No abstract

Ethnic diversity is a major trend in the Unite d States with Asian Americans constituting a rapidly growing percentage of the population. Consequently, acculturation among Asian-Americans is an important issue since ethnic diversity both offers cultural richness and contributes to challenges for educational systems, public health services, and entities c oncerned with consumer practices. The S uinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation (SL-ASIA) Scale was tested with a non-student, random sample (N = 124) comprised of Chinese-and F ilipino-Americans aged 18 and ov er who lived in San Francisco. Resulting data confirmed results of a n initial study of the SL-ASIA; the test scores resulted in acceptable reliability measures and the instrum ent contains items which are promising for a ccurate measurement of accult uration level among Asian-American populations.

Retailers may lose profits as a result of shoplifting and other unethical consumer behaviour. Research focusing on consumer ethical decision making is needed. Information provided by 1117 undergraduate students from universities within the US revealed that women are less accepting of unethical consumer behaviour than men. Subjects who reported that they very consistently follow the teachings of their primary faith are less accepting of unethical consumer behaviour than subjects who reported that they do not very consistently follow the teachings of their primary faith. Relationships between consumer ethical response scores and other demographic characteristics are discussed.

Historically, textile laboratory content has been delivered via a traditional approach called expository instruction and was designed to allow large numbers of students to perform activities simultaneously within a short time. An innovative learning method, problem-based learning (PBL), has been successful in teaching non-biological sciences. Evidence suggests multimedia learning environments facilitate the development of independent, self-regulated thinking. To evaluate the potential for PBL and multimedia as instructional strategies in the textile laboratory, a 2X2 factorial design with a quasi-experimental approach was used. One factor, at two levels, was the use and non-use of multimedia laboratory materials; the second, at two levels, was the instructional approach, PBL and expository. A total of 155 students in four sections participated for a total of eight sections across two semesters. Based on mean section grade point averages, the two treatments (PBL and multimedia) had a positive eff ect.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate young adult consumers' (i.e. university undergraduates') evaluations of consumer behavior scenarios as ethical or unethical in relation to the respondents' philosophies of human nature. Design/methodology/approach -An existing ethical decision making model in marketing was applied to consumer ethical decision-making. Based upon the model, the marketer's solution to ethical dilemmas is influenced by factors such as attitudes. This study focused on a specific type of attitude (philosophies of human nature). Subjects completed a questionnaire that contained philosophies of human nature (PHN) items and three consumer behavior scenarios. Factor analysis was conducted on the PHN scale to assist in factoring items into subscales. One-way analysis of variance was used to determine if a relationship existed between consumer ethical response scores and responses to the PHN scale. Findings -For two of the PHN factors, the consumer ethical response scores differed significantly among the low, moderate, and high PHN groups. Subjects who were less believing that people behave dishonestly for personal gain had higher ethical response scores in all of the scenarios than subjects who were more believing. Subjects who were less believing that people will stand by their convictions had higher ethical response scores in the "returned garment after use" scenario than subjects who were more believing. Originality/value -This study is one of a few that addresses variables related to how consumers make ethically related decisions and the results can be useful to employers in the apparel industry when screening job applicants.