TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC APPROACHES TO GREEN MARKETING: CONCOMITANT IMPLICATIONS ON THE CORE MARKETING MIX

This study evaluated the implications of green marketing strategies and tactics on the core marketing mix (4P’s: product, price, promotion and place/physical distribution). The social exchange theory was adopted as the underpinning theory upon which the study was anchored. The study conceptually appraised the duo of tactically and strategic approaches to green marketing activities. The study conceptually implemented green marketing tactics and strategies on green product, green pricing, green promotion and green physical distribution. The study concluded that corporate environmentalism has become an essential imperative for contemporary business, and firms that go green should have a first-mover advantage over those that do not. The study recommended that corporate organizations need to ensure that green marketing activities are integrated holistically, especially if those activities are used in market positioning or promotional campaigns. Corporate organizations need to evaluate different environmental factors that influence customer decision for green products; and adopt a combination of those factors that can bring about distinct outcomes in terms of turnover, improved market share, customer retention, productivity and profitability

The Impacts of Natural Disasters on Educational Attainment: Cross-Country Evidence from Macro Data

Do natural disasters impact educational attainment? Education as a paramount factor of economic development suffers from the uncontrollable effects of these increasing events from storms to floods, earthquakes to wildfires. Globally, educational resources are destroyed, directly and indirectly, students and teachers are displaced or killed, parents’ income is affected because of natural disasters. Investments in human capital for rich- and low-income countries are exposed to the uneven impact of natural disasters that adjusts household and country-level decisions, leaving them to short and long-run losses. Exploring the influence of natural disasters on secondary school attainment across a sample of 85 countries from 1960 to 1990, we employ a panel data set from the Emergency Events dataset and Barro-Lee dataset. Using year and country fixed effects, the data shows that the intensity of deaths from natural disasters has a greater effect on secondary school attainment than the intensity of damages from these disasters. Data also suggests that damages per capita have a slightly significant effect on the secondary school repetition rate. Psychological and behavioral effects caused by deaths from disasters lead to disinvestments from human capital and these degenerates into long-term effects on economic development. Consequently, while natural disasters cannot be averted, its damages can be curtailed, therefore, it is crucial to inform policies that drive countries to a conscientious effort for high-performance social intervention programs; and motivate an urgency for climate change conversation

The Nigerian Budget: Using Creative Technology to Intersect Civic Engagement and Institutional Reform

This study analyses the efforts of BudgIT, Nigeria’s creative start-up, in making the Nigerian budget simple and accessible to every citizen. This includes its classification of citizens according to their understanding of public finance and its personalised approach in reaching out to them. In its 53 years of independence, Nigeria, which has an oil-driven economy, has had more than thirty-three years of military rule, which guarded the detailed budget as a state secret. Current efforts in the democratic regime have made both the proposed and enacted budget available to citizens as enabled by law. However, the budget is officially released in a non-readable format. In addition, most citizens have no clear understanding of government finances. BudgIT uses an array of technology tools to simplify the budget for citizens and also works with the civil society and media in data analysis and representation. BudgIT believes that the amplified voices of citizens based on better access to budgetary data can lead to institutional reform. It also works to improve the capacity of congressional budget offices to enhance budget performance. BudgIT methodology will use refined data mining skill sets to creatively present data and empower citizens to use the information that is available in demanding improved delivery of services.Cette étude analyse le projet de BudgIT, une start-up nigériane créative, qui vise à simplifier le budget du Nigeria et à le rendre accessible à chaque citoyen. Ce projet inclut la classification des citoyens en fonction de leur degré de compréhension des finances publiques et une approche sur mesure pour entrer en contact avec eux. En 53 ans d'indépendance, le Nigeria, dont l'économie est fondée sur le pétrole, a été plus de trente-trois ans sous dictature militaire avec un budget caché comme un secret d'Etat. Conformément à la législation, le régime démocratique peut désormais mettre à la disposition des citoyens la proposition de budget et le budget adopté. Cependant, bien que le budget soit diffusé officiellement, il l’est sous des formats non lisibles et la plupart des citoyens n'ont pas les connaissances nécessaires pour comprendre les finances publiques. BudgIT utilise toute une gamme d'outils technologiques pour simplifier la compréhension du budget par les citoyens et travaille en coopération avec la société civile et les médias pour l'analyse et la représentation de ces données. BudgIT est persuadé que le fait d'accroître l'engagement des citoyens en leur facilitant l'accès aux données budgétaires peut entraîner des changements institutionnels. Cette startup travaille également à accroître les capacités au sein de l’administration même responsable du Budget au Parlement afin d'améliorer l'exécution du budget. La méthodologie de BudgIT consiste à tirer avantage de très bonnes compétences en exploration de données afin de représenter les données de manière innovante, et ainsi permettre aux citoyens d'utiliser les informations disponibles en matière budgétaire pour pouvoir exiger ensuite une amélioration des services publics.  Este estudio analiza los esfuerzos de BudgIT, una nueva empresa creativa nigeriana, para hacer que el presupuesto de Nigeria sea sencillo y accesible para todos los ciudadanos. Esto incluye una clasificación de los ciudadanos en función de su comprensión de las finanzas públicas y el enfoque a medida para llegar hasta ellos. En los 53 años de su independencia, Nigeria, una economía impulsada por el petróleo, estuvo sometida durante más de 33 años a un régimen militar que mantenía los detalles del presupuesto como un secreto de estado. Los esfuerzos actuales de los regímenes democráticos de acuerdo con lo establecido en la ley han hecho que tanto el presupuesto propuesto como el promulgado estén a disposición de los ciudadanos. No obstante, el presupuesto se publica oficialmente en formatos ilegibles y la mayoría de los ciudadanos no comprenden con claridad las finanzas del gobierno. BudgIT utiliza una serie de herramientas tecnológicas para simplificar el presupuesto para los ciudadanos, y también trabaja con la sociedad civil y los medios de comunicación en lo que respecta al análisis y la representación de los datos. BudgIT considera que las voces unidas de los ciudadanos basadas en un mejor acceso a los datos presupuestarios pueden traducirse en una reforma institucional. Además, sirve para mejorar las capacidades de las oficinas presupuestarias del congreso para optimizar la eficacia del presupuesto. La metodología de BudgIT es utilizar habilidades mejoradas de extracción de datos para representar de forma creativa los datos y permitir que los ciudadanos utilicen la información disponible para solicitar una mejor prestación de los servicios

The Impacts of Natural Disasters on Educational Attainment: Cross-Country Evidence from Macro Data

Do natural disasters impact educational attainment? Education as a paramount factor of economic development suffers from the uncontrollable effects of these increasing events from storms to floods, earthquakes to wildfires. Globally, educational resources are destroyed, directly and indirectly, students and teachers are displaced or killed, parents’ income is affected because of natural disasters. Investments in human capital for rich- and low-income countries are exposed to the uneven impact of natural disasters that adjusts household and country-level decisions, leaving them to short and long-run losses. Exploring the influence of natural disasters on secondary school attainment across a sample of 85 countries from 1960 to 1990, we employ a panel data set from the Emergency Events dataset and Barro-Lee dataset. Using year and country fixed effects, the data shows that the intensity of deaths from natural disasters has a greater effect on secondary school attainment than the intensity of damages from these disasters. Data also suggests that damages per capita have a slightly significant effect on the secondary school repetition rate. Psychological and behavioral effects caused by deaths from disasters lead to disinvestments from human capital and these degenerates into long-term effects on economic development. Consequently, while natural disasters cannot be averted, its damages can be curtailed, therefore, it is crucial to inform policies that drive countries to a conscientious effort for high-performance social intervention programs; and motivate an urgency for climate change conversation

Influence of Celebrity Expertise on Brand Loyalty in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector

This study assessed the effect of celebrity expertise on brand loyalty in the Nigerian telecommunications sector, while multiple celebrity endorsements served as a moderating variable. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. A structured questionnaire was used as a research instrument. A sample size of 2000 respondents, out of which 1200 complete responses were judgmentally selected for final analysis. Data were analysed using Pearson’s Product-Moment correlation and multiple regression. The findings revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between celebrity expertise and brand loyalty (r = 0.558, p<0.05); while multiple celebrity endorsement has a significant effect on the relationship between celebrity expertise and brand loyalty (F(2, 1195) = 2484.682, p<0.05, Adj. R2 0.327). The study concluded that celebrity expertise exerts a great influence on brand loyalty. It is recommended that telecom service subscribers should base the adoption of telecom services being promoted by a celebrity on the expertise of the endorser. The telecom service providers should engage the services of celebrities who possess behavioural expertise that are in congruence with customers’ values and interests

Heavy Metals Adsorption on Cellulosic Materials from Agricultural Waste

Adsorption technique has been known to be a very effective method for treatment of heavy metals polluted wastewater, with the advantages of specific affinity, simple design and being user-friendly. However, the high cost of activated carbon commonly used as the adsorbent makes it necessary to explore the use of cheap cellulosic adsorbents. In this study, the adsorptive property of sugarcane bagasse (SB) and orange mesocarp (OM) was investigated. The cellulosic adsorbents were used for the sorption of lead and zinc ions from aqueous solutions. The effects of varying adsorbent dose, varying contact time and initial metal ion concentration on adsorption process of the metals were studied. The results show that both adsorbents (though waste materials) are viable for removal of metals from wastewater. Moreover, SB had higher sorption capacity for zinc (12.95 for SB and 12.68 for OM) while OM had higher sorption capacity for lead (9.90 for OM and 9.48 for SB) at optimum dosage. The isothermal studies shows that for lead adsorption, experimental data best fitted the Langmuir isotherm for both adsorbents (R2 of 0.9574 for OM and 0.98 for SB) while the data for zinc adsorption best fitted into Freundlich isotherm with SB (R2 of 0.9565) and Langmuir isotherm for OM (R2 of 0.814)

ACCESSIBILITY TO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES AND ADOPTION OF E-LEARNING IN TERTIARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA: A PILOT STUDY

The primary aim of this survey was to examine the effect of accessibility to mobile telecommunication service on the adoption of e-learning in tertiary educational institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria. One hundred students of the University of Lagos and Lagos State University were randomly selected and administered questionnaire at pilot stage. Two hypotheses were postulated to guide the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and parametric statistical tool for correlational analysis. The results revealed that there is significant relationship between accessibility to mobile telecom service and adoption of e-learning on one hand; and quality of mobile service delivery and adoption of e-learning on the other hand (at .05 level of significance). It was recommended that telecom service providers should make improved value-added data services accessible and affordable to their subscribers so as to enhance the adoption of e-learning in line with the best global practices

Heavy Metals Adsorption on Cellulosic Materials from Agricultural Waste

Adsorption technique has been known to be a very effective method for treatment of heavy metals polluted wastewater, with the advantages of specific affinity, simple design and being user-friendly. However, the high cost of activated carbon commonly used as the adsorbent makes it necessary to explore the use of cheap cellulosic adsorbents. In this study, the adsorptive property of sugarcane bagasse (SB) and orange mesocarp (OM) was investigated. The cellulosic adsorbents were used for the sorption of lead and zinc ions from aqueous solutions. The effects of varying adsorbent dose, varying contact time and initial metal ion concentration on adsorption process of the metals were studied. The results show that both adsorbents (though waste materials) are viable for removal of metals from wastewater. Moreover, SB had higher sorption capacity for zinc (12.95 for SB and 12.68 for OM) while OM had higher sorption capacity for lead (9.90 for OM and 9.48 for SB) at optimum dosage. The isothermal studies shows that for lead adsorption, experimental data best fitted the Langmuir isotherm for both adsorbents (R2 of 0.9574 for OM and 0.98 for SB) while the data for zinc adsorption best fitted into Freundlich isotherm with SB (R2 of 0.9565)and Langmuir isotherm for OM(R2 of 0.814)

Budget oversight and accountability in Nigeria: what incentivises digital and non-digital citizens to engage?

Opening up the budgets of economies such as Nigeria’s continues to be a challenge, and most citizens remain in the dark on how the budget is formulated and executed. One obstacle is citizens’ lack of access to information on budgeted projects within their communities; while a budget containing lots of technical jargon means that most Nigerians are unable to understand the budget and are, therefore, limited in their ability to monitor its progress. As a pioneer in the field of social advocacy combined with technology, BudgIT, a social advocacy organisation in Nigeria, aims to simplify the topic of public spending for citizens with the aim of increasing transparency and accountability in government. This practice paper reports on practitioner research conducted by BudgIT, and documents a reflective conversation on the implications of its findings for future efforts to improve accountability in Nigeria. It aims to discover if access to information leads to empowerment, as well as demands for accountability; and whether demands for accountability necessarily lead to the greater responsiveness of public institutions.DFIDUSAIDSidaOmidyar Networ

Periodontal and gingival changes amongst pregnant women in Lagos, Nigeria

Objective: To assess the periodontal and gingival changes during different stages of pregnancy among women in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital. Method : Fifty three pregnant women attending the ante-natal clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH), were included in the study while, 53 non- pregnant with mean age 29.40 ± 3.8years, and apparently healthy women with mean age 30.96 ±2.3years served as the control. Periodontal and oral hygiene status were assessed using the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN) and the Simplified Oral Hygiene (OHI-S) Indices respectively. Result: There were a higher number of sextants with gingival bleeding and shallow pockets among the pregnant women in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy compared to that of the non-pregnant women. The number of sextants with gingival bleeding and shallow pocket however reduced post partum. Thus, in the pregnant women the mean number of sextants with gingival bleeding was 0.9 in 1st trimester, 1.4 in the 2nd trimester, 1.0 in the 3rd trimester and 0.1 postpartum. The mean number of sextants with pocket (code 3) was 0.1 in the 1st trimester, 0.4 in the 2nd trimester, 0.3 in the in 3rd trimester & 0.1 postpartum. Whereas in the non- pregnant group, the mean no of sextants with gingival bleeding was 0.6 at the 1st examination ,0.5 at the 2nd examination and 0.4 at the 3rd examinations and the mean number of sextants with pocket was 0.1at the 1st examination, 0.2 at the 2nd and 3rd examination. The mean OHI-S score of pregnant women increased from 2.36 ± 0.91 at the beginning of the study to 3.03±0.72 at the end of the study. While the score of the control group increased from 2.06±1.1 to 2.65±0.99. Conclusion: The OHI-S score, gingival bleeding and pockets were higher in the pregnant than in the non –pregnant women. It is suggested that pregnant women should have routine dental check-up and early management of periodontal disease through adequate plaque control