Impact of Personal Values on Political Consumption: The moderating role of interpersonal influence in social media

This study aims to analyze the moderating effect of interpersonal influence in social media on the relationship between personal values and political consumption. Through a survey of 206 respondents, the results of linear regression analysis showed that the values of self-transcendence and openness to change are positively related to political consumption, whereas self-promotion has a negative relation. The results also showed that interpersonal influence in social media has a critical moderating effect since (i) amplifies political consumption of people with self-transcendence values and (ii) increases the political consumption of people with self-promotion values. This research expands the literature on consumer behavior by showing that personal values on political consumption depend on the individual's susceptibility to being influenced by social media.

POLICY OF CHINA'S DEBT-TRAP DIPLOMACY: The Influence Of Media In Forming Community Political Opinions

The term debt-trap or Chinese debt trap originated from the introduction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) policy by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 which aims to connect the Eurasian economy with infrastructure, trade, and investment. Debt trap diplomacy is related to the cases that occurred in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In Indonesia, the policy on cooperation projects in the infrastructure sector existed before the BRI policy was signed and then increasingly under the BRI banner. However, if seen from the SULNI June 2020 data, the value of Indonesia's debt to China is around 1% and the cooperation is mostly in the field of productive infrastructure. If the policy of Indonesia-China cooperation is carried out properly and continues to be introspective both inside and outside, then development funding under the BRI banner can produce good results and can avoid debt bondage. In Indonesia, where most of the people have negative sentiments towards Chinese policies, this often happens and is framed for political consumption which is disposed of to the public through mass media and then used to lead opinions through discussions on social media.

Political Activism in Serbia

The authors examine the characteristics and factors shaping political activism in Serbia. Their analysis is based on a national representative sample (N = 2,211). Their research findings show that in general, Serbian citizens are more inclined to pursue certain unconventional or newer forms of political activism such as ethical and political consumption and petition-signing than older forms of political participation. Certain traditional political activities are still practised, such as membership of political parties and making direct contact with politicians, while newer ones like occupation of public spaces and protest activities are relatively rare. The analyses demonstrate that participation in both traditional and newer forms of politics becomes more likely as resources available to individuals increase, both economic and educational. Traditional forms of political participation tend to be increasingly preferred as people become older, while the unconventional forms are more popular among the younger generation.

“Very much alive and very much under threat”: Chasing the Coffee-Flavored American Dream in Dave Eggers’s Monk of Mokha

This essay examines the manner in which Dave Eggers’s recent work of literary nonfiction, The Monk of Mokha (2018), sets out to amplify the voices of the marginalized by chronicling the adventures of a young Yemeni-American in search of the best coffee in the world. This takes the protagonist from the infamous neighborhood of his birth in San Francisco, “a valley of desperation in a city of towering wealth,” to his trials and tribulations in the war-torn homeland of Yemen. I will argue that the narrative, which blurs the lines between fiction and nonfiction and combines history, politics, biography and thriller, highlights the American entrepreneurial zeal and contagious exuberance which still feed the immigrant American Dream and proves that social mobility in the United States is still attainable, sometimes as a result of chasing the world’s most dangerous cup of coffee. Moreover, I argue that the protagonist’s endeavor can be read within the larger context of contemporary political consumption as an example of social justice activism and ethics-driven buying.

Politics on the consumer side: The role of end-users in shaping the Nigerian electricity market.

<p>This paper explores politics on the consumer side and how they shape the electricity market within the Nigerian context. Using mixed method approach, quantitative data from news reports and government records, together with informal interviews of some targeted energy consumers were used to gain understanding on the motives of political consumption in Nigeria’s electricity sector. The study reveals that there are four salient energy consumer groups in Nigeria categorized based on their willingness-to-pay and ability-to-pay for electricity bills. The study further reveals the origins and evolution of unwillingness-to-pay for electricity by certain consumer groups and their impact on the workings and development of the Nigerian electricity market. The study concludes by stressing the importance of value-added services by energy businesses as a way to start to engage with customers which leads to the establishment of trust and a gradual transition to a customer-driven energy future.</p>

Politics on the consumer side: The role of end-users in shaping the Nigerian electricity market.

<p>This paper explores politics on the consumer side and how they shape the electricity market within the Nigerian context. Using mixed method approach, quantitative data from news reports and government records, together with informal interviews of some targeted energy consumers were used to gain understanding on the motives of political consumption in Nigeria’s electricity sector. The study reveals that there are four salient energy consumer groups in Nigeria categorized based on their willingness-to-pay and ability-to-pay for electricity bills. The study further reveals the origins and evolution of unwillingness-to-pay for electricity by certain consumer groups and their impact on the workings and development of the Nigerian electricity market. The study concludes by stressing the importance of value-added services by energy businesses as a way to start to engage with customers which leads to the establishment of trust and a gradual transition to a customer-driven energy future.</p>

Consumer boycott amid conflict: The situated agency of political consumers in the occupied Palestinian territory

Participation is central to the success of political consumption movements. To date, consumer research has explored participation from the lens of the individual consumer activist. In this article we argue that such actor-centric approaches that equate individual motivation and willingness of potential consumer activists with likely participation are limited because they imply consumer freedom and agency irrespective of context. By exploring political consumption amid conflict, we illustrate how a particular setting frames the behaviours and decision-making of political consumers. Drawing on findings from a study of consumer boycott as part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign in the West Bank (occupied Palestinian territory), we outline a set of market and societal barriers that frame the participation of potential boycotters. We show how these political, economic and sociocultural factors influence the range of possible actions for consumers and make participation more problematic, if not impossible. The findings of this study call for a need to re-evaluate how political consumption can be an oppositional or transformational practice, and support recent calls for a consideration of the roles of agency and power in consumption. To this effect, we propose the concept of ‘situated agency’ to analyse participation in political consumption that moves beyond actor-centric explanations. We hope such reconsiderations will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of participation in political consumption across different consumption contexts.