Consumer Willingness to Pay and Marketing Opportunities for "Quality Guaranteed Tree-Ripened Peaches" in New York State

This study identifies consumer characteristics associated with willingness to pay a higher price for quality guaranteed tree-ripened peaches, with a focus on evaluating factors important to consumers when making decisions to purchase tree-ripened peaches. Telephone interviews were conducted with consumers in New York State in summer, 2002. Seventy-eight percent of the 258 survey respondents reported that they were willing to pay a higher price. A logistical regression model of willingness to pay was estimated. The empirical results indicated that willingness to pay was positively affected by the existence of previous experiences in purchasing tree-ripened peaches and by consumer dissatisfaction with peaches consumed in the past. An analysis of consumer experiences and consumer dissatisfaction showed that consumers in the two identified segments had mutually exclusive characteristics that present marketing opportunities for high quality New York-grown peaches.Consumer/Household Economics,

Consumer Preferences and Marketing Opportunities for Premium “Tree-Ripened Peaches” in New York State

R.B. 2004-10Fruit growers in New York State are adding alternative fruit crops to their production acreage in an effort to diversify their apple orchards. Peach (Prunus persica L.) is a major crop used for that purpose because of the collaboration between growers and the Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station to develop new varieties that possess higher eating quality and more eye-appealing characteristics for the consumer market and because they are suitable for the growing environment in New York State. The goal of this study is to explore consumer interests in New York-grown premium tree-ripened peaches and develop strategic marketing recommendations on how the New York stone fruit industry can expand markets for these peaches. This research is divided into two parts: a qualitative study (focus group discussion) and a quantitative study (consumer phone survey). The purpose of the focus groups was to obtain in depth responses from consumers on their attitudes and purchase behaviors for fruit, peaches and New York-grown premium tree-ripened peaches. The consumer phone survey was designed to verify results from the focus group discussion among the general population and to determine consumers’ interests and willingness to pay a higher price for “quality-guaranteed premium treeripened peaches.” The focus groups and consumer phone surveys show that consumers, especially frequent fruit shoppers, are generally very interested in good quality peaches as well as “quality-guaranteed premium tree-ripened peaches”. Although it is usually recognized that good quality tree-ripened peaches are available at farm stands or farmers’ markets, they appear to be less available in the supermarkets where respondents in this study typically shop. This presents an opportunity for New York stone fruit growers to supply good and consistent quality fresh peaches through the supermarket channel. Peaches are prized for their juiciness, sweetness, and good flavor. However, consumers are frustrated by the difficulty they perceive in selecting peaches at the proper ripening stage to get the qualities they like. Quality and consistency of the product are key factors for consumer satisfaction, and a high level of satisfaction, in turn, increases consumer demand and repeat purchases for fresh peaches. If quality and consistency exist, consumers seem to be willing to pay higher prices and buy fewer peaches in order to get the product they like. Most consumers in this study recognized New York State as a region where peaches are grown and referred to these peaches as “local” or “homegrown.” Awareness of these shoppers about peaches grown in New York and their “local” nature clearly constitutes an advantage to build on when marketing New York-grown peaches. However, there are challenges when designing a marketing program to receive a premium price for high quality New York-grown tree-ripened peaches. Many consumers could not correctly identify tree-ripened peaches, and some expected a lower price for locally grown products. Moreover, some focus group participants viewed California peaches as larger and Pennsylvania peaches as more flavorful and predictable than New York peaches. iii Therefore, when promoting “quality-guaranteed New York-grown premium tree-ripened peaches” through the supermarkets channel, a good position statement, innovative packaging, and clear labeling at the point of purchase will be the major means of informing and influencing a potential buyer. It should emphasize high quality and be used as boldly and as creatively as possible to justify the higher price and stimulate sales for the “New York-grown qualityguaranteed premium tree-ripened peaches”. Moreover, given the narrow marketing window when fresh New York peaches are available and the excitement the arrival of the peach season appears to generate, both run-of-the-crop and premium varieties can benefit from intensive promotion of their arrival. Results from this study show that demographic factors generally do not affect consumer behavior in terms of purchasing peaches or tree-ripened peaches. Therefore, promotional programs targeting specific consumer groups are not necessary. Generating consumer satisfaction through good and consistent quality products is the key to successfully marketing “New York-grown quality-guaranteed premium tree-ripened peaches.

State estimation for one-dimensional agro-hydrological processes with model mismatch

The importance of accurate soil moisture data for the development of modern closed-loop irrigation systems cannot be overstated. Due to the diversity of soil, it is difficult to obtain an accurate model for agro-hydrological system. In this study, soil moisture estimation in 1D agro-hydrological systems with model mismatch is the focus. To address the problem of model mismatch, a nonlinear state-space model derived from the Richards equation is utilized, along with additive unknown inputs. The determination of the number of sensors required is achieved through sensitivity analysis and the orthogonalization projection method. To estimate states and unknown inputs in real-time, a recursive expectation maximization (EM) algorithm derived from the conventional EM algorithm is employed. During the E-step, the extended Kalman filter (EKF) is used to compute states and covariance in the recursive Q-function, while in the M-step, unknown inputs are updated by locally maximizing the recursive Q-function. The estimation performance is evaluated using comprehensive simulations. Through this method, accurate soil moisture estimation can be obtained, even in the presence of model mismatch

Real-Space Imaging of the Tailored Plasmons in Twisted Bilayer Graphene

We report a systematic plasmonic study of twisted bilayer graphene (TBLG)—two graphene layers stacked with a twist angle. Through real-space nanoimaging of TBLG single crystals with a wide distribution of twist angles, we find that TBLG supports confined infrared plasmons that are sensitively dependent on the twist angle. At small twist angles, TBLG has a plasmon wavelength comparable to that of single-layer graphene. At larger twist angles, the plasmon wavelength of TBLG increases significantly with apparently lower damping. Further analysis and modeling indicate that the observed twist-angle dependence of TBLG plasmons in the Dirac linear regime is mainly due to the Fermi-velocity renormalization, a direct consequence of interlayer electronic coupling. Our work unveils the tailored plasmonic characteristics of TBLG and deepens our understanding of the intriguing nano-optical physics in novel van der Waals coupled two-dimensional materials

catena-Poly[[[bis­(thio­cyanato-κN)zinc(II)]-μ-1,2-bis­{[2-(2-pyrid­yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl]meth­yl}benzene] 0.28-hydrate]

The title one-dimensional coordination polymer, {[Zn(NCS)2(C24H20N6)2]·0.28H2O}n, was obtained by the reaction of Zn(OAc)2·2H2O, KSCN and 1,2-bis­{[2-(2-pyrid­yl)-1H-imid­azol-1-yl]meth­yl}benzene (hereafter L). The ZnII ion shows a distorted octa­hedral coordination geometry and is coordin­ated by two N atoms from two SCN− anions and four N atoms from two organic ligands. The L ligands act as bridging bis-chelating ligands with cis coordination modes at the ZnII ion. One-dimensional coordination polymers are arranged into layers by π–π stacking inter­actions between the imidazole rings of adjacent chains, with an inter­planar distance of 3.46 (1) Å and centroid–centroid distances of 3.8775 (16) Å. One of the thio­cyanate ligands is disordered over two positions with an occupancy factor of 0.564 (3) for the major component. The partially occupied water mol­ecule forms an O—H⋯S hydrogen bond with the disordered thio­cyanate group

Stabilizing Parametric Region of Multiloop PID Controllers for Multivariable Systems Based on Equivalent Transfer Function

The aim of this paper is to determine the stabilizing PID parametric region for multivariable systems. Firstly, a general equivalent transfer function parameterization method is proposed to construct the multiloop equivalent process for multivariable systems.Then, based on the equivalent single loops, a model-based method is presented to derive the stabilizing PID parametric region by using the generalized Hermite-Biehler theorem. By sweeping over the entire ranges of feasible proportional gains and determining the stabilizing regions in the space of integral and derivative gains, the complete set of stabilizing PID controllers can be determined. The robustness of the design procedure against the approximation in getting the SISO plants is analyzed. Finally, simulation of a practical model is carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.Luan, X.; Chen, Q.; Albertos Pérez, P.; Liu, F. (2016). Stabilizing Parametric Region of Multiloop PID Controllers for Multivariable Systems Based on Equivalent Transfer Function. Mathematical Problems in Engineering. 2016. doi:10.1155/2016/3173289S3173289201