Demand Preference of Consumers as a Catalyst for Local Rice Supply in Niger State

The research looked at Demand preference as it affects local rice supply in Niger State, Nigeria. Multi – stage sampling method was employed to obtain 125 household consumers of local Rice. The sampling of respondents cut across Agricultural zones 1, 2 and 3 of Niger State. Primary and Secondary data were used. Descriptive statistics like mean, frequency tables and percentages were employed to describe the socio – economic characteristics of the respondents. Vector Autoregressive model (VAR) was used to estimate production variables that granger caused local Rice supply. . Hedonic model was used to determine the effect of local Rice characteristics on the preference and willingness to pay by consumers. The result indicated the mean age of 45 for Niger. The household size has mean of 6 and years spent in school stood at 17 for Niger. The annual income mean were 414 thousand naira for Niger State. The granger causality equations show that, all variables granger caused production of local, Rice in Niger States except dlnarea. The dlnarea in Niger State was not significant. This means that it does not granger caused local Rice production. The result of hedonic model revealed that free from stone, whiteness, aroma, cohesion and taste were all significant. This means that all these attributes have great effect on price, preference and willingness to pay higher price for local Rice. These will encourage the producers to produce more and will lead to higher supply in the market.

Assessment of the levels of demand and consumer preferences for differently processed fish in Abakaliki Metropolis

The study assessed the relationship between demand and consumer preferences for differently processed (dried and iced) fish products in Abakaliki metropolis. Purposive random sampling technique was used to select the respondents (60 consumers and 20 marketers) who through questionnaire and interview schedule supplied the data used for the study. The data collected were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics in the forms of frequency and percentages. Economic benefit was assessed using gross margin analysis. The results obtained showed that most of the consumers (56.67%) and marketers (65%) of fish products were married females who were within the age range of 35 and 38 years. Mean household size was 7 and 6 persons for consumers and marketers respectively while mean annual income was N105,080 and N183,000 respectively. Results of economic analysis showed that marketers who sold mangala (Bangi mangala) fish in dried form made a gross margin of N1,649,580 while those who sold in iced form made a gross margin of N505,830. In conclusion, selling fish in dried form was more profitable given a net return of N3.631 to every N1 invested as against N1.810 gotten for iced fish marketing. The recommendation was that mangala fish should be processed and sold in dried form to enhance profitability. Keywords: Assessment, fish, demand, preference, Abakaliki metropolis

Strategies for Construction of Majors in Universities with Different Characteristic Based on Social Needs

We used the basic principles of game theory to investigate development strategies for standards of professional competence in universities in the same geographic area, under conditions of non-uniform distribution of social demand preference. The results revealed that, under various conditions in our model, different approaches for differential strategies were selected by university U2 compared with university U1. Specifically, in the competition between U1 and U2, there is a differential strategy compression point of U2 to U1; When U2 universities choose the biggest differentiation strategy, university U1 also have differentiated strategy control points. Arbitrary decision-making of university U1 in relation to university U2 was based on the requirements of professional competence standards, according to the change of the social demand for professional competency standard, universities U2 will adopt the strategy of “no difference”, “maximum differentiation” and “comprehensive intermediate strategy”, respectively. The current results have theoretical implications for the selection of professional development and professional competence development strategies in asymmetric universities operating in the same geographic area.

Dynamic Spectrum Pricing with Secondary User’s Normal Demand Preference

During secondary user’s dynamic access to authorized spectrum, a key issue is how to ascertain an appropriate spectrum price so as to maximize primary system’s benefit and satisfy secondary user’s diverse spectrum demands. In this paper, a scheme of pricing-based dynamic spectrum access is proposed. According to the diverse qualities of idle spectrum, the proposed scheme applies a Hotelling game model to form the spectrum pricing problem. Firstly, establish a model of spectrum leasing, among which the idle spectrum with different qualities constitutes a spectrum pool. Then, divide the idle spectrum into equivalent width of leased channels, which will be uniformly sold in order. Secondary users can choose proper channels to purchase in the spectrum pool according to their spectrum usage preferences which are subject to normal distribution and affected by the spectrum quality along with market estimation. This paper analyzes the effect of spectrum pricing according to the primary system’s various tendencies to spectrum usage and economic income. Numerical results evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed pricing method in improving the primary system’s profits.

A User Preferences Modeling for Intellegent Dissemination of Remote Sensing Image

In order to achieve the intelligent dissemination of remote sensing image, the primary task is to establish a suitable user profile. In this paper, we proposed a novel approach of modeling user demand preferences, and took into account the multiple interests and the time factors. And we presented some computing methods of feature preference including time, space, image parameters, etc. At last, the simulation example shows the feasibility and effectiveness of the designed user demand preference model.

Consumers Prefer Low-priced and Highlycopene-content Fresh-market Tomatoes

Fresh and processed tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) consumption has increased 40% in the United States over the last two decades. Through better breeding, fresh tomatoes now are marketed in different forms, sizes, colors, and flavors. However, little published information exists concerning consumer demand, preference, and demographic characteristics related to fresh tomato consumption. Taking advantage of a high percentage of Internet use in the U.S., two web-based surveys were released to approximately 6000 e-mail addresses reaching people in every region of the U.S. The surveys contained a total of 61 questions, including 50 digital images of five types of tomatoes (cherry, grape, cluster, plum, and regular slicing) with combinations of three additional factors (price, lycopene content, and production style) and demographic information. Among 389 respondents, 76% preferred and purchased slicing tomatoes in the 4 weeks prior to the survey. These were followed by grape/mini-pear (42%), plum (36%), cluster (27%), cherry (25%), and yellow slicing tomatoes (4.4%). Overall, production method (organic vs. conventional) had low relative importance in comparison to price and tomato type. However, younger participants (<age 38 years) placed more importance on production method. Participants between ages 39 and 57 years were the most price-sensitive, and female were less sensitive than males. Younger participants (<age 38 years) were less price-sensitive and placed more importance on the other attributes (production method, lycopene content, and tomato type).