Ethical fashion dimensions: pictorial and auditory depictions through three cultural perspectives

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey Carey ◽  
Marie-Cécile Cervellon

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide the results of an exploratory study comparing attitudes of young fashion conscious consumers towards ethical fashion in Canada, France and the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The methods used in this research were qualitative with a mix of interviews and focus groups and a new application of a visual method widely used within design and fashion environments, the mood board. The study is based within the contrast of a growing trend towards sustainability and the rise of fast fashion where consumers are increasingly demanding cheaper items. The research is also grounded in cross-cultural research where the comparison of data emanating from different cultures and languages presents specific dilemmas for researchers. Findings – Results indicated that there were notable differences in the perception of ethical fashion between the respondents from these three cultures. In the representation and appeal of this fashion segment, in terms of its perceived availability, the transfer of meaning connected with the observation of higher price points and in the use of ethical purchases in the fashion arena as an offset or redemption for unethical behaviour in other contexts. Originality/value – The originality of this paper lies in the innovative use of the visual qualitative methods which contributes to the debate concerning the research methods associated with cross-cultural research and extends the restricted body of literature which compares cultural attitudes in this area by offering key insights into the complex issues surrounding ethical fashion consumption.

Author(s):  
René T. Proyer ◽  
Willibald Ruch ◽  
Numan S. Ali ◽  
Hmoud S. Al-Olimat ◽  
Toshihiko Amemiya ◽  
...  

AbstractThe current study examines whether the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia) can be assessed reliably and validly by means of a self-report instrument in different countries of the world. All items of the GELOPH (Ruch and Titze, GELOPH〈46〉, University of Düsseldorf, 1998; Ruch and Proyer, Swiss Journal of Psychology 67:19–27, 2008b) were translated to the local language of the collaborator (42 languages in total). In total, 22,610 participants in 93 samples from 73 countries completed the GELOPH. Across all samples the reliability of the 15-item questionnaire was high (mean alpha of .85) and in all samples the scales appeared to be unidimensional. The endorsement rates for the items ranged from 1.31% through 80.00% to a single item. Variations in the mean scores of the items were more strongly related to the culture in a country and not to the language in which the data were collected. This was also supported by a multidimensional scaling analysis with standardized mean scores of the items from the GELOPH〈15〉. This analysis identified two dimensions that further helped explaining the data (i.e., insecure vs. intense avoidant-restrictive and low vs. high suspicious tendencies towards the laughter of others). Furthermore, multiple samples derived from one country tended to be (with a few exceptions) highly similar. The study shows that gelotophobia can be assessed reliably by means of a self-report instrument in cross-cultural research. This study enables further studies of the fear of being laughed at with regard to differences in the prevalence and putative causes of gelotophobia in comparisons to different cultures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1332
Author(s):  
Lei Wang ◽  
Bing Han ◽  
Guofei Xu

This article puts Chinese Mulan and Disney Mulan's plots as the starting point, analyzes of the adaptation of the plots to show the different cultural significance given by different nationalities. The purpose of this paper is to research the cultural differences reflected in the films made by Hua Mulan in different countries. In this era of globalization, and in the face of different cultures, only by taking its essence and its dross will produce masterpieces that attract worldwide attention. There are indeed many cultural differences between the Chinese film Mulan and the American film Mulan. After analyzing the reasons for the differences, this study summarizes the enlightenment of these differences to cross-cultural research and shows some views.


2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Barnartt

AbstractThis paper examines political protests related to disability issues which occurred since 1970. It examines almost 700 protests outside the US and over 1200 within the US. The data come from media reports and organization websites. Results show that US protests increased after 1984 while non-US protests increased substantially after 1989. The largest numbers of non-US protests occurred in the UK and Canada. US protests are proportionally more likely than non-US protests to be cross-disability or to relate to mobility impairments, while outside of the US disability-specific protests, especially those related to blindness and deafness, are more common. American protests are more likely to target governments as opposed to non-governmental targets than were non-US protests. Factors relating to disability as well as methodological limitations are considered in explaining these differences.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Beard

Purpose When advertising historians began searching for substantial collections and archives of historical advertisements and marketing ephemera in the 1970s, some reported such holdings were rare. This paper aims to report the findings of the first systematic attempt to assess the scope and research value of the world’s archives and collections devoted to advertising and marketing ephemera. Design/methodology/approach Searches conducted online of the holdings of museums, libraries and the internet led to the identification and description of 179 archives and collections of historical significance for historians of marketing and advertising, as well as researchers interested in many other topics and disciplines. Findings The lists of archives and collections resulting from the research reported in this article represent the most complete collection of such sources available. Identified are the world’s oldest and largest collections of advertising and ephemera. Also identified are quite extraordinary collections of historically unique records and artifacts. Research limitations/implications The online searches continued until a point of redundancy was reached and no new archives or collections meeting the search criteria emerged. There remains the likelihood, however, that other archives and collections exist, especially in non-Western countries. Originality/value The findings make valuable contributions to the work of historians and other scholars by encouraging more global and cross-cultural research and historical analyses of trends and themes in professional practices in marketing and advertising and their consequences over a longer period than previously studied.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 109-112
Author(s):  
V. L. Malakhova

This paper gives a brief summary of the work of the 7 th International Scientific Interdisciplinary Conference on Research and Methodology “Functional Aspects of Intercultural Communication. Translation and Interpreting Issues” held by RUDN University on November 20, 2020. Representatives of different countries took part in the conference: Russia, the UK, the USA, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, Paraguay, and Tunisia. The conference aims to reveal the diversity of functional aspects of intercultural communication within the process of world education integration, focusing on translation and interpreting issues in today’s society. The theoretical and applied problems raised at the conference are pressing and relevant to the study of modern professional cross-cultural discourse.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Makoto Nakayama ◽  
Yun Wan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to call researchers’ attention to cross-cultural research using online consumer reviews and multilingual textual analysis. Design/methodology/approach The authors discuss a selected literature review and the highlight of the four studies that show cross-cultural differences in online reviews on ethnic restaurants. Findings Applying multilingual textual analysis could prompt new venues to verify and expand future cross-cultural research in tourism and hospitality. Originality/value The paper introduces examples of multilingual textual analysis used for cross-cultural studies.


Author(s):  
Detmar Straub ◽  
Karen Loch ◽  
Roberto Evaristo ◽  
Elena Karahanna ◽  
Mark Srite

In reviewing the history of the conceptualization and measurement of “culture,” one quickly realizes that there is wide-ranging and contradictory scholarly opinion about which values, norms, and beliefs should be measured to represent the concept of “culture.” We explore an alternate theory-based view of culture via social identity theory (SIT), which suggests that each individual is influenced by plethora of cultures and sub-cultures–some ethnic, some national, and some organizational. In IS research, the culture of subjects and respondents is problematic because it is typically an overly simplistic categorization. IS research nearly always assumes that an individual living in a particular place and time belongs to a single “culture,” e.g., someone living in Egypt is automatically classified as being a member of the Egyptian culture, or, more broadly, the Arab culture. This dearth of clear concepts and measures for “culture” may explain why cross-cultural research has been so exceedingly difficult to conduct. It may also explain why it has been hard to develop and refine theories. Moreover, it may give insight into why reasonable explained variance in predictive models has not been higher. Finally, it is very possible that much cross-cultural business research could be rightly accused of advancing an “ecological fallacy” by not recognizing the individual makeup of persons with respect to culture. Using SIT (or other theory bases) as grounding for cultural research programs implies the use of certain methodological approaches. Each study would have to establish the salient “cultures” in each individual’s background and include these different “cultures” as independent variables in positivist research. In qualitative research, there would need to be an equally rigorous assessment of the cultural identifiers of each individual.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Berry

Purpose – Psychology, both as science and practice, has been largely developed in one cultural area of the world: Europe and North America. As a result, the discipline is culture-bound, limited in its origins, concepts, and empirical findings to only this small portion of the world. The discipline is also culture-blind, largely ignoring the influence of the role of culture in shaping the development and display of human behaviour. These limitations have resulted in the dominant position of a Western Academic Scientific Psychology (WASP) in relation to other cultural perspectives on human behaviour. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on concepts and strategies in psychology (particularly cross-cultural and intercultural psychology) to propose some remedies to problems arising from the dominant WASP position. For example, of what relevance is such a limited perspective to understanding human activity in other cultures; and how can such a limited understanding serve the purpose of effective intercultural interactions? Findings – The eventual goal is to achieve a global psychology that incorporates concepts and findings from societies and cultures from all parts of the world, one that will permit a valid understanding of people within their cultures, and permit effective intercultural across cultures. Originality/value – The paper presents some criticisms of the dominant western psychology (WASP), and proposes that the achievement of a more global psychology may be within reach if some concepts and methods now available in psychology from both the dominant western sources and from those working in the rest of the world are used.


2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad R. Huber ◽  
William F. Danaher ◽  
William L. Breedlove

This article refines and extends previous cross-cultural research on marriage transactions (e.g., bride wealth, dowry). The authors begin by expanding the standard cross-cultural typology of marriage transactions. They identify six additional kinds of transactions (e.g., groom wealth, groom service) and show that many societies of the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) probability sample have two or more types of transactions. Next, the authors take a Darwinian approach to marriage transactions. Differences in male and female reproductive strategies account for the general pattern of the bride’s family materially benefitting from marriage at the expense of the groom’s family. Kin selection theory explains why wealth devolves from the parents of the couple to the bride and groom. Finally, the authors examine evidence that the type of kin relied on by members of a society and the prevalence of polygyny also influence marriage transactions in predictable ways.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Cameron

Purpose In view of the emphasis in cross-cultural research on negative factors such as cultural misfit, cultural distance, and the liability of foreignness, the purpose of this paper is to offer one explanation for why this is the case and highlight the advantages of giving at least equal emphasis to research on positive factors. Three propositions are offered to guide future cross-cultural research. Design/methodology/approach Summaries of empirical studies on the inherent inclinations of human systems toward the negative, as well as inclinations toward the positive, produce explanations for each of these biases and their implications for cross-cultural scholarship. Findings By prioritizing positive factors instead of negative factors, individuals and organizations perform at much higher levels than when the reverse is the case. Virtuous practices, in particular, are associated with positively deviant performance. Inasmuch as virtuousness is universally valued, its emphasis can address some of the liabilities of difference inherent in cross-cultural contexts. Originality/value The three propositions offered in the paper explain why negative biases exist, how positive biases provide an advantage to individuals and organizations, and highlight future directions for cross-cultural research. Social scientists have been challenged to help enable 51 percent of the world’s population to flourish by mid-century, and prioritizing positive cross-cultural phenomena is one prescription for achieving that objective.


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