scholarly journals Consumer Involvement with and Expertise in Water Conservation and Plants Affect Landscape Plant Purchases, Importance, and Enjoyment

HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 1164-1171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridget K. Behe ◽  
Melinda Knuth ◽  
Charles R. Hall ◽  
Patricia T. Huddleston ◽  
R. Thomas Fernandez

The strain on potable water supplies heightens the competition for water resources and potentially reduces the demand for outdoor plantings and landscaping. We conducted an online survey with 1543 respondents in 2016 to ascertain their water conservation and plant expertise, their involvement in water conservation and plant issues, and the importance of plants and landscaping. We also collected demographic characteristics. Cluster analysis results identified two key market segments comprising ≈50% of the sample each: those who are Actively Interested in Water Conservation and those who are Disinterested in Water Conservation. The Actively Interested segment was younger, had more adults and children in the household, and had a higher household income. In addition to having a higher mean score for water conservation involvement and expertise, the Actively Interested segment had a higher mean score for water conservation importance and impact, as well as plant expertise and involvement. The Actively Interested segment scored higher on select components relating to horticultural importance, including aesthetically beautiful landscapes, active landscape enjoyment, desire for a low maintenance landscape, and response in drought, compared with the Disinterested segment. The Disinterested segment scored higher on the Non-Landscape Use with no enjoyment. Findings suggest that pro–water-conserving attitudes are found among consumers who value outdoor landscapes and those individuals who spend more on plants. Results suggest that producers and retailers should focus marketing and communication efforts on low water use cultivar selection and operationalizing water-conserving behaviors more than convincing consumers that plant purchases and landscaping are important.

Turyzm ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37
Author(s):  
Marek Nowacki

The paper has employed a three-factor model of constraints, which differentiates intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural. The study was carried out on a sample of N = 981 adult residents of Poland. The three most common barriers constraining attendance at attractions were identified: availability, high entrance fees and lack of time. The constraints were found to be related to a number of socio-demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, education, size of place of residence and household income per capita. Three market segments limited by similar constraints and showing similar attraction attendance behaviour were identified with their socio-demographic characteristics.


Author(s):  
Dorota Kmieć

The paper attempts to identify the causes of unemployment among the rural population. Logit model was used to determine the size of the impact of explanatory factors examined the situation in the labor market. The following potential predictors were considered: socio-demographic characteristics and household income, improving one’s skills through training and personal competencies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suhang Song ◽  
Shujie Zang ◽  
Liubing Gong ◽  
Cuilin Xu ◽  
Leesa Lin ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Regular testing and vaccination are effective measures to mitigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have focused on COVID-19 testing and vaccination uptake may change as the pandemic continues. OBJECTIVE To examine willingness and uptake of COVID-19 testing and vaccination during a low-risk period of the COVID-19 pandemic in urban China. METHODS A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 2244 adults in urban China. Descriptive analyses were performed to compare the respondents’ willingness and uptake of COVID-19 testing and vaccination. Multivariate logistic regressions were fitted to investigate the factors associated with willingness and uptake of the two measures. RESULTS In early 2021, 52.45% of the respondents had received or scheduled a COVID-19 test at least once, and a majority (95.63%) were willing to receive testing. 63.28% of the respondents had received/scheduled or were willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Willingness and uptake of COVID-19 testing were not associated with socio-demographic characteristics, except for occupation. Being of older age, migrants, having higher educational attainment and secure employment were associated with a higher uptake of COVID-19 vaccination among the surveyed respondents, while willingness to vaccinate was consistent across socio-demographic characteristics among those who had not been vaccinated. CONCLUSIONS Chinese adults expressed almost universal willingness of COVID-19 testing and relatively low willingness of COVID-19 vaccination at the low-risk period of the COVID-19 pandemic, independent from their socio-demographic characteristics. Maintaining willingness of COVID-19 vaccination is key especially when the pandemic evolved into a low-risk period.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kailey Laidlaw

Automated vehicles (AVs) have the potential to change the way we travel within our cities. However, the conditions under which consumers will adopt AVs are poorly understood. An internet-based survey was conducted in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area to understand how consumers will respond to automated vehicles. This study estimates the effect of demographic characteristics, travel characteristics, and built-environment variables on respondent’s willingness to pay for private autonomous vehicles and frequency of use for shared autonomous vehicles under different pricing levels. The results indicate that having a higher household income and owning a more expensive vehicle are good predictors of interest in PAVs, whereas individuals who experienced more car accidents as a passenger and individuals who commute using public transit or walk/cycle are more interested in SAVs. Regional rail users, Uber users, and younger respondents were interested in both ownership models. This provides insight to help policymakers advance transportation policies and collective social goals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Nituica ◽  
Oana Alina Bota ◽  
John Blebea ◽  
Chin-I Cheng ◽  
Gus J. Slotman

Abstract Background Residency training exposes young physicians to a challenging and high-stress environment, making them vulnerable to burnout. Burnout syndrome not only compromises the health and wellness of resident physicians but has also been linked to prescription errors, reduction in the quality of medical care, and decreased professionalism. This study explored burnout and factors influencing resilience among U.S. resident physicians. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey, which was distributed to all accredited residency programs by Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The survey included the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 25), Abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory, and socio-demographic characteristics questions. The association between burnout, resilience, and socio-demographic characteristics were examined. Results The 682 respondents had a mean CD-RISC score of 72.41 (Standard Deviation = 12.1), which was equivalent to the bottom 25th percentile of the general population. Males and upper-level trainees were more resilient than females and junior residents. No significant differences in resilience were found associated with age, race, marital status, or training program type. Resilience positively correlated with personal achievement, family, and institutional support (p <  0.001) and negatively associated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (p <   0.001). Conclusions High resilience, family, and institutional support were associated with a lower risk of burnout, supporting the need for developing a resilience training program to promote a lifetime of mental wellness for future physicians.


2020 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 02006
Author(s):  
Svetlana Gribanova ◽  
Anna Abeltina

This paper has purpose to the study of factors for motivation of the creative class to work more efficiently. The paper examines the case of IT professionals in Latvia, a significant participant in knowledge economy. IT professionals are more flexible in terms of looking for a job on the labor market all over the world, opportunities of remote job allows they benefit on proposals from abroad, as there is a huge need for qualified IT employees in contemporary international environment. The article uses the results of an online survey of IT professionals in a sample of 1,200 individuals. Methodology of the study uses factor analysis and multiple regression models in order to reveal the connection between motivation for labour, stimulus for increasing productivity and demographic characteristics of IT professionals. The results of research show that IT professionals in Latvia are a special professional group and cannot be administrated using traditional management methods. The incentive for efficiency to work, which is associated with solving interesting and prestigious tasks, is universal for IT professionals with any motivation to work, regardless of any demographic characteristics. At the same time, material incentive motivates only ambitious people, and the fear of dismissal and calls for responsibility generally does not motivate anyone.


2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 1215-1237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ou Wang ◽  
Simon Somogyi ◽  
Sylvain Charlebois

PurposeThis study associated consumers' food choice motives and socio-demographic characteristics with their attitudes and consumptions towards food shopping with four e-commerce modes: business-to-consumer (B2C), online-to-offline delivery (O2O Delivery), online-to-offline in-store (O2O In-store) and New Retail. It also explored consumer preferences for specific food categories within the four e-commerce modes.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was administered to 954 participants from three Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Descriptive analysis and linear regression were used in the data analysis.FindingsThe following food choice motives (FCMs) and socio-demographic characteristics had a significant effect on food e-commerce attitudes and/or consumption, with some or all of the four e-commerce modes: Taste Appeal, Value for Money, Safety Concerns, Quality Concerns, Processed Convenience, Purchase Convenience, Others' Reviews, City, Gender, Household Size, Age, Income, Occupation and Marital Status. Consumers also have different consumption preferences for food categories in the four e-commerce modes.Originality/valueThis is the first study to associate consumer FCMs and socio-demographics with their e-commerce attitudes and consumption regarding food in four e-commerce modes: B2C, O2O Delivery, O2O In-store and New Retail.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 215-234
Author(s):  
Geraldine Seguela ◽  
J. R. Littlewood ◽  
G. Karani

Abstract This paper documents a non-potable water (NPW) quality assessment methodology for a decentralized non-potable water system in Abu Dhabi (AD), capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is dominated by sandy and salty soil, high temperature, and humidity. The context is a medical facility case study (MFCS) in AD, which includes a landscape 50% as large as its building footprint. The project identified the need to investigate the impact of air handling unit (AHU) air conditioning (A/C) condensate water (CW) quality on soil health and building hydraulic systems. The aim of the research was to measure the impact of using recycled on-site NPW sources in a MFCS in AD, to alleviate the use of desalinated potable water and reduce associated energy consumption, operation cost, and greenhouse gas emissions for landscape irrigation (LI) and water feature (WF) use. CW has been tested in 2016 and in 2017 and analysed against local authority’s parameter limits to establish suitability for LI and WF use. The findings are that in AD CW classification and characterization is a gap in knowledge whereby salinity and toxicity concentration limits should be addressed by the local authority because CW has an impact on soil infiltration rate due its low dissolved salt content as evidenced by the water test results. The recommendations for this paper are to develop a sustainable water conservation and reuse (SWC) strategy forming the basis for a water protocol by the competent authority for regional medical facility including a methodology for assessing on-site NPW quality for outdoor reuse to reduce soil infiltration problems and consequently conserve water and associated energy. The next steps are to confirm if the MFCS soil infiltration rate is affected by the CW or other factors, and to test additional NPW types.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen De Cieri ◽  
Cathy Sheehan ◽  
Ross Donohue ◽  
Tracey Shea ◽  
Brian Cooper

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to apply the concept of power imbalance to explain workplace and demographic characteristics associated with bullying by different perpetrators in the healthcare sector. Design/methodology/approach All 69,927 members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victoria) were invited to participate in an online survey in 2014; 4,891 responses were received (7 per cent response rate). Participants were asked about their exposure to workplace bullying (WPB) by different perpetrators. The questionnaire addressed demographic characteristics and perceptions of workplace characteristics (workplace type, leading indicators of occupational health and safety (OHS), prioritisation of OHS, supervisor support for safety and bureaucracy). Analysis involved descriptive statistics and regression analyses. Findings The study found that the exposure of nurses and health workers to bullying is relatively high (with 42 per cent of respondents experiencing WPB in the past 12 months) and there are multiple perpetrators of bullying. The research revealed several demographic predictors associated with the different types of perpetrators. Downward and horizontal bullying were the most prevalent forms. Workplace characteristics were more important predictors of bullying by different perpetrators than were demographic characteristics. Research limitations/implications There are limitations to the study due to a low response rate and the cross-sectional survey. Practical implications Practical implications of this study emphasise the importance of focussed human resource strategies to prevent bullying. Originality/value The key contribution of this research is to draw from theoretical explanations of power to inform understanding of the differences between perpetrators of bullying. The study highlights the workplace characteristics that influence bullying.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. e000614
Author(s):  
Sherie Smith ◽  
Nicola Rowbotham ◽  
Gwyneth Davies ◽  
Katie Gathercole ◽  
Sarah J Collins ◽  
...  

IntroductionRelieving gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms was identified as a ‘top ten’ priority by our James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership in cystic fibrosis (CF). We conducted an online survey to find out more about the effect of GI symptoms in CF.MethodsWe co-produced an online survey distributed to the CF community via web-based platforms. The survey consisted of open and closed questions designed to help us learn more about the effects of GI symptoms for people with CF (pwCF). We analysed the data using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. We promoted the survey via social media and web-based platforms which allowed respondents from any country to take part. Our participants came from the CF community, including: adults and children with CF, parents and close family of pwCF and healthcare professionals (HCPs) working with pwCF.ResultsThere were 276 respondents: 90 (33%) pwCF, 79 (29%) family, 107 (39%) HCPs. The most commonly reported symptoms by lay respondents were stomach cramps/pain, bloating and a ‘combination of symptoms’. The top three symptoms that HCPs said were reported to them were reduced appetite, bloating and constipation. Almost all (94% (85/90)) HCPs thought medications helped to relieve GI symptoms but only 58% (82/141) of lay respondents agreed.ConclusionsOur survey has shown that GI symptoms among our participants are prevalent and intrude on daily lives of pwCF. There is a need for well-designed clinical studies to provide better evidence for management of GI symptoms and complications.


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