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Exploration of Consumer Motivations and Buying Decisions in the Slow Fashion Industry in New Zealand: The Role of Sustainability Focus and Branding
No full textFast fashion is increasingly criticised for its significant environmental and social consequences. In response, slow fashion has emerged as a sustainable alternative, attracting ethically minded consumers. Although sustainability receives growing global attention, there is limited empirical research on the drivers for the adoption of slow fashion, especially in New Zealand, a country known for its strong environmental awareness. This research contributes to the broader literature on sustainable consumption by locating these dynamics within a culturally distinct and under-researched market. Moreover, it addresses the gap in the understanding of diverse consumer motivations in New Zealand and examines how sustainability branding strategies shape slow fashion customers’ choices. This research addresses two key questions: (1) What motivates consumers in New Zealand to engage with slow fashion? and (2) How does sustainability-focused branding influence their purchasing decisions?
This research adopts a qualitative methodology, combining netnographic observation with semi-structured interviews of both consumers and brand representatives. Results indicate a spectrum of motivations, including ethical alignment, emotional resonance with brand narratives, and perceived product quality. Results also highlight barriers such as price sensitivity and scepticism towards branding claims. Results also highlight barriers such as price sensitivity—particularly among younger consumers with limited disposable income—and scepticism towards branding claims, especially when sustainability messaging lacks transparency or appears performative (Chaudhary & Gula, 2025; Riesgo et al., 2020). The perceived effectiveness of sustainability branding is subject to consumers’ trust levels and sustainability literacy.
Findings underscore the need for slow fashion brands to tailor branding strategies to varying consumer profiles. They also offer practical guidance for slow fashion brands on how to align sustainability branding with consumer motivations to enhance adoption. This study contributes to sustainability and consumer behaviour literature by contextualising slow fashion adoption within a culturally specific, under-researched nation setting
Children’s perceptions of occupation within a trauma-capable therapeutic programme: A photo voice and photo elicitation study
No full textThis interpretive description study explored how children who have experienced adversity perceive occupation within a trauma-capable therapeutic programme in the Aotearoa New Zealand context. The study took place at a Stand Tū Māia site, which is a trauma-capable organisation specialising in supporting tamariki aged 5 to 13 years old and their whānau. Gaining the children’s voice was a priority in this study. Little research has been conducted with children exploring their perceptions of occupation, and even less research has been done with children who have experienced adversity within the Aotearoa New Zealand context, highlighting a gap in the existing occupational therapy literature.
Following ethics approval, six participants were recruited for the study, using convenience sampling over two recruitment periods. The participants were children who were already attending the Therapeutic Care and Education (TCE) programme during the two intended data collection periods. Creative methods, including photo-voice and photo-elicitation, were employed alongside semi-structured interviews, which were audio-recorded and transcribed. The six-phased process of reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022) was used to analyse the data.
Three main themes: occupational engagement, occupational experience, and connection emerged from the data, along with additional sub-themes of just-right challenge, empowerment, positive experiences, positive emotions, and connection with peers, staff, and family. The occupational therapy framework of do, be, become, belong (Wilcock & Hocking, 2015) was used to discuss the research findings. The study revealed that the children perceive the occupations they engage in within the Stand Tū Māia TCE programme as play. These play experiences were met with the children experiencing the just right challenge, which provided a positive experience for the participants. These positive experiences of occupation elicited positive emotions in the participants, while also connecting them to the Stand Tū Māia staff, their peers, and their whānau. Several practice implications can be drawn from the study findings to help inform the delivery and understanding of the use of occupation within this setting. These include the importance of practitioner education, the intentional use of play-based occupations, placing importance on the inter-relational elements of participation in occupation, and occupational therapy appears to be a profession that is well-placed in this setting. This study has provided valuable insight into how children who have experienced adversity perceive occupation within a trauma-capable therapeutic programme in Aotearoa New Zealand. Children who have experienced multiple adversities perceive occupation within a trauma-capable therapeutic programme as a positive experience where they can play and do well in these play activities. The findings suggest that participants perceive their engagement in occupation at Stand Tū Māia as an opportunity for them to be successful, feel empowered, experience positive emotions, and feel connected to their peers, staff and family. Using creative and child-centred approaches, the children’s voices were heard, with the findings indicating that feeling positive and successful within occupations plays a crucial role in promoting well-being, empowerment, and connection for children who have experienced adversity. This highlights the importance of trauma-capable environments like Stand Tū Māia, which utilise occupational engagement as a therapeutic tool with children. These findings contribute to the limited body of occupational therapy literature focused on children’s perspectives of occupation within the context of adversity and trauma
Food Waste Management Practices in Invercargill’s Food and Beverage Sector
No full textFood waste management is a significant concern within the food and beverage sector, and Invercargill, New Zealand, is no exception. Despite existing literature highlighting the importance of adequate food waste management practices, there remains a substantial gap in research specific to this region. This study aims to address this gap by exploring the current status of food waste management from the perspectives of managers, chefs, and servers in the Invercargill food and beverage sector. The research employs a qualitative methodology, using semi-structured interviews to gather in-depth insights from industry professionals. The study adopts an interpretivist philosophy, allowing for an understanding of participants' subjective experiences and perspectives. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis to identify key themes and patterns. The findings reveal that the primary sources of food waste include inefficient preparation methods, consumer behaviour and inadequate storage practices. Current management practices are found to be sufficient, but there is room for improvement, and more policy implementation and industry collaboration are needed. The study also emphasises the importance of sustainability and responsible environmental practices in mitigating food waste. Hence, this research highlights the critical role of comprehensive food waste management strategies in the food and beverage sector. It suggests that future research should expand to other regions in New Zealand, increase sample size, and incorporate mixed methods to provide a more holistic understanding of food waste management
Neurodiversity, hauora and ako
No full textAIM OF THE WORKSHOP
• Generate thoughts and kōrero around our practice of working with neurodiverse tamariki and their whānau
• Discuss the challenges that neurodiverse tamaiti may face
• Discuss challenges kaiako may face
• Promoting hauora
• Create a kete to equip and enhanc
Common Challenges and Buying Motivations for Online Shopping in New Zealand
No full textThe rapid growth of digital technology and the spread of e-commerce have made online shopping a popular choice, particularly accelerated by COVID-19, which has prompted more people to experience its benefits. This study explores the factors influencing online shopping behaviour in New Zealand from three perspectives: challenges in online shopping, drivers motivating online shopping, and shopping preference behaviours.
This research aims to identify challenges and motivators influencing consumers' online shopping intentions in New Zealand. The research adopted a positivist research philosophy and a structured questionnaire to collect 121 valid responses, focusing on consumer preferences, including product and platform choices, shopping frequency, common online shopping issues, and motivating factors. The results of the research indicated that price and convenience are the key reasons that attract consumers to make online purchases, while payment security, product quality, inaccurate product descriptions and shipping issues are the main challenges affecting consumer satisfaction. Additionally, this research also found that men like electronic products, women prefer clothing and health and beauty products, and the main consumption habits of most consumers are weekly and monthly purchases.
Therefore, it is important to address the challenges consumers face in online shopping and to understand their behaviours and preferences. Doing so would improve customer satisfaction and enhance the quality of the industry development. This study recommends that e-commerce platforms enhance consumer experience and that retailers explore hybrid strategies to integrate online and offline sales better
Exploring Consumer Perspectives on Sustainable Practices in Restaurants: A Case Study of Invercargill
No full textThis study explores Consumer Perspectives on Sustainable Practices in Restaurants. The research explores consumers’ perceptions of eco-friendly initiatives in restaurants in Invercargill. This study focuses on four main objectives. First, the study assesses how eco-friendly initiatives impact consumers' perceptions of restaurants. Second, this study evaluates the effect of eco-friendly practices on consumers' willingness to pay a premium for dining out. Third, this study explores which specific eco-friendly measures are most influential in shaping consumer behaviour towards restaurants. Fourth, this study identifies key factors that mediate the relationship between eco-friendly practices in restaurants and consumers' willingness to pay more.
This study uses interpretive philosophy and adopts an exploratory research approach. To gather the qualitative data, ten participants from Invercargill were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.
Key findings highlight that sustainable practices have a very positive impact on consumers. They are even willing to pay extra to contribute to environmental efforts and support sustainable restaurants. Sustainable sourcing, waste reduction, sustainable packaging, and plant-based menus were the most factors that influence consumers. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how consumers in Invercargill perceive the restaurants that have implemented sustainable, eco-friendly practices
Walking upstream: Headphone-guided walking performance: Practice and process
No full textWalking Upstream is a live time-based event that invites audiences to listen and walk together along the edge of the mighty Waikato.
VENUE AND TIMES: Hamilton, Sunday 4 February, 4pm Saturday 9 March, 4pm Sunday 10 March, 10.30am Saturday 23 March, 4pm Sunday 24 March, 10.30am Boon Arts.
ROLES: B. Wood (Choreographer writer), M. Mullen (Dramaturg writer), & P. Hobbs (Sound design)
Emotional intelligence and work-life balance: A study among working students at SIT Te Pūkenga Invercargill
No full textThis research examines the level of emotional intelligence (EI) and work-life balance (WLB) among working students at the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) in Invercargill, New Zealand, and explores the relationship between these two variables. The study aims to assess and evaluate EI and WLB levels, investigate their interrelationship, and compare differences across demographics such as gender, age, marital status, and education level. The data was gathered from the sample of working students using an online questionnaire implementing a positivist methodology and a standardised 5-point Likert scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS revealed that students exhibited moderate to high EI (mean=1.95, SD=0.45) and moderate WLB (mean=2.67, SD=0.43). Simple linear regression analysis indicated a significant positive relationship between EI and WLB (β=0.262. p=0.016) with EI explaining 7% of the variance in WLB. Further, comparison across different demographic variables extended the understanding of two variables. Correlation analysis highlighted significant impacts of education level and marital status on EI, and education level and age on WLB. The study highlighted the importance of strong support systems within higher education institutions and workplaces, recommending flexible scheduling, mental health resources, and EI training programs to improve WLB and overall well-being of working students. By addressing the needs of working students, this research provides valuable insights for developing targeted interventions, and policies, benefiting individuals, educational institutions, and employees
Study of conference presentations by novice and expert presenters in computing
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION
Does the structure of the conference presentation vary based on the presenter’s expertise (novice or expert)?
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the organisational structure of academic conference presentations in the field of computing. It examines possible differences between novice (postgraduate students) and expert (faculty) presenters. A self-built corpus of 15 presentations was analysed using NVivo 12. Findings reveal 14 moves in the presentations, with variations based on presenter expertise, particularly in audience orientation and content presentation. The study has pedagogical implications for teaching conference-presentation skills to postgraduate students
Addressing climate change: Insights from New Zealand’s insurance companies
No full textClimate change triggers extreme weather events globally, challenging the insurance industry’s climate risk management efforts. In New Zealand, the insurance sector is on the brink of financial instability due to the recent upswing in the frequency and severity of natural disasters. As these risks escalate, insurers must urgently address these challenges by reducing their exposure, devising new strategies, and implementing new business models to secure a climate-resilient and sustainable future.
This exploratory research delves into the response of the New Zealand insurance industry to these challenges, examining and evaluating their adoption of climate-related risk strategies by using primary and secondary data content analysis. The primary data included 16 interviews with agents, employees, experts, and policyholders. The secondary data included annual and sustainability reports published by New Zealand insurance companies in the last three years (2021-2023). This research utilises the three dimensions of the Dynamic Capability Framework: Sensing, Seizing and Transforming capabilities as the guiding framework for the content analysis. The three themes were renamed to suit this research: Future-focused Risk Assessment and Sensing, Sustainable Innovation and Seizing Opportunities, and Strengthening Adaptability through Transformational Change. A comparative analysis of the primary and secondary data findings enabled redefinition and re-conceptualisation of codes and themes, improving the findings' trustworthiness.
The findings unravelled the motivators, such as financial losses, reputational risks, operational perils, and compliance with regulations, compelling insurance companies to have effective climate risk management plans. There are also challenges that insurers face while mitigating climate change, which include data limitations and regulatory ambiguity, yet opportunities for innovation and market differentiation emerge. In addition, findings also revealed differences between local and multinational companies’ implementation of climate strategies and practices. Local companies are focused on how they can respond to their customers now, while multinational companies are focused on their long-term approach. Overall, the findings address the three research questions regarding New Zealand insurance companies' responses to climate change, highlighting their proactive strategies and adaptation measures in a dynamic environment.
This research contributes significantly to the literature, shedding light on how New Zealand insurance companies respond to climate change. It underscores the strategic approach of adopting a Dynamic Capability Framework to gain a competitive edge while navigating the complexities of climate change. It strengthens the alignment of New Zealand insurance companies’ climate-mitigating practices, demonstrating their ability to create favourable business impacts in the face of climate change challenges