A Structural Equation Modeling-Based Examination of the Private Label Brand (PLB) Consumer Evaluation Process

The goal of this paper is to answer the question “What variables influence consumer private label brand (PLB) evaluations?” We employ structural equation modeling (SEM) in order to analyze a hypothesized process by which consumer-based evaluations of retailer and product category, along with perceived risk of the category and PLB all affect the ultimate PLB brand evaluation. PLBs have been heavily researched in academic marketing research journals but SEM-based research is minimal. Research has generally been conducted using model-building techniques which are then empirically tested using real-world data. Given the complexity of the process, an alternate approach is to use experimental techniques to gain first-hand PLB data and then analyze it using appropriate methodology. The current project represents a step in that direction. While the model is subject to limitations that call its utility into question, it does provide guidance for a future, more theoretically-sound a priori model and resulting SEM analysis

Evolution of Pliocene climate cyclicity at Hole 806B (5-2 Ma); oxygen isotope record

A detailed Pliocene oxygen isotope record from the Ontong Java Plateau, based on measurements of the surface-dwelling planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides sacculifer, was produced for the period from 5 to 2 Ma. The record documents major long and short-term climate changes. The results show periods of enhanced ice volume at 4.6 to 4.3 Ma and after 2.85 Ma, a long-term warming trend from 4.1 to 3.7 Ma, and a distinct cooling trend that was initiated at 3.5 Ma and progressed through the initiation of large-scale Northern Hemisphere glaciation after 2.85 Ma (according to the time scale of Shackleton and others proposed in 1990). Periods of high average ice volumes also show the highest δ 1 8 amplitudes. The pattern of climate cyclicity changed markedly at about 2.85 Ma. Earlier times were marked by high-frequency variability at the precessional frequencies or even higher frequencies, pointing to low-latitude processes as a main controlling factor driving planktonic δ 1 8 variability in this period. The high-frequency variability is not coherent with insolation and points to strong nonlinearity in the way the climate system responded to orbital forcing before the onset of large scale Northern Hemisphere glaciation. After 3 Ma, stronger 41-k.y. cyclicity appears in the record. The shift in pattern is clearest around 2.85 Ma (according to the time scale proposed by Shackleton and others in 1990), 100-200 k.y. before the most dramatic spread of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets. This indicates that high-latitude processes from this point on began to take over and influence most strongly the δ 1 8 record, which now reflects ice-volume fluctuations related to the climatic effects of obliquity forcing on the seasonality of high-latitude areas, most probably in the Northern Hemisphere. The general Pliocene trend is that high-latitude climate sensitivity and instability was increasing, and the causal factors producing the intensified glacial cyclicity during the Pliocene must be factors that enhance cooling and climate sensitivity in the subarctic areas

Interactive 3-D Visualization: A tool for seafloor navigation, exploration, and engineering

Recent years have seen remarkable advances in sonar technology, positioning capabilities, and computer processing power that have revolutionized the way we image the seafloor. The massive amounts of data produced by these systems present many challenges but also offer tremendous opportunities in terms of visualization and analysis. We have developed a suite of interactive 3-D visualization and exploration tools specifically designed to facilitate the interpretation and analysis of very large (10\u27s to 100\u27s of megabytes), complex, multi-component spatial data sets. If properly georeferenced and treated, these complex data sets can be presented in a natural and intuitive manner that allows the integration of multiple components each at their inherent level of resolution and without compromising the quantitative nature of the data. Artificial sun-illumination, shading, and 3-D rendering can be used with digital bathymetric data (DTM\u27s) to form natural looking and easily interpretable, yet quantitative, landscapes. Color can be used to represent depth or other parameters (like backscatter or sediment properties) which can be draped over the DTM, or high resolution imagery can be texture mapped on bathymetric data. When combined with interactive analytical tools, this environment has facilitated the use of multibeam sonar and other data sets in a range of geologic, environmental, fisheries, and engineering applications

Mapping a Continental Shelf and Slope in the 1990s: A Tale of Three Multibeams

Increasing societal pressures on the U.S. continental shelves adjacent to dense population centers have brought to light the lack of accurate base maps in these areas. Existing bathymetric maps and random sidescan sonar surveys are either not accurate enough or do not provide the coverage necessary to make policy decisions. Until the mid 1990s, it was not financially prudent nor technically efficient to map the shallow shelves. However, the availability of high-resolution multibeam mapping systems now allow efficient and accurate mapping of the continental margins. In 1996 the U.S. Geological Survey began a large-scale seafloor mapping campaign on the continental shelf and slope adjacent to Los Angeles, CA. The first survey used a Kongsberg Simrad EM1000 (95 kHz). The survey continued in 1998 by mapping the slope and proximal basins from Newport to Long Beach, CA, using a Kongsberg Simrad EM300 (30 kHz). The area was completed in May 1999 by mapping the entire shelf adjacent to Long Beach, CA using an EM3000D (a dual-headed 300-kHz system). The mapping used both INS from the vehicle motion sensor and DGPS to provide position accuracies of ~1 m. All the data were processed in the field in near realtime using software developed at the Univ. of New Brunswick. Because of the different systems used and the range of water depths, the spatial resolution of the processed data varies from \u3c0.5 m on the inner shelf to 8 m on the basin floors. Perspective overviews of backscatter draped over bathymetry reveals a host of geological features unknown to exist in this area. These features include shallow, linear gullys, barchan dunes, small-scale bedforms in shallow troughs, major canyon system complexes, large- and smallscale mass movements, faults, and large areas of outcrop. The effects on sediment transport of man-made features, such as sewer outfall pipes and dredge-disposal fields, are clearly delineated on the new maps. The maps provide the fundamental base maps for studies as varied as those involving benthic habitats, marine disposal sites, sediment transport, and tectonic ma

ForestSim model of impacts of smallholder dynamics: forested landscapes of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Many forested landscapes in the United States contain a large number of small private landowners (smallholders). The individual decisions of these smallholders can collectively have a large impact on the structure, composition, and connectivity of forests. While models have been developed to try to understand this large-scale collective impact, few models have incorporated extensive information from individual decision-making. Here we introduce an agent-based model, infused with sociological data from smallholders, overlaid on a GIS layer to represent individual smallholders, and used to simulate the impact of thousands of harvesting decisions. Our preliminary results suggest that certain smallholder characteristics (such as relative smallholder age and education level as well as whether a smallholder is resident or absentee) and information flow among owners can radically impact forests at the landscape scale. While still in its preliminary stages, this modeling approach is likely to demonstrate in detail the consequences of decision-making due to changing smallholder demographics or new policies and programs. This approach can help estimate the effectiveness of programs based on landscape-scale programmatic goals and the impact of new policy initiatives

Aquaponics: A Sustainable Food Production System That Provides Research Projects for Undergraduate Engineering Students

Aquaponics is a closed-loop, recirculating water system in which plants and fish grow together mutualistically. Aquaponics resembles a natural river or lake basin in which fish waste serves as nutrients for the plants, which in turn clean the water for the fish. Tilapia and salad greens or herbs are common fish and plants grown in an aquaponics system. The external inputs to an aquaponics system are fish food, minimal amount of water, and energy for lighting and heating the water for the fish and plants. Aquaponics is a sustainable, efficient system to raise fish protein and vegetables for human consumption. Aquaponics systems can be located anywhere in the world where there is adequate energy with a minimal amount of water. Aquaponics is particularly suited to arid climates because it uses much less water to grow plants than soil-based systems. In fact, the only water that is lost is evaporation and transpiration from the plants. Although the field of aquaponics is growing world-wide, the capital and operational costs of producing the plants and fish have not been quantified intensively in the peer-reviewed literature. The relationship between the amount of external energy (fish food plus energy for light and heat) to the output (weight of fish and plants) has not been measured well for aquaponics units in temperate climates. The lack of quantification of the input-output has suppressed aquaponics progress because it is difficult to compare the cost of fish and salad greens grown with aquaponics and conventional methods, such as aquaculture and soil-based methods. The diverse nature of aquaponics and the need to quantify the relationship between input-output presents opportunities for research projects for undergraduate engineering students in Mechanical, Electrical, and Civil Engineering. The following are examples: Sensors: What type of sensors are ideal to measure air and water temperature, water PH, dissolved O2, and nitrates? Thermodynamics: What type of water heating system is most efficient to maintain desirable water and air temperature? Water Quality: What are the optimal methods to filter out the solid fish waste (feces) and introduce necessary bacteria into the system? Hydraulics: What size of pump and diameter of pipe are needed to maintain optimal flow rate? System Design: What are the optimal ratios between fish tank volume and grow area volume? What is the optimal drop in water level between components to utilize the gravity system? Marquette University College of Engineering is building a laboratory to conduct aquaponics research. The design of the system along with the lessons learned will be presented, along with a detailed list of specific projects for engineering students. Lessons learned from this research will aid the development of aquaponics in temperate climates but also possibly in subtropical and tropical region

The Efficacy of Sexualized Female Models in Young Adult-Male Oriented Cigarette Advertising

This paper explores the portrayal (efficacy) of female models in male-targeted cigarette print advertisements through a content analysis (experiment). We first describe the presence and portrayal of females through a content analysis on male-targeted cigarette advertisements in magazines; we find that, in aggregate, females are often used as sexually attractive decoration, and the overall female portrayal is fundamentally different (and unequal) to that of the male. We next investigate the efficacy of these portrayals through an experiment among young adult-aged male smokers and nonsmokers. Our experimental findings indicate that these sexually charged advertisements generate superior attitudinal results in non-smoking males than smoking males, a finding that – in conjunction with the portrayal of females in the content analysis – suggests potential societal and public policy implications

Contingent Effects of Humor Type and Cognitive Style on Consumer Attitudes

In the spirit of examining humor contextually, we consider a basic question in this essay: do different humor types “play by the same rules,” cognitively speaking? We examine the relationship between humor and cognitive processing style, as operationalized through Need for Cognition. We find that humor based on disparagement processes “breaks through” the cognitive differences inherent in incongruity humor. Rather than exhibiting incongruity-based humor’s affective response transferring to attitude for low-NFC subjects, and more centrally-employing high NFC subjects’ higher tendency to dismiss the humor’s effect on overall attitude, disparagement based humor is processed the same by both low- and high-NFC respondents. Overall, our findings suggest that the relationship between cognitive processing (as operationalized through Need for Cognition) and resultant attitudes is a complicated one, strongly contingent on humor type. Were only incongruity-based humor utilized, our findings would have reinforced Zhang’s (Psychol Mark 13:531–545, 1996b) assertion that a person’s Need for Cognition will play a key role in the evaluation of humor, but our results suggest that a more complex conceptualization of the relationship between humor and attitude formation is required when humor is treated as a potentially more complicated, context-dependent construct