An assessment of brand differentiation as a viable strategy in the commoditised Western Cape fresh milk market

Companies in commoditised marketplaces such as the fresh milk market in the Western Cape are seeking ways to improve sales and increase their market shares relative to the competition. This study explored differentiation as a viable competitive strategy in the Western Cape fresh milk market to increase market share and drive brand preference. Using telephonic interviews to administer a structured questionnaire to a randomly selected sample of 300 respondents, the study undertook to identify Western Cape milk consumers’ procurement behaviour, the attributes that consumers look for when selecting fresh milk and their selection criteria when choosing between fresh milk brands. The study found that nine attributes influenced the consumer’s choice of fresh milk brand, with price, consistency of taste, consistency of colour and expiry date being the most important. Brand attributes such as the company image, environmental concerns, company location, animal welfare and packaging played a less prominent role, but were also considered by consumers when selecting a brand of fresh milk. The study concluded that while price was the overriding decision-making variable, a differentiation strategy based on the nine identified attributes, or a subset thereof, will influence consumer procurement behaviour and potentially sway consumer preference. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on differentiation as a competitive strategy and specifically applies it to the Western Cape fresh milk market.Marketing and RetailM. Com. (Marketing and Retail Management

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS AFFECT CONSUMERS PURCHASE HABIT?

Longitudinal studies that measure the effect of bloggers on consumer purchase are essential to improve our understanding in how social media bloggers become role models in people lives. As the number of blog posts and bloggers are increasing rapidly, this rapid rise is causing changes in people’s (consumer’s) purchase habits. There are some conceptual studies conducted about the revolution of Web 2.0 technology and social media and some of them specifically studied the different type of blogs. But no study has focused on the factors causing the influence, specifically factors such as social attractiveness, credibility, experience and sponsorship. To fill this gap, this paper suggests and test a model that explains the factors that influence consumers intentions to adopt recommendations. A total of 202 questionnaires were returned in the survey to identify which factors have influence on blog readers” intentions to adopt recommendations”. Initially, data identified the demographic distribution of the respondents. Next, explanatory factor analysis was conducted to measure the validity and consistency of factors. Nine hypotheses were measured by conducting linear regression. Lastly, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was performed. The results from a sample of 202 show that the factors: trust, credibility, prior experience, perceived usefulness, sponsorship, social attractiveness, subjective norms, are influencing the intentions of consumers to adopt blogger’s recommendations. In addition, the results highlight that social attractiveness has a mediating affect between attitude and intentions. The implications of these findings for bloggers and consumers are discussed in detail

The Influence of Socio-Economic Factors toward the Farmer’s Adoption Rate on Soy Bean Crop Farming in the Semi Arid Area of South Amanatun Sub District, the South-Midle Timor District

It is neccery to realize that soy bean has certain important benefits for people, either for food or for fulfiling the row materials needed by such industries as: animal feed, medicine, liquid paint, and printed ink industries. For food, people should consum the soybean, primarily by people who are living in the areas placed far from the source of fish and meat, because the soy bean contains nabati protein in a high level of percentege, around 40-41%, and nine kinds of important matters functioning to prevent women from breast canccer infection. People can consume soybean in the type of: fermented soy bean cake (tempeh), tofu, soy bean milk, et cetera. Although the soy bean is categorized as an important food, but the number of farmers cultivating this crop in Indonesia, as well as in the Pronvince of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), included in the Sub District of South Amanatun as a semi arid area, are still very limited, while the availability of natural resources supporting the growth of this crop is very potensial, and then the soy bean needed by industries operated near by this Sub District dominantly are supplied by outside of the NTT, such as from: Java, Bali, and Lombok, even from U. S. A. Farmers in the Sub District of South Amanatun, only a few who have cultivated soy bean crops, while the majority of them have not cultivated yet. These facts indicate that among farmers probably because of their having different level of socio-nomic factors which inluence them to adopt or not to the soy bean crop farming. To examine whether or not these different level of socio-economic factors have signicant influence to the farmer’s adoption on the soy bean farming, then a study had been done in 2018. On the basis of results of the data analysis by applying the Linear Probablity Modle demonstrated that: the socio-economic factors which have the significant influence to the farmer’s adoption on the soy bean crop farming in the study area were: (1) the level of farmer’s knowledge related to soy bean cultivation and soy bean processing, (2) the level of farmer’s perception on the soy bean cultivation, (3) the level of farmer’s interest on the soy bean crop farming, and (4) farmer’s family income. The other soci-economic factors such as the level of farmer’s formal and non formal education, the level of farmer’s cosmopolitan, the farmer’s orientation on soybean crop farming, and the farmer’s size of land operated for soyben crop farming have no significant infuence to the farmer’s adoption on soybean cropp farming

On theta functions of order four

We prove that the fourth powers of theta functions with even characteristics form a basis of the space of even theta functions of order four on a principally polarized Abelian variety without vanishing theta-null.Comment: 6 pages, minor changes, references adde

PERSEPSI DAN SIKAP PETANI TERHADAP PERAN PENYULUH PERTANIAN DALAM PENGEMBANGAN USAHATANI SAWI (Brassica Juncea L) DI DESA NETPALA, KECAMATAN MOLLO UTARA, KABUPATEN TIMOR TENGAH SELATAN

This research on Farmer's Perceptions and Attitudes Toward the Role of Agricultural Extension in Mustard Farming Development was conducted in the village of Netpala, Mollon District, North Central Timor Regency in August 2019. This study aims to determine: the role of extension personnel; farmers 'perceptions ,farmers' attitudes. The method used in this research is a survey method. The research location was determined deliberately, the respondents were assigned as many as 52 people who were randomly selected. The types of data collected were primary data and secondary data. To determine the first objective, the data were analyzed descriptively quantitatively and to determine the second and third objectives, the data were analyzed descriptively by using a Likert scale. The research result shows that; the role of extension workers in the development of mustard farming, according to the assessment of farmers, most farmers have felt the impact of extension activities. The perception of farmers on the role of agricultural extension agents in the development of mustard farming in Netpala Village, Mollo Utara District, South Central Timor Regency has a fairly good perception. with an average score of 53,84. the attitude of farmers towards the role of agricultural instructors in the development of mustard (Brassica Juncea L) farming in Netpala Village, Mollo Utara District, Timor Tengah Selatan Regency, has an agreeable attitude with an average score of 88,46. Therefore, it can be concluded that the mustard farmers in Netpala Village have a fairly good perception and agree with the role of agricultural extension agents in the development of mustard farming