Unique stereotypes for Holland's personality types,testing the traits attributed to men and women in Holland's typology

The researchers used experimental and control groups to compare the rankings of selected stereotypes by 67 male and 124 female college freshmen for the occupational representatives of Holland's six personality and occupational types. The stereotypes were found to be reliable and valid, single stereotype lists were concluded to be adequate for males and females, and unique stereotypes were found for each occupational type. Suggestions for future research were offered.     

Spanish consumers' perceptions of US apparel speciality retailers' products and services

Apparel speciality retailers' success in international markets is contingent upon their knowledge of culturally‐defined values, norms and behaviour that influence consumer decision making and impact acceptance of products and services. An integrated theoretical framework of retail internationalisation guided this investigation of the viability of the Spanish market for US retailers. This study examined consumers' store patronage and apparel purchase behaviour, acceptance of US apparel brands, perceptions of retailers' products and services, and perceptions of the impact of foreign retailers on local communities. Data were collected from 375 consumers in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia. The influence of retailer characteristics on consumers' store patronage varied by age and income. Product characteristics that influenced apparel purchases varied by gender, income and age, while acceptance of US brands differed by gender and age. The perceptions of Spanish, European and US retailers differed regarding quality, fashionability, product assortment, extent and quality of customer service, convenience of location, payment options, national brands and store layout. Consumers' acceptance of US apparel brands was a function of age, household income, apparel product country of manufacture and price. Perceptions of US retailers were a function of household income, selected apparel characteristics and consumer acceptance of US apparel brands. Differences among perceptions of the impact of retail development were found by city. The findings provide insights into the opportunities and challenges for US apparel speciality retailers as they contemplate entry into the Spanish market. The affinity for US apparel among young Spanish consumers, particularly males, suggests optimism regarding opportunities in this market. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Religion and politics in post-1991 Ethiopia: making sense of Bryan S. Turner’s ‘Managing Religions’

Bryan S. Turner’s concept of managing religion postulates that it is the modern state’s prerogative to exert some degree of control over religions. For Turner, this is important because of increasing religious revival and the challenges it poses to public order and security. Turner describes two main approaches to managing religion, namely upgrading and enclavement. The former refers to modernising or ‘partial secularisation’ of a given religious institution or group while the latter is a tactic of isolating a certain community of believers. Turner’s two approaches are developed to analyse contexts affected by recent migration. While concurring with the efficacy of upgrading and enclavement, in this article, I argue that states adapt different mechanisms depending on the context that necessitates their intervention. Based on ethnographic research conducted in Ethiopia, I introduce cooptation and repression as two additional approaches used by authoritarian states in countries that are less affected by migration.