The purpose of this study was to explore the integration of a branded retail application in physical stores. Doing so, this study was conducted with a qualitative and abductive approach in the form of a case study focusing on H&M. The empirical material was collected through think-aloud observations and semi-structured interviews with 22 participants in total. The theoretical framework consisted of 6 aspects related to smart customer experience, including convenience and time convenience, personalisation, interactivity, control, usefulness, and involvement. Furthermore, the concept of the purchase decision process was also included in the theoretical framework. Five themes regarding the usage of the branded retail application in physical stores was found, including prior store visit usage and in-store usage, in-store information, selective information, visualisation of items in-store, and in-store communication. From this, it was concluded that using the app in-store provide several benefits depending on how the app is used. This leads to the conclusion that the app influences in different phases of the purchase decision process.

Building on the stimulus-organism-response model, this paper aims to fill the considerable research gap by developing a deeper understanding of social commerce as a global emerging phenomenon and investigating the effectiveness of social commerce marketing stimuli and its consequences on consumer behavior on Instagram. The study adopts a mixed-methodology approach, including a web-based survey and a focus group interview, to build a deeper understanding of the phenomenon and account for the social aspects of social commerce. Based on a sample of 317 international consumers, the analysis demonstrates that all dimensions of social commerce marketing stimuli have significant effects on online brand engagement on Instagram; which consequently positively influences brand trust and online purchase intention. Moreover, the focus group interview complements the findings and provides potential explanations for the discovered relationships.

The purpose of this study is to further explore the modern phenomenon of COO, brand image, and online influencer marketing as they relate to consumer's purchase intention online. This empirical study employs a mixed method approach with quantitative exploratory factor analysis through a survey as well as qualitative exploration through focus groups and in-depth interviews. Quantitative data analysis revealed that online influencers have a significant effect on consumers’ purchase intent as well as their perception of COO or brand image. Qualitative data analysis further revealed that when consumers do not follow online influencers, they have a less than significant effect on the consumers’ perception of COO. However, if consumers actively follow online influencers, the probability of them adhering to the recommendations of purchasing from an unfamiliar COO is high. This results in the recognition of the need for further research, as well as some insightful avenues to investigate.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of social media marketing activities on customer equity and how that drive affects purchase intention in the context of the hotel industry with the perspective of Y-Generation. Design/methodology/approach: An explanatory, deductive, quantitative research approach and cross-sectional research design were utilized within this research, where self-completed questionnaires were distributed online with a number of 136 valid responses collected. Findings: The research found that social media marketing activities positively affected customer equity in the context of hotel industry. Brand equity and relationship equity had positive influence on customer’s purchase intention. Finally, information richness negatively moderated the relationship between social media marketing activities and purchase intention. Research implications/limitations: The main implication of this research is social media marketing activities should be utilized as an effective marketing strategy to enhance customer equity. In addition, for hotel managers, creating emotional tie with brands and building bond with customers are supposed to take priority. The main limitation of this research is the language barriers and the research is considered not to be generalized since most respondents are students. Future research: Further research could investigate how social media marketing activities influence other industries and also investigate other different consumer groups such as X-Generation. Sociodemographic variables such as gender, income, backgrounds could be used as moderators in future. Cultural difference is  interesting to go depth regarding to this topic.

Background: The e-commerce market has developed and it has become the new marketplace for current manufacturing and service industries. Customers’ behavior on the e-commerce market are changing with this Internet development and the competition is increasing. Customer’s purchase intention on the e-commerce market emerges when the customer compare brands and products in order to decide whether to purchase or not. Achieving e-loyalty is important for e-retailers to be profitable in the long run, which is defined as the customers’ positive attitude towards an e-retailer and results in repeat purchases. The primary antecedents of e-loyalty are e-trust, e-satisfaction and perceived value. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explain how e-trust, e-satisfaction and perceived value impacts customers intentions to purchase from e-retailer(s). Methodology: This thesis had a quantitative research method and a deductive approach with an explanatory purpose. The research design was cross-sectional. An online questionnaire was used as the data collection method, which gathered 212 answers that passed the qualification question through convenience and snowball sampling. Reliability testing, validity testing and significance testing were used to test the data. A multilinear regression was used to test the hypothesis and analyse the results further. Findings: The original model of this thesis was tested and found insignificant. A new model was tested and found significant. 4,6 % of customers’ purchase intention could be explained to impact e-satisfaction. E-trust was found insignificant and had a negative impact on customers’ purchase intentions. Perceived value had a negative impact on the f-value and was therefore taken out of the regression analysis. Conclusion: The thesis contributes with a new conceptual model for the rejected hypothesis of e-trust impact on purchase intentions and the accepted hypothesis of e-satisfactions impact on purchase intentions. There are managerial implications of this study of how they should focus on e-satisfaction in their business practices, as well putting less focus on e-trust.

Introduction: Information overload occurs when received information exceed the consumer's ability to process the information and the consumers are overwhelmed by the information. How the consumer can process the information and if the consumer will be overwhelmed depends on the quantity and quality of the information. There is a large amount of information on social media and social media is a crucial platform for companies to communicate to consumers, that can cause information overload, whereas the information consumer receives effects consumers purchase intentions. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explain the effect information overload in terms of quantity and quality of information on social media has on consumers purchase intentions. Conceptual: The theory regarding information overload was conceptualised with the theory of consumers purchase intentions. This lead to the two hypotheses; H1: Information overload in terms of quantity of information on social media has a positive effect on consumers purchase intentions; H2: Information overload in terms of quality of information on social media has a positive effect on consumers purchase intentions. Methodology: The research approach used was deductive with a quantitative nature. Following, a questionnaire was formed and shared online in order to gather data to meet the purpose. The sample used was convenience- and snowball sampling and consisted of social media users. After collecting the data, 173 responses could be used and the answers was then analysed to get the results. Result: Both hypotheses could be rejected. H1, did not have a effect on consumers purchase intentions and H2, had a negative effect on consumers purchase intentions. Conclusion: When putting information overload in a social media context and its effect on consumer purchase intentions, the results differs compared to previous research of information overload in terms of quantity of information but not regarding information overload in terms of quality of information.

Titel: Sustainability in purchasing - a study on the shoe industry Authors: Malin Åqvist and Sofie Skarlöv Tutor: Leif Rytting Examiner: Kaisa Lund Subject: Bachelor thesis 15 credits. Business administration III - Marketing. Retail and Service management, Linnaeus University, Spring of 2019. Purpose and research question The purpose of the report is to investigate which elements can be interesting and important in the purchasing function regarding sustainability issues and what characterizes these. Furthermore, the intention is to clarify how sustainability can be communicated from a market perspective. The focus is a case study on the shoe industry, as a starting point for possible transfer to other consumer sectors. -What elements of sustainability are relevant to a purchase and what distinguishes them?-What is the characteristics of the different stakeholders who have an impact on the work with sustainability? -What can the future and development mean for the connection between purchasing and sustainability?-What affects how companies communicate their sustainability work? Method The empirical data is collected through eight interviews based on an interview guide. The respondents work within the shoe industry and or with connection to the purchasing function and sustainability. Conclusion The result indicates that there is a combination of different factors that are central to achieve a sustainable purchasing. To clearly communicate sustainable choices externally will therefore be an essential part of an exchange of knowledge between businesses and its customers. / Titel: Hållbarhet inom inköp - en studie på skobranschen Författare: Malin Åqvist och Sofie Skarlöv Handledare: Leif Rytting Examinator: Kaisa Lund Kurs: Kandidatuppsats 15 hp. Företagsekonomi III - Marknadsföring. Detaljhandel och Service management programmet, Linnéuniversitetet, VT 2019. Syfte och forskningsfrågor Syftet med rapporten är att undersöka vilka inslag som kan vara intressanta och viktiga i inköpsfunktionen gällande hållbarhetsfrågor och vad som präglar dessa. Vidare är avsikten att tydliggöra hur hållbarhet kan kommuniceras ur ett marknadsperspektiv. I centrum står en fallstudie på skobranchen, som utgångspunkt för möjlig överföring till andra konsument-sektorer. - Vilka inslag av hållbarhet är relevanta för ett inköp och vad utmärker dessa?- Vad är karaktäristiskt för olika intressenter som har en inverkan på arbetet med hållbarhet?- Vad kan framtid och utveckling innebära för kopplingen mellan inköp och hållbarhet? - Vad påverkar hur företag kommunicerar sitt hållbarhetsarbete? Metod Den empiriska datan är insamlad genom åtta stycken intervjuer baserat på en intervjuguide. Respondenterna arbetar inom skobranschen och eller med koppling till inköpsfunktionen och hållbarhet. Slutsatser Resultatet tyder på att det är en sammansättning av olika faktorer som blir centrala för att uppnå ett hållbart inköp. Att tydligt kommunicera sina hållbara val utåt blir således en väsentlig del i ett kunskapsutbyte mellan verksamheter och dess kunder.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe the determinants of corporate social responsibility (CSR) that are: community support, diversity, employee support, environment, overseas operations, and product, on consumers’attitude towards purchasing of Organic food brands with Individualism as a moderator. It obtains a quantitative method by the deductive approach. Also, the probability and non-probability sampling select random Chinese and Swedish people above the age of 18. Data collection is by a survey using online questionnaires. Independent sample T-Test compare the means of two samples, factor analysis determines CSR activities and dimensions, and multiple regression employs a description of determinants of CSR dimensions on consumers attitude and purchase. Not to mention the factor analysis and regression analysis are on both samples separately to demonstrate a cross- cultural comparison.The results support previous studies that CSR activities play a crucial role in consumers’ attitude. However, not purchase. Individualism has no impact that moderates this role. Also, demographics do not impact consumers’ purchase,but income impact consumers’ attitude. Cross-cultural comparison for this role shows that it is convergent in Overseas operations and income groups among Chinese consumers. However, it is not convergent among Swedish consumers. Also, the higher the income group of Chinese consumers, the better is their attitude.The thesis gains knowledge that Organic food brands can use CSR activities to influences consumers’ attitude but not purchasing behavior, and organic food brands can tailor their CSR activities according to the target market income group.There is no prior research covering Individualism as a moderator to this influence coupled with Chinese and Swedish as a cross-cultural comparison. Therefore, this thesis is a unique, original, and valuable opportunity to cover this limitation.

Social media is a big part of a millennial's life. It is where they communicate with their friends and share experiences. Companies know this and are subsequently trying to reach consumers on social media with their advertising. However, millennials are not highly affected by advertising but care a lot about what other people think and feel about products. The millennial generation is the adult generation that is using social media the most and is also one of the biggest consumer bases in e-commerce. This means that companies need to adapt and try new ways to reach these consumers. This thesis will therefore explore and describe if advertising on social media influences millennials purchasing behavior via Electronic Word Of Mouth (EWOM) rather than having a direct effect on their purchasing behavior. The research question that will fulfill the purpose is "Does advertising on social media influence millennials purchasing behavior via EWOM?". To achieve results and answer the research question, a literature review was conducted and complemented with a self-administered, internet questionnaire. The results show that there seems to be a correlation between millennials seeing advertising on social media and starting to search for more information about the product through EWOM before making a purchasing decision

No final do século XX, observa-se uma tendência mundial de desestatização dos serviços públicos prestados diretamente pelo Estado, que se mostrava ineficiente em atender adequadamente às necessidades básicas dos cidadãos. Seguindo essa tendência, o setor elétrico brasileiro que acumulava dívidas bilionárias passou por uma completa reformulação a partir dos anos 90, consistente em um amplo processo de desestatização, com a desverticalização das atividades de geração, distribuição, transmissão e comercialização e a criação de mecanismos regulatórios de eficiência e competição. Com a criação do segmento de comercialização, os serviços de energia elétrica que eram prestados sob o regime público passaram a ser prestados também pela iniciativa privada, por meio de contratos de compra e venda de energia elétrica. Em que pese parte da doutrina clássica administrativista negar o regime privado aplicável aos serviços de energia elétrica, o presente estudo demonstra o caráter privado dos contratos de compra e venda de energia elétrica celebrados no Ambiente Livre de Contratação. Após convalidar a tese de constitucionalidade da comercialização de energia elétrica sob o prisma do direito privado, conclui-se que a energia elétrica tem natureza jurídica de bem móvel e pode perfeitamente ser objeto de contratos privados de compra e venda, com forte regulação estatal, considerando o interesse coletivo subjacente a esse bem considerado essencial. Sob a ótica do direito privado, analisamos os elementos essenciais que compõem o contrato de compra e venda e sua adequação à comercialização da energia elétrica para, ao final, corroborar a tese de que a energia elétrica é objeto de contratos privados e como tal devem ser respeitados e resistir às investidas dos Poderes legislativo, regulatório e judiciário na tentativa de desnaturar elementos desse tipo contratual. / At the end of the twentieth century, there was a global trend of privatizing public services that were rendered directly by the State, who was inefficient at addressing properly the citizens\' basic needs. Following such trend, the Brazilian electric sector, that had a billionaire debt, went through a complete restructure in the 90\'s that resulted in the privatization of the electricity generation, transmission, distribution and trading activities, as well as in the creation of regulatory mechanisms that incentivized efficiency and competition. By creating the trading activities, the electricity services that were rendered exclusively under a public regime started being rendered also by private parties, through power purchase agreements. Although part of the classic doctrine denies that the private regime may be applicable to the electricity services, this study shows that power purchase agreements executed in the Free Purchasing Environment are private. After confirming the theory that trading electricity under the private regime is constitutional, I conclude that electricity is a movable good and may perfectly be subject of private power purchase agreements, with a strong state regulation due to the public interest and essential characteristic of such good. Under the private law approach, I analyzed the basic elements of a power purchase agreement so as to, at the end, confirm the theory that electricity may be traded under private agreements and, as such, must prevail to any action of the Legislative, Regulatory and Judiciary Powers, against the elements of this kind of contract.