Hábitos y preferencias del consumidor de café especial en el Quindío

En Colombia y en el mundo, el consumo de café ha venido aumentando en los últimos años, pero de manera sofisticada, por lo cual las tiendas de café especial se han ganado un espacio importante en las preferencias de los consumidores con un aumento en su número y variedad, y el departamento del Quindío no es la excepción -- De otro lado, los consumidores son cada vez más exigentes y su decisión de compra está más orientada hacia la experiencia, la sostenibilidad ambiental, la cultura y el bienestar -- El poder adquisitivo en los países emergentes, entre los que se encuentra Colombia, ha aumentado, lo que trae como consecuencia que el consumidor de café evolucione y exija un café especial, de calidad, de origen y con preparaciones diferentes -- Por tal motivo, el presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo plantear estrategias que atiendan los hábitos y preferencias de los consumidores de café especial para incrementar su consumo en el departamento del Quindío -- Se determinó, entonces la utilización de técnicas de investigación para conocer la percepción de los expertos en tiendas de café a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas y para describir hábitos e identificar preferencias del consumidor de café especial por medio de encuestas, lo que permitió conocer el comportamiento del consumidor del mismo en el Quindío mediante el análisis de la relación entre la percepción de los expertos y la opinión de los consumidores

Modelo de negocio para una aplicación interactiva móvil de publicidad de locales comerciales en centros comerciales de la ciudad de Medellín

Este documento contiene los resultados de una investigación para estructurar un modelo de negocio para una aplicación interactiva móvil de publicidad para locales comerciales de los centros comerciales de la ciudad de Medellín -- Una vez identificadas las necesidades de los clientes de los centros comerciales de ubicarse dentro de los mismos y de acceder a información de interés, como ubicación de baños, seguridad, etc., desde su teléfono celular, surge también la oportunidad de ofrecer publicidad digital móvil a los locales comerciales para que puedan atraer a sus consumidores, tras informar de las promociones, eventos y ofertas que tienen para sus clientes -- Esto se resolvió con un modelo de negocio construido según la metodología Lean Startup de Eric Ries y con la ayuda del lienzo Canvas de Alex Osterwalder, en el que se analizan el segmento de clientes, la propuesta de valor por entregar a usuarios, la monetización del negocio, los recursos necesarios para su consecución, las alianzas clave y demás ítems que hicieron posible una investigación de mercado profunda, que se vio plasmada en una aplicación móvil de publicidad digital que integra las características del modelo de negocio realizado -- Con la ayuda de Ruta N y de NXTPLabs e investigación realizada por el autor se analizaron los conceptos básicos de estrategia, modelo de negocio y tipos y herramientas aplicables al proyecto; también se acudió a investigación cualitativa a través de entrevistas y encuestas a los actores más significativos del modelo de negocio como son usuarios, locales comerciales, centros comerciales, mentores entre otros, que supieron compartir su experiencia para lograr los objetivos del presente trabajo de grado

Principais fatores motivacionais na compra de livros de ficção

O presente projeto de Mestrado assenta no estudo dos principais fatores motivacionais na compra de livros de ficção, aprofundando a dicotomia uso próprio versus oferta, englobando duas perspetivas complementares: a sustentação bibliográfica e uma pesquisa quantitativa que foi concretizada através da distribuição de um inquérito por questionário, em formato digital, que permitiu obter 487 respostas válidas e completas. Os dados obtidos foram tratados no SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), utilizando análises descritivas, que foram complementadas com técnicas de inferência estatística. Os resultados permitiram concluir que, apesar de homens e mulheres oferecerem um número idêntico de livros, as mulheres compram e leem mais. Além disso, cerca de um terço dos livros comprados destina-se a oferta. Ficou ainda provado que a interação com os autores nas redes sociais apresenta uma associação positiva com a importância atribuida a esse fator na hora de comprar o(s) livro(s). As mulheres são mais sensíveis às “Políticas de Marketing” (Atendimento Personalizado; Facilidade de Pagamento; Local com Cartão de Fidelização; Preços e Descontos; Elevada quantidade de livros), enquanto critérios de seleção do local de compra. Importa referir que a compra é concretizada de forma menos impulsiva quando o livro é para oferta. Os atributos da capa mais relevantes no processo de decisão de compra são o “Título” e a “Sinopse”. Contudo, os diferentes fatores da capa estudados não apresentam diferenças significativas na compra para uso próprio comparativamente à oferta, no que respeita à sua importância. “Autores com prémios literários” e “Nobel” e “Ser uma novidade” (livro) são outros fatores (não da capa) que apresentam diferenças significativas favoráveis à compra para oferta. Por outro lado, “Recomendação de Amigos e Familiares” e “Presença/Ligação/Interação com o Autor nas redes sociais” são mais favoráveis à compra para uso próprio. As conclusões são relevantes para enquadrar as preferências dos consumidores, possibilitando aos profissionais do marketing algumas referências para definir estratégias que respondam às suas necessidades e ambições. Além disso, ao explorar a dimensão dos submercados (Uso próprio versus Oferta), será possível ir ao encontro das exigências dos compradores, tornando a subjetividade da aquisição/utilização numa ferramenta eficaz da própria idealização e personalização dos livros, permitindo conceber e implementar ideias empreendedoras que visem estimular a compra e, consequentemente, melhorar os hábitos de leitura de todos os portugueses.

Production and characterization of an alcoholic fermented beverage from grape must and beer wort

Mestrado Vinifera Euromaster - Instituto Superior de Agronomia - UL

Four Essays of Environmental Risk-Mitigation

Expected damages of environmental risks depend both on their intensities and probabilities. There is very little control over probabilities of climate related disasters such as hurricanes. Therefore, researchers of social science are interested identifying preparation and mitigation measures that build human resilience to disasters and avoid serious loss. Conversely, environmental degradation, which is a process through which the natural environment is compromised in some way, has been accelerated by human activities. As scientists are finding effective ways on how to prevent and reduce pollution, the society often fails to adopt these effective preventive methods. Researchers of psychological and contextual characterization offer specific lessons for policy interventions that encourage human efforts to reduce pollution. This dissertation addresses four discussions of effective policy regimes encouraging pro-environmental preference in consumption and production, and promoting risk mitigation behavior in the face of natural hazards. The first essay describes how the speed of adoption of environment friendly technologies is driven largely by consumers’ preferences and their learning dynamics rather than producers’ choice. The second essay is an empirical analysis of a choice experiment to understand preferences for energy efficient investments. The empirical analysis suggests that subjects tend to increase energy efficient investment when they pay a pollution tax proportional to the total expenditure on energy consumption. However, investments in energy efficiency seem to be crowded out when subjects have the option to buy health insurance to cover pollution related health risks. In context of hurricane risk mitigation and in evidence of recently adopted My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) program by the State of Florida, the third essay shows that households with home insurance, prior experience with damages, and with a higher sense of vulnerability to be affected by hurricanes are more likely to allow home inspection to seek mitigation information. The fourth essay evaluates the impact of utility disruption on household well being based on the responses of a household-level phone survey in the wake of hurricane Wilma. Findings highlight the need for significant investment to enhance the capacity of rapid utility restoration after a hurricane event in the context of South Florida.

Patients' and physicians' preferences for type 2 diabetes mellitus treatments in Spain and Portugal: a discrete choice experiment.

OBJECTIVE To assess Spanish and Portuguese patients' and physicians' preferences regarding type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) treatments and the monthly willingness to pay (WTP) to gain benefits or avoid side effects. METHODS An observational, multicenter, exploratory study focused on routine clinical practice in Spain and Portugal. Physicians were recruited from multiple hospitals and outpatient clinics, while patients were recruited from eleven centers operating in the public health care system in different autonomous communities in Spain and Portugal. Preferences were measured via a discrete choice experiment by rating multiple T2DM medication attributes. Data were analyzed using the conditional logit model. RESULTS Three-hundred and thirty (n=330) patients (49.7% female; mean age 62.4 [SD: 10.3] years, mean T2DM duration 13.9 [8.2] years, mean body mass index 32.5 [6.8] kg/m(2), 41.8% received oral + injected medication, 40.3% received oral, and 17.6% injected treatments) and 221 physicians from Spain and Portugal (62% female; mean age 41.9 [SD: 10.5] years, 33.5% endocrinologists, 66.5% primary-care doctors) participated. Patients valued avoiding a gain in bodyweight of 3 kg/6 months (WTP: €68.14 [95% confidence interval: 54.55-85.08]) the most, followed by avoiding one hypoglycemic event/month (WTP: €54.80 [23.29-82.26]). Physicians valued avoiding one hypoglycemia/week (WTP: €287.18 [95% confidence interval: 160.31-1,387.21]) the most, followed by avoiding a 3 kg/6 months gain in bodyweight and decreasing cardiovascular risk (WTP: €166.87 [88.63-843.09] and €154.30 [98.13-434.19], respectively). Physicians and patients were willing to pay €125.92 (73.30-622.75) and €24.28 (18.41-30.31), respectively, to avoid a 1% increase in glycated hemoglobin, and €143.30 (73.39-543.62) and €42.74 (23.89-61.77) to avoid nausea. CONCLUSION Both patients and physicians in Spain and Portugal are willing to pay for the health benefits associated with improved diabetes treatment, the most important being to avoid hypoglycemia and gaining weight. Decreased cardiovascular risk and weight reduction became the third most valued attributes for physicians and patients, respectively.

Substrate and depth preferences of macroinvertebrates along a transect in a Pyrenean high mountain lake (Estanh Redo, NE Spain)

Se estudia la composiciÛn y estructura de la comunidad de macroinvertebrados a lo largo de un transecto en profundidad en el lago Redó (Pirineos). Este estudio se enmarca dentro del proyecto de ámbito europeo MOLAR (Mountain Lake Research). Un equipo de buceadores muestreo dos tipos de substrato, piedras y fondos blandos, cada 2 m desde los 2 a los 20 m de profundidad. En la parte m·s profunda del lago las muestras se tomaron con draga Ekman (tres rÈplicas). Todas las muestras se tomaron el mismo día, el 15 de Julio de 1997. Los resultados, mediante un análisis de autocorrelación de Mantel, muestran que no existe un gradiente continuo en la sustituciÛn de unas especies por otras en la comunidad sobre substrato rocoso, sino que se distinguen dos discontinuidades claras, una a los 4 metros y otra a los 14 metros. La primera separa las especies propias de la zona litoral respecto a las de la zona sublitoral, mientras que la segunda coincide con la parte inferior de la termoclina, una zona siempre mas frÌa, con menos luz y con mayor acumulación de material fino sobre los sustratos duros a la vez que desaparece la cobertura algal que cubrÌa las piedras hasta esta profundidad. Respecto al sustrato existen especies que claramente prefieren el sustrato blando (oligoquetos, o los quironÛmidos Micropsectra radialis y Pseudodiamesa nivosa), mientras que otras eran más abundantes o exclusivas de los sustratos duros (Radix peregra, Plectrocnemia laetabilis, Psectrocladius octomaculatus). Estos resultados seran muy útiles para la interpretaciÛn de los datos paleolimnolÛgicos de los cores que actualmente se est·n estudiando en el lago.

Organic consumers' attitudes and preferences regarding alternatives to piglet castration without anaesthesia and analgesia in organic farming - an explorative analysis

In Germany and other European countries piglets are routinely castrated in order to avoid the occurrence of boar taint, an off-flavour and off-odour of pork. Sensory perception of boar taint varies; however, it is regarded as very unpleasant by many people. Surgical castration which is an effective means against boar taint has commonly been performed without anaesthesia or analgesia within the piglets’ first seven days of life. Piglet castration without anaesthesia has been heavily criticised, as the assumption that young piglets perceive less pain than older animals cannot be supported by scientific evidence. Consequently, surgical castration is only allowed with anaesthesia and/or analgesia in organic farming throughout the European Union since January 2012. Abandoning piglet castration without pain relief requires the implementation of alternative methods which improve animal welfare while maintaining sensory meat quality. There are three relevant alternatives: castration with anaesthesia and/or analgesia to reduce pain, a vaccination against boar taint (immunocastration) and the fattening of uncastrated male pigs (fattening of boars) combined with measures to reduce and detect boar taint in meat. Consumers’ attitudes and opinions regarding the alternatives are an important factor with regard to the implementation of alternatives, as they are finally supposed to buy the meat. The objective of this dissertation was to explore organic consumers’ attitudes, preferences and willingness-to-pay regarding piglet castration without pain relief and the three alternatives. Important aspects for the evaluation of the alternatives and influencing factors (e.g. information, taste) on preferences and willingness-to-pay should also be identified. In autumn 2009 nine focus group discussions were conducted each followed by a Vickrey auction including a tasting of boar salami. Overall, 89 consumers of organic pork participated in the study. Information on piglet castration and alternatives (in three variants) was provided as a basis for discussion. The focus group data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. In order to compare the focus group results with those from the auctions, an innovative approach applying an adapted scoring model to further analyse the data set was used. The majority of participants were not aware that piglets are castrated without anaesthesia in organic farming. They reacted shocked and disappointed on learning about this practice which did not fit into their image of animal welfare standards in organic farming. Overall, the results show, that for consumers of organic pork castration with anaesthesia and analgesia as well as the fattening of boars may be acceptable alternatives in organic farming. Considering the strong food safety concerns regarding immunocastration, acceptance of this alternative may be questioned. Communication regarding alternatives to piglet castration without anaesthesia and analgesia should take into account that the relevance of the aspects animal welfare, food safety, taste and costs differs between alternatives. Furthermore, it seems advisable not to address an unappetizing topic like piglet castration directly at the point of sale so as not to deter consumers from buying organic pork. The issue of piglet castration demonstrates exemplarily that it is important for the organic sector to implement and maintain high animal welfare standards and communicate them in an appropriate way, thereby trying to prevent strong discrepancies between consumers’ expectations regarding animal husbandry in organic farming and actual conditions. So, disappointment of consumers and a loss of image due to negative reports about animal welfare issues can be avoided.

Olive oils from Campos de Hellin (Spain) exhibit significant varietal differences in fatty acid composition, sterol fraction, and oxidative stability

The Spanish region of Campos de Hellin (Albacete) is characterized by a wide range of olive varieties (Arbequina, Benizal, Cornicabra, Cuquillo, Injerta, Manzanilla Local, Manzanilla de Sevilla, Negrilla, Picual), which provides different physicochemical and sensory characteristics to the oils. Thus, the knowledge of these characteristics may help develop more balanced oils. Monovarietal virgin olive oils from the different varieties grown in this area were characterized from the physicochemical and sensory points of view during four consecutive years. Clear differences among the varieties were found when principal component analysis was applied to the data from the studied parameters. The varieties were grouped according to their oleic and linoleic acid content, oxidative stability, and campesterol and total sterols content. The differences were significant with a 95% confidence level. The variety effect on the oil characteristics was stronger than the effect of the crop year. Practical applications: Chemical and sensory characteristics of monovarietal virgin olive oils play an important role in the elaboration of blends. In olive-growing regions where there is more than one variety cultivated, the characterization of monovarietal oils could increase the value of the olive oil produced due to the development of more balanced oils tailored to the preferences of consumers. This work shows that the chemical and sensory differences between varieties make possible the elaboration of a new range of virgin olive oils. This could encourage the development and marketing of quality oils, and thus increase the competitiveness of the mills in the oil market.

Slow fashion and sustainability in Spain: How can local manufacturing improve sustainability and how do consumers respond?

"Slow Fashion" attempts to offset the demand for fast fashion and mass production (Fletcher, 2007). Consumers' response to sustainability-based practices is a limited discourse and studies for slow fashion concept are scarce. This study thus aims to enlighten the subject of how slow fashion concept could improve local economies and how Spanish consumers respond to such initiatives. This paper is based on an exploratory qualitative research for which focus group interviews including three group discussions with Spanish consumers were held. The data was examined by constant comparison analysis to present consumer insights. Moreover, a case study was conducted with a Spanish apparel brand. Saint Brissant was chosen since it manufactures in Spain to (i) ensure its products? high quality and (ii) to empower Spanish economy. This paper provides empirical insights. Even though local manufacturing was perceived to have a higher quality, Spanish consumers? behavioural intentions of using local brands were not high.Self-interest, mainly price and design, was recorded as the most influential purchase criteria. Furthermore, Saint Brissant case demonstrated that local manufacturing could boost local economies by creating workforce. However, governmental subsidies should be rearranged and consumers? perceptions should be improved to support local manufacturers in Spain.

Examining retirement housing preferences among international retiree migrants

Housing demand models based on individual consumer’s utility function reflect preferences about the structure and lot, neighborhood, and location as related to socioeconomic characteristics of the occupants. As a growing proportion of aging residents in many countries are undertaking late life moves, their preferences will have an influence on destination housing markets. We examine the characteristics, attitudes and preferences about retirement housing among immigrant retirees currently living in traditional housing in a retirement destination in Alicante, Spain. Using results from a survey of German and British retirees living in the region, we find through logistic regression that preference for retirement housing is associated with aging and gaining access to in-home support services.

Canned fish and shellfish preferences of household consumers, 1956 : results of a national survey conducted under contract to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Chiefly tables.

Preferences of Hungarian consumers for quality, access and price attributes of health care services — result of a discrete choice experiment

In 2010, a household survey was carried out in Hungary among 1037 respondents to study consumer preferences and willingness to pay for health care services. In this paper, we use the data from the discrete choice experiments included in the survey, to elicit the preferences of health care consumers about the choice of health care providers. Regression analysis is used to estimate the effect of the improvement of service attributes (quality, access, and price) on patients’ choice, as well as the differences among the socio-demographic groups. We also estimate the marginal willingness to pay for the improvement in attribute levels by calculating marginal rates of substitution. The results show that respondents from a village or the capital, with low education and bad health status are more driven by the changes in the price attribute when choosing between health care providers. Respondents value the good skills and reputation of the physician and the attitude of the personnel most, followed by modern equipment and maintenance of the office/hospital. Access attributes (travelling and waiting time) are less important. The method of discrete choice experiment is useful to reveal patients’ preferences, and might support the development of an evidence-based and sustainable health policy on patient payments.

Preferences of domestic and imported mandarins in Bali, Indonesia

Four focus group discussions were held to determine the salient attributes of mandarins in the minds of Balinese consumers. Taste panel findings of 26 untrained panellists showed that imported mandarins were significantly preferred for taste, texture and overall quality. Domestic mandarin segments averaged higher than imported ones on appearance, but the difference was not significant. Gold skin colour was preferred.

The influence of price changes on consumers' purchase decisions

The development of an effective pricing strategy requires the acquaintance of consumers’ price perception as well as the range of elements that influence the price sensitivity. This paper analyses the relationships between product features, individual characteristics and the level of price increase/decrease that induces the consumers to change their purchase decisions. The results of a dedicated survey show, that price sensitivity, individual preferences, type of product and direction of price change and individual characteristics of consumers (gender, age, professional situation) have a significant impact on a threshold at which people are willing to choose the less attractive, but cheaper alternative to their favorite product or give up the variety in consumption. From a consumer behavior perspective, these findings play a fundamental role in pricing.