Today more and more people buy second-hand products on internet. As the typical durable goods, second-hand cars are very popular among consumers. In recent years, the sale of second-hand cars increases quickly in China. In addition, there is still potential in the second-hand market. On the other hand, consumers are the subject in the second-hand market. So what consumers take into consideration is important when buying second-hand cars. We have chosen some social factors that influence consumers’ decision when they purchase second-hand cars. Furthermore, we have analyzed the importance of these social factors and the relationship between factors.The purpose of this study is to give vehicle dealers a guide how consumers with different characteristics will pay attention to different factors of the cars but also to guide consumers to make a rational decision when they buy second-hand cars.We have chosen the EKB model as our basic theory. A quantitative research approach and cross sectional research design were used in this study. The link of our questionnaire was published in Baidu Tieba after being designed by SOJUMP and we collected 151 responses. Then, respondent demographics, cross tabulations analysis, one-way ANOVA analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, and sorting analysis were analyzed.The results show that information about the real condition of the car is the most important factor influencing customers when purchasing second-hand cars, price is the second most influencing factor, vehicle model and brand are the third and the fourth respectively, after-sales service ranks the least as most influencing factor.

Abstract Through various marketing activities to building brand image is the key to exist for auto firms. The goal of this study is to analyze the influences of demographic variables both on the consumer condition of brand marketing activities and consumers¡¦ buying behaviors. The influence of brand marketing activities on consumers¡¦ buying behaviors is also discussed. It has been found that different demographic variables indeed produce cognitive attitude for the ¡§advertisement notice¡¨, ¡¨brand meaning¡¨, and ¡§brand repute¡¨. Two factors, i.e., ¡§present design¡¨ and ¡§brand meaning¡¨ have positive and significant influences on autos¡¦ core value and economic value. However, ¡§advertisement notice¡¨ has negative influences on autos¡¦ core value and economic value. Finally, some suggestions for auto firms are proposed to future developments. Keywords: Brand marketing, Consumer behavior, EKB Model, Demographic variables

With the increase of national income, cosmetic products have become the daily necessities, its development is closely related with the trends; Furthermore, younger groups start to use the cosmetic products, making the cosmetic products market has expanded each year. According to the Euromonitor¡¦s analysis, the facial care products account for the highest proportion of sales on cosmetic products market in Asia. According to the analysis of the cosmetic industry in 2008 also pointed out that the consumer spend in facial care products are accounted more than 38% in cosmetic products market. However, the current study focused mainly on the overall cosmetic products, facial care products made for less than the depth of the study, this study was expected to discuss the purchase decision in facial care products market. This study will discuss the consumer purchase decision in facial care products market and reference in Zaichkosky (1985). The purpose of this study is to develop and discusses the involvement and purchase decision in facial care products whether there was significant difference. The EKB model is chosen as a conceptual framework and focus on facial care products consumers in Taiwan area. The simple random sampling method is used to obtain 300 effective samples from 335 questionnaires sent out. The methods of factoring, Scheffe test, variance, Schema¡¦s test, Chi-square statistics are used to analyze the sampled data. The method to measure consumer involvement is Kapferer &Laurent¡¦s¡uThe Consumer Involvement Profile¡v, the five dimensions to measure including : importance, pleasure, sign, the risk of purchase, risk probability. Each dimension uses Likert¡¦s five point scales. The study results show that the consumers with different involvement levels, demographics variables have positive effect towards product involvement. On the purchase decision making behaviors variables, their purchase motivation, information sources and evaluation criteria are significantly different. Finally, according to the characteristics of consumers with different involvement levels, this study provides the marketing strategies, as a reference for the facial care products companies to plan their future marketing strategies.

With the repaid growth of Internet users, the economy of the virtual cybermarket becomes worthless. Among all kinds of business activities on the web, on-line shopping is the most directly contact between buyer and seller. Competition no longer takes place in the physical marketplace but in the marketspace (Rayport and Sviokla,1994). This implication indicates the breaking of traditional restrictions of the time and place. Businesses can contact a large number of consumers in a faster and cheaper (low entrance obstacle) way. For the marketers, the key point to succeed in the cybermarket is to understand and analsize the consumer behavior. Internet marketers should revisit traditional models of consumer behavior, examine their underlying assumptions, and explore their validity in the new Internet context.¡]Butler and Peppard, 1998¡^ Therefore, this study seeks to further our understanding of consumer buying decision process on the web according to the EKB model which includes five stages: need identification, information search, evaluation and choice, purchase decision, and post-purchase behaviors.¡]Engel, Blackwell, and Kollat, 1984¡^ This research is concentrated on the first three stages. A web survey was conducted on one entrance web site (Openfind), three purchasing web sites (Cybercity, Aago, and Citymart) and two virtual community web sites (CityFamily and OHOT) from March 6 2000 to March 20 2000. The total valid sample is 3986 consisting of 1364 (34.2%) web patrons and 2622 (65.8%) web non-patrons. And the main findings of this research are as following¡G 1. The characteristics of the majority respondents are male, high educated and students or employees from information industries. 2. The main purpose of web use is sending or receiving e-mail (according to 47% of the respondents¡¦ answers). 3. The top three products in the web transaction are book and magazine (27.9%), computer hardware (12.4%) and communication products (11.7%). 4. For the web patrons, five factors were extracted from the questions on behavior in the information search stage. They are named "related information obtained from the media", "troubles in web transaction and information", "confidence in web transaction and information", "information from the comparison of visiting numerous web sites" and "word-of-mouth reference". And six factors were extracted from the questions on the behavior in the evaluation and choice stage. They are named "requirement of post-purchase warranty", "perceived risk of the product", "influence of direct sales experience and other media", "confidence in web transaction", "confidence in his/her buying decision", and "influence of the reference group". As for the web non-patrons, four factors were extracted from the questions on behavior in the information search stage. They are named " related information obtained from the media", "taking on-line shopping as a waste of time and money", "troubles in web information", "confidence in web information". And three factors were extracted from the questions on the behavior in the evaluation and choice stage. They are named "warranty given by seller", "perceived risk of the product", "confidence in web transaction". 5. The web patrons¡¦ behaviors of "word-of-mouth reference" in the information search stage and "confidence in web transaction and information" in the evaluation and choice stage are influenced by their different gender, age, occupation, and education. The web non-patrons¡¦ behaviors of " related information obtained from the media" and "confidence in web information" in the information search stage and "confidence in web transaction" in the evaluation and choice stage are influenced by their different gender, age, occupation, education, and income. 6. Three clusters are formed according to the above eleven factor scores. Cluster 1 persons are named as "highly confident persons". Cluster 2 persons are named as "risk-avoidance persons". Cluster 3 persons are named as "self-confident persons". 7. The first three stages of consumer buying decision processes on the web are proved to be¡Gneed identification, information search and evaluation and choice. The relationships between these three stages are need identification will positively affect information search and information search will negatively affect evaluation and choice.

The earth ecosystem is seriously damaged due to the self-interest behavior of human, which nonetheless poses a huge threat to the survival of human. The ecological environment and public health in Taiwan also face increasingly deteriorating situation, which is compounded with the problem of a dramatic increased number of families eating out with the most popular choice as lunch boxes mostly. To improve this situation, visionaries push for organic lunch boxes. However, there are still some factors lacking and some problems persisting for marketing organic lunch boxes. It is hoped that the result of this study can be beneficial to the relevant organizations as a reference for promoting organic lunch boxes. Literature review and in-depth interviews are conducted as the basis for developing questionnaire in this study. I also propose a behavior model for purchasing organic lunch boxes based on the theory of consumption values by Sheth, Newman, and Gross (1991), Theory of planned behavior by Ajzen (1991), and the EKB model by Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard (1993) This model consists of nine variables: the functional value of organic lunch box, its social value, its emotional value, its curious value, its conditional value, the subjective norms, self-efficacy, shopping environment, and the degree of involvement etc. To test this model, regression analyses are conducted using those nine variables and two behavior intention dependent variables in this study. These two behavior intention variables respectively are: the subject¡¦s behavior intention to purchase organic lunch boxes when price is not specifically mentioned (BI1) or they are suggested to assume that the price of the organic one will be close to that of a regular one (BI2). The result shows that the functional value and the degree of involvement both have significant influence on BI1 and BI2; while the conditional value, the emotional value, and self-efficacy are only have significant influence on BI2, which can explain the 22.1% variation of BI1 and the 26.2% variation of BI2 respectively. Furthermore, in order to investigate the variation of the behavior intention BI1 to purchase organic lunch boxes due to the difference of personal attributes, t test and single factor ANOVA are adopted. The result shows that marital status, age, occupation, personal monthly income, knowledge of organic product, purchasing frequency for organic ingredients, and the amount of money for purchasing organic ingredients all have significant influence on the variation of behavior intention for purchasing organic lunch boxes (BI1); while gender, educational level, self health status, and family's health status do not have significant influence on the variation of behavior intention for purchasing organic lunch boxes. We will propose application from these results and make relevant recommendations to industries and government based on this study.

Abstract   Background:  With the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer behaviour has adjusted accordingly, especially in relation to the restaurant industry. This issue is also present in the restaurant managers responses displayed at this critical event. This disruption on both consumer and manager perspective can be researched for methods of regulating the impacts.   Purpose:   The purpose of this thesis is to explore the impact COVID-19 has had on restaurants, their managers and consumer behaviour. This study investigates how managers of the local restaurants respond to the restrictions placed on them as well as how consumer behaviour has been affected by the pandemic.   Method:  This exploratory study is conducted both quantitatively and qualitatively using surveys with consumers by convenience sampling and semi-structured interviews with local restaurant managers.   Conclusion:  The results and analysis suggest that with the aid of the ADKAR and EKB model, there are varying degrees of influence an individual or manager has perceived with the arrival of the pandemic. This is generally due to their own circumstances and perspectives; however, consumers have seen a change in their decision-making journey while restaurant managers have seen changes in their daily operations. This study goes on to indicate that thorough use of the models can assist both consumers and managers in better preparation if such an event should happen again as well as comprehension of their unconscious decisions with such predicaments. / This thesis seeks to investigates "The Effects of COVID-19 on Restaurants and Consumer Behaviour in the Jönköping Region”. Adapted to the paper’s subject matter, this is offered at the beginning of each section and provides the reader with background information on that section’s contents. At this point, the main theme of the paper is introduced with supporting evidence which will be used for the duration of this project.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, countless studies have been conducted about the pandemic regarding people's physical and mental health, but there is a significant gap on the persistent effects on consumer behaviour. Hence, this thesis aimed to investigate if there is a relationship between the social constraints as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential increased engagement of post-purchase behaviour. The research focused exclusively on Swedish female millennials who are active social media users.    The research used a deductive approach by formulating hypotheses based on already existing theories. The explanatory design was used when aiming to investigate a causal relationship between two variables, i.e., prior to the pandemic compared to today. Further, a quantitative strategy was used by collecting primary data through a questionnaire, which thereafter was analysed through SPSS, using the paired sample t-test. To target the desired sample a convenience sampling method was used which collected a total of 226 respondents, with 197 valid participants. The sample was collected through several Facebook groups, combined with the utilizing of the authors own social media channels. Since this study aimed to measure engagement, the key concepts were converted in the survey questions to more specific terms, by a modified existing scale. Indicators were established to be able to measure the engagement under controlled conditions.   Furthermore, the results from the statistical tests resulted in a p-value to confirm or reject the null hypothesis, followed by a correlation coefficient value to determine the strength of the relationship. The empirical findings combined indicated significant evidence that because of the social constraints since the COVID-19 outbreak, there has been an increased engagement in the post-purchase behaviour on social media for Swedish female millennials. This was confirmed through a p-value of 0.000 in the t-tests for all seven hypotheses. Furthermore, all tests show correlation values between 0.449 and 0.617, which means that all the existing relationships are positive.    This means that during the period when COVID-19 has been an active societal problem with all its effects, the new living conditions have entailed an increased involvement in post-purchase behaviour on social media for Swedish female millennials. If corporations take these changed behaviours in consideration and adapt the marketing strategy accordingly, it  can contribute to increased sales as the credibility of the brand gets strengthened through the transparency that the customer base values.