Factors Associated with Emergency Room Choice Among Medicare Patients

Changing macroenvironmental factors have caused hospital administrators to reassess their positions across all service lines and market segments. This pilot study explores relationships among the service experience, satisfaction and future patronage decisions among 368 Medicare patients, an often overlooked segmaent, who were recent users of a hospital emergency room

Changes in undergraduate student alcohol consumption as they progress through university

BACKGROUND: Unhealthy alcohol use amongst university students is a major public health concern. Although previous studies suggest a raised level of consumption amongst the UK student population there is little consistent information available about the pattern of alcohol consumption as they progress through university. The aim of the current research was to describe drinking patterns of UK full-time undergraduate students as they progress through their degree course. METHOD: Data were collected over three years from 5895 undergraduate students who began their studies in either 2000 or 2001. Longitudinal data (i.e. Years 1–3) were available from 225 students. The remaining 5670 students all responded to at least one of the three surveys (Year 1 n = 2843; Year 2 n = 2219; Year 3 n = 1805). Results: Students reported consuming significantly more units of alcohol per week at Year 1 than at Years 2 or 3 of their degree. Male students reported a higher consumption of units of alcohol than their female peers. When alcohol intake was classified using the Royal College of Physicians guidelines [1] there was no difference between male and females students in terms of the percentage exceeding recommended limits. Compared to those who were low level consumers students who reported drinking above low levels at Year 1 had at least 10 times the odds of continuing to consume above low levels at year 3. Students who reported higher levels of drinking were more likely to report that alcohol had a negative impact on their studies, finances and physical health. Consistent with the reduction in units over time students reported lower levels of negative impact during Year 3 when compared to Year 1. CONCLUSION: The current findings suggest that student alcohol consumption declines over their undergraduate studies; however weekly levels of consumption at Year 3 remain high for a substantial number of students. The persistence of high levels of consumption in a large population of students suggests the need for effective preventative and treatment interventions for all year groups

International advertising main aspects : organization forms and environment factors

Lietuvos įmonės dar tik prieš keletą metų ėmė savarankiškai kurti ir organizuoti reklamą vietinei rinkai, iki to laiko daugiausia stebėję vakarietiškos reklamos antplūdį. Straipsnio tyrimo tikslas – remiantis įvairių šalių mokslininkų tarptautinės reklamos teoriniais tyrinėjimais, išnagrinėti svarbiausius veiksnius ir priežastis, įtakojančius tarptautinę reklamą, jos organizavimo formas, ir per šią prizmę įvertinti tarptautinės reklamos pobūdį bei svarbą Lietuvoje. Apibendrinant galima teigti, kad planuojant tarptautinę reklamą būtina ypatingą dėmesį skirti tarptautinės aplinkos tyrimui. Ekonominė užsienio šalies situacija gali sąlygoti tai, kad kitais aspektais labai patraukli rinka neturės potencialo siūlomo produkto pirkimui. Demografinė vartotojų sudėtis gali įtakoti tai, kad vartotojai nesupras, nepastebės ar nesusidomės reklamos siūloma preke. Kultūra kartais gali būti ribojantis, o kartais reklamos sekmą paskatinantis veiksnys – vartotojai gali būti priešiškai nusistatę prekės atžvilgiu dėl jos nesuderinamumo su religiniais tabu. Politiniai ir įstatyminiai barjerai dažnai reglamentuoja arba pačios prekės vartojimą, arba jos reklamos turinį, formas, subjektus, pateikimo būdus ar laiką. Tarptautinės reklamos organizavimas susijęs su organizaciniais įmonės struktūros pokyčiais arba valdymo funkcijų perdavimu regioniniams centrams. Dažnai taikoma viena iš pagrindinių trijų tarptautinės reklamos organizavimo formų: centralizuota, decentralizuota, mišri.Lithuanian companies started to create and organize advertising on their own for local market only a few years ago. By that time they have mostly witnessed a flow of Western advertising. The article aims to analyse the key factors and causes that influence international advertising and its forms of organization in terms of theoretical researches of international advertising performed by scientists from different countries, and evaluate the character as well as importance of international advertising in Lithuania through this prism. In conclusion, it can be stated that while planning international advertising, particular attention should be given to the analysis of international environment. Economic situation of the foreign country may influence the fact that the market, very attractive in other aspects, will not have potential for buying the offered product. The demographic consumers' composition can lead to the situation when consumers will not understand, notice or get interested in the offered product. Sometimes culture can be a limiting factor and sometimes a factor inducing advertising success. Consumers can have negative attitude towards the promoted product due to its inconsistency with religious taboo. Political and legal barriers usually regulate either the usage of the very product, either content, forms, subjects, presentation ways or time of its advertising. The organization of international advertising is linked to organizational changes of company's structure or transfer of operational functions to regional centres. One of the three main organizational forms of international advertising is often applied. These are as follows: centralized, decentralized and mixed

Vartotojo elgsena : Lietuvos ir JAV mažmeninės prekybos saldumynais analizė

Vienas iš svarbiausių klausimų nagrinėjant vartotojo elgseną yra rinkos segmentavimas. Jis grindžiamas paprasta logika, jog viena ir ta pati prekė nepatenkins visų skirtingų vartotojų poreikių ir norų. Skirtingų kultūrų vartotojo elgseną kol kas mažai yra nagrinėję tiek užsienio (Nord, Peter, 1997; Wells, 1990; Ząjonc, 1990; Zajonc, 1990; Alaah, 1993; Shiffman, Kanuk, 1991), tiek Lietuvos autoriai (Pranulis, Pajuodis, Urbonavičius, Virvilaitė, 2000). Ypač trūksta praktinių šio vartotojo elgsenos aspekto tyrimų. Remdamiesi užsienio autorių mokslinės marketingo literatūros analize, atlikome JAV ir Lietuvos vartotojų elgsenos tyrimą Straipsnyje pateikiami Lietuvos ir JAV mažmeninės prekybos saldumynais, analizės vartotojo elgsenos aspektu rezultatai. Tyrimą atlikome apklausos metodu. Buvo parengta anketa ir raštu apklausti Lietuvos ir JAV respondentai, patenkantys į amžiaus intervalą nuo 20 iki 35 melų. Duomenis apdoroję programine įranga, atlikome tiek Lietuvos, tiek JAV respondentų segmentavimą. Suskirstę respondentus pagal tam tikrus būdingus požymius: saldumynų vartojimo dažnumą, amžių, lytį, gavome skirtingus segmentus. Lietuvos vartotojai buvo suskirstyti į šešias, o amerikiečiai - į penkias grupes. Atlikę detalią segmentavimo abiejose rinkose analizę, galėjome palyginti dvi skirtingas rinkas bei vartotojų elgseną. Išvadose pateikiami pagrindiniai vartotojo elgsenos skirtumai, taip pat nurodoma į ką turėtų būti atkreipiamas dėmesys rengiant tarptautinėje rinkoje marketingo strategiją bei prekės koncepciją. Reikšminiai žodžiai: JAV; Marketingo strategija; Mažmeninė prekyba; Rinkos segmentavimas; Rinkos tyrumai; Vartotojo elgsena; Vartotojo elgsena, prekyba saldumynais, Lietuva, JAV; Consumer behavior; Consumer behaviour; Consumer behaviour, candy retail, Lithuania, USA; Lithuania; Market research; Market segment; Marketing strategy; Retail; USIn this article the focus is on practical issues about consumer behaviour in different cultures: Lithuania and USA. We decided to make this debate a lived experience for our students. We did so by having students conduct primary market research in their own culture and compare and contrast results with the other culture. We selected a category that was familiar to young consumers in both cultures (chocolate confections), but which had the potential to have different cultural association (as food often does). Peter and Olson (1996) state, "From a marketing strategy view, selection of the appropriate target market is paramount to developing successful marketing programs". With this in mind, the first step in entering a new market is to study its demographics, research consumer behaviour, obtain various market research data, and then break down and analyse the resulting market segment (Hawkins, Best, Coney, 1996). After this is done, the target market segment or segments are chosen and described for marketing purposes. With this new focus on which we will sell to, a marketing plan may be developed Capitalising on the needs of the consumers in the new market is the basis of a successful campaign

Hygiene and Health: Who Do Mothers in Vanuatu Communicate with about Health?

Health information-seeking behaviour of mothers with children five years of age and younger in Vanuatu was examined using the structural properties of social networks. Data were collected from a rural village from two islands and an urban settlement in the capital, Port Vila, by face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. Sociometric data on the structure of the network, the characteristics of key informants, and associations with outside sources of health information were analysed as interpersonal predictors of health promotion and behavior change. Rural mothers preferred the health advice of biomedical practitioners for diarrheal disease over traditional custom practitioners. Interpersonal connections were restricted in the urban mother network indicating that mothers were merely acquaintances or do not seek health advice from each other. Our findings suggest that biomedical practitioners are the best option for diffusing health and hygiene information for rural and urban mothers. Traditional healers and paraprofessionals could be strategically used to complete the missing links in network connectedness to optimally spread new information. The novel use of cross-sectional social network data can create a baseline evaluation to purposefully frame a health intervention. Our study provided a unique explanation of how network analysis offers insight into how key players can be identified and the circumstances in which they are likely to be able to influence hygiene practices of their peers

Customer Participation In Service Specification And Delivery

The fact that customers participate in the specification and delivery of the services they seek represents an important potential point of potential leverage for services providers as the nature and intensity of customer participation is within their ability to manage. Important questions, however, need to be raised and resolved. Does increased customer participation result in higher perceptions of quality and satisfaction or in greater repurchase? Are relationships between participation and repurchase affected by the type of service being provided or the length of the prior relationship? This paper traces the antecedents of participation in the services marking literature, outlines point of distinction between participation and the related construct of involvement, and employs empirical evidence drawn from two professional service settings to address the research questions. Results confirm that participation is strongly associated with repurchase and referrals in some service settings, and a research agenda is proposed