High-speed passenger rail is seen by many in the U.S. transportation policy and planning communities as an ideal solution for fast, safe, and resource-efficient mobility in high-demand intercity corridors. To expand the body of knowledge for high-speed intercity passenger rail in the U.S., the overall goal of this dissertation was to better understand the demand for high-speed intercity passenger rail services in small- or medium-sized intermediate communities and improve planners' ability to estimate such demand through traveler surveys; specifically, the use of different experimental designs for stated preference questions and the use of images to describe hypothetical travel alternatives in traveler surveys. In pursuit of this goal, an Internet-based survey was distributed to residents of Waco and Temple, two communities located along the federally-designated South Central High-Speed Rail Corridor in Central Texas. A total of 1,160 surveys were obtained from residents of the two communities. Mixed logit travel mode choice models developed from the survey data revealed valuable findings that can inform demand estimates and the design of traveler surveys for high-speed intercity passenger rail planning activities. Based on the analysis presented in this dissertation, ridership estimates for new high-speed intercity passenger rail lines that are planned to serve intermediate communities should not assume that residents of these communities have similar characteristics and values. The d-efficient stated preference experimental design was found to provide a mode choice model with a better fit and greater significance on key policy variables than the adaptive design and therefore is recommended for use in future surveys. Finally, it is recommended that surveys should consider the use of images of proposed train services to aid respondent decision-making for stated preference questions, but only if the images used in the survey depict equipment that could be realistically deployed in the corridor.

Individer har olika grad av Preference for consistency (PFC) och är en bidragande orsak till hur man uppfattar och agerar i konsumentsammanhang. Studien undersökte om höga PFC- individer var mer positiva till ”ett erbjudande” med hög konsekvenskänsla. Tre betingelser med varierande manipulationsgrad användes och data samlades in från 74 studenter. Ett frågeformulär med tillhörande erbjudande presenterades för deltagarna som fyllde i ett antal frågor och en PFC-B skala. Studien lyckades inte ge stöd åt hypotesen. Däremot förekom en illusion av osårbarhet och en tredjepersoneffekt. Studien lyckades troligtvis inte konstruera ett tillräckligt bra instrument som skapade rätt konsekventkänsla vilket bidrog till att deltagarna inte blev påverkade av erbjudandet i den grad som var förväntat.

Experience of the built-environment is said to be dependent on visual perception and the physical properties of space. Scene and environmental preference research suggests that particular visual features greatly influence one’s response to their environment. Typically, environments which are informative and allow an individual to gain further knowledge about their surroundings are preferred. Although, such findings could be applied to the design process it is first necessary to develop a way in which to accurately and objectively describe the visual properties within an environment. Recently it has been proposed that isovist analysis could be employed to describe built-environments. In two experiments we examined whether or not isovist analysis can capture experience of real-world environments. In Experiment one we demonstrated that isovist analysis can be employed to describe experience of environment within a controlled, laboratory environment. In Experiment two we employed some of the methods of post-occupancy analysis to examine the robustness of the isovist approach and whether it would capture experience of a complex, real-world environment. The results of Experiment two suggest that isovist analysis could capture certain experiences, such as spaciousness, but failed to capture other responses. Regression analysis suggests that a large number of variables predicted experience, including previous experience with the building and the presence of other individuals. These findings suggest that experience of real-world, complex environments cannot be captured by the visual properties alone, but also highlight some of the other factors, such as presence of others and previous experiences may influence experience of built settings. Implications for the design processes are described.

Personality and brand factors were examined to determine if consumers of certain personality dimensions would be more favorable toward specific brand factors of three major sports media companies: Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and Fox Sports News. College-age sports news followers were tested to ascertain personality, brand evaluation, and media usage. Findings disclosed associations of personality dimension and brand preference, for example, “Agreeable” participants favored ESPN branding. Participants scoring low on “Extroversion” favored the Sports Illustrated brand. Other findings included an association between “Agreeableness” and TV; and frequent digital media users favored ESPN. Findings have implications for integrating personality research in marketing strategies that target college-age consumers.

More often consumers demand instant dry soup that can be prepared with a water temperature below 100o C, which is currently not possible, because the dry soup becomes too thin when using water with a lower temperature. In this study, various kinds of starch studies were made to optimize the starch used in the existing product to make it more viscous at both high and low temperatures. The result was that one of the two starches present in the existing product was retained by change in quantity as it contributed to important flavor parameters. The second was removed and replaced with a starch that made the product more viscous at lower temperatures. To find out if the new product differed from the existing product a viscosity measurement and a sensory paired preference test were made. The viscosity measurement contributed objective data that clarified whether differences existed or not. The sensory paired preference test provided insight into which of the two product variants the consumers preferred. The new starch contributes to higher viscosity at temperatures below 100 ° C and is significantly different from the existing product and is preferred by consumers when prepared at lower temperatures. The exclusion of one of the existing starches resulted in lack of mouth feel at 100oC which consumers perceive as negative. In order for this result to be possible to use to optimize the existing product it requires further product development for the company to gain customer satisfaction. / Fler och fler konsumenter efterfrågar Varma Koppen som kan tillagas med vatten vid lägre temperaturer än kokande vatten, vilket i nuläget inte är möjligt då pulversoppan blir för tunn vid tillsats av kallare vatten. I denna studie har olika sorters stärkelse arbetats med för att optimera det stärkelseinnehåll som finns i den befintliga produkten för att göra den viskös vid både höga och låga temperaturer. Resultatet blev att en av de två stärkelser som förekom i den befintliga produkten behölls men förändrades i mängd då den bidrog till viktiga smakparametrar. Den andra plockades bort och ersattes med en stärkelse som gjorde produkten mer viskös vid lägre temperaturer. För att ta reda på om den nya produkten skiljde sig ifrån den befintliga utfördes en viskositetsmätning och ett sensoriskt parvist preferenstest. Viskositetsmätningen bidrog med objektiv data som klargjorde ifall skillnader fanns eller inte. Det sensoriskt parvisa preferenstestet gav en inblick i vilken av de två produktvarianterna som konsumenterna föredrog. Den nya stärkelsen bidrar till högre viskositet vid temperaturer under 100oC och skiljer sig signifikant från den befintliga produkten och föredras av konsumenterna vid lägre temperaturer. Uteslutandet av en av de befintliga stärkelserna har dock bidragit till en försämrad munkänsla vid 100o C som konsumenterna ser som negativ. För att detta resultat ska kunna användas för att ge en optimerad pulversoppa krävs därför vidare produktutveckling på företaget.

Popular music plays a significant role in the lives of most adolescents. The central question explored is whether three groups of adolescents (psychiatrically ill, depressed, and non-clinical adolescents) differed on self-reported data on: (a) the role of popular music in their lives, and (b) in their emotional reactions to music. The next question is whether the developmental issues of gender and personality consolidation, age, and school commitment simultaneously influence how the three groups of adolescents use music in their lives and in their emotional reactions to music. The last question is whether the three groups have significantly different music preferences in the five genres of popular (rap, pop/dance, heavy metal/hard rock, classic rock, and alternative). There were 126 subjects employed in this research. I created the Walker Music Questionnaire (WMQ) to explore the role and importance that music plays in the lives of the adolescents. A factor analysis found five factors (Introspection, Identity-Music, Discerning Music Identity, Fantasy-Rebellion, and Identity-Self). The Adolescent Semantic Differential Scales (ASDS) measured the adolescents’ emotional responses to 10 pieces of popular music representing the five genres described above. These scales are well known measures of emotional response and I added eight adjectives that represented adolescent issues. This measure was also factor analyzed and the three factors of Evaluation, Romance, and Potency emerged. Preference for the five genres was determined from the Adolescent Semantic Differential Scales. MANOVAS were done with both sets of factors derived from the WMQ and ASDS simultaneously using the developmental variables of age group, gender, personality, and school commitment. Psychological health was found to be a significant variable. Specifically, the role of music for the depressed group was significantly different from the other two groups of adolescents. The developmental issues that remained significant were personality and school commitment. Furthermore, the psychiatrically ill group reacted more emotionally to the music than the other two groups and this remained significant even when the developmental variable of personality was considered. The three groups were not differentiated by their preference ratings on the ASDS.

Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva samband av revisorns bakomliggande psykologiska egenskapers påverkan vid värderingen av ett företags varumärke. Metod: Studien utgår ifrån en positivistisk vetenskapssyn där en kvantitativ ansats används. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Uppsatsens teoretiska kapitel utgår ifrån teorier om psykologiska variabler. De psykologiska variabler som i uppsatsen används är femfaktor-teorin samt riskbenägenhet. Empiri: Det empiriska materialet som används i denna studie är insamlat med hjälp av ett modellföretag samt en kompletterande enkät. Resultat: Studien i denna uppsats har visat att inga samband finns mellan revisorns psykologiska egenskaper samt dennes värdering av ett varumärke. Detta berör både faktorerna i femfaktor-teorin samt riskbenägenhet. Ett eventuellt samband finns mellan variablen agreeableness och varumärkesvärderingen,men då signifikans ej finns för hela modellen är det inget som statistiskt kan säkerställas. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship of the auditor’s underlying psychological characteristics’ effect on the valuation of a brand. Methodology: This study applied a positivist concept of science with a quantitative research approach. Theory: The theoretical chapter is based on theories of psychological factors. The psychological factors in the essay is based on a five factor-model and risk preference. Empirical foundation: The empirical data used in this study was collected by a use of a model company and a supplemental questionnaire. Conclusions: The study in this paper has shown that no connection exists between the auditor's psychological characteristics, and his valuation of a brand. This affects both factors in fivefactor-theory and risk preference. A possible connection between the variable agreeableness and the value of the brand exists, but the significance was not present for the entire model, therefore it is not statistically ensured.

The purpose of the current thesis was to investigate the role of gaze direction, when making preference decisions. Previous research has reported a progressive gaze bias towards the preferred stimuli as participants near a decision, termed the gaze cascade effect (Shimojo, Simion, Shimojo & Scheir, 2003). The gaze cascade effect is strongest during the final 1500 msec prior to decision (Shimojo et al.). Previous eye-tracking research has displayed natural viewing biases towards the upper visual field. However, previous investigations have not investigated the impact of image placement on the gaze cascade effect. Study 1 investigated the impact of presenting stimuli vertically on the gaze cascade effect. Results indicated that natural scanning biases towards the upper visual field impacted the gaze cascade effect. The gaze cascade effect was reliably seen only when the preferred image was presented in the upper visual field. Using vertically paired stimuli study 2 investigated the impact of choice difficulty on the gaze cascade effect. Similar to study 1 the gaze cascade effect was only reliably seen when the preferred image was presented in the upper visual field. Additionally choice difficulty impacted the gaze cascade effect where easy decisions displayed a larger gaze cascade effect than hard decisions. Study 3 investigated if the gaze cascade effect is unique to preference decisions or present during all visual decisions. Judgments of concavity using perceptually ambiguous spheres were used and no gaze cascade effect was observed. Study 3 indicated that the gaze cascade effect is unique to preference decisions. Results of the current experiments indicate the gaze cascade effect is qualified by the spatial layout of the stimuli and choice difficulty. Results of the current experiments are consistent with previous eye-tracking research demonstrating biases towards the upper visual field and offering support for Prevics theory on how we interact in visual space.

The growing interest among consumers in the link between diet and health makes functional food one of the fastest growing sectors in the global food industry, especially functional dairy products. Understanding consumer choices with respect to functional food is an important and relatively new research area. Given the credence nature of functional food attributes, labelling plays a key role in allowing consumers to make informed choices about foods with enhanced health attributes. In 2007, Canada launched a review of the regulatory system for health claims on functional foods, which included rules concerning the approval, labelling and verification of health claims. In 2010 two new health claims related to oat products and plant sterols were approved by Health Canada. An analysis of how consumers respond to health claim information is therefore timely. This thesis focuses on examining the effects of different types of labelling and verification of health claims on consumers stated preferences for a specific functional food product, Omega-3 milk. The analysis incorporates reference-dependent effects. This study improves the knowledge of Canadian consumer understanding of health claims and the impact of health claims on consumer choice. This research is one of the first studies to simultaneously examine the effects of different types of health claims (e.g. function claims, risk reduction claims and disease prevention claims) and other ways of signalling or implying health benefits (e.g. symbols) on Canadian consumers' functional food choices. This study contributes to the knowledge in this domain by providing a comparative analysis of different types of labelling strategies. The extant knowledge of labelling effects in the formats of risk reduction claims, disease prevention claims and symbols or imagery on functional foods is limited. One of the primary contributions of this study is addressing this gap in the literature. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on random utility theory. A stated preference choice experiment is designed to examine consumers' response to Omega-3 milk under different labelling scenarios. Using data from an online survey of 740 Canadians conducted in summer 2009, discrete choice models, including Conditional Logit, Random Parameter Logit and Latent Class models, and Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) values are estimated. The results suggest that full labelling (function claims, risk reduction claims and disease prevention claims) is preferred over partial labelling (e.g. the use of a heart symbol to imply a health claim), but primarily for risk reduction claims. There is no significant difference between a function claim, such as "good for your heart" and partial labelling in the form of a red heart symbol. The results also suggest that consumers on average respond positively to verification of health claims by government and the third party agencies, however, the Latent Class models reveal considerable heterogeneity in consumer attitudes toward the source of verification. The influences of key-socio-demographic (e.g. income, education and health status) and attitudinal factors (e.g. attitude, trust and knowledge) provide further insights into consumer responses in the choice experiment to identify different consumer segments. Moreover, the results reveal reference-dependent effects where perceived losses of ingredient or price attributes have a greater influence on consumer choice than perceived gains. In terms of industry and public policy implications, this study suggests that food manufacturers in Canada would benefit from the ability to make more precise health claims. The implications derived from the Latent Class Models could help the Canadian functional food industry to identify target consumer segments with different characteristics for the purpose of developing marketing strategies. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that Canadian consumers are receptive to both full labelling and partial labelling. It indicates that public policy makers need to pay attention to effectively regulating health claims for functional foods so as to balance the need for credible health claims to facilitate the development of the functional food sector with the imperative of protecting consumers from misleading health claims. Public policy makers should also be aware that the verification of health claims plays an important role in reducing consumers' uncertainty and making health claims more credible.

In this thesis we study problems in the context of inventory control and facility location. In chapter 2 we study the competition among risk averse newsvendors. We showed that the well-known result for the single-product monopoly firm, which states higher risk aversion causes the firm to reduce its order quantity, cease to hold under the competition. We concluded that the higher risk aversion does not necessarily cause both firms to reduce their order quantity. We showed that the impact of risk aversion on equilibrium quantities is a trade-off between two effects: (a) Own risk aversion increment which causes that the firm reduces its order quantity and (b) Effect of spillover demand from competitor which causes that the firm increases its order quantity. We also show which firm raises its order quantity as both firms become more risk averse depending on their attributes: profitability ratio (overstocking to understocking ratio), initial risk aversion level and demand characteristic (distribution and substitution). In Chapter 3, we study how the operational decisions of a firm's manager depend on her own incentives, the capital structure, and financial decisions in the context of the newsvendor framework. We showed that in contrast to common practices, tying the manager's compensation to stock price (equity value) may not be optimal for shareholders. We propose to tie the managers' compensation to the firm value or include a debt-like instrument in the compensation package to mitigate the risk taking behaviour of the managers. We also show how the board of directors can modify the compensation structure based on the state of the economy and publicly available information about company's demand. In Chapter 4, we study the effect of risk attitude of decision makers on well-known location problems with uncertain demand. In addition to providing mathematical formulations for those problems, we also discussed how we can solve these problems using linearization techniques. We also shed some light on the importance of considering the volatility and correlation structure. Furthermore, we apply a Bayesian updating method, a useful tool for updating the probability distribution to incorporate the consultants' view about uncertain factors in location problems.