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Examining consumer perceptions of scent marketing in Macau's retail setting is the goal of this study. The study focuses on the following two primary uses of scent marketing in retail environments: subliminal application and application as a component of branding strategy. Qualitative research methodology is used. A total of ten consumer interviews produced the data. The findings show that consumers are in favor of scent marketing's use in retail settings. The use of scent marketing as a tool for establishing brands is preferred, and consumers find this approach to scent marketing to be more acceptable than its subliminal application. Although consumers believe that other factors, such as price, are typically more significant than scent when making purchases, the use of subliminal scents was not always evaluated negatively. Unless occasionally when making an unplanned purchase, consumers do not think that a subliminal scent can significantly impact their purchasing behavior

Higher Education in Macau has been benefiting from a multi-layered institutional environment under China’s One-Country-Two-Systems. This presentation introduces research and education policies and practices of Macau universities under China’s national plan of the Greater Bay Area development. It aims to demonstrate and analyze how higher education actors collaborate with local and regional governments and industrial sectors in human capital formation and research innovations.

Fast and efficient malaria diagnostics are essential in efforts to detect and treat the disease in a proper time. The standard approach to diagnose malaria is a microscope exam, which is submitted to a subjective interpretation. Thus, the automating of the diagnosis process with the use of an intelligent system capable of recognizing malaria parasites could aid in the early treatment of the disease. Usually, laboratories capture a minimum set of images in low quality using a system of microscopes based on mobile devices. Due to the poor quality of such data, conventional algorithms do not process those images properly. This paper presents the application of deep learning techniques to improve the accuracy of malaria plasmodium detection in the presented context. In order to increase the number of training sets, deep convolutional generative adversarial networks (DCGAN) were used to generate reliable training data that were introduced in our deep learning model to improve accuracy. A total of 6 experiments were performed and a synthesized dataset of 2.200 images was generated by the DCGAN for the training phase. For a real image database with 600 blood smears with malaria plasmodium, the proposed Deep Learning architecture obtained the accuracy of 100% for the plasmodium detection. The results are promising and the solution could be employed to support a mass medical diagnosis system.

This thesis explores language teaching and language acquisition by multilingual learners using a Variation Theory approach and multilingual teaching in a university setting in Macao, China. It includes three case studies applied to students of the Spanish language in the introductory level which took place from late August to early December of the year 2017. The first study describes Macao’s multilingual language learners in the University of Macao in 2017. Based on the LEAP-Q questionnaire, a questionnaire was created to inquire all Spanish language students about their languages´ background, their motivations to learn new languages, as well as their learning strategies. The second study shows how the usage of Variation Theory techniques and multilingual teaching techniques boosted the teaching and the learning during the semester. This study employs a case study methodology, by analysing in-class multiple interactions gathering information on how multilinguals´ language background affects the pedagogical process. It analyses a total of 28 classes of 1 hour and 15 minutes. The third study presents the analysis of a questionnaire to 82 students of the initial level of Spanish language in the University of Macao, along with the analysis of interviews from 10 selected multilingual students about their linguistic background and how they experienced the semester. These interviews collected more information about the effectiveness of the Variation Theory in the semester in terms of in-class teaching and learning. From the triangulation of these three studies, some conclusions have been drawn about the advantages of using Variation Theory and multilingual teaching techniques for multilingual students, for the language teacher and ultimately also into the curricular design of foreign language teaching. In sum, that the linguistic background of students plays a major role in how they acquire a new language and, that applying Variation Theory techniques can be an immensely effective technique in a language classroom setting; suggesting that multilingual students will gain from being previously identified and placed in a separate class where these variation techniques were applied. Since this thesis focuses solely on an introductory language course, there is ground to explore this same approach on more advanced multilingual language learners

Consumers' selections and decision-making processes are some of the most exciting and challenging topics in neuromarketing, sales, and branding. From a global perspective, multicultural influences and societal conditions are crucial to consider. Neuroscience applications in international marketing and consumer behavior is an emergent and multidisciplinary field aiming to understand consumers' thoughts, reactions, and selection processes in branding and sales. This study focuses on real-time monitoring of different physiological signals using eye-tracking, facial expressions recognition, and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) acquisition methods to analyze consumers' responses, detect emotional arousal, measure attention or relaxation levels, analyze perception, consciousness, memory, learning, motivation, preference, and decision-making. This research aimed to monitor human subjects' reactions to these signals during an experiment designed in three phases consisting of different branding advertisements. The nonadvertisement exposition was also monitored while gathering survey responses at the end of each phase. A feature extraction module with a data analytics module was implemented to calculate statistical metrics and decision-making supporting tools based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Feature Importance (FI) determination based on the Random Forest technique. The results indicate that when compared to image ads, video ads are more effective in attracting consumers' attention and creating more emotional arousal.

Traditional text classification models have some drawbacks, such as the inability of the model to focus on important parts of the text contextual information in text processing. To solve this problem, we fuse the long and short-term memory network BiGRU with a convolutional neural network to receive text sequence input to reduce the dimensionality of the input sequence and to reduce the loss of text features based on the length and context dependency of the input text sequence. Considering the extraction of important features of the text, we choose the long and short-term memory network BiLSTM to capture the main features of the text and thus reduce the loss of features. Finally, we propose a BiGRU-CNN-BiLSTM model (DCRC model) based on CNN, GRU and LSTM, which is trained and validated on the THUCNews and Toutiao News datasets. The model outperformed the traditional model in terms of accuracy, recall and F1 score after experimental comparison.

This review article is among the first to examine the new junket regulations in the Macau gaming industry. Particular emphasis is on the legal and regulatory framework governing the junket activity of gaming promoters and their associates. The recent changes to Macau gaming laws have resulted in stronger licensing requirements for local junket participants and precipitated the collapse of the VIP room system in casinos. Furthermore, this article highlights the policy and managerial implications of the current junket environment for the gaming industry in Macau and possibly other regional gaming jurisdictions. The effects of the new legal environment for Macau junkets could also provide insights into the implementation of similar legislation in other jurisdictions.

This article discusses the new gaming law in Macau with emphasis on the critical aspects concerning the gaming operators, concession regime, and other regulatory obligations.1 Thanks to the gaming liberalization commenced in 2001,2 Macau has experienced tremendous economic growth. The past two decades have seen the rapid development of large-scale integrated resorts, and Macau now ranks among the world's major gaming jurisdictions.3 Policy and regulatory challenges have also emerged along with the growth of the junket-driven VIP business in casinos.4 With the recent amendment of Law No. 16/2001 and the subsequent enactment of Law No. 16/2022, Macau has strengthened the legal underpinnings of its system of gaming regulation to oversee various groups involved in casinos and their industry practices. The present study is among the first to review the scope and impact of the revised gaming law, and associated managerial and operational implications for Macau casinos. Topics covered include policy directions, concession requirements, industry participants, gaming taxes, and fair business practices. This study could provide insights into the “Macau 2.0” project and how casinos are to be operated and managed over the next decade. This article could also provide practical guidance for policy makers charged with formulating gaming policy and regulation in other jurisdictions.

This research paper analyses the marketing efforts and important attributes of Macau tea restaurants that have been open for more than 20 years, especially the digital methods that tea restaurants have used to sustain their business and meet customers' needs in the era of digital transition after the onset of the 2019 Covid 19 pandemic year. Using online marketing channels nowadays become an important tool for communicating with customers today. Despite the old Tea Restaurants in Macau did not put much efforts on digital channels for communication yet, to find out how tea restaurants survive in the rival restaurant industry in Macau, qualitative and quantitative methods were used to see how they meet the needs of their customers. For the quantitative method, an online survey questionnaire in bilingual English and Traditional Chinese was conducted with 280 respondents on customer purchase habits, importance of restaurants’ attributes and social media insights on tea restaurants, and the data was analysis by SPSS for the relationship and significance. For the qualitative method, 7 interviews were conducted with the business owners of the old tea restaurants which that have been opened for more than 20 years, including marketing efforts and their attitudes towards digitalization. To find out the marketing strategy of Macau’s old tea restaurants in the digital transformation era, it was found that “place” and “product” are the most important marketing mix for customers. Tea restaurant owners focus on product quality, and generate “word-of-mouth” which is customer-generated marketing, and is an effective way to influence customers for local tea restaurants. Meanwhile business owners will consider digitalize in the near future as well to match the new young customers’ online habits and the need for “place” such as online delivery platform

This dissertation examines consumers' perceptions of food influencer content on Instagram and the relationship between exposure to food influencer reviews and consumers' intention to visit restaurants in Macau. A mixed-method research design was employed, combining quantitative survey data from 301 responses with qualitative insights from one focus group session involving six participants. The findings suggest that consumers find food influencer content entertaining and inspiring for dining out and exploring new culinary experiences, but they express concerns over its credibility. While food influencer content has a good exposure to consumers, it has a moderate impact on consumers’ restaurant choices, with various factors affecting the relationship. The results highlight the importance of perceived trustworthiness and enjoyability of food influencer content, the visual appeal of food and restaurant environments in photos, and personal relationships in shaping Macau consumers' visit intention to restaurants. The findings can serve as a basis for future research on credibility perceptions of food influencers, the enjoyability of influencer content, and the visual appeal of food and restaurant environments on Instagram. Practically, food influencers should prioritize transparency, authenticity, appealing photos, engaging captions, and leverage the role of personal relationships to increase their impact on consumers' restaurant choices

Food waste has become an increasingly pressing issue worldwide, and Macau is no exception. A substantial portion of municipal solid waste in Macau is comprised of organic waste, with household food waste being a significant contributor. This can be attributed to households purchasing excessive food, preparing more than necessary, or not consuming items before they spoil, leading to detrimental resource and environmental impacts, particularly in the form of greenhouse gas emissions. It is crucial for Macau to develop a sustainable food waste management system that fosters prevention and responsible consumption and to develop food waste recycling habits among its residents. This study employed a two-pronged approach: a literature review of food waste source separation policies and practices in four neighboring regions to identify adaptable good practice examples for Macau, and a questionnaire survey completed by 143 local residents. The survey aimed to comprehend residents' behaviors and awareness regarding food waste prevention and treatment, evaluate their satisfaction with Macau's existing food waste recycling program, examine their resistance and motivation toward participating in the recycling program, and assess their attitudes toward implementing a polluter-pays-principle system in Macau. The survey aimed to provide insights into the current state of household food waste in Macau and inform future waste management policies and strategies of stakeholders. The survey findings highlight the need for enhanced public awareness and education on food waste prevention. Additionally, upgrading recycling facilities may encourage residents to participate more actively in food waste recycling. Ultimately, implementing suitable policies can help prevent food loss and waste and regulate food waste generation and elevate recycling rates. This study offers preliminary recommendations for policymakers or government entities as a orientation for future planning

The world we live in today is constantly changing, with new technologies and innovations being introduced all the time. Through the continuation and innovation of Chinese medicine theories, scientific research methods, and progress, Traditional Chinese Medicine continues to evolve and develop more innovative Modern Chinese Medicine. In this research, Molecular Chinese Medicine is studied as a new form of Chinese medicine, intended to provide a more pleasant and safe experience for consumers. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify both positive and negative perceptions that contribute to the adoption of innovative technologies and their related products. In order to reach this goal, a robust value-based theoretical model is used. To examine behavioural intentions to adopt Molecular Chinese Medicine (MCM) in Macau, this study combines quantitative and qualitative methods. Thus, a Value-based Acceptance Model (VAM) was used to determine Macau citizens' attitudes towards Molecular Chinese Medicine, including their perceptions of its usefulness, enjoyment, technicality, and perceived fee, in relation to the perceived value of the product, which may ultimately determine adoption intentions. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to process a sample of 194 Macau residents. The data analysis supported our model's explanatory and predictive power and helped describe the characteristics of the local population. Our results provide insight into the acceptance of innovative products that may be useful in designing more accurate strategies and facilitating the introduction of MCM to Macau and similar markets. It was found that low perceived fees demonstrated a relatively strong positive correlation with potential users' perceived value, whereas usefulness and enjoyment showed a medium-strong positive correlation. Also, a strong positive correlation was found between potential consumers' perception of the value of Molecular Chinese Medicine and their intention to adopt it

Human emotions can be meticulously associated with decision-making, and emotion can generate behaviours. Due to the fact that it could be bias and exhaustively complex to examine how human beings make choices, important groups of study in finance are stock traders and non-traders. The objective of this work is to analyze the connection between emotions and the decision-making process of investors and non-investors to understand how emotional arousal might dictate the process of deciding policy. As facial expressions are fleeting, neuroscience tools such as AFFDEX (Real-Time Facial Expression Analysis), Eye-Tracking, and GSR (galvanic skin response) were adopted to facilitate the experiment and its accompanying analysis process. Thirty-seven participants attended the study, ranging from 18 to 72 years old; the distribution of investors and non-investors was twenty-four and thirteen, respectively. The experiment initially disclosed a thought-provoking result between the two groups under the certainty and risk-seeking prospect theory; there were more risk-takers among non-investors at 75%, while investors were inclined toward certainty at 79.17%. The implication could be that the non-investing individuals were less complex in thought and therefore pursued higher returns besides a high probability of losing the game. In addition, the automatic emotion classification system indicates that when non-investors confronted a stock trending chart beyond their acquaintance or knowledge, they were psychologically exposed to fear, anger, sadness, and surprise. Investors, on the contrary, were detected with disgust, joy, contempt, engagement, sadness, and surprise, where sadness and surprise overlapped in both parties. Under time pressure conditions, 54.05% of investors or non-investors tend to make decisions after the peak(s) of emotional arousal. Variations were found in the deciding points of the slopes: 2.70% were decided right after the peak(s), 37.84% waited until the emotions turned stable, and 13.51% were determined as the emotional indicators started to slide downwards. Several combinations of emotional responses were associated with decisions. For example, negative emotions could induce passive decision-making, in this case, to sell the stock; nevertheless, it was also examined that as the slope slipped downwards to a particular horizontal point, the individuals became more optimistic and selected the "BUY" option. The support of physiological monitoring tools makes it possible to capture the individuals' responses and discover the science of decision-making. Future works may consider expanding the study to more significant demographic populations for further discoveries

Human emotions can be associated with decision-making, and emotions can generate behaviors. Due to the fact that it could be biased and exhaustively complex to examine how human beings make choices, it is necessary to consider relevant groups of study, such as stock traders and non-traders in finance. This work aims to analyze the connection between emotions and the decision-making process of investors and non-investors submitted to the same set of stimuli to understand how emotional arousal might dictate the decision process. Neuroscience monitoring tools such as Real-Time Facial Expression Analysis (AFFDEX), Eye-Tracking, and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) were adopted to monitor the related experiments of this paper and its accompanying analysis process. Thirty-seven participants attended the study, 24 were classified as stock traders, and 13 were non-traders; the mean age for the groups was 35 and 25, respectively. The designed experiment initially disclosed a thought-provoking result between the two groups under the certainty and risk-seeking prospect theory; there were more risk-takers among non-investors at 75%, while investors were inclined toward certainty at 79.17%. The implication could be that the non-investing individuals were less complex in thought and therefore pursued higher returns besides a high probability of losing the game. In addition, the automatic emotion classification system indicates that when non-investors confronted a stock trending chart beyond their acquaintance or knowledge, they were psychologically exposed to fear, anger, sadness, and surprise. On the contrary, investors were detected with disgust, joy, contempt, engagement, sadness, and surprise, where sadness and surprise overlapped in both parties. Under time pressure conditions, 54.05% of investors or non-investors tend to make decisions after the peak(s) of emotional arousal. Variations were found in the deciding points of the slopes: 2.70% were decided right after the peak(s), 37.84% waited until the emotions turned stable, and 13.51% were determined as the emotional indicators started to slide downwards. Several combinations of emotional responses were associated with decisions. For example, negative emotions could induce passive decision-making, in this case, to sell the stock; nevertheless, it was also examined that as the slope slipped downwards to a particular horizontal point, the individuals became more optimistic and selected the "BUY" option. Future works may consider expanding the study to larger sample size, different demographic groups, and other biometrics for further analysis and conclusions.

"In 2021/2022 academic year, there are 2,244 SEN students in Macau and its growth rate is 36% in ten years. However, at the present, there are 38 schools providing the related education to them. Admittedly, this is an unbalanced supply and demand. In fact, the teachers who work at inclusive education schools are bearing all responsibility to teach SEN students and their mental health is worth to attention. Moreover, there are 1,224 SEN students in primary (2021/2022 academic year), it accounting for 55% of all. That is, the numbers of their teachers are the most and they are representative. Therefore, exploring primary teachers’ burnout at inclusive education schools becomes the topic of this study, even more important, it is including to compare normal and resource teachers. This topic is rarer currently in Macau. On the one hand, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and (reduced) personal accomplishment are dimensions of burnout (Maslach et al., 1996). These become the dependent variables of this study. According Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and the factors of self-efficacy in inclusive education (Sharma et al., 2012), the following hypotheses are provided to guide this study: (1) normal teachers’ emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment are higher than those in resource teachers; (2) teachers’ attitudes into inclusive education, (3) teachers’ self-efficacy to use inclusive instruction (SEII), (4) teachers’ self-efficacy in collaboration (SEC) and (5) teachers’ self-efficacy in v managing behavior (SEMB) both are negatively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment; (6) teachers’ stress of Covid19 is positively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. On the other hand, quantitative methodology, and snowball sampling are used in this research. At last, 132 responds are collected, including 100 normal teachers and 32 resource teachers. They are from 48 inclusive education schools in Macau. All data were analyzed by SPSS 25.0. The results of this study are followed: (1) teachers’ emotional exhaustion level is middle, their depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment levels both are low; (2) resource teachers’ emotional exhaustion and depersonalization are higher than normal teachers; (3) teachers’ attitudes into inclusive education negatively related to depersonalization but positively related to reduced personal accomplishment; (4) in the factors of self-efficacy, only SEII is negatively related to reduced personal accomplishment; (5) teachers’ stress of Covid-19 is positively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment."