<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p><strong>Date:</strong> May 2010</p><p><strong>Program:</strong> International Marketing (Master’s Program)</p><p><strong>Authors:</strong></p><p>Merve Ertekin                                                                 </p><p>Burcak Aydin                                                                  </p><p><strong>Tutor:</strong> Tobias Eltebrandt</p><p><strong>Title:</strong> The Impact of National Identity and Culture on Customer Perception of</p><p>Product Quality; <em>‘The case of mobile phones in Sweden and Turkey’</em></p><p><strong>Problem Statement:</strong> How may culture affect the ‘product quality perception’ of consumers?</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> What differences can be observed in ‘product quality perception’ of mobile phones in Sweden and Turkey?</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A quantitative research has been conducted by using both primary and secondary data. Primary data was gathered from distributing questionnaire to Swedish and Turkish university students and secondary data was collected from books, online resources and articles.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong>  The authors observed that culture and national identity have an inevitable impact on the product quality perception on customers. Comparison between Turkish and Swedish culture for the case of mobile phones’ quality perception indicated that dissimilar norms and values between cultures were defined quality perception differently.</p>

Abstract Date: May 2010 Program: International Marketing (Master’s Program) Authors: Merve Ertekin                                                                  Burcak Aydin                                                                   Tutor: Tobias Eltebrandt Title: The Impact of National Identity and Culture on Customer Perception of Product Quality; ‘The case of mobile phones in Sweden and Turkey’ Problem Statement: How may culture affect the ‘product quality perception’ of consumers? Purpose: What differences can be observed in ‘product quality perception’ of mobile phones in Sweden and Turkey? Method: A quantitative research has been conducted by using both primary and secondary data. Primary data was gathered from distributing questionnaire to Swedish and Turkish university students and secondary data was collected from books, online resources and articles. Conclusion:  The authors observed that culture and national identity have an inevitable impact on the product quality perception on customers. Comparison between Turkish and Swedish culture for the case of mobile phones’ quality perception indicated that dissimilar norms and values between cultures were defined quality perception differently.

Tactical radio communications used in military applications hasstrict requirements regarding security and has to be operable inrough environments in which there may be disturbances and disruptionson a radio link. The performance of the Secure CommunicationInteroperability Protocol (SCIP) operating in an asynchronouscommunication network with various levels of packet loss isinvestigated and found inadequate mainly due to problems withcryptographic synchronization between the transmitting and receivingunits. The introduction of additional counter data to each datapacket remedies this problem and allows the receiving units to fillthe holes left by packet losses with filler packets, maintainingsynchronization. The audio quality can then be measured using thePerceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) algorithm.Measurements are performed in an emulated radio link with aconfigurable packet loss ratio developed by Saab. The results showthat parts of SCIP can be used alongside the counter solution withoutimpacting the audio quality. The insertion of filler packets is shownto have a positive effect on the audio quality, while aggregation ofpackets to conserve transmission data rate is shown to have anegative effect.

Abstract Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to explore the impact of environmental friendly wine packageson wine consumption in Sweden. While there are many different factors influencing this issue,the overall focus of this thesis has been on the perception of the quality of 'Green wine packaging'on behalf of the consumers. Method: A quantitative approach in form of an online survey was followed by an qualitativeapproach in form of semi-structured interviews. While the quantitative approach was the mainapproach, the qualitative approach was used for further interpretation. Conclusions: Despite a great environmental awareness and a great engagement in recyclingactivities in Sweden, the results of this study shows that consumer prefer wine in traditional glassbottles. Quality is considered to be the most important element when purchasing wine and itappears that consumer perceive a low level of quality of wine in Green packages which in turnlowers their aesthetical and hedonic expectations. The quality of the wine appear also to be moreimportant than the environmental issue.

No description available.

The purpose of this Master's Thesis is to investigate the attitudes of high net worth individuals toward country of origin information within the luxury goods market with respect to the quality of the products. The primary method used for the research is qualitative research based on in-depth interviews. Based on these in-depth interviews, the thesis demonstrates the synergy between the literature on country of origin and luxury goods and the consumers' quality perception on luxury based on country of origin.

In recent years, as the economy in Taiwan grown strongly, the lifestyles changed into a modern pattern, which had placed the traditional society. In the new, fashion, and modern lifestyles, here comes a new type of consumption. In order to adapt the new environment, marketers have developed many kinds of marketing skills to promote the services or products they provide. Therefore, sales promotions have been significantly over the years. Sales promotions are short-term incentives to encourage customers to make a purchase. As consumers are exposed to the sales promotions, their perceptions of the sales promotions play an important role in leading consumers to make purchase decisions. In sum, the purpose of this research is to discuss the relation between sales promotions and the purchase likelihood; we also try to explain how the cognition from consumers impacts their purchase likelihood. Thus, the following are our purpose: 1. To evaluate whether the sales promotions from Watsons can affect the quality perception of consumers. 2. To understand the relation between the internal reference price and perceived transaction value. 3. To analyze the relation between perceived acquisition value and purchase likelihood 4. To explore how the purchase likelihood change when the anticipation of sales promotions fail. 5. Discuss the differences of cognition toward sales promotions in Watson within genders. In this research, I administered a questionnaire to explore the data from 223 participants. The findings are as followed: 1. The sales promotions from Watsons have significant impacts on quality perception of consumers. 2. Consumers¡¦ internal reference price has significant impacts on perceived transaction value. 3. Perceived acquisition value have significant impacts on purchase likelihood 4. The failure of anticipation toward the sales promotion will decrease consumers¡¦ purchase likelihood. 5. There¡¦s no difference of cognition toward sales promotions within genders.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:22:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Helena Rodi Neumann.pdf: 13422269 bytes, checksum: ce11e30e375347489ae3599ab8586e30 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-01-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The objective of this study is to evaluate the soundscape of Teodoro Sampaio Street, in the city of São Paulo, and its impact on quality of life of its users. The research involves both discussion about the control of urban noise, as the determination of the positive sounds that qualify and characterize the public space. First we undertake a literature review on urban soundscapes, their impacts on users, and nearby buildings. The proposal is to raise what has been said about the theme in Brazil, and cite some relevant research abroad. Some academic studies have addressed this issue in the country, but few showed some theoretical reflection on urban acoustics. In a second step, we intend to establish a theoretical foundation for understanding the behavior of sound in the external environment of the contemporary city. This is mainly based on the work of two key authors: Murray Schafer, who defined the concept of "Soundscape" in 1979, and Brandon LaBelle, proposing a recent study, 2010 on what it defines as acoustic territories. It follows with a presentation of noise analysis methods in urban areas. First it discusses graphical ways of presenting the urban sounds from technical noise maps, with equal loudness curves of intensity levels; to attractive and informative graphs and diagrams, enabling quick understanding of the acoustic situation of an urban stretch. Also demonstrates ways to quantify the noise sources, and characterize their noise, data that are essential for entry into specific software. This step also involves the presentation of a method for qualitative assessment of users, proposed in the book "Urban Sound Enviroment", the author Jian Kang. The following presents the analysis of urban street taken as a case study. Earlier develops a historical survey of the change of use of the territory, in xii order to characterize their role in the urban context. Furthermore, through the analysis of historical maps, check how this urban stretch was gradually consolidated. Then it goes to an assessment of current conditions, with the precise characterization of the surroundings, resulting in photographic essays and informative maps. The proposal is to collect all relevant data characterizing this location, which are fundamental to the deep understanding of its acoustic setting. The next step is to evaluate the quality of the soundscape. First, they are prepared "maps of sound events" based on acoustic observation of the site taken by the researcher. Then, are performed the objective measurements with sound level meters in situ, resulting in maps of analysis of intensity levels, considering the change of scenery from the week and Saturday. It follows with a qualitative assessment made based on interviews with the population, to verify the perception of urban and sound quality of the urban stretch. In conclusion, the results of all methods applied for acoustics and urban evaluation are related, to the central purpose of proving that the perception of urban quality is affected by sound intensity. / O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar a paisagem sonora da Rua Teodoro Sampaio, na cidade de São Paulo, e o impacto desta na qualidade de vida dos seus usuários. A pesquisa envolve tanto a discussão sobre o controle de ruídos urbanos, quanto a determinação dos sons positivos que qualificam e caracterizam o espaço público. Primeiramente elabora-se uma revisão bibliográfica sobre paisagens sonoras urbanas, seus impactos nos usuários, e nas edificações próximas. A proposta é levantar o que já foi discutido sobre o tema no Brasil, e citar algumas pesquisas relevantes no exterior. Alguns trabalhos acadêmicos já abordaram este tema no pais, mas poucos apresentaram alguma reflexão teórica sobre a acústica urbana. Em um segundo momento pretende-se estabelecer uma fundamentação teórica para compreender o comportamento do som no ambiente externo da cidade contemporânea. Esta baseia-se principalmente no trabalho de dois autores centrais: Murray Schafer, que definiu o conceito de paisagem sonora ou Soundscape em 1979; e o Brandon LaBelle, que propõe um estudo recente, de 2010, sobre o que define como territórios acústicos. Segue-se com a apresentação das metodologias de análise dos ruídos em meio urbano. Primeiro discute-se meios gráficos de apresentar os sons urbanos, desde mapas de ruídos técnicos, com curvas isofônicas de níveis de intensidade; até gráficos e esquemas atrativos e informativos, que permitam a rápida compreensão da situação acústica de um trecho urbano. Também se demonstra formas de quantificar as fontes sonoras, e caracterizar seus ruídos; dados que são fundamentais para entrada em softwares específicos. Esta etapa envolve também a apresentação de um método de avaliação qualitativa dos usuários, proposta no livro Urban Sound Enviroment , do autor Jian Kang. x A seguir apresenta-se a análise urbana da rua tomada como estudo de caso. No início desenvolve-se um levantamento histórico da mudança de uso deste território, com o intuito de caracterizar seu papel no contexto urbano. Além disso, através da análise de mapas históricos da SMDU, verificar como este trecho foi progressivamente consolidado. Em seguida, passa-se para uma avaliação das condições atuais, com a precisa caracterização do entorno, que resulta em ensaios fotográficos e mapas informativos. A proposta é levantar todos os dados relevantes que caracterizam este local, que são fundamentais para a compreensão aprofundada do seu cenário acústico. O próximo passo é avaliar a qualidade da paisagem sonora. Primeiramente, são elaborados Mapas de eventos sonoros com base na observação do pesquisador da acústica do local. Em seguida, são realizadas as medições objetivas, com sonômetros in loco, que resultam em mapas de análise dos níveis de intensidade do local, considerando a mudança de cenário entre a semana e o sábado. Segue-se com a avaliação qualitativa, feita com base em entrevistas com a população, para verificar a percepção da qualidade urbana e sonora do trecho urbano. Como conclusão, os resultados de todos os métodos de avaliação acústica e urbana aplicados são relacionados, com o intuito central de comprovar que a percepção da qualidade urbana é impactada pela intensidade do som.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rina_Xavier_Pereira.pdf: 764084 bytes, checksum: 0deb44b4493f3fc8fa307fcf20116782 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-09-03 / This study aimed to identify the quality aspects that, according to the perception of Accounting students, influence the overall quality of the high education program, as well as the causality relationship among those factors. The identified factors are based on the people, on the students learning process, and on the tangible aspects. To verify whether the proposed model is adequate or not, it was obtained some data with students in Universities, colleges and faculties in the State of Sao Paulo, by means of a questionnaire. The data were treated by the Structural Equations Modeling, as well as an adjusting process of the collected data. Through this process, it was possible to obtain five endogenous constructs. The results showed that the students choose their university, college and faculty based on their location, and that they choose such a course taking into account the job market. Relatively to the perceived factors of quality, the joined order was: professors?? team; technical and administrative team; tangible aspects; process and relationship between students. It was possible to classify, inside of each factor, the importance of its variables in function of gotten loads. / Este trabalho procurou identificar os fatores de qualidade que, na percep????o dos discentes de Ci??ncias Cont??beis, influenciam a qualidade do ensino superior, e a rela????o de causalidade entre esses fatores. Os fatores identificados se ap??iam em pessoas, no processo de aprendizagem do discente e nos aspectos tang??veis. Para verificar empiricamente a adequa????o do modelo proposto, foram obtidos dados junto a discentes em Institui????es de Ensino Superior no Estado de S??o Paulo, por meio de um question??rio. Foi usada a Modelagem de Equa????es Estruturais, seguida de um processo de ajustamento dos dados coletados, o que permitiu testar cinco constructos end??genos provenientes da teoria. Os resultados indicaram que os discentes baseiam a escolha da institui????o em fun????o da localiza????o, e que a op????o pelo curso tem por base o mercado de trabalho. Relativamente aos fatores de qualidade percebidos, a ordem encontrada foi: Corpo Docente; Corpo T??cnico - Administrativo; Aspectos Tang??veis; Processo e Relacionamento entre Discentes. Foi poss??vel classificar, dentro de cada fator, a import??ncia de suas vari??veis em fun????o das cargas fatoriais obtidas.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify particular features and attributes  that communicate quality in printed advertisements in order to further understand consumer perception of these quality features. Background: Nowadays, cultural images of youthfulness are promoted by media and advertising. Previous research indicate that price, brand name and store names are the most influencing features concerning the quality perception for consumers. However, advertising permits consumers to have access only to a specific level of information regarding the product. Printed advertisement do not present the common attributes such as price or store name that permit to evaluate quality. Therefore this study will examine the features and attributes that communicate quality in printed advertisements from the consumer’s perspective. Method: The purpose of this thesis was fulfilled by conducting a magazine content analysis of advertisements and by conducting interviews with women in the age between 45-60 years old. To analyze the results, theories connected to quality perception and advertising were used. Conclusion: Three interrelated categories were identified to play a significant role in the quality perception: credibility, exclusivity and emotions. When in accordance with each other and in balance, the presence of these categories influence the quality perception. / Syfte: Syftet med den här studien är att identifiera särskilda faktorer och attribut som kommunicerar kvalité i tryckt reklam i syfte att vidare förstå konsumenters uppfattning av dessa kvalitetsattribut. Bakgrund: Nuförtiden främjas bilder av ungdomlighet i media och reklambranschen. Tidigare studier indikerar att pris, varumärke och butiksnamn är de faktorer som mest påverkar  konsumenters kvalitetsuppfattning. Dock tillåter reklam konsumenter att ha tillgång endast till en specifik nivå av information angående produkten. Tryckt reklam presenterar inte allmänna attribut såsom pris eller butiksnamn som tillåter utvärdering av kvalité. Därför kommer den här studien att granska faktorer och attribut som kommunicerar kvalité i tryckt reklam från konsumentens perspektiv. Metod: Syftet med den här studien blev uppfyllt genom utförandet av en innehållsanalys av anti-age reklamer i tidningar och genom intervjuer med kvinnor i åldern mellan 45-60 år. Till analysen av resultaten användes teorier med anknytning till kvalitetsuppfattning och reklam.  Slutsats: Tre sammanhängande kategorier var identifierade att spela en betydande roll i kvalitetsuppfattning: trovärdighet, exklusivitet och känslor.  När i enlighet med varandra och i balans, gör närvaron av dessa kategorier att kvalitetsuppfattningen påverkas.