ABSTRACTTitle: The Effect of Customer Preferences Dynamism on Incumbent Firms:The Case of Nokia in the Mobile Phone industry.Authors: Adnan Kandeel kandeeladnan@gmail.comDinsel Sali dinsel08@yahoo.comFaculty: Department of Management and EngineeringDate: 27th of May 2013Background: The study of the dynamism of customer preferences’ effect onincumbent firms offers in-depth understanding of the active roleof customers in affecting the position of incumbent firmswhich has been neglected in the vast majority of literaturethat examined the declining position of incumbent firms.Aim: The aim of this thesis is to examine the dynamism of customerpreferences’ effect on incumbent firms.Definitions: Incumbent firm: the dominant firm in an industry.Customer preferences: the collection of attributes including explicitand implicit attributes of a certain product.Preference stereotypes: the implicit prejudgement by customers about a certain product that can not be ascribed to an explicit attribute.Methodology: A qualitative approach where online historical data from 1100 NokiaMobile phone user reviews for 11 years were collected, profiled, andthen analyzed.Completion and results: Incumbent firms are affected by the dynamism of explicit andimplicit preferences through their effect on radical and incrementalinnovation. Furthermore, preference stereotypes can affect incumbentfirms’ ability to impact the change of product meanings throughradical innovation and investment in technology.Keywords: Incumbent firms, Customer preferences dynamism, Radical innovation

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Title: Customer behavior and brand preferences in a snowboard shop Objectives: The main aim of this thesis is to find out what are customers during their purchase of winter sports clothes and equipment influenced by and what are their decisions based on. Another task is revealing what brands in the Snowboardel shop belong to the most known and preferred ones. Methods: In this thesis there is used the method of iterrogation and the method of analysis. The iterrogative method was used to collect the information essential for the research. Afterwards were these information analysed to find out the internal relations and its causes. Results: The research revealed that customers are during their purchase mainly influenced by the quality, design and price of the winter sports products. They also usually think their purchase thoroughly out. Among brands the big and well-known world snowboarding brands are usually most known and preferred. Keywords: Customer behavior, brand, winter sports equipment, customer preferences

A topic of this thesis is an analysis of customer preferences in relation to products and services of the company REX Controls s.r.o. that focuses mainly on industrial automation and control systems. The goal of this thesis is to find preferred attributes when acquiring a control system and determine a level of customer satisfaction and loyalty. Product attributes are determined by conducting semi-structured interviews. Analysis of customer preferences is based on a consumer research. Within the survey are involved two groups of experts on automation and regulation. Evaluation of the collected data is performed by using statistical tools. The results of the analysis and formulated recommendations for the company, which could help to achieve its objectives, are discussed in the conclusion part.

yes / Background/Aims: Personalised nutrition has potential to revolutionise dietary health promotion if accepted by the general public. We studied trust and preferences regarding personalised nutrition services, how they influence intention to adopt these services, and cultural and social differences therein. Methods: A total of 9381 participants were quota sampled to be representative for each of nine EU countries (Germany, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, UK, Norway) and surveyed by questionnaire assessing their intention to adopt personalised nutrition, trust in service regulators and information sources, and preferences for service providers and information channels. Results: Trust and preferences significantly predicted intention to adopt personalised nutrition. Higher trust in the local department of healthcare was associated with lower intention to adopt personalised nutrition. General practitioners were the most trusted of service regulators, except for in Portugal, where consumer organisations and universities were most trusted. In all countries, family doctors were the most trusted information providers. Trust in the National Health Service as service regulator and information source showed high variability across countries. Despite its highest variability across countries, personal meeting was the preferred communication channel except in Spain (where an automated internet service was preferred). General practitioners were the preferred service providers, except in Poland, where dietitians and nutritionists were preferred. The preference for dietitians and nutritionists as service providers highly varied across countries. Conclusion: These results may assist in informing local initiatives to encourage acceptance and adoption of country specific tailored personalised nutrition services therefore benefiting individual and public health.

Thesis (M.B.A. (Rhodes Investec Business School)) - Rhodes University, 2009. / A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Finding customer preferences when deciding about buying a tractor in the 201-300 horsepower category. Attributes will be gained through questionnaire survey, and will be used in the QFD method, where there will also be comparison of major competitors in a given market segment. The evaluation of tractors will also include the voice of the customer, gained from KANO model. KANO model will be second survey that will be used in this thesis. The conclusion is to build an ideal tractor structure that matches the customer's wishes.

Service quality and service recovery has been found to play a significant role in customer satisfaction and future purchase intentions. Many studies have been conducted on how to manage either the company perspective or customer perspective of these two concepts. Using the findings from five qualitative company interviews and three customer focus groups, this study addresses the purpose “to identify similarities and differences between the company and customer perspectives of service recovery in a quality system online”. The research identifies how companies in the service industry work with their websites and customer service as a tool for service quality and recovery. The company perspective is then compared to identified customer preferences in order to find similarities and differences that needs to be improved. The qualitative surveys are based on six dimensions of two existing models for service quality and service recovery online and the findings show similarities in all six dimensions, as well as several differences.

This diploma thesis entitled "Evaluation of the financial situation of the company and a proposal for financing advertising activities" deals with the processing of the evaluation of the current financial situation of the company using financial analysis tools. With the help of this evaluation, the steps for the implementation and financing of advertising steps are subsequently processed.

This diploma thesis deals with the causes of division of customer preferences towards individual retail units in the town of Blatná in order to recommend proposals for improvement for the consumer cooperative COOP. The theoretical overview provides basic information about food retailers in the Czech Republic, presents the formats of stores, attitudes of shoppers to food stores, individual elements of the retail mix or other factors influencing customer attitudes towards the store which can be influenced by retailers. The practical part relates to the food chains in Blatná and it is focused on identifying the respondents' favourite and main shopping place, the reasons for dividing customer preferences towards retail units, researching attitudes toward retail units and evaluating the retail mix of these stores. The practical part consists of two parts, a questionnaire survey focused on customers of food stores in Blatná, and research from these stores. Subsequently, it is possible to define respondents' attitudes towards food retailers in Blatná and their buying behavior. The survey in retail formats is used to identify and evaluate the core elements of the retail mix of individual stores. Thanks to these procedures it is possible to define improvement suggestions for COOP Tip in Blatná.