Freedom from Fear and Want in the Context of International Human Essay

Freedom from Fear and Want in the Context of International Human Rights Law - Essay Example Center of discussion in this paper is freedom from fear and want that appear to be unattainable aspirations. It is perhaps unreasonable to expect to live a life free of fear and want, unless the individual shares the upper echelons of society. The connection between freedom from fear and want with human rights is based on concepts of human security and human welfare. Essentially freedom from fear is a manifestation of the trend toward aligning human security with fundamental human rights at international law. Likewise, freedom from want adds to existing international human rights by extending fundamental liberties to include welfare as an arm of fundamental human rights. On its face, the inclusion of human security and welfare as an arm of international human rights is certainly consistent with developments in modern times particularly with respect to international poverty and international conflicts and terrorism. However, making human security and welfare a fundamental human right poses some problems with respect to protecting welfare and security and safeguarding other fundamental freedoms which may necessarily be contravened in the interest of promoting freedom from want and security. It may be misleading to think of international human rights as an international Bill of Human Rights because in the absence of a centralized system of enforcement, the recognition and enforcement of an international Bill of Rights are only as good as the national state’s implementation and enforcement of those rights. ... nternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1976 (CCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights 1976 (CESR) (Meron, 1986). The International Bill of Human Rights has been expanded via a number of subsequent declarations, covenants and protocols internationally and regionally (Smith, 2007). It may be misleading to think of international human rights as an international Bill of Human Rights because in the absence of a centralized system of enforcement, the recognition and enforcement of an international Bill of Rights are only as good as the national state’s implementation and enforcement of those rights. It is one thing for a national government to recognize an international Bill of Human Rights and quite another for a national government to implement and enforce an international Bill of Human Rights. Even more uncertain is the economic ability of a national government to guarantee that citizens within its territories are accorded freedom from fear and want as legitimate arms of the international Bill of Human Rights. Be that as it may, it has been argued that the idea of international human rights was initially articulated by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his â€Å"Four Freedoms† address to Congress on December 10, 1948. During that address, Roosevelt stated that his political aspirations were built around pursuing a social and political environment in which the â€Å"world† would be secure enough to safeguard four specific freedoms: the freedom of expression, religion, from want and fear (Power & Allison, 200, p. 4). Freedom of religion and freedom of expression are more easily achieved as the cost of enforcing free expression and free religion is arguably quite low compared to the cost of ensuring freedom from fear

A Critical Reflection on Learning Society and Learner Identities Essay Example for Free

A Critical Reflection on Learning Society and Learner Identities Essay The paper draws on the historical experiences of learning society and learner identities from the normative and sociological paradigms which have extensively determined how the experiences of learning have been shaped and how learning society should be constituted. In light of this, patterns of participation in learning process are engaged through a concise interplay between the course of life and their determinants. Focusing on examination as a key factor in the official discourse of learning society, the whole concept of learning society and learner identity can comprehensively be argued within the parameters of sociological construction through theories of human capital, functionalism, symbolic, post modern among others. Through a critical evaluation and reflection, the history of learning society as well as learner identities reveal that the underlying motivation of learning society leans on the uncalled for abstraction of economic behaviors which range from social relations to the individual learner’s participation in the lifetime process of learning. Introduction The underlying principle of learning society and leaner identity is founded within the fundamental of the predominant interplay between social capital and cultural aspects with education. Exploring the inherent meaning of education and learning in the lives of individuals typifies a particular focus on the perpetual element of learning in the social milieu of a rapidly changing society. Researchers contend that the social revolution towards a contemporary society is typical of globalization therefore, life long learning portend a relationship with learning society within the theoretical paradigm that will help in analyzing and evaluating the inherent meaning of education (Coffield, 2001). The process focus on leaving learners with options of developing their own learner identities as inspired by the learning process as well as the pedagogic approaches to education. The experiences and the hitherto identities propel a situation that determine whether the learner goes back to school and learn at least something knew; because, the whole question of the learning society is to enhance the individual’s bargaining power to better their social and economic positions in life through a clear understanding of themselves. Learning Society: A Reflection on the Influence of formal Education on Learner Identity In a multiple deprived modern global community, learning society and learner identities facilitates a broader evaluation of maximum social utility of learning guided by the pedagogical approaches used in the social construction. As a result, learning identities become created and basing on the model of community development, participants in the community development are learners who exhibit such characteristics through a learning process. They are thus encouraged to learn irrespective of age or status; all in a bid to gain accreditation of developing their own knowledge and skills. This extensively develops their leaning identities and gives them a leeway to access other learning. According to Alheit (1992), education as a national social institution can be argued to form part of the global structure. This means that information technology and largely the digital age forms the modern global infrastructure of education and thus, the learning society is inspired and directed by technology to impact on the experiences of a learner within the realms of education. Maguire (2006) further asserts that as the goal of education continues to change over the years due to the element of social integration and formation of economic advantage, many individuals who had dropped out of school or similarly stopped at some level prefer to go back and begin learning. Significantly, it is obvious that from a symbolic and conflict theoretical understanding, the concept of adult education comes into play guided by the principle of skill formation in the context of a strengthened global economic competition. Arguably, increased convergence system of education has become a trend which remarkably points the difference between the traditional attitudes of education versus the modern attitudes. The meaning of education is clearly construed in three levels which are elaborate. Firstly, learning society and learners identity is historically and sociologically explained within the efforts to understand how people use education and the resultant knowledge and skills to construct their courses in life. Secondly, the educational and learning experiences mean different phenomenon to different learners especially within the content of producing as well as forming their identities. Finally, learning society and learner identity become the epicenter of understanding significant experiences that people have with regard to different stages in their lives. This also borders the line whether those experiences originate at work, in school, during leisure time pursuits or during adult study (Antikainen et al, 1996). Accordingly, questions such as the substance, social context and formal education form the important milestones in the learning experience. From the traditional outlook, educators and many members of the society have believed that education is productive. This means that the effects of education are reflected in the experiences a learner goes through in the process of learning as well as after learning. In view of this, the experiences one endures in relation to education break down the universal function of education and somewhat give it a different understanding. Hodgson (2000) postulates that the individualized learning experiences have led scholars to hypothesize several emancipatory meaning of education. Essentially, it is plausible to argue that with the existence of life long and cultural patterns of education in the society, a learning society continues to emerge thus inspiring many individuals to go back to school and learn something new based on the social or economic significance attached to the concept that is learned. For instance, as an immigrant to the United States, there is dire need to learn English for both social communicative purposes as well as official business transactions. In light of this, although the immigrant may be an adult, he goes to learn at a mature age due to the cultural shift and social position in the society. The trends in the educational circles necessitate the learning society. In essence, the flow of information, knowledge as well as students from across regional and national borders is a contemporary trend that can serve as a typical example of westernization as well as global diffusion of local educational products (Husen, 2004). Young (2009) further outlines that globalization is key to learning society and leaner identities. To illustrate, it is evident that regardless of the age, status and racial backgrounds, individual members of the society tend to embrace a contemporary computer based approach of education to continue learning. Such cases are characteristic of E-learning, distant leaning as well as the emergence of virtual institutions; a factor that inspires the attitude for lifelong learning and shapes the identities of learners to reflect a more contemporary one as opposed to the historical approach towards learning. Every situation in the present society calls for problem solving, critical and creative thinking and apt communication skills and this deep feature of the globalised society steers individuals to be always on the search for education, skills and knowledge.

Environmental awareness any effect on this relationship

Environmental awareness any effect on this relationship INTRODUCTION The world is currently facing complex environmental problems that have resulted in environmental degradation. Western studies have evidenced that consumers in the USA and Western Europe have grown more environmentally conscious in the 1990s (Curlo E., 1999). Recently, green consumerism has started to gradually emerge in the Asian regions in a significant manner (Gura˘u, C. et al, 2005) Supporters of environmental protection tend to be younger in age (Martisons et al, 1997). Given the anticipated life span of this age group, the cultivation of its green purchasing behaviour may go a long way in reinforcing behavioural commitment for the next few generations, especially in the developing Asian economies, where a surge in income and purchasing power seems to be in the making. India, one of the biggest economies of the world and a growing economic powerhouse of Asia, suffers from dangerously high levels of air pollution, poor water quality, high levels of exposure to severe traffic noise and high levels of garbage disposal. Compared with what has been happening in the West, consumers in India are just at the stage of green awakening. The use of eco-friendly products is still not very prevalent in the country, though there seems to be a huge potential for such goods in the country. Our research is based on the consumer behaviour towards environmental-friendly products. We have studied the impact of attitude towards eco-friendly products on purchasing behaviour, and whether environmental awareness has any effect on this relationship. LITERATURE REVIEW Environment consciousness, environmental responsibility, â€Å"going green† and so on. These are the terms in which marketers are increasingly talking about, and selling, their products today. The subject of ‘Environment is attracting interest of the marketers, and this is not really a new phenomenon. It has been doing the rounds since the early 1970s. A plethora of products have been launched with the ‘eco-friendly tag. Various studies have looked into the relationship between environment and marketing (Kassarjian, 1971, Kinnear et al, 1974 and Fisk, 1973). Marketers are interested to know how much premium a consumer is willing to pay for buying an eco-friendly product. This type of consumer behaviour is primarily influenced by a persons attitude and awareness. However, not all regions have been successfully studied for the impact of such attitude and awareness. International green marketers have expressed that the unavailability of market information in Asian countries often becomes a major hindrance to the success of international expansion of their green products (Gura˘u, C. et al, 2005). Many international green marketers have failed to implement effective market segmentation in their overall marketing strategies due to insufficient information in Asian countries (Keegan et al, 2000). A topic which has not been properly explored is young consumers green buying behaviours and factors that affect such behaviour. Young adults constitute a large citizen group and have the potential for a powerful collective force in society for environmental protection. Past studies have found that young people are more willing than older generations to accept new and innovative ideas (Ottman et al, 2006). ECO FRIENDLY ATTITUDE The past few decades have seen a phenomenal rise in environmental concerns. Concern for the environment has increased significantly, and, at the same time, peoples values and attitudes towards nature has changed substantially. Studies conducted in different countries have showed an awakening interest in green products or increase in environmentally friendly attitudes (Barber, 2010). Environmental concern transformed into the specific activity of Green Consumerism emerged in the latter half of the 1980s. Surveys show that there has been a permanent change in the attitude of consumers. One of the functions of knowledge is to help maintain a strong attitude. Attitude is typically considered strong when it is resistant to change and persistent over time. Thus, knowledgeable people with a strong attitude are careful, expert processors of information. ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS The level of awareness influences the attitude and behaviour associated with green consumerism (Mittal, 1989). Recent researches suggest awareness in terms of their extent to which the consumer views the product itself as an important decision making variable affecting environmental behaviour (Dodd et al, 2005, Kolyesnikova et al, 2009 and Yuan et al, 2005). Another study has conveyed that an important component of environmental conscious consumer behaviour is the need for more information to be revealed about the relationship between products and the environment (Peattie, 1985). Increased awareness with green information sources has been shown to influence consumer purchasing decisions (Peattie, 1995). Americans have begun to develop an environmentally-conscious mind-set, with half of them saying that they do not have the information needed to be involved in increasing green behaviour and are less knowledgeable about which products and packaging materials are recyclable (GFK, 2007). A study conducted to examine the awareness and attitude of Zambian farmers towards environmental degradation and the relationships of these with a set of beliefs used to evaluate their perceived capacity and take corrective action towards improving the environment showed that awareness of environmental degradation is significant in depicting environmental self-efficacy and behaviour (ÃŽ ²=0.38; p ECO-FRIENDLY BEHAVIOUR The findings of several studies reinforce the notion that Proactive Environmental Behaviour, like most other behaviours, is to a large extent situation-specific (Roozen and Pelsmacker, 1998). By studying Danish consumers buying organic products, it was found out that there is a relationship between values, environmental attitudes and consumer behaviour (Grunert Juhl, 1995 cited by Bjà ¶rk 1995: 66). However, the correlation between such attitude and consumer behaviour is not always high. In geographical studies it has also become evident that environmental knowledge is not something that explains ‘spatial behaviour. This is explained by saying that behaviour is influenced by intentions, which are in turn influenced by attitudes, and further which are influenced by beliefs about social norms (Whalmsley Lewis, 1993). Hence, attitude is just one factor among others influencing consumer behaviour. In case of many consumers, preferences for environmental amenities are exhibited either directly through polls and surveys or indirectly by participating in outdoor activities, environmental organizations or causes, undertaking conservation, recycling, or other stewardship activities (Torgler et al., 2008). At the same time it was also being suggested that the complexity of environmental knowledge on attitude can affect purchase behaviour, whereby the more knowledge a consumer has about an issue and a product the better the attitude predicts the willingness to purchase (Frick et al. (2004), Krarup and Russell, 2005) HYPOTHESIS In existing literature, environmental attitude is commonly understood as a cognitive judgment towards the value of environmental protection. Contrasting results have been found between environmental attitude and behaviour. While some researchers have claimed a positive correlation between environmental attitude and environmental behaviour (Kotchen and Reiling, 2000), others have concluded that the relationship is either moderate or tenuous (Davis, 1995). The contradictory results in studies of the relationship between environmental attitude and behaviour suggest that further studies are needed to confirm the relationship between environmental attitude and behaviour. Thus, based on the view in majority of the literature reviewed, our hypothesis is: h3 :Eco friendly attitude positively impacts eco friendly behaviour. Though it has been debated whether awareness affects attitude or attitude affects awareness. But it is important to note that after developing an attitude, the awareness in terms of recognizing and observing different things about the topic comes into picture. This is especially valid for a country like India where these things are increasingly gaining understanding. Let us understand the impact of attitude on awareness through this simple example. A student has a class on environmental issues. To be specific, the teacher discusses an example of how pesticides enter the human body through food consumption and organic foods can help in reducing these toxic levels and lead to a healthy living. The student develops a positive attitude towards organic foods because of this knowledge. This positive attitude will lead to him subconsciously noting organic foods when in the superstore. This is what awareness is. Eco friendly attitude has an impact on the level of environmental awareness. Thus, based on the literature, our hypothesis is: H2 :A positive attitude towards the environment will positively impact the level of environmental awareness. Eco friendly behaviour is defined to the consumption of products that are beneficial to the environment (Mostafa, 2007). Past studies have examined what factors affect environmental behaviour in general (Johnson et al., 2004). According to these studies, environmental awareness can be an important factor towards determining eco friendly behaviour. (Chan, 2001). From the aforementioned, our hypothesis is: H3 :Environmental awareness positively impacts eco friendly behaviour. In this study we intend to explore the relationship between eco friendly attitude and behaviour. It has been generally seen that though environmental attitude is fairly high now, eco friendly behaviour does not show such high levels. This has been referred to as the attitude behaviour gap. (Alwitt and Pitts, 1996). Many studies have been conducted to explore this gap and what variables can be used to explain this. Environmental awareness is one of those variables. (Chan, 2001) This study explores the concept of environmental awareness as a factor that mediates the impact of attitude on behaviour. With reference to these literary studies, our hypothesis is: H4:Environmental Awareness mediates the relationship between eco friendly attitude and eco friendly behaviour. Certain literary works have evidenced that women reported significantly more participation in general environmental behaviour and specific green consumption than men (Maineri, 1997). Certain sample studies of western countries have shown that females express more positive attitudes towards the environment than males do (Tikka, 2007). Additional evidence also provides that women report stronger environmental attitudes than men across age and across 14 countries (Argentina, Canada, Columbia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, the United States and Venezuela) (Zelezny, 2000). A recent research conducted also claimed that female adolescent consumers scored significantly higher in environmental attitude (Lee, 2009). Equal numbers of males and females expressed a positive attitude towards organic foods according to study by (Dahm, Samonte and Shows, 2009). This finding varies somewhat from the literature, which identifies female s as being more aware and having stronger attitudes about organic foods. Based on these literatures, we have stated the hypothesis by breaking it into three sub-hypotheses: H5/A: The impact of eco friendly attitude on environmental awareness is more in case of Indian female consumers than their male counterparts. H5/B: The impact of environmental awareness on eco friendly behaviour is more in case of Indian female consumers than their male counterparts. H5/C: The impact of eco friendly attitude on eco friendly behaviour is more in case of Indian female consumers than their male counterparts. RESEARCH DESIGN METHODS OPERATIONALIZATION OF CONSTRUCTS AND VARIABLES The figure shows a diagrammatic representation of our research model. The definition of each of the constructs according to our interpretation is mentioned below. ECO-FRIENDLY ATTITUDE (EFA) Eco-friendly attitude (EFA) aims to measure the cognitive judgment of the respondent towards the value of environmental protection. It is the prerequisite to eco-friendly behavior (EFB). This is because the person should exhibit some environment friendly attitude before he takes definite steps towards improving the environment thus is considered as the independent construct in the model. ECO-FRIENDLY BEHAVIOR (EFB) Eco-friendly behavior (EFB) measures respondents readiness to take specific actions for environmental protection. These include consumers willingness to buy organic products, products which are certified ‘environmentally-safe. High eco-friendly attitude may or may not lead to eco-friendly behavior and hence latter forms the dependent construct under study. ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS (EA) Environmental awareness/consciousness (EA) measures the awareness level of the respondent about environment and current environmental problems. A person with high environmental awareness realizes that an effort is required, both at an individual level and organization level, to improve general environmental conditions. GENDER The variable gender has been obviously taken into two categories male and female. SAMPLE Content Validity was performed on the questionnaire before floating it to the sample respondents. The questionnaire was administered to eminent faculty of XLRI Jamshedpur and two social entrepreneurs. An email with the link to the survey was sent across along with a document explaining the constructs used. The explanation consisted of a small definition. The document also explained the research model and the hypotheses under test. Then a sample of 180 students in the age group 20-30 years, doing a post graduate course in Business management or equivalent participated in a questionnaire which inquired about their attitude towards the environment, awareness and purchasing behavior regarding eco-friendly products. The sample consisted of 102 male and 78 female respondents. The questionnaire was administered through the Internet and responses were directly received. MEASURES For the purpose of Content validity questions were asked in the following format: â€Å"I often buy products that are labelled as environmentally safe† measures Eco friendly Behaviour on a 5 point Likert scale. Yes No Cant Say For actual analysis constructs were measured by a five point Likert scale wherein respondents were asked to mark their responses from 1 (‘‘Strongly Disagree or ‘‘Not at all ) to 5 (‘‘Strong Agree or ‘‘definitely). The scores in each of the constructs was a direct sum of all the individual items ECO-FRIENDLY ATTITUDE (EFA) Respondents eco-friendly attitude was measured with a five-point Likert scale (1 indicates ‘‘Strongly Disagree 5 ‘‘Strong Agree) developed by Sweeney et al. (2001). The scale had 7 items. A sample item is ‘‘It is very important to raise environmental awareness among Indians. ECO-FRIENDLY BEHAVIOR (EFB) Respondents eco-friendly behavior was measured with a five-point likert scale (1 indicates ‘‘Strongly Disagree 5 ‘‘Strong Agree) developed by Sweeney et al. (2001). The scale had 6 items. A sample item is ‘‘I often buy products which are labelled environmentally safe. Items 2, 4, 5 and 6 are reverse coded and hence these items are added after subtracting them from 5. ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS/CONSCIOUSNESS (EA) Respondents environmental awareness was measured with a five-point Likert scale (1 indicates ‘‘Not at all 5 ‘‘definitely) developed by Vlosky et al. (1999). The scale had 5 items. A sample item is ‘‘I believe that environmental information on packaging is important. Gender was directly measured from a single question. The entire questionnaire is presented in Appendix A. ANALYSIS We have first of all conducted a reliability test for each of the three scales. Then for the purpose of our mediation analysis we have used a four step method that was developed by Kenny et al. (1998) and Baron and Kenny (1986) for the purpose of mediation analysis. This consists of four steps. In the first step we have used Eco Friendly Attitude as the independent variable to predict the dependent variable Eco Friendly Behaviour using linear regression. In the second step we have used Eco Friendly Attitude as the independent variable and used it to regress Environmental Awareness. The third step comprises of regressing Eco Friendly Behaviour using Environmental Awareness as the predictor variable. The final step comprises of regressing Eco Friendly Behaviour using both Eco Friendly Attitude and Environmental Awareness to determine the mediating effect of Environmental Awareness. RESULTS Content Validity reports showed that out of the 5 respondents, not more than 1 objected to the essentiality of any question out of the 17 questions in the survey. Hence none of the questions was discarded on those grounds. Reported in Table1 are the means, SD, correlations and internal consistency measure (Cronbachs ÃŽ ±). From the table we can clearly see that EA and EFB are very strongly correlated with each other. Even both of these are correlated with EFA but the extent of correlation of EFA is comparatively lower with EA and even lower with EFB hinting at a possible mediation of the EFA and EFB relation by EA. But a conclusive decision regarding the mediation can only be taken after we perform regression analysis for the same. Table 1: Means, SDs, correlations and Cronbachs ÃŽ ±. S. No. Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 Alpha (ÃŽ ±) 1 Eco Friendly Attitude 27.19 3.77 0.752 2 Environmental Awareness 19.52 3.7 0.606 0.797 3 Eco Friendly behaviour 18.89 4.47 0.457 0.738 0.847 Going forward, the regression analysis is presented in Table 2. In the first step we regress for EFB using EFA as a predictor or independent variable. The results show that the impact of EFA on EFB is significant (since p In the second step we regressed for EA using EFA as a predictor or independent variable. The results show that EFA significantly impacted EA (since p In the third step we regressed for EFB using the mediating variable EA as a predictor variable. The results again show a significant relation between the two which shows that the mediating variable here is significantly related to the criterion variable. Thus Hypothesis 3 is supported. In the final step we regressed for EFB using both EA and EFA as predictor variables to comment on mediation effect. EFA significantly affected EFB and EA as seen in step 1 and 2 but became non-significantly related to EFB in this step (p=0.795>>0.01). The same is emphasized by the fact that the significance of the impact of EA on EFB is still significant (p=0.000). Hence this shows complete mediation of the relation between EFA and EFB by EA. The mediation effect comes to 0.440 for EFA for its relationship with EFB. The Z-score using the Sobel calculator turns out to be 7.63 which is much greater than 1.96. Hence the mediation is significant at 1% level of significance (two-tailed). Hence hypothesis 4 is supported. Table 2: Regression Analysis Results for measuring the mediation effect. R ² Unstandardized ÃŽ ² Standardized ÃŽ ² Significance Change in ÃŽ ² Step 1 0.209 0.542 0.457 0.000 Step 2 0.367 0.594 0.606 0.000 Step 3 0.545 0.893 0.738 0.000 Step 4 0.545 0.88 0.728 0.000 Step 4 0.545 0.02 0.017 0.795 0.44 Once the mediation analysis is completed we now move to analysis of another important part of our model which is moderation of the relationships between EFA, EA and EFB by gender. Table 3 shows the regression re-performed separately for the male and the female samples. The mediation analysis again is shown to be significant in both the cases taken separately as seen from the fact that the first three relations are significant and in the step 4, the relation between EA and EFB is still significant showing that full mediation exists. The mediation effect turns out to be 0.62 in case of females and 0.322 in case of males. The Z-score comes to 6.38 in case of females and 4.57 in case of males. This shows that the mediation is significant in both the cases. Table 3: Regression Analysis Results for measuring the mediation effect (Female/Male). R ² Unstandardized ÃŽ ² Standardized ÃŽ ² Significance Change in ÃŽ ² Step 1 0.315/0.144 0.719/0.424 0.561/0.379 0.000/0.000 Step 2 0.519/0.262 0.839/0.427 0.720/0.512 0.000/0.000 Step 3 0.670/0.433 0.900/0.883 0.818/0.657 0.000/0.000 Step 4 0.671/0.435 0.947/0.844 0.861/0.628 0.000/0.000 Step 4 0.671/0.436 (-)0.076/0.064 (-)0.059/0.057 0.537/0.516 0.62/0.322 The standardized ÃŽ ² coefficient is shown for all the relationships in our model in the Figure 1 for both the male and the female set of respondents. The standardized coefficient clearly shows that for female respondents the impact of EFA on EFB is substantially higher than in the case of male respondents. The same is observed in case of the relationship between EFA and EA as well as between EA and EFB. Hence Hypothesis 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) are supported. the Male/ Female set of respondents. DISCUSSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The study conducted above analyzed the impact of Eco Friendly Attitude on Eco Friendly Behaviour and mediation of the relationship by Environmental Awareness in the context of the Indian youth studying in the post graduate schools of the country. Very little study, if any, has been conducted on this topic in the Indian Context so much so that only in 2009 has research started in Asia-Pacific by Kaman Lee (2009) on the same. This report provides a valuable insight into the topic for marketers as well as for future studies conducted in India. As can been seen from the analysis conducted above Eco Friendly Attitude seems to have a positive impact on Eco Friendly Behaviour which is consistent with the study conducted by Kotchen and Reiling (2000). This is very logical in the sense that people with a favourable attitude towards eco friendly products can be expected to have eco friendly behaviour even in spite of the extra price may be monetary or opportunistic that they have to pay for such behaviour. To have a better understanding of the topic we introduced Environmental Awareness as another construct and tried to find its role as a mediator. The first conclusion that came out of the same was that an Eco Friendly Attitude would imply a higher Environmental Awareness. This is in direct agreement to the study conducted by Mittal (1989). The logic behind the same is that an attitude would act as a motivation for them to learn more about these products hence increasing their awareness. The next conclusion that comes directly from the results is that Environmental Awareness leads to Eco Friendly Behaviour. This is again consistent with the study conducted by Chan (2001). This makes sense because people with more awareness about eco friendly products can be expected to have favourable purchasing behaviour towards the same. The results also establish the mediation of the relation between Eco Friendly Attitude and Eco Friendly Behaviour is being mediated by Environmental Awareness which is consistent with the studies conducted by Alwitt and Pitts (1996). This stresses on the importance of bringing about awareness about Eco Friendly Products among consumers. The conclusion that can be drawn here is that awareness about these products is more important than only an attitude towards the same. The results also show gender specific implications for each of these relationships. From the analysis for female consumers impact of attitude on behaviour seems to be higher which is in direct accordance with the study conducted by various authors like Maineri (1997) etc. mentioned in the literature review. The same is true to the other two relationships between Eco Friendly Attitude Environmental Awareness and between Environmental Awareness and Eco Friendly Behaviour. This makes sense because prominently household purchasing is done by females and hence there is a higher probability of attitude being converted to purchasing behaviour. Again females have been seen to exhibit more seriousness towards such issues as expressed in the literature review and hence the case. India is set to see a substantial increase in the market for eco friendly products. The study has great relevance for Indian marketers because this study emphasizes on the fact that awareness plays a key role in behaviour. This is a positive boost to the importance of environment awareness campaigns in bringing about eco friendly behaviour. This justifies the use of such campaigns in the drive for to create a host of environment friendly consumers. The fact that the impact of such awareness on behaviour is more in case of female consumers hints to the marketers about the possible benefit of targeting that segment of the consumers. The obvious conclusion from the above research is that the benefit from conversion of awareness and attitude to behaviour would be more in case of female consumers and marketing campaigns should be made to influence this particular market segment. LIMITATIONS, SCOPE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH AND CONCLUSION Firstly the primary data collection was done among a restricted age group (20-30 years) and hence the same cannot be generalized for all the other age groups. Similar studies need to be conducted among other age groups as well. Secondly the same is valid for the educational background. As for the purpose of this study we had only approached students from B-Schools or other equivalent post graduate schools. Hence this result cannot be generalized for other sections of the society. Thirdly there might be an influence of cultural behaviour on survey results as the same is restricted to Indian cities. Hence for the purpose of generalizing the results, future studies should take into account the cultural influence on different variables. Fourthly The media used for the dissemination of the questionnaire in our case is internet because of the scarcity of time. Hence this might have restricted a few of the respondents from our target group. A parallel on-paper questionnaire could have provided a more comprehensive sample from the target group. But for the restricted category of people from which our sample was taken and which forms a substantial market for eco friendly products the results hold true. Thus for this section Eco Friendly Attitude positively impacts Eco Friendly Behaviour and the same is moderated by Environmental Awareness. The impacts are much higher in female consumers compared to male consumers. Hence female consumers should ideally be the target of marketers to eco friendly products who try to drive in awareness about eco friendly products to people having positive attitude towards the same.

Australia Must Diversify the Economy Essay -- The Australian Economy

The economist describes the definition of a banana republic as â€Å"a country dominated by foreign investment and dependent on a single export commodity† (The Economist. 2014). This definition has some correlation to the Australian economy as over previous year’s Australia has experienced a commodity boom which has dominated and under pinned the nation’s economy. The development of the natural resources industry in Australia has grown the economy and has become the number export for the nation (Figure 1). Australia’s reliance on the commodity industry does not support long term economic stability for the nation, commodity prices are falling as the developing world industries slow down. The Australian government must continue with the development of the commodity industry but must also invest into developing new industries that will ensure the economic growth of the nation continues and to ensure the nation is not dependent on the natural resources of t he country. Figure 1: Composition of Exports 2009(Ian McCauley 2012) In the past the nation has been a significant exporter of agricultural products such as grain and livestock, it was able to make advancements in the manufacturing industry by imposing high tariffs on imported goods. This was until internationally and locally it was not viable to continue with these economic policies and the Australian market was opened up with the lowering of tariffs and the floating of the Australian dollar. While this benefited the economy with free trade agreements, foreign investment and a diversification of the export base it also contributed to the demise of other industries (Sara Cousins 2013). Throughout Australia’s economic history mining and the exports of commodities have been ... ...conomy–well prepared for the challenges ahead. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dpmc.gov.au/publications/skills_for_all_australians/chapter2_the_australian_economy_of_the_future.html. [Accessed 04 March 2014]. (The Economist. 2014). The Economist explains: Where did banana republics get their name? |. The Economist explains: Where did banana republics get their name? | The Economist. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/11/economist-explains-16. [Accessed 28 February 2014]. (Zheng, Bloch 2012) Australia’s Mining Productivity Paradox: Implications for MFP Measurement by Simon Zheng, Harry Bloch: SSRN. 2014. Australia’s Mining Productivity Paradox: Implications for MFP Measurement by Simon Zheng, Harry Bloch: SSRN. [ONLINE] Available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1715235. [Accessed 03 March 2014].

Rapping and Moral Values

Moral values and graciousness, in the past, were prominent in most teenagers. Majority of the youths then learnt respect, courtesy, consideration, decency, propriety, honesty and righteousness from a young age, and had enough self-discipline to hold to these values. However, these moral values and self-discipline are slowly diminishing over the years, as most of the younger generation are gradually disregarding these ethics. The listed values have slowly faded away, as they mean little to these adolescents, as moral values and self-discipline are on the verge of disappearing. This lack of self-discipline and self-control is becoming more and more apparent over time. However, this situation is not to be taken lightly as the younger generation is the future of our nation. Even the simplest of morals like, respect, care and consideration are slowly fading away over the years. A simple display of respect like offering the elderly a seat on the bus is being replaced by scenarios of students competing with them for seats. Instead of showing the principles of care and Should Moral Values Be Taught in Schools The Renaissance or rebirth of the Greco- Roman era, a period in time in which all aspects of the humanities flourished. It was also during this time period in which the majority of the humanists deemed the â€Å"greatest† were produced. From the Lorenzo de Medici to Raphael, these greats were extremely well rounded and had great moral values. As a foundation for their success and moral values, they benefited greatly from the writings and teaching of their Greek and Roman predecessors as well as the Bible. This is present in Raphael’s renaissance painting the School of Athens. He pays homage to those who came before him by incorporating Greek philosophers such as Plato, and even some of his Renaissance colleagues like Michelangelo into the painting. Now as we come back to the time in which we live, where can we say that we learned our moral values? We as Americans have lost sight of many of our moral values. A huge debate has been raised as to whether moral values should be taught in school. Most people would argue that the teaching of moral values be taught in the home by the parents and should not be the responsibility of others. I personally feel that moral values should be taught in school. By teaching moral values in school, there will be much success gained by doing so. Also, I feel that as a way to increase moral values, students should have to read the literary works of the Greek philosophers and Renaissance artists as well. Reading which is very important will definitely help us become better persons because it will open our minds to more than just what we have in front of us. Many of the humanists during the renaissance benefited from reading ancient roman literature and I feel that we can do the same. First of all, I feel that moral values should be taught in schools because we as Americans have lost sight of many of our moral values. For example, we have lost the family structure. We no longer gather at the.. The Effects of hip hop/rap Music on The Younger Generation Today The dynamic era of hip hop emerged in the 1970s through the streets of Bronx, New York City. Now twenty five years old and still counting, the world of hip hop is at a new level. Lil’ Wayne, Kanye West, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, and Plies are just some of today’s biggest icons in the world of hip hop. Having record hitting tracks that jump off the charts, these rappers are definitely the image the younger generation looks up to. Though, having these amazing tracks, these same iconic figures are said to be the cause of our teenagers heading down the road of destruction. The effects of these lyrics on the teenage society are said to provoke violence, foul language, and enhanced sexual behavior. To begin, the effect of hip hop or rap music on the younger generation today has encouraged youth to become more violent and aggressive. Ever since the rise of rap music, teens have been turning to music to help solve their problems. However, this music cannot be helpful but very destructive. Encouraging raging acts of violence, these lyrics influence and damage the minds of children, teens and young adults. For instance, rapper Plies states, â€Å"Don't tell me shit about what them niggas said, Them niggas just raping, Fuck niggas be bluffing, Killers make shit happen,† in his track called Naan Nigga. The breakdown of these lyrics: It does not matter what another individual states about one, if a person is â€Å"real† one must ake violent actions to prove your point in life. The effect of teens listening to music like this is shown in and out of school. More and more students are being arrested and taken to juvenile detention centers due to fighting or bringing weapons to school. For example, my junior year, a student brought a knife to school to threaten another student. During their verbal altercation in the courtyard, the student carrying the knife kept repeating, â€Å"Nigga I’m real, I’ll slit yo throat from ear to ear.

Chalicotherium Facts and Figures

Chalicotherium Facts and Figures Name: Chalicotherium (Greek for pebble beast); pronounced CHA-lih-co-THEE-ree-um Habitat: Plains of Eurasia Historical Epoch: Middle-Late Miocene (15-5 million years ago) Size and Weight: About nine feet high at the shoulder and one ton Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Horse-like snout; clawed feet; longer front than hind legs About Chalicotherium Chalicotherium is a classic example of the bizarre megafauna of the Miocene epoch, about 15 million years ago: this gigantic mammal is virtually unclassifiable, having left no direct living descendants. We do know that Chalicotherium was a perissodactyl (that is, a browsing mammal possessing an odd number of toes on its feet), which would make it a distant relative of modern horses and tapirs, but it looked (and probably behaved) like no plus-sized mammal alive today. The most notable thing about Chalicotherium was its posture: its front legs were significantly longer than its hind legs, and some paleontologists believe that it brushed the knuckles of its front hands along the ground when it walked on all fours, a bit like a modern gorilla. Unlike todays perissodactyls, Chalicotherium had claws instead of hooves, which it probably used to rope in vegetation from tall trees (a bit like another prehistoric mammal it vaguely resembled, the giant sloth Megalonyx, which lived a few million years later). Another odd thing about Chalicotherium is its name, Greek for pebble beast. Why would a mammal that weighed at least a ton be named after a pebble, rather than a boulder? Simple: the chalico part of its moniker refers to this beasts pebble-like molars, which it used to grind down the soft vegetation of its Eurasian habitat. (Since Chalicotherium shed its front teeth during adulthood, leaving it bereft of incisors and canines, this megafauna mammal was clearly unsuited to eating anything except fruits and tender leaves.) Did Chalicotherium have any natural predators? Thats a tough question to answer; clearly, a full-grown adult would have virtually impossible for a single mammal to kill and eat, but sick, aged and juvenile individuals may have been preyed on by contemporary bear dogs like Amphicyon, especially if this distant canine ancestor had the ability to hunt in packs!