations prior to installation (N = 174) and following two years of continuous exposure (N = 133). We observed increases in pro-environmental social norms among people of color (a demographic emphasized); enhanced awareness of and sense of connection with the local community and ecology; increased self-reported electricity conservation; and increased perception of youth engagement (another demographic emphasized). Changes were mediated by exposure to digital signage. These findings support the hypothesis that content delivered through digital signs can strengthen pro-environmental and pro-social culture within communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is gaining interest as a tool to combat aquatic invasive species, including zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha). However, the effects of water chemistry on CO 2 efficacy are not well described. We conducted five trials in which we exposed adult zebra mussels to a range of CO 2 in water with adjusted total hardness and specific conductance. We compared dose-responses and found differences in lethal concentration to 50% of organisms (LC50) estimates ranging from 108.3 to 179.3 mg/L CO 2 and lethal concentration to 90% of organisms (LC90) estimates ranging from 163.7 to 216.6 mg/L CO 2 . We modeled LC50 and LC90 estimates with measured water chemistry variables from the trials. We found sodium (Na + ) concentration to have the strongest correlation to changes in the LC50 and specific conductance to have the strongest correlation to changes in the LC90. Our results identify water chemistry as an important factor in considering efficacious CO 2 concentrations for zebra mussel control. Additional research into the physiological responses of zebra mussels exposed to CO 2 may be warranted to further explain mode of action and reported selectivity. Further study could likely develop a robust and relevant model to refine CO 2 applications for a wider range of water chemistries. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:1312-1319. Published 2024. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC., (Published 2024. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.)

Traditionally, studies that examine the activities of misbehaving employees and customers have done so in a separate and unrelated manner. Drawing on research that explores deviance amplifications and deviant learning, the current study aims to address this identified gap in the literature and provide empirical evidence of the linkages between perceived employee deviance and the severity of customer misbehaviour. Utilising equity, power and differential association theories, a conceptual model is forwarded comprising four hypotheses between the constructs: perceived employee service deviance; customer repatronage intent; severity of customer misbehaviour; and past customer misbehaviour. Using survey responses from 380 consumers of bars, hotels and restaurants, the empirical results offer support for the forwarded research model. The results show that customers perceiving employee misbehaviour are profoundly affected. Such experiences erode their repatronage intentions and are linked (directly and indirectly) to the severity of dysfunctional customer behaviour performed. Consumers’ past experience of misbehaviour is also found to impact the hypothesised relationships. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the findings and outlining directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We study the influence of shipping fee schedules on the return behavior of customers. Based on a randomized field experiment, we analyze the behavior of visitors of an online shop. Specifically, online shop visitors are assigned to one of seven different shipping fee structures where (a) minimum order sizes, (b) shipping fees, and (c) threshold-based free shipping levels are varied. We observe the number and amount of purchases as well as the number and amount of returns, which allows us to calculate the value of the purchased goods after returns in € (net order value). We find a positive effect of shipping fees on purchase value (pre- and post-return). However, we find that minimum order values lead to slightly more returns by current customers and that threshold-based free shipping leads across all customers to a higher number of strategic returns because they tend to return more items. Threshold-based free shipping decreases purchase incidence (but not purchase value). Interestingly, we do not find negative effects of minimum order value on purchase incidence or purchase value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments around the globe have been trying to find ways to curtail consumption tax evasion, which can be initiated by either a supplier or a consumer. Yet researchers have only recently revealed an interest in this phenomenon from the consumer’s point of view. To provide public-sector marketers with tools to address this pressing issue, we propose a conceptual model that links moral obligation, materialism, and perceived importance of an ethical issue with attitudes and intentions of consumers to evade consumption tax. The hypotheses are tested on a sample of Slovenian consumers with structural equation modelling. The analysis confirms the influence of perceived importance of an ethical issue on attitudes, while moral obligation and attitudes are significant predictors of intentions. Based on these findings, various implications for marketers in the public sector are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing end consumers with the ability to return products is an important part of a retailer’s service offering. While research in reverse logistics has explored the movement of returned merchandise upstream, little research examines the relational implications of returned merchandise in the business-to-business (B2B) context. This research explores the relational implications, as well as the impact on the supplier salesperson’s behaviors, of retailer returns. Using a comprehensive dataset which includes longitudinal archival returns data, as well as two waves of retailer surveys reporting on salesperson behaviors, our research investigates how retail returns impact salesperson responses in the following time period, retailer perceptions of the relationship in the following time period, and returns in the following time period. Consistent with a reciprocal exchange perspective, results suggest that when salespeople respond to returns by engaging in relationship building behaviors, these behaviors are noted by the retailer, which in turn results in fewer returns in a future time period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The authors present an exploratory study on the effectiveness of in-store marketing communication appeals via digital signage applying the construal level theory (CLT) in a field experiment. According to this theory, the authors hypothesize that shoppers will on the one hand respond more favorably to messages focusing on the desirability of the offering, when they are further distanced from the actual purchase decision. On the other hand, the authors expect more favorable responses toward messages containing feasibility appeals, positioned closer by to the purchase decision. The purpose of this paper is to determine appropriate location-based content for in-store proximity marketing.Design/methodology/approach A field experiment was conducted in a Belgian coffee bar, examining temporal distance effects in a natural retail/service environment. A 2×2 between-subjects experimental design is implemented (i.e. low vs high temporal distance×concrete/cost vs abstract/brand-oriented appeal), examining the impact on marketing communication effectiveness.Findings Overall, the authors find some initial support for CLT on effectiveness measures regarding purchase intentions and actual purchase, but not in terms of self-reported noticing of the screen and the ad, nor in terms of (un)aided ad recall.Research limitations/implications This experiment is a pilot study and such finds itself confronted with a limited number of observations.Originality/value The study is among the first to examine how message content (beyond price promotion) can be adapted to in-store locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on consumer product returns has identified product failure, dissatisfaction, and fraudulent intent as primary causes. In recent years, however, consumers return products even before experiencing dissatisfaction and when products are not defective. Moreover, most consumers who return products are ordinary scrupulous people. Ironically, product returns are on the rise while overall product quality has improved. This suggests that there are other reasons for product returns yet to be uncovered. This study critically examines such types of recently observed product-return behaviors from the postpurchase dissonance (PPD) and ecological marketing perspectives. A proposition emerged through the critical review that in the current competitive and consumer-centered market environment, consumers increasingly choose product return over other options identified in the literature as a viable strategy to cope with their PPD. Two empirical studies and a recent major industry study on consumer product returns provided strong support for the proposition. Managerial and future research implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the consumer side of consumption tax evasion (CTE), a subcategory of the shadow economy. The ethical dimensions of tax evasion have been effectively captured by the existent literature on tax morale, yet it fails to address the role consumers can play in CTE. Further, there is a shortage of tax morale studies that explore ethical decision making as a process composed of multiple steps and determinants. To bridge these gaps, we turned to the consumer ethics literature and Jones' issue-contingent model of ethical decision making. We developed the conceptual model of consumer ethical decision making for CTE by incorporating four key elements from the issue-contingent model, i.e. moral recognition, moral judgement, moral intention and moral intensity, while personal moral philosophies were introduced as an antecedent to the consumer ethical decision-making process. The study was conducted on a sample of consumers from Slovenia, where CTE is a widespread phenomenon. The findings confirm that consumers' recognition of CTE as a moral issue is influenced by their moral philosophy and perceptions regarding the magnitude of CTE's consequences, their visibility, probability, and temporal immediacy. These perceptions also play an important role in determining consumers' moral judgements and intentions regarding CTE. Moreover, through the process of moral recognition and moral judgement, consumers form intentions to participate in, or avoid CTE. The study holds important implications for public policy makers who are trying to reduce the tax gap in times of economic instability and fiscal crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the fact that digital signage are characterized for the variable and abundant multimedia visual and audio expressions and exhibit advantages of multiplicity, locality, real-time, segmentation, and existence, they have been predicted to emerge as the major trend in the future advertising in various surveys. Focused on the characteristics of disseminating the multimedia electronic advertisements through the network, there will be an enormous amount of data transmitted and various electronic advertising distributed in accordance with the regions. To specifically address these needs, we will propose a multi-path, multi-seed dissemination approach suitable for the delivery of the multimedia electronic advertisements. In this paper, within a peer-to-peer network structure, the network cluster will be first formed in accordance with the locality. Based on each cluster's locality, the electronic advertisements designated for dissemination into a specific cluster can then be determined. We then apply the seed concept formed by BitTorrent to segment the entire multimedia electronic advertisement into myriad seeds. At the same time, this paper adopts the Optimal Multi-Path Routing proposed by Guoliang Xue to design a peer-to-peer-like multiple multi-path framework, followed by the distribution of myriad seeds into each node within the cluster. Each node's bandwidth will also be utilized to complete the re-transmission of the multimedia electronic advertisement for achieving the objective of establishing multimedia electronic advertisement on each node. The NCTUns Network Simulator and Emulator was utilized to simulate the transmission status for variable number of node. The approach proposed by this manuscript can be applied to different set-up parameters and data size. The experimental results indicate that the key determining factor of transmission time under the multi-path and multi-seed dissemination approach is the data size. Transmitting the same data size under a multi-path and multi-seed approach does not increase the transmission time as the number of nodes increase. Simulations demonstrate that the multi-path and multi-seed dissemination approach is suitable for the delivery of the multimedia electronic advertisements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food sharing behaviors in the white rat were examined in two studies using a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design with depriva tion of the free roaming animals (deprived or not food deprived), deprivation of the tethered target animals (deprived or not food deprived), and food availability during testing (available or not available) as the independent variables. In Experiment I a single animal served as the tethered target while in Experiment II two animals served as tethered targets. Food sharing and eating behaviors for deprived animals were much like those of the wild rats described by Barnett (1963). The nondeprived animals neither ate nor retrieved-food. No support was generated for an altruism hypothesis which required that the deprivation state of the tethered animal affect retrieval rates by the free roaming animals. The presence of food decreased contact times for the deprived, free roaming animals but not for the non deprived ones (p < .10 Exp I; p < .05 Exp II). In Experiment II more time was spent with nondeprived (larger) targets than with deprived (smaller) targets (p < .001). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents abstracts of papers presented to the 11th annual meeting of the Association for the Psychophysiological Study of Sleep. "Effects of Centrally Administered Carbachol on Sleep in Cats," was presented by Peter J. Morgane, Warren C. Stern and Joseph D. Bronzino. In order to delineate chemo-specific neurobehavioral systems in the brain concerned with sleep rates, exploring chemitrode devices were implanted in cats wired for recording the usual sleep indicators. It is also possible that cholinergic synapses exist in the noradrenergic or serotonergic pathways and that these systems are activated by cholinergic stimulation, thus resulting in changes in the sleep states.

A modification of the WGTA is described. It retains those features of the original apparatus which make it efficient. In addition, it provides (1) precise and largely automatic control of trial pacing and stimulus presentation, (2) simultaneous acquisition of data on problem-solving and locomotor activity of the S, (3) rapid change to any one of a wide variety of behavioral situations, and (4) thorough but quick cleaning and disinfection of the monkey cage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state dependent learning paradigm was used with a one-trial, passive avoidance task. Forty male rats were equally distributed among four groups: One group received intrathoracic injections of sodium pentobarbital immediately after the acquisition trial and immediately before the retention test trial; a second group received equivalent injections of 0.9% saline; a third group was drugged after acquisition and given saline prior to retention testing and the fourth group was given saline after acquisition and drug prior to retention testing. All groups showed increased latencies on the retention trial but marked group differences in retention test latencies indicate that there was significantly more retention of training when drug states were the same during the memory storage interval and the memory retrieval interval. Intrathoracic injection proved to be a practical substitute for intravenous injection in assuring rapid onset of drug effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a study that evaluated students' knowledge of sleep and dreams prior to lectures covering this material. Assessment of students' knowledge of sleep and dreams would provide an opportunity to identify misconceptions. The Sleep and Dreams Information Questionnaire (SDIQ) was employed. The SDIQ was administered to 232 introductory psychology students during the first two weeks of the fall 1982 semester. The percentage of students correctly answering each question ranged from 18% to 97% with a mean of 62.5%. Twenty-six of the items were correctly answered by at least half of the students. Eight items were answered incorrectly by at least half of the students. Only 19% of the students knew that some people cannot breathe and sleep at the same time. On the surface, the statement seems absurd. Nevertheless, the statement is true. Individuals suffering from sleep apnea may not be able to sleep and breathe at the same time. Sixty-five percent of the students believed that night terrors are just very bad dreams. Yet researchers have described a night terror as a terrifying experience.

Encourages students to apply for the graduate program in experimental psychology. Reason for the low number of students applying for the graduate program at the University of Missouri in 1984; Factor that led to relatively tough standards for admission to experimental psychology programs; Benefit from enrolling in the graduate program.