O ambiente econômico atual de alta concorrência impulsiona a busca inteligente por soluções que capacitem as empresas a apresentarem reduções de custos e aumento de rentabilidade, além de proporcionar a satisfação do consumidor, fatores fundamentais para a garantia de sobrevivência e crescimento. É sob esse contexto que surge o ECR (Efficient Consumer Response), iniciativa em que fabricantes de produtos de mercearia, varejo, atacado e demais facilitadores trabalham em conjunto para reduzir custos desse canal de marketing e possibilita maior valor ao consumidor. O Gerenciamento por Categorias é uma ferramenta que faz parte do ECR e permite a redução de custos de fornecedores e varejistas propiciando melhor exposição, abastecimento e variedade de produtos; calendário eficiente de promoções; maior giro e menor estoque, aumento na rentabilidade e preços competitivos, ao mesmo tempo em que focaliza práticas de merchandising e marketing eficientes orientadas para o cliente, foco principal desta ferramenta. Esta dissertação procurou conhecer o relacionamento entre fornecedor e varejo com a utilização da ferramenta, identificando as opiniões dos varejistas sobre seus fornecedores e vice-versa, apresentando os principais pontos de divergência e semelhança entre estas opiniões, além de identificar e caracterizar as variáveis do relacionamento entre os parceiros que prejudicam e os que favorecem o processo de Gerenciamento por Categorias. Devido à natureza dos objetivos estabelecidos, foi adotado o método exploratório com base em estudo de caso. Foram analisados uma rede de varejo supermercadista e dois fornecedores de categorias distintas: café e limpeza. Utilizaram-se questionários eletrônicos estruturados e entrevistas para levantamento das informações. Foi possível identificar pontos convergentes e divergentes quanto ao conceito de parceria, mostrando a necessidade de alinhamento em alguns aspectos fundamentais do conceito para melhor atendimento das expectativas dos parceiros. O tempo de parceria e a utilização de um instrumento legal menos formal (maior interação interpessoal) mostraram afetar negativamente o relacionamento. Os principais problemas levantados no estudo são referentes às variáveis: comunicação, investimento específico, comprometimento, confiança e cooperação, contradizendo o que estas empresas afirmam ser importante para uma boa relação de parceria. O relacionamento entre fornecedor e varejo no Gerenciamento por Categorias precisa ser mais bem desenvolvido, estimulando o maior envolvimento dos parceiros, principalmente os varejistas que se mostram com menor empenho no desenvolvimento do relacionamento e da ferramenta. Embora existam divergências entre os parceiros, as empresas participantes deste estudo disseram estar satisfeitas quanto aos resultados obtidos com a implantação do Gerenciamento por Categorias. / The very competitive recent economic environment propels the intelligent search for solutions that enable the companies to present costs reduction and profitability increase, besides meeting the consumer satisfaction, which are the fundamental factors for survival and growing warranty. It is under this context that the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR), an initiative in which manufacturers of products, such as, from grocery stores, from retail, from wholesale, and other facilitators, work together to reduce costs of this marketing channel and enable higher value to the consumer. The Category Management is a tool from the ECR, it allows the costs reduction of suppliers and retailers, providing better exposition, supply, and variety of products; sales promotion efficacy calendar; bigger rotation and lower inventory, profitability increase and competitive prices, by also focusing on efficient merchandising and marketing practices directed to the client that is the main focus of this tool. The present dissertation aimed at reporting the relation between the supplier and retail by using the tool, identifying the retailers opinions about their suppliers and vice-versa, presenting the main divergence and similarity points among these opinions, besides identifying and characterizing the relation variables between the partners that injure and those that favor the Category Management process. Due to the established objectives nature, the exploratory method was taken based on the case study. A supermarket retail chain and two different categories of suppliers coffee and cleaning were analyzed. Structured electronic questionnaires and interviews to survey information were used. It was possible to identify convergent and divergent points as to the partnership definition, showing the need of aligning in some fundamental aspects of the definition to better serve the partners expectations. The partnership time and the use of a less formal legal instrument (better interpersonal interaction) seemed to negatively affect the relation. The main issues that were reported in the study refer to the variables: communication, specific investment, commitment, trust, and cooperation, which are opposed to what these companies state to be important for a good partner relation. The relation between the supplier and retail in the Category Management needs to be more developed, encouraging the greatest involvement of the partners, specially the retailers that have better performance in the relation and tool development. Although there are divergences between the partners, the companies that are participating of this study stated that they are satisfied as to the results obtained with the Category Management implantation.

Recent work of Bambozzi, Ben-Bassat, and Kremnitzer suggests that derived analytic geometry over a valued field k can be modelled as geometry relative to the quasi-abelian category of Banach spaces, or rather its completion Ind(Ban_k). In this thesis we develop a robust theory of homotopical algebra in Ch(E) for E any sufficiently 'nice' quasi-abelian, or even exact, category. Firstly we provide sufficient conditions on weakly idempotent complete exact categories E such that various categories of chain complexes in E are equipped with projective model structures. In particular we show that as soon as E has enough projectives, the category Ch₊(E) of bounded below complexes is equipped with a projective model structure. In the case that E also admits all kernels we show that it is also true of Ch≥0(E), and that a generalisation of the Dold-Kan correspondence holds. Supplementing the existence of kernels with a condition on the existence and exactness of certain direct limit functors guarantees that the category of unbounded chain complexes Ch(E) also admits a projective model structure. When E is monoidal we also examine when these model structures are monoidal. We then develop the homotopy theory of algebras in Ch(E). In particular we show, under very general conditions, that categories of operadic algebras in Ch(E) can be equipped with transferred model structures. Specialising to quasi-abelian categories we prove our main theorem, which is a vast generalisation of Koszul duality. We conclude by defining analytic extensions of the Koszul dual of a Lie algebra in Ind(Ban_k).

We investigate cofree coalgebras, and limits and colimits of coalgebras in some abelian monoidal categories of interest, such as bimodules over a ring, and modules and comodules over a bialgebra or Hopf algebra. We nd concrete generators for the categories of coalgebras in these monoidal categories, and explicitly construct cofree coalgebras, products and limits of coalgebras in each case. This answers an open question in [4] on the existence of a cofree coring, and constructs the cofree (co)module coalgebra on a B-(co)module, for a bialgebra B.

<p>In today’s world, where the consumer is constantly exposed to more and more brands in almost any kind of environment, the importance of exploiting those brands which have managed to reach the consumer’s mind and gained a strong position has increased. A majority of new product launches are extensions of existing brands. Brand extensions can be seen as a less expensive as well as less risky way to satisfy the consumer’s demands and needs within several segments by providing several products under the same brand rather than creating a new name for every new product. Even though the extension of brands has become a popular strategy, it can still be somewhat of a troublesome affaire to extend the brand without loosing its original value. A “very good” brand extension not only creates additional cash-flow but also enhances the brand name. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to identify factors that enable enhanced brand equity through category brand extension. A category extensions is when an existing brand name is applied to a product category that is new to the firm.</p><p>The study is conducted based on exclusively written data whereas a presentation of textual analysis will appear. As the focus is on theoretical findings and not empirical, no entire chapter in this thesis will concern empirical findings. Elementary variables of brands are defined, explained and discussed as well as the concept of brand equity, identity and image. Further, we present a discussion concerning definitions and the research that has been conducted on the subject of extensions. A discussion on the potential benefits and difficulties that are involved in brand extension follows and the concept of extension fit as well as aspects of lifestyle are presented. The conclusions reach are seven factors, all benefiting from having a high level of abstraction. The factors enhancing brand equity through category extensions are: Brand Context Distance, Lifestyle, Brand Awareness, Fit, Guarantee Function, Personality and Relationship.</p>

In today’s world, where the consumer is constantly exposed to more and more brands in almost any kind of environment, the importance of exploiting those brands which have managed to reach the consumer’s mind and gained a strong position has increased. A majority of new product launches are extensions of existing brands. Brand extensions can be seen as a less expensive as well as less risky way to satisfy the consumer’s demands and needs within several segments by providing several products under the same brand rather than creating a new name for every new product. Even though the extension of brands has become a popular strategy, it can still be somewhat of a troublesome affaire to extend the brand without loosing its original value. A “very good” brand extension not only creates additional cash-flow but also enhances the brand name. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to identify factors that enable enhanced brand equity through category brand extension. A category extensions is when an existing brand name is applied to a product category that is new to the firm. The study is conducted based on exclusively written data whereas a presentation of textual analysis will appear. As the focus is on theoretical findings and not empirical, no entire chapter in this thesis will concern empirical findings. Elementary variables of brands are defined, explained and discussed as well as the concept of brand equity, identity and image. Further, we present a discussion concerning definitions and the research that has been conducted on the subject of extensions. A discussion on the potential benefits and difficulties that are involved in brand extension follows and the concept of extension fit as well as aspects of lifestyle are presented. The conclusions reach are seven factors, all benefiting from having a high level of abstraction. The factors enhancing brand equity through category extensions are: Brand Context Distance, Lifestyle, Brand Awareness, Fit, Guarantee Function, Personality and Relationship.

The current study investigates whether younger adults process distraction semantically and how age influences the level of distraction processing. In a first experiment, younger adults’ processing of distraction was examined by comparing implicit and explicit memory for that distraction. Then, in a second experiment, younger and older adults’ semantic processing of distractors was directly tested by examining memory for distractors on a conceptually based category-generation task. Younger adults showed equivalent implicit and explicit distractor memory in the first experiment and no conceptual priming for distractors on the category-generation task of the second experiment. Older adults, on the other hand, showed reliable conceptual priming for distractors, and the effect was significantly correlated with age in that group. The results collectively suggest that older, but not younger, adults engage in elaborate processing of irrelevant information, and that this effect is possibly tied to inhibitory control abilities that tend to decrease with age.

This study examined the effects of racial insult on the propensity to either categorize or individuate outgroup members. Reaction times and self-reports measures were employed to gauge reactions to an insulting video. White and African American participants heard an insult, and then completed the Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT), as well as the Internal Motivation to Control Prejudice Scale (IMS) and the External Motivation to Control Prejudice Scale (IMS), the Motivation to Control Prejudice Scale (MCPRS) the Social Distance Scale (SDS), and made ratings on a feeling thermometer about the people in the insult video. African Americans showed more negative responses to outgroup members than Whites on the explicit measure, but Whites showed more negative responses to outgroup members than African Americans on the implicit measure.

Observations of textual document management by individuals and organizations have suggested the popularity of using categories (e.g., folders) to organize, archive and access documents. The document grouping behavior is intentional acts, reflecting a user¡¦s preferential perspective on semantic coherency or relevant groupings between subjects. Although becoming less adequate as new documents are accumulated, the existing category set or hierarchy may preserve to some extent the user¡¦s preferential perspective on document grouping. Thus, when deriving a new category set or hierarchy, the category set or hierarchy previously established by the user (i.e., semantic coherency of the documents embedded in the existing category set or category hierarchy) should be taken into consideration. In this study, we have proposed an evolution-based technique, Category Hierarchy Evolution (CHE), for managing category hierarchy rather than category set. Specifically, in CHE, the overall similarity between two documents is measured not only by their content similarity but also by their location similarity in the existing category hierarchy. Our empirical evaluation results suggest that the proposed CHE technique outperformed the discovery-based technique (i.e., the traditional content-based document-clustering technique).

Abstract This study mainly investigated the changing of pricing leverage of brand among different situations, especially, among distinctive product categories and among various levels of product knowledge which consumers obtained. Firstly, the research tries to verify existence of the hypothesized pricing leverage of brand; that is to test (1) the influences of levels of brand awareness on consumers¡¦ price perception; and (2) the effect of brand awareness on consumers¡¦ tolerance over the price increasing. In addition, this research manipulates three other variables, namely: product category, product knowledge which consumer obtained, and consumers¡¦ involvement toward the product in interest, as to seek and explore the conditions on which the pricing leverage of brand can occur. As experimentation is the method of this study, it utilizes a 3 ( brand awareness: high, middle, low) x 3 ( product category: convenience goods, shopping goods, specialty goods) x 2 ( product knowledge: much, little) x 2 (involvement: high, low) factorial design as its basic framework of experiment design. A focus group depth interview discussion, which participants were from target subject group, was held to collect the appropriate or suitable products, brands, pricing levels, product information, and product attributes, ... etc. The products eventually used in the experiments are six items: fresh milk, toilet tissue, hand-bag, leisure shoes, watch, and digital camera. According to the products chosen, the brand names are selected based on the levels of awareness in the markets in which the subject purchase. The subjects of the experiments are 144 students of National Sun Yat-sen University located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. There are 815 entries of data obtained from the subject in the experiments. Factor analysis, ANOVA, and MANOVA are used to analyze the data obtained from the experiment. The analysis findings support several propositional statements, including (1) the higher level of market awareness a brand enjoys, the higher price perception consumers acquire for it; (2) Among the difference product categories, the effect of price leverage of brand varies; (3) there is no influence from the magnitude of product knowledge which consumer obtained on the price leverage of brand.

Health pursuing is one of the most important and common aspirations of people in a modern society. However, what is their concept about health? What are the conditions of their cognitions about being healthy? As people¡¦s income has increased, nutritious diet supplements (generally called health foods) have become a popular product category. But, while types of health foods in the market are numerous and competition between the different products are fierce, how do consumers make their decision, facing these various choices? How do Taiwanese people understand and acquaint with particular types of health foods? How do they switch between them, if there is a need for switch among the particular products. The current research tried to develop a measurement scale for the concept of health suitable for Taiwanese people based on their daily life, using health confidence, health dieting, living adaptation, and social interaction as the four fundamental dimensions. This scale is different from those health concept measurement developed based on the traditional medical perspective. The major testing products of this research are ¡§Tong-Chong-Sia-Tsau¡¨ (Cordyceps Sinensis for medical terminology) and ¡§Ling-Zhi,¡¨ two of new categories of Chinese health supplements developed from special plants. Two other categories of health foods product, ¡§traditional Chinese herb medicine¡¨ and ¡§Western vitamin pills,¡¨ are also included in the observation of category switching. Adoption of innovation is an important issue in the buying behavior research of health foods. The current research developed a measurement scale of innovation adoption, adopting many measuring items from Kirton (1976). Regarding the choice behavior, this research observed and analyzed both ¡§need for cognition¡¨ and ¡§need for change¡¨ aspects, referring to Wood and Swait¡¦s (2002) choice research. The consumer samples of this research were collected from two groups of people in Taiwan: travel agents and land administration agents. The number of valid sample was 414. The relationship between health foods buying behavior and the demographic variables were as well analyzed and discussed for the valid sample.