Caroline Oates

REASONS FOR NON-PARTICIPATION IN A KERBSIDE RECYCLING SCHEME

In this article potential barriers to recycling are explored within a UK community of approximately 8000 households that are piloting a kerbside paper recycling scheme. All 1690 non-users of the scheme were surveyed for their decisions not to participate. A 43% response rate was generated from the survey and the reasons given by householders were coded into 12 categories. The main reasons for non-participation included insufficient paper and lack of space in which to locate the recycling bin. 62% of the non-participants reported that they were recycling paper using other facilities such as local bring schemes and charity collections. Strategies to increase participation in the kerbside scheme are suggested.

Advertising to children on TV : content, impact, and regulation

Contents: Preface. The Issues About Television Advertising to Children. The Nature of Advertising to Children. Childrens Early Understanding of Television Advertisements. Advanced Understanding of Advertising. Theoretical Approaches to Studying Childrens Understanding of Advertisements. Advertising Impact: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Values. Advertising Influence: Choice and Consumption. The Incidental Influence of Advertising. Advertising Regulation and Research. Concluding Comments.

Individual strategies for sustainable consumption

Abstract Consumers have a key role to play in meeting government targets for reduced energy consumption, more sustainable waste management practices, and lifestyles with fewer environmental consequences. We discuss some of the assumptions underpinning academic debates about sustainable consumption and describe a research design which has helped us move beyond some of the less helpful conventions. We interviewed consumers in order to obtain a detailed understanding of several of their recent (non-)purchase processes. We identified three groups who have distinct strategies for greening their lifestyles: Translators, Exceptors, and Selectors. We illustrate these groups using empirical data. This detailed understanding of how individuals approach the problem of greening not only provides new insight into how the problem of consumption may be approached in conceptual and practical terms, but also explains some of the difficulties encountered by previous research. We revisit the literature to examine the challenges that this typology offers extant ways of thinking about ‘the green consumer’. We identify ways in which we might influence the groups in our typology through marketing strategies and policy initiatives.

Children's understanding of television advertising: a qualitative approach

In this paper childrens understanding of television advertising was explored using focus groups in a qualitative approach. None of the 6 year olds, a minority of the 8 year olds and by no means all of the 10 year olds were able to articulate an understanding of the persuasive nature of advertising. It was concluded that childrens understanding of the persuasive intent of television advertising is less well developed than previously thought, challenging current marketing perspectives. These findings raise questions for European legislation, UK broadcasting practices and for advertisers and manufacturers who target children.

Young children's ability to recognize advertisements in web page designs

Identifying what is, and what is not an advertisement is the first step in realizing that an advertisement is a marketing message. Children can distinguish television advertisements from programmes by about 5 years of age. Although previous researchers have investigated television advertising, little attention has been given to advertisements in other media, even though other media, especially the Internet, have become important channels of marketing to children. We showed children printed copies of invented web pages that included advertisements, half of which had price information, and asked the children to point to whatever they thought was an advertisement. In two experiments we tested a total of 401 children, aged 6, 8, 10 and 12 years of age, from the United Kingdom and Indonesia. Six-year-olds recognized a quarter of the advertisements, 8-year-olds recognized half the advertisements, and the 10- and 12-year-olds recognized about three-quarters. Only the 10- and 12-year-olds were more likely to identify an advertisement when it included a price. We contrast our findings with previous results about the identification of television advertising, and discuss why children were poorer at recognizing web page advertisements. The performance of the children has implications for theories about how children develop an understanding of advertising.

Recycling and the Domestic Division of Labour: Is Green Pink or Blue?

Domestic or household recycling has a crucial role to play in meeting EU targets for overall recycling rates. However, researchers have yet to agree on the characteristics of the domestic recycler and how recycling is actually carried out in the home. In this article, recycling is investigated within the context of domestic labour in an attempt to understand how it fits in with or overrides traditional divisions. This brings an important new perspective to the recycling debate and at the same time updates the domestic division of labour literature to include green activities. It is suggested that recycling contradicts prevailing trends towards decreasing time spent on household chores, but that, like domestic labour, it is initiated and largely sustained by women alone or together with a partner. In this sense, recycling follows a similar pattern to more established household chores.

What is sustainable fashion

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine what the term sustainable fashion means from the perspective of micro-organisations, experts, and consumers. Design/methodology/approach This research is qualitative in nature, utilising a multi-methods case study approach (semi-structured interviews, semiotics, questionnaires). Grounded analysis was applied to analyse the data. Findings Findings indicate that interpretation of sustainable fashion is context and person dependent. A matrix of key criteria provides the opportunity to find common elements. Research limitations/implications Due to the nature of this research the sample size is limited and may not be generalised. Data were collected in the UK and are limited to a geographical region. Practical implications An important implication is that defining sustainable fashion is vital in order to avoid challenges, such as greenwashing, which were faced in other industries that have a longer history in sustainable practices. Micro-organisations should take advantage of identifying key sustainable fashion criteria, which will enable them to promote their fashion collections more effectively. Social implications The criteria identified provide assurance for consumers that sustainable fashion is produced with social aspects in mind (fair wages, good working conditions). Originality/value The paper proposes a matrix that allows micro-organisations to clearly identify their collections as sustainable.

Children's recognition of advertisements on television and on Web pages.

In this paper we consider the issue of advertising to children. Advertising to children raises a number of concerns, in particular the effects of food advertising on childrens eating habits. We point out that virtually all the research into childrens understanding of advertising has focused on traditional television advertisements, but much marketing aimed at children is now via the Internet and little is known about childrens awareness of advertising on the Web. One important component of understanding advertisements is the ability to distinguish advertisements from other messages, and we suggest that young childrens ability to recognise advertisements on a Web page is far behind their ability to recognise advertisements on television.

Parental mediation of food marketing communications aimed at children

Children spend the majority of their leisure time watching screens of various kinds (television, computer, mobile phone, tablet) through which they can potentially be exposed to many commercial messages. Marketers also reach children through more traditional channels, such as on-pack, sales promotions, sponsorship and so on. Given the proliferation of channels and communication methods for reaching the child audience, we ask how parents approach the task of mediating/restricting their child’s exposure to marketing communications shouldthey wish to do so. In a qualitative study investigating parents’ and children’s understanding of food marketing communications in the UK, we found that parents attempt to counter food marketing messages across a wider range of communications than previously identified, but that newer media such as advergames and websites are not fully recognised as channels of food marketing.

Flying in the face of environmental concern: why green consumers continue to fly

Abstract Some unsustainable consumer behaviours have proved extremely hard to change or even challenge. Despite the fact that flying can be more damaging than any other activity that an individual can undertake, many otherwise green consumers still choose to fly, offering an opportunity to elicit narratives about the differences between their attitudes and behaviours. Qualitative interview data were gathered from self-selected green consumers and set within a cognitive dissonance analytical framework. Four strategies were uncovered: not changing travel behaviour (but offering justifications related to travel product, travel context or personal identity); reducing or restricting flights; changing other behaviours to compensate for flying; and stopping flying. This analysis furthers research on green consumer rationales for (un)sustainable behaviours and suggests several avenues for sustainable marketing management.