30 pages., via online journal., Information communication technology (ICT) and environmental innovation (EI) are
relevant waves of the ongoing technological revolution. We study the
complementarity in innovation adoption to test the research hypothesis that the higher
the diffusion and intensity of usage of ICT and EI, the higher a firm’s productivity
performance might be. However, it is not certain that the use of different innovations
stemming from different innovation paths generates higher productivity. To test our
hypothesis, we use original survey data concerning manufacturing firms in Northeast
Italy including detailed information on both ICT and EI. Empirical evidence shows
that there are still wide margins to improve the integration between EI and ICT in
order to exploit their potential benefits on productivity. The awareness of specific
synergies seems to mainly characterise the heavy polluting firms that are subject to
more stringent environmental constraints, while some trade-offs tend to emerge for
the remaining firms.
Via Online Journal, Extension is challenged with meeting the needs of a variety of stakeholders. As the country becomes
more urban, Extension may need to adapt programming to reach new clients. Having an
understanding about what, when, and how urban food producers gather information is important
to address their needs. Information that is relevant, up-to-date, and meets clients’ needs, enables
their ability to adopt new ideas and innovative technologies, providing more opportunities for
success. A mixed-method research design explored the information needs and information-seeking
behavior of urban food producers in Columbus, Ohio. Urban food producers in this study most
needed information to increase food production. Respondents preferred to receive information
from the Internet and other electronic media over conventional information sources. This group of
urban producers trusted information from university and Extension sources, but expressed mixed
opinions about their personal experiences with OSU Extension.
14 pages., One of the bedrock of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is eradication of poverty and hunger. In an attempt to actualize this goal, the role of public libraries in information provision to agricultural extension agents in Nigeria becomes paramount. This paper discusses provision of information to agricultural extension agents in a developing country. It starts with the concept of extension agents and the essence of information provision to them. It further discusses types, sources and challenges of public libraries in information provision to agricultural extension workers in a developing country. Some of the challenges are as follows: poor funding of public libraries, demotivated staff, and so on. Based on these discussions, the paper recommended adequate training and retraining of staff, adequate funding of public libraries by the federal, state and local government, the revitalization of the abandoned mobile library services among others. The paper therefore concludes that information provision to agricultural extension agents by public library is very crucial for national development. The current state of poverty, hunger and lack in Nigeria and some other African countries could be reduced to a great extent if current, relevant and up-to-date information are provided by libraries to the concerned agencies.
USA: Two Sides North America, Inc., Chicago, Illinois.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 142 Document Number: D11533
Notes:
1 page., Online from publisher website. 1 page., Author discussed paper as a "natural fit for the circular economy model," in which recyclable paper-based materials are replacing pollution-oriented plastic packaging as companies look for more sustainable ways to produce their products.
15 pages., Article #: 4690, via online journal., As with environment and sustainable development, there has been a rapid rise in the
worldwide consumption of organic foods over the last years, as well as the quickly growing potential
of organic markets in China, and their direct influence on consumer health awareness and social
opinion. This study provides insights into Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward organic foods and
evaluates purchase intention’s impact as a mediator in the relationship between external and internal
factors on purchase intention. This empirical study is based on an online questionnaire using a sample
of 1421 Chinese consumers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used as the main practical
approach for data analysis, and six hypotheses were examined. The results show that a more positive
attitude on the part of consumers toward organic foods will further reinforce their purchasing
intentions, whereas, there was no significant impact of marketing price and communication on
consumers’ attitudes toward organic foods. Furthermore, the results show that intention was a
full or a whole mediator among the three exogenous constructs of environment awareness, health
consciousness, and subjective norms. Based on the findings, marketing communication strategies
should concentrate on offering more value to consumers regarding the features of nutritional value.
Long-term environment friendliness, health benefits, and social status symbols should be assumed to
enhance consumers’ purchase intention in the organic foods industry.
11 pages., via online journal., Consumer surveys revealed positive attitudes towards organic wine in large consumer segments. Health, environmental and quality benefits were stated most often as drivers for purchase decisions. However, sales data show that the market share for organic wine is still far below 10% compared to the total wine market in all countries. Obviously, there is a gap between consumers’ attitudes and real purchase behaviour in daily decisions. So far, it is not clear whether there is congruence between consumers’ attitudes and their purchase behaviour and if the attitude-behaviour-gap differs among consumer segments. Consequently, the paper at hand explores the attitude-behaviour-gap with household panel data from the GfK Group by means of a cluster analysis. The results show that even though expenditure shares for organic wine were at a low level, attitudes were in line with purchase behaviour for five out of six clusters. For example, consumers who had the highest expenditure share for organic wine showed strong pro-environmental attitudes and a preference for sustainable products. Therefore, comprehensive communication about sustainability issues, which also includes social aspects, could help to further develop the organic wine market and lead to higher market shares. However, for the low-income consumer cluster, the price of organic wine seemed to be an effective barrier despite their positive attitudes towards environmentalism. Future studies need to consider that the extent of the attitude-behaviour-gap is segment specific.
Cahyono, Edi Dwi (author) and Socio-Economic Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Brawijaya,
Malang, Indonesia
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2018-12-05
Published:
Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 114 Document Number: D10995
Notes:
12 pages., Online ISBN: 978-981-13-2005-7
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-2004-0, In: Dutta M., Zapata D. (eds) Communicating for Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, It is understood that an effective communication approach might empower society, including the marginalized one. Nevertheless, for the sake of modernization, development agencies tend to administer a conventional top-down communication approach. This approach fails to stimulate capacities of marginal communities, causing social inequality. Therefore, this chapter demonstrates an experience of implementing an alternative approach, known as participatory communication with strong cultured-centered perspectives. A series of interactive extension or facilitation activities is described. The activities were aimed to conserve rare rice varieties and the unique farming practices in an indigenous community’s areas in the eastern region of Java Island. As a result, the farmers were more aware of the values of, and committed to conserve the endangered seed varieties and the related indigenous knowledge and practices; they were also willing to employ their indigenous institution as medium for information exchange regarding the farming system. Moreover, this project is relevant because the local public administration has been paying close attention to indigenous lifestyles for agro-eco tourism attractions recently. The project results suggest that the approach is appropriate to create social change at various levels. It is expected that our experiences will inspire readers to employ the strategic communication approach to empower marginalized communities as a way to achieve sustainable social change/development.
