View All Items

Title: THE DIFFERENCE IN VENTILATORY THRESHOLD AMONG ADOLESCENT MALES BASED ON MATURITY STATUS.
Creator: Loney, Dyane, Stout, Jeffery R., University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Previous research has shown an inverse relationship between age and the relative intensity at which ventilatory threshold (VT) occurs in adolescent boys. However, no study has examined the effect of maturity status on VT in the differences in boys from the onset of puberty, adolescents. The purpose of this study was to compare VT among adolescent boys of different maturational groups. Methods: For this study, moderately active adolescent male participants (14 � 3 y) completed this study....
Show morePrevious research has shown an inverse relationship between age and the relative intensity at which ventilatory threshold (VT) occurs in adolescent boys. However, no study has examined the effect of maturity status on VT in the differences in boys from the onset of puberty, adolescents. The purpose of this study was to compare VT among adolescent boys of different maturational groups. Methods: For this study, moderately active adolescent male participants (14 � 3 y) completed this study. Maturational status of the participants was determined via years from peak height velocity (PHV), which is an estimation of somatic maturity status derived from age, standing height, seated height, body mass, and leg length. Participants were categorized into PRE- (lesser than 1 year till PHV), PERI- (within 1 year of PHV), and POST-PHV (greater than 1 year past PHV). All participants completed a ramp graded exercise test on a cycle ergometer. During the test, participants were given a three-minute warm-up with no resistance before starting at a workload of 30 watts which increased at a rate of 1 watt every 3 seconds until volitional fatigue. Throughout the test, oxygen consumption (VO2) and ventilation were measured. VT was determined, as a percentage of VO2max, from the ventilation versus VO2 graph using the maximal deviation method. Differences in VT between maturational groups were examined using one-way ANOVA. Results: A significant (F=5.36; p=0.014) difference in VT among maturational groups was found (Appendix A, Figure 2). Post hoc analysis revealed that PRE (p=0.029) and PERI (p=0.009) had VT occur at a significantly greater relative percentage of VO2max than POST. However, no significant (p=0.970) differences were found between PRE and PERI (Appendix A, Figure 3). Conclusion: Adolescent males in PRE and PERI demonstrated higher VT as a percentage of their VO2max compared to POST. This finding suggests the differences in the delayed switch from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism during incremental exercise in adolescent boys who are PRE and PERI.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFH2000145, ucf:45945
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000145

Title: Water consumption of children in Head Start classrooms.
Creator: Zhang, Bingbing, Culp, Anne, Culp, Rex, Macy, Marisa, Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The Institute of Medicine (IOM) identifies the importance of water consumption and suggested that children need to consume water each day (IOM, 2011). Head Start Performance Standards requires that the children have free access to drinking water throughout the program day (DHHS, 2016a).The first goal of this study was to identify the quantity of water consumed by children during the program day (8am-2pm). This study employed a person-centered approach to explore the water consumption of the...
Show moreThe Institute of Medicine (IOM) identifies the importance of water consumption and suggested that children need to consume water each day (IOM, 2011). Head Start Performance Standards requires that the children have free access to drinking water throughout the program day (DHHS, 2016a).The first goal of this study was to identify the quantity of water consumed by children during the program day (8am-2pm). This study employed a person-centered approach to explore the water consumption of the children through observations and direct measurement to identify the amount of the water consumed during a program day. Four classrooms from a Head Start center in a southeastern school district were included in the study. A total of 80 children were observed during the program day (8am-2pm) over a period of 8 weeks. Each child was given a water bottle and instructed to drink freely from the water fountain or the water bottle. In the classroom, water intake from the water fountain and water bottles were recorded.The second goal of this study is to examine profiles of the water consumption from both the school and at home. A person-centered approach combined the individual data of water consumption, from both observation and parental reports, to deepen our understanding of the issue. The 80 parents or legal guardians completed a brief survey to provide information on water consumption at home. No statistically significant differences across demographic characteristics were found. However, large to moderate effect size were discovered.The third goal of the present study was to compare the usage of the sugary sweetened beverages (SSBs) with the national Head Start Faces data 2009 (DHHS, 2017). The current study group had statistically significant difference in consumption of those sugary sweetened beverages. The current study concluded that the water consumption of the children in Head Start classrooms are far less that recommended level. Suggestions on how to increase water consumption were made based on observed behaviors of children across four classrooms. Policy changes regarding water consumption is suggested to increase the water consumption.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007270, ucf:52201
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007270

Title: DO IMMIGRANT STUDENTS CONSUME LESS ENERGY THAN NATIVE-BORN AMERICAN STUDENTS?.
Creator: Lei, Lei, Pals, Heili, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This paper uses a sociological model to compare the residential energy consumption between immigrant students and native-born American students and to explain the difference by demographic characteristics, values, and specific attitudes. Further, it tries to explore whether the relationship between immigration status and residential energy consumption is mediated by value orientation towards frugality and specific attitudes towards energy conservation. The data of an online survey among...
Show moreThis paper uses a sociological model to compare the residential energy consumption between immigrant students and native-born American students and to explain the difference by demographic characteristics, values, and specific attitudes. Further, it tries to explore whether the relationship between immigration status and residential energy consumption is mediated by value orientation towards frugality and specific attitudes towards energy conservation. The data of an online survey among native-born and foreign-born students at the University of Central Florida are used. The results suggest that immigrants consume less energy at home than native-born Americans, but the time stayed in the US doesn't have an impact on the energy consumption of immigrants. In addition, the results do not show evidence that value orientation towards frugality and specific attitudes toward energy conservation mediate the relationship between immigration status and energy consumption at home.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0003629, ucf:48855
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003629

Title: Power Effects on Consumer Well-Being: Two Essays on The Power Effects on Donation and Material/Experiential Consumption.
Creator: Liu, Yue, He, Xin, Tafaghodijami, Ata, Massiah, Carolyn, Yang, Xiaojing, Mao, Huifang, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Power is a fundamental concept in social science (Russell 1938), which has gained much academic attention in various disciplines. Two essays of this dissertation examine the theoretical and practical implications of power effects on donation decisions and material/experiential consumption.The first essay demonstrates power's moderating effect on the relationship between publicity and donation. Specifically, it is proposed that powerful people tend to donate more in public (vs. private)...
Show morePower is a fundamental concept in social science (Russell 1938), which has gained much academic attention in various disciplines. Two essays of this dissertation examine the theoretical and practical implications of power effects on donation decisions and material/experiential consumption.The first essay demonstrates power's moderating effect on the relationship between publicity and donation. Specifically, it is proposed that powerful people tend to donate more in public (vs. private) situation, whereas powerless people do not show such a difference. This effect is driven by people's concern about self-presentation in a donation scenario. Additionally, this effect only holds when people strongly believe that high donation enhances others' positive impression of them, but dilutes when such belief is not held. The theorizing is supported across four studies.The second essay focuses on how power influences consumers' preferences for material and experiential products. It is predicted that those who feel powerless tend to spend more of their discretionary money on material products than experiential products. This effect occurs through feelings of resourcefulness caused by possessing material or experiential goods. In addition, this effect is further moderated by implicit theory, such that the impact of power on material versus experience product choice persists for incremental theorists but dissipates for entity theorists. Three experiments provide support to this proposition.Overall, by investigating how power influences people's donation behavior and choice of material/experiential products, this dissertation strengthens the understanding of power's effectson consumer behavior and provides practical implications on how power status can influence consumers' well-being.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006894, ucf:51710
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006894

Title: Three essays on applications of intrahousehold resource allocation models.
Creator: Pamornpathomkul, Santikorn, Dickie, Mark, Gerking, Shelby, Scrogin, David, Rutstrom, Elisabet, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This dissertation consists of three chapters on the topic of intrahousehold resource allocation models. The first chapter tests the unitary and general collective models of intrahousehold resource allocation for various household compositions. I find that, for the quasi-quadratic Engel curve specification, the overall results support the previous findings in the literature that the unitary model fails to explain how resources are allocated for all household types. However, when using the...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of three chapters on the topic of intrahousehold resource allocation models. The first chapter tests the unitary and general collective models of intrahousehold resource allocation for various household compositions. I find that, for the quasi-quadratic Engel curve specification, the overall results support the previous findings in the literature that the unitary model fails to explain how resources are allocated for all household types. However, when using the QUAIDS specification, the results can reject the unitary model only for smaller-sized households. The general collective model, on the other hand, cannot be rejected in either quasi-quadratic or QUAIDS and not in any of the household compositions. Overall, the results support the general collective model of household behavior rather than the unitary model.The second chapter derives and tests restrictions imposed by the collective model for households with more than two decision-makers in the absence of price variation. It extends the two-decision-maker model in chapter one to derive the testable restrictions for households with multiple decision makers using unconditional demand systems. Moreover, for comparison, a particular type of demand system that is conditional on distribution factors is also estimated as an alternative way to test the collective model. The results show that neither unconditional nor conditional demand systems can reject Pareto efficiency. Therefore, both approaches provide consistent outcomes supporting the hypothesis that the multiple-decision-maker households in Thailand behave in the Pareto efficient manner predicted by the collective model.Finally, my third chapter attempts to examine how one can exploit household-level consumption data to recover information about individual household members for situations with no price variation. By combining consumption data from single and couple households, I am able to estimate the resource shares and indifference scales (a variation of the standard equivalence scales in the collective settings) for each household member via a system of Engel curves. The results show that, in Thailand, wives are likely to have higher resource shares than husbands in the married-couple households, while wives with higher education have the ability to extract more household resources. However, resource shares for wives are smaller for older-married compared to younger-married couples. Moreover, if a female were to live alone, she would need approximately three-quarters of the couple's income to reach the same indifference curve, and hence the same standard of living, that she would attain as a wife in the married-couple household.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0004150, ucf:49057
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004150

Title: The Effect of Food Labeling and Environmental Cues on Food Consumption Judgments and Choices.
Creator: Lefebvre, Sarah, He, Xin, Tafaghodijami, Ata, Rugar, Yael Zemack -, Mao, Huifang, Biswas, Dipayan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: As obesity levels reach epidemic levels globally, an understanding of the multitude of factors that influence both eating behavior and food choice is necessary. This dissertation attempts to investigate the role of emerging food categories, namely organic foods, and the influence of environmental cues on eating behaviors and choices. This goal is accomplished through three essays. The first essay focuses on the organic food trend and consumer taste expectations. Specifically, this essay...
Show moreAs obesity levels reach epidemic levels globally, an understanding of the multitude of factors that influence both eating behavior and food choice is necessary. This dissertation attempts to investigate the role of emerging food categories, namely organic foods, and the influence of environmental cues on eating behaviors and choices. This goal is accomplished through three essays. The first essay focuses on the organic food trend and consumer taste expectations. Specifically, this essay explores how the presence of an organic label influences taste expectations differently for minimally processed versus highly processed foods due to the level of consistency (congruency) between the food item and formed organic associations. Moving the focus on food consumption to environmental cues, the second essay of this dissertation investigates how the temperature dimension of ambient scent (i.e., cool or warm) influences food choice and the number of calories consumed. This essay, drawing on literature from physiology and the limited research on the temperature dimension of scent, shows that the temperature dimension of scent generates behaviors that mimic the body's physiological responses to ambient temperature. Lastly, the third essay explores the relationship between organic foods and the discrete emotion of nostalgia. This essay examines how proneness to nostalgia and nostalgia evoked by advertising results in a preference for organic food products. This essay proposes that nostalgia evokes a desire for simplicity that is represented through the traditional production methods used by organic products; this leads to a preference for organic products. In sum, these three essays advance the knowledge on factors that influence food consumption behavior and choice, adding to the theoretical understanding of emerging food trends, labeling, and environmental cues, while providing implications for marketing strategy and consumer well-being.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006615, ucf:51301
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006615

Title: Dining with the Cyborgs: Disembodied Consumption and the Rhetoric of Food Media in the Digital Age.
Creator: Cotto, Maggie, Brenckle, Martha, Mauer, Barry, Scott, Blake, Matejowsky, Ty, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This project explores digital media productions based specifically on food and cooking in order to demonstrate that new communication technologies are increasingly incorporating all five of the bodily senses. In doing so, they contribute significantly to the emergence of new ideological apparatuses appropriate for a global community. These apparatuses (-) including the formation of a posthumanist subject, the use of technology to support embodied cognition, and the establishment of...
Show moreThis project explores digital media productions based specifically on food and cooking in order to demonstrate that new communication technologies are increasingly incorporating all five of the bodily senses. In doing so, they contribute significantly to the emergence of new ideological apparatuses appropriate for a global community. These apparatuses (-) including the formation of a posthumanist subject, the use of technology to support embodied cognition, and the establishment of entertainment as an ideological institution (-) have become the harbingers of a rhetorical evolution. Based on the work of Gregory Ulmer, along with Jacques Derrida, N. Katherine Hayles, Donna Haraway, and Cary Wolfe, this evolution expands the work of Plato and Aristotle by overcoming the privileging of mind over body and abstract reasoning over concrete physical experience.As such hierarchies become turned on their heads, a renewed emphasis on materiality and embodiment demands virtual products that stimulate the body. As such, a phenomenon I have named disembodied consumption takes place whereby users' chemical senses can be incited through participation with digital technologies. Through the stimulation of these physical senses, and in turn the connected emotions, today's digital citizens are practicing the rhetorical method referred to by Ulmer as conduction.By examining sites, blogs, and postings that include references to food and flavor, I reveal examples of conduction and show how this method is necessary for the development of well-being, and the defeat of compassion fatigue in digital society.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006089, ucf:50948
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006089

Title: Rock-a-Buy Baby: Consumerism by New, First-Time Mothers.
Creator: Afflerback, Sara, Grauerholz, Elizabeth, Carter, Shannon, Koontz, Amanda, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Rock-a-Buy Baby: Consumerism by New, First-Time Mothers, is the first known sociological exploration of need-based consumption for babies, despite the baby gear industry being a $6-billion-dollar business (whattoexpect.com). Data stemmed from qualitative, semi-structured interviews with new, first-time mothers (3 months (-) 1 year postpartum) conducted within participants' households. The insights gained from the present study tell us a great deal about the (")needs(") that predominantly...
Show moreRock-a-Buy Baby: Consumerism by New, First-Time Mothers, is the first known sociological exploration of need-based consumption for babies, despite the baby gear industry being a $6-billion-dollar business (whattoexpect.com). Data stemmed from qualitative, semi-structured interviews with new, first-time mothers (3 months (-) 1 year postpartum) conducted within participants' households. The insights gained from the present study tell us a great deal about the (")needs(") that predominantly white, middle-class mothers socially constructed in anticipation of their first child, and the consumptive behaviors used to accomplish these "needs." Respondents had turned to similar resources (other mothers, online forums, consumer reports, books, magazines, etc.) to help them construct (")need(") and formulate decisions among commodities. Provided they were relying on comparable, if not overlapping, bodies of knowledge, mothers' narratives about consumer (")need(") were often congruent. Additionally, the ways expectant mothers accumulated items are ritualized and made tradition. The baby shower and gift registration process (which all of my respondents participated in to some variation) are social constructions; these practices, which are so strongly tied to consumption, also constituted reality for mothers, and inevitably, their babies.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004258, ucf:49502
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004258

Title: A Framework for Assessing Sustainability Impacts of Truck Routing Strategies.
Creator: Laman, Haluk, Abdel-Aty, Mohamed, Tatari, Omer, Ahmed, Mohamed, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The impact of freight on our transportation system is further accentuated by the fact that trucks consume greater roadway capacity and therefore cause more significant problems including traffic congestion, delay, crashes, air pollution, fuel consumption, and pavement damage. Assessing the actual effects of truck traffic is a growing need to support the ability to safely and efficiently move goods and people in areas where roadway expansion is not the best option. On one hand, trucks need to...
Show moreThe impact of freight on our transportation system is further accentuated by the fact that trucks consume greater roadway capacity and therefore cause more significant problems including traffic congestion, delay, crashes, air pollution, fuel consumption, and pavement damage. Assessing the actual effects of truck traffic is a growing need to support the ability to safely and efficiently move goods and people in areas where roadway expansion is not the best option. On one hand, trucks need to efficiently serve commerce and industry, while at the same time their activities need not contribute to a decline in the quality or public safety. In the current practice, to the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no framework methodology for real-time management of traffic, specifically on truck routes, to reduce travel duration and avoid truck travel delays due to non-recurring congestion (i.e. traffic incidents) and to estimate impacts on traffic flows, economy, and environment. The objective of this study is to develop a truck routing strategy and to quantify its' impacts on travel time, emissions and consequently assess the effects on the economy and environment. In order to estimate non-recurrent congestion based travel delay and fuel consumption by real-time truck routing simulation models, significant corridors with high truck percentages were selected. Furthermore, tailpipe emissions (on-site) due to traveled distance and idling are estimated via MOVES emissions simulator software. Economic Input Output-Life Cycle Assessment Model is utilized to gather fuel consumption related upstream (off-site) emissions. Simulation results of various scenarios indicated that potential annual value of time savings can reach up to $1.67 million per selected corridor. Consistently, fuel costs and emission values are lower, even though extra miles are traveled on the alternative route. In conclusion, our study confirms that truck routing strategies in incident conditions have high economic and environmental impacts.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007577, ucf:52570
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007577

Title: Predictors of Food Insecurity in 3 Central Florida Communities.
Creator: Towns, Tangela, Rivera, Fernando, Carter, Shannon, Wright, James, Dunn, Stacey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study examined the association between different socio-demographic factors and food insecurity in the Central Florida Communities of Maitland, Winter Park, and Eatonville. Data from the Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Central Florida were utilized to analyze 3 main questions: In which community is food insecurity more prevalent? To what extent are food consumption, transportation, poverty, and unemployment associated with food insecurity? Does the...
Show moreThis study examined the association between different socio-demographic factors and food insecurity in the Central Florida Communities of Maitland, Winter Park, and Eatonville. Data from the Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Central Florida were utilized to analyze 3 main questions: In which community is food insecurity more prevalent? To what extent are food consumption, transportation, poverty, and unemployment associated with food insecurity? Does the association between food consumption, transportation, poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity remain when controlling for self-reported overall health, education, marital status, and race. The results revealed differences in predictors of food insecurities. Particularly, there was a positive relationship between food consumption and the knowledge of recommended number of servings of fruits and vegetables suggesting that those who have nutritional knowledge practice healthy dietary behaviors. Furthermore, structural dysfunctions and affordability pose food consumption limitations on the communities studied (mainly Eatonville).
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004947, ucf:49564
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004947

Title: NEW COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES FOR MULTIPLE RNA ALIGNMENT AND RNA SEARCH.
Creator: DeBlasio, Daniel, Zhang, Shaojie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In this thesis we explore the the theory and history behind RNA alignment. Normal sequence alignments as studied by computer scientists can be completed in $O(n^2)$ time in the naive case. The process involves taking two input sequences and finding the list of edits that can transform one sequence into the other. This process is applied to biology in many forms, such as the creation of multiple alignments and the search of genomic sequences. When you take into account the RNA sequence...
Show moreIn this thesis we explore the the theory and history behind RNA alignment. Normal sequence alignments as studied by computer scientists can be completed in $O(n^2)$ time in the naive case. The process involves taking two input sequences and finding the list of edits that can transform one sequence into the other. This process is applied to biology in many forms, such as the creation of multiple alignments and the search of genomic sequences. When you take into account the RNA sequence structure the problem becomes even harder. Multiple RNA structure alignment is particularly challenging because covarying mutations make sequence information alone insufficient. Existing tools for multiple RNA alignments first generate pair-wise RNA structure alignments and then build the multiple alignment using only the sequence information. Here we present PMFastR, an algorithm which iteratively uses a sequence-structure alignment procedure to build a multiple RNA structure alignment. PMFastR also has low memory consumption allowing for the alignment of large sequences such as 16S and 23S rRNA. Specifically, we reduce the memory consumption to $\sim O(band^2*m)$ where $band$ is the banding size. Other solutions are $\sim O(n^2*m)$ where $n$ and $m$ are the lengths of the target and query respectively. The algorithm also provides a method to utilize a multi-core environment. We present results on benchmark data sets from BRAliBase, which shows PMFastR outperforms other state-of-the-art programs. Furthermore, we regenerate 607 Rfam seed alignments and show that our automated process creates similar multiple alignments to the manually-curated Rfam seed alignments. While these methods can also be applied directly to genome sequence search, the abundance of new multiple species genome alignments presents a new area for exploration. Many multiple alignments of whole genomes are available and these alignments keep growing in size. These alignments can provide more information to the searcher than just a single sequence. Using the methodology from sequence-structure alignment we developed AlnAlign, which searches an entire genome alignment using RNA sequence structure. While programs have been readily available to align alignments, this is the first to our knowledge that is specifically designed for RNA sequences. This algorithm is presented only in theory and is yet to be tested.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002736, ucf:48166
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002736

Title: Peering Into The Future: Three Essays on the Nascent Phenomenon of Collaborative Consumption.
Creator: Dellegrazie-Perren, Rebeca, Massiah, Carolyn, He, Xin, Tafaghodijami, Ata, Grauerholz, Liz, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The primary objective of this dissertation is to examine the theoretical and practical implications of the collaborative consumption phenomenon for individuals, businesses and society. To accomplish this goal, a research approach at three levels of analysis is used to explore how market institutions and consumer practices negotiate a social order that combines the social domain of peers with the economic domain of market exchange. The first essay of the dissertation approaches this objective...
Show moreThe primary objective of this dissertation is to examine the theoretical and practical implications of the collaborative consumption phenomenon for individuals, businesses and society. To accomplish this goal, a research approach at three levels of analysis is used to explore how market institutions and consumer practices negotiate a social order that combines the social domain of peers with the economic domain of market exchange. The first essay of the dissertation approaches this objective from a macro level to examine how social order is produced and sustained through the systemic interactions of service firms and peers. This essay provides a framework to understand the emergent business models by developing a typological theory that explains how platforms can be configured for higher value creation. The second essay approaches our understanding of the phenomenon from a meso level analysis to examine how peers interact with the social order of collaborative consumption markets to negotiate key existential tensions between consumer resistance and market appropriation. This essay explores the metaphors that peers use to construe the field of collaborative consumption. Through the interpretive analysis of participant-generated images, this research uncovers the prevailing use of a liberation metaphor that reveals a new way of thinking about resource circulation. Lastly, the third essay employs a micro level of analysis to examine how participation in collaborative consumption practices provokes intrapersonal dynamics leading to moral decay. By relying on a social cognitive framework that considers how behaviors impact personal and environmental factors in a recursive fashion, this essay scrutinizes when and how prolonged participation can erode moral identity and negatively impact prosocial behaviors. Together, this holistic approach advances our theoretical understanding of the collaborative consumption phenomenon and provides practical implications for managerial practice and public policy.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005783, ucf:50055
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005783

Title: A Comparison of Self-Service Technologies (SSTs) in the U.S. Restaurant Industry: An Evaluation of Consumer Perceived Value, Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions.
Creator: Zaitouni, Motaz, Murphy, Kevin, Zhang, Tingting, Wei, Wei, Severt, Kimberly, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Innovation in technology has been growing rapidly in recent years. Many restaurants have been utilizing different types of self-service technologies (SSTs) to enhance their operations and customer satisfaction. Despite, the rapid spread of SSTs in the restaurant industry, very limited empirical research has been conducted to evaluate the influence of SSTs type on customer dining experience.Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to examine the SSTs values that influence restaurant...
Show moreInnovation in technology has been growing rapidly in recent years. Many restaurants have been utilizing different types of self-service technologies (SSTs) to enhance their operations and customer satisfaction. Despite, the rapid spread of SSTs in the restaurant industry, very limited empirical research has been conducted to evaluate the influence of SSTs type on customer dining experience.Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to examine the SSTs values that influence restaurant customers' satisfaction and their decision to continue to reuse SSTs. More specifically, this study utilized the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV) to examine consumers' perception of the SST values across different types of restaurant proprietary SSTs (kiosk, tabletop, restaurant mobile app, and web-based SSTs).In order to examine the hypothesized relationships, a quantitative research approach was utilized with the survey research method. An online self-administered questionnaire was developed in Qualtrics for each type of SSTs. The questionnaires were distributed utilizing Amazon mechanical Turk (MTurk). Data was collected in May 2019 from restaurant customers who previously used/experienced one of four SSTs. A total of 619 questionnaires were usable and retained for the data analysis procedures. PLS-SEM and PLS-MGA were utilized to evaluate the conceptual model.The results revealed that emotional values were the most significant SST values that influence customer satisfaction with the restaurant SST experience and continuance intention. SSTs customization features were positively related to customer satisfaction across all the SSTs included in this study. The theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed as well as the limitations of the study and future research directions.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007744, ucf:52406
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007744

Title: Determinants of Satisfaction and EWOM in Collaborative Consumption and the Sharing Economy: Timeshare Stays Versus Peer-to-Peer Accommodations.
Creator: Redditt, Jennifer, Fyall, Alan, Gregory, Amy, Ro, Heejung, Orlowski, Marissa, Altinay, Levent, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Considered a disrupter in the lodging industry, sharing economy accommodations have become an emergent field in hospitality literature. While this literature predominantly addresses peer-to-peer accommodations such as Airbnb, it has not considered timeshares, one of the sharing economy pioneers. However, consumer behavior literature has integrated timeshares into the sharing economy due to the shared resource of accommodations between consumers. This study examined the determinants of...
Show moreConsidered a disrupter in the lodging industry, sharing economy accommodations have become an emergent field in hospitality literature. While this literature predominantly addresses peer-to-peer accommodations such as Airbnb, it has not considered timeshares, one of the sharing economy pioneers. However, consumer behavior literature has integrated timeshares into the sharing economy due to the shared resource of accommodations between consumers. This study examined the determinants of Satisfaction (Amenities, Community Belonging, Economic Benefits, Trust, and Vacation Counselor/Host) for consumers of two different types of sharing economy lodging products, timeshares and peer-to-peer accommodations, and their electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behavior. Considered a critical travel information source, eWOM has been attributed to affecting purchase decisions in hospitality literature. Current research has revealed a gap in peer-to-peer accommodation studies related to eWOM. This study extended eWOM research by exploring the role of Satisfaction as a mediator between the determinants and eWOM. In addition, accommodation type (timeshare vs. peer-to-peer accommodation) was investigated as a moderator to the relationship between the determinants and Satisfaction, and to the relationship between Satisfaction and eWOM. The study employed the two-step approach of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicated that Amenities, Community Belonging, Economic Benefits, Trust, and Vacation Counselor/Host had a positive impact on sharing economy lodging Satisfaction. Amenities, Economic Benefits, and Trust demonstrated an indirect effect on eWOM behavior through sharing economy lodging satisfaction. The model also revealed that Community Belonging had a direct effect on eWOM. Multiple group SEM revealed that accommodation type moderated the effect of Community Belonging's impact on sharing economy lodging Satisfaction, as well as the effect of sharing economy lodging Satisfaction on eWOM behavior. Satisfaction did not mediate any relationships for peer-to-peer accommodations. This study extends eWOM literature and provides competitive advantage insights between two sharing economy accommodation types.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007854, ucf:52785
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007854

Title: The development of an eco-gastronomic tourism (EGT) supply chain-Analyzing linkages between farmer, restaurants, and tourists in Aruba.
Creator: Kock, Marcelino, Hara, Tadayuki, Dickson, Duncan, Murphy, Kevin, Beverly, Monifa, Muller, Christopher, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Purpose of this study is to holistically analyze existing linkages between Aruba's tourism industry, restaurants and local farmers, by examining strategies that constrain the development of linkages between these stakeholders. Previous research indicated that tourism development is often accompanied with increased demand for imported food, which results in foreign exchange leakages, inflation and competition with local production. This phenomenon is very common in the Caribbean, where Aruba,...
Show morePurpose of this study is to holistically analyze existing linkages between Aruba's tourism industry, restaurants and local farmers, by examining strategies that constrain the development of linkages between these stakeholders. Previous research indicated that tourism development is often accompanied with increased demand for imported food, which results in foreign exchange leakages, inflation and competition with local production. This phenomenon is very common in the Caribbean, where Aruba, with its heavy reliance on imported goods and services, is no exception to this occurrence. To comprehend potential problems associated with linking both sectors, these in-depth case study addresses three fundamental questions: a) what is the structure of supply and demand of food for the tourism industry of Aruba?, and b) what factors constrain the development of linkages between international tourism and Aruba's local agriculture? Using an exploratory and stochastic methodological approach, data will be obtained from structured surveys from three different stakeholders in the food supply chain of Aruba. Anticipated findings illustrate that the existing linkage between the tourism industry and agriculture in Aruba is still weak, yet the food consumption and preferences by tourists can contribute in enhancing an eco-gastronomic tourism supply chain.
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0005016, ucf:50015
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005016

Title: Resource Management in Large-scale Systems.
Creator: Paya, Ashkan, Marinescu, Dan, Wocjan, Pawel, Bassiouni, Mostafa, Mucciolo, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The focus of this thesis is resource management in large-scale systems. Our primary concerns are energy management and practical principles for self-organization and self-management. The main contributions of our work are:1. Models. We proposed several models for different aspects of resource management, e.g., energy-aware load balancing and application scaling for the cloud ecosystem, hierarchical architecture model for self-organizing and self-manageable systems and a new cloud delivery...
Show moreThe focus of this thesis is resource management in large-scale systems. Our primary concerns are energy management and practical principles for self-organization and self-management. The main contributions of our work are:1. Models. We proposed several models for different aspects of resource management, e.g., energy-aware load balancing and application scaling for the cloud ecosystem, hierarchical architecture model for self-organizing and self-manageable systems and a new cloud delivery model based on auction-driven self-organization approach.2. Algorithms. We also proposed several different algorithms for the models described above. Algorithms such as coalition formation, combinatorial auctions and clustering algorithm for scale-free organizations of scale-free networks.3. Evaluation. Eventually we conducted different evaluations for the proposed models and algorithms in order to verify them. All the simulations reported in this thesis had been carried out on different instances and services of Amazon Web Services (AWS).All of these modules will be discussed in detail in the following chapters respectively.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005862, ucf:50913
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005862

Title: CLAIMS OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY:AN EXAMINATION OF U.S. TELEVISION FOOD COMMERCIALS AND THE ADULT OBESITY ISSUE.
Creator: Delgado, Cristina, DeLorme, Denise, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Obesity is one of the major public health issues in the United States, often regarded as part of a global crisis. Companies invest billions of dollars each year towards television advertising campaigns aimed at convincing audiences how their ground-breaking discovery 'battles the bulge' or somehow offers an increased health benefit. This study examined how advertisers presented health-related claims, including health and nutrient-content claims, in U.S. adult-targeted television food...
Show moreObesity is one of the major public health issues in the United States, often regarded as part of a global crisis. Companies invest billions of dollars each year towards television advertising campaigns aimed at convincing audiences how their ground-breaking discovery 'battles the bulge' or somehow offers an increased health benefit. This study examined how advertisers presented health-related claims, including health and nutrient-content claims, in U.S. adult-targeted television food commercials. The claims were compared to FTC, FDA, and USDA laws, regulations, and recommendations. A content analysis of food advertising was conducted of commercials from major and cable network programs broadcast during prime-time in the first quarter of 2009. The majority of claims match current regulations when compared to Federal references. The results show that Nutrient and Wellness claims were the most frequently cited. The type of benefit, Healthy Eating, emerged almost 3 times more than any other benefit type. This is also similar to those results which suggest advertisers' intentions were to promote overall wellness in their content delivery. As such, the Wellness Approach was identified and conceptualized, leading towards full development of a Wellness Effect theory. Implications and future research opportunities are discussed on both a theoretical and practical level.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002565, ucf:48260
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002565

collaborative consumption (2)	+ -
consumption (2)	+ -
satisfaction (2)	+ -
sharing economy (2)	+ -
AWS (1)	+ -

Agriculture (1)	+ -
Airbnb (1)	+ -
Alignment (1)	+ -
Amazon Cloud (1)	+ -
Attitudes (1)	+ -
Bioinformatics (1)	+ -
Cloud Computing (1)	+ -
Clustering (1)	+ -
Coalition Formation (1)	+ -
Combinatorial Auctions (1)	+ -
Compuational Biology (1)	+ -
Computer Science (1)	+ -
Consumer Behavior (1)	+ -
Donation (1)	+ -
Eco-Gastronomy (1)	+ -
Energy Consumption (1)	+ -
Federal regulation (1)	+ -
Food Consumption (1)	+ -
Gastronomy (1)	+ -
Hierarchical Systems (1)	+ -
Immigrant students (1)	+ -
Input-Output Model (1)	+ -
Intrahousehold resource allocations (1)	+ -
Large-scale Systems (1)	+ -
Local Farmers (1)	+ -

ETD Collection (16)	+ -
Honors Collection (1)	+ -

University of Central Florida (17)	+ -
He, Xin (3)	+ -
Tafaghodijami, Ata (3)	+ -
Carter, Shannon (2)	+ -
Mao, Huifang (2)	+ -

Massiah, Carolyn (2)	+ -
Murphy, Kevin (2)	+ -
Abdel-Aty, Mohamed (1)	+ -
Afflerback, Sara (1)	+ -
Ahmed, Mohamed (1)	+ -
Altinay, Levent (1)	+ -
Bassiouni, Mostafa (1)	+ -
Beverly, Monifa (1)	+ -
Biswas, Dipayan (1)	+ -
Brenckle, Martha (1)	+ -
Cotto, Maggie (1)	+ -
Culp, Anne (1)	+ -
Culp, Rex (1)	+ -
DeBlasio, Daniel (1)	+ -
DeLorme, Denise (1)	+ -
Delgado, Cristina (1)	+ -
Dellegrazie-Perren, Rebeca (1)	+ -
Dickie, Mark (1)	+ -
Dickson, Duncan (1)	+ -
Dunn, Stacey (1)	+ -
Fyall, Alan (1)	+ -
Gerking, Shelby (1)	+ -
Grauerholz, Elizabeth (1)	+ -
Grauerholz, Liz (1)	+ -
Gregory, Amy (1)	+ -

Search In

Sort Results By:

Narrow results by:

Topical Subject

Collection

Type of Resource

Language

Creator

Format

Owner