Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 280-286).

According to Kotler and Armstrong (2004: 259), “a product‟s position is the way the product is defined by consumers on important attributes”. Knowledge of these attributes, and more specifically, which attributes “attract customers to stores is more important than ever” (Paulins and Geistfeld 2003: 371). Furthermore, it is important to note that the attributes which constitute consumers‟ perceptions of value may be of different importance to different groups of consumers (Ziethaml 1988: 14 cited in Sweeney and Soutar 2001: 204), hence justifying the need to study Generation Y independently. According to Sweeney (2006: 6), it is important to study this specific age cohort as “Millennials are very different from previous generations at the same age” and many of their key behaviours and preferences “are likely to remain part of their lifelong culture” and adult buying behaviour. Consequently, it is vital to satisfy and capture this market now in order to secure a committed clientele for the future. Yarrow and O‟Donnell (2009: 2) also describe Generation Y as “potentially one of the most powerful and influential generations ever” (Yarrow and O‟Donnell 2009: 2), as well as being known for its unprecedented purchasing power “of which two-thirds goes on clothing” (Ebenkamp 1999: 4). The research objectives for this study were: 1. To identify the most patronised stores according to a sample of male and female Generation Y consumers. 2. To determine the relative importance of the attributes that Generation Y consumers apply when choosing between clothing retailers. 3. To determine the relative importance of the attributes that Generation Y consumers apply when purchasing various garments and pieces of clothing. 4. To identify the determinant attributes that influence clothing store selection among Generation Y consumers. 5. To determine whether a significant difference exists between the attributes of the male and female Generation Y respondents with regard to clothing store selection. The study involved a two-stage triangulated research design, with a qualitative focus group stage preceding a quantitative survey stage. The data obtained from the focus groups was analysed and subsequently used to formulate and refine the survey to be used in stage two of the triangulation. Purposive quota sampling was utilised during stage two of the research, which resulted in 380 sufficiently completed questionnaires, the findings from which enabled the researcher to achieve the research objectives. The key findings of the study revealed that Mr Price, Edgars, Woolworths and Identity were the most frequently patronised by the UKZNP student respondents. The attributes found to be of the most importance with regard to influencing clothing store selection were: High Quality Merchandise, Value for Money, Uniqueness of Merchandise, Fashionable Merchandise, Store Cleanliness, Wide Selection of Merchandise and Low Prices. The clothing attributes which were identified as the most important to the sample of Generation Y respondents when choosing clothing to purchase, were: Good Fit, Comfort and Quality. The results of the Discriminant Analysis, combined with the mean importance ratings of the clothing store attributes, revealed three determinant attributes influencing clothing store selection among the Generation Y respondents, namely: Low Prices, Fashionable Merchandise and Uniqueness of Merchandise. Finally, an Independent Samples T-Test, as well as a Mann-Whitney U-Test, were run to determine whether a significant difference exists between the attributes of the male and female Generation Y respondents with regard to clothing store selection. The results revealed that female Generation Y respondents in this study place greater importance on the attributes of Convenient Location, Low Prices and Appealing Advertising, when choosing between clothing retailers, while the male Generation Y respondents perceived High Quality Merchandise as being more important and influential. Lastly, numerous recommendations were made regarding how to target and satisfy the Generation Y consumer market, with particular reference to each of the clothing retailers. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

The main objective of this study was aimed at determining whether young urban consumers' choice of interior soft furnishings is based on extrinsic characteristics with the intention of gaining social acceptance and conveying positive attributes to others. It is argued that, when consumers buy products, they in fact purchase the total product that includes everything that adds value to a seller's offering. As such, consumers may use extrinsic and\or intrinsic variables to conclude the most suitable purchase decision in terms of the outlet and brand of product. Intrinsics refer to the tangible, core characteristics of the product, such as the raw materials it consists of and are usually easy to imitate. Extrinsics on the other hand, are used and even manipulated to make products more appealing to a specific target group in a crowded market place and include differentiating features such as packaging. Since the research was focused on describing and understanding, qualitative methods were used for data collection. Focus group discussions, projective techniques and product comparison tests were included for the purpose of triangulation. Participants were allowed to respond spontaneously to various tasks and intrinsic features were accommodated to objectively reflect on the collective influence of both intrinsic as well as extrinsic variables and whether extrinsic characteristics dominate choice or not. Intrinsic characteristics were found to seldom form the basis of differentiation and extrinsic characteristics seem to playa determining role in young urban consumers' choice and use of soft furnishings such as towels and sheets. The evidence suggests that several retailers have succeeded in not only value engineering their product offerings to satisfy buyers' and users' minimum requirements for expected extrinsic attributes, but that they have also succeeded in augmenting their offerings through the addition of further extrinsic benefits. The findings strongly suggest the use of potential extrinsic attributes such as brand names, especially retail brands, to differentiate products. The evidence however also suggests that the outcome of past purchase decisions can alter perspectives of these attributes and that the acquisition of consumption related knowledge is a lifelong learning process. A conclusion drawn from the data collected, is that retailers have succeeded in creating store images that reflect the relationship between consumers and reference groups to which they (want to) belong. These findings underpin the importance of social acceptance and the relevance of the social dimension of brands. The relevance of the mental dimension of brands is supported by evidence that suggests that a relationship between the young urban consumer's self-image and the image of a specific outlet of soft furnishings is likely to occur. The findings coincide with the symbolic interactionist perspective that human society demands and depends on symbolic life. It appears as if interior products are purchased from certain outlets to serve as symbols to define/ represent realities, initiate responses, provide cues and organize behaviour in terms of what is considered appropriate. The study shed some light on young urban consumer's approach to the choice of interior soft furnishings, which could be extended to other product categories and consumer groups for use by the marketing sector in terms of consumer facilitation as well as the evaluation and development of marketing strategies. / Dissertation (MSc (Interior Merchandise Management))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Consumer Science / unrestricted

Millennials are the largest generation in history and are frequently the targets of major marketing campaigns. However, no current research exists that focuses on Millennials' brand related communication habits. Focus groups with 50 college students were used to study the brand related communication habits of Millennials. Focus group data indicate that face-to-face communication is preferred by Millennials when communicating about brands and products; however, participants noted an increased use of digital communication (text messages, instant messages, social networks) when communicating a negative brand experience. Price, family tradition, and product type were found to have the biggest influence over what types of messages were communicated and with whom they were communicated.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Western Australia, 2007.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Brand loyalty is a common theme throughout consumer and market research, yet it has not been a major topic among anthropologists. The research presented here is an anthropological exploration of the social and cultural influences on how a unique demographic - millennial males - view their own loyalty to brands. Through the use of qualitative interviews and online surveys, participants provided insight in to how they viewed their favorite brands and how those brands fit in to their lives. After analysis was done on these interviews a number of themes and degrees of attachment were identified and discussed.

[Truncated abstract] Against a contextual backdrop of slowing growth in developed mobile service markets, the importance of youth as a growth segment, and youth's tendencies to consume mobile services hedonically, two research streams drove this dissertation. The first stream concerned extending the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to predict youth's behavioural intentions to stay loyal to mobile service providers. Drawing on selfcategorisation theory, a conceptual model extended TPB by replacing subjective norm with group norm, a social influence from behaviourally relevant peers. With the extended TPB as the theoretical framework, the second stream investigated determinants of mobile loyalty intentions. Common to both streams, a key contribution of this dissertation was how hedonic consumption moderated the relationships among mobile loyalty intentions and their determinants. The dissertation addressed five questions in the two research streams, which to the author's knowledge no published studies have explored. Using a triangulation approach to address the research questions, a qualitative survey and literature review yielded six determinants of mobile loyalty intentions. Next, a pretest led to an improved questionnaire before a large-scale survey gathered data for empirical testing. The survey took place with Singaporean youth and yielded a cleaned sample of n = 415. ... For both low and high hedonic consumptions, customer value was insignificant. This might be due to Singapore's competitive mobile service market; youth perceived little differences in value for money among competing mobile service providers. Testing alternative models offered further insights into youth's mobile loyalty intentions. Youth's mobile loyalty behaviour, operationalised as past switching, was not stochastic, suggesting that mobile loyalty intentions contained underlying determinants. Brand trust, salient in other contexts, did not apply to mobile loyalty intentions perhaps because youth perceived little risk in switching mobile service providers in developed markets. An attitude-group norm interaction also did not relate to mobile loyalty intentions, supporting TPB's construct independence and parsimony. Finally, attitude and customer satisfaction were operationally similar in that they related to mobile loyalty intentions similarly. The dissertation concluded by offering academic and managerial implications and contributions, limitations, and future research areas.

M. Tech. (Department of Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / It is evident that social media has become a fundamental instrument in society and has revolutionised the way society interacts and conducts business. More than 75 percent of the South African Generation Y population are active users of various social media platforms and the collective topics that are discussed include the status quo, entertainment, sports and other various issues that affect society as an integrated whole. However, many challenges are associated with social media concerning the affordability and accessibility of the internet. Consequently, it makes it a challenge for organisations to utilise social media as a reliable marketing instrument. Therefore, the study seeks to examine the effect of social media marketing dimensions on consumer attitudes and adoption among Generation Y consumers. The sample consisted of 285 self-reporting social media active users located in the Southern Gauteng region of South Africa. The study adhered to a quantitative approach and a snowball sampling method, whereby data were collected using a paper and pencil based self-administered questionnaire in 2019. A positivist research philosophy was followed whereby hypotheses where formulated for the study. In addition, formal procedure regarding research ethics were observed during empirical data collection and the questionnaire was also tested for reliability as well as validity. A pilot study preceded the main data collection survey processes. The collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and regression models. The results of the study indicated significant positive relationships for the three dimensions of social media marketing, namely in-formativeness (β= +0.302; t= 6.030; p<0.01), source credibility (β= +0.171; t= 2.767; p<0.01), perceived enjoyment (β=+0.169; t=2.956; p<0.00) and Generation Y consumer’s attitude. The fourth dimension being social identity, did not yield a statistically significant relationship in the regression model (β= 0.017; t= 0.256; p=0.01). Furthermore, significant positive relationships were also observed between consumer attitudes and the adoption of social media marketing (β= + 0.276; t-value= 4.841; p<0.01) among Generation Y consumers. As such, insight acquired from this study will assist both marketing academics as well as practitioners in comprehending Generation Y consumers’ perceptions on adoption and attitudes in relation to the adoption of social media as a marketing instrument. Based on the results, recommendations assert that, among others, marketing practitioners should effectively adopt social media as a marketing platform to communicate their marketing efforts and initiatives. Furthermore, marketers should integrate their marketing initiatives and strategies with the 4th industrial revolution. In addition, limitations, future research avenues are identified, and contributions of this study are discussed.

This study provides a consumer profile of first year Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Marketing students. To determine influences on students' tertiary education choices, a literature study was undertaken on consumer behaviour, influencing factors and consumer decision-making. An empirical study established consumer behaviour variables impacting on tertiary students, and revealed students' future perspective. A structured questionnaire was distributed. The main findings are: preferred media are E-TV, Metro FM, Drum magazine and The Sunday Times; Internet access is low; most prefer TUT for tertiary education; parents and academic standards predominantly impact tertiary institution choice; the majority will continue their studies and apply for a marketing job in South Africa; their future perspective is predominantly optimistic. In conclusion, the students are impacted by reference groups and institutional marketing efforts. Primary concerns include: successful communication with this group; the effectiveness of the Open Day; and the lack of using reference groups in marketing. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)