The importance of extrinsic cues in deciding to purchase meat products: A conjoint analysis on Muslim consumers

Purpose: This study aims to investigate how extrinsic cues such as brand, certification, production method and price affect Muslim soujouk consumers’ purchasing decisions in Turkey. Design/methodology/approach: Conjoint analysis was used to identify consumers’ preferences and cluster analysis was used to reveal consumer segments for Turkish soujouk, which is a kind of fermented sausage. A total of 270 Muslim consumers from Turkey were selected by using a convenience sampling method. Four extrinsic cues were selected for analysis: brand (unbranded product, private label and national brand), certification (Turkish Standards Institution, geographical indication and halal certificate), production method (heat process and fermentation) and price (TRY11, TRY15 and TRY19). Findings/results: Brand, certification, production method and price were found to be significant for consumer preference. Price was the least important attribute in consumer purchase intention. National brand and halal certification were amongst the most important levels. The research also revealed two basic consumer segments according to cluster analysis. Practical implications: The study has practical significance for manufacturers in Muslim countries to identify the main extrinsic cue that influences consumers’ preferences in meat products. This result provides important insights to both local producers and foreign manufacturers that market their meat products to Muslim society. Originality/value: This is the first study on Turkish Muslim consumers’ preferences towards meat products analysing extrinsic product attributes. In addition, conjoint analysis and cluster analysis are used to specify Muslim consumers’ preferences

Sezgisel Algoritmalarla Toplam Potansiyel Optimizasyonu (Sa-Tpo) Yöntemi İle Yapısal Analiz

Konferans Bildirisi -- Teorik ve Uygulamalı Mekanik Türk Milli Komitesi, 2013Conference Paper -- Theoretical and Applied Mechanical Turkish National Committee, 2013Yapı mühendisliğinde eniyileme yöntemleri genellikle tasarım konularında uygulanır. Literatürde bu yönde yapılmış pek çok çalışma bulmak kolaydır. Eniyileme yöntemlerinin yapı analizlerinde kullanılması ise, eniyilemede özellikle sezgisel algoritmalar kullanılıyorsa, çok alışılmış bir uygulama değildir. Bu çalışmada bu eksiklik vurgulanmakta ve kafes kirişler üzerinde yapılan uygulamalarla yöntemin sonlu elemanlar yöntemi de dahil bilinen metodlara üstünlüğü gösterilmektedir.Structural engineers are accustomed to see and to make applications of optimization techniques in design problems. Effectively there are countless studies in the literature in this direction. On the contrary, the works on structural analysis through optimization techniques are very limited in number, especially if metaheuristic algorithms are exploited in optimization. In this study, this gap is emphasized, and by way of examples on trusses, the superiority of the advanced method on classical methods including the well-known Finite Element Method is shown

İçsel motivasyon kaynaklarının (dindarlık ve özgecilik) rasyonel oy verme ve tüketici tutumu üzerindeki etkileri

Voting behavior is a complex process and voters may be affected by lots of different variables. Religiosity and altruism are some of these variables. The first aim of this study is to investigate the effects of intrinsic motivation sources on rational voting behavior. The second is to analyze the impact of rational voting behavior on consumer’s (voter) attitudes. The sample was chosen from voters living in Turkey. Using a quantitative research model, data were gathered by a web-based online survey with 244 voters. Participants were determined by the convenience sampling method. The research hypotheses were tested by PLS Structural Equation Model. According to the findings of the research, while religiosity affects rational voting behavior, altruism has no effect. There is an also effect of rational voting behavior on voter’s attitudes. Lastly, rational voting behavior varies by gender and salary status. The findings may help the parties in their decision process while preparing for electionsOy verme davranışı karmaşık bir süreç olup, oy verenler birçok farklı değişkenden etkilenebilmektedirler. Dindarlık ve özgecilikte bu değişkenler arasında yer almaktadır. Çalışmanın temel amacı öncelikle içsel motivasyon kaynaklarının rasyonel oy verme davranışı üzerindeki etkilerini araştırmaktır. İkinci olarak ise, rasyonel oy verme davranışının tüketici (seçmen) tutumu üzerindeki etkisini analiz etmektir. Örneklem Türkiye’de yaşayan seçmenlerden seçilmiştir. Nicel araştırma metodu kullanılarak, veriler 244 seçmen ile web tabanlı çevrimiçi anket kullanılarak elde edilmiştir. Katılımcılar kolayda örnekleme yöntemi ile belirlenmiştir. Araştırma hipotezleri ise PLS yapısal eşitlik modeli kullanılarak test edilmiştir. Araştırmadan elde dilen bulgulara göre, dindarlığın rasyonel oy verme davranışı üzerinde etkisi bulunurken, özgeciliğin herhangi bir etkisi bulunmamıştır. Ayrıca rasyonel oy verme davranışının seçmen tutumu üzerinde etkisi olduğu görülmektedir. Son olarak ise, rasyonel oy verme davranışının cinsiyet ve gelir durumuna göre değiştiği görülmektedir. Bu bulgular seçimlere hazırlanan partilere alacakları kararlarda yol gösterici olabilir

Total potential energy minimization method in structural analysis considering material nonlinearity

Minimum potential energy principle is the basis of the most of the well-known traditional techniques used in the structural analysis. This principle determines the equilibrium conditions of systems with reference to minimization of the sum of the total potential energy of the structure. In traditional applications, this methodology is formulized by using matrix operations. A methodology has been proposed in the last decades for structural analyses based on the idea of using metaheuristic algorithms to obtain minimum potential energy of the structural system instead of following this classical approach. This new method, called “Total Potential Optimization using Metaheuristic Algorithms (TPO/MA)”, has been applied in this paper to truss structures considering linear and nonlinear behavior of the structural material. The metaheuristic method used in this process is teaching-learning based optimization (TLBO) algorithm. The proposed technique is applied on numerical examples and results are compared with other techniques in order to test the efficiency of the proposed method. According to results obtained, TPO/MA method with TLBO algorithm is a feasible technique for the investigated problem