Social or environmental labelling- Consumers’ knowledge, attitudes and preferencesEngelska nyckelord: labelling, social or environmental labelling, eco-labelling, sustainability, transparency, fashion consumer, visual/verbal communication, consumer buying behaviour, green consumerism.Sammanfattning på engelska: In the recent years the Swedish fashion retailers have increased their range of various social or environmental labels on their garments which in return has created confusion amongst the fashion consumers. Currently, there are approximately fourteen different third-party labelling standards in Sweden and a diverse range of self-controlled labelling standards. The reason for this increase can partly be explained by the increasing pressure from various actors to act more sustainably and ethically, and companies having realized a competitive advantage by adopting sustainable strategies. This study provides a preliminary exploration into the types of social and environmental labels that are available on the Swedish market and consumers’ knowledge, attitudes and preferences regarding these labels. Based on two focus group discussions held at two different occasions, respondents indicated that environmental labelling of clothing could influence their purchase decision positively if product related attributes (design and quality) have the same standard as non-sustainable clothing. Although consumers’ knowledge about the social or environmental labels is relatively low, they have an increased interest to learn more about the various labels and the potential environmental impact the fashion industry may cause. However, the growing involvement of taking social or environmental issues into consideration does not always lead to consumers actually purchasing eco-friendlier clothes, and thus these two “identities” are not yet compatible with each other.Additionally, consumers respond differently to positive and negative labelling, where negative labelling seems to have a stronger effect on their feelings and may influence their purchase decision. When it comes to the design of the label, visual and verbal communications are additives and a label should also have a numerical rating system, which states how sustainable a garment is in comparison to other garments. Furthermore, the logo should be more coherent with the fashion industry in terms of colours and illustrations. Moreover, consumers think that there is a lack of information at the point of purchase regarding the social and environmental labels and this should be addressed with either QR-code or by providing a simple brochure. / Program: Textilt management, fashion management

Syfte: Studiens relevans grundar sig i e-barometerns årsrapport gällande en påvisad ökning av svensk e-handel under år 2020. Följaktligen är syftet med denna studie att studera svenska kvinnors konsumentbeteenden inom detaljhandeln under Covid-19 pandemin med fokus på digitaliseringens roll. Studien ämnar bidra med kunskap kring kopplingen mellan begreppen konsumentbeteenden och digitalisering under en världsomfattande pandemi, för att vidare skapa en diskussion kring Covid-19 pandemins inverkan på det paradigmskifte som det redan talas om kring konsumentbeteenden inom detaljhandeln. Metod: I studien tillämpas en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med fokusgrupper, baserat på ett snöbollsurval. Urvalet består utav kvinnor i åldrarna 18–35, vidare används en tematisk analysmetod för att skapa struktur och på ett metodiskt sätt sammanställa och analysera resultatet av undersökningen. Studien baseras på både primär- och sekundära data. Det primära datamaterialet har samlats in via digitala fokusgrupper och det sekundära datamaterialet kommer från vetenskapliga artiklar men även tidigare statistik från bland annat handelsrådet. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Det teoretiska ramverk som ligger till grund för studien är huvudsakligen köpprocessen och Maslows behovstrappa. Vidare presenteras även relevant tidigare forskning kring Covid-19 pandemin samt konsumentbeteende för att skapa en komplett bakgrund till studien. Slutligen presenteras en kort beskrivning om hur de teoretiska ramverken kommer att tillämpas samt hur det kopplas till varandra. Resultat/Analys och Slutsatser: Studien baseras på 12 kvinnliga respondenter, där majoriteten hade påverkats av Covid-19 pandemin i någon form. Vår tolkning blir därmed att trots det faktum att ett intresse för digitala lösningar redan fanns innan pandemin så hade det ändå ökat i samband med respondenternas upplevelse av en marknadsföring av digitala tjänster, slutsatsen blir därför att användningen av digitala lösningar som Instabox, hämta i butik och hemleverans blivit mer vanligt förekommande under pandemin. Vidare påvisar respondenterna en tendens till att kompensera sociala aktiviteter och tristess med att handla online. Resultatet visar på att respondenterna som arbetar eller studerar hemifrån har förändrat sin klädsel, men med undantag för viktiga sammankomster så var det tydligt att respondenterna fortfarande vill se representativa ut. Vidare har resultatet diskuterats utifrån syftet, forskningsfrågor och de teoretiska ramverken. / Purpose: The relevance of this study is based on Postnord’s annual report regarding a demonstrated increase in Swedish e-commerce in 2020. Consequently, the purpose is to examine the buying-behavior of Swedish women during the Covid-19 pandemic with focus on the digitalization in retail. The study intends to contribute with knowledge about the connection between consumer buying-behavior and digitalization during a worldwide pandemic, further on to create a discussion about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the already ongoing paradigm shift in retail, associated to digital consumer buying-behavior.  Methodology: The study applies a qualitative research method with focus groups, based on a snowball sampling. The sample consists of women aged 18-35 and a the maticanalysis method is used to create structure and in a methodical way compile and analyze the results of the focus group. The study is based on both primary and secondary data. The primary data has been collected through online focus groups and the secondary data comes from scientific articles, but also previous statistics from, among others, Handelsrådet.  Theoretical perspective: The theoretical framework which the study is based on, is mainly the buying process, and Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Furthermore, it also presents relevant previous research on the Covid-19 pandemic’s effect on and consumer buying-behavior in order to create a complete background to the study. Finally, a brief description is presented of how the theoretical framework will be applied and how the frameworks relate to each other. Empirical analysis and Conclusion: The study is based on twelve female respondents and their individual experiences ofhow the covid-19 pandemic has affected their consuming behaviour. Despite the fact that an interest in digital solutions already existed before the pandemic, it has nevertheless increased in connection with the respondents' experience of increased marketing of digital services during the pandemic. The conclusion is therefore that the use of digital solutions such as instabox, download in store and home delivery has surged during the pandemic. Furthermore, the respondents show a tendency to do more online shopping to compensate for lack of social activities and boredom. The results have been discussed based on the purpose of the report, research questions and the theoretical frameworks.

This master thesis deals with the issue of special discounts. Assessments and proposals of successful special offers are based on the analysis of demand price elasticity. The key attribute of this work is the knowledge of product’s price elasticity of demand. The analysis of price elasticity of demand is based on real data. The paper is terminated with suggestions on creating and planning special discounts developed in consideration of the retailers’ specific goals.