195 research outputs found
The Role of Parish Newsletters in the Preservation and Development of Croatian Literature of Christian Inspiration, Using the Example of the Parish Newsletter Duh zajedništva
No full textU članku propitujemo - na primjeru lista Duh zajedništva - značaj župnoga lista u očuvanju i razvoju hrvatske književnosti kršćanskoga nadahnuća. List Duh zajedništva je glasilo zagrebačke kapucinske župe sv. Mihaela, koji neprekinuto izlazi od 1967. godine i od svojih početaka redovito objavljuje kršćansku liriku i prozu, kako župljana tako i istaknutijih kršćanskih autora.
U tekstu, nadalje, pojašnjavamo i značaj analiziranoga lista s osobitim obzirom na vrijeme vladavine komunizma u Hrvatskoj. Koristeći kvantitativnu metodu analize sadržaja, analiziramo odabrane književne objave - prema vrstama, autorima i temama - objavljene u tome župnom listu. Također se u radu osvrćemo i na izdavačku djelatnost hrvatskih kapucina te dajemo prijedloge za daljnju obradu i vrednovanje tekstova objavljenih u Duhu zajedništva.The role of parish newsletters in the preservation and development of Croatian literature of Christian inspiration is investigated, using the example of the newsletter of the Capuchin parish of St. Michael, Duh zajedništva. This newsletter, featuring Christian poetry and prose written by parishioners and prominent Christian authors, has been published without interruption since 1967. The significance of Duh zajedništva, especially during the communist regime in Croatia, is explained. Using the quantitative method of content analysis, selected literary works published in this newsletter are analyzed according to type, author and topic.
There is also an overview of the publishing activity of the Croatian Capuchins, with suggestions for the further processing and evaluation of texts published in Duh zajedništva
The Methodological Reflection about the Criticism to Hu Hong in The Doubt of Zhi Yan by Zhu Hsi
No full text本文討論《知言疑義》中朱熹對胡宏的批評意見，企圖澄清兩造思路的差異，從而各自呈現兩家思維的特色與要點。《知言疑義》中胡宏的文句多半是本體工夫論合構的發言，因此語多跳躍，致引朱熹之批評。朱熹即由性善論的本體論立場批評胡宏有「性無善惡」之說，及由存有論思路的「心統性情說」批評胡宏的心性相關語句之不佳，以及由「未發涵養已發察識」的工夫次第思路批評胡宏並未重視平日涵養一節。本文將藉由作者所提之「實踐哲學的解釋架構」，以及「存有論哲學」的問題意識分析，以澄清兩造哲學問題意識的不同，因而並未形成真正的衝突，從而亦藉此說明朱熹與胡宏各自論學之重點意旨。The discussion in this article is about the criticism to Hu Hong in The doubt of Zhi yan Proposed by Zhu Hsi. The author is aiming to clear the dissimilar way of thinking between the two philosophers to the effect that both their significant theory could be appeared. Hu Hong’s philosophical announcement always integrates the ontological and practical theory, which results to the ambiguity and give rise to the criticism from Zhu Hsi. Zhu Hsi possessed the position of the goodness of nature to query Hu Hong about his no good and no evil opinion toward the theory of the human nature. In the definition of the mind and nature, master Zhu Hsi proposed the mind comprise the nature and the felling and argued with Hu Hong’s different opining. Concerning about the practical procedure theory, Zhu Hsi insist the cultivation should be built on daily life, and critic Hu Hong’s philosophy being short of this understanding. In this article the author will use the interpretational structure of the practical theory and the theory of being to analyze the different consciousness in these two systems and suggest that there exist no real conflict between them so as to explain both their philosophical thinking
“Communication Agents Impacting Consumer Green Training and Competencies: Moderating Role of Creativity”
No full textA research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (Specialising in Taxation) to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accountancy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024Marketing management scholars are examining the extent to which knowledge, skills and competencies in environmental management assist in protecting the environment while gaining economic benefits. However, there are questions as to the communication agents developing the green training and resultant competencies. Thus, this dissertation employs the Ability- Motivation-Opportunity (AMO), Socialisation, and Natural-Resource- Based-View (NRBV) theories that guided the development of a conceptual model to examine the extent to which four socialisation agents (peer, family school, and media) impacted green training and ultimately green competencies. The research also examined the mediating role of green training and the moderating role of green creativity in how much green training drives green competencies.
Quantitative data was collected from 425 students and non-student respondents through online questionnaires. SPSS was used to examine descriptive statistics and SmartPls was used to conduct structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for the testing of the hypotheses. The results revealed that the socialisation agents (i.e., peer, family, school, and media) significantly impacted green training, which in turn significantly impacted six dimensions of green competencies (i.e., green knowledge, green skills, green awareness, green ability, green attitude, and green behaviour). Green training mediated all the relationships between the socialisation agents and green competencies. Consumer creativity significantly moderated the relationships between green training and the awareness and knowledge dimensions of green competencies even though negative. Environmentalists and consumer interest groups would benefit from this study by identifying the communication agents that can best train consumers to consider the environment in their consumption behaviours and develop competencies in assisting in environmental protection. Marketing practitioners and social marketers can also benefit from the knowledge of which communication agents can be best targeted to educate customers and develop their green competencies, while their green creativity makes its influence.MM202
Two Perspectives Study of the 4Ps of Brand Leadership for two African Brands: Effect of Employee Customer Oriented Behaviours and Brand Admiration
No full textA research report submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy, In the Faculty of Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024A Brand leader is viewed in four dimensions of being relatively superior in the marketplace (brand quality), provides relatively high financial value compared to costs (brand value), is relatively open to new ideas and solutions (innovativeness) and has high brand awareness, preference and consumption (popularity). Being a brand leader brings a myriad of both financial and non-financial benefits, such as customer and employee brand admiration, profitability, and market share. Dangote and DSTV are consistently ranked as two of the top admired and brand leaders in Africa, but research is yet to be conducted as to the varied determinants of the brand admiration and leadership. Considering that African brand leaders are diverse in terms of the person and people behind the brand, segments they serve, the product and services that they offer and the place/country of origin, this study develops and tests these aspects into 4Ps of brand leadership (person, people, product and place). Guided by the social exchange, social identity, and brand-specific leadership theories, this study integrated ideas from Aaker et al. (2012), Park et al. (2016) [for product factors], and elements of the models of Adehn et al. (2016) [for place factors], Tuan (2012) [for person factors], Löhndorf and Diamantopoulos (2014) [for people factors] and Chiu and Cho (2021) [for the four dimensions of brand leadership] to examine the product, people, person and place (4Ps) factors impacting brand admiration and resultant brand leadership of Dangote and DSTV brands. An integrated conceptual model was developed that was to be tested in two perspectives. The person factors (brand specific transactional and transformational leadership) and the people factors (employee-brand fit, employee brand knowledge, employee brand belief, employee brand congruent behaviour, perceived organizational support and organisational identification) were hypothesised to first impact employee customer-oriented behaviour before influencing the four dimensions of brand leadership through brand admiration. The product factors (enabling, enticing and enriching benefits, warmth and competence) and place factors (product and service availability, basic country image, product-country image, category-country image) were hypothesised to impact brand admiration and in turn influence the four dimensions of brand leadership. A positivism philosophy with quantitative methods was used for data collection and analyses and to test the employee and customer models. After assessing and confirming measurement model for reliability and validity, a partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with SMART-PLS V4 was used to test the models and hypotheses considering the multi-variate nature of the relationships. The results showed that for Dangote employees, only perceived organisational support (people factor) significantly impacted employee customer-oriented behaviour. Because of low Dangote employee sample size (i.e., 143), most of the relationships were not significant. For DSTV, and with a higher employee sample size (i.e., 169), four people factors (i.e., employee-brand fit, employee brand knowledge, employee brand belief, and perceived organizational support) and one person factor (i.e., transactional leadership) significantly impacted employee customer-oriented behaviour). Additionally, and for only DSTV employees, brand admiration significantly impacted all four dimensions of brand leadership. In v terms of Dangote customers, brand admiration was influenced by only functional product factors of brand competence and enabling factors and place factors of product and services availability and product country image. Dangote customers brand admiration significantly impacted all four dimensions of brand leadership. For DSTV customers the 4Ps that significantly influenced admiration were person factors (customer appreciation of brand-specific transactional leadership); people factors (customer appreciation of employee customer-oriented behaviour); product factors (brand warmth, enabling and enriching benefits) and place factors (product and service availability, basic country image, and category-country image). DSTV customers brand admiration also significantly impacted all four dimensions of brand leadership of brand quality, value, popularity and innovativeness. Multigroup analyses conducted should that there were some significant differences in how some 4Ps factors impacted brand leadership though brand admiration from customers perspective and not employee perspective. The customer perspective model of Dangote explained 73% of changes in brand admiration, 23.8 % of brand innovativeness, 23.1% of brand popularity, 42.9% of brand quality and 12.2% of brand value. Conversely, the customer perspective model of DSTV explained 88.1% of brand admiration, 62.5% of brand innovativeness, 31.4 % brand popularity, 48.8% of brand quality and 45.4% of brand value. The explanatory powers of the employee models were weak probably because of the low sample size and the many constructs deleted from further analyses. This study makes theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretically it makes interdisciplinary contributions into the fields of brand management, human resource management and consumer behaviour. It develops the first 4Ps of brand leadership by demonstrating the pathway through which brand leadership can be gained from employee and customer perspectives and through employee customer-oriented behaviour and brand admiration. The 4Ps and the integrated models can be used to identify determinants of brand admiration and leadership for other leading brands in Africa, emerging economies and developed countries. Practically the managers of leading brands can get insights into important people, person, product and place factors that can drive brand admiration and leadership. For example, and for employee perspective, it was found that perceived organizational support is important for both Dangote and DSTV if employee customer-oriented behaviour (ECOB) is to be achieved. ECOB is a good determinant of customer brand admiration and resultant brand leadership, especially shown in the case of DSTV. In the customer perspective, enabling benefit and product and services availability which are all functional product and place factors are common and important factors if brand admiration and resultant brand leadership are to be achieved.MM202
The impact of utilitarian and hedonic needs satisfaction on brand trust, brand affect and brand loyalty for selected fast moving consumer goods in South Africa
No full textMagister Commercii - MComThe concept of brand loyalty highlights the importance of brands in marketing strategy development because it leads to a stream of benefits for the company (lower marketing costs, less price sensitivity, greater market share and greater profits). Questions thus arise about how brand loyalty is achieved, especially for low involvement product categories classified as fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs). Models of how brand loyalty is built have been tested and most agree that brand loyalty is linked to satisfying customer needs. Knowledge about the type of needs (utilitarian and hedonic) is however, not usually determined. How the different types of needs first influence brand trust and brand affect, before affecting consumer satisfaction, also requires investigation. This study therefore tested how brand building efforts for some selected FMCG brands in South Africa impact on brand loyalty, as well as the extent to which utilitarian and hedonic need satisfaction leads to brand trust and brand affect for these low involvement products. The study also examined the extent to which brand trust and affect influence consumer satisfaction, examined as drivers of attitudinal and behavioural brand loyalty. Quantitative research methods were used to collect and analyse the data, appropriate because of the nature of the research (testing relationships between multi-variables), and the fact that standardised instruments were available to test the proven and valid variables. Data was collected from 272 White, Indian, Coloured and Black South Africans living in Cape Town. The respondents were sampled from malls in Nyanga (targeting Black consumers, most of whom represent lower income consumers), Mitchell's Plain (targeting middle income Coloured and Black consumers), and Canal Walk (targeting high income White, Coloured, Indian and Black consumers), all of which either have SPAR, Pick n Pay or Shoprite/Checkers retailers that sell FMCGs. Structural equation modelling was the main data analysis method for this multivariate investigation
Consumers' perceptions when evaluating brand extensions in relation to the original brand
No full textMagister Commercii - MComA brand extension strategy is one of the marketing tools that firms utilise to introduce new products in the market. One of the advantages of adopting this strategy is that firms are able to leverage on the positive image, reputation, and equity of a recognised and established brand,thereby reducing risk associated with launching new products.This study examines how consumers perceive the overall quality and similarity/fit of the brand extensions (Nike camera, Nike socks, and Nike golf balls) in relation to the original brand (Nike athletic shoes) and how these perceptions influence their attitudes towards the extensions. The
researcher proposes that the perceived overall quality of the brand extensions will be congruent to that of the original brand and that the attitude towards the brand extensions will be favourable only when there is a perceived similarity/fit between the brand extensions and the original brand.In order to get these insights, the study surveyed 147 undergraduate and postgraduate students
from the University of the Western Cape across all faculties. A non-probability convenience sampling method was used to access respondents. To collect data, qualitative and quantitative methods were employed using a questionnaire which consisted of open-ended and closed-ended questions in the form of free associations technique and 5-point Likert scales. The data gathered was analysed by means of descriptive statistics and Spearman correlation coefficient.
The findings indicate two things.(1) respondents only perceived Nike socks’ overall quality to be congruent to the original brand, Nike athletic shoes. (2) respondents only perceived Nike socks to be strongly similar to the original brand, Nike athletic shoes. Despite this, respondents had a favourable attitude towards all the brand extensions irrespective of whether they perceived the overall quality of the extensions to be congruent to the original brand or not, and whether they perceived the extensions to be similar to the original brand or not. These factors did not influence respondents’ attitudes towards the extensions negatively
Consumers' perceptions when evaluating brand extensions in relation to the original brand
No full textMagister Commercii - MComA brand extension strategy is one of the marketing tools that firms utilise to introduce new products in the market. One of the advantages of adopting this strategy is that firms are able to leverage on the positive image, reputation, and equity of a recognised and established brand,thereby reducing risk associated with launching new products.This study examines how consumers perceive the overall quality and similarity/fit of the brand extensions (Nike camera, Nike socks, and Nike golf balls) in relation to the original brand (Nike athletic shoes) and how these perceptions influence their attitudes towards the extensions. The
researcher proposes that the perceived overall quality of the brand extensions will be congruent to that of the original brand and that the attitude towards the brand extensions will be favourable only when there is a perceived similarity/fit between the brand extensions and the original brand.In order to get these insights, the study surveyed 147 undergraduate and postgraduate students
from the University of the Western Cape across all faculties. A non-probability convenience sampling method was used to access respondents. To collect data, qualitative and quantitative methods were employed using a questionnaire which consisted of open-ended and closed-ended questions in the form of free associations technique and 5-point Likert scales. The data gathered was analysed by means of descriptive statistics and Spearman correlation coefficient.
The findings indicate two things.(1) respondents only perceived Nike socks’ overall quality to be congruent to the original brand, Nike athletic shoes. (2) respondents only perceived Nike socks to be strongly similar to the original brand, Nike athletic shoes. Despite this, respondents had a favourable attitude towards all the brand extensions irrespective of whether they perceived the overall quality of the extensions to be congruent to the original brand or not, and whether they perceived the extensions to be similar to the original brand or not. These factors did not influence respondents’ attitudes towards the extensions negatively
Internal branding of a university business through building and gaining from employeebased brand equity
No full textThe Metaphysics of Chu-His
No full text本文討論朱熹形上思想，說明其有繼承北宋儒學的必要性及義理創作的特殊性，更有與其工夫論不同思路的獨立性。首先討論勞思光先生及牟宗三先生對朱熹的批評意見，對於勞先生的心性論中心之解釋架構對朱熹存有論義的形上學的批評，指出勞先生的心性論中心亦須包含形上學議題之意旨，而朱熹之形上學意見可以不混入工夫論意見而有其獨立意義。對於牟宗三先生以朱熹存有論不負擔創生實踐功能，指出牟先生的問題意識是工夫實踐以至境界完成而非存有論思路，而朱熹是在談論存有論，因此不必受到這樣的批評。其次討論形上學概念在當代學界的使用定義，藉由區分實踐哲學的功夫境界論及形上學的宇宙論本體論和存有論的概念使用意義，以說明朱熹形上思想遭受批評的原因，並為朱熹澄清。接著說明朱熹特殊具有創造性意義的存有論形上學觀點，討論朱熹的理氣概念架構以說天地萬物的存有論架構，指出這是特殊的形上學論題，並毋須與工夫論議題混為一談。並就人存有者而言，說明朱熹以性善說為宗旨說本體論及人性論、並藉性氣結構說人的為惡現象、以及在人的氣稟限制中說命定論、及朱熹對整個儒學史的人性論理論意見之重整系統、最後落實於以心統性情說以確立道德實踐主體的存有架構，文中指出這一部份的討論正是朱熹集北宋儒學之大成，並最能徹底解決儒家性善說的形上學問題的創作系統，應予清晰解讀及準確理解。本文藉由形上學問題意識的釐清，來說清楚朱熹所談的形上學問題，用以區隔朱熹工夫論的發言，並避免當代學者從工夫論進路批評朱熹不如象山及陽明學的意見。Neo-Confucianism has now been well-known by the western society, for its influence on Chinese culture is immense. Among its proponents, Master Chu-Hsi is the most influential among them, the reason of which can be attributed to his fully speculative viewpoints and his comprehensive senses of philosophy problems. In Chu-Hsi’s theory, metaphysics is his most creative contribution to Confucianism. However, it is susceptible to being miss-understood by his contemporaries and today’s scholars, for his basic concerns about the metaphysics are so much different from the other Confucians. While the theory of the reality and the value are concerned by all the Confucian philosophers and they had provided many different yet profoundly metaphysical systems, Master Chu-Hsi notices the problems of the definitions of all the concepts concerning the reality and the ultimate value and develops a new metaphysical system discussing the problems of the reality of the whole Being in the universal, the moral potential difference between people and the animal. In this article the author is going to introduce Master Chu-Hsi’s metaphysical constructions and creations. The discussion will be proceeded as follows: (1) the reflection of the modern interpretational systems, (2) the definition of the concept of metaphysics in Chinese philosophy, (3) the original questions of Chu-Hsi’s metaphysical thinking, (4) the theory of the whole Being of the Universal, (5) the theory of human nature and the explanation of why the moral ability is different in the human beings, (6) the existential difference between human creatures and the animals, and (7) the meaning of the contribution of Chu-Hsi’s metaphysics in the history of the development of Confucianism
Determinants of electricity conservation in South African households : a social marketing perspective
No full textD.Phil. (Marketing Management)Abstract: Many developing countries, including South Africa, experience great challenges with regard to balancing electricity supply and increasing demand. For example, between 2008 and 2015, South Africa frequently experienced higher electricity demand over supply capacity. The high electricity demand emanates from the increase in business activities, industrialisation, rising population, and immigration. Households play a central role in the escalating electricity demand in South Africa and consume about 20% of the electricity and contribute to about 30% of peak period demand, which often leads to blackouts. A short-term solution to handle the high demand of electricity over supply available was to implement a rotational electricity load shedding program. This however left some areas without electricity for extended periods of time and often resulted in huge economic losses. For a more desirable and cost-effective way to reduce electricity demand, various media, including the country’s national TV are being widely used to create awareness about the electricity problem and to run campaigns promoting electricity conservation tips. A 2013 study by the South African Department of Energy (DoE) aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the campaigns revealed that public awareness of the problem and the electricity saving measures substantially increased, but the actual electricity conservation behaviour did not significantly change. The goal of a successful social marketing campaign is behaviour change. Achieving this change requires solid consumer research aimed at examining the major factors helping and hindering the adoption of the desired behaviour. The desired behaviour for this study is electricity conservation. For understanding of possible determinants of electricity conservation, extant literature around the topic was first reviewed. The review revealed that most energy conservation studies revolved around two streams of research. The first is the individualistic stream which is premised on the reasoned action approach generally explained by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The second is the altruistic stream of research, which is derived from the norm activation approach developed in the Norm Activation Model (NAM). With the aim of holistically understanding the determinants of electricity conservation, this study combined the individualistic and altruism approaches, and added economic and socio-demographical moderators to propose an integrated conceptual model. The model encapsulated social, psychological, economic and demographic factors to help explain the decision to conserve electricity in households..
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