This thesis analyses if households’ confidence could be a significant variable to predicthouseholds’ debt growth in Sweden. Households’ debts have an important role in thefinancial system where the vulnerability of households’ debts has increased over time.To test whether households’ confidence is a significant variable for the prediction ofhouseholds’ debt growth in Sweden, an econometric model with the households’ debtchange as the dependent variable and the changes in the repo rate, unemployment, grossdomestic product and consumer confidence index as independent variables was used.Consumer confidence index was used as a proxy variable for households’ confidence.It was lagged by one time period in order to quantify if consumer confidence indexcould, with previous value, predict the households’ debt growth. The result showed thatthe households’ confidence was not significant to predict the households’ debt growth. / Denna uppsats har analyserat om hushållens förtroende är en signifikant variabel för attförutse hushållens skuldtillväxt i Sverige. De svenska hushållens skulder har ensignifikant betydelse för den svenska ekonomin. Men sårbarheten för dessa skulder harökat med tiden. För att testa om hushållens förtroende är en signifikant variabel för attförutse hushållens skuldtillväxt i Sverige har en ekonometrisk modell med förändringeni hushållens skulder som en beroende variabel och förändringen i reporäntan,arbetslöshet, bruttonationalprodukten och konsumentförtroendeindex som oberoendevariabler. Konsumentförtroendeindex användes som en ersättare för att mäta hushållensförtroende används. Den var fördröjd med en tidsperiod för att kunna testa omhushållens föregående uppfattningar påverkade framtida skuldtillväxt för hushållen.Resultaten från regressionsanalysen antyder på att hushållens förtroende inte är ensignifikant variabel för att kunna förutse hushållens skuldtillväxt.

This study examines the use of True Fit® technology by millennial consumers and its impact on consumer confidence and satisfaction with respect to online sizing. In the apparel industry, there is a lack of size standards among retailers, and as a result consumers will encounter frequent size variations in their clothing size. Difference sizing technology has been developed to address the sizing issue. One is True Fit® which unlike other sizing technologies, uses mathematical algorithms to compile large amounts of data from designers. The purpose of this study was to analyze consumer confidence and satisfaction after True Fit® has been used to make a sizing decision while online shopping. The technology acceptance model (TAM) was used as the basis for the theoretical framework for this study. TAM explores how current advances in technology are influencing consumers' behaviors and attitudes. The variables studies included perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude, intent to use True Fit®, confidence and satisfaction. The methodology used in the study is a quantitative method consisting of an online survey and a True Fit® task, where consumers were exposed to True Fit® prior to answering questions about the use of sizing technology. The results of the study suggest the dependent variable of confidence and satisfaction with the sizing technology was positively affected by the intent to use True Fit®. Thus, it can be inferred that consumers felt positively about adopting apparel size technology and that technology such as this would have wide application in the future.

Datum: 2021-06-02 Nivå: Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi, 15 hp Institution: Akademin för Ekonomi, Samhälle och Teknik, Mälardalens högskola Författare: Nieminen Marcel (98/04/12) Saeed Allan (97/07/17) Sarhang Daniel (97/10/05) Titel: Psykiskt avstånd - En kvalitativ studie om det psykiska avståndets påverkan på Generation Y och Generation Z när de handlar online. Handledare: Johan Grinbergs Nyckelord: Psykiskt avstånd, e-handel, konsumentförtroende, osäkerhet och engagemang Frågeställning: Hur påverkar psykiskt avstånd Generation Y och Generation Z när de handlar online? Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur psykiskt avstånd påverkar svenska konsumenter i olika åldersgrupper. Detta för att skapa en djupare förståelse för psykiskt avstånd på individnivå och generationsskillnader i köpbeteende. Metod: Studien utgår från en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en abduktiv forskningsansats. Det empiriska materialet samlats in genom sex fokusgruppsintervjuer som representerade Generation Y och Generation Z. Respondenterna, som var totalt 22, valdes utifrån ett målstyrt urval. Med hjälp av studiens analysmodell, empiri och teoretiska ramverk har slutsatser kunnat dras för att besvara forskningsfrågan. Slutsats: Svenska konsumenter påverkas av psykiskt avstånd när de handlar online i olika utsträckning; identiskt, liknande eller avvikande, beroende på vilken generation de tillhör. Det psykiska avståndet påverkar både Generation Y och Generation Z på ett identiskt sätt i form av att det minskar deras konsumentförtroende i lika stor grad. Generationerna påverkades på ett liknande sätt av psykiskt avstånd eftersom båda upplever en osäkerhet när de handlar online. Däremot, upplever Generation Z en högre nivå av osäkerhet jämfört med Generation Y. Vidare, påverkar psykiskt avstånd generationernas engagemang på avvikande sätt eftersom det endast har en inverkan på Generation Y:s vilja att handla online. / Date: 2021-06-02 Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr  Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors: Nieminen Marcel (98/04/12) Saeed Allan (97/07/17) Sarhang Daniel (97/10/05) Title: Psychic distance - A qualitative study of the impact of psychic distance on Generation Y and Generation Z when shopping online Tutor: Johan Grinbergs Keywords: Psychic distance, e-commerce, consumer confidence, uncertainty, and commitment. Research questions: How does psychic distances affect Generation Y and Generation Z when they are shopping online? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how psychic distance affects Swedish consumers in different age groups. This is to develop a deeper understanding of psychic distance at the individual level and generational differences in buying behavior. Method: The study is based on a qualitative research method with an abductive research approach. The empirical material has been collected with the help of six focus group interviews that represented Generation Y and Generation Z. The respondents, who were a total of 22, were selected based on a goal-directed sample. With the help of the study´s analysis model, empirical data, and theoretical framework, conclusions have been drawn to answer the research question. Conclusion: Swedish consumers are affected by psychic distance when they shop online to various degrees; identical, similar, or deviant, depending on the generation they belong to. The psychic distance affects both Generation Y and Generation Z in an identical way in terms of reducing their consumer confidence to the same extent. The generations are affected in a similar way by psychic distance because both experience uncertainty when shopping online. However, Generation Z experiences a higher level of uncertainty compared to Generation Y. Furthermore, psychic distance affects the generations' commitment in a deviant way as it only has an impact on Generation Y´s desire to shop online.

Magister Legum - LLM (Public Law and Jurisprudence) / Zimbabwe is a Southern African country which has witnessed frequent bank collapses in the last two decades. This has eroded consumer and business confidence in the banking sector due to the irreparable financial prejudice suffered by most sectoral consumers. The side effect of this lack of trust in the sector has been the hoarding and preference of cash in most, if not all transactions, as opposed to the use of plastic money. Between April 2015 and March 2016, it is estimated that between US$3 billion and US$7.4 billion was circulating outside the banking system in the informal sector thus exposing the depth of mistrust crippling the banking sector. Together with other factors beyond the scope of this study, it is submitted that this lack of trust and confidence in the sector has contributed to the current cash shortage which, according to Latham and Cohen, has left .a black hole in the financial system that's crushing the rest of the economy'.

The growth of eCommerce is being hampered by a lack of trust between providers and consumers of Web-based services. While Web trust issues have been addressed by researchers in many disciplines, a comprehensive approach has yet to be established. This thesis proposes a conceptual trust-profiling framework???W3TF???which addresses issues of trust and user confidence through a range of new user-centred trust measures???trust categories, trust domains, transitivity of trust, fading factor analysis, standalone assessment, hyperlinked assessment and relevance assessment. While others now use the concept of transitivity of trust, it was first introduced by this research in 1998. The thesis also illustrates how W3TF can narrow the gap/disconnection between the hierarchical PKI trust environment and the horizontal Web referral environment. The framework incorporates existing measures of trust (such as Public Key Infrastructure), takes account of consumer perceptions by identifying trust attributes, and utilises Web technology (in the form of metadata), to create a practical, flexible and comprehensive approach to trust assessment. The versatility of the W3TF is demonstrated by applying it to a variety of cases from trust literature and to the hypothetical case study that provided the initial stimulus for this research. It is shown that the framework can be expanded to accommodate new trust attributes, categories and domains, and that trust can be ???weighed??? (and therefore evaluated) by using various mathematical formulae based on different theories and policies. The W3TF addresses identified needs, narrows the gaps in existing approaches and provides a mechanism to embrace current and future efforts in trust management. The framework is a generic form of trust assessment that can help build user confidence in an eCommerce environment. For service providers, it offers an incentive to create websites with a high number of desired trust attributes. For consumers, it enables more reliable judgments to be made. Hence, Web trust can be enhanced.

在國外, 消費者信心指數常被用來預測經濟情勢 (如股價、油價、消費支出等) , 縱然有部份學者對此抱持著懷疑的看法。在台灣, 則因缺乏┌消費者信心指數┘的資料, 以往一直無人從事這方面的相關研究。房地產業是火車頭工業, 也是民生工業; 其榮枯不但影響國家之經濟發展, 亦影響到每一個人居住的能力。因此, 房地產業的景氣波動, 是與大家休戚相關的。透過工商時報所編製的┌消費者信心指數┘資料, 與房地產預售屋公開價的變動情況, 我們發現：在大台北區, 兩者之間呈顯著正相關, 而且前者領先後者九個月。 / The forecast of Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) to Economy is usally used in many nations for years, even someone suspects the effect of it. For lack of CCI, there is seldom such study in Taiwan. Estate industry is an important one, due to its influences on national economic development and the capacity for purchasing dwelling house of everyone, therefore, people pay much attention to it in Taiwan. By collecting the data of CCI and open-price of pre-sold housing in Taipei Area, we can recognize that there is obviously positive relation between them. And the former is a leading in- dicator with 9 months Ahead.

The growth of eCommerce is being hampered by a lack of trust between providers and consumers of Web-based services. While Web trust issues have been addressed by researchers in many disciplines, a comprehensive approach has yet to be established. This thesis proposes a conceptual trust-profiling framework???W3TF???which addresses issues of trust and user confidence through a range of new user-centred trust measures???trust categories, trust domains, transitivity of trust, fading factor analysis, standalone assessment, hyperlinked assessment and relevance assessment. While others now use the concept of transitivity of trust, it was first introduced by this research in 1998. The thesis also illustrates how W3TF can narrow the gap/disconnection between the hierarchical PKI trust environment and the horizontal Web referral environment. The framework incorporates existing measures of trust (such as Public Key Infrastructure), takes account of consumer perceptions by identifying trust attributes, and utilises Web technology (in the form of metadata), to create a practical, flexible and comprehensive approach to trust assessment. The versatility of the W3TF is demonstrated by applying it to a variety of cases from trust literature and to the hypothetical case study that provided the initial stimulus for this research. It is shown that the framework can be expanded to accommodate new trust attributes, categories and domains, and that trust can be ???weighed??? (and therefore evaluated) by using various mathematical formulae based on different theories and policies. The W3TF addresses identified needs, narrows the gaps in existing approaches and provides a mechanism to embrace current and future efforts in trust management. The framework is a generic form of trust assessment that can help build user confidence in an eCommerce environment. For service providers, it offers an incentive to create websites with a high number of desired trust attributes. For consumers, it enables more reliable judgments to be made. Hence, Web trust can be enhanced.

Thesis (MComm (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The market share of online purchasing is under two percent of total retail spending, which provides an indication that consumers have been slow to adopt online purchasing. Previous research has shown that consumers perceive risks associated with purchasing online and these perceptions are likely to affect purchase intention. Little research, however, has been done on perceived risk relating specifically to online purchasing, and in particular, risk related to branded and non-branded retailer websites. Research has shown that brand knowledge has a direct effect on a consumer’s intention to purchase from an online retailer and that this relationship between brand knowledge and intent to purchase online is mediated by perceived risk. The purpose of this exploratory study was therefore to investigate the consumer-perceived risks associated with the intention to purchase online. The research problem considered the question whether the perceived risks (financial, performance, physical, time, social and psychological risks) associated with a branded website (Kalahari.net) are different from the perceived risks associated with a non-branded website (Books.com). It was found that four types of perceived risk exist namely, performance, time, social, and personal risk. Of these risks, only performance risk had an influence on a consumer’s purchase intention from a non-branded website whereas performance and personal risk influenced a consumer’s intention to purchase from a branded website. It was also revealed that consumers perceive performance, time, and social risk as not statistically different when purchasing from a non-branded or a branded website. However, personal risk was perceived to be statistically differently for the two websites. In addition, the brand image dimension of brand knowledge had an influence on a consumer’s purchase intention from both the branded and non-branded websites. The brand awareness dimension of brand knowledge did not influence purchase intention at all. For all four risk types on both the branded and nonbranded websites (except social risk on Books.com), at least one and in some cases, both dimensions of brand knowledge influenced the degree of perceived risk associated with purchasing on the particular website. Finally, it was concluded that the more information search a consumer does before purchase of a book on a branded or non-branded website, the higher their perceived risk associated with purchasing from the particular website. A number of recommendations were made. Methods for decreasing the amount of performance risk which consumers perceive when purchasing a book online were firstly suggested. It was further recommended that Kalahari.net investigate the dimensions of their brand such as brand image, brand awareness, and brand trust, to identify the reasons why consumers perceive performance, social and time risk as being not statistically different when purchasing on a branded and a non-branded website. Since consumers did not see a difference between the brand image of the branded and the non-branded websites, it was recommended that the branded website make every effort to investigate their current branding strategy to identify the reasons consumers view the branded website in the same manner as the non-branded website. Furthermore, since both dimensions of brand knowledge influenced the degree of perceived risk associated with purchasing on the particular website to a certain extent, it was recommended that online retailers focus on building familiarity, positive thoughts, feelings, associations, and beliefs concerning the online retailer brand. Finally, it was recommended that the influence of information search online on perceived risk associated with purchasing be further investigated; because this study found that an action that was traditionally initiated as a means for decreasing perceived risk can now be attributed to increased consumer-perceived risk associated with online shopping.

Submitted by Gabriel Goulart Ferreira (gabrielggfsc@gmail.com) on 2017-08-24T21:23:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FGV Dissert - Final.pdf: 1134356 bytes, checksum: bae808529697b0480d6465ae8534ccf7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by GILSON ROCHA MIRANDA (gilson.miranda@fgv.br) on 2017-08-25T13:40:06Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FGV Dissert - Final.pdf: 1134356 bytes, checksum: bae808529697b0480d6465ae8534ccf7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-31T12:51:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FGV Dissert - Final.pdf: 1134356 bytes, checksum: bae808529697b0480d6465ae8534ccf7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-05-25 / This paper presents the analysis about the importance of the Consumer Confidence Indexes in the United States and the potential utilization of the Brazil’s similar index, the ICC FGV, to predict and track performance local economy. As practical result, this paper proposes a new alternative model to predict, in the short term, Monthly Industrial Production (PIM), a nationwide survey of industrial activity. / Esta dissertação apresenta análise sobre a importância dos indicadores de Confiança do Consumidor nos EUA e o potencial de utilização do indicador paralelo nacional, o ICC FGV, para previsão e acompanhamento do desempenho da economia brasileira. Como resultado prático, faz-se a proposição de novo modelo alternativo para previsão de curto prazo da PIM, Pesquisa Mensal Industrial do IBGE.

El presente trabajo tiene como finalidad explicar cómo el valor percibido, los atributos de la comida y la confianza del consumidor influyen en la intención de compra en el sector de la comida orgánica en Lima Metropolitana. Asimismo, el enfoque de la investigación se basa en cómo la intención de compra de la comida orgánica se ve influenciada por el valor percibido del producto, los atributos de dicho alimento y la confianza del consumidor en cuanto a su consumo. Utilizando encuestas en línea con una escala de likert de 5 puntos, se buscará recopilar información de 400 personas (hombres y mujeres) que realizan compras de comida orgánica en supermercados para poder desarrollar la investigación basada en un estudio cuantitativo de tipo correlacional con enfoque de estudio transversal y de carácter explicativo. / The present work aims to explain how the perceived value, the attributes of food and consumer confidence influence purchase intent in the organic food sector in Metropolitan Lima. Likewise, the research approach is based on how the purchase intention of organic food is influenced by the perceived value of the product, the attributes of that food and consumer confidence in its consumption. Using online surveys with a 5-point likert scale, it will seek to collect information from 400 people (men and women) who make purchases of organic food in supermarkets to be able to develop the research based on a quantitative study of correlational type with a cross-sectional and explanatory study approach. / Trabajo de investigación