Superstitious beliefs date back thousands of years and continue to the present, and research suggests that superstitious beliefs have a robust influence on product satisfaction and decision making under risk. The study therefore examines how superstition attitude will impact potential tourists' intention to visit a destination so that relevant organizations (e.g. destination management/marketing organizations) could better understand potential tourists' behaviors, identify a niche market encompassing those prone to superstition, and tailor the tourism products to the needs and beliefs of potential tourists. The study used a survey instrument which consists of four components: the scale of Superstition as Destination Attractiveness (SADA), the revised Paranormal Belief Scale, the measurement of Intention to Visit, and respondents' demographics and travel experiences. A mixed-method data collection procedure was adopted to populate the sample. A total of 323 questionnaires were collected from Virginia Tech students, at both undergraduate and graduate level. A multiple regression analysis method was employed for hypothesis testing. The result of the data analysis supported both hypotheses, and the study finds that the more positive potential tourists' attitude is about superstition, the more likely they are to visit a destination with superstition as its attractiveness, and the more trait of superstition a potential tourist bears, the stronger the relationship between potential tourists' attitude about superstition and their intention to visit a destination with superstition as its attractiveness. Implications and future studies were suggested based on the findings of the study. / Master of Science

The use of employer branding has gained popularity since the concept was introduced by Tim Ambler and Simon Barrow in 1996. At first, this consisted of three types of benefits (e.g., functional, economic and psychological) and later Lievens and Highhouse (2003) added two additional benefits: instrumental and symbolic. The concept of employer branding has then been used to attract potential employees, and lately, it has been discussed that the employer brand needs to be adapted to attract and retain Millennials. One way to adapt the employer brand is to review what attributes of an organization is communicated to potential employees. Most research regarding Millennials and employer branding has been conducted in the United States of America (USA) and not in many countries. Because of this, this thesis was conducted with the foundation of previous research that was adapted to and focused on Swedish Millennials. The objective was to find out what attributes is the most important to Swedish Millennials in order to attract and retain them as employees. The result of this thesis was created by first looking at previous research and defining a research problem and a research question. Then, the theoretical framework was conducted, leading to the method chosen to perform this study. Thereafter, the data was gathered and analyzed, leading up to the findings and conclusions that the attributes that are most important concerns the psychological benefits, followed by instrumental benefits and then functional benefits. Furthermore, economic and symbolic benefits are not considered to be as important to Swedish Millennials. / Sedan begreppet employer branding introducerades av Tim Ambler and Simon Barrow år 1996, har dess användning ökat. När begreppet först introducerades bestod det av tre förmåner (funktionella, ekonomiska och psykologiska) och utökades sedan av Lievens and Highhouse (2003) med instrumentella och symboliska förmåner. Sedan dess har employer branding använts för att attrahera eventuella arbetstagare. På senare tid har diskussioner först huruvida ett företags employer brand behöver anpassas för att attrahera och behålla individer som tillhör Generation Y (milleniegenerationen). Ett sätt att anpassa ett företags employer brand är att undersöka vilka attribut en organisation förmedlar till potentiella anställda. Majoriteten av all forskning som har skett kring Generation Y har genomförts i USA och det är svårt att hitta forskning kring ämnet som har utförts i ett annat land. På grund av detta har denna uppsats fokuserat på svenska millennier och undersökt vilka attribut hos ett företag som är viktigast för att ett företags ska bli attraktivt för dem. Resultatet i den här uppsatsen togs fram genom att först att ha tittat på vad tidigare forskning har kommit fram till och vad som har saknat för att hitta ett teoretiskt gap och framställa ett syfte med den här uppsatsen. Sedan sammanställdes relevant forskning som ledde till en passande metod. Detta i sin tur ledde till en datainsamling som analyserades för att hitta vilka attribut som är viktigast för svenska millennier, vilket visade sig vara främst psykologiska följt av instrumentella samt funktionella attribut. De ekonomiska samt symboliska attributen räknas inte vara lika viktiga som de övriga attributen.

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Physical attractiveness plays an important role in many aspects of our lives. The aim of this study is to reveal what is the correlation between rating of physical attractiveness made by oneself and by others, and personal grooming. The relation between self-rating of overall physical attractiveness and its rating made by others (using photographs) and connection between these ratings and personal grooming were examined on the basis of a heterogeneous sample of 43 women and 32 men. These ratings of overall attractiveness, face attractiveness and body attractiveness were provided by 34 judges (each time 17 males and 17 females) different for every variable. Our results showed a positive relation between participant's self-rating of overall physical attractiveness and its rating made by others. Further analyses proved that rating of overall physical attractiveness was positively associated both with facial and body attractiveness for both sexes. With regard to women, a correlation between self-rating of physical attractiveness and reduced care of body shape and eyebrow was revealed; regarding men, self-rating correlated with reduced care of body shape, hair, fingernails and less care for outfit was shown. Concerning female participants, no relation between rating of overall physical attractiveness...

This doctoral dissertation examine the specific role of the self-concept and of its different dimensions on the evolution of anorexic symptoms over a period of 140 consecutive days. in two different samples comprising 26 anorexic outpatients and inpatients and in 23 girls without eating disorders (ED). By applying an idiographic approach, the main results show that the level, instability and dynamic of self-concept dimensions, and more precisely of body attractiveness, represent potent predictors of psychological, behavioral (e.g. full score of Eating Disorders Inventory-Adolescent, EDI-A-24) and somatic (e.g. Body Mass Index, BMI) anorexic symptoms over medium (i.e. over a few months), short (i.e. over a few weeks) and very short (i.e. over a few days) periods of time. Moreover, multivariate regression analyses further show that the pattern of association between anorexic symptoms and self concept dimensions remains the same in both samples (anorexic and without ED). Moreover, the results of cross-correlations analyses reveal that anorexic symptoms are as unstable as the dimensions of self-concept, with which they appear to be intertwined. More precisely, body attractiveness, most often a) precedes the drive for thinness, b) is associated to bulimia according to a"vicious circle" phenomenon, and c) fluctuates with according to body dissatisfaction. However body attractiveness was not found to relate to anorexic girls final status at the end of the follow-up period (e.g. deterioration, improvement, stabilization, etc). Finally, the results from a qualitative analysis suggest that social events experienced as positive contribute to the improvement of anorexia nervosa.This appears to be explained by the potential of these events to break through anorectic girls known ego-centered tendencies. Taken as a whole, the 'results highlight the necessity of considering overall of dimensions of self-esteem and the"profiles" of girls with and without ED in preventive and therapeutic interventions for ED.

The use of social media has during the last couple of years increased and is now a major part of most of the organizations marketing strategies. But how does this fit with the Employer Branding strategies? And how does this affect the organizational attractiveness as an employer? These were two of the questions we wanted to examine and analyze. In order to answer these questions, we conducted interviews with six different companies divided into 3 subgroups. The intention of this was to get a wider perspective of how the implementation of social media in the Employer Branding could work. And could this change the recruitment process? What we could see afterwards is that more time is spent on taking references online through social media sites. Some say it is more honest than the traditional references that the candidate got to choose. Other conclusions that we could find was that it is important to use social media in todays market but it is crucial to use it in a proper way. Companies must form a strategy based on their Employee Value Proposition in order to reach the wanted receivers using social media. It is also important that the Employee Value Proposition is based on the companies’ corporate values. / Titel: Employer Branding och sociala medier – den moderna tidens ARUBA Författare: Daniel Weiderstål och Marcuz Källqvist Handledare: Mårten Hugosson Examinator: Karl W Sandberg Program: Högskolan Dalarna, Personal- och arbetsliv, vårterminen 2016 Ämne: Examensarbete för kandidatexamen inom Personal- och arbetsliv, 15 hp Nyckelord: Employer Branding, attractiveness, sociala medier, rekrytering, retention, arbetsgivarvarumärke Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur arbetet med att som arbetsgivare skapa attraktivitet genom arbete med Employer Branding och hur det utförs inom utvalda svenska organisationer. Detta speciellt med avseende på hur sociala medier används som verktyg och hur detta påverkar rekryteringsprocesser Metod: Uppsatsen är av kvalitativ karaktär där vi utfört en fallstudie. Sedan har det empiriska materialet analyserats med den utvalda litteraturen Empiri: Den empiriska datainsamlingen har utförts i form av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer där intervjupersonerna representerar sex olika organisationer inom tre olika sektorer; tjänsteproducerande, varuproducerande samt landsting Slutsats: Studiens slutsats är att analyserade svenska organisationer använder sociala medier i sitt arbete med Employer Branding och för att attrahera kompetens. Hur detta utförts skiljer sig dock mellan organisationerna som deltog. Dessutom betonas inledningen och avslutningen av kompetensförsörjningen och att det är viktigt att lägga vikt vid dessa delar för att skapa konkurrensfördelar i arbetet med Employer Branding. Organisationer i Sverige måste också utforma en konkret strategi i sitt arbete med Employer Branding med syfte att kommunikationen via sociala medier når ut till den önskade målgruppen.

Sleep deprivation has been studied for over a century, providing knowledge about the benefits of sleep for many physiological, cognitive, and behavioural functions. However, there have only been anecdotal indications about what a tired or sleep-deprived person looks like, despite the fact that appearance influences not only how other people perceive a person but also how they evaluate them and behave towards them. How someone with sleep loss is perceived and evaluated by others is the focus of this thesis. Facial photographs of 48 participants were taken after normal sleep and after either one night of total sleep deprivation or two nights of partial sleep deprivation. The photographs were then evaluated in four different studies by a total of 288 raters recruited from universities and the general public in Stockholm, Sweden. The faces were rated on attractiveness, health, tiredness, sleepiness, sociability, trustworthiness, employability, and leadership ability. These factors were all adversely affected by sleep loss. Furthermore, looking tired was strongly related to being less attractive, looking less healthy and less trustworthy, and being perceived as a poorer employee and leader. One of the studies assessed facial features commonly associated with looking tired, showing that sleep deprivation results in eyes which appear more swollen and red, with dark circles and hanging eyelids, as well as paler skin with more fine lines and wrinkles. When sleep deprived, people were also perceived as more sad. In conclusion, the four studies show that sleep loss and a tired appearance affect how one is perceived by other people. These perceptions may lead to negative evaluations in interpersonal situations, both personal and professional. This thesis thus demonstrates social benefits of prioritizing sleep, adding to the physiological, cognitive, and behavioural research on sleep loss. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Even though that business plans are created every day, and that there is many literature on them, there is very little known on the process of the business plan development itself. Using a qualitative research method called autoethnography, this thesis explored the business plan development process. The main findings of this thesis were that there are four main themes or problems that can be associated with this process: problems regarding the data search and data collection; emotions; time constraints and the attractiveness of the idea.

Distinguished ways are used to measure hierarchical rank between partners in surveys. Aim of this thesis was to study preference for partner of particular hierarchical rank towards respondent 1) according to rating of photographs, 2) according to respondent's ideas about his/her future partnership organization, 3) according to respondent's natural tendency to lead or to yield, and to compare these ways of preference assessment. Questionnaires from 95 female university students aged to 25 years inc. were processed. Respondents, who claimed they will submit their partner or they will take turns in subordination with their partner half and half, were more submissive in ordinary life than respondents, who claimed they will be equal to their partner. Expected connection between idea about future partnership organization or submissiveness in ordinary life and choice of photograph depicting figurant with particular signs of nonverbal dominance was not found. Nevertheless, differences in choices of photographs were found between females using hormonal contraceptives and females not using any hormonal contraceptives. Key words: mate-choice, dominance, submissiveness, attractiveness.

Le changement rapide du contexte économique mondiale caractérisé par la globalisation entraîne une évolution des exigences et objectifs des investisseurs internationaux. Les gouvernements, surtout ceux des pays en développement, doivent en tenir compte et adapter leurs facteurs d'attractivité aux nouvelles attentes des entrepreneurs mondiaux. Dans ce but La Libye a commencé depuis les années 2000 à pratiquer des politiques d'ouverture et de communication afin d'attirer les investissements étrangers Ces investissements devaient contribuer au développement de son économie et à la résolution des problèmes liés à la dépendance de l'économie au secteur pétrolier. Pour cela l'Etat libyen a fait un appel à Michael PORTER et aux grandes institutions mondiales pour définir une stratégie globale. Dans cette perspective, la présente recherche se donne deux objectifs : d'une part, mettre en lumière l'environnement de l'investissement direct étranger en Libye et, d'autre part, définir une stratégie spécifique pour stimuler les investissements étrangers selon les attentes, les besoins et les exigences des firmes multinationales.Le choix d'une démarche qualitative par entretien et questionnaire auprès d'entreprises étrangères implantées en Libye permet d'avoir une évaluation exhaustive de l'attractivité du territoire libyen et d'envisager la stratégie à mettre en œuvre par l'Etat libyen pour attirer les IDE à forte valeur.L'analyse montre l'existence de deux profils bien distincts quant à l'attractivité des IDE : les investisseurs pessimistes et les investisseurs optimistes. Dans ce sens, le pays doit mener une stratégie spécifique par profil pour bien stimuler les investisseurs étrangers. L'amélioration du potentiel d'attractivité des IDE en Libye, notamment dans les secteurs hors pétrole, nécessite la mise en place de conditions d'accueil spécifiques. Il s'agit entre autres du développement des infrastructures, du renforcement de la stabilité politique après la guerre et de l'amélioration de la gestion des recettes pétrolières afin que le secteur pétrole impulse le développement des autres secteurs. / The rapidly changing global economic context characterized by globalization leads to changing requirements and goals of international investors. Governments, especially in developing countries, must take into account and adapt their attractiveness factors the new expectations of entrepreneurs worldwide. To this end Libya began in the 2000s to pursue policies of openness and communication in order to attract foreign investments These investments should contribute to the development of its economy and solving problems related to the dependence of the economy to the oil sector. For this, the Libyan government has appealed to Michael Porter and large global institutions to develop a comprehensive strategy. In this perspective, this research has two objectives: first, to highlight the environment of foreign direct investment in Libya and, secondly, to define a specific strategy to encourage foreign investment, according to the expectations the needs and requirements of multinational firms.The choice of a qualitative approach by interview and questionnaire with foreign companies operating in Libya provides a comprehensive assessment of the attractiveness of the Libyan territory and consider the strategy to be implemented by the Libyan government to attract FDI in high- value.The analysis shows the existence of two distinct profiles on the attractiveness of FDI: investors pessimistic and optimistic investors. In this sense, the country must pursue a strategy-specific profile for many stimulating foreign investors. Improving the potential attractiveness of FDI in Libya, especially in non-oil sectors, requires the implementation of specific reception conditions. These include infrastructure development, strengthening of political stability after the war and improving the management of oil revenues to the oil sector promote development of other sectors.