Green marketing is now recognised amongst academics as a reputable area of study and conventional marketing has taken a step back as green marketing comes into prominence in the fight against unsustainability. A number of organisations are using green marketing as a tool to differentiate their market offerings from those of their competitors in an effort to gain a strong position in today’s markets. These organisations are seeking to exploit consumers‟ growing environmental concerns and increasing green purchase intentions in order to acquire market share in the newly developed green consumer markets. The Generation Y cohort, born between 1986 and 2005, are the most technologically astute generation to date. When segmenting the Generation Y cohort, the black Africans hold the majority share, comprising 84 percent of the Generation Y cohort and approximately 32 percent of the entire South African population. Owing to its sheer size, the black Generation Y cohort presents as an attractive and lucrative market segment, especially those who hold a tertiary education. Individuals who pursue a higher education are linked to higher future earning potential. The primary objective of this study was to propose and empirically test a model of the antecedents of black Generation Y students‟ green purchase behaviour within the South African context. The proposed model suggests that environmental knowledge, subjective norms, and perceived behaviour control have a direct positive influence on environmental attitude, which, in turn, has a direct positive influence on green purchase intentions. Moreover, the model infers that green purchase intensions have a direct positive influence on environmental purchase behaviour, while accounting for the mediating effects of perceived price (price) and perceived quality (quality). The sampling frame for the study comprised the 25 public registered HEIs situated in South Africa. From this initial list of 25 registered institutions, a judgement sample of four institutions in the Gauteng province was chosen, of which two included country-based universities and two city-based universities. Of the four universities, two were traditional universities, one a university of technology and one comprehensive university. Lecturers at each of the four campuses were contacted and asked if they would act as gatekeepers to the student participants. A convenience sample of 500 students across these four campuses was taken in 2014. Of the questionnaires completed, 332 were usable. The statistical analysis of the collected data included exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, structural equation modelling and independent sample t-tests. The findings of this study indicate that South African black Generation Y students are knowledgeable about the environment, consider the opinions of their peers regarding the environment, perceive their actions as having a positive effect on the environment and display strong pro-environmental attitudes towards the environment. Moreover, they display positive intentions to purchase green products and aim to behave in a pro-environmental manner. The influence of green purchase intentions on green purchase behaviour is partially mediated by the perceived price and quality of green products. This may explain the noticeable gap between environmental awareness and lack of actual green product purchases. Environmental knowledge and perceived behaviour control had a significant direct effect on black Generation Y students‟ environmental attitude, which, in turn, has a significant direct influence on black Generation Y students‟ green purchase intentions. Similarly, subjective norms and environmental knowledge had a significant direct effect on green purchase intentions. This study contributes to developing the green consumer profile of the black Generation Y consumer in South Africa. Furthermore, the study will aid in identifying the green consumer behaviour patterns amongst the South African youth. This study offers a conceptual model that illustrates the antecedents of black Generation Y students‟ green purchasing behaviour. The findings of this study will be helpful to national and international marketers seeking to profile and target the lucrative green market segment in South Africa. / PhD (Marketing Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

With increasing restrictions, saturated advertisement markets and advanced technology, the conditions of the communication politics have significantly changed and outdated the classical instruments. In order to bypass these developments, marketers started to strategically promote their products through appearances in movies and television than through conventional commercial spots. Additionally, social media has developed to one of the latest and most effective communication tools, especially among Generation Y, which businesses try to take advantage of. The combination of these two instruments created product placement on social media. Extensive market research on product placement in movies and television has shown that it can be an effective marketing tool if applied correctly. However, the research on product placement on social media is limited. Therefore, this paper will investigate whether product placement on social media is as effective as in movies and television, by answering the following research question: What is the impact of product placement on social media on the end-consumer’s brand perception and purchase intention? To address this issue we developed an online survey based on the theoretical background and methodology. The target group was set to social media users of the Generation Y worldwide. Subsequently, within a timeframe of three weeks we collected 217 valid responses that were analyzed with SPSS in order to answer the research questions and give managerial implications. Our analysis shows that product placement on social media can have a positive influence on consumer brand perception and purchase intention. This is particularly compounded if the celebrity is liked. However, the analysis also indicates clear signs that the Generation Y perceives product placement on social media as unethical. However, all in all, it can be said that product placement on social media is a good marketing tool if several suggestions and restrictions are taken into account.

Aim Companies around the world are making sizeable investments into CSR initiatives, but ensuring appropriate returns on these investments remains challenging. Therefore, it is of value to study the communication of corporate CSR efforts. The purpose of this study is to investigate how consumers react to rational versus emotional message strategies in CSR communication. Two categories of consumer reactions were considered: trust and purchase intention. Methods Qualitative research with four focus groups was conducted. Participants discussed three texts regarding a CSR project, utilising a rational, emotional and a hybrid rational-emotional message strategy respectively. The conversations focused on trust towards the communication and purchase intention. Results Trust - All of the respondents viewed the rational text over the emotional text as more trustworthy, but they most positively reacted to the combined strategy. Rational information was viewed as more reliable by many participants, with emotional cues adding value by better holding their attention. Purchase intention – Participants more positively reacted to the rational CSR communication strategy, compared to an emotional strategy. For approximately half of respondents, the hybrid strategy targeting both rational and emotional cues was the most successful in terms of purchase intention. Upon further analysis, it was identified that this division in respondents’ opinions may reflect a gender difference, where men portrayed the more task oriented and women the socially sensitive consumers. Conclusions The findings support previous research championing the use of rational strategies over emotional strategies in CSR communication. A number of managerial implications that can be used by companies in order to better communicate their CSR activities and increase returns on CSR-related investments are provided.

This paper explores fantasy brands and product placement in order to determine which method serves to be more effective to a targeted audience. A fantasy brand exists only in a virtual or fictional world. Reverse product placement is the process of transforming brands in a virtual world into products or services in the physical world. Common fictional brands include Willy Wonka Chocolate (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Duff Beer (The Simpsons), Dunder Mifflin Paper (The Office), Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (Forrest Gump), Central Perk (Friends), and Stay Puft Marshmallows (Ghost Busters). Previous research has suggested that people who are fans of a television show or movie are more likely to purchase a fantasy brand than those who are unfamiliar with the show or movie. Additionally previous research indicates that some people believe product placement is invasive and results in negative brand image. However, no previous research directly compared product placement to fantasy brands, and which a consumer might prefer. This paper will explore the advantages and disadvantages of both product placement and fantasy brands. The study conducted tested 175 subjects in a moderated laboratory setting to discover which form of advertising was more likely to drive a purchase interaction. This study goes on to provide evidence that consumers are more likely to purchase a fantasy brand when there is a high level of “fandom”. However, if they have a low level of “fandom” they are more likely to purchase the item in the form of product placement. This paper contributes to the idea of branding, experiential consumption, and advertising in an overcrowded era.

The purpose of this study is to examine post-purchase evaluation factors influencing repurchase intention of credence products, and develop a model of consumer’s post-purchase evaluation for the repurchase intentions. The credence products in this case are dietary supplements, with a focus on consumers in Thailand. The study classifies a conceptual model and hypothesised relationships into two consumer perspectives: product; and brand. This research assumes that trust, expectations, satisfaction factors may relate to repurchase intention for the consumer product perspective. Also, brand trust, brand experience, expectation, and satisfaction factors are correlated with repurchase intention from the consumer brand perspective. The research adopts a hypothetico-deductive method to enable the testing of hypotheses and also a structural equation modelling (SEM) to measure the constructive relationship and regression analysis that evaluates the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Both simple regression and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were used to examine the effect of post-purchase evaluation factors on repurchase intention. These analyses are based on a sample of 504 dietary supplement users of vitamins, minerals, and herbs or other botanical products in four regions of Thailand through face-to-face structured interviews. Findings indicate that from consumers’ product perspective, consumer trust has no significant direct effect on consumer repurchase intentions whereas the relationship between consumer trust and consumer repurchase intentions of credence products are related, when it is mediated by consumer expectation and consumer satisfaction. In terms of consumers’ brand perspective, the study leads to a better understanding of consumer brand trust and consumer expectation, both of which have no significant direct effect on consumer repurchase intentions. Consumer brand trust, consumer brand experience and consumer repurchase intentions are not correlated when mediated by consumer expectation. Other findings reveal that brand experience has a direct impact on repurchase intentions whereas consumer satisfaction is a significant mediating factor when connected with: (1) the relationship between consumer brand trust and repurchase intention; (2) the relationship between consumer brand experience and repurchase intention. The study makes a contribution to a post-purchase evaluation for repurchase intentions of credence products from both consumers’ product and brand perspectives in Thailand. This study also suggests that consumer brand experience is the strongest factor and consumer satisfaction is the strongest mediator for consumers’ P-PE for the repurchase intention of credence products. From a managerial perspective, the findings of this study provide evidence for both the public and private sector in Thailand in terms of devising marketing strategies in accordance with this model.

Firms have since long given their regular customers special treatment. With the help of IT, many firms have established formal ways to do this. An example is a so-called customer rewards program (CRP), by which the firm rewards the customer for repeated purchase. Firms allocate large resources in these programs with millions of customers enrolled. Hence, it seems important that the CRP works effectively. By effective we mean that it increases sales. Whether it is effective or not is a matter of how it is designed. A CRP typically comes with membership levels. We study how many membership levels the firm should offer in an effective program. We also study if customers prefer individual or group rewards and whether a CRP can break and create habitual purchasing behavior. In the study, we also analyze under what conditions the customer prefers a CRP over a sales promotion. In general, the study adds to the understanding of Customer Rewards Programs as an incentive structure. There are many different ways to design these incentives and especially the continuing development of IT is expected to influence the future design and role of these types of programs. This study is part of the Swedish Research School of Management and Information Technology (MIT) which is one of 16 national research schools supported by the Swedish Government. MIT is jointly operated by the following institutions: Blekinge Institute of Technology, Gotland University College, Jönköping International Business School, Karlstad University, Linköping University, Lund University, Mälardalen University College, Stockholm University, Växjö University, Örebro University, IT University of Göteborg, and Uppsala University, host to the research school. At the Swedish Research School of Management and Information Technology (MIT), research is conducted, and doctoral education provided, in three fields: management information systems, business administration, and informatics.

A cursory review of domestic apparel production data from ‘Cotton Counts Its Customers’ reports by The National Cotton Council of America showed a discrepancy between the amounts of cotton utilized in domestically produced women’s apparel and that for men’s apparel. It appeared that the men’s apparel sector had a higher percentage market share of cotton than women’s apparel. For both genders, cotton’s dwindling market share was similar to that of diminishing domestic US apparel production overall. Since the majority of apparel in the U.S. is imported, import data was obtained from the United States International Trade Commission and compiled with the domestic apparel data to offer a more expansive view of cotton’s market share and its use separated by gender. The compilation of domestic and import apparel data followed the overall trend of a higher percentage of weight of cotton being used in men’s apparel than in women’s. Challenging apparel categories which may offer potential for expanded utilization with increased performance were Coats, Underwear/Nightwear, Suits, and Dresses. In an attempt to add context to the apparel market data, we explored two stages of the apparel supply chain: the first at the retail setting, the second at the consumer purchase and wear decision level. At the retail level, we investigated the availability of fiber composition information and its use as a part of the assortment offered to consumers. Two stores were selected for this exploratory phase and retail availability by gender and fiber content were physically tallied in the two retail settings. In both retail assortments, there was no emphasis of fiber composition as part of the information offered to the consumer. For the consumer wanting to find cotton apparel in these two settings, prior knowledge regarding the feel or look of cotton would seem necessary to facilitate locating cotton among the assortment of apparel. Fiber blends can offer cotton-like appearance and hand, so fiber composition tags could give consumers certainty regarding the garments they are buying. In addition to the observations above, we also noted in both stores a prevalence of cotton in men’s apparel, and a larger presence of man-made fibers in women’s apparel, which reflects the overall market situation. Finally, the second exploratory stage focused on clothing diaries and a wardrobe inventory provided by a small purposeful sample of respondents to examine the role of fiber composition, cotton in particular, in the individual’s garment purchase and daily-use decisions. The findings suggested that fiber composition was an important part of the daily garment selection process, based upon the daily activity and a set of personal beliefs about what the diary respondent felt that fiber had to offer. Similar to the market data Results, in the Clothing Diary responses males showed a greater tendency to select both 100% cotton Tops and Bottoms than did the female respondents. Overall, cotton appeared challenged by man-made and other fibers when the respondents needed to “dress up”, to attend to athletic activity, or to satisfy the need for specific functionalities such as rapid drying. / text

Eco-labels impact consumers‟ likelihood to buy eco-labelled products and serve as a tool during the decision-making process that helps consumers make informed purchase choices. The textile industry is responsible for a large amount of pollution, but has started to follow a more holistic, eco-friendly approach. Information about their eco-friendliness is communicated to consumers via eco-labels. Consumers can influence the textile industry to include more eco-labelled textile products in their desired range of products, by buying and demanding eco-labelled textile products. However, international studies indicate that consumers do not understand textile eco-labels and the information that is found on these labels. A lack of understanding prevents consumers from including such products in their pre-purchase decision-making process. Yet some consumers, from developed and developing countries, are willing to buy eco-labelled products and pay more for such products. Limited research in this regard, within a South African context, is available hence, more research was required in this study field. Therefore, this study aimed to explore consumers‟ understanding and utilisation of textile eco-labels during pre-purchase decision-making. The research for the study was done using a convenience and purposive sampling method with a quantitative structured online questionnaire for data collection purposes. Findings suggest that respondents were environmentally conscious, but only to some extent. Most respondents objectively understood textile eco-labelled products, but not textile eco-labels or organic label information regarding cotton production processes. Respondents indicated that they do not use textile eco-labels when making a pre-purchase decision, yet they somewhat recognised the need to buy eco-friendly textile products, because they are aware of environmental implications. Regarding the information on eco-labels, respondents searched for information surrounding the quality of eco-labelled textile products, followed by the care instructions and the credibility of the eco-label on the product. Finally, there was a segment of respondents who buy and utilise textile eco-labelled products, and are willing to pay a higher price for these products. The higher price was the main factor that prevented other respondents from buying eco-labelled textile products. Consumers can benefit from education regarding environmental issues and how their purchasing choices can make a difference in protecting the environment. Furthermore, educating consumers about eco-labelled textile products might increase their awareness and utilisation of these products. In turn, this awareness about eco-labels might encourage consumers to include these kinds of products in their pre-purchase decision-making process. Additionally the industry can strive towards keeping eco-labelled products‟ prices relatively equal to regular product‟s prices to make it easier for consumers to choose between the different products, based on their environmental attributes and not price. Finally, the textile industry and manufacturers can focus on making textile eco-labels more attractive and attention-grabbing in order to focus consumers‟ attention on these labels. Furthermore, on these labels, symbols and words should be used together and all elements should correspond to enhance consumers‟ understanding. If all of these elements of an eco-label convey the same message, consumers might be able to understand the intended message by manufacturers and the industry better. / M Consumer Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

How often have you walked around in the supermarket trying to decide what product by which brand to choose? The options are many. Some people look for the price tag while others are more influenced by the esthetic appeals of the packaging design. Some people might look for ethical or environmental aspects of the brand. The area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) interests many people today and is a growing concern. We found that consumers consider companies acting ethically while also new jobs among the most important responsibilities by firms today. These factors are making the purchase decision process even harder for consumers. Sweden is one of the most socially responsible countries in the world, making it important for Swedish companies to integrate CSR into the core of their businesses. One example of such integration is Fairtrade, a concept that has grown tremendously during the last decade, while the attention focused on socially responsible behavior by firms has increased. The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between Fairtrade and the purchase decision of consumers living in Sweden, to investigate the awareness and perception of Fairtrade and how that ultimately translates into making a purchasing decision. From this we developed the research question: “What factors influences Swedish consumers purchase decision in buying products from Fairtrade Sweden?” The target group of our research is young adults ages 18-30. The nature of our degree project is quantitative with a deductive approach. The research philosophy is objectivism since we do not intervene in any way as we observe the data collected from our survey. Furthermore a positivistic approach is used since we rely heavy on numbers and data rather than words. We received 158 participants in our survey. The theoretical framework consists of theories within the areas of CSR, branding, consumer attitudes-behavior and finally previous empirical studies about Fairtrade. From the theories we have developed a series of hypotheses, which we test statistically using independent-samples t-test and bivariate correlation tests. Statistical support for gender differences between men and women were found and also positive correlations between willingness to pay for Fairtrade products and how often participants purchase Fairtrade products were found. The findings from our research show that the 18-30 year old Swedish consumers find Fairtrade important and the general attitude towards Fairtrade is positive. Most consumers chose Fairtrade to help people and because it makes them feel good. The most common reasons why not to choice Fairtrade is because of the price or that the products simply cannot be found. Women are keener on purchasing and caring about Fairtrade products compared to men.

Prostitucija egzistuojanti nuo pirmykščių laikų savyje talpina socialinį neteisingumą, išnaudojimą ir pažeidžiamas žmogaus teises, todėl socialinis darbas būdamas anti-engėjiška praktika, privalo imtis iniciatyvos. Darbe remiamasi interpretuojamąja – konstruktyvistine ontologija, kuri teigia, kad socialiniai reiškiniai neegzistuoja savaime, jie yra sukonstruoti ir įtakoti kitų. Prostitucijos fenomenas sąlygotas stereotipų, pasmerkimo ir visuotinės stigmatizacijos, dažnai šios nuostatos trukdo į reiškinį pažvelgti iš esmės. Pripažįstama, kad prostituciją sukuria paklausa, tačiau apie ją nekalbama, tai tarsi nematoma prostitucijos pusė, kuri palikta užribyje. Nėra aiškios informacijos, kokia ši paklausa ir kas sąlygoja jos egzistavimą, todėl siekiant kalbėti apie tuos, kurie perka seksą ir išlaiko sekso industriją, šio darbo tikslas – atskleisti vyrų, perkančių seksą, naratyvus projektuojant socialinio darbo intervencijos kryptis. Keliami tyrimo klausimai: kaip sekso pirkimo reiškinį aiškina perkantieji seksą? Kaip sekso pirkimas yra susijęs su hegemoninio vyriškumo nuostatomis? Kokios galimos socialinio darbo intervencijos kryptys sekso pirkimo kontekste? Siekiant atskleisti vyrų, perkančių seksą naratyvus buvo pasitelktas kokybinis naratyvinis tyrimas. Remiamasi subjektyvistine – interpretuojamąja epistemologija. Pasirinkta tyrimo dalyvių trianguliacija, kuri padėjo gauti tikslesnius duomenis iš reiškinio vidaus (interviu su sekso pirkėjais) ir išorės (interviu su policijos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Prostitution has existed since primeval times. This phenomenon contains the social injustice, exploitation and violations of human rights. Social work, as an anti-oppressive practice, must take action. The paper is based on interpretative – constructivist ontology, which proposes that social phenomena do not exist in spite of themselves, but they are designed and influenced by others. Prostitution is conditioned by stereotypes, stigmatization and universal condemnation and often this approach doesn`t let to look at the very core of this phenomenon. It is recognized that prostitution is created by demand but it is not discussed in public. It is like an invisible side of prostitution, which is left behind. There is no clear information what the demand is and what determines its existence, so there is a need to discuss those who buy sex and support sex industry. The aim of this paper is to reveal narratives of men who buy sex with the purpose to design directions of social work based on these narratives. The questions the research raises are is: How the phenomenon of sex-purchase is explained by the buyers themselves? What are the possible directions of social work intervention in the context of the sex-purchase? In order to reveal the narratives of men who buy sex, qualitative narrative study was chosen. The research is based on subjectivist - interpretative epistemology. Triangulation of research participants was chosen, which helped to get more accurate data from inside of... [to full text]