Abstract Humanizing brands is an essential domain of current branding as it enhances the visibility of a brand by connecting consumers to the brand, thus contributing to strong brand equity. The term humanize used in this dissertation is not limited to brands with anthropomorphic characters, such as the M&M’s characters. Used in this context, the term also includes the ways in which consumers attribute a brand to be “close to me,” “like me,” and a “partner.” Although the research of customer-based brand equity has been well-documented over the past twenty-five years, limited attention has been given to examining the differential effect of brand favorability in forming a self-brand connection. Even more scarce are studies on the antecedents and indicators of brand betrayal. Further, up-to-date research is mostly silent as to whether temporal focus and temporal distance influence a brand’s ability to serve as a means of reflecting the consumer’s selves. To fill up these research gaps, this dissertation reports four research articles. More than two thousand samples were collected from Finland, India, and the US to examine the conceptual frameworks. First, this dissertation contributes to the literature on self-brand connection by articulating the effect of self-presentation by brand on self-brand connection. Second, it contributes to the literature of self-congruence, seen from the temporal perspective. Third, it adds to the brand betrayal literature by examining consumer anthropomorphize tendency and actual high-arousal positive states as the antecedents. It further explains the indicators of brand betrayal, consisting of failure severity and inferred negative motive. In term of managerial implications, the findings contribute to (1) the one-on-one marketing approach to branding, (2) incorporating consumer’s selves into branding considerations, and (3) assessing brand betrayal in a negative brand relationship. / Tiivistelmä Brändien inhimillistäminen on keskeinen alue vallitsevassa brändien tutkimuksessa, sillä inhimillistämällä lisätään brändin näkyvyyttä kytkemällä kuluttajat brändiin, mikä osaltaan vahvistaa brändipääomaa. Tässä väitöskirjassa käytetty termi inhimillistäminen ei rajoitu vain brändeihin, jotka käyttävät antropomorfisia hahmoja kuten M&M:n hahmot. Tässä yhteydessä termiin sisältyy myös keinoja, joita hyödyntämällä kuluttajat tuntevat brändin olevan ”lähellä minua”, ”kuten minä” ja ”kumppani”. Vaikka asiakaslähtöisen brändipääoman tutkimusta on tehty paljon viimeisen 25 vuoden aikana, vain vähän huomiota on saanut brändien suosimisen vaikutus kuluttajan minän ja brändin välisen yhteyden muodostukseen. Vielä vähemmän tutkimusta on tehty brändien pettämisen syistä ja indikaattoreista. Lisäksi olemassa oleva tutkimus ei ota juurikaan kantaa siihen, vaikuttavatko ajallinen fokus ja ajallinen etäisyys brändin kykyyn heijastaa kuluttajien minää. Näiden tutkimusaukkojen täyttämiseksi väitöskirja esittelee neljän tutkimusartikkelin tuloksia. Käsitteellisten viitekehysten testaamista varten kerättiin yli 2 000 vastaajan aineisto kolmesta eri maasta. Ensinnäkin, tämä väitöskirja edistää kuluttajan minä-brändisuhteeseen liittyvää tutkimusta kuvaamalla brändin itse-presentaation vaikutusta minä-brändisuhteeseen. Toiseksi, tämä väitöskirja kontribuoi minä-kongruenssiin liittyvään kirjallisuuteen ajallisesta näkökulmasta tarkasteltuna. Kolmanneksi, tämä väitöskirja edistää brändien pettämiseen liittyvää kirjallisuutta tutkimalla kuluttajan taipumusta antropomorfisointiin ja toteutuneita korkean innostuneisuuden tiloja. Tutkimus myös selittää brändien pettämisen indikaattoreita, jotka koostuvat epäonnistumisen vakavuudesta ja brändin negatiivisesta motiivista. Liikkeenjohdollisina päätelminä tulokset ehdottavat (1) yhdeltä yhdelle markkinointia brändäykseen, (2) kuluttajan minän sisällyttämistä brändäyskysymyksiin, ja (3) brändin pettämisen arviointia negatiivisessa brändisuhteessa.

Submitted by Viviane Lima da Cunha (viviane@biblioteca.ufpb.br) on 2015-05-27T15:49:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 791381 bytes, checksum: 38dd57e91539c2f7bfdaf6d1092eff37 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Leonardo Americo (leonardo@sti.ufpb.br) on 2015-05-27T17:33:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 791381 bytes, checksum: 38dd57e91539c2f7bfdaf6d1092eff37 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-27T17:33:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 791381 bytes, checksum: 38dd57e91539c2f7bfdaf6d1092eff37 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-13 / In this work we present the concept of cryptography, highlighting the differences between symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption. We also show how RSA encryption works. Moreover, we study the main mathematical results that justify the operation of this cryptosystem and its security, such as: congruences, Euler's theorem, Fermat's Little Theorem, Wilson's Theorem, Euler's criterion for quadratic residues, Law of Quadratic Reciprocity and primality tests. / Neste trabalho apresentamos o conceito de criptografia, diferenciamos a criptogra fia simétrica da criptografia assimétrica e mostramos como funciona a criptografia RSA. Além disso, destacamos os principais resultados matemáticos que justificam o funcionamento desse criptossistema e sua segurança, tais como: congruências, Teorema de Euler, Pequeno Teorema de Fermat, Teorema de Wilson, Critério de Euler para resíduos quadráticos, Lei de Reciprocidade Quadrática e testes de primalidade.

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2015-10-28T13:45:05Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Ricardo Gomes Assunção - 2015.pdf: 6739728 bytes, checksum: acac71431ba03e643835eeb3648e99ae (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-10-28T14:42:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Ricardo Gomes Assunção - 2015.pdf: 6739728 bytes, checksum: acac71431ba03e643835eeb3648e99ae (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-28T14:42:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Ricardo Gomes Assunção - 2015.pdf: 6739728 bytes, checksum: acac71431ba03e643835eeb3648e99ae (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The aim of this paper is to study the isometries and homotheties, known geometric transformations of the plane, by means of the congruence and similarity of plane geometric figures. In order to explore and facilitate the understanding of the concepts of these two geometric transformations, some activities with congruent and similar geometric figures are proposed in a manageable teaching materials which were created for this purpose, called isometric plane, and also in GeoGebra software. These activities were applied to a first-year high school class of the Instituto Federal Goiano - Campus Uruta´ı, and some comments (observed results) about this application, they are presented. / Este trabalho visa estudar as isometrias e homotetias, conhecidas transforma¸c˜oes geom´etricas do plano, por meio da congruˆencia e semelhan¸ca de figuras geom´etricas planas. Afim de explorar e facilitar o entendimento dos conceitos dessas duas transforma¸c˜oes geom´etricas, algumas atividades com figuras geom´etricas congruentes e semelhantes s˜ao propostas num material did´atico manipul´avel criado para esse fim, denominado plano isom´etrico, e, tamb´em, no software GeoGebra. Essas atividades foram aplicadas para uma turma de primeiro ano de ensino m´edio do Instituto Federal Goiano - Campus Uruta´ı, e, alguns coment´arios (resultados observados) acerca dessa aplica¸c˜ao, s˜ao apresentados.

The purpose of this study is to see how second-language learners uses noun phrases in their written texts and oral speech as well as how they differ from each other. In order to answer this, the following questions have been formulated: What congruent errors are found in the noun phrases in the students' texts and oral speeches? Are there any differences in the use of noun phrases in the students' texts and oral speeches? The study is based on performance analysis, where student texts and transcribed recordings of students' oral speeches are analyzed. The result shows that congruence errors in the students' noun phrases are mostly due to the misuse of gender, definite form and numerus. The result also shows that the students had more congruence errors in the written texts, but there were similar, but fewer, mistakes in the oral speeches. This means that you cannot draw general conclusions about any differences between the written texts and the oral speeches.

Nous étudions dans cette thèse une dimension particulière de l’emballage : la texture. Dans la première étude (A), composée de trois expérimentations, nous présentons l’influence de la texture, en l’absence de contact tactile, sur l’attitude envers un produit et sur le choix du consommateur. Nous manipulons la texture de l’emballage ainsi qu'une stimulation tactile au préalable en prenant en compte le niveau du besoin de toucher de l’individu. Nous montrons que la stimulation tactile positive induit une appréciation plus positive du produit lorsque ce dernier n’est pas texturé et ce, indépendamment du besoin de toucher. Lorsque le produit est texturé, les individus à faible besoin de toucher présentent une dévaluation du produit. Ensuite, nous présentons l’influence d’une stimulation tactile négative sur le choix entre un produit lisse et un produit texturé. En l’absence de stimulation tactile, le produit contenu dans l’emballage texturé est préféré. La stimulation tactile négative conduit principalement les individus à faible besoin de toucher à préférer le produit contenu dans l’emballage lisse. Dans la deuxième étude (B), nous étudions l’influence du contact tactile avec la texture de l’emballage sur le goût perçu du produit. Dans une première expérimentation nous montrons que lorsque la texture n’apporte pas d’informations sur le produit contenu, elle n’influence pas le goût perçu. Lorsque la texture de l’emballage induit des attentes sur le produit, l’évaluation dépend de la situation de congruence sensorielle. S’il y a une incongruence sensorielle entre la texture de l’emballage et celle du produit lors de la consommation, le goût du produit sera moins apprécié. Dans la deuxième expérimentation, en utilisant un électro-encéphalogramme, nous étudions les effets de la congruence sensorielle entre la texture de l’emballage et celle du produit sur les émotions du consommateur. Nous montrons que l'incongruence sensorielle induit un niveau d’éveil plus élevé mais induit également des émotions plus négatives comparativement à une situation de congruence sensorielle. / We study in this thesis a particular dimension of the packaging: the texture. In the first study (A), composed of three experiments, we present the influence of the texture, in the absence of tactile contact, on attitudes towards a product and consumer choices. We manipulate the texture of the packaging as well as a tactile stimulation previously taking into account the level of the need for touch. We first show that the positive tactile stimulation induces a more positive assessment of the product when it is not textured, regardless of the need for touch. When the product is textured, individuals with a low need for touch have a devaluation of the product. Then we present the influence of negative tactile stimulation on the choice between a product whose packaging is smooth and the other textured. In the absence of tactile stimulation, the product inside the textured packaging is the preferred. Prior negative tactile stimulation leads mainly individuals with a low need for touch to favor the product inside the smooth packaging. In the second study (B), we present the influence of tactile contact with the texture of packaging on the perceived taste of the product. In the first experiment we show that when the texture does not provide information about the product contained, it does not have influence on the perceived taste. When the texture of the packaging induced expectations about the product, the assessment depends on the situation of sensory congruency. If there is a sensory incongruency between the texture of the packaging and the texture of the product during consumption, the taste of the product will be less appreciated. In the second experiment, by using a EEG, we study the effects of sensory congruency between the texture of the packaging and the texture of the product on the emotions of the consumer. We show that sensory incongruency induces a higher level of arousal, but also induces to more negative emotions comparatively to a situation of sensory congruency.

Supplemental instruction (SI), a peer assisted learning model, improves course performance, retention, and graduation rates of post-secondary education students. Researchers have questioned if the success of SI is due to students becoming more aware of assessment demands or if SI also promotes construction of new knowledge. The purposes of this case study were to describe techniques utilized by SI peer leaders, explore how sociocognitive learning techniques are implemented, and explore the perceptions of supplemental instruction program stakeholders regarding sociocognitive learning techniques. The research questions focused on what techniques peer leaders are trained to implement and what peer leaders' perceptions of sociocognitive learning techniques are. Piaget's theories on cognitive conflict and construction of knowledge, Vygotsky's theories on zone of proximal development and sociocognitive learning, and Chi's framework on interactive learning provided the conceptual framework for the study. The case study was conducted at a Northeast United States community college, using interviews with SI administrators and peer leaders (n = 8), voice recordings of SI sessions, and review of training material. The constant comparative method analysis of findings suggest that peer leaders trained in traditional tutoring and sociocognitive learning techniques promote construction of knowledge, and while programmatic and peer leader goals align with sociocognitive learning techniques, student goals do not. One recommendation is to clarify the distinction of SI versus traditional tutoring. This study could lead to positive social change by contributing to expanded goals of SI resulting in enhanced quality of learning for student participants at higher education institutions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aligning supplemental reading instruction with core classroom reading instruction on struggling second-grade students’ proficiency in phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Alignment was defined as core classroom and supplemental instruction that are congruent in philosophy, goals, instructional materials, instructional methods, student activities, and reading strategies that follow the same scope and sequence. This study employed a two-group, pre-post true experimental design. Second-grade students (N = 153) scoring in the lowest quartile on the fall Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Oral Reading Fluency assessment were randomly assigned to either an aligned or nonaligned supplemental reading instructional condition received instruction over a 20-week period. Reading specialists in 11 schools provided the supplemental instruction. iv The DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) and the Woodcock Reading Mastery-Revised (WRMT-R III) assessments were used to assess student reading growth in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary. Each student received one score from the DIBELS ORF and six scores from the WRMT-R III. Seven separate nested analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were conducted to examine differences in group means at posttest while accounting for nesting of reading specialists within schools. Pretest measures for each of the dependent variables were used as covariates to adjust posttest scores at the end of the study. After controlling for pretest score differences and accounting for the variance associated with reading specialists nested within schools, statistically significant differences were found favoring the aligned supplemental condition for posttest scores on all measures. Effect sizes ranged from small to moderate, with largest effect sizes being found for vocabulary and comprehension. The results of the study suggest that at-risk second-grade students benefitted from supplemental instruction that is aligned to the classroom core reading program.

No description available.

Previous research indicates that recommendations generally have a positive impact on consumer consumption, however, studies have primarily focused on industries such as film, dining and wine. This study examines the effects of various types of recommendations on consumer behavior within the food industry, where purchases tend to be routine and characterized by automated decision-making processes. The findings suggest that recommendations within the food sector have a positive impact on sales, regarding all selected products and different types of recommendations. The study confirms that expert recommendations, in this case from a chef, as well as sustainability-focused recommendations, influence consumer behavior. Consumers are more inclined to purchase a product with a recommendation compared to one without such an endorsement. This can be explained by consumers' trust in expert opinions and their appreciation of environmentally friendly attributes in consumption choices. This study also investigates the effects of green marketing, based on sustainability, on consumer behavior. The study confirms several hypotheses regarding the influence of recommendations on consumers, the effectiveness of different recommendations, and that recommendations for sustainable choices have a greater effect than expert recommendations. In summary, this study indicates that recommendations within the food industry influence consumer behavior, and both expert recommendations and sustainable recommendations are effective in increasing sales. This may have practical implications for the food industry and how they can market their products. To further increase the understanding of how recommendations affect consumers' decision-making processes and behavior, future research could be conducted on different recommendations. Their respective impacts, as well as factors that alter consumers' purchasing behavior, can be explored. / Tidigare forskning visar att rekommendationer generellt påverkar konsumenters konsumtion positivt, dessa studier har främst fokuserat på branscher och industrier såsom film, restaurang och vin. Denna studie undersöker effekterna av olika typer av rekommendationer på konsumentbeteende inom livsmedelsbranschen, där inköp tenderar att vara rutinartade och präglas av automatiserade beslutsprocesser. Resultaten indikerar att rekommendationer inom livsmedelssektorn har en positiv inverkan på försäljningen, gällande samtliga utvalda produkter och olika typer av rekommendationer. Studien bekräftar att expertrekommendationer, i detta fall från en kock, samt rekommendationer med fokus på hållbarhet, påverkar konsumentbeteendet. Konsumenter är mer benägna att köpa en produkt med en rekommendation jämfört med en som inte har en sådan. Detta kan förklaras av konsumenternas förtroende för expertutlåtanden och deras uppskattning av miljövänliga attribut i konsumtionsval. Denna studie undersöker även effekterna av grön marknadsföring, baserad på hållbarhet, på konsumentbeteendet. Studien bekräftar flera hypoteser angående rekommendationers inverkan på konsumenter, effektiviteten av olika rekommendationer samt att rekommendationer för hållbara val har större effekt än expertrekommendationer. Sammanfattningsvis indikerar denna studie att rekommendationer inom livsmedelsbranschen påverkar konsumentbeteendet och att både expertrekommendationer och hållbara rekommendationer är effektiva för att öka försäljningen. Detta kan ha praktiska implikationer för livsmedelsbranschen och hur de kan marknadsföra sina produkter. För att ytterligare öka förståelsen för hur rekommendationer påverkar konsumenternas beslutsprocesser och beteende, kan framtida forskning utföras på olika rekommendationer. Där deras respektive påverkan samt faktorer som ändrar konsumenternas köpbeteende undersöks.

No description available.