Publication year: 2012
Source: Journal of Business Research, Available online 4 February 2012

Zhiyong Yang, Charles M. Schaninger, Michel Laroche

Tobacco and alcohol companies face increasing pressure to prevent smoking and drinking among underage consumers, reinforcing public policy initiatives designed to reduce youth substance use. One approach targets parents to influence their child's behavior. However, the extant literature remains unclear about whether childhood parenting strategies affect children's behavior beyond early adolescence. To fill this void, this research develops an integrative model of parental influence, specifying parenting strategies as antecedents, self-esteem as mediator, and susceptibility to negative peer influence (SPI) and substance use (smoking, and drinking) as socialization outcomes. The findings indicate that childhood parenting strategies impact smoking and drinking in the late teens, by reducing susceptibility to negative peer influence, with self-esteem playing a critical mediating role. These findings not only offer guidelines to social marketers and public policy makers, but also provide new avenues for tobacco and alcohol marketers to be responsive to recent federal laws and regulations, and enhance their corporate social responsibility.

Publication year: 2012
Source: Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Available online 2 February 2012

Björn Budde, Floortje Alkemade, K. Matthias Weber

Due to its environmental impact, the mobility system is increasingly under pressure. The challenges to cope with climate change, air quality, depleting fossil resources imply the need for a transition of the current mobility system towards a more sustainable one. Expectations and visions have been identified as crucial in the guidance of such transitions, and more specifically of actor strategies. Still, it remained unclear why the actors involved in transition activities appear to change their strategies frequently and suddenly. The empirical analysis of the expectations and strategies of three actors in the field of hydrogen and fuel cell technology indicates that changing actor strategies can be explained by rather volatile expectations related to different levels. Our case studies of the strategies of two large car manufacturers and the German government demonstrate that the car manufacturers refer strongly to expectations about the future regime, while expectations related to the socio-technical landscape level appear to be crucial for the strategy of the German government.

Highlights

â–º We study the relation between expectations and actor strategies in the automotive industry. â–º Changing expectations contribute to the volatility of sustainability transitions. â–º Actors refer in their strategy to different types or levels of expectations. â–º Expectations about the future regime are important for the strategy of car manufacturers. â–º Expectations about the future socio-technical landscape are relevant for government actors.

Publication year: 2012
Source: Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Available online 4 February 2012

Sjoerd Bakker, Harro van Lente, Marius T.H. Meeus

There are many competing transition paths toward sustainability and even more competing visions and expectations, while only a limited of number of paths can be supported. In the literature so far, not much attention has been paid to the question: what makes one expectation more credible than another?On the basis of a case study on the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Hydrogen Program we show how credible expectations build on three arguments in favor of the promising option. First there is the technology's current level of performance and its historical progress toward that level. Second a path forward is constructed to argue that even higher levels of performance can be achieved. And third, an end target is constructed that relates to relevant societal needs. All three elements can, and often are, subject of contestation and competing options will provide the same type of arguments and relate to the same societal needs.Finally, a transition path needs promising enabling technologies to remain credible, and the ‘losers’ are dropped as soon as the credibility of the path is challenged.

Highlights

► Expectations are crucial to sociotechnical transitions, but not all are credible. ► What makes one technological expectation more credible than another? ► A case study on the US Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Program. ► Credible expectations build on recent progress and a substantiated path forward. ► When a pathway’s credibility is challenged, technological ‘losers’ are dropped.

Publication year: 2011
Source: Advanced Engineering Informatics, Available online 6 August 2011

Alastair Watson

This paper considers the wider implications of digital buildings (as currently exemplified by building information models) becoming the norm within the building construction sector. Current deployment is reviewed and the growing opportunity to better address previously identified problems (both process and structural) within the construction industry is considered. Taking a 20 year perspective, the challenges and the opportunities that digital buildings will present to the construction industry – and to its IT suppliers – are explored against the context of needing to deliver greater value while also addressing sustainability, zero carbon and enhanced resilience objectives.