Summary
Lecture summary YSS31806
- Course
- Institution
A summary of all lectures with slides and lecturers' additions
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
Veer6699
Reviews received
Content preview
Lecture notes CTILecture 1 Intro lecture
Introduction sociologic approach
- Explain the use of consumer technology on different levels (e.g. societal level, household level,
individual level)
- Explain the dynamics behind differences in the adoption of consumer technologies and innovations
- Explain how consumer technology and innovation can influence societal dynamics
- Analyse the interaction between human and material factors in consumer technology use to steer
innovation
- Evaluate effects of consumer technology and innovation on health, food security, and sustainability
using different theoretical accounts
- Design and execute a research from a consumer perspective, investigating a societal relevant consumer
technology or innovation, combining multiple theoretical accounts.
Assessment
Exam in week 4 (Friday 25 November 2022, 14:00-17:00 hrs): 50%
- 8 open (essay) questions (1 per lecture)
- Reading questions serve as preparation
- Minimum mark to pass the course: 5.5
- On-campus digital exam on your own laptop - B4044+B4045 (Orion) + B4030 (Orion)
→ Please be present at 13.45 latest to get started with your laptop → check the instructions here
Group assignment (Friday 23 December 2022 not later than 17.00 hrs): 50%
- Empirical analysis supported by perspectives taught in the course (you are required to apply (at least) 1
perspective);
- Analysis of a technology in relation to the ‘grand challenges’
- Rubric for peer feedback / final assessment
- Minimum mark to pass the course: 5.5
Planning
First three weeks lectures:
Lecture 1: Introduction and Psychology/Sociology – Sanne
Lecture 2: User - Bea
Lecture 3: Communication - Rolien
Lecture 4: Economic - Roger
Lecture 5: Psychology/Sociology - Harm
Lecture 6: Communication - Rolien
Lecture 7: Economic - Roger
Lecture 8: User - Bea
1
,Sustainable solutions in areas such as...
- Global warming
- Tightening supplies of energy, water and food
- Ageing societies
- Public health
- Pandemics
- Security.
→ (Lund Declaration, 2009: 1)
Such grand challenges are suggested to be the “main driver for innovation” in contemporary Europe (Blok and
Lemmens, 2015: 21).
Such technologies are intended to alter consumption practices in some way – for example, by making them
healthier and/or more sustainable – or to encourage radically new ways of consuming.
→ Please bear in mind that you should choose consumer technology or innovation! For example, a large wind
turbine is probably not directly suitable (a small one might, depending on where you live). 3d printing for
healthcare, or other innovations for healthcare; only if it can be used by a consumer
Different perspectives
- Psychological perspective: focus on individuals; understanding human mind and behavior
- Sociological perspective: understanding groups, societies and social processes
- Economic perspective: behavioral economics and complexity economics (or complex systems science)
- Communication perspective: focus on communication and interaction
- User perspective: human interaction with material factors and technologies
Plant-based (food) technology, for example:
- Psychological perspective: e.g., understanding the attitudes and perceptions of plant-based foods;
understanding what psychological processes influence the choice for plant-based foods
→ Impulsive choice, are people deliberating about the choice etc.
- Sociological perspective: e.g., how the introduction of plant-based foods and people/society forms each
other (e.g., by eating plant-based foods we may become flexitarians, vegetarians or vegans or the way
plant-based foods changes the family dynamic)
→ When you get your driver’s license, you can drive a car and you become a mobilist
- Economic perspective: e.g., diffusion of plant-based food innovations or the influence of time scarcity
on plant-based food decision making
→ Are people early adopters (trying new products) or are people late majority (trying after other
people adopt the product)
→ Scarcity on food products
- Communication perspective: e.g., the role of influencers in promoting plant-based foods or framing of
plant-based foods (e.g., as healthy, or as sustainable, or both)
- User perspective: e.g., how you use plant-based foods (to cook), and for what purpose, recipes.
2
,Sociological perspective
Is technology changing society or is society changing technology?
What is technology?
Technology key word in our society, yet rather confused. Humans have had technologies since the stone age;
Also animals have been identified as tool users; Yet the word technology is rather recent.
Technology in the sociology is defined as: “The application of knowledge, techniques, and tools to adapt and
control physical environments and material resources to satisfy wants and needs”;
- Broad concept; i.e., everything we use and invent to achieve something
- Technology as a driver of change could mean anything from applied science to broad industrial arts
- Examples: a computer, how to build a fire, potato peeler
- Technology is contextual; what we do to achieve a certain goal differs per context
- Eating with chopsticks vs cutlery.
- Thus embracing cultural and social components.
Technology can be caught in two perspectives:
- Technological determinism: The idea that technology determines social change → Believing that
developments in technology are the moments bringing new phases in human history; determining our
future;
→ the invention of the wheel revolutionized human mobility, allowing people to travel larger distances.
→ Technology changes society
- Social constructivism of technology:
o Society changes technology (technological innovations)
o Technology does not determine human action, but that rather, human action shapes technology
→ Embedded in a social context.
Psychological perspective
→ Individual is central: how does an individual perceive their surrounding
Overt behavior → behavior that is easily and directly observable (visible)
- Including physical actions, facial expressions and gestures → running, smiling, eating.
Covert behavior → behavior that cannot be directly observed or measured
- Focus on psychological processes → thinking, processing information, retrieving memories, social norm
perceptions, resistance.
→ Covert behavior central in psychological persepective
Explaining the relationship between variables is central
Three generations of research questions (Zanna & Fazio, 1982):
1. Is there an effect? → does X affect or relate to Y?
Does trust affect consumer acceptance of a novel food technology?
2. When is there a relation between X and Y? → under what conditions does the effect occurs?
Under what conditions does trust affect consumer acceptance of a novel food technology?
3. How can we characterize the psychological process(es) which mediate(s) the effect? → what explains
the effect?
What psychological processes underlie the effect of trust on the acceptance of novel food technologies?
Example question
How is constant cognitive connectedness (in the form of online vigilance) related to individual well-being?
- Online vigilance: a state of alertness to respond to devices (such as smartphones);
- Online vigilance can be measured by different dimensions, for example ‘state salience’:
“In the last half an hour, how much were you thinking about mediated interactions (e.g., phone calls, WhatsApp
messages, Facebook likes, Instagram posts etc.)?” on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 7 (a lot).
- State affective well-being can be measured by asking participants to indicate how they currently feel on
a mood scale
o “At this moment, I feel”, followed by six mood dichotomies (e.g., “tired-awake”).
→ The effect of state salience on state affective well-being was non-significant.
To which generation of research questions is this question related? → 1 Is there an effect?
3
, The authors (Johannes et al., 2021) further state:
“we predicted that the valence of thoughts moderates the relationship between salience and affective well-
being.”
- Valence of thoughts (i.e., positivity of thoughts) can be measured as pleasantness of thoughts:
- “How pleasant were those thoughts about mediated/face-to-face interactions?” on a scale from 1
(unpleasant) to 7 (pleasant).
- Results: lack of an interaction effect between salience and valence of thoughts on affective well- being
→ could reflect a lack of power.
To which generation of research questions is this question related? 2 When is there a relation between X and Y?
Reading 1
- Consumers are often hesitant to accept novel food technologies;
- In the narrative review Siergist and Hartmann (2020) describe how heuristics and individual differences
among consumers influence consumer acceptance of agri-food technologies;
- Heuristics: “Mental shortcuts that enable us to substitute information that is unavailable, or too hard to
access, for a piece of readily available information that is likely to yield accurate judgement”.
→ When other people are sitting on a terrace, you are relying on the fact that it’s nice over there and
you choose that terrace instead of a terrace where no one is situated
Affect heuristic
- Affective meaning that people associate with an object or the associations elicited by an object –
ranging from positive feelings to negative feelings
- Associated with willingness to purchase
- Laypeople and experts may differ in their acceptance of the same technology because of this heuristic
→ They know about the product because of their technological knowledge
- Experts are not influenced by the affect heurist (because they do not lack knowledge)
Trust heuristic
- People who rely on trust to evaluate a food technology use cues that indicate trust in the source of
information → With the NutriScore poeple depend on others performance or assessments who gave
the product the score
o Consumers who buy organic cannot tell how these items are produced and whether their price is
justified
o Rather: consumers need to trust that the agents in the food chain honestly label the products to
purchase;
- Two types of trust
o Social trust (based on perceived value similarities) → more important and has a larger impact on
the acceptance of cultured meat
o Confidence (based on past experience)
Natural-is-better-heuristic
- Natural evokes positive emotions in Western countries
- Naturalness in foods is of high importance
- Perceived as healthier, tastier and more sustainable
- Absence of human processing is a key feature of perceived naturalness → when it states ‘3x more
vitamins’ decreases the naturalness
Individual differences among people
- People differ in their preferences and values, resulting in differences in consumer acceptance of agri-
food technologies
- Food technology neophobia: A personality trait influencing consumers’ willingness to accept new food
technologies → people who have more knowledge about food have more knowledge about food
technology
- Disgust sensitivity (higher vs lower)
o Can be predicted by people’s tendency to experience feelings of disgust when the food has cues
that might indicate pathogen presence or contamination (e.g., touched by another person);
4
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller Veer6699. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $8.17. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
75323 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now