Research Questions: How does influencer marketing affect online purchase intent?  How do social media influencers’ trustworthiness, expertise and attractiveness affect online purchase intent?   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between online purchase intent and social media influencers, as well as how their attributes affect this relationship.  Method: This empirical study consists of a quantitative online survey with 476 respondents. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that social media influencers have a positive impact on online purchase intent. Furthermore, the collected data could confirm that trustworthiness has a clear impact on online purchase intent, while expertise and attractiveness showed no significant impact.

Date: 02.06.2021 Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors: Avesta Aspitman (94/05/24) , Beata Valeria Karacsonyi (95/08/01), Dalia Uthman (97/01/07)                      Title: Changes in online shopping activities of Generation Z students - A qualitative study on online purchase intent and impulsivity during Covid-19 Tutor: Leanne Johnstone Keywords: Online purchase intent, Covid-19, Generation Z, Students, Impulsive shopping Research question:  How has Covid-19 impacted the online purchase intent of students at Mälardalen region of Sweden? Purpose: To examine how the impact of Covid-19 has affected the online      purchase intent of students of Mälardalen region in Sweden. Method: This study has an inductive approach with a qualitative data collection. Semi-structured interviews were held with nine students within the Mälardalen region and were conducted online through the communication tool ZOOM. A thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the collected primary data and with assistance of the literature review, four dimensions of the topic could be identified: financial, performance, time and psychological. Conclusion: Online purchasing during Covid-19 has increased and thus, affected the online purchasing intent of students in the same way. This is mainly due to restrictions and due to the pandemic and the consumer’s perception of the online retailers’ adaptation to it. Increased impulsivity due to Covid-19 cannot be concluded in this study and thus contradicts existing and recent literature that suggests impulsive shopping increases in crises. Instead, Generation Z students are more inclined to save their money and make strategic choices to purchase online.

Title: Impact of covid 19 Pandemic situation on customers purchasing Behavior: Adoption of online services platforms. Level: Final assignment for Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) Authors: Sheratun Jannat and Sajjad Aslam Toor Supervisor: Dr. Olivia Kang Examiner: Professor Akmal Hyder Date: 2021- January  Aim: The study aims to find the factors that impact consumer purchasing behavior on the Covid-19 pandemic and adaptation of online services platform. Methodology: A qualitative study was applied with the semi-structured online interview conducted with nine respondents from Stockholm and Gävle of Sweden. The collected primary data were transcribed, compared, and thematically analyzed with the literature reviews.  Findings and Conclusion: We conclude that Covid-19 impacts consumer purchase behavior. Besides, consumers adopted online services to purchase different items as per their needs. We have also found that various factors impact consumer online purchase behavior. Furthermore, trustworthiness and transparency is the essential factor that has implications on consumer online purchase behavior.  Contributions of the Thesis: This study suggests that online purchase behavior during Covid-19 significantly impacts the consumer. Besides, consumers face various impacts on online purchase such as product, price and quality, personality and characteristics, psychological, cultural and social, and trustworthiness and transparency. It is recommended for the managers to determine the impacts and develop strategies to maintain online business effectively.  Suggestion for future research: We suggest future research on a similar topic using a larger sample size. We also recommend a comparative study with two or more countries on a similar case to determine the differences and results. Focusing on different issues or services with a larger audience might be done for future research. Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, Consumer purchase behavior, Online purchase behavior, Adoption of online service platform, and Factors impacting online purchase behavior.

Background: With social media being ever present in today's marketing world, research guiding and aiding this phenomenon is of mount importance. With social credibility and source attractiveness being lucrative schemes on citizen influencers persuasiveness towards target followers on Instagram and ultimately the drive of online purchase intentions, a holistic approach is introduced to understand each key determinant of each phenomena. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of citizens influencers’ persuasiveness and its relationship with source credibility and source attractiveness, as well as determining a consumers’ online purchase intention on the social media platform Instagram. Method: The study was written in a quantitative manner, aiding the need for generalizable data within the field. An exploratory research design was used with web-based surveys sent out to the sample selection for completion. Main Findings: Four out of the five hypothesis regarding source credibility and attractiveness towards the persuasiveness of citizen influencers were rejected, indicating interesting results as it contradicts previous literature. Furthermore, online purchase intention hypotheses were found to have more positive alignments towards citizen influencers. Grounds for theoretical and practical implications as well as future research endeavors were found.

A propaganda em sites de pesquisa utilizando anúncios orgânicos e patrocinados corresponde a uma estratégia de Marketing que propicia a interação entre empresas e seu público alvo a partir da utilização de palavras-chave ao efetuar a pesquisa online, dessa forma, os sites de pesquisa agem como intermediários entre necessidades dos consumidores e o grande número de informações disponíveis nas páginas da web. Assim, este estudo tem como objetivo verificar como é a relação entre atenção aos anúncios orgânicos e patrocinados e tipos de comportamento visual acerca da intenção de compra online. Foi realizada uma revisão da literatura sobre os Canais de Comunicação Online, Anúncios Orgânicos e Patrocinados bem como a utilização e eficácia desses tipos de anúncios, também foi abordado sobre a Intenção de Compra Online, Tipos de Comportamento Visual e, por fim, foi traçada a relação entre esses fatores. Na sequência, a partir da coleta de dados primária realizada com 100 estudantes da Faculdade de Administração, Economia e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto (FEA-RP/USP) - foi realizado um estudo quantitativo e descritivo utilizando o equipamento eye-tracking seguido da aplicação de um questionário. Utilizou-se a técnica estatística de Regressão Logística com Efeito Aleatório, que permite verificar o comportamento de um indivíduo em cenários diferentes e atender aos objetivos do estudo. A partir da análise, foi possível verificar que os indivíduos têm maior tendência a optar por Anúncios Patrocinados dos sites de pesquisa e que esse fato está positivamente relacionado à atenção visual e independe do tipo do Comportamento Visual que possui. Esses resultados fornecem informações relevantes acerca de apresentação de anúncios em sites de pesquisa, além de proporcionar reflexões teóricas para pesquisas nessa área / Advertising on search sites using organic and sponsored ads corresponds to a Marketing strategy that allows the interaction between companies and their target audience from the use of keywords when doing online search, in this way, the search sites act as intermediary consumer needs and the large number of information available on web pages. Thus, this study aims to verify how the relationship between attention in organic and sponsored ads and types of visual behavior about the intention to buy online. A review of the literature on Online Communication Channels, Organic and Sponsored Ads as well as the use and effectiveness of these types of ads was also made on Online Intention, Types of Visual Behavior and, finally, relationship between these factors. A quantitative and descriptive study was carried out using the eye-tracking equipment, followed by the application of the results obtained from the primary data collection with 100 students from the - School of Economics, Administration and Accounting of Ribeirao Preto (FEA-RP/USP) - a quantitative and descriptive study was performed using eye-tracking equipment followed by the application of a questionnaire. The statistical technique of Logistic Regression with Random Effect was used, which allows to verify the behavior of people in different scenarios and to meet the objectives of the study. From the analysis, it was possible to verify that the individuals have a greater tendency to choose Sponsored Ads of the research sites and this fact is positively related to the visual attention and independent of the type of Visual Behavior. These results provide relevant information about the display of ads on search sites, as well as provide theoretical insights for searches in this area

[pt] O número de consumidores que compram pela Internet no Brasil tem crescido significativamente nos últimos anos, porém, ainda representa um percentual baixo da população de usuários. Uma das razões apontadas pela literatura para o baixo volume de vendas na Internet é a insegurança de comprar online, manifestada sob o risco que o consumidor percebe de formas distintas. Serviços, devido à intangibilidade, são percebidos como mais arriscados do que produtos que, entretanto, são também intangibilizados quando apresentados através de uma representação na tela do computador, não permitindo ao consumidor uma avaliação adequada. Este estudo pretendeu, através de um levantamento em uma amostra representativa da população de usuários de Internet no Brasil, comparar o risco percebido na compra pela Internet de um produto e de um serviço bem como determinar as dimensões mais relevantes do risco percebido em cada uma das duas situações. Os resultados apresentam evidências de que a compra de serviços pela Internet é percebida como mais arriscada do que a de produtos. A partir de uma análise de regressão multivariada surgiram evidências de que no caso da compra pela Internet de produtos as dimensões de risco mais relevantes são a financeiro e a de desempenho enquanto que para serviços sobressaem os riscos financeiro, de desempenho e psicológico. / [en] The number of online consumers has risen significantly in Brazil in the last few years, although it still corresponds to a small share of the general Internet users. One of the reasons mentioned in the existing literature for the low level of online sales is the uncertainty of the online trading, expressed through the various risks perceived by the consumers. Due to their intangible nature, services are perceived as more risky than products, which acquire an intangible character through when displayed over the screen and making it hard for the consumer to make a proper evaluation of the product. This study is intended, through a survey carried out with a typical group of online users in Brazil, to compare the perceived risks of buying a product or a service online, and to establish the most relevant risks perceived in either situation. The outcome expresses the evidence that buying services is seen as more hazardous than buying products online. From a multivariate regression analysis it became evident that the most relevant risks of buying products online have to do with financial and performance issues, while buying services online involve financial, performance and psychological risks.

A propaganda em sites de pesquisa utilizando anúncios orgânicos e patrocinados corresponde a uma estratégia de Marketing que propicia a interação entre empresas e seu público alvo a partir da utilização de palavras-chave ao efetuar a pesquisa online, dessa forma, os sites de pesquisa agem como intermediários entre necessidades dos consumidores e o grande número de informações disponíveis nas páginas da web. Assim, este estudo tem como objetivo verificar como é a relação entre atenção aos anúncios orgânicos e patrocinados e tipos de comportamento visual acerca da intenção de compra online. Foi realizada uma revisão da literatura sobre os Canais de Comunicação Online, Anúncios Orgânicos e Patrocinados bem como a utilização e eficácia desses tipos de anúncios, também foi abordado sobre a Intenção de Compra Online, Tipos de Comportamento Visual e, por fim, foi traçada a relação entre esses fatores. Na sequência, a partir da coleta de dados primária realizada com 100 estudantes da Faculdade de Administração, Economia e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto (FEA-RP/USP) - foi realizado um estudo quantitativo e descritivo utilizando o equipamento eye-tracking seguido da aplicação de um questionário. Utilizou-se a técnica estatística de Regressão Logística com Efeito Aleatório, que permite verificar o comportamento de um indivíduo em cenários diferentes e atender aos objetivos do estudo. A partir da análise, foi possível verificar que os indivíduos têm maior tendência a optar por Anúncios Patrocinados dos sites de pesquisa e que esse fato está positivamente relacionado à atenção visual e independe do tipo do Comportamento Visual que possui. Esses resultados fornecem informações relevantes acerca de apresentação de anúncios em sites de pesquisa, além de proporcionar reflexões teóricas para pesquisas nessa área / Advertising on search sites using organic and sponsored ads corresponds to a Marketing strategy that allows the interaction between companies and their target audience from the use of keywords when doing online search, in this way, the search sites act as intermediary consumer needs and the large number of information available on web pages. Thus, this study aims to verify how the relationship between attention in organic and sponsored ads and types of visual behavior about the intention to buy online. A review of the literature on Online Communication Channels, Organic and Sponsored Ads as well as the use and effectiveness of these types of ads was also made on Online Intention, Types of Visual Behavior and, finally, relationship between these factors. A quantitative and descriptive study was carried out using the eye-tracking equipment, followed by the application of the results obtained from the primary data collection with 100 students from the - School of Economics, Administration and Accounting of Ribeirao Preto (FEA-RP/USP) - a quantitative and descriptive study was performed using eye-tracking equipment followed by the application of a questionnaire. The statistical technique of Logistic Regression with Random Effect was used, which allows to verify the behavior of people in different scenarios and to meet the objectives of the study. From the analysis, it was possible to verify that the individuals have a greater tendency to choose Sponsored Ads of the research sites and this fact is positively related to the visual attention and independent of the type of Visual Behavior. These results provide relevant information about the display of ads on search sites, as well as provide theoretical insights for searches in this area

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse and to explore how B2C e-commerce businesses could use social media marketing strategies to increase their consumers purchase intentions on their sites. Findings enabled the development and research of a comprehensive social media marketing system which includes a general set of components and tools aiming at increasing purchase intentions on such sites. The theoretical framework of the thesis is based on literature as well as previous studies of Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Marketing System, E-commerce, B2C, Social Commerce, S-commerce, Online Purchase Intentions, Trust and Social Trust. A conceptual framework was created and led the research method which used a convergent parallel mixed method design that includes gathering and analysing both qualitative and quantitative data. The data is gathered from potential users and clients of the system and led by the user-centered design (UCD) process. The obtained qualitative and quantitative data was analysed separately and then merged together by a side-by-side comparison. With the use of this approach, several ways businesses can increase consumers purchase intentions towards their B2C e-commerce site were discovered. Social media presence, published content, publishing frequency, content type, special sale promotions and social media friends are variables that have been found to be influential upon purchase intentions. The integration of a social media marketing system combined with these variables was found to be a successful tool for B2C e-commerce businesses wanting to increase consumers purchase intention through social media networks.

Cette thèse se propose de contribuer à l’avancement des travaux en marketing sur le comportement d’achat et de report sur Internet. Dans ce travail, nous avons proposé une nouvelle vision du concept de report d’achat et de celui de la procrastination de l’achat. Après une étude qualitative et une revue de la littérature, nous avons identifié plusieurs causes potentielles du report de l’achat en ligne que nous avons classé en deux catégories, selon le type de report qu’elles induisent : Les causes du report subi et les causes du report choisi de l’achat en ligne. Nous avons ensuite testé l’effet de ces causes sur le report et sur sa durée et ce aussi bien en nombre de visites qu’en nombre de jours. A cet effet, deux modélisations ont été proposées. La première modélisation, qui concerne le report, a été testée au moyen d’une régression logistique binaire mettant en jeu sept déterminants du report. La deuxième modélisation, qui concerne la durée du report, a été testée au moyen de deux systèmes d’équations structurelles, le modèle global et le modèle réduit. Dans ce qui suit, nous présentons les apports théoriques et managériaux de la thèse, ainsi que les limites et les voies de recherches futures. 1. Apports de la recherche Cette recherche présente plusieurs contributions tant au niveau théorique que managérial. Ces apports sont développés ci-dessous. 1.1. Apports au niveau théoriqueCette recherche a permis de clarifier les ambiguïtés de la littérature autour des concepts de report et de procrastination. Nous avons proposé une nouvelle approche de ces deux concepts et mis en valeur l’existence de deux types de report : le report subi et le report choisi de l’achat. Après une revue détaillée de la littérature, nous avons contribué à une meilleure identification des causes du report de l’achat en ligne via une étude qualitative dédiée. Nous avons mis en valeur l’existence des causes du report subi et nous avons souligné l’importance de leur prise en considération dans l’explication du report d’achat et de sa durée.Ensuite, nous avons montré l’importance de quatre causes du report de nature situationnelle : La non-urgence, l’incertitude du besoin, le risque de la réalisation immédiate et la complexité. L’effet positif des trois premières causes a été testé et vérifié aussi bien sur le report que sur sa durée. L’effet positif de la complexité a été vérifié uniquement sur la durée du report en nombre de visites. L’effet positif du trait de procrastination a également été testé. Son effet sur la décision du report n’a pas été vérifié, mais son effet sur la durée du report via le risque de la réalisation immédiate et la complexité a été vérifié. Nous avons, par ailleurs, montré que le trait de procrastination a un effet positif sur la perception du risque général, du risque de la réalisation immédiate, de la complexité de l’achat ainsi que sur l’attitude négative envers l’achat en ligne. Cette recherche a également montré que la modélisation du trait de procrastination en haut de la chaine de causalité conduisant au report d’achat en ligne procurait un ajustement acceptable aux données, spécialement dans le cas d’un modèle réduit. Par ailleurs, nous avons développé la première échelle du trait de procrastination de l’acheteur en ligne. Nous avons également développé l’échelle de mesure du risque de la réalisation immédiate (Coût d’opportunité) et celle relative au degré de certitude du besoin. Enfin, nous avons adapté à partir d’échelles préexistantes les échelles d’attitude négative envers l’achat en ligne, du risque général de l’achat en ligne et de la complexité de l’achat en ligne. 1.2. Apports au niveau managérialLes résultats de cette recherche attirent tout d’abord l’attention des sites web marchands sur le fait qu’une majorité des répondants attribuent le report d’achat à des causes indépendantes de leurs volontés (report subi). / This thesis contributes to marketing works on the consumer delay in online purchases. In this work, we proposed a new vision of the concept of purchase delay and that of the procrastination of the purchase. After a qualitative study and a literature review, we identified several potential causes of the on-line purchase delay which we classified in two categories, according to the type of delay whom they lead: (1) The causes of the undergone online purchase delay and (2) the causes of the chosen online purchase delay. We then tested the effect of these causes on the online purchase delay and on its duration. For that purpose, two models were proposed. The first model, which concerns the “delay” was tested by means of a binary logistic regression involving seven determiners. The second model, which concerns the duration of the delay, was tested by means of two systems of structural equations. In what follows, we present the theoretical and manager contributions of the thesis, as well as the limits and the ways of futures researches. 1) Contributions of the researchThis research presents several theoretical and manager contributions. These contributions are developed below. a) Theoretical contributionsThis research allowed to clarify the ambiguities of the literature around the concepts of “delay” and “procrastination”. We proposed a new approach of these two concepts and emphasized the existence of two types of “delay” : “The undergone delay” and “the chosen delay”.After a literature review, we contributed to a better identification of the causes of the on-line purchase delay via a dedicated qualitative study. We emphasized the existence of the causes of the undergone delay and we underlined the importance of their taking into consideration in the explanation of the purchase delay and of its duration. Then, we showed the importance of four situational causes of the delay : The non-urgency, the uncertainty of the need, the risk of the immediate realization and the complexity. The positive effect of the first three causes was tested and verified as well on the “delay” as on its duration. The positive effect of the complexity was only verified on the duration of delay in number of visits. The positive effect of the online buyer trait procrastination was also tested. Its effect on the delay decision was not verified, but its effect on the delay duration via the risk of the immediate realization and the complexity was verified. We showed, besides, that the trait procrastination has a positive effect on the perception of the general risk, the risk of the immediate realization, the complexity of the purchase as well as on the negative attitude to the on-line purchase. This research also showed that the modelling of the online buyer trait procrastination at the top of the causality chain leading to on-line purchase delay got an acceptable adjustment to the data, specially in the case of the reduced model.Besides, we developed the first scale of the online buyer trait procrastination. We also developed a scale of the immediate purchase realization risk (Opportunity cost) and a third scale relative to the purchase need certainty degree . Finally, we adapted from pre-existent scales the scales of on-line purchase negative attitude, the on-line purchase general risk and the on-line purchase complexity. b) Managerial contributions The results of this search research draw first of all the attention of retail websites on the fact that a majority of online buyers the referees attribute their online purchase delay to causes independent from their wills (undergone delay ). Among these causes, a good part is presented by the online buyers as resulting from a failure of the site (persistent technical breakdowns, unavailability of the product, refusal of the credit card, etc.).

El mercado de alimentos orgánicos se encuentra presente en el Perú desde hace muchos años, creciendo y tomando relevancia con el pasar del tiempo. Así mismo, se ha podido observar un crecimiento exponencial en las compras online, por lo que muchas marcas han migrado a canales digitales para satisfacer las nuevas necesidades de los consumidores y adaptarse a sus nuevos hábitos de consumo. Es por ello que en este estudio se busca examinar el papel del brand image y brand loyalty a la hora de influir en el online purchase intention de los alimentos orgánicos en el contexto peruano, con el fin de comprobar si existe una relación significativa entre las variables mencionadas. Para el estudio se adoptó un alcance de investigación correlacional y un enfoque cuantitativo de carácter concluyente. Además, este será un estudio transversal, basado en una muestra no probabilística infinita de 400 personas consumidoras de alimentos orgánicos con una metodología de encuestas online, de escala de Likert (5 puntos). Finalmente, el análisis de la data será de bivariados, desde correlaciones, a través del programa SPSS y de análisis multivariados, de ecuaciones estructurales, a través del programa Smart PLS. / The organic food market has been present in Peru for many years, growing and gaining relevance over time. Likewise, exponential growth has been observed in online shopping, so many brands have migrated to digital channels to satisfied the new needs of consumers and adapt to their new consumption habits. That is why this paper seeks to examine the role of brand image and brand loyalty for influence the online purchase intention of organic foods in the Peruvian context, in order to check if there is a significant relationship between the variables mentioned. A correlational research scope and a conclusive quantitative approach were adopted for the study. In addition, this will be a cross-sectional study, based on an infinite non-probabilistic sample of 400 consumers of organic food with an online survey methodology, Likert scale (5 points). Finally, the data analysis will be bivariate, from correlations, through the SPSS program, and multivariate analysis, from structural equations, through the Smart PLS program. / Trabajo de investigación