Antecedents and consequences of satisfaction with a mass customized Internet apparel shopping site

The interactive nature of the Internet is the key to building a relationship with customers. Interactivity is primarily suited for increasing consumers\u27 satisfaction with a business relationship. Mass customization web sites incorporate a high level of interactivity in the site design. This study was conducted due to the lack of research examining mass customization and satisfaction.;The expectancy disconfirmation model of satisfaction was used as the framework to examine consumer satisfaction. Among the interactivity characteristics, the concept of choice was applied to develop Internet mass customization shopping sites.;The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate consumer satisfaction with a mass customized Internet apparel shopping site with varying degrees of interactivity, (2) to test a satisfaction model on a mass customized Internet apparel shopping site, (3) to find the relationship of beliefs about Internet shopping to antecedents and consequences of satisfaction, and, (4) to examine the relationship of desire for unique consumer products to antecedents and consequences of satisfaction.;A mass customized children\u27s apparel site was modified to have two levels of choice for selection of clothing design options. Adults who had purchased children\u27s clothing and shopped via the Internet for any product were participants for this study. Data from 208 respondents were used for the statistical analysis.;Findings indicated that consumer\u27s expectations for mass customization were divided into positive and negative aspects. The more interactive customization site was more positively evaluated than the less interactive customization site. The less interactive customization site yielded greater behavioral consequences than the more interactive customization site.;Negative expectations for the mass customized Internet apparel site were related to positive and negative perceived performance but failed to predict satisfaction and disconfirmation. Perceived performance was a significant outcome of treatment effects, a strong predictor of disconfirmation and satisfaction, and a mediating variable of disconfirmation and satisfaction. Disconfirmation strongly predicted satisfaction, and satisfaction strongly predicted behavioral consequences. The individual characteristics of beliefs about Internet shopping and desire for unique consumer products were significant factors predicting consumers\u27 expectations, perceived performance, satisfaction, and behavioral consequences

Optical chirality sensing ensembles : mechanistic studies and applications in synthetic methodology development

In the pharmaceutical industry, the development of molecular or chemical sensors for an analyte of interest and the determination of the enantiomeric purity of chiral molecules is essential. Chirality sensors were developed for analytes, such as alcohols, carboxylic acids, ketones, etc., which are valuable building blocks for the synthesis of complex pharmaceuticals. As such, the development of protocols for enantiomeric excess (ee) analysis of alcohols is of significant interest. Furthermore, high-throughput ee screening (HTS) has become crucial due to advances in the methods of combinatorial chemistry and parallel synthesis. Chapter 1 presents the overview of optical detection methods for ee analysis, as they are more suitable for HTS, compared to chromatographic techniques. The alcohols are important functional groups that are widely found in natural products such as terpenes, steroids and saccharides. Accordingly, the development of protocols involving multi-component dynamic assembly for ee analysis of alcohols has been extensively explored. Chapter 2 presents the ee screening method utilizing a reversible tetradentate ligand-based assembly that incorporates the chiral alcohols. The inclusion of alcohols into the ligand structure induces a twist which results in large Cotton effects in the circular dichroism spectra; indicative of the handedness of the alcohol. The objective of the work has been applying this chiral alcohol sensing assay for a true HTS in combination with the parallel synthesis of chiral homo-allylic alcohol. Chapter 3 reports on past studies performed to further gain kinetics and the mechanistic insight toward the multi-component assembly reaction. By elucidating the mechanism of the assembly reaction, we can further optimize the experimental conditions of the reaction in the development of a new assembly. Finally, Chapter 4 presents an effort toward the advancement of a novel sensor for α-chiral ketones. Chiral ketones produced by α-arylation of α,α-difluorocarbonyl compounds has been of interest in medicinal chemistry. This is not only contributed by carbonyl functionality, but by the importance of aromatic compounds containing a fluorine atom or a trifluoromethyl group on an aromatic ring. Improving the original chiral ketone assay to achieve HTS will substantially aid developments in synthetic methodology.Chemistr

Current-Induced Resonant Motion of a Magnetic Vortex Core: Effect of Nonadiabatic Spin Torque

The current-induced resonant excitation of a magnetic vortex core is investigated by means of analytical and micromagnetic calculations. We find that the radius and the phase shift of the resonant motion are not correctly described by the analytical equations because of the dynamic distortion of a vortex core. In contrast, the initial tilting angle of a vortex core is free from the distortion and determined by the nonadiabaticity of the spin torque. It is insensitive to experimentally uncontrollable current-induced in-plane Oersted field. We propose that a time-resolved imaging of the very initial trajectory of a core is essential to experimentally estimate the nonadiabaticity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Pain Management of Herpes Zoster

Herpes zoster (HZ) is a disease triggered by the reactivation of latent varicella zoster virus (VZV) in spinal or cranial sensory ganglia, and is characterized by a painful vesicular eruption in the affected dermatome. Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a chronic, neuropathic pain that can persist long beyond resolution of visible cutaneous manifestations which is often resistant to current analgesic treatments. The lifetime prevalence of herpes zoster is approximately 20–30% and about 9–34% of these patients develop PHN depending on its definition. Clinical experience has shown that PHN often develops in cases of inadequate initial pain management resulting in increased pain intensity. This review provides an overview of the treatment options for HZ and PHN, focusing on the therapeutic modalities of pain management. The primary objectives of management of HZ are to inhibit viral replication, relieve pain, and prevent associated complications, such as PHN. General treatments for acute HZ are combination of antiviral therapy with a short course of corticosteroids at the onset of the disease in conjunction with an effective control of acute pain, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, acetaminophen, opioids, and anticonvulsants such as gabapentin or pregabalin. Treatment of PHN is often resistant to the current pharmacologic methods. Therefore, a multimodal analgesic treatment regimen including topical lidocaine and capsaicin, systemic therapies, and the interventional treatments is necessary to alleviate pain and its effect on quality of life. As the incidence of HZ increases with age, the number of patients with HZ and PHN may increase in the future considering the gradual aging of the general population. Appropriate management of HZ can reduce the duration and intensity of pain from HZ, and prevent the development of PHN. In addition, prophylactic zoster vaccination can prevent or reduce the incidence of HZ and PHN. Further efforts are needed to minimize pain of the patients suffering from HZ and PHN as it affects the quality of life in the aspect of both physical and psychological impairments

Effect of Brand Familiarity and Brand Loyalty on Imagery Elaboration in Online Apparel Shopping

Imagery elaboration is defined as the activation of store information in the production of mental images beyond what is provided by the stimulus (Babin & Burns, 1998, p. 266). When consumers virtually experience or evaluate apparel products, imagery elaboration could be evoked through various features provided by online retailers. Previous studies examined te positive effect of evoked imagery elaboration on attitudinal reponses toward the brand and toward the ad in advertisements (Babin & Burns, 1998; Ellen & Bone, 1991). Due to the limitatin of virtual product experience may play an important role to help consumers imagine or evaluate features, fnctions, or usages of apparel products

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry: Linkage between consumer responses and the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act

customers’ desire to shop thrift struggle with knowing where to find the best selection of products and thrift stores generally have minimal budgets for advertising (Christiansen & Snepenger, 2005). To aid in these challenges, Christiansen and Snepenger (2005) identified the existence of a “thrift maven” as someone who encourages thrift shopping by passing on information of the thrift markets to other individuals. In this study, we explored any “thrift mavens” among fashion design students and their post purchase word-of-mouth behaviors regarding their thrift items and retailers

A preliminary checklist of scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) intercepted in Korea on dracaena and ficus plants (Asparagales: Asparagaceae, Rosales: Moraceae) imported from southern Asia

The checklist revealed 40 species of scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) intercepted at Korean ports of entry on dracaena and ficus plants from southern Asia from 1996 to 2014. Brief diagnostic criteria and related information of the intercepted species are given to assist in the identifiation of specimens of scale insects intercepted from these plant hosts. Additionally, this preliminary checklist of scale insects could be utilized as a basis for preventive measures in quarantine

Influence of Shopping Involvement and Perceived Control on Approach Responses Toward an Online Apparel Retailer

The present study investigated the influence of shopping involvement and perceived control created by web site interface features on consumers\u27 approach responses toward an online apparel retailer

The Effect of Presence on Consumers\u27 Responses to Virtual Mirror Technology

Virtual mirror, an increasingly popular application of augmented reality (AR), allows consumers to view their visages overlaid with product images on digital displays. This study investigates the effect of presence on consumers\u27 responses to AR- (versus virtual reality (VR-) based virtual mirror technology. Results show that AR-based presentation is more likely to induce presence than VR-based presentation, thereby leading to greater mental imagery, favorable virtual mirror attitude, and stronger purchase intentions. Implications for digital retailers in the fashion industry are discussed

Hierarchical burst model for complex bursty dynamics

Temporal inhomogeneities observed in various natural and social phenomena have often been characterized in terms of scaling behaviors in the autocorrelation function with a decaying exponent gamma, the interevent time distribution with a power-law exponent alpha, and the burst size distributions. Here the interevent time is defined as a time interval between two consecutive events in the event sequence, and the burst size denotes the number of events in a bursty train detected for a given time window. To understand such temporal scaling behaviors implying a hierarchical temporal structure, we devise a hierarchical burst model by assuming that each observed event might be a consequence of the multilevel causal or decision-making process. By studying our model analytically and numerically, we confirm the scaling relation alpha+gamma = 2, established for the uncorrelated interevent times, despite of the existence of correlations between interevent times. Such correlations between interevent times are supported by the stretched exponential burst size distributions, for which we provide an analytic argument. In addition, by imposing conditions for the ordering of events, we observe an additional feature of log-periodic behavior in the autocorrelation function. Our modeling approach for the hierarchical temporal structure can help us better understand the underlying mechanisms behind complex bursty dynamics showing temporal scaling behaviors.11Ysciescopu