Suchergebnisse

AbstractCorporate social responsibility linked to consumer's behavior is a topic increasingly felt during the last years. By administering a questionnaire to consumers, the aim of the present research is to study impacts of responsible initiatives on consumers' purchasing behavior and, besides, possible willingness to pay higher prices for good practice foods. The investigation was conducted through a choice experiment, considering a representative sample of more than 1,660 families, selected on a functional relation to the objectives of the research in the major Italian cities. So the main goal is to explore consumers' preferences linked to business responsible initiatives: Data were analyzed performing a logistic regression analysis and, in order to perform the segmentation of choice, an analysis based on the chi‐squared automatic interaction detector procedure was carried out, using variables explained in the logistic regression. The conclusions are very significant and can be considered also a matter for further discussion.

AbstractNowadays, environmental and social problems are very important for modern consumers and firms, which cannot operate only in accordance with the logic of profit. In this paper, by administering a questionnaire to consumers, we have tried to assess the impact of the solidarity of responsible initiatives on consumer preferences: the conclusions are also a matter for thought for further discussion. The investigation was conducted through a sample size survey. The analysis was carried out considering a representative sample of more than 300 families, selected on a functional relation to the objectives of the work in one of the most important and representative Italian cities. This study has two main aims: to investigate consumer preferences regarding responsible initiatives of a company; and to develop and validate a structural equation model, in order to formalize the origins of behaviours regarding consumer preferences towards responsible initiatives and detect the drivers of their purchase. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Abstract
Background
To assess the Volturno River pollution and its environmental impact on the Tyrrhenian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea) caused by Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), 32 PCBs and aldrin, α-BHC, β-BHC, δ-BHC, γ-BHC (lindane), 4,4′- DDD, 4,4′-DDE, 4,4′-DDT, dieldrin, endosulfan I, endosulfan II, endosulfan sulphate, endrin, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide (isomer B) and methoxychlor have been selected and were analyzed in three different phases: dissolved phase (DP), suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments. PCBs and OCPs were extracted using an SPE column for the DP and glass fiber filter for SPM and sediment samples. Cleaned extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography with electron capture detector (ECD) and mass spectrometry (MS) detector for PCBs and OCPs, respectively.

Results
Pollutants discharges of PCBs and OCPs into the sea were calculated in about 106.9 kg year−1 (87.1 kg year−1 of PCBs and 19.7 kg year−1 of OCPs), showing that this river could be a major source of PCBs and OCPs pollution to the Central Mediterranean Sea. Total concentrations of PCBs ranged from 4.1 to 48.0 ng L−1 in water (sum of DP and SPM) and from 4.3 to 64.3 ng g−1 in sediment samples. The concentrations of total organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) obtained in water (sum of DP and SPM) ranged from 0.93 to 8.66 ng L−1 and from 0.52 to 9.89 ng g−1 in sediment samples. Principal component analysis shows that all PCB compounds are more likely to come from surface runoff than an atmospheric deposition.

Conclusion
The data show that higher levels of PCBs and OCPs were found in sediment samples than in DP and SPM samples, which are an indication of no fresh inputs of these compounds. Based on our results, unintentionally produced PCBs by industrial processes (and other processes) were considered to be the main sources of PCBs in Volturno River and Estuary sediments. Considering the Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs), the Ecological Risk Index (ERI), the Risk Quotient (RQ) and the USEPA Environmental Quality Standards (EQS), the Volturno River and its Estuary would be considered an area in which the integrity is possibly at risk.