Literature indicates that events like a wine festival have many role players involved that need each other for them to be successful. The more role players there are, the more complex the event becomes, as in the case of the Wacky Wine Festival which is spread over 48 wine farms. The most important role players are the visitors and wine farmers that represent the demand and supply side of the festival. Local enterprises, wine farmers and the festival organisers put a lot of effort into the event, such as their time, money and skills. It is essential for these role players to know that they will get a return on their investment and for the host community to know that the festival will make a contribution to their local economy. Furthermore, literature indicates that the festival can improve the economic position of the role players by targeting the high spending market through intensive marketing that focuses on this particular segment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of the Wacky Wine Festival to the local economy and to compile a profile of the heavy spender. To achieve the latter, a quantitative study was carried out by means of two surveys via questionnaires that were handed out to both the visitor and wine farmer. The data was then captured in Microsoft© Excel©. In Article 1 (Chapter 2) the sales multiplier effect and an analytical framework were used to determine the contribution of the festival to the host community. In Article 2 (Chapter 3) different tests and analyses were used to compile a profile of the heavy spender such as the K–means clustering, Chi–Squared, the Mann–Whitney non–parametric test and an ANOVA analysis. The results from Article 1 (Chapter 2) showed that the Wacky Wine Festival had an positive economic contribution of an estimated R29.9 million to the host community`s economy. From a demand and supply point of view, the visitors contributed R15.4 million and the wine farmers R6 million. From the results, it could be derived that the festival had low leakages in comparison with other festivals. iii The results from Article 2 (Chapter 3) indicated that the heavy and low spenders differ in terms of gender, language, age, occupation, number of people paying for in travelling group, residence and number of days spent at the festival. It was clear from the results that if the festival organisers and wine farmers focus marketing strategies on the high spending segment, this can lead to a R10 million increase in the Wacky Wine Festival’s revenue, thus improving the economic contribution of the event to the local economy of Robertson. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The thesis consists of four papers. The first two essays deal with entry externalities, the third studies the Law of One Price (LOP), while the last essay examines average profits for a monopolist under uncertainty. In the first essay, entry externalities in the form of information and positive payoff externalities are studied. When a firm enters a market, it often imposes externalities on existing firms and/or future potential entrants. If products are substitutes, these externalities are typically negative; if products are complements, the externalities are typically positive. Externalities related to substitution or complementarities between products are called payoff externalities, since entry by one firm has a direct effect on the other firms' payoff. Another type of externality arises when firms have private information about the profitability of entry. In this case, the entry decision of one firm potentially reveals that firm's private information. The focus of the paper is on the scope for intervention for an uninformed social planner, when firms privately know the profitability of entry and moreover, the firms have an option to delay their entry. The main result is that there is insufficient entry, since firms delay too much in equilibrium and further, the social planner can increase welfare by subsidizing early entry. Continuing on this theme, the second essay has the same focus, but instead takes the time of entry as fixed, while generalizing the analysis of payoff externalities also to the case of negative payoff externalities. The main contribution is the characterization of equilibria under both positive and negative payoff externalities and the implications for public policy. Here, the scope for intervention will, in contrast to the results in the first essay, be low, when entry is profitable for uninformed firms. In the third essay (joint with Richard Friberg), deviations from the LOP are studied in the presence of transport costs, under the assumption that firms can endogenously choose to segment markets in order to prevent arbitrage by consumers. It is shown that the deviation from LOP can increase as transport costs fall between countries. The last essay (joint with Richard Friberg), studies the problem facing a monopolist when the cost of inputs is uncertain. The main result is that the monopolist can gain from this uncertainty, in the sense that average profits are increasing in the variability of costs. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2001

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Thomas G. Schatz. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

[pt] O dimensionamento de estruturas de edifícios de aço com ligações do tipo semi-rígidas ainda enfrenta uma série de resistências por parte dos engenheiros estruturais. Este fato se deve em parte à falta de normas específicas, programas de computadores adequados e informações mais detalhadas sobre as vantagens econômicas das ligações semi- rígidas. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo paramétrico de uma edificação considerando o dimensionamento das ligações no regime semi-rígido. Estas investigações consideram parâmetros como: a rigidez das ligações, sistemas com estruturas em aço ou mistos e estabilidade lateral dos pórticos. A edificação analisada foi uma habitação popular padronizada de quatro pavimentos desenvolvida pela USIMINAS, muito difundida no Brasil. Em uma primeira etapa cada edifício foi estudado com uma rigidez de ligação semi- rígida padrão para todas as ligações da estrutura. Posteriormente ligações semi-rígida individualizadas foram adotadas para os diversos pórticos estudados. Este trabalho a princípio apresenta uma metodologia de análise e dimensionamento de estruturas em aço com ligações semi- rígidas com base no modelo de molas proposto pelo Anexo J Revisado do Eurocode 3. Com base nesta metodologia propõe- se um modelo simplificado de ligações semi-rígidas viga/coluna com o uso do programa ANSYS. Os modelos estruturais foram estudados com a inclusão dos efeitos da não linearidade geométrica dos pórticos e o comportamento elasto-plástico do material de forma a se obter resultados consistentes com os resultados experimentais e sem a introdução de coeficientes de correção. Os resultados obtidos neste trabalho foram apresentados, discutidos e comparados com os desenvolvidos pela USIMINAS de forma a se analisar o comportamento das ligações e sua eficiência. Para os edifícios considerados neste trabalho, onde se fez uso de ligações semi-rígidas padrão, o sistema mais econômico, com relação à peso de aço, foi a estrutura mista com contraventamentos (40 por cento da capacidade rígida) que teve uma economia de até 48 por cento em relação aos outros edifícios e de até 10 por cento aos sistemas da USIMINAS. Quando no uso de ligações otimizadas estas economias aumentam para 53 por cento e 15 por cento. Os resultados apresentados confirmam a vantagem da utilização deste tipo de ligação em edifícios residenciais em aço de pequena altura. / [en] Nowadays, despite the substantial increase in structural design knowledge, the semi-rigid connections steel design is still facing resistance from the structural engineers. This fact can be in part explained by few design standards that allows and explains their use, suitable computer programs and the lack of detailed information of the economical advantages of the semi-rigid design philosophy. This work presents a parametric analysis performed on a residential low-rise steel building considering all the steps necessary to a semi-rigid design. This analysis considered parameters like: beam-to-column connection stiffness and strength,structural system (steel or composite) and lateral frame stability (sway and non-sway frame solutions). The analysed structure consisted on a standard four pavements residential building proposed by a Brazilian Steel Mill Usiminas for low-cost popular constructions. Initially all the structure beam-to-column connections adopted a standard connection stiffness. The study continued with optimised connection stiffness for each of the designed structural frames. The first part of the present work is devoted to a full description of the design procedures proposed in the Eurocode 3, revised annex J for semi-rigid connection design. Based on this methodology a simple design model was proposed and implemented with the aid of the finite element program Ansys. The model included geometrical and material non- linearities and considered the connections semi-rigid behaviour avoiding the conventional approximations suggested in several current steel design standards. The results of this investigations are presented, discussed and compared to standard designs like the Usiminas proposal as means to access the economic potential and efficiency of the semi-rigid solutions. The best structural solution for the investigated construction was a non-sway composite semi- rigid (40 percent of the rigid capacity). The economy achieved were: 48 percent and 10 percent when compared to other semi-rigid solutions and the conventional Usiminas solution, respectively. This figures changed to 53 percent and 15 percent when optimised connections were used in each structural frame. The presented results confirm the advantage of the use of this connections kind in residential buildings in steel of low height.

Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-09-02T13:47:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LEONARDO SOARES E SILVA - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGCC 2012..pdf: 18507669 bytes, checksum: bf0fea9d5676260e8d9ac8cb53c6b9c6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-02T13:47:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LEONARDO SOARES E SILVA - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGCC 2012..pdf: 18507669 bytes, checksum: bf0fea9d5676260e8d9ac8cb53c6b9c6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-05 / Em uma sociedade cada vez mais individualista e exigente, o aumento na demanda por produtos personalizados e adaptados às necessidades individuais se reflete diretamente na publicidade. Consumidores estão expostos diariamente a inúmeros meios de comunicação e requerem anúncios de produtos de seu interesse para que a mensagem seja lembrada. ma alternativa para tornar o anúncio relevante é adequá-lo às expectativas do consumidor. A publicidade pervasiva se mostra viável à realização desse processo, por possibilitar a veiculação de anúncios adaptados ao contexto do consumidor. sinalização digital é um exemplo de publicidade pervasiva e vem ganhando destaque pelo seu crescimento, oportunidades apresentadas e pelo barateamento das tecnologias que tornam viável a sua utilização. A sinalização digital possibilita a entrega de anúncios adaptados às necessidades dos consumidores, utilizando elementos gráficos com maior potencial para atrair sua atenção, além de possibilitar a exibição dos anúncios em momentos oportunos. Com o objetivo de tornai- a sinalização digital mais adaptada aos consumidores, diversas abordagens foram propostas. No entanto, a maioria dessas abordagens depende de interações explícitas com o consumidor, o que pode não ocorrer devido à casualidade desse meio de comunicação. trabalho propõe-se um método para tornar mais efetiva a seleção de anúncios sem a necessidade de interação e retorno do consumidor. O método proposto baseia-se no uso da informação sobre o público alvo e interesses relacionados aos produtos. O método foi testado e validado com a comparação a outras abordagens identificadas na literatura e de propósitos similares. Os testes foram realizados em um experimento com a participação de 112 entrevistados, obtendo-se resultados satisfatórios e compatíveis com abordagens que exigem a interação e o retorno explícito do consumidor. / world where the consumer's individual demand is ever growing, the increase in the desire for custom products causes a direct impact in publicity. Consumers are daily exposed to a myriad of communication media and require advertisements for products of interest. An alternative to make advertisement relevant to the interests of the consumers is making it customizable. Pervasive advertising makes feasible that process, because it allows advertisements to be adapted to the consumer's context. Digiital Signage is an example of pervasive advertising and has received increasing attention for its growth in adoption. Price drop on related technologies makes its adoption viable. Digital signage allows adapting and presenting advertisements to the consumers, using graphical elements which can be used to get further attention from the consumers. Also, this media can make the advertisements situational. Several approaches were proposed in order to adapt Digital Signage for the consumers. Most of these, however, depend on the explicit interaction with the consumer which may not take place due to the casualness of the communication media. In this work, we propose a method for making the advertisements selection more effective without the need for interaction with the customers. This method is based on information about the target audience and products of interest. The method was validated, tested and compared with other methods with similar purposes. The tests were performed in an experiment involving 112 interviewed. The results were satisfactory and compatible with approaches that require explicit interaction.

p. 1-149 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-03-07T19:54:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2222p.pdf: 1768187 bytes, checksum: b40e12e2d13ac2de93438b6d4f49302d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Tatiana Lima(tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2013-03-14T20:04:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2222p.pdf: 1768187 bytes, checksum: b40e12e2d13ac2de93438b6d4f49302d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-03-14T20:04:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2222p.pdf: 1768187 bytes, checksum: b40e12e2d13ac2de93438b6d4f49302d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / A presente dissertação, realizada através de um estudo de caso, buscou avaliar os resultados empresariais auferidos pelo Complexo Hoteleiro Costa do Sauípe, empreendimento inovador que pretendeu, à época da sua concepção, fincar a bandeira da Bahia e do Brasil no mapa do turismo internacional. A relevância da investigação comprova-se pela forte estratégia de atração de equipamentos hoteleiros de característica similar conduzida pelos órgãos baianos de fomento ao turismo, conjugada aos resultados do complexo, que se demonstraram na prática aquém das expectativas dos atores sociais atingidos por ele. A investigação conduzida foi dividida em quatro partes. A primeira buscou reconstruir a concepção do projeto, detalhando as informações disponíveis à época aos gestores do empreendimento, principalmente no que diz respeito à segmentação de mercado esperada, aos objetivos propostos para o empreendimento e ao posicionamento e estratégias mercadológicas planejadas para atingi-los. A segunda parte mapeou os resultados auferidos pelo complexo com base nos seus objetivos, resgatados na seção anterior. Adicionalmente foram apresentadas as reformulações estratégicas anunciadas ao público em 2003. A terceira parte apresentou um comparativo entre os resultados e estratégias obtidos por Costa do Sauípe e pelo Praia do Forte EcoResort, objeto escolhido pela sua proximidade física e similaridade da oferta, bem como pela sua longevidade e reconhecidos resultados positivos, ainda que sua operação tenha escala quase 5 vezes menor. Como resultado do estudo percebeuse que os baixos resultados de Sauípe não podem ser imputados a um processo de planejamento equivocado, visto que a reorientação estratégica promovida pelos seus gestores em 2003 basicamente retomou os conceitos inicialmente propostos na sua concepção. A estratégia planejada, entretanto, não se traduziu em ação, pelo menos no que diz respeito à percepção do posicionamento da oferta em algumas das suas idéias essenciais: 1 – o empreendimento não foi percebido como uma experiência baiana; 2 – o lazer e diversão deixaram a desejar; 3 – o serviço foi um item mal avaliado pelos hóspedes. Do comparativo entre os empreendimentos pôdese verificar que o EcoResort teve maior sucesso em todos estes itens, bem como na manutenção de uma estratégia de diferenciação, conseguindo manter sua vantagem competitiva ao agregar continuamente valor aos hóspedes na busca da prática de preços premium. / Salvador

Tourism is one of the key industries that drive the global economy, playing a key role in regional development. However, constant change, trends and tourist behaviour compel drive destinations to keep track of these changes in order to grow tourism and stimulate economic growth. Mpumalanga is one of the provinces in South Africa known for its flora and fauna, beautiful landscape, and game reserves together with wildlife; therefore, having the potential to draw tourists to the province. Mpumalanga province aim to position itself as a destination of choice. A process of segmenting should however first take place as positioning is the end result. The purpose of the present study was to segment and profile tourists based on benefits sought in order to develop a benefit segmentation framework for Mpumalanga. The data collection procedure was based on a self-administered survey applied to a sample of 400 tourists visiting Mpumalanga, and two segments were identified. Binary logistic regression indicated that benefits sought (all nine) were statistically significant predictors of the attractions tourists visited and the activities within which they participated during their stay in Mpumalanga. A benefit segmentation framework was developed as a recommendation, which may be useful in developing promotional and packaging activities for identified segments by incorporating activities and attractions obtained from the binary logistic regression results and by matching them within the identified segment while using benefits as guidelines. / Business Management / M. Com. (Tourism Management)

This study proposes a loyalty segmentation model for the South African men's retail credit fashion industry. Retailers operate in a highly competitive market where competitors strive for share-of-wallet of the same customer. The likely victor in this battle is the retailer who best understands customer needs, purchase behaviour and utilises this information to influence customer's spending patterns. The research method comprised a postal survey to randomly selected customers. The process included the construct of the loyalty model which comprised four input models, namely the Competitiveness, Brand experience, Referral and Credit appeal models as well as a number of customer demographics. The Desert scenario, where extreme conditions exist, is used as the analogy for the Segmentation model, with four macro segments (Desert, Oasis, Sand Storm, Rain clouds) being used to categorise respondents along two criteria, namely that of value and relative risk. Segment characteristics are used to segment the retailer's database. / Business Management / MCom (Business Management)

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-08T14:53:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1842165 bytes, checksum: 59f17268b1e23252f9bc9e0e37474638 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-12-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In recent years, several studies have been published dealing on factors that influence consumer purchase intent in various economic sectors. In this line of work, we are specifically for the sector of collective buying, obtain regression models that could contribute to the study of the relationship between the purchase intention and the characteristics of market segments. The aim is to assist in the inclusion of this variable purchase intention in the process of choosing a target group, guiding decisions to meet more effectively service consumers. To achieve this goal, initially interviewed 384 Internet users in the city of João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil. Then the data obtained from interviews, were used to estimate those models. These models were based on assumptions of theories of the cognitive approach of consumer behavior, especially the Theory of Reasoned Action. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire containing market research questions related to psychological factors, socio-cultural and situational consumer. The most successful model was a generalized additive model with nine variables and nonparametric one end, obtained from smoothing splines. This model had a pseudo-R2 of 0,89 and allowed to reach a percentage of correct trials of the observations of the sample equal to 94%. With the aid of simulations, it was observed how the proposed model type is capable of assisting in selection of a target with a higher interest in the use of the service. It was also shown how the model can be used to evaluate production systems, in relation to more efficient service to customers intend to use the service. The generalized additive models were effective for identifying the presence of nonlinear relationships and were able to generate a high explanatory power of the propensity of individuals to use specific service. / Nos últimos anos, vários estudos foram publicados versando sobre fatores que influenciam a intenção de compra do consumidor em diversos setores econômicos. Nesta linha de trabalho, procurou-se, especificamente para o setor de compra coletivas, obter modelos de regressão que pudessem contribuir para o estudo da relação entre a intenção de compra e as características de segmentos de mercado. Visa-se com isso auxiliar na inclusão da variável intenção de compras no processo de escolha de um público-alvo, orientando decisões para satisfazer com maior eficiência consumidores do serviço. Para alcançar o objetivo, entrevistaram-se inicialmente 384 usuários de Internet da cidade de João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil. Em seguida os dados obtidos a partir de entrevistas, foram usados para estimar aqueles modelos. Esses modelos foram baseados em pressupostos de teorias da abordagem cognitiva do comportamento do consumidor, especialmente da Teoria da Ação Racional. O instrumento usado para a coleta de dados foi um questionário de pesquisa de mercado contendo questões ligadas a fatores psicológicos, sócio-culturais e situacionais do consumidor. O modelo mais bem sucedido foi um modelo aditivo generalizado com nove variáveis e com um termo não paramétrico, obtido a partir do método de suavização splines. Esse modelo apresentou um pseudo-R2 igual a 0,89 e possibilitou alcançar um percentual de acertos nos julgamentos das observações da amostra igual a 94%. Com o auxílio de simulações, verificou-se de que modo o tipo de modelo proposto é capaz de auxiliar na escolha de um público-alvo com maior interesse no uso do serviço. Apresentou-se ainda a maneira pela qual o modelo pode ser usado para avaliar sistemas produtivos, em relação ao atendimento mais eficiente de clientes que têm a intenção de utilizar o serviço. Os modelos aditivos generalizados mostraram-se eficientes para identificar a presença de relações não lineares e foram capazes de gerar um poder explicativo alto da propensão de indivíduos para utilizar um serviço específico.