Academic literature on the topic 'Consumer education. Clothing and dress'

AbstractQuality is the essence of any product for consumer satisfaction. However, different people have different perception of quality. Eventually the definition of quality varies from product to product and thus it is much more complex in textile clothing material evaluation. The end use application of a specific clothing material determines what should be the parameters of quality evaluation. Thus, the evaluation based on subjective assessment becomes unpredictable and unquantifiable. Quality for dress materials is not simply a physical parameter but something called as psycho-physical parameter. In recent times, many objective evaluation systems have been developed to evaluate the apparel grade textile materials with regard to their quality parameters. However, the evaluation does not involve enough statistical treatment of data so as to obtain a parametric weighted characterization of complex quality. The current work deals with parametric approach to complex quality evaluation based on multicriteria decision-making approach for ladies dress materials. The ladies dress materials are of numerous varieties and choices across the globe. The selection and marketing of these kinds of textile materials need to be given proper emphasis as it depends not only on physical parameters but also on climate, geography, ethnic group, market trend, age group, gender, and many such complex parameters, which are not quantifiable in absolute terms. In this study, woven fabrics used for ladies dress materials are collected from the market and they were evaluated for the consumer-oriented property parameters. A parametric approach is adopted to quantify the overall quality of these dress materials. Various objective techniques were used to evaluate the comfort and esthetic parameters. A complex quality index (CQI) was estimated with weighted combination of all the contributing parameters and total quality index was calculated. Selected consumers with different education level, age, and gender were interviewed to get a statistic of their opinion about quality parameters preferred by them. This complex quality index/degree of satisfaction shows very high correlation with subjective judgment. A CQI can be evaluated for each kind of clothing material looking into their applications.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore whether religiosity impacts the clothing style Moroccan Muslim women choose to wear in the public setting. Design/methodology/approach – The framework chosen for this study was the theory of planned behaviour. Data were gathered by a questionnaire administered to 950 Muslim women located throughout in Morocco. Findings – Results indicate that a woman’s religiosity cannot be determined simply by what she wears, with age, marital status and education found to have far greater impact on a woman’s choice of clothing than religiosity. Practical implications – In countries where women have freedom to choose what they wear, Muslims should not be treated homogeneously, but rather as a heterogeneous segment with different social classes, different sects and different ways of expressing and experiencing their faith in daily life. Originality/value – Currently there is limited literature that explores the relationship between religiosity and a woman’s choice of dress, outside of the hijab. Moreover, in spite of the significance of religion in the lives of many individuals, its role in consumer choice is not clear. This research provides some clarity within the context of clothing choice for Moroccan Muslim women.

Purpose In the process of designing new clothes, designers should identify specific user groups’ preferences and attitudes toward certain types of design, ascertain the design elements that make clothes popular in the market, and combine these elements to devise the best clothing design scheme. The purpose of this paper is to discover which design elements influence dress purchases and how age affects consumers’ choices in regard to these elements. Design/methodology/approach This study uses conjoint analysis in dress design to provide an effective method for designers to identify consumers’ preferences. First, the important attributes and attribute levels of dress design were determined. Next, the experimental samples for the attitude measurement chart were generated by orthogonal design. Finally, the data of 318 samples were analyzed by conjoint analysis to determine consumers’ preferences. Findings The results revealed that the “silhouette” attribute is the most important decision criterion for dress purchase, followed by the “dress length” attribute. In contrast, the “waistline height” attribute is perceived as least important. The study also identified the dress design features’ preferences of consumers of different ages. According to the results of the analysis, user groups’ preferences and acceptability regarding different design features were revealed, and the favorite dress design portfolio for age-specific consumers was obtained. Originality/value Currently, there is little information in the literature about consumers’ preferences regarding dress design. In this study, the use of conjoint analysis reveals and visualizes complex statistical results. This research approach is also applicable to the design and decision-making processes used for other apparel, and it can help designers better incorporate different users’ needs into clothing design.

3D printing is a well-known technology for creating 3D objects by laying down successive layers of various materials. Among the wide range of applications, fashion industry has adapted these technologies to revolutionize their brands. But due to the unique characteristics of textiles like comfort, flexibility, and so on, attempts have been made to create similar structures as textiles. The work presented here is part of a project to create garments using fused deposition modeling as 3D printing technology. Structures with various geometries are designed and tested with different materials starting from rigid to flexible. As a result, a fully 3D printed dress is created. Selecting this dress as a model, consumer acceptance for 3D printed garments is evaluated realizing an online survey containing 100 respondents. The data gathered show that respondents have knowledge of 3D printing, its advantages and the majority of them would accept wearing a 3D printed dress.

Clothes are central to the ways older bodies are experienced, presented and understood within culture, so that dress forms a significant, though neglected, element in the constitution and experience of old age. Drawing on a range of secondary literature, this article traces how clothing intersects with three key debates in social gerontology, concerning the body, identity and agency. It examines the part played by clothing in the expression of social difference, and explores the role of age-ordering in determining the dress choices of older people, and its enforcement through moral discourses that discipline their bodies. Dress is, however, also an arena for the expression of identity and exercise of agency, and the article discusses how far older people are able to use clothing to resist or redefine the dominant meanings of age. Lastly the paper addresses questions of the changing cultural location of older people, and the role of consumer culture in the production of Third Age identities.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the appearances of Chinese restaurant employees, including gender and the style and color of dress, influence the appetites and additional order intentions of customers. Design/methodology/approach This research implemented questionnaire survey. Consumers in Chinese restaurants of international tourist hotels located in Taipei, Taiwan, were targeted as research objects. After deleting questionnaires with incomplete answers, the researchers obtained 818 valid questionnaires for data analysis. Findings The analysis results indicate that the gender, style of dress and degree of color coordination of a waitperson’s clothing can significantly influence consumer perceptions and feelings. Originality/value The analysis of this study implies that restaurant management should stress professional attendant training. By strengthening training and regulating attendant style, a management team can effectively improve upon their customers’ recognition of a business. This research addresses the influence of different dress style and dress color combinations on consumer appetites and additional order intentions.

School dress codes have been making news as students speak out about the ways the standards appear to them to be unfair, particularly to girls and Black males. Girls’ clothing choices are singled out for being overly revealing and a distraction to boys, while Black males’ choices are perceived as being associated with criminality. The authors surveyed students and interviewed teachers at a midwestern high school to better understand their perspectives on dress code enforcement. The survey found that Black and multiracial students were disproportionately likely to be “coded” (spoken to by a school adult) or disciplined for dress code violations.

Research shows that forms of participation among youth are strongly differentiated and connected with complex meanings and motivations. A growing sector of youth develops political intervention through the adoption of distinctive everyday practices and lifestyles. The article aims to reflect upon dress among young activists involved in political groups. Very little research focuses on this topic, but following studies on everyday politics, the young activists’ clothing could be considered as a form and a field of political participation. This approach, however, seems not to be sufficient to interpret the phenomenon. Taking inspiration from research about youth cultures, the article suggests interpreting youth clothing conjointly as a component of style, as a means for constructing collective identity, and social positioning. The article is based on qualitative interviews collected in Piedmont (Italy). Six main topics have been investigated: 1. Socialization to clothing; 2. clothing of the activists and in their groups; 3. meanings of clothing; 4. relevance of clothing; 5. practices of buying clothes; 6. clothes as consumer goods.

In the European society of the Ancien Régime lifestyle was an effective pointer to the social class to which a family and its members belonged. Social hierarchies were reflected in patterns of consumption: the upper classes had a definite need for ostentation, since lavish spending made their position at the top of the social scale manifest. Clothing had a decisive function in this connection: clothes were undoubtedly the most visible marks of high living, embodying a whole series of status signals – the quality of the cloth, the richness of the accessories, the colours – clearly identifying the social rank of the wearer. Yet a number of recent studies on pre-industrial consumerism have shown that in England – chiefly, but not alone among European societies – a taste and feeling for consumer goods caught on among other social classes besides the upper. It follows that the correspondence between clothing – or more broadly, a consumer pattern – on the one hand, and rank, on the other, is not something one can apply mechanically. The web of connections between dress and social hierarchy in early modern Europe was highly complex and varied, as the ensuing remarks briefly suggest.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Human Environment: Design Management, 2008.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 8, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 340-352). Also issued in print.

Female teenagers have been found to be the most affluent teens according to the Rand Youth Poll's nationwide survey. The survey finds the average weekly income from female teens age 16 to 19 to be $82, with $50 from earnings and the balance from their allowances. Other findings from the survey indicate that adolescent girls receive more than adolescent males in allowance from parents, as mothers understand the need for the female teen to have the income necessary to purchase clothing and cosmetics. Past research studies have attempted to measure the influence sources on teenagers when purchasing clothing by asking teens to rank different influence sources or by asking the teens who accompany them when shopping. The current research study develops a structural equation model that allows for the comparison of the three predominant influence sources identified in the consumer socialization literature, i.e., parental influence, peer influence, and promotional communications sought out by the teen. To test the model, 206 randomly selected female teenagers completed a mail questionnaire regarding the influences on clothing interest. The female teens were all members of a non-denominational youth group, age 13 to 19, living in the North Texas region. The model derived is only the third model in the marketing literature to examine the consumer socialization process, and the first in fifteen years. Examining the three main influence sources identified from consumer socialization literature, peer, parent, and media sources, the results differ from past models. The female teens perceive parental influence as a negative influence on clothing interest, contrary to past findings. Peers and media are perceived as positive influences on teen clothing interest as in past models. The results signify the need for marketing researchers to continue to investigate the dynamic nature of consumer socialization.

The influence of an individual's dress practices on his/her sense of self has been studied for many years. Courses such as the Dress and Humanity course at Utah State University have been developed to educate students on the impact of dress on society. In this study, students in the Dress and Humanity course were given a pre-course and post-course survey to determine if self-perceptions related to dress practices underwent a change over the duration of the semester. Significant differences were found in the categories of body image, evaluating self-esteem, and communication of self to others. A relationship was found between survey responses and gender, degree of importance of clothing purchases, and how much money participants spent in the 365 days previous to the pre-course survey.

Thesis (DSc (Consumer Science)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
326 leaves on CD format, preliminary i-xix pages and numbered pages 1-210. Includes bibliography, list of tables, figures and appendixes.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research focused on the need of the children’s wear industry in South Africa for sizing systems based on accurate and current body measurement tables developed from the actual measurements of children. The broad objective of this study was to develop standardised measuring methodologies and techniques which would be relevant to the subsequent development of reliable, accurate and comprehensive body measurement tables. These tables could then be implemented as a basis for the development of new sizing systems, as well as new, improved and authentic fit dummy ranges. The literature study served as a point of departure for the planning and execution of the empirical study, focusing on sizing and size designation systems. The study population comprised children representative of three categories, namely age (2 to 14 years), gender (boys and girls) and sector (Black and Non-Black) categories. A convenience sample was selected, representing children from two geographical areas (Western Cape and Gauteng). The empirical study has a three phase structure. The first pilot study aimed at developing standardised measuring equipment, as well as the methodologies and properly recorded guidelines for their implementation. The specific standards according to which subjects were measured and the strict quality control measures implemented to ensure the validity, reliability and accuracy of recorded data, were confirmed during the second pilot study. Based on this, the final study was executed following the guidelines as recorded in the Field Worker Manual. The statistical analysis was done after data capturing during which the data sets were first cleaned up. Secondly, the key measurements for use as a basis for the development of the sizing systems were identified. Based on these, body measurement tables were compiled and age of gender split and growth patterns were analysed for fit dummy prototype development. The new size designation system developed for children’s clothing was successfully implemented as a multi-indicator system, linking height ranges with both age ranges and numerical size indicators. The development of the subsequent new and improved fit dummy prototypes was based on measurements within minimum and maximum values of the body measurements, in order to facilitate the construction of these three-dimensional bodies. It was also possible to develop complete body measurement tables with accurate, and notably irregular, increments between sizes as well as to determine specific growth patterns and separate growth spurts for both boys and girls. This study made new and original as well as more detailed and correct information available concerning the size and shape of the typical South African children’s wear consumer. Using the information contained in the new height based sizing system, retailers have been able to develop a proper set of grade rules for application in product development. The identification and demarcation of important body landmarks facilitated pattern drafting, garment development and fit assessments, resulting in an improved product offering for the typical South African children’s wear consumer. Recommendations regarding further research were formulated, such as comparing the study population categories, namely gender, age and sector. Implications for retailers, inter alia that each retail company could choose how to implement the new height based sizing system and the specific size designation system most suitably for their own consumers and internal systems. The standards set and methodologies implemented in this survey were an improvement on the sizing and fit of children’s wear in the context of South African manufacturers, retailers and consumers.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsing fokus op die behoefte van die Suid-Afrikaanse kinderklerekleinhandelbedryf aan ‘n sisteem van kleregroottes, gebaseer op akkurate en huidige liggaamsmate-tabelle wat ontwikkel is van die werklike mates van kinders. Die oorkoepelende doelstelling van hierdie studie was om gestandaardiseerde meetmetodologieë en -tegnieke te ontwikkel wat relevant is vir die daarstelling van betroubare, akkurate en omvattende liggaamsmate-tabelle, wat dan gebruik kan word as basis vir die nuwe kleregroottesisteem, sowel as om nuwe, verbeterde en oorspronklike figuurmodelreekse te ontwikkel. Die literatuurstudie het gedien as vertrekpunt vir die beplanning en uitvoering van die empiriese studie met die fokus op kleregroottesisteme en kleregrootteaanwysingsisteme. Die kinders in die studiepopulasie het drie kategorieë verteenwoordig: ouderdom (2 tot 14 jaar), geslag (seuns en meisies) en sektor (Swart en Nie-Swart). ‘n Gerieflikheidsteekproef is uit twee geografiese areas (Wes-Kaap en Gauteng) gekies. Die empiriese studie het ‘n drie-fase-struktuur. Die eerste loodsstudie het ten doel gehad om gestandaardiseerde meettoerusting, meetmetodologieë en behoorlik aangetekende implementeringsriglyne daar te stel. Die spesifieke standaarde waarvolgens die proefpersone gemeet is en die implementering van streng kwaliteitbeheermaatreëls wat geldige, betroubare en akkuraat vasgelegde data verseker, is tydens die tweede loodsstudie bevestig. Die finale studie is gebaseer op en uitgevoer volgens die riglyne soos uiteengesit in die Field Worker Manual. Die statistiese analise is gedoen nadat die data vasgelê en skoongemaak is. Vervolgens is sleutelmates geïdentifiseer wat as basis vir die ontwikkeling van kleregroottesisteme kan dien. Volledige liggaamsmate-tabelle is daarna ontwikkel. Die identifisering van die geslagverdelingsouderdom, sowel as die analisering van groeipatrone vir die ontwikkeling van figuurmodelle, is hierop gebaseer. Die nuwe klere-aanwysingsisteme wat ontwikkel is vir kinderklere is suksesvol geïmplementeer as ‘n veelvoudige aanwysingsisteem wat liggaamslengtereekse met ouderdomsreekse en numeriese grootte-aanwysers koppel. Die nuwe en verbeterde figuurmodel-prototipes wat vervolgens ontwikkel is, is gebaseer op minimum en maksimum waardes van die liggaamsmates ten einde die konstruksie van die driedimensionele figure te vergemaklik. Daarbenewens was dit moontlik om volledige liggaamsmate-tabelle met akkurate en opmerklik ongelyke inkremente tussen groottes daar te stel, sowel as om die spesifieke groeipatrone en afsonderlike groeitoenames vir beide seuns en meises te bepaal. Die studie het nuwe en oorspronklike, sowel as meer gedetailleerde en korrekte inligting ten opsigte van die grootte en vorm van die tipiese Suid-Afrikaanse kinderklereverbruiker beskikbaar gestel. Met hierdie nuwe kennis van die liggaamslengte-gebaseerde kleregroottesisteem, is dit nou vir kleinhandelaars moontlik om ‘n volledige stel graderingsreëls daar te stel en in produkontwikkeling toe te pas. Die identifikasie en afbakening van belangrike liggaamsbakens vergemaklik patroon- en klereontwikkeling sowel as die evaluering van die mate waarin dit pas; dit waarborg ‘n verbeterde produk vir die tipiese Suid-Afrikaanse kinderklereverbruiker. Aanbevelings vir verdere navorsing is gemaak, soos ‘n vergelyking van die studiepopulasiekategorieë, naamlik geslag, ouderdom en sektor. Die implikasies vir kleinhandelaars is onder meer dat elke kleinhandelaar kan kies hoe om hierdie nuwe liggaamslengte-gebaseerde kleregroottesisteem te implementer en watter die mees geskikte kleregrootte-aanwysingsisteem vir hul verbruikers en interne sisteme sal wees. Die standaarde wat vir hierdie studie gestel is, sowel as die metodologieë wat geïmplementeer is, is ‘n aansienlike verbetering op die groottes en pas van kinderklere binne die konteks van die Suid-Afrikaanse vervaardigers, kleinhandelaars en verbruikers.

Size information is vital in many consumer contexts, but currently, no central framework or conceptual model exists for a thorough understanding of the underlying process of how consumers interpret size information and form size judgments. Thus, the purpose of this three-paper dissertation is to introduce such a framework, discuss future research directions based on that framework, and pursue a few of these directions in the second and third papers, both of which focus on a vanity sizing context. The resulting work and findings illustrate the process through which consumers go in forming size judgments and collectively present both scholars and practitioners with a common basis for future study and implementation of findings in contexts in which size information is salient.

The purpose of this research was to examine how the intervening variable of comparative well-being (which is how persons view their age, financial resources, and health compared to others of their own age) will enhance the significance of the relationship between selected demographic and psychographic variables and perceived risk. Specifically, the research investigated the structural relationship between comparative well-being in four different statistical models: (1) as an independent predictor of perceived risk; (2) as an intensifier of the psychographic and demographic predictors of perceived risk; (3) as a covariate of perceived risk; and (4) finally, as a jointly dependent variable with perceived risk. This approach was pursued in an effort to enhance the traditional marketing use of demographic and psychographic variables in predictingconsumer buying behavior. The data for this study were gathered as part of a national consumer-panel mail survey utilizing approximately 3,000 households. The research instrument was a self-administered questionnaire which collected demographic, psychographic, and perceived risk information from purchasers of apparel wear. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation analysis, factor analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The findings have identified the importance of how consumers position themselves in society, based on their locus of external involvement (community and social activity) and how satisfactory their position is in their social structure as measured by comparative well-being (perceived age, income, and health). The research results challenge the value of using only age and income as predictor variables for perceived risk, in that no significant relationships were found between age, income, and perceived risk. However, comparative well-being was found to intensify these relationships, in addition to functioning as an independent variable and a covariate in the perceived risk relationship. Also, it was found that respondents with higher degrees of comparative well-being perceived less risk, whereas, more socially active respondents were high-risk perceivers.

The recent emergence of digital creativity that extends beyond the screen and into the physical world, engendering new forms of creative production, has transformed educational and professional fields. From AT&T's bio-tracking clothing to Lady Gaga's smart-hydraulic “Living Dress,” e-textiles infuse fashion with electronics to produce unique and aesthetic effects using new conductive materials, including thread, yarn, paint, and fabrics woven from copper, silver, or other highly conductive fibers. This chapter outlines both the educational and societal implications of these new materials in the field of e-textile creation like consumer-ready e-textile toolkits, high-profile displays of imaginative e-textile creations and an increasing body of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) literature on e-textile design that have emerged in the past decade. It also looks at ways in which e-textiles are transforming new solutions to old and persistent problems of underrepresentation of women and minorities in STEM fields and providing a vehicle in which to rethink teaching and learning in these disciplines.

The development around social class evolvement in sub-Saharan African market dated back to pre-colonial era when traditional African institution operated on the basis of royalty, land ownership, subjugation of weak tribe and superiority of strong and powerful tribes. The advent of slavery and migration of white settlers and traders (slaves and goods) further entrenched social class structure in the system. The advent of colonial rule greatly impacted social class system whereby new strata were created based on the new administrative system that colonial system introduced into sub-Saharan Africa. Largely, acquisition of formal education, salary and wage-collection jobs, business opportunities, western religion, clothing styles and new roles to the traditional chiefs opened doors for new social class strata. Social class has witnessed development and improvement that has further improved marketing system and consumer understanding in the society through design of products and services for the market.

The development around social class evolvement in sub-Saharan African market dated back to pre-colonial era when traditional African institution operated on the basis of royalty, land ownership, subjugation of weak tribe and superiority of strong and powerful tribes. The advent of slavery and migration of white settlers and traders (slaves and goods) further entrenched social class structure in the system. The advent of colonial rule greatly impacted social class system whereby new strata were created based on the new administrative system that colonial system introduced into sub-Saharan Africa. Largely, acquisition of formal education, salary and wage-collection jobs, business opportunities, western religion, clothing styles and new roles to the traditional chiefs opened doors for new social class strata. Social class has witnessed development and improvement that has further improved marketing system and consumer understanding in the society through design of products and services for the market.

The development around social class evolvement in sub-Saharan African market dated back to pre-colonial era when traditional African institution operated on the basis of royalty, land ownership, subjugation of weak tribe, and superiority of strong and powerful tribes. The advent of slavery and migration of white settlers and traders (slaves and goods) further entrenched social class structure in the system. The advent of colonial rule greatly impacted social class system whereby new strata were created based on the new administrative system that colonial system introduced into sub-Saharan Africa. Largely, acquisition of formal education, salary and wage-collection jobs, business opportunities, Western religion, clothing styles, and new roles to the traditional chiefs opened doors for new social class strata. Social class has witnessed development and improvement that has further improved marketing system and consumer understanding in the society through design of products and services for the market.

Sienkiewicz had to dress the characters of Quo vadis in period garments. Their descriptions rarely appear, but they are highly suggestive of how the author understood ancient Rome and tried to recreate it in his work. Sienkiewicz gives detailed descriptions of costumes only when they concern the most important figures in his novel, or if clothing plays an important role in the plot. The rest of the protagonists are treated as collective characters whose clothing is identified only in terms of togas, stolae, or the robes of the poor. Beside the ubiquitous tunic, other Latin names of clothing primarily indicate the status of characters or are mentioned when Sienkiewicz uses clothes to disguise them. In those cases, the ubiquitous tunic receives an adjectival descriptor of colour or shade, which in the world of Quo vadis has a differentiating function. The names of the characters’ outfits have their origins in Roman literature. The terms introduced in the novel allow for an easy recreation of the author’s reading list, which consists of the basic works of a classical education—Cicero, Suetonius, Plutarch, Pliny, Horace, Propertius, Juvenal, Martial. Sometimes Sienkiewicz mixes his classical terminology with those of ecclesiastical Latin, creating an unintendedly humorous effect. However, the writer’s use of costume colour seems to have been inspired by the paintings of Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Henryk Siemiradzki. This chapter will explore the very close relationship between text and paintings, and utilizes Sienkiewicz’s colour coding to pinpoint some of the images on which he drew.

The term HyperReality (HR) was coined by Nobuyoshi Terashima to refer to “the technological capability to intermix virtual reality (VR) with physical reality (PR) and artificial intelligence (AI) with human intelligence (HI)” (Terashima, 2001, p. 4). HR is a technological capability like nanotechnology, human cloning and artificial intelligence. Like them it does not as yet exist in the sense of being clearly demonstrable and publicly available. Like them it is maturing in laboratories where the question “if?” has been replaced by the question “when?” And like them the implications of its appearance as a basic infrastructure technology are profound and merit careful consideration. (Tiffin &Rajasingham, 2001) Because of this, universities, if they are to be universities, will be involved with HR as a medium and subject of instruction and research, and for the storage and development of knowledge (Tiffin & Rajasingham, 2003). The concepts of HyperUniversities, HyperClasses, Hyperschools, and HyperLectures are at the same level of development as the concepts of virtual universities, virtual classes, virtual colleges, and virtual schools in the later part of the 1980s (Tiffin & Rajasingham, 1995). A project on emerging nanotechnology, Consumer Products Inventory contains over 380 products ranging from clothing, home furnishing, medical scanning and diagnostics tools, electronics, computer hardware, scanning microscopes, and so on (http://www.nanotechproject. org/index.php?id=44&action=view). This is the future environment for which universities will need to educate society. HyperReality subsumes virtual reality. HR is only possible because of the development of computer-generated virtual reality, in particular, the development of distributed virtual reality which makes it possible for different people in different places to interact together in the same virtual reality. It was the theoretical application of this capability to education, and especially to university education, that lead to the concept of virtual classes in virtual schools and universities (Tiffin & Rajasingham, 1995). Initial experiments simulated virtual classes by using videoconferencing, audio conferencing, and audiographic conferencing. The emergence of the Internet shifted these ideas from a laboratory stage to institutional development of institutions calling themselves virtual universities and virtual schools, by virtue of being able to bring teachers and students together in classes using telecommunications and computers, instead of public transport and buildings. Today, synchronous and asynchronous virtual classes are conducted using learning management systems (LMS) applications such as Blackboard, Chatterbox, Eluminate, and Lotus LearningSpace on the Internet. Furthermore, highly interactive, reusable learning objects (LOs) that are adaptable in all aspects, and interoperable with other learning objects, are rapidly coming online (Hanisch & Straber, 2003). HypreReality LOs, still in Beta, are being developed. HyperReality also subsumes artificial intelligence. Teaching machines and computers have been used for instruction since the early days of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in the 1960s, albeit with little overall impact on education, especially at the university level. However, the growing capability and ubiquity of AI expert systems and agents, the vast amount of repetitive work involved in teaching, and the growing application of business criteria to the management of education suggest that AI agents, conceivably in avatar form, will be adopted in education, and the place where this will begin is likely to be in the universities.

In an era of consumerism, unsustainable clothing consumption is becoming an essential problem. Problems are related to extensive use of raw materials, energy, water, and labour. There are also bottlenecks with used chemicals in production and labour exploitation issues. Home economics subjects deal with concerns related to textile topics and try to raise awareness of sustainable consumption of textile products. Particularly important is to educate people to have the right knowledge and skills to behave sustainably. The aim of the study was to find out the extent of pre-service teacher trainee’s knowledge on textile topics and to research their behaviour in consumer process. In the pilot study, 69 home economics students participated. The research survey was designed to measure the teacher trainee’s textile literacy. The results indicate problems in the field of theoretical knowledge as well as in terms of sustainable behaviour in the entire chain from purchase to disposal of textiles.

In this study, micro data sets obtained by 2005 and 2009 Household Budget Surveys compiled by Turkish Statistical Institute were used to estimate the parameters of household consumption demand and calculate the income-demand elasticities of consumer goods. Total expenditures of the households in this data set delivered into the following 12 different categories of goods and services. The expenditure share of these different categories of goods and services is the dependent variable of this model. In addition, the total household expenditure, the squared total household expenditure, the household size adjusted in accordance with the OECD equivalence scale and the logarithms of squared household size are the independent variables used in the study. The Seemingly Unrelated Regression Equations (SURE) is used to estimate the Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QAIDS) so as to determine the demand parameters of the main commodity groups. The principal result of the study is that the consumption elasticities of the food and nonalcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, fuel, clothing and footwear, furniture and house appliances, communications, alcoholic beverages, cigarette and tobacco expenditure are less than 1. Therefore, it can be said that these commodity groups are considered to be mandatory goods. On the other hand, the consumption elasticities of the health, transportation, education services, entertainment and culture, restaurants, hotels, patisseries are more than 1. Thus, these commodity groups are considered to be luxury goods. In this regard, the study concludes that Turkey is considered to be a developing country in terms of the consumption characteristics.

Attention to safety and health are of ever-increasing priority to industrial organizations. Good Safety is demanded by stockholders, employees, and the community while increasing injury costs provide additional motivation for safety and health excellence. Safety has always been a strong corporate value of DuPont and a vital part of its culture. As a result, DuPont has become a benchmark in safety and health performance. Since 1990, DuPont has re-engineered itself to meet global competition and address future vision. In the new re-engineered organizational structures, DuPont has also had to re-engineer its safety management systems. A special Discovery Team was chartered by DuPont senior management to determine the “best practices’ for safety and health being used in DuPont best-performing sites. A summary of the findings is presented, and five of the practices are discussed. Excellence in safety and health management is more important today than ever. Public awareness, federal and state regulations, and enlightened management have resulted in a widespread conviction that all employees have the right to work in an environment that will not adversely affect their safety and health. In DuPont, we believe that excellence in safety and health is necessary to achieve global competitiveness, maintain employee loyalty, and be an accepted member of the communities in which we make, handle, use, and transport products. Safety can also be the “catalyst” to achieving excellence in other important business parameters. The organizational and communication skills developed by management, individuals, and teams in safety can be directly applied to other company initiatives. As we look into the 21st Century, we must also recognize that new organizational structures (flatter with empowered teams) will require new safety management techniques and systems in order to maintain continuous improvement in safety performance. Injury costs, which have risen dramatically in the past twenty years, provide another incentive for safety and health excellence. Shown in the Figure 1, injury costs have increased even after correcting for inflation. Many companies have found these costs to be an “invisible drain” on earnings and profitability. In some organizations, significant initiatives have been launched to better manage the workers’ compensation systems. We have found that the ultimate solution is to prevent injuries and incidents before they occur. A globally-respected company, DuPont is regarded as a well-managed, extremely ethical firm that is the benchmark in industrial safety performance. Like many other companies, DuPont has re-engineered itself and downsized its operations since 1985. Through these changes, we have maintained dedication to our principles and developed new techniques to manage in these organizational environments. As a diversified company, our operations involve chemical process facilities, production line operations, field activities, and sales and distribution of materials. Our customer base is almost entirely industrial and yet we still maintain a high level of consumer awareness and positive perception. The DuPont concern for safety dates back to the early 1800s and the first days of the company. In 1802 E.I. DuPont, a Frenchman, began manufacturing quality grade explosives to fill America’s growing need to build roads, clear fields, increase mining output, and protect its recently won independence. Because explosives production is such a hazardous industry, DuPont recognized and accepted the need for an effective safety effort. The building walls of the first powder mill near Wilmington, Delaware, were built three stones thick on three sides. The back remained open to the Brandywine River to direct any explosive forces away from other buildings and employees. To set the safety example, DuPont also built his home and the homes of his managers next to the powder yard. An effective safety program was a necessity. It represented the first defense against instant corporate liquidation. Safety needs more than a well-designed plant, however. In 1811, work rules were posted in the mill to guide employee work habits. Though not nearly as sophisticated as the safety standards of today, they did introduce an important basic concept — that safety must be a line management responsibility. Later, DuPont introduced an employee health program and hired a company doctor. An early step taken in 1912 was the keeping of safety statistics, approximately 60 years before the federal requirement to do so. We had a visible measure of our safety performance and were determined that we were going to improve it. When the nation entered World War I, the DuPont Company supplied 40 percent of the explosives used by the Allied Forces, more than 1.5 billion pounds. To accomplish this task, over 30,000 new employees were hired and trained to build and operate many plants. Among these facilities was the largest smokeless powder plant the world had ever seen. The new plant was producing granulated powder in a record 116 days after ground breaking. The trends on the safety performance chart reflect the problems that a large new work force can pose until the employees fully accept the company’s safety philosophy. The first arrow reflects the World War I scale-up, and the second arrow represents rapid diversification into new businesses during the 1920s. These instances of significant deterioration in safety performance reinforced DuPont’s commitment to reduce the unsafe acts that were causing 96 percent of our injuries. Only 4 percent of injuries result from unsafe conditions or equipment — the remainder result from the unsafe acts of people. This is an important concept if we are to focus our attention on reducing injuries and incidents within the work environment. World War II brought on a similar set of demands. The story was similar to World War I but the numbers were even more astonishing: one billion dollars in capital expenditures, 54 new plants, 75,000 additional employees, and 4.5 billion pounds of explosives produced — 20 percent of the volume used by the Allied Forces. Yet, the performance during the war years showed no significant deviation from the pre-war years. In 1941, the DuPont Company was 10 times safer than all industry and 9 times safer than the Chemical Industry. Management and the line organization were finally working as they should to control the real causes of injuries. Today, DuPont is about 50 times safer than US industrial safety performance averages. Comparing performance to other industries, it is interesting to note that seemingly “hazard-free” industries seem to have extraordinarily high injury rates. This is because, as DuPont has found out, performance is a function of injury prevention and safety management systems, not hazard exposure. Our success in safety results from a sound safety management philosophy. Each of the 125 DuPont facilities is responsible for its own safety program, progress, and performance. However, management at each of these facilities approaches safety from the same fundamental and sound philosophy. This philosophy can be expressed in eleven straightforward principles. The first principle is that all injuries can be prevented. That statement may seem a bit optimistic. In fact, we believe that this is a realistic goal and not just a theoretical objective. Our safety performance proves that the objective is achievable. We have plants with over 2,000 employees that have operated for over 10 years without a lost time injury. As injuries and incidents are investigated, we can always identify actions that could have prevented that incident. If we manage safety in a proactive — rather than reactive — manner, we will eliminate injuries by reducing the acts and conditions that cause them. The second principle is that management, which includes all levels through first-line supervisors, is responsible and accountable for preventing injuries. Only when senior management exerts sustained and consistent leadership in establishing safety goals, demanding accountability for safety performance and providing the necessary resources, can a safety program be effective in an industrial environment. The third principle states that, while recognizing management responsibility, it takes the combined energy of the entire organization to reach sustained, continuous improvement in safety and health performance. Creating an environment in which employees feel ownership for the safety effort and make significant contributions is an essential task for management, and one that needs deliberate and ongoing attention. The fourth principle is a corollary to the first principle that all injuries are preventable. It holds that all operating exposures that may result in injuries or illnesses can be controlled. No matter what the exposure, an effective safeguard can be provided. It is preferable, of course, to eliminate sources of danger, but when this is not reasonable or practical, supervision must specify measures such as special training, safety devices, and protective clothing. Our fifth safety principle states that safety is a condition of employment. Conscientious assumption of safety responsibility is required from all employees from their first day on the job. Each employee must be convinced that he or she has a responsibility for working safely. The sixth safety principle: Employees must be trained to work safely. We have found that an awareness for safety does not come naturally and that people have to be trained to work safely. With effective training programs to teach, motivate, and sustain safety knowledge, all injuries and illnesses can be eliminated. Our seventh principle holds that management must audit performance on the workplace to assess safety program success. Comprehensive inspections of both facilities and programs not only confirm their effectiveness in achieving the desired performance, but also detect specific problems and help to identify weaknesses in the safety effort. The Company’s eighth principle states that all deficiencies must be corrected promptly. Without prompt action, risk of injuries will increase and, even more important, the credibility of management’s safety efforts will suffer. Our ninth principle is a statement that off-the-job safety is an important part of the overall safety effort. We do not expect nor want employees to “turn safety on” as they come to work and “turn it off” when they go home. The company safety culture truly becomes of the individual employee’s way of thinking. The tenth principle recognizes that it’s good business to prevent injuries. Injuries cost money. However, hidden or indirect costs usually exceed the direct cost. Our last principle is the most important. Safety must be integrated as core business and personal value. There are two reasons for this. First, we’ve learned from almost 200 years of experience that 96 percent of safety incidents are directly caused by the action of people, not by faulty equipment or inadequate safety standards. But conversely, it is our people who provide the solutions to our safety problems. They are the one essential ingredient in the recipe for a safe workplace. Intelligent, trained, and motivated employees are any company’s greatest resource. Our success in safety depends upon the men and women in our plants following procedures, participating actively in training, and identifying and alerting each other and management to potential hazards. By demonstrating a real concern for each employee, management helps establish a mutual respect, and the foundation is laid for a solid safety program. This, of course, is also the foundation for good employee relations. An important lesson learned in DuPont is that the majority of injuries are caused by unsafe acts and at-risk behaviors rather than unsafe equipment or conditions. In fact, in several DuPont studies it was estimated that 96 percent of injuries are caused by unsafe acts. This was particularly revealing when considering safety audits — if audits were only focused on conditions, at best we could only prevent four percent of our injuries. By establishing management systems for safety auditing that focus on people, including audit training, techniques, and plans, all incidents are preventable. Of course, employee contribution and involvement in auditing leads to sustainability through stakeholdership in the system. Management safety audits help to make manage the “behavioral balance.” Every job and task performed at a site can do be done at-risk or safely. The essence of a good safety system ensures that safe behavior is the accepted norm amongst employees, and that it is the expected and respected way of doing things. Shifting employees norms contributes mightily to changing culture. The management safety audit provides a way to quantify these norms. DuPont safety performance has continued to improve since we began keeping records in 1911 until about 1990. In the 1990–1994 time frame, performance deteriorated as shown in the chart that follows: This increase in injuries caused great concern to senior DuPont management as well as employees. It occurred while the corporation was undergoing changes in organization. In order to sustain our technological, competitive, and business leadership positions, DuPont began re-engineering itself beginning in about 1990. New streamlined organizational structures and collaborative work processes eliminated many positions and levels of management and supervision. The total employment of the company was reduced about 25 percent during these four years. In our traditional hierarchical organization structures, every level of supervision and management knew exactly what they were expected to do with safety, and all had important roles. As many of these levels were eliminated, new systems needed to be identified for these new organizations. In early 1995, Edgar S. Woolard, DuPont Chairman, chartered a Corporate Discovery Team to look for processes that will put DuPont on a consistent path toward a goal of zero injuries and occupational illnesses. The cross-functional team used a mode of “discovery through learning” from as many DuPont employees and sites around the world. The Discovery Team fostered the rapid sharing and leveraging of “best practices” and innovative approaches being pursued at DuPont’s plants, field sites, laboratories, and office locations. In short, the team examined the company’s current state, described the future state, identified barriers between the two, and recommended key ways to overcome these barriers. After reporting back to executive management in April, 1995, the Discovery Team was realigned to help organizations implement their recommendations. The Discovery Team reconfirmed key values in DuPont — in short, that all injuries, incidents, and occupational illnesses are preventable and that safety is a source of competitive advantage. As such, the steps taken to improve safety performance also improve overall competitiveness. Senior management made this belief clear: “We will strengthen our business by making safety excellence an integral part of all business activities.” One of the key findings of the Discovery Team was the identification of the best practices used within the company, which are listed below: ▪ Felt Leadership – Management Commitment ▪ Business Integration ▪ Responsibility and Accountability ▪ Individual/Team Involvement and Influence ▪ Contractor Safety ▪ Metrics and Measurements ▪ Communications ▪ Rewards and Recognition ▪ Caring Interdependent Culture; Team-Based Work Process and Systems ▪ Performance Standards and Operating Discipline ▪ Training/Capability ▪ Technology ▪ Safety and Health Resources ▪ Management and Team Audits ▪ Deviation Investigation ▪ Risk Management and Emergency Response ▪ Process Safety ▪ Off-the-Job Safety and Health Education Attention to each of these best practices is essential to achieve sustained improvements in safety and health. The Discovery Implementation in conjunction with DuPont Safety and Environmental Management Services has developed a Safety Self-Assessment around these systems. In this presentation, we will discuss a few of these practices and learn what they mean. Paper published with permission.