<p>In today’s world, consumerism is dominating all the aspects of our life. In society, life follows the pattern of the capitalist culture where the human values have a different measure. We do live in a branded world. There is no doubt about it. We all make product decisions every day. We probably all have certain types of products of which we like only one or two brands, while we buy other things based on what is on sale on a given day. This inclination to buy branded products is rooted in two basic things: recollection and satisfaction. We remember which one we like by brand name.</p><p>A survey by the Henley Centre revealed that the public trust brand names such as Kellogg’s, Heinz and Marks & Spencer more than Parliament, the police and the legal system (Sunday Times, “A can of worms is a bad diet”, 5 April 1998). This research highlights the importance of the relationship between consumers and key brands; and shows that it has strengthened to such an extent that it is now healthier than the relationship with our social structures. This is evidence of the power of consumer culture and the liberal free market economics of the westernized world. The Brands not just represent the symbol of the company but also to a greater extant defines lives people in the society. What a person uses can reflect his taste, his or her status in the society, his / her economic background as well. This makes a deep connection between the company and its brand, with the consumer. In this two way relation both the company and consumers are dependent on each other.</p><p>The salient of purpose of our study was to find out to what extent brand names influence the consumers’ purchase decisions with regard to high-involvement products. We conducted this study based on theories and survey. We reviewed a good number of relevant theories of brand and consumer decision making process. We also conducted a survey among the students. The respondents of our survey were those students who own a notebook PC, a high involvement product. We used convenience sampling for our survey. We analyzed the data of the survey in order to be able to draw conclusions and find answers to our questions.</p><p>On analysis of the collected data, we came to a conclusion that brand names have an influence on the consumer decision not only in case of notebook PC, but also in other product categories. The overall means of brand equity for male and female student are 3.64 and 3.66 respectively. Both the means are considerably higher than the average of 2.5 on the Likert Scale. So, it is reasonable to say that both male and female students’ purchase decisions are influenced by the brand equity to an extent. The consumers are very conscious about branded products because they have the view that well-known brands are more reliable. This study also explains that customers trust the branded products. Before purchasing a notebook PC people do not consider the lesser known brands. Our survey results show that the respondents previously automatically knew which brand of Notebook PC to buy. The mean of the statement “I automatically knew which brands of this product to buy” was much higher than average indicating that respondents had only a few brands in their evoked set and they ended up buying their top-of-the-mind brand. Consumers opined that well-known brand companies maintain quality of their product. Which is why, brand name affects the customer choice while making a purchase decision. Moreover, consumers also tend to trust well-known branded products. The mean of the statement “When I see an advertisement of this brand I believe the information in it is accurate” was much higher than the average which testifies to the fact that consumers usually trust the brands.</p>

<p>Title: A study about the purchasing process of IT</p><p>Level: Master thesis in Information Technology and Business Administration, 15 hp, EIK024</p><p>Authors: Emelie Johanson and Mikael Lindström</p><p>Tutor: Peter Ekman, Mälardalens Högskola</p><p>Keywords: IT-investment, purchase, decision</p><p>Problem: In the last decades the amount of IT investments increased and has become an important resource within most organizations. IT gives the ability to compete and could also be a condition for many to be able to compete. In different businesses it could vary in where they put their focus when they choose an IT investment. This thesis examines how the purchase process of IT looks. How does processes differs in a bigger company versus a smaller company? From these two perspectives this study examined these research questions: Who makes the decisions whether or not an IT solution should be purchased? What aspects decide when companies are to choose between different IT solutions? Where in the purchase process do problems usually emerge?</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the purchasing process of IT from a business perspective. The purpose is also to see if it differs in a bigger company versus a smaller company and where the problems usually emerge in this process.</p><p>Method: The study is based on a theoretical framework about IT investments and how a purchasing process might look like. It all lead up to a summarizing model made by the authors of this thesis and it shows all the different steps in a purchasing process. The study contains three interviews where two of them were in big companies and one in a smaller company.</p><p>Conclusions: This study shows that depending on the size on a company the decisions are made in one or several levels within the company and that the amounts of levels increase with the size of the company. A smaller company got better possibilities to get information from the end-users and the rest of the staff to make better requirements on the IT solution, which could increase the chance for an IT solution to satisfy their needs. The price of the IT-solution matters in the choice in what to buy and it seems like the price sensitivity increases the smaller size a company is. All company sizes wants long terming relations with a few suppliers. The problem often emerges in the progress to gather the requirements for the IT solution and also in the communication with the suppliers. The problem comes from misunderstandings between the company and the supplier because of different use of language. It also creates problems when there is lack of knowledge amongst the people making the specifications of the requirements for the IT solution.</p> / <p>Titel: En studie om inköpsprocessen av IT</p><p>Nivå: Magisteruppsats i IT-ekonomi, 15 hp, EIK024</p><p>Författare: Emelie Johanson och Mikael Lindström</p><p>Handledare: Peter Ekman, Mälardalens Högskola</p><p>Nyckelord: IT-investering, inköp, beslut</p><p>Problem: De senaste decennierna har investeringar i IT ökat och blivit en viktig resurs för de flesta organisationer. IT ger företagen förmågan att konkurrera och kan även vara en förutsättning för många att kunna konkurrera. Beroende på vilken bransch en organisation är verksam i kan deras fokus variera när de gör sina urval av IT-investeringar. Denna studie undersöker hur inköpsprocessen ser ut för IT. Hur skiljer sig denna process i ett större företag mot ett mindre företag? Utifrån båda dessa perspektiv har studien utgått ifrån följande problemfrågor:</p><p>Vem tar beslutet om att en IT-lösning ska köpas in till företaget?</p><p>Vilka faktorer avgör när företag ska välja mellan olika IT-lösningar?</p><p>Var i inköpsprocessen är problem mer förekommande?</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och analysera inköpsprocessen av IT utifrån ett företagsperspektiv. Studien ämnar även visa om den skiljer sig mellan mindre och större företag och var problem oftast uppstår i inköpsprocessen.</p><p>Teori & Metod: Undersökningen baseras på en teoretisk referensram som ger en inblick i vad IT-investeringar är och hur inköpsfasen av IT kan tänkas se ut. Den insamlade teorin utmynnar i en undersökningsmodell som är framtagen av uppsatsförfattarna, som visar de olika steg ett företag kan gå igenom vid inköp av IT.</p><p>Studien innehåller tre intervjuer på två stora samt ett mindre IT-företag. Därefter har data, med hjälp av undersökningsmodellen, analyserats för att resultera i ett antal slutsatser.</p><p>Resultat: Den slutsats som dras är att beroende på vilken storlek ett företag är så fattas besluten på en till flera nivåer inom företaget, där antalet nivåer växer med företagets storlek. Ett mindre företag har större möjligheter att kunna få in information till kravspecificeringen från slutanvändare och resten av företagets personal, vilket kan bidra till att de har större chans att hitta en IT-lösning som uppfyller just deras behov. När företag väljer ut vilka IT-lösningar de ska köpa in så konstateras att priset har en viss avgörande roll, där priskänsligheten ser ut att öka ju mindre ett företag är. Oavsett om ett företag är litet eller stort så värdesätter de långvariga stabila relationer med ett fåtal leverantörer. Problem är mest förekommande vid framtagandet av kravspecifikation och vid kommunikation med leverantörer. Problemet med leverantör är att parterna inte pratar samma språk vilket leder till missförstånd mellan dem. Det skapas även problem på grund bristande kunskap vid kravspecifikation.</p>

<p>Companies that are facing the global market are put in to new challenges in order to streamline its business. One industry that has realized that changes are necessary is the construction industry, it is an industry witch is far behind the development of introducing information technology-tools systems in there business. It has shown there is a relation between high IT usage and high productivity, which is one of the reasons to why companies in the construction industry should purchase a business system especially for procurement. However, companies that have purchased a business system are facing difficulties in having their employees using it for its purpose. </p><p>People react differently to changes and that’s why variations in quantities exist for usage of information technology-tools. We considered it to be interesting to look deeper into the question: “if the difference in utilization depends on resistance”? And if so: “which factors are behind the variation of participation”? This became a research project for us with the purpose to investigate and analyze the differences of attitudes of the NCC’s purchasers, in different regions in Sweden, while the process of the information technology-tool “Trade” was implemented. </p><p>Our dissertation is based on both qualitative and quantitative data. We carried out a survey and interviews to collect information to our empirical chapter. The Question formulas was created on the basis of our theories and the respondents where also chosen on the same base of theories. To be able to see the differences of the regions, we chose one of the better and one of the worst of using the Trade. Interviews took place in Stockholm and Umeå and the survey formulas was sent internally thru a web based application to all of the purchasers within NCC Construction AB in both Stockholm and Norrland. </p><p>The result of the research showed that in Stockholm the response was more positive then it was in the northern part of Sweden, regarding the use of the information technology-tool Trade. We did not find any strong connection between people with computer habit, their age and the usage of Trade. However, we did find that verbal information contributed to create a larger interest for the use of Trade. Furthermore we found some teething troubles, but also a few errors such as unclearness to what kind of construction site Trade suits for, low performance expectations and unclear informed advantages. These were the main factors for resistance and the difference between the regions.</p> / <p>Den globala marknaden ställer företagen inför nya utmaningar att förändra och effektivisera sin verksamhet. En bransch som har insett att en förändring är nödvändig är byggbranschen, det är en bransch som ligger efter i utvecklingen med att införa IT baserade verktygssystem i verksamheten. Det finns ett samband mellan högt IT-användande och produktivitet, därför är alternativet för byggbranschen att införskaffa ett inköpssystem. Men de företag som har införskaffat ett inköpssystem möter stora svårigheten när det gäller att personalen använder det fullt ut till dess syfte. </p><p>Människor agerar olika vid förändring och därmed varierar omfattningen av utnyttjandet av IT verktyg. Därför ansåg vi att det vore intressant att undersöka om skillnaden i användandet beror på motstånd och vilka faktorer som ligger bakom den varierande mottagligheten. Detta kom att bli ett uppdrag för oss, och syftet var att undersöka och analysera skillnaden i attityden i olika regioner i Sverige hos NCCs avropare vid införandet av IT-verktyget Trade. </p><p>Vår uppsats bygger på både kvalitativ och kvantitativ data. Vi genomförde enkätundersökning och intervjuer för att samla in material till empiri. Frågeformulär utformades utifrån våra teorier och respondenter valdes utifrån teoriernas grunder. För att se skillnaden valdes den region som var bättre samt region som var sämst på att använda Trade. Intervjun genomfördes i Stockholm och Umeå och enkäten skickades internt via en webbaserad applikation till alla avropare inom NCC Construction AB i både Stockholm och Norrland. </p><p>Resultatet av undersökningen visade att i Stockholm var man mer positiv än i Norrland vad gällde användandet av IT-verktyget. Vi fann inga starka samband mellan hög datorvana, ålder och användandet av Trade. Därmed fann vi att muntlig information bidrog till ett större intresse och användande av Trade. Dessutom fanns det så kallade barnsjukdomar som uppstår med nya system, men även flera brister som otydlighet om till vilken form av byggarbete Trade passade, lågt ställda krav och otydligt förmedlade fördelar. Dessa var de främsta faktorerna till motståndet och skillnaden mellan regionerna.</p>

<p>The purpose of this thesis was to increase the understanding of Swedish consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions of functional food for marketers by using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). It was discovered that previous research conducted in Sweden concerning functional food centered largely on motivational factors for adoption, and perception of the health claims made by these products; however there was a lack in research concerning purchase intentions and a use of theory to evaluate both attitudes and purchase intentions.</p><p>Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology were utilized in this thesis. The qualitative research data consisted of 14 short interviews designed to elicit beliefs about purchasing functional food. The quantitative research data was gathered using a questionnaire specifically designed for the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A total of 257 responses were received from students, employees, and members of the general public.</p><p>The results from the questionnaire revealed that Swedish consumers had slightly positive attitudes towards purchasing functional food and neutral intentions to purchase functional food. The results from the interviews revealed that amongst other things, Swedish consumers believed that functional foods provide beneficial health benefits, but they are quite expensive. Doctors and family were viewed as important when considering the purchase of functional food. And price and knowledge were viewed as controlling factors of whether or not these foods were purchased.</p><p>The results provided by this thesis will be helpful to marketers of functional food as they plan marketing related activities aimed at Swedish consumers</p>

The purpose of this thesis was to increase the understanding of Swedish consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions of functional food for marketers by using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). It was discovered that previous research conducted in Sweden concerning functional food centered largely on motivational factors for adoption, and perception of the health claims made by these products; however there was a lack in research concerning purchase intentions and a use of theory to evaluate both attitudes and purchase intentions. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology were utilized in this thesis. The qualitative research data consisted of 14 short interviews designed to elicit beliefs about purchasing functional food. The quantitative research data was gathered using a questionnaire specifically designed for the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A total of 257 responses were received from students, employees, and members of the general public. The results from the questionnaire revealed that Swedish consumers had slightly positive attitudes towards purchasing functional food and neutral intentions to purchase functional food. The results from the interviews revealed that amongst other things, Swedish consumers believed that functional foods provide beneficial health benefits, but they are quite expensive. Doctors and family were viewed as important when considering the purchase of functional food. And price and knowledge were viewed as controlling factors of whether or not these foods were purchased. The results provided by this thesis will be helpful to marketers of functional food as they plan marketing related activities aimed at Swedish consumers

The aim of this study is to investigate what factors are important when implementing cause-related marketing within the Swedish fashion retail market, in order to change the purchase intention of customers. Cause-related marketing (CRM) is a widely used marketing tool within the Swedish fashion industry. There has been an increasing trend of using cause-related marketing as part of corporate social responsibility strategy. Companies increasingly believe that associating their corporate identity with good causes can be an effective marketing tool. There is limited research about CRM with a bearing on the Swedish market and the fashion industry. This has given the authors an interesting field for research and analysis. A quantitative method was used to collect primary data. A survey was conducted among customers of H&amp;M, Lindex, Mango and Indiska. These companies were chosen after the observation of a large amount of Swedish based fashion retailers and their involvement within CRM. The results indicate that there is a link between cause-related marketing and customer purchase intentions. CRM campaigns have positive effects on customers by increasing their purchase intentions. Marketing communication, price, customer attitude and fit are important factors that affect the purchase of CRM products. A further investigation can be useful for companies and researchers in the field of marketing strategies.

In recent years, the internet shopping development is quite developed, what every shopping website developed is quite ripe too, and 3C products occupy sizable rates in the internet shopping. So I want to study that 3C shopping website influences factor that influencing consumers¡¦ will to use the internet shopping. This research base on demography and knowledge about 3C products to create the cause-effect model of electronic service convenient, electronic service quality, customer satisfaction, and purchase intention. Through statistics software, probe into the relationship, electronic service convenient, electronic service quality, customer satisfaction, and purchase intention in the internet. In order to have close look to on customer needs is essential. Overall, the entire model fit is acceptable. It is pointed that the whole theory model of this study completes the standard of the fit test. To sum up, the results shows the indeed influential relationship among the four concepts.The customer satisfaction is the most important factor that negative effect purchase intention in the entire model. The second factor is electronic service quality. And electronic service convenient only leads a positive effect on purchase intention via electronic service quality and customer satisfaction. However, the effect is very small.

Title: “A Study of Factors That Affect Green Purchase”   Due to the environmental issues, green products have got more attention during the latest years and the availability of such products is increasing in many food stores. The appearance of eco-label assists the consumers in the store to buy eco-friendly products which are less harmful to the environment. Eco-labels which are frequently available in the food stores are; The Nordic eco-label (Svanen), Krav, The Euro Flower, MSC label (Marine stewardship council) and Bra Miljöval.  Governments in some countries are supporting these labels to ensure the sustainable development and a better quality of life for everyone, and for the generations to come. A question, which arises here, is that what compels the consumers to choose eco-labelled products over conventional ones. We have short-listed several factors during literature review which can influence the consumers green purchase behavior and these factors are; Eco-motivation, Eco-knowledge, Gender, Peer influence, Price and Shelf space.    The purpose of this study is to get a deeper understanding of the factors that can affect green purchase of food products in the store. Thus our main research question that we want to answer with our study is: “Which are the most important factors that influence the purchase behavior of eco-labelled products?” Along with this main research question we are also interested to know if ‘shelf space’ is an important factor that can affect the consumer’s choice of eco-labelled products in the store. Due to lack of data there is still no clear understanding about the role of shelf space in the purchase decision of green products. To answer these questions we will investigate all these factors and try to understand their influence on consumer green purchase behavior.  This quantitative study is carried out in Umeå, Sweden with 150 respondents and focuses mainly on the food market consumers. We stand on objectivist position for this study and we believe that cross-sectional research design is most suitable to fulfill our research purpose. We developed several null hypotheses and for this purpose we distributed our research questionnaire at the entrance of different super markets in Umeå, Sweden to collect our data from the respondents. We applied convenience sampling with simple quota to this research. We evaluated the gathered data with help of SPSS. Results proved that eco-motivation and shelf space plays vital role (positive correlated) in the purchase decision of eco-labelled products. We have provided statistical evidence that eco-motivation and shelf space induce actual purchase of green products. Eco-knowledge shows to induce interest in eco-labelled product but does not help in actual purchase of eco-labelled products. Surprisingly price and gender has not shown any influence on the consumer green purchase. We believe that our findings and recommendations can contribute in the area of consumer’s ecological behavior research. Due to our sampling technique (convenience) and small size of our respondent we cannot generalize the results of this study.   Key words: Purchase decision, Green marketing, Eco-labeling, Shelf space, Eco-motivation, Eco-knowledge, Gender, Price, Peer influence

This study examines the personalization of shown travel destination visual images using professional photography upon travel motivations, feelings, and purchase intentions of consumers in the online environment. The research design was experimental and used data from a questionnaire via Qualtrics. A pilot test of the instrument was conducted. The final questionnaire contained 25 items. A total of 194 questionnaires were collected and participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Each group of 50 participants was exposed to a specific set of travel destination visual images. Further, several hypotheses related to the effects of personalization, professional photography toward travel motivation, emotion, and purchase intention were tested. The results indicated that: (1) travel motivation was affected by both personalization, and professional photography of travel destination visual image; (2) personalization had an influence on positive emotion, but professional photography did not; (3) it was expected that personalization would act as a “push” factor on travel motivation, and professional photography would influence the “pull” factor on travel motivation, but these two hypotheses were not supported; (4) travel motivation and emotion positively affected purchase intention, however this was only partially supported. Furthermore, the results of the present study implied that the “push – pull” travel motivation theory was considered not entirely separate. Practical recommendations are presented for online tourism marketers to enhance their service.

Knowing what to sell, when to sell, and to whom to sell is essential buyer behavior insight to allocate scarce marketing resources efficiently and effectively. Applying the theory of relationship marketing (Morgan and Hunt 1994), this study seeks to investigate the link between commitment and trust and firm adoption of radically innovative information technology (IT). The construct of radical innovation is operationalized through the use of cloud computing. A review of the vast scholarly literature on radical innovation diffusion and adoption, and modeling techniques used to analyze buyer behavior is followed by empirical estimation of each of the radical innovation adoption questions of purchase timing, brand choice, and purchase amount. Then, the inefficiencies in the independent model process are highlighted, suggesting the need for an integrated model. Next, an integrated model is developed to link the purchase timing, brand choice, and purchase amount decisions. The essay concludes with insight for marketing practitioners on the strength of the factors of commitment and trust on adoption of radical innovation, an improved methodology for the business-to-business marketing literature, and potential further research paths.