RECONCEPTUALIZING BRAND LOYALTY: ITS CONCEPTUAL DOMAIN, COMPONENTS, AND STRUCTURE

This study revisits the dimensional structure of the brand loyalty construct. Following recent developments in loyalty studies, this research conceptualizes loyalty as a four-dimensional construct, comprised of cognitive, affective, conative, and behavioral loyalty. It is proposed that the first three dimensions collectively form a higher order factor, namely attitudinal loyalty, which then leads to behavioral loyalty. However, this conceptualization is not supported by the data. Alternatively, a modified model, based on the traditional conceptualization that attitudinal loyalty is a first-order, one-dimensional construct was found to better fit the data. Thus, this study revalidates the traditional two-dimensional conceptualization of loyalty. It also contributes to the literature by introducing and validating a 5-item attitudinal loyalty measure

An Investigation of Selected Factors on Golfer Attachment

While little change has occurred in the total number of golfers in the United States, the total number of golf courses is rapidly increasing (3). This increase in market competition has made it vital for resort owners and managers to examine the variables which influence golfers to use and return to their facilities. A relationship that appears to form between golfers and golf courses which has been neglected is place attachment. The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not place attachment actually occurs on a golf course. A second purpose was to investigate the relationship between attachment and a golfer\u27s proximity to the course, gender, age, frequency of play, handicap and income. A third purpose was to examine the relationship between attachment to course and overall satisfaction and perceived value. Subjects (N=l,397) were randomly selected by tee times stratified by weekday and weekend and season of the year at six different Cleveland Metro Parks golf courses. Of the golfers that participated, the average age was 49.9, 70.2% were married, 79.9% were male, and the median household income was $50,000 to$59,999. Results show that a distinct variable of attachment emerged from golfers\u27 perceptions. Further, age, frequency of play, perceived value and overall satisfaction were all found to have strong relationships to attachment. Managerial implications and applicability are discussed

Classifier design for computerâ aided diagnosis: Effects of finite sample size on the mean performance of classical and neural network classifiers

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135032/1/mp8805.pd

PARK VISITORS\u27 PERCEIVED RISK AND INFORMATION SEARCH BEHAVIOR

This paper explores the effect of perceived risk on information search behaviors. A study conducted on park visitors’ information search characteristicsrevealed that tourists’ level of perceived risk significantly and positively influenced their perceived benefits of the information. When they deem that the risk of a purchase is relatively high, they seemed to be more engaged in the information, and hence feel more positively about the information. Counter-intuitively, this study revealed that the more risky the tourists consider the purchase to be, the fewer the types of information they used. In terms of the types of information sources, it seemed the level of risk involved in a potential purchase did not change respondents’ choice of information source. However, when their perceived risk increased, respondents were more reluctant to collect information from television, radio, or highway signs

Adapting the SpaceCube v2.0 Data Processing System for Mission-Unique Application Requirements

The SpaceCube (sup TM) v2.0 system is a superior high performance, reconfigurable, hybrid data processing system that can be used in a multitude of applications including those that require a radiation hardened and reliable solution. This paper provides an overview of the design architecture, flexibility, and the advantages of the modular SpaceCube v2.0 high performance data processing system for space applications. The current state of the proven SpaceCube technology is based on nine years of engineering and operations. Five systems have been successfully operated in space starting in 2008 with four more to be delivered for launch vehicle integration in 2015. The SpaceCube v2.0 system is also baselined as the avionics solution for five additional flight projects and is always a top consideration as the core avionics for new instruments or spacecraft control. This paper will highlight how this multipurpose system is currently being used to solve design challenges of three independent applications. The SpaceCube hardware adapts to new system requirements by allowing for application-unique interface cards that are utilized by reconfiguring the underlying programmable elements on the core processor card. We will show how this system is being used to improve on a heritage NASA GPS technology, enable a cutting-edge LiDAR instrument, and serve as a typical command and data handling (C&DH) computer for a space robotics technology demonstration

Feature selection and classifier performance in computerâ aided diagnosis: The effect of finite sample size

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135138/1/mp9017.pd

Pluto Integrated Camera-Spectrometer (PICS): A Low Mass, Low Power Instrument for Planetary Exploration

The concept we describe is an integrated instrument (a Pluto Integrated Camera Spectrometer, PICS) that will perform the functions of all three optical instruments required by the Pluto Fast Flyby Mission: the near-IR spectrometer, the camera, and the UV spectrometer. This integrated approach minimizes mass and power use. It also forced us early in the conceptual design to consider integrated observational sequences and integrated power management, thus ensuring compatible duty cycles (i.e. exposure times, readout rates) to meet the composite requirements for data collection, compression, and storage. Based on flight mission experience we believe that this integrated approach will result in substantial cost savings, both in reworking instrument designs during accommodation, as well as in sequence planning and integration. Finally, this integrated payload automatically yields a cohesive mission data set, optimized for correlative analysis. In our baseline concept, a single set of lightweight, multi-wavelength foreoptics is shared by an UV imaging spectrometer (160 spectral channels 10-150 nm), a two-CCD visible imaging system (simultaneously shuttered in two colors 300-500 nm and 500-1000 nm), and a near-IR imaging spectrometer (256 spectral channels 1300-2600 nm), The entire structure and optics is built from SiC, and includes an integrated radiator for thermal control. The design has no moving parts and each spectrometer covers a single octave in wavelength. For the Pluto mission, a separate port (aligned in a direction compatible with the radio occultation experiment) is provided for PICS measurement of a UV solar occultation and for spectral radiance calibration of the IR and visible subsystems. The integrated science this instrument will yield meets or exceeds all of the Priority-1A science objectives and captures many Priority-1B science objectives as well. The presentation will provide details of the PICS instrument design and describe the fabrication and testing of the integrated SiC structure and optics at SSG Inc. Final integration and test plans for the prototype will also be described

Small Earth Imaging Spectrometer

Advances in several key sensor technologies make it possible now to build a high performance, very compact and low cost imaging spectrometer for spacebourne terrestrial remote sensing. We describe an instrument based on a highly innovative optical design that incorporates state of the art focal plane arrays, electronics, focal plane cooling and dimensionally stable ceramics for the optical elements and structure. The instrument is optimized for viewing the earth\u27s solid surface and adjacent coastal oceans. It has very high signal-to-noise performance over the full spectral range covered, from 400 to 2450 nanometers (nm). Spectral sampling is in 200 10-nm wide, contiguous bands. The instrument combines a high spatial resolution panchromatic imaging system with a modest spatial resolution imaging spectrometer. It weighs 25 kg, requires less than 100 watts of power, and is approximately 30 by 20 by 10 cm in dimension, fitting well within the capacity of Pegasus-class small spacecraft missions. The instrument is well suited to support studies in earth system science as well as commercial remote sensing. Several applications in these areas will be highlighted to set in context the performance requirements that were used to define the sensor design and choice of sensor technologies