Since the advent of the Internet, the number of individuals and organisations using tools such as the World Wide Web and cell phones has increased, and is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Social media has provoked fundamentally different ways of doing business, and organisations rapidly had to get on this social media bandwagon to stay up to date with the latest market trends and ahead of the competition. Although social media is already broadly used among South African businesses, the perception regarding the use of social media as a promotional mix element has not been investigated sufficiently in South Africa. The primary purpose of this study was therefore to determine the perception of star-graded accommodation establishments, operating in the Western Cape province of South Africa, regarding the use of social media as a promotional mix element. A broad and in-depth literature review was conducted on the use of social media and social media as a probable promotional mix element. An empirical study was conducted, in which data was collected from star-graded accommodation establishments operating in the Western Cape by means of a web-based (computer-assisted) self-administered questionnaire. A quantitative approach was followed in order to satisfy the research objectives of this study. The results of this research study indicate that social media is perceived to be an instrumental marketing element in star-graded accommodation establishments and can indeed be considered an element of the promotional mix. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Primary objective of this diploma thesis is to conduct analysis of promotional mix of life insurance company operating on a Czech insurance market, to review efficiency of marketing communication and express practical recommendations for optimization of communication mix and increase of efficiency of marketing communication. First, theoretical part of thesis, presents particularity of marketing a service. Promotional mix is defined as a part of the marketing mix and furthermore its components are in detail described including its application. Second, practical part of thesis, includes analysis of these components in context of reviewed company. Also specific application cases of these components of promotional mix are described including comparison with some project of competitive organizations and efficiency revision of marketing communication based on undertaken market survey.

No último século, a inserção de temas explorados segundo características figurativas, alegóricas e narrativas tornou-se freqüente em locais voltados para comércio e lazer. Estes chamados Espaços Temáticos encontram paralelo em cidades que, visando o turismo, passaram a adotar elementos do modelo temático em escala urbana. Este trabalho procura identificar as possibilidades de utilização do temático no espaço urbano, associando-o ao marketing de lugar. Além disso, relaciona reflexos do temático na produção arquitetônica contemporânea, como a utilização do figurativo, mas, especialmente, o caráter espetacular que permeia a arquitetura atual. / Throughout the last century, the inclusion of themes exploited according to figurative, allegorical and narrative characteristics, has become frequent in commercial and leisure oriented places. These so called Themed Places find similarities in cities that, aiming for tourism, adopt elements of the theme formula in urban scale. This research intends to identify different possibilities on theming urban space, according to place marketing. Also, it finds reflexes of the theme formula in contemporary architectural production, such as the use of figurative, but most of all, the exploitation of spectacle present in nowadays architecture.

Main goal of this document is to rate photographs in promotional materials of the tourism regions of the Czech republic. Other goal of this document is to show if graphical form of promotional materials influences decision making of visitors of any particular region.The theoretical part describes short history of photography, promotion and tourism in the Czech Republic. The practical part consist of researching photographs in selected promotional materials of the tourism regions according to picked criteria. The second practical part is focused on testing of influence of photographs on participants of tourism.

<p>The social media are internet facilities where people can communicate and discuss through different websites or blogs. The social media has changed the world in many aspect and people are becoming more and more addicted to use these networks. People are fond of the social media because they can be social with a high number of individuals, both be real life friends, as well as strangers. Since the social media has grown to become so popular, companies have taken advantage of this as well. Their goal is to promote themselves through these networks as this can be very lucrative for the business. There are many different social media networks however this study will only be about Facebook. The aim of the study is to find out and describe how companies use Facebook for marketing purposes. An observation of how 34 fashion companies use Facebook for marketing purposes was carried out.</p>

On the one hand, time-honored practices of open outcry, bazaar and other flea markets, as well as Sotheby's and Christie's, the traditional auction houses. On the other hand, the Internet technology quickly and cheaply connects people anywhere in the world at anytime. A true love story then began and gave rise to online auctions, which are undoubtedly one of the greatest successes of e-commerce. Thanks to the Internet, individual consumers, average people, generally used to posted prices, discover an efficient mechanism of price setting. The weak popularity of auctions until the dawn of the third millennium (auctions were intended to B2B transactions, or to B2C transactions but in specific markets, such as the art market) certainly justifies the lack of interest of researchers in marketing for this mechanism. On the other hand, economists made auctions one of their favorite topics, as this mechanism constitutes a wonderful application of game theory, which has been playing a preponderant role in economics for twenty-five years. Entitled “Essays on Online Auction Design and Bidding Behavior”, this doctoral dissertation helps enrich the traditional economic approach of auctions by a behavioral and dynamic approach. The original part of the research is structured in three main stages, which go deeper and deeper in the study of bidders' behavior and auction dynamics. The whole research is based on online auctions organized by the French airline company Air France and by the auction site eBay. In the first stage of the research, on the basis of hypotheses coming from the auction theory, the impact of auction rules on bidders’ participation and seller's revenue is econometrically studied, using simultaneous equations models and the 2SLS method. Does a high opening bid have a negative effect on the number of bidders and a positive one on the auction revenue, as predicted by the auction theory? Do sequential auctions of similar items lead to similar auction price? These are examples of questions that are investigated. While the auction theory literature typically takes the number of bidders as exogenously given, we chose to consider it as endogenous. Even though an increasing number of researchers acknowledge the endogenous feature of auction participation, no empirical study really takes this feature into account. Hypotheses from the auction theory turn out to be confirmed, as far as the minimum bid and the number of bidders are concerned. Interesting results are found regarding the performance of sequential auctions of similar items, since auctions in a sequence turn out to yield increasing revenues. Furthermore, the impact of the starting bid turns out to be moderated by the effect of these sequential auctions. In the second stage of this research, a disaggregated perspective (at the bidder’s level) is adopted, since a typology of bidding behaviors based on bidders' choices is built. This part is thus aimed at investigating whether heterogeneity exists in bidder’s behavior in online auctions, contrary to the longstanding assumption of homogenous, rational and strategic bidders made by the auction theory. A clustering analysis is conducted, based on decisions that bidders have to make during an auction, whose keywords are certainly: when? How? How much? For example: do bidders submit a small or a large number of bids? Do they react quickly when they lose auction leadership? When do they make their bids: at the beginning of the auction, at the end of it, or during the whole auction? What increment do they use? Results, based on two different samples related to Air France and eBay auctions provide a description of different bidding behaviors. The analysis focusing on Air France auctions highlights five types of bidding behavior: jump bidders, rational bidders, active bidders, bottom fishers and pioneers. Slightly different results are obtained for eBay auctions, since six types of bidding behavior are highlighted: snipers, evaluators, unmasking bidders, bottom fishers, pioneers and late pioneers. A closer look is given to the group of bidders who turned out to win an auction, in order to determine whether these bidders are characterized by specific bidding decisions, and thus, by specific bidding behaviors. The third stage focuses on the dynamic bidding process of an English auction, by specifically studying the impact of signals – namely, promotional messages – sent during an online auction on the final auction price. It proposes to test a model of the genesis and the impact of these messages aimed at informing current bidders and potential bidders about the item or urging them to submit a bid. This impact is modeled through a disaggregated and dynamic model. It exploits the recent behavioral view that each bid submitted by a bidder in an English auction is a particular decision that may be influenced by signals sent by the auctioneer during the auction, that is, between the decisions that the bidder makes. This model simultaneously takes into account the following three factors: (i) the direct impact of marketing messages on the auction price when messages affect bidders’ valuations, (ii) the indirect impact of messages on this price when messages attract a new bidder to the auction, and (iii) the possibility that the auctioneer’s strategy for sending messages depends on past events in the auction and on the timing of past messages. In this model, we thus propose that messages influence final auction prices through a dual-path system. The model also reflects an important feature of auction messages, which is the real time interactivity between the auctioneer and auction participants. The results, obtained through Bayesian inference, support the proposed model. This doctoral dissertation globally helps better understand bidders’ behavior in view of the rules set by the seller, and estimate how this seller can maximize his/her revenues. The main original aspects of this research consist in considering the English auction as a dynamic process and in focusing on bidders’ behavior, these two elements being ignored by economists. From a managerial point of view, this research can help online auction designers to better design their auctions in order to maximize their revenue.

The social media are internet facilities where people can communicate and discuss through different websites or blogs. The social media has changed the world in many aspect and people are becoming more and more addicted to use these networks. People are fond of the social media because they can be social with a high number of individuals, both be real life friends, as well as strangers. Since the social media has grown to become so popular, companies have taken advantage of this as well. Their goal is to promote themselves through these networks as this can be very lucrative for the business. There are many different social media networks however this study will only be about Facebook. The aim of the study is to find out and describe how companies use Facebook for marketing purposes. An observation of how 34 fashion companies use Facebook for marketing purposes was carried out.

Social media has grown in importance as an advertising communication tool, and companies take advantages of this by using social media marketing to meet their marketing objectives. The research context in this study is chosen to be the social media Facebook, mainly since it is the biggest and most used social media in Sweden but also since Facebook offers companies many different commercial options. We detected a research gap, since there is a lack of theory on Facebook’s customized advertisements on a more specific context that is felt urge to buy impulsively. We could also identify a research gap since there is no study investigating how positive affect and felt urge to buy impulsively are affected by different characteristics in Umeå, Sweden or in the Facebook context among Umeå members. The purpose with this study is to investigate the effects of ad characteristics, personal consumption characteristics, and situational characteristics on positive affect and felt urge to buy impulsively. The characteristics consist of nine constructs; felt urge to buy impulsively, positive affect, promotional effect, atmospheric effect, impulse buying tendency, hedonic consumption, customized advertisement, time availability and money availability. To fulfill the purpose of this thesis, we conducted a quantitative study. In the quantitative study we conducted a web-based self-selected survey. The link to the survey was posted in four different Facebook groups and on our own Facebook pages. The link the survey was also distributed by flyers to randomly targeted people at Umeå University and Umeå center. By conducting a survey we were able to detect effects between the variables. When analyzing the results using regression analysis we concluded there are eight supported hypothesizes. The first multiple regression analysis showed that promotional effect, atmospheric effect, hedonic consumption tendency, customized advertisement and time availability had a significant positive effect on positive affect. In the second multiple regression analysis we concluded that hedonic consumption tendency and customized advertisement had a significant positive effect on felt urge to buy impulsively. The last regression analysis showed that positive affect had a significant positive effect on felt urge to buy impulsively. From the result we could confirm some of previous study’s findings and also contribute with new findings. We also suggest practical recommendations for companies using Facebook as an advertising channel, and how they can improve the advertising to make a good impression on the consumers.

Attracting and retaining employees has emerged as one of the most important issues currently challenging organizations worldwide, and in the rural setting it has become a genuine concern for public and private sectors. Longstanding research into turnover has historically been rather piecemeal, for example attrition and retention research has focused on employment conditions such as pay or supervision (Richards et al. 1994; Dinham & Scott 1996; Dodd-McCue and Wright 1996; Rahim 1996; Scott et al. 1998; Cheney et al. 2004; Robinson & Pillemer 2007; Gow et al 2008; Newton 2008) or personal factors such as personality (Deary, Watson & Hogston 2003; Bakker 2006). This research study adopted a multi-focus or ecological perspective and provided a holistic understanding of employee turnover, something that has been lacking from much of the previous literature. This thesis evaluated turnover intentions and behaviours, through investigating personal, work and community variables with a group of rural public service employees in Charleville, South West Queensland, Australia. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influenced a rural government workers decision to stay in or leave their job, and could these predict turnover. It has implications for organizations and workforce management in rural settings but some parts may be applied to the urban context.Eighty-nine workers from 12 state government departments were studied in 2003 and 2004. Eight variables were researched including professional, personal and community factors, job satisfaction, stress, social support, organizational commitment, intent to remain and actual turnover behaviour. The research methods used were surveys, interviews and observations. A descriptive picture of the sample was formed using some of the data in the survey. The rest of the survey data was analysed using regression analysis. This information was then used as the basis for the interviews. This data along with the observation data were analysed qualitatively.The two main hypotheses for this study were, 1) personal, professional and community variables influence employee turnover, and 2) that it was possible to predict turnover from these three variables. Consequently, the primary research questions were ‘can we explain employee turnover intentions and behaviours by evaluating personal, professional and community variables?’ and ‘Can these factors be used to predict turnover?’ The results of this study support both hypotheses. It was found that personal, professional and community factors did influence rural government worker turnover; and that turnover can be predicted. Furthermore, that intent can be used as a predictor of turnover. It argues that employee turnover is a complex process involving personal, professional, community, stress, job satisfaction, social support, commitment and intent variables. This study identifies the factors that influence actual and intended rural government employee turnover and gives organizations a platform for operationalizing effective retention programs.

Attracting and retaining employees has emerged as one of the most important issues currently challenging organizations worldwide, and in the rural setting it has become a genuine concern for public and private sectors. Longstanding research into turnover has historically been rather piecemeal, for example attrition and retention research has focused on employment conditions such as pay or supervision (Richards et al. 1994; Dinham & Scott 1996; Dodd-McCue and Wright 1996; Rahim 1996; Scott et al. 1998; Cheney et al. 2004; Robinson & Pillemer 2007; Gow et al 2008; Newton 2008) or personal factors such as personality (Deary, Watson & Hogston 2003; Bakker 2006). This research study adopted a multi-focus or ecological perspective and provided a holistic understanding of employee turnover, something that has been lacking from much of the previous literature. This thesis evaluated turnover intentions and behaviours, through investigating personal, work and community variables with a group of rural public service employees in Charleville, South West Queensland, Australia. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influenced a rural government workers decision to stay in or leave their job, and could these predict turnover. It has implications for organizations and workforce management in rural settings but some parts may be applied to the urban context.Eighty-nine workers from 12 state government departments were studied in 2003 and 2004. Eight variables were researched including professional, personal and community factors, job satisfaction, stress, social support, organizational commitment, intent to remain and actual turnover behaviour. The research methods used were surveys, interviews and observations. A descriptive picture of the sample was formed using some of the data in the survey. The rest of the survey data was analysed using regression analysis. This information was then used as the basis for the interviews. This data along with the observation data were analysed qualitatively.The two main hypotheses for this study were, 1) personal, professional and community variables influence employee turnover, and 2) that it was possible to predict turnover from these three variables. Consequently, the primary research questions were ‘can we explain employee turnover intentions and behaviours by evaluating personal, professional and community variables?’ and ‘Can these factors be used to predict turnover?’ The results of this study support both hypotheses. It was found that personal, professional and community factors did influence rural government worker turnover; and that turnover can be predicted. Furthermore, that intent can be used as a predictor of turnover. It argues that employee turnover is a complex process involving personal, professional, community, stress, job satisfaction, social support, commitment and intent variables. This study identifies the factors that influence actual and intended rural government employee turnover and gives organizations a platform for operationalizing effective retention programs.