Issue 47, 2022
Articles
Associating Management Effectiveness Scores to Conservation Activities: A Study of Gbele Resource Reserve, Ghana
Abstract
The study was designed to understand how the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) scores in a Protected Area (PA) were influenced by conservation activities. Data were collected from documents on major conservation activities of the PA. Conservation outputs indicators of annual numbers of patrols organized, mammal and Roan Antelope observed, illegal activities recorded, offenders arrested and livelihood beneficiaries were related to the METT scores in Spearman correlation tests. There were no statistically significant relationships between each of the METT elements and number of patrols, mammals and Roan Antelope observations. However, Illegal activities, offenders arrested and livelihood beneficiaries strongly correlated positively with all the elements. Again, Pearson correlation tests among patrols, illegal activities and mammals observed were not statistically significant. Results indicated the PA socio-economic benefits to local communities was positive. However, management has to eliminate illegal logging that suggestively caused decline in mammal observations (=2895.6, Std.=867.7, Range=2507).
The antecedents of green purchase behaviour of Indian households
Environmental friendly products and packaging are necessary for survival and competing in the current markets. This paper examines the effect of green skepticism on green purchase intentions in the context of Indian households. The study proposed a model with relationships between the antecedents of green purchase intentions. The primary data (n345) is collected through a structured self-administered questionnaire, establishing validity and reliability through confirmative factor analysis (CFA). The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) support that green skepticism does not affect green purchase intentions directly but through environmental knowledge and concern. Environmental knowledge and concern have a robust direct positive effect on green purchase intentions. The study summarizes consumer skepticism as an essential indirect input to green purchase behaviour. The research contributes to the marketing literature by supporting the contention that consumer skepticism plays a vital role in green purchase behaviour and added further evidence.
A greener world through Collaborative Consumption of Apparel: An Exploratory Study of consumers’ perception and preferences
Fast fashion and overconsumption have contributed to the increase in apparel waste, raising concerns for the environment. Collaborative consumption can give the solution to ecological anxiety around apparel manufacturing by encouraging recycle and reuse of existing goods thereby reducing landfill waste. Consumer orientation such as fashion awareness and magnificence realization would be less characterized in second-hand apparel utilization. Companies in the apparel industry trying to find innovative sustainable business models may look around collaborative consumption as a potential path to achieve market competence along with adequacy and sustainability. The review of literature on collaborative consumption along with second-hand apparel use was analyzed to understand the relevant issues for the industry, marketers, and consumers to adopt the consumption of sustainable fashion. The study through a primary survey explores the possibility of adopting collaborative consumption in apparel. The study also provides insight into the perception and preferences of consumers towards the collaborative consumption of apparel.
Reality Check on a Purported Global Sand Shortage: Sensationalism Extrapolated from Isolated Occurrences to Global Phenomena
Since 2013, there has been a proliferation of opinion pieces pertaining to a global shortage of sand. Because of the current volume of such articles, the situation is taken as fact and industries like fiberglass insulation manufacturers are being criticized for exploiting the earth’s dwindling supply of sand. Research has shown that these are sensationalized headlines (rather than actual scientific reporting) and they are proliferating because they benefit author of opinion and social media content. The genesis of the popular sand shortage story can be traced to a 2013 documentary, Sand Wars, and an unintentional foundational basis for the issue derived from a short discussion on international trading and island building in the book, Sand, The Never-Ending Story. Extensive research conducted for this article confirms that there is no general, worldwide shortage of sand; instead, there are only isolated shortages in some areas outside the US. Most importantly, the sand that is the subject of the purported global sand shortage stories is not the same sand (industrial sand) that is used by the fiberglass industry. Finally, that industry’s use of industrial sand has declined over time as it increases the use of recycled glass cullet as a sand substitute.
Reviews
Review of Rewilding: India’s Experiments in Saving Nature
Rewilding: India’s Experiments in Saving Nature by Bahar Dutt is an important contribution to the literature on attempts to reverse the well-documented loss of species. Dutt, an environmental journalist, focuses on small-scale projects in India that aim to ‘rewild’ areas that have lost their native species. While there is a wide and growing body of literature on environmental and ecological degradation and biodiversity loss, what sets this book apart is that the message at the end is a hopeful one—ending with solutions that can reverse global species loss. The projects described are small and localized, relating stories of people bringing back indigenous ecosystems in a range of communities.
Review: Studies in Symbolic Interaction
Book Review