Product Subcategories Research Articles

The Total Mass of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in California Cosmetics.

Cosmetics make up one of the consumer product categories most widely known to contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), including precursors to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and other perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs). Because of the way cosmetics are used, most of the PFASs present in these products are likely to reach wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which suggests that cosmetics may contribute significantly to the load of PFOA and other PFASs at WWTPs. However, the majority of PFASs present as intentional ingredients in cosmetics cannot be quantified with the available analytical methods. To address this issue, we developed a methodology to estimate the total PFAS mass in cosmetics as well as the corresponding mass of total organic fluorine and of fluorinated side chains associated with PFAA precursors, using various ingredient databases and ingredient concentrations reported by manufacturers. Our results indicate that the cosmetics sold in California during a one-year period cumulatively contain 650-56 000 kg of total PFASs, 370-37 000 kg of organic fluorine, and 330-20 000 kg of fluorinated side chains associated with PFAA precursors. Among the 16 product subcategories considered, >90% of the PFAS mass came from shaving creams and gels, hair care products, facial cleansers, sun care products, and lotions and moisturizers, while the sum of all nine makeup subcategories accounted for <3%. Comparing our estimates to available WWTP influent data from the San Francisco Bay Area suggests that cosmetics may account for at least 4% of the precursor-derived PFAAs measured in wastewater. As the first study ever to estimate the total mass of PFASs contained in cosmetics sold in California, our results shed light on the significance of certain cosmetics as a source of PFASs to WWTPs and can inform effective source reduction efforts.

On offer to Ontario consumers three years after legalization: A profile of cannabis products, cannabinoid content, plant type, and prices.

Cannabis was legalized in Canada in October 2018, regulating the production, distribution, sale, and possession of dried cannabis and cannabis oils. Additional products were legalized 1 year later, including edibles, concentrates, and topicals, with new lines of commercial products coming to market. Ontario is the most populous province in Canada and has the largest cannabis market with the highest number of in-person retail stores and the most cannabis products available online. This study aims to create a profile of products available to consumers three years after legalization by summarizing types of products, THC and CBD potency, plant type, and prices of product sub-categories. We extracted data from the website of the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS)-the public agency overseeing the only online store and sole wholesaler to all authorized in-person stores-in the first quarter of 2022 (January 19-March 23). We used descriptive analyses to summarize the data. A total of 1,771 available products were mapped by route of administration into inhalation (smoking, vaping, and concentrates), ingestible (edibles, beverages, oils, and capsules) and topical. Most inhalation products included ≥20%/g THC (dried flower: 94%; cartridges: 96%; resin: 100%) while ingestible products had similar proportions of THC and CBD content. Indica-dominant products tend to be more prominent in inhalation products while sativa-dominant products tend to be more prominent in ingestible products. The average sale price of cannabis was 9.30 $/g for dried flower, 5.79 $/0.1g for cartridges, 54.82 $/g for resin, 3.21 $/unit for soft chews, 1.37 $/ml for drops, 1.52 $/unit for capsules, and 39.94 $/product for topicals. In summary, a wide variety of cannabis products were available to Ontarians for different routes of administration and provides numerous indica-dominant, sativa-dominant, and hybrid/blend options. The current market for inhalation products however is geared towards the commercialization of high-THC products.

Sports foods are not all they shake up to be. An audit of formulated supplementary sports food products and packaging in Australian retail environments.

To determine store availability, total number of products, and types of Formulated Supplementary Sports Foods in Australia, along with their stated nutrition content, sweeteners added, total number, and type of claims displayed on the packaging. A cross-sectional, visual product audit of mainstream retailers. Supermarkets, pharmacies, health food stores, and gym/fitness centres. A total of 558 products were captured in the audit, 275 of which displayed the correct mandatory packaging attributes. Three categories of products were identified, based on the dominant nutrient. Only 184 products appeared to display the correct energy value based on the listed macronutrient content (protein, fat, carbohydrate, dietary fibre). The stated nutrient content was highly variable across all product subcategories. Nineteen different sweeteners were identified, with most foods containing only one (38.2%) or two (34.9%) types. The predominant sweetener was stevia glycosides. Packages displayed multiple claims, with a maximum of 67 and minimum of 2 claims. Nutrition content claims were most frequently displayed (on 98.5% of products). Claims included regulated, minimally regulated and marketing statements. Sports food consumers should be provided with accurate and detailed on pack nutrition information, to ensure informed choices are made. However, this audit showed multiple products which did not conform to current standards, appeared to provide inaccurate nutrition information, contained multiple sweeteners, and displayed an overwhelming number of on-pack claims. The increase in sales, availability, and products available in mainstream retail environments, could be impacting both intended consumers (athletes), and general non-athlete population. The results indicate underperformance in manufacturing practices which preference marketing over quality and stronger regulatory approaches are needed to protect consumer health and safety, and to prevent misleading consumers.

Variation of Benzo[a]pyrene, NNN, and NNK Levels in 16 Commercial Smokeless Tobacco Products.

This study examined the variation of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN), and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) levels in 16 smokeless tobacco products from several different product subcategories obtained at two different locations and at two different procurement times. B[a]P quantities range from 0.6 to 160 ng/g on a wet-weight basis, whereas NNN and NNK quantities range from 276 to 10473 ng/g and 79 to 28882 ng/g, respectively. The B[a]P, NNN, and NNK quantities vary widely among various smokeless tobacco product categories and among various brands within each product subcategory. Dry snuff products contain the highest B[a]P, NNN, and NNK quantities, whereas loose and portioned snus products contain the lowest B[a]P, NNN, and NNK levels. In general, variation of B[a]P, NNN, and NNK levels across four sets of each product brand purchased six months apart and at two different locations show statistically significant differences (p < 0.05), although with a much narrower product set-to-set variability.

The costs of eating gluten-free

ABSTRACT We leverage a large dataset of U.S. bakery products to comprehensively study price and nutritional composition of gluten-free products in comparison with gluten-containing items. Using data from 2013 to 2022, and controlling for time and manufacturer fixed effects as well as other product claims such as ‘all natural’, our findings suggest that gluten-free products are up to 85% more expensive than gluten-containing ones. In addition, gluten-free products have a different nutrient profile. Across product subcategories, they contain more total fat than gluten-containing products – as much as 113% more in the bread subcategory. However, compared to their gluten-containing counterparts, gluten-free breads contain less sodium, gluten-free cookies contain more fibre and gluten-free pastries contain more fibre and less sugar. We conclude that unless gluten-free products are medically prescribed, consumers should carefully weigh all product characteristics when choosing between gluten-free and gluten-containing versions of the same product.

Sequential Innovation in Mobile App Development

Problem definition: In today’s highly dynamic and competitive app markets, a significant portion of development takes place after the initial product launch via the addition of new features and the enhancement of existing products. In managing the sequential innovation process in mobile app development, two key operational questions arise. (i) What features and attributes should be added to existing products in successive versions? (ii) How should these features and attributes be implemented for greater market success? We investigate the implications of three different types of mobile app development activities on market performance. Academic/practical relevance: Our study contributes to the operations management literature by providing an empirically based understanding of sequential innovation and its market performance implications in mobile app development, an important industry in terms of size, scope and potential. Methodology: Using a novel data set of mobile apps in the Productivity category, we leverage text-mining and information retrieval techniques to study the rich information in the release notes of apps. We then characterize product development activities at each version release and link these activities with app performance in a dynamic estimation model. We also incorporate an instrumental variables analysis to substantiate our findings. Results: We find that greater update dissimilarity (i.e., dissimilarity of the features and attributes of a new update from those of previous updates) is associated with higher performance, especially in mature apps. We also find that the greater the product update market orientation (i.e., the greater the similarity of the focal firm’s new features and attributes with respect to the recent additions of its competitors), the higher is the market performance. This finding suggests that the market rewards those developers who have a responsive policy to their competitors’ product innovation efforts. Our results also suggest that a rapid introduction of updates dampens the potential market benefits that the mobile app developers might gain from market orientation. We find no evidence of a beneficial effect of product update scope (i.e., incorporating features and attributes from other product subcategories) on market performance. Managerial implications: Our study offers managerial insights into mobile app development by exploring the sequential innovation characteristics that are associated with greater market success in pursuing and implementing new features and attributes. Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.1154 .

A comparison of different practical indices for assessing carbohydrate quality among carbohydrate-rich processed products in the US.

Healthier carbohydrate (carb)-rich foods are essential for health, but practical, validated indices for their identification are not established. We compared four pragmatic metrics, based on, per 10g of carb:(a) ≥1g fiber (10:1 carb:fiber), (b) ≥1g fiber and <1g free sugars (10:1:1 carb:fiber:free sugars), (c) ≥1g fiber and <2g free sugars (10:1:2 carb:fiber:free sugars); and (d) ≥1g fiber and, per each 1 g of fiber, <2g free sugars (10:1 carb:fiber, 1:2 fiber:free sugars; or 10:1|1:2). Using 2013–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey /Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, we assessed, overall and for 12 food categories, whether each metric discriminated carb-rich products higher or lower (per 100g) in calories, total fat, saturated fat, protein, sugar, fiber, sodium, potassium, magnesium, folate, and 8 vitamins/minerals. Among 2,208 carb-rich products, more met 10:1 (23.2%) and 10:1|1:2 (21.3%), followed by 10:1:2 (19.2%) and 10:1:1 (16.4%) ratios, with variation by product sub-categories. The 10:1 and 10:1|1:2 ratios similarly identified products with lower calories, fat, free sugars, and sodium; and higher protein, fiber, potassium, magnesium, iron, vitamin B6, vitamin E, zinc and iron. The 10:1:2 and 10:1:1 ratios identified products with even larger differences in calories and free sugars, but smaller differences in other nutrients above and lower folate, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin; the latter findings were attenuated after excluding breakfast cereals (~9% of products). These novel findings inform dietary guidance for consumers, policy, and industry to identify and promote the development of the healthier carb-rich foods.

Methylchloroisothiazolinone and/or methylisothiazolinone in cosmetic products-A market survey.

There was a global epidemic of methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI) and/or methylisothiazolinone (MI) contact allergy from 2009 to 2015. In response, the Thai Ministry of Public Health regulated the use of MCI/MI in cosmetics. To survey the presence of MCI/MI and MI alone, as labelled on cosmetics sold on the Thai market, before and after the ministerial directive. The presence of MCI and/or MI in leave-on and rinse-off cosmetics sold on the market, based on the labelling of ingredients in 3445 products, was analysed. Before the implementation date, most leave-on products contained MCI/MI. After the regulations came into force, the only leave-on cosmetic subcategories that complied with the law were facial skin-care, sunscreen and make-up products. MCI/MI and MI alone were found on the labels of both leave-on and rinse-off products, the presence of each varying between product subcategories. Despite the ministerial regulations restricting their use, MCI and/or MI are still found in cosmetics sold on the Thai market. Dermatologists should be aware of this situation, and counsel patients to avoid products containing MCI and/or MI.

A generalized count model on customers' purchases in O2O market

In the Online-to-Offline (O2O) ecommerce model, one challenge facing the online business is to predict customers' future purchases towards each product or subcategory of products, and consequently, coordinate the large amount of offline businesses involved. The main obstacle in doing that originates from the highly diversified services and thus the customer base which offline businesses bring in. The heterogeneity of customers, geographic or demographic, needs to be accurately accounted for. However, although the previous transactions for each customer are well documented, his/her demographic data is difficult or costly to acquire. Traditional wisdom relies on fitting customers into some specific statistical distribution to arrive at a satisfactory stochastic model, which may be accurate, to some extent, at a higher level. This is the case for the classic Beta-Binomial/Negative Binomial Distribution (BB/NBD) model on customers' repeat purchasing in offline context. Nevertheless, to deal with the complex level in customers' heterogeneity at an O2O business, using specific distribution is inadequate, let alone the mathematical challenges.We propose a new model to deal with the diversity of customers. Using BB/NBD as a starting point, we relax the Beta assumption in the model to include a generalized distribution. The generalization is made possible through using the Gaussian quadrature. The results retain the elegance of stochastic model while at the same time it captures customers' heterogeneity at a better, granular level. We use a dataset from Ctrip.com, a leading O2O provider in China, to show that the proposed method outperforms the BB/NBD model in both in-sample and out-of-sample predictive performance. Our approach provides a practical solution for O2O practitioners to forecast their future demands.

Automated discovery of safety and efficacy concerns for joint & muscle pain relief treatments from online reviews

ObjectivesProduct issues can cost companies millions in lawsuits and have devastating effects on a firm’s sales, image and goodwill, especially in the era of social media. The ability for a system to detect the presence of safety and efficacy (S&E) concerns early on could not only protect consumers from injuries due to safety hazards, but could also mitigate financial damage to the manufacturer. Prior studies in the field of automated defect discovery have found industry-specific techniques appropriate to the automotive, consumer electronics, home appliance, and toy industries, but have not investigated pain relief medicines and medical devices. In this study, we focus specifically on automated discovery of S&E concerns in over-the-counter (OTC) joint and muscle pain relief remedies and devices. MethodsWe select a dataset of over 32,000 records for three categories of Joint & Muscle Pain Relief treatments from Amazon’s online product reviews, and train “smoke word” dictionaries which we use to score holdout reviews, for the presence of safety and efficacy issues. We also score using conventional sentiment analysis techniques. ResultsCompared to traditional sentiment analysis techniques, we found that smoke term dictionaries were better suited to detect product concerns from online consumer reviews, and significantly outperformed the sentiment analysis techniques in uncovering both efficacy and safety concerns, across all product subcategories. ConclusionOur research can be applied to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry in order to detect safety and efficacy concerns, reducing risks that consumers face using these products. These findings can be highly beneficial to improving quality assurance and management in joint and muscle pain relief.

Added sugar in the packaged foods and beverages available at a major Canadian retailer in 2015: a descriptive analysis.

Excess consumption of added sugars has been associated with a variety of health problems, but there is little information available characterizing added sugar in the Canadian food supply. This study examined the presence and types of added sugars in the packaged food and beverage products available at a major Canadian grocery retailer. We searched the ingredients lists of over 40 000 packaged food products available for sale in March 2015 for a variety of added sugar terms. Proportions of food products containing added sugar were identified overall and within food product categories. Differences in total sugar content were identified between food products with and without added sugar. Overall, 66% of the packaged food products analyzed contained at least 1 added sugar. The added sugar term "sugar" (and its variations) appeared the most frequently, followed by "dextrose." Added sugar presence and total sugar content varied within many product categories but were consistently higher in expected categories such as "beverages." Mean total sugar content was significantly higher in products with added sugar than in those without, both overall (p < 0.001) and within most product subcategories (p < 0.02). About two-thirds of the packaged foods and beverages available at a major Canadian grocery retailer contain added sugar, similar to recent patterns estimated for the US food supply. The results provide an estimation of the baseline characterization of added sugar in the Canadian food supply, which can be used to assess outcomes of future changes to sugar labelling policies in Canada.

Medicamentos Não Sujeitos a Receita Médica de Dispensa Exclusiva em Farmácia em Portugal: Uma Oportunidade de Acesso Sub-Aproveitada?

In 2013 medicinal products for human use not subject to medical prescription dispensed exclusively in pharmacy, a subcategory of products not subject to medical prescription was introduced in Portugal. This category of medicinal products promotes the accessibility to treatment, ensuring safety and efficacy, with benefits to public health. This article analyzed the medicines classified as medicinal products for human use not subject to medical prescription dispensed exclusively in pharmacy or equivalent in seven European countries, United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Czech Republic and Portugal, and proposes a preliminary list of common international names/ medicines that possess the characteristics that justify their inclusion in Portugal, in this category. For the selection, common international names /medicines approved in the considered countries were selected if, in at least one of the countries considered, they are classified as medicinal products for human use not subject to medical prescription dispensed exclusively in pharmacy or equivalent, and/ or have the classification of medicinal products subject to medical prescription in Portugal and medicinal products not subject to medical prescription in one of the considered countries. The preliminary list obtained contains 271 different common international names / presentations. About 19% of the selected common international names do not have a valid marketing authorization in Portugal and the majority (42%) is classified in Portugal as medicinal products not subject to medical prescription, a lower percentage (35%) as medicinal products subject to medical prescription, and only 4% as medicinal products for human use not subject to medical prescription dispensed exclusively in pharmacy. Safety is one of the main aspects to be considered in the context of the reclassification of medicines regarding their supply to the public. The results obtained promote a reflection on the relevance of extending the availability of medicines with the classification of medicinal products for human use not subject to medical prescription dispensed exclusively in pharmacy in Portugal, which, due to their characteristics and indications, would benefit from an access without a medical prescription, ensuring the safety in its use.

Non-prescription medicinal products dispensed exclusively in the pharmacy: an underused access opportunity in Portugal?

In 2013, non-prescription medicinal products dispensed exclusively in the pharmacy (NPMP-Ps), a subcategory of products not subject to a medical prescription, were introduced in Portugal. This category of medicinal products promotes accessibility to treatment, ensuring safety and efficacy, with benefits to public health. This article analyses the medicines classified as NPMP-Ps, or equivalent, in seven European countries: UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Czech Republic and Portugal. It also suggests a list of medicines, by international non-proprietary name (INN), that meet the requirements for their inclusion in this category in Portugal. The collection and analysis of data were divided into two stages: a wider preliminary selection and a final, more restrictive, selection. For the preliminary selection, approved medicines for each considered country were selected if they met at least one of the following conditions: being classified as a pharmacy-only medicine in any of the countries, or being classified as a prescription-only medicine in Portugal and as a non-prescription medicine in one of the other countries considered. For the final selection, the preliminary list was restricted according to previously established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The preliminary list contained 271 different medicines by INN product. The list was then restricted to 58 INN products for the final selection, by choosing the cases where strong evidence was found regarding the suitability for a new classification. The therapeutic classes that included the highest number of INN products were alimentary tract and metabolism (17 %), respiratory system (17 %), antifungals for dermatological use (16 %) and analgesics (7 %). The INN products suggested to be classified as NPMP-Ps in Portugal already belong to this category (or equivalent) in 81 % of the cases in the UK, 53 % in Sweden, 48 % in Norway, 41 % in Italy and 33 % in Denmark. Although most INN products selected are intended for the management of acute disease (57 %), a considerable number are approved for the treatment of chronic (10 %) and semi-chronic (33 %) diseases. The results allow for reflection on the relevance of extending the range of medicines classified as NPMP-Ps in Portugal, thereby increasing their availability. Given the characteristics and therapeutic indications of these medicines, the public would benefit from access that is not subject to a prescription, but ensures the safety of use through pharmacist mediation. Considering the adoption of this category of products in several European countries, the authors consider that an update to the Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council could be relevant, since the classification of medicines regarding dispensing status is not fully reflected in the official guidance.

An update on the roles of culture and language in designing emotion lists: English, Spanish and Portuguese

This paper is an update on a study investigating the effect of culture and language on reported emotions and confirms that both culture and language are important in studying emotions evoked by beverages. In addition, sub-categories of products, such as beverage types have different emotion associations in different cultures. A list of emotions developed for beverages in the UK, US, Mexico and Spain was translated into Portuguese for Brazil and Portugal. An on-line questionnaire combining the emotions selected by the focus groups was then completed by 600 respondents each in Brazil and Portugal where people were asked which emotions applied to their favourite beverage, beer and their least liked alcoholic beverage. Data from the two studies were combined.Respondents from English speaking countries showed very similar emotional reactions for individual beverage types. Respondents from Mexico and Brazil were more similar to English speaking respondents than to those from Spain and, with the exception of wine, respondents from Portugal were similar to those of Brazil and Mexico in their emotional reactions. Respondents from Spain and Portugal were similar in their emotional reaction to wine. We confirm our conclusion that for products, but certainly for beverages, culture will affect emotion language usage, but even within the same category, the pattern of differences may be different for different products. In designing emotion lists it is therefore important to take both culture and language into consideration and to realize that a list developed in one country for a specific product type is not necessarily suitable in another country or for a different product.

The Ferrous Find: Counting Iron and Steel Stocks in China's Economy

SummaryA detailed understanding of material stocks in use is essential for anticipating future scrap availability, identifying critical drivers for material use, and developing strategies for resource efficiency. Here, we present a bottom‐up assessment of iron and steel stocks in use in urban and rural China for the years 2000 and 2010, including &gt;250 subcategories of products and components, and grouping them into five main end‐use categories (i.e., buildings, infrastructure, domestic appliances, machinery, and transport equipment). The uncertainty range of the steel content per type of stock, a determinant of the accuracy and usefulness of the stock accounting, is probed by multiple means, including sample analysis. Important findings are that (1) iron and steel stocks in China have climbed to 2.4 tonnes/capita (t/cap) in 2010, up from 0.9 t/cap in 2000. The use of reinforced concrete in construction of the urban built environment was the major driver for stock growth; (2) a rural‐urban difference was uncovered, with rural iron and steel stocks of approximately 1.1 t/cap and the urban iron and steel stocks of approximately 3.7 t/cap in 2010. Both are, nevertheless, far below the level of 10 to 16 t/cap observed in highly industrialized and urbanized countries. For this reason, further stock increase is foreseeable as urbanization and industrialization proceeds and quality of life improves; (3) nearly half of the steel stocks were embedded in concrete structures, and 23% were located in the countryside. Only a fraction of these stocks are currently recovered at end of life.

Investigating the single ideal assumption using Ideal Profile Method

Ideal point modeling is a type of multivariate mapping in which consumers are assumed to use internal ideals in their hedonic evaluation of products. In their calculation processes, these techniques typically assume that consumers have a unique ideal for the product set tested. But this assumption is difficult to verify from the liking data alone, and may be violated if different subcategories of products, such as light and dark chocolate, are included in the same experiment. In this paper we propose the use of the Ideal Profile Method (IPM) to test this assumption. In IPM, consumers are asked to rate explicitly their ideals for each product tested. The variability between products of the averaged ideal ratings can then be used to check for the assumption of a single ideal. The procedure we describe involves ANOVA and confidence ellipses associated to the Hotelling T2 test. We then consider three cases to illustrate the use of this methodology in practice.

Green and amber foods: The nutritional content of food and beverages registered for sale in New South Wales school canteens with Healthy Kids Association

AbstractAim: The aim of this study was to describe key nutritional characteristics of food and beverage products registered with the product registration scheme of Healthy Kids Association (formerly the New South Wales School Canteen Association).Methods: The nutritional characteristics of Healthy Kids Association's registered products as of October 2009 were examined. Nutrient content data were obtained from product nutrition information panels, for each product within popular product subcategories. The level of key nutrients (including saturated fat, sugar, calcium and fibre) was identified and analysed in relation to the nutrient criteria threshold levels for green and amber food categories. The distribution of nutrients in relation to the food category thresholds was examined.Results: For most product subcategories, the nutrient content of products clustered just below the nutrient criteria thresholds for total energy, saturated fat, sodium and sugar. The nutrient content for the positive nutrients calcium and fibre frequently clustered just above the threshold. In addition, small package sizes were found to be common among food classified as amber.Conclusion: This study illustrates a method for analysing and describing the range and nutrient profile of products registered with a product registration or nutrition signposting scheme. The distribution of key nutrients around criteria thresholds suggests that products are formulated with reference to the nutrient thresholds of the product registration scheme. However, nutrient thresholds may also be achieved through manufacturing smaller portion sizes. The potential of nutrient thresholds as levers to influence the nutritional profile of foods needs further research and industry dialogue.

The Effect of the Number of Product Subcategories on Perceived Variety and Shopping Experience in an Online Store

This study tested whether organizing the same number of products in different ways on an online store's website influences attitudes toward the store. The pilot study revealed that when the products were sorted into more subcategories (9 as opposed to 3), such that more subcategory options appeared in the selection menu, participants perceived that the website offered a greater variety of products and experienced greater ease of navigation and shopping pleasure, which improved their attitudes toward the online store. The next experiment tested the same effect but with three subcategory quantities (18, 9, and 3) while also considering the moderating effect of choice uncertainty (high versus low) in two processing contexts (buying versus browsing). The more subcategory options, the greater consumers' perceived variety. However, the influence of the number of subcategory options on ease of navigation, shopping pleasure, attitudes toward the store, and future purchase intentions indicated an inverted U-shaped pattern; moreover, the influence was significant only among participants with low rather than high choice uncertainty. This article concludes with implications for online marketing.

A choice-based multi-product diffusion model incorporating replacement demand

This study proposes an integrated forecasting model that incorporates both first purchase diffusion and replacement component of sales in predicting multi-product diffusion patterns. The model consists of a two-stage procedure that customers undertake during purchase occasions according to a diffusion process or replacement process, and at each occasion, they make purchase incidence decisions and product choices according to a choice model. By incorporating various exogenous factors in the choice model, the model can identify the impact of each factor on customers' purchase incidence decisions and choice decisions among various product sub-categories. This approach enables us to understand the overall process of customers' purchasing behavior and to separate total sales amount into sales to three consumer segments: first-time buyers, customers who repurchase the same product category and customers who change their previous product category. We applied the proposed model in the forecasting multi-product framework; forecasting sub-category level automobile sales and brand level mobile terminal sales in the South Korean market. The results of the empirical studies showed that incorporating the replacement components into the multi-product diffusion framework is useful not only in understanding the demand interaction among automobile categories and among mobile handset brands, but also in producing more accurate long-term sales forecasts compared to previous multi-product diffusion models.

Storage Management and Backup Schemes for Broadcast Video

As videotape gradually disappears from the broadcast plant, storage in a digital file format becomes more important. In most cases, this is a combination of spinning disk and removable media, either data tape or DVD. With that comes the management of material as it moves from video server to nearline to archive, and back again. The class of software products that perform this function are generally called hierarchical storage management or HSM systems. This is actually a misnomer, in that, HSM refers to a specific type of storage management rather than a product category. HSM is often used as a catchall term for two categories of file management: storage management and file backup. Storage management really consists of four broad subcategories of products, each having advantages and disadvantages, as it applies to on-air, production, and news environments. Specifically, the subcategories are shared file systems, HSM systems, disk extenders, and data movers. Related to, but completely different from storage management is file backup, which also often gets included with HSM. In the category of file backup are subcategories of mirroring, simple backup, and disaster recovery.