Consumers’ Perception and Knowledge of Food Additives in Senegal: A Pilot Study

Food safety has become a major concern for consumers, as well as a priority for regulatory authorities. Faced with the growing industrial and domestic use of food additives, many questions are being asked and concerns are being felt by consumers around the world. Consumer perception defines the acceptability or rejection of food products, and has an impact on consumption patterns and behavior. To assess the level of knowledge and perception of food additives, a pilot study was carried out on a sample of 200 people in Dakar and Saint-Louis. A questionnaire was used to assess the acceptance or rejection, use and impact of food additives by consumers in Senegal. The results revealed several aspects. On the whole, the people surveyed expressed great mistrust and even rejection of these substances added to food products. This consumer perception is shared throughout the world, as indicated in numerous surveys. It also emerges from this study that, although most consumers are aware of the existence of these additives and their uses in the home, they feel that the use of these substances in industrial production is too excessive. What’s more, consumers associate food additives with numerous pathologies such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and even sexual impotence. For some of these indexed pathologies, scientific studies have reached the same conclusions, although controversy still persists. On the other hand, for some of the other adverse effects mentioned, no cause-and-effect relationship has been scientifically demonstrated. In these latter cases, it seems that negative communication, misinformation and misconceptions have a major influence on consumer perception of food additives.

Consumer Perceptions of Noni Juice Health Benefits during a 90-Day In-Home Use Test

Noni juice, made from the fruit of Morinda citrifolia, is a health-promoting food from the Pacific Islands with an extensive history of traditional use. Human clinical trials have revealed that noni juice has antioxidant, immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. Previously, regular noni juice consumers in Europe and traditional healers in Fiji were surveyed to identify potential noni juice health benefits. But to better understand the perception of its health benefits among those with no previous experience with noni juice, an in-home study was conducted in the United States. Three hundred and nineteen adults with untreated chronic health conditions were provided with a 90-day supply of a blinded (unlabeled) commercial noni juice product (Tahitian Noni® Juice), instructed to consume 4 fluid ounces (1/2 cup) each day, and responded to a questionnaire given on days 30, 60 and 90 to evaluate product appeal and perceived effectiveness. A total of 299 people (94%) felt that their health improved in some way after drinking TNJ for 90 days. More than 80% of the subjects reported feeling better or healthier in general. Most participants also concurred with more than two dozen additional positive health perception statements, especially on days 60 and 90. More than 70% of consumers also indicated that noni juice helped them feel better than other wellness supplements they had tried in the past, including other so-called “super fruit” products. These findings seem to corroborate the results of clinical trials and previous consumer surveys regarding the potential for noni juice to provide discernable health benefits when used consistently over time. Such findings may help guide additional placebo-controlled clinical trials in which specific effects may be evaluated more rigorously.

Consumers' perceptions on GM food safety in urban China

The debate about the safety of genetically modified （GM） food has attracted public attention in concurrence with the rapid development of agricultural biotechnology. This paper examines the consumers＇ perceptions on the safety of GM food in China. Based on a unique survey dataset, this study shows that consumers in urban China have significantly changed their perceptions on GM food safety. The percentage of consumers who perceived such food as unsafe for consumption increased by more than 30% in the 2002-2012 period. Approximately half of the consumers did not have an opinion on this issue. Major shifts have been occurred after 2010, likely because of the increasing influence of negative media reports on GM technology in recent years. Several individual and household＇s characteristics are shown to significantly affect consumers＇ perceptions on GM food safety, such as gender, education, food allergy experience and resident city size. The paper concludes with policy implications.

An Analysis of Consumers’ Perception Towards Rebranding: A Study of Hero MotoCorp

One of the significant marketing changes in the past decade involves the dramatic increase in the variety of ways in which consumers can express their identities, A key driver of this change has been the growth of one-to-one marketing and mass customization, This trend has led many companies to rebrand and reposition their products or services focusing on functional attributes to focusing on how they fit into a consumer’s lifestyle, In the recent years, we have seen a growing trend of rebranding in India such as Vodafone, Airtel, Hero MotoCorp (erstwhile Hero Honda) to media channels to across different industries, This trend has compelled several business conglomerates to rebrand and get a makeover of their products and services, These organizations, while conducting the rebranding exercise, emphasize on concentrating on the functional attributes to how they fit into a consumer’s lifestyle which are received very well by business houses, By revitalizing their brands, business houses are ready to face a tough challenge in the marketplace and earn a respectable market share too, The rebranding exercise of Hero MotoCorp provides fascinating insights, The drivers and methodology adopted by the two-wheeler manufacturer which includes the makeover of the brand architecture, brand name, brand logo and the positioning with the theme of creation, renewal and re-energizing the brand are worth mentioning.

Transparency in Meat Production： Consumer Perceptions at the Point of Sale

As a result of a large number of food scandals, societal interest in transparency in the food sector has grown considerably. Hence, the creation of transparency in the production process has been the focus of recent legislation. In addition to tracking and tracing, one finds in the public discussion an increasing number of demands for further information on such issues as food safety, animal and environmental protection and the sustainability of food production processes. However, it has not yet been sufficiently clarified which information about the production process--and thus which level of transparency--is actually desired or can actually be processed by consumers at the point of sale. In order to analyze this topic from the viewpoint of consumers, a large-scale empirical study has been conducted. This research uses an adaptive conjoint analysis to determine what transparency expectations consumers have with regards to information on packaged pork. Initial results show a very heterogeneous demand for information. Furthermore, consumers＇ demand for more information sometimes does not match their actual benefit profiles. The results provide insight into consumers＇ information needs and their willingness to pay for greater transparency; they also have interesting implications for meat processors＇ product development strategies.

基于S-O-R模型的视觉营销对消费者购买意愿的影响研究——以红色文创网店为例

为提高红色文创网店的点击转化率,文章从消费者视角出发,研究影响消费者购买意愿的视觉因素。基于S-O-R模型理论,构建红色文创网店视觉营销对消费者购买意愿因素的理论模型。利用S-O-R模型分析了红色文创网店视觉营销中的商品形象、界面形象以及品牌视觉形象对顾客感知价值及顾客购买意向的影响。通过设计量表和调查问卷进行实证研究,并结合结构方程模型加以论证,得出品牌视觉形象和界面形象是影响消费者购买意愿的关键因素,为设计师和红色文创品牌进行网店设计提供了一定的理论参考和建议。

Improve access to the EU market by identifying French consumer preference for fresh fruit from China

Most previous studies have investigated country-of-origin effect for agricultural products from the economically developed country, but few have focused on the impact of country-of-origin on agricultural products from economically developing countries. Using a national online survey in France, we determine French consumers＇ perceptions and preferences for fresh fruit from China. Results of ordered logit models show that fresh fruit from China was perceived as low quality and unsafe. Respondents who care about country-of-origin were less likely to purchase fresh fruit from China, while those who care about brand were more likely to buy Chinese fresh fruit. Risk perception and quality perception both had a significant impact on the purchase of Chinese fresh fruit. Results of latent class models obtained with key consumer demographics show that heterogeneous preferences exist among different consumer groups. The results provide critical information to both China and other economically developing countries in their efforts to improve market penetration in economically developed countries.

Climate change impact in the Western Himalaya:people's perception and adaptive strategies

The Himalaya represents a vast mountain system and globally valued for its significant role in regulation of global as well as regional climate that has direct impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services crucial for sustenance of millions of people in Himalaya and adjoining areas. However, mountain regions worldwide are impacted by climate change and at the same time represent distinctive area for the assessment of climate related impacts. Climate change impacts in Himalayan region have its implications on food production, natural ecosystems,retreat of glacier, water supply, human and animal health and overall human well being. The livelihood and food security of the people inhabited in region largely depend on climate sensitive sectors i.e.agriculture, livestock, forestry and their interlinkages with each other, and has the potential to break down food and nutritional security as well as livelihood support systems. People's perception and understanding of climate can be an important asset when it comes to adaptation to climate change impact;however it is not taken into consideration for the development of policy design and implementation of modern mitigation and adaptation strategies by governments and other civil society organizations.The knowledge of local people and farming communities for rural landscape management and sustainable use of bioresources is gaining credence as a key strategy to cope up with the climate change.Therefore, the present study analyzes the indigenous knowledge of local people and their perceptions on climate change, and also documented adaptation approaches at local level in mountain ecosystem of western Himalaya. The study could be useful to policy makers to design appropriate adaptation strategies to cope up with the impacts of climate change.

Climate Change: Trends and People’s Perception in Nepal

In the context of climate change, the frequency and intensity of extreme events such as floods and droughts will increase which could put tremendous challenges in water resources management in the coming days. While scientific knowledge on climate threats and changing climate patterns are essential, it is also important to consider the impacts in relation to how the threats are perceived and handled by local people. This paper intends to assess the trend and people’s perception on temperature and precipitation. Three focus groups’ discussion and a total number of 240 households were interviewed during field visit. The collected information was scaled from the least preferred-1 to the most preferred-5 based on their preferences. The trend of mean of annual average, maximum and minimum temperature indicates that the temperature has increased significantly and precipitation intensity and magnitude are also in increasing trend in the monsoon and postmonsoon seasons which may raise the extreme flood events. These facts were verified with the people’s perception. This finding could be useful for formulation of effective flood management policy and plan in this river basin as well as very applicable for other similar areas.

Beyond Bloom’s: Students’ Perception of Bloom’s Taxonomy and its Convolution with Cognitive Load

Bloom’s taxonomy is widely used in educational research to categorize the cognitive skills required to answer exam questions.For this study,we analyzed how students categorize exam questions(high-level question or low-level question,)gathered data as to their rationale for categorization,and compared their categorizations to those of experts.We found that students consistently rank high-level questions incorrectly.We analyzed student reasons for their categorizations,and found that for many of the incorrectly categorized questions the students referred to reasons related to Cognitive Load Theory.This shows that cognitive load prevents students from accurately assessing the cognitive level of an exam question.Thus,extra cognitive load in exam questions may prevent those questions from accurately measuring the skills and knowledge of the student.This points to the need for instructors to eliminate cognitive load from their exams.

A MULTILAYER FEEDFORWARD NEURAL NETWORK MODEL FOR VISUAL MOTION PERCEPTION

The local visual motion detection mechanism used in the visual systems of primatescan only sense the motion component oriented perpendicularly to the contrast gradient of thebrightness pattern.But the visual system of higher animals can adaptively determine the actualdirection of motion through a learning process.In this paper a multilayered feedforward neuralnetwork model for perception of visual motion is presented.This model employs W.Reichardt’selementary motion detectors array and T.Kohonen’s self-organizing feature map.We explored theself-organizing principles for perception of visual motion.The computer simulations show thatthis neural network is able to recognize the true direction of motion through an unsupervisedlearning process.In addition,the neurons with the same or similar motion direction selectivitytend to appear in“functional columns”which seem to be qualitatively similar to the corticalmotion columns observed by electrophysiological and cytohistochemical studies in certain higherareas such as MT.It proves that motion-detection by spatio-temporal coherences,mapping,co-operation,competition,and Hebb rule may be the basic principles for the self-organization ofvisual motion perception networks.

Interests of Livestock Activities within Agroforestry Systems in Guadeloupe: Stakeholders’ Opinions and Farmers’ Perceptions

The Valab project (Integrated Ecosystemic value-enhancement of the Guadeloupean Forest Agrobiodiversity) is a participatory action research that aims to explore the feasibility of diversification activities within the forest understorey. In the exploratory phase of the project, we studied stakeholders’ opinions on the positive and negative impacts of introducing livestock activities within a forest environment, as well as breeders’ constraints or motivations for setting up livestock units within agroforestry systems in the private forests of Guadeloupe. To establish a diagnosis of the current situation, 51 stakeholders (St) and 49 farmers (Fr) were interviewed on their perceptions, opinions, motivations and preferences. Forty-one percent of the St has had a generally positive appreciation of livestock activities, while on the opposite 31% have had a resolutely negative posture depending on their area of expertise. Their views on the possible positive effects or negative interactions between livestock and agroforestry activities were analysed in order to suggest possible approaches for the authorities or associations. Unanimously, the farmers replied that their motivations followed economic strategies: for self-consumption or sale. But their decision-making processes were also non-economic. Many of them (36% Fr) gave importance to their activity in the construction of their identity, whether it was through a desire to perpetuate traditions or to maintain family activities. The main constraints identified were natural constraints (61% Fr), including topography, climate and predators. While 28% of Fr notified their motivations for environmental protection. Another constraint was of a technical nature (44% Fr) since farmers asked for more technical references or support services. Further researches are required to study the interactions between animals and the undergrowth by describing their respective ecosystem services in order to enhance their positive interactions.

The DNP: Knowledge and perceptions of students in an accelerated master’s program in nursing

While the nursing community generally agrees that the Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree will strengthen nursing as an academic discipline, there is little known about students’ perceptions of the advanced degree. Nursing students enrolled in an accelerated master’s program in nursing (N = 45) were surveyed to assess their knowledge of the DNP degree while also identifying the perceived effect a DNP might have on their careers, on nursing as a discipline, and on public perceptions of nursing practice. In this study, 51% of participants supported the transition to the DNP as the standard degree for practice nursing while 29% were opposed. The majority of participants (71%) planned to pursue an advanced practice nursing degree/certification with 81% of this group signifying that they would do so even if a DNP is required. The majority of participants agreed that the DNP will improve public perception of advanced practice nursing, but 71% thought the title of “doctor” would confuse patients. While current nursing students are generally informed of the upcoming DNP transition, there is disagreement regarding its implications for their careers and for the extent of public understanding.

Empirical Research on Tourists' After-trip Perception of Landscape Preference in the Confucius Temple in Nanjing City

Thurstone’s Comparative Judgment Model was applied to measure characteristics of tourists’after-trip perception of landscape preference in the Confucius Temple,a famous historical block in Nanjing City.The results show that(a)as time goes by,the tourists’time perception differentiation has continuously sublimated from the general experience into the peak experience,and gradually evolved into the core experience element in the overall perception.In terms of content,perceptional contents of tourists decrease in sequence of the Confucian culture,the commercial culture and the culture of refined scholars.As a whole,tourists’after-trip perception differentiation has 3 sections:halo zone,sub-halo zone,and gray zone.(b)Because of tourism development,the Confucian culture is influenced by other cultures,and the commercial culture shows the trend of"over-generalization",and the culture of refined scholars has weakening carriers and modes of inheritance.Inheritance of its unique cultural connotations deserves increasing attention.

Ethics and Integrity in Building Employee＇s Perceptions

Malaysia has long been involved in the initiative of becoming a high income country by the year 2020. In this essence, fighting and eliminating any means of corruption in the public and private companies have been one of the key challenges in the long run. The globalization of businesses has somehow led to an increase in the number of unethical conduct and hazardous corruption. In the urge to enliven ethics and integrity in a company and among employees, the whole business processes and stakeholders should position code of ethics and integrity at its highest standard. However, can ethics and integrity really increase the company＇s reputation, strengthening its business operations and sustainability, and deliver trust amongst employees and employers？ The objective of this study is to analyze the perceptions of employees on issues pertaining ethics and integrity. The study has been conducted in one of the giant telecommunication companies in Malaysia where a sample of 7,056 employees were the participants involved in the survey. The study has used questionnaires to collect data. The data have then been analysed using the SPSS data analysis software. The findings explained that employees view the company as an ethical place to work where the finance department is deemed to have the highest level of integrity. While in matters of corruption risk areas, there are still practices of bribery. It is also founded that a majority of respondents about 93% agree that the company＇s initiatives are effective in building business integrity and that the level of business ethics and integrity has improved over the last two years. Running a business with ethics and integrity while selecting the fight business partners will create a corporation of ethics, integrity, and anti-corruption.

Diplomatic Implications of Women＇s Work in American Consumer Society

American foreign policies have observed guiding principles of democracy, yet an overemphasis on political values leads to more conflicts than mutual understandings in today＇s world. Therefore, this paper proposes that exploring diplomatic implications of ＂women＇s work＂ provides new insights into cultural values of the Four Freedomsmmajor pillars supporting modern American liberalism. This paper foregrounds the domestic and diplomatic significance of ＂women＇s work＂ by analyzing women＇s contributions as laborers at home, in the labor force, and in American consumer society. As American women participated in the paid labor force and took up most consumptive activities, women outside America also worked hard to provide food and care for families. This paper argues that a more comprehensive definition of＂women＇s work＂ is not only indispensable for the development of American industry, consumer society, and the expansion of marketplace, but integrates a system of dualisms separating wage labor and housework, or divisions between spheres of men and women. Moreover, investigations into hidden values of women＇s work alleviate worries arising from information revolution and economic globalization. Moreover, placing women＇s work in perspective enables diplomats to see through factors leading to international hostilities, to reduce conflicts arising from information revolution and economic globalization, and to understand America＇s soft power pertinently.

Initial Analysis on the Legal Protection of Consumers＇ Rights and Interests in Network Transaction

With the development of network technology and information technology, electronic commerce as a new business model wiht itsnew trading ideas-＋, In changing the traditional business structure,but also gradually changing people’s shopping patterns and consumptionpatterns,Online shopping has become the preferred way of shopping.Changes in consumption patterns will inevitably lead to new problems inthe process of consumption,and the development speed of the problem in sync with the development speed of network economy,as far as therenewal speed of laws and regulations is concerned,this asymmetric development is bound to bring great inconvenience to the consumer rights innetwork transactions.In this paper, from the angle of legal protection,the protection of consumer rights and interests in network transactions areexpounded,analysis of the current situation and reasons of the consumers’ rights and interests are infringed upon in the network transaction,learnfrom the experience of foreign consumer rights and interests protection,In order to put forward effective suggestions on the system constructionof the protection of consumer rights and interests.