Determining Consumers’ Willingness to Buy Halal Meat

The halal food industry is no longer underrated. Since consumers became very concerned about their daily consumption considering the hygiene that should be maintained. This research was aimed to measure the Indonesian consumers’ willingness to buy halal food, especially meat products, based on trust, awareness, packaging information, and food safety. However, Indonesian consumers’ demand for halal food is not proportional comparing to a large number of the Muslim population. Contrast to previous similar studies that adopting the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) or Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) that focused more on halal awareness and halal labels, this study was adopting Hedonic Theory. This research using 186 data that were collected by online questionnaires. Data then analyzed using multiple linear regression and Ordinal Least Square (OLS). Results showed that only halal awareness and food safety are proven to have significant positive effects on willingness to buy. Regardless of Muslim and non-Muslim, halal awareness and food safety attract consumers’ willingness to buy halal-labeled meat products. To increase the willingness to buy halal meat products in Indonesia, the government and producers must be able to encourage awareness of the importance of eating halal food. Furthermore, they also must ensure the safety of that food. Hopefully, these findings can become input for stakeholders.

Book Reviews

Matthew D. Adler of Duke University reviews “Happiness and the Law”, by John Bronsteen, Christopher Buccafusco, and Jonathan S. Masur. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Assesses how the law affects people's quality of life with a particular focus on criminal punishment and civil lawsuits. Discusses measuring happiness; well-being analysis; well-being analysis versus cost–benefit analysis; happiness and punishment; adaptation, affective forecasting, and civil litigation; some problems with preference theories and objective theories; a hedonic theory of well-being; addressing objections to the hedonic theory; and the future of happiness and the law. Bronsteen is a professor in the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Buccafusco is an associate professor in the Chicago-Kent School of Law and Codirector of the Center for Empirical Studies of Intellectual Property at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Masur is John P. Wilson Professor of Law in the University of Chicago Law School.”

Why is sad music pleasurable? A possible role for prolactin

A hedonic theory of music and sadness is proposed. Some listeners report that nominally sad music genuinely makes them feel sad. It is suggested that, for these listeners, sad affect is evoked through a combination of empathetic responses to sad acoustic features, learned associations, and cognitive rumination. Among those listeners who report sad feelings, some report an accompanying positive affect, whereas others report the experience to be solely negative. Levels of the hormone prolactin increase when sad – producing a consoling psychological effect suggestive of a homeostatic function. It is proposed that variations in prolactin levels might account for the variability in individual hedonic responses. Specifically, it is conjectured that high prolactin concentrations are associated with pleasurable music-induced sadness, whereas low prolactin concentrations are associated with unpleasant music-induced sadness.

Why is Sad Music Pleasurable? A Possible Role for Prolactin

A hedonic theory of music and sadness is proposed. Some listeners report that nominally sad music genuinely makes them feel sad. It is suggested that, for these listeners, sad affect is evoked through a combination of empathetic responses to sad acoustic features, learned associations, and cognitive rumination. Among those listeners who report sad feelings, some report an accompanying positive affect, whereas others report the experience to be solely negative. Levels of the hormone prolactin increase when sad – producing a consoling psychological effect suggestive of a homeostatic function. It is proposed that variations in prolactin levels might account for the variability in individual hedonic responses. Specifically, it is conjectured that high prolactin concentrations are associated with pleasurable music-induced sadness, whereas low prolactin concentrations are associated with unpleasant music-induced sadness.

Exercise, Affect, and Adherence: An Integrated Model and a Case for Self-Paced Exercise

The article reviews research relevant to a proposed conceptual model of exercise adherence that integrates the dual mode model and hedonic theory. Exercise intensity is posited to influence affective response to exercise via interoceptive (e.g., ventila-tory drive) and cognitive (e.g., perceived autonomy) pathways; affective response to exercise is posited to influence exercise adherence via anticipated affective response to future exercise. The potential for self-paced exercise to enhance exercise adherence is examined in the context of the proposed model and suggestions are given for future research. Further evidence in support of self-paced exercise could have implications for exercise prescription, especially among overweight, sedentary adults, who are most in need of interventions that enhance adherence to exercise programs.

Are emotions feelings?

Many philosophers sharply distinguish emotions from feelings. Emotions are not feelings, and having an emotion does not necessitate having some feeling, they think. In this paper I reply to a set of arguments people use sharply to distinguish emotions from feelings. In response to some arguments these “anti-feeling theorists” use I examine and entertain a hedonic theory of emotion that avoids various anti-feeling objections. Proponents of this hedonic theory analyze an emotion by reference to forms of cognition (e.g., thought, belief, judgment) and a pleasant or an unpleasant feeling. Given this theory, emotions are feelings in some important sense of “feelings”, and these feelings are identified as particular emotions by reference to their hedonic character and the cognitive state that causes the hedonic feelings.