Objects of Desire: Consumer Behaviour in Shopping Centre Choices

What determines where people shop? Why would people visit one shopping centre rather than another? These questions are important to developers, backers, planners and Government. In addition, there is a need to understand shopping as a fundamental feature of modern society. Attributes such as transport links, parking and choice of major stores are well known as determinants of shopping centre success - but some centres are only 50% let twelve months after opening. This paper is based on an empirical investigation, carried out over a three-year period, of four UK shopping centres, ranging in size from a large out-of town regional centre to a small in-town sub-regional centre. Further data are added from a related study, the total number of respondents at all six centres being 287. Other researchers have used questionnaire surveys based on the respondents’ perceptions of the importance or ratings of attributes of shopping centres. Another approach is the attempt to measure the distinctiveness of attributes. This study combines importance, rating and distinctiveness. A further innovation is to weight attributes according to the degree of association with shoppers' spending. A methodology is thus proposed for identifying the most critical attributes. Some differences have been observed between shopper groups such as male/female or type of transport, and these differences can be used in planning a shopping centre marketing strategy. Many of the critical attributes are not consistent between centres and the results indicate ways in which each centre might have scope for improvement

The effect of national culture on information flow

The primary purpose of this paper is to test the effect of national culture on service provision within Islamic Insurance(Takaful). This paper seeks to incorporate the following constructs: Power distance, information gap and information flow as an observed variable represented by hierarchical driven information gathering and sharing or functional driven information gathering and sharing. The secondary purpose, is to investigate Hofstede’s claim regarding the homogeneity of Arab culture in which he believes dominated by the religion of Islam. The sample (n=462) were employees of Takaful operators in Kuwait and Egypt, and they completed the questionnaires in a self administrated method. To test the hypotheses, structural equation modelling using Analysis of Moments structure (AMOS) was employed. It was found that there is differences in information flow between Kuwait and Egypt. Kuwait was found low power distance and functional driven information gathering and sharing mediated by low information gap, whereas Egypt was found high power distance provide information in hierarchical driven information gathering and sharing mediated by high information gap. Another finding, was the significant evidence that is not supporting Hofested’s claim of homogeneity of all Arab culture. Result show clearly how two different Arab countries varies in the services they provide within a sector that unique to the Arab cluster. This paper confirms an existing theory that to the best of the researcher knowledge has never been tested which adds to the body of knowledge in general and Takaful industry in particular how national culture may affect service provision. Secondly, it disconfirm Hofstede’s claim of homogeneity of the Arab culture as it evidently proves the cultural differences between Kuwait and Egypt

Vacuum powder injector and method of impregnating fiber with powder

A method and apparatus uniformly impregnate stranded material with dry powder such as low solubility, high melt flow polymer powder to produce, for example, composite prepregs. The stranded material is expanded in an impregnation chamber by an influx of air so that the powder, which may enter through the same inlet as the air, penetrates to the center of the stranded material. The stranded material then is contracted for holding the powder therein. The stranded material and powder may be pulled through the impregnation chamber in the same direction by vacuum. Larger particles of powder which do not fully penetrate the stranded material may be combed into the stranded material and powder which does not impregnate the stranded material may be collected and reused

Bolivia Or Bust: Cila Memories

The first tentative talks about the possibility of a teaching mission to Bolivia began in June of 1998 at the annual conference of the Association of Christian Librarians. We had a semi-formal meeting to discuss the possibility at the 1999 annual conference-nearly a year before it would actually happen-at a meeting of the Commission for International Library Assistance (CILA), a ministry of the Association. The mission of CILA is to provide support for libraries in developing countries where there is a lack of formal training or financial resources. It does so by serving as an umbrella organization to coordinate requests and match them up with volunteers willing to spend some time abroad

The Impact of Trust on Acceptance of Online Banking

Major benefits of Online Banking include for banks cost savings, and for customers convenience. Nevertheless, many people perceive Internet banking as risky. This paper introduces a tentative conceptual framework. Trust will be integrated into the Technology Acceptance Model – TAM - (Davis, 1989). Recent research showed that Trust has a striking influence on user willingness to engage in online exchanges of money and personal sensitive information. Detailed literature about Online Banking and Trust is provided. TAM is discussed in depth; external variables that are suitable for the Online Banking context is suggested. In addition the theoretical justification for the conceptual framework integration is discussed. Finally managerial implications and recommendations for Online Banking acceptance are suggested

The effects of progressive levels of 3d authenticity antecedents and consequences on consumers’ virtual experience

This study investigates the effects of authentic three dimensional (3D) product visualisation antecedents on 3D authenticity, and the effects of 3D authenticity consequences on consumers’ virtual experience. A hypothetical retailer Web site presents a variety of laptops for the within-subjects laboratory experiments. In a first experiment, a one-way ANOVA compares telepresence and authenticity scores. The second experiment uses two-way repeated measures ANOVA to determine the effects of the progressive levels of the antecedents on 3D authenticity. In a third experiment, two-way repeated measures ANOVA determine the effects of the progressive levels of 3D authenticity consequences on willingness to purchase. The results show that authenticity is more useful than telepresence in simulating consumers’ virtual experience. The high levels of control and animated colours lead to higher authenticity for the site. In addition, the high levels of 3D utilitarian and hedonic constructs enhance willingness to purchase from the online retailer

3D product authenticity model for online retail: An invariance analysis

This study investigates the effects of different levels of invariance analysis on three dimensional (3D) product authenticity model (3DPAM) constructs in the e- retailing context. A hypothetical retailer Web site presents a variety of laptops using 3D product visualisations. The proposed conceptual model achieves acceptable fit and the hypothesised paths are all valid. We empirically investigate the invariance across the subgroups to validate the results of our 3DPAM. We concluded that the 3D product authenticity model construct was invariant for our sample across different gender, level of education and study backgrounds. These findings suggested that all our subgroups conceptualised the 3DPAM similarly. Also the results show some non-invariance results for the structural and latent mean models. The gender group posits a non-invariance latent mean model. Study backgrounds group reveals a non-invariance result for the structural model. These findings allowed us to understand the 3DPAMs validity in the e-retail context. Managerial implications are explained