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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how the shopping mall environment influences the shopping experience and approach behaviour of female fashion shoppers.Design/methodology/approachFemale shoppers were first clustered along the fashion orientation of the stores they patronise. Shoppers' response and behaviour was modelled in an invariant multigroup latent structural path analysis. Paths were initially constrained and then released as required. A total of 286 usable questionnaires were administered using a mall intercept survey method in a regional shopping centre. Participants were probed on their shopping activities, shopping mall perception, product perception, shopping value and approach behaviour toward the mall.FindingsA favourable perception of the mall atmosphere elicits a positive perception of the merchandise offering and triggers hedonic shopping experiences. The effect of the mall environment, mediated by product perception, significantly impacts the shopping objectives of middle‐of‐the‐road female fashion shoppers. Mall atmospherics has no or little effect on the utilitarian value of low‐ or high‐fashion oriented shoppers. Hedonic response of fashion forward shoppers is not stronger than that of other fashion shoppers.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was carried out in one regional mall and should be replicated to other locations and markets. A larger sample would allow the inclusion of additional constructs.Practical implicationsMall developers and operators are not only in real estate; they are also retailers. The mall environment is central to the perception of merchandise quality, and the shopping experience. Mall operators must be aware that the middle market target group is one that is highly sought after. They should strive to create a tenant mix that satisfies the many layers of fashion shopper needs.Originality/valueThis study represents a first attempt that investigates the integrated shopping experience of fashion shoppers in a shopping mall setting. It segments shoppers on their actual shopping behaviour rather than psychometrics.

Immunohistochemical (IHC) α-synuclein (Asyn) pathology in peripheral biopsies may be a biomarker of Parkinson disease (PD). The multi-center Systemic Synuclein Sampling Study (S4) is evaluating IHC Asyn pathology within skin, colon and submandibular gland biopsies from 60 PD and 20 control subjects. Asyn pathology is being evaluated by a blinded panel of specially trained neuropathologists. Preliminary work assessed 2 candidate immunoperoxidase methods using a set of PD and control autopsy-derived sections from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks of the 3 tissues. Both methods had 100% specificity; one, utilizing the 5C12 monoclonal antibody, was more sensitive in skin (67% vs 33%), and was chosen for further use in S4. Four trainee neuropathologists were trained to perform S4 histopathology readings; in subsequent testing, their scoring was compared to that of the trainer neuropathologist on both glass slides and digital images. Specificity and sensitivity were both close to 100% with all readers in all tissue types on both glass slides and digital images except for skin, where sensitivity averaged 75% with digital images and 83.5% with glass slides. Semiquantitative (0-3) density score agreement between trainees and trainer averaged 67% for glass slides and 62% for digital images.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore how the shopping mall environment impacts on hedonic and utilitarian shopping experiences, and approach behaviour of fashion leaders and followers. Design/methodology/approach -Fashion shoppers' response and behaviour has been modelled in an invariant multigroup latent structural path analysis. Paths were initially constrained and then released as required. More than 300 usable questionnaires were acquired from a mall intercept in a regional urban middleclass shopping centre. Participants were probed on their attitude about fashion, perception of the shopping mall, present mood, shopping value and approach behaviour toward the mall. Findings -The mall environment directly influences fashion leaders' hedonic shopping experience and approach behaviour. Fashion followers' hedonic shopping experience may be mood driven, while that of fashion leaders' is triggered by higher involvement cognitive processing. Research limitations/implications -This study was carried out in one fashion-oriented urban mall in Montreal, and should be replicated to other locations and markets. A larger sample would allow the inclusion of additional constructs. Practical implications -Mall owners and developers might appeal to fashion leaders through offering services that will speed up their shopping trip, using high-tech methods to convey fashion information and by branding the mall. Fashion followers and laggards are likely to respond to experience-oriented strategies that make their shopping trip more pleasurable. Originality/value -Although fashion consumer groups have been studied from various perspectives, no research was found that investigates the integrated shopping experience of fashion shoppers in a shopping mall setting. This study fills the void.

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Most of today's students are skilled in instant messaging, Web browsing, online games, and blogs. These have become part of the social landscape and have changed how we learn and where we learn. The question becomes how to harness the attractiveness and ubiquity of electronic venues toward the goal of teaching neuroscience. At the Rice University Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning, a central focus is the creation of innovative materials that appeal to middle school students. A recent project was undertaken through a Science Education Drug Abuse Partnership Award (R25 DA15063) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to inform adolescents about the neurobiology of substance abuse and the current research dealing with a class of drugs known as club drugs. Problem-based learning, multimedia pedagogy, and the National Science Content Standards were integrated to produce The Reconstructors™, an episodic series available via the World Wide Web at http://reconstructors.rice.edu . A field test of students from five schools assessed the retention of content after “playing” The Reconstructors™ series titled Nothing to Rave About. Gain scores indicated that middle school students' knowledge about club drugs and the basic neuroscience concepts that explain their effects improved significantly.

New technological and cultural developments surrounding adolescents' use of the World Wide Web offer an opportunity for turning aspects of the Internet gaming phenomenon to the advantage of neuroscience education. Specifically, an experimental project to transmit aspects of problem-based learning and the National Science Standards through an interactive Web adventure is reported here. The Reconstructors is an episodic Web-based adventure series entitled Medicinal Mysteries from History. It is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the first series focuses on opioids. It was created with the input of middle school students and teachers. Through the use of multimedia technologies, middle school students enter a futuristic world in which they become "reconstructors," members of an elite scientific unit charged with recovering lost medical knowledge about analgesic drugs. Two of the four episodes have been evaluated through a comprehensive review process involving middle school students, teachers, neuroscience researchers, and clinicians. Analysis of the pretest and posttest scores demonstrated significant knowledge gain that validly can be attributed to use of the game. These data provide evidence that science content can be transmitted through innovative online techniques without sacrificing compelling content or effective pedagogical strategies.

This paper examines two modules within the Faculty of Social Sciences at The Open University (OU) and considers the extent to which 'passive' learning may be taking place. Both are level one modules (first year undergraduate) and use a combination of asynchronous (forums) and synchronous (Blackboard Collaborate technology, branded 'OU Live') technologies for teaching.