The consumer-brand relationship paradox

JEL classification system M30 - General M31 – MarketingThis study attempts to investigate and understand the unexplored paradoxical intersection between a relationship-oriented marketing philosophy and consumers who are seemingly uninterested in relational behaviour with brands. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods have been applied with the aim to illuminate this paradox through extensive revision of relevant literature, and implementation of empirical research. The research provided evidence that commitment, engagement and involvement are instrumental variables in relation to consumers’ interest in relational behaviour. They were found to statistically predict the level of brand loyalty. Respondents depicted low levels of involvement, commitment, engagement and brand loyalty. Likewise had significant negative responses towards relationship offerings (ROs) from brands. This was though significantly determined by the level of ROs. A number of three to four ROs in a month were found to have remarkably negative impact on consumers behavioural brand loyalty (BBL), attitudinal brand loyalty (ABL) and intentions to recommend (ITR) a brand. Likewise, consumers’ motivation for engaging with brands were steered by simpler motives as making a purchase, getting discounts and receiving customer service. Thus, provide additional evidence to the claim that consumers have little interest in deep relationships with brands. The main conclusion is that a consumer-brand relationship (CBR) paradox exist. Consequently, marketers must realise that not all consumers are receptive to ROs or interested in brand relationships. Thus, cannot be managed as relationships and without consequences be forced into one. Subsequently, marketing thinking and efforts should be diversified and account for this

Numerical Simulations of Intermittent Transport in Scrape-Off Layer Plasmas

Two-dimensional fluid simulations of interchange turbulence for geometry and parameters relevant for the scrape-off layer of confined plasmas are presented. We observe bursty ejection of particles and heat from the bulk plasma in the form of blobs. These structures propagate far into the scrape-off layer where they are lost due to transport along open magnetic field lines. From single-point recordings it is shown that the blobs have asymmetric conditional wave forms and lead to positively skewed and flat probability distribution functions. The radial propagation velocity may reach one tenth of the sound speed. These results are in excellent agreement with recent experimental measurements.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Intermittent transport in edge plasmas

The properties of low-frequency convective fluctuations and transport are investigated for the boundary region of magnetized plasmas. We employ a two-dimensional fluid model for the evolution of the global plasma quantities in a geometry and with parameters relevant to the scrape-off layer of confined toroidal plasmas. Strongly intermittent plasma transport is regulated by self-consistently generated sheared poloidal flows and is mediated by bursty ejection of particles and heat from the bulk plasma in the form of blobs. Coarse grained probe signals reveal a highly skewed and flat distribution on short time scales, but tends towards a normal distribution at large time scales. Conditionally averaged signals are in perfect agreement with experimental measurements.Comment: 12th International Congress on Plasma Physics, 25-29 October 2004, Nice (France

Quantification of urinary total luteinizing hormone immunoreactivity may improve the prediction of ovulation time

ObjectivesMost of the currently available ovulation prediction kits provide a relatively rough estimation of ovulation time with a short fertility window. This is due to their focus on the maximum probability of conception occurring one day before ovulation, with no follow-up after LH surge until ovulation nor during the subsequent days thereafter. Earlier studies have shown that urine of reproductive age women contains at least 3 different molecular forms of luteinizing hormone (LH); 1) intact LH, 2) LH beta-subunit (LH beta) and a 3) small molecular weight fragment of LH beta, LH beta core fragment (LH beta cf). The proportion of these LH forms in urine varies remarkably during the menstrual cycle, particularly in relation to the mid-cycle LH surge. In this exploratory study, we studied the potential implications of determining the periovulatory course of total LH immunoreactivity in urine (U-LH-ir) and intact LH immunoreactivity in serum (S-LH-ir) in the evaluation of the fertility window from a broader aspect with emphasis on the post-surge segment. MethodsWe determined total U-LH-ir in addition to intact S-LH-ir, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), progesterone, and estradiol in 32 consecutive samples collected daily from 10 women at reproductive age. Inference to the non-intact U-LH-ir levels was made by calculating the proportion of total U-LH-ir to intact S-LH-ir. ResultsTotal U-LH-ir increased along with LH surge and remained at statistically significantly higher levels than those in serum for 5 consecutive days after the surge in S-LH-ir. S-LH-ir returned to follicular phase levels immediately on the following day after the LH surge, whereas the same took 7 days for total U-LH-ir. ConclusionsThe current exploratory study provides preliminary evidence of the fact that U-LH-ir derived from degradation products of LH remains detectable at peak levels from the LH surge until ovulation and further during the early postovulatory period of fecundability. Thus, non-intact (or total) U-LH-ir appears to be a promising marker in the evaluation of the post-surge segment of the fertility window. Future studies are needed to unravel if this method can improve the prediction of ovulation time and higher rates of fecundability in both natural and assisted conception.Peer reviewe

Age at Puberty and the Emerging Obesity Epidemic

Background: Recent studies have shown that puberty starts at younger ages than previously. It has been hypothesized that the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity is contributing to this trend. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between prepubertal body mass index (BMI) and pubertal timing, as assessed by age at onset of pubertal growth spurt (OGS) and at peak height velocity (PHV), and the secular trend of pubertal timing given the prepubertal BMI. Methodology/Principal Findings: Annual measurements of height and weight were available in all children born from 1930 to 1969 who attended primary school in the Copenhagen municipality; 156,835 children fulfilled the criteria for determining age at OGS and PHV. The effect of prepubertal BMI at age seven on these markers of pubertal development within and between birth cohorts was analyzed. BMI at seven years was significantly inversely associated with age at OGS and PHV. Dividing the children into five levels of prepubertal BMI, we found a similar secular trend toward earlier maturation in all BMI groups. Conclusion/Significance: The heavier both boys and girls were at age seven, the earlier they entered puberty. Irrespective of level of BMI at age seven, there was a downward trend in the age at attaining puberty in both boys and girls, whic

Semen quality in patients with pituitary disease and adult-onset hypogonadotropic hypogonadism

Objective: Gonadotropins (luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)) are released from the pituitary gland and stimulate Leydig cells to produce testosterone and initiates spermatogenesis. Little is known about how and when the deterioration of semen quality occurs in patients with adult-onset gonadotropin insufficiency. Design and methods: A retrospective study comprising 20 testosterone-deficient men (median age, 29 years) with acquired pituitary disease who delivered semen for cryopreservation before initiation of testosterone therapy. Semen variables and hormone concentrations were compared to those of young healthy men (n = 340). Results: Thirteen of 20 patients (65%) and 82% of controls had total sperm counts above 39 million and progressive motile spermatozoa above 32% (P = 0.05). For the individual semen variables, there were no significant differences in semen volume (median (intraquartile range) 3.0 (1.3–6.8) vs 3.2 (2.3–4.3) mL, P = 0.47), sperm concentration 41 (11–71) vs 43 (22–73) mill/mL (P = 0.56) or total sperm counts (P = 0.66). One patient had azoospermia. Patients vs controls had lower serum testosterone 5.4 (2.2–7.6) vs 19.7 (15.5–24.5) nmol/L (P = 0.001), calculated free testosterone (cfT) 145 (56–183) vs 464 (359–574) pmol/L (P < 0.001), LH 1.5 (1.1–2.1) vs 3.1 (2.3–4.0) U/L (P = 0.002) and inhibin b (P < 0.001). Levels of FSH were similar (P = 0.63). Testosterone/LH ratio and cfT/LH ratio were reduced in patients (both P < 0.001). Conclusions: Despite Leydig cell insufficiency in patients with acquired pituitary insufficiency, the majority presented with normal semen quality based on the determination of the number of progressively motile spermatozoa. In addition, the data suggest reduced LH bioactivity in patients with pituitary insufficiency

Mathematical Modeling of Biofilm Structures Using COMSTAT Data

Mathematical modeling holds great potential for quantitatively describing biofilm growth in presence or absence of chemical agents used to limit or promote biofilm growth. In this paper, we describe a general mathematical/statistical framework that allows for the characterization of complex data in terms of few parameters and the capability to (i) compare different experiments and exposures to different agents, (ii) test different hypotheses regarding biofilm growth and interaction with different agents, and (iii) simulate arbitrary administrations of agents. The mathematical framework is divided to submodels characterizing biofilm, including new models characterizing live biofilm growth and dead cell accumulation; the interaction with agents inhibiting or stimulating growth; the kinetics of the agents. The statistical framework can take into account measurement and interexperiment variation. We demonstrate the application of (some of) the models using confocal microscopy data obtained using the computer program COMSTAT