Using Focus Groups and Correspondence Analysis to Explore the Relationship Between Millennials\u27 Online Behavior and Their Opinions of Online Reviews

Consumer decision-making regarding a purchase is usually influenced by feedback received from other people in addition to prior experiences/beliefs/attitudes and marketer dominated information. Such diverse sources of influence are collectively referred to as the influence mix (Simonson and Rosen 2014). Of the different sources in the influence mix, word-of-mouth (i.e., feedback received from other people) is one of the most impactful sources of information (Duan, Gu, and Whinston 2008). With the advent of e-tailers on the Internet, the influence of word-of-mouth communication has grown significantly in the form of online consumer reviews (Schindler ad Bickart 2012). Research has shown that online reviews significantly influence consumer purchase decisions (see, for example, Chevalier and Mayzlin 2006; Senecal and Nantel 2004). Further, according to Zhu and Zhan (2010), 24% of Internet consumers avail themselves of online reviews before buying an offering offline; additionally, the authors note that an increasing number of firms persuade consumers to spread word of their offerings online

All in or A` la carte: Preferences of Medical Tourists Towards Value of Co-Creation

Patients Beyond Borders (2014) defines a medical tourist as anyone who travels across international borders for the purpose of receiving nonemergency medical care. It has been estimated that the market size in USD ranges from 38.5 to 55 billion based upon eleven million cross-border patients worldwide spending an average of 3,500 – to 5,000 USD per visit. Further, Patients Beyond Borders suggests that the top Medical tourism destinations are Costa Rica, India, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and the United States

Service Quality Determinants and Effectiveness in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry

This study provides an analysis of the real estate brokerage industry for the purposes of identifying the determinants of service quality, the level of service quality, and possible service quality improvement measures. Factor analysis of survey response data is used to develop an empirical application of a theoretical service quality model. Except for rank order, real estate service quality determinants are found to match those in other industries. Real estate service quality met expectations in three areas, and was below expectations in two areas. Salesperson performance evaluation measures are suggested to improve service quality.

Asteroid Impact Risk: Ground Hazard versus Impactor Size

We utilized a probabilistic asteroid impact risk (PAIR) model to stochastically assess the impact risk due to an ensemble population of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). Concretely, we present the variation of risk with impactor size. Results suggest that large impactors dominate the average risk, even when only considering the subset of undiscovered NEOs

Providing Strategic Direction and Marketing Insights for a Mature Aquatic Facility

As local communities all over the country are facing declining usage of aquatic centers as they age, recreation departments must decide how to address the increasing loss of revenue while also continuing to provide a desired service. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current situation of a municipal aquatic center located in the Southeast United States in order to determine what steps could be taken to increase usage and decrease negative cash flow. While the Center is still very functional, little has been done in recent decades to update or market it and usage has greatly declined. The study reports how the town sought outside expertise in order to determine what elements of the marketing mix may be better used to minimize the negative cash flow generated by the Center and direct future strategic planning. The SWOT analysis developed through the use of a nominal group is described with the panel\u27s recommendations for future steps and development options included. The town is now able to make an informed decision as to how best spend limited resources and direct efforts to not only resuscitate their aging facility, but also enhance the image of the town and develop much needed new revenue streams

The Kepler Pixel Response Function

Kepler seeks to detect sequences of transits of Earth-size exoplanets orbiting Solar-like stars. Such transit signals are on the order of 100 ppm. The high photometric precision demanded by Kepler requires detailed knowledge of how the Kepler pixels respond to starlight during a nominal observation. This information is provided by the Kepler pixel response function (PRF), defined as the composite of Kepler's optical point spread function, integrated spacecraft pointing jitter during a nominal cadence and other systematic effects. To provide sub-pixel resolution, the PRF is represented as a piecewise-continuous polynomial on a sub-pixel mesh. This continuous representation allows the prediction of a star's flux value on any pixel given the star's pixel position. The advantages and difficulties of this polynomial representation are discussed, including characterization of spatial variation in the PRF and the smoothing of discontinuities between sub-pixel polynomial patches. On-orbit super-resolution measurements of the PRF across the Kepler field of view are described. Two uses of the PRF are presented: the selection of pixels for each star that maximizes the photometric signal to noise ratio for that star, and PRF-fitted centroids which provide robust and accurate stellar positions on the CCD, primarily used for attitude and plate scale tracking. Good knowledge of the PRF has been a critical component for the successful collection of high-precision photometry by Kepler.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted by ApJ Letters. Version accepted for publication

Race Differences in Initial Presentation, Early Treatment, and 1-year Outcomes of Pediatric Crohnʼs Disease: Results from the ImproveCareNow Network

BACKGROUND: Racially disparate care has been shown to contribute to suboptimal health care outcomes for minorities. Using the ImproveCareNow network, we investigated differences in management and outcomes of pediatric patients with Crohn's disease at diagnosis and 1-year postdiagnosis. METHODS: ImproveCareNow is a learning health network for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. It contains prospective, longitudinal data from outpatient encounters. This retrospective study included all patients with Crohn's disease ≤21 years, September 2006 to October 2014, with the first recorded encounter ≤90 days from date of diagnosis and an encounter 1 year ±60 days. We examined the effect of race on remission rate and treatment at diagnosis and 1 year from diagnosis using t-tests, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, χ statistic, and Fisher's exact tests, where appropriate, followed by univariate regression models. RESULTS: Nine hundred seventy-six patients (Black = 118 (12%), White = 858 (88%), mean age = 13 years, 63% male) from 39 sites were included. Black children had a higher percentage of Medicaid insurance (44% versus 11%, P < 0.001). At diagnosis, Black children had more active disease according to physician global assessment (P = 0.027), but not by short Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (P = 0.67). Race differences in treatment were not identified. Black children had lower hematocrit (34.8 versus 36.7, P < 0.001) and albumin levels (3.6 versus 3.9, P = 0.001). At 1 year, Black children had more active disease according to physician global assessment (P = 0.016), but not by short Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: Black children with Crohn's disease may have more severe disease than White children based on physician global assessment. Neither disease phenotype differences at diagnosis nor treatment differences at 1-year follow-up were identified