Brand democratization and customer brand engagement: understanding the customer-brand power distance

Tese de doutoramento em Marketing and StrategyMarcas de luxo, anteriormente acessíveis à elite da sociedade estão agora a ser comercializadas para um segmento maior do mercado, isto pode ser atribuído principalmente ao processo de democratização da marca (DB). No entanto, no context académico há uma falta de escrutínio sobre a influência da democratização da marca de luxo e o seu impacto no envolvimento do cliente em relação à marca. Para explorar os pressupostos sublinhados da democratização da marca e do envolvimento do cliente-marca, desenvolveu-se um modelo conceptual baseado na literatura proporcionando um entendimento mais profundo da democratização da marca. Utilizando uma metodologia predominantemente quantitativa de recolha de dados, esta pesquisa explora os pressupostos subjacentes a uma marca de luxo mais democrática, conduzindo três estudos. O estudo 1 explora o construto da democratização da marca através de uma revisão sistemática da literatura e identificando várias dimensões que apoiam uma melhor compreensão do conceito. O estudo 2 desenvolve uma escala de democratização da marca baseada na acessibilidade e comunicação, enquanto o estudo 3 testa a relação entre a democratização da marca e o envolvimento do cliente com a marca (ECM). Os resultados revelam o impacto positivo da democratização da marca no envolvimento do cliente com a marca, apelando assim a mais investigação sobre o impacto mediador das interacções cliente-marca. O controlo e o empowerment que os consumidores/clientes de marcas de luxo desejam exercer sobre as marcas foram considerados como moderadores sobre a relação entre DB e ECM. Globalmente, os resultados confirmam as hipóteses, revelando que variáveis como o "eu ideal", a auto-congruência com a marca e o prestígio em massa, têm um impacto positivo na democratização da marca. Este estudo empírico sobre a democratização da marca apresenta vários avanços teóricos e visa ajudar as marcas de luxo a desenvolver uma estratégia coerente a longo prazo para gerir desafios únicos.Luxury brands which were once accessible to the elite of the society are now being marketed to a larger segment of the market, this can be mainly attributed to the process of brand democratization (BD). However much academic scrutiny on the influence of democratization and its consequent impact on customer brand engagement is lacking. To explore the underlined assumptions of brand democratization and customer-brand engagement preliminary conceptual model and the existing literature, advocates for a deeper understanding into brand democratization. Using pre-dominantly quantitative methods of data collection, this research explores the underlying assumptions of a more democratic brand by simultaneously conducting three studies, study one primarily explored brand democratization through a systematic review of the literature and identified several dimensions which support a better understanding of the construct. Study 2 helped develop brand democratization scale based on accessibility and communication while study 3 tested and confirmed the relationship between brand democratization and customer brand engagement (CBE). The results revealed positive impact of brand democratization on customer brand engagement thus calling for further investigations on the mediating impact of customer-brand interactions. The control and empowerment that luxury brand consumers/customers wish to exert on brands were taken into consideration while study for the moderating impact on the relationship between BD and CBE. Overall, the results were favourable to the hypothesized statements, revealing that predictors such as ideal-self, self-congruity with the brand and mass-prestige to have positive impact on brand democratization This academic empirical exploration on brand democratization therefore provides several theoretical advancements and aims to assist luxury brands in developing a coherent long-term strategy to manage unique challenges

Embedded Speech Technology

openEnd-to-End models in Automatic Speech Recognition simplify the speech recognition process. They convert audio data directly into text representation without exploiting multiple stages and systems. This direct approach is efficient and reduces potential points of error. On the contrary, Sequence-to-Sequence models adopt a more integrative approach where they use distinct models for retrieving the acoustic and language-specific features, which are respectively known as acoustic and language models. This integration allows for better coordination between different speech aspects, potentially leading to more accurate transcriptions. In this thesis, we explore various Speech-to-Text (STT) models, mainly focusing on End-to-End and Sequence-to-Sequence techniques. We also look into using offline STT tools such as Wav2Vec2.0, Kaldi and Vosk. These tools face challenges when handling new voice data or various accents of the same language. To address this challenge, we fine-tune the models to make them better at handling new, unseen data. Through our comparison, Wav2Vec2.0 emerged as the top performer, though with a larger model size. Our approach also proves that using Kaldi and Vosk together creates a robust STT system that can identify new words using phonemes

Ovisnost metalurških svojstava kubnih kristala o titranju rešetke

The Debye-Waller thermal parameter B is a measure of the mean-square amplitude of atomic vibrations hu2i. For monoatomic cubic crystals in which the vibrations are isotropic, B = 8πhu2i/3. In this study, it is observed that various metallurgical properties, e.g., ultimate tensile strength, creep-onset temperature, recrystallisation temperature, activation energy for grain boundary self-diffusion, solubility limit, etc. of cubic elements are a unique function of their B-factors. The power regression formula Y = Y0(B/B0)M depicts the correlation between a metallurgical property Y and the Debye-Waller thermal parameter B. The regression coefficient Y0 and regression power M are determined by the least-squares method, while B0 is a constant which makes the equation dimensionally homogeneous.Debye-Wallerov termički parametar B je mjera srednje-kvadratne amplitude atomskog titranja hu2i. Za monoatomske kubne kristale, koji pokazuju isotropno titranje, B = 8πhu2i/3. U ovom se radu pokazuje kako se niz metalurških svojstava, npr., čvrstoća, temperatura pojave plastične deformacije, temperatura rekristalizacije, aktivacijska energija za difuziju kroz granice kristalića, granica topivosti i druga, elemenata kubne strukture, mogu prikazati jednim izrazom kao funkcije njihovih B-faktora. Regresijska relacija Y = Y0(B/B0)M daje tu korelaciju metalurškog svojstva i Debye-Wallerovog termičkog parametra B. Regresijski koeficijent Y0 i regresijski eksponent M određuju se metodom najmanjih kvadrata, dok je B0 konstanta kojom se postiže dimenzijska homogenost relacije

Corruption and police legitimacy in Lahore, Pakistan

Police legitimacy is an important topic of criminological research, yet it has received only sporadic study in societies where there is widespread police corruption, where the position of the police is less secure, and where social order is more tenuous. Analysing data from a probability sample survey of adults in Lahore, Pakistan, we examine the empirical links between people’s experience of police corruption, their perceptions of the fairness and effectiveness of the police, and their beliefs about the legitimacy of the police. Our findings suggest that in a context in which minimal effectiveness and integrity is yet to be established, police legitimacy may rest not just on the procedural fairness of officers, but also on their demonstrated ability to control crime and avoid corruption

The influence of social and cultural practices on maternal mortality: a qualitative study from South Punjab, Pakistan

Background: A disproportionately high rate of maternal deaths is reported in developing and underdeveloped regions of the world. Much of this is associated with social and cultural factors, which form barriers to women utilizing appropriate maternal healthcare. A huge body of research is available on maternal mortality in developing countries. Nevertheless, there is a lack of literature on the socio-cultural factors leading to maternal mortality within the context of the Three Delays Model. The current study aims to explore socio-cultural factors leading to a delay in seeking care in maternal healthcare in South Punjab, Pakistan. Methods: We used a qualitative method and performed three types of data collection with different target groups: (1) 60 key informant interviews with gynaecologists, (2) four focus group discussions with Lady Health Workers (LHWs), and (3) ten case studies among family members of deceased mothers. The study was conducted in Dera Ghazi Khan, situated in South Punjab, Pakistan. The data was analysed with the help of thematic analysis. Results: The study identified that delay in seeking care-and the potentially resulting maternal mortality-is more likely to occur in Pakistan due to certain social and cultural factors. Poor socioeconomic status, limited knowledge about maternal care, and financial constraints among rural people were the main barriers to seeking care. The low status of women and male domination keeps women less empowered. The preference for traditional birth attendants results in maternal deaths. In addition, early marriages and lack of family planning, which are deeply entrenched in cultural values, religion and traditions-e.g., the influence of traditional or spiritual healers-prevented young girls from obtaining maternal healthcare. Conclusion The prevalence of high maternal mortality is deeply alarming in Pakistan. The uphill struggle to reduce deaths among pregnant women is firmly rooted in addressing certain socio-cultural practices, which create constraints for women seeking maternal care. The focus on poverty reduction and enhancing decision-making power is essential for supporting women's right to medical care.Plain language summary Round the world, many women are dying because of complications during pregnancy or in childbirth. These deaths are more frequent in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some reasons for this are related to social and cultural factors, which form barriers to women using appropriate maternal healthcare. Therefore, this study aims to explore socio-cultural factors leading to a delay in seeking maternal healthcare in South Punjab, Pakistan. We interviewed a variety of people to get an overview of this topic: (1) 60 interviews were conducted with gynaecologists, (2) we performed four focus group discussions with eight to ten Lady Health Workers providing maternal healthcare, and (3) we talked with family members of mothers who had died. The study shows that delays in seeking care are related to poor socioeconomic status, limited knowledge about maternal care, and low incomes of rural people. The low status of women and male domination keeps women less empowered. In addition, early marriages and lack of family planning due to cultural values, religion and traditions stopped young girls from getting maternal healthcare. The number of new mothers who die is very worrying in Pakistan. One of the important tasks for reducing deaths among pregnant women is to address certain socio-cultural practices. It is very important to reduce poverty and improve decision-making power to make sure women can use their right to medical care

Consanguineous marriages and their association with women’s reproductive health and fertility behavior in Pakistan: secondary data analysis from Demographic and Health Surveys, 1990–2018

Background: Pakistan has been showing consistently the highest prevalence of consanguinity. The popularity of consanguineous marriages is not declining in the country, because of social, cultural, and religious beliefs as well as economic advantages. However, couples also face various health-related implications, such as poor pregnancy outcomes or multiple reproductive and fertility consequences, having adverse effects on mothers and their children. This research investigated the trend of consanguineous marriages and their association with women's reproductive health and fertility behavior in Pakistan from 1990 to 2018. Methods: This study is based on secondary data analysis, using all four waves of the Pakistan Demographic Health Surveys carried out from 1990 to 2018. The analysis is limited to women aged 15-49 years, who had given birth in the previous five years preceding each survey. Sampling weights were calculated and subsequently weighted analysis was conducted. Descriptive statistics, bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed to determine the association of consanguinity with multiple characteristics related to socio-demographics, co-variates, and women's reproductive health and fertility behaviors. Results: The findings revealed a high but overall stable trend of consanguinity prevalence of about 63% during the last three decades. Consanguineous marriages were more prevalent amongst young and uneducated women, living in rural areas, with poorer wealth status and having less exposure to mass media to access information. A strong association of consanguinity was observed with women's reproductive health and fertility behavior, particularly for women who gave first birth at a younger age, had multi-gravida pregnancies, multi-parity, pregnancy termination, ANC visits, and higher fertility. Conclusion: Consanguineous marriages are predominant in the patriarchal society of Pakistan. Findings revealed that consanguinity contributes significantly to women's reproductive health and fertility behaviors. Appropriate counseling, educational, and health promotional programs related to consanguinity should be designed and launched at the community level to raise awareness about risks towards women's reproductive health and fertility

Simpson type inequalities and applications

A new generalized integral identity involving first order differentiable functions is obtained. Using this identity as an auxiliary result, we then obtain some new refinements of Simpson type inequalities using a new class called as strongly (s, m)-convex functions of higher order of \sigma >0. We also discuss some interesting applications of the obtained results in the theory of means. In last we present applications of the obtained results in obtaining Simpson-like quadrature formula

Environmental footprint assessment of a cleanup at hypothetical contaminated site

Contaminated site management is currently a critical problem area all over the world, which opens a wide discussion in the areas of policy, research and practice at national and international levels. Conventional site management and remediation techniques are often aimed at reducing the contaminant levels to an acceptable level in a short period of time at low cost. Owing to the fact that the conventional approach may not be sustainable as it overlooks many ancillary environmental effects, there is an immense need of “sustainable” or “green” approaches. Green approaches address environmental, social and economic impacts throughout the remediation process and are capable of conserving the natural resources and protecting air, water and soil quality through reduced emissions and other waste burdens. This paper presents a methodology to quantify the environmental footprint of a cleanup for a hypothetical contaminated site by using the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Spreadsheet for Environmental Footprint Assessment (SEFA). The hypothetical contaminated site is selected from a metropolitan city of Pakistan and the environmental footprint of the cleanup is analyzed under three different scenarios: cleanup without any renewable energy sources at all, cleanup with a small share of renewable energy sources, and cleanup with a large share of renewable energy sources. It is concluded that integration of renewable energy sources into the remedial system design is a promising idea which can reduce CO2, NOx, SOx, PM and HAP emissions up to 68%