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Evaluating the factors affecting customer value in department stores will shed light on the motivations of customers when choosing department stores, which will help department stores to improve their business performance and competitiveness. This paper applies the fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to empirically analyze the determinants of customer value at department stores in Taiwan. This study first found the major factors influencing customer value at department stores in Taiwan through a review of the literature and expert interviews, and these factors consisted of four evaluation dimensions and 20 evaluation criteria. An empirical investigation was then conducted through an AHP expert questionnaire survey. The main findings of this paper were as follows: (1) "Physical environment" was the most important evaluation dimension for customer value at department stores in Taiwan. (2) The four leading factors influencing customer value in department stores were "roomy and comfortable space," "responsive customer service," "planning of lines of movement at counters," and "parking area and facilities." This study also performed further discussion of the four evaluation criteria as a reference for department stores that wish to raise their competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attractiveness of ports is usually a pre-requisite and necessary condition for ports to achieve competitiveness, as well as the springboard to explore the competitive advantages of ports. To determine whether a port is competitive, it is necessary to explore whether it boasts certain factors that make the port attractive to users. The main purpose of this article is to apply the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique to evaluate key determinants of attractiveness and their cause/effect relationships for container ports in Taiwan. The empirical results showed that: (1) Top six determinates of attractiveness for container ports are 'ample cargo sources,' 'favorable port charges,' 'dense ship network and routes,' 'low transshipment costs,' 'efficient wharf operations,' and 'adequate wharfs and back-line land,' respectively. (2) Among the above six determinants of attractiveness, 'ample cargo sources' is the cause determinant. Three determinants of port attractiveness, 'favorable port charges,' 'dense ship network and routes,' 'low transshipment costs,' which are the effect determinants. They are affected by the determinants of attractiveness of 'ample cargo sources'. In addition, this study discusses the above findings and expects to provide the study results to Taiwan's port authorities for reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]