<p><p>Gradually, Swedish SMEs are expanding into emerging markets in order to seize superior opportunities of growth. Within these internationalization efforts, identifying and selecting the most promising foreign target markets is regarded to be a critical success factor. The external business environment, the attractiveness of the targeted market segment in terms of the competitive situation, and the match between the customers’ needs and a company’s resources and capabilities are major factors which determine the prospects of success of establishing business in an emerging market. By applying an abductive research approach, the authors conducted a holistic single-case study of a typical case for Swedish SMEs internationalizing into emerging markets. Through that, the authors were able to answer the research questions of the paper. A theoretical framework was synthesized, combining latest research on emerging country markets with classical models. The framework guided the authors through the entire research process. Several propelling, as well as hampering factors for the case company’s prospects of success in the targeted market segment were identified. Based on the analysis of the empirical findings, the authors found that there are clear opportunities for the case company to increase its business. This conclusion is due to a weak threat of competitors in a broader context, which were regarded to not being able to satisfy the customers’ needs of key importance sufficiently. Competitors in a narrower context were regarded to not have a significant competitive advantage compared with the case company.</p></p>

<p>The thesis includes six self-contained papers that from various perspectives examine place attractiveness and migration in Sweden. </p><p>Paper I provides an extensive overview of Swedish municipalities’ place marketing engagement to attract in-migrants, based on survey responses from 220 municipalities. The results suggest that, although this kind of marketing has become more prominent during the last few years, there is little evidence of any significant effects on migration flows. </p><p>Paper II addresses place marketing campaigns directed towards the Stockholm region carried out by rural municipalities. The results show no general evidence of success, but in a few cases a positive impact of these campaigns cannot be ruled out conclusively.</p><p>Paper III explores the effect of tourism on interregional net-migration in Sweden. The results indicate that tourism exerts a positive influence on migration, and it is shown how its effects vary depending on age group. </p><p>Paper IV scrutinizes recent survey research on migration motives in the Nordic countries. This paper employs a different questionnaire design and surveys a somewhat different migrant population. The findings do not support recent research and the importance of employment-related motives is emphasised. </p><p>Paper V focuses on residential preferences and explores what place attributes people would consider important if they were to migrate. Special attention is given to demographic, socio-economic and geographical determinants. The results show how these aspects influence residential preferences, and make some contributions to methodological issues on researching preferences. </p><p>Paper VI aims at a conceptual framework whereby place attractiveness can be better understood. It is suggested that needs, demands and preferences are central factors and the attractiveness of places increases with the successive fulfilment of these factors. But the more factors a migrant seeks to fulfil in his or her destination selection, the fewer the choice possibilities.</p>

The thesis includes six self-contained papers that from various perspectives examine place attractiveness and migration in Sweden. Paper I provides an extensive overview of Swedish municipalities’ place marketing engagement to attract in-migrants, based on survey responses from 220 municipalities. The results suggest that, although this kind of marketing has become more prominent during the last few years, there is little evidence of any significant effects on migration flows. Paper II addresses place marketing campaigns directed towards the Stockholm region carried out by rural municipalities. The results show no general evidence of success, but in a few cases a positive impact of these campaigns cannot be ruled out conclusively. Paper III explores the effect of tourism on interregional net-migration in Sweden. The results indicate that tourism exerts a positive influence on migration, and it is shown how its effects vary depending on age group. Paper IV scrutinizes recent survey research on migration motives in the Nordic countries. This paper employs a different questionnaire design and surveys a somewhat different migrant population. The findings do not support recent research and the importance of employment-related motives is emphasised. Paper V focuses on residential preferences and explores what place attributes people would consider important if they were to migrate. Special attention is given to demographic, socio-economic and geographical determinants. The results show how these aspects influence residential preferences, and make some contributions to methodological issues on researching preferences. Paper VI aims at a conceptual framework whereby place attractiveness can be better understood. It is suggested that needs, demands and preferences are central factors and the attractiveness of places increases with the successive fulfilment of these factors. But the more factors a migrant seeks to fulfil in his or her destination selection, the fewer the choice possibilities.

Uppsatsens syfte är att analysera om det finns en medvetenhet om regional identitet och image inom regionen Satakunta, samt om åsikterna om utformningen av den regionala identiteten och imagen är konkretiserade, eller inte. Utifrån en studie av Jazzmusikfestivalen i Björneborg undersöks detta. I och med det diskuterar författaren huruvida evenemang har en roll i skapandet av en attraktiv och konkurrenskraftig region. Syftet är också att undersöka om det finns samarbeten i regionen för att göra den attraktiv och konkurrenskraftig. För att få svar på syftet har författaren använt sig av primärdata i form av intervjuer med representanter från Björneborgs stad, Björneborg turistbyrå, Landskapsförbundet, Satakunta Tourist och Björneborg Jazzmusikfestival. Två av intervjuerna har genomförts via telefon och fyra intervjuer har genomförts via e-post. Resultaten visar att det i Satakunta finns en medvetenhet om regionens identitet och image, men att det inte finns en gemensam åsikt om vad dessa är. Det finns även olika åsikter om förmågan att skapa regional identitet och image i regionen. Undersökningen visar att Jazzmusikfestivalen bidrar till regional identitet och image i regionen Satakunta, men att den i huvudsak bidrar till detta i staden Björneborg. Festivalen bidrar även till en attraktiv och konkurrenskraftig region, trots att det inte finns en gemensam tanke i regionen om vad som är regionens identitet och image och skapandet av dessa. Resultaten visar även att det finns samarbeten för att göra regionen attraktiv och konkurrenskraftig.

This doctoral thesis consists of four papers. Strategic behavior across gender: A comparison of female and male expert chess players analyzes gender differences in risk behavior in chess. We use a panel data set with 1.4 million games. Most notably, the data contains an objective measure of individual playing skill. We find that women are more risk averse and that men choose riskier strategies when playing against female opponents even though this reduces their winning probability. Gender differences in time preference and inconsistency among expert chess players presents findings on gender differences in time preference and inconsistency in chess. Impatience is estimated by measuring preferences for game durations while inconsistency by exploiting the 40th move time control. The results reveal that men are more impatient while women are more time inconsistent. Moreover, the difference in impatience increases with expertise while the difference in inconsistency decreases. Beauty queens and battling knights: Risk taking and attractiveness in chess explores the relationship between attractiveness and risk taking in chess. We examine whether people use riskier strategies when playing with attractive opponents and whether this affects performance. Our results suggest that male, but not female, chess players choose significantly riskier strategies when playing against an attractive female opponent, although this does not improve their performance. Strategic Learning in Repeated Chess Games, examines if chess players in repeated games with the same opponent, learn about the opponent’s type and adapt future strategies accordingly. It also shows how matching background characteristics affect the choice of strategy. The findings show that chess players learn about the opponent’s type. Players with similar background characteristics coordinate better than players of different gender or nationality but this difference decreases as the players update their beliefs. / At the time of doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows:Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.

Gradually, Swedish SMEs are expanding into emerging markets in order to seize superior opportunities of growth. Within these internationalization efforts, identifying and selecting the most promising foreign target markets is regarded to be a critical success factor. The external business environment, the attractiveness of the targeted market segment in terms of the competitive situation, and the match between the customers’ needs and a company’s resources and capabilities are major factors which determine the prospects of success of establishing business in an emerging market. By applying an abductive research approach, the authors conducted a holistic single-case study of a typical case for Swedish SMEs internationalizing into emerging markets. Through that, the authors were able to answer the research questions of the paper. A theoretical framework was synthesized, combining latest research on emerging country markets with classical models. The framework guided the authors through the entire research process. Several propelling, as well as hampering factors for the case company’s prospects of success in the targeted market segment were identified. Based on the analysis of the empirical findings, the authors found that there are clear opportunities for the case company to increase its business. This conclusion is due to a weak threat of competitors in a broader context, which were regarded to not being able to satisfy the customers’ needs of key importance sufficiently. Competitors in a narrower context were regarded to not have a significant competitive advantage compared with the case company.

According to human nature of having a taste for beauty, advertisers heavily rely on physical attractive male and female models as the product spokespersons to enhance consumers¡¦ liking of the ad, and this is so-called ¡§What-is-beautiful-is-good stereotype.¡¨ Previous research focuses on the impact of physical attractiveness of models on consumer perceptions and advertising persuasion. However, service is different from products due to the high intangibility and interaction with consumers. Therefore, this research takes one step forward to examine how a service provider¡¦s physical attractiveness influences advertising persuasion. The present study uses experimental design to investigate the advertising effects of service provider¡¦s physical attractiveness (high vs. moderate), gender congruence between service provider and customer (congruent gender vs. incongruent gender), and type of service (search service vs. experience service). Thus, 2x2x2 factorial design is conducted. The ad effects are measured by attitudes toward the ad and purchase intention toward the ad to observe the responses under eight different and fictitious scenarios. The results indicate that, a highly attractive service provider is not necessarily more effective than a moderately attractive one. When promoting a service with search attributes, either gender congruence between service provider and consumer or service provider¡¦s physical attractiveness matters in advertising persuasion. When promoting a service with experience attributes, a moderately attractive service provider is more effective than a highly attractive one in the condition of the same gender between provider and consumer. The findings suggest that companies and marketers should take account of not only the match-up of service attributes and physical attractiveness but also the target customer gender to enhance their advertising persuasion.

目前，台灣整型、塑身的潮流已不分性別且日趨普遍化，觀察其原因除了吸引異性之外，美麗對就業、工作職位之升等似乎亦有直接關係。國外研究發現，外表與個人在職場上的表現息息相關，但台灣研究漂亮經濟的相關文獻少之又少，針對個人體型、相貌對其工作職位之影響的實證研究更是付之闕如，促使筆者意欲去驗證，台灣的勞動市場中，外表是否為影響個人事業的重要變數，以彌補現有文獻之不足。然而，由於研究資源不足，本文僅以太子汽車工業股份有限公司之員工為研究對象，以BMI值及相貌作為個人外表的衡量指標，進行外表與個人職位高低是否相關的初探性研究。 本文將男性非銷售人員、女性非銷售人員、及銷售單位人員區分為三種模型，並以最小平方法（OLS）對各解釋變數的影響方向加以估計。實證結果發現，男性非銷售人員之年齡、婚姻、教育、年資對其職位階級都有正向的助益；相貌方面也的確存在“貌醜懲罰”、“貌美獎勵”的傾向，即越英俊的男性非銷售人員，其職位便相對越高。至於國小以下子女數及BMI值過輕對工作職位則有負面影響。 在女性非銷售人員部分，已婚及教育程度越高者，其職位相對越高；國小以下子女數對女性職業地位則有不利之影響。至於年齡及年資都未如男性非銷售人員般與個人職位呈正相關，此估計結果可能代表，太子汽車工業股份有限公司存在「玻璃天花板」現象。最後，體型相貌變數皆與女性非銷售人員之職位高低無關。 在銷售單位方面，不區分性別一同估計的結果得出，婚姻、教育程度對銷售單位員工職位有正向效果；國小以下子女數及BMI值過輕則有負面影響。而BMI值過輕者可能是受消費者歧視所累，間接導致其難以獲致較高的職位。 / This study attempts to investigate the relationship between Body Mass Index, physical attractiveness and an employee’s position in Taiwan for the sake of being the supplement to the existing literatures related to this research field which primarily consider gender differences. The research object comes form the data bank of Prince Motor Corporation. The total number of sample used in this study is 754 and the empirical employed in this study is OLS Model. The findings suggest that age, marital status, education, experience, and physical attractiveness have a positive effect on men’s positions in non-sales department; number of children under age 12 and being underweight, a negative effect. For women in non-sales department, positions are significantly and positively affected by marital status and education, negatively affected by number of children under age 12. Finally, in sales department, the employees who are married and have higher education definitely are in higher position. Number of children under age 12 and being underweight have a negative effect on sales people’s position.

Body depilation, or the reduction or removal of body hair, is a relatively new area of research inquiry. Although women in many industrialized cultures have engaged in depilation for several decades, this behavior has been documented only recently among men. Though originally thought to be widely practiced by women and only a small proportion of men, including athletes or bodybuilders, recent studies suggest that more men engage in body depilation than previously hypothesized. In fact, one recent study estimated the prevalence of men's body depilation at 83.7% which suggests that men are depilating at rates similar to women. Nevertheless sparse literature exists on the topic of depilation and its relationship to the overall body image of women and men, factors that predict depilation, and how the appearance of body hair may be related to body satisfaction, body image disturbance, and symptoms consistent with the clinical disorder known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). Clinical issues thought to be associated with body depilation include physical injuries that put men and women at risk for infection as well as psychological risks including BDD. The goals of this research project were to: (a) further explore the depilation practices of both genders, (b) develop and evaluate three scales directly related to body depilation research, (c) identify predictors of depilation among both genders; (d) examine the correlates of depilation, (e) apply and further test theoretical models to explain depilation among both genders, and (e) examine demographic differences in body image disturbance and BDD while controlling for natural body hair growth. In support of the hypotheses, results indicated that men have greater levels of body hair growth at 12 discretely measured body sites compared to women, and that overall, body depilation prevalence is high (90.8%) among the individuals sampled. Depilation prevalence for women was 98.5% while 80.9% for men. Men were more likely to report depilation in the past, having ceased the behavior to allow natural hair growth to resume. Men were also significantly more likely to engage in hair reduction behaviors, e.g., trimming, rather than removing hair all together compared to women. Women reported a significantly greater frequency of injuries as a result of depilation, while men reported greater dissatisfaction with higher levels of chest or back hair growth. Instruments were developed and evaluated to measure depilation appearance comparison, depilation social norms, and body hair growth. In terms of predictors of depilation, appearance comparison was a predictor for both genders, while the drive for muscularity was a unique predictor for men. Theoretical paradigms associated with depilation included Social Comparison Theory, and in part, a belief that depilation is socially normative. Results also provided partial support for hypotheses related to gender, racial/ethnic, and sexual orientation differences in body image disturbance and BDD symptomatology. Overall, the results of this study provide support for the notion that body depilation is a key appearance and body image concern for both genders, though more so for men, but also suggest that more research is needed in order to better understand the role of the appearance of hair on the human body.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between eco-friendliness as part of University Social Responsibility (USR) and the impact it has on students and their attraction towards a university. Previous research have so far not investigated on such a connection due to a general focus on the private sector, companies and therefore Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). However, the literature is full of workable information, theories and conclusions through the acceptance of a specific model considering students as customers. It makes the assumptions being made within the private sector applicable to the public sector of the higher education. The latter is a driving force for any country’s economy by training and shaping a large number of future professionals and citizens. Yet, so far, barely any association has been made with another growing consideration of our developed economies: eco-friendliness and the protection of the environment. The present quantitative study seeks to find the existence of a positive impact of the implementation of eco-friendly measures by Linköping University on Swedish students, notably in terms of attractiveness. Our findings demonstrate that most of LiU Swedish students are attracted towards an eco-friendly university, around 44% of them consider eco-friendliness as a university choice factor and the performance of Linköping University (LiU) in this domain is largely appreciated. Therefore, LiU benefits from a positive public image through its eco-friendly profile. It thus enables and favors attractiveness among Swedish students, even if the latter is seen as improvable, notably through its advertisement since it is thought to be a possible competitive advantage.