Influence of personality factors on the consumption of personal care products

This research was undertaken with the primary objective of explaining differences in consumption of personal care products using personality variables. Several streams of research reported were reviewed and a conceptual model was developed. Theories on the relationship between self concept and behaviour was reviewed and the need to use individual difference variables to conceptualize and measure the salient dimensions of the self were emphasized. Theories relating to social comparison, eating disorders, role of idealized media images in shaping the self-concept, evidence on cosmetic surgery and persuasibility were reviewed in the study. These came from diverse fields like social psychology, use of cosmetics, women studies, media studies, self-concept literature in psychology and consumer research, and marketing. From the review three basic dimensions, namely self-evaluation, self-awareness and persuasibility were identified and they were posited to be related to consumption. Several personality variables from these conceptual domains were identified and factor analysis confirmed the expected structure fitting the basic theoretical dimensions. Demographic variables like gender and income were also considered.It was found that self-awareness measured by the variable public self-consciousness explain differences in consumption of personal care products. The relationship between public self-consciousness and consumption was found to be most conspicuous in cases of poor self-, evaluation measured by self-esteem. Susceptibility to advertising also was found to explain differences in consumption.From the research, it may be concluded that personality variables are useful for explaining consumption and they must be used together to explain and understand the process. There may not be obvious and conspicuous links between individual measures and behaviour in marketing. However, when used in proper combination and with the help oftheoretical models personality offers considerable explanatory power as illustrated in the seventy five percent accuracy rate of prediction obtained in binary logistic regression.

Influence of residual cations (Na+, K+ and Mg2+) in the alkylation activity of benzene with 1-octene over rare earth metal ion exchanged FAU–Y zeolite

The effect of residual cations in rare earth metal modified faujasite–Y zeolite has been monitored using magic angle spinning NMR spectral analysis and catalytic activity studies. The second metal ions being used are Na+, K+ and Mg+. From a comparison of the spectra of different samples, it is concluded that potassium and magnesium exchange causes a greater downfield shift in the 29Si NMR peaks. Also, lanthanum exchanged samples show migration behavior from large cages to small cages, which causes the redistribution of second counter cations. It is also observed that Mg2+ causes the most effective migration of lanthanum ions due to its greater charge. The prepared systems were effectively employed for the alkylation of benzene with 1-octene in the vapor phase. From the deactivation studies it is observed that the as-exchanged zeolites possess better stability towards reaction condition over the pure HFAU zeolite.

Influence of personality factors on the consumption of personal care products

The study is significant from both an application perspective of marketing management as well as from an academic angle. The market for personal care products is a highly fragmented one, with intense competition for specific niche segments. It is well known in marketing literature that the bulk of the volume of sale is accounted for by the minority who are the heavy users. This study will help the marketers to identify the personality profile of such a group and understand how the interaction of personality factors at least partially explains differences in consumption. This knowledge might be useful for better segmentation using psychographic variables as well as for designing specific advertisement campaigns to target the vulnerable groups of customers. From a theoretical perspective, the research may contribute to understanding how specific personality variables and their interaction lead to differences in consumption. The knowledge corresponding to self theory, social comparison theory, persuasibility, evidence from psychology of eating disorders: these all may be integrated into a common frame work for explaining consumption of products having a social function.

Molecular breakdown of different forms of natural rubber and its influence on properties of their mixes and vulcanizates

The forms of natural rubber studied were sheet [RSS 4 and RSS 5], ISNR 20 and EBC. In the case of the latter two forms samples from estate and nonestate sectors were included. The samples were collected from different locations at specified intervals, for a particular period. The effect of the extent of mastication on raw rubber properties as well as the properties of the compounds and vulcanizates also studied. The consistency in raw rubber properties and breakdown behavior of skim rubber were studied by collecting samples periodically from selected processing units. The effect of incorporation of skim with ISNR 20 has also been investigated