Online retailing has grown rapidly and nowadays consumers’ needs become more and more demanding. Mass customization satisfies the need of customers for individuality. However, in order for retailers to offer a satisfying shopping experience, they need to take into account their retail environment. In online retailing, atmospherics play a significant role in consumers’ attitudes towards the store. The present study aims to analyze the role of high task-relevant atmospheric cues, thus those atmospherics that are strongly connected with the shopping goal, such as verbal content, display methods and navigation aids. Furthermore, the author will analyze the effect of the above atmospherics on consumers’ response towards the online mass customization environment. In order for the purpose to be fulfilled, semi-structured interviews were conducted in a purposive sample of ten participants. The results were analyzed based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response model. Finally, high task-relevant atmospheric cues are strongly related to the consumers’ final response by provoking either positive or negative emotions. More specifically, verbal content and display methods have a crucial effect on consumers’ end response. On the other hand, navigation aids contribute to a pleasant online experience but they do not affect final consumers; response significantly. Conclusively, the present study aims to be considered as a useful tool for marketing purposes as it can provide knowledge on how consumers behave in a mass customization online environment in the fashion industry. Such knowledge may appear crucial for professionals who want to meet their customers’ needs directly and effectively.

As many buying decision are made in retail stores, it is interesting to investigate which factors, such as noise, lighting, music, colour, layout or visual communication have a significant influence on customers’ behaviour in a supermarket. Since only a few studies have been conducted among customers in Sweden, this paper examined their behaviour in the supermarket. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the various environmental factors in the supermarket as well as how the perceived servicescape influences customers’ behaviour in the store. The research approach used was that of a single case study, based on survey instrument (personal interviews and electronic collection) in order to collect data on facets in regards to the perceived servicescape and customers’ behaviour in the supermarket. A supermarket chain – the ICA group, precisely ICA MAXI in Jönköping was used for this purpose. The collected data was analysed with the means of factor analysis and multiple regression methods in order to obtain factors that can influence customers’ behaviour in the supermarket. The conducted study showed that lighting, noise, colours, signs and symbols as well as space/function conditions such as layout and equipment are the factors that create emotionally pleasant environment in the supermarket. Thus, these factors influence customers’ moods, attitudes or certain beliefs about the supermarket. Moreover, customers may feel happier, more satisfied or relaxed in the supermarket, which lead to arousal – stimulation or excitement. Furthermore, the environmental factors explain the approach behaviour such as exploring the supermarket, spending more time on browsing the products which, consequently, refer to an increased number of items bought.

With the rise of social media platforms and the increasing popularity of short-form video content, TikTok has emerged as one of the dominant platforms for entertainment, information sharing, and commerce. This thesis aims to examine the influence of community commerce TikTok content on adult users, exploring the impact it has on their purchasing behaviors, perceptions, and overall engagement. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods in an online survey. The quantitative analysis of results involves assessing demographic data in addition to establishing a clear, unambiguous understanding of the participants including their exposure to community commerce content, motivations for engagement, and existing purchase behavior. In the analysis of qualitative data, open-ended and narrative responses are analyzed. These responses speak to personal realities and provide insight on distinctive opinions. The theories deployed in the design of the study are Social Influence theory, the Stimulus-Organism-Response Model (SOR), and Word of Mouth (WOM). The findings of this research contribute to existing literature on social media marketing, digital commerce, and consumer behavior. The outcome of the study revealed that users feel more inclined to make a purchase in response to TikTok content (compared to traditional marketing) when the content feels catered to their interests and multiple users on the platform attest to a product's value. This category of content is referred to as community commerce, which intersects community, shopping, and entertainment. The elements that make this content unique were revealed to have the power to influence someone who has never made a purchase from TikTok before to be more inclined to do so if the content is relevant enough.  As such, the conclusions of this thesis also imply several implications for society at large. These include a more authentic approach to future influencer marketing, the democratization of trend-setting, and leveling the opportunities for small businesses that are up against larger brands.

It is important for fashion companies to be active in e-commerce landscape as it is growing rapidly especially in the apparel sector. As shopping is considered being an experience, it is important for companies to make the shopping experience pleasant for consumers and create positive emotions that lead to positive response behaviors. In online environments, this can be created through using low and high task-relevant atmospheric cues on the website. The purpose of this study is to describe how low task-relevant atmospheric cues affect consumers' emotions and responses in the online retail environment. Furthermore the aim is to analyze which of the examined low task-relevant cues have the strongest impact on consumers’ emotions and responses. To fulfill the purpose, a qualitative research approach has been chosen. The qualitative data was collected through ten semi-structured interviews with fashion interested new or experienced female online consumers in the age between 20-30 years old. This research shows that emotions and response behaviors are strongly connected and influenced by low task-relevant atmospheric cues. A connection within the response categories was also found. Furthermore, when designing a website, certain elements such as layout, color, images together with sales and promotional signage can be designed to achieve desired emotions as these are have the strongest impact on consumers' emotions and responses. / Program: Master programme in Fashion Management

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The purpose of this study is to explore online consumers' experiential response towards visual user-generated content in online shopping environments for fashion online shopping. The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework has been widely used in online shopping environment studies to examine the effect of website attributes on online shoppers' internal affective and cognitive states, and shopping behaviour (Kawaf and Tagg, 2012). Recent literature in the field proposes a more holistic approach towards online experiences (e.g., Pentina, Amialchuk, and Taylor, 2011) which is conceptualise to mediate the relationship between website attributes and behavioural responses. Consumer experiences are considered to be a critical concept in consumer behaviour and marketing for understanding consumers and to create competitive advantage in online retailing (Schmitt, 2010). Building on existing online shopping environment research, the study conceptualises online experiences for fashion online. This study seeks to investigate online consumers' experiential responses (aesthetics, relational, emotional, Flow experience and interactivity) towards two visual user-generated stimulus: (1) Looks - photographs of individuals modelling their own fashion, and (2) Outfits - digital collages displaying an assortment of products centred around a theme. They are both features which have been created by community members in an online social shopping community, ASOS Fashion Finder. The context of this study was exploratory and utilised a mixed methods approach where 13 photo-elicited interviews (PEI) with female online shoppers of ASOS, aged 18-34, were conducted to identify and understand consumers' online experiential responses and online shopping intentions towards the two visual stimulus. Using the same sample criteria, an online survey with 555 responses was also conducted to measure and test relationships between consumers' experiential responses and shopping intentions. The results of this study provides insight to the experiential states of fashion online consumers for online retail marketing, and contributes knowledge to research literature and theory on online shopping environments and customer experiences.

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This study examined the level of trust of information on social media. Specifically, I investigated the factors of performance expectancy with information-seeking motives that appear to influence the level of trust of information on various social network sites. This study utilized the following theoretical models: elaboration likelihood model (ELM), the uses and gratifications theory (UGT), the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model (UTAUT), the consumption value theory (CVT), and the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) Model to build a conceptual research framework for an exploratory study. The research investigated the extent to which information quality and source credibility influence the level of trust of information by visitors to the social network sites. The inductive content analysis on 189 respondents’ responses carefully addressed the proposed research questions and then further developed a comprehensive framework. The findings of this study contribute to the current research stream on information quality, fake news, and IT adoption as they relate to social media.