title: It's Personal and it's Professional: The meanings women Baby-boomers attribute to their ageing and 'working-out' with a personal trainer.

authors: Sweet, Wendy Gaylene

subjects: ageing

abstract: Greater numbers of older populations is the emerging norm for all countries, and something that triggered the World Health Organization to revise its 2002 global ageing strategy. In the 2015 document, greater emphasis is given to the concept of active ageing, a lifestyle all individuals are encouraged to embrace as a way to facilitate ‘ageing well’. Such an ideal is in part fostered by the Baby-boomer heading into their ‘old’ age where there is a high probability many will live to eighty years and beyond. Physical activity is one component of active ageing but translating the unequivocal evidence into practice is a daunting task at a population and individual level. There is no shortage of research on physical activity and ageing, but little attention has been given to trying to understand the experience from the point-of-view of the ‘older’ person. This study was in part inspired by an increasing number of Baby-boomer women who were not only conscious about their own ageing, but endeavouring to prepare for a long life well-lived.    
 
This study, which is situated in the theoretical framework of social constructionism, set out to unravel the active ageing experiences from a life course perspective and what actually transpires when 18 women Baby-boomers employ the services of a Personal Trainer. The numerous semi-structured interviews and verbatim transcriptions were subjected to on-going analysis, during which I recognised that in spite of the ‘richness’ of data, not all the subtleties could be captured. This, however, did not detract from the analysis where three dominant themes emerged. Supporting the need for a ‘life-course’ approach to fully understand physical activity at a personal level, the meanings of the experiences fluctuate and are negotiated, and there is a ‘resistance’ to the ageing discourse.  
 
This study broadens and shares alternative insights about women’s activeageing and challenges the commonly held assumptions about how women position their ageing in the context of being physically active in varying ways. These Baby-boomers have ‘grown-up’ with the fitness industry, an industry whereby Personal Trainers are well placed to assist Boomers in their activeageing ambitions. This study has particular relevance to, as well as advice for, those working in health promotion and the fitness industry. A future more active ‘older’ population is possible, but according to the Boomers who participated in this study any level of substantive change will not happen by chance.

text: It's Personal and it's Professional: The meanings women Baby-boomers attribute to their ageing and 'working-out' with a personal trainer. Greater numbers of older populations is the emerging norm for all countries, and something that triggered the World Health Organization to revise its 2002 global ageing strategy. In the 2015 document, greater emphasis is given to the concept of active ageing, a lifestyle all individuals are encouraged to embrace as a way to facilitate ‘ageing well’. Such an ideal is in part fostered by the Baby-boomer heading into their ‘old’ age where there is a high probability many will live to eighty years and beyond. Physical activity is one component of active ageing but translating the unequivocal evidence into practice is a daunting task at a population and individual level. There is no shortage of research on physical activity and ageing, but little attention has been given to trying to understand the experience from the point-of-view of the ‘older’ person. This study was in part inspired by an increasing number of Baby-boomer women who were not only conscious about their own ageing, but endeavouring to prepare for a long life well-lived.    
 
This study, which is situated in the theoretical framework of social constructionism, set out to unravel the active ageing experiences from a life course perspective and what actually transpires when 18 women Baby-boomers employ the services of a Personal Trainer. The numerous semi-structured interviews and verbatim transcriptions were subjected to on-going analysis, during which I recognised that in spite of the ‘richness’ of data, not all the subtleties could be captured. This, however, did not detract from the analysis where three dominant themes emerged. Supporting the need for a ‘life-course’ approach to fully understand physical activity at a personal level, the meanings of the experiences fluctuate and are negotiated, and there is a ‘resistance’ to the ageing discourse.  
 
This study broadens and shares alternative insights about women’s activeageing and challenges the commonly held assumptions about how women position their ageing in the context of being physically active in varying ways. These Baby-boomers have ‘grown-up’ with the fitness industry, an industry whereby Personal Trainers are well placed to assist Boomers in their activeageing ambitions. This study has particular relevance to, as well as advice for, those working in health promotion and the fitness industry. A future more active ‘older’ population is possible, but according to the Boomers who participated in this study any level of substantive change will not happen by chance.

year: 2017

title: Make me special: Gender differences in consumers’ responses to loyalty programs

authors: Melnyk, Valentyna

subjects: Gender differences

abstract: Current literature on loyalty programs emphasizes the importance of psychological rewards and special treatment. However, it is not clear if male and female customers respond to these incentives in a similar way. We explore the differential effect for female versus male consumers of two psychological rewards that are provided through a loyalty program (a) high status (e. g., Gold membership), and (b) personalization, at different levels of visibility to other consumers. Across three experiments and a field study, we find a coherent pattern of gender differences in the way customers respond to different types of psychological rewards in the context of loyalty programs. The results show that men respond more positively than women to loyalty programs that emphasize status, but only when their higher status is highly visible to others. In contrast, women respond more positively than men to loyalty programs that emphasize personalization, but only for personalization in private settings. We discuss managerial implications for the design of loyalty programs

text: Make me special: Gender differences in consumers’ responses to loyalty programs Current literature on loyalty programs emphasizes the importance of psychological rewards and special treatment. However, it is not clear if male and female customers respond to these incentives in a similar way. We explore the differential effect for female versus male consumers of two psychological rewards that are provided through a loyalty program (a) high status (e. g., Gold membership), and (b) personalization, at different levels of visibility to other consumers. Across three experiments and a field study, we find a coherent pattern of gender differences in the way customers respond to different types of psychological rewards in the context of loyalty programs. The results show that men respond more positively than women to loyalty programs that emphasize status, but only when their higher status is highly visible to others. In contrast, women respond more positively than men to loyalty programs that emphasize personalization, but only for personalization in private settings. We discuss managerial implications for the design of loyalty programs

year: 2012

title: Family structure and change in early childhood and the wellbeing of tamariki Maori

authors: Kukutai, Tahu

subjects: family structure

abstract: Internationally there is growing evidence that family structure, and changes in structure, have an impact on children’s health and wellbeing and the intergenerational transmission of inequity. The effects, however, vary by socio-economic context and ethnicity. Using longitudinal data from Growing Up in New Zealand (n = 1349), we examine family structure and change for tamariki Māori during early childhood, and the potential impacts on their development and wellbeing. We find that a stable two-parent family is the primary experience for tamariki Māori, and sole parenthood is transitory. Diverse family trajectories appear to be linked to poorer cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes but are not the main driver. More important are maternal factors, notably age and education, and material hardship. Importantly, higher levels of cultural connectedness among tamariki Māori, which are associated with diverse family forms, seem to promote socio-emotional development. Our study provides further incentive for policy and programmes that centre equity and support access to the determinants of health for tamariki Māori.

text: Family structure and change in early childhood and the wellbeing of tamariki Maori Internationally there is growing evidence that family structure, and changes in structure, have an impact on children’s health and wellbeing and the intergenerational transmission of inequity. The effects, however, vary by socio-economic context and ethnicity. Using longitudinal data from Growing Up in New Zealand (n = 1349), we examine family structure and change for tamariki Māori during early childhood, and the potential impacts on their development and wellbeing. We find that a stable two-parent family is the primary experience for tamariki Māori, and sole parenthood is transitory. Diverse family trajectories appear to be linked to poorer cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes but are not the main driver. More important are maternal factors, notably age and education, and material hardship. Importantly, higher levels of cultural connectedness among tamariki Māori, which are associated with diverse family forms, seem to promote socio-emotional development. Our study provides further incentive for policy and programmes that centre equity and support access to the determinants of health for tamariki Māori.

year: 2020