Retailers are turning to loyalty marketing to attempt to sustain profitability by encouraging consumer loyalty. This study aimed to explore the factors that influence consumer loyalty towards Edgars, the largest clothing retailer in South Africa. The study found that the strongest influence of consumer loyalty towards Edgars was price, followed by service and then merchandise selection. The effect of method of payment on loyalty was also measured and it was concluded that the more closely consumers are contractually tied to a retailer, the less of an influence price has on their loyalty towards the retailer. The results can guide retail organisations in determining the focus areas of their marketing efforts for consumers that favour different payment methods. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The focus of this research assignment is the evaluation of an individual Performance Management system at local government level in the Cape Metropolitan Area. The researcher has observed a possible decline in customer satisfaction towards the Cape Metropolitan Council Administration and at other Administrations within the City of Cape Town, and the press also highlighted complaints regarding the absence of an entrenched customer care ethic among municipal officials. The researcher was concerned with the way customers are being handled by municipal officials, and sought to find a solution to the problem. The researcher conducted research on what the ideal situation should be, and how to reach the ideal situation, which included South African local government legislation and discussion documents. The researcher also conducted an opinion survey (by means of a questionnaire) within the CMC Administration, in order to obtain the opinions of employees of the City of Cape Town's CMC Administration with regard to perceptions of customer satisfaction, and the possible effect on customer satisfaction should a Performance Management system be implemented within the City of Cape Town. It was found that, should a Performance Management system be introduced within the City of Cape Town, it will contribute to efficiency in service delivery, and staff will be held accountable for their work performance. It was also found that at local government institutions (locally and internationally) where effective organisational and individual Performance Management systems had been implemented, customer satisfaction at these institutions has improved. It is therefore suggested by this research that the City of Cape Town should implement an individual Performance Management system and that customer satisfaction should improve over time. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die fokus van die navorsings opdrag is die evaluering van 'n individuele werkverrigting- bestuurstelsel op die vlak van plaaslike regering in die Kaapse Metropolitaanse Gebied. Die navorser het 'n moontlike afname in kliënte bevrediging teenoor die Kaapse Metropolitaanse Raad (KMR) en ander Rade binne die Kaapse Metropolitaanse Gebied opgelet, en die pers het ook klagte belig betrekkend die afwesigheid van 'n verskansekliënte-sorg etiek onder munisipale amptenare. Die navorser was bekommered met die manier waarop kliënte behandel is deur munisipale amptenare, en het probeer om 'n oplossing te vind vir die probleem. Die navorser het ondersoek ingestel, wat ingesluit het Suid_Afrikaanse plaaslike regerings-wette en besprekings-dokumente, om uit te vind wat die ideale situasie is, en hoe om hierdie situasie te bereik. Die navorser het ook 'n opinie opneming ingestel (dmv. 'n vraelys) binne die KMR Administrasie, om sodoende die opinies van die werkers van Stad Kaapstad se KMR Administrasie betreffend die waarnemings van kliënt bevrediging, en die moontlike effek op kliënt bevrediging as 'n werkverrigting bestuurstelsel in werking gebring word binne die Stad Kaapstad. Daar is gevind, dat as 'n werkverrigting bestuurstelsel voorgestel word binne die Stad Kaapstad, daar 'n verbetering sal wees in doeltreffendheid van diens gelewer, en personeel sal verantwoordelik wees vir hul werkverrigtinge. Daar is ook gevind by plaaslike regering-instansies (plaaslik en internasionaal) waar daar effektiewe werkverrigting bestuurstelsels in werking gestel is, daar 'n verbetering in kliënte bevrediging was. Dus word daar gesuggereer, deur dié navorser dat die Stad Kaapstad 'n individuele-werkverrigting bestuurstelsel moet implementeer en dat kliënt bevrediging mettertyd sal verbeter.

The fundamental purpose of this thesis was to determine how effective is the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict and explain shopping for embarrassing products in single and multi-channel. This is important because multi-channel consumers buy more, the question is why (Neslin, Grewal et al. 2006). The question was answered by comparing consumer behaviour in three different channels: drugstore, internet and multi-channel. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) has been successful to predict intentions for a wide variety of products and behaviours. However, little is known about how effective it is when the behaviour under study is influenced by the emotion of embarrassment. Similarly, the TPB is parsimonious and has a good predictive power; nevertheless, this thesis identified that the TPB could be more effective if it considered: (1) the role of positive and negative emotions (2) other determinants of choice like personality and demographics (3) variables that are useful to make marketing decisions like the synergistic effect of brands, retailers and channels (4) variables that explain consumer response like approach and avoidance. To provide a comprehensive theoretical framework that is able to understand single and multi-channel, this thesis integrated the TPB within the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework. To evaluate the proposed model, the study used a context and target product that resonated with the theory: the purchase of Regaine (a hair loss product that is embarrassing to buy) in Boots (a well-known UK. multi-channel drugstore). The embarrassing nature of Regaine created differences in the importance that variables play in each channel. The results were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and the three shopping environments were compared using multi-group analysis (MGA). The effectiveness of the TPB was improved. The variance explained (R² to intention) was 73 percent for the drugstore, 67 percent for the internet and 54 percent for multi-channel. However, subjective norm (SN) was the only factor that achieved significance for the three shopping environments. Personality and demographic factors had a low but significant moderating effect on intention. This thesis built on a series of contributions in different areas, such as the TPB, attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, embarrassing products, multi-channel, marketing, emotions, personality and demographics. Future research should expand this thesis to other embarrassing products, industries and social media settings.

Inledning:I inledningen redogörs för hur köpcentrumsbranschen genomgår en förändring och behovet för upplevelser har växt fram för att fortsätta skapa värde för konsumenten. Syfte:Denna studie ämnar att undersökahur attributen atmosfär, underhållning och mat påverkar konsumentens lojalitet gentemot köpcentrum samt hur denna varierar mellan recreational-oriented consumersrespektive task-oriented consumers. Frågeställningar:Utifrån studiens syftehar följande frågeställningar formulerats: <ol type="1">Hur kan attributen atmosfär, underhållning och mat påverka kundens lojalitet gentemot köpcentrum?  Hur varierar lojalitet gentemot köpcentrum mellan recreational-oriented consumers och task-oriented consumers? Teori: I studiens teoriavsnitt presenteras mer djupgående förklaringar kring köpcentrum, upplevelse och shoppingvärde. Vidare beskrivs även attributen atmosfär, underhållning och mat samt kundtillfredsställelse, lojalitet och shopping orientations mer utförligt. Metod: Studien är baserad på en metod av kvantitativ karaktär och det har tillämpats en tvärsnittsdesign där en enkät har utformats. Det empiriska materialet har sedan analyserats med hjälp av ANOVA och korrelationsanalyser. Slutsats: Det har kunnat konstateras hur det inte räcker med en indelning i recreational-oriented och task-oriented consumers, istället har ett tredje segment upptäckts, de platsorienterade konsumenterna. Ytterligare har det även kunnat påvisas hur attributen atmosfär, underhållning och mat påverkar lojalitet gentemot köpcentrum. / Introduction:  The shopping center industry is undergoing a change. Experiences have become increasingly important in order to continue to create value for the consumer. Purpose:This study intends to examine how the attributes atmosphere, entertainment and food have an effect on the loyalty towards shopping centers.Further the study intents to examine if the loyalty varies between recreational-oriented and task-oriented consumers.  Research questions: Based on the purpose whit this study the following research questions that have been phrased:  <ol type="1">How can the atmosphere, entertainment and food attributes affect the consumer's loyalty towards shopping centers? How does loyalty towards shopping centers vary between recreational-oriented consumers and task-oriented consumers? Theory: The study's theoretical section presents more in-depth explanations about shopping centers, experiences and shopping value. Further have atmosphere, entertainment, food, consumer satisfaction, loyalty and shopping orientations been explained more profound. Method: The study is based on a method of quantitative character and a cross-sectional design has been applied where a survey has been distributed. The empirical material has been analyzed using ANOVA and correlation analysis. Conclusion: It has been discovered that the division into two shopping segments isn’t enough instead a third segment, the place-oriented, has been found. Further, do the attributes atmosphere, entertainment and food affect the loyalty towards shopping centers.

Submitted by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2018-10-09T19:15:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 MPCC - ALEXANDER GREIF.pdf: 2183930 bytes, checksum: 8e64312a9935d55fbc64dace705154de (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2018-10-09T19:16:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 MPCC - ALEXANDER GREIF.pdf: 2183930 bytes, checksum: 8e64312a9935d55fbc64dace705154de (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Debora Cristina Bonfim Aquarone (deborabonfim@espm.br) on 2018-10-09T19:22:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 MPCC - ALEXANDER GREIF.pdf: 2183930 bytes, checksum: 8e64312a9935d55fbc64dace705154de (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-09T19:23:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MPCC - ALEXANDER GREIF.pdf: 2183930 bytes, checksum: 8e64312a9935d55fbc64dace705154de (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-05-03 / Over the last 15 years, the relationship between industry, services and consumers has been changed a lot, mainly due to the expansion of new media social habits by consumer markets. Within the changes of this new market approach, the media social platforms became relevant elements to the business model and the customer care of the global companies. This research aimed to compare satisfaction with customer service between traditional telephone SAC channels and social media channels without human voice interaction. To achieve this objective an experiment was conducted with 60 dissatisfied customers in the Pay-TV segment. The results were statistically evaluated using the "t" test with significance range p <0.1. There was a preference for service through social media (0.008), and suggests that Facebook, as a customer care tool, had a superior result compared to the traditional SAC. As contributions, this study innovates by showing the results of managing with dissatisfied customers through a 100% digital customer care service, without voice interaction. In addition, there are few studies in Brazil on the care of unsatisfied clients carried out solely on social media, which will help reduce this gap in academic literature. / Nos últimos 15 anos, com o surgimento e a expansão do uso de mídias sociais por consumidores, a relação que existia entre indústria, serviço e cliente mudou completamente. Dentre as mudanças provenientes dessas novas relações mercadológicas, as mídias sociais ganharam relevância como modelo de gestão e atendimento. Esta investigação teve como objetivo comparar a satisfação com o atendimento aos clientes entre os canais tradicionais de SAC telefônico, e os de mídias sociais sem interação da voz humana. Para alcançar esse objetivo foi realizado um experimento com 60 clientes insatisfeitos do segmento de TV por assinatura. Os resultados foram avaliados estatisticamente por meio do teste “t”. Houve preferência pelo atendimento através das mídias sociais (0,008) e conclui-se que o Facebook como canal de atendimento teve um resultado superior ao tradicional SAC. Como contribuições, este estudo inova ao mostrar os resultados de uma gestão com clientes insatisfeitos através de um relacionamento totalmente digitalizado, inclusive mais econômico. Além disso, existem poucos estudos no Brasil sobre atendimento de clientes insatisfeitos realizados unicamente em mídias sociais, o que contribuirá para reduzir essa lacuna na academia.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:33:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernando_Nogueira_Debessa.pdf: 561703 bytes, checksum: 5b4d9deec9001533b8bdd4c8b74e710e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-03-16 / The customer perceived value construct has been object of interest among researchers during the last decade, complementing the satisfaction construct. The current exploratory study discourse about perceived value in services companies, where it was searched restaurants consumers on Sundays lunches, with their families in S??o Paulo city. It firstly accomplished a qualitative research, through a focus group and two depth interviews, where they were identified forty variables about value perception of restaurant consumers, on Sundays lunches, with their families in S??o Paulo city. Afterwards with the obtained data, it was elaborated a research instrument in Likert scale, which was applied to a sample of 320 people. Through a factorial analysis were identified four important value perceptions of restaurant consumers, on Sundays lunches, with their families in S??o Paulo city: cleaning, respect, differentiation and child attention. It was identified with discriminant analysis that women observed more value perceptions related with cleaning, while men perceptions are more related with respect. It also was identified that families which lunch with children give more value to child attention, while the families witch lunch childless are more interested in the respect factor, specifically they think that restaurants owners do not worry about their clients' fidelity. The study also identified three main characteristics that these consumers valorize most: food, cleaning and assistance. This research brings reflections on the concept of perceived service value in restaurants, and its methodology and results should be used in future researches to expand knowledge on this segment or others. / O constructo do valor percebido do consumidor tem sido objeto de interesse entre pesquisadores na ??ltima d??cada complementando o constructo da satisfa????o. O presente estudo explorat??rio discorre sobre o valor percebido em empresas de servi??os, onde foram pesquisados consumidores de restaurantes nos almo??os com suas fam??lias aos Domingos na cidade de S??o Paulo. Primeiramente realizou-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, atrav??s de um grupo de foco e duas entrevistas de profundidade, onde foram identificadas quarenta vari??veis sobre percep????o de valor dos consumidores nos almo??os com suas fam??lias aos Domingos na cidade de S??o Paulo. Posteriormente com os dados obtidos, foi elaborado um instrumento de pesquisa em escala Likert, que foi aplicado a uma amostra de 320 respondentes. Atrav??s de an??lise fatorial foram identificadas quatro importantes percep????es de valor dos consumidores nos almo??os com suas fam??lias aos Domingos na cidade de S??o Paulo: limpeza, respeito, diferencia????o e aten????o ao p??blico infantil. Foi identificado atrav??s de an??lise discriminante que as mulheres observaram mais percep????es de valor relacionadas com limpeza enquanto os homens percep????es relacionadas com o respeito. Tamb??m foi identificado que as fam??lias que almo??am com crian??as valorizam a aten????o diferenciada ao p??blico infantil, enquanto que as fam??lias que almo??am sem crian??as est??o mais interessadas no fator respeito, especificamente acham que os donos dos restaurantes n??o se preocupam com a fidelidade de seus clientes. O estudo tamb??m identificou tr??s principais caracter??sticas que estes consumidores mais valorizam: comida, limpeza e atendimento. Este estudo traz reflex??es sobre o conceito de valor percebido de servi??os em restaurantes, e sua metodologia e resultados poder??o ser utilizados em pesquisas futuras para amplia????o dos conhecimentos neste ou em outros segmentos.

I dagens samhälle handlar det om att vara så effektiv som möjligt för att vinna tid. Som Benjamin Franklin en gång sa att ”Tid är pengar”, är något som vi människor allt mer tagit fasta på då vi ställer höga krav på utvecklingen och dess teniska förmågor. Idag har de flesta människor tillgång till en dator med internetuppkoppling som vi dagligen utför sysslor vid. Det kan vara allt ifrån jobbrelaterade aktiviteter, hålla kontakten med nära och kära, söka information om vad som händer i världen och i vår omgivning, till mer nöjesinriktade delar såsom online spel och shopping. Just shopping via internet är något som vuxit väldigt mycket under det senaste årtiondet, de flesta människor idag har förmodligen någon gång köpt något via nätet eller haft tanke på att göra det. Syftet med denna uppsats är att uppmärksamma de säljfrämjande exponeringsverktyg som kunden anser bör finnas med i produktinformationen på webbutikerna för att de ska leda till ett köp hos dem. Detta för att öka kundnöjdheten online. Visionen är att öka förståelsen kring den produktinformation som konsumenten behöver för att kunna känna sig trygg i att handla kläder på internet. Vår kvantitativa undersökning ämnades för målgruppen män och kvinnor i åldrarna 18-35 år men den gemensamma nämnaren av intresset att handla kläder på internet. Undersökningen behandlade frågor som rör exponeringsverktygen på webben. Vi frågade hur respondenterna upplever de säljverktyg som finns idag, de utvecklingsmöjligheter vi funnit som finns inom klädexponeringen samt om de svarande själva hade idéer eller förslag på vad de skulle vilja se i produktinformationen i den perfekta webbutiken. De slutsatser som kunde dras utav vår studie var att en utveckling av de säljfrämjande exponeringsverktygen är önskad av våra respondenter då intresset för att handla kläder via internet är stort. För att konsumenten ska kunna känna sig säker när denne handlar kläder på internet bör webbutikerna arbeta med att skapa den befintliga produktinformationen så lik en fysisk klädexponering som möjligt. Detta kan uppnås genom utvecklingsmöjligheter såsom modeller med olika kroppsformer, virtuell 3D docka enligt egen längd, vikt och mått, virtuell butik samt omfattande produktinformation och högupplösta bilder.Today´s society is all about being as efficient as possible to win time. Benjamin Franklin once said “Time is money”. This is something we human beings have taken seriously as we raise our demand for development and its technological abilities. Today most people have access to a computer with wireless Internet connection from where they perform different chores. It could be anything from work related activities, staying in contact with loved ones, searching information about what’s going on in the world and in our surroundings, to more entertainment-oriented activities such as online games and shopping. Shopping online is something that has grown fast in the fashion industry in the last decade, and most people today have probably bought something or at least have thought of doing so.The purpose of this essay is to highlight the sales promoting exposure tools which the consumer find necessary in the product information found in web shops to lead them to purchase. This is to increase customer satisfaction online. Our aim is to increase the understanding of what the customer needs in form of product information to feel safe when buying clothes on the Internet.Our quantitative study is based on men and women aged 18-53 with a common interest in buying clothes on the Internet. The research deals with questions regarding exposure tools on the web. We asked the respondents how they perceived existing sales tools, the potentials for development in clothing exposure that we found and also if the respondents themselves had any ideas of what they would like to see included in the product information in the perfect web store.The conclusion we could draw from our study was that sales promoting exposure tools are needed by our respondents since the interest in buying clothes online is great. In order to make the customer feel sure when buying clothes on the Internet the web shops ought to work towards making the product information as similar to a physical exposure of the clothes as possible.This can be achieved through new developments such as models of various body types, virtual 3D dolls according to the consumers own measurements and weight, virtual stores and through comprehensive product information and high definition images. / Program: Butikschef, textil och mode

The wood products industry is influenced heavily by family ownership along the entire value chain. Although family ownership affects each link of the wood products value chain, there has been little research into the importance of products originating from family forestland. Specific attributes of products, such as origin or environmental certification, have been considered part of a business���s marketing strategies. This study evaluates the relevance of family forest wood product origin and environmental certification for Oregon consumers who participated in this study and Oregon specifiers and industrial customers. Data was collected from consumers, and specifiers and industrial customers in Oregon. Conjoint analysis was employed with softwood lumber as the product and price, wood origin, and environmental certification as the features. Results from this analysis for consumers show that wood origin is the most important factor followed by price and environmental certification. However, for specifiers and industrial customers, price is the most important factor followed by environmental certification and wood origin. "Family" is seen as the most preferred wood origin level for both buyer groups in the study. / Graduation date: 2013

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

This study is an in-depth investigation of the factors that affect store brand purchases. It aims to help both retailers and manufacturers predict store brand purchases through an improved understanding of the effects of three latent variables: customer satisfaction and loyalty with the store; which is expressed through word-of-mouth; and trust in store brands. An additional aim is to explore variations in the level of store brand adoption and the inter-relationships between the selected constructs. Data was collected through a telephone survey of those responsible for household grocery shopping, and who shop at the nine leading grocery retailers in Greece. A total of 904 respondents completed the questionnaire based upon a quota of 100 respondents for each of the nine retailers. Data were analyzed through chi-square, analysis of variance and partial least square. The proposed model was tested by partial least square path modeling, which related the latent variables to the dependent manifest variable: store brand purchases. The findings provide empirical support that store brand purchases are positively influenced by the consumers’ perceived level of trust in store brands. The consumer decision-making process for store brands is complex and establishing customer satisfaction and loyalty with the store does not appear to influence store brand purchases or the level of trust in the retailer’s store brands in the specific context under study. Consequently the most appropriate way to influence store brand purchases in the Greek market is through increasing in the level of trust in the retailer’s store brands. It is suggested that retailers should therefore invest in trust building strategies for their own store brands and try to capitalize on their brand equity by using a family brand policy. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed and opportunities for further research are suggested.