Problem: På dagens marknad finns det flera olika bankaktörer som konkurrerar om kunderna, vilket även gör att det blir större konkurrens mellan bankerna. Vad är det som tilltalar en kund att stanna kvar hos en bank och bli lojal mot den? SEB bör öka sin kundlojalitet, men själva innebörden av ordet kundlojalitet kan betyda olika saker för olika individer, vilket kan bli problematiskt i SEB:s kommunikation till kunderna. Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka hur SEB omvandlar kundlojalitet till att skapa och utveckla långsiktiga relationer i sitt dagliga arbete. Metod: Den metod som användes till denna studie var av kvalitativ karaktär, då författarna använde sig av intervjuer på anställda inom organisationen. Genom dessa intervjuer insamlades information till studiens empiri, som sedan analyserades tillsammans med den teori som presenterats i studien. Slutsats: Det kan vara lätt att få den uppfattningen att Relationsmarknadsföring (RM) är svart eller vit. Att antingen har ett företag lojala kunder eller så har dem de inte. Istället visar det sig att det finns ett brett spektrum av olika nyanser eller nivåer när det gäller kontakt och kommunikation med kunder. Att kunna anpassa sig utefter kundens individuella behov och situation och leva upp till olika förväntningar, kan vara en god väg till att en kund stannar kvar hos företaget. En lojal kund. / Problem: In today’s market, there are several different bank operators competing for customers, including making it more and more competition between banks. What is it that appeals to a customer to stay with a bank and be loyal to it? SEB should increase its customer loyalty, but the very meaning of the word loyalty can mean different things to different individuals, who can be problematic in SEB: s communications with the customers.   Purpose: The purpose is to examine how SEB converts customer loyalty to create and develop long term relationships in their daily work. Method: The methodology used for this study was qualitative in nature; the authors used interviews with employees within the organization. These interviews collected information to the study’s empirical work, and then analyzed with the theory presented in the study. Conclusions: It can be easy to get the idea that Relationship marketing (RM) is black or white. That either have a company loyal customers or not. Instead, it appears that there is a wide spectrum of different shades or levels of contact and communication with customers. Being able to adapt to the customer´s individual needs and situation and respond to different expectations might be a good way for the customer to stay with the company. A loyal customer.

ABSTRACT   Title: Private label in the supermarket industry: a case study of ICA.   Level: Final thesis for a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration   Author: Zhing Mo, Yulan Qu   Supervisor: Dr. Aihie Osarenkhoe   Date: 2010 – May   Aim: This dissertation aims to find out the motives behind the introduction of private label in ICA. The purpose is to further integrate the private label as a branding concept.    Method: Both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used in this research. The primary data has been collected through face-to-face interviews with ICA managers and an administer questionnaire. Secondary data has been collected from books, articles and the Internet.   Limitations: This research was limited by the size of the customer population and the number of stores. In addition the research was performed during the early stages of market penetration by ICA’s private label, and the results of future research might be different.   Conclusions: ICA released private label to counter manufacturer power and to be more price competitive. Moreover, it had a positive effect on customers’ loyalty. The introduction of the ICA private label had a great impact on brand image and brand awareness. With regards to loyalty, the ICA private label strategy is on the correct track but still has a gap between the intended objective and actuality.    Contribution of the thesis: This research contributes to finding out the advantages for retailers of introducing private label. Another contribution is to help the readers gain an in-depth understanding of private label in a brand concept. Moreover the research also presents some interesting prospects for further research.   Key words: private label, brand image, brand awareness, brand loyalty

Food consumption trends change continuously. A noticeable trend in Sweden and the western world is consumers’ need for knowledge about the food they consume and where it originates from. Moreover, consumers appreciate food products produced close to home. The interest towards locally produced food has lately increased amongst today’s consumer, as has many researchers’ interest in the topic.  The purpose with this dissertation is to investigate how and if product-specific attributes attached to a locally produced food product, like Price, Quality, Brand and Organically produced can lead to that consumers’ are loyal towards a region. A deductive research approach is applied for this dissertation. Based on the theories of consumer loyalty, and by regarding current food trends, the theory of regional loyalty as a concept is developed. The product-specific attributes Brand, Price, Quality and Organic are examined and tested. A model and hypotheses are developed in order to understand the relationship better. By using a quantitative method and conducting a questionnaire, the consumer’s attitudes were examined. The research was conducted in themunicipalityofKristianstadand 130 questionnaires were handed out outside the biggest grocery stores in town. The findings indicate that there is a positive correlation between the variables attached to locally produced food products and regional loyalty. The results show that all these attributes are related to regional loyalty except of price, regardless of age, income or current occupation. According to the authors’ knowledge, since no study has been conducted on regional loyalty or product-specific attributes affecting this, the results of this dissertation will bring new knowledge to this area of research. The results may also be useful for executives when marketing locally produced food products.

Consumer confusion, caused by product similarity, choice and/or information overload, and the presence of ambiguous information, can negatively affect consumersʼ decision making, and thereby also companiesʼ profitability. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate how the three variables (i.e. similarity, overload, ambiguity) of Walsh et al.ʼs (2007) consumer confusion proneness model affect consumersʼ decision postponement and brand loyalty, concerning low involvement products. A conceptual framework based on consumer behavior- and consumer confusion literature, was utilized to form six hypotheses predicting the causality between the different variables. After validating and adapting the scale to data gathered through a survey, regarding Swedish studentsʼ purchasing habits of laundry detergent, two standard multiple regressions revealed that one hypothesis was supported; overload confusion proneness decreases brand loyalty in a low involvement product category. All implications were then discussed from practitionersʼ and researchersʼ points of view, concluding with possible limitations and further research.

Background: The banking industry is a classic service industry where companiesand customers meet and where their interactions take placedaily. There are many reasons why an unsatisfied customer canchange company to a competitor and the customers that are loyalchoose to stay for certain reasons. There is a competition betweenthe commercial banks and niche banks which makes the relationshipwith existing and new customers more essential for thebanks. It is important for banks today to have loyal customers andbuild up long term relationships. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand the difference in strategiesof developing loyalty in a traditional bank and a niche bank,based on customer relationship marketing and compare Swedbankto Länsförsäkringar Bank. Method: A qualitative research method has been used in the thesis by aninterview with Kenneth Åberg at Swedbank and with EdinParazik at Länsförsäkringar Bank. We have used secondary datafrom other studies and combined with our own empirical findings. Findings: It has become important to have a customer focus as thecompetition has increased in the banking market. The generalrelationship marketing has become more focused on thecustomer, as more companies value the relationship withtheir customers instead of only focusing on the product orservices. It is equally important for the twoLänsförsäkringar Bank and Swedbank to strive for customersatisfaction and good work environment which encouragesand strengthens the creation of relationships. It appears forus that there are no major differences between LänsförsäkringarBank’s and Swedbank’s strategies in creating loyalty.Both the niche bank and the commercial bank are aware ofhow their organizations are affected by customer relationshipsand they also have customer loyalty as a starting pointto grow more and to get more market shares.

Aim: The purpose of the study is to do the research that under the e-commerce business model, the impact factors of customer loyalty in an online shopping environment, how to improve the customer loyalty and how to build a long lasting customer relationship. Design/Methodology/approach: Through to the questionnaire survey research, design and collect sample data, combine with the Amazon Company’s current operating mode and the theoretical, and also got the second data. In order to make the data become more and more reliable. Findings: The studying on improving customer loyalty under the B2C e-commerce model is significant for theory and practice. On the background of Amazon company，which is the biggest e-commerce company in America, according to the relevant literature and field surveys，the paper brings forward the importance of customer loyalty at the e-commerce business. It could come to the conclusion is how to improve the customer loyalty and then how to build the long lasting customer relationship. Contribution: The paper according to the characters of the online shopping and combine with the literature about the e-commerce and customer loyalty research, Put forward a certain hypothesis, through questionnaire survey on customers, and statistical analysis of the relationship between customer loyalty and its influence factors make an empirically evaluation. The paper gives contribution to the e-commerce business, how to build the long lasting customer relationship.

The overall aim of this study was to research how music festivals in Oslo practise strategic Internet marketing and how these could improve their marketing throughout strategic Internet marketing. The interest of this study evoked since there was a lack in previous research in this field. Other issues to explore were marketing particularities and how these could be solved. Two music festivals in the city centre of Oslo were interviewed. The study was based on Chaffey and Smith’s (2008) SOSTAC planning framework, together with previous research findings in the field of strategic Internet marketing. The result showed a primarily use of informal goals, together with actions and evaluation based on gut feelings. Focus was placed on creating additional value and thus loyalty. Most applied marketing were connected to Web 2.0 techniques. The study found several shortcomings concerning the practise of strategic Internet marketing. Suggested improvements included use of online measurement systems and a strategic approach towards objectives and evaluation. The study found two distinct characteristics including the importance of visitor activity and loyalty. Web 2.0 techniques, the website and co-branding activities were concluded to be the most effective types Internet marketing. These together with an enhanced use of Web 2.0 techniques were also concluded to be the solution to marketing peculiarities.

Authors: Hugo van den Berg, Lina Lidfors Supervisor: PhD and senior lecturer, Rana MostaghelExaminator: Assistant professor, Dr. Sarah Philipson Title: The effect of perceived CSR on customer loyalty – Anempirical study into consumer behavior on the Swedishchocolate market. Background/Problem: Although research into CSR and consumer behavior isstill relatively young, there exists a growing interest instudying the links between CSR and marketing. Today,consumers more than ever expect companies to engagein CSR activities and at the same time do managersincreasingly see CSR as a marketing tool to help create acompetitive advantage. But what is the actual impact ofcompanies’ engagement in CSR on consumer behavior?In the Swedish chocolate industry, the topic of CSR ishighly relevant. Recently, child labor and bad workingconditions at the cocoa bean fields were (again) broughtto the surface, starting a fierce debate in Swedish societywhere strong critique was aimed at the companiesowning the chocolate production plants. The Swedishchocolate industry is therefore a suitable industry to testthe relationship between perceived CSR and consumerbehavior. Purpose: To examine how the perceived CSR activities ofcompanies influence customer loyalty in the Swedishchocolate industry. Theory: The first subchapter in the theoretical chapter consists ofa literature review describing the development of the4concept Corporate Social Responsibility, a definition ofthe concept and a brief overview of CSR activities. Inthe second subchapter the role of CSR in marketing willbe discussed. In the third and final subchapter, theeffects of CSR activities on consumer behavior will bereviewed where special attention is given to the effectson customer loyalty. After that, the chapter will godeeper into customer loyalty and the antecedents throughwhich we can measure it. Research question: How do perceived CSR activities influence customerloyalty on the Swedish chocolate market? Method: In order to identify and measure the effects of CSRactivities on customer loyalty, a quantitative approachwas used in a cross-sectional design. A web-basedsurvey was created as a method for data collection. Afterthe data collection a statistical data analysis wasperformed in the software program SPSS. Conclusions: Our results confirm a positive relationship betweenperceived CSR activities and customer loyalty on theSwedish chocolate market.

Title: A quantitative study of the attitudes towards loyalty programs among students   Course/ course code: 2FE16E – Independent degree project of the marketing program with integrated method, 30 hp   Authors: Sjöberg, Amelie 880410; Svensson, Daniel 890329   Background: In today’s global market, companies strive to gain a competitive position and attract as many customers as possible. One of the most important factors within the retail industry is customer loyalty. Loyalty program have become a common tool for companies to carry out in order to attract and keep customers and make them loyal to the company. However, little research has been conducted to understand what attitude customers have towards the programs. Are they really that value adding and effective for customers as companies think they are?   Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe students’ attitudes towards loyalty programs within the grocery retail industry. To get an understanding of what offerings that are attractive within a membership in a loyalty program, as well as to see if a membership affects the behavior of customers.    Method: This quantitative study has been carried out by a deductive approach with questionnaires as the data collection method. The research design has been based on a descriptive design.                                                                                      Conclusion: The study found that students have favorable attitudes towards the usage of loyalty programs. Further, the attitudes toward offering segmented loyalty programs were also favorable from students. The study also found signs that indicated that membership inICA’s loyalty program, lead to an increase in frequency of store visits. Additionally the research also found that student’s value economical benefits as the most attractive offerings in a loyalty program, such as discounts and personally customized discount.                                                                  Keywords:    Attitude, loyalty program, frequency, segmentation, offerings, ICA.

Background: The Internet has created new efficient channels of doing business. For this nontraditional market, a business strategy that is both effective and efficient needs to be employed. The Long Tail business strategy was developed by Chris Anderson in 2006. It is possible that the Long Tail strategy not only can increase revenue by offering more “niche” products, but also can enhance customers’ loyalty toward the company. However, in order to achieve the latter, companies need to communicate with customers in more effective and more efficient ways. Therefore, communication is inevitably the fundamental element for companies’ efforts to build customer relationships. The Long-Tail, suggested by Anderson and Sugaya, to be an effective strategy for enhancing customer loyalty. But can it fit in the case of Swedish Apple Premium Resellers?   Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to test if the Long-Tail strategy can enhance e-loyalty by adding value to online marketing communications in the case of Apple Premium Resellers’ customers in Sweden. Method: The data collection was mainly through questionnaires -- a quantitative approach. The target group was Apple Premium Resellers’ customers in Sweden. The questionnaire was distributed in Stockholm and Jönköping. Various statistical techniques as well as theories and models were used for data analysis. Conclusion:It can be concluded that the Long Tail strategy can add value to the online marketing communications, and improved online marketing communications can enhance customer loyalty in e-commerce. Therefore, the Long-Tail strategy can enhance e-loyalty by adding value to online marketing communications in the case of Swedish Apple Premium Resellers.