Informal markets for fashion are a growing phenomenon around the world and more specifically in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In different cities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are tents housing vendors who sell second-hand clothes. These markets are becoming the millennials' shopping hubs as millennials are on a quest for uniqueness, fashion trends and value for money. Limited research regarding the shopping patterns and purchase decisions of Congolese millennials and even less regarding the informal clothing market in the Democratic Republic of Congo is available. This research is aimed at investigating factors influencing millennials in the purchase of second-hand clothes in the informal markets in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The theoretical framework was guided by the theory of planned behaviour from which the researcher constructed an adapted model. The purchase of secondhand clothes is the behaviour that is preceded and influenced by the consumer's intention to purchase. In turn, the intention to buy clothing from informal markets is influenced by various factors. Five factors were added to the model, namely quality, clothing interest, peers' opinions, price consciousness and the need for uniqueness. The model was investigated through a qualitative case study analysis. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews and the thematic analysis was conducted and interpreted manually. The target population argued that second-hand clothes are unique, durable and affordable. These clothes allow them to shop the fashion trends they see on social media from around the world. Thus, it is important to have a valuable understanding of the factors influencing Congolese millennials to buy second-hand clothes. Retailers and marketers in the fashion industry of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly those in the informal clothing market, can consider the consumer insights acquired in this research and apply them to increase their advantage in the market place.

The extensive literature on financial literacy has sought to explain financial behaviours and decisions. On the asset side of the balance sheet, financial literacy is associated with good financial practice and wealth accumulation. On the liability side, however, the contribution of financial literacy to individuals’ financial decisions is not entirely clear. To add to this literature, as well as that of behavioural finance and alternative financial services, this research develops a conceptual framework based on Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behaviour (TPB). This framework links individuals’ attitudes to financial matters, subjective norms, perceived feasibility, financial knowledge, and behavioural biases that include overconfidence and present bias on the decision to obtain high-interest loans. The empirical tests of the developed framework suggest that individuals in distinct socio-economic groups have different antecedents that lead to borrowing from alternative financial services. For instance, individuals from low-income households are more likely to obtain these loans if they: do not have access to other forms of credit; struggle to pay their bills; are unemployed; or do not have access to advice from finance professionals. In turn, individuals from high-income households are more likely to obtain these loans if they lack financial knowledge or have behavioural biases like overconfidence or present bias. These results suggest the importance of access to professional advice while ensuring access to traditional means of obtaining credit for low-income individuals in order to reduce the negative effects of these high-interest loans. The results also confirm the importance of current policy initiatives to implement basic finance education in public school curriculums, and the urgency to seek effective approaches to address individuals’ cognitive assumptions.

The research problem for the study was the low entrepreneurial activity in South Africa that leads to high unemployment rates. The research question wanted to investigate the effect that entrepreneurship education may have on the students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Intentions were measured because the Theory of Planned Behaviour, which was employed as the framework, postulates that intention is the best predictor of behaviour. The study also investigated the effect of social norms on the students’ entrepreneurial intentions; whether the students who have self-employed parents and/or have personal entrepreneurial experience, would show higher levels of entrepreneurial intentions than students with a different background. A quantitative research design was employed to answer the research questions, and to test the hypotheses. An online survey was sent to the entire target population and anonymous responses were received. This was important and ethical as it protected the respondents’ identity. A total of 92 responses out of 1 743 students were received, and 73 were complete. The collected data was analysed using a Stata 15 statistical package. The study found that entrepreneurship education does indeed have an effect of raising the students’ entrepreneurial intentions, attitudes and their perceived entrepreneurial skills gained from studying entrepreneurship. The students who come from communities where entrepreneurship is less prevalent showed the highest gain in intentions, attesting to the effect of education in an open distance learning context on their intentions. The students’ entrepreneurial background did not show any effect on their intentions; those who have self-employed parents did not have higher intentions than the students with a different background. To increase the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education, it is recommended that more practical ways of teaching entrepreneurship should be implemented. It is also recommended that entrepreneurship education should be extended to more students, and particularly to science and engineering students. This is because the latter are more likely to produce innovative products that will lead to high growth, high impact businesses that will employ more people for longer, therefore raising entrepreneurial activity and reducing unemployment. / Business Management / M. Com. (Entrepreneurship)

Title: Attitudes and motivations of young people towards sport betting Objectives: To find out which factors significantly influence sport betting in young Czechs between the age of 18 and 30. Methods: Due to the quantitative nature of the research, the only used method was electronic survey. The survey was based on the theory of planned behaviour. It primarily sought information on independent variables (predictors) within this theory, which are attitudes, subjective norm and perceived control (in connection with sport betting). This part was adopted from a similar previous research. The intention and behaviour of the respondents as response variables were also surveyed in order to describe the relationships between independent and response variables. The sample consisted of 122 respondents, mostly active betters. Statistical methods such as correlation and regression analysis were used, followed by a final path analysis, which provided a model visualizing the relationships between the crucial variables. Results: All of the examined predictors within the theory of planned behaviour influence the intention to bet - the values are 0,241 for attitudes, 0,335 for subjective norm and -0,410 for perceived control. The negative value means that those with higher perceived control have lower intention to...

Microtransactions is a relatively new concept within the gaming industry witha very large monetary value for businesses. Companies utilize persuasivedesign strategies such as time-based scarcity in order to incentivize players tospend money on microtransactions which in turn creates addiction towardsmicrotransactions. The purpose of this paper is to explain the addictiveinfluence limited time scarcity possesses on purchase intention for randomizedvirtual cosmetics (RVC) or definite virtual cosmetics (DVC), and which ofRVC and DVC carries the stronger influence. To arrive to a fitting conclusion,a quantitative method was utilized in order to collect the data required. Sincethis research is explanatory in nature and built on existing research, a crosssectional approach was utilized. Two hypotheses were tested, and aquestionnaire was conducted. The findings from this study suggest that bothRVC and DVC has an impact on purchase intention, however RVC proves tocarry a stronger influence than DVC.

In the last decade the automobile industry has invested heavily in the developments of better vehicles, in regards to performance, emissions and also durability. The latest development has been the introduction of electric vehicles into the markets. The electric vehicles are touted as being better for the environment in terms of emissions and even low noise production. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy)calls for ensuring that everyone has access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy. This goal is often geared towards moving the energy production to more renewable sources, making it highly relevant to electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are still fairly new in the market, so it’s worth exploring what the purchase intention looks like and how the interacting environmental factors contribute to the overall intention. This study aims to investigate consumer’s purchase intention in regards to electric vehicles and the influences that user beliefs, attitudes and risk perceptions have on the consumer’s final decision. The study also seeks to find out how the environmental risk aspects associated with the electric vehicles closely tie into the overall purchase intention. The method of collecting data was through a web-based survey where the respondents filled out different sections, the results of the survey were then studied and presented using quantitative analysis methods. The results of this study are presented with the help of previous research and theoretical frameworks that are relevant to the study topic. The study concluded that the purchase intention for electric vehicles was pretty high and that the factors influencing the intentions had more to do with personal gains or savings rather than an overall concern for the environment. The study also shows how subtly our actions can be influenced by behavioural social norms around us, this is shown in the fact that the perceived initial motivation behind the purchase intention of electric vehicles is the concern for the environment but on a deeper level it proves to be the result of social action norms. / Under det senaste decenniet har bilindustrin investerat mycket i utvecklingen av bättre fordon, när det gäller prestanda, utsläpp och även hållbarhet Den senaste utvecklingen har varit introduktionen av elfordon på marknaderna. Elfordonen anses vara bättre för miljön när det gäller utsläpp och till och med låg ljudproduktion. FN:s mål 7 för hållbar utveckling (prisvärd och ren energi) kräver att alla ska ha tillgång till prisvärd, pålitlig, hållbar och modern energi. Detta mål är ofta inriktat på att flytta energiproduktionen till mer förnybara källor, vilket gör den mycket relevant för elfordon. Elfordon är fortfarande ganska nya på marknaden så det är värt att undersöka hur köpintentionen ser ut och hur de interagerande miljöfaktorerna bidrar till den övergripande avsikten. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka konsumenternas köpavsikt med avseende på elfordon och vilken inverkan användarens attityder och riskuppfattningar har på konsumenternas beslut. Studien syftar också till att ta reda på hur de miljöriskaspekter som är med elfordonen hänger ihop med den övergripande köpintentionen. Metoden att samla in data var genom en webbaserad enkät där respondenterna fyller i olika avsnitt, resultatet av enkäten studerades sedan och presenterades med hjälp av kvantitativa analysmetoder. Resultaten av denna studie presenteras med hjälp av tidigare forskning och teoretiska ramverk som är relevant med studienamne. Studien drog slutsatsen att köpintentionen för elfordon var ganska hög och att faktorerna som påverkade avsikterna hade mer att göra med personliga vinster eller besparingar snarare än en övergripande oro för miljön. Studien visar också hur subtilt våra beteende kan påverkas av sociala normer omkring oss, detta visar sig i det faktum att den upplevda initiala motivationen bakom köpintentionen av elfordon är omtanken om miljön men på ett djupare insikt visar sig att det vara resultatet av sociala beteendesnormer.

M. Tech. (Department of Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Counterfeiting is a global phenomenon in developed and developing countries, causing a threat to national economies and societies. It negatively harms new investment and progressively endangers public health and safety as well. Known and famous brands are often targeted for counterfeiting. This phenomenon is primarily driven by consumers’ aspiring attitudes, social media pressures and the need to differentiate oneself. The aim of the study is to examine the influence of materialism, hedonic consumption motive, utilitarian consumption motive, personal gratification and novelty-seeking on attitudes and the influence of attitudes on willingness to purchase counterfeit sportswear products at a selected HEI. The study is grounded within the positivist philosophy, in which a quantitative research approach was followed, since positivists prefer an analytic and factual interpretation of quantitative data. An online structured questionnaire was used to collect data through an online survey. The study sample was conveniently selected from a population of registered students at a selected HEI in Southern Gauteng in the 2020 academic year. Data were collected on demographic variables, materialism (MAT), hedonic motivation (HED), utilitarian motive (UTL), personal gratification (PGT), novelty-seeking (NOS), attitude towards counterfeits (ATC) and willingness to purchase (WTP) counterfeit sportswear. A total of 327 questionnaires were completed and used in the final data analysis. Descriptive statistics techniques, correlations and regression analysis were used to evaluate perceptions and relationships between the study constructs. The research results revealed the existence of significant positive associations amongst the study constructs. Of the five antecedents, two of the five predictor variables, namely, UTL and NOS showed significant predictive relationships with attitudes towards counterfeit sportswear purchases. Attitudes towards counterfeits (ATC) also emerged as a significant predictor of students’ WTP counterfeit sportswear. Since NOS and UTL seem to predict a positive attitude towards counterfeit sportswear, the study recommends that brand owners develop awareness about ethical purchasing behaviour. They should also educate consumers on the social and economic downside of buying counterfeit products and that seeking novelty when purchasing counterfeit products may soon wane and wear off, leading to regret and cognitive dissonance. Further, brand marketers should also emphasise the utility value inherent in the purchase of authentic branded products instead of buying counterfeits. Since consumers cannot often readily distinguish between genuine and fake sportswear, it is therefore critical for marketers of branded products to promote the contrast of originals and fakes and to underline the quality, longevity, and dependability of their authentic products in the market. These results make a valuable contribution to academics, brand managers and marketers, as the results reveal that consumer buying can be influenced by personality and social interests of different individuals. The study notes that laws only cannot prohibit the sale and purchase of counterfeit products. It requires the stricter implementation thereof. Further, there is a need for behavioural change strategies to counter the effects of counterfeiting. Nudges such as promotions and loyalty programmes may encourage the purchase of authentic products as opposed to the purchase of counterfeits.

This study aims to examine the effect of organisational commitment and employee’s pro-environmental behaviour at home on their intention to adopt green practices at the workplace in the context of hotel industry, by taking the theory of planned behaviour as a conceptual framework. Hotel employees play a critical role that affects customers' experiences, which then affects the overall hotel performance. However, the mechanism that affects their behavioural intention has yet to be investigated properly. Thus, a survey was conducted to collect the data from employees working in green and non-green hotels in Malaysia. Overall, there were 407 responses received, which represented a response rate of 55.75 percent. Then, a set of hypotheses was tested using the structural equation modelling. The empirical results indicate that organisational commitments have a positive effect on the attitude for engaging in a green behaviour and subjective norm, which in turn influenced employees’ intention to adopt green practices at work. Meanwhile, employees’ pro environmental behaviour at home has an indirect impact on employee’s intention to adopt green practices in the workplace through their attitude for engaging in a green behaviour, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. The findings lead to a theoretical contribution by incorporating another theory into the theory of planned behaviour, which is the social bond theory through organisational commitment and spill-over effect through pro environmental behaviour at home. Subsequently, a practical recommendation from this research is attainable to policy makers and hotel providers in order for them to understand and increase employees’ willingness to adopt green practices at the workplace. / The full text will be available at the end of the embargo: 15th Dec 2026

The premise of this study is the in-depth exploration and investigation of the nature of Ethical Decision Making (EDM) in marketing research. More specifically, this research is concerned with exploring the understanding and the holistic conceptualisation of Ethical Decision Making (EDM) through the investigation of different moral agents in marketing research in the United Kingdom. In particular, marketing research researchers’ (MR researchers) and marketing research respondents’ (MR respondents) ethical judgements and behavioural intentions have been investigated based on two marketing research techniques that generate ethical issues; neuromarketing [NM] and autoethnography [AE], Despite the examination of the two aforementioned moral agents, at the heart of this thesis has been the investigation of MR researchers’ (un)willingness to adopt or practice (i.e. behavioural intentions) these marketing research techniques. This study employed a qualitative design and was initiated on descriptive behavioural ethics, in order to investigate MR researchers’ behavioural intentions, while it has a nonnative purpose towards norm generation in the field. Thus, the Theory of Planned Behaviour’ and the ‘General Theory of Marketing Ethics’ (i.e. H-V model) were applied for the initial theoretical considerations of this thesis. By utilising descriptive and nonnative ethical accounts, this study has found that Ethical Decision Making (EDM) in marketing research is grounded in a social contract ethics foundation of a multidimensional structural functionalistic premise. Within this ethical setting the MR researcher is considering the MR respondent’s decision making processes with regards to norm generation, governed by social consensus, social proof and conformity. This results from a multidimensional interdependent social interaction of the two moral agents. Finally, this thesis concludes that Ethical Decision Making (EDM) in marketing research is not conceptualised in a linear progressive manner, but it consists of numerous constructs that fit with each other in a rather loosely coupled modular manner depicting a rather complex and dynamic system of multilayered factors and multi-dimensional constructs.

<p>Government efforts to improve the self-employment prospects of persons with disabilities are increasing, yet there is a dearth of information about the outcomes of these initiatives. Further, methodological limitations in the entrepreneurship literature make it difficult to determine the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education more generally. This three-wave, quasi-experimental study provides the first quantitative examination of the outcomes of entrepreneurship education programs for persons with disabilities, indicating that the programs are effective in helping participants to create their own businesses. Contributions are also made to entrepreneurship pedagogy via the first quantitative assessment of the place-train model applied to entrepreneurship development, showing that this approach when combined with financial incentives yields significantly better results than the train-place approach without financial incentives. The study contributes to theory building in entrepreneurship by investigating theory of planned behaviour relationships that have not been adequately assessed, showing significant relationships between intentions and nascent gestation behaviours. The relationship between nascent gestation behaviours and actual business creation is also shown, thus helping to demonstrate the value of utilizing the theory of planned behaviour in examining education interventions designed to promote business creation. Also, the study assesses whether those persons with disabilities who are successful at creating their own businesses have an associated increase in self-esteem, and thus the potential to reap both economic and social psychological rewards, with results indicating it is the activity of trying to start a business, rather than actual business creation, that best predicts increases in self-esteem.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)