Search results

Profiling Consumers Based on Their Beverage Consumption Patterns. A Cross-Cultural Study by Cohorts

The purpose of the research we undertook for this Conference Paper was to investigate whether marketing campaigns for specific types of drinks could be directed towards age cohorts rather than towards intercultural differences between countries. We developed consumer profiles based on drinking motives and drinking behavior by age cohorts. We hypothesized that differences between countries in the youngest age groups are smaller than in the older age groups, where country specific tradition and culture still plays a more prominent role. We, therefore tested, from the data obtained by the COnsumer BEhaviouR Erasmus Network (COBEREN), the hypothesis that the extent to which the age specific profiles differ between countries increases with age. The results confirm our hypothesis that the extent to which drinking motives differ between countries increases with age. Our results suggest that marketing campaigns which are directed towards drinking motives, could best be tailored by age cohort, in particular when it concerns age group 18-37 and more particular for beer, spirits and especially premix drinks. Marketing campaigns for non-alcoholic beverages should be made specific for the British countries and the Western countries, but even more effectively be made specific for the age cohort 18-37.

Global Diffusion of Montessori Schools

Schuivende panelen in het juridische werkveld: functie- en beroepsvorming HBO-Jurist

full text via link met HU account. Met de introductie van de opleiding HBO-Rechten is begin 21ste eeuw beoogd een waaier van juridische beroepen te creëren. Dit artikel beschrijft in hoeverre dat op dit moment is gelukt. Hiertoe is onderzoek (vragenlijst en casestudy) uitgevoerd naar de functievorming voor en werkervaring en ambitie van de afgestudeerde HBO-jurist. We keken hierbij ook specifiek naar de functies en beroepen die traditioneel door academisch gevormde juristen worden vervuld. Vanuit beroepsvormingstheorieën van onder meer Mok en de onderzoeksresultaten wordt de vraag beantwoord of zich een eigenstandige functie HBO-jurist ontwikkelt (als voorloper van een eigen beroep), zoals oorspronkelijk de bedoeling was. Dat levert verrassende inzichten op. Anders dan beoogd blijkt de HBO-jurist zich met name te meten aan de academisch gevormde jurist. Dat wordt enerzijds zichtbaar doordat zij er massaal voor kiezen om door te studeren aan de universiteit. Anderzijds blijkt dat uit het feit dat de eerste crossovers zich aandienen in het bedrijfsleven, waar HBO-juristen niet meer geweerd lijken te kunnen worden uit voorheen aan academische juristen (niet-toga) voorbehouden functies. Een volwaardige HBO-juristfunctie of -beroep zien wij derhalve op korte termijn niet ontstaan.

Modelling Complex Relationships Between Sustainable Competitiveness and Digitalization

Digitalization is the core component of future development in the 4.0 industrial era. It represents a powerful mechanism for enhancing the sustainable competitiveness of economies worldwide. Diverse triggering effects shape future digitalization trends. Thus, the main research goal in this study is to use sustainable competitiveness pillars (such as social, economic, environmental and energy) to evaluate international digitalization development. The proposed empirical model generates comprehensive knowledge of the sustainable competitiveness-digitalization nexus. For that purpose, a nonlinear regression has been applied on gathered annual data that consist of 33 European countries, ranging from 2010 to 2016. The dataset has been deployed using Bernoulli’s binominal distribution to derive training and testing samples and the entire analysis has been adjusted in that context. The empirical findings of artificial neural networks (ANN) suggest strong effects of the economic and energy use indicators on the digitalization progress. Nonlinear regression and ANN model summary report valuable results with a high degree of coefficient of determination (R2>0.9 for all models). Research findings state that the digitalization process is multidimensional and cannot be evaluated as an isolated phenomenon without incorporating other relevant factors that emerge in the environment. Indicators report the consumption of electrical energy in industry and households and GDP per capita to achieve the strongest effect.

How older adults experience the age-friendliness of Skopje:

Hundreds of cities and communities in the world have joined the WHO’s Global Network for AgeFriendly Cities and Communities since 2010. In order to do quantitative assessments of the age friendliness of cities, the Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Questionnaire (AFCCQ) was developed for the Dutch municipality of The Hague. The purpose of this study was first to translate and test the validity and reliability of the AFCCQ for use in North Macedonia and second to explore perceptions on age-friendliness of the bicultural and bilingual City of Skopje. The AFCCQ proved valid for use in North Macedonia. Overall, older adults in Skopje experience the age-friendliness of the city as neutral (in seven out of nine domains). The best score (“slightly satisfied”) was found in the domain of Housing, which was rated positive in all ten municipalities. The lowest total score (“slightly dissatisfied”) was found in the domain of Outdoor spaces and buildings, which received negative scores in eight out of ten municipalities. In five out of nine domains differences were observed between the Albanian and Macedonian communities. The Albanian sample has slightly higher scores in two domains: 1) Housing and 2) Civic Participation and Employment, while the Macedonian sample scored higher in three domains: 1) Communication and Information; 2) Outdoor Spaces and Buildings and 3) Transportation. A hierarchical cluster analysis further revealed the presence of six distinct age-friendly typologies that can be used for a better understanding of subpopulations in the city and draft policies and action programs on the city level.