Information Sources and Purchase Influences For Wood Products Retailers: A Trade Show Attendee Perspective

Retail outlets are an important channel of distribution for wood products sold to professional builders and do-it-yourself consumers. Trade shows serve a prominent role in the wood products industry as a means for showcasing wood building products to such retail outlets. This research provides information about the use of trade shows by building material retailers that will allow wood marketers to better target marketing programs. A survey of all retailer attendees at a large building materials trade show was conducted to determine which information sources are most influential in retailers' purchase decision-making. The survey also investigated which at-show information sources are most influential for buyer-attendees. Results indicate that retailers' relationship with their wood products supplier has the greatest influence on overall purchase decisions. Price reductions on materials displayed at the show was the most influential show-related factor. Statistical analyses suggest that in-exhibit information sources are more heavily used by attendees with greater purchase influence. Additional analyses indicate that attendees with greater purchase influence tend to seek technically oriented information about products displayed

Satisfying Consumers' "Green" Wants: An Impetus for Education

Customer satisfaction is one of the most important results that should be sought after in a firm's marketing strategy. With an increasing number of consumers considering themselves to be "environmentalists," and an even greater number making purchase decisions based upon the perceived "greenness" of a product, wood products producers can no longer afford to neglect consumers' satisfaction with their products on the "green" dimension. Consumers' "green" wants should have an increasing impact on wood products that do not satisfy these wants. This paper provides an example of consumers' green wants for a wood-based product, and how misperceptions of the environmental impact of such a product can decrease satisfaction on the "green" dimension. Implications are drawn for wood products marketers, and for those in positions to educate consumers about the environmental friendliness of wood products

An Analysis of Home Furnishings Retailers' Use of Furniture Markets

Furniture markets, a type of trade show, are highly important to both manufacturers and retail buyers in the furniture industry. Decisions made at United States markets will determine distribution, pricing, and production of furniture products. Furniture manufacturers are thought to use markets to make fashion statements, collect information for now product offerings, and expose products to the media. However, little information regarding retailers' use of these markets is available to assist manufacturers. The present study was conducted to increase our knowledge of how United States furniture retailers utilize furniture markets. Specifically, the study used a nationwide survey to examine markets held in six cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco. High Point, NC, and Tupelo, MS. Results from more than 1.200 respondents indicate that furniture retailers have a variety of both buying and nonbuying objectives. Additionally, retailers reported varying levels of interest in the six major markets. These results have important implications for the objectives that furniture manufacturers should have for their furniture market attendance. Also, United States furniture retailer respondents report varying interest levels among the major furniture markets, thus implying that manufacturers should rethink the choice of markets at which to show their products

Impact of Over-Run on Profitability of Hardwood Sawmills

The objective of this paper is to ascertain if the common sawmill efficiency measure, over-run, bears a significant relationship to the ultimate measure of efficiency-profitability. A data set of log grades and lumber yields from twelve batches of red oak logs, representing about four weeks of production, was collected from a mill in central Pennsylvania. The over-run and actual profitability of each batch were calculated from mill results. For comparison, each batch was optimized through a linear programming technique to determine potential mill profitability under prevailing log and lumber prices; the corresponding over-run of each optimized batch was calculated. Stepwise linear regression techniques were utilized to prove a hypothesis that no relationship exists between over-run and profitability, either actual profit as realized by the sawmill studied or theoretically optimal profit as determined by a linear programming solution. Simple linear regression was then used to validate the result. The study demonstrates clearly that, in this case, over-run is not a predictor of profitability, and as influenced by a company's choice of log scale, is merely a relative measure of operational efficiency that may lead to mistaken assumptions about mill profitability

Effects of Glycol on Leachability and Efficacy of Boron Wood Preservatives

Although boron has many advantages as a wood preservative, this chemical performs poorly in leaching exposures. In this study, we investigated the potential for decreasing the leachability of boron preservatives with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Southern pine (Pinus spp.) test samples impregnated with combinations of sodium borate or boric acid and PEG were subjected to both leaching and decay tests. Samples treated sequentially with sodium borate or boric acid and then with PEG-400 or PEG-600 showed a significantly increased resistance to boron leaching. However, decay tests indicated that blocks treated with sodium borate or boric acid and PEG experienced slightly higher weight losses at nearly all retention levels, possibly as a result of PEG depletion. Thus, although the results suggest that bulking agents may enhance the resistance of boron to leaching, the enhanced leach resistance may be a temporary effect

Detecting periodicity in experimental data using linear modeling techniques

Fourier spectral estimates and, to a lesser extent, the autocorrelation function are the primary tools to detect periodicities in experimental data in the physical and biological sciences. We propose a new method which is more reliable than traditional techniques, and is able to make clear identification of periodic behavior when traditional techniques do not. This technique is based on an information theoretic reduction of linear (autoregressive) models so that only the essential features of an autoregressive model are retained. These models we call reduced autoregressive models (RARM). The essential features of reduced autoregressive models include any periodicity present in the data. We provide theoretical and numerical evidence from both experimental and artificial data, to demonstrate that this technique will reliably detect periodicities if and only if they are present in the data. There are strong information theoretic arguments to support the statement that RARM detects periodicities if they are present. Surrogate data techniques are used to ensure the converse. Furthermore, our calculations demonstrate that RARM is more robust, more accurate, and more sensitive, than traditional spectral techniques.Comment: 10 pages (revtex) and 6 figures. To appear in Phys Rev E. Modified styl

The Lean Index: Operational "Lean" Metrics for the Wood Products Industry

No standard definition for lean production exists today, especially specific to the wood products industries. From a management point of view, even the more straightforward management issues surrounding the concept of "lean" are complex. This exploratory research seeks to develop a methodology for quantitative and objective assessment of the leanness of any wood products operation. Factor analysis is a statistical approach that describes the patterns of relationships among quantifiable predictor variables, with the goal of identifying variables that cannot be directly measured, such as the leanness of a company. Using this technique, a factor model was identified and a factor score, or "Lean Index," was developed. For the nine wood products companies included in this study, the average Lean Index is demonstrated to be 5.07, ranging from a low of 2.33 to a high of 12.00. Based on the quantified standards of lean production developed in this study, (1) primary wood products operations are inherently leaner than secondary wood products operations; (2) process throughput variables explain approximately twice the total variance of all consumed resources, compared to process support variables; and (3) energy consumption is shown to be the single most significant contributor to the leanness of any wood products company

Inter-Rater Reliability of Historical Data Collected by Non-Medical Research Assistants and Physicians in Patients with Acute Abdominal Pain

OBJECTIVES: In many academic emergency departments (ED), physicians are asked to record clinical data for research that may be time consuming and distracting from patient care. We hypothesized that non-medical research assistants (RAs) could obtain historical information from patients with acute abdominal pain as accurately as physicians.METHODS: Prospective comparative study conducted in an academic ED of 29 RAs to 32 resident physicians (RPs) to assess inter-rater reliability in obtaining historical information in abdominal pain patients. Historical features were independently recorded on standardized data forms by a RA and RP blinded to each others' answers. Discrepancies were resolved by a third person (RA) who asked the patient to state the correct answer on a third questionnaire, constituting the "criterion standard." Inter-rater reliability was assessed using kappa statistics (kappa) and percent crude agreement (CrA).RESULTS: Sixty-five patients were enrolled (mean age 43). Of 43 historical variables assessed, the median agreement was moderate (kappa 0.59 [Interquartile range 0.37-0.69]; CrA 85.9%) and varied across data categories: initial pain location (kappa 0.61 [0.59-0.73]; CrA 87.7%), current pain location (kappa 0.60 [0.47-0.67]; CrA 82.8%), past medical history (kappa 0.60 [0.48-0.74]; CrA 93.8%), associated symptoms (kappa 0.38 [0.37-0.74]; CrA 87.7%), and aggravating/alleviating factors (kappa 0.09 [-0.01-0.21]; CrA 61.5%). When there was disagreement between the RP and the RA, the RA more often agreed with the criterion standard (64% [55-71%]) than the RP (36% [29-45%]).CONCLUSION: Non-medical research assistants who focus on clinical research are often more accurate than physicians, who may be distracted by patient care responsibilities, at obtaining historical information from ED patients with abdominal pain

Factors Affecting the Spatial Distribution of Black Mangrove on the Dredged-Material or “Spoil” Islands in the Lower Laguna Madre of Texas

Research was conducted to evaluate the spatial distribution of black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) on the dredged-material or “spoil” islands of the Lower Laguna Madre of Texas. Aerial color-infrared (CIR) photographs revealed the presence of black mangrove stands on many of the islands located south of the Arroyo Colorado (a distributary of the Rio Grande which empties into the Laguna Madre), but failed to detect significant mangrove stands on islands located north of the Arroyo. Analysis of CIR photographs and supervised image classifications for individual islands suggested a concentration of black mangrove along western shorelines and relatively low interior areas of islands, although relatively small and localized mangrove stands were clearly evident along eastern shorelines at several locations. These observations were consistent with ground surveys which indicated significantly higher mangrove densities along western vs eastern shorelines of selected islands (0.6 and 0.1 plants/m2, respectively; P \u3c 0.05), but no difference between ratios of small to large plants in stands located along western vs eastern shorelines (1.6 and 1.4, respectively; P\u3e0.05). The most plausible explanation for these trends is that wave action caused by prevailing southeasterly winds during most of the year may impede or prevent the establishment of black mangrove propagules (germinated „seeds‟) along eastern shorelines of islands which otherwise constitute suitable habitat for A. germinans. If this interpretation is correct, development of planting strategies designed to facilitate establishment of black mangrove stands along shorelines subject to turbulent wave action will be a requisite to the use of this important native plant species for erosion prevention and mitigation on spoil islands in the Lower Laguna Madre

The Structure of Phonological Networks Across Multiple Languages

The network characteristics based on the phonological similarities in the lexicons of several languages were examined. These languages differed widely in their history and linguistic structure, but commonalities in the network characteristics were observed. These networks were also found to be different from other networks studied in the literature. The properties of these networks suggest explanations for various aspects of linguistic processing and hint at deeper organization within human language.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Phys. Rev.