The co-branding strategies are gaining attention from research due to the special difficulties of implementing a collaborative strategy. Hence, this paper evaluates the effect of the co-branding strategy between a luxury brand and a high-street retailer on the luxury consumers’ brand equity of the luxury brand post-co-branding. Additionally, this study aims to find differences between the generation Y and X cohorts in terms of brand equity impact from co-branding. This effect was evaluated from three brand equity dimensions: perceived quality, brand image and brand loyalty. To conduct this research the data was collected at the department store Harvey Nichols in London where luxury fashion brands are sold. Later the data was analyzed with a regression, analysis and t-test. The consumers showed differences in terms of their attitude towards the co-branding strategies between a luxury fashion brand and a high-street retailer. In addition, this research found that all the brand equity dimensions suffer a direct influence from the attitude towards co-branding for all the consumers in the study. Direct influence means that the co-branding strategies may cause positive or negative spillover effects. Moreover, the results conclude that there is only a difference in the brand equity dimension of brand loyalty between the generation cohorts Y and X.

<p>Authors: Alexander Falck, 86-05-24, Economic program</p><p>Rasmus Bergqvist, 84-11-08, Marketing program</p><p>Course: International Marketing Strategy, 4FE02E (AF) and 4FE00E (RB)</p><p>Tutor: Anders PehrssonExaminer: Anders PehrssonTitle: Is There More to Merchandise Than Making Money? A comparative study of Scandinavian football clubs describing how they build Brand Equity through merchandise.</p><p>Background and problem discussion: Merchandise is one part of the product that a football club offers. Kapferer‟s (2008) Brand Identity Prism should be useful to map the relationship between product and Brand Equity. Merchandise attractiveness can affect consumers‟ perception regarding the product quality of the whole club. As little have been written regarding how Scandinavian football clubs use their products to build their Brand Equity we saw a relevance of further searching in to this subject.</p><p>Research question: How do Scandinavian football clubs use merchandise to build the club Brand Equity?</p><p>Purpose: The purpose is to identify what differences and similarities Scandinavian football clubs have in their development of fan merchandise and presenting successful methods to build Brand Equity, in terms of the percental contribution to the club‟s total turnover and the merchandise turnover contribution from each attending supporter.</p><p>Methodology: To study the subject thoroughly the study used in this thesis is qualitative. We have chosen to conduct a multiple case study with semi-structured interviews and content analysis of the physical artefacts, merchandise. Five Scandinavian football clubs took part in this research.</p><p>Findings: The Brand Equity component that the clubs are trying to affect the most through merchandise is brand association. Perceived quality and brand awareness are secondary focuses for the clubs to affect while brand loyalty couldn‟t be seen in this thesis.</p><p>Keywords: Brand, Brand Association, Brand Awareness, Brand Equity, Brand Identity Prism, Culture, Merchandise, Perceived Quality, Personality, Physique, Relationship</p>

Cette recherche vise à étudier l’effet de l’orientation marché sur la qualité perçue dans l’enseignement supérieur tunisien. Afin d’articuler ces deux pôles, nous avons proposé, une variable, l’engagement organisationnel, qui joue un rôle médiateur. Faute d’avoir pu corroborer cet effet médiateur, nous avons pu cependent obtenir un résultat crucial : l’orientation marché et l’engagement organisationnel sont des antécédents de la qualité perçue dans l’enseignement supérieur tunisien.Un examen de la littérature scientifique consacré à ce sujet a permis de construire un modèle théorique à tester. L’orientation marché, la qualité perçue et l’engagement organisationnel sont autant de variables constitutives du modèle de recherche. La contribution de l’orientation marché et de l’engagement relatif à l’amélioration de la qualité perçue est théoriquement justifiée (Voon, 2006 ; Yulia et Carmel, 2010 ; Clark et al., 2008 ; George et Sabapathy, 2011).Pour valider l’argumentation théorique, la recherche s’appuie sur un questionnaire administré auprès des étudiants de 11 universités tunisiennes qui enseignent la gestion. Les résultats obtenus montrent que l’orientation marché et l’engagement organisationnel exercent tous les deux un effet positif sur la qualité perçue dans l’enseignement supérieur tunisien. / The purpose of this research is to study the effect of market orientation on the perceived quality in the Tunisian higher education. We have suggested an intermediate variable that is to say an organizational commitment which acts as a mediating role between market orientation and perceived quality. Despite the non-corroboration of the mediating effect, we were able to report an interesting result; we found that market orientation and organizational commitment are antecedents of perceived quality in the Tunisian higher education. A stydy of the literature enables us to build an explanatory model of the model to be tested. Market orientation, perceived quality and organizational commitment are variables forming the conceptual model of the research. The contribution of market orientation and commitment in the improvement of the perceived quality is theoretically justified (Voon, 2006; Yulia et Carmel, 2010; Clark et al. 2008; George et Sabapathy, 2011).To validate the theoretical argumentation, the research is based on a questionnaire administered to students from eleven Tunisian business schools. The results show that market orientation and organizational commitment both have a positive effect on the perceived quality in the Tunisian higher education.

O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi construir e aplicar uma estrutura de avaliação da qualidade percebida dos serviços administrativos prestados por servidores técnicos-administrativos em uma Instituição Federal de Ensino Superior (IFES). Para isto, o trabalho se dispôs a: i) levantar um conjunto de atributos e dimensões de qualidade percebida para os serviços administrativos prestados pelos técnicos-administrativos em uma IFES; ii) construir um instrumento de avaliação da qualidade percebida dos serviços administrativos prestados por técnicos-administrativos de uma IFES; iii) analisar gaps de qualidade percebida em serviços administrativos de uma IFES, usando a abordagem IPA (Importance-Performance Analysis), sob a perspectiva de docentes, técnicos-administrativos e discentes; e iv) identificar atributos críticos de qualidade e sua relação com os instrumentos de avaliação de desempenho e de planejamento estratégico na IFES em estudo. Entre as contribuições teóricas deste trabalho estão: i) uma estrutura de atributos para avaliação da qualidade dos serviços administrativos segundo importância e desempenho; e ii) um procedimento metodológico que abrange a hierarquização atributos, a analise dos gaps entre importância e percepção de desempenho, a elaboração e a interpretação da matriz de importância-desempenho. Já as principais contribuições práticas foram: i) a proposta de aperfeiçoamento de instrumentos de avaliação e controle existentes no âmbito da universidade; e ii) a aproximação ao usuário final do serviço, conhecendo sua percepção de qualidade e aspectos valorizados. Assim, ao adotar os procedimentos propostos neste estudo, entende-se que a Universidade estaria promovendo melhorias significativas nos serviços administrativos e avançando na busca pela excelência e qualidade. / This study aims to build and apply a structure of evaluation of the perceived quality of administrative services provided by the administrative staff in Higher Education Federal Institutions (HEFI). For this, the work is organized to i) create a set of attributes and dimensions of perceived quality of administrative services provided by administrative staff in a HEFI; ii) build perceived quality assessment instrument of the administrative services provided by HEFI's administrative staff; iii) analyze perceived quality gaps in administrative services of an HEFIs, using the IPA (Importance-Performance Analysis) approach, from the perspective of teachers, administrative staff, and student; and iv) identify critical attributes of quality and their relationship with instruments of performance and strategic planning in the IFES under study. Among the theoretical contributions of this work are i) an attribute structure to evaluate the quality of administrative services according to importance and performance; and ii) a methodological procedure that includes hierarchical attributes, gap analysis between importance and perception of performance, elaboration and interpretation of the importance-performance matrix. The main practical contributions were i) the proposal to improve existing evaluation and control instruments within the university; and ii) the approach to the end user of the service, knowing its perception of quality and evaluated aspects. Thus, when adopting the procedures proposed in this study, it is understood that the University would be promoting significant improvements in administrative services and advancing in the quest for excellence and quality.

L’objet de la présente recherche est d’examiner l’impact des attributs durables, tant environnementaux que sociaux, sur la qualité perçue des produits de luxe. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons adopté une approche qui articule deux démarches complémentaires, l’une qualitative auprès des professionnels et consommateurs Parisiens, l’autre quantitative, nous avons mobilisé un modèle expérimental factoriel between-subject, réalisée en France et l’Arabie Saoudite. Le principal résultat de notre étude quantitative est que mentionner l'information durable sur un produit de luxe a un impact négatif sur la qualité perçue. En effet, les consommateurs saoudiens perçoivent un produit de luxe comme étant de qualité inférieure lorsqu’il comporte une information durable. A l’inverse les consommateurs français se montrent indifférents. Plus précisément, nos résultats montrent que c’est plutôt l’information sociale qui présente un effet significatif sur la qualité perçue. L’information environnementale semble avoir un effet neutre. Enfin, nos résultats indiquent que l’effet de l’information sociale sur la qualité perçue est modéré par le goût des consommateurs pour le luxe, l'image RSE et le pays d'origine des consommateurs. / The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of sustainable attributes on the perceived quality of luxury products. To get to our goal, a complementary approach using both qualitative and quantitative studies has been adopted. In the qualitative method, two studies with professionals and consumers are conducted. For the quantitative method, we employed an experimental between-subject factorial design realized in France and Saudi Arabia. The key finding of our quantitative study is that mentioning sustainable information has a negative impact on the perceived quality of luxury products. However, while no significant effect is observed in the case of French respondents, Saudi consumers perceive a product to be of lower quality when sustainable information is presented compared to the absence of this information. More particularly, social information impacts strongly and negatively the perceived quality in contrary with environmental information which has no effect. This effect is moderated by the degree of liking of luxury, the CSR image, and consumers’ country of origin.

Text in English / Aim: The aims of this study were to investigate the treatment outcomes of patients with MDRTB and its determinants at referral hospitals in Ethiopia. The study also aims to develop a conceptual model for enhancing treatment of patients with MDR-TB in Ethiopia. Design and methods: A concurrent mixed methods design with quantitative dominance was used to investigate treatment outcomes of patients with MDR-TB and its determinants. Results: A total of 136 (n=136) patients with MDR-TB participated in the study, 74 (54%) were male and 62 (46%) were female. Forty-one (31%) of the patients had some co-morbidity with MDR-TB at baseline, and 64% had body mass index less than 18.5kg/m2. Eight (6%) of the patients were diagnosed among household contacts. At 24 months, 76/110 (69%) of the patients had successfully completed treatment, but 30/110 (27%) were died of MDR-TB. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that the odds of unfavourable treatment outcomes were significantly higher among patients with low body mass index (BMI <18.5kg/m2) (AOR=2.734, 95% CI: 1.01-7.395; P<0.048); and those with some co-morbidity with MDR-TB at the baseline (AOR=4.260, 95%CI: 1.607-11.29; p<0.004). The majority of the patients were satisfied with the clinical care they received at hospitals. But as no doctor was exclusively dedicated for the MDR-TB centre, patients could not receive timely medical attention and this was especially the case with those with emergency medical conditions. The caring practice of caregivers at the hospitals was supportive and empathic but it was desperate and alienating at treatment follow up centres. Patients were dissatisfied with the quality and adequacy of the socio-economic support they got from the programme. Despite the high MDR-TB and HIV/AIDS co-infection rate, services for both diseases was not available under one roof. Conclusions: Low body mass index and the presence of any co-morbidity with MDR-TB at the baseline are independent predictors of death among patients with MDR-TB. Poor communication between patients and their caregivers and inadequate socio-economic support were found to determine patients’ perceived quality of care and patients’ satisfaction with care given for MDR-TB. / Health Studies / D. Litt et Phil. (Health Studies)

Authors: Alexander Falck, 86-05-24, Economic program Rasmus Bergqvist, 84-11-08, Marketing program Course: International Marketing Strategy, 4FE02E (AF) and 4FE00E (RB) Tutor: Anders PehrssonExaminer: Anders PehrssonTitle: Is There More to Merchandise Than Making Money? A comparative study of Scandinavian football clubs describing how they build Brand Equity through merchandise. Background and problem discussion: Merchandise is one part of the product that a football club offers. Kapferer‟s (2008) Brand Identity Prism should be useful to map the relationship between product and Brand Equity. Merchandise attractiveness can affect consumers‟ perception regarding the product quality of the whole club. As little have been written regarding how Scandinavian football clubs use their products to build their Brand Equity we saw a relevance of further searching in to this subject. Research question: How do Scandinavian football clubs use merchandise to build the club Brand Equity? Purpose: The purpose is to identify what differences and similarities Scandinavian football clubs have in their development of fan merchandise and presenting successful methods to build Brand Equity, in terms of the percental contribution to the club‟s total turnover and the merchandise turnover contribution from each attending supporter. Methodology: To study the subject thoroughly the study used in this thesis is qualitative. We have chosen to conduct a multiple case study with semi-structured interviews and content analysis of the physical artefacts, merchandise. Five Scandinavian football clubs took part in this research. Findings: The Brand Equity component that the clubs are trying to affect the most through merchandise is brand association. Perceived quality and brand awareness are secondary focuses for the clubs to affect while brand loyalty couldn‟t be seen in this thesis. Keywords: Brand, Brand Association, Brand Awareness, Brand Equity, Brand Identity Prism, Culture, Merchandise, Perceived Quality, Personality, Physique, Relationship

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate consumer’s attitude towards licensed products in relation to the parent brand, with respect to perceived quality, likelihood to buy and associations’ transferability. Background: Brand licensing has become one of an increasingly popular ways of stretching a brand into new product categories to reach more consumers in new markets. Despite the fact that brand licensing is less risky than building a brand from scratch, the odds that licensed products will fail are still high. That is why, it is interesting to investigate consumers’ attitudes towards brand licensing in fast moving consumer goods sector and see how perceived quality, likelihood to buy and transferability of parent brand associations will impact the licensing strategy. Method: The authors will use quantitative approach; data will be gathered using self-administered questionnaires. Furthermore, the data will be analysed using SPSS, namely by employing Spearman’s correlation. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that perceived quality, likelihood to buy and associations of the parent brand have a positive impact on the licensed products only if there is a high degree of perceived fit between the two product categories. Consumers welcome new licensed product that is in the related product category, however, the consumers appear to be sceptical to the product that is outside of the core market of the parent brand.

Purpose: The purpose is to explain what factors affect brand equity for SBOs. Hypotheses: These hypotheses were derived from a literature review. H1 - Perceived Quality has a positive effect on SBO brand equity H2 - Brand Association has a positive effect on SBO brand equity H3 - Brand Awareness has a positive effect on SBO brand equity Method: The researcher conducted an quantitative research where the empirical data was collected through a questionnaire. Conclusion: This research show that perceived quality, brand association and brand awareness positively affects SBO brand equity.

Customer loyalty has been investigated in years, and its importance to corporate is understood by managers. The purpose of this paper is to find out what kinds of specific and concrete operational factors have an important impact on Chinese mobile telecom customer loyalty. Firstly, a model was established to represent the relationship between customer loyalty and its influencing factors (customer satisfaction, perceived quality, customer value, switching cost and corporate image). 11 specific and concrete operational factors were found according to Chinese mobile telecom industry which were never been studied by the pre-researchers. Secondly, a survey of questionnaire has been conducted which help to found out that the 9 factors (call quality, coverage of area, SMS quality, the convenience and reliability of Inquiring phone fee system, service quality of service center and hotline, rating price of given quality, customer’s worry of troubles after change cell phone number, social responsibility, advertisements about corporate image) have an important impact on customer loyalty on Chinese mobile telecom industry. Thirdly, separating these 9 factors into 3 groups through investigate the performance of customer loyalty in China Mobile. At last, some recommendations were given to China Mobile