Evaluative criteria for purchasing leisurewear: Taiwanese and U.S. students in a U.S. university
The purpose of this research was to provide exploratory information relating to the young consumer market in terms of purchase criteria for leisurewear. Data were obtained from 105 Taiwanese and 126 U.S. students at a major mid-western U.S. university. Direct hand-in questionnaires were employed to obtain a higher usable questionnaire rate. Purchase criteria used for this survey were price, style, brand, fabrication, size/fit, media exposure, colour, country of origin, and quality. Several factors under each criterion were provided. Students were asked to rank the importance of each criterion/factor. Results indicated that much similarity existed between these two groups of students in purchasing leisurewear. However, U.S. students rated highest (in descending order) price, size/fit, style and quality while Taiwanese students ranked highest (in descending order) price, style, quality and size/fit.
Understanding Consumers ’ Perceptions and Behaviors : Implications for Denim Jeans Design
The purpose of this study is to uncover the relative salient of intrinsic and extrinsic cues as determinants of consumers’ purchasing intent toward denim jeans. To the best of my knowledge, there is no comprehensive study reporting results from Canadian consumers’ perspective regarding their perceptions and behaviors toward denim jeans. A self-administered survey with Likert scale and open-ended questions were used for this study. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the salient factors and the correlation of six intrinsic cues and three extrinsic cues of denim jeans. A total of 380 useable surveys were compiled, analyzed and collated. The results of this study revealed that fit of denim jeans was the most important cue followed by style and quality, whereas brand names and country-of-origin were relatively insignificant. In terms of product cue correlation, fabric was strongly correlated with style, comfort and quality. Intrinsic cues played a more significant role on denim jeans evaluation than extrinsic cues. According to the results of this study, young consumers tended to use various product attributes to fulfill their concrete needs and abstract aspirations.
Ceramic microwave antennas for mobile applications
Due to their medium to high permittivity values, ceramic microwave materials are attractive as building blocks for miniaturised antenna solutions. Further advantages are low dielectric losses and an excellent temperature stability of standard ceramic materials. Yet, the permittivity of the ceramic material also has a strong influence on the radiation efficiency and bandwidth of the antenna. This implies that in the design process a suitable compromise has to be found between the degree of miniaturisation on the one hand and the antenna efficiency and bandwidth on the other. We describe two approaches towards efficient miniaturised ceramic microwave antennas: the dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) with partial metallisation and the shorting post patch antenna. We focus on design steps taken to ensure both a high degree of miniaturisation and high values of the radiation efficiency, the choice of the ceramic material and the experimental performance of the antennas.