Social responsibility and ethics have been shown to have a positive influence on consumer behavior, however the vast majority of related research has measured this relationship indirectly through scenario analysis of hypothetical firms rather than consumers' perceptions of real-world firms. This dissertation focused on a real-world application of the theory. Each hypothesis that specified a positive relationship was supported. These results show that Brand Social Responsibility Image not only positively influences Brand Loyalty, but also influences the perception of both Product Quality and Service Quality. Concurrently, it was found that both Product and Service Quality Image influenced Brand Loyalty. When controlling for the effect of other variables, some of the relationships proved to be weaker than expected. There were three hypotheses that tested the moderating effect of Inclination to Reward Brand Social Responsibility Image. The moderating influence of Inclination to Reward Brand Social Responsibility Image (RSRI) on the relationships between Brand Social Responsibility Image (BSRI) and Product Quality Image and between BSRI and Brand Loyalty were greatest for low levels of BSRI. Consumers rated Product Quality Image and Brand Loyalty lowest under conditions of L-BSRI and H-RSRI. Alternatively, when BSRI was high, both high and low treatments of RSRI resulted in similar sample means for both Product Quality Image and Brand Loyalty (i.e., minimal moderating effect). Inclination to Reward Brand Social Responsibility Image (RSRI) appeared to moderate the relationship between Brand Social Responsibility Image (BSRI) and Service Quality Image at high levels of BSRI. In other words, the perception of service quality was relatively high when both BSRI and RSRI were viewed as being high. Under conditions of H-BSRI and L-RSRI, Service Quality Image was substantially lower. Under conditions of L-BSRI, there was very little difference between L- and H-RSRI. / Ph. D.

This thesis investigates the nuanced factors influencing purchase intention and loyalty within the consumer durables markets of Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The study focus its attention on the trust and price value as main ingredients for purchase intention and loyalty while focusing on other environmental factors affecting consumer decision making efforts. The chosen research approach adopts a deductive method, with hypotheses derived from existing literature, concentrating on trust, loyalty, and price value concerning purchase intentions in Sri Lanka and Pakistan's consumer durables market. Primary data collection employs questionnaires distributed in these populations, utilizing a stratified random sampling technique to ensure diversity. The study supplements this with secondary data collection from reputable publications. The findings yield valuable managerial implications for consumer durable marketers targeting Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Key strategies encompass prioritizing transparent communication for trust-building, implementing fair pricing strategies, strategic investments in digital engagement, addressing environmental sustainability preferences, and adopting a holistic approach to customer loyalty. While emphasizing personalized engagement, community emphasis, and cultural resonance are crucial in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, global markets may demand standardized quality, innovation, and consistent customer experiences. Theoretical contributions extend to understanding consumer loyalty dynamics, exploring price value perception, and fostering cross-cultural insights, offering actionable insights for tailored marketing strategies and product offerings in these diverse markets. Despite its contributions, the study acknowledges limitations, including a restrained exploration of variables, a relatively small sample size, demographic homogeneity among participants, and exclusive reliance on a single data collection method. Recommendations for future studies encompass incorporating qualitative data exploration methods for a more holistic understanding of consumer decision-making, conducting a comprehensive analysis of environmental attitudes, recognizing the dynamic nature of consumer behavior through longitudinal studies, exploring cross-cultural differences, and expanding the geographic scope beyond Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

In 2019 the European Union presented a new directive, Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and the council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. An EU-directive needs to be implemented into the national law of every member state, which for Sweden resulted in a new law regarding whistle-blowing: Law (2021:819) about protection for persons reporting misconduct, or in Swedish, Lag (2021:819) om skydd för personer som rapporterar om missförhållanden. The directive is a minimum directive, which means that all of its content needs to be implemented into national law, but there is no stopping member states from giving further protection than the directive. This paper aims to analyse the new Swedish law, how it differs from the directive and earlier Swedish law regarding whistleblowing, how it interacts with other Swedish regulations and most importantly if and how the new law strengthens the protection of whistleblowers. Our focus will be on the perspective of the employee and what the new law can mean for them, along with discussing differences in protection between the public and private sector.  In order to fulfil our purpose we will in our legal investigation first present some background information surrounding whistleblowing to create an understanding of the concept and its importance. Then we will follow the legal hierarchy and firstly present information surrounding international and EU-law, then present relevant Swedish regulations that are of importance to whistleblowing. Furthermore there will be a presentation of both the old Swedish law regarding whistleblowing and the new Swedish law and how it is based off of the directive. During the legal investigation some case law, both from the European Court of Human Rights and the Swedish court, will be presented to explain some background to the origin of the EU-directive and to analyse if and how the new Swedish law could be of help in the Swedish case. Finally there will be an analysis based on our legal investigation where we answer and discuss our research question.

Background and problem: Since the abolition of the audit obligation for small limited companies in 2010, non obligated companies can decide for themselves whether they want to hire an auditor or not. The majority of these companies opt out of audit due to high audit costs, auditbut approximately 3040 percent of these companies still want to be audited even though they are not covered by the audit obligation. The government's ongoing investigation into the possible reintroduction of the law from 2010 makes it even more interestin g and contributes to our wanting to investigate the motives behind the voluntary audit of these companies. Aim: The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze whether and why a selection of companies in the study with loyalty systems that are not sub ject to audit duty choose to hire an auditor. Questions: 1. 2. Are there companies among the sample in this study that choose to engage the auditor without being subject to audit duty? Why do small limited companies with loyalty systems that are not subject to choose to engage the auditor? Method: audit duty The study is based on a quantitative method with a deductive approach. The method is based on primary data collected through a questionnaire survey in which 68 nonsmall limited companies par auditobligated ticipated. The collected data was then analyzed using various statistical models. Results and conclusion: The study's results show that 73 procent of respondents choose voluntary audit. The motives that, according to the study's empirical analysis, may lie behind this decision are the company's development, the company's profitability, the auditor's advice and the auditor's insurance. This result cannot be generalized.

Background and problem: Since the abolition of the audit obligation for small limited companies in 2010, non obligated companies can decide for themselves whether they want to hire an auditor or not. The majority of these companies opt out of audit due to high audit costs, auditbut approximately 3040 percent of these companies still want to be audited even though they are not covered by the audit obligation. The government's ongoing investigation into the possible reintroduction of the law from 2010 makes it even more interestin g and contributes to our wanting to investigate the motives behind the voluntary audit of these companies. Aim: The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze whether and why a selection of companies in the study with loyalty systems that are not sub ject to audit duty choose to hire an auditor. Questions: 1. 2. Are there companies among the sample in this study that choose to engage the auditor without being subject to audit duty? Why do small limited companies with loyalty systems that are not subject to choose to engage the auditor? Method: audit duty The study is based on a quantitative method with a deductive approach. The method is based on primary data collected through a questionnaire survey in which 68 nonsmall limited companies par auditobligated ticipated. The collected data was then analyzed using various statistical models. Results and conclusion: The study's results show that 73 procent of respondents choose voluntary audit. The motives that, according to the study's empirical analysis, may lie behind this decision are the company's development, the company's profitability, the auditor's advice and the auditor's insurance. This result cannot be generalized.

Användarchurn är ett stort problem för mobile applikationer, och speciellt för älsoapplikationer. Eftersom mobila applikationer är en så ny industri finns det nästan ingen forskning om churn i mobila applikationer, och ingen forskning alls om fokuserad på churn i hälsoapplikationer. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka vilka dimensioner ett företag med en mobil hälsoapplikation måste ta hänsyn till för att analysera churn, samt att ge dem verktyg för att själva analysera churn i framtiden. Studien gjordes i for m av en case - studie på företaget Lifesum. En omfattande   litteraturstudie genomfördes för att skapa ett initia l ramverk för att analysera churn i en hälsoapplikation. Intervjuer gjordes med både användare samt anställda på Lifesum, med frågor baserade på det initiala ramverket. Resultatet av intervjuerna användes sen för att förbättra ramverket, för att ge en mer korrekt bild av churn i en mobil hälsoapplikation. Resultatet användes också för att skapa en sammanställning av churn på case - företaget Lifesum. Studien resulterade I ett ramverk med flera olika dimensioner, med flera olika kopplingar. De imensioner som främst påverkar churn är användarnöjdhet samt bytesbarriärer, och de är i  in tur influerade av andra faktorer. Analyses av churn i Lifesum - applikationen visar att churn är komplext. Användare har flera olika syften med att använda applikationen, samt ännu fler anledningar till varför de slutar använda appen. Ett diagram som kartlägg er de olika användarna presenteras, men en analys om hur applikationen behöver förändras för att passa behoven av de olika användargrupperna. En  rekommendation ges också till företag att undersöka vilken typ an användare de vill fokusera på, baserat både på vad de kan göra samt vilken riktning de vill att applikationen ska ta. / User churn is a big problem for mobile applications, and in particular for healthapplications. Because mobile applications is such a new industry there is almost no research on churn in mobile applications, and none at all regarding health. The purpose of this research was to explain what dimensions a mobile health application company need to take into account when analyzing churn, and provide them with the tools to analyze churn in the future.The study was done in the form of a case study at the mobile health company Lifesum. An extensive literature study was conducted to create an initial framework for analyzing user churn in a health application. Interviews were conducted with both users and with Lifesum employees, with questions based on the initial framework. The results of the interviews were then used to augment the initial framework, to represent a more accurate image of user churn in a mobile health application. The results of the interviews were also used to create an overview of churn in the specific case study of the Lifesum app.The outcome of the study was a framework with many different dimensions, with intricate connections between them. The main dimensions influencing user churn are user satisfaction and switching barriers, and they are in turn influenced by other factors. The analysis of churn in the Lifesum application shows that churn is complex. Users have many different purposes for using the app, and even more reasons for why they stop using the application. A diagram mapping the different users is presented, with analysis regarding how the app needs to change to cater to the different user groups. A recommendation is also given for companies to investigate which type of users they want to cater to, based on both what they can do and what direction they want the application to go.

With the emergence of the internet as a new business channel and its impact on the overall role of today¿s customers, existing models for the measurement of perceived quality, satisfaction and loyalty are worth revisiting. This is specifically important in light of the prominent progress of some of the new business concepts, particularly customer experience management, and the rising emphasis on customers¿ hedonic and emotional needs. This study attempts to bridge the gap in existing literature by examining the online customer experience in its entirety, attending within the study to both the utilitarian and hedonic needs of online customers and giving special attention to emerging aspects in the online environment, such as customer engagement in self-driven experiences. Therefore, the study includes a comprehensive review of a large body of knowledge, both in consumer behaviour and marketing literature as well as quality management literature, in addition to a scrutiny of 50 studies for different evaluation models in the online environment. This is in order to identify a list of attributes and factors that impact customer evaluations of online experiences. Upon the synthesis of the list of attributes and factors that impact customer evaluations of online experiences, an online blog was created as an environment for asynchronous focus groups. The online blog was beneficial in creating a deeper understanding of what online customers want and what impacts their experiences. Following, an online questionnaire was administered in two stages, once for measure purification purposes which received 90 pilot responses and once for mass data collection purposes which received 366 responses. As a result of this study, an integrated model for the measurement of online customer experience that emphasises the significance of the emotional component was proposed. The model consists of three components, each serve a specific measurement purpose. The XQual construct which consists of 7 attributes and 30 factors, is a performance measure of the experience in relation to specific aspects that address customers¿ utilitarian and hedonic needs. The satisfaction continuum consists of four factors and is an output measure for each experience or transaction with the online firm. The loyalty continuum consists of four factors and is an outcome measure that indicates customers¿ attitudinal commitment towards the online firm.

Control and involvement are well researched concepts in traditional marketing, while interactivity is a relatively new concept associated with Internet marketing and communication. From an Internet interaction perspective, the research examines the impact of interactivity, control and involvement on customer satisfaction and loyalty in an eBanking context. Using Flow Theory as the theoretical foundation, it is proposed that these three Internet communication constructs lead to eService dependency and eService encounter satisfaction, which, in turn, enhance the overall satisfaction and loyalty to the principal bank at corporate level. A mixed methodology using both qualitative and quantitative approaches of data collection is adopted. In-depth interviews with eBankers and focus group studies with eBanking customers support the importance of interactivity, control and involvement in the eService encounter. The in-depth interviews and focus groups facilitate the identification of eService dependency as a new construct in the model. Participants¿ views also help the operationalisation of constructs and development of questionnaire for quantitative data collection. ii Analysis of the quantitative data using structural equation modelling shows support for all three constructs¿ hypothesised positive relationships with eService dependency and eService encounter satisfaction i.e. satisfaction at the service encounter level. It is also confirmed that eService dependency and eService encounter satisfaction have a positive impact on overall satisfaction with the principal bank i.e. satisfaction at corporate level. However, the influence of eService dependency and eService encounter satisfaction on loyalty to principal bank is not supported. The research concludes with the theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the research. Strategies to enhance interactivity with, control of and involvement by eBanking customers are recommended to eBankers. Limitations of the research and directions for future research in Internet and eService are also suggested.

This thesis examines the importance of employee perceptions of their organisation¿s visual corporate identity (VCI) particularly the symbolic ¿corporate logo¿. Employees¿ views of the logo reveal their perceptions of the organisation itself (Henderson and Cote 1998:15, Olins 1995:73) so are an important indicator of their positive or negative feelings towards their establishment. Previous research recognises the significance of employees¿ opinions, but has overlooked their perceptions of the VCI. In education, external marketing (including VCI) is of growing interest but there has been little concern with internal marketing. Methodology A mixed methods, sequential, explanatory case study into a UK independent school was undertaken. Quantitative data was obtained from questionnaires, distributed to the schools¿ employees and qualitative data from interviews; analysis reveals convergent and divergent findings.Findings The majority of the schools¿ employees consider the corporate colours and logo important, associate positive meanings with the logo and were proud to be linked to the school by wearing branded items. Employees felt affiliation for the logo and considered the VCI to be strong although responses differed depending upon gender, full or part-time employment, department, seniority and length-of-service. A new model has been developed, the IMP Test, that reveals the perceptions; the importance, meanings, and pride that employees attach to their VCI. Implications These findings reinforce and add to previous research of employee perceptions of their VCI (particularly in education) and it follows, towards their organisation. Utilising this approach, managers can gain a deeper understanding of employee perceptions which has implications for morale and motivation.

This thesis investigates a generalisable cross-cultural model for brand loyalty by integrating extant theories of personal cultural orientation (of individualism and collectivism), self-congruity (actual, ideal, social, and ideal social self-congurity), customer satisfaction, attitudinal brand loyalty, and behavioural brand loyalty. Creating brand loyalty is a key branding issue in modern marketing. Brands are faced with the challenge of building, maintaining, and increasing their capacity to drive customer loyalty across borders with consumers of different cultures. Notwithstanding the growth of culturally centered brand loyalty research, the focus of research today continues to be on cross-cultural differences, often overlooking the generalisable cross-cultural path to consumer brand loyalty. This study instead addresses this overlooked topic of cross-cultural generalisabilities across nations. To assess the cross-cultural generalisability of the conceptual model, survey data from a non-student sample were collected from middle-class, Generation Y individuals of the relevant nationality who have always lived in China, Singapore, or the United States. After performing data cleaning procedures, 541 usable responses from three countries were analysed with the use of the SEM model. The findings show that the personal cultural orientation of collectivism has a positive effect on behavioural brand loyalty through ideal social self-congruity, customer satisfaction, and attitudinal brand loyalty. These findings extend brand loyalty research by considering how an individual’s personal cultural orientation impacts brand loyalty. Moreover, the findings offer marketers increased insight into consumers’ brand loyalty formation process in cross-cultural contexts. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are also presented.