Winners and Losers: Segmenting a Casino Loyalty Programme

Abstract

As the competition within the gaming industry continues to grow exponentially, casinos are using players club programmes as a key component of their marketing and loyalty programmes. This study investigates the relationships between casino players’ club programmes and its members. Through the use of data collected from a mail survey of 3,000 players’ club members, analyses were conducted to explore the impacts of these programmes on the creation of behavioural and attitudinal loyalty. The findings suggest fnr a number of loyalty programme members, these programmes have little impact on creating loyalty and their subsequent gaming behaviour.     

Patterns of Masturbatory Behaviour

Abstract

In 1966, 1981 and 1996 the Department of Sex Research at Hamburg University, Germany, carried out three surveys into the sexual behavior of university students. Taken as a longitudinal study they provide information on the social history of sexuality over the past three decades for well-educated young adults (20 to 30 years old) in Germany. The samples consist of 8,641 men and women. In this paper data from the studies is analyzed under two aspects:

1. Shifts in masturbatory behavior 1966–1981–1996. Men and especially women begin to masturbate considerably earlier than used to be in the eighties, not to mention in the sixties. As a consequence, most young women nowadays have already experienced masturbation when having their first heterosexual intercoursethus following a pattern of sexual socialization that traditionally was typical for boys. In addition, in 1996, more students of both sexes had masturbated in the year preceding the investigation. The more relevant point is, however, that young adults (according to active incidence during the last 12 months) now masturbate almost irrespective of whether they have intercourse often or rarely, whether they are singles or live in a steady relationship or whether or not they are satisfied with their current relationship. So masturbation peacefully coexists with sex between partners and a loving relationship more often than it did in 1981 and 1966.

2. Masturbation in steady relationships, 1996. A detailed analysis of masturbation frequencies during the last four weeks also shows small differences between students who live in a sexually satisfying relationship and those without relationship. Only a minority feels the need to justify masturbation on the grounds that they lack sex with their partner. Three-quarters expressly state that masturbation is a form of sex in its own right and, therefore, does not interfere with partner sex. Furthermore, there is a tendency that students living in steady relationships experience masturbation slightly more positively than those living alone.     

近代土匪变态行为浅析

土匪行为的基本特征就是暴力,各种文献资料大量地记载了土匪的暴行。对这些暴行分析后发现,有些是土匪出于满足生存需要而采取的属于这一群体特有的正常犯罪行为,有些则属于有悖人伦道德的变态行为。变态行为在土匪的日常生活中也时有所见。     

生产要素市场发育与农户生产行为决策——基于江汉平原与太湖平原的农户调查

分析了当前我国农户生产所面临要素市场的特征,以及农户生产行为决策机制,采用江汉平原与太湖平原的问卷调查数据,对农户生产行为决策机制进行实证。结果表明:当前我国农户生产面临的要素市场中,土地市场发育程度较低,农业劳动力市场不活跃,而非农生产中劳动力市场较活跃,且劳动力市场发育状况地区差异明显;当前农户生产决策以牺牲富余要素的边际产出为代价,是一个富余要素与稀缺要素边际产出异化的过程。     

“看病贵“的根由及其治理

“看病贵”是我国近年社会各界广泛关注的焦点。它既是一个与个人支付能力和实际支付状况有关的范畴,更是一个因医药费用过度增长引发的宏观现象。诱发看病贵根源是在市场化改革过程中形成的政府与医院、医院与医生、以及医生行为过程中的诊断、检查检验、治疗三位一体的利益共同体。治理必须以规范医生行为为中心,通过体制转换、制度变迁和机制再造,切断政府与医院、医生与医院以及依附于诊断、检查检验和治疗技术路径上的利益链条。     

Caveat Emptor!

It is a case of an Indian non-banking finance company started in 1991. The company had a meteoric rise in a short span of six-seven years and a great fall leading to closing its shutters down on 15 May 1997. The promoter CRB used money, connections with powers-that-be and political clout to circumvent banking and commercial guidelines of the country and took his company to a dizzy height only to head for a doom. In the process, thousands of small investors and depositors were cheated and their savings vanished in thin air. Even financial institutions lost several millions. This case gives a detailed account of the whole drama wherein the roles played by different actors are depicted. The entire case is based on press reports that appeared in Indian newspapers and magazines and offered to have value judgments.     

The Road to Gang Membership: Characteristics of Male Gang and Nongang Members from Ages 10 to 14

This study examined the stability of belonging to a gang in early adolescence, the behaviour profiles, family characteristics, and friendships of nongang and gang members. The subjects in the present study were originally part of a larger sample of boys. One hundred and forty‐two boys who had a complete data set at ages 11, 12, 13, and 14 were selected for the present study. Loglinear analyses indicated that gang membership was stable from ages 13 to 14, but not at earlier ages. Boys were divided into three groups: stable gang members (children who belonged to a gang at ages 13 and 14); unstable gang members (children who belonged to a gang at either age 13 or 14) and nongang members. Repeated analyses of variance indicated that stable gang members had significantly higher scores than nongang members on teacher ratings of fighting behaviour, hyperactivity, inattention and oppositional behaviour, and self‐reported delinquent activities (drug and alcohol use, stealing and vandalism). Peers rated gang members as more aggressive than nongang members. The results are discussed from a developmental perspective.     

ON QUANTILES OF SUMS

In this paper we investigate the relationship between the quantiles of a sum of independent continuous random variables and those of its components. Results concerning this relationship are given for the special cases of symmetric distributions, gamma distributions, and for the difference of identically distributed random variables.     

The validity of the occupational stress indicator

This paper investigates the validity of four subscales of the Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI). Data derived from a sample of British managers are used to generate a multitrait-multimethod matrix. The results obtained suggest that three of the four OSI sales (job satisfaction, mental health, type A behaviour) show acceptable validity. The fourth scale (locus of control) needs further development. Further analysis, using multiple regression procedures, was conducted to explore the validity of the theoretical ideas underlying the OSI. The results reveal that both sources of pressure at work and type A behaviour are linked to mental health and job satisfaction.     

A statistical model for orientation mechanism

A variance components model with response variable depending on both fixed effects of explanatory variables and random components is specified to model longitudinal circular data, in order to study the directional behaviour of small animals, as insects, crustaceans, amphipods, etc. Unknown parameter estimators are obtained using a simulated maximum likelihood approach. Issues concerning log-likelihood variability and the related problems in the optimization algorithm are also addressed. The procedure is applied to the analysis of directional choices under full natural conditions ofTalitrus saltator from Castiglione della Pescaia (Italy) beaches.