This research explores the process by which individual buying decisions are modified as a result of group discussion to arrive at a buying center decision. Existing evidence shows that, in some cases, group decisions are more cautious than those of individuals while in other situations they are more risky. The objective of this paper is to examine how individual buying center member choices are formed, how these choices and preferences are influenced by group discussion, and how the purchase decision context influences the riskiness of individual versus group purchasing discussions. One of the key concepts from prospect theory that guides an individual buying decision is the decision frame. However, little is known about how the decision frame of multiple individuals coming together to discuss a decision issue affects the group's overall decision. This research develops a model which describes (1) how an organizational buyer's individual choice is formed, (2) how the influence processes that transpire during buying center discussion changes those choices resulting in a different buying center choice, and (3) explores how the purchasing context may impact these processes. The model was tested in two controlled laboratory experiments in which 256 undergraduate business students made supplier selection decisions both individually and in groups based on information contained in four hypothetical procurement scenarios. The results were analyzed using a partially confounded experimental analysis of variance procedure and a series of t tests which tend to provide Support for the model. Specifically, the findings suggest that the decision frame used by individual buyers combined with group influence affects buying center choices. However, contrary to the predictions offered by prospect theory, when decision were framed as a gain, buyers selected the risky supplier and when decisions were framed as a loss, buyers selected the cautious supplier. For this study, no evidence was found to support the notion that group discussion intensifies the effect of the decision frame. Finally, whether the procurement is goods- or service-based seems to impact the effect of influence on the polarization of the buying centers choice. / Ph. D.

The goal of my thesis was to characterize using of mobile phones and particular phases of purchasing decision-making process during a mobile phone buying in the czech market and pursuant to this define some marketing recommendations for producers of these devices. I have also verified or defeated hypotheses defined by me. I have used the information gained by secondary research and method of questioning and I have written the results down in the charts or graphs. Then I have summarized chosen findings and suggested recommendations.

Actualmente, nuestro mundo cambia vertiginosamente y en los últimos años el avance de la tecnología ha ido revolucionando el mundo pasando de ciencia ficción a una realidad. Hoy en día el comportamiento del consumidor varía día a día, surgiendo nuevas tendencias, los consumidores cada vez son mucho más exigentes, la comunicación digital se ha convertido en una pieza clave, constituyéndose en una herramienta muy valiosa al momento de adquirir un producto. Esta tendencia digital que actualmente vivimos se debe a que la tecnología ha traído consigo la aparición de buscadores, blogs, almacenamiento online, redes sociales, entre otros. Las redes sociales desde su creación han ganado espacio dentro de millones de personas, principalmente porque han permitido el acceso y la difusión de información de una manera más rápida, ahora dedicamos gran parte de nuestro tiempo al uso del Internet, pues es mucho más accesible comunicarnos por este medio considerando que parte de nuestra vida social se ha trasladado a la web. La manera como nos comunicamos también se viene adaptando a este creciente desarrollo tecnológico sobre todo para la población menor a los 35 años de edad en la cual se ha visto la influencia de este desarrollo sobre todo a la hora de adquirir un producto, considerando que estos cada vez resultan más exquisitos con al tomar una decisión en su compra. Dicha población se deja llevar mucho por las recomendaciones y opiniones de los demás. De este modo, las compañías buscan mejorar la opinión que los distintos usuarios tienen acerca de sus productos. Es por ello que actualmente se está usando la estrategia del marketing de influencia, una nueva técnica de publicidad que identifica a los líderes de opinión que pueden ayudar a una marca a conectar de forma más natural y espontánea con su público objetivo. Esto se debe a que los usuarios digitales están en constante búsqueda de información, comentarios y valoraciones en internet acerca de productos y servicios. Es así como en el caso de la industria de la belleza, específicamente en el maquillaje, las empresas han visto esta oportunidad y han sabido aprovecharla realizando acciones con influencers principalmente con el fin de captar nuevas audiencias y fidelizar a los seguidores existentes. De esta manera, la presente investigación identificará el papel que ejercen los influencers digitales en la decisión de compra de productos de maquillaje en los millennials del NSE A y B del sector 7 de Lima Metropolitana. La metodología utilizada en esta investigación es exploratoria y concluyente cuantitativa puesto que la exploratoria nos ayudó a recopilar información para comprender la situación del problema en la actualidad y la concluyente nos permitió determinar, evaluar y elegir la información para comprobar las hipótesis planteadas. Asimismo, la presente investigación cuenta con un enfoque mixto, la cual se estructuró de la siguiente manera:  Entrevistas a profundidad  Focus group  Encuestas. / Currently, our world changes faster than ever and in recent years, a series of revolutionary technologies have gone from being something from science fiction to reality. Technology advances by leaps and bounds, consumer behavior changes day by day, new trends emerge, consumers become much more demanding and the way they communicate is now different. This digital trend we are currently experiencing is due to the fact that technology has brought with it the appearance of search engines, blogs, online storage, social networks, among others. Social networks since its inception have gained space within millions of people, mainly because they have allowed access and dissemination of information in an easier way, now we spend more time on the Internet because it seems faster and easier to communicate by this means. So, a good part of our social life has been transferred to the web. The ways we communicate have also adapted to this growing technological development, especially for the population under 35 years of age, since they grew at the same time as this development. Young people under 35 are getting more and more exquisite with each purchase decision, they get carried away by the recommendations and opinions of others. In this way, companies seek to improve the opinion that different users have about their products. That is why the influence marketing strategy is currently being used, a new advertising technique that identifies the opinion leaders that can help a brand to connect more naturally and spontaneously with its target audience. This is because digital users are constantly searching for information, comments and ratings on the internet about products and services. In the case of the beauty industry, specifically in makeup, companies have seen this opportunity and have taken advantage of doing actions with influencers mainly in order to attract new audiences and retain existing followers. In this way, this research will identify the role of digital influencers in the decision to purchase make-up products in the millennials of NSE A and B of sector 7 of Metropolitan Lima. The methodology used was exploratory and quantitative conclusive since the exploratory helped us to gather information to understand the situation of the problem at the moment and the conclusive one allowed us to determine, evaluate and choose the information to verify the hypotheses. Likewise, this research has a mixed approach, which was structured as follows: In-depth interviews, focus group and surveys. / Tesis

Darbo objektas yra prekės ženklo įtaka vartotojų sprendimui pirkti. Darbo tikslas – išanalizuoti ir įvertinti prekės ženklo įtaką vartotojų sprendimui pirkti farmacijoje. Siekiant užsibrėžto tikslo, keliami uždaviniai: apžvelgti ir susisteminti prekės ženklo sampratą, funkcijas, kuriamą vertę bei vartotojų sprendimo pirkti teorinius aspektus; išanalizuoti prekės ženklo ir vartotojo sprendimo priėmimo vietą vartotojų elgsenos modelyje; sukurti teorinį prekės ženklo įtakos vartotojo spendimui pirkti farmacijoje modelį; empiriškai patikrinti prekės ženklo įtakos vartotojo spendimui pirkti farmacijoje sukurtą modelį. Prekės ženklas yra vienas iš veiksnių, turinčių įtakos pirkėjo konkretaus produkto pirkimo sprendimui. Stiprūs prekės ženklai padeda rasti paskirstytojų, stiprinti klientų lojalumą ir suteikia teisinę apsaugą, skatina pardavimus, ir sumažina vartotojų jautrumą kainai. Ekspertai patikina, kad moterys atlieka apie 80% visų pirkimų. Kadangi vyrų ir moterų požiūriai, nuostatos bei vertybių skalė skiriasi, todėl produktai ar prekių ženklai turėtų būti orientuoti į konkrečius vartotojus. Nors daugiausia marketingo veiksmų šiuo metu yra nukreipta į moteriškąją lytį, nes jos atlieka daugiausia pirkimų, tačiau tokie išskirtinai vyriški produktai kaip automobiliai, kurie akcentuoja vyriškąją pusę, neturėtų atstumti ir moterų, nes tiek vyrai, tiek moterys gali daryti vienas kitam įtaką, todėl svarbus balanso išlaikymas. Šiuo metu Lietuvoje nėra jokių nereceptinių vaistų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Work objective- the brand influence on consumers purchasing decision process. The aim of this work is to analyze and evaluate brand influence on consumer purchasing decision in pharmacy market. In order to achieve these goals following tasks are rised: to review and systematize brand conception, functions, created value and theoretical aspects of consumer purchasing decision; to analyze brand and consumer decision making place in consumer behaviour model; to create theoretical brand influence on consumer purchasing decision model in a pharmacy market; to check empirically, created brand influence on consumer purchasing decision model in pharmacy market. A brand is one of the factors which influence buyer‘s particular product purchasing decision. Strong brands help to find distributors, strengthen customer loyalty and provide legal protection, promote sales, and reduce consumer price sensitivity. Experts are assured that women do about 80% of all purchases. As the men's and women's views, attitudes and values are different, so the products or trademarks should be directed to specific users. While most marketing activities are currently focused on the female, mainly because they do most purchases, however, are exclusively men's products such as cars, which highlights the male side, not alienate and women because both men and women are likely to influence each otrhe, so it is important to maintain the balance. Currently in Lithuania there are no restrictions for non-prescription... [to full text]

The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyze a purchasing behavior of consumers in the market of biscuits and wafers, find specifics and map out the usage of sales channels. The first part focuses on the theoretical apparatus that helps to understand consumers' predispositions, lifestyle and purchasing decision process in general. The second part concentrates on biscuits and wafers and the current situation. The third practical part deals with the results of marketing research of consumers in biscuits and wafers category.

Today’s society is earmarked by developments in technology so drastic, that our lives are continuously changed, impacted and remolded. When thinking about how many impressions one goes through during a single day, the results will be uncountable. And at an increasing pace, many of these impressions are shifting to the digital realm. This thesis acknowledges these rapid changes in the modern world of marketing, particularly the digital aspects of it. Yet while a great amount of research has been conducted to more closely understand digital marketing and how to conduct it, a significantly little amount of research has been spent focusing on the customer. This while the path that a customer takes from need to purchase may have grown to be more complex than ever. Not all the impressions that a customer gains on a certain product or brand come solely from the company behind it. As such, we decided to focus on exploring this customer journey – a relatively nascent theme in the field of marketing research. More specifically, we aim to answer the following research question: How is the customer purchasing decision affected by the customer’s interaction with touch points throughout the customer journey? Our main purpose was to arrive at a model as an answer to the research question, that could be used as a foundation for future research studies. We were intensely curious at gaining a better understanding of the customer journey and what the customers experience as they are touched by different influential channels during their travel from need to purchase. Our study shows that it is possible to synthesize the state of current research on the topic of the customer journey and support it with empirical data gathered from interviews with a variety of customers. Central to our thesis are the following two definitions that we have constructed based on current literature: The customer journey is the individual experience that a customer has when interacting with touch points in the path from a pre-purchase to a post-purchase setting. Touch points are moments of contact between customer and company that individually and collectively influence customer experience. The third critical element is that of the customer experience, which we don’t explicitly define, but implicitly construe as a distinct construct with a powerful impact by serving as the catalyst between touch points and customer actions and perceptions.The result is a conceptual model of the customer journey that we feel could be a foundation for future research on the customer journey to build upon and perhaps one day could serve as an overarching model for marketing as a whole.

Att modeindustrin har stor inverkan på miljön har varit känt inom industrin sedan decennier och allmänhetens medvetenhet ökar för varje år. I övergången mellan retorik och praktik, där konsumenter allt mer kräver transparens kring faktiska åtgärder snarare än retoriska eller performativa hållbarhetsinitiativ, uppstår ett behov av studier kring hur företag arbetar eller kan arbeta med hållbarhet i praktiken. Tidigare forskning identifierar inköpsfunktionen som en vital funktion för företag att agera hållbart. Inom modeinköp saknas forskning som återger ett helhetsperspektiv på inköparens arbete med gröna inköp. Tidigare forskning menar att inköparens beslut har en direkt påverkan på miljön, dock saknas forskning som undersöker hur stort utrymme inköpare inom modebranschen har att fatta gröna inköpsbeslut. Föreliggande studie syftar till att undersöka vilket utrymme inköparen har att ta beslut som påverkar miljömässig hållbarhet (i sitt företag) samt kartlägga var i inköpsprocessen inköparens miljömässiga hållbarhetspraktiker utförs. Syftet har genererat tre frågeställningar; (I) Vilken agens har inköpare på svenska modeföretag att ta beslut relaterade till miljömässig hållbarhet? (II) Vilka faktorer påverkar inköpares agens att ta hållbara beslut? (III) I vilken/vilka fas(er) av inköpsprocessen har inköpare möjlighet att vidta miljömässiga hållbarhetsåtgärder? Syftet och forskningsfrågorna undersöktes med utgångspunkt i en undersökningsmodellen baserad på en sammanlänkad version av Min och Galles (1997) ramverk för hållbara inköpsstrategier, med tillägg av leverantörshantering, samt van Weeles (2018) modell för inköpsprocessen. Undersökningsmodellen visar de tre huvudsakliga rollerna och aspekterna som påverkar gröna inköpsstrategier, samt att dessa även påverkar varandra. Vidare möjliggjorde modellen kategorisering av miljömässiga hållbarhetsåtgärder vidtagna av inköpare i inköpsprocessen. Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ datainsamlingsmetod för att besvara forskningsfrågorna och syftet. Det empiriska materialet samlades in genom sju semistrukturerade intervjuer på svenska modeföretag. Åtta informanter med yrkestiteln inköpare eller som verkade inom inköpsfunktionen intervjuades. Intervjuerna återspeglar de miljömässiga hållbarhetsåtgärder som förekommer inom inköpsprocessen för den specifika inköparen. Resultatet går därmed inte att likställa med företagens hållbarhetsarbete inom hela verksamheten. Resultatet och analysen visade att inköpare på de undersökta företagen hade varierande agens som påverkades främst av företagsstorlek. Kartläggningen av inköpsprocessen visade att samtliga hade agens att vidta miljömässiga hållbarhets åtgärder i orderläggningsfasen och sju av åtta hade agens i specifikationsfasen. En minoritet av inköparna kunde vidta åtgärder vid leverantörsval. / The substantial impact the fashion industry has on the environment has been commonly accepted in the industry for decades and public awareness is increasing every year. As consumers are increasingly demanding transparency on outcome from interventions, rather than performative sustainability initiatives, there is now a need for studies focusing on how businesses can work with sustainability in practice. Previous research identifies the purchasing function as a vital component for companies to act sustainably. In fashion purchasing, there is a shortage of research which reflects a holistic perspective on green purchasing. Previous research argues that the decisions buyers make have a direct impact on the environment. However, there is a lack of research that examines what agency buyers in the fashion industry have in order to make green purchasing decisions. The purpose of this study is to investigate to what degree a buyer or purchaser can make decisions which affect environmental sustainability within their company and where in the purchasing process they take place. The purpose has generated the following research questions; (I) What agency do buyers/purchasers in Swedish fashion companies have to make decisions that affect environmental sustainability? (II) Which factors affect the buyers/purchasers agency to make sustainable decisions? (III) In which phase/phases of the purchasing process is there a possibility for a buyer/purchaser to make sustainable decisions? The purpose and the research questions were studied with support from an analytical framework based on a combination of the Min and Galle (1997) framework for sustainable purchasing strategies, with an addition of supplier management, and van Weele´s (2018) purchasing process model. The analytical framework shows the three main roles and aspects that affect green purchasing strategies, and how they affect each other. Furthermore the analytical framework facilitated the categorization of environmentally sustainable actions taken by the buyer/purchaser in the purchasing process. The study has been conducted using qualitative data to answer the research questions and the purpose. Empirical material was collected from seven semi-constructed interviews with employees at swedish fashion companies, whose job title included ‘purchaser’ or were working within the purchasing function of the company. The interviews reflect the environmentally sustainable measures taken in the purchasing process by the individual. The result can thus not be equated with the companies' overall sustainability work. Analysis of the data showed that purchasers working at the investigated companies had varying agency to make environmentally sustainable decisions, which was mainly explained by the company size. The mapping of the purchasing process showed that all of the purchasers within the investigated companies had agency to make environmentally sustainable decisions within the ordering phase and seven out of eight had agency in the specification phase. A minority of the purchasers could make environmentally sustainable decisions in the supplier selection phase.

This study examines the effect of electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) on consumers’ purchasing decision process, more specifically: How does consumer attitudes and purchasing intent toward companies and their products affected by negative eWOM on social media. The study is based on three-component model of attitudes which identifies attitude as the awareness, assessment and readiness to act. The purpose of this study was to examine how negative eWOM on social media affects the consumer’s purchasing decision process. The purpose was to improve understanding of eWOM’s role and influence on the consumer’s attitudes and purchasing intent towards the companies and their products.   The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 individuals aged 18-20. Results indicate that negative customer reviews on social media have a negative influence on consumers attitudes and purchasing intent. The results also show that the effect varies between different product types. The effect may be stronger for expensive and important purchases than for cheap and routine purchases.

Cities all over the world have increasingly covered the topics about sustainable development. In the recent years, the garment industry has presented responsibilities and engagements towards sustainable development. Environmental awareness has increased in most societies. There is no doubt that consumers are demanding for more sustainable measures and this increases pressure on apparel enterprises to take actions and implement policies in order to secure their business. In terms of the garment industry, there is a rise of sustainably consciousness in the past decades.This leads to the purpose of this research project, which is to identify the key factors that affect consumer attitudes and behaviour regarding sustainability issues in textile industry, with a consumer study in Hong Kong. Key objectives in this research relate to consumer awareness of sustainable development aspects in garment purchasing decisions. This is a qualitative consumer study with an exploratory approach. Hong Kong citizens who were born in the 1990s were selected to join the two focus groups. This is because this generation is consumption-oriented, and also more conscious to sustainable development. It can be concluded that numerous factors and considerations that play an essential role in consumers’ purchasing decision in garment industry. Moreover, consumers perceive that several parties are responsible for being sustainable as this has been important in this industry.

The focus of this study is marketing and consumer behavior. The research is done within context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical framework is based on theories about hoarding and irrational purchase decisions. Further on theories from other areas, such as psychology, has been added to gain a more thorough understanding of the subject. The study is conveyed through a web-based survey distributed on social media where the researchers used their own social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram to find the respondents, as the study is based on social media users. The pandemic also caused restrictions in what ways the research could be executed. The result of the questionnaire cannot support either of the hypotheses that stress, worry and trust for information conveyed through different media and authorities influences consumers to make more irrational purchase decisions. One explanation could be that the respondents do not believe hoarding is considered irrational, due to the fact there is an ongoing crisis. Another explanation for this is that the respondents could have had a social desirability bias due to our research approach. This creates a possibility to expand this research with a different approach, presumably through observations. The reason to claim social desirability bias as a crucial factor is that there has been scarcity of products in stores, which became a real problem due to some consumers having bought more than needed. Another explanation for not achieving the results intended could be that the results cannot be generalized to a greater population due to the sampling method used. Through the empirical background and theoretical framework, it becomes evident that there are problems with irrational purchasing decisions and hoarding due to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. This study produces indications for future research to continue upon. This thesis is written in Swedish. / Den här studien sätter fokus på konsumentbeteende som en del av marknadsföring och forskningen utförs i kontext till pandemin COVID-19. Genom teorier inom konsumentbeteende under stressfyllda situationer där bunkring (hoarding) förekommit undersöks hur irrationella köpbeslut föranleder detta. Tillsammans med forskning från andra områden, såsom psykologi, presenteras teorier vilka kan skapa en ytterligare förståelse för konsumentbeteende. Studien genomfördes i form av en webbaserad enkätundersökning som distribuerades på Facebook och Instagram via forskarnas egna sociala medier då studien ämnade att nå ut till användare av sociala medier. Dessutom bidrog den rådande pandemin till att tillvägagångssättet begränsades, vilket föranleder metodvalet. Vad som framkommer av studien är att det beteende som genom enkätundersökningen uppgavs av respondenterna inte stödjer de uppsatta hypoteserna om att stress, oro och förtroende för olika medier och myndigheter är något som påverkar konsumenter till att fatta irrationella köpbeslut. Det förklaras med att respondenterna inte ansåg sig ha ett irrationellt beteende, där en möjlig förklaring är att ett bunkringsbeteende inte anses vara irrationellt under kriser. En annan möjlig förklaring till detta är respondenternas partiskhet (bias) att svara på ett sätt som uppfattas vara socialt accepterat (social desirability). Det gör att framtida forskning förslagsvis bör ta sig an dessa frågor genom andra tillvägagångssätt, såsom genom observationer för att undersöka konsumenters faktiska beteende snarare än hur de uppger att de beter sig. Detta eftersom både studiens empiriska bakgrund samt teoretiska referensram tyder på ett problem då irrationella köpbeslut och bunkringsbeteende är något som uppvisats under pandemin COVID-19. De resultat som presenteras går inte att generaliseras till en större population, men studiens resultat ger en indikation på ett beteende som fördelaktigen kan ligga till grund för framtida studier kring konsumentbeteende under kriser.