Syftet med denna undersökning är att fastställa konsumenters uppfattning om SAS varumärkesattribut och utröna vilka av dessa som har påverkats av den ekonomiska kris som företaget genomgick under hösten 2012. Metoden utgjordes av en tvåstegsmodell med fokusgrupp som inledande stadie i studien i syfte att ta reda på vilka attribut konsumenter associerar med SAS, samt en enkätundersökning för att ta reda på huruvida det har skett en förändring i uppfattningen om dessa attribut tillhörande SAS. Teoretisk anknytning har tagit utgångspunkt i Aakers (2002) modell för varumärkeskapital samt teorier om attribut och konsumenters uppfattning. Resultatet visar att ingen stor förändring i uppfattningen har skett kring den övergripande uppfattningen om SAS, dock kunde tendenser till förändring i uppfattning anas om ett antal av SAS varumärkesattribut. I undersökningen framkom att lojala kunder hade en mer positiv uppfattning om SAS efter krisen i jämförelse mot icke-lojala kunder, att SAS EuroBonusklubbmedlemmar hade en mer positiv uppfattning om SAS efter krisen i jämförelse mot icke-medlemmar, samt att yngre respondenter i högre utsträckning upplevde att deras uppfattning om SAS var mer negativ efter SAS senaste kris jämfört mot äldre.

Syfte: Syftet med den studie är att få en djupare förståelse för hur den förändrade kommunikationsmöjligheten via Facebook upplevs av kunder och företag inom dagligvaruhandeln. Vidare är syftet att också få en djupare förståelse för hur dessa upplevelserpåverkar relationen mellan kund och företag inom dagligvaruhandeln. Metod: Studien bygger på både en kvantitativ och kvalitativ undersökningsmetod. Undersökningen har genomförts med både enkät och intervjuer, på två företag och 17 kunder. Resultat: Både kunder och företag är överens om att företag ska ha Facebooksidor, och det ärviktigt att företagen är aktiva på dessa. Däremot är de inte överens om vad huvudsyftet med Facebooksidorna faktiskt är, företagen respektive kunderna har olika önskemål. Båda tror att Facebooksidan kan bidra till en ökad relation men om det i praktiken gör det, varierar pågrund av personliga upplevelser och åsikter. Begränsningar: Resultatet är endast baserat på två svenska dagligvaruhandelsföretag och desskunder. Studien går inte att generalisera eftersom det är för få komponenter som undersökts. Praktiska implikationer: Resultatet kan användas av företag inom den svenskadagligvaruhandeln. Kunder kan också ha nytta av denna studie ifall djupare kunskap om detbelysta ämnet önskas. Ä ven andra företag som är i planeringsstadiet med att börja använda sigav Facebooksidor kan ha nytta av denna studie. Originalitet: Andra liknande studier har gjorts, dock har de flesta av dem huvudsakligenbelyst företagsperspektivet. Denna studie behandlar både företags- och kundperspektiv för attfå fram resultat från båda håll. / Objective: The purpose is to gain a deeper understanding concerning the changes to communication and how these changes are perceived from customers and retail companies.Furthermore the intention is to see if these experiences affect the relationship between customer and company through Facebook. Methodology: This study is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative approach. Data has been collected with surveys and interviews from two Swedish retail companies and 17 of their customers also participated. Findings: The findings are that both companies and customers agree regarding the importanceof a company Facebookpage. They also believe the significance of a company being constantly active as well. Though they disagree about the main purpose with the company Facebookpage since the customers and companies’ expectations differ. Both parties believe that the company Facebookpage has the possibility to improve the relation however it seemsto depend on personal experiences and opinions when applying to reality-cases. Research Limitations: The result is based upon the answers from only two Swedish retail companies and their customers. Because of the few components involved the findings cannot be generalized. Practical Implications: The result can be of use to other companies within the Swedish retail industry. It may also prove useful to customers for the purpose of gaining further knowledge.The results might also provide guidance and insight to companies which are in the planningprocess or contemplating of creating a Facebook page. Originality: Similar studies have been conducted though most of them put their focus mainly from a company perspective. This study focuses on both company and customer perspective gaining understanding from both sides.

Customer loyalty is an important issue for the success and sustainability of an online business. Moreover, the concept of affiliate marketing online business has become well-known among online shoppers in the past several years. Nevertheless, there is little research investigating customer loyalty towards affiliate marketing websites, especially in China, where this kind of websites are known as ‘cash-back website’. Therefore, this research investigates customer loyalty towards cash-back websites (51fanli.com as the leading cash-back website) in the China market. Based on previous studies and interview, this research applies six factors (cash-back promotion, price comparison service, WOM in social community, quality web design, privacy and security, trust) as core and supplementary services which influence customer perspective in loyalty. This study aims to find out which factors in cash-back websites can influence customer loyalty in the China online market. In this research, questionnaires are sent to cash-back website users to collect quantitative data. A statistical analysis is used to verify the nine hypotheses to analyze the collected data. The result points to five factors in both core and supplementary services that support customer perspective towards loyalty, while only ‘WOM in social community’ has no correlation with Chinese customer perspective towards loyalty. After comparing the results of the two groups of customers, those used 51fanli.com and those who did not use 51fanli.com, the research discover that customers who used 51fanli.com have stronger opinions on ‘privacy and security’ factor. Customer perceived value has significant positive relations to customer satisfaction that may influence customer loyalty. Furthermore, managing the loyalty programme in order to maintain high switching cost is only applicable to customers who have high satisfaction towards the website. Finally, some managerial implications suggested cash-back websites to adapt unique strategies to gain more customers and cautiously use switching cost. Maintaining a good reputation on privacy and security is another key success factor of cash-back websites in China market.

Utifrån relationsmarknadsföringsperspektivet har vårdandet av relationen till kunder uppmärksammats inom marknaden för detaljhandel. Inom detta område är lojalitetsskapandet en viktig del och forskning visar tydligt på att företag som är verksamma offline respektive online arbetar med detta. Studiens syfte är att med hjälp av jämförelse och analys beskriva offline- och onlineföretags arbete med lojalitetsskapande och därmed bidra till ökad kunskap inom området. Detta leder till undersökningens frågeställning, vad finns det för skillnader mellan hur svenska online- och offlineföretag inom detaljhandeln arbetar för att få lojala kunder? För att ta reda på det har vi genomfört sju intervjuer med totalt sex anställda på två olika företag som dagligen arbetar med relationsmarknadsföring. Studien är även baserad på observationer av studieobjektens webbsidor, Facebook-, Instagram- och Youtubesidor samt företagens postala utskick. Detta för att kunna jämföra vad företagen säger att de gör med vad de faktiskt gör inom området relationsmarknadsföring, samt jämföra hur de olika företagen arbetar. De främsta teorier som denna studie baseras på handlar om hur kundklubbar hjälper företag att skapa lojala kunder. Utifrån dessa kundklubbar kan företag samla data om sina kunder för att kunna mäta denna lojalitet. Resultatet av intervjuerna och observationerna presenteras fristående från varandra. Vad gäller analysen är den indelad efter teorikapitlets presentation av teorier och modeller. Utifrån analysen har vi kunnat dra slutsatser som visar att det finns skillnader mellan företagen som beror på att de är verksamma offline respektive online. Det finns även vissa skillnader mellan företagen som inte beror på att företagen har olika syn på vad som gör kunderna lojala och vad de anser att lojalitet är. / The care of the relationship between a company and a customer has gotten attention from a relationship marketing point of view in the retail market. Customer loyalty is very important and a big part of reaching success for companies and research has shown that both offline and online companies work with this. The purpose of this study is that with a comparative study between an offline and an online company contribute to the knowledge about creating loyal customers. That leads us to the question of this paper, what are the differences between Swedish offline and online companies in the retail industry regarding loyalty creating? To answer this question this paper contains seven interviews with six employees at two different companies that on a daily basis work with relationship marketing. The study is also based on observations of the company’s communities, websites and paper mailings that are sent to the customers. This has been made to make it possible to compare what the companies say that they do to what they actually do. The theories that this paper is based on, is primarily regarding customer clubs and how these help companies building loyal customers. This Customer clubs is also a method for companies to gather information about the customers so that they can measure the customer loyalty. The result of the interviews and the observations is presented separately and the analysis is based on the theory chapter’s structure. In the analysis we have made some conclusions that shows the differences between offline and online companies and their work with customer loyalty. Some of the differences is based on that the companies doesn’t have the same view on what customer loyalty is and some differences is based on the fact that they act offline versus online.

I examine the relationship between the electoral security of congressmen, measured as vote margins in the previous election, and the support Members of Congress offer to their party. I develop a theory that predicts safe members will be more willing to support than vulnerable members and leaders demand more loyalty from safe members than vulnerable. This arrangement is rational and beneficial for leaders and both types of members. Using an OLS regression, I find basic support for my theory.

The aim of this study is to combine the various concepts, in the field of SME in service based industry, being developed independently by researchers. The goal is to provide a comprehensive overview on the rules and interactions of the involved factors. An investigation of the influence of corporate image and relationship quality on customer loyalty, among SMEs in the banking sector, is carried out. The moderating role of switching barrier is investigated. Furthermore the background variables, affecting relationship quality and corporate image, are investigated. This provides a deeper understanding on how customer loyalty is achieved. Such a deeper understanding on achieving customer loyalty can be regarded as a competitive tool especially in the banking sector with many financial providers and the products being alike. This article is based on 335 valid questionnaires returned from SME customers established in Sweden. The negative impact of Switching barrier on customer loyalty indicates that switching barrier should be avoided thus it decreases customer loyalty and does not have a moderating role. Instead focus should be put on delivering high professionalism which will contribute to higher level of relationship quality and positive perception of corporate image. This, in turn, will eliminate the moderating role of switching barrier and lead to customer loyalty.

Date: May 30, 2011 Program: MIMA – International Marketing Course name: Master Thesis (EFO 705) Title: Consumer behavior towards private label brands: A study of  Thai undergraduate students' experience Method: Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Quantitative method was used to collect the primary data for this research. Moreover, qualitative method was also used to support the results from questionnaires. Conclusion: The research attempts to examine the different factors that influence consumers' purchasing intentions of private label brands among Thai undergraduate students. Five important factors were identified; there are collectivist culture, perceived risk, price, quality and store loyalty. Collectivist culture and perceived risk were found out to be important background factors which affect the other three factors. Furthermore, the result shows that price and quality of private label brands are highly related as most of the target consumers tend to associate expensiveness with high quality and vice-versa. However, the effect of store loyalty on consumers' (Thai undergraduate students)purchasing intention was found out to be insignificant.

Purpose: The purpose of  this thesis is to see if the 100 largest Swedish companies are present on  Facebook, and if they are, how they use their business pages. Further the  customers’ perception of companies’ use of Facebook will be included. To  investigate this, three research questions were created. Background: As Web 2.0 and  its application has changed, the use of Internet, both for companies and  customers, there has been change in how information is delivered and how  people take in information. One application of Web 2.0 is Facebook, and in  this investigation the authors will look at the use of the application in  companies marketing strategy.  Many researchers  and marketers (Constantinides & Fountain, 2008; Carlsson, 2009; Yang et  al., 2009) recognizes the importance for companies to take advantage of this  new media and sees a value generating process for both company and customer,  but how this value generates profits is harder to identify. Further the  market and possibility to reach customers is every day increasing as Facebook  has gone from 100 million in 2008 to approximately 600 million members in 2011. Today in  Sweden, over four million people have a Facebook account.  Method: To gather empirical data the use of a coding sheet  has been developed through content analysis when investigating the selected  companies’ business pages. The companies were found from a list over the 100  largest Swedish companies ranked after turnover. Further to collect the customers’  perception of companies on Facebook a focus group were conducted. In the  focus group a semi-structured interview approach was chosen to create an open  discussion within the group but still maintaining on the subject in hand. To  analyze the empirical findings theories about social media, customer loyalty  and communication were used.  Conclusion: The authors of this thesis have determined three  different appearance areas by companies on Facebook; support forum,  advertising channel and just exist on the social media. Two main ways for  companies to use Facebook is as a customer support page or as an advertising/promotion/publicity  channel. In customers support pages the communication between the company and  customer is more substantial and different types of communication are to be  found such as B2C, C2B and C2C. By using  Facebook as advertising /promotion /publicity page the companies communicate  more through pictures and videos that is pushed out  by the company. The customers interact through viewing and commenting the  uploaded material. The result from the focus group  showed that the customer appreciated the advertising/promotion/publicity page  as this corresponds with their perception of companies on Facebook. The  participant saw the customer support page on Facebook as unserious and not a  suitable way of communicating with a company.

The technological progress the world is experiencing has also changed the way banking is done in Sweden today. One tough challenge for the banking industry is the moderately homogenous products and services they offer, which make banking particularly exposed and sensitive to customers and their switching behaviour. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what the role of Facebook is in relationship marketing within banking, a case study in SEB, Sweden. The theoretical framework is focusing on three major parts for this paper. Bank marketing involves ways of marketing and segmenting a bank, furthermore relationship marketing includes theories on building long-lasting relations with customers, and finally service related technology contains technological developments and strategies of social media This thesis is done according to an explanatory technique as material has been collected by qualitative interviews and the findings have been textual data. The study has been designed into a single case study of SEB. Interviews has been conducted to understand the way a Swedish retailing bank is using social media to enhance their customer relation. It was found that SEB is seen as a personal and rather modern bank with good accessibility according to the respondents. Furthermore, customers are kept satisfied and maintained through trust, loyalty, and proactive acting. Also, the Facebook service is a good communication tool that gives fast replies and is available to use anytime. The role of Facebook within banking is multiple in association to relationship marketing. For instance, it brings along a fast communication tool and a great flexibility. SEB is rather innovative in their operation by rapidly adopting new means of technologies. The bank’s brand image as a personal and proactive bank can further be strengthened through Facebook. Additionally long term relations can be stimulated through the increased communication, collaboration, and trust that Facebook builds. SEB operates proactive relationship marketing and Facebook is one of their latest proactive approaches. What has been realised is the role of Facebook to enhance customer satisfaction and relations in the long run.

The purpose of this research paper is to provide an understanding for organizational factors effect on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the hotel business and then investigate CRM activities effect on loyalty among business travelers. An analysis of 163 questionnaires gathered from hotels in Sweden resulted in two main findings. (1) Organizational factors such as: size, strategy, and maturity of information system affect CRM activities where the development of a customer loyalty strategy affects CRM activities the most. (2) CRM activities as: bonus cards, service customization, free-gifts, and convenient check in/check outs affect loyalty where service customization affects loyalty the most. Hence, different organizational preferences and certain CRM activities are preferable as hotels strive to create loyalty among business travelers.