ABSTRACT
The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between exercise group characteristics and participation intention in elderly individuals via conjoint analysis. A total of 977 individuals (591 males and 386 females) aged ≥60 years were enrolled in the study. The included exercise groups comprised five factors: 1) instructor (professionals, university students, or volunteers); 2) place (1, 5, or 10 km); 3) expected effect (maintaining or increasing physical fitness, preventing dementia, or relieving stress); 4) characteristics (interaction, gaming, or self-pace); and 5) fee (free, 500 yen, or 1,000 yen). A total of 18 exercise groups were created by the orthogonal table. The choice-based conjoint comprised nine choice tasks. Among these, participants were required to choose between two exercise groups or no-choice option. The utility was higher for each factor as follows: 1) professional instructor, 2) closer place, 3) expected maintenance or increased physical fitness, 4) self-pace, and 5) free. The degree of each factor’s utility differed according to sex or exercise habits. Specifically, females had higher utility for university students than males, and those who had regular exercise habits had higher utility for professional instructors than those who did not. The results of the present study may help develop strategies to stimulate elder individuals in exercise-group participation.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The study examined the Chinese and Japanese consumers' preference for Korean home meal replacement (HMR) product package designs using conjoint analysis. METHODS: The questionnaire survey was completed by 270 consumers living in Beijing, China and Osaka, Japan, over the age of 20 years old, who had previously purchased or consumed a Korean HMR. Based on the attributes and levels within each attribute related to the Korean HMR product package design, 54 profiles were constructed. Of the 54 profiles, 11 combinations were selected using an orthogonal design, and the participants were asked to rank the 11 combinations in order of preference from top to bottom. RESULTS: The relative importance of the Korean HMR product package design attributes were analyzed. Chinese consumers regarded illustration, ingestion form, concept, and brand name, in that order, to be most important. In the case of Japanese consumers, illustration, concept, ingestion form, and brand name, in that order, were most important. For the illustration attributes, in order of importance, Chinese consumers preferred raw materials, characters, and celebrities, and Japanese consumers preferred characters, raw materials, and celebrities. For the concept attributes, Chinese consumers favored, witty, traditional Korean, and modern concepts, whereas Japanese consumers favored witty, modern, and then traditional Korean concepts. For the ingestion form attributes, both Chinese and Japanese consumers preferred Ready To Eat (RTE), followed by Ready To Heat (RTH), and then Ready To Cook (RTC). For the brand name attributes, both Chinese and Japanese consumers preferred the localized brand name over the Korean brand name. CONCLUSION: Differences in the relative importance of Korean HMR product package design attributes were observed among Chinese and Japanese consumers, and there were differences in preference according to the levels within each attribute. These results are expected to provide useful basic data to assist in the future development of differentiated HMR package designs and marketing strategies to meet consumer needs in the market for Korean HMR in China and Japan.
Subject(s)
Humans , Asian People , Beijing , China , Eating , Hot Temperature , Japan , Marketing , MealsABSTRACT
Discharge planning is integral in the delivery of effective patient care in clinical settings. Hence, an organized and coordinated system is necessary in facilitating the discharge process and in ensuring a seamless transition of patients from one level of care to another. The purpose of this study is to identify the preferences of nurses on discharge planning, and to analyze the significant differences of nurses' discharge planning preferences and their demographic information. A two-part researcher-made instrument was utilized in the conduct of the study including the robotfoto and plan cards. Preliminarily, the plan cards having nine attributes with two levels each were validated by experts and was pilot-tested to a select group of respondents from the target population. A conjoint analysis survey of 230 nurses in a teaching-and-training hospital was conducted from May and June 2013. Capitalizing on the power of conjoint analysis, preferences of nurses have been unveiled. The most important attribute is the structure (importance value= 19.25%) in which nurses utilize in facilitating the discharge plan. Nurses prefer to employ formal structure (part worth value= 0.442) as it encompasses patient and family involvement following an organized protocol and has detailed documentation. Conversely, comprehensive patient assessment has been the least preferred attribute (importance value= 3.71%) in which the head-to-toe assessment had its part worth value of 0.86. As a whole, an analysis and understanding of nurses' preferences serve as an impetus for them to actively engage in the discharge planning process by developing effective structures that will benefit patients.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , NursesABSTRACT
Objective: To develop a weighted disuse risk score rating. Design : Based on specified selection criteria, items of the disuse risk factor were chosen. Then, a conjoint questionnaire for physicians was created using orthogonal cards with ordinal disuse risk grade. Conjoint analysis (SPSS 15.0) was performed, weighting each item and making a formula for calculating the disuse risk score. Setting : The Rehabilitation Department of a University Hospital. Participants : Forty-one physician respondents and 129 consecutive inpatients referred to the rehabilitation department. Main outcome measures : Agreement of the rated disuse risk grade with the calculated disuse risk score, and the reliability of the calculated disuse risk score of the 129 inpatients. Results : Eleven disuse risk factor items were selected ; age, malignant tumor, heart impairment, respiratory impairment, kidney impairment, pain, gait disorder, psychiatric impairment, intellectual disability, dementia, and body mass index. Forty-one physicians completed and returned a postal questionnaire. Cronbach's a of the rated disuse risk grade was 0.948. The correlation coefficient of the average rated disuse risk grade to the calculated disuse risk score was 0.985 (<i>p</i>=0.000). Items of high overall importance (%) were gait disorder (14.0%), malignant tumor (11.5%), and respiratory impairment (11.0%). Those of low overall importance (%) were body mass index (6.8%), kidney impairment (6.6%), and psychiatric impairment (6.1%). For the 129 patients, the calculated disuse risk score of the 11-item was correlated to that of the 9-item weighted disuse risk factor (<i>R</i>=0.930, <i>p</i>=0.000). Conclusions : Both the 11-item disuse risk factor and the weighted disuse risk score rating were considered reliable and useful.
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Conjoint analysis was used to assess resident preference for teaching hospitals that offer postgraduate clinical training programs. Data for the analysis were collected from 46 clinical residents who participated in an emergency room seminar held in July 2005. Categories that received high utility scores in the attributes of teaching hospitals were “hospital has a renowned teaching doctor”, “hospital is partnered with overseas institutions”, “conferences/study sessions are held more than 8 times per month”, “bedside teaching takes place daily”, “a monthly salary of 500, 000 yen”, “80 working hours per week”, “the hospital is located in a nearby city”, and “the hospital is not affiliated with a university” . Conjoint analysis is a useful analytical method for developing education systems and programs, as it can predict the degree of change in resident preference made by improving these categories.
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The purpose of this study was to assess the structure of the decision and the importance of the attributes in choosing food-related tour program. Questionnaires were developed in three languages- Japanese, Chinese, and English- given to 300 foreign tourists who have visited Korea in 2002. Statistical data analysis was completed using SPSS Win (ver 11.0) for descriptive analysis and conjoint analysis. The results of this study showed that the 'price' was the most important attribute (35.62%) in choosing a hypothetical food tourism program, followed by 'place' (27.35%), 'time' (26.01%), and 'type of program' (10.22%). With respect to the relative importance values for each attribute by different groups, English- and Chinese-speaking tourists considered 'price' more than other factors, while 'time' was regarded as the most important factor for Japanese tourists. Therefore, it indicated the need to recognize the different needs among tourists and put these factors into consideration in developing the programs.
Subject(s)
Humans , Asian People , Data Interpretation, Statistical , KoreaABSTRACT
The purposes of this study were (1) to understand how customers trade off one attribute against another when they choose a pizza restaurant, (2) to compare the importance of individual attributes with their relative importance and (3) to compare customers' brand choice patterns with the prediction of pizza restaurant operators. Empirical data for this study were collected from the customers (n = 307) and operators (n = 273) of four famous pizza franchise restaurants in Korea, Pizza Hut, Mister Pizza, Domino's Pizza and Pizza Mall. The attributes and attribute levels for the hypothetical profiles were decided from the focus group discussion. A total of 16 profiles was selected from fractional factorial designs. The SPSS conjoint procedure was used to calculate utility scores and simulate profiles. The overall group statistics showed the relative importance of all attributes compared with one other. Taste was the most important attribute (32.48%) in choosing a pizza restaurant, followed by service (21.87%), atmosphere (17.23%), price (15.17%) and speed of delivery (13.26%). There was a difference between the customers' ratings of the importance of the individual attributes and the ranking of the same attributes' relative importance as derived from the conjoint analysis. The operators rated service (26.54%) as also being important, as well as taste (27.76%), in choosing a pizza restaurant. The rankings of relative importance for pizza taste, service and price were statistically different in the customers' and operators' data (p < .001, p < .01, p < .05). Operators who want to differentiate themselves from their competitors should make decisions based on an increased understanding of their customers' brand choice decision process and measure the hidden needs of their customers.