Port City Colombo, a visionary multi-service Special Economic Zone and master-planned city, invites the local community to partake in an assortment of engaging excursions that range from luxury shopping to serene strolls by the waterfront. With a series of experiences that provide something for everyone, Port City Colombo further encourages local guests to spend more time within the vibrant, thriving city of Colombo, especially during this holiday season.
Embodying the dynamic lifestyle ambiance of Port City Colombo set to emerge once the project is fully operational, the Mall at Port City Colombo caters to discerning shoppers who seek world-class convenience, luxury travel retail, and diverse culinary offerings. The Mall at Port City Colombo, being South Asia’s first downtown duty-free retail concept, features China Duty Free — the world’s No.1 travel retail operator, with additional travel retail brands set to commence operations shortly. The Mall is open to all eligible visitors, including returning Sri Lankans and foreign residents, general tourists, diplomats and diplomatic organisations, and departing travelers. Returning Sri Lankans and foreign residents will be able to avail an annual allowance limit of USD 2,000, with specified quantity limits as per Schedule 1 of the published Extraordinary Gazette, and purchases to be made on a single visit within four days from the First Date of Arrival (FDOA). For returning Sri Lankans and foreign residents, only the permitted customer and one family member are allowed.
Guests visiting the Mall could also explore the curated assortment of other dining, cultural retail, and lifestyle offerings, which include the renowned Nihonbashi by Dharshan, Café Chill, Spa Ceylon, Department of Coffee, and so forth.
Port City Colombo further encompasses Sri Lanka’s only artificial beach, increasingly popular with local guests since its opening in 2023, which provides the perfect tropical sanctuary in the urban heart of Colombo. This includes a swimmable beach within the vicinity of Port City Colombo’s breakwater lagoon, vivid, awe-inspiring sunsets, and a lively beachside restaurant culture that is ideal for any guest who desires a tranquil day by the ocean. The exquisite Marina Promenade, which is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, enables guests to enjoy panoramic views of the Colombo city skyline and the sea as they take a saunter down this distinct pathway up to the arched footbridge, which is slowly becoming an icon of the city’s landscape. The newly opened Central Park also presents an urban oasis of relaxation, recreation, and physical activity, enhancing Colombo’s appeal as a city that harmonizes modernity with nature.
Can Sporting keep up their remarkable run through the Champions League even without the manager who established them as title winners in Portugal once more? Tuesday should offer the first indication as a Ruben Amorim-less side welcome Arsenal to the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Sporting’s first game since their head coach departed for Manchester United proved to be a comprehensive triumph for new boss Joao Pereira, but Arsenal will pose a much greater challenge than third tier Amarante, who lost 6-0 in the fourth round of the Portuguese Cup. With the Gunners in form and having rested several players for the win over Nottingham Forest, this promises to be an intriguing clash. Here is how you can watch the match and what you need to know:
Viewing information
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 26 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: Estadio Jose Alvalade — Lisbon, Portugal
Sporting: Pedro Goncalves’ absence could be a profound headache for Pereira. The 26-year-old may not be as starry a name as Viktor Gyokores but do not underestimate his ability to drive Sporting up the pitch as an auxiliary midfielder while providing the sort of double figure goal and assist return more associated with a forward. In his place could come former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards.
Left wing back Nuno Santos will also be missing for Sporting due to a knee injury while promising defender Zeno Debast is a doubt with a muscle issue.
Possible Sporting XI: Israel; St. Juste, Diomande, Inacio; Catamo, Hjulmand, Morita, Quenda; Edwards, Gyokeres, Trincao
Arsenal: It was not just the return to winning ways that was so encouraging for Mikel Arteta on Saturday, but the way in which his side were able to overcome Nottingham Forest while also rotating the XI. Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Thomas Partey could all come into the XI, as might Declan Rice, whose recovery from a toe injury is being carefully managed.
Indeed with Kieran Tierney having joined first team it is only full backs Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu (both suffering knee injuries) who are certain to be unavailable for Arteta in Lisbon.
Possible Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Partey, Merino; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Prediction
Don’t expect Sporting to run riot over Arsenal as they did City. The Premier League side should just about have enough. PICK: Sporting 1, Arsenal 2
Authors: Wan S. Jung1, Won Yong Jang2, and Soo Rhee3
1Department of Professional Communications, Farmingdale State College, New York 2Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 3Department of Mass Communication, Towson University, Maryland
Corresponding Author:
Wan S. Jung, Ph.D Knapp Hall 30 2350 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735-1021 jungw@farmingdale.edu 934-420-2276
Wan S. Jung, PhD is an Associate Professor of Professional Communications at Farmingdale State College, NY. His research interests focus on the credibility assessment process of digital information.
Won Yong Jang, PhD is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. He specializes in 1) international communication, 2) news media and society in East Asian countries, 3) climate change policy & communication, 4) public opinion on North Korea’s Nuclear Program, and 5) territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Soo Rhee, PhD is a Professor at Towson University, Maryland. Her research interests include luxury brand advertising, gender portrayals in advertising, dynamics of electronic word-of-mouth, cross-cultural studies in advertising and message strategies in health advertising.
ABSTRACT An increasing number of people rely on the Internet as their primary information source and use it to share their opinions and thoughts with others. Generally, individuals adopt a systematic approach when processing sports information, evaluating its completeness and accuracy due to the serious consequences of incomplete or inaccurate information, such as monetary loss and negative impacts on child development. However, our study finds that the heuristics of online information, even with subtle changes in design features, generate more positive attitudinal and behavioral changes compared to central cues (i.e., informational posting). Our findings suggest a dissociation between involvement and the effects of heuristics. This study also provides an empirical framework for predicting how people process information in digital media environments. Additional findings and implications are discussed.
Key Words: youth sport communication, visual impact of social media posting, message appeal
INTRODUCTION The youth sport market is a huge and fast-growing industry, ranging from organized sports leagues to recreational activities. The market for youth sports in the United States stood at 15.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 and grew to 19.2 billion U.S. dollars by 2019 (11). With a fast-growing trend (i.e., a growth rate of 25.4% from 2017 to 2019) with various options, parents became more active in searching for information. As social media are pervasive, rapidly evolving, and increasingly influencing parents’ daily life and their sport consumption, parents increasingly turn to the internet as a source of community, which helps them connect, communicate, and share information (18).
The rapid growth of online sports information production and dissemination through social media parenting communities (e.g., Facebook local groups and Nextdoor) raises important research questions about how individuals process online information provided by other consumers (i.e., experienced parents whose child(ren) have participated in your sport programs) in youth sport consumption decision making. Moreover, since sport consumers make decisions about whether or not to adopt online sports information based on their own judgement (e.g., attitudinal formation), how individuals evaluate online information is central to sports communication agendas.
Although the formation of attitudes toward information can be attributed to multiple aspects of that information (e.g., source credibility, information completeness), sport consumers using online resources are more reliant on how the information is presented than on the quality of the argument (10), and subtle graphical adjustments become relevant when online parenting community members share their own experiences with other members on social media platforms. In order to emphasize their own views, web users often create visual prominence using subtle design elements, such as capitalized subject lines, copy-and-paste text art (also called keyboard art, e.g., ≧◡≦), or bullet-point symbols. In addition to subtle design changes, the characteristics of the online posting can be varied based on the degree of informativeness (i.e., emotion-based versus information-based).
The purpose of the current study is twofold. First, it will explore the effect on attitudinal formation and behavioral intentions of the message appeals and subtle graphical adjustments of posts in online parenting communities in the youth sport consumption context. Second, the study will investigate whether the strength of the relationship between attitude and behavioral intentions varies based on message appeals. Overall, the study will seek to advance understanding of digital media by examining how small graphical changes and message appeals impact youth sport consumers’ attitudes and behaviors when searching for consumer-generated information (e.g., testimonials) in online communities.
LITERATURE REVIEW Parent-to-Parent Online Information in Youth Sport Consumption “It takes a village to raise a child” is a proverb to explain the role of and community support in parenting. As social aspect is one of the primary factors that drives parents and their children to be involved in sport program (1), the influence of other parents’ opinion and the role of parent community are even more prominent in youth sport consumer’s decision making process. Braunstein-Minkove & Metz (2019) noted in their research on the role of mothers in sport consumption that youth sport consumption might not always about the sport but the experience. Therefore, parents of youth rely on other parents’ opinion to obtain relevant and sufficient information and evaluate various youth sport program options available. In order to provide the best sporting and exercise experience for their children, parents of young children are willing to hear voices of other parents (i.e., testimonial) regarding the type of sports, sports programs, and sporting events their children would participate in.
With the modern technology and the advent of social media, the notion of the village (or supporting community) has been expanded from a physical village to a digital community. Social media platforms support a variety of user generated content to be disseminated to other users and allows users to participate in interactive discussions. Among the various types of social media platforms, Facebook have become the most prevalent web-based service in the world (21) and remaining the most popular site by far (12). Also, Facebook recently provides an option to mark the group type as parenting group, which gives parents new ways to discover and engage with their communities (5). Though the role of online community and the influence of information from other youth sport consumers (i.e., testimonials from other parents in such online community) in youth sport consumer’s decision-making process became more prominent, there is no previous research to explore the effects of the presentation of online information on consumers’ attitudinal and behavioral response in youth sport consumption context.
The Impact of Visual Prominence Quick and low effort cognitive information processing has been investigated in the field of psychology since the 1970s (e.g., 9, 13), and the research indicates that impression formation is the result of the perceiver’s rapid response to selective or incomplete information. In other words, one’s appraisal of an event occurs without intention or conscious thought. Theories of impression formation in the context of digital communication have been developed by Fogg (2003) and Wathen and Burkell (2002), and their studies suggest that visual prominence—the visual salience that allows people to effortlessly notice the presence of graphic elements (e.g., bold vs. non-bold font)—is a primary driver of attitudinal formation, rather than information quality.
The impact of visual prominence can also be explained by individuals’ reliance, when making decisions, on transactive memory systems, which consist of two key elements: internal memory (e.g., personal experience) and external memory (e.g., another person’s expertise; 14). The presence of an external memory will activate a transactive memory system, and such a dependency on external memory increases efficiency and cognitive labor power (20). Thus, external sources of knowledge can have a significant impact on one’s perception of what to accept as true and how confidently to accept it.
The theoretical and empirical evidence for transactive memory systems is based on offline social interactions (e.g., interactions within family groups). However, recent studies suggest that online sources can also trigger transactive memory systems due to the similarity between the process of outsourcing cognitive tasks to other people and the process of outsourcing cognitive tasks to the Internet (6). This nonhuman transactive memory network is further fueled by the unique features of the Internet (e.g., accessibility, breadth, immediacy of information), but such features may distort one’s ability to calibrate personal knowledge because the boundary between internal and external memory becomes unclear. That is, individuals often mix up information obtained through the Internet with information stored in the brain, and this illusion inflates self-ratings of competence regarding personal knowledge and decision-making (17). Recent research on such illusions also suggests that people tend to believe they can solve problems even in unfamiliar domains and that their decision-making processes are often based on heuristics, such as visual prominence (7, 8); the impact of visual prominence would thus be greater in digital media environments.
Since online parenting community members can establish the visual prominence of their postings on social media platforms only with subtle graphical adjustments, the current study will investigate how subtle changes (e.g., capitalizing subject lines, use of text art) to posts in online youth sport communities influence individuals’ attitude formation and behavioral intentions. Given the exploratory nature of the topic of individual information judgment in digital media environments, the following hypotheses are proposed: H1: Visually prominent postings in online youth sport communities form stronger attitudes than less prominent postings. H2: Visually prominent postings in online youth sport communities form stronger behavioral intentions than less prominent postings.
The Impact of Involvement on Message Appeals The persuasiveness and prevalence of various appeal types (e.g., emotional, informative) have been extensively examined in different contexts, such as brand familiarity (Rhee & Jung, 2019), cultural variability (Han & Shavitt, 1994), and involvement (Flora & Maibach, 1990). However, less is known about the differential effects of appeal types in the context of online youth sport communities, and the current study therefore presents an exploration of the question of which type of message appeal is most persuasive in such communities. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM; 16) is one of the most prominent theoretical frameworks employed in the message appeal literature and is applied in various contexts, such as public health service announcements (Perse et al., 1996), crisis management (Lee & Atkinson, 2019), and advertising (Stafford & Day, 1995). Studies have also commonly found a moderating effect of involvement on message appeals, and according to the ELM, people tend to rely on argument quality (e.g., information completeness, comprehensiveness) when processing information under high involvement conditions, with persuasion less likely to occur through peripheral cues, such as peers’ emotional experiences. The converse is also true under low involvement conditions.
However, a recent study by Jung et al. (2017) found evidence that contradicts the prevailing literature on the role of involvement in digital media environments; the study claims that individuals often find it hard to motivate themselves to process information thoroughly, regardless of involvement levels, due to the nature of the Internet, which inundates them with massive amounts of non-verifiable information. Individuals therefore tend to compromise the accuracy of their decisions, which can require extensive cognitive effort, by relying on the heuristic aspects of information.
In addition, in the context of online youth sports communities, people tend to seek others’ prior experiences (e.g., a coach’s personality) and emotionally supportive messages because any objective information about a youth sports program (e.g., fees, coach’s experience, facilities) can be easily found through sources such as the program’s website. It can therefore be assumed that the moderating role of involvement in appeal types might be limited by the dominance of social media. Nevertheless, because there is still insufficient evidence for the limited role of involvement in the social media context, we propose the following research question: RQ1: What effect does involvement have on the appeal types of posts in online youth sport communities?
The Moderating Impact of Involvement on the Attitude–Intention Relationship Attitudes are among the most significant predictors of behavioral intentions in psychology. According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), intention functions as an antecedent of behavior and is attributable to individual attitudes, together with subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991). Although a number of studies have provided strong evidence for the relationship between intentions and the three causal variables of the TPB, a meta-analytic study by Cooke and Sheeran (2004) also noted that less than 42% of the variance in intentions can be explained by those variables.
Consequently, there have been numerous attempts to increase the predictive power of the TPB by exploring moderators of the relationship between intention and the TPB variables, such as attitudinal ambivalence (Armitage & Conner, 2000) and certainty (Bassili, 1996). In addition to these moderating variables, Petty et al. (1983) has offered theoretical and empirical evidence that the attitude–intention relationship is more consistent under high involvement conditions, because attitudes established by highly involved people are more stable than those of lowly involved people. Verplanken (1989) also examined whether involvement can explain additional variance in the attitude–intention relationship, although that study was in the context of nuclear energy.
Therefore, the current study will examine the moderating role of involvement in the attitude–intention relationship in the sport communication context. H3: High involvement will be associated with greater attitude–intention consistency than low involvement.
METHOD Subjects and Procedure 192 participants who had parenting experiences (male = 64%) from the United States between the ages of 20 and 55 completed the study through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). For participants’ ethnicity, the most common ethnicity was Caucasian (53.6%), followed by Asian (33.9%), African American (5.2%), Hispanic (3.6%), and other racial backgrounds (3.6%). To participate in the study, subjects were requested to provide electronic consent. And subjects were debriefed and compensated upon completion of the study.
Experimental Treatment Conditions To investigate the effects of visual prominence (high vs. low prominence) and message appeals (emotional vs. informative message) on online youth sport program postings, four versions of online postings were created as stimuli, and the subjects were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions: low prominence and emotional (n = 49), high prominence and emotional (n = 49), low prominence and informative (n = 49), and high prominence and informative (n = 45).
The postings contained an online community member-created message about a local youth soccer program. The community member-created posting consisted of either factual information about the soccer program (informative appeal) (i.e., up to 12 kids in one session with two coaches, all are CPR first aid and AED certified, and having an indoor field) or user experiences (emotional appeal) (i.e., it was such an amazing experience and my son loves his current coach). A youth soccer program was selected as the topic for this study because of popularity of the sport among young parents. The manipulation of visual prominence was carried out by differentiating graphic elements between high prominence and low prominence conditions. Since parent community members on social media platforms can emphasize their posting with subtle graphical alterations, the high prominence version was designed to help the study participants notice the key messages by capitalizing key words, using a bulleted list and line-breaks in order to increase readability, and using a text art. The low prominence version lacks those design features.
Dependent Measures Attitude toward the online posting The attitude toward the online youth program posting was measured using three semantically differential items (i.e., good/bad, favorable/unfavorable, negative/positive) emerged from the literature on the scale (Lee & Hong, 2016). The scale was internally consistent (Cronbach’s = .91, M = 4.70, SD = 1.81).
Behavioral Intentions Subjects were also asked to answer their intentions to 1) recommend the youth soccer program on the posting you just read and 2) register for the soccer program in the future on 7-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1 (not at all) 7 (extremely). The items were averaged to create a behavioral intention scale (Cronbach’s = .83, M = 4.33, SD = 1.73).
Independent Measure Involvement Involvement in sports activities may influence the attitudinal formation and behavioral intentions. Thus, this study measured personal involvement with sports activities by using three 7-point (1 = strongly disagree, 7 strongly agree) Likert-type scales, the participants reported on how much they agreed with the following three statements: “I enjoy playing sport,” “Sport plays a central role in my life,” and “Sport says a lot about who I am.” The three items were averaged to measure involvement (Cronbach’s = .86, M = 5.38, SD = 1.35). This study used a median split to categorize high-involvement (N = 86) and low-involvement conditions (N = 83).
RESULTS Manipulation Checks The visual prominence manipulations were examined. Using two seven-point sematic differential items, the participants were asked to rate the extent to which they thought the format of the online posting they just read were “attractive/not attractive” and “likable/not likable” (Cronbach’s = .83, M = 4.81, SD = 1.75). A t test between the two prominence conditions (low vs. high prominence) showed subjects felt that the youth sport program posting was more visually prominent when it included noticeable graphic elements (M = 5.60, SD = 1.23) than when it lacked the elements (M = 4.05, SD = 1.84), t (190) = 6.82, p < .001.
This study measured the degree of informativeness of online postings (emotional versus informative) by asking participants to rate the extent to which they though the posting they just read was “emotional” and “warmhearted” (Cronbach’s = .80 M = 4.39, SD = 1.61). A t test between two message appeal conditions showed that the emotional appeal group (M = 4.94, SD = 1.27) perceived the posting to be significantly more emotional than the informative appeal group (M = 3.82, SD = 1.73), t (190) = 5.11, p < .001. H1 and H2: Visual Prominence Main Effects
Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine the significant impacts of visual prominence, message appeal, and involvement on attitudes and behavioral intentions. H1 and H2 suggest that participants reading visually prominent postings would form stronger attitudes and behavioral intentions than did participants reading less prominent postings. Follow-up analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were also performed the examine the effect of visual prominence for each of the dependent variables. Findings revealed that the effect of visual prominence was pronounced in relation to being able to determine consumers’ attitudes (M_High Prominence = 5.30, SD = 2.02 vs. M_Low Prominence = 4.14, SD = 1.38; F (1, 169) = 20.90, p < .001, partial η2 = .12) and behavioral intentions (M_High Prominence = 4.69, SD = 1.64 vs. M_Low Prominence = 4.01, SD = 1.73; F (1, 169) = 7.24, p < .01, partial η2 = .04). Thus, H1 and H2 were supported.
RQ1 and RQ2: Influence of Involvement on Visual Prominence and Message Appeals The impact of consumers’ involvement on visual prominence and messages appeals were examined by 2 (visual prominence) X 2 (involvement) ANOVAs and 2 (message appeal) X 2 (involvement) ANOVAs with attitudes toward the online posting and behavioral intentions as dependent variables. The ANOVA results showed that that there were not significant interaction effects of the involvement-appeal relation and the involvement-visual prominence relation. The p values of the aforementioned relations were greater than .37. However, the impacts of visual prominence and message appeals were greater under both involvement conditions (see Figure 1 and 2).
H3: Moderating effect of involvement on the attitude-intention relation This study anticipated that the attitude toward the online posting would form a stronger impact on the formation of behavioral intentions for high involvement conditions. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine whether involvement modifies the magnitude of the attitude-intention relation. Then, each correlation coefficient values for the high- and low-involvement conditions was converted into z scores by using Fisher’s r to z transformation. In order to compare the z scores for the two conditions, the following formula was implemented to determine the observed z score: Zobserved = (Z1−Z2) ∕ (square root of [1∕N1−3] + (1∕N2−3))
For the high involvement condition (n = 83), the correlation coefficient for the attitude-intention relation was .49 (p < .001). For the low involvement condition (n = 84), the correlation was .25 (p < .05). The test statistics, z = 1.78, p < .001 (one-tailed test), indicate that the correlation in the high involvement condition is significantly higher than it is in the low involvement condition. Therefore, Hypothesis 3 is supported.
DISCUSSION Our findings suggest a lack of association between involvement and the effects of heuristics. The moderating role of involvement has been well established since the introduction of Petty et al.’s (1983) ELM and Chaiken’s (1987) heuristic-systematic model. According to those theories, involvement is a significant determinant in the selection of an information processing route (peripheral versus central). It is also commonly acknowledged in the sport communication field that individuals generally use a systematic mode (i.e., evaluating completeness/accuracy) when processing online sport information under high-involvement conditions in order to avoid the serious consequences of incomplete or inaccurate information (e.g., monetary loss, negative impacts on child development). However, our study found that the non-systematic mode is often activated for both high-involvement and low-involvement participants, and this finding thus contributes to the literature on individuals’ approaches to online information processing.
According to evidence-accumulation models (2), individuals reach a conclusion once there is enough evidence to support a particular case, but they can also alter the amount of evidence needed for coming to that decision. Although individuals generally want to make accurate decisions, Internet users often compromise the accuracy of their decisions by reducing the amount of evidence required to validate the information they are investigating. This tendency is attributable to online information overload, in which individuals experience difficulties in understanding the nature of a particular topic (Robin & Holmes, 2008). The tendency suggests a new general pattern of the speed–accuracy trade-off (SAT) in social media environments. In line with the SAT, there are two driving forces in the decision-making process (4); one emphasizes faster (or more efficient) decisions, while the other emphasizes higher accuracy. Although there are trade-offs between speed and accuracy, the two can be pursued independently, but they produce a wide spectrum of outcomes, from slower but more accurate decisions to quicker but less accurate decisions. In social media environments, individuals are motivated to engage in less-effortful information processing and are more likely to trade accuracy for speed in the decision-making process.
The current study also found another reason for further examining the role of involvement in social media environments. It has been assumed that persuasion is less likely to occur through emotional messages when an individual is highly involved in an issue because people tend to scrutinize issue-relevant information. However, our findings suggest that emotional messages can be more persuasive than informational messages regardless of the level of involvement, especially in the online youth sport community context, and these findings can be explained by the types of information individuals seek in online communities. Objective information about a youth program (e.g., fees, coaches’ experience, facilities) can be easily found through sources such as the youth program’s website, but people also tend to seek others’ prior experiences and emotionally supportive messages when joining online communities. It is important to stress that the attitude–intention relationship varies with involvement levels. Our study shows that the attitudes of high-involvement participants are more predictive of the intention to perform a specific act (e.g., signing up a youth sport program) than the attitudes of low-involvement participants. Our findings regarding the attitude–intention relationship suggest that the moderating effect of involvement on that relationship is applicable to not only traditional media environments (e.g., Krosnick, 1988; Verplanken, 1989), but also to social media environments.
In addition to the theoretical implications of this study, understanding parents’ information processing in assessing youth sport program is an integral part of the sport communication landscape. With the growing importance of (local) parenting community groups on social media and the impact of user generated message, this study will help youth sport service providers understand the effective way of crafting online information. This study will shed lights on communication strategies for youth sport providers when they try to utilize a form of testimonial in introducing their services to the market. This study will also lead how social influencer marketing would be employed in delivering and disseminating the promotional messages to the consumers.
This study has some limitations. All its subjects were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Although MTurk respondents tend to be more diverse than student samples in terms of demographic, psychographic, and geographic characteristics, some reliability issues (e.g., the work ethic of MTurk respondents) are unavoidable (3). Another limitation is that this study was conducted with samples of people who had parenting experiences because the study used a youth soccer program to develop the experimental stimuli, and the context of parenting might amplify reactions to emotional messages. We therefore recommend that future studies be conducted with more diverse samples and more popular sports topics (e.g., local sports events) in order to exclude the specific study topic and characteristics of the sample as potentially confounding factors.
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Authors: Wan S. Jung1, Won Yong Jang2, and Soo Rhee3
1Department of Professional Communications, Farmingdale State College, New York 2Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 3Department of Mass Communication, Towson University, Maryland
Corresponding Author:
Wan S. Jung, Ph.D Knapp Hall 30 2350 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735-1021 jungw@farmingdale.edu 934-420-2276
Wan S. Jung, PhD is an Associate Professor of Professional Communications at Farmingdale State College, NY. His research interests focus on the credibility assessment process of digital information.
Won Yong Jang, PhD is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. He specializes in 1) international communication, 2) news media and society in East Asian countries, 3) climate change policy & communication, 4) public opinion on North Korea’s Nuclear Program, and 5) territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Soo Rhee, PhD is a Professor at Towson University, Maryland. Her research interests include luxury brand advertising, gender portrayals in advertising, dynamics of electronic word-of-mouth, cross-cultural studies in advertising and message strategies in health advertising.
ABSTRACT An increasing number of people rely on the Internet as their primary information source and use it to share their opinions and thoughts with others. Generally, individuals adopt a systematic approach when processing sports information, evaluating its completeness and accuracy due to the serious consequences of incomplete or inaccurate information, such as monetary loss and negative impacts on child development. However, our study finds that the heuristics of online information, even with subtle changes in design features, generate more positive attitudinal and behavioral changes compared to central cues (i.e., informational posting). Our findings suggest a dissociation between involvement and the effects of heuristics. This study also provides an empirical framework for predicting how people process information in digital media environments. Additional findings and implications are discussed.
Key Words: youth sport communication, visual impact of social media posting, message appeal
INTRODUCTION The youth sport market is a huge and fast-growing industry, ranging from organized sports leagues to recreational activities. The market for youth sports in the United States stood at 15.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 and grew to 19.2 billion U.S. dollars by 2019 (11). With a fast-growing trend (i.e., a growth rate of 25.4% from 2017 to 2019) with various options, parents became more active in searching for information. As social media are pervasive, rapidly evolving, and increasingly influencing parents’ daily life and their sport consumption, parents increasingly turn to the internet as a source of community, which helps them connect, communicate, and share information (18).
The rapid growth of online sports information production and dissemination through social media parenting communities (e.g., Facebook local groups and Nextdoor) raises important research questions about how individuals process online information provided by other consumers (i.e., experienced parents whose child(ren) have participated in your sport programs) in youth sport consumption decision making. Moreover, since sport consumers make decisions about whether or not to adopt online sports information based on their own judgement (e.g., attitudinal formation), how individuals evaluate online information is central to sports communication agendas.
Although the formation of attitudes toward information can be attributed to multiple aspects of that information (e.g., source credibility, information completeness), sport consumers using online resources are more reliant on how the information is presented than on the quality of the argument (10), and subtle graphical adjustments become relevant when online parenting community members share their own experiences with other members on social media platforms. In order to emphasize their own views, web users often create visual prominence using subtle design elements, such as capitalized subject lines, copy-and-paste text art (also called keyboard art, e.g., ≧◡≦), or bullet-point symbols. In addition to subtle design changes, the characteristics of the online posting can be varied based on the degree of informativeness (i.e., emotion-based versus information-based).
The purpose of the current study is twofold. First, it will explore the effect on attitudinal formation and behavioral intentions of the message appeals and subtle graphical adjustments of posts in online parenting communities in the youth sport consumption context. Second, the study will investigate whether the strength of the relationship between attitude and behavioral intentions varies based on message appeals. Overall, the study will seek to advance understanding of digital media by examining how small graphical changes and message appeals impact youth sport consumers’ attitudes and behaviors when searching for consumer-generated information (e.g., testimonials) in online communities.
LITERATURE REVIEW Parent-to-Parent Online Information in Youth Sport Consumption “It takes a village to raise a child” is a proverb to explain the role of and community support in parenting. As social aspect is one of the primary factors that drives parents and their children to be involved in sport program (1), the influence of other parents’ opinion and the role of parent community are even more prominent in youth sport consumer’s decision making process. Braunstein-Minkove & Metz (2019) noted in their research on the role of mothers in sport consumption that youth sport consumption might not always about the sport but the experience. Therefore, parents of youth rely on other parents’ opinion to obtain relevant and sufficient information and evaluate various youth sport program options available. In order to provide the best sporting and exercise experience for their children, parents of young children are willing to hear voices of other parents (i.e., testimonial) regarding the type of sports, sports programs, and sporting events their children would participate in.
With the modern technology and the advent of social media, the notion of the village (or supporting community) has been expanded from a physical village to a digital community. Social media platforms support a variety of user generated content to be disseminated to other users and allows users to participate in interactive discussions. Among the various types of social media platforms, Facebook have become the most prevalent web-based service in the world (21) and remaining the most popular site by far (12). Also, Facebook recently provides an option to mark the group type as parenting group, which gives parents new ways to discover and engage with their communities (5). Though the role of online community and the influence of information from other youth sport consumers (i.e., testimonials from other parents in such online community) in youth sport consumer’s decision-making process became more prominent, there is no previous research to explore the effects of the presentation of online information on consumers’ attitudinal and behavioral response in youth sport consumption context.
The Impact of Visual Prominence Quick and low effort cognitive information processing has been investigated in the field of psychology since the 1970s (e.g., 9, 13), and the research indicates that impression formation is the result of the perceiver’s rapid response to selective or incomplete information. In other words, one’s appraisal of an event occurs without intention or conscious thought. Theories of impression formation in the context of digital communication have been developed by Fogg (2003) and Wathen and Burkell (2002), and their studies suggest that visual prominence—the visual salience that allows people to effortlessly notice the presence of graphic elements (e.g., bold vs. non-bold font)—is a primary driver of attitudinal formation, rather than information quality.
The impact of visual prominence can also be explained by individuals’ reliance, when making decisions, on transactive memory systems, which consist of two key elements: internal memory (e.g., personal experience) and external memory (e.g., another person’s expertise; 14). The presence of an external memory will activate a transactive memory system, and such a dependency on external memory increases efficiency and cognitive labor power (20). Thus, external sources of knowledge can have a significant impact on one’s perception of what to accept as true and how confidently to accept it.
The theoretical and empirical evidence for transactive memory systems is based on offline social interactions (e.g., interactions within family groups). However, recent studies suggest that online sources can also trigger transactive memory systems due to the similarity between the process of outsourcing cognitive tasks to other people and the process of outsourcing cognitive tasks to the Internet (6). This nonhuman transactive memory network is further fueled by the unique features of the Internet (e.g., accessibility, breadth, immediacy of information), but such features may distort one’s ability to calibrate personal knowledge because the boundary between internal and external memory becomes unclear. That is, individuals often mix up information obtained through the Internet with information stored in the brain, and this illusion inflates self-ratings of competence regarding personal knowledge and decision-making (17). Recent research on such illusions also suggests that people tend to believe they can solve problems even in unfamiliar domains and that their decision-making processes are often based on heuristics, such as visual prominence (7, 8); the impact of visual prominence would thus be greater in digital media environments.
Since online parenting community members can establish the visual prominence of their postings on social media platforms only with subtle graphical adjustments, the current study will investigate how subtle changes (e.g., capitalizing subject lines, use of text art) to posts in online youth sport communities influence individuals’ attitude formation and behavioral intentions. Given the exploratory nature of the topic of individual information judgment in digital media environments, the following hypotheses are proposed: H1: Visually prominent postings in online youth sport communities form stronger attitudes than less prominent postings. H2: Visually prominent postings in online youth sport communities form stronger behavioral intentions than less prominent postings.
The Impact of Involvement on Message Appeals The persuasiveness and prevalence of various appeal types (e.g., emotional, informative) have been extensively examined in different contexts, such as brand familiarity (Rhee & Jung, 2019), cultural variability (Han & Shavitt, 1994), and involvement (Flora & Maibach, 1990). However, less is known about the differential effects of appeal types in the context of online youth sport communities, and the current study therefore presents an exploration of the question of which type of message appeal is most persuasive in such communities. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM; 16) is one of the most prominent theoretical frameworks employed in the message appeal literature and is applied in various contexts, such as public health service announcements (Perse et al., 1996), crisis management (Lee & Atkinson, 2019), and advertising (Stafford & Day, 1995). Studies have also commonly found a moderating effect of involvement on message appeals, and according to the ELM, people tend to rely on argument quality (e.g., information completeness, comprehensiveness) when processing information under high involvement conditions, with persuasion less likely to occur through peripheral cues, such as peers’ emotional experiences. The converse is also true under low involvement conditions.
However, a recent study by Jung et al. (2017) found evidence that contradicts the prevailing literature on the role of involvement in digital media environments; the study claims that individuals often find it hard to motivate themselves to process information thoroughly, regardless of involvement levels, due to the nature of the Internet, which inundates them with massive amounts of non-verifiable information. Individuals therefore tend to compromise the accuracy of their decisions, which can require extensive cognitive effort, by relying on the heuristic aspects of information.
In addition, in the context of online youth sports communities, people tend to seek others’ prior experiences (e.g., a coach’s personality) and emotionally supportive messages because any objective information about a youth sports program (e.g., fees, coach’s experience, facilities) can be easily found through sources such as the program’s website. It can therefore be assumed that the moderating role of involvement in appeal types might be limited by the dominance of social media. Nevertheless, because there is still insufficient evidence for the limited role of involvement in the social media context, we propose the following research question: RQ1: What effect does involvement have on the appeal types of posts in online youth sport communities?
The Moderating Impact of Involvement on the Attitude–Intention Relationship Attitudes are among the most significant predictors of behavioral intentions in psychology. According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), intention functions as an antecedent of behavior and is attributable to individual attitudes, together with subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991). Although a number of studies have provided strong evidence for the relationship between intentions and the three causal variables of the TPB, a meta-analytic study by Cooke and Sheeran (2004) also noted that less than 42% of the variance in intentions can be explained by those variables.
Consequently, there have been numerous attempts to increase the predictive power of the TPB by exploring moderators of the relationship between intention and the TPB variables, such as attitudinal ambivalence (Armitage & Conner, 2000) and certainty (Bassili, 1996). In addition to these moderating variables, Petty et al. (1983) has offered theoretical and empirical evidence that the attitude–intention relationship is more consistent under high involvement conditions, because attitudes established by highly involved people are more stable than those of lowly involved people. Verplanken (1989) also examined whether involvement can explain additional variance in the attitude–intention relationship, although that study was in the context of nuclear energy.
Therefore, the current study will examine the moderating role of involvement in the attitude–intention relationship in the sport communication context. H3: High involvement will be associated with greater attitude–intention consistency than low involvement.
METHOD Subjects and Procedure 192 participants who had parenting experiences (male = 64%) from the United States between the ages of 20 and 55 completed the study through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). For participants’ ethnicity, the most common ethnicity was Caucasian (53.6%), followed by Asian (33.9%), African American (5.2%), Hispanic (3.6%), and other racial backgrounds (3.6%). To participate in the study, subjects were requested to provide electronic consent. And subjects were debriefed and compensated upon completion of the study.
Experimental Treatment Conditions To investigate the effects of visual prominence (high vs. low prominence) and message appeals (emotional vs. informative message) on online youth sport program postings, four versions of online postings were created as stimuli, and the subjects were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions: low prominence and emotional (n = 49), high prominence and emotional (n = 49), low prominence and informative (n = 49), and high prominence and informative (n = 45).
The postings contained an online community member-created message about a local youth soccer program. The community member-created posting consisted of either factual information about the soccer program (informative appeal) (i.e., up to 12 kids in one session with two coaches, all are CPR first aid and AED certified, and having an indoor field) or user experiences (emotional appeal) (i.e., it was such an amazing experience and my son loves his current coach). A youth soccer program was selected as the topic for this study because of popularity of the sport among young parents. The manipulation of visual prominence was carried out by differentiating graphic elements between high prominence and low prominence conditions. Since parent community members on social media platforms can emphasize their posting with subtle graphical alterations, the high prominence version was designed to help the study participants notice the key messages by capitalizing key words, using a bulleted list and line-breaks in order to increase readability, and using a text art. The low prominence version lacks those design features.
Dependent Measures Attitude toward the online posting The attitude toward the online youth program posting was measured using three semantically differential items (i.e., good/bad, favorable/unfavorable, negative/positive) emerged from the literature on the scale (Lee & Hong, 2016). The scale was internally consistent (Cronbach’s = .91, M = 4.70, SD = 1.81).
Behavioral Intentions Subjects were also asked to answer their intentions to 1) recommend the youth soccer program on the posting you just read and 2) register for the soccer program in the future on 7-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1 (not at all) 7 (extremely). The items were averaged to create a behavioral intention scale (Cronbach’s = .83, M = 4.33, SD = 1.73).
Independent Measure Involvement Involvement in sports activities may influence the attitudinal formation and behavioral intentions. Thus, this study measured personal involvement with sports activities by using three 7-point (1 = strongly disagree, 7 strongly agree) Likert-type scales, the participants reported on how much they agreed with the following three statements: “I enjoy playing sport,” “Sport plays a central role in my life,” and “Sport says a lot about who I am.” The three items were averaged to measure involvement (Cronbach’s = .86, M = 5.38, SD = 1.35). This study used a median split to categorize high-involvement (N = 86) and low-involvement conditions (N = 83).
RESULTS Manipulation Checks The visual prominence manipulations were examined. Using two seven-point sematic differential items, the participants were asked to rate the extent to which they thought the format of the online posting they just read were “attractive/not attractive” and “likable/not likable” (Cronbach’s = .83, M = 4.81, SD = 1.75). A t test between the two prominence conditions (low vs. high prominence) showed subjects felt that the youth sport program posting was more visually prominent when it included noticeable graphic elements (M = 5.60, SD = 1.23) than when it lacked the elements (M = 4.05, SD = 1.84), t (190) = 6.82, p < .001.
This study measured the degree of informativeness of online postings (emotional versus informative) by asking participants to rate the extent to which they though the posting they just read was “emotional” and “warmhearted” (Cronbach’s = .80 M = 4.39, SD = 1.61). A t test between two message appeal conditions showed that the emotional appeal group (M = 4.94, SD = 1.27) perceived the posting to be significantly more emotional than the informative appeal group (M = 3.82, SD = 1.73), t (190) = 5.11, p < .001. H1 and H2: Visual Prominence Main Effects
Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine the significant impacts of visual prominence, message appeal, and involvement on attitudes and behavioral intentions. H1 and H2 suggest that participants reading visually prominent postings would form stronger attitudes and behavioral intentions than did participants reading less prominent postings. Follow-up analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were also performed the examine the effect of visual prominence for each of the dependent variables. Findings revealed that the effect of visual prominence was pronounced in relation to being able to determine consumers’ attitudes (M_High Prominence = 5.30, SD = 2.02 vs. M_Low Prominence = 4.14, SD = 1.38; F (1, 169) = 20.90, p < .001, partial η2 = .12) and behavioral intentions (M_High Prominence = 4.69, SD = 1.64 vs. M_Low Prominence = 4.01, SD = 1.73; F (1, 169) = 7.24, p < .01, partial η2 = .04). Thus, H1 and H2 were supported.
RQ1 and RQ2: Influence of Involvement on Visual Prominence and Message Appeals The impact of consumers’ involvement on visual prominence and messages appeals were examined by 2 (visual prominence) X 2 (involvement) ANOVAs and 2 (message appeal) X 2 (involvement) ANOVAs with attitudes toward the online posting and behavioral intentions as dependent variables. The ANOVA results showed that that there were not significant interaction effects of the involvement-appeal relation and the involvement-visual prominence relation. The p values of the aforementioned relations were greater than .37. However, the impacts of visual prominence and message appeals were greater under both involvement conditions (see Figure 1 and 2).
H3: Moderating effect of involvement on the attitude-intention relation This study anticipated that the attitude toward the online posting would form a stronger impact on the formation of behavioral intentions for high involvement conditions. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine whether involvement modifies the magnitude of the attitude-intention relation. Then, each correlation coefficient values for the high- and low-involvement conditions was converted into z scores by using Fisher’s r to z transformation. In order to compare the z scores for the two conditions, the following formula was implemented to determine the observed z score: Zobserved = (Z1−Z2) ∕ (square root of [1∕N1−3] + (1∕N2−3))
For the high involvement condition (n = 83), the correlation coefficient for the attitude-intention relation was .49 (p < .001). For the low involvement condition (n = 84), the correlation was .25 (p < .05). The test statistics, z = 1.78, p < .001 (one-tailed test), indicate that the correlation in the high involvement condition is significantly higher than it is in the low involvement condition. Therefore, Hypothesis 3 is supported.
DISCUSSION Our findings suggest a lack of association between involvement and the effects of heuristics. The moderating role of involvement has been well established since the introduction of Petty et al.’s (1983) ELM and Chaiken’s (1987) heuristic-systematic model. According to those theories, involvement is a significant determinant in the selection of an information processing route (peripheral versus central). It is also commonly acknowledged in the sport communication field that individuals generally use a systematic mode (i.e., evaluating completeness/accuracy) when processing online sport information under high-involvement conditions in order to avoid the serious consequences of incomplete or inaccurate information (e.g., monetary loss, negative impacts on child development). However, our study found that the non-systematic mode is often activated for both high-involvement and low-involvement participants, and this finding thus contributes to the literature on individuals’ approaches to online information processing.
According to evidence-accumulation models (2), individuals reach a conclusion once there is enough evidence to support a particular case, but they can also alter the amount of evidence needed for coming to that decision. Although individuals generally want to make accurate decisions, Internet users often compromise the accuracy of their decisions by reducing the amount of evidence required to validate the information they are investigating. This tendency is attributable to online information overload, in which individuals experience difficulties in understanding the nature of a particular topic (Robin & Holmes, 2008). The tendency suggests a new general pattern of the speed–accuracy trade-off (SAT) in social media environments. In line with the SAT, there are two driving forces in the decision-making process (4); one emphasizes faster (or more efficient) decisions, while the other emphasizes higher accuracy. Although there are trade-offs between speed and accuracy, the two can be pursued independently, but they produce a wide spectrum of outcomes, from slower but more accurate decisions to quicker but less accurate decisions. In social media environments, individuals are motivated to engage in less-effortful information processing and are more likely to trade accuracy for speed in the decision-making process.
The current study also found another reason for further examining the role of involvement in social media environments. It has been assumed that persuasion is less likely to occur through emotional messages when an individual is highly involved in an issue because people tend to scrutinize issue-relevant information. However, our findings suggest that emotional messages can be more persuasive than informational messages regardless of the level of involvement, especially in the online youth sport community context, and these findings can be explained by the types of information individuals seek in online communities. Objective information about a youth program (e.g., fees, coaches’ experience, facilities) can be easily found through sources such as the youth program’s website, but people also tend to seek others’ prior experiences and emotionally supportive messages when joining online communities. It is important to stress that the attitude–intention relationship varies with involvement levels. Our study shows that the attitudes of high-involvement participants are more predictive of the intention to perform a specific act (e.g., signing up a youth sport program) than the attitudes of low-involvement participants. Our findings regarding the attitude–intention relationship suggest that the moderating effect of involvement on that relationship is applicable to not only traditional media environments (e.g., Krosnick, 1988; Verplanken, 1989), but also to social media environments.
In addition to the theoretical implications of this study, understanding parents’ information processing in assessing youth sport program is an integral part of the sport communication landscape. With the growing importance of (local) parenting community groups on social media and the impact of user generated message, this study will help youth sport service providers understand the effective way of crafting online information. This study will shed lights on communication strategies for youth sport providers when they try to utilize a form of testimonial in introducing their services to the market. This study will also lead how social influencer marketing would be employed in delivering and disseminating the promotional messages to the consumers.
This study has some limitations. All its subjects were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Although MTurk respondents tend to be more diverse than student samples in terms of demographic, psychographic, and geographic characteristics, some reliability issues (e.g., the work ethic of MTurk respondents) are unavoidable (3). Another limitation is that this study was conducted with samples of people who had parenting experiences because the study used a youth soccer program to develop the experimental stimuli, and the context of parenting might amplify reactions to emotional messages. We therefore recommend that future studies be conducted with more diverse samples and more popular sports topics (e.g., local sports events) in order to exclude the specific study topic and characteristics of the sample as potentially confounding factors.
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In the rapidly industrializing world, the pursuit of economic growth often comes at a cost. Industrial growth is widely viewed as a driver of economic prosperity, yet it can have serious, often unnoticed effects on nearby residents. Those living close to these sites may experience challenges to their health, well-being, and overall quality of life.
In this article, we explore the multifaceted ways in which residing near industrial areas can affect individuals and communities.
Air Quality and Health Concerns
One of the most pressing health concerns associated with living near industrial sites is the deterioration of air quality. Industrial emissions, including particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, can significantly degrade the air we breathe. Long-term exposure to these pollutants may cause various respiratory and cardiovascular issues, including asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer, and heart disease.
A recent feature of the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that air pollution causes millions of premature deaths worldwide each year. In areas with intense industrial activity, this risk increases substantially. Residents in these regions are more likely to develop serious health problems related to pollution exposure.
What symptoms should I watch for if I suspect air pollution is affecting my health?
If air pollution may be impacting your health, monitor for symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, eye irritation, shortness of breath, and fatigue. Persistent or worsening respiratory issues, chest tightness, and frequent asthma flare-ups are common signs. See a healthcare professional if your condition deteriorates.
Noise Pollution and its Effects on Daily Life
Constant noise from machinery, trucks, and factory operations creates a loud environment that can lead to serious long-term effects on residents. Prolonged exposure to high levels of noise can result in sleep disturbances, increased anxiety, and a higher risk of heart disease.
The American College of Cardiology states that individuals exposed to high noise face greater heart attack risks than those in quieter areas. A study found that elevated noise above 65 decibels accounted for 5% of heart attack hospitalizations. This data highlights the serious cardiovascular risks associated with prolonged noise exposure.
Water Quality Issues and Contamination Risks
Industrial activities present serious risks to nearby water bodies, often resulting in pollution and contamination. Discharges of untreated wastewater, hazardous chemicals, and heavy metals compromise water quality. This degradation makes the water unsafe for drinking and recreational use and harms local ecosystems and biodiversity.
Major polluters include oil refineries, chemical manufacturers, and fertilizer plants. Oil refineries alone discharge almost half a billion gallons of wastewater into waterways daily. Chemical and plastic plants emit millions of pounds of pollutants each year, including nitrogen, lead, and benzene, raising environmental health risks.
Industrial pollution is a silent killer, claiming millions of lives through waterborne diseases. A study published by Frontiers reported that over 50 diseases are linked to poor drinking water quality. Globally, 80% of diseases and 50% of child deaths are related to unsafe water. Water pollution contributes to conditions such as diarrhea, skin diseases, malnutrition, and even cancer, underscoring the severe health risks of contaminated water.
Should I consider a specific type of water filter if I live near an industrial area?
If you live near an industrial area, consider a water filter designed to remove heavy metals, VOCs, and other contaminants. Filters certified for specific pollutants, like reverse osmosis or activated carbon models, would be ideal. These filters are effective in reducing harmful substances often present in industrial runoff.
Soil Contamination and Risks to Home Gardens and Landscaping
The toxic legacy of the industry can leave a lasting mark on the environment, leading to soil contamination and endangering overall environmental health. Industrial activities can release heavy metals, chemicals, and other pollutants into the soil, where they may persist for decades. These contaminants can be absorbed by plants, affecting both ornamental landscaping and edible gardens.
Eating vegetables grown in contaminated soil can expose you to lead, arsenic, or cadmium, potentially causing developmental and neurological issues over time.
Chemical Exposure and Its Long-Term Health Implications
Industrial activities can expose communities to a range of hazardous chemicals, some of which have been linked to serious health problems. These chemicals can contaminate the environment in multiple ways.
Many industrial processes release harmful substances, including PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Dubbed “forever chemicals,” PFAS are persistent pollutants often found in firefighting foams like AFFF.
Improper disposal of PFAS-containing products by industries can lead to the contamination of local water and soil. This contamination poses long-term health risks, including cancer, immune suppression, and liver damage.
PFAS exposure, particularly through AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam), has been associated with serious health issues such as cancer, thyroid disorders, and reproductive problems. Developing fetuses and young children are especially vulnerable to PFAS’ harmful effects.
With mounting evidence of these risks, many communities are now pursuing legal action against AFFF manufacturers. Through the AFFF foam lawsuit, they seek compensation for health impacts caused by chemical exposure.
Key claims in these lawsuits, as outlined by TruLaw, may include design defects, manufacturing defects, and failure to warn.
Design defects allege that AFFF’s chemical makeup is inherently toxic and harmful to human health. Some cases cite manufacturing defects, claiming production errors increased risks, while others argue AFFF products lacked proper warnings or instructions for safe use.
How can I test my water and soil for PFAS?
You can test for PFAS in water and soil through specialized laboratory services. Many labs offer PFAS testing kits for home use, which involve collecting samples and sending them for analysis. Results reveal PFAS levels, helping you understand contamination risks. Remember to contact certified environmental testing labs for accurate assessments.
Property Value and Real Estate Considerations
Proximity to industrial sites can decrease property values because of environmental and health-related issues. Properties near factories or plants typically see slower appreciation rates and may decrease in value over time. Potential buyers are often concerned about pollution, noise, and health risks. Also, living near industrial areas can make selling homes more challenging due to these concerns.
When considering real estate investments or relocation, it’s important to assess both current and future industrial activities in the area. This helps evaluate how these activities influence property prices and future investment opportunities.
Weighing the Impact of Industrial Proximity
Living near industrial sites presents both challenges and considerations, such as health risks from pollution and concerns about property values. While industrial zones may offer job opportunities, they can also affect your well-being and financial stability. Protect your future by understanding the risks associated with industrial areas.
By staying proactive, you can balance the benefits and risks to ensure a healthy, safe environment and protect your lifestyle.
MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia plans to require social media platforms to act to prevent online harms to users such as bullying, predatory behavior and algorithms pushing destructive content, the government said Thursday.
“The Digital Duty of Care will place the onus on digital platforms to proactively keep Australians safe and better prevent online harms,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said in a statement.
The proposed changes to the Online Safety Act were announced before the government next week introduces to Parliament world-first legislation that would ban children younger than 16 from platforms including X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
Critics have argued that removing children from social media reduced incentives for platforms to provide safer online environments.
Social media has been blamed for an increase in children taking their own lives and developing eating disorders due to bulling and exposures to negative body images.
Rowland said making tech companies legally responsible for keeping Australians safe was an approach already adopted by Britain and the European Union.
Digital businesses would be required to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harms on their platforms and services. The duty of care framework would be underpinned by risk assessment and risk mitigation, and informed by safety-by-design principles, the minister said.
Legislating a duty of care would mean services can’t “set and forget.” Instead, their obligations would mean they need to continually identify and mitigate potential risks, as technology and service offerings change and evolve, she said.
The categories of harm in the legislation include harm to young people and mental well-being, promotion of harmful practices and illegal activity.
The government has not said when the duty of care legislation will be introduced to Parliament or outlined the punishment for breaches.
The Digital Industry Group Inc., an advocate for the digital industry in Australia better known as DIGI, welcomed government efforts to “future-proof” the Online Safety Act.
“DIGI’s members together represent some of the safest sections of the Internet, and their work to keep people safe on their services never stops,” DIGI managing director Sunita Bose said in a statement.
“While we wait for further details about this announcement, DIGI’s members will continue to deliver safety-by-design on their services and work constructively with the government to keep Australians safe online,” Bose added.
Swinburne University digital media expert Belinda Barnet described the duty of care as a “great idea.”
“It’s quite pioneering to expect that platforms that host Australian users would have a duty of care responsibility in terms of the content they show and the experiences they offer,” Barnet said.
“It’s making the platforms take responsibility and that just simply doesn’t happen at the moment. There’s an assumption that they’re a neutral third party. They’re not responsible for the impact of that content,” Barnet added.
Amazon has launched a low-cost online storefront featuring electronics, apparel and other products priced at under $20, an effort to compete with discount retailers that have increasingly encroached on the e-commerce giant’s turf.
In a blog post on Wednesday, the company said the new Amazon Haul storefront will mostly feature products that cost less than $10 and offer free delivery on orders over $25. Amazon plans to ship the products to U.S. customers from a warehouse it operates in China, according to documentation the company provided to sellers. Amazon said Haul orders could arrive within one to two weeks.
Many of the available products on the storefront Wednesday resembled the types of items typically found on Shein and Temu, the China-founded e-commerce platforms that have grown in popularity in recent years.
Shein’s core customers are young women enticed by the low-cost apparel sold on the site. Temu offers clothing, accessories, kitchen gadgets and a broad array of other products for bargain-hungry shoppers.
Temu and Shein often get criticism over the environmental impact of the ultra-fast fashion business model the two companies follow. They have also faced scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. and abroad over other issues, including some of the products on their platforms.
Amazon’s new storefront, which is only available on its shopping app and mobile website, features unbranded products, such a phone case and a hairbrush that cost $2.99, and a sleeveless dress that retails for $14.99. The company is seeking to drive home its message on value, with banners on its page advertising “crazy low prices” and activewear “that won’t stretch your budget.”
“Finding great products at very low prices is important to customers, and we continue to explore ways that we can work with our selling partners so they can offer products at ultra-low prices,” Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of Worldwide Selling Partner Services, said in a statement. “It’s early days for this experience, and we’ll continue to listen to customers as we refine and expand it in the weeks and months to come.”
To be sure, importing goods out of China could soon become more expensive for Amazon. In September, the Biden administration said it was cracking down on cheap products sold out of China, a move designed to reduce U.S. dependence on Beijing but could also trigger higher prices for the U.S. consumers who have flocked to Shein and Temu. President-elect Donald Trump has also proposed a 60% tariff on goods from China.
Amazon announced other news this week.
The company said it was shutting down its free, ad-supported streaming service Freevee and consolidating the content under Prime Video, which now also features ads for Prime members who refuse to pay extra to avoid them.
The Seattle-based tech company confirmed Wednesday that it will phase out Freevee in the coming weeks, a move that it says is intended to “deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers.” All Freevee content that’s currently streaming on Prime Video will be labeled “Watch for Free” so both Prime and non-Prime members can easily see what’s available for free, the company said.
“There will be no change to the content available for Prime members, and a vast offering of free streaming content will still be accessible for non-Prime members,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
Amid rising consumer complaints, food regulator FSSAI on Tuesday directed e-commerce players selling food items on their platforms to ensure a minimum shelf life of 30 per cent or 45 days before expiry, at the time of delivery to customers.
According to an official statement, Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) convened a meeting with e-commerce Food Business operators (FBOs) to reinforce compliance requirements for e-commerce FBOs.
“The (FSSAI) CEO asked the e-commerce FBOs to adopt practices to ensure minimum shelf life of 30 per cent or 45 days before expiry at the time of delivery to the consumer,” the statement said.
Rao, who chaired the meeting, clarified that any product claims made on e-commerce platforms must align with the information provided on the product labels and in adherence to FSSAI’s Labelling and Display Regulations.
He also cautioned the FBOs against making unsupported claims online.
“This would prevent misleading information and protect consumers’ right to accurate product details,” the regulator said.
Rao highlighted the pivotal role of online platforms in protecting consumer health and promoting transparency. He reiterated the mandate that no FBO can operate on any e-commerce platform without a valid FSSAI license or Registration, emphasizing the critical need for regulatory compliance.
In a move to ensure safe food handling at every level, he instructed FBOs to implement proper training programs for delivery personnel, empowering them with essential food safety and hygiene protocols.
Additionally, Rao emphasized the importance of delivering food items and non-food items separately to the consumers to avoid potential contamination.
In his concluding remarks, the CEO, FSSAI underscored the need for all e-commerce FBOs to adhere to food safety standards diligently.
He emphasized that a transparent, compliant, and accountable e-commerce food sector is vital for protecting consumer health and fostering confidence in digital food marketplaces.
The session was attended by over 200 participants joined both physically and virtually from across the country, underscoring the significant commitment to strengthening food safety standards within the e-commerce sector.
Earlier this month, the FSSAI asked state authorities to increase surveillance in warehouses of e-commerce operators and issue standard operating procedures (SoPs) for delivery personnel to ensure safe food to consumers.
In its 45th Central Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting on November 7, States and Union Territories were urged to ramp up surveillance at popular tourist destinations to ensure heightened safety standards in preparation for the peak tourist season from November through March.
Rao had asked “Food Commissioners of various states to step up surveillance on warehouses and other facilities utilised by e-commerce platforms.” He also asked for SOPs to be issued for such warehouses, as well as delivery personnel of these platforms.
“States/UTs were asked to increase surveillance samples and were also asked to deploy Food Safety on Wheels mobile vans for this purpose,” the regulator said.
(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
How many different ways of making hot chocolate do you know about? In a recent Instagram reel, digital creator @letskwoowk shows “3 levels” of the same. His video has gone viral and got many people talking about this beloved drink. For “Level 1,” he heats milk and adds sugar and sifted cocoa powder to the same vessel. He whisks the ingredients together, sprinkles some salt on top and pours the drink into a mug. “Simple, basic, super nostalgic. Absolutely nothing wrong with it,” he says.
For “Level 2,” he takes a bar of dark chocolate and chops it well to shred it into smaller pieces. He adds them to a vessel and also adds sugar, salt and cream to it. He gently whisks to melt the chocolate over the heat and gets a creamy sauce-like consistency. Next, he adds the milk slowly to the chocolate mix, whisking continuously. The result is a beverage that is thicker and has a darker brown shade than the first one. He tops it with a dollop of cream.
For “Level 3”, he adds chocolate pieces, brown sugar, a cinnamon stick, green cardamoms and oat milk in a saucepan. He heats these ingredients on low flame for around 10 minutes to steep the flavours. Later, he whisks them together and adjusts the consistency by adding more milk as needed. Watch the complete video here:
The video has received 30 million views so far on Instagram. In the comments, people shared many suggestions for other levels or other ways of making chocolate. Some also admitted that they never put that much time/effort into making the drink. Check out some of the reactions below:
“If you add salt to your hot chocolate that’s already level 3.”
“I throw some water in a teapot wait for it to boil then pour it in a cup and put however much hot chocolate powder from a giant tin in my cupboard I feel like in the moment.”
“Bro I just use boiled water and powder.”
“Okay so reading the comments, I see I’m not the only one in level 0.”
“The first one is hot cocoa, the 2nd and 3rd are hot chocolate.”
“Level 4: add cheese.”
“‘I like my hot chocolate thick.’ – Brother at that point that’s not hot chocolate, you are drinking ganache.
“So, I go a different direction. Like one and two mixed with chilli peppers and just a touch of instant coffee.”
“If it wasn’t so bad for your health I’d choose level 2 every time.”
Which “level” of hot chocolate do you prefer? Let us know in the comments below.
Also Read: Viral Video Shows German Woman Making Boondi For Laddoo, Internet Reacts
Amped Lifestyle ribbon cutting for their Park Hills location on St. Joe Drive featured instructor Emily McRaven seeming to take flight in a bungee fitness harness. Lisa Brotherton-Barnes
Personal fitness trainer Michelle Smith expressed her excitement at the ribbon cutting for her second Amped Lifestyle fitness studio at 600 St. Joe Dr. in Park Hills; the other is located at 305 Forster St. in Farmington. The Park Hills-Leadington Chamber, the Desloge Chamber, and the Farmington Regional Chamber partnered for the ceremony and celebration activities.
Surveying the large gathering that included fellow area business owners, city officials, community leaders, family, and friends, Smith said, “God has done amazing things. It has been an amazing year.”
Smith expressed her appreciation to the training and fitness team who work with her to provide personal attention and instruction to those who are pursuing their health goals at Amped Lifestyle.
“Emily McRaven is our athletic trainer; she’s a bungee instructor, does the fit and flex cardio classes, and is a jack of all trades.Starting November 12th, she’s going to be doing a 60-plus senior class here, two days a week at 9 a.m. I’m super excited. I don’t know any senior that doesn’t want to swing the golf club better, want to walk, want to do all those great things. Stacy Tongay has been with me from the beginning as well,” she said.
Bungee fitness programs are a recent fitness trend that is new to the Parkland area. Special elasticized bungee cables are connected to structural supports in the ceiling and the client wears a safety harness that attaches to the cables. Workouts are high-excitement, and high-intensity while being low-impact so the activity is gentle on the body. The workouts provide a unique combination of strength training, cardio, and dynamic movements. A high percentage fun quotient comes into play with enthusiastic leaps that mimic flight for the person in the harness.
The three instructors gave a demonstration of a typical beginner bungee fitness workout. Attendees commented amongst themselves that it looked like something they would be interested in trying.
Bungee fitness classes are available for beginners, and those interested in cardio-focused workouts. Private one-on-one sessions or small group classes are available in addition to special event packages for things like private parties or groups who would like to have a fun experience together.
Traditional fitness programs are also available through a wide range of classes structured to achieve health goals regardless of beginning fitness level or age.The 60+ fitness sessions will focus on mobility maintenance, strength building, and overall wellness enhancements for better health.
Smith said her goal is to provide health and wellness opportunities to women regardless of their beginning fitness level, budget, or scheduled availability.
For more information about classes or membership options, contact Smith at (573) 760-9931 or michellesmith@ampedlifestyle.com. The website address is ampedlifestyle.com.
Lisa Brotherton-Barnes is a staff writer for the Daily Journal and can be reached at lbarnes@dailyjournalonline.com.
