Marketing of vending channels: a case of French university campuses

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dobromir Stoyanov
Keyword(s):  
Marketing Mix ◽  
Content Type ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Feedback Communication ◽  
Product Assortment ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
International Industry ◽  
Retail Format ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Selection Of

PurposeThis study identifies the conventional elements of the vending marketing mix and how they vary across academic segments in the context of a typical French university.Design/methodology/approachTo determine the elements of the vending marketing mix, the author conducts interviews with international industry experts and undertake 170 direct observations at various universities to verify the differences between the marketing mix proposals of dissimilar target markets.FindingsThe results reveal significant variances across all elements of the marketing mix, with distribution characteristics being the most frequently adapted element across various markets, followed by promotion- and product-related parameters, while pricing characteristics are most commonly standardised.Research limitations/implicationsVending operators should pay particular attention to marketing decisions related to the product assortment length, selection of appropriate locations, availability of smart payment options and feedback communication channels. The results reveal significant variances across all elements of the marketing mix indicating that vending operators apply strategies to reach different market segments. However, there is a high degree of standardisation within vending channels.Originality/valueThough vending channels are an important retail format, prior studies do not investigate their marketing mixes. This is the first attempt to empirically establish the conventional elements of the vending marketing mix and to measure its variation across customer segments.

scholarly journals How gratitude improves relationship marketing outcomes for young consumers

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 713-727
Author(s):  
Syed Fazal-e-Hasan ◽  
Gary Mortimer ◽  
Ian Lings ◽  
Gurjeet Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Marketing ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Psychological Explanation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Young Consumers ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Alternative Understanding ◽  
Marketing Investments

Purpose Relationship marketing is about developing, maintaining and sustaining mutually beneficial customer–organisation relationships as measured by economic gains. Yet, a purely economic focus does not fully offer a psychological explanation of relationship marketing outcomes. In this regard, this paper has considered gratitude as a significant component of personal relationships, which offers insights into a customer–organisation relationships. Accordingly, this study aims to examine gratitude as a mechanism to predict relationship marketing outcomes, such as overall satisfaction, trust and commitment. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 1,093 millennial consumers across three university campuses. Findings Results indicate that gratitude is a mediating mechanism that can explain the relationship between young consumers’ perceptions of relationship marketing investments and overall satisfaction, trust and commitment. Perceived benevolence strengthens the relationship between perceived relationship marketing investments and customer gratitude. Originality/value The gratitude model contributes an alternative understanding of how young consumers’ perceptions of an organisation’s marketing investments are important in achieving a high degree of relationship marketing outcomes. This paper further incorporates the moderating roles of customer cynicism and perceptions of benevolence, key individual and relational characteristics, that influence the level of gratitude individuals to experience in response to the investments made by organisations.

A Study of Different Methodologies Helpful in the Identification of Offline Handwritten Script

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 307
Author(s):  
Manish M. Kayasth ◽  
Bharat C. Patel
Keyword(s):  
Feature Extraction ◽  
Character Recognition ◽  
Recognition Rate ◽  
Recognition System ◽  
Post Processing ◽  
Classification Technique ◽  
Scanned Image ◽  
Gujarati Language ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Selection Of

The entire character recognition system is logically characterized into different sections like Scanning, Pre-processing, Classification, Processing, and Post-processing. In the targeted system, the scanned image is first passed through pre-processing modules then feature extraction, classification in order to achieve a high recognition rate. This paper describes mainly on Feature extraction and Classification technique. These are the methodologies which play an important role to identify offline handwritten characters specifically in Gujarati language. Feature extraction provides methods with the help of which characters can identify uniquely and with high degree of accuracy. Feature extraction helps to find the shape contained in the pattern. Several techniques are available for feature extraction and classification, however the selection of an appropriate technique based on its input decides the degree of accuracy of recognition. 

PROMETHEE-based ranking of project managers based on the five personality traits

Kybernetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 1083-1102
Author(s):  
Georgios N. Aretoulis ◽  
Jason Papathanasiou ◽  
Fani Antoniou
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Multicriteria Decision Making ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Preference Ranking ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Public Infrastructure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The One ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose This paper aims to rank and identify the most efficient project managers (PMs) based on personality traits, using Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) methodology. Design/methodology/approach The proposed methodology relies on the five personality traits. These were used as the selection criteria. A questionnaire survey among 82 experienced engineers was used to estimate the required weights per personality trait. A second two-part questionnaire survey aimed at recording the PMs profile and assess the performance of personality traits per PM. PMs with the most years of experience are selected to be ranked through Visual PROMETHEE. Findings The findings suggest that a competent PM is the one that scores low on the “Neuroticism” trait and high especially on the “Conscientiousness” trait. Research limitations/implications The research applied a psychometric test specifically designed for Greek people. Furthermore, the proposed methodology is based on the personality characteristics to rank the PMs and does not consider the technical skills. Furthermore, the type of project is not considered in the process of ranking PMs. Practical implications The findings could contribute in the selection of the best PM that maximizes the project team’s performance. Social implications Improved project team communication and collaboration leading to improved project performance through better communication and collaboration. This is an additional benefit for the society, especially in the delivery of public infrastructure projects. A lot of public infrastructure projects deviate largely as far as cost and schedule is concerned and this is an additional burden for public and society. Proper project management through efficient PMs would save people’s money and time. Originality/value Identification of the best PMbased on a combination of multicriteria decision-making and psychometric tests, which focus on personality traits.

Development of a Performance-Related Framework for Asphalt Mixture Design for the Illinois Tollway

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110148
Author(s):  
Behnam Jahangiri ◽  
Punyaslok Rath ◽  
Hamed Majidifard ◽  
William G. Buttlar
Keyword(s):  
Asphalt Mixture ◽  
Field Performance ◽  
Compact Tension ◽  
T Test ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Final Adjustment ◽  
Development And Validation ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Selection Of

Various agencies have begun to research and introduce performance-related specifications (PRS) for the design of modern asphalt paving mixtures. The focus of most recent studies has been directed toward simplified cracking test development and evaluation. In some cases, development and validation of PRS has been performed, building on these new tests, often by comparison of test values to accelerated pavement test studies and/or to limited field data. This study describes the findings of a comprehensive research project conducted at Illinois Tollway, leading to a PRS for the design of mainline and shoulder asphalt mixtures. A novel approach was developed, involving the systematic establishment of specification requirements based on: 1) selection of baseline values based on minimally acceptable field performance thresholds; 2) elevation of thresholds to account for differences between short-term lab aging and expected long-term field aging; 3) further elevation of thresholds to account for variability in lab testing, plus variability in the testing of field cores; and 4) final adjustment and rounding of thresholds based on a consensus process. After a thorough evaluation of different candidate cracking tests in the course of the project, the Disk-shaped Compact Tension—DC(T)—test was chosen to be retained in the Illinois Tollway PRS and to be presented in this study for the design of crack-resistant mixtures. The DC(T) test was selected because of its high degree of correlation with field results and its excellent repeatability. Tailored Hamburg rut depth and stripping inflection point thresholds were also established for mainline and shoulder mixes.

scholarly journals Greater fit and a greater gap

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-594
Author(s):  
Steven A. Brieger ◽  
Dirk De Clercq ◽  
Jolanda Hessels ◽  
Christian Pfeifer
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Worker Rights ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Person Environment Fit ◽  
High Power Distance ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Low Uncertainty

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how national institutional environments contribute to differences in life satisfaction between entrepreneurs and employees. Design/methodology/approach Leveraging person–environment fit and institutional theories and using a sample of more than 70,000 entrepreneurs and employees from 43 countries, the study investigates how the impact of entrepreneurial activity on life satisfaction differs in various environmental contexts. An entrepreneur’s life satisfaction arguably should increase when a high degree of compatibility or fit exists between his or her choice to be an entrepreneur and the informal and formal institutional environment. Findings The study finds that differences in life satisfaction between entrepreneurs and employees are larger in countries with high power distance, low uncertainty avoidance, extant entrepreneurship policies, low commercial profit taxes and low worker rights. Originality/value This study sheds new light on how entrepreneurial activity affects life satisfaction, contingent on the informal and formal institutions in a country that support entrepreneurship by its residents.

Cybersecurity Standards in the Context of Operating System

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Syed Wasif Abbas Hamdani ◽  
Haider Abbas ◽  
Abdul Rehman Janjua ◽  
Waleed Bin Shahid ◽  
Muhammad Faisal Amjad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Context ◽  
Cyber Attacks ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Security Vulnerabilities ◽  
Compliance Testing ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Security Standards ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Selection Of

Cyber threats have been growing tremendously in recent years. There are significant advancements in the threat space that have led towards an essential need for the strengthening of digital infrastructure security. Better security can be achieved by fine-tuning system parameters to the best and optimized security levels. For the protection of infrastructure and information systems, several guidelines have been provided by well-known organizations in the form of cybersecurity standards. Since security vulnerabilities incur a very high degree of financial, reputational, informational, and organizational security compromise, it is imperative that a baseline for standard compliance be established. The selection of security standards and extracting requirements from those standards in an organizational context is a tedious task. This article presents a detailed literature review, a comprehensive analysis of various cybersecurity standards, and statistics of cyber-attacks related to operating systems (OS). In addition to that, an explicit comparison between the frameworks, tools, and software available for OS compliance testing is provided. An in-depth analysis of the most common software solutions ensuring compliance with certain cybersecurity standards is also presented. Finally, based on the cybersecurity standards under consideration, a comprehensive set of minimum requirements is proposed for OS hardening and a few open research challenges are discussed.

Using Cluster Analysis to Improve Marketing Experiments

1971 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
George S. Day ◽  
Roger M. Heeler
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Space Representation ◽  
Reduced Space ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Degree Of Similarity ◽  
Sensitive Experiment ◽  
Selection Of

When the selection of a sample of stores or cities requires a high degree of similarity among the test units in order to ensure a sensitive experiment, the sample may no longer represent the market. These conflicting requirements can be satisfied by choosing the sample from clusters displayed in a reduced space representation of the market.

Suitability of Natural Geomedia for Radwaste Storage

1982 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. S. Fyfe
Keyword(s):  
Rock Properties ◽  
Fracture Flow ◽  
Time Prediction ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Mining Disturbance ◽  
Selection Of

ABSTRACTSelection of the best rock types for radwaste disposal will depend on their having minimal permeability, maximal flow dispersion, minimal chance of forming new wide aperture fractures, maximal ion retention, and minimal thermal and mining disturbance. While no rock is perfect, thinly bedded complex sedimentary sequences may have good properties, either as repository rocks, or as cover to a repository.Long time prediction of such favorable properties of a rock at a given site may be best modelled from studies of in situ rock properties. Fracture flow, dispersion history, and geological stability can be derived from direct observations of rocks themselves, and can provide the parameters needed for convincing demonstration of repository security for appropriate times.

Does knowing overcome wanting? The impact of consumer knowledge and materialism upon credit card selection with young consumers

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob Cakarnis ◽  
Steve Peter D'Alessandro
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Credit Card ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Credit Cards ◽  
Consumer Knowledge ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Young Professionals ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose – This paper investigates the determinants of credit card use and misuse by student and young professionals. Critical to the research is the impact of materialism and knowledge on selection of the appropriate credit card. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses survey research and partial least squares to investigate credit card behaviors of students versus young professionals. Findings – In a comparative study of young professionals and students, it was found that consumer knowledge, as expected, leads to better consumer selection of credit cards. Materialism was also found to increase the motivation for more optimal consumer outcomes. For more experienced consumers, such as young professionals, it was found that despite them being more knowledgeable, they were more likely to select a credit card based on impulse. Originality/value – This paper examines how materialism may in fact encourage some consumers to make better decisions because they are more motivated to develop better knowledge. It also shows how better credit card selection may inhibit impulse purchasing.

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