title: Designing sustainable materials: The role of material perception in consumer acceptance

authors: Thundathil, Manu

subjects: biocomposites

abstract: Material perception is vital in designing new materials and products that consumers widely accept, especially in the case of sustainable materials like biobased composites, which are unfamiliar to the average consumer. Understanding the effect of visual and tactile characteristics of the biobased composites on the formation of material perception could help material engineers and designers create sustainable and high-value materials. In this study of biobased composites, the semantic differential method is used to assess material attributes (in digital and physical settings), along with the qualitative assessment of material characteristics. These attribute ratings and qualitative descriptors help evaluate sensory qualities and generalise their influences on material perception. It is observed that respondents refer to past material experiences to define materials, especially the ones with uncertain attributes. While visual/tactile inconsistencies are a hallmark of natural products, such irregularities in materials with evidence of human interaction (e.g., weaving, geometric patterns) lead to poor perception of beauty and value. Fibreness is a strong signifier of naturality and warm and earthy tones reinforce this perception. Visual and tactile attributes influence perceptions of beauty and values, pointing to their bimodal nature; this also emphasises the role of sensory characteristics in creating desirable biobased composites.

text: Designing sustainable materials: The role of material perception in consumer acceptance Material perception is vital in designing new materials and products that consumers widely accept, especially in the case of sustainable materials like biobased composites, which are unfamiliar to the average consumer. Understanding the effect of visual and tactile characteristics of the biobased composites on the formation of material perception could help material engineers and designers create sustainable and high-value materials. In this study of biobased composites, the semantic differential method is used to assess material attributes (in digital and physical settings), along with the qualitative assessment of material characteristics. These attribute ratings and qualitative descriptors help evaluate sensory qualities and generalise their influences on material perception. It is observed that respondents refer to past material experiences to define materials, especially the ones with uncertain attributes. While visual/tactile inconsistencies are a hallmark of natural products, such irregularities in materials with evidence of human interaction (e.g., weaving, geometric patterns) lead to poor perception of beauty and value. Fibreness is a strong signifier of naturality and warm and earthy tones reinforce this perception. Visual and tactile attributes influence perceptions of beauty and values, pointing to their bimodal nature; this also emphasises the role of sensory characteristics in creating desirable biobased composites.

year: 2025-04-03

title: La prise de Cayenne en 1664 : une nouvelle perspective

authors: Jennings, William

subjects: Cayenne, Guyane, Colbert, Compagnie française des Indes Occidentales, Palikur

abstract: Résumé La conquête de Cayenne en 1664 marque les prémisses de la politique coloniale de Louis XIV. L’événement est pourtant mal connu, faute de sources primaires fiables, cependant le témoignage inédit du notaire de l’expédition décrit le voyage à Cayenne, la reddition de la colonie hollandaise ainsi les relations entre la marine royale et la compagnie coloniale privée à l’origine de la Compagnie française des Indes Occidentales. Il donne aussi un bref aperçu des habitants indigènes de la Guyane. Mots clé : Cayenne, Guyane, Colbert, Compagnie française des Indes Occidentales, Palikur

text: La prise de Cayenne en 1664 : une nouvelle perspective Résumé La conquête de Cayenne en 1664 marque les prémisses de la politique coloniale de Louis XIV. L’événement est pourtant mal connu, faute de sources primaires fiables, cependant le témoignage inédit du notaire de l’expédition décrit le voyage à Cayenne, la reddition de la colonie hollandaise ainsi les relations entre la marine royale et la compagnie coloniale privée à l’origine de la Compagnie française des Indes Occidentales. Il donne aussi un bref aperçu des habitants indigènes de la Guyane. Mots clé : Cayenne, Guyane, Colbert, Compagnie française des Indes Occidentales, Palikur

year: 2019

title: Tangi and State Funeral: Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu and Prime Minister Norman Kirk

authors: McRae, Karyn Okeroa

subjects: Tangi

abstract: The tangi of Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu (Te Arikinui) in 2006 paralleled the State funerals for New Zealand Prime Ministers like Norman Kirk who died in 1974. State funerals require the huge mobilization of people and resources and always attract the attention of the national and international media. The death of a Prime Minister is news worthy, but what of a minority indigenous fourth world leader like Te Arikinui? Why did her passing attract so much media attention? In this study I argue that media representation of the tangi of Te Arikinui was largely about social, cultural and symbolic capital. In media saturated societies such as Aotearoa/New Zealand, through mainstream media outlets like TV One News and the Waikato Times, Te Arikinui’s tangi event claimed a dominant space in the lives of Maori and non Maori alike. The data source includes print news media coverage of the tangi of Te Arikinui and the State funeral of Norman Kirk. Descriptive narrative and abductive analysis inform the methodology used in this study. As expected, print media reporting of both events progressed through the three stages identified by Durkheim, those of, separation, liminality and reincorporation. The ownership of death, the deceased and the continued possession of their mortal remains, itself a cultural object with symbolic and cultural capital, reflected the actual power and control of the possessor. State funerals and tangi are about the ritualized performance of grief and mourning, and require the appropriate social, cultural and symbolic capital for its enactment.

text: Tangi and State Funeral: Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu and Prime Minister Norman Kirk The tangi of Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu (Te Arikinui) in 2006 paralleled the State funerals for New Zealand Prime Ministers like Norman Kirk who died in 1974. State funerals require the huge mobilization of people and resources and always attract the attention of the national and international media. The death of a Prime Minister is news worthy, but what of a minority indigenous fourth world leader like Te Arikinui? Why did her passing attract so much media attention? In this study I argue that media representation of the tangi of Te Arikinui was largely about social, cultural and symbolic capital. In media saturated societies such as Aotearoa/New Zealand, through mainstream media outlets like TV One News and the Waikato Times, Te Arikinui’s tangi event claimed a dominant space in the lives of Maori and non Maori alike. The data source includes print news media coverage of the tangi of Te Arikinui and the State funeral of Norman Kirk. Descriptive narrative and abductive analysis inform the methodology used in this study. As expected, print media reporting of both events progressed through the three stages identified by Durkheim, those of, separation, liminality and reincorporation. The ownership of death, the deceased and the continued possession of their mortal remains, itself a cultural object with symbolic and cultural capital, reflected the actual power and control of the possessor. State funerals and tangi are about the ritualized performance of grief and mourning, and require the appropriate social, cultural and symbolic capital for its enactment.

year: 2010