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Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Although extensive academic research (Czellar, 2004; Nandan, 2004; Keller&Hoeffer, 2003; Aaker, 2004; Kaputa, 2006; Griffen, 2002) has explored consumer perceptions, little research has assessed the impact of brand identity strategies on consumer perceptions, which was the purpose of this dissertation. Kotler and Keller (2006:275) assert the importance of understanding how the brand is perceived by consumers and what impact a brand identity strategy has on consumer perceptions. These perceptions can be described as a brand image which refers to a brand’s subjective or perceived attributes in relation to other brands. This perceived image of the brand does not belong to the product but is the property of the consumer’s mental perceptions and in some instances can differ widely from a brand’s true physical characteristics. By determining the consumer perceptions of a brand, this dissertation investigated the impact of a brand identity strategy on consumer perceptions. The research problem then exists in the possibility of differences between the perceptions of the brand, namely the brand image (reality) and the desired identity that the company sets out to establish. The literature review demonstrated that it is not only the brand identity strategy (which the organisation creates), but also the consumer’s perceived image of the product (the state of the consumer’s mental perceptions), that has impact on the way the brand is perceived. The closer the perceived image of the brand is to the organisation’s aspired brand identity, the less the differences and more successful the brand identity strategy. These differences constituted the research problem. The primary research objective was to determine the impact of the brand identity strategy of a consumer product on consumer perceptions. The following secondary research objectives were identified: • to determine what desired perceptions the company wanted to establish with its current brand identity strategy, • to assess whether differences existed between the brand image, (the perceptions in the minds of the consumers), and the brand identity strategy (the way the brand managers want the consumers to think and feel about the brand). Taking the purpose of the study and the objectives into account, a qualitative research was conducted, which was exploratory in nature. Text data analysis was the method used to analyse the content and context of the data collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire. The data was collected in two phases. In the initial part of the study, focus groups were conducted among members of the target market to gain an initial understanding of consumer perceptions of the brand. The focus groups assisted the author in developing questions that were used in the open-ended questionnaire in the second phase. In this way, relevant and meaningful data was retrieved ensuring that the research objectives were met. A comparison study was conducted by means of the focus groups to assess whether the responses were of similar nature compared with the responses derived from the questionnaire. It was concluded that a brand identity strategy facilitates the shaping of a mental image by consumers and thereby leveraging it to gain a competitive advantage. According to Dempsey (2004:32), it begins with understanding what the brand means to the consumers (brand image) and what the brand sets out to convey (brand identity) to the consumer. Many organisations know how they want to be viewed and what mental space they want to capture, but find it challenging to maintain a consistent brand identity at all brand contact points. The differences between the brand identity strategy and the consumer perceptions clearly revealed a significant impact of the brand identity strategy on consumer perceptions. Therefore, it can be concluded that the brand identity strategy impacts on consumer perceptions for the specific brand in the study with some brand identity elements having a stronger influence on forming perception than others. Once there was an understanding of how the brand is perceived by target consumers and how the brand is planned to be perceived in the future, the author identified the possible differences that needed to be bridged between the two and offered recommendations and key shifts required to move from the current perceptions to the ideal brand identity. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Marketing Management / MCom / Unrestricted

The purpose of this research was to investigate the country of origin effect on consumers’ perception regarding consumer products from India. Indian consumer products are not well known in Europe and other Western countries. Therefore this research is focusing on the expectations consumers have about a certain product from a certain country and not on the experience. In order to understand those expectations, four interviews were conducted on potential Western European consumers. Those interviews were analysed using a framework which consists of a combination between a country of origin effect model and the brand equity model. The combination of the two models helped to understand the expectations which Western consumers can have regarding foreign products, in the case of this study, consumer products from India. It can be seen that three country of origin mechanisms were existent but not very strongly developed. As an example the cognitive country of origin mechanism had almost no direct influence on the brand awareness, as the interviewees were not able to recall or recognize any Indian brand logo which was shown during the interview. This means that the consumers interviewed in this paper are not extremely negatively nor positively influenced by the country of origin effect of India.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:53:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:58:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:53:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:58:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Esse trabalho mostra através de gráficos, tabelas, exemplos e análises, que a origem do fenômeno do aquecimento global (uso intensivo de energia) e o déficit social global é o incentivo para a demanda de produto e serviços que, de fato, não são necessários para uma vida digna e satisfatória da humanidade (consumismo). É obsen/ado que os benefícios desses produtos e serviços vão para uma parte mais privilegiada da população mundial, aumentando cada vez mais o abismo que separa a população mais favorecida da grande maioria das pessoas pobres e que, muitas vezes, não fazem uso de o mínimo necessário par prover sua subsistência. Esse trabalho tem a intenção de estimular o debate com vista a uma nova sociedade e para mostrar que um novo e simples estilo de vida deve ser considerado para resolver o problema do aquecimento global, as diferenças sociais e os sérios problemas de exaustão de recursos naturais da Terra. / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a large group of substances that are used in a large variety of products because of their unique water and dirt repellent properties. The substances are extremely persistent and can spread over large distances in groundwater, surface water, and in the air, which makes them an environmental and a health concern. A significant pathway of PFAS into the environment is through wastewater, where the usage of consumer products containing PFAS contribute to the emissions. The project was performed by analysing data of PFAS concentrations in wastewater and sludge sampled continuously during 2022 at Uddebo wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Luleå municipality. The aim was to evaluate the composition of PFAS compounds and their concentrations in wastewater and sludge and compare with other municipalities, to analyse how PFAS concentrations change during the existing wastewater treatment process, and to suggest strategies for future treatment of PFAS in wastewater.  No significant change of the PFAS content in wastewater could be observed throughout the treatment process in Uddebo WWTP. Evaluation of the PFAS composition showed that PFOS was the most abundant substance in both water and sludge. Over the year some variations in the total PFAS concentration could be seen, which coincided with increased water flow during the snowmelt period and an operational disturbance at the treatment plant. The variations of the total PFAS concentrations in wastewater over the year were mainly caused by PFBA, PFOS and 6:2 FTS. Analysis of total oxidizable precursors in the wastewater showed that substances that can transform into more persistent PFAS are present in the incoming water to the plant to a large extent. The pilot plant designed for treatment of pharmaceuticals, including ozonation and a granular activated carbon filter, did not result in any separation of PFAS from the water. An assessment of the contribution of PFAS from landfill leachate showed that it constitutes a significant share of the total PFAS content in wastewater. Compared with the content of PFAS in other Swedish WWTPs the total concentrations in wastewater at Uddebo WWTP was among the highest of five compared municipalities, while Luleå had the lowest PFAS concentrations in sludge among two compared municipalities.  The comparison between municipalities was limited by large differences in sampling frequency and performed analyses between the municipalities. Standardised analyses, additional background information, and more detailed statistical analyses are necessary to be able to make this type of comparison more informative. The occurrence of PFOS, which have been globally banned since 2009, shows that restrictions of the usage of PFAS must be combined with treatment of contaminated media to reduce the concentrations of PFAS in the environment. Development of PFAS degradation techniques is vital to remove PFAS from circulation. The difficulties of treating large amounts of water with low concentrations motivates investigations concerning if treatment of smaller water flows with higher PFAS concentrations is a better alternative than implementing treatment of the total amount of water that reaches the WWTP.

Silver nanoparticles (nanosilver) are gaining significant attention from the academic and regulatory communities, not only because of their antimicrobial effects and subsequent product applications, but also because of their potential health and environmental impacts. Although some human health effects of silver nanoparticles have been reported, realistic exposure levels from the use of consumer products are still largely unknown. The objective of this work was to characterize the release of silver and silver- containing particles during the normal use of silver nanotechnology consumer products. Specific objectives were to review the environmental and human health risks of airborne, engineered nanoparticles, to characterize aerosol emissions from nanosilver spray products, and to characterize nanosilver that may be released from childrenʼs consumer products under conditions of normal use. We identified possible routes of aerosolization of nanosilver from the production, use, and disposal of consumer products and estimated that about 14% of silver nanotechnology products that have been inventoried could potentially release silver particles into the air during use. The spray products investigated emitted 0.24 – 56 ng of silver in aerosols per spray action, and the plurality of aerosols were 1 – 2.5 μm in diameter, easily inhaled, for two products. Both the products' liquid characteristics and the bottles' spraying mechanisms played roles in determining the aerosol size distributions, but the size of silver-containing aerosols was largely independent of the liquid phase size distributions. We compiled an inventory of 82 children's consumer products that claim to contain nanosilver, of which 13 products were examined for presence of silver and tested for release of silver into liquid media and air, and onto skin. All products contained some form of silver, but silver-containing particles were observed in only four products, with sizes ranging from nanoscale up to 10 μm in size. Silver leached preferably into synthetic biological media with higher chloride concentrations, such as sweat and urine. We determined that levels of silver to which children would be exposed during normal use of these products are likely to be low, and bioavailable silver is expected to be in ionic rather than particulate form. / Ph. D.

Usability is regarded as one of the most important factors that consumers consider while purchasing products, however it is difficult to judge usability unless the user actually uses the product. Perceived usability is influential for consumers when identifying a product as usable and purchasing it. This study concentrates on the relationship between visual appeal and perceived usability especially for consumer products. The influence of visual appeal on perceived usability for consumer products is scrutinized through the findings of an empirical study besides a broad literature review. In the literature, there are many studies -mostly dealing with the HCI products- claiming that visual appeal affects users&rsquo / perceptions of usability. However, the empirical study results indicate that the relationship between visual appeal and perceived usability is not clear for consumer products as the relationship declared in the literature.