Emotional brand attachment has emerged as an important marketing concept that can strengthen a brand's performance. One way to create emotional bonds with consumers is to match the brand's personality with the consumer's self-concept (i.e. self-congruence). Nonetheless, research on brand attachment has a strong westernized focus leaving a vast majority of the world's population outside the frame of research, which limits our understanding of how consumers perception of self form emotional attachments to brands across cultures. We address this issue by developing the novel construct of ought self-congruence and test a conceptual model in two large scale studies including 810 respondents from Sweden and South Korea. The results showed similarities as well as unique cultural differences. Brand personalities in line with a consumer's actual self-view yield the strongest positive impact on emotional brand attachment in both cultures. However, an ideal self-congruent brand only showed a positive impact on Swedish consumers or when the self is sculpt independently from others. In contrast, South Koreans formed attachments to global brands that were congruent with an ought self-perception. A consumer's regulatory focus provides a theoretical explanation to the mixed results. Avenues for further research and managerial implications are also proposed.

A economia mundial encontra-se em estado de constante mudança impulsionada por fatores como desintermediação e desregulamentação que aliadas à evolução tecnológica resultam na redução de elos das cadeias de valor agregado que unem agentes que ofertam e demandam produto e serviços. O resultado dessa redução de elos é uma crescente aproximação entre os extremos das cadeias de valor agregado. Os canais de distribuição cumprem o importante papel de promover a entrega de produtos e serviços do agente que oferta para o agente demandante. Na indústria financeira de varejo os canais eletrônicos de distribuição já respondem por aproximadamente 85% das transações, reconfigurando portanto a logística de distribuição bancária que têm como forças-motrizes a convergência e a mobilidade. Nos canais eletrônicos bancários o cliente se identifica antes de realizar sua transação, transformando dessa maneira o fluxo pré-identificado de clientes no ativo mais valioso da instituição, fazendo do uso eficaz de sua ferramenta de gestão do relacionamento com cliente, um instrumento de vantagem competitiva. No sentido de se conferir uma maior capacidade de interpretação à ferramenta de gestão do relacionamento com clientes, buscou-se incorporar os tipos psicológicos ao elenco de variáveis que descrevem seu\' comportamento financeiro. O presente estudo utilizou uma amostra de 876 atendentes de um call center de uma instituição financeira de varejo com o propósito de se identificar evidências de associação entre os tipos psicológicos dos atendentes, apurados pela aplicação do Keirsey Temperament Sorter, e seus comportamentos financeiros e desempenhos profissionais. Foram desenvolvidas análises descritivas e qualitativas. As atitudes Introversão Extroversão apresentaram-se como as variáveis com maior poder de explicação das evidências de associação encontradas. / World economy is facing an ever changing scenario due to desintermediation, deregulation and technology evolution causing a reduction in the size of the value added chain that gathers demand and offer economic agents. The distribution channels play the important role of delivering products and services from the offer agent to the demand agent. In the retail banking industry the electronic channels, that represent approximately 85% of the transactions, are reshaping the distribution logistics empowered by two main drivers: convergence and mobility. In the banking electronic channels the customer has to identify himself before he does his transaction, by doing so the pre identified flow of customers becomes the most valuable corporate asset, transforming the CRM into a competitive advantage tool. In order to provide the CRM a better understanding, the psychological types were added to the variables that describe the customer behavior. This study used a sample of 876 attendants from a retail bank call center searching for evidences of association among psychological types of the attendants that answered the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, and their financial behavior and professional performance. Descriptive and qualitative analysis were developed. Introversion and Extraversion attitudes were the variables that showed the more significant evidences among the associations that were found.

The primary goal of this paper is to critically examine five of the top nine US fast food chains to look at their history and to determine what factors have lead to their massive success. The companies that will be analyzed include: McDonald's, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Domino's Pizza, and Subway. Similarities and differences of these companies are compared and contrasted throughout the paper and clearly demonstrate how each company has managed to capture and maintain major market share in their respective food categories. Areas that are examined range from product quality to to business models to consumer psychology. A review of these companies reveals that there are specific success factors for each, and one overarching factor for all. Specific factors include, but are not limited to marketing technique, organizational structure and overall business concept. The one factor that seems critical to all is entering the market with an innovative and unique concept.

Revenue Management (RM) has become one of the most successful application areas of Operation Research. What started off as an obscure practice among few airlines in U.S in early seventies, has attained the status of mainstream business practice, thanks to the major success enjoyed by companies applying RM. Over the same period, academic and industrial research on the methodology of RM has also grown rapidly. Despite the vast technical literature on the subject of revenue management, relatively few papers explicitly model the customer’s choice behavior. Such a behavior of customers could have major impact on revenue realized by an organization. Motivated by this, we focus on addressing the problem faced by a seller who serves customers exhibiting buy-down behavior. We address two important problems faced by a seller with few perishable goods. His objective is to obtain maximum revenue possible by sales of his perishable goods. The seller now potentially faces the problem of fixing the price of the products and then control the availability of products so as to maximize his revenue by minimizing the number of customers who buy-down. The first problem is the multi-product pricing problem where we consider a monop- olistic market situation in which a seller has some quantities of perishable goods under his disposal. The seller has the option of adding few additional features to the base product(perishable good) and thereby differentiating the products to cater to different market segments. Adding each additional feature involves certain cost and there are no restrictions on the availability of the features except that a feature can be added to the base product atmost once . The customers are price-sensitive and the seller is aware of the price-demand relationship of the various customer segments. A customer looking for a product buys the product if and only if the price is less than his reservation price. The sellers’ problem is to identify the price and bundling of features for the various customer segments so as to generate maximum possible revenue. We develop a Mixed integer non-linear mathematical programming model for the problem. We then split the problem into pricing problem and bundling problem and solve them sequentially. We finally provide a numeric example to illustrate the solution procedure. Once the prices are fixed, the next problem is to control the availability of products so as to prevent the buy-down behavior of the customers. We deal with the situation of a seller with two substitutable products. The price of both products are fixed over entire selling period. In a traditional control mechanism structure if the sequence of arrival of customers are known, then it becomes trivial to solve the problem of setting control limits which would prevent buy-down behavior. But in reality it never happens that the seller knows the arrival sequence. Hence in this study to isolate the effect of arrival sequence from other complexities like demand variability, we assume a deterministic demand for both the products but the arrival sequence is randomized. We initially analyze the above described problem and develop a static control mech- anism. We show that the static control mechanism is asymptotically equivalent to the traditional selling mechanism. Then we move on to make modification in the static con- trol mechanism and make it a dynamic control mechanism such that it will respond to the buy-down customers. In order to analyze the performance of dynamic control mechanism, we build a simulation model that would compare traditional selling mechanism and dynamic control mechanism. Statistical analysis is then done on the simulation results. It is shown that for all values of buy-down proportion, on an average the dynamic control mechanism outperforms the traditional control mechanism. Further there is a trend in revenues generated depending upon the buy-down proportion which is also explained. The chapter concludes with operating guidelines for better revenue realization. The organization of the thesis is as follows. In chapter 2, we present the literature survey. We start off with the history of RM and proceed to discuss the inventory control problems in RM in detail. Then we discuss literatures dealing with customer choice behavior. In chapter 3, we define and model the multi - product pricing problem. We present a mixed integer non-linear mathematical program to model the pricing problem. The solution to this problem is divided into two sub problems - the pricing problem and the bundling problem. Solution methodologies for both sub - problem are given and the chapter concludes with a numerical illustration for a 3 - product pricing problem. In chapter 4, we define and address the inventory control problem for a two product case when customers exhibit buy-down nature. We develop a static control mechanism and study its properties. Then we move on to the dynamic control mechanism which would suit real - world conditions. Finally we study the quality of developed methodology using statistical testing methods.

The overall focus of this doctoral thesis is the examination of the role of store design-architecture in consumer perceptions of retail brand loyalty. More specifically, it examines how consumers’ perceptions at the store design-architecture level promote brand loyalty and attachment at the overall retail-level. This research, therefore, aims to address the underdeveloped extant knowledge of the role of the store design-architecture in retail branding. This thesis addresses two research questions: 1) is it possible to improve on the specification or measurement of the store environment beyond the novelty, complexity collative constructs proposed in traditional studies of the store environment?; and 2) what effect, if any, do these improved store environment constructs (from answering research question number one) have in explaining the role of store design-architecture in consumer perceptions of retail brand loyalty? In its examination of the role of store-level design-architecture in overall retail-level branding, the theoretical significance of this thesis is based on two activities. First, this thesis proposes a conceptual framework that draws on multiple, diverse literatures from design-architecture, psychology and marketing. The critical review of pertinent literatures from these three sources then enables the second activity: the generation of novel empirical insights based on surveys of consumer perceptions of store-level design-architecture. A research instrument is developed that compares higher and lower levels of design in two stores of Penneys, a discount fashion retailer. The responses of 145 consumers are examined in an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). A separate dataset of 403 consumer responses are analysed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equations Modelling (SEM). Multiple-group invariance testing is also completed on this dataset. The primary theoretical contributions of this thesis to the extant literature are five-fold. First, the principal contribution of this thesis confirms that store aesthetic preference is positively associated with retail brand loyalty. Thus, the second research question is satisfactorily addressed; I explain that there is a mild association between store aesthetic preference and the emotionally valenced retail brand attachment construct in higher-level design contexts. Instead, a store aesthetic preference association is observed with the more behaviourally valenced retail brand loyalty construct in lower-level designs. Consequently, this principal contribution to the extant literature reveals the perceptive dynamic of how consumers processing of store-level design-architecture correspond with their perceptions of retail-level brand loyalty. A host of global-attribute, objective-subjective, and cognitive-emotional perceptive processing at the store and retail levels are observed in the proposed theoretical framework. Second, to confirm the role of store design-architecture in retail brand loyalty, I develop: a new scale for retail brand product; modify scales for store prototype, store novelty, store aesthetic preference, store complexity and retail brand price; and introduce scales for brand attachment and brand loyalty from non-retail contexts into a retail context for the first time. This research, therefore, addresses research question number one by making a notable conceptual and measurement contribution to the specification of the store environment. Third, as a progression from the previous contribution, I use these improved store environments constructs to better specify the store environment, and examine the associations between store prototype, store novelty and store aesthetic preference. I demonstrate that theory such as the preference-for-prototypes literature helps to improve the extant understanding of the associations between store prototype, store novelty and store aesthetic preference. The confirmation of the existence of these associations essentially means that the proposed model is robust, credible and able to account for consumers objective-subjective, global-attribute discriminations of the store-level aesthetic. Fourth, in an effort to explain the relative visual and non-visual contributions to retail brand attachment and retail brand loyalty, I examine associations concerning retail brand product and retail brand price. Retail brand product is confirmed to have stronger associations with retail brand attachment than store aesthetic preference or store prototypicality. Thus, this research extends the extant knowledge of the relative contributions of visual and non-visual constructs to understanding retail brand loyalty. Fifth, this research contributes to the extant understanding of how non-invariance analysis can be employed in Structural Equations Modelling (SEM) to confirm differences between groups. This research examines differences in parameter values to confirm differences in perception of the higher and lower levels of store design-architecture. This type of use of non-invariance analysis is not frequently employed in SEM and I propose that this research instrument can be generalised to other retail contexts also. Finally, this thesis concludes by presenting the limitations of this research. It makes suggestions on potential future research that could be completed, and raises some pertinent implications for practitioners arising from this research.

A economia mundial encontra-se em estado de constante mudança impulsionada por fatores como desintermediação e desregulamentação que aliadas à evolução tecnológica resultam na redução de elos das cadeias de valor agregado que unem agentes que ofertam e demandam produto e serviços. O resultado dessa redução de elos é uma crescente aproximação entre os extremos das cadeias de valor agregado. Os canais de distribuição cumprem o importante papel de promover a entrega de produtos e serviços do agente que oferta para o agente demandante. Na indústria financeira de varejo os canais eletrônicos de distribuição já respondem por aproximadamente 85% das transações, reconfigurando portanto a logística de distribuição bancária que têm como forças-motrizes a convergência e a mobilidade. Nos canais eletrônicos bancários o cliente se identifica antes de realizar sua transação, transformando dessa maneira o fluxo pré-identificado de clientes no ativo mais valioso da instituição, fazendo do uso eficaz de sua ferramenta de gestão do relacionamento com cliente, um instrumento de vantagem competitiva. No sentido de se conferir uma maior capacidade de interpretação à ferramenta de gestão do relacionamento com clientes, buscou-se incorporar os tipos psicológicos ao elenco de variáveis que descrevem seu\' comportamento financeiro. O presente estudo utilizou uma amostra de 876 atendentes de um call center de uma instituição financeira de varejo com o propósito de se identificar evidências de associação entre os tipos psicológicos dos atendentes, apurados pela aplicação do Keirsey Temperament Sorter, e seus comportamentos financeiros e desempenhos profissionais. Foram desenvolvidas análises descritivas e qualitativas. As atitudes Introversão Extroversão apresentaram-se como as variáveis com maior poder de explicação das evidências de associação encontradas. / World economy is facing an ever changing scenario due to desintermediation, deregulation and technology evolution causing a reduction in the size of the value added chain that gathers demand and offer economic agents. The distribution channels play the important role of delivering products and services from the offer agent to the demand agent. In the retail banking industry the electronic channels, that represent approximately 85% of the transactions, are reshaping the distribution logistics empowered by two main drivers: convergence and mobility. In the banking electronic channels the customer has to identify himself before he does his transaction, by doing so the pre identified flow of customers becomes the most valuable corporate asset, transforming the CRM into a competitive advantage tool. In order to provide the CRM a better understanding, the psychological types were added to the variables that describe the customer behavior. This study used a sample of 876 attendants from a retail bank call center searching for evidences of association among psychological types of the attendants that answered the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, and their financial behavior and professional performance. Descriptive and qualitative analysis were developed. Introversion and Extraversion attitudes were the variables that showed the more significant evidences among the associations that were found.

La preocupación por una mejora continua de los procesos al interior de las organizaciones que fortalezca la cultura organizacional ha sido una tendencia cada vez más significativa. En ese sentido, nuestro estudio ha considerado oportuno enfocarse en el "external customer mind set" (mentalidad externa del consumidor o ECMS, por sus siglas en inglés), cuyo significado implica la percepción sobre la satisfacción de los clientes que tienen los colaboradores de una empresa como parte fundamental para la correcta ejecución de su trabajo y hemos tomado como estudio de caso a la empresa Hipermercados Tottus. El propósito de esta investigación es el reconocimiento de la relación entre la cultura de una empresa y la percepción que tienen los colaboradores de dicha organización sobre el cliente (ECMS). Como diseño metodológico hemos considerado un muestreo cualitativo utilizando la técnica de entrevistas (quince colaboradores de la empresa, incluyendo a tres líderes), así como a la gerente de recursos humanos. Los quince casos corresponden a tres locales diferentes: Tottus La Molina, Tottus Atocongo y Tottus Angamos, los cuales corresponden a diferentes niveles socioeconómicos de los clientes con la finalidad de constatar semejanzas en los rasgos de la cultura corporativa. Entre los hallazgos, se evidencia la relación directa entre la cultura organizacional y la percepción de los colaboradores: en nuestro caso de estudio, la cultura de clan manifiesta vínculos con la satisfacción laboral y, a su vez, con la percepción de satisfacción del cliente en la organización. / Trabajos de investigación

Diploma thesis aims to show the possibilities of using the method of colour-word associations in marketing. For this purpose, the first chapter deals with the psychology of consumer. The second chapter is following by an overview of marketing tools. The third chapter focuses on standard methods of marketing research, supplemented by field of neuromarketing. The colour-word association method is characterized in detail in the forth chapter, where the general directions of its possible using are defined. Examples of using the method of colour-word associations in marketing research are presented in the fifth chapter. The practically usable outputs for the needs of marketers are introduced by some real researches undertaken by Zamestnanci.com Ltd.

La publicidad es un medio requerido, pero no siempre aceptado siendo esta la principal razón por la que se usa diversas corrientes creativas para priorizar la interacción emocional. En adición a esta premisa, la música, como elemento independiente, es bien acogida por las personas, despertando emociones diversas que generan remembranza e identificación. De tal forma, la publicidad y la música trabajan juntas para mejorar la comunicación e imagen de las marcas. El presente trabajo profundiza en el valor de la música original y preexistente como recurso publicitario para el cambio de actitud hacia la marca Movistar mediante el uso de la canción ‘’Soy yo’’ en los spots de la campaña ¡Llegó Preplan! En relación a ello, se expone cómo la música es un medio de entretenimiento y targeting en las creaciones audiovisuales poniendo a prueba el carácter psicológico en los consumidores millennials a la hora de establecer un juicio sobre una marca. Analizando dichos conceptos se parte de la importancia que implica que una marca con tanta presencia en el Perú tenga un impacto negativo. La relevancia y utilidad de este estudio recae en la investigación del valor que el consumidor le otorga a la música en la publicidad audiovisual. A nivel metodológico, se podrá obtener conocimiento de cómo una marca con problemas de aceptación podrá emplear acciones semejantes para cambiar actitudes y mejorar su desempeño en el mercado. / Advertising is a required but not always accepted, this being the main reason why various creative currents are used to prioritize emotional interaction.  In addition to this premise, music, as an independent element, is well received by people, making them feel various emotions that generate remembrance and identification. In this way, advertising and music work together to improve their communication and image of brands. This document studies in depth the value of the original and pre-existing music as an advertising resource for the change of attitude towards Movistar by using the song ''Soy Yo'' in the spots of the campaign ¡Llegó Preplan! In relation to this, it explains how music is an entertainment and targeting way in the audio-visual creations by testing the psychological aspect in millennial consumers when establishing their judgment over a brand. The relevance and usefulness of this study is the research of the value that the consumer gives to music in audiovisual advertising. Methodologically, it will be possible to gain knowledge of how a brand with acceptance problems will be able to employ similar actions to change attitudes and improve its performance in the market. / Trabajo de investigación

More sustainable food consumption and production could make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting natural resources. Nevertheless, the market shares of “green” products are still low. This cumulative dissertation aims to increase green consumption by exploring different marketing communication strategies. Article I shows that Point-of-Sale technologies such as digital signage and augmented reality can draw consumers' attention to sustainable products and increase their sales. Article II focuses on the formulation of advertisement messages and suggests that their credibility is a central driver for buying intentions. Since specifically formulated environmental benefits are perceived as particularly credible, their use is the most promising. The third article proves the effectiveness of a newly developed form of green advertisements aiming at increasing both the perceived customer orientation and environmental responsibility of a company. Article IV tests an information app to educate consumers about the sustainability of products and shows that a simple and credible 'sustainability index' is most effective in shaping behavior.