Title: A qualitative study within retail of self-identity and cultural ideals impact on Swedish females within Generation Z’s purchase behaviour Authors: Cecilia Menninge & Julia Bengtsson Institution: Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics. Program: Detaljhandel and Service Management (180hp), Customer Experience Management (180 hp) Course: 2FE67E Supervisor: MaxMikael Wilde Björling  Examiner: Miralem Helmefalk Purpose: The purpose of this study is to, through interpretation and analysis of females within Gen Z, create knowledge and understanding of how self-identity and cultural ideals affect purchase behaviour Method: An interview study that addresses the topic of identity and cultural ideals impact on purchase behaviour. The study was conducted with a deductive approach and a qualitative method Conclusions: There is a versatile relationship between identity and Swedish females purchase behaviour in fashion. Self-image affects their purchase behaviour as Swedish females are highly conscious of their appearance. Swedish females in Generation Z follows the peripheral route in the Elaboration likelihood model.

Background: As retailing moves towards online shopping the number of online purchases have increased substantially over the last year in Sweden (Klarna Bank AB, 2019). The industry of high-end beauty and skincare products has experienced growth in 2019 (PostNord, 2019), which is of interest to investigate. There lies importance for firms in retrieving knowledge of how the target market thinks and reacts. This research allows for a deeper understanding of the motivations of consumer behavior, which will be of high value for retailers and marketers when further operating in 2020 and entering 2021.    Problem discussion: There is a growing body of literature that examines the motivations of consumer behavior, however, identified gaps have yet to accumulate. Even if online personalized advertising (OPA) is increasingly being used by retailers worldwide, its influence on Swedish females remains unexplored. This exploratory study was undertaken in response to the demand in Sweden and it attempts to draw meaningful connections between consumer response to OPA as well as the value motives explaining consumption behaviors.    Purpose: In order to fill gaps in previous literature, this research sought to build a theory, which will make meaningful sense of observations on Swedish females in the age group 18-35-year-old’s purchase behavior. More specifically, the research will create an understanding of how OPA influences Swedish females, and what values motivate the female consumer when completing a purchase of high-end beauty and skincare products, with and without respect to the influence of OPA.   Method: A qualitative approach with semi-structured in-depth interviews with 19 Swedish female participants in the age group 18-35 were conducted. The general analytical procedure for analyzing the collected data was used, and the data was further compared with previous literature.    Results: This research indicates that participants declare empathy and hedonic values to influence the completion of purchase. Within the category of empathy values, security is a key value when shopping online. When exposed to OPA, the values of being well-respected and self-respect were added to the explanation for consumer motives of purchases of high-end beauty and skincare products online.