The objective of this master thesis is to identify “key-drivers” embedded in customer satisfaction data. The data was collected by a large transportation sector corporation during five years and in four different countries. The questionnaire involved several different sections of questions and ranged from demographical information to satisfaction attributes with the vehicle, dealer and several problem areas. Various regression, correlation and cooperative game theory approaches were used to identify the key satisfiers and dissatisfiers. The theoretical and practical advantages of using the Shapley value, Canonical Correlation Analysis and Hierarchical Logistic Regression has been demonstrated and applied to market research.

ABSTRACT   Title: Mobile Marketing: Study of ICA – Correlation between mobile marketing and customer loyalty Level: Master Degree in Business Administration Authors: Bolor Amarsanaa and Joshua Anjorin Supervisor: Ernst Hollander Date: 2012 – January Aim: Having loyal customers is a key for successful organizations. There is increased complexity and competitiveness in the market place as regards to what companies need to do and how to do them in meeting the needs of customers. Is that why companies today are exploring the potentials of mobile phones to ultimately earn customers’ loyalty? However, there is not much research done in this area, especially in finding correlation between mobile marketing and customer loyalty. Thus, this research aims to examine correlation between mobile marketing and customer loyalty. Method: Data collection methods included literature reviews, a questionnaire and interviews. These were analysed by hypothesising, comparing with theories, and the use of descriptive analysis, correlation, and other methods presented as discussions, tables, and charts. Results & Conclusions: The theoretical and empirical research findings show that customer loyalty is positively related with mobile marketing. Use of mobile marketing such as mobile application, mobile web and SMS can perhaps enhance customer loyalty by meeting the demand of customers; increasing interaction and communication with customers; and increasing customer satisfaction. However, due to the research limitations and due to the fact that mobile marketing is a relatively new field of study, it needs some more time and more extensive research to make a general assumption about relationship between them and the strength of such relationship. Suggestions for future research: For further research, more extended research with broader samples is essential. It will be also crucial to investigate how much of an effect mobile marketing has on customer loyalty by scrutinizing company’s cost and profit measurements of mobile marketing besides opt-in and opt-out measurements of customers. Contribution of the thesis: We hope that this research has scratched the surface to this new field of study and made an addition to existing theory. It also stirs up interests in the emerging research on mobile marketing’s untapped potentials. Key words: Mobile Marketing, Customer loyalty, mobile phone, customer satisfaction, communication with customers.

Title: The Battle of the Customers – Does loyalty exist within the FMCG market? Authors: Emmie Thurn 880909, David Gustafsson 870926  Purpose: The purpose with this study is to examine how relationship marketing strategies can enhance companies’ effectiveness, within the FMCG market, in the sense of more satisfied and loyal customers. The 5Qs model will be applied in order to see if there are any critical quality factors that encourage long-term relationship. Methodology: This quantitative study was based upon positivistic assumptions and carried out by a deductive research approach. The data was collected through two questionnaires, which included 200 customers and 15 representatives from three various FMCG stores. Conclusion: In this study the authors have found that RM, as the current theory present it, does not provide any effective strategies to create customer satisfaction and loyalty within the FMCG market. Therefore, the authors raise the question if price is the new customer loyalty program within the FMCG market? Ten quality factors are identified as critical when generating a long-term relationship between FMCG stores and customers.  To create a successful long-term relationship can these quality factors be combined into a PRODSERV offer. Keywords: Relationship marketing, quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, 5Qs model, the FMCG market.

Live performing arts are one of the most important heritages, defining the cultural identity of a society. Since live performing arts are cultural services, the process of experiencing them is pivotal in forming satisfaction on the customer side. Achieving customer satisfaction is crucial for non-profit cultural institutions operating under the Swedish cultural model. An investigation of the achieved level of customer satisfaction and a comparison to customer expectations is therefore necessary for offering cultural services, which meet customer expectations. Since service quality and hence customer satisfaction can be controlled via the elements of the services marketing mix, the authors focused on investigating the marketing mix of Programbolaget i Jönköping (PJ). The authors wish to investigate to what extent PJ’s current audiences are satisfied with the quality of the services marketing mix provided by PJ, what customers expect from it and what managerial implications can be advised to improve the service. The authors use a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data about customer satisfaction is collected via a questionnaire, which applies a five point Likert scale. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics are used in the data processing. Semi-structured interviews with PJ and customers are conducted to obtain information about the nature of PJ and customer expectations. The conclusions drawn from this study are that the overall level of satisfaction with PJs services marketing mix among PJ’s customers is satisfying, while deviations between the different elements exist, where the elements price, promotion and product score lowest. It is also found that some parameters of the marketing mix have significant levels of importance for customer groups. Customer expectations regarding the services, which scored low, were investigated through interviews. Based on the conducted statistical tests and the expectations of the customers, recommendations regarding PJ’s services are made in order to increase customer satisfaction.

Med teorin om verklighetsforskning som ramverk utfördes en undersökning på uppdrag av HR-funktionen på Parker Hannifin AB i Sverige. Då det i tidigare forskning visat sig finnas oklarheter kring rollfördelningen mellan chefer och HR-personal samt att chefers förväntningar på HR-funktionen influerar dess roll, genomfördes denna undersökning kring uppfattningar och nöjdhet gällande en HR-funktions uppgifter. Studien syftade till att belysa eventuella skillnader i kundnöjdhet bland chefer utifrån vilken enhet de tillhör, vilken chefsposition de har, hur länge de arbetat som chef inom organisationen samt hur ofta de är i kontakt med HR. Det undersöktes även ifall åsikter kring förbättringsområden har förändrats sedan senast utförd undersökning. Studien genomfördes via en dokumentanalys och ett egentillverkat frågeformulär som skickades ut till samtliga chefer inom Parker i Sverige. Resultatet tyder på att flera förbättringsområden kvarstår, att befintliga dokument är inkonsekventa i förhållande till varandra samt att det fanns flera signifikanta skillnader mellan chefernas uppfattningar. Förslagsvis bör HR-avdelningarna samt de olika dokumenten bli mer samstämmiga för att rollfördelningen skall bli tydligare. / With real world research as the theoretical framework, a study was conducted as an assignment by the HR-function at Parker Hannifin AB in Sweden. Bearing in mind that there have been ambiguities concerning the roles of managers and HR-staff in previous research and that the managers’ perceptions about the HR-function affects the role of the HR, this study was conducted. This study about perceptions and satisfaction concerning the working of an HR-function aimed to highlight possible differences in customer satisfaction amongst managers based on which unit they belonged to, level of managerial position, the time they have worked as managers in the organization, and the frequency of contact with the HR-department. Moreover, the study considered whether the opinions concerning areas of improvement have changed since the last conducted research. This research was conducted through an analysis of documents and a self-produced questionnaire which was sent to all managers within Parker in Sweden. The results indicated that the same areas of improvement-needs remains, that existing documents are inconsequent in relation to each other, and that several significant differences between managers’ perceptions emerged. The HR-departments along with the different documents should tentatively become more consistent so that their roles become clearer.

Abstract Problem statement – what factors determine brand loyalty in Smartphone? Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine causal antecedent factors leading to brandloyalty in the Swedish Smartphone market Theory – theoretical review and critical analysis of academic journals related to dependantand independent variables and conceptual model is formulated. Methodology - Quantitative approach is used to quantify the relationship between dependantand independent variables based on the proposed theoretical model that delineates therelationships between dependant variable brand loyalty and the independent variablescustomer satisfaction, perceived quality, brand experience, brand image, brand switching costand product involvement. Data – In total 200 responses were collected through a structured interview from UppsalaUniversity, Uppsala central train and bus station and two big shopping centers in Uppsala (S: tper galleria and Forum galleria). Apple and Sony Ericsson brand users are interviewed in thedata gathering process, 100 respondents for each brand Findings – the analysis suggest brand image, product involvement and customer satisfactiondetermined brand loyalty in Apple brand, whereas customer satisfaction was the onlydeterminate factor in Sony Ericsson brand

Dagens företag, vars utbud alltmer karaktäriseras av tjänster, måste lära sig att anpassa sig till denna nya kundorienterade värld. Idag har kunderna stort utbud av varor och tjänster vilket innebär att företagen måste anstränga sig extra hårt för att ha nöjda och lojala kunder. Att ha nöjda kunder innebär inte automatiskt att dessa kunder är lojala. Kundlojalitet är viktigt för att företaget ska fungera på lång sikt. Syftet med uppsatsen är att se vilka slutsatser som kan dras om kundlojaliteten hos Bergslagens Sparbanks privatkunder i relation till hur nöjda de är. Vi vill även se hur vi kan utläsa den sanna kundlojaliteten hos Bergslagens Sparbanks privatkunder. Genom postenkäter och intervjuer sammanvävda med ett teoretiskt efterforskningsarbete har resultaten kommit fram. Ett abduktivt arbetssätt tillsammans med en kombinerad kvantitativ och kvalitativ undersökningsmetod har möjliggjort för författarna att uppnå det utforskande syfte uppsatsen utgått ifrån. Bergslagens Sparbanks privatkunder är i allmänhet nöjda med sin bank. Dock har det framkommit att det finns saker som banken kan förbättra.  Vi har dessutom sett mönster som visar på att det finnas både sann och falsk lojalitet bland bankens privatkunder. Åtskilliga kunder i Bergslagens Sparbank har haft banken sedan lång tid tillbaka, de flesta i elva år eller längre. Många har dessutom uppgett att familjen alltid har haft samma bank vilket innebär att ”traditionen” förts vidare till yngre generationer. Detta är ett tecken som visar på hur kunderna blir lojala. Vi visar att det finns ett samband mellan kunders attityder om Bergslagens Sparbank och deras kundlojalitet. / Today's businesses, whose range of product and services is increasingly being characterized by services, must learn to adapt to this new customer-driven world. Today, customers have wide selection of goods and services which means that companies need to strive extra hard to have satisfied and loyal customers. To have satisfied customers does not automatically mean that these customers are loyal. Customer loyalty is important for the company to work in the long run. The purpose with this research project is to see what conclusions can be drawn on the customer loyalty of Bergslagens Sparbank private customers, in relation to how satisfied they are. We also want to see how we can find the true customer loyalty of Bergslagens Sparbank private customers. By mail questionnaires and interviews interwoven with theoretical research the results have emerged. An abductive reasoning technique used with a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods has enabled the authors to achieve the exploratory purpose of this research project. Bergslagens Sparbank’s private customers are overall satisfied with their bank. However, it has become clear that there are things that the bank can improve. We have also seen the patterns that indicate that there is both true and false loyalty amongst the bank’s private customers. Many of the customers in Bergslagens Sparbank have been with the bank for a long time, most of them for eleven years or longer. Several of them have also stated that the family has always had the same bank, which means that it's a tradition that has passed on to younger generations. This is one of the signs that show how customers are becoming loyal. We show that customer attitudes towards Bergslagens Sparbank are affecting customer loyalty.

This study is to discuss the correlation between customer orientation, customer satisfaction and sales performance, also discuss the mediating effect of customer satisfaction and moderating effects of customer¡¦s personality of salesperson in the animal health industry. ¡§Customer-oriented¡¨ selling can be viewed as the practice of the marketing concept at the level of the individual salesperson and customer. The marketing concept requires an organization to determine the needs of a target market and adapt itself to satisfying those needs better than its competitors. In the marketing concept, all parts of an organization are oriented toward solving customer problems and meeting the needs of the marketplace. ¡§Customer-oriented¡¨ selling is directed toward providing customer satisfaction and establishing mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with its market. The conclusions of this study and significant to the management are presented as follows: 1.Customer satisfaction and sales performance are significantly related to the practice of customer-oriented selling. 2.Customer satisfaction is significantly related to sales performance. 3.The mediating effect of customer satisfaction is significantly related to sales performance. 4.The interaction between customer personality types (as measured by the MBTI) and customer-orientation were not found to have significant influence. 5.Salespeople might improve customer satisfaction and their performance if they attempted to solve customer problems and meet their needs. 6.Understand the different personal-approach needs of the customers can maintain loyalty and long-term customers and increase sales effectiveness.

A considerable amount of academic attention has been directed towards the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. But the nature of the exact relationship is still shrouded with uncertainty. In addition, few researches focus on the dimensions of service quality and their differing impacts on customer satisfaction in western fast food restaurants. This paper examines whether or not quality and satisfaction should be considered as a single construct, or distinct, separable constructs. Customer satisfaction is typically evaluated by means of a single item scale and sometimes multiple item scales. Conversely, this empirical study adopts a different approach and considers customer satisfaction as a multi-dimensional construct just as service quality, but argues that customer satisfaction should be operationalized along the same corresponding items on which service quality is operationalized. The SERVQUAL instrument was slightly modified to measure the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction among customers in western fast food chains in Kaohsiung. The research survey captures customers¡¦ perceptions of excellent service and compares it with their overall satisfaction. Using multiple regression analysis and T-test, the paper also reports on how socioeconomic and demographic disparities can influence the perception of service quality and satisfaction. Based on the research findings, the service quality and customer satisfaction are indeed independent but are closely related constructs. Their relationship suggests that an increase in one will lead to an increase in another. The statistical analysis also revealed that demographic variables can have major influences on service quality and customer satisfaction. The aim of the study is to supply useful results for future customer satisfaction researches in the fast food industry and provide insights into market segmentation strategies.

Recent tourism marketing development has highlighted the importance of customer participation. Owing to experience-seeking and use of internet, customers start to behave themselves as value co-creators, which offers greater opportunities for service providers and benefit customers themselves as well. Therefore, this study aims to identify the factors that contribute to customer participation and examine how customer participation effects relationship marketing in the tourism sector. The author proposes a model, in which communication, customer expertise, affective commitment and interactional justice are assumed to increase the extent to which customers participate in the service delivery. Furthermore, customer participation may increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. A survey was conducted based on travel agency service. In total 152 people who had experience working with travel agency participated in the survey. The testing results showed that the model is fully supported. Firstly, all antecedents, including communication, customer expertise, affective commitment and interactional justice, relate positively to customer participation. Secondly, customer participation enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty. Meanwhile, customer satisfaction has a positive effect on customer loyalty. Thus, the findings provide managers in the tourism with valuable insights that firms can increase their competitive advantage through enhancing customer participation.