Unwrapping the Cosmetic Package: A Discriminant Analysis Approach

Packaging which is often called as the ‘silent salesman’ is an important component of marketing. Today the importance of packaging has risen to such an extent that product packaging is rightly called as the fifth ‘P’ of marketing mix. Cosmetics are products which are utilized by a large number of people. The present study examines the discriminating power of five selected cosmetics packaging variables namely ‘picture’, ‘colour’, ‘size’, ‘shape’ and ‘material’ amidst those who purchased cosmetics based on these packaging variables and for those who purchased cosmetics not based on these packaging variables. Discriminant analysis showed that only two variables namely ‘Colour’ (.706) and ‘Shape’ (– .527) were good predictors. Variables ‘Picture’, ‘size’ and ‘material’ were considered as poor predictors as far as the student communities were considered. The cross validated classification showed that out of the 240 samples drawn, 91.8% of the cases were correctly classified. &nbsp

Realitate și satisfacţie în spitalele guvernamentale din Kerala: Analiza perspectivei pacienţilor

BACKGROUND. The most important resource of any county is its human capital. Realizing this, both the central as well as state governments have been spending huge sum of money for establishing a fairly good public health infrastructure. The people of Kerala, specifically is highly health conscious. But nearly half of the capacity at government hospitals remains unused. One of the important reasons for this is the dissatisfaction of patients with various aspects of service like the behaviour of doctors and nurses, tangible elements, responsiveness of staff etc. The present paper attempts to understand the key determinants of patients’ satisfaction with tangible elements at government hospitals in KeralaMETHODS. Data was collected from 330 patients across various government hospitals in Kerala by administering a structured questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using factor analysis and regression analysis with the help of SPSS software (version16). RESULTS. Factor analysis indicated that pleasantness of rooms as well as nurses, drinking water and sanitation facilities and timely availability of patient mobility facility are the key factors influencing the satisfaction of patients with tangible elements. Regression results indicated that there existed significant difference in the perception of patients regarding drinking water and sanitation facilities depending on the period of their stay at the hospitals.CONCLUSION. Based on the results of the analysis we can conclude that pleasantness of rooms and nurses, timely availability of mobility facilities and drinking water and sanitation facilities are the main factors determining patients’ satisfaction and therefore the authorities concerned should focus on these issues in order to enhance patient satisfaction. Key words: patient mobility, satisfaction, tangible elements.CONTEXT. Cea mai importantă resursă din orice regiune este capitalul său uman. Realizând acest lucru, atât guvernul central, precum şi guvernele regionale au cheltuit sume mari de bani pentru a stabili o infrastructură destul de bună de sănătate publică. Oamenii din Kerala, în special sunt extrem de atenţi cu sănătatea lor. Dar, aproape jumătate din capacitatea spitalelor guvenamnetale rămâne nefolosită. Una dintre cele mai importante motive pentru aceasta este nemulţumirea pacienţilor faţă de diferite aspecte ale serviciului medical, cum ar fi comportamentul medicilor si asistentelor medicale, elemente tangibile, capacitatea de reacţie a personalului etc. Lucrarea de faţă încearcă să înţeleagă factorii cheie determinanţi ai satisfacţiei a pacienţilor privind elemente palpabile la spitalele de stat din Kerala METODE . Datele au fost colectate de la 330 de pacienţi în diferite spitale de stat în Kerala prin administrarea unui chestionar structurat. Datele colectate au fost analizate cu ajutorul analizei factoriale și analizei de regresie cu ajutorul software-ul SPSS (version16). REZULTATE. Analiza factorială a indicat că agreerea saloanelor, precum si a asistentelor medicale, apa potabilă şi aspectul toaletelor, precum şi disponibilitatea la timp a facilităţilor de  mobilitate a pacienţilor sunt factorii cheie care influenţează satisfacţia pacienţilor. Rezultatele regresiei au arătat că a existat o diferenţă semnificativă în percepţia pacienţilor cu privire la apă potabilă şi aspectul toaletelor, în funcţie de perioada de şedere a lor la spitale. CONCLUZIE. Pe baza rezultatelor analizei, putem concluziona că agreerea saloanelor, precum si a asistentelor medicale, disponibilitatea la timp a facilităţilor de  mobilitate a pacienţilor şi de apă potabilă şi aspectul toaletelor sunt principalii factori care determina satisfactia pacientilor si, prin urmare, autorităţile în cauză trebuie să se concentreze asupra acestor probleme, în scopul de a spori satisfactia pacientului. Cuvinte cheie: mobilitatea pacienților, satisfacți