12 research outputs found

    Neuromarketing empirical approaches and food choice: A systematic review

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    Consumers' food choices are often driven by reasons of which consumers are not fully aware. Decision-making about food is influenced by a complex set of emotions, feelings, attitudes, and values that are impossible to assess simply by asking consumers their opinions. Indeed, traditional techniques, such as self-reports or interviews, mainly allow the measurement of conscious and rational reactions to a product or advertising. Recently, there has been a rapidly growing interest in the multidisciplinary field of “neuromarketing,” which takes advantage of neuroscientific techniques to study consumer behavior. This discipline applies neuroscientific methods and tools that allow the measurement of consumers' emotional and spontaneous reactions in a more objective and observable way. The aim of this paper is (a) to describe neuromarketing's underlying assumptions, techniques, and the advantages of this perspective, examining the scientific literature on the use of neuromarketing in food studies; and (b) to suggest best practices to apply this novel approach in the food marketing domain, with a specific focus on non-invasive methods. Finally, although the perception of nutritional elements has already been explored, the health content of labels, the presence of additives, and the evaluation of the information conveyed by food packaging remain other possible elements of interest in future food neuromarketing research

    The Beginner’s Guide to Web Analytics

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    The Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Web Analytics is a best practices manual for beginner to intermediate level marketers. Whether the marketing professional is working in the corporate world or for a non-profit organization, the guide will walk them through the basics of what web analytics means, define terms and provide context for the metrics used in measuring web data. Divided into four main sections, Define, Utilize, Measure and Strategize, this guide helps to explain not only what each metric means but how it can best be used to further the goals and objectives for the user’s business or organization.Master of Arts in Digital Communicatio

    A Tale of Odds and Ratios: Political Preference Formation in Postindustrial Democracies = Wahrscheinlichkeiten und Anteile: Bildung politischer Präferenzen in postindustriellen Demokratien

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    This report surveys four approaches that are pivotal to the study of preference formation: (a) the range, validity, and theoretical foundations of explanations of political preferences at the individual and mass levels, (b) the exploration of key objects of preference formation attached to the democratic political process (i.e., voting in competitive elections), (c) the top-down vs. bottom-up character of preference formation as addressed in leader–follower studies, and (d) gene–environment interaction and the explanatory weight of genetic predisposition against the cumulative weight of social experiences. In recent years, our understanding of sites and processes of (individual) political-preference formation has substantially improved. First, this applies to a greater variety of objects that provide fresh insight into the functioning and stability of contemporary democracy. Second, we observe the reaffirmation of pivotal theories and key concepts in adapted form against widespread challenge. This applies to the role played by social stratification, group awareness, and individual-level economic considerations. Most of these findings converge in recognising economics-based explanations. Third, research into gene–environment interplay rapidly increases the number of testable hypotheses and promises to benefit a wide range of approaches already taken and advanced in the study of political-preference formation. = Dieser Literaturbericht orientiert sich an vier Zugängen bzw. Blickwinkeln, welche die Erforschung der Bildung politischer Präferenzen prägen: (1) die Reichweite, Validität und theoretischen Grundlagen von Erklärungsmodellen auf individueller und Massenebene, (2) die Ergründung von Objekten der Präferenzbildung, die von zentraler Bedeutung für den demokratischen Prozess sind, (3) der Top-down- vs. Bottom-up-Charakter der Präferenzbildung, wie er exemplarisch in der Leader-follower-Literatur der Leadership-Forschung in Erscheinung tritt, sowie (4) das Zusammen- und Wechselspiel von Genetik und Umwelt und der Erklärungsgehalt genetischer Prägung gegenüber den (kumulativen) Einflüssen sozialer Erfahrungen. Diese Forschung hat in der jüngeren Vergangenheit zu einem stark verbesserten Verständnis der Prozesse der Präferenzbildung geführt. Erstens hat sie den Erkenntnisradius erweitert und schließt nun etliche neue Objekte der Präferenzbildung ein, die von wesentlicher Bedeutung für das Funktionieren zeitgenössischer Demokratie sind. Zweitens finden zentrale ältere Theorien und Konzepte in modifizierter Form Bestätigung. Das betrifft etwa die Rolle sozialer Schichtung, von Gruppenbewusstsein und individuellen wirtschaftlichen Abwägungen. Die meisten dieser Befunde verweisen auf eine anhaltende Bedeutung wirtschaftsorientierter Erklärungsansätze. Drittens ermöglicht die – methodisch anspruchs- und voraussetzungsvolle – Erforschung des Wechselspiels zwischen genetisch bedingter Veranlagung und Umweltbedingungen ein Ergründen neuer Testhypothesen und geht mit dem Versprechen einher, bereits etablierte Zugänge zu befruchten bzw. neu zu beleben

    The design and performance of the Gaia photometric system

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    The European Gaia astrometry mission is due for launch in 2011. Gaia will rely on the proven principles of the ESA Hipparcos mission to create an all-sky survey of about one billion stars throughout our Galaxy and beyond, by observing all objects down to 20 mag. Through its massive measurement of stellar distances, motions and multicolour photometry, it will provide fundamental data necessary for unravelling the structure, formation and evolution of the Galaxy. This paper presents the design and performance of the broad- and medium-band set of photometric filters adopted as the baseline for Gaia. The 19 selected passbands (extending from the UV to the far-red), the criteria and the methodology on which this choice has been based are discussed in detail. We analyse the photometric capabilities for characterizing the luminosity, temperature, gravity and chemical composition of stars. We also discuss the automatic determination of these physical parameters for the large number of observations involved, for objects located throughout the entire Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Finally, the capability of the photometric system (PS) to deal with the main Gaia science case is outline

    Vanth: An Iconograpical Study of an Etruscan Psychopomp

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    Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Death and what happens to the soul when our bodies fail has enthralled humanity across the ages. No less so for the Etruscans. Vanth, a female daimon who acts as a psychopomp, is one of the most commonly represented chthonic figures in Etruscan funerary art. However, despite this proliferation, she is only named by inscription seven times. Complicating things further is the wide variety of her iconography amongst these seven examples. A close iconographic analysis of the seven epigraphic Vanths proved little cohesion in Vanth's iconography if only this small sample is considered. It also revealed that relying solely on the epigraphic Vanths for frequency analysis leads to unusual attributes such a nude Vanths being weighed far more heavily than they should when compared to a larger sample. In this study, a corpus of 100 Vanth samples drawn from open access online collections were compiled into a database and examined using exploratory data analysis. The results showed distinct trends in Vanth's iconography over the 5th to 2nd centuries BCE. They also showed a lack of trends along a north-south axis of the geographical locations of the seven Etruscan cities studied, implying that the expansion of the Roman Republic during the same period had little effect on changes in Vanth's iconography. There are, however, localized phenomena that occur and have been documented in this study. Examining the trends by object type revealed minor variations in her iconography and peculiarities specific to certain object types. A secondary result of this thesis was the discovery of an element of Hellenic bias, with Vanth sometimes being misidentified in online museum collections as figures such as Lasa or the Greek Erinyes. She might also be given insipid descriptive labels or simply referred to as a 'winged demon'. This incorrect or obscure attribution creates a vicious circle whereby scholars searching for Vanth cannot find her because she is inaccurately labelled in the extant metadata of these collections. The Vanth database created to facilitate this study is open access and will serve as a resource by which scholars and museum curators can secure a more reliable identification of Vanth in the future.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die dood en wat van die siel word wanneer ons liggame vergaan, fassineer die mensdom al deur die eeue. Die Etruskers is geen uitsondering nie. Vanth, 'n vroulike daimon wat as 'n dodedraer optree, is ʼn chtoniese figuur wat dikwels in Etruskiese begrafnisbeelde voorkom. Nietemin, ten spyte van die verteenwoordiging wat sy geniet, word sy slegs sewe keer op die naam in inskripsie genoem. In hierdie sewe voorbeelde is daar ʼn verskeidenheid ikonografiese elemente teenwoordig, wat die studie van Vanth verder kompliseer. 'n Noukeurige ikonografiese ontleding van hierdie sewe epigrafiese Vanths bewys dat – as slegs hierdie klein steekproef oorweeg word – daar weinig ooreenstemming teenwoordig is. Verder word dit ook duidelik dat wanneer slegs hierdie voorbeelde oorweeg word, klem geplaas word op uitsonderlike eienskappe, soos byvoorbeeld die naakte uitbeelding van Vanth wat oorbeklemtoon word in vergelyking met die (meer akkurate) wyer uitbeelding van haar. In hierdie studie is daar gesteun op 100 Vanth voorbeelde, wat deur middel van ope-toegang versamelings op die internet verkry is. Hierdie voorbeelde is in ʼn databasis ontskep en gevolglik ontleed deur verkennende data analise. Die uitslae beklemtoon kenmerkende neigings in Vanth se ikonografie vanaf die 5de tot 2de eeu v.C. Verder word daar ʼn afwesigheid aan spesifieke neigings gevind volgens die noord-suid ...as van die ligging van die sewe Etruskiese stede wat in hierdie studie bestudeer word. Dit maak dit duidelik dat die uitbreiding van die Romeinse Republiek gedurende hierdie tydperk min invloed op die verandering in Vanth se ikonografie gehad het. Daar is wel gelokaliseerde verskynsels wat voorkom, wat in hierdie studie uitgelig word. Deur die analise van neigings volgens voorwerptipe, is daar klein variasies in Vanth se ikonografie en eienaardighede eie aan die voorwerp tipe gevind. Sekonder is daar ʼn element van Hellenistiese voorkeur gevind, waar Vanth somtyds in aanlyn museumversamelings verkeerd as karakters soos Lasa of die Griekse Erinyes geïdentifiseer word. Daar word ook soms vae beskrywende etikette aan haar gekoppel, of sy word eenvoudig net as ʼn “gevlerkte demoon” beskryf. ʼn Bose kringloop ontstaan, waar navorsers haar nie kan vind nie weens die feit dat sy in die bestaande metadata van versamelings foutief bestempel is of vaag beskryf word. Daar is vrye toegang tot die Vanth databasis wat vir hierdie studie geskep is. Deur middel van meer akkurate etikettering van Vanth kan beide navorsers en museumkurators in die hede sowel as die toekoms, ʼn hulpbron in hierdie basis vind, wat gevolglik toekomstige navorsing oor Vanth sal vergemaklik.Master

    Recognition of complex human activities in multimedia streams using machine learning and computer vision

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    Modelling human activities observed in multimedia streams as temporal sequences of their constituent actions has been the object of much research effort in recent years. However, most of this work concentrates on tasks where the action vocabulary is relatively small and/or each activity can be performed in a limited number of ways. In this Thesis, a novel and robust framework for modelling and analysing composite, prolonged activities arising in tasks which can be effectively executed in a variety of ways is proposed. Additionally, the proposed framework is designed to handle cognitive tasks, which cannot be captured using conventional types of sensors. It is shown that the proposed methodology is able to efficiently analyse and recognise complex activities arising in such tasks and also detect potential errors in their execution. To achieve this, a novel activity classification method comprising a feature selection stage based on the novel Key Actions Discovery method and a classification stage based on the combination of Random Forests and Hierarchical Hidden Markov Models is introduced. Experimental results captured in several scenarios arising from real-life applications, including a novel application to a bridge design problem, show that the proposed framework offers higher classification accuracy compared to current activity identification schemes

    Construction Supply Chain Economics

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    This is the first comprehensive investigation of the industrial sourcing and procurement practices throughout sixty-eight construction industry supply channels across seven major commodity sectors at all levels. London presents real-world case studies to combine theory and practice to describe the economic structural and behavioural characteristics of sectors integral to the construction industry performance. Construction Supply Chain Economics details 'everyday' experiences and procurement decisions made by people in firms in the industry related to projects as they seek out other firms to work with during the tendering stage. London creates a language that enables us to classify and understand behaviour and recognise the impact of our decisions on firms and projects within the industry. Construction Supply Chain Economics introduces a new model for mapping the construction sector of particular interest to construction management and economic researchers and to procurement decision makers, including policymakers and clients, as well as industry practitioners, such as contractors, consultants and materials suppliers

    Social Interactions in Immersive Virtual Environments: People, Agents, and Avatars

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    Immersive virtual environments (IVEs) have received increased popularity with applications in many fields. IVEs aim to approximate real environments, and to make users react similarly to how they would in everyday life. An important use case is the users-virtual characters (VCs) interaction. We interact with other people every day, hence we expect others to appropriately act and behave, verbally and non-verbally (i.e., pitch, proximity, gaze, turn-taking). These expectations also apply to interactions with VCs in IVEs, and this thesis tackles some of these aspects. We present three projects that inform the area of social interactions with a VC in IVEs, focusing on non-verbal behaviours. In our first study on interactions between people, we collaborated with the Social Neuroscience group at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience from UCL on a dyad multi-modal interaction. This aims to understand the conversation dynamics, focusing on gaze and turn-taking. The results show that people have a higher frequency of gaze change (from averted to direct and vice versa) when they are being looked at compared to when they are not. When they are not being looked at, they are also directing their gaze to their partners more compared to when they are being looked at. Another contribution of this work is the automated method of annotating speech and gaze data. Next, we consider agents’ higher-level non-verbal behaviours, covering social attitudes. We present a pipeline to collect data and train a machine learning (ML) model that detects social attitudes in a user-VC interaction. Here we collaborated with two game studios: Dream Reality Interaction and Maze Theory. We present a case study for the ML pipeline on social engagement recognition for the Peaky Blinders narrative VR game from Maze Theory studio. We use a reinforcement learning algorithm with imitation learning rewards and a temporal memory element. The results show that the model trained with raw data does not generalise and performs worse (60% accuracy) than the one trained with socially meaningful data (83% accuracy). In IVEs, people embody avatars and their appearance can impact social interactions. In collaboration with Microsoft Research, we report a longitudinal study in mixed-reality on avatar appearance in real-work meetings between co-workers comparing personalised full-body realistic and cartoon avatars. The results imply that when participants use realistic avatars first, they may have higher expectations and they perceive their colleagues’ emotional states with less accuracy. Participants may also become more accustomed to cartoon avatars as time passes and the overall use of avatars may lead to less accurately perceiving negative emotions. The work presented here contributes towards the field of detecting and generating nonverbal cues for VCs in IVEs. These are also important building blocks for creating autonomous agents for IVEs. Additionally, this work contributes to the games and work industry fields through an immersive ML pipeline for detecting social attitudes and through insights into using different avatar styles over time in real-world meetings
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