Consumer attitudes to radiation and irradiated potatoes at “radiation fair” in Osaka, Japan

“Radiation Fair” has been held in summer vacation season in August for more than 10 years in Osaka, the largest city of western Japan, for the purpose of public education and information transfer of radiation and radiation-related technology. We distributed questionnaires to the visitors for recent 3 years to inquire their status toward radiation and irradiated products including irradiated potatoes as well as impression toward the displays. According to the survey results, more than 60% of the kids visitors were satisfied with this exhibition as informative, more than half of the older visitors (16 years old and upward) indicated that they recognized the word of “radiation” when they were at elementary school and the most significant sources of this information were school lessons and the mass media. Consumer's image toward radiation seems to shift to more “positive” when correct knowledge about radiation is given. More than half of consumers did not know “irradiated potatoes” but the percentage indicating that irradiated potatoes was definitely hazardous was less than 10%.     

Consumer acceptance of irradiated food: theory and reality

For years most consumers have expressed less concern about food irradiation than other food processing technologies. Attitude studies have demonstrated that when given science-based information, from 60% to 90% of consumers prefer the advantages irradiation processing provides. When information is accompanied by samples, acceptance may increase to 99%. Information on irradiation should include product benefits, safety and wholesomeness, address environmental safety issues, and include endorsements by recognized health authorities. Educational and marketing programs should now be directed toward retailers and processors. Given the opportunity, consumers will buy high quality, safety-enhanced irradiated food.     

Discussion of “Multivariate Dynamic Modeling for Bayesian Forecasting of Business Revenue”

This paper, “Multivariate Dynamic Modeling for Bayesian Forecasting of Business Revenue,” proposes a novel Bayesian approach based on dynamic linear models to share information from different sectors, LSG (Local Store Group), and item category, through the use of auxiliary information (the discount information). The authors demonstrate the feasibility of parallel computing with multiple item categories, making the Bayesian method highly scalable. The proposed method in the paper should have wide applicability in inventory and revenue management. We suggest in this discussion potential areas for further development.     

On the modeling of demand spill for a stochastic demand system under competition

When customers for a product from N substitutable alternatives find their first choice sold out, they might “spill” to their secondmost preferred product. The existing literature typically assumes an exogenous spill rate. We develop a surprisingly simple model that links the spill rate to economic factors associated with direct demand systems.     

Variable sampling inspection for resubmitted lots based on process capability index Cpk for normally distributed items

In this article, a variables sampling inspection plan for resubmitted lot based on the process capability index C_pk is developed for normally distributed items with unknown mean and variance. The three plan parameters, sample size n, critical acceptance value k_a and the number of resubmissions m, are determined simultaneously by minimizing average sample number (ASN) with two conditions specified by the producer and the consumer. The advantages of the proposed resubmitted sampling plan over the variables single sampling plan are also discussed. Tables of plan parameters for selected values of acceptable quality level (AQL), limiting quality level (LQL), producer’s α-risk and consumer’s β-risk are provided and discussed with the help of an application example.     

通用化数据采集处理系统的LabVIEW实现

针对目前测控领域对自研数据采集系统的不同需求,提出一种基于LabVIEW的通用化设计。整个系统基于软硬件构架：硬件上采用“ADC FPGA PCI”的模块化接口设计,能方便搭载于各种测试平台;软件上采用图形化编程语言LabVIEW进行开发,包括基于NI-VISA的PCI驱动程序和生产者/消费者模式的上位机处理软件。前者通过直接访问底层寄存器进行控制,为同类芯片的通用驱动开发提供了参考方案;后者充分利用LabVIEW多线程处理的特点,从软件构架上改善数据流向,优化程序。实验结果表明,该系统工作稳定,人机交互良好,可实现数据存储、回放和时频分析等多项功能。     

双寡头时间限制型免费试用策略竞争分析

目前,提供限时免费试用已经成为软件厂商降低消费者对产品质量不确定性及促进新产品扩散的常见做法。现有研究多局限于垄断情况,对现实中常出现的寡头竞争情况鲜有探讨。在考虑消费者学习异质性的基础上,基于Hotelling模型研究了双寡头企业免费试用策略博弈均衡及其影响因素。结果表明:(1)如果两家企业的期望用户体验都比较好,都应该提供免费试用;如果期望用户体验都比较差,都不提供。(2)否则,均衡结果进一步取决于消费者对他们之间水平差异的敏感性。如果很不敏感,则两家企业必须采取相反的免费试用提供策略,并且只有当它们的期望用户体验差距很大时,优势企业一定提供而劣势企业不提供;否则,保持相反即可。如果非常敏感,则两家企业只需在免费试用提供策略上保持一致即可。(3)消费者完全学习软件所需时间越长,两家企业“都不提供”和“只需一致”的可能性增大,而“都提供”和“必定相反”的可能性降低。这是对免费试用策略竞争问题进行的首次探索,所得结果对相关理论研究具有补充和促进作用,也能为相关实践提供科学的决策依据。     

Assessing the Role of Digital Awareness in Promoting Polymer-Based Sustainability

The plastic waste crisis is a major environmental challenge facing the world today. The overuse and improper disposal of plastic materials have caused significant damage to the environment, affecting the health of both humans and animals. The adoption of sustainable alternatives to plastic, such as polymer-based materials, is crucial to addressing this issue. In the Indian context, polymer-based sustainability has created new growth potential for the packaging sector. This study has improved consumer behavior and raised income by gaining an understanding of and access to customers' digital awareness of polymer-based sustainability. In addition to its role in communication and attracting consumer attention, packaging must align with modern environmental standards for preservation methods to meet the growing consumer demand for eco-friendly products and environmentally conscious companies. In keeping with the objectives, this paper employs a method for analyzing current research on the influence of polymer-based sustainability esthetics on consumer behavior. The research design is quantitative. The model of the literature review is used to develop the structured questionnaire. The results show that digital awareness significantly influences consumer perceptions of polymer-based sustainability. The study recommends that manufacturers of polymer-based materials invest in digital awareness campaigns to increase consumer acceptance and promote sustainability.     

碳税政策下生产和销售的选址问题

本文考虑碳税政策下一个生产型企业生产和销售的选址问题。消费者分布在一条直线上,运输成本是线性的,企业除承担自身产品的运输费用外还承担消费者的运输成本。本文建立了利润最大化模型,分析了利润函数的性质,给出了求解方法。通过数值实验证明了求解方法的有效性,同时得出,即使消费者分布是中心对称的,最优的选址也不一定中心对称,这纠正了人们的错觉。增加碳税可使销售点靠近自己的消费者,增加企业的费用,但不一定起到减排的作用,只有通过灵活的碳税政策才有可能达到减排的目的。     

基于消费者多维度偏好的个性化评论排序方法研究

海量评论数据导致了信息过载,基于消费者的偏好对评论进行个性化排序尤为必要。本文考虑消费者多维偏好,即产品特征偏好、评论情感偏好和评论浏览数量偏好,提出了评论排序的消费者偏好满意度量化方法,将排序问题转化为最大化满意度的优化问题,鉴于问题的复杂度无法精确求解,提出了一个基于改进贪婪算法的近似求解算法。采用美团网酒店的评论数据进行实验,结果显示本文提出的算法与其他相关算法相比有效性显著提高,且具有较高的敏感度。研究结果对消费者提高决策效率,以及电商平台获取消费者偏好、改进评论系统,有着重要的现实指导意义。