The Use of Direct Marketing Techniques in Sport Marketing

Adapting marketing principles and concepts to sport related services and products domain represents a challenge for any specialist in the field because the specific features that are characteristic for the needs, motivations and consumption process itself.In order to achieve different quantitative and qualitative marketing communication objectives, sports involved organizations are developing a communication mix adapted to the channels used by the consumers. Among the communication tools used are found also the direct marketing techniques that have had a tremendous development during the last 25 years and so.The article will analyze the process of building a efficient direct marketing communication with sport consumers and the implications of using such instruments and tools for the future activity of sport related organizations. Some future research lines are proposed and conclusions are stated on the matter

SOCIAL FACTORS INFLUENCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF DENTAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES CONSUMERS’ BEHAVIOR

In case of dental care consumption, a very special influence will have the social factors. This influence, from the level of consumers’ behavior can be analyzed on two distinct levels – that of normatives impose by the social organization particular for the community that the individual live and that of the influences of the social groups that individual are interacting with. Dental healthcare services consumption is conditioned at the level of consumption motivations by complex needs which are not confined only to the physiological needs of removing pain caused by a certain dental condition, but are going towards the need of self-image improvement, increasing the appreciation offered by the others group members, the congruence with other consumers decisions within the group (family members, friends, colleagues etc). It is important to note in this context the fact that the influence exerted by consumers exogenous factors (external influences in which we can integrate those from the social groups also) will be combined with the one exerted by endogenous factors (personality, learning process, perceptions, attitudes, motivations etc), representing a continuum that shape consumers and allows in the same time the society shaping by them. The present article proposes a research conducted on dental healthcare services consumers. Results revealed the importance that a series of variables like the importance given to image in the workplace, family, friends and colleagues perception towards dental aesthetic, social class has in the context of consumer behavior. It is also noted that the influence of variables is mediated by the importance given to self-image, dental healthcare services consumption being determined by complex needs, consumption motivations being physiological – specific to some medical conditions and psychological – aesthetic or induced by the pressure corresponding to the need to comply with social norms

Influence of continuous wave laser light at 532 nm on transmittance and on photoluminescence of DNA-CTMA-RhB solutions

Recent results obtained in our experimental investigation on the influence of the illumination with continuous wave (c.w.) laser light at 532 nm on the transmittance at this wavelength and on the photoluminescence of the DNA-CTMA-RhB in butanol compound are reported. The temporal dependence of absorption changes induced by c. w. light at 532 nm in DNA-CTMA-RhB in butanol solution, and, for comparison, in RhB in butanol solution, is investigated experimentally and analyzed in order to assess the effect of DNA-CTMA on this light-induced process. The evolution in time of the peak's amplitude and wavelength of the photoluminescence spectra in solutions of DNA-CTMA-RhB in butanol, during their excitation with laser light at 532 nm wavelength has been also investigated and discussed

The Contribution of Green Marketing in the Development of a Sustainable Destination through Advanced Clustering Methods

Against the backdrop of increasing concern for the environment, tourism activities have had a mixed impact. For example, in the field of marketing communications, the last few years have seen many companies promoting “green” tourism. In this context, this article aims to identify the group(s) focused on green tourism or sustainable development in order to predict their future trends. To achieve this objective, quantitative research was conducted based on an online survey distributed through social media. Several objectives were considered in the research, focusing on the behavior of the respondents, the decisive elements in choosing a destination, the analysis of socio-demographic characteristics, and the identification of groups oriented to the practice of green tourism. Univariate analysis was applied to the collected data (to identify the most appropriate variables for clustering) and multivariate analysis (using three types of methods: Ward, Centroid, and Two-Step Cluster). The following results emerged from the research analysis: characteristics of each segment in relation to question nine and profiles of all segments, of which the most representative (two, five, and six) stand out. The segments extracted with Ward’s method were created by the authors to highlight the most important characteristics: Smilers, Ecologists, Villagers, Relaxed, Luxury, Ecotourists, and Jobless. The research results contribute to a deeper understanding of Romanian customers’ needs when choosing a green destination, but also support the business community by providing economic actors with access to data to segment their solutions and services offered to customers, as well as the possibility to develop tailored products/services. The study represents a new approach to tourism and ‘green marketing’ in Romania by being the only one that shows to interested parties the seven specific consumer segments for the green tourism market in Romania, one that approaches the two fields in close connection. The results represent a significant theoretical advance for travel and tourism studies and provide valuable insights into the green tourism sector

Ultrafast Third-Order Nonlinear Optical Response Excited by fs Laser Pulses at 1550 nm in GaN Crystals

The ultrafast third-order optical nonlinearity of c-plane GaN crystal, excited by ultrashort (fs) high-repetition-rate laser pulses at 1550 nm, wavelength important for optical communications, is investigated for the first time by optical third-harmonic generation in non-phase-matching conditions. As the thermo-optic effect that can arise in the sample by cumulative thermal effects induced by high-repetition-rate laser pulses cannot be responsible for the third-harmonic generation, the ultrafast nonlinear optical effect of solely electronic origin is the only one involved in this process. The third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility of GaN crystal responsible for the third-harmonic generation process, an important indicative parameter for the potential use of this material in ultrafast photonic functionalities, is determined

BRAND DEVELOPMENT - A WAY TO OVERCOME THE CRISIS

The purpose of the present paper is to highlight that within contemporary economy, the market is built on brands rather than products. The market became an universe full of colors, names, logos and taglines. The brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers as being the sum of their perceptions and experiences upon the company’s promise. Consequently, looking at brands like Apple, Microsoft, IBM who understood that technological innovation must be sustained by strong communication and developed emblematic brands, also Romanian IT companies must pursue similar goals in developing own brands. Current research, backed-up by the case study, substantiates that IT companies who proved to be creative and aligned their communication strategy onto their activity profile not even successfully survived the economic crisis but even managed to outgrow the competition

CREATING VALUE WITHIN CONSUMPTION CULTURE

The issue of culture consumption is a particular concern within the modern marketing theory. Culture can be seen as representing a body of knowledge, beliefs, values, attitudes, symbols etc, developed in a certain period of time by a group of individuals, items transmitted with the help of a social learning process to other generations within the group. Thus, the consumption of culture will identify itself with the consumption of any product, service or a combination of them, directly resulted as manifestation of culture, expressions of artistic creativity specific for a certain cultural space. The present paper proposes the analysis of the phenomenon referring to the culture consumption in terms of specific characteristics. The paper reviews the features specific to the modern consumer of culture, the relationship that exists between the individuals’ level of education and the culture consumption and value creation process or augmentation of the intrinsic value of an artistic product as a result of the contribution that the culture consumer can bring himself. The authors highlight the fact that within extremely complex processes which are defining the culture consumption, consumers can assume an active role, becoming on their turn co-participants in the cultural goods and services value creation and transmission. The modern consumer benefits more than ever from the advantages offered by the information technology, being called to respond to major challenges of the postmodernism paradigm in terms of culture consumption. Globalization and other social economic and politic phenomena have profoundly changed the reports between individual and culture, between self and other members of the society, causing synthesis and essential transformations of culture consumption, of culture consumers typologies, and not least of the very forms of artistic expression related to cultural goods and services

Nanostructured germanium deposited on heated substrates with enhanced photoelectric properties

Obtaining high-quality materials, based on nanocrystals, at low temperatures is one of the current challenges for opening new paths in improving and developing functional devices in nanoscale electronics and optoelectronics. Here we report a detailed investigation of the optimization of parameters for the in situ synthesis of thin films with high Ge content (50 %) into SiO2. Crystalline Ge nanoparticles were directly formed during co-deposition of SiO2 and Ge on substrates at 300, 400 and 500 °C. Using this approach, effects related to Ge–Ge spacing are emphasized through a significant improvement of the spatial distribution of the Ge nanoparticles and by avoiding multi-step fabrication processes or Ge loss. The influence of the preparation conditions on structural, electrical and optical properties of the fabricated nanostructures was studied by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, electrical measurements in dark or under illumination and response time investigations. Finally, we demonstrate the feasibility of the procedure by the means of an Al/n-Si/Ge:SiO2/ITO photodetector test structure. The structures, investigated at room temperature, show superior performance, high photoresponse gain, high responsivity (about 7 AW−1), fast response time (0.5 µs at 4 kHz) and great optoelectronic conversion efficiency of 900% in a wide operation bandwidth, from 450 to 1300 nm. The obtained photoresponse gain and the spectral width are attributed mainly to the high Ge content packed into a SiO2 matrix showing the direct connection between synthesis and optical properties of the tested nanostructures. Our deposition approach put in evidence the great potential of Ge nanoparticles embedded in a SiO2 matrix for hybrid integration, as they may be employed in structures and devices individually or with other materials, hence the possibility of fabricating various heterojunctions on Si, glass or flexible substrates for future development of Si-based integrated optoelectronics

Investigating how online shopping platform users contribute to improving the businesses’ performance: empirical evidence from Romania

The purpose of this paper is to identify how online shopping platform users in Romania influence businesses’ performance. The emergence of e-commerce has led to a revolution in global commerce by diversifying and improving sales and purchasing actions for existing products and services on the market. In Romania, buyers’ behaviour shows a more restraining of online commerce behaviour. Most sales are still registered according to the classic system of physically going to stores, although the number of online users has grown significantly over the last decade. The reluctance of buyers to buy from the online environment leads to the low performance of companies in the e-commerce market. The hypothesized model is empirically tested using data collected from a survey on Google Analytics platforms of some online companies in Romania. The authors used SPSS Software to examine the reliability and validity of the measurement model. There have been analysed various links between some variables that were obtained from Google Analytics, data that were collected by age groups, gender or geographical area. Through an empirical analysis is being analysed the role of tracking data on the websites in order to improve company performance. By analysing those variables, the authors analysed if the number of sessions acquired, the bounce rate of the acquired visitors or other variables can improve the company performance. This study offers a new perspective on company performance in online firms. The analysis of variables describing user behaviour in the online environment in interaction with e-commerce platforms has led to conclusions about the performance of online companies. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the study are discussed

Modernisation of Higher Education in the Context of European Integration ? A Comparative Analysis

Modernization of higher education system is a complex process and it became a priority on the agenda of the concerns of both European Union and each Member States levels. In this article we present the results of the analysis of the main aspects of the modernization of higher education system of Romania after its integration in European Union, compared to the evolution of other Member States, in the same period, from the perspective of three indicators: access, retention and employability. In order to achieve the proposed objective, we conducted a research and an aggregation of data from secondary available sources, reports of the European Commission and various statistical reports which will be referred to throughout the article