Exploring the brand image of Shenzhen Happy Valley and Chimelong Paradise

Adopting Aaker’s(1996) framework, this study explored the effect of Micro-blogging marketing in brand image, with the cases of two popular theme parks in Guangdong province, namely Shenzhen Happy Valley and Chimelong Paradise. Brand image is an overall perception about the brand or the product from customer’s perspective. Most scholars and pioneers in marketing consider the success of certain product or service relies more on the brand image, rather than the physical characteristics or specific functions (Aaker, 1991). Brand identity is the one way to achieve company’s expectation, on the basis of which, the brand image could be built. This study applied the brand assessment model, and revealed the brand images of these two theme parks on the basis of brand identity model. Results of analysis indicated that both theme parks’ promotion messages emphasized their brand images. However, Happy Valley’s public relations efforts were more successful than Chimelong Paradise in transferring projected brand image to its Micro-blogging fans. Keywords: Brand image, Brand identity, Theme park, Micro-bloggin

Online Travel Agent Service and Customer Satisfaction Based on Correlation Analysis:A Marketing Perspective in China

With the cooperation of Internet and travel industries, online travel market has been booming, the expected number of online travel users will be a larger growth in the future and service quality will also become an important part of the tourism industry chain. It is a question of travel companies to think about how to improve the online travel service quality and customer satisfaction, to obtain the profits greatly. To scientifically prioritize the key driving factors of online travel agent service is of vital importance for travel service provider to improve the customer satisfaction. So this paper adopts PZB gap model and SERVQUAL questionnaire as a reference, builds six service quality dimensions of online travel booking which based on data analysis and research, namely, "tangible", "reliability", "guarantee", "responsiveness", "empathy" and "user friendliness", with 18 specific measurements, the online travel booking service quality measurement instrument is eventually established. Through the statistical analysis, the authors test the hypotheses with reaching the following conclusions:(1) There is significant difference between customer perceived service quality standards and customer expectations of service quality level of online travel booking. (2) The online travel booking service quality dimensions positively correlated with overall satisfaction. Finally, the conclusions of this paper provides a reference to improve the quality of service and overall customer satisfaction of online travel booking. Keywords: Online Travel; Service Quality; Customer Satisfaction; Marketin

Women\u27s Work-Life Balance in Hospitality: Examining Its Impact on Organizational Commitment

Women account for a large proportion of the hotel industry. Work-life conflict has become one of the main obstacles to the organizational commitment of women. Thus, this study investigates the relationship for women between work-life balance, as an independent variable, and organizational commitment, as a dependent variable. Specifically, we examine women\u27s work-life balance in the hospitality industry and compare women\u27s organizational commitment under different levels of work-life balance. Then, we assess whether women\u27s work-life balance and organizational commitment are associated with their sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., age, education, working years, and position level). Data were collected from 525 women employees in China. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to identify the relationship between work-life balance and organizational commitment. The results showed that work-life balance had a significant effect on organizational commitment. There was also a significant relationship between women\u27s sociodemographic characteristics, work-life balance, and organizational commitment

Study of the Dynamic Strain-Induced Transformation Process of a Low-Carbon Steel: Experiment and Finite Element Simulation

The microstructures and mechanical properties of a low-carbon steel, hot-rolled by a six-pass dynamic strain-induced transformation (DSIT) process, with different start rolling temperatures, are studied by combining experiments and finite element simulations. The start rolling temperatures of the last three passes are about 10°C higher and 20°C lower than the Ar3 temperature, for Processes 1 and 2, respectively. The results show that as the rolling process proceeds, rolling forces increase, while slab temperatures decrease. Before starting Pass 4, the temperature of the slab center is higher than that of the slab surface. During Pass 4 to Pass 6, however, the temperatures of the slab center and surface are nearly identical but fluctuate remarkably due to the large reduction rate. The simulated maximum rolling force and start rolling temperature of each pass agree reasonably with the experimental measurements. It is found that the simulated start temperatures of the slab center in the last three passes are about 5~25°C higher than the Ar3 temperature for Process 1, and the DSIT condition is better satisfied for Process 2. As a result, Process 2 produces finer grain sizes and higher yield strengths than Process 1

Improved hydration and properties of magnesium oxysulfate (MOS) cement using sodium silicate as an additive

Magnesium oxysulfate (MOS) cement has many advantages, such as high early strength, low thermal conductivity, excellent fire and corrosion resistance. However, its strength is less stable and its water resistance is relatively poor, which limits its wide use in civil engineering. In this study, the MOS cement specimens with different amount of sodium silicate (SS) as an additive were manufactured before subjected to a series of laboratory tests, including dispersion tests, strength tests, SEM, XRD and Isothermal Calorimetry analysis to evaluate their modified properties. The experimental results show that an increase of the amount of SS consistently reduces the initial setting time, dispersion and fluidity performance of MOS cement paste because of the SS accelerated endothermic reaction during hydration process of MOS. An addition of the amount of SS up to 0.5% of the mass of MgO significantly increases the long-term strength and water resistance of MOS cement. This attributes to the fact that SS enhances microstructure and refines the coarse pores of hardened MOS paste, and thus forms much denser paste, although it does not change the category of hydration phase composition in hardened MOS cement

Lower Vitamin D Levels are Associated with Higher Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii —a US National Survey Study

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with high susceptibility to infections. The present study aimed at exploring the relationship between vitamin D levels and Toxoplasma gondii ( T. gondii ) infection, on the basis of a nationally representative database. The study data came from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) 2001–2004. Participants underwent both Toxoplasma IgG antibody testing and serum vitamin D testing. Vitamin D deficiency was defined by a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level <20 ng/mL. Multivariate logistic regression and propensity score matching were used to adjust for potential confounders. All analyses were conducted in R software. A total of 10613 participants were included. Among these, 3973 (37.4%) were vitamin D deficient, and 2070 (19.5%) were seropositive for T. gondii IgG antibody. Vitamin D deficiency was found in 42.3% of the seropositive population, compared with 36.3% of the seronegative population ( P <0.001). After adjustment for sex, age, body mass index, smoking history, drinking history and testing season, vitamin D deficiency was associated with an elevated risk of T. gondii infection (OR=1.303, 95% CI=1.136–1.495, P <0.001). This effect persisted in the propensity matching cohort. Low vitamin D levels are associated with high seroprevalence of T. gondii