Background Brand loyalty has been studied by a large number of scholars over the past few decades, including its impact on consumer purchase behavior and as a core concept when creating brand value. Having ethical business practice helps retain customers trust and enforce their loyalty to the brand. However, brand’s unethical behavior has always been a topic discussed by society, especially for the soft drinks industry. Problem Previous research has shown that there is a link between brand loyalty, brand trust and brand attachment. It has also been implied that consumers with high commitment to a brand might justify a brands unethical behavior. However, there is a lack of research within the field of brand loyalty and ethical business practices within the beverage industry. Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand how millennials with different levels of brand loyalty respond to unethical marketing activities to soft drink brands within the beverage industry. Furthermore, this research would like to give an insight to whether consumers care about ethical brands within this industry or not. Additionally, this study can help brands in the beverage industry to build their marketing strategies and maintain their consumer relationship. Method This study used a qualitative research method, where 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sampling method, with millennials as research objects. Additionally, the brand Pepsi has been used as a case to measure the participants brand loyalty in order to classify them to one of the three levels of loyalty in the conceptual framework.  Conclusion The results show that the more loyal consumers are towards brands, the less impact the brand’s unethical behavior has on them. For consumers with low loyalty, the chances of turning to alternatives when brands have ethical issues are greater. Whereas consumers who are on the Satisfied level have a neutral opinion towards the brand when it comes to unethical issues. While, consumers with high brand loyalty may ignore the brand's unethical behavior because of their loyalty and love for the brand. Brand image, product quality, product safety, environmental footprint and how brands handle the unethical issues have been identified as important factors when consumers make the purchasing decision.

Background: Brand managers are always trying to find ways to increase brand profitability and creating a stronger competitive advantage. Part of the marketing activities implemented by brand managers is geared towards building brand equity. Managers have now recognized the importance of the customer in creating brand equity and therefore implement co-creation as a way of creating value together with the customer. Co-creation allows for the firm to bring the customer closer. Two dimensions of brand equity which are brand loyalty and brand experience were chosen for this study. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain the effects of perceived co-creation benefits on brand loyalty and brand experience (CBBE). Methodology: To meet the purpose, the study proposes an explanatory design with a quantitative approach. After reviewing relevant literature, three benefits were found important for the customers and in connection to the purpose of a researched model based on six hypotheses was developed. The empirical data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire which was distributed online with a total of 119 responses which were recorded and passed the qualification question whether they follow a brand on social media. Findings: The authors found evidence that perceived co-creation benefits have an effect on CBBE. It was found that particularly hedonic benefits have a significant effect on brand loyalty. Another finding was that social integrative benefits also has an effect on brand experience.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T18:39:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 28 / Nenhuma / O aumento da concorrência faz com que as empresas se preocupem cada vez com a retenção de seus clientes. Um programa de fidelidade é uma das inúmeras estratégias utilizadas para envolver o cliente e buscar a lealdade à marca. Porém, algumas empresas ainda resistem na aplicação deste tipo de estratégia por terem dúvidas quanto aos resultados obtidos. O cliente percebe o valor de um programa de fidelidade? Um cliente compra um determinado produto ou serviço devido às vantagens que o programa de fidelidade lhe proporciona ou devido à sua lealdade à marca? Questões como estas foram analisadas nesse estudo para tentar compreender se os programas de fidelidade podem auxiliar na construção e manutenção da lealdade à marca. Para isso, foi realizado um quase-experimento, através de uma survey eletrônica com 243 consumidores de diversos estados brasileiros. O estudo analisou, através de um modelo conceitual proposto, três relações entre os diferentes construtos do modelo. A primeira relação analisou os efeitos dos e / The increase of competition make that companies worry about keep yours customers. A loyalty program is one of several strategies used to involve the customer and to search the brand loyalty. But, some companies still to hold on to apply this kind of strategy because they have doubts about the results got. The customer perceives the value of a loyalty program? The customer buy a certain product or service because the advantages that the loyalty program give to him or because he is loyal to the brand? Questions like this were analyzed in this study to try to understand if loyalty programs can to help to build and maintenance to the brand loyalty. It was carry out a quasi-experiment, through an electronic survey with 243 brazilian consumers from the several states of country. The study examined, through a conceptual model proposed, three relations between different constructs. The first relation analyzed the effects of reward schemes (types of rewards and timing of rewards) on the perception of value of a prog

<p>Syftet med avhandlingen var att få fram konkreta förslag på hur svenska dagligvaruföretag kan arbeta med Facebook i sin marknadsföring för att öka både befintliga och nya kunders varumärkeslojalitet till företaget.</p><p>Teorikapitlet innehåller teorier kring ämnena varumärke, märkeslojalitet, kommunikation, Internet, sociala medier och Facebook. Ytterligare information har även samlats in genom intervjuer med tre experter inom sociala medier för att styrka teorierna kring sociala medier.</p><p>Studien visade att svenska dagligvaruföretag idag inte använder sig av Facebook i dess fulla kapacitet. Genom att använda sig av en kombination av grupper, sidor, applikationer och event kan företag stärka sina kunders varumärkeslojalitet. Det handlar om att använda dessa olika verktyg för att skapa en relation med kunden och en kanal för dialog. Kan företaget sedan besvara kundens frågor och funderingar på ett bra och snabbt sätt genom denna nya mediekanal kan en långvarig relation skapas mellan kunden och företaget som i sin tur leder till varumärkeslojalitet hos kunden.</p><p> </p> / <p>The purpose of this thesis is to come up with concrete</p><p>suggestions how Swedish grocery chains can work with</p><p>Facebook in their marketing to increase both existing and</p><p>potential costumers brand loyalty towards the company.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The theorysection contains theories concerning following subjects:</p><p>brand, brand loyalty, communication, Internet, social media and</p><p>Facebook. Further information has been collected through</p><p>interviews with three experts in social media marketing to</p><p>strengthen the theories concerning social media.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The study has shown that Swedish grocery chains at the moment</p><p>are not using the full potential of Facebook. By using a</p><p>combination of groups, pages, applications and events the</p><p>companies can strengthen their customers brand loyalty. It is all</p><p>about using the available Facebooktools to create a relationship</p><p>and a dialog with the costumers. If the company is able to answer</p><p>the questions and thoughts of the customer in a quick and good</p><p>way a long term relationship can be created. This long term</p><p>relationship between the customer and the company will open up</p><p>for brand loyalty.</p>

<p>Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka och utreda hur tjänsteföretag inom charterbranschen arbetar för att stärka sitt varumärke, samt att utreda hur och vilka associationer som skapas kring varumärket.</p><p>Metod: Försöka implementera en modell för att få en klarare bild över hur charter företag arbertar för att stärka sina varumärken, författarna använder sig olika litteratur käller samt emperiska studier.</p><p>Resultat: Resultaten visar hur viktigt det för företag att hitta nya metoder för att stärka sitt varumärke, samt betydelsen för tjänsteföretag av att hitta sin egen plats i en konkurrenskraftig marknad.</p><p>Avgränsning: Genom att begränsa vår undersökning valde vi att koncentrera oss på endast två charterföretag, detta för att skapa en bättre och djupare inblick på vår frågeställning. De två charterföretagen som vi har valt att undersöka och utgå ifrån är; Apollo och Ving. Anledningen till detta är att de är marknadsledande och har lyckats skapa ett starkt varumärke.</p><p>Nyckelord: Varumärkeskapital, kärnvärde av tjänst, postionering, märkesidentitet, marknadskommunikation, intern märkeslojlitet, associationer.</p> / <p>Purpose: The purpose with this study is to evaluate how leading companies in the “charter branch” create brand equity and associations related to the brand.</p><p>Methodology: To test the anticipated model in the context of how charter companies work to establish a stronger brand, the authors use data collected from different literature sources and empirical findings.</p><p>Findings: The results underline the importance of always finding new methods to establish a strong brand, and the value for service companies have to find their own place on a competitive market.</p><p>Research limitations: We choose to limit our study by choosing two different charter companies, this choice made it able for us to get deeper understanding to our purpose. The two companies that we choose to investigate where: Apollo and Ving. The reason was because these two companies are market leaders and they have managed to create a strong brand.</p>

Syftet med avhandlingen var att få fram konkreta förslag på hur svenska dagligvaruföretag kan arbeta med Facebook i sin marknadsföring för att öka både befintliga och nya kunders varumärkeslojalitet till företaget. Teorikapitlet innehåller teorier kring ämnena varumärke, märkeslojalitet, kommunikation, Internet, sociala medier och Facebook. Ytterligare information har även samlats in genom intervjuer med tre experter inom sociala medier för att styrka teorierna kring sociala medier. Studien visade att svenska dagligvaruföretag idag inte använder sig av Facebook i dess fulla kapacitet. Genom att använda sig av en kombination av grupper, sidor, applikationer och event kan företag stärka sina kunders varumärkeslojalitet. Det handlar om att använda dessa olika verktyg för att skapa en relation med kunden och en kanal för dialog. Kan företaget sedan besvara kundens frågor och funderingar på ett bra och snabbt sätt genom denna nya mediekanal kan en långvarig relation skapas mellan kunden och företaget som i sin tur leder till varumärkeslojalitet hos kunden. / The purpose of this thesis is to come up with concrete suggestions how Swedish grocery chains can work with Facebook in their marketing to increase both existing and potential costumers brand loyalty towards the company.   The theorysection contains theories concerning following subjects: brand, brand loyalty, communication, Internet, social media and Facebook. Further information has been collected through interviews with three experts in social media marketing to strengthen the theories concerning social media.     The study has shown that Swedish grocery chains at the moment are not using the full potential of Facebook. By using a combination of groups, pages, applications and events the companies can strengthen their customers brand loyalty. It is all about using the available Facebooktools to create a relationship and a dialog with the costumers. If the company is able to answer the questions and thoughts of the customer in a quick and good way a long term relationship can be created. This long term relationship between the customer and the company will open up for brand loyalty.

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka och utreda hur tjänsteföretag inom charterbranschen arbetar för att stärka sitt varumärke, samt att utreda hur och vilka associationer som skapas kring varumärket. Metod: Försöka implementera en modell för att få en klarare bild över hur charter företag arbertar för att stärka sina varumärken, författarna använder sig olika litteratur käller samt emperiska studier. Resultat: Resultaten visar hur viktigt det för företag att hitta nya metoder för att stärka sitt varumärke, samt betydelsen för tjänsteföretag av att hitta sin egen plats i en konkurrenskraftig marknad. Avgränsning: Genom att begränsa vår undersökning valde vi att koncentrera oss på endast två charterföretag, detta för att skapa en bättre och djupare inblick på vår frågeställning. De två charterföretagen som vi har valt att undersöka och utgå ifrån är; Apollo och Ving. Anledningen till detta är att de är marknadsledande och har lyckats skapa ett starkt varumärke. Nyckelord: Varumärkeskapital, kärnvärde av tjänst, postionering, märkesidentitet, marknadskommunikation, intern märkeslojlitet, associationer. / Purpose: The purpose with this study is to evaluate how leading companies in the “charter branch” create brand equity and associations related to the brand. Methodology: To test the anticipated model in the context of how charter companies work to establish a stronger brand, the authors use data collected from different literature sources and empirical findings. Findings: The results underline the importance of always finding new methods to establish a strong brand, and the value for service companies have to find their own place on a competitive market. Research limitations: We choose to limit our study by choosing two different charter companies, this choice made it able for us to get deeper understanding to our purpose. The two companies that we choose to investigate where: Apollo and Ving. The reason was because these two companies are market leaders and they have managed to create a strong brand.

Background:  Making customers loyal to the brand have become a key issue for marketers to achieve since it acts as a major contributor to competitive advantage. The brand image is argued to be the main source for brand loyalty and organizations continuously seeks for ways to achieve brand loyalty through enhancing their image. Employee branding makes it possible for organizations to consistently deliver a desired brand image to the customers, through its employees, and it could therefore be of importance to explore the relationship between employee branding and brand loyalty.  Research questions: RQ1: How does the organization’s management communicate its desired brand image to the employees? RQ2: How do the various sources of messages contribute to employees’ knowledge of the desired brand image? RQ3: How do the various sources of messages contribute to the upholding of the psychological contract between the employees and the organization? RQ4: How does the image projected by employees influence brand loyal customers? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between an organization’s employee branding and brand loyalty. Methodology: Conducted as a single embedded case study, semi-structured interviews Conclusion: The empirical investigation revealed that employee branding activities could strengthen customers’ loyalty towards the brand. Employee branding therefore influence customers’ satisfaction, commitment, trust, and identification to the brand.

The effects of globalization has created a new global consumer segment known as Cosmopolitanism. It is a globally substantial segment that captures “open-minded individuals whose consumption orientation transcends particular cultures, localities or communities and who appreciates diversity including trying products and services from a variety of countries”. In the same sense have global brands grown to take a central place on both developing and developed countries, and their competition with local brands has substantially increased. The Cosmopolitan consumer segment hold major strategic importance for global brands, but the understanding of this new segment has been markedly limited, especially on consumption related behavioral outcomes such as brand loyalty. Taking on a cross-national, comparative approach, the purpose of this study was; to understand the association between Cosmopolitanism and global brand loyalty in developing and developed countries.  Collecting data through online questionnaires in Sweden and Syria, 341 respondents were included within the study, and with regression analyses were three proposed hypotheses tested. The results showed a significant, but arguably weak, association between Cosmopolitanism and global brand loyalty. On the other hand, upon introducing economic development status as a moderating variable, it was seen that the association differed between the sampled countries, with a considerably stronger association in Syria. Managerial implications are presented based on these findings, and the paper is finalized with some essential limitations and avenues for suture research.

Title: Brand loyalty in the Swedish beer market: A consumer study about the relations between brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness and brand associations. Authors: Emmelie Gustafsson and Camilla Sjödahl-Essén Supervisor: Ossi Pesämaa Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology Course: Bachelor’s thesis in Business Administration, 15 credits Purpose: This study aims to study how brand loyalty of three Swedish beer brands is affected by brand associations, brand awareness and perceived quality. The study contributes to explain the differences between the three brands to highlight their strength and weaknesses as well as comparing with each other with the result of this study. Method: Three surveys accounted for the empirical data, which furthermore was statistically analyzed with SPSS and Excel. Results: The result of the three brands show that perceived quality is a closer influencing factor to brand loyalty than brand associations and brand awareness. The three brands also differed where Norrlands Guld proved to be the strongest brand with high brand awareness and brand loyalty.