Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-159). / This study focused on two segments that have emerged from an evolution within the children's market- the tween and young teen markets. However, few market researchers had investigated the transition between these two stages - leaving primary school and going to high school. Despite there being a rather small age gap between older tweens and young teens, the numerous challenges brought about due to the transition from primary school to high school could affect areas such as academic performance, friendships and so forth. It was the aim of this study to uncover any changes in relation to the consumer behaviour and brand preferences of young teens occurred due to this transitional period. The literature review looked at the international and South African older tween and young teen markets through market identification and characterization. The transition phase from primary school to high school looked at the similarities and differences of older tweens and young teens and the social and academic impact of school transitions on grade eights. Four areas were identified that were said to influence one's clothing consumer behaviour and brand preferences as a result of the school transition to high school. These were developmental changes; the influence of one's reference groups; role models and the media that one subscribes to, and the financial circumstances in which one lives. The researcher also investigated brand loyalty and the influence of peer pressure on the clothing consumer behaviour and brand preferences of young teens. Furthermore, the literature review covered branding and how fashion and brands influenced the consumer behaviour of young teens. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in this study. The primary research tools used were the two surveys that were successfully administered to two hundred and seventy four grade sevens and eights in ten schools in the South Western Cape. Permission was obtained from the Western Cape Education Department and a time restriction was given for the surveys to be administered to the schools. The researcher also used qualitative research methods in the form of experience interviews with nine members of the academic and business community who were deemed knowledgeable on the topics of child development, branding, consumer behaviour and school transitions. Limited focus groups were conducted, although this was primarily used to construct the questionnaires. Furthermore, the researcher made use of secondary data sources such as reputable and peer reviewed journal articles, books and so forth. Out of the five school sets in this research study the De Kuilen school set showed statistically significant results between grade sevens and eights with regards to developmental, reference group, financial and brand preference changes. The Kuils River school set also showed statistically significant results with regards to developmental, role models, peer pressure and brand preference changes. However, the rest of the school sets showed minor or failed to show statistical differences between the two grades in question. On the whole no significant developmental, reference group, role model and peer pressure changes were noted between grade sevens and grade eights. On the other hand, two of the findings agreed with the initial hypotheses that were put forward. Financial changes did occur, as grade eights received more pocket money than grade sevens and parents were still involved in purchasing clothing for their young teens; and as expected, young teens failed to prove brand loyal. Consequently, although two null hypotheses (financial changes and brand loyalty) were accepted out of six proposed and two school sets out of the five showed statistical differences between the two grades on the matters investigated, the primary null hypothesis was rejected. The researcher concluded that young teens in the South Western Cape did not change their clothing consumer behaviour and brand preferences after entering high school. However, this conclusion was limited only to those schools and students who participated in the study. The researcher recommended that in general both grades could be targeted together as one clothing brand market. Especially when young teens were in the first part of grade eight, as both markets liked wearing brands such as Billabong and Roxy for very similar reasons. In addition, the lack of brand loyalty was not seen to be a hindrance, but an opportunity for marketers to attract young teens due to the fashionability and affordability of the clothing. Their purchasing power not only by themselves, but also more often than not with the help of their parents made them a lucrative market worthy of attention. On the other hand, while the researcher may have gained more knowledge from using more qualitative research, as some information from the questionnaires contradicted each other, it was also suggested that due the two age groups being so similar, it may have been more beneficial to compare two differing age groups such as grade sevens and nines.

In their continuous search for improved explanations of why consumers engage with certain brands more than with others, academics and managers have placed significant importance on self-brand congruence theory, which suggests that consumers are drawn to brands with characteristics that align with their own characteristics. Although this theory has been extensively investigated and supported by previous research, it has hitherto been assumed that the alignment of characteristics exhibits a similarity configuration, that is, consumers are drawn to brands with traits that mirror their own traits. By adopting a relational view of consumer-brand interactions and drawing from the literature on interpersonal relationships, specifically from theories of interpersonal attraction, the thesis explores the possibility that besides similarity, self-brand personality alignment may also exhibit a complementarity configuration, whereby consumers are drawn to brands with traits that complement their own. Using a two-phase empirical study of mixed methods [in-depth interviews and online survey (n=206)], the thesis first explores the structure of consumers’ perceptions of their own personalities and those of their favourite brands using Exploratory Factor Analysis. Results reveal that although brand personality has the same five factor structure as human personality, the composition of dimensions is distinct. The patterns of alignment between the two sets of traits are then examined through Canonical Correlation Analysis, which reveals the existence of both similarity and complementarity configurations in self-brand personality alignment. A new method for measuring the magnitude of self-brand personality alignment is then devised, which captures both configurations. The predictive power of this new measure is then compared against existing, similarity-based measures for a range of desirable brand behaviours, using Discriminant Analysis and Linear Regression. Results indicate the new measure performs well, especially for emotionally-related brand behaviours.

The practice of promoting food to children via advergames is a highly topical issue which attracts much concern due to the low nutritional value of the promoted foods. This thesis examines the effects of customised food advergames on children’s affective, cognitive and conative responses. It also investigates the role persuasion knowledge and prior brand usage have in children’s interaction with advergames. In particular, whether children’s persuasion knowledge acts as a barrier to those responses. This research is situated within the domains of marketing communications, consumer behaviour and consumer socialisation. It adopts an affect transfer theory, the Dual Mediation Hypothesis (DMH), to explain the transfer of affect from an advergame to children’s responses. Three versions of the same advergame were designed for the purpose of this thesis with different levels of customisation (i.e. control, low and high experimental conditions). An experiment among younger (5-7 year olds) and older (11¬12 year olds) children reveals that customisation in advergames has a detrimental effect on children’s affective, cognitive and conative responses. It was the control condition, without customisation options, that rendered a positive impact on brand attitudes and preferences relative to the other two experimental conditions. Persuasion knowledge does not influence children’s affective, cognitive or conative responses. This implies that children’s understanding of the persuasive intent of an advergame does not act as a barrier against its effects. Age had a significant role on children’s attitudes towards the advergame, but not on their other responses to it. Finally, prior brand usage has a positive impact on children’s responses apart from on advergame attitudes. This thesis has implications to policy and practice. It is evident that children from two distinct age and cognitive developmental groups cannot protect themselves from advergames’ effects. Therefore, regulators should broaden the scope of concern to older and younger children alike.

The practice of promoting food to children via advergames is a highly topical issue which attracts much concern due to the low nutritional value of the promoted foods. This thesis examines the effects of customised food advergames on children’s affective, cognitive and conative responses. It also investigates the role persuasion knowledge and prior brand usage have in children’s interaction with advergames. In particular, whether children’s persuasion knowledge acts as a barrier to those responses. This research is situated within the domains of marketing communications, consumer behaviour and consumer socialisation. It adopts an affect transfer theory, the Dual Mediation Hypothesis (DMH), to explain the transfer of affect from an advergame to children’s responses. Three versions of the same advergame were designed for the purpose of this thesis with different levels of customisation (i.e. control, low and high experimental conditions). An experiment among younger (5-7 year olds) and older (11¬12 year olds) children reveals that customisation in advergames has a detrimental effect on children’s affective, cognitive and conative responses. It was the control condition, without customisation options, that rendered a positive impact on brand attitudes and preferences relative to the other two experimental conditions. Persuasion knowledge does not influence children’s affective, cognitive or conative responses. This implies that children’s understanding of the persuasive intent of an advergame does not act as a barrier against its effects. Age had a significant role on children’s attitudes towards the advergame, but not on their other responses to it. Finally, prior brand usage has a positive impact on children’s responses apart from on advergame attitudes. This thesis has implications to policy and practice. It is evident that children from two distinct age and cognitive developmental groups cannot protect themselves from advergames’ effects. Therefore, regulators should broaden the scope of concern to older and younger children alike.

Craft beer popularity has grown in recent years, and Swedish craft breweries are increasing to meet consumer needs. Breweries must understand consumer preferences to effectively align their offers in this changing landscape. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the consumer preferences in the Swedish craft beer market, focusing on how various attributes of craft beer influence consumer choices and how the consumer factors and craft beer attributes can segment consumers.