Browsing by Author "Feng, Patrick Shiao Tsong"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Adventuring together: exploring how romantic couples use mmos as part of their shared leisure time
    (2009) Bergstrom, Kelly Marie; Feng, Patrick Shiao Tsong
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    Communicating Sustainable Food: Connecting scientific information to consumer action
    (2014-07-03) Godfrey, David Matthew; Feng, Patrick Shiao Tsong
    This thesis investigates the consumer behaviour impact of communicating environmental impact data. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour and communication techniques from the behaviour change literature, I developed a campaign to communicate the water footprint of entrées at a university dining hall. I collected sales and production data and administered attitude surveys before and after the campaign’s implementation. In addition, I conducted qualitative interviews to explore how individuals interpreted, understood, and used the science-based information communicated. Based on available data, the campaign failed to change food purchase decisions and, over the course of the experiment, students’ attitude scores actually grew less positive toward choosing foods with low water footprints. Interview results suggest that the campaign’s effectiveness was hindered by the overpowering nature of convenience and important food attributes such as flavour, as well as a disconnection between abstract water footprint data and students’ own definitions of environmental sustainability.
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    Social media's influence on political engagement: examining the use of facebook and twitter in Alberta
    (2011) Rontynen, Christina Irene Paula; Feng, Patrick Shiao Tsong
    This thesis explores social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, and its ability to effectively engage individuals in political conversations online. The broad goal is to examine online conversations to find out if they can transform online participants from private individuals to public, politically engaged citizens. Two case studies were chosen from the province of Alberta: Bill 44 and Bill 50. Both pieces of legislation were discussed in depth online, and produced two different attitudes and outcomes. The case study of Bill 50 showed that a top down orchestrated conversation online does not cultivate feelings of political engagement. The Bill 44 case study showed that grassroots conversations can facilitate perceptions of political engagement. Through the analysis of online content from Facebook and Twitter and through focus groups five themes developed: membership, frequency and relevance in postings, connections to more traditional communication mediums and encouragement for offline participation. These themes are characteristics that are central to political engagement. When these characteristics are present in an online conversation a private individual can become engaged and passionate about a political issue. This thesis gives concrete examples to back up literature surrounding electronic democracy and the online public sphere. The mass use of social media has given society a space to gather and discuss the issues they use to in the physical public sphere. The public is being given the option to participate in ways they could not before. This research provides insight on how Albertans used Facebook and Twitter to engage in online political conversations and how social media could be harnessed to further engage citizens in an online public sphere.
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    Suncor's environmental positioning on its website: a classical grounded theory study
    (2010) Cardwell, Susanne Marie; Feng, Patrick Shiao Tsong