The aim of the bachelor’s thesis is to examine how sensory marketing is applied in e-commerce. It is also of the bachelor’s interest to examine whether the consumer perceives the application of the term in e-commerce. The research question in the study is: In what way is mind marketing applied in e-commerce and what is the perception of the consumer? To create an understanding and answer the essay question, observations, interviews and aquestionnaire have been applied. The authors observed ten companies from differentindustries to examine the application of sensory marketing in e-commerce. The interviews were conducted on four respondents who knew the concept of sensory marketing since before. The respondents observed a few websites and answered questions from a prepared interview guide. Furthermore, a survey was conducted with a response from one hundred respondents. The results of the bachelor’s thesis show that the application of sensory marketing in e-commerce is relatively small, since almost only the sense of sight is applied.The sense of hearing is used to a very small extent and the results show that other aspects,such as offers and reputation, arouse interest and affect the consumer in e-commerce. In conclusion, the authors can conclude that the visual sense is the mind that is used to the greatest extent in e-commerce. In part, e-commerce also stimulates the sense of hearing, but to a small extent. The authors can thus state that sensory marketing that occurs in today's e-commerce primarily stimulates the visual sense and that there is great development potential for the application in e-commerce.

The use of strategy to build brand loyalty and improve customer experience by retail managers is essential in driving sales revenue and increasing profitability. Retail managers should perceive customer experience strategy as a tool for product differentiation, which could be leveraged to attain benefits, such as, repeat business, positive word of mouth, increased sales, and the competitive advantage. Some retail managers may not fully comprehend customer experience strategy, and may solely focus on individual facets such as, customer service and employee training. This qualitative multiple case study explored the strategies retail managers used to build brand loyalty and improve customer experience. Olivier's confirmation- expectation theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Ten retail managers from Castries, St. Lucia, who performed their roles for a minimum of 4 years, were selected to participate in semistructured interviews using purposive sampling. Data was also collected from company documents, such as, merchandising policy, the company's website, and past campaign fliers. Three of the themes that arose from the thematic analysis of interview data and company documents were, building and sustaining brand loyalty, store image, and competitive advantage. Findings from this research may contribute to positive social change by providing retail managers a better understanding of customer experience and brand loyalty strategies as additional avenues to achieving operational results such as increased sales revenue, improved sales margins, and increased profitability. Local communities may experience increased employment opportunities, enhanced business activity, and increased tax receipts.

This work elaborates the impacts of strategically constructed silos that are not byproducts of flagging cross-departmental cooperation or the cumulative effect of decades of decentralized command and control. Rather, these silos are strategically intended structures within organizations. Most significantly, the substantive theory of strategically constructed silos and their impact on customer service contributes to the field by illustrating the presence and consequence of silos occurring in suboptimal conditions. The existence of silos has implications that extend far beyond the retail area. A key take-away from this research is that contrary to how most customer service processes are designed, not all customer-company interactions are alike. As shown in the data, interaction types vary both in regard to the degree of knowledge needed by retail employees to fully serve customers, and the routine or nonroutine nature of the interaction. This is an important finding since it directly relates to whether the existence of a silo is appropriate (or optimal) for a specific interaction or task. Additionally, the findings suggest the role that a task's "routine-ness" plays is secondary to the degree of specialized knowledge needed by retail employees to meet customer expectations. Understanding the various customer-company interaction types and how each interaction type may be affected by silos is crucial for designing customer experiences that will sustain over time. Likewise, identifying customer-company interaction types correctly and then subsequently developing strategies to support these interaction types is critical for both customer experience management (CEM) initiatives and customer relationship management (CRM) system design within the company. This work provides an overview of the implications of strategically constructed silos occurring in suboptimal conditions and provides recommendations for diagnosing customer-company interactions based on interaction type. By identifying strategically constructed silos as an intended structure of the company, the model elaborated here works to deliver prescriptive and specific strategies for managers and employees' use as they attempt to improve their firm's customer-company interaction outcomes.

El presente proyecto tiene como propósito la implementación de un asistente virtual con procesamiento de lenguaje natural para el seguimiento de cobranzas de los clientes en empresas de envases metálicos. Se busca desarrollar el seguimiento de las deudas que los clientes puedan adquirir y de esta manera reducir su potencial riesgo de incumplimiento de pago al no efectuarse un control y monitoreo de la cobranza. La importancia del modelo propuesto, frente a los modelos convencionales existentes, es proponer un nuevo control y seguimiento de la recaudación, con el fin de integrar al cliente, generando una experiencia agradable con la empresa. Las nuevas tecnologías contribuyen a que la relación entre clientes y proveedores en el campo industrial y comercial sean favorables, considerando que los Chatbots nos permiten ahorrar tiempo y trabajo humano. Además, esta tecnología ha abierto una nueva puerta para la comunicación sobre todo cuando se refiere a la atención al cliente. El aporte de este proyecto es la propuesta de un modelo de cobranza diferente al ya existente. De esta manera ayuda a mejorar el seguimiento de cobro mediante un Asistente Virtual basado en un Chatbot. Esto permite impulsar y potenciar iniciativas que propicien un mayor aprovechamiento en la interacción entre el cliente y la empresa. / The purpose of this project is the implementation of a virtual assistant with Natural Language Processing for the follow-up of customer collections in metal packaging companies. The aim is to develop the follow-up of debts that customers may acquire and thus reduce the potential risk of non-payment in the absence of collection control and monitoring. The importance of the proposed model, compared to the existing conventional models, is to propose a new control and follow-up of the collection, in order to integrate the client, generating a pleasant experience with the company. New technologies contribute to a favorable relationship between customers and suppliers in the industrial and commercial field, considering that Chatbots allow us to save time and human labor. In addition, this technology has opened a new door for communication, especially when it comes to customer service. The contribution of this project is the proposal of a collection model different from the existing one. In this way, it helps to improve the collection follow-up through a Virtual Assistant based on a Chatbot. This allows to promote and enhance initiatives that promote greater use in the interaction between the customer and the company. / Tesis

This master's thesis presents the development of a conceptual model, SMARTQUAL LITE, designed to measure and evaluate the quality of services delivered by smart buildings. The purpose of this research is to provide a foundation for a comprehensive service quality model, SMARTQUAL, enabling smart building service providers to enhance their service offerings and effectively meet tenant demands. The study addresses three key research questions: firstly, it explores how smart building services can be leveraged to improve the quality of office spaces. Secondly, it investigates whether property owners adequately meet tenant demands for smart building services. Lastly, it aims to establish a reliable and valid method for measuring the quality of smart building services. The findings highlight the presence of numerous digital tools and solutions offered by established companies specializing in smart infrastructure and smart buildings. These solutions offer substantial advantages, with their limitations gradually diminishing. The PropTech market is poised for the implementation of smart digital solutions to enhance office space quality. However, a significant challenge lies in convincing property owners of the intangible benefits provided by these solutions. While the argument for energy efficiency is relatively straightforward due to its cost-saving potential, the objective value of other smart building services remains unclear. This study aims to bridge this gap by proposing a simplified yet valid and credible measurement of smart buildingservice quality. Additionally, it explores the responsiveness of property owners to tenant demands. By developing SMARTQUAL LITE, this research provides a practical framework for assessing the service quality of smart building offerings. The model contributes to the ongoing advancement of smart building technology and encourages service providers to make informed decisions about service upgrades and offerings. Ultimately, it seeks to create a more tenantcentric approach to smart building services, ensuring an improved quality of office spaces in line with evolving demands and expectations. / Denna masteruppsats presenterar utvecklingen av en konceptuell modell, SMARTQUAL LITE, designad för att mäta och utvärdera kvaliteten på tjänster som levereras av smarta byggnader. Syftet med denna forskning är att ge en grund för en heltäckande tjänstekvalitetsmodell, SMARTQUAL, som gör det möjligt för leverantörer av smarta byggnadstjänster att förbättra sina tjänsteerbjudanden och effektivt möta hyresgästernas krav. Studien tar upp tre viktiga forskningsfrågor: för det första undersöker den hur smarta byggnadstjänster kan utnyttjas för att förbättra kvaliteten på kontorsutrymmen. För det andra undersöks om fastighetsägare uppfyller hyresgästernas krav på smarta tjänster på ett lämpligt sätt. Slutligen syftar det till att etablera en trovärdig och giltig metod för att mäta kvaliteten på smarta byggnadstjänster. Resultaten belyser närvaron av många digitala verktyg och lösningar som erbjuds av etablerade företag som specialiserar sig på smart infrastruktur och smarta byggnader. Dessa lösningar erbjuder betydande fördelar, medan deras begränsningar gradvis minskar. PropTech-marknaden är redo för implementering av smarta digitala lösningar för att förbättra kvaliteten av kontorsutrymmen. En betydande utmaning ligger dock i att övertygafastighetsägare om de immateriella fördelarna med dessa lösningar. Även om argumentet för energieffektivitet är relativt enkelt på grund av dess kostnadsbesparingspotential, är det objektiva värdet av andra smarta byggnadstjänster fortfarande oklart. Denna studie syftar till att överbrygga denna klyfta genom att föreslå en förenklad men giltig och trovärdig mätning av kvaliteten på smarta byggnadstjänster. Dessutom utforskar den fastighetsägares lyhördhet för hyresgästernas krav och efterfrågan. Genom att utveckla SMARTQUAL LITE ger denna forskning ett praktiskt ramverk för att bedöma servicekvaliteten hos smarta byggnader. Modellen bidrar till den pågående utvecklingen av smart byggnadsteknik och uppmuntrar tjänsteleverantörer att fatta välgrundade beslut om tjänsteuppgraderingar och erbjudanden. I slutändan strävar det efter att skapa ett mer hyresgästcentrerat tillvägagångssätt för smarta byggnadstjänster, vilket säkerställer en förbättrad kvalitet på kontorsytor i linje med förändrade krav och förväntningar.

Konsumenter exponeras för 2000 reklammeddelanden dagligen men lägger bara märke till fåtal av dem. Musik har en värdefull position i reklam som företag kan använda för att sticka ut i reklambruset. För att kunder ska lägga märke till företags marknadsföring vilken kan skapa värde för kund, behövs förståelse för vilka känslor och tankar som uppstår hos kund vid exponering av företags reklammusik i långsamt- och medeltempo, samt vilka attityder som formas gentemot företaget vid exponeringen. För att förstå kundupplevelsen i form av vilka känslor, tankar och attityder vid lyssnandet av reklammusik, utförs en kvalitativ undersökning för att förstå fenomenet på djupet. Den verkliga kundupplevelsen har fångats genom att 13 djupintervjuer genomförts där respondenterna exponerats för reklamlåtar i tempona långsam (70 bpm) och medel (120 bpm). Undersökningen tyder på att reklammusik väcker känslor och tankar i både positiv och negativ riktning, likaså influeras attityden gentemot företag men mer i stunden som respondenterna exponeras av reklammusik än ihållande. Reklammusik i marknadsföring har en betydande roll i den värdeskapande processen för både kund och företag. Vidare tenderar värdeskapande reklammusik att generera i konkurrensfördelar vilket gynnar företags framgång. Resultaten bidrar med förståelse om kundupplevelsen vid reklammusik till litteraturen samt med kunskap till företag gällande reklammusikens inflytande på kundupplevelsen. / Every day consumers are exposed to an enormous amount of advertisements but only notice a few of them. Music has a powerful role in advertising which corporations can use to stand out from the noise of advertising. For consumers to notice corporations’ marketing that is used to create customer value, an understanding is needed regarding which feelings and thoughts arise when customers are exposed by advertising music in a slow- and middle tempo, also what attitudes are formed toward corporations at the exposure. To achieve knowledge about the customer experience, qualitative research is needed to understand the phenomenon in depth. To achieve an understanding of the real customer experience, 13 in-depth interviews have been conducted where the interviewees have been exposed to advertising music in the tempo of slow (70 bpm) and average (120 bpm). Advertising music awakens feelings and thoughts, both in positive and negative terms, as well as the attitude is shaped toward corporations which are influenced more in the moment the person is exposed by advertising music than in the long run. Advertising music has a powerful role in marketing in the process of value creation to both customers and corporations which may emerge in competitive advantages and further empower corporation success. The understanding of customer experience in combination with advertising music contributes to both corporations' knowledge and the literature.

The development of digital solutions has changed the way consumers complete purchases today. New distribution channels through internet and mobile applications have come to challenge the business of traditional retailers. Thus, retailers must find new ways of keeping customers loyal to the store. One way of retaining customers is to provide a more prominent customer experience. This study focuses on technological solutions for the food retail industry that enables the creation of this experience, more specifically self-scanning applications provided by the Swedish company Datema.The Swedish market, in which Datema acts, is among the most technologically advanced in the world regarding self-scanning solutions and has begun to reach a maturity phase. This, along with desires to expand the marketplace, has created an attraction to larger foreign markets such as North America. Similarities in business culture and a strong buying power have led to a certain interest in the Northeastern part of America. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate the need for self-scanning solutions in this specific area and to provide recommendations for how the market could be targeted.To create an overview of the market structure the consumer market has been studied through an in-depth literature review of the latest market investigations. Furthermore, the technological level of Northeastern supermarket chains was investigated through market observations and interviews with store managers in Boston, Massachusetts. To create the holistic view of the market, interviews with experts in the US retail market and with US IT-vendors were conducted. Additionally, interviews with management consultants and experts in market entries have contributed to answering the question of how the market should be entered. Finally, in order to provide conclusions and recommendations, the results have been analyzed with relevant literature and theories within marketing, change management and entry mode management.The findings in this master thesis indicates that there is a need for technological solutions that enhance the customer experience in the Northeastern American food retail market. Furthermore, the technological level of the existing supermarket chains in Boston is considered low and that the level and acceptance varies with the store concept. The previous resistance towards implementation of new technological solutions in the stores was found to mainly depend on a low knowledge, low trust in the consumers and fear of losing customer interaction.Datema is recommended to address the middle and high-end supermarket chains with a follower approach. Further recommendations include that the market should be entered through a joint venture with a local partner.

Digital transformation effects the way companies engage with their customers, which is reflected in the post-purchase offerings. This change and added utilization of digital technologies allow companies to capture more data about their customer through different sources and by having the digital capabilities to transform this data into knowledge, companies can offer better products and personalized experiences. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how a traditional company in the white goods sector can improve its post-purchase phase offerings to engage with its customers, through the use of digital technologies, by conducting a case study on Electrolux. To do so, an extensive literature review was conducted and key learnings used to investigate the post-purchase offerings from Electrolux, compared with three traditional and eight born digital companies. Empirical data is collected through direct observation, desk research, and interviews. Overall, the analysis revealed Electrolux offers about the same to its customers as the other companies in the post-purchase phase. However, the differences are in the process behind the creation of each offering. This lead to the creation of a substantive model that presents the process by which a company in the white goods sector can deliver personalized and data-driven experiences to their customers. The model additionally outlines the need for a quick-learning environment, developed through testing and experimentation within the companies. Concluding, the conclusions and recommendations suggested identifies what focuses need to be implemented by traditional companies in the white goods sector in order to succeed in a digital environment.

The consumer behaviour is adapting within industries due to new technologies such as smart phones. As consumer behaviour changes so do companies by adapting their way of engaging and interacting with their customers. This provides potential to innovate new service offerings. Successfully launching new services which provide value for the customer is faced with risk of failure. To mitigate risks associated with failure, a clear understanding of the customer can aid with understanding what value a service offering should provide to be successfully adopted by the market. Due to customer experience being unique for each individual, personalization is a technique which could be used within software to improve the customer experience. Challenges could arise in terms of scarcity of data which can impact the performance negatively of a data driven algorithm. However, veracity is another aspect of data known to be associated with the potential to improve performance. Based on these two issues, this study conducted a sequential mixed methods study consisting of an etnographic study on Instagram to better understand the customer experience within nightlife. Furthermore, the netnographic study enabled the construction of a gold standard, which were used while conducting a GSDMM topic modelling experiment with the purpose to evaluate what topics required further pre-processing due to high ambiguity of the text content. Findings from the netnographic study and its implication for customer experience was discussed from the point of view of a software service offering. This study suggests software offerings within nightlife to improve customer experience during the pre-purchasing phase by considering aspects related to age, interests in atmosphere, type of activity, preferred music genres, spending time with friends or facilitating escapism. The discussed service has negligible control during the post-purchasing stage suggesting that the firm could innovate controlled touchpoints, such experiences can be related to anticipation, joy, celebration, social adventures, memory of previous nights out (stories), current music preferences or new desires occurring spontaneously. Upon adopting a service dominant logic, this study suggests that software services can facilitate the customer experience within nightlife through co-creation, since with the proper usage of data, network effects could occur between the customer and an organizer or venue within nightlife, but also between customer to customer. A future study is proposed to investigate how the coordination could be conducted through crowd-sourced based interactions where the software functions as an overseer of a multi-actor setting to provide further insights regarding how such coordination impacts the co-creation of value. / Konsumentbeteende förändras inom industrier mot bakgrund av att nya teknologier introduceras, till exempel smarttelefoner. Då konsumentbeteendet förändras, gör även företagen förändringar i hur de involverar och interagerar med kunder. Dessa förändringar ger möjligheter för att utveckla eller ta fram nya tjänster. Samtidigt finns utmaningar vid lansering av nya tjänster. För att minska riskerna vid lansering av nya tjänster kan en god förståelse av konsumenten tydliggöra vilket värde en tjänst bör erbjuda för att bemötas positivt av marknaden. Då kundupplevelse är unikt för varje person, kan individualiseringstekniker inom mjukvara tillämpas för att förbättra kundupplevelsen. Det kan däremot uppstå problem när det är bristfälligt med data som algoritmen kan använda sig av. Kvalité och valt fokus på data kan dock förbättra algoritmens prestationer. Mot bakgrund av de två redogjorda problemen, genomfördes en sekventiellt blandad metodstudie bestående av en nätnografisk studie på Instragram för att utöka förståelsen av kundupplevelsen inom nattlivet. Resultatet från nätnografistudien har därefter använts för att konstruera en guldstandard vilket tillämpades på en ämnesklassificerare vid namn GSDMM. Syftet med ämnesklassifikationsexperimenten var att förstå vilka ämnen som skrivs med en hög grad av tvetydighet och därför komma att kräva en mer gedigen förbehandling av den textbaserade informationen. För att tillägga, har insikter från nätnografistudien diskuterats och dess betydelse för kundupplevelsen utifrån en mjukvarutjänsts perspektiv. Studien tyder på att mjukvarutjänster inom nattlivet kan förbättra kundupplevelsen i förköpsstadiet genom att beakta aspekter relaterat till ålder, föredragen stämning, typ av aktivitet, föredragna musikgenrer, att vara med vänner eller framhävning av eskapism. Den diskuterade tjänsten har försumbar kontroll av kundupplevelsen i efterköpsstadiet, därför föreslås införandet av kontrollerbara interaktioner med tjänsten. Sådana upplevelser bör fokusera på att spänna förväntningar, glädje, firande, sociala äventyr, minnen från tidigare utgångar (berättelser), föredragen musik i stunden eller nya önskemål som uppstår spontant under utgången. Vid tillämpning av tjänstedominantlogik indikerar studien att mjukvarutjänster kan förbättra kundupplevelsen genom samskapande, eftersom vid korrekt användning av data, kan nätverkseffekter förekomma mellan dels kund och organisatör eller lokal inom nattlivet, men även mellan kund och kund. Fortsatta studier föreslås forska om hur samverkan kan koordineras genom crowdsource-baserade interaktioner där en mjukvarutjänst fungerar som kontrollant/moderator av en multi-aktörkonstellation. En sådan studie kan ge förståelse om hur koordinationen påverkar värdeskapandet under samverkan.

This thesis investigates the influence of organizational culture on customer experience through a comprehensive study of a global supplier of home repair products. By combining organizational analysis and consumer research, this research draws on anthropological principles to explore the nuances of family governance and their effects on behavior, customer experience, and product design. The results of this study present insightful information on product perception and actionable strategies to improve product design, branding, and messaging in order to enhance customer experience and drive sales. Drawing on organizational anthropology and the utilization of critical reflexivity, this thesis provides a deeper understanding of how family-owned businesses can leverage research to challenge their cultural assumptions about products, consumers, and their organization, in order to effectively implement customer-centric solutions and drive organizational behavior, customer experience, and product development.