Scan Data : An alternative source of data for consumer demand research

Scan data have recently become a more popular source of data for use in consumer demand research. Previous studies have used scan data to measure the effects of promotional actives and their effects on consumer demand. Before scan data were available, researchers most frequent sources of data were government survey publications. These data sets are creditable and useful but they do not contain all the desirable characteristics needed in consumer demand research. There are also private corporations that collect and supply data, but there interest lies with the needs of industry not academia. The government surveys are briefly described and comments regarding their usefulness in consumer demand follows. The public data sets are also described and a word is said about their effectiveness in consumer demand research at the academic level. The empirical analysis is centered around estimation the demand for beef hotdogs using scan data plus data that contain advertising information from television, radio, and newspaper. The null hypotheses that holidays, television, and radio advertising do not have an impact on demand can all be rejected, since the respective parameter estimates are significantly by different from zero. Newspaper advertising on the other hand has proven to be insignificant

A comparision of alternative forecasting techniques : an application of scan data

Scan data have provided a suitable data source for estimating consumer demand relationships at the retail level. These data capture actual quantity and price information which can be combined with additional explanatory variables, such as advertising, promotion and seasonality, to estimate the retail demand function for specific products. Despite the availability of scan data, relatively little research has focused on forecasting at the retail level. The competitive nature of the supermarket industry, both the encroachment of warehouse food retailers and generic private label products, have lead to an increased interest in consumer demand analysis at the retail level. The increased competition from nontraditional retail outlets has eroded the traditional supermarket\u27s market share. The nontraditional grocery outlets are perceived to be less expensive than their traditional grocery outlets. Thus, traditional grocery outlet managers have become increasingly interested in reducing operating costs. One method of reducing operating costs is to reduce inventory levels via implementation of an efficient consumer response (ECR) strategy, a version of just-in-time delivery. The ECR strategy has the potential to reduce inventory levels which can directly lower inventory costs. The rise of ECR has created a need for accurate product demand forecasts at the supermarket level to maintain adequate inventory levels. The ability to forecast weekly demand in response to changes in seasonality, holidays, and promotional and advertising campaigns is very important to retail managers for implementation of an ECR strategy. The objectives of this study are to 1) develop alternative forecasting methods that are suitable for scan data, 2) estimate and compare the alternatives with respect to food groups and individual products in terms of their forecast accuracies using a scan data base, and 3) estimate and compare the alternatives with respect to food groups and individual products in terms of two week trial forecasts. The theoretical forecasting model was developed utilizing economic theory and previous consumer demand research. The model described weekly product item movement as being a function of own- and cross-prices, own- and cross-advertising (television, radio, and newspaper), holidays, and seasonality. The theoretical model for the brand product also included point of purchase and the start of the Knox County, Tennessee, school year. The second forecasting model specification was developed using the Box-Jenkins methodology. This technique does not incorporate structural explanatory variables, but rather, identifies and replicates underlying patterns in the data series utilizing past item movement and disturbances in the series. The third forecasting method combines the structural variables contained in the theoretical model with the pattern identification and replication ability of the Box-Jenkins model to produce a composite model known as a transfer function. This study utilized weekly scan and advertising data (television, newspaper, radio, and point of purchase) which was supplied by a multi-regional supermarket chain. The data consisted of weekly UPC-level prices, item movement, and chain-initiated television, radio, and newspaper advertising. The data were pooled across five stores that catered to average to above average income food shoppers. The data were divided into two subgroups. The first subgroup of data was used to estimate the alternative forecasting models and generate product backcasts for technique evaluation and comparison. The second subgroup of data, the last 26 weeks for each product, was used to generate a two week trial forecast. Again, the models and their forecasting abilities were evaluated and compared across alternative methods. The three alternative forecasting models were estimated using the historic subgroup data. The alternative forecasting models were evaluated individually by the evaluation criteria to choose the best model to represent each technique. These model estimates were then used to generate backcasts of the data series for each of the three food products, brand b, group g, and steak. The alternative techniques were then evaluated and compared. The results of the backcast forecast evaluation and comparison suggested that the transfer function forecast was superior to the Box- Jenkins and theoretical forecast in predicting weekly item movement for brand b and steak. Group g\u27s weekly item movement was best forecast utilizing the Box-Jenkins methodology. The results of the two week trial forecast evaluation suggested that the transfer function technique was superior to the theoretical and Box- Jenkins techniques in accurately forecasting weekly item movement for each of the three products, a highly process brand, its associated group, and steak a variable weight perishable product. This study has found that the transfer function is the best of the three techniques for use in forecasting weekly retail item movement for both brand and category peanut butter and the steak category. However, the results also indicate that each of the forecasting models was relatively accurate in forecasting actual item movement but performed poorly in predicting directional change

Consumer Attitudes, Knowledge, Experiences, and Socio-Demographic Characteristics on Willingness to Pay for Irradiated Pork

Consumer/Household Economics,

Consumer Willingness to Pay for Irradiated Poultry Products

A probit model for whether or not consumers would buy irradiated poultry products is estimated jointly with an OLS equation for the price premiums that consumers are willing to pay for irradiated chicken breast meat. The results suggest that educating consumers about irradiation would be beneficial to the food industry.Consumer/Household Economics,

Grass-Fed versus Organic Dairy Production: Southeastern US Willingness to Pay

This paper examines determinants of consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for grass-fed and organic dairy by using a survey data from the southeastern United States. We use ordered and Heckman probit regression techniques to estimate the impact of consumer characteristics on their willingness to pay premiums. The results suggest that some of relevant determinants are: age, income, gender, and geographical variables. This research has important implications for the large dairy industries in Florida and also as provides important information for the growing dairy industries in the rest of the southeastern United States.Grass-fed Dairy, Heckman Probit Regression, Organic Dairy, WTP, Livestock Production/Industries,

Can an Evaluation of Students’ Stress Levels Help us Manage Anxiety During OSCEs and Other Assessment Modalities?

With an increased awareness of mental health issues, in both the student population and the veterinary profession in general, it is important that we obtain a greater understating of the stress experienced by students so as to better prepare them to deal with stress and ameliorate any negative effects it may have on performance. This study aims to characterise various measurements of stress (e.g. HRV, EEG, cortisol, self-report questionnaire) in students within the School of Veterinary Medicine in familiar test modalities, focussing on OSCE assessment. We would also investigate how performance is impacted and what potential factors may influence stress levels. Ultimately, our aim would be to evaluate intervention strategies to assess if students stress levels and performance can be improved

Farm to School: A Market Analysis

This paper explores the potential for the National Farm to School Program to effectively engage with Georgia’s public schools in order to reduce local food insecurity and improve the quality of nutrition provided to students. A survey was conducted with the specific goals of assessing: first, the current and future impact Farm to School has and will potentially have on the Georgia economy through schools purchase of local foods; second, the potential market for farmers; third, school administrators willingness to buy local food by Georgia; forth, the level of infrastructure available within schools to prepare fresh, whole foods; and fifth, the perceived opportunities and challenges to buying and preparing local food. University of Georgia collaborated with the Georgia Department of Education and Georgia Organics to develop a survey that met the objectives as defined above. There were twenty-five questions total and most answers were formatted in a multiple-choice selection with an option to write any additional comments. The survey was distributed by the Department of Education to 158 public schools in Georgia, and collected, a total of 93 responses. From the data, it was concluded that the willingness to participate exists, as well as the tools necessary for participation. What appears to be missing is the infrastructure that would allow schools to purchase food easily and frequently. Most schools noted that they would be willing to interact with an online platform that would put them in contact with local growers and sellers.Farm to School, Georgia, Local foods, public schools, survey data for local buying, food security, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

WHO ARE THE CONSUMERS OF VIDALIA ONIONS?

Consumer/Household Economics,

Resonance-like piezoelectric electron-phonon interaction in layered structures

We show that mismatch of the piezoelectric parameters between layers of multiple-quantum well structures leads to modification of the electron-phonon interaction. In particular, short-wavelength phonons propagating perpendicular to the layers with wavevector close to $2\pi n/d$, where $d$ is the period of the structure, induce a strong smoothly-varying component of the piezo-potential. As a result, they interact efficiently with 2D electrons. It is shown, that this property leads to emission of collimated quasi-monochromatic beams of high-frequency acoustic phonons from hot electrons in multiple-quantum well structures. We argue that this effect is responsible for the recently reported monochromatic transverse phonon emission from optically excited GaAs/AlAs superlattices, and provide additional experimental evidences of this.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

A History of Moose Management in Utah

During the first half of the 20th century a moose (Alces alces) population gradually established itself on the North Slope of Utah’s Uinta Mountains from founders in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Formal management of the species commenced with an aerial survey conducted in 1957, and the first legal hunt in 1958. From this small initial population moose have expanded into other areas of northern Utah and, augmented by transplants, the statewide population has increased to an estimated 3,200 animals as of 2009. In the northern portion of the state moose appear to prosper in riparian willow (Salix sp.) habitats as well as upland shrub-dominated and forested habitats. However, there are indications that these herds are at or approaching carrying capacity. Management programs have included regular aerial surveys, harvest regulation, transplants, and dealing with “nuisance” animals along the urban-wildland interface. Since 1958 a total of 6,119 moose (bulls and cows) have been legally harvested, averaging 288 animals annually in 2004-2008. Since 1973 a total of 345 moose have been translocated within Utah and an additional 115 animals moved to Colorado. These transplants have resulted in disparate success with starter populations generally failing to achieve viability in central and southern Utah. Poaching, predation by cougars (Puma concolor), and to a lesser extent disease have contributed to losses in southern target populations. The limited success of these efforts raises questions regarding the viability of populations in areas with high summer temperatures as well as the specter of climate variation on the persistence of southern populations, generally. Several research projects have been conducted on moose in Utah. Early studies on the Uinta North Slope focused on the nutritional quality of key browse species and the determination of carrying capacity, and subsequent investigations included the effects of experimental manipulation of bull-cow ratios on calf recruitment, and telemetry-based survival studies of transplanted herds. The future of moose in Utah is discussed in light of potential limiting factors including climate change