Este estudo tem como objetivo principal identificar se, no varejo de eletrodomésticos, o marketing de relacionamento é utilizado como ferramenta para gerir segmentos de baixa renda da população. O objetivo secundário é investigar em quais parâmetros ocorrem as ações de relacionamento nesse setor: como é feita a segmentação da base de clientes; a ativação desses segmentos por meio de ações dirigidas; o papel do banco de dados; a gestão das informações sobre os clientes e das ações de relacionamento. O trabalho se inicia pela apresentação e justificativa do tema e do problema de pesquisa; discorre acerca da relevância acadêmica e dos desafios de compreender o consumo da população de baixa renda; apresenta a importância do mercado de eletrodomésticos como elemento do objeto de pesquisa e comenta as práticas do marketing de relacionamento (MR) como diferencial competitivo. Ainda a respeito do MR, apresenta o desafio de implantar programas do CRM para abordar as camadas populares. No capítulo seguinte, discorre sobre os conceitos de canais de marketing e varejo, estrutura dos canais de marketing, a liderança do canal, o varejo de eletrodomésticos no Brasil e o poder conferido pelo relacionamento com os clientes. Na seção que se segue, descreve a evolução do contexto que propiciou o surgimento do MR, conceitos do MR e CRM, modelos de implantação e definições como valor do cliente, segmentação da base de clientes, satisfação, lealdade. No terceiro capítulo, discorre sobre o mercado de baixa renda, conceitos de baixa renda na literatura de demografia e de pesquisa, comenta a pesquisa em administração desse segmento no Brasil, apresenta orientações de marketing para esse segmento e a problemática de implantação do MR no mercado de baixa renda. No quarto capítulo, trata do método adotado na pesquisa de campo, a natureza exploratória do estudo, a técnica de estudo de caso e o desenho do plano de pesquisa. No quinto capítulo, apresenta os achados da pesquisa de campo. Nas considerações finais, aponta as barreiras de implantar o MR na abordagem da baixa renda e indica que, nas empresas pesquisadas, o MR ainda se encontra em um estágio inicial devido às dificuldades de microssegmentação, contatos pontuais e abordagens pouco personalizadas tanto na ativação dos segmentos, quanto nos canais de resposta. / The main objective of this study is to identify whether relationship marketing is used as tool to manage the low-income segments among the electronic retail industry. The secondary objective is to investigate the parameter of relationship actions in this industry: how the clients are segmented; the activation of those segments throughout direct actions; the database role; and relationship actions management. This study begins with the presentation of the theme and research problem; indicates the academic relevance and the challenges for understanding the low-income population consumption; presents the importance of electronic goods retail market for this study and points the role of relationship marketing (RM) as a differentiation tool; it also presents the challenge to implement CRM programs to approach this target. The next chapter talks about the concepts of marketing channels, retail, marketing channel structure, channel leadership, electronic goods retail in Brazil and the power provided by the relationship with the clients. In the next chapter there is a literature review about RM which describes the context evolution that enabled the birth of RM, it also shows concepts of RM and CRM, implementation models and definitions such as client value, segmentation, satisfaction and loyalty. The third chapter tells about the low-income market, low-income concepts in the demography and research literatures, comments about the research made in this field in Brazil, presents marketing approaches to target this segment and concludes with the problems to implement RM to deal with low-income consumers. The fourth chapter tells about the research method used in field investigation. Fifth chapter presents the research findings. The final considerations section points the barriers and gaps to implement RM to approach this target and indicates that among the companies researched RM still in its basic stage due to difficulty in establishing micro segmentation, spare contacts with the consumer, low customized approaches in the segments activation and in the feedback channels.

City governments across the United States are struggling to keep housing and services affordable for lower-income households as neighborhood conditions improve in previously disinvested areas. Despite considerable fiscal and political constraints, numerous cities are tackling this challenge through policy tools that protect the stock of low-cost housing and support lower-income residents’ ability to remain in place when reinvestment raises the threat of displacement. Drawing on a framework informed by theories of equity planning, the Just City, and redistributive policy action, this study examines how cities are mitigating displacement in neighborhoods at risk of gentrification and analyzes the conditions that motivate, facilitate, and shape their policy responses. Data were collected through an original survey of housing, planning, and community development officials, a systematic review of policy documents, and semi-structured interviews with city officials and community advocates. Through sequential quantitative and qualitative analyses, I show that although city governments possess and are using diverse tools to create more equitable outcomes in neighborhoods at risk of gentrification, their tendency to delay action until market appreciation is advanced, dependence on market-based tools amid fiscal constraint, and need to balance neighborhood-based and city-wide goals weaken their capacity to tackle displacement. This study concludes that proactive approaches that address reinvestment and long-term affordability concurrently would minimize the tensions associated with the timing, form, and scale of intervention. Cities’ demonstrated responsiveness to community organizing suggests one key channel through which such a policy shift could be activated.

O termo customização em massa se refere à habilidade de fornecer produtos diferenciados aos consumidores sem que haja um aumento significativo de custos e tempo de entrega. Esta estratégia vem sendo adotada com sucesso por um crescente número de empresas do setor de manufatura, entretanto, o mesmo não se observa no contexto de produção habitacional. No Brasil, as empresas de construção civil engajadas na produção de habitações por intermédio de programas governamentais vêm sendo criticadas pela falta de eficiência em lidar com a diversidade de necessidades e desejos dos clientes finais. A oferta de flexibilidade nesses programas tende a ser muito limitada, devido, principalmente, à adoção de um paradigma de produção em massa no desenvolvimento desses empreendimentos. Dessa forma, o objetivo principal deste trabalho foi propor diretrizes para a adoção da estratégia de customização em massa na realização de empreendimentos habitacionais para a baixa renda no Brasil. Foram realizados dois estudos de caso em diferentes programas habitacionais, esses estudos foram desenvolvidos em três etapas. Na Etapa A buscou-se compreender o processo de desenvolvimento de produtos e identificar oportunidades para a adoção da customização em massa. Foram realizadas entrevistas com os agentes que participam do processo e analisados dados de fontes secundárias, previamente coletados por outros pesquisadores. A Etapa B teve como objetivo identificar os requisitos de customização. Para isto, foram analisados dados de fontes secundárias sobre o perfil dos clientes e avaliações pós-ocupação. Esses dados foram complementados com uma coleta sobre as adaptações realizadas realizadas pelos clientes durante o uso do imóvel. Por fim, a Etapa C caracterizou-se por uma reestruturação do PDP da empresa que participou desta pesquisa, na qual foram testadas as proposições sobre as oportunidades de adoção da customização em massa. As principais contribuições do presente trabalho dizem respeito não só a uma melhor compreensão da diversidade de requisitos do público-alvo desses programas, mas também à identificação de possibilidades de adoção da estratégia de customização em massa na realização de empreendimentos habitacionais para a baixa renda promovidos no âmbito de programas habitacionais Brasileiros. / Mass customisation stands for the ability to develop high value-added products within short time frames and at relatively low costs. This strategy is well known in manufacturing, where it has been widely used for competitive advantage. By contrast, the housing building industry in Brazil has been criticized for the lack of effectiveness in dealing with the diversity of customer needs. In low-income housing, for instance, product flexibility tends to be very limited, due to the fact that most housing programs adopt mass production core ideas in their conception. In this way, the main objective of this research was to propose guidelines for adopting a mass customization strategy in the provision of low-income housing in Brazil. Two case studies were carried out in different government housing programs. Both studies were divided into three phases. The first phase involved understanding the product development process and analysing opportunities to adopt a MC strategy. It was based on a set of interviews with product development participants and on the analysis of documents and secondary data previously collected by other researchers. The second phase consisted of mapping customization requirements, which was possible by analysing previously collected data regarding costumer’s profile and satisfaction. Also, data was collected to identify modifications made by users in their dwellings after occupation. Finally, in the third phase some propositions concerning the opportunities to adopt MC were tested. Some changes were implemented in the product development process of a house building company. Based on the main findings, guidelines for introducing a mass customisation in low cost housing are proposed. The main contributions of this research work are concerned with understanding the diversity of costumer’s requirements in low cost housing programs, and the identification of possibilities to adopt a mass customization strategy in the development of those programs in Brazil.

The relationship between humanity and environment influences the health and quality of the environment. In turn, the state of the environment determines the quality of life that inhabitants are bound to live. Urbanization and shortage of housing among the economically deprived groups coupled with lack of affordable housing has encouraged formation of informal settlements in cities throughout South Africa. Poor environmental health conditions are characteristic of such settlements, and these conditions can be attested to numerous factors such as politics, policies as well as failure by local municipalities to strategically improve living conditions of the economically disadvantaged. Twenty years into the new democratic South Africa, communities in these informal settlements are still faced with environmental uncertainties, poor service delivery and forced removals. Authorities are failing to come up with strategies that counter the ever growing urban poor populations that often result from migration of poverty. Communities of these settlements are not homogenous, and thus they perceive their prevailing environmental health conditions differently depending on their world view. Makause informal settlement in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) lack basic services such as sanitation, water and electricity, which compromise the environmental health of the area. Residents of this settlement have a history of staging marches in a quest to obtain basic services. Their protests have been intercepted by the heavy arm of the law in the form of South African Police Services. This has been tailored into many other factors that can inform perceptions of their prevailing environmental health. The focus of this dissertation is to investigate local environmental health perceptions in Makause informal settlement with attention to factors that inform these perceptions. Semi-structured interviews formed the major research method employed for this research with a random selection of interviewees from the settlement. The sample generally expressed dissatisfaction with their prevailing environmental health and living conditions. This points to the fact that the government is faced with a task to improve living conditions in informal settlements around the country.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Built Environment (Housing) / A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Built Environment (Housing) / In South Africa, there is a group of families that live in small four-room houses that were transferred to them by the apartheid regime in 1978. As elsewhere in the developing world, many of these families are extended families which live together because they do not have any other options. This study explores the housing needs and living conditions of the Ndala family and three other extended families living in or near Pimville, Soweto. Structured interviews, observations and evaluation research are utilised to determine the extent to which poor extended families in South Africa are excluded from housing finance. Literature discussing self-help housing, livelihoods, poverty and enablement is presented in order to construct a theoretical framework, after which an overview of housing finance arrangements in the developed world, developing countries and South Africa in particular provides the backdrop against which the findings are discussed. The findings and analysis demonstrate that extended families such as those included in the study fall into a gap in the provisioning of housing finance in South Africa. They do not qualify for government housing assistance, and they also cannot obtain loan finance from banks because they do not meet the strict lending criteria. As a result, the extended families turn to non-conventional sources of income and finance such as rental income, loans from relatives and stokvel funds in order to survive and in some cases extend their houses. It is recommended at the end of the study that South Africa review its current housing policies. Specifically, the study recommends that a new strategy called “rent a room” be put into place in order to assist poor extended families like the Ndalas.

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INTRODUCTION. Although seldom a mainstream topic in social work, the financial functioning of individuals and families plays a central role in well-being. The time is right to better understand the workings of low-income families, especially in this uncertain economic climate. Matched savings program called Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) provide a context for investigating how low-income parents save and accumulate assets. IDAs offer a unique means for a systematic study of the saving strategies used by low-income individuals and how the decision to save may create hardships for themselves and their families. There is still a pressing need for more research that can help clarify parental saving strategies, the factors facilitating or impeding saving, and the potential hardships low-income savers face. Of critical importance to the field is research that helps to better understand what sacrifices low-income parents make when they have made the decision to secure a better future for their families. METHODS. The sample is 150 savers from a statewide matched savings program. This study is a secondary analysis of telephone survey and administrative data. Bivariate and multivariate statistical tests were conducted to test six hypotheses. The variables of interest are saving strategies, saving supports, and hardships. RESULTS. Parents who have a history of saving use significantly more helpful saving strategies than respondents without a saving history. Parents who have a history of saving experience less severe hardship than parents who do not have a history of saving. Also, married parents experience fewer hardships than non-married parents. Minority parents experience significantly less intense saving supports than non-minority parents. There was not a relationship between the number of helpful saving strategies and the age of the saver. A relationship was not found between the saver's age or number of children and the number of hardships experienced.

Every year hundreds of people migrate from the highlands of Peru to the coastal capital of Lima searching for economic and social stability. These groups of people have similar characteristics that keep them together they come from the same city, are members of the same family, have the same religion, have similar goals, and so on. Once in Lima they take possession of the only free areas left in the city: the mountains. Due to a lack of economic resources, poor urban planning and unsuitable site conditions the settlements grow for years in a disorderly, unsafe and unsanitary way, creating dangerous conditions for themselves and for the neighboring communities. The Private Bank of Materials and the government's overdue efforts to fix these neighborhoods by reinforcing the retaining walls, building roads, planting trees, or connecting utility services do not address at a neighborhood reorganization strategy but rather a "face lift" of the existing housing units. This thesis aims to come up with an early response to the housing problem focusing on the design of a self-sustaining neighborhood organization where the housing structure complements the social public spaces. By organizing the urban fabric in a way that the neighborhood accommodates the density needed to keep the cost low, as well as provide the necessary gathering spaces, a richer social environment can be developed. This reorganization considers the residents' socio-cultural characteristics, public spaces, dwelling, flexible program, urban integration, and the site's topography. During the research, I lived with the community for two weeks, analyzing the existing public realm and its surrounding neighborhoods focusing on their gathering spaces. These studies included visual information and interviews documented through a journal, photographs, and videos all focused on residents' social behavior. I visited and analyzed similar housing projects emphasizing the flexibility of their programs. I also looked at affordable construction methods in order to select the most appropriate to implement on site. The engineer Jose Pelaez (Florida department of Transportation) guided my project in its geographical aspect so that it became feasible. These studies lead to the development of an organizational system that creates a community focused on social interaction.

Childhood obesity remains prevalent among African American (AA) adolescents in low income neighborhoods with limited access to a variety of foods from stores. Guided by the ecological framework, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of neighborhood stores on food choices, and physical activity among AA adolescents in a low income neighborhood. A quantitative research design with cross sectional primary and secondary surveys was used. Participants included 176 high school students and 42 store merchants. Data sources were the 2011 New Jersey Student Health Survey with core questions from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Hmong Food Store Survey. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample characteristics and food store food variety and cost. Inferential statistics were used in analyzing the association between the dependent variable (grade level, age, or gender) and the independent variables, food choices and physical activity level, and to test for hypotheses. The findings revealed there were no significant associations between grade level, age, or gender and food choices, or physical activity level. Food variety reported as MyPlate food items were low for adolescents who shopped at small grocery and convenience stores as compared to those who shopped at supermarket and large grocery stores. Average cost differed by, MyPlate food groups and store type. Convenience stores had the lowest costs for fruits, grains, and protein, and highest for diary, reflecting the lack of variety in the mix of foods used to calculate costs. This study demonstrated the need for policy change at the community that will benefit disadvantaged AA adolescents in low income neighborhoods and improve access to a variety of food choices for purchase that are nutritious and affordable.