The present research seeks to increase understanding of cognitive dissonance by exploring the various information sources that may influence the negative feelings that may arise during post-purchase evaluation. Specifically, the author focuses on the impact of consumer opinion seeking, traditional media search, internet search and social media search on cognitive dissonance by employing two studies. In Study 1, depth interviews are collected and analyzed in an effort to gain more insight into the search process and consumers perceptions of the helpfulness and credibility of different information sources. Categories of information sources, categories of which sources were deemed most helpful or credible, and categories of post-purchase evaluations as they relate to cognitive dissonance are drawn from the interviews. Conclusions are drawn from this analysis and a proposed model is provided informed by the emergent categories. The development of hypotheses is also discussed. Study 2 explores the impact of credibility of sources within social media on online furniture purchase decisions. A survey is developed to empirically examine the relationships represented in the model. A pretest is conducted with a sample of 207 respondents. The results of the pretest are used to make changes to the survey instrument for the main study. The main study is conducted using three samples of participants that gained information from one of three sources of information: 1) friends and family member, 2) retailer or 3) other individual (“others”) the participant does not know personally. The findings from the main study indicate that trustworthiness of the source positively impacts consumers’ perceptions of source credibility. Moreover, the results from each of the three samples also provide evidence that cognitive dissonance is less likely to occur when consumers have a positive attitude toward source of information. These findings are especially relevant for retailers as they should develop strategies to enhance trust among their customers in order to increase perceived credibility. In the same vein, retailers should focus on crafting approaches that foster favorable customer attitudes in order to reduce the occurrence of cognitive dissonance. Additional results of the main study are presented along with managerial implications and ideas for future research.

Consumption of everyday products is an unintentional behavior most individuals act out without thinking of it. These products can end up as litter discarded in nature. Littering is an important field to study in order to achieve a sustainable future. Littering has large consequences on the environment, animals, and humans as it contributes to pollution, biodiversity loss and unsafe environments. Municipalities in Sweden have large expenses from cleaning up wrongfully placed litter. It is illegal to litter in Sweden and despite this, many municipalities struggle with high amounts of litter. Strängnäs municipality, Sweden, have acknowledged this problem and are looking for new strategies to change the current behaviors of their residents. Residents in Strängnäs answered a questionnaire regarding their current littering behaviors, their attitudes towards the field and how communication can influence their behaviors to understand which influences are important regarding littering. The aim of this study was to understand what behaviors individuals currently have, what influences these behaviors and how Strängnäs municipality can work more with communication towards the residents. The background and theoretical approach provided and understanding of previous studies on littering, but also the importance of social norms and social environment. The theories used in this study was Social Practice Theory and Cognitive Dissonance Theory. The results from this study were that social norms influence the respondents’ behaviors; however, their current social environment did not tend to have the same influence as their upbringing. Younger residents also tended to litter more than older. The key results were that the individuals who participated in the study were very unhappy with the current situation and the work that Strängnäs municipality currently are doing regarding littering. The respondents thought the city center to be very littered and unsafe, and there was a norm not to tell others not to litter if seen. However, many of the participants did not know what strategies the municipality already used which implies that the communication from the municipality could be improved. This study highlights the importance of communication and information and how these affect individuals littering behaviors through social norms.

Magisteruppsatsen studerar pedagogers erfarenhet av motstånd mot genusarbete samt försöker förklara motståndet utifrån socialpsykologiska teorier. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med lärare som arbetar med skolans äldre åldrar. Samtliga lärare var engagerade i genusarbete på sina skolor. Tidsbrist samt ointresse var två former av motstånd som kollegor och skolledning utövade. En svårare form av motstånd visade sig vara tillmötesgående motstånd – då motståndsaktörer ger sken av att vilja arbeta med genusperspektiv men i själva verket låter det bero. Ett annat hinder är pedagogers goda självbild vilken försvårar medvetandegörande av genusstrukturerna. Lärarna lyfte också fram genusarbetets känsliga natur som ett skäl till varför motstånd uppstår. Socialpsykologiska teorier kring förändringens fyra rum, kognitiv dissonans samt inkongruens används för att förklara motstånd mot genusarbete. Slutsatsen är att dessa svårigheter med att förändra perspektiv beror på att människor ofta försöker motstå förändring då det nya är arbetsamt att hantera. Motståndet kan också förklaras utifrån människans strävan mot att uppnå kongruens, denna strävan kan dock även förklara varför förändring kan ske. Slutligen betonas vikten av att uppmärksamma motståndets effekter. / Semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers working with teenagers. The teachers all had experience in working with gender perspectives in a school context. This thesis studies the resistance against gender equality efforts that these teachers had experienced coming from colleagues and principals. Resistance was shown through blaming (rightfully or wrongfully) an inability to work with gender issues to lack of time or interest. A more difficult type of resistance to manage is the type that appears to be accommodating – the person says that he or she will take on a gender perspective but in the end there is nothing done. The teachers also view the sensitive nature of gender issues to play a large roll in why the different types of resistance emerge. The thesis then tries to explain why resistance exists through social psychological theories. Theories about cognitive dissonance, incongruence and the four rooms of change explain why humans have a problem with changing their views and perspectives and therefore show resistance. People resist change (such as gender equality efforts) since the unknown is difficult to handle. Another reason for why a change of views does not occur is due to the pursuit towards congruence, though this tendency also explains why change does occur. Finally the importance of paying attention to the effects of the resistance is stressed.

Smart technology, such as the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and big data, provides consumers with a new level of convenience through various smart-connected products (SCPs). Although many experts have increasingly warned about the privacy vulnerability issues of various SCPs, consumers often underestimate privacy risks when adopting smart technology. Accordingly, this dissertation presents a literature review and three empirical studies that examine the privacy problems and suggest new concepts and models for a deeper understanding of the privacy suspension phenomenon. The first chapter reviews the literature related to the privacy suspension phenomenon by integrating the antecedents of consumers' privacy concerns. New concepts of privacy concerns, such as active and inactive privacy concerns, are suggested along with multiple propositions for the proposed privacy suspension theory, which extends the dimension of ambivalence toward trust and distrust regarding smart technology. The second chapter presents the proposed privacy–common good trade-off model and three assumptions related to privacy trade- offs, privacy reduction, and anchoring effects in the sustainable smart-connected car context. This study also discusses the relationships between governments, companies, and consumers regarding the effects of the common good of sustainability and government subsidies. The third chapter evaluates the mediation effects between sustainability, trust, privacy concerns, disclosure intentions, and purchase intentions when purchasing sustainable smart-connected cars based on the proposed sustainability–trust–behavior model. Finally, the fourth chapter provides a practical solution to resolve privacy suspension issues using the design science research approach. This study proposes privacy information type characteristics to evaluate SCPs' tailored data collection capabilities, visualizing them through a spider diagram design method with nudges. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation discusses the consumer privacy suspension phenomenon when adopting smart technology. The first chapter summarizes existing studies regarding privacy concerns, trust, distrust, and ambivalence in adopting technology. It also proposes new concepts of privacy concerns and outlines the unique relationship between consumer privacy concerns and ambivalence toward trust and distrust in smart-connected products, thus helping readers understand why consumers reduce privacy concerns when adopting smart technology. The second chapter presents an empirical study that examines how consumers trade their privacy for the common good of sustainability based on the proposed privacy–common good trade-off model and outlines three key assumptions in the sustainable smart-connected car context. The third chapter discusses the roles of sustainability and trust when consumers decide to disclose their personal information and purchase sustainable smart-connected cars based on the proposed sustainability–trust–behavior model. Last, the fourth chapter provides a practical solution to improve the current inefficient privacy notification systems that cannot apply to different smart-connected products due to various smart sensors collecting different types of personal information. Thus, this dissertation contributes to a deeper understanding of the consumer privacy suspension phenomenon and how sustainability benefits can mitigate the conflicting interests between governments, companies, and consumers when adopting smart technology. In addition, the suggested practical solution using the design science research approach can help consumers make better privacy decisions when purchasing smart-connected products.

Det senaste decenniet har användandet av sociala medier exploderat och blivit en plattformdär information och tips om aktier och investeringar delas ut. Unga personer är de störstaanvändarna av sociala medier, och tidigare studier visar att denna åldersgrupp uppvisar ettmer riskfyllt beteende på aktiemarknaden. Syftet med denna studie var således att undersökahuruvida det finns ett samband mellan aktivitet på sociala medier och riskbenägenhet. Vidareundersöktes om tre variabler - överdrivet självförtroende, ångeraversion och kognitivdissonans - hade en medierande effekt i sambandet mellan aktivitet på sociala medier ochriskbenägenhet. En kvantitativ metod med en enkätstudie användes för studiensdatainsamling. Statistiska mått, däribland regressionsanalys och medieringsanalys, användesför att besvara forskningsfrågan. Resultaten visade att sociala medier har en statistisktsignifikant effekt på riskbenägenhet på aktiemarknaden, och att överdrivet självförtroende haren statistiskt signifikant medierande effekt på relationen. Det fanns inga belägg ellerindikationer på att kognitiv dissonans och ångeraversion har en medierande effekt.Sammanfattningsvis visade studien att aktivitet på sociala medier i investeringssyfte kanbidra till ökad riskbenägenhet, och att överdrivet självförtroende har en viktig roll sommedierande variabel i förhållandet. / The last decade, the use of social media has escalated and become a platform whereinformation and tips about stocks and investments are shared. Young individuals aregenerally the most frequent users of social media, and studies also show that the same agegroup displays a more risk-prone behavior in financial markets. Therefore, the purpose of thisstudy was to examine the potential effect of social media activity on risk propensity on thestock market. Furthermore, the study investigated whether the three variables -overconfidence, regret aversion, and cognitive dissonance - could be classified as a mediatingvariable between social media activity and risk propensity. The study was conducted using aquantitative method, employing a survey, where 130 people responded. Statistical measuressuch as regression analysis and mediation analysis were used to answer the research question.The results showed that social media has a statistically significant effect on risk propensity onthe stock market, and that overconfidence has a statistically significant mediating effect onthe relationship. There was no evidence or indication that cognitive dissonance or regretaversion has a mediating effect. In summary, the study demonstrated that use of social mediain investment purposes can increase risk willingness, and that overconfidence plays animportant role as a mediating variable in this relationship.

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No description available.

To be able to make accurate predictions and adapt, we sometimes need to adjust our understanding of the world, yet what incentivizes expansion of our mental world models remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate what motivates people to update their world models – here referred to as the ontological model structure, and how updating is related to uncertainty. The study is of experimental design and uses a digital game divided into two conditions (ambiguous and unambiguous) that vary the expectations for the game’s causal structure. The goal of the game was to gain points by accurately predicting on what food item a fly will land. To make accurate predictions, the participant should adjust their cognitive model when encountering new information. Data from 84 participants was collected online, using Prolific.co. It was hypothesized that initial ambiguity would affect the likelihood of information seeking by increasing the frequency of prediction errors and would result in a faster switch to an optimal cognitive model. The study found that participants in the more ambiguous condition sought information earlier, gained more prediction errors and changed to an optimal model faster than participants in the less ambiguous condition. However, both participant groups seemed equally as equipped to change models as a result of prediction errors. This might indicate that despite similar support for an initial model, it is the prediction errors and our recent history that affects our tendency to adjust our cognitive models. / För att kunna göra korrekta prediktioner och anpassa oss behöver vi ibland justera vår förståelse av världen, vad som motiverar en revidering av våra mentala modeller är dock fortfarande oklart. Studiens syfte var att undersöka vad som motiverar människor att uppdatera sina modeller – benämnd här som den ontologiska modellstrukturen, och hur uppdateringen är relaterad till osäkerhet. Studien är av experimentell design och använder ett digitalt spel uppdelat i två betingelser (tvetydig och entydig), som varierar förväntningarna på spelets ontologiska struktur. Spelets mål var att samla poäng genom att korrekt predicera på vilken matvara en fluga kommer att landa. För att kunna göra korrekta prediktioner bör deltagaren justera sin kognitiva modell när ny information fås. Data från 84 deltagare samlades in online, med hjälp av Prolific.co. Det antogs att den initiala tvetydigheten skulle påverka sannolikheten för informationssökning genom att öka frekvensen av prediktionsfel och att det skulle resultera i en snabbare övergång till en optimal kognitiv modell. Studien fann att deltagare i den mer tvetydiga betingelsen sökte information tidigare, fick fler prediktionsfel och ändrade till en optimal modell snabbare än deltagare i den mindre tvetydiga betingelsen. Däremot verkade båda deltagargrupperna lika väl utrustade att byta modell till följd av prediktionsfel. Det kan tyda på att trots liknande stöd för en initialmodell är det prediktionsfel och vår närhistoria som påverkar vår tendens att justera våra kognitiva modeller.

In this study the experiences, perceptions and challenges of being in a mixed-race relationship (M-R) were explored against the backdrop of previous South African pieces of legislation meant to keep the various race groups apart. The study was located within a conceptual framework predominantly informed by a constructivist approach, as well as some tenets from the social constructionist approach. This study focused only on M-R relationships consisting of black and white partners. The couples were recruited through the use of a snowball sampling method. In-depth interviews were used as the primary tool for collecting data. All participants were interviewed by the researcher either at their own homes or in the researcher's office. The collected information was later transcribed and qualitatively analysed. The results of the study indicate that individuals found their involvement in M-R relationships to be a positive experience, and thus resulting in a positive attitude change and a sense of personal growth. M-R couples and their extended families experienced cognitive dissonance which required them to discard their previously internalised racial stereotypes, using strategies such as cognitive differentiation, re-categorization and de-categorization, allowing shifts toward non-racial socially constructed categories. Most of the challenges of being in M-R relationships were experienced on interpersonal and inter-group levels. The losses, disadvantages, challenges, concerns and pains experienced by M-R couples were mainly related to family and social disapproval of the relationship as well as efforts to discourage race mixing. The study concludes that the non-conformist nature of M-R relationships requires from the participants a high level of self-differentiation and individuation that challenges racial norms and cultural collectivism. Albeit being a personal or private matter, a M-R relationship carries the burden of easily being the subject of public discourse. It is in this sense that M-R relationships cannot be understood without taking the socio-political context within which they occur into consideration. / Psychology / D.Phil. (Psychology)

由於個人電腦愈來愈普及，對社會之影響也愈來愈深遠，故有必要對個人電腦消費者 購買動機、購買決策過程、使用情形以及購買後之滿意程度作一探討，以提供企業界 作為其擬定行銷策略之參考。 本研究在文獻探討，主要有三部份，一、市場區隔理論：包含如何選取區隔變數、區 隔市場模式及有效市場區隔之條件。二、生活型態理論：包含生活型態模式以及在行 銷上之應用。三、滿意決定汏素理論：包含認知失調理論（Cognitive Dissonance Theory）、類化理論以及費旭模型（Fishbein Model）。 在研究方法方面，主要應用因素分析（Factor Analysis ）、集群分析（Cluster A- nalysis ）、區別分析（Discriminate Analysis ）、卡方檢定ＡＮＯＶＡ以及數量 化模型Ｉ。 研究結果主要有二： 一、依據生活方式（Life-Style）可將消費者分為五個群體，各個２群體之間在購買 行為變數，如購買動機、資訊來源，以及人口統計變數，如職業有顯著性差異，但某 些項目則無顯著性差異。 二、影響消費者滿意程度之產品屬性，呈現出類似工作滿足理論中之隻因子理論，亦 即對某些產品屬性評價佳，可促成消費者之滿意，但若評價不佳，並不會造成消費者 不滿意；另外有一些產品屬性，若評價佳，並不會促成消費者之滿意，但若評價不佳 ，則會造成消費者之不滿意。