This diploma thesis has been prepared on the theme: The influence of the legislative environment governing the sale of pharmaceuticals in ČR - on the loyalty program of Pharmacy ALMA. In the first part was performed an analysis of the legislative environment. In another part of thesis the loyalty program was evaluated. Loyalty program was evaluated as a whole. Were also evaluated marketing events held in the Pharmacy ALMA during 2010 and 2011. The result of thesis was that the loyalty program is benefits for Pharmacy ALMA. The operation of a loyalty program is cost-effective for Pharmacy ALMA. Pharmacy should also carry out marketing campaigns because it has a positive effect on clients of pharmacy.

This diploma thesis was prepared for the customer satisfaction in the selected company. The ambition of this thesis has been uncovering the information about the customer´s satisfaction in the selected company. The author proposed the changes based on the data from the survey,which are the final result of the work.

Butikslojalitet är viktigt för butiken då lojala kunder kan gynna dem utifrån marknadsföring och lönsamhetsperspektiv. Säljteknik, i vårt fall reciprocitet, är också viktig för butiken då det är ett sätt att påverka konsumenten i deras köpprocess genom att utföra tjänster eller ge gåvor till konsumenten för att skapa en känsla av att stå i skuld. Syftet med rapporten är att undersöka hur reciprocitet kan användas för att påverka konsumenten till att skifta lojalitet till en annan butik eller förstärka lojaliteten till butiken. För att uppfylla syftet har vi svarat på vår frågeställning. Frågeställningen är hur säljtekniken reciprocitet påverkar konsumenters butikslojalitet när det kommer till köp av kläder. Vi använde oss av en kvalitativ metod, där undersökningen var i intervjuform med sex olika representanter i åldersgruppen 20-30 år. Intervjun utformades i syftet att få reda på hur respondenternas butikslojalitet påverkades av reciprocitet och om lojaliteten kunde förstärkas av reciprocitet. Av vår empiri och teori kunde vi komma fram till slutsatsen att reciprocitet påverkar kunders lojalitet och framförallt principerna om perceptuell kontrast och backa efter avslag. / Store loyalty is important for the stores as they can benefit from the loyal customers when it comes to marketing and profitability. Sales techniques are also important to the store as they are a way of influencing consumers in their buying process by providing services or giving the consumer gifts to create a feeling of guilt. The purpose of the report is to investigate how reciprocity can affect the consumer to switch their loyalty to a different store or enhance the loyalty to the store. To fulfill this purpose, we have answered our question. The question is how the sales technique reciprocity affect the consumers store loyalty when it comes to buying clothes. A qualitative method was used, where the survey consisted in interviews with six different representatives in the age group 20-30 years. The interview was designed to find out how respondents store loyalty was affected by reciprocity and if loyalty could be enhanced by reciprocity. From our empirical and theory, we could conclude that reciprocity affects customer loyalty and especially the principles of perceptual contrast and door in the face.

Abstract Background Since the emergence of digital banking, the financial sector has experienced a significant transformation in both how business is conducted and how services are provided to customers. Previous literature has examined how new technologies and the digitalization of banks' customer service affect customer loyalty. Although, since virtual agents acting as service providers in the banking sector is a relatively new phenomenon, there is limited research concerning the implications it will have on the bank-customer relationship. Hence, the novelty and relevance of the topic makes it interesting for further research.    Purpose Through the identified underlying factors affecting customer loyalty, the purpose of this study is to examine how customer loyalty will be affected by the implementation of virtual agents as service providers in major Swedish banks.   Method This is a qualitative study, and the empirical data were collected from semi-structured in-depth interviews with bankers at four major Swedish banks, as well as with ten highly-educated customers who are frequent users of bank services.   Findings The findings showed that virtual agents must affect customer service to a large extent to have a profound impact on customer loyalty. Virtual agents will be able to replace human bankers regarding simpler inquiries satisfyingly. On the other hand, the demand for personal interactions regarding more complex matters is found to be important.

Nowadays with the development of Internet, there is a shift from offline to online travel agencies. Challenges like customer loyalty go hand in hand with advantages such as fast speed and convenience. This paper aims to identify what are the determining factors that have an impact on customer loyalty to online travel agencies through an empirical study of Expedia, an online travel booking platform. According to the research of previous literature, this paper proposes seven factors that have an influence on customer loyalty in the environment of online travel agencies. Then a new framework is outlined and seven hypotheses are generated to address the research questions that are put forward. This study adopts an online questionnaire, a quantitative strategy, as the method to collect data. After analysis, the results support five outlined hypotheses and two are not supported. Finally, the findings will provide some managerial implications to improve the customer loyalty to Expedia and also be helpful for the whole online travel agency market.

A retenção de clientes é um imperativo para a competitividade das organizações, com reflexos importantes na sua participação de mercado, lucratividade e rentabilidade. Muito embora estudos, tanto teóricos quanto empíricos, relacionados aos determinantes da retenção de clientes e seu impacto no desempenho das empresas venham sendo realizados há pelo menos três décadas, os construtos utilizados na elaboração dos modelos teóricos utilizados sofreram relativamente poucas alterações ao longo deste período. Neste sentido, foi desenvolvido e testado um modelo teórico original, que contempla os construtos Proposição de Valor, Recursos Operados, Recursos Operantes, Facilitação de Valor, Cocriação de Valor e Valor de Uso como determinantes da Retenção de Clientes. O estudo foi conduzido por meio de uma pesquisa quantitativa, mais especificamente com a realização de uma survey, realizada junto a uma amostra de 273 clientes de uma instituição financeira (banco de varejo). A análise dos resultados foi realizada com base na estatística multivariada, utilizando-se a Modelagem de Equações Estruturais para analisar e compreender os elementos e relações que compõem o Modelo Teórico proposto. Os resultados apontaram que o Modelo Teórico proposto apresentou índices de ajuste satisfatórios. A contribuição de maior destaque é a validação das relações entre os construtos testados, evidenciando que a proposição de valor influencia significativa e positivamente os recursos operados e operantes; os recursos operados influenciam significativa e positivamente a facilitação de valor; os recursos operantes influenciam significativa e positivamente a cocriação de valor; a proposição de valor influencia significativa e positivamente a facilitação de valor e a cocriação de valor; a facilitação e a cocriação de valor influenciam significativa e positivamente o valor de uso; e o valor de uso influencia significativa e positivamente a retenção de clientes no contexto de um banco de varejo. Adicionalmente, foi constatado que o tipo de cliente (cliente de um único banco ou de múltiplos bancos), modera positivamente a relação entre a proposição de valor e os recursos operados. Dessa forma, o estudo contribui para a evolução da compreensão dos conceitos testados, ampliando o entendimento de cada construto individual e fornecendo evidências empíricas de sua relação como determinantes da retenção de clientes. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-05-11T16:50:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Giancarlo Dal Bó.pdf: 2020544 bytes, checksum: 3f18b0c1740def6f5a441036d7c1cff3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-11T16:50:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Giancarlo Dal Bó.pdf: 2020544 bytes, checksum: 3f18b0c1740def6f5a441036d7c1cff3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-11 / Customer retention is an imperative for competitiveness of organizations, with important effects on market share, profitability and profitability. Although studies, both theoretical and empirical, related to the determinants of customer retention and its impact on business performance will be carried out for at least three decades, the constructs used in the preparation of the theoretical models used have undergone relatively little change over this period. In this sense, it was developed and tested an original theoretical model, which includes the constructs Value Proposition, Operated Resources, Operants Resources, Value Facilitation Co-creation of Value and Use Value as determinants of Customer Retention. The study was conducted through a quantitative research, specifically with the completion of a survey, carried out among a sample of 273 customers of a financial institution (retail banking). The analysis was based on multivariate statistics, using structural equation modeling to analyze and understand the elements and relationships that make up the proposed theoretical model. The results showed that the proposed Theoretical Model presented satisfactory fit indexes, considering its originality. The most prominent contribution is the validation of significant and positive relationships between the constructs tested, showing that value proposition influences significant and positively operand and operant resources; operand resources influence significant and positively value facilitation; operant resources influence significant and positively the value co-creation; value proposition influences significant and positively the value facilitation and value co-creation; value facilitation and value co-creation influence significant and positively the value-in-use; and the value-in-use influences significant and positively the customer retention in the context of a retail bank. Furthermore, this study shows that the client profile positively moderates the relationship bertween value proposition and operand resources. Thus, the study contributes to the evolution of the understanding of the concepts tested, increasing the understanding of each individual construct and providing empirical evidence of their relationship as determinants of customer retention.

O ambiente das operações de serviços lança desafios às organizações e a seus gestores, principalmente por envolverem o cliente no ato de consumo do serviço. Os efeitos da tecnologia e da globalização torna esta situação ainda mais desafiadora. Somado a isto, a importância de prestar serviços que vão ao encontro daquilo que o mercado deseja, como forma de fidelizar clientes num mercado cada vez mais exigente. Evidências de estudos apontam para a estratégia da lealdade como uma maneira de formar uma base de clientes sustentável, proporcionando lucros crescentes ao longo do tempo. Neste contexto, este estudo foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de verificar a interferência da qualidade percebida dos serviços, da linha de frente e retaguarda, na lealdade dos clientes pessoa jurídica (PJ) num Banco. O estudo é composto por duas etapas, uma qualitativa exploratória e outra quantitativa descritiva. A etapa qualitativa, através de entrevistas semiestruturadas em profundidade teve como propósito coletar percepções de gestores e clientes do Banco que ambientou a pesquisa, que proporcionassem subsídios para o aprimoramento do instrumento de coleta aplicado na etapa quantitativa. Através de uma survey, foi aplicado um questionário com 48 questões cuja escala de qualidade de serviços SERVPERF e a escala de lealdade de Santos (2001) tiveram adicionadas 20 questões oriundas das entrevistas da etapa qualitativa. Como resultados, a etapa qualitativa contribui com uma proposta de escala adaptada para o contexto atual do setor bancário clientes PJ. Na etapa quantitativa, os fatores empatia, segurança e resposta formaram um modelo que representa 62% de poder de explicação do comportamento de lealdade dos 129 clientes que compuseram amostra. A ANOVA – Análise da Variância foi realizada para a comparação entre as médias de avaliação da qualidade e lealdade entre diferentes grupos de clientes. Os resultados permitem concluir que as respectivas médias de avaliação são mais elevadas para clientes com maior grau de relacionamento com o Banco, apresentando maiores níveis de significância para clientes que operam com crédito e clientes que afirmaram que o Banco é sua principal instituição financeira em volume de negócios. Ao final, são destacadas algumas implicações teóricas e gerenciais do trabalho, assim como limitações da pesquisa e sugestões para estudos futuros. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-05-11T18:07:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcio Vanderlei Saueressig.pdf: 1034254 bytes, checksum: 880e68b3f64769e7e56b7b385440b125 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-11T18:07:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcio Vanderlei Saueressig.pdf: 1034254 bytes, checksum: 880e68b3f64769e7e56b7b385440b125 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-11 / The environment of services operations poses challenges to organizations and their managers, mainly because they involve the customer in the acts of consumer service. The effects of technology and globalization, makes the situation even more challenging. Added to this, the importance of providing services that meet what the market wants, in order to retain customers in an increasingly demanding market. Studies evidences point to a strategy of loyalty as a way to form a sustainable customer base, providing increased profits over time. In this context, this study was conducted in order to verify the interference of the perceived quality of services, the front and back office, at the loyalty of corporate customers in a Bank. The study consists of two phases, an exploratory qualitative and other quantitative descriptive. The qualitative stage, through semi-structured and in-depth interviews aimed to collect perceptions of managers and customers of the Bank who was the environment of the research. That would provide subsidies for the improvement of the collection instrument applied to the quantitative stage. Through a survey, a questionnaire was administered to 48 questions whose range of quality services SERVPERF and the scale of loyalty to Santos (2001) had added 20 questions derived from interviews of qualitative stage. As a result, qualitative stage contributes a proposal to scale adapted to the current context of the banking industry corporate customers. In the quantitative stage, the empathy factor, security and response formed a model that represents 62% of explanatory power of the loyalty behavior of 129 customers that composed the sample. ANOVA – Analysis of Variances was performed to compare the means of assessing the quality and loyalty among different customer groups. The results show that the respective means of evaluation are higher for customers with a higher level of relationship with the Bank, with higher significance levels for customers that operate with credit and customers who said that the Bank is a leading financial institution in volume Business. Lastly, the paper highlighted some theoretical and managerial implications of the work, as well as limitations of the research and suggestions for future studies.

Nos mercados de varejos altamente competitivos há uma constante busca pela diferenciação e lealdade dos consumidores. Contudo, a compreensão de como os atributos de imagem de loja são percebidos pelos consumidores é uma questão de suma importância. É nesse contexto dinâmico do varejo que o presente trabalho de pesquisa foi desenvolvido, tento como principal objetivo identificar a relação entre imagem de varejo de vestuário e a lealdade dos consumidores da geração Y. O estudo se inicia com uma revisão bibliográfica sobre imagem, imagem de loja, lealdade e o modelo conceitual de imagem de loja (MCIL). A pesquisa foi realizada através de levantamento de campo com aplicação de questionário estruturado e a população foi definida como sendo consumidores da geração Y – nascidos entre final dos anos 1970 até o ano 2000, cuja amostra foi constituída de 394 respondentes. Os dados foram avaliados através da análise estatística multivariada de dados, utilizando a técnica de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais. Como resultados foi obtida a confirmação de que a imagem de loja é composta pelos construtos atmosfera, instalações, mix de produtos (mercadoria), promoção, pessoal de vendas e serviços e o modelo teórico proposto foi considerado adequado, indicando que a lealdade é explicada por 23,8% pela imagem de loja, apresentando uma boa contribuição tanto acadêmica quanto gerencial. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-07-25T11:48:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Virginia Dal Ponte.pdf: 1556695 bytes, checksum: dd0d4ede4e519e9ab9e4d414cffffb78 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-25T11:48:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Virginia Dal Ponte.pdf: 1556695 bytes, checksum: dd0d4ede4e519e9ab9e4d414cffffb78 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-25 / In the highly competitive retail market there is a constant search for differentiation and customer loyalty. However, understanding how store image attributes are perceived by consumers is a matter of paramount importance. It is in this dynamic retail context that this research work was carried out, try as main objective to identify the relationship between retail clothing image and the loyalty of consumers of Generation Y. The study begins with a literature review of image, image store loyalty and the conceptual model of store image (MCIL). The survey was conducted through a structured questionnaire application with field survey and the population was defined as consumers of Generation Y - born between the late 1970s until 2000, whose sample consisted of 394 respondents. The data were analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis of data, using structural equation modeling technique. The results were obtained confirmation that the store image is composed of the constructs atmosphere, facilities, merchandise, promotion, sales personnel and service and the proposed theoretical model was appropriate, indicating that loyalty is explained by 23.8% by the image store and offer great contribution both academic and managerial.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology. / This thesis is prompted by the discussions around Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the financial industry and life insurance companies in particular. The study seeks to gain better understanding of the influence that CRM has on Customer Loyalty in a selected South African life insurance company. While CRM has been approached by academics and practitioners from different perspectives, literature seems to be viewed as inconsistent and fragmented on this concept. The concept of CRM is a new approach by management in South Africa and it is due to this fact that there are not sufficient studies on it. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the influence of Customer Relationship Management on customer loyalty in Metropolitan. To achieve this purpose, a questionnaire was distributed amongst selected Metropolitan customer service offices nationally and a selected number of customers were approached to participate in the study. The findings show that Customer Relationship Management has an influence on customer loyalty and that Metropolitan does employ the principles of Customer Relationship Management.

Desenvolver e manter a lealdade dos consumidores em relação à marca é requisito estratégico para negócios bem-sucedidos. No atual contexto competitivo o consumidor não está mais interessado em comprar produtos ou serviços apenas pelos seus benefícios funcionais, mas, sobretudo pela decorrência dos valores simbólicos e afetivos que este sente em relação aos mesmos ou à marca. Neste sentido, o presente estudo teve por objetivo analisar o impacto dos construtos Qualidade Percebida, Consciência da Marca, Personalidade da Marca e Amor à Marca como determinantes da Lealdade à Marca dos consumidores. Assim sendo, o cerne desta investigação foi desenvolver um Modelo Teórico acerca dos determinantes da Lealdade à Marca. Para atingir este objetivo, inicialmente foi feito um levantamento teórico sobre estes construtos, propondo um modelo teórico, que foi testado e validado. O estudo foi realizado sobre a perspectiva de consumidores da marca de refrigerante Guaraná Jesus, na cidade de São Luís, no Estado do Maranhão (MA), no Brasil. Portanto, para avaliar o Modelo Teórico proposto, contemplando os determinantes da Lealdade à Marca, foi considerado como contexto de pesquisa a marca de refrigerante Guaraná Jesus, mediante o acesso a consumidores deste produto, pelo fato de terem um forte vínculo com a marca e o produto. Os dados foram analisados estatisticamente utilizando técnicas de análise multivariadas, mais especificamente a Modelagem de Equações Estruturais, que auxiliou na explicação do fenômeno estudado. Os resultados validaram o modelo teórico proposto a partir dos índices obtidos e da confirmação de todas as suposições (hipóteses) iniciais. Dessa forma, conclui-se que há uma relação positiva e significativa entre os construtos Consciência da Marca e Qualidade Percebida. Igualmente, atesta-se que o construto Personalidade da Marca influencia de forma significativa e direta a Consciência da Marca, a Qualidade Percebida e o Amor à Marca. Ficou demonstrado, ainda, que o construto Amor à Marca tem forte influência sobre a Lealdade à Marca, e que a frequência de consumo pode agir como um moderador significativo desta relação. Este estudo, portanto, contribui para uma maior compreensão sobre a temática com uma gama de argumentos de âmbito acadêmico e gerencial, que podem ser explorados em pesquisas futuras para o amadurecimento dos construtos bem como o próprio modelo teórico validado, no âmbito da gestão empresarial no que se refere ao gerenciamento de marcas. / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq / Developing and maintaining consumer loyalty towards the brand is a strategic requirement for successful business. In the current competitive context, the consumer is no longer interested in buying products or services only for their functional benefits, but mainly because of the symbolic and affective values that he or she feels in relation to them or to the brand. In this sense the present study aimed to analyze the impact of the constructs Perceived Quality, Brand Awareness, Brand Personality and Brand Love as determinants of consumers' Brand Loyalty. Thus the core of this research was to develop a Theoretical Model on the determinants of Brand Loyalty. To achieve this objective, a theoretical research was initially made, proposing a theoretical model, which was tested and validated. The study was carried out on the perspective of consumers of the Guaraná Jesus soft drink brand, in the city of São Luís, State of Maranhão (MA), Brazil. Therefore, in order to evaluate the proposed Theoretical Model, considering, the determinants of Brand Loyalty, the Guaraná Jesus brand of soft drink was considered as a research context by accessing these consumers of this product because they have a strong bond with the brand and the product. The data were analyzed statistically using Multivariate Analysis techniques, more specifically the Modeling of Structural Equations (SEM), which aided in the explanation of the studied phenomenon. The results validated the theoretical model proposed from the indexes obtained and from the confirmation of all the initial assumptions (hypotheses). Thus, it is concluded that there is a positive and meaningful relationship between the constructs Brand Awareness and Perceived Quality. Likewise, it is confirmed that the Brand Personality construct influences in a significant and direct way the Brand Awareness, the Perceived Quality and the construct Brand Love. It has been demonstrated that the Brand Love has a strong influence on Brand Loyalty and that the level of consumption can act as a significant moderator of this relationship. This study therefore contributes to a greater understanding of the thematic and with a range of arguments of academic and managerial scope, which can be explored in future research for the maturation of constructs as well as the validated theoretical model itself and in the Business management in terms of brand management.