1,721,021 research outputs found
Three propositions to unify circular economy research: A review
No full textTransitioning into a circular economy (CE) has been recently proposed as an agenda for reconciling global industrial systems with natural equilibria, but the current understanding of CE is ambiguous among scholars. Informed by recent growing CE literature, this study summarizes through three key propositions a set of indisputable insights emerging from the CE debate. In particular, the paper: remarks how CE takes stock of concepts of other schools of thought to drive policy interventions; depicts CE as a systemic transition of global industrial systems; and highlights the role of eco-effectiveness to upgrade business-centered approaches to sustainability. The proposed propositions are expected to contribute to reducing ambiguities in the CE debate and to convey coherence to future research
Role of information in consumers' preferences for eco-sustainable genetic improvements in plant breeding
No full textConsumers' preferences for products derived from genetic improvements and innovations in plant breeding are often conditioned by technophobia and negative public imaginaries. The current study addresses this issue by analyzing consumers' monetary preferences for a win-win innovation (generating gains for both private actors and the community) in the viticulture sector, namely fungus resistant grapes (FRG). The use of these grapes reduces the quantity of chemical inputs applied to vineyards, simultaneously improving firms' economic performance. This study aimed to assess whether consumers prefer wines originating from FRG varieties to conventional wines. In particular, through an experimental online survey involving 627 Italian regular wine drinkers, the study compares individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) for conventional wines with the WTP for two FRG wines produced with two different techniques: Horticultural hybridization and genome editing. The study also assesses the potential effect of polarized media coverage on preferences by testing, in a between-subjects experimental design, two diverging (positive/negative) information scenarios, and the core drivers of these preferences. The findings suggest that respondents express a premium price for horticultural FRG wines compared to conventional wines (+9.14%) and a strong discount for genome edited FRG wines (-21.13%). The results also reveal that negative information reduces consumers' WTP for horticultural FRG wines, while positive information increases their WTP for genome edited FRG wines. Last, the study highlights that individuals concerned with food sustainability issues and knowledgeable about wine are more likely to accept both FRG typologies. Overall, the study confirms the crucial role of appropriate information for market acceptance of innovations based on plant genetics to foster the adoption of sustainable pest-reducing practices in wine production
Consumers’ acceptance of fungus resistant grapes: Future scenarios in sustainable winemaking
No full textDuring the last 20 years, sustainability has become an important issue in the wine sector. The increase of producers' awareness and consumers' interest has prompted the emergence of wines labeled as organic, biodynamic or natural. The current letter aims to stimulate future research dealing with consumers' acceptance and interest towards wine with sustainability characteristics to focus on fungus resistant grape (FRG) varieties, that we consider a potential pivotal innovation for the future of the wine industry. Particularly, we expect consumer research to address the complexity behind future consumers’ acceptance of FRG, taking also into account insights emerged from our conceptual model
Narratives to revert overconsumption: human-nature interdependence and Circular Economy
Full text linkPolicy and practitioners’ initiatives to stimulate sustainable consumption have so far failed to have notable impact on individuals’ behaviors. The current commentary is a plea to social and sustainability scientists, particularly to economists dealing with sustainable agri-food systems, to dig deeper into the notion of narratives to trigger societal dynamics that stir consumers toward more sufficient lifestyles. As dominant cultural narratives have a critical role in shaping shared meanings and acceptable behaviors, in the future they could guide dramatic changes in individuals’ conduct, triggering drastic modifications of current consumption patterns. Based on the power that concepts as the Circular Economy and the Anthropocene have had in the recent past, a future step to develop an ecological worldview across society, and nourish individual identities deeply committed with the preservation of natural ecosystems, is working on narratives based on the notion of human-nature interdependence
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Manufacturing and characterization of hemp-reinforced epoxy composites
No full textThe adoption of natural-based fibers in place of inorganic reinforcements is an effective approach to reduce the environmental and economic impact of composite materials. In particular, hemp is an attractive solution due to its mechanical, physical, and growing properties. The present article deals with the manufacturing of thermoset hemp-reinforced composite materials. In particular, the investigation moves into the production by resin transfer molding and by resin powder molding with the use of epoxy polymeric material. To describe the effects of the technological cycle onto the characteristic of realized products, different manufacturing parameters have been combined during the braiding of reinforcement and the polymerization of the final composite. Computed tomography, microscopical analysis, and tensile tests have been used to observe the main effects of the manufacturing process and mechanical properties of the materials. Furthermore, elastic moduli of the materials have been estimated by means of modified rule of mixture and Halpin-Tsai models in order to verify their effectiveness in forecasting stiffness of the hemp-reinforced composites in the early design phase. The article extends the existing knowledge base on hemp-reinforced thermoset composites manufactured with different processes. Results also illustrate relations existing between error introduced by calculation models and the intrinsic variability in mechanical properties
Consumers’ willingness to pay for natural food: evidence from an artefactual field experiment
No full textAmong foods with credence attributes, food with “natural” components have received in the last years particular attention by consumers. This study applies the BDM incentive compatible mechanism to explore young (18–35 years old) consumers’ interest and willingness to pay for chewing gums having the natural attribute. Our analysis shows that over 68% of consumers are interested in the natural attribute and are willing to pay a price premium. We also find that consumers’ higher age and interest in the environment have significant impacts on consumers’ preferences for the natural attribute
- …
