The purpose of this study was to understand the relationships among brand image, loyalty of fans, and purchase intention. It also discussed the influence of different ways of watching the baseball games on the relationship. This study was based on internet and on-site questionnaire investigation. The sample of this study consists of the CPBL (Chinese Professional Baseball League) fans. The valid sample was 631. The results were as follows: Team¡¦s brand image affected the loyalty of fans positively. Team¡¦s brand image had positive effects on purchase intention of fans. Fans¡¦ identification with a team had the strongest influence on purchase intention for accessory products. Besides, stadium environment also had the strongest influence on purchase intention for parent company¡¦s products. Loyalty of fans affected fans¡¦ purchase intention positively. Different ways of watching baseball games had effects on fans¡¦ purchase intentions. The purchase intention of the fans who watch the games on-the-scene more often was higher than of those who watch the games on TV or internet. According to the conclusion, this study gave some suggestions to the operators of the professional baseball teams.

Nowadays, empirical researches on corporate post-performance of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) focusing on cost-down synergy and financial accounting phase have not been consistently identified. The lack knowledge of revenue-based marketing value and consumer insights of M&A indicates that other impacts may exist to influence corporate post-acquisition performance. Recent studies have pointed that acquiring company fails to take over all the customers of acquired company after the merge. The results probably provide an important issue about why most M&A activities failed. The study assesses that consumer perceptions of corporate association of acquiring/acquired company have diverse impacts on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions based on consumer-goods classification. Therefore, a 2x2 experimental design manipulated corporation associations and congruity was used for three types of products (i.e. laptops, casual shoes, and raw milk). In the study, one important finding is that diverse intensity of effects, in the relationship of consumer¡¦s attitude and consumer¡¦s repurchase intention after the merge, has showed up with empirical validation among three products. Based on the consumer-goods classification (i.e. specialty goods, shopping goods, and convenient goods), the results indicate that acquiring company fails to take over all the customers of acquired company after the merge, especially in convenient goods. In short, corporate selling different products in different industries should seriously consider about their objectives and focus, during and after the merge.

Human interaction with technical artifacts is often mediated by treating them as if they are alive. We exclaim "my car doesn't want to start," or "my computer loves to crash." Of increasing cultural importance are software systems designed explicitly to perform tasks and/or exhibit complex behaviors usually deemed as intentional human phenomena, including creating, improvising, and learning. Compared to the instrumental programs (e.g., Adobe Photoshop), these intentional systems (e.g., George Lewis' musical system Voyager) seem to produce output that is "about" certain things in the world rather than the mere execution of algorithmic rules. This dissertation investigates such phenomena with two central research questions: (1) How is system intentionality formed? and (2) What are the design implications for building systems that utilize such intentionality as an expressive resource. In the discourse of artificial intelligence (AI) practice, system intentionality is typically seen as a technical and ontological property of a computer program, emerging from its underlying algorithms and knowledge engineering. Distilling from the areas of hermeneutics, actor-network theory, cognitive semantics theory, and philosophy of mind, this dissertation proposes a humanistic and interpretive framework called the AI hermeneutic network. It accentuates that system intentionality is narrated and interpreted by its human creators and users in their socio-cultural settings. Special attention is paid to system authors' discursive strategies, a constitutive component of AI, embedded in their source code and technical literature. The utility of the framework is demonstrated by a close analytical reading of a full-scale AI system, Copycat. The theoretical discovery leads to new design strategies, namely scale of intentionality and agency play. They provide insights for using system intentionality and agency as expressive resources that can be used to convey meanings and express ideas. The fruits of these insights are illustrated by a stream of consciousness literature inspired interactive narrative project Memory, Reverie Machine, co-developed using Harrell's GRIOT system. It portrays a protagonist whose intentionality and agency vary dynamically in service of narrative needs.

<p>Syftet med denna studie är att attribuera effekten av rättvist ledarskap på arbetstillfredsställelse då det saknats specifik forskning inom området. Studien genomfördes i ett verksamhetsområde inom kriminalvården. Studien syftade även till att undersöka effekten av rättvist ledarskap på turnover intention och förekomsten av psykosomatiska besvär hos de anställda. Totalt 103 kriminalvårdare besvarade enkäten som mätte ovan nämnda variabler. Resultaten visade ett signifikant positivt samband mellan samtliga former av rättvisa och arbetstillfredsställelse. Resultaten visade vidare ett samband att rättvist ledarskap leder till en minskning av psykosomatiska besvär och minskad grad av turnover intention.</p>

<p>The aim of this study is to investigate what factors are important when implementing cause-related marketing within the Swedish fashion retail market, in order to change the purchase intention of customers. Cause-related marketing (CRM) is a widely used marketing tool within the Swedish fashion industry. There has been an increasing trend of using cause-related marketing as part of corporate social responsibility strategy. Companies increasingly believe that associating their corporate identity with good causes can be an effective marketing tool. There is limited research about CRM with a bearing on the Swedish market and the fashion industry. This has given the authors an interesting field for research and analysis.</p><p>A quantitative method was used to collect primary data. A survey was conducted among customers of H&M, Lindex, Mango and Indiska. These companies were chosen after the observation of a large amount of Swedish based fashion retailers and their involvement within CRM. The results indicate that there is a link between cause-related marketing and customer purchase intentions. CRM campaigns have positive effects on customers by increasing their purchase intentions. Marketing communication, price, customer attitude and fit are important factors that affect the purchase of CRM products. A further investigation can be useful for companies and researchers in the field of marketing strategies.</p>

COO is a construct that refers to the country which a consumer associates a certain product or brand as being its source, regardless of where the product is actually produced. Scholars like Magnusson et al. (2011) argue that COO is a salient cue in consumers’ product evaluation and purchase intention. In contrast, Usunier (2006; 2011) and Samiee (2010) criticize the COO effect, by explaining that due to multinational production, integrated worldwide supply chains and global branding there are other cues that have become more salient in consumers’ decision- making process. The purpose of this thesis is to extend the understanding about the relationship of COO in consumers buying process. The research questions followed: To what extent does country of origin influence consumers’ product evaluations and purchase intention? To what extent does the level of involvement affect the relationship between country of origin and consumers’ product evaluation? To what extent does the level of involvement affect the relationship between country of origin and consumers’ purchase intentions. Applying a deductive approach, a quantitative research has been chosen for this thesis involving survey as the source for data collection in order to test this research four main concepts: COO, product evaluation, purchase intention and product involvement. The findings indicated that COO has a significant direct effect in consumers’ product evaluations and purchase intention. The results also indicated on that when consumers’ perceive products to be low involvement, the COO effect is greater in consumers’ decision-making process.

Background: E-commerce is an evolving market; the number of retailers and the growth in online shopping has built up a competitive market. It is therefore essential for companies to continuously develop their online activity to remain and attract new customers. To do so, companies need to create value for the customers and meet their demands: therefore it is of great importance for companies to understand consumers’ buying behavior, and moreover investigate in which factors are related to the consumers’ online purchase intention.   Purpose: The purpose is to explain the relationship between trust, perceived risk, shopping enjoyment, site design quality and online purchase intention.   Hypotheses: The authors of this study set up the following hypotheses: H1+: Trust is positively related to consumers’ online purchase intention. H2-: Perceived risk is negatively related to consumers’ online purchase intention. H3: Shopping enjoyment is related to consumers’ online purchase intention. H4+: Site design quality is positively related to consumers’ online purchase intention. Methodology: Survey study. Conclusion: Hypothesis 1 was supported in this study. Hypothesis 2 was not supported in this study. Hypothesis 3 was supported in this study. Hypothesis 4 was supported in this study.

The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine receiver variables involved in strategic communications and to look specifically at the use of graphic images in strategic communication materials. It argues that any complete, general model of persuasion effects will include both goal compatibility and emotional determinants. It argues that some influential theories used in strategic communications scholarship, including the situational theory of publics and the elaboration likelihood model, are incomplete because they have omitted these variables. This study also tests variables related to willingness to communicate, behavioral intention, and attitude towards the organization. These variables are drawn from prominent, well-tested theories in strategic communications, and used to begin building a new model of the effects of messages featuring graphic images.

Purpose: To compare the costs and length of disability for conservative treatment versus skin grafting of distal finger and thumb tip amputations. Methods: Thirty-five zone I finger or thumb tip amputations in thirty-five workers in the Southeastern United States were included in this study. Twenty-four were treated with conservative treatment (bandaging to protect the wound). Eleven were treated with skin grafting. The total cost of medical care, total cost including wage replacement, and the length of disability were compared between the two groups. Impairment at the end of treatment was considered. Results: Even when the cost of wage replacement was taken into account, the total cost for skin graft treatment for these injuries is significantly higher. The length of disability was not statistically different between the two treatment groups. There was not a significant difference in impairment reported at the end of treatment. Conclusion: This study did not demonstrate any economic or medical advantage for treating zone I finger or thumb tip amputations with skin grafts. The size of the defect in the skin graft group was significantly larger, though, and the results obtained in this comparison may not allow us to draw valid conclusions about the comparison of these two treatments.

Buying and selling of used goods is something that has been done for centuries. Throughout the last 20 years, rapid growth of second-hand products consumption has got the attention of researchers and raised the question why customers buy second-hand products. The growth of the Internet has developed different applications, and this combined with the introduction of new electronic devices, provides users with buying and selling facilities of goods over the Internet and mobile devices. The uses of social networks and smart-phones have also revolutionized the second-hand product market among all economic classes. The consumption of second-hand products is increasing daily. Therefore it is important to pay attention to the factors that affect the purchase of second-hand products since it is not a simple form of mercantilism. It's a lifestyle, a way to acquire goods that we need and get rid of those that we do not see as useful anymore. The purpose of this study is to create new knowledge in the area of second-hand products consumption and customer buying behavior by identifying factors that influence the customer in buying second-hand products. In order to fulfill the research purpose, a quantitative research approach and cross sectional research design were adopted. Questionnaires were designed using Google survey tool and through this method 169 questionnaires were collected from respondents. After which, SPSS was used to perform the required tests of descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, bivariate correlation, single item measurement and multiple regression analysis. It was observed that price was the most important factor influencing customers when purchasing second-hand products; risk is the second most influencing factor and brand is the third and location come last as most influencing factor.  The results show that the factors such as brand, price and purchase intention of second-hand products have no association and influence on each other during the purchase decision. In contrast, risk and location factors have a weak association with each other but both factors lack association with brand, price and intention. This study contributes to the existing literature on second-hand products consumption and customer buying behavior as well as touching upon theories of brand, price, risk, and seller location.