Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 15 of 15
Full-Text Articles in Business
A Comparative Study Of Prospective Natural Gas For Vehicle (Ngv) Buyers' Behavior Intention In Thailand, Howard W. Combs, N. Likitsuwannakool, S. Chaipoopirutana
A Comparative Study Of Prospective Natural Gas For Vehicle (Ngv) Buyers' Behavior Intention In Thailand, Howard W. Combs, N. Likitsuwannakool, S. Chaipoopirutana
Faculty Publications
This study examines the prospects of how Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) could gain more popularity, and more consumers, throughout Thailand. A survey of 500 potential consumers, comprising l00 respondents in each of the five separate regions, identified relevant geographic locations, demographic factors and their impact on behavior intention. The results of the study suggest that consumer’s behavioral intentions toward NGV are affected by factors pertaining to social influences and NGV attributes. Each group contains several sub-variables and is used in verifying its individual impact on consumer’s behavioral intention, while the differences in vehicle factors did not strongly affect the behavior …
Advertising Budget And Sales Paths Under The Dynamics Of The Student Work Control Problem And Regularity Requirements, Aharon Hibshoosh
Advertising Budget And Sales Paths Under The Dynamics Of The Student Work Control Problem And Regularity Requirements, Aharon Hibshoosh
Faculty Publications
Consider a firm promoting a product in a fast expanding industry by using advertising as its single promotional tool. The firm's objective is to minimize the overall cost of advertising necessary for reaching certain target sales of the product by the end of a given planning period. We adopt the Student Work Control problem (SWC) framework for modeling this marketing context, in general, and the advertising-sales response function, in particular. We compare the SWC's optimal control budgeting principle with the solutions of equally effective, alternative advertising budgeting principles, which require strong regularity conditions on the path of either the advertising …
Creating Online Brand Value Through Online Discussion Site, David Czerwinski, M Merz, U Herbst
Creating Online Brand Value Through Online Discussion Site, David Czerwinski, M Merz, U Herbst
Faculty Publications
This paper discusses the implications of the new evolving Service-Dominant (S-D) logic in marketing on brand value creation. Furthermore, it introduces the concept of online brand value and examines whether online discussion sites constitute a means for firms to co-create, together with a firm's customers, online brand value. Moreover, a conceptual framework of online discussion sites is proposed. Finally, the results of an exploratory empirical analysis of two discussion sites are presented. The findings provide initial support for the hypothesis that online discussion sites can be used to create online brand value. Moreover, the findings suggest that firm-generated discussion sites …
Effective Customer Relationship Management Of Health Care: A Study Of Hospitals In Thailand, Howard W. Combs, B. Laohasirichaikul, S. Chaipoopirutana
Effective Customer Relationship Management Of Health Care: A Study Of Hospitals In Thailand, Howard W. Combs, B. Laohasirichaikul, S. Chaipoopirutana
Faculty Publications
This article investigates the effects and the relative importance of the four perceived service quality dimensions on corporate image, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. To obtain results, factor analysis and multiple regression techniques are applied to data collected from 500 Thai outpatients of the five largest private hospitals in Bangkok. The findings indicate that the four dimensions significantly affect corporate image, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. More specifically, the doctor concern dimension is the most important factor affecting customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The tangibles dimension is the most important factor affecting corporate image.
A Servperf Model Of The Vietnamese Banking Industry, Quoc Cuong Nguyen, Sirion Chaipoopirutana, Howard W. Combs
A Servperf Model Of The Vietnamese Banking Industry, Quoc Cuong Nguyen, Sirion Chaipoopirutana, Howard W. Combs
Faculty Publications
Customer loyalty is an important factor which has a significant effect on the profitability of the firm. The cost of keeping an existing customer to stay with the firm is much lower than the cost of acquiring a new customer. The purpose of this research is to build and test a model of factors effecting customer loyalty in Vietnamese banking industry. The data was obtained by distributing questionnaire to 400 bank customers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicated that customer loyalty is positively and significantly influenced by perceived service quality …
Adaptive Appointment Systems With Patient Preferences, Wen-Ya Wang, D. Gupta
Adaptive Appointment Systems With Patient Preferences, Wen-Ya Wang, D. Gupta
Faculty Publications
Patients' satisfaction with an appointment system when they attempt to book a nonurgent appointment is affected by their ability to book with a doctor of choice and to book an appointment at a convenient time of day. For medical conditions requiring urgent attention, patients want quick access to a familiar physician. For such instances, it is important for clinics to have open slots that allow same-day (urgent) access. A major challenge when designing outpatient appointment systems is the difficulty of matching randomly arriving patients' booking requests with physicians' available slots in a manner that maximizes patients' satisfaction as well as …
Enhancing The Communication Competency Of Business Undergraduates: A Consumer Socialization Perspective, K. C. Gehrt, M. O'Brien, David Mease
Enhancing The Communication Competency Of Business Undergraduates: A Consumer Socialization Perspective, K. C. Gehrt, M. O'Brien, David Mease
Faculty Publications
Explaining how individuals acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively participate in society is often accomplished through Socialization Theory. We investigate numerous socialization agents and their relationship with the communication competency of university business majors. Communication competency (reading, writing, and verbal) was measured via both a standardized skill test and self report. Exploratory analysis was conducted upon high and low communication competency groups that were identified via cluster analysis. Our findings generally indicate the most important socialization agents are via personal interactions whereas the least important socialization agents are influencing via primarily electronic or media-based methods.
Enhancing The Communication Competency Of Business Undergraduates: A Consumer Socialization Perspective, Kenneth C. Gehrt, M. O'Brien, D. Mease
Enhancing The Communication Competency Of Business Undergraduates: A Consumer Socialization Perspective, Kenneth C. Gehrt, M. O'Brien, D. Mease
Faculty Publications
Explaining how individuals acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively participate in society is often accomplished through Socialization Theory. We investigate numerous socialization agents and their relationship with the communication competency of university business majors. Communication competency (reading, writing, and verbal) was measured via both a standardized skill test and self report. Exploratory analysis was conducted upon high and low communication competency groups that were identified via cluster analysis. Our findings generally indicate the most important socialization agents are via personal interactions whereas the least important socialization agents are influencing via primarily electronic or media-based methods.
Evidence Contrary To The Statistical View Of Boosting, David Mease, A. Wyner
Evidence Contrary To The Statistical View Of Boosting, David Mease, A. Wyner
Faculty Publications
The statistical perspective on boosting algorithms focuses on optimization, drawing parallels with maximum likelihood estimation for logistic regression. In this paper we present empirical evidence that raises questions about this view. Although the statistical perspective provides a theoretical framework within which it is possible to derive theorems and create new algorithms in general contexts, we show that there remain many unanswered important questions. Furthermore, we provide examples that reveal crucial flaws in the many practical suggestions and new methods that are derived from the statistical view. We perform carefully designed experiments using simple simulation models to illustrate some of these …
Psychographics And Patronage Behavior Of Mature Consumers In Thailand, Howard W. Combs, A. Anken, S. Chaipoopirutana
Psychographics And Patronage Behavior Of Mature Consumers In Thailand, Howard W. Combs, A. Anken, S. Chaipoopirutana
Faculty Publications
The elderly market is critically important to many businesses due to its growing size and expanding economic potential. Lifestyles or psychographics have emerged as a viable means of determining market segments for this market. This research examined the relationship between lifestyle segments and retail patronage behavior of mature consumers in Thailand. Three lifestyle or psychographic segments of mature consumers, family oriented, young and secure, and quiet introverts demonstrated a low positive relationship with patronage behavior. Two additional lifestyle segments, active retiree and self reliant, demonstrated norelationship.
From The Classroom To The Boardroom: How Understanding 'The Rules' Of Dating Can Help Undergraduate Business Students Practice 'The Rules' Of Effective Career Communication, Marilyn K. Easter, T Clark, M Clark
From The Classroom To The Boardroom: How Understanding 'The Rules' Of Dating Can Help Undergraduate Business Students Practice 'The Rules' Of Effective Career Communication, Marilyn K. Easter, T Clark, M Clark
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Boosted Classification Trees And Class Probability/Quantile Estimation, David Mease, A. Wyner, A. Buja
Boosted Classification Trees And Class Probability/Quantile Estimation, David Mease, A. Wyner, A. Buja
Faculty Publications
The standard by which binary classifiers are usually judged, misclassification error, assumes equal costs of misclassifying the two classes or, equivalently, classifying at the 1/2 quantile of the conditional class probability function P[y = 1jx]. Boosted classification trees are known to perform quite well for such problems. In this article we consider the use of standard, off-the-shelf boosting for two more general problems: 1) classification with unequal costs or, equivalently, classification at quantiles other than 1/2, and 2) estimation of the conditional class probability function P[y = 1jx]. We first examine whether the latter problem, estimation of P[y = 1jx], …
Comment: Boosting Algorithms: Regularization, Prediction And Model Fitting, A. Buja, David Mease, A. Wyner
Comment: Boosting Algorithms: Regularization, Prediction And Model Fitting, A. Buja, David Mease, A. Wyner
Faculty Publications
The authors are doing the readers of Statistical Science a true service with a well-written and up-to-date overview of boosting that originated with the seminal algorithms of Freund and Schapire. Equally, we are grateful for high-level software that will permit a larger readership to experiment with, or simply apply, boosting-inspired model fitting. The authors show us a world of methodology that illustrates how a fundamental innovation can penetrate every nook and cranny of statistical thinking and practice. They introduce the reader to one particular interpretation of boosting and then give a display of its potential with extensions from classification (where …
Writing Across Curriculum: Evaluating A Faculty-Centered Approach, Marilyn K. Easter, Rolanda P. Farrington Pollard
Writing Across Curriculum: Evaluating A Faculty-Centered Approach, Marilyn K. Easter, Rolanda P. Farrington Pollard
Faculty Publications
This paper discusses research on a pilot study for implementing a Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program in the College of Business (CoB) at a California Public University. Data analysis focused on faculty and writing assistant satisfaction using interviews, and on student learning as measured by evaluation of progressive writing assignments. Discussion includes: 1) assumptions on which the pilot was based and its goals, 2) overview of how the program was structured and implemented, 3) outcomes of the pilot program, and 4) recommendations for future programs. Results suggest both faculty and student participants were satisfied with the pilot program implementation …
Interdependent Consumer Choice And The Oval Of Cassini, Aharon Hibshoosh
Interdependent Consumer Choice And The Oval Of Cassini, Aharon Hibshoosh
Faculty Publications
This paper follows a theory of Nicosia and Hibshoosh regarding the choice by social consumer unit who is facing conflicting institutional norms. The paper presents a duo-centric consumer residential choice model with special disutility function. The properties of the Oval of Cassini play a key role in the parstmonious modeling of this phenomenon and in the analysis. Specifically, we develop a residential consumer choice model where the consumer utility is affected by conflicted demands for activities of work and non-work institutions. The consumer unit is simultaneously attracted to two predetermined centers of work and non-work, while making its residence choice. …