Non-commercial Relationships Research Articles

Commercial Limits to Personality: Instagram Influencers and Commoditized Content Receptivity

Social media influencers-individuals who utilize various forms of network power on social networks occupy a unique identity space. On the one hand, their network power is often tied to their social identity as creators of engaging material. On the other hand, their ability to promote commercial products and services steps outside the traditionally distinct commercial–social, occupational–personal divides. In this work, the network morphologies of influencers are explored in relation to their delivery of sponsored and non-sponsored content. This article explores how the disclosure of content as ‘sponsored’ affects audience reception. We show how that the promotion of content on social media often generates higher levels of engagement and receptiveness amongst their audience despite the platform’s assumption of organic non-commercial relationships. We find that engagement levels are highest among smaller out-degree networks. Additionally, we demonstrate that sponsored content not only returns a higher level of engagement, but that the effect of sponsorship is relatively consistent across out-degree network sizes. In sum, we suggest that social media audiences are not sensitive to commercial sponsorship when tied to identity, as long as that performance is convincing and consistent.

Marcos de teorías poscríticas para repensar la investigación en educación ambiental: la experiencia estética y la subjetividad en la formación de profesores y educadores ambientales

El escenario de crisis climática, ecológica, social y de salud nos hace repensar caminos deinvestigación en educación ambiental. Las teorías poscríticas valorizan los contextos locales,la dimensión subjetiva de la realidad y la subjetividad de los sujetos. El objetivo de este trabajofue caracterizar las contribuciones poscríticas para la investigación en educación ambientala través de una experiencia en formación de profesores y educadores ambientales, en unsendero interpretativo en la selva amazónica de Brasil. Los participantes fueron profesores yeducadores ambientales de la ciudad local. Los datos presentados corresponden a narrativasacerca del sendero recorrido donde se identificaron elementos afectivos y sensoriales narradospara caracterizar la dimensión subjetiva. Cada sujeto destacó momentos y relacionó sentidos conla experiencia. Sin embargo, considerar la dimensión subjetiva en el proceso de análisis implicabrechas metodológicas en cuanto a cómo acceder a lo subjetivo a través de las experienciasnarradas, que transforman las sensaciones prerreflexivas en reflexivas. Adicionalmente, seargumenta que las actividades al aire libre pueden promover relaciones no mercantiles o quela naturaleza no sea vista como objeto o mercancía y contribuir a generar avances en la materia.

“This Is Me, This Is What I Am, I Am a Man”: The Masculinities of Men Who Pay for Sex with Women

This paper draws on theories of masculinity to explore men’s motivations for beginning and continuing to pay for sex with women. Based on in-depth interviews with 35 male clients of female sex workers in the UK during 2007/2008, our findings suggest that a desire to pay for sex is often entrenched in notions of hegemonic masculinity such as sex as a drive, or need for a variety of experiences and partners and is rationalized as an economic exchange. Yet, the men interviewed also expressed a need for intimacy, female friendship and conversation in a controlled environment, which challenged dominant masculine ideals. For participants, there was often an overlap between various motivational factors, and accounts were complicated by the anxieties and disappointments the men expressed about their non-commercial relationships and the intimacy and emotion frequently attached to encounters with sex workers. The pathologization of men who engage with paid sexual services fails to account for participants’ complex, diverse motivations, which should be understood in the context of other relationships and gender relations rather than as a distinct type of interaction. We find that the theory of hegemonic masculinity provides a useful but partial account of the range of behaviors and characteristics expressed in paid-for sex, which participants use to negotiate the expectations, ambivalences and disappointments of everyday life and relationships.

Relational norms in customer–company relationships: Net and configurational effects

Relational norms as implicit rules of conduct have vital roles for the functioning of commercial and non-commercial relationships. This research further illuminates relational norms in customer–company relationships by examining antecedents that contribute to the development of relational norms and consequences that arise after a relational transgression. To test these effects, this research conducts a study with 198 customers of a financial services provider and analyzes the data using structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The results of this research offer new insights into the net effects and the configurational effects of relationship-quantity factors and relationship-quality factors for the development of relational norms. In addition, the findings of this research deepen the understanding of how relational norms relate to customers' reactions to relationship transgression by demonstrating amplifier and buffer effects.

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Objective: HIV prevention programs such as Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL) work to lower the rate of HIV among marginalized groups. Thus the objective of this study was to evaluate condom use and HIV status in JASLs Sex Worker (SW) population with the intent to identify behavioral differences between this self-selected group and the general SW population in Jamaica. We hypothesized that JASLs SW population would demonstrate higher condom use and a lower prevalence of HIV potentially attributable to their prevention and education endeavours. Methods: This cross-sectional study (n=459) uses 2011-2014 data from three cities: Kingston Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. Data was obtained through voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) forms. Primary outcomes were HIV status and condom use. Frequencies and bivariate analyses were employed. Results: SW HIV prevalence was 1.3% as compared to the Jamaican SW rate of 4.6%. Most participants reported always using a condom with an outside partner while only 22% reported always using a condom with their regular partner. Conclusion: Emphasis on condom use within long-term relationships should be considered when planning HIV prevention programs for SWs. This requires addressing gender roles within noncommercial relationships and more discussions surrounding sexual behavior outside paid sex work. Although causality may not be inferred through cross-sectional data the lower HIV prevalence in JASLs SWs is promising and highlights opportunities for further analysis specifically around the impact of JASLs work.

The servicescape: The social dimensions of place

Place should not be viewed solely as a physical space that people inhabit or, within a servicescape context, patronise because the experiences consumers have in place are very much shaped by its occupants. Marketing literature, though, has tended to focus on the physicality of place, or the stimulus–response aspects of place, whereas in other disciplines such as geography, place has been viewed in terms of its temporal, spatial, natural, and social dimensions. The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of how women's non-commercial relationships shaped their patronage decisions. Since this study was interested in why consumers make repeat retail visits, qualitative methods were used. As the findings revealed, one's need for social connectedness and desire to feel like an insider were sometimes more important than the products available and/or the servicescape's attributes.

Prevalence and correlates of sexual risk among male and female sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico

We investigated prevalence and correlates of sexual risk behaviours among male and female sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico, the busiest border crossing area on the US – Mexico border, analysing survey data from a purposive, cross-sectional sample of male and female sex workers who worked in a range of indoor and outdoor settings. Logistic regression was used to determine factors that were associated with sexual risk-taking, defined as failing to use a condom with last client. In bivariate regression models, gender, work setting (e.g., indoor vs. outdoor), poverty, engaging in survival sex, marital status and perceived drug addiction were correlated with sexual risk. When controlling for work location, housing insecurity, poverty, survival sex, marital status and perceived drug addiction, male sex workers were still 10 times more likely than female sex workers (FSW) to engage in sex without a condom during their last encounter with a client. And, although FSW were significantly more likely than males to have used a condom with a client, they were significantly less likely than males to have used a condom with their regular partner. Future research should further examine how gender shapes sexual risk activities in both commercial and non-commercial relationships.

Dangerous Subtlety: Relationship-Related Determinants of Consistency of Condom Use Among Female Sex Workers and Their Regular, Non-Commercial Partners in Hai Phong, Viet Nam

Research indicates female sex workers use condoms more consistently with their clients than with regular, non-commercial partners (partners). The purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between couple communication and HIV risk behavior by examining (1) sex worker-partner divergence on communication measures and (2) the association between intra-couple communication divergence and consistent condom use. In this cross-sectional study, 50 sex workers and their partners in Hai Phong, Viet Nam were separately asked about their relationships and condom use. When asked about HIV risk communication in their relationship, sex workers reported significantly higher HIV communication content than their partners (p < 0.001). Higher communication divergence between partners was associated with a decreased likelihood of consistent condom use (OR 0.54 95% CI 0.30, 0.97). Sex workers urgently need interventions that build their communication skills and address their risk behavior in non-commercial relationships.

Male Sexual Scripts

This article examines empirical qualitative data on men who buy sexual services from women who work as escorts and in massage parlours. It investigates that men give to sexual experience, their desires for intimacy and their experience of the commercial boundaries. This article argues that there are problems with initially making the distinction between normative and non-normative sexual relationships where commerce is present.The sexual scripts of the `regular' male client are compared to heterosexual male sexual scripts, arguing that commercial sexual relationships can mirror the traditional romance, courtship rituals, modes and meanings of communication, sexual familiarity, mutual satisfaction and emotional intimacies found in `ordinary' relationships.The findings suggest that general understandings of sex work and prostitution are based on false dichotomies between commercial and non-commercial relationships. Nuanced understanding of the micro-relationship between the sex worker and regular client beyond a structural analysis can be applied to a policy framework that reinforces responsibility in the male client role.

Exchange and Condom Use in Informal Sexual Relationships in Urban Kenya

Abstract This article investigates whether a market for unsafe sexual activity exists among nonmarital, noncommercial sexual relationships in a high HIV/AIDS environment. The exchange of money for sex without a condom is well known within commercial sexual partnerships, but it is unclear from the previous evidence whether markets can emerge among noncommercial relationships as well. I use data on nonmarital sexual partnerships and transfers from Kisumu, Kenya, to investigate this question. I define and measure transfers as material items given by a male to his female sexual partner, including money and nonmonetary items, such as gifts, meals, and rent. I find a strong negative relationship between the level of transfers and condom use after controlling for male fixed effects and other important female and partnership characteristics. I also find that nonmonetary transfers have the same relationship with condom use as monetary transfers. Furthermore, I test the assumption that adolescent girls are particul...

Consistent condom use among drug-using youth in a high HIV-risk neighbourhood

The objectives of this study were to determine predictors of consistent condom use in heterosexual relationships of young adults who use hard drugs in a neigbourhood with widespread drug-use-connected HIV. We interviewed 196 18–24 year olds who injected drugs or used heroin, cocaine or crack in the prior year and lived in the Bushwick neighbourhood of New York City.Interviews covered sociodemographics, substance use and sexual networks. The unit of analysis is the relationship; the dependent variable measures consistent condom use over the prior 30 days in a given relationship. Consistent condom use was reported in 26% of 377 non-commercial relationships and in all of 22 commercial relationships. Using multiple logistic regression, consistent condom use in non-commercial relationships was more likely in relationships that are not ‘very close’; for men (but not women) with peers whose norms are more favourable to condom use; and for subjects who had concurrent sex partners in the last 12 months. In conclusion, we found that: (1) the lack of relationship between the peer norms of drug-using women and their condom use suggests they may have little control over condom use in their relationships—programmes should attempt to empower young women drug users and to develop ways for their peers to influence the men in their lives; (2) epidemiologically, the positive association of concurrency to consistent condom use suggests that condom use may be restricting HIV spread through the community—the presence of consistent condom use in all of the commercial sexual relationships also may restrict HIVspread; (3) prevention efforts should attempt to change peer cultures as a way to develop self-sustaining risk reduction. These changes should include changes in gender roles and power relations.

Consistent condom use among drug-using youth in a high HIV-risk neighbourhood

The objectives of this study were to determine predictors of consistent condom use in heterosexual relationships of young adults who use hard drugs in a neighbourhood with widespread drug-use-connected HIV. We interviewed 196 18-24 year olds who injected drugs or used heroin, cocaine or crack in the prior year and lived in the Bushwick neighbourhood of New York City. Interviews covered sociodemographics, substance use and sexual networks. The unit of analysis is the relationship; the dependent variable measures consistent condom use over the prior 30 days in a given relationship. Consistent condom use was reported in 26% of 377 non-commercial relationships and in all of 22 commercial relationships. Using multiple logistic regression, consistent condom use in non-commercial relationships was more likely in relationships that are not 'very close'; for men (but not women) with peers whose norms are more favourable to condom use; and for subjects who had concurrent sex partners in the last 12 months. In conclusion, we found that: (1) the lack of relationship between the peer norms of drug-using women and their condom use suggests they may have little control over condom use in their relationships-programmes should attempt to empower young women drug users and to develop ways for their peers to influence the men in their lives; (2) epidemiologically, the positive association of concurrency to consistent condom use suggests that condom use may be restricting HIV spread through the community-the presence of consistent condom use in all of the commercial sexual relationships also may restrict HIV spread; (3) prevention efforts should attempt to change peer cultures as a way to develop self-sustaining risk reduction. These changes should include changes in gender roles and power relations.

Consistent condom use in the heterosexual relationships of young adults who live in a high-HIV-risk neighbourhood and do not use "hard drugs"

This study was set up to determine the predictors of condom use in the heterosexual non-commercial sexual relationships of young adults who neither inject drugs nor use cocaine, heroin or crack, in a neighbourhood with widespread drug-use-connected HIV. The analytic sample is 279 young adults, aged 18-24, who have never injected drugs and who have not used heroin, cocaine or crack in the last year. They were recruited in the Bushwick neighbourhood of New York City, July 1997 to September 1999. A face-to-face interview included items about their sociodemographic background, substance use and sexual networks. Sexual relationship and self-reported consistent (100%) condom use over the prior year with the partner in a given relationship was examined. Subjects had 337 heterosexual non-commercial relationships. Consistent condom use was reported in 32% of these relationships. In multiple logistic regression, consistent condom use was more likely in relationships that are not 'very close' (odds ratio = 3.92; 95% confidence interval = 2.08, 7.52); in the relationships of subjects whose peer norms support condom use (OR = 1.94; 95% CI = 1.43, 2.69), who are not problem drinkers (OR = 8.70; 95% CI = 2.22, 58.8), and (perhaps as a result of measurement issues) who are men (OR = 1.95; 95% CI = 1.04, 3.68). In conclusion, consistent condom use remains uncommon among youth in this high-risk neighbourhood. It is thus important to keep HIV from entering the sexual networks of youth in communities like this through programmes aimed at drug injectors and their sexual partners. Programmes to increase condom use among young adults should focus on strengthening norms that promote safer sex to protect oneself and others. In addition, assistance should be provided to youth who are problem drinkers.

Socially Embedded Consumer Transactions: For What Kinds of Purchases Do People Most Often use Networks?

Why and to what extent do people make significant purchases from people with whom they have prior noncommercial relationships? Using data from the economic sociology module of the 1996 General Social Survey, we document high levels of within-network exchanges. We argue that transacting with social contacts is effective because it embeds commercial exchanges in a web of obligations and holds the seller's network hostage to appropriate role performance in the economic transaction. It follows that within-network exchanges will be more common in risky transactions that are unlikely to be repeated and in which uncertainty is high. The data support this view. Self-reports about major purchases are consistent with the expectation that exchange frequency reduces the extent of within-network exchanges. Responses to questions about preferences for in-group exchanges support the argument that uncertainty about product and performance quality leads people to prefer sellers with whom they have noncommercial ties. Moreover, people prefer to avoid selling to social contacts under the same conditions that lead buyers to seek such transactions; and people who transact with friends and relatives report greater satisfaction with the results than do people who transact with strangers, especially for risk-laden exchanges.

Prostitution and risk of HIV: Male partners of female prostitutes

Objective?To describe risk behaviours for infec? tion with HIV in male sexual partners of female prostitutes. Design?A cross sectional study. Setting?Genitourinary medicine clinic, St Mary's Hospital, London. Subjects?112 self identified male sexual partners of female prostitutes: 101 who reported commen?ai sexual relationships only, five who reported non? commercial relationships only, and six who reported both commercial and non-commercial relationships. Main outcome measures?Reported risk beha? viours for infection with HIV. Results?Of the 40 men who had had previous HIV tests or were tested during the study, two (5%) were infected with HIV. Of the men who would answer the questions, 34/94 reported having sex with other men, 2/105 reported using injected drugs, 8/105 had a history of blood transfusion, 14/108 reported a past history of gonorrhoea, 44/102 reported paying for sex abroad, and 8/92 said that they had also been paid for sex. Of the 55 men who reported paying for vaginal intercourse in the past year, 45 (82%) said that they had always used a condom. In contrast, of the 11 non-paying partners of prostitutes, only two (18%) reported ever using a condom with their partners. Conclusions?Men who have sex with female prostitutes cannot be assumed to be at risk of infection with HIV only by this route: homosexual contact may place them at greater risk. Despite the heterogeneity among male sexual partners of prosti? tutes, patterns of use of condoms were uniform when they were considered as a reflection of the type of relationship a man had with a female prostitute rather than a consequence of an individual's level of risk.

Prostitution and risk of HIV: male partners of female prostitutes.

To describe risk behaviours for infection with HIV in male sexual partners of female prostitutes. A cross sectional study. Genitourinary medicine clinic, St Mary's Hospital, London. 112 self identified male sexual partners of female prostitutes: 101 who reported commercial sexual relationships only, five who reported non-commercial relationships only, and six who reported both commercial and non-commercial relationships. Reported risk behaviours for infection with HIV. Of the 40 men who had had previous HIV tests or were tested during the study, two (5%) were infected with HIV. Of the men who would answer the questions, 34/94 reported having sex with other men, 2/105 reported using injected drugs, 8/105 had a history of blood transfusion, 14/108 reported a past history of gonorrhoea, 44/102 reported paying for sex abroad, and 8/92 said that they had also been paid for sex. Of the 55 men who reported paying for vaginal intercourse in the past year, 45 (82%) said that they had always used a condom. In contrast, of the 11 non-paying partners of prostitutes, only two (18%) reported ever using a condom with their partners. Men who have sex with female prostitutes cannot be assumed to be at risk of infection with HIV only by this route: homosexual contact may place them at greater risk. Despite the heterogeneity among male sexual partners of prostitutes, patterns of use of condoms were uniform when they were considered as a reflection of the type of relationship a man had with a female prostitute rather than a consequence of an individual's level of risk.