This study seeks to investigate, from both macro and micro perspectives, the effect of brand activism on consumer loyalty.  The macro perspective examines the general relationship between brand activism and consumer loyalty, whereas the micro perspective examines the specific context of companies' withdrawal from Russia as a form of brand activism.  The study conducts a comprehensive analysis of how the consumer receives information about brand activism. The macro-level literature review investigates the definition and evolution of brand activism, the relationship between brand activism and consumer loyalty, and the communication strategies' effect on consumer loyalty. On a micro level, the study concentrates on the decisions corporations made as part of their brand activism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict of 2022.  The purpose of this study is to thoroughly comprehend the intricate relationship between brand activism and consumer loyalty.  The methodology section describes the hypotheses model as well as the research strategy based on surveys and interviews.  This study's findings provide new insights into the influence of brand activism on consumer loyalty and its three components (cognitive, affective, and behavioral) as well as brand activism communication strategies on the macro level, and into the specific context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the micro level. It highlights that brand activism shapes consumer loyalty differently through the three components and according to the context. Additionally, social media is the communication channel that influences the most the relationship between brand activism and consumer loyalty on both macro and micro perspectives.  This study contributes to the disciplines of marketing and consumer behavior by advancing the relationship among brand activism, consumer loyalty, and communication.

This paper investigates the key corporate sustainability performance indicators from the consumers' perspective in Sweden. The aim is to deepen the understanding of consumers as main stakeholders and their preferences for corporate sustainability. An online quantitative survey with 1003 respondents showed that fair working conditions and employment terms were the most important indicators, followed by strong sustainability requirements for suppliers and actions in case of human violations. Furthermore, the research results show that young and better-educated consumers rank environmental parameters as a more important indicator. The research contributes to CSR and stakeholder theory in better understanding the consumers’ perspectives on corporate sustainability.

The aim of this research was to investigate the consumer perception of corporate social responsibility initiatives of companies in the vegan food industry, considering the consumers’ dietary choice and socio-demographic characteristics. The study is based on primary, quantitative data which was collected through anonymous surveys (N = 816). A social media sampling strategy was adopted, and a questionnaire was distributed among Europeans above the age of 18. The data was analysed with descriptive statistics, Cronbach Alpha reliability tests, one-way analysis of variance, and independent sample t tests. The findings showed that vegans care significantly more about CSR in the vegan food industry than non-vegans, hence they should be the target audience for CSR advertisements. Socio-demographic characteristics did not have an influence on perceptions among vegans, and only the characteristic of gender showed to be of importance, as women care more about CSR than men among vegetarians and omnivores. Therefore, the second target audience for CSR advertisements should be non-vegan women. CSR in the vegan food industry was rated as more legitimate compared to the rest of the food industry by all consumers, and all-vegan companies were rated as more socially responsible than companies that recently introduced vegan products in addition to their non-vegan range.

The research examines the target market for a meat product produced by the local university. Further, desirable attributes of meat and how consumers definition of “locally produced and/or raised” are identified. A total of 290 personal interviews were completed in San Luis Obispo County, California on the consumers’ willingness to purchase Cal Poly meat. Likely purchasers are found to be 31 percent of the San Luis Obispo population. The target buyer of Cal poly meat products are both male and females, who tend to be older, and make more than $60,000 a year. Local is defined by 31 percent of likely Cal Poly Meats buyers as being grown and/or raised within the county they reside in, and also shared by residents of San Luis Obispo County. Additionally, it was found local vegetables are a more highly valued product than local meats, fruits, and wines product grown within the San Luis Obispo County.

The sharing economy enables sustainable consumption through efficient access to products, but transitioning from ownership to a subscription-based model faces barriers. The thesis author explored how the decoupling of product ownership impact on the variables; consumer's perceptions of - psychological value, monetary value, social value, brand image, brand attachment, brand loyalty, service quality, and product quality and performance in the context of white goods. Furthermore, the thesis authors added sustainability awareness as an important variable, while discussing the decoupling of product ownership. Although, there is a lot of literature on the above-mentioned variables the relationship between the decoupling of product ownership and the mentioned variables was theoretically and empirically unexplored. Using a quantitative and deductive research approach, an online survey consisting of 29 questions was conducted. The empirical data revealed that the decoupling of product ownership impact all the variables under study and have a significant relationship with them. The impact of decoupling of product ownership was found to be strongest on consumers' perception of - service quality, followed by brand loyalty, brand attachment, product quality and performance, and monetary value. By gaining a deeper understanding of the relationships between the variables companies can effectively develop marketing strategies, subscription plans, and pricing strategies.

Servitization has long since proven its benefits for manufacturing companies and is expected to gain future importance due to its sustainable and competitive significance. Yet, research has insufficiently addressed the effect of consumer goods companies integrating services in their portfolio to meet customer demands and justify new pricing models in B2C markets. This research focuses on the consumer perception of services from different levels of complexity to provide managerial implications on how SMEs are advised to react to the Servitization trend in Sweden. A conceptualization of services according to the service scale by Mastrogiacomo et al. (2020) provides the framework for obtaining cross-sectional consumer data on the perception of servitization levels using a customer survey in the Swedish market for the durable consumer goods start-up Sjöstrand. Findings show that the key factors for the perception of services are demographics and the customer’s relation to the brand. The analyzed factors of age, customer relationship, and previous topic-related knowledge about servitization show that higher degrees of customer loyalty prove essential for implementing long-term service strategies like leasing or individualized service plans without transfer of ownership. Services that provide customers with additional knowledge and communication on an individual level demonstrate simple ways to provide high value in use and sustainability. Growing demands for personalization, customer co-creation, and the self-repair trend require companies to identify strategies to increase value-in-use. Furthermore, many services may require an assessment for deservitization as their value proposition can misalign with managerial expectations. / Tjänstefiering har sedan länge visat sig vara fördelaktigt för tillverkningsföretag och förväntas få ökad betydelse i framtiden på grund av dess hållbara och konkurrenskraftiga signifikans. Tidigare forskning har dock inte i tillräcklig utsträckning undersökt effekten för konsumentvaruföretag som integrerar tjänster i sin portfölj för att uppfylla kundernas krav och motivera nya prismodeller på B2C-marknaderna. Denna forskning fokuserar på konsumenternas uppfattning av tjänster från olika komplexitetsnivåer, för att vidare ge ledningsmässiga implikationer om hur små och medelstora företag bör reagera på tjänstefieringtrenden inom konsumentvarusegmentet i Sverige. En konceptualisering av tjänster enligt tjänsteskalan av Mastrogiacomo et al. (2020) utgör ramen för att få tvärsnittsdata från konsumenter om uppfattningen av tjänstefieringsnivåer. Detta framtogs med hjälp av en kundundersökning på den svenska marknaden för varaktiga konsumtionsvaror start-up Sjöstrand. Resultatet visar att de viktigaste faktorerna för uppfattningen av service är demografi och kundens relation till varumärket. Vidare analyseras att faktorer som ålder, kundrelation och tidigare ämnesrelaterad kunskap om tjänstefiering främjar kundlojalitet som är avgörande för att genomföra långsiktiga servicestrategier såsom leasing eller individualiserade serviceplaner utan överföring av äganderätten. Tjänster som bidrar med mer kunskap och kommunikation på individuell nivå visar enkelt ett högt värde i användning och hållbarhet för kunderna. Ökade krav på personalisering, medskapande och trenden med självreparationer kräver att företagen i allt högre grad identifierar strategier för att öka värdet i användningen. Många tjänster kan dessutom kräva en bedömning för ‘Deservitization’ (minskning av tjänsterna) eftersom deras värdeerbjudande kan missanpassas till ledningens förväntningar.

In contemporary times, the concept of brand activism has emerged among consumers and companies alike, particularly within the fashion industry. Consumers are increasingly seeking brands that demonstrate a commitment to societal and environmental concerns, leading to a rise in brand activism within this sector. The purpose of this research is to investigate and comprehend how consumers perceive fashion brand activism according to their gender. The empirical findings were acquired using a quantitative approach by an Internet-mediated questionnaire. The data were subsequently analysed and compared with existing literature reviews to highlight both similarities and disparities. This thesis demonstrates that while both men and women generally perceive fashion brand activism in similar terms of authenticity and inauthenticity, women tend to have a stronger affinity towards these brands due to shared values. In comparison, men often view them neutrally or negatively, suggesting potential disparities in emotional investment or perceptions of social commitment. Overall, although authenticity is universally considered, gender influences consumer perspectives on activist fashion brands. All conclusions proposed by the authors account for the predominant demographic characteristics of the sample population. Consequently, these generalisations primarily apply to students of French nationality.

Abstract  Background: Online marketing has transformed how businesses engage with consumers, largely through the rise of social media and ephemeral content within. These platforms facilitate direct communication and engagement by providing short-lasting content that captures the consumers’ attention in a quick manner, tapping into consumers’ fear of missing out. Despite increased use of said marketing tactics and content, ephemeral marketing impact on consumer perception and engagement is largely under-researched, specifically with an industry emphasis, in this case the fitness apparel industry. Purpose: The main goal of the study is to find out how Gen Z consumers of the fitness apparel industry perceive and engage with ephemeral marketing, and the variables which have an effect on these. Method: A qualitative method with a deductive approach through two focus groups consisting of Gen Z consumers from Jönköping University. Primary data was analysed through a deductive thematic analysis using a conceptual framework derived from the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Conclusion: A thorough interpretation and analysis of the empirical findings provided a proper understanding of consumers perception and engagement with ephemeral marketing, emphasising the importance of different elements in the ephemeral content. Furthermore, there were new findings regarding the influential factor FOMO, which demonstrated the potential to be an element alongside WOM and eWOM, playing a role in both central and peripheral routes. Thus, a final reconceptualization of the conceptual model is presented.

Background: E-commerce has grown rapidly since the introduction of the Internet, changing consumer behavior and transaction patterns all over the world. Due to that, there has been an increase in CO2 emissions caused by both delivery of products and returns. Some organizations have tried to minimize their emissions by employing different types of policies that have not been perceived well by their customers.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to identify the impact of different return policies on consumer willingness concerning online purchases. Additionally, we also investigated consumers’ perceptions of AI-driven initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable return practices.Method: This study was based on a qualitative research approach. We followed an inductive research approach. The reason for this is that we wanted to understand the connections between different return policies and consumer willingness regarding online purchases. As well as the connections between consumers and their perceptions regarding AI-driven initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable return practices. The data was gathered through nine semi-structured interviews.Conclusion: Consumers are increasingly prioritizing convenience, transparency, and environmentally conscious practices. Retailers who can adapt their return policies to align with these evolving preferences, while effectively communicating their terms and conditions, stand to gain a competitive edge.

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent R. Amanor-Boadu / This study focuses on determining what key differences predispose a consumer to regularly purchase and be willing to pay a premium for sustainably-produced fruits and vegetables. Organic, local, and small farm are the three cases used in the study. The research used a structured questionnaire to conduct an online survey of U.S. internet users with email addresses in the spring of 2011 with logit and ordered logit regression used as the analytical tools. Cost was the most important factor for consumers who did not purchase organic and local products more frequently while unavailability was the principal reason for not consuming produces from small farms. The study showed consumers of small farm products often (98.5 percent of the time) consume local fruits and vegetables also but not the other way around. The relevant socio-economic factors for determining organic purchasing frequency were gender, household size, and education. For small farm they were the ability to influence local change and the respondents’ frequency of purchase of local products. Socio-economic characteristics did not prove to be a factor in local purchasing decisions. Regular purchasers of organic fruits and vegetables provided a consistent perception of organic products with the USDA certified organic definition. Local consumers reported that taste and freshness are the most defining characteristics of local products while small farm consumers could not provide a clear picture of the definitional statements defining fruits and vegetables produced by a small farm. This implied that there is need for more work by small farm producers to differentiate themselves in the market. On the contrary, both local and organic producers have a clear point of differentiation to reach their customers. Industry marketing efforts can be greatly improved by focusing on the characteristics of the consumers they are trying to reach. Our results can be further investigated by completing the following recommendations. First, to conduct more targeted studies such as interviews or focus groups, second, to gain a deeper understanding of how consumers perceive these attributes and third to conduct a comprehensive study on the similarities and differences between small farm and local consumers.