Suchergebnisse

A field study collecting behavioral data was conducted to investigate effects of behavioral interventions, commonly known as nudges, in promoting the consumption of organic fruits and vegetables. Consumption, both organically and conventionally produced fruits and vegetables, was measured in a grocery store during 4 days (1 day every other week) where consumers were exposed to informational messages in combination with either emotional images or social norm messages. Measurements of daily consumption without exposure to nudges were carried out during four other days (1 day every other week, alternated with the nudging days). The results showed no effect of the nudging strategy; instead, it pointed to the importance of the price as a determinant of buying decisions. Buying ecological alternatives was associated with lower price differences between the ecological and non-ecological alternatives. We conclude that combined nudges and collected psychological data from participants may contribute to more successful nudging interventions. Some political measures in balancing the price difference between organically and conventionally produced products might also be interesting strategies in order to promote the consumption of organic fruits and vegetables.

Using a Pavlovian procedure, human subjects were conditioned to pictures of angry faces with a mild electric shock as the unconditioned stimulus. They were then tested with backward masking conditions preventing conscious recognition of the facial stimuli. In the first experiment a shock followed a particular nonmasked angry face which was exposed among many other faces. Although the subjects did not rate this face as familiar in a subsequent test when is was presented masked among other masked and nonmasked faces, it elicited larger skin conductance responses than did nonshocked control faces. This dissociation between explicit recognition and implicit skin conductance differentiation was replicated in the second experiment, in which the subjects rated their shock expectancy. Although conditioning resulted in much better differentiation between conditioned and control faces during nonmasked than masked test-trials, skin conductance differentiation did not differ between the two masking conditions.

The flood pulse, as well as anthropogenic impacts, may shape the patterns of zooplankton communities. We evaluated the influence of bauxite tailings and water levels on zooplankton at sampling times precisely defined according to the water level. Our study area was Batata Lake, an Amazonian floodplain lake impacted by bauxite tailings. Zooplankton was sampled for seven years, four times a year, at two stations, one natural and the other impacted by bauxite tailings. Zooplankton was identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level. Differences in richness and densities between periods and stations were evaluated with a two-way ANOVA. An indicator species analysis was performed to assign species to sampling stations. Community richness was lower at low water and higher at high water, whereas densities showed the opposite result. Only one species was identified as an indicator, highlighting that the zooplankton composition in natural and impacted areas was similar. Densities were also similar at these stations, except for cladocerans, which showed higher densities at the impacted station. The use of samples taken at precisely defined flood pulse periods yielded expected but refined results, as the samples were based on a precise relationship with water levels that previous studies did not include.