Today, 84% of young adults between the ages of 18-29 use at least one social media site (Pew Research Center, 2020) and are in the stages of emerging adulthood where they are making independent decisions for the first time (Arnett, 2000). As society becomes more technologically advanced, we become further removed from agriculture (Powell & Agnew, 2011; Dale et al., 2017). Thus, resulting in a separation between consumer and producer (Wilson & Lusk, 2020; Holt & Cartmell, 2013). This leaves the opportunity for society to turn to social media for agriculture information leading to negative perceptions of agriculture (Eyck, 2000; Holt & Cartmell, 2013; Howard et al., 2017; Verbeke, 2005). However, little research has been conducted on the impact social media may have on college students’ perceptions of agriculture or their purchasing decisions as a consumer (Howard et al., 2017). Therefore, this study further explores this area of research.

Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht die Kontextabhängigkeit von Konsumentenpräferenzen in Folge eines Marktaustritts in 4 Aufsätzen. Aufsatz 1 diskutiert Auswirkungen einer Auslistung auf Kundenreaktionen. Zwei empirische Studien belegen die Existenz eines negativen Ähnlichkeits-, Attraktions- und Kompromisseffektes und zeigen wesentliche Determinanten einer markentreuen Reaktion auf. Aufsatz 2 bestätigt die Hypothesen über negative Kontexteffekte für Markeneliminierungen in verschiedenen experimentellen Situationen und Produktkategorien. Das sich ergebende Substitutionsverhalten resultiert durchweg in höheren Verlusten für Hersteller als für Händler. Aufsatz 3 diskutiert das Substitutionsverhalten in Out-of-Stock Situationen. Promotion wird hierbei als wesentlicher Einflussfaktor herangezogen. Verschiedene Online-Experimente demonstrieren einen negativen Ähnlichkeitseffekt für die temporäre Nichtverfügbarkeit von Produkten, welcher sich jedoch für preisreduzierte Güter des täglichen Bedarfs verringert. Werden ähnliche Substitute preislich reduziert angeboten, wird der negative Ähnlichkeitseffekt verstärkt. Der Effekt wird hingegen von einem Attraktionseffekt überlagert, wenn unähnliche Alternativen im Sonderangebot sind. Aufsatz 4 untersucht wesentliche Einflussfaktoren eines negativen Attraktionseffektes. In Anlehnung an das von Mishra et al. (1993) entwickelte Kausalmodell zur Neuprodukteinführung, wird ein adaptiertes ganzheitliches Strukturgleichungsmodell für den Marktaustritt getestet. Als wesentliche Treiber des betrachteten Phänomens resultieren die Konstrukte Anteil des Decoys, Präferenzstärke und Informationsrelevanz. / This thesis investigates the context-dependence of preferences in consequence of market exits in 4 essays. Essay 1 discusses the effect of brand delisting on customer responses. On the basis of two empirical studies, the existence of a negative similarity, a negative attraction and a negative compromise effect is revealed and key determinants of a brand loyal reaction are analyzed. Essay 2 supports the hypotheses on negative context effects for brand removals across different experimental settings and product categories. The resultant switching patterns collectively lead to bigger damages for manufacturers than for retailers. Essay 3 investigates preference shifts in out-of-stock situations by including promotion as essential driver. A series of online experiments demonstrate that for temporal unavailability of products, substitution behavior correspond to a negative similarity effect which is, however, reduced for stock-outs of low involvement fast moving consumer goods on promotion. While the negative similarity effect is enforced for promotions of similar substitutes, it is ruled out by the simultaneous occurrence of an attraction effect when dissimilar substitutes are offered at a reduced price. Essay 4 studies important antecedent variables of the negative attraction effect. In reference to the causal model on product introduction developed by Mishra et al. (1993), an adapted holistic framework for product exit is tested by using structural equation modeling. The results emphasize decoy share, preference strength and information relevance as major drivers of the considered phenomenon.

[pt] Ao longo dos últimos anos o consumo online aumentou drasticamente, em especial como efeito da pandemia mundial. A pandemia, juntamente com o isolamento social imposto à população, por um lado aumentou o já elevado índice de desemprego no país. Por outro, serviu de estímulo para muitos brasileiros empreenderem no comércio eletrônico. O caminho do empreendedorismo virtual requer entendimentos dos fatores que impactam a tomada de decisão do consumidor, de modo a elevar a chance de acerto quanto a escolha de investimento em uma loja virtual. O objetivo deste estudo foi o identificar os fatores determinantes que influenciam a tomada de decisão no momento da compra online de produtos, realizada por consumidores brasileiros em sites de vendas de varejo, e-commerce, especificamente em lojas virtuais de marca própria, intituladas sites proprietários, excluindo-se as lojas online de fabricantes. Baseado em uma pesquisa bibliográfica, as variáveis relacionadas ao negócio foram identificadas e posteriormente selecionadas as mais relevantes, sendo elas o ambiente de compra online, as fontes de influenciadores, as formas de atendimento e a faixa de preços praticados. O método escolhido para mensurar seus pesos relativos foi a análise conjunta, o qual permite que diversas combinações de atributos e seus níveis sejam avaliados em conjunto. Os resultados mostraram que o preço é o fator principal na tomada de decisão de compra do consumidor, seguido pela forma de atendimento no site, com destaque para a ferramenta de chat online WhatsApp. A indicação de amigos e parentes para se efetuar uma compra se mostrou também relevante, assim como comprar em lojas de sites próprios, possibilitando assim aos gestores de sites proprietários orientações para se tornar mais competitivos no comércio online. / [en] Over the past few years online consumption has increased dramatically, especially as a result of the global pandemic. On one hand, a high unemployment rate was observed in Brazil, on the other hand, it was an option for many Brazilians to undertaken in electronic commerce. However, the way of virtual entrepreneurship requires understanding of the factors that impact consumer decision making, so that the best choice of investment in a virtual store can be right. The objective of this study was to identify the determining factors that influence decision making when buying products online, carried out by Brazilian consumers on retail sales, e-commerce sites, specifically in private label virtual stores, entitled by proprietary sites, excluding manufacturers online stores. Based on a documentary and bibliographic research, the selected and defined variables were: Online Purchase Environment, Sources of Influencers, Forms of Service and Price Range. The method chosen was the conjoint analysis, which allows different combinations of attributes and their levels to be evaluated all together. The results showed that price is the main factor in the consumer s purchase decision making, followed by the form of service on the website, with emphasis on WhatsApp. The indication of friends and relatives to make a purchase, also proved to be relevant, as well as buying in stores of own websites, thus allowing owners of sites to manage guidelines in order to become more competitive in online commerce.

Submitted by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2017-11-23T13:46:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 CLEITON ANTONIO DA SILVA MALTA.pdf: 1814270 bytes, checksum: 5217cb7e85d74469bd4963fceb0719b8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2017-11-23T13:46:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 CLEITON ANTONIO DA SILVA MALTA.pdf: 1814270 bytes, checksum: 5217cb7e85d74469bd4963fceb0719b8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Cristina Ropero (ana@espm.br) on 2017-12-01T11:21:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 CLEITON ANTONIO DA SILVA MALTA.pdf: 1814270 bytes, checksum: 5217cb7e85d74469bd4963fceb0719b8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-01T11:22:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CLEITON ANTONIO DA SILVA MALTA.pdf: 1814270 bytes, checksum: 5217cb7e85d74469bd4963fceb0719b8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-27 / Consumers are driven by decisions that transcend the materiality of the products and services they consume. In a superficial analysis, there is a risk of translating consumer behavior only through its standard response or stated opinions, which may at first not fully reveal the complexity and fullness of its actual behavior. The purpose of this study is to identify the convergences or divergences between the "say" of the consumers, as opposed to their actual behavior in fueling in practice. In addition, it was possible to understand in depth the factors considered, according to the consumers, to the choice of fuel stations and in establishing the correlation of the say-do, it is possible to interpret about the facts perspective, the real relevance of the factors initially declared. Based on these considerations and given the complexity of the theme, a mixed approach was used for the project research, characterized as a sequential exploratory project, which is based on the Qualitative and quantitative methodology research. The data were obtained by in-depth interviews, structured questionnaires and an application (app) developed for the purposes of this study. The results of the study showed a mismatch between the say-do consumers' on the choice of gas stations brands. The inputs and discussions may serve as a basis for future research in different categories and may instigate the reflection about the needs for new tools applied to marketing that allow to evaluate the intention and behavior of the consumer beyond declared discourse. / Os consumidores são movidos por decisões, que transcendem a materialidade dos produtos e serviços que consomem. Analisando superficialmente, há um risco de traduzirmos o comportamento do consumidor apenas através da sua resposta – padrão ou opiniões declaradas, que podem em um primeiro instante não revelar completamente a complexidade e plenitude do seu comportamento real. Este estudo apresenta como objetivo, identificar as convergências ou divergências entre o dizer dos consumidores de postos de combustíveis, em contraponto com o seu comportamento real no ato de abastecer na prática, o seu fazer. Além disso, entendeu-se em maior profundidade os fatores considerados, segundo o dizer dos consumidores, para a escolha de postos de combustíveis, e ao estabelecer a correlação do dizer-fazer, pode-se interpretar á luz dos fatos a real relevância dos fatores inicialmente declarados. Partindo dessas considerações e atribuído a complexidade do tema, para a pesquisa do projeto, foi utilizada uma abordagem mista, caracterizada como um projeto exploratório sequencial, que se baseia na metodologia de pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa. Foram empregados para obtenção dos dados, entrevistas em profundidade, questionários estruturados e aplicativo desenvolvido para fins deste trabalho. Os resultados do estudo mostraram uma não correspondência entre o dizer-fazer do consumidor, para a escolha de marcas para abastecimento em postos de combustíveis. Os insumos e discussões poderão servir como base para futuras pesquisas, em diferentes categorias, e poderão instigar a reflexão sobre a necessidade de novas ferramentas aplicadas ao marketing, que permitam considerar com a finalidade de avaliar a intenção e comportamento do consumidor, não somente as declarações ou o dizer dos indivíduos.