Master of Science / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Joy Kozar / China is the world’s largest apparel producer, exporter, and maintains the largest domestic apparel market. Since economic reform in the 1980s that opened up the Chinese market for foreign investors, China’s domestic apparel market has attracted many foreign (Western) apparel brands (Shenkar, 2005). More than 10,000 different international apparel brands share China’s domestic apparel market, including brands from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, Britain, and South Korea, among others. Around 2,000 Chinese domestic apparel brands have experienced difficultly surviving in China’s domestic apparel market. Besides the large number of foreign (Western) apparel brands, counterfeit apparel products have grown faster than China’s government can control. As a result, China has become the world’s largest counterfeit market. This has become a secondary threat to China’s domestic apparel market and national economy. Additionally, because of economic growth and modernization in China, Chinese consumers have accepted more Westernized values, but also retained their traditional face-saving values. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how their attitudes toward counterfeit apparel products, China’s domestic apparel brands, and foreign (Western) apparel brands are influenced by their level of perception about knowledge and attitudes toward counterfeit apparel products, face-saving values, materialistic values, and ethical values. This study utilized a sample of males and females between the ages of 18 and 64, who reside in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Wuhan, China. A questionnaire was utilized as part of this study and data was collected online by SOJUMP Survey Company. A total of 1,192 participants (736 males and 456 females) participated in this study. There are in total nine significant relationships that have been found in this study. First, the researcher found a positive relationship between Chinese consumers’ perception about knowledge of counterfeit apparel products and their attitudes about counterfeit apparel products. Second and third, the present study also discovered that Chinese consumers with favorable attitudes of foreign apparel brands or negative attitude of China’s domestic apparel brands would similarly hold positive attitudes of counterfeit apparel products. Fourth, the present scholar concluded that Chinese consumers with favorable attitudes of China’s domestic apparel brands tend to hold negative attitudes of counterfeit apparel products. Fifth and sixth, it was found that Chinese consumers with high level of face-saving values show positive attitudes of foreign (Western) apparel brands and counterfeit apparel products. Seventh, Chinese consumers with high level of face-saving values also possess strong materialistic values. Consequently Chinese consumers with strong materialistic values tend to hold positive attitudes of counterfeit apparel products and foreign (Western) apparel products, but negative attitudes of China’s domestic apparel brands. The findings of this study show that Chinese consumers have a very low level of perception about knowledge of counterfeit apparel products. It is necessary to connect educators, government, apparel industry, and brand owners to develop and enhance anti-counterfeit educational programs. These programs should clearly explain the perception about knowledge of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), trademark, and the negative causes of counterfeit products are warranted. Also, it is better for China’s domestic apparel brand companies to develop better brand images and improve product quality to meet Chinese consumers’ face-saving standards and materialistic values.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers’ attitudes against the technique one-click purchasing. One-click purchasing is a method allowing the customers to transact a purchase with only one click. The customer has entered the payment information necessary to complete the purchase at a previous occasion. Within the next buying opportunity, the customer can purchase products with one single click. The analysis and conclusions is based on both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources represent the result of a questionnaire performed with 200 respondents. The top findings in this study are that the one-click purchasing method is used on a regular basis and most of the consumers’ trust that the method correctly cares for personal information. However the conclusion is that the demand of the method is not high and it seems like the consumers does not care if the method is available upon payment completions or not.

Background: When a company tries to sell either products or services, it is important to consider the decision criteria on the purchasing side. Most often, there will be personal, emotional reasons that guide the purchaser’s preference in chosing suppliers, coexisting with the rational reasoning. Previous studies have shown that the emotional influence when it comes to decision making in purchasing is strongest in small businesses, however there is no information regarding what are the actual emotions experienced and in what context. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to find which basic emotions are most felt in different purchasing processes. Method: This research is based on a quantitative method where the information was gathered by sending out surveys to small businesses in Sweden. The respondents rated 27 emotions on a five point Likert scale for each of the four researched processes: Adaptive planning in purchasing, Accessing external expertise for purchasing, Similarities in attitude with supplier in evaluation and Involvement in purchasing consortia. Conclusion: Two of the four hypotheses were supported, suggesting that the basic emotion of happiness positively relates to similarity in attitude between the small business and the supplier and the emotion of fear positively relates to accessing external expertise. A descriptive statistics were also created showing the most and least felt emotions in each of the four processes.

M. Tech. (Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Research on apparel store choice and patronage has been widely studied locally and internationally. However, it is still important to understand consumers’ purchase behaviour and to develop appropriate retailing strategy. South Africa is currently experiencing a substantial growth in retail infrastructure especially in townships. Formal retailers are now expanding into township markets. Most of those retailers differentiated themselves from their competitors by developing a corporate identity, inter-alia through their store image. The purpose of the research was to examine apparel store selection criteria amongst black consumers in Soweto. In addition, this research examined the relationship between store satisfaction and loyalty. The literature review focuses on consumer behaviour variables and store image variables influential in store selection. The review was necessary to provide an overview of how consumers decide where, how and when to shop. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 489 respondents who were selected using non-probability convenience sampling. The sample size comprised sportswear apparel shoppers (blacks), both male and female, 18 years and older who patronised three shopping malls, namely Protea Gardens, Southgate, and Jabulani Mall. Data were analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), mean rankings, the Mann Whitney U test, correlation analysis and regression. Six factors were found to be appropriate to capture the dimensions of store selection. These factors were labelled sales assistant, store atmospherics, store appeal (interior/exterior), in-store induced appeals, promotion/brand availability and store accessibility. Furthermore, the data obtained revealed a strong linear relationship between satisfaction and loyalty as well as significant relationship amongst the dimensions of store selection. Regression analysis revealed that promotion/brand availability and store satisfaction are strong predictors of loyalty. The Mann Whitney U test revealed no significant difference in the store choice dimensions between female and male respondents. The recommendations arising from the current study could help retailers understand what motivates shoppers to select one store amongst other stores. The identification of in-store and out-of-store activities that encourage consumers to stay store loyal, are critical to the success of retail businesses. Future studies may be extended on the purchase of other products apart from sportswear items.

The thesis explains the term the commercial communication, especially parts of the communication mix. But mainly it analyzes contemporary situation in the commercial communication, which changes are happening and it also describes trends in the adressing the customers. One chapter is dedicated to the Purchasing cycle which is a product of the McCann-Erickson advertising agency.

The study investigates whether it is possible to drive sales-oriented marketing for B2C companies in social media through data-driven marketing, and thus increasing the relevance of the ads. The study has had an experimental approach where hypotheses are tested from a company towards a target group of just over 480 000 people in the Småland region. Two separate marketing campaigns were run on Facebook and Instagram where the fundamental difference between the two was the strategic arrangement. The experimental design included a campaign, containing three separate ads, where strategy and target group segmentation were based on the "The purchasing funnel" model. The result of the campaign, as part of the study's experiments, was then compared against the campaign run without strategy or audience segmentation. This showed a final result just over 20 times better than the previous campaign and a ROAS (return of ad spent) of 25.

No cenário atual na construção civil, assim como no resto das indústrias, a questão da sustentabilidade está muito presente. A escassez de recursos naturais e as mudanças climáticas exigem novas formas de organização empresariais e políticas. Agir com sustentabilidade traz uma série de benefícios que vão desde a preservação dos recursos naturais (benefícios gerais) até melhoria do marketing das empresas (benefícios específicos). Dentro deste cenário, assuntos como construção sustentável, construção verde, desenvolvimento sustentável, responsabilidade social e certificações ambientais estão sendo muito discutidos. O foco desta pesquisa é o alinhamento das questões de sustentabilidade pelo setor de compras, que se constitui de importante elo entre a estratégia da organização e seus fornecedores (necessários à materialização do produto edifício), no âmbito das empresas construtoras de edifícios. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo tratar da implantação do processo de compras sustentáveis e suas implicações práticas, tal como a inclusão de requisitos de sustentabilidade em processos chave. Em um primeiro momento, foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica a respeito dos temas de compras, cadeia de suprimentos, gestão da cadeia de suprimentos, sustentabilidade, construção sustentável e responsabilidade social. Também foi realizado um estudo para avaliar o nível de percepção e de ação das empresas construtoras de edifícios acerca dos temas de sustentabilidade geral e compras sustentáveis. A contextualização colaborou à proposição de modificações em processos chave do setor de compras e à elaboração de documentação padrão incluindo critérios de sustentabilidade na seleção e cadastro de fornecedores. Ao analisar a cadeia de suprimentos sob a ótica da sustentabilidade, o foco deve ser na gestão das operações relacionadas ao meio ambiente, considerando a otimização dos fatores ambientais dentro das cadeias de suprimentos durante a produção, consumo, atendimento ao cliente e descarte dos resíduos. / In the present scenario in civil construction, as in many other industries, the issue of sustainability is timely. The scarcity of natural resources and climate change have called for new forms of business and political organization. Acting sustainably brings a number of benefits ranging from the preservation of natural resources (general benefits) to improving marketing firms (specific benefits). Within this scenario, issues such as sustainable construction, green building, sustainable development, social responsibility and environmental certifications are being widely discussed. The focus of this research is the alignment of sustainability issues concerning the procurement sector, which constitutes an important link between the organization\'s strategy and its suppliers (necessary for the materialization of the building product), as part of construction companies building. This research aims to address the implementation of sustainable procurement process and its practical implications, such as the inclusion of sustainability requirements in key processes. At first, a literature review concerning the topic of procurement, supply chain, supply chain management, sustainability, sustainable building and social responsibility was carried out. Also, a study was conducted in order to assess the level of perception and action of building construction companies of the general sustainability issues and sustainable procurement. The contextualization collaborated to propose changes in key processes of procurement and the preparation of standard documentation sector including sustainability criteria in the selection and supplier registration. By analyzing the supply chain from the perspective of sustainability, the focus should be on management of operations related to the environment, considering the optimization of environmental factors within the supply chain during production, consumption, customer service and disposal of waste.

This thesis is focused on the proces management of the purchasing department. The aim of this thesis is to describe the purchasing process in the selected company, in puding its evaluation and subsequent optimization, whose changes would lead to more efficient and better use in the purchasing department. In order to achieve this result,it was necessary to obtain the necessary data that were obtained through interview with the purchasing staff and thein own experience in the purchasing department. The theoretical part presents a general introduction to the chosentopic. The purchase process, goals, and purchase objects are graphically shown and explained in detail in this part. Further more, the koncept of process is characterized, including the mapping of processes and characters needed to create the process map. The next charter is for suppliers, which also includes supplier selection and evaluation. After the theoretical part, the practical part follows. The first part of the practical work deals with the description of the chosen organization, where the organizational structure is also presented. This company can be proud of it is long history not only regarding the Czech market, but also abroad. The second part is aimed at the employees of the purchasing department, including adescription of the work contents. Then, it summarizes the current analysis of the purchasing process, which also includes a process map. The next section deals with supplier selection and subsequent evaluation. The last part proposes an optimization solution for the purchasing process, which concerns the efficiency of the informatik system. This improvement is also reflected in the developer process map using "Microsoft Visio" program. The proposed results were given to the employees of the company for subsequent assessment.

by Chan Ka Wah. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1984. / Bibliography: leaves 175-184.

by Yeung Kai Tat Richard. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1990. / PREFACE --- p.ii / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.vi / Chapter 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- The Organization of The Hongkong Bank in USA --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Background to the study --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Objective --- p.2 / Chapter 1.4 --- Methodology --- p.3 / Chapter 2. --- ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CENTRALISATION OF PURCHASING --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Advantages of Centralization --- p.7 / Chapter 2.2 --- Disadvantages of Centralization --- p.8 / Chapter 2.3 --- Comments / Chapter 3. --- PRESENT PURCHASING SYSTEMS IN THE MAJOR COMMERCIAL BANKS WITHIN THE GROUP --- p.9 / Chapter 3.1 --- The Marine Midland Bank in New York --- p.9 / Chapter 3.2 --- The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in Hong Kong --- p.11 / Chapter 4. --- PURCHASING OF OFFICE STATIONERY AND FORMS IN HONGKONG BANK NEW YORK --- p.14 / Chapter 4.1 --- Findings --- p.14 / Chapter 4.2 --- Recommendations --- p.21 / Chapter 5. --- PURCHASING OF COMPUTER AND OFFICE EQUIPMENT --- p.38 / Chapter 5.1 --- Findings --- p.38 / Chapter 5.2 --- Recommendations --- p.45 / Chapter 6. --- PURCHASING OF OFFICE FURNITURE --- p.59 / Chapter 6.1 --- Findings --- p.59 / Chapter 6.2 --- Recommendations --- p.63 / Chapter 7. --- APPROVAL/AUTHORIZATION PROCESS --- p.66 / Chapter 7.1 --- Findings --- p.66 / Chapter 7.2 --- Recommendations --- p.68 / Chapter 8. --- STAFFING FOR PURCHASING --- p.71 / Chapter 8.1 --- Present Staff Performing Purchasing Functions --- p.71 / Chapter 8.2 --- Proposed Staffing for Centralised Purchasing --- p.73 / Chapter 9. --- PROPOSED IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE --- p.75 / Chapter 10. --- CONCLUDING REMARKS --- p.77 / APPENDIX / Chapter 1. --- Examples of Stationery purchased by Petty Cash and Travel Expenses / Chapter 2. --- Warehoused Documents and Forms / Chapter 3. --- Standard Stationery List / Chapter 4. --- Sample of Office Supplies Requisition Form / Chapter 5. --- Sample of Stationery Usage Report / Chapter 6. --- Stationery Vendor Comparision / Chapter 7. --- Proposed Requisition Form for Non-standard Stationery / Chapter 8 . --- Present Purchase Order Form / Chapter 9. --- Cost Comparison for Computer Paper between Vendors / Chapter 10. --- Stationery Costs for Branches Outside New York / Chapter 11. --- Cost Comparison for PC Software and Hardware Vendors