Informed recommender: basing recommendations on consumer product reviews

Recommender systems attempt to predict items in which a user might be interested, given some information about the user's and items' profiles. Most existing recommender systems use content-based or collaborative filtering methods or hybrid methods that combine both techniques (see the sidebar for more details). We created Informed Recommender to address the problem of using consumer opinion about products, expressed online in free-form text, to generate product recommendations. Informed recommender uses prioritized consumer product reviews to make recommendations. Using text-mining techniques, it maps each piece of each review comment automatically into an ontology

Informed recommender: basing recommendations on consumer product reviews

Recommender systems attempt to predict items in which a user might be interested, given some information about the user's and items' profiles. Most existing recommender systems use content-based or collaborative filtering methods or hybrid methods that combine both techniques (see the sidebar for more details). We created Informed Recommender to address the problem of using consumer opinion about products, expressed online in free-form text, to generate product recommendations. Informed recommender uses prioritized consumer product reviews to make recommendations. Using text-mining techniques, it maps each piece of each review comment automatically into an ontology

Chicken meat consumer profile in northwestern S��o Paulo State, Brazil

Brazil is the world���s first chicken meat exporter nowadays. The maintenance of this position requires a constant quality attributes evolution. This work evaluated the chicken meat consumer profile in the northwest region of S��o Paulo state, the most important Brazilian poultry meat consumer market, in order to provide information to the productive sector. The data were collected using 482 interviews and questionnaires that were answered by e-mail. The questionnaires involved questions related to the consumer identification, habits and preferences and their knowledge about food safety, production system, sustainability and animal welfare. Most of the consumers, 62%, were female, with ages ranging from 20 to 50 years. Beef was preferred by the majority of the answerers and chicken and pork meat were together the second choice. Only 2% of the interviewed consumers mentioned not enjoying poultry meat. The main part of consumers, 67%, prefer to buy breast and leg cuts and only 11% are used to buy the whole poultry carcass. More than 60% of the interviewed have already eaten free range chicken meat, but the majority of them, 89%, are used to consume regular industrialized poultry. About 75% of the consumers believe hormones are used to grow the birds. Over 80% of people observe the expiration date before buying the product, but only 55% check if it has the stamp of the official inspection service. Color and appearance of meat are the most important factors that influence the consumer���s choice. The amount of water that drips on the tray is a rejection factor to 88% of answerers. Most of them, 66%, prefer lighter colored meat. Only 27% of them believe that chicken meat causes an environmental impact and 48% do not know the meaning of animal welfare. More than half of the interviewed do not consider animal welfare aspects before consuming any kind of meat. From these results obtained, it is possible to conclude that any effort to improve the product quality, mainly concerned to animal welfare and sustainability aspects, requires prior educational initiatives.

Materiais psicopedag��gicos : os desafios da sua constru����o na educa����o para a sa��de

Trabalho apresentado em XIII Congreso Internacional Galego-Portugu��s de Psicopedagox��a, ��rea 6 Formaci��n de profesores y agentes educativos. Universidad da Coru��a, 2 de Setembro de 2015.

Consumers' opinions on scent marketing usage in retail environment

Tutkielman tarkoituksena on tutkia suomalaisten kuluttajien mielipiteita�� ja ka��sityksia�� tuoksumarkkinoinnin ka��yto��sta�� va��hitta��istavarakauppa olosuhteissa. Tutkielma keskittyy tuoksumarkkinoinnin kahteen pa��a��asialliseen osa-alueeseen va��hitta��istavarakaupassa; tuoksumarkkinointiin osana bra��nda��ysta�� ja tuoksumarkkinoinnin alitajuntaiseen ka��ytto��o��n. Tutkielma on laadullinen tutkimus. Aineisto kera��ttiin viidelta�� suomalaiselta kuluttajalta ja aineistonkeruumenetelma��na�� toimi haastattelu. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat kuluttajien mielipiteiden olevan positiivisia tuoksumarkkinoinnin ka��ytto��a�� kohtaan. Tuloksien mukaan kuluttajat suosivat tuoksumarkkinoinnin ka��ytto��a�� ennemmin bra��nda��yksessa�� kuin tuoksumarkkinoinnin alitajuista ka��ytto��a��. Tuoksumarkkinoinnin alitajuista ka��ytto��a�� ei kuitenkaan todettu ta��ysin negatiiviseksi, silla�� kuluttajat uskovat, etta�� ostopa��a��to��s tehda��a��n perustuen ta��rkea��mpiin asioihin kuin tuoksuun, kuten esimerkiksi tuotteen hintaan perustuen. Kuluttajat uskovat, etta�� alitajuisella ka��yto��lla�� ei ole suurta vaikutusta asiakkaan ostopa��a��to��kseen muulloin kuin joissakin yksitta��isissa�� hera��teostoksissa.

O BOCA A BOCA ON-LINE: AS IMPLICA����ES DA VOZ DO CONSUMIDOR NA COMUNICA����O DE MERCADO

O consumidor contempor��neo, inserido em um novo ambiente de comunica����o, potencializa suas express��es, capaz de avaliar uma marca ou produto e transmitir sua opini��o pelas redes sociais, ou seja, o consumidor expressa suas opini��es e desejos dialogando com seus pares de forma espont��nea nas redes sociais on-line. �� neste ambiente de participa����o e intera����o (ciberespa��o) que est�� nosso objeto de estudo, o boca a boca on-line ��� a voz do consumidor contempor��neo, tamb��m conhecido como uma manifesta����o informativa pessoal ou uma conversa, a opinion sharing. Proporcionado pelos consumidores nas redes sociais on-line, o boca a boca se fortalece em fun����o das possibilidades de intera����o, caracter��stica da sociedade em rede. Nesse cen��rio, oobjetivo desta pesquisa �� caracterizar o boca a boca on-line como um novo fluxo comunicacional entre consumidores, hoje potencializado pelas novas tecnologias da comunica����o, capazes de alterar a percep����o da marca e demonstrar o uso, pelas marcas, das redes sociais on-line ainda como um ambiente de comunica����o unidirecional. Mediante tr��s casos selecionados por conveni��ncia (dois casos nacionais e um internacional), o corpus de an��lise de nossa pesquisa se limitou aos 5.084 coment��rios disponibilizados ap��s publica����o de mat��rias jornal��sticas no Portal G1 e nas fanpages (Facebook), ambos relativos aos casos selecionados. Com a An��lise de Conte��do dos posts, identificamos e categorizamos a fala do consumidor contempor��neo, sendo assim poss��vel comprovar que as organiza����es/marcas se valem da cultura do massivo, n��o dialogando com seus consumidores, pois utilizam as redes sociais on-line ainda de forma unidirecional, al��m de n��o darem a devida aten����o ao atual fluxo onde se evidencia a opini��o compartilhada dos consumidores da sociedade em rede.

Los usuarios ante los alimentos gen��ticamente modificados y su informaci��n en el etiquetado

OBJETIVO: Analizar la opini��n que los usuarios tienen sobre alimentos gen��ticamente modificados y su informaci��n en el etiquetado. M��TODOS: Realizada revisi��n sistem��tica de la literatura cient��fica sobre los alimentos transg��nicos y el etiquetado a partir de la consulta de las bases de datos bibliogr��ficas: Medline (v��a PubMed), EMBASE, ISIWeb of Knowledge, Cochrane Library Plus, FSTA, LILACS, CINAHL y AGRICOLA. Los descriptores seleccionados fueron: ��organisms, genetically modified�� y ��food labeling��. La b��squeda se realiz�� desde la primera fecha disponible hasta junio de 2012, seleccionando los art��culos pertinentes escritos en ingl��s, portugu��s y castellano. RESULTADOS: Se seleccionaron 40 art��culos. En todos ellos, se deb��a haber realizado una intervenci��n poblacional enfocada al conocimiento de los consumidores sobre los alimentos gen��ticamente modificados y su necesidad, o no, de incluir informaci��n en el etiquetado. El consumidor expresa su preferencia por el producto no-gen��ticamente modificado, y apunta que est�� dispuesto a pagar algo m��s por ��l, pero, en definitiva compra el art��culo que est�� a mejor precio en un mercado que acoge las nuevas tecnolog��as. En 18 art��culos la poblaci��n se mostraba favorable a su etiquetado obligatorio y seis al etiquetado voluntario; siete trabajos demostraban el poco conocimiento de la poblaci��n sobre los transg��nicos y, en tres, la poblaci��n subestim�� la cantidad que consum��a. En todo caso, se observ�� la influencia del precio del producto gen��ticamente modificado. CONCLUSIONES: La etiqueta debe ser homog��nea y aclarar el grado de tolerancia en humanos de alimentos gen��ticamente modificados en comparaci��n con los no modificados. Asimismo, debe dejar claro su composici��n, o no, de alimento gen��ticamente modificado y la forma de producci��n de estos art��culos de consumo. La etiqueta tambi��n debe ir acompa��ada de un sello de certificaci��n de una agencia del estado y datos para contacto. El consumidor expresa su preferencia por el producto no-gen��ticamente modificado pero se��al�� que acaba comprando el art��culo que est�� a mejor precio en un mercado que acoge las nuevas tecnolog��as.