Brian Dunbar

Predicting patronage behaviors in a sustainable retail environment: Adding retail characteristics and consumer lifestyle orientation to the belief-attitude-behavior intention model

This study investigated consumer patronage (i.e., shopping and making purchases) at Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), specifically examining consumer response to REI’s incorporation of sustainable design principles at their Denver flagship store. Data were collected using a consumer intercept survey at the Denver REI store (n = 186). Of particular interest was the role of store atmospherics—including sustainable store design, historic preservation, and urban renewal efforts—in shaping consumers’ future intentions to patronize REI Denver. Consumers’ intentions to patronize REI were modeled using the classic belief-attitude-behavior intention model (i.e., attitude and subjective norm) based upon the theory of reasoned action, and an extended model that included variables external to the theory. Findings suggest that, when used to predict consumer patronage behaviors, the classic belief-attitudebehavior intention model should be extended to include retail characteristics, notably store atmospherics and merchandise assortment; a social context or social identity variable such as consumer lifestyle orientation; and demographics.

A Multidisciplinary Research Framework on Green Schools: Infrastructure, Social Environment, Occupant Health, and Performance

BACKGROUND Sustainable school buildings hold much promise to reducing operating costs, improve occupant well-being and, ultimately, teacher and student performance. However, there is a scarcity of evidence on the effects of sustainable school buildings on health and performance indicators. We sought to create a framework for a multidisciplinary research agenda that links school facilities, health, and educational outcomes. METHODS We conducted a nonsystematic review of peer review publications, government documents, organizational documents, and school climate measurement instruments. RESULTS We found that studies on the impact of physical environmental factors (air, lighting, and thermal comfort) on health and occupant performance are largely independent of research on the social climate. The current literature precludes the formation of understanding the causal relation among school facilities, social climate, occupant health, and occupant performance. CONCLUSIONS Given the average age of current school facilities in the United States, construction of new school facilities or retrofits of older facilities will be a major infrastructure investment for many municipalities over the next several decades. Multidisciplinary research that seeks to understand the impact of sustainable design on the health and performance of occupants will need to include both an environmental science and social science perspective to inform best practices and quantification of benefits that go beyond general measures of costs savings from energy efficiencies.