Touring activities of Ukrderzhtsirk as a domain’s “health” indicator

The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze the effectiveness of the Ukrainian state circus arts system’s touring activities from the early 1990s. Methodology. The study analyses archival information on the Ukrderzhtsirk’s work. The historical-factographic method helps to record the results of the circus touring activities development. Comparative analysis allows detecting the specifics of the phenomenon, revealing its organizational and creative trends, and evaluating them. Scientific novelty. For the first time, the main trends of the Ukrainian state circus touring activities held since the early 1990s were revealed and characterized. Conclusions. The touring activities’ effectiveness is characterized by declining trends – something that corresponds to the general dynamics of the “post-Soiuzgostsirk” organizational and creative process. Probably one of the decline factors was that of the head organization’s inability to provide the circus system with a properly centralized management. Ukrderzhtsirk has some achievements, in particular, its own brand-name founding, business contacts establishing, organizing of abroad tours for Ukrainian programs. However, the state circus product’s export faces its decline, while the sector of import is not prospective as a foreign product is too expensive. Obviously the current organizational and creative approaches to foreign economic activities performing are in need to be revised. Keywords: Ukrainian circus arts, Soviet circus, touring, Ukrderzhtsirk, Soiuzgostsirk, circus arts enterprise, circus arts product.

Determinants of choosing a foreign brand in emerging economy: lessons and implication for the local entrepreneurs

Purpose It is evident that the local small and medium enterprises of Bangladesh suffered in the competition because of the strong presence of foreign brands in the market. The purpose of this study is to figure out the factors influencing consumers to purchase a foreign brand predominantly among young consumers. Design/methodology/approach It is a quantitative study considering 257 young demographics as respondents. They are drawn randomly. Confirmatory factor analysis, regression analysis and a path model of structural equation model using AMOS graphics software are used in this study to analyze the data. Findings This study finds two out of three identified variables are influencing the foreign product purchase for the young Bangladeshi consumers. Brand value and product features of the given foreign product are the most dominant factors behind this adoption. However, a significant relationship between product quality and brand choice is not evident in this study. Research limitations/implications It will give a clue to the small or medium startup of the country that normally target the young customer but face challenges to understand their mind and sometimes lagging because of the strong presence of the international brands. Originality/value A comprehensive review of the literature suggests that not so many studies took place that determines the respective factors behind the purchase of foreign brands particularly among young demographics of a lower middle income developing nation.

Nested Hierarchical Design Application in Production of Ceramic Glazed Floor Tiles

The challenges of using locally available materials in Nigeria to meet the tiles demand that will be affordable and compete favourably with imported products will no doubt not only contribute to our Gross Domestic Product but also meet the yearning of the Federal Government on her local content policy. This necessitated this study to aim at the production of ceramic floor tiles with clays modified with naturally occurring materials. An experimental method was adopted to carry out this research work. Different clay samples were purposively gotten from Mbaukwu town, Anambra State, Nigeria. Rice husk, silt, feldspar, quartz was obtained to serve as modifiers. An elaborate nested experimental design, structured as an analytical hierarchy process, and festooned with three base materials, 4-modifiers, and with replications, facilitated the achievement of the production. The nested design was developed to guide in the optimum combination of materials that will give the best yield of tiles. The base materials were used in combination with the four modifiers at different percentage levels. The tiles produced were subjected to same test in order to ascertain their behavior in terms of weather, resistance to abrasion, compatibility with mortar, water absorption, dilute acid, Sodium Hydroxide and detergent. The experimental tiles produced compete favorably with any foreign product as it was seen to match up with “Vetrified tiles” and “Gomex tile” from Italy and satisfies NIS 427: 2000. Glazed ceramic floor tiles have been successfully manufactured locally using clay and other naturally occurring materials and it has given excellent performance characteristics.

The effect of country - of - origin image trough quality, design and attractiveness related to product on consumer loyalty

The main goal of this research is to determine whether there is an impact of country - of -origin image on consumer loyalty to products originating from countries with positive and recognizable image and whether this impact is achieved through characteristics such as product quality and design, and attractiveness related to using the same. To examine this impact, an empirical study was conducted on a sample of 150 respondents and analysis of collected data was performed in SPSS 20. The results show that information about country of -origin image is important to consumers and has an impact on their behavior related to buying foreign product. More precisely, results show that country - of -origin image affects consumers when they choose products based on their quality and design and attractiveness that consumers feel when using these products, and also that through these characteristics country - of -origin image has effects on consumer loyalty. In accordance with the obtained results, conclusion is that it is extremely desirable for companies and governments to take into account the image that their country enjoys on the world market.

“WHAT’S FOREIGN IS BETTER”: A FUZZY AHP ANALYSIS TO EVALUATE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE FOREIGN PRODUCT CHOICE AMONG INDIAN CONSUMERS

Emerging economies across the globe have observed drastic changes in consumer purchasing behavior in the last three decades. This has been attributed to rapid globalization, coupled with technological advancement that has led to consumer affinity towards foreign brands. In this paper an attempt has been made to understand this affinity towards foreign brands across product categories. We used the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process to evaluate the factors that influence foreign product purchasing behavior among Indian consumers. A set of five important influencing factors were identified and responses from over 100 Indian consumers were collected across five product categories (automobiles, home appliances, apparel, cosmetics and watches). It was found that for apparel, watches and cosmetics, perceived quality of the brand/product was the most valued attribute. Whereas, for home appliances the country of origin mattered the most, and for watches perceived quality as well as country of manufacture were equally important. The findings of this study will help shape marketing strategies for foreign brands trying to make inroads or gain market share in emerging markets like India