Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, 2010.

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Examines patronage motives and product purchase patterns within the context of a mall. Specifically, determines: the relative importance consumers attach to a set of 24 patronage motives when choosing a place to shop; these shoppers’ purchase patterns of a set of 21 products; and inter and intra similarities/dissimilarities among motives and product purchase patterns. Managerial implications for mall administrators are discussed. Concludes that to enhance its appeal to variety seeking shoppers, the mall should monitor consumer buying trends and make necessary adjustments to its tenant mix. Amenities and center quality also need to be considered. Recommends further research of this type in other communities.

<p dir="ltr">. Consumer behavior in food and fashion is significantly contributing to environmental distress. Psychological distance emerges as a key obstacle preventing consumers from taking action. Environmental issues often appear distant in terms of time, space, social relevance, and uncertainty, making it challenging for consumers to engage with and modify their behaviors accordingly. Conversely, subjective well-being presents itself as a more relatable concept for consumers. Thus, this dissertation, comprising two essays, seeks to explore the significance of subjective well-being within the realm of consumer sustainability in the food and fashion industries. In Study 1, employing structural equation modeling, we initially demonstrate that consumer food waste adversely affects emotional well-being through post-purchase regret (Study 1a). Furthermore, utilizing ordered logit regression, we identify that perceived distance to grocery stores correlates with increased household food waste (Study 1b). In Study 2, through a systematic literature review, we observe a pattern in consumer behavior regarding sustainable and unsustainable clothing consumption and its relationship with emotional subjective well-being (Study 2a). However, due to the limited number of relevant studies and their focus on only one aspect of subjective well-being, further investigation becomes necessary. Consequently, in Study 2b, employing path analysis, we empirically examine the relationship between domains of sustainable clothing consumption behavior and subjective well-being, revealing a positive correlation, particularly in the early stages of the consumption process. To assess whether consumers perceive subjective well-being as closer to them in comparison to environmental concerns when promoting sustainable actions, we conduct an experiment. Our findings, analyzed using t-tests, indicate that the psychological distance of subjective well-being is indeed lower than that of environmental topics (Study 2c). These results underscore the significance of subjective well-being within the context of consumer sustainability and lay the groundwork for alternative communication strategies aimed at promoting sustainable consumer behavior. The implications and limitations of our findings are thoroughly discussed.</p>

The study investigated the cognitive opinions expressed by consumers in an online shopping environment in the sport supplementation industry as well as the influence certain factors identified through literature, had on the decision-making of these consumers. This was done in an attempt to better understand the online consumer in order to improve marketing campaigns within an e-Commerce environment. Primary data was collected by means of a snowball sampling strategy. Respondents were asked to complete an online questionnaire that consisted of 68 questions. 118 respondents initialized the online questionnaire and 102 fully completed it. Initial analysis proved the data to be sufficient for factor analysis where after confirmatory factor analysis was performed. A new framework to measure influential factors in an online environment was established. 6 out of 10 factors were found to contain sub-groups of influence which suggests that certain questions pertaining to those factors need improvement or rephrasing in order to measure the stand-alone factor more accurately. The reliability of all the factors was measured adequately, noting that Service Quality, Product Risk and Vendor Familiarity could be improved by further developing their underlying variables. Overall it was concluded that Price and Convenience were seen as the greatest motivational factors when a consumer decided to shop online, and Vendor Familiarity and Website Usability were regarded as two crucial components in the comfort level portrayed by consumers while shopping online. Trust and Security were also pointed out to be a major concern for online shoppers in a South African context. The findings of this study are of great value to entrepreneurs and businesses alike seeking to expand or increase their product offering into an online environment. Given the research results from this study and future studies on this topic, marketing strategies can be constructed more precisely in order to reach a target audience in an optimum and more productive manner. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The study investigated the cognitive opinions expressed by consumers in an online shopping environment in the sport supplementation industry as well as the influence certain factors identified through literature, had on the decision-making of these consumers. This was done in an attempt to better understand the online consumer in order to improve marketing campaigns within an e-Commerce environment. Primary data was collected by means of a snowball sampling strategy. Respondents were asked to complete an online questionnaire that consisted of 68 questions. 118 respondents initialized the online questionnaire and 102 fully completed it. Initial analysis proved the data to be sufficient for factor analysis where after confirmatory factor analysis was performed. A new framework to measure influential factors in an online environment was established. 6 out of 10 factors were found to contain sub-groups of influence which suggests that certain questions pertaining to those factors need improvement or rephrasing in order to measure the stand-alone factor more accurately. The reliability of all the factors was measured adequately, noting that Service Quality, Product Risk and Vendor Familiarity could be improved by further developing their underlying variables. Overall it was concluded that Price and Convenience were seen as the greatest motivational factors when a consumer decided to shop online, and Vendor Familiarity and Website Usability were regarded as two crucial components in the comfort level portrayed by consumers while shopping online. Trust and Security were also pointed out to be a major concern for online shoppers in a South African context. The findings of this study are of great value to entrepreneurs and businesses alike seeking to expand or increase their product offering into an online environment. Given the research results from this study and future studies on this topic, marketing strategies can be constructed more precisely in order to reach a target audience in an optimum and more productive manner. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This research examines the implementation of marketing both by chain and online booksellers, and consumer responses to this marketing and a reading of the current trade press revealed calls for research into consumer wants and needs (Watson, 2002; Holman, 2007; Horner, 2007a). While BML (Book Marketing Limited) carries out a valuable range of research into publishing and bookselling on an ongoing basis, nevertheless, both are relatively new research areas, and bookselling is particularly underdeveloped. It would appear that research in the field of bookselling has yet to be examined in an academic context. With specific respect to the development of a comprehensive understanding of consumer responses to bookshop marketing, the research is original, timely and useful, and builds upon the foundations of existing research, as detailed above. The mixed-method approach adopted in this study enhanced the level of triangulation possible, with interviews, surveys and focus groups serving to consolidate and support sets of results. This empirical research has uncovered rich source material from consumers both online and offline, revealing complex responses to traditional and online bookselling environments. Key original findings include: the widespread perception of homogeneity across chain bookshops by consumers; the presence of a coffee shop can enhance the concept of the bookshop as a social space and that consumer behaviour online was found to tend towards linear, goal-oriented book buying, whereas traditional book shopping tends to be much more about browsing, and have a serendipitous quality to it. The research has developed a comprehensive understanding of the approaches to marketing taken by chain booksellers, but more especially, the range of consumer responses and behaviour in both traditional chain and online bookshops. It has built upon the existing scholarly material available in these fields, as well as extending and developing research in the new academic field of bookselling. There is considerable scope for further investigation in both traditional and online bookselling, as outlined in the Conclusions chapter, building on the findings emerging from this research.

<p>The phenomenon of blogs is growing rapidly and is expected to increase even in a more rapid pace (Technorati, 2006, November 6). As Wright (2006) discuss; blogs provides a new way of communicating with customers, as customers want to be talked with, not to. Companies have newly started to pay attention to this and as a result, the concept of blog marketing has been born. The little research that has been done on blog marketing has been done from a company perspective. However, no or little research has yet considered how consumers use blogs. In order to use blogs as a communication tool, it is of huge importance for companies to understand how consumers use blogs in their decision making. Hence the purpose is;</p><p>“To explore how and why consumers use blogs in their decision making process“</p><p>In order to answer this purpose we conducted nine interviews on young adults, as previous research suggests that this population use blogs the most (Tremayne, 2007). From the collected data a qualitative analyze was made in which the empirical findings was analyzed with support of the theoretical framework.</p><p>From the analysis we found that consumers use blogs throughout their decision making. Within the consumers’ decision making, collaborative blogs was mostly used as the consumers could get more input from a larger audience and because this type of blog tended to cover a specific topic of interest for the consumers. Consumers were found mainly writing in the blogs when they had knowledge to contribute with or when they needed information that they could not otherwise find in the blogs.</p><p>We also noticed that consumers turned to groups they belonged to, so called normative group, or they turned to groups that they did not belong to, so called comparative groups. These groups influenced the consumer by providing them with knowledge and by giving them positive and negative confirmation on their choice of purchase. However normative groups also persuaded the consumer to buy products in order to belong to the group.</p><p>Besides this, a pattern of characteristics of the individuals that the consumer blogged with were noticed. Consumers wanted user experiences and thus the vast majority of these individuals they turned to, seemed to be consumers themselves, with relevant product experiences. The consumers also seem to blog more with certain individuals, whose opinions were valued more. These individuals often shared the latest information on products.</p><p>Lastly we found that consumers seemed to be selective when reading blog posts. The blog posts needed to contain detailed- and up-to-date information. Moreover, consumers wanted blog post to be written by other consumers because they saw them as more credible then companies. The consumers also chose to read blog posts that show similarities be-tween the consumer and the blogger in terms of either usage pattern of product or preference for product choices.</p>