Il marketing nei Social Media: un confronto con il marketing convenzionale attraverso le tecniche di inferenza causale

La valutazione di qualsiasi investimento in comunicazione rappresenta, oggi più che mai, un momento critico all’interno di tutte le realtà imprenditoriali presenti sul mercato. E, al di la del valore che può assumere con riferimento alla campagna in sé, questa valutazione risulta fondamentale in rapporto a possibili investimenti di marketing alternativi. In questo senso è importante avere a disposizione validi strumenti che permettano di effettuare correttamente confronti, rispetto ad alcune variabili come il livello di gradimento o di ricordo di un certo prodotto o di un servizio. Tra gli strumenti statistici che possono essere implementati a tal fine, però, poco utilizzate fino a questo momento sono state le cosiddette tecniche di inferenza causale. La presente tesi di Laurea si propone come obiettivo lo studio e l’applicazione di tali tecniche all’ambito del marketing. In particolare l’attenzione viene posta sulla stima dell’effetto causale di due stimoli di marketing differenti su alcune variabili di risultato relative a percezione e comportamento del consumatore, utilizzando metodi cosiddetti di matching, che permettono di confrontare in modo non parametrico un gruppo di trattati con un certo stimolo con un adeguato gruppo di controllo (non trattati o trattati con uno stimolo alternativo). Queste tecniche si basano sulla ricerca all’interno di due gruppi, sottoposti a diverse tipologie di intervento, di soggetti che siano il più possibile simili tra loro, in modo da poter attribuire la differenza nelle risposte unicamente al diverso trattamento a cui sono sottoposti. Come esempio di applicazione di tali metodi, questo lavoro prevede il disegno e l’analisi di uno specifico caso di studio avente come oggetto la valutazione di due diversi tipi di messaggio pubblicitario (uno di marketing virale ed uno di marketing convenzionale) relativi ad una marca di abbigliamento femminile. Un ruolo centrale in questo lavoro è svolto dai Social Media, sia in relazione alle nuove configurazioni del marketing (tra cui il marketing virale) che in essi si sviluppano e che verranno discusse e approfondite, sia per le modalità con cui il caso di studio viene condotto. Evaluating the effectiveness of marketing investments is a crucial task for companies. The main challenge is not only to assess the impact of a specific campaign on consumer behavior, but also to properly compare possible alternative investments. With this respect valid quantitative tools should be available to correctly compare relevant outcome variables, such as the level of satisfaction or the degree of remembering of a product or a service under different marketing interventions. Among the tools that can be implemented, little attention has been given so far to causal inference methods in the field of marketing research. This thesis has aims to study and apply a causal inference approach to the marketing field. In particular, the thesis focuses on the estimate of causal effects of two different types of marketing intervention exploiting the use of matching techniques, that allow one to properly compare in a non-parametric way a group of treated units with a control group (not treated or differently treated). Units that are as much as possible similar in the two groups are matched on the ground of a rich set of pre-treatment variables, so that it is possible to impute differences in the outcome variables solely to the treatment. As an application of these methods, this work provides the analysis of a real case that has the purpose of evaluating two different types of advertisement (one of viral marketing and one of conventional marketing) by a women’s clothing brand. A central role in this work is performed by Social Media, both with regard to the new forms of marketing (like viral marketing) that are discussed and the way through which the case is conducted

Tailored Brushing Method (TBM): an innovative simple protocol to improve the oral care

Background. The objective of this study is to describe and assess the effectiveness and acceptability of a modern tailored protocol of oral hygiene, based on the concordance between professionals and patients, and based on the proper choice of best tools for oral hygiene regardless of the technique used. This new method has been called Tailored Brushing Method (TBM). Material and methods. Two groups of adult patients (n=200) were involved in this research, according to specific inclusion criteria. Test group followed the indications of the new Tailored Brushing Method, while control group was involved in a standard protocol of oral hygiene with the suggestions of a brushing technique and the typical approach based on the compliance. Plaque Index, bleeding on Probing index and patients' acceptability of the methods (Visual Analog Scale) were assessed at different time points. Descriptive and statistical analyses were performed. Results and conclusions. Test group had statistically lower Plaque Index and Bleeding on Probing after 30 days, in comparison with control group. Test group expressed a better acceptance of the new tailored method. This research suggests to use a tailored approach to oral hygiene, overcoming the need of patient's compliance, often affected by bias such as alteration of the protocols and wrong brushing maneuvers

Analysis and design of virtual enterprises

Virtual Enterprise (VE) is an organizational business concept. Its key ingredients are collaboration among a set of member companies and integration of their competencies, which are needed for developing a new product or service. This concept is in response to the ever-increasing demand on the manufacturing enterprise to react quickly to changes in the market conditions and become agile enterprises. This thesis presents a quantitative study on the life cycle of Virtual Enterprises. Specifically, it covers the design and management phases. These two phases are modeled using system engineering as a foundation. This has led to the development of two new methods for designing and managing Virtual Enterprises. The design method uses Axiomatic Design Theory and a methodology for complex large systems. The management method is based on the Robust Design principles

Abordagem cultural da física : discussão sobre o uso de linguagens diferenciadas no ensino de ciências

Este trabalho apresenta uma pesquisa desenvolvida com alunos de um curso de formação de professores sobre as possibilidades de abordar linguagens diferenciadas para tratar de temas metacientíficos. Para esse fim, foi propôs-se aos alunos a leitura do livro Cândido de Voltaire e de algumas Cartas Inglesas, com vistas a discutir a importância da obra de Newton sobre os contextos cultural e filosófico do século XVIII. A pesquisa permitiu perceber que o contato com uma abordagem cultural para a física newtoniana potencializa reflexões em torno ao conhecimento científico, de forma a destacar a ciência como produzida a partir do diálogo entre diferentes saberes. Dessa forma, a utilização de textos diferenciados permitiu que temas metacientíficos fossem trabalhados, tornando mais complexa a visão dos alunos

Operation and physics of photovoltaic solar cells: an overview

Solar energy is considered the primary source of renewable energy on earth; and among them, solar irradiance has both, the energy potential and the duration sufficient to match mankind future energy needs. Nowadays, despite the significant potential of sunlight for supplying energy, solar power provides only a very small fraction (of about 0.5%) of the global energy demand. In order to increase the worldwide installed PV capacity, solar photovoltaic systems must become more efficient, reliable, cost-competitive and responsive to the current demands of the market. In this context, PV industry in view of the forthcoming adoption of more complex architectures requires the improvement of photovoltaic cells in terms of reducing the related loss mechanism, focusing on the optimization of the process design, as well as, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost. Hence a careful choice of materials, a suitable architecture and geometric distribution, passivation techniques and the adoption of a suitable numerical modeling simulation strategy are mandatory. This work is part of a research activity on some advanced technological solutions aimed at enhancing the conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells. In particular, a detailed study on the main concepts related to the physical mechanisms such as generation and recombination process, movement, the collection of charge carriers, and the simple analytical 1D p-n junction model required to properly understand the behavior of solar cell structures. Additionally, the theoretical efficiency limits and the main loss mechanisms that affect the performance of silicon solar cells are explained

A Statistical Interpretation of Space and Classical-Quantum duality

By defining a prepotential function for the stationary Schr\"odinger equation we derive an inversion formula for the space variable $x$ as a function of the wave-function $\psi$. The resulting equation is a Legendre transform that relates $x$, the prepotential ${\cal F}$, and the probability density. We invert the Schr\"odinger equation to a third-order differential equation for ${\cal F}$ and observe that the inversion procedure implies a $x$-$\psi$ duality. This phenomenon is related to a modular symmetry due to the superposition of the solutions of the Schr\"odinger equation. We propose that in quantum mechanics the space coordinate can be interpreted as a macroscopic variable of a statistical system with $\hbar$ playing the role of a scaling parameter. We show that the scaling property of the space coordinate with respect to $\tau=\partial_{\psi}^2{\cal F}$ is determined by the ``beta-function''. We propose that the quantization of the inversion formula is a natural way to quantize geometry. The formalism is extended to higher dimensions and to the Klein-Gordon equation.Comment: 11 pages. Standard Latex. Final version to appear in Physical Review Letters. Revised and extended version. The formalism is extended to higher dimensions and to the Klein-Gordon equation. A possible connection with string theory is considered. The $x-\psi$ duality is emphasized by a minor change in the title. The new title is: Duality of $x$ and $\psi$ and a statistical interpretation of space in quantum mechanic

Parallel decomposition of persistence modules through interval bases

We introduce an algorithm to decompose any finite-type persistence module with coefficients in a field into what we call an {em interval basis}. This construction yields both the standard persistence pairs of Topological Data Analysis (TDA), as well as a special set of generators inducing the interval decomposition of the Structure theorem. The computation of this basis can be distributed over the steps in the persistence module. This construction works for general persistence modules on a field $mathbb{F}$, not necessarily deriving from persistent homology. We subsequently provide a parallel algorithm to build a persistent homology module over $mathbb{R}$ by leveraging the Hodge decomposition, thus providing new motivation to explore the interplay between TDA and the Hodge Laplacian

Parallel decomposition of persistence modules through interval bases

We introduce an algorithm to decompose any finite-type persistence module with coefficients in a field into what we call an {\em interval basis}. This construction yields both the standard persistence pairs of Topological Data Analysis (TDA), as well as a special set of generators inducing the interval decomposition of the Structure theorem. The computation of this basis can be distributed over the steps in the persistence module. This construction works for general persistence modules on a field $\mathbb{F}$, not necessarily deriving from persistent homology. We subsequently provide a parallel algorithm to build a persistent homology module over $\mathbb{R}$ by leveraging the Hodge decomposition, thus providing new motivation to explore the interplay between TDA and the Hodge Laplacian.Comment: 37 pages, 6 figure