Research article

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Consumption pattern using lifestyle and culture classification: A case study of Gen X and late baby boomers in the Bangkok metropolis Somkiat Eiamkanchanalai, Nuttapol Assarut and Suwanee Surasiengsunk Pages 1 - 19    Download PDF  Article preview Cite Abstract As the baby boomer generation has moved into retirement age, the focus of marketers has now shifted toward Gen X and the late baby boomer generation - people in their 40s and 50s. With differences in their lifestyle and culture, their behavior must be investigated to explain how their future consumption will change. This study suggests an incorporation of lifestyle and culture factors to classify these generations to gain their insights and preferences rather than using the traditional demographic classification alone. A sample of 600 respondents is studied. The two-step cluster analysis divides the respondents into 5 main groups and 14 individual groups. The 5 main groups are: company employee, worker, self-employed, model family and solitary. The priority of their consumption pattern is physical health, housing, economics, mental health and leisure time spending respectively. Marketing and managerial implications are suggested.
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The Study of Relationship between Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies and Satisfaction on Business Performance of Thai Rice Exporters Sirion Setamanit Pages 20 - 48    Download PDF  Article preview Cite Abstract The objectives of this research is to study the use of logistics and supply chain strategies of Thai Rice Exporters and to investigate the relationship between the usage of such strategies and the performance of business both in financial returns and costs. The population of this study is wholesale businesses of rice and rice mill products which are listed in the List of Company Licensed by Department of Foreign Trade for "Thai Hom Mali Rice Certification". From the analysis of 150 respondents, it was found that overall businesses in this industry are satisfied with their financial returns and costs except transportation costs. Regarding the strategy used, In-sourcing strategy is the most used strategy at the organization level. At business level, Speed/Quick Response strategy and Cost leadership strategy are the most used. For operations strategy, supplier relationship management (SRM) and warehouse management system (WMS) are used more often than other strategies. Nevertheless, the analysis of the relationship between the satisfaction on business performance and the strategy used shows that businesses that use Outsourcing strategy, Vertical integration strategy, or Horizontal integration strategy are more satisfied with their performances than the one that does not use such strategies. Furthermore, for operations strategy, only strategy related to purchasing and procurement has positive impact on performance satisfaction.
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Applying the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy in Policies and Marketing Plans of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMSs) Guntalee Ruenrom Pages 49 - 79    Download PDF  Article preview Cite Abstract This research aimed to study the perception of the SMEs’ owners toward the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy and whether this Philosophy had been applied to their business policies and marketing plans, the level of applying and in which aspects. In addition, to discover whether the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy which is composed of five factors: moderation, reasonableness, immunity, knowledge and morality fit to the gathered data. The research design was both quantitative and qualitative research by in-depth interviewing 15 SMEs entrepreneurs and used the results to develop the questionnaire for surveying the samples who were the SMEs entrepreneurs in Bangkok. Questionnaires were sent to 1,520 SMEs entrepreneurs. The complete returned questionnaires were 325 which was accounted to 21.38% of all sent questionnaires. The results of the data analysis and hypotheses testing found that the majority of SMEs entrepreneurs believed and knew the meaning of the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy. This philosophy was formally and informally applied into the policies and marketing plans of SMEs in many dimensions of the business operations and the overall results can be achieved. The entrepreneurs would continue to apply the philosophy in their businesses in the future. Furthermore, the results of the confirmatory factor analysis found that the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy fitted to the operations of SMEs from the gathered data. The research results provided the useful data in applying the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy for SMEs. The researcher discussed the research findings and gave the recommendations for SMEs especially the creation of the immunity system for their businesses to be stable and sustainable. The recommendations were given for the involved governmental agencies as well as the recommendations for future research.
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Real Estate Business Growth, Quality or Quantity? : Insight of Consumer Complaint Behavior (CCB) and Index Monitoring Witawat Rungruangphon and Niti Rattanaprichavej Pages 80 - 101    Download PDF  Article preview Cite Abstract This research is survey and panel study; aims 1) to study factors influencing consumer complaint behavior in real estate business 2) to study consumer complaint behavior in real estate business 3) to accommodate Real Estate Consumer Complaint Index or RECCI collecting quantitative data in personal level of consumer complaint data from Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) with census sampling technic during the 3rd and 4th quarter of year 2011 and the 1st and 2nd of year 2012 from 1,779 complaints of population. Content analysis is qualitatively applied with structural in depth interview technic with developers consumers as well as related organizations. Moreover, public hearing from professional stakeholders is conducted in objective of discussion the quantitative results. On the other hand, to appoint RECCI quarterly in order to monitor the trend of consumer complaint numbers. The research result indicates that the most complaint issues sequently combine of 1) not conform to advertisement and agreement 2) not finished construction 3) dow payment and retention issues and 4) construction quality. Organization types of developers and property types lead to the difference of consumer complaints. Lastly, the trend from RECCI shows inconsistency of consumer complaints during 4 quarters of the study.