Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

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M.Com. (Business Management) / Mobile marketing has rapidly grown during the past years, and will continue to grow with advancements in technology, enabling mobile phones to be used for much more than simple calls and personal text messaging. This study investigates how a mobile marketing company, Mobitainment, can successfully communicate, through mobile marketing initiatives, with the lower income segments. The various characteristics of the lower income segment are understood, and the possible strategies that Mobitainment can implement, are established. Strategy is a crucial element in every business unit of an organisation. The marketing department is no exception. Porter’s Five Forces model provides the basis from which companies can get to understand their operating environment prior to developing the appropriate marketing strategy. It is through the marketer’s understanding of the consumer behaviour as well as the various message appeal factors, that the appropriate mobile marketing message can be designed. The study used a mixed research approach in that both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to address the objectives. The qualitative part of the study entailed the use of semistructured interviews in order to collect information from marketing managers working in different mobile marketing organisations. The quantitative part involved the administration of a questionnaire on consumers in the LSM 4 to 6 segments. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted and a hundred and forty questionnaires were distributed. The questionnaires were distributed to individuals in Tsakane, Daveyton, Springs and Johannesburg. The quantitative data was analysed using two main tools, descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis, whilst the qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the quantitative study found that many of the individuals in the LSM 4-6 segments own mobile phones which are able to perform the functions found in smartphones such as send and receive emails as well as access the Internet; the LSM 4-6 segments do not have a strong attitude for or against mobile marketing; mobile marketing communication has an influence on the buying behaviour of the LSM 4-6 segments; the message appeal factors are a crucial part of driving consumers to make a purchase, and ‘relevance’ has the strongest influence on the LSM 4-6 segment’s buying behaviour. The results of the qualitative study show that there are several challenges that Mobitainment can face when targeting the lower income segment such as the literacy levels of the lower income segment and survey fraud. SMS, USSD, MMS, IVR and Mobile Applications were identified to be suitable strategies to implement when targeting the lower income segment. The above strategies ‘fit’ with the preferences and buyer behaviour of the LSM 4-6, and the recommended strategies can be used with discounts, vouchers and other incentives to drive the buying behaviour of the LSM 4-6.

Inquiry skills in young low-income children may be an important point of intervention for promoting school readiness and later academic achievement. The current study aimed to investigate and measure the inquiry skills of low-income preschoolers. In a newly-designed, game-based assessment (the Inquiry Game), children were instructed to ask questions to determine a target picture among an array of pictures varying by color and object type. Asking constraint-seeking questions that use color and object type to eliminate multiple pictures is a more efficient strategy (and thus evidence of greater inquiry skills), in comparison to asking about a specific picture. One hundred and sixty Head Start preschoolers’ inquiry skills were assessed using the Inquiry Game at three time points. Data on children’s problem solving, math, language, and literacy skills were also collected to examine concurrent and predictive validity of the measure. Results revealed that asking about one picture at a time was the most popular strategy at all time points; however, children asked more efficient questions in the winter and spring when compared to performance in the fall. Analyses revealed a relationship between inquiry skills and vocabulary, verbal reasoning, and matrix reasoning ability. Results, as well as future directions, are presented and discussed.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-55).

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Research on the effects of Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs), implemented in Third World countries since the early 1980s, has been dominated, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, by the analysis of quantitative, national-level data. The relationship between gender and SAPs at the household level has been largely neglected. This thesis examines the above relationship in Harare, Zimbabwe where the government's recent adoption of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, ESAP (1991-95) has allowed a study of the processes of change at the household level following changes in macro-economic and social policies. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to provide an integrated picture of changes in the lives of women and men in a random sample of 100 households in one typical high-density suburb in Harare. A base-line study was carried out in mid-1991 and the same households followed up in mid-1992. Gender-specific changes in employment and income, household expenditure, domestic work and involvement in social organisations were investigated as well as responses to the dramatic rises in the cost of living following measures implemented under ESAP. The research shows that almost all households have been negatively affected by ESAP, with widening income differentials and a much greater proportion of households falling below the Poverty Datum Line. Household savings have been depleted and a greater number of households are in debt. Women's income has declined to a greater extent than men's and their responsibility to meet daily consumption needs of the household has become more difficult to fulfil, resulting in increased gender-based conflict. Although all households were forced to cut consumption, the poorest households have been worst affected with women taking greater cuts than men. Coping responses were found to be individual and family-based, sometimes across urban and rural areas, rather than community-based. Responses have been defensive, aimed at coping with rather than changing the situation, and largely ineffective in compensating for declining real wages, rising prices and diminishing income generating opportunities. The relationship between changes at household level and specific policy measures were assessed and the evidence indicates that both income and gender based inequalities have, to date, been exacerbated by ESAP. The Social Dimensions of Adjustment poverty alleviation programme is very weak in its conceptualisation and implementation. The study emphasizes the need for more equitable and gender-sensitive strategies for development.

Environmental degradation from problems of the 'Brown Agenda' is an everyday reality in Kenya's rapidly growing urban centres; and it is the low-income majority who are most affected. Deficient water supply and sanitation, inadequate solid waste disposal, and poor drainage are among the foremost problems that characterize informal settlements in which indigent urbanites are compelled to live. Analysis of environmental problems at settlement and household level can provide vital information about the appraisive environmental perceptions and cognitions of inhabitants of informal settlements, as well as their satisfaction with the infrastructural services to which they have access and their housing conditions, in general. Such information is essential to the formulation of apposite strategies for sustainable improvement of environmental conditions in informal settlements. Based largely on a comprehensive review of theoretical perspectives on the urban housing question in the South, international policy responses and experiences with settlement upgrading, this thesis seeks a better understanding of the socioeconomic and physio-environmental dynamics of urban low-income informal settlements and the formulation and implementation of upgrading policies. A comparative analysis of two majengos in Kenya-one of which has been upgraded while the other has not-serves to contextualize the study. The central thesis in the present study is that settlement upgrading is the most rational approach to improving the residential circumstances of the urban poor majority in Kenya. Applying a fundamentally liberal approach, the development of pragmatic opportunities is discussed, and pursuable policies and programmes, which are realistic and implementable, for effective environmental planning and management of urban low-income informal settlements in Kenya are proposed.