abstract: This study examines changing language loyalties of the sociopolitically most dominant ethnic group in Indonesia, the Javanese. Although Javanese language has the largest number of speakers, within the last five decades the language is gradually losing its speakers who prioritize the national language, Indonesian. This phenomenon led me to inquire into the extent to which their native language matters for their Javanese identity and how the language planning and policy (LPP) mechanism works to foster Javanese language. To collect data, I conducted a six-month ethnographic research project in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The findings show that Javanese language shift occurs because of strong supports from the government toward Indonesian by emphasizing its role as a symbol to unify all ethnic groups in Indonesia into one nation. Consequently, interference in intergenerational language transmission, a limited scope of Javanese use, decrease language competence, and negative attitude toward Javanese are evident. Although Javanese language is still perceived as the most profound marker of Javanese identity, it is now challenging to maintain it because of its limited role in most domains. The study also indicates that the Javanese people are now strongly inclined to Islam reflected by their piety to Islamic rules such as positive attitude to learn liturgic Arabic, to leave behind Javanese tradition not in line with Islam, and to view religion as a panacea to heal social problems. This high regard for Islam is also evident in schools. Furthermore, the Javanese people value highly English although nobody uses it as a medium of daily communication. However, the fact that English is tested in the secondary education national exams and the university entrance exam makes it necessary for people to learn it. In addition, English is regarded as a modern, intellectual, and elite language. In short, the Javanese people perceive English as an avenue to achieve academic and professional success as well as higher social status. Altogether, this study shows that shifting language loyalty among the Javanese people is an indication of societal transformation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2015

Submitted by Luiz Felipe Barbosa (luiz.fbabreu2@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-10T19:41:00Z No. of bitstreams: 2 DISSERTAÇÃO Vinicius Cezar Monteiro de Lira.pdf: 4006584 bytes, checksum: 5d1301329fabe34879780b3b17bb1e8a (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Daniella Sodre (daniella.sodre@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-10T19:43:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 DISSERTAÇÃO Vinicius Cezar Monteiro de Lira.pdf: 4006584 bytes, checksum: 5d1301329fabe34879780b3b17bb1e8a (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-10T19:43:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 DISSERTAÇÃO Vinicius Cezar Monteiro de Lira.pdf: 4006584 bytes, checksum: 5d1301329fabe34879780b3b17bb1e8a (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-28 / The analysis of human movements has been the subject of several studies since the 70s. In recent years, the exponential growth of location aware devices must allow the study of the behavior of the individuals’ mobility from their trajectories collected. However, a significant part of the available literature is focused on the development of techniques for analyzing trajectories of people from a purely geometric point of view, while a smaller part, but increasingly group is looking at the semantic aspects of mobility. This work presents a contribution to the latest trend, and is concerned with the definition of semantic regularity profiles and the applicability of these concepts to the practice of carpooling. We propose a semantic regularity profile based on the entropy of the spatial and temporal frequency of visits to certain categories of places. We analyze the user’s behavior with respect to regularity and irregularity, identifying users who are more or less loyal to certain locations, in contrast to the irregularity of visiting different places. In a different point of view, an analysis over the place perspective was also performed. A web tool was developed to show on map, for each place of a given category, the computed information about the loyal behavior of their visitors. From the study about regularity, we have evidences that some human activities are not strictly associated to a unique POI (Point of Interest) and neither to a specific schedule of the day. Bringing to the carpooling context, in some situations it is worth for a person to change his destination or the time to perform an activity if there is a possibility of ride for him due all the benefits involved with the carpooling practice. This dissertation also presents a novel matching method for carpooling that is oriented to the passenger’s intended activity, aiming to boost the possibilities of rides. Three algorithms for carpool matching are proposed, which manipulates differently the spatial and temporal dimensions. Using a real data set of trajectories, we conducted experiments and our results showed that the proposed matching algorithms improved the traditional carpooling approach in +46.84% when the spatial dimension was considered, in +50.89% when the temporal dimension was prioritized and in +82.30% when both dimensions were tackled.

M.Comm.

M.Tech. / The following study is concerned with the factors influencing brand loyalty in the facebrick industry. It focuses on what has made other brands successful and what Corobrik has to do to develop the same level of brand loyalty. This study is a journey which incorporates a literature review of branding and what branding means to a company, as well as interviews which showcase areas where Corobrik need to improve to reach the same level of brand loyalty that exceptionally successful brands, such as Coca Cola, Mercedes Benz and BMW enjoy.

Tradition dictates that marketing decision-makers remain accurately aligned with the dynamic and vacillating need structures of the target markets they serve. To comply with this caveat, a time-honoured and largely unchallenged philosophy of customer orientation has been applied. Theory further strongly contends that if such a business stance is vigilantly and diligently applied, any firm is bound to gain a competitive edge in the market place. A weakness in the above marketing mindset is the perception that when a spectrum of business elements are orchestrated and focussed on customers, target audience members will automatically be satisfied and return their patronage. This so-called marketing concept has undergone major reevaluations over the past decades, and it is now becoming ever more prevalent to witness varied permutations of new marketing architecture evolving in literature and practice. The unit of analysis selected for this research study is a niche restaurant that flouts many of the rudimentary traditional rules of marketing and iconoclastically succeeds despite all counter-logic. What such organisations have been practicing, albeit unknown to themselves, is a new way of business - a stance that has only recently been taken seriously by academics, writers and marketing professionals. These intuitive marketers are succeeding in niche businesses, despite going against the tide of the ingrained paradigm mindsets of conventional marketing stalwarts. Such niche business people have discovered is that there is more to satisfying consumer needs than simply honing in and understanding what the basic needs of designated audiences are. A growing band of new age marketers have been challenging orthodox marketing philosophy. Tofler, the visionary futurist, alluded to a host of unarticulated psychic consumer needs that would emerge as society drifted into a clinical and dispassionate ‘new’ millennium. In a world geared to instant gratification, fast-paced living and mechanistic social interactions, jaded consumers seek recognition as individuals (Tofler, 1970). They quest for inclusion rather than exclusion. They need a place to feel safe and find solace. Hence, it is now clear that simply attempting to satisfy the fundamental dimensions of consumers’ needs is no longer sufficient. Consumers rather seek the fulfilment of an holistic band of experience dimensions. Increasingly, phrases such as “winning consumer hearts and minds” are entering the vocabulary of marketers on a regular basis. The present vogue is to isolate and then include a range of intangible elements that are embodied in the process of satisfying customers needs. However, despite a growing awareness of the significance of mental-need satisfiers, in the specific domain of this investigation there is sparse evidence in literature of the mechanics of such novel thinking. The study unit is a second generation restaurant where many of the hollowed cornerstones of conventional marketing are inadvertently flouted. Different sets of rules of engagement seem to apply to their customers, who are also their most ardent advocates. A unique philosophy and business ethos also appears to prevail. In the study, the idiosyncratic characteristics which socially and competitively differentiate such a business were identified, explored and expiated. The constituents were then harmonised in an effort to establish what ‘it’ was that magnetically attracted patrons back despite the owner’s unintentional dismissive predisposition towards fundamental theory. As a result of this in-depth qualitative study, an holistic model encompassing all of the dimensions of a dining out experience at a niche restaurant have been proposed. Consequently the pillars upon which a sustained, enduring, loyal staunch customer base can be bed-rocked have been identified. Further, for the study unit, a typology of its diner corpse has been developed. The owners of the establishment under investigation have succeeded to provide an intimate family haven for their patrons. They, and their diners have collectively given strong, descriptive voice to the psychogenic need satisfying elements that have always existed, but to date have been unarticulated and unrecorded. This thesis brings the milieu of the iconoclast niche restaurant marketing practitioner to life.

[pt] Verdadeiras fortunas foram gastas na criação e sedimentação de marcas famosas no Brasil e no mundo. Grandes estratégias de vendas foram montadas para atender um mercado que se tornou cada vez mais exigente. Estas novas exigências criaram oportunidades para as corporações atentas e ágeis e criou problemas para aquelas que não conseguiram perceber e reagir a tempo aos anseios e necessidades dos consumidores. Uma estratégia largamente utilizada pelas grandes corporações para superar as oscilações nas participações de mercado tem sido a diversificação de suas marcas. Com a diversificação, as corporações buscam atender, de uma forma mais eficiente, nichos de mercado e otimizam sua rentabilidade. O mercado editorial de revistas não é diferente nestes aspectos. Todos os meses são lançados uma média 2.150 títulos de revistas no mercado de bancas de jornal, com uma circulação anual média de 600 milhões de exemplares em todo o Brasil. É um mercado altamente segmentado onde você pode encontrar revistas sobre os mais diferentes assuntos, com preços variados, diferentes formatos, tamanhos e conteúdo. Este estudo tem como objetivo principal identificar, à luz do framework proposto por Oliver (1999), os diferentes tipos de fidelidade encontrados entre leitores e assinantes de revistas, assim como identificar características e atributos considerados importante aos leitores, estabelecendo uma relação destes atributos com a fidelidade a uma revista. Os resultados evidenciam a existência de uma correlação entre a fidelidade e o suporte social provido pela comunidade à qual o leitor pertence e também evidenciam uma expressiva relação com aspectos cognitivos e emocionais dos leitores. / [en] Fortunes have been spent developing and establishing strong brands in Brazil and also around world. Great sales strategies have been launched to attend a consistently more demanding market. Those demands have created many opportunities for corporations in tune with their clients but also created major difficulties for those who weren`t. In fact, a largely adopted strategy used to overcome market share oscillations is strictly related to brand diversification. Diversification is related with a goal of achieving better margins using market segmentation to efficiently approach smaller niche and to attend customer`s specific necessities. The magazines editorial market is no different in those aspects. Every month we have an average of 2.150 new titles reaching magazines selling points within an annual average of 600 millions issues all over Brazil. It is a highly segmented market where one could find different subjects, prices, sizes, presentations and above all, many different contents. Based on Oliver (1999) framework, this study has the main objective of identifying different types of fidelity among magazine subscribers and non-subscribers readers, as well as to relate characteristics and attributes, considered important by magazine readers, to the fidelity with the magazine. Results indicates the existence of a correlation between fidelity and the social support provided by the community from witch the readers belongs as well as an expressive relation with inertial characteristics of fidelity like the perception of product superiority as well as cognitive and emotional aspects of magazine readers.

Social norms have been claimed to influence customer retention when the social network the customer engages with is well aware of a customer’s use of the product or service. This research investigates whether social norms will also influence customer retention for services that are used so infrequently that the social network the customer engages with is not aware that the customer has the product or service. The specific services investigated are also impacted by the fact that the customers themselves are not entirely certain as to their individual need of the product, namely credence goods. The aim of this research is to provide a profile of a customer that would be more influenced by social norms; which knowledge would allow organisations to target specific customers. Using the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests, hypotheses were tested by analysing questionnaire feedback data on 100 active insurance customers and 100 inactive insurance customers from within the South African financial services market. Empirical support for the effect of social norms on customer retention of credence goods is found. Empirical proof that females are more influenced by social norms than males was found as well as the link between culture value orientation to social norms. In this research a link between a customer’s age to social norm influence was not found. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / ccgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

No description available.

The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate usage of statistic methods to better identify customer loyalty and satisfaction. The main purpose is to understand customer behavior and to find key factors which can influence customer satisfaction with the company related. The thesis is divided into 3 chapters. The first two chapters represent the theoretical part. The first chapter is focused on marketing research. There the reader can find the main research approaches, the selection of the sample of customers, the structure of question blanks, the way of collecting data and several methods used in praxis. The following chapter consists of necessary statistic methods -- correlation analysis, regression analysis, factor analysis and structural equation models. Practical part is represented by the key last chapter. In the begging the description of survey sampling and basic information about selected set can be found. The data collected are further analyzed using not very common method Walker which offers one very interesting and efficient way how to evaluate information about customers. Introduction and presentation of the method Walker is not only the core but also the main aim of the work.

Despite the large volume of research in the area of loyalty-repurchase-satisfaction, the findings on the relationship between these variables are conflicting. It seems that links between loyalty, repurchase, and satisfaction are not fully understood yet. The study provided the theoretical background on loyalty, repurchase, satisfaction, and their interrelationships. The Theory of Planned Behavior and the Expectation Confirmation Theory were discussed. The loyalty-repurchase differentiation with five contributing factors was addressed. From the literature review nine hypotheses were proposed. The study was conducted in three phases. The purpose of the first phase was to statistically identify the magnitude and the direction of relationships: loyalty-satisfaction, repurchase-satisfaction, and loyalty-repurchase by providing a quantitative review. A Hunter and Schmidt (1990) meta-analysis technique was employed. The results demonstrated that those three constructs have positive, strong relationships. However, the relationships were moderated by a number of factors, including the geographic region of the collected sample, the category (products versus service), and the business setting (B2B versus B2C). The purpose of the second phase was to statistically identify relationships between the research constructs, such as loyalty dimensions (commitment, trust, involvement, and word of mouth), repurchase/repurchase intent, and satisfaction, by conducting a field study with customers of apparel products. A structural equation modeling technique was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. Eight hypotheses were supported. The results indicated that although positive relationships between the research constructs exist, not all relationships are significantly strong. The purpose of the third phase was to compare the meta-analysis results, obtained from the large number of independent empirical studies, with the field study results, obtained from surveying consumers of apparel products. The overall findings of this research indicated that while meta-analysis and the field study results agree on positive relationships between the research constructs, the differences lay within the strength of the investigated relationships. The possible explanation was provided based on the theoretical foundation from the literature review. The study contributes to the growing knowledge of the relationships between loyalty, repurchase, and satisfaction by assessing the current state of the empirical research on those three variables. This research addresses the existing gap in the literature, and attempts to resolve the existing mixed views on the studied concepts. The mixed results of meta-analysis and the field study in terms of the strength of the investigated relationships indicate the need to expand this area of research further.