The people of Sweden have a long history of being engaged in sport organizations. Recently though, a decline of participation in sport organizations has been detected. The Swedish society has evolved immensely lately and with it new marketing techniques, new communication tools and new values have seen the light of day. The thesis of this study is to examine how non-profit sport organizations function in the areas of organizational culture, internal communication, consumer surplus and branding. The theories have been selected to provide background knowledge in the different functioning areas of an organization and to see how they cooperate in order to make marketing efforts more effective. The primary data has been collected with the use of semi structured interviews with representatives from the participating organizations. Additional primary data has been collected in the form of observations of published digital posts from the organizations communicational channels, to complement the data received in the interviews. The result shows that the principles of non-profit sports organizations are outdated and therefore differs from the rest of the society. The prevailing culture is one whom focuses primary on performance. This is reflected in their communication where the digital communication is somewhat neglected whilst the verbal forms of communication are highly developed. The only area where the involvement of members is coherent is in the context of performance.

The purpose of this travel cost study is to determine how rider behaviors and site characteristics influence repeat visits for equestrian trail riding in Kentucky. Primary data was collected via a survey developed and administered to trail riders in person and online. The average surveyed trail rider tends to be female, about 46 years old, with some higher education, and an annual household income of $65,000. She makes 11 trips to a specified site per year, 8 of which are daytrips, usually in the fall, and traveling 132 miles round trip. From other information gathered, an index of trail characteristics was developed to identify positive attributes of trails. To account for overdispersion of the number of visits per year, a negative binomial distribution in the estimation was used. The primary variables significant to explaining repeat visits to a site include distance in miles, the index of characteristics, and gender. Given consumer surplus estimates of $800 per equestrian it is recommended that established trails maximize desired characteristics. For new trail development it is recommended that trail characteristics are maximized and that they are built closer to the urban areas of the state since most riders are coming from these areas.

Ubiquitous access to the Internet and supporting technologies gave birth to online labor markets (Malone and Laubacher 1998). Online labor markets enable employers (employers) to contract with professionals (service providers) from anywhere in the world. Firms now are able to greatly expand their workforce and bring a large arsenal of labor to bear on IT jobs, such as software or web development using Internet-enabled procurement platforms such as Freelancer. These markets serve as intermediaries for IT services (outsourcers post Call for Bids (CFBs) for services and providers offer bids for IT services) that help match employers with service providers across the globe. In my dissertation, I try to comprehensively study this Internet-enabled phenomenon from the perspectives of these three entities on global online markets with three separate yet related essays. The first essay focuses on the "global" nature of the market, and assess the effect of global frictions and global labor arbitrage on both provider bidding and employer selection. The second essay focuses on the effect of auction mechanism - sealed versus open bid auction - on providers' bidding dynamics, and the market performance. The third essay focuses on estimating true consumer (employer) surplus of online labor markets with a quality-adjusted measure. I also test its robustness by comparing its effects on consumers' subsequent transactions. I also find that market immaturity, consumers' lack of experience in the market, and consumers' lack of familiarity with IT service providers lead to the difference between the traditional measure and the quality-adjusted consumer surplus. / Business Administration/Management Information Systems

The primary goal of this study was to determine the impact of price discrimination on tourism demand. Four objectives were defined with reference to the primary research goal. The first objective was to analyse the concept of price discrimination and relevant theories by means of a literature study. In this regard it was found that price discrimination between markets is fairly common and that it occurs if the same goods were sold to different customers at different prices. Price discrimination is also possible as soon as some monopoly power exists and it is feasible when it is impossible or at least impractical for the buyers to trade among themselves. Three different kinds of price discrimination can be applied, namely first-degree, second-degree and third-degree price discrimination. The data also indicated that price discrimination is advantageous (it mainly increases profit) and that it has several other effects too. The second objective was to analyse examples of price discrimination by means of international case studies. In these different case studies it was found that demand and supply, therefore consumer and product, formed the basis of price discrimination. If demand did not exist, it would be impossible to apply price discrimination. The findings also indicated that, for an organisation to be able to practice price discrimination, the markets must be separated effectively and it will only be successful if there is a significant difference in demand elasticity between the different consumers. Furthermore, the ability to charge these different prices will depend on the consumer's ability and willingness to pay. If an organisation should decide to price discriminate, it would lead to a higher profit, a more optimal pricing policy and also to an increase in sales. The third objective was to analyse national case studies. This was done through comparing the data of a tourism organisation price discriminating (Mosetlha Bush Camp, situated in the North West) to two organisations that did not implement price discrimination (Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Northern Cape and Golden Leopard Resort, also situated in the North West). It was found that a customer with low price elasticity is less deterred by a higher price than a customer with a high price elasticity of demand. As long as the customer's price elasticity is less than one, it will be very advantageous to increase the price: the seller will in this case get more money for less goods. With the increase in price the price elasticity tends to rise above one. The fourth objective was to draw conclusions and make recommendations. It was concluded that price discrimination could be applied successfully in virtually any organisation or industry. Furthermore, price discrimination does not always have a negative effect; but can have a positive ass well. It can have a positive effect on tourism demand. The findings emphasised that the main reason for implementing price discrimination is to increase profit at the cost of reducing consumer surplus. From the results it was recommended that more research on this topic should be conducted. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The primary goal of this study was to determine the impact of price discrimination on tourism demand. Four objectives were defined with reference to the primary research goal. The first objective was to analyse the concept of price discrimination and relevant theories by means of a literature study. In this regard it was found that price discrimination between markets is fairly common and that it occurs if the same goods were sold to different customers at different prices. Price discrimination is also possible as soon as some monopoly power exists and it is feasible when it is impossible or at least impractical for the buyers to trade among themselves. Three different kinds of price discrimination can be applied, namely first-degree, second-degree and third-degree price discrimination. The data also indicated that price discrimination is advantageous (it mainly increases profit) and that it has several other effects too. The second objective was to analyse examples of price discrimination by means of international case studies. In these different case studies it was found that demand and supply, therefore consumer and product, formed the basis of price discrimination. If demand did not exist, it would be impossible to apply price discrimination. The findings also indicated that, for an organisation to be able to practice price discrimination, the markets must be separated effectively and it will only be successful if there is a significant difference in demand elasticity between the different consumers. Furthermore, the ability to charge these different prices will depend on the consumer's ability and willingness to pay. If an organisation should decide to price discriminate, it would lead to a higher profit, a more optimal pricing policy and also to an increase in sales. The third objective was to analyse national case studies. This was done through comparing the data of a tourism organisation price discriminating (Mosetlha Bush Camp, situated in the North West) to two organisations that did not implement price discrimination (Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Northern Cape and Golden Leopard Resort, also situated in the North West). It was found that a customer with low price elasticity is less deterred by a higher price than a customer with a high price elasticity of demand. As long as the customer's price elasticity is less than one, it will be very advantageous to increase the price: the seller will in this case get more money for less goods. With the increase in price the price elasticity tends to rise above one. The fourth objective was to draw conclusions and make recommendations. It was concluded that price discrimination could be applied successfully in virtually any organisation or industry. Furthermore, price discrimination does not always have a negative effect; but can have a positive ass well. It can have a positive effect on tourism demand. The findings emphasised that the main reason for implementing price discrimination is to increase profit at the cost of reducing consumer surplus. From the results it was recommended that more research on this topic should be conducted. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-19T19:29:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 01 - capa_abstract.pdf: 104110 bytes, checksum: 9a26d488fd09651766208a527c72bc65 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-15 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The Maquine Cavern is an important natural resource system located at Cordisburgo, in the state of Minas Gerais. It was built by nature in the last few thousand years and it is a significant source of knowledge to researchers and income to local people. Therefore, it is very important to preserve it. Visitors characteristics and econometric estimation of demand systems are key information which may be important to resource management decisions at local, state and federal levels. This study objective was to find the economic value of the Maquine Cavern. Specifically, the objectives were: a) To profile the Maquine Cavern visitor; b) To analyze the consumer surplus and the visitors response to variations in the admission fee by county; b) To analyze the consumer surplus and the visitors response to variations in the admission fee by consumer. The theory behind this study was the demand theory and public goods theory which support economic valuation methodologies to estimate natural resource prices . The analytical procedure was the Travel Cost method. Data were obtained by interviews (298) made with visitors in July 2007. Results showed that most visitors have high educational levels and generally do not travel alone and visit Maquine Cavern for the first time. Visitors which travel using their own cars show a high demand for visits and most visitors have monthly income between 2 and 5 minimum wages. The estimated Maquine Cavern average value with county data, i.e., the average willingness to pay for visits to the Maquine Cavern, revealed by visitors decisions in each county, was R$ 80.654,81. The average willingness to pay for visits to the Maquine Cavern, revealed by visitors when using individual data, was even smaller, R$ 12.688,32. The main conclusion was that estimated values do not show the real willingness to pay by individual for Maquine Cavern visits since the travel cost method did allow only the estimation of use values which represents a small part of total economic value of this natural resource. / A Gruta do Maquiné é um importante ativo ambiental do Município de Cordisburgo, no Estado de Minas Gerais. Formada ao longo de milhares de anos pela própria natureza, suas especificidades a colocam como fonte enriquecedora de conhecimento e também como fonte geradora de renda, fazendo-se, portanto, essencial a sua proteção. O conhecimento do perfil do visitante da Gruta do Maquiné e a estimativa da demanda de visitantes são informações que podem contribuir para melhor tomada de decisão dos gestores municipais, estaduais e nacional desse ativo. Dessa forma, o objetivo geral deste trabalho consistiu em determinar o valor econômico do ativo ambiental Gruta do Maquiné - MG. Especificamente pretendeu-se: a) traçar o perfil do turista da Gruta do Maquiné; b) analisar a resposta dos consumidores às variações na taxa de admissão da Gruta do Maquiné e o excedente do consumidor por município; c) analisar a resposta dos consumidores às variações na taxa de admissão da Gruta do Maquiné e o excedente do consumidor por indivíduo. A teoria que deu sustentação a este estudo foi a de demanda e a de bens públicos, que fornece o suporte necessário às metodologias de valoração econômica para a estimação dos preços dos ativos ambientais. O procedimento analítico usado foi o método do custo de viagem. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de questionários (298) aplicados aos visitantes da gruta no mês de julho de 2007. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que a maioria dos visitantes possui alto nível de escolaridade; em geral viajam acompanhados e visitam a gruta pela primeira vez. Observou-se ainda que os turistas que viajam em carro próprio apresentam demanda maior por visitas à Gruta do Maquiné e que a maior parcela de visitantes detém renda entre 2 e 5 salários mínimos. O valor médio estimado para a Gruta do Maquiné MG com dados agrupados por município, ou seja, a disposição total média a pagar por visitas à Gruta de Maquiné, revelada pelos visitantes de cada região, foi R$ 80.654,81. A disposição total média a pagar por visitas à Gruta, revelada pelos visitantes, quando avaliada por indivíduos foi ainda menor, R$ 12.688,32, comparativamente àquele valor obtido por município. Conclui- se, portanto, que os valores estimados não traduzem a real disposição dos indivíduos a pagarem por visitas à Gruta do Maquiné, visto que o método aplicado permitiu estimar somente o valor de uso direto do ativo, que representa apenas uma pequena parcela do valor econômico total deste ativo ambiental.

The hotel industry is characterized by perishability, which means that its services cannot be stored and saved to a later sales opportunity. In that world, a room that is not booked is lost forever. Another thing that also characterizes the industry is that it is seasonally controlled, thus the demand varies between different periods of time and occasions. As hotels tend to have high fixed costs, companies often choose to price their services higher when the opportunity that consumers pay a higher price appears. This can lead to a situation when the consumers feel fooled by the fact that the hotel itself does not create the new conditions that makes the demand rise. As a support for the interviews conducted, a research focused on the real prices has also been conducted where the prices of fifteen hotels in Stockholm were checked for three months on three occasions. To investigate the relationship between these two phenomena, seven hotel employees have been interviewed and shared their experiences of the reality and strategies within hotel industry. In order to get an overall picture, fifty consumers having profiles of potential hotel guests, have been interviewed where they answer questions about different scenarios and estimated prices for hotels of three different classes in Stockholm. The research made it possible to determine some conclusions. It appeared to be important for hotel industry to optimize prices in a way that they reflect the demand. An important tool to achieve this optimization is yield management and it confirms by the driving forces that identifies most often. The result of this reality is that the hotels experience fluctuations of prices over time, with rarely occurring stable pricing curves. Price awareness of customers tend to be raised when their experience of similar purchases is high. It has also been found that high prices do not necessarily have to lower the consumer value and that hotel guests may be willing to pay a higher price due to certain external factors. The relation between pricing and customer value was found to be complex and as there are some factors preventing the customer value to get lowered by price increase, it might be beneficial for hotels to take these factors into account. / Hotellbranschen kännetecknas av förgänglighet, vilket innebär att dess tjänster inte går att spara till ett senare försäljningstillfälle. I den världen går ett rum som inte bokas för alltid förlorad. Något som också kännetecknar branschen är att den är säsongsstyrd och därmed varierar efterfrågan mellan olika tidsperioder och tillfällen. I och med att hotell tenderar att ha höga fasta kostnader, väljer företagen ofta att prissätta sina tjänster högre när möjligheten för att konsumenter betalar ett högre pris uppstår. Detta kan leda till att konsumenterna känner sig lurade i och med att hotellet inte självt skapar de nya förutsättningarna som gör att efterfrågan stiger. Som ett stöd för de genomförda intervjuerna har även en prisundersökning genomförts där priserna på femton hotell i Stockholm under fyra månaders tid kontrollerades vid tre tillfällen. För att utreda hur relationen mellan dessa två fenomen ser ut har sju hotellmedarbetare intervjuats och beskrivit den verkligheten och de strategierna som finns. För att kunna få en helhetsbild har även femtio konsumenter, alltså potentiella hotellgäster, intervjuats där de svarar på frågor om olika scenarier samt uppskatta priser på hotell av olika klasser i Stockholm. Slutsatserna till undersökningen förblev att hotell till en övervägande majoritet använder sig av verktyg som yield management för att hantera dessa fluktuationer i efterfrågan och därmed ser också ett hotells priskurva väldigt sällan stabil ut. De potentiella hotellgästerna ställer sig kluvna i frågan om hur priset på ett hotellrum påverkar det upplevda värdet, vilket också delvis ställer det teoretiska ramverket och det empiriska resultatet emot varandra. Slutsatsen av det är att det finns en komplexitet i detta fenomen, där det finns ett flertal faktorer som erfordras att undersökas vidare för att nå en djupare och bredare förståelse.