O Brasil tem posição de destaque na produção agrícola mundial. A adoção de tecnologias que permitam preservar os recursos naturais e produzir alimento em quantidade e com qualidade é importante para o desenvolvimento do agronegócio. Dentre as tecnologias, destaca-se a Agricultura de Precisão – AP. O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a adoção da AP e os fatores relacionados a tal decisão dos produtores rurais no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Com este propósito, foram coletados dados através do envio de questionário para produtores rurais usuários da AP. A análise descritiva dos dados permitiu caracterizar os adotantes e a adoção das ferramentas de AP entre os produtores rurais, enquanto a análise fatorial seguida de regressão linear múltipla foram empregadas para verificar a percepção dos adotantes quanto aos atributos tecnológicos da AP. Os resultados mostram o crescimento da adoção da AP e que o tempo médio de adoção é de 4,3 anos. Os adotantes de AP possuem grau de escolaridade elevado, utilizam diversas fontes de informação, têm a renda predominantemente agrícola e cultivam grandes áreas de terra. As ferramentas de AP mais adotadas no cultivo de grãos (soja, milho e trigo) são a amostra de solo georreferenciada (ASG), a aplicação em taxa variada de corretivos e fertilizantes (ATV) e o sistema de direcionamento de barra de luz (BLZ). Constatou-se que a adoção da AP é altamente dependente da terceirização de serviços de AP. O número de ferramentas de AP adotadas está positivamente associado ao tamanho da área cultivada, anos de experiência com AP, renda agrícola e investimento em AP. Os atributos tecnológicos da AP – vantagem relativa, visibilidade, compatibilidade e experimentação – determinam 48% da satisfação do adotante de AP, sendo o fator de maior potencial explicativo a vantagem relativa da tecnologia. Evidenciado o crescimento recente da adoção da AP entre os produtores rurais no Brasil, emergem oportunidades de pesquisas que venham a contribuir com a indústria e instituições de fomento na difusão da AP. / Brazil plays an important role in world agricultural production. The adoption of technologies which allow the increase of food production with improving quality in addition to natural resources conservation is important for agribusiness development, and Precision Agriculture – PA stands out as an option to aid the achievement of these goals. The aim of this work was to investigate the Adoption of PA, as well as the factors related to its adoption by farmers in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. With this purpose, an online survey was sent to PA adopters. Descriptive analysis allowed the characterization of the PA adopters and the identification of the most adopted PA tools, while factor analysis followed by multiple linear regression were used in order to verify users’ perception regarding PA technology attributes. The results show a PA adoption growth and an average time of adoption of 4.3 years. PA adopters have a high level of formal education, use several sources of information, have a predominantly agricultural income and cultivate large areas. The most adopted PA tools used for growing soybeans, maize and wheat are grid soil sampling, variable rate application and lightbar guidance. It was noted that PA adoption is highly dependent on PA services. The number of PA tools adopted is positive associated with the size of cultivated areas, years of PA use, agricultural income and investments in PA. PA technology attributes – relative advantage, observability, compatibility and trialability – determine 48% of the PA adopters’ satisfaction, being relative advantage of technology the factor of greatest explicative potential. The recent growth of PA adoption by Brazilian farmers shows emerging opportunities for research development which may contribute with industry and government institutions on PF diffusion.

O Brasil tem posição de destaque na produção agrícola mundial. A adoção de tecnologias que permitam preservar os recursos naturais e produzir alimento em quantidade e com qualidade é importante para o desenvolvimento do agronegócio. Dentre as tecnologias, destaca-se a Agricultura de Precisão – AP. O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a adoção da AP e os fatores relacionados a tal decisão dos produtores rurais no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Com este propósito, foram coletados dados através do envio de questionário para produtores rurais usuários da AP. A análise descritiva dos dados permitiu caracterizar os adotantes e a adoção das ferramentas de AP entre os produtores rurais, enquanto a análise fatorial seguida de regressão linear múltipla foram empregadas para verificar a percepção dos adotantes quanto aos atributos tecnológicos da AP. Os resultados mostram o crescimento da adoção da AP e que o tempo médio de adoção é de 4,3 anos. Os adotantes de AP possuem grau de escolaridade elevado, utilizam diversas fontes de informação, têm a renda predominantemente agrícola e cultivam grandes áreas de terra. As ferramentas de AP mais adotadas no cultivo de grãos (soja, milho e trigo) são a amostra de solo georreferenciada (ASG), a aplicação em taxa variada de corretivos e fertilizantes (ATV) e o sistema de direcionamento de barra de luz (BLZ). Constatou-se que a adoção da AP é altamente dependente da terceirização de serviços de AP. O número de ferramentas de AP adotadas está positivamente associado ao tamanho da área cultivada, anos de experiência com AP, renda agrícola e investimento em AP. Os atributos tecnológicos da AP – vantagem relativa, visibilidade, compatibilidade e experimentação – determinam 48% da satisfação do adotante de AP, sendo o fator de maior potencial explicativo a vantagem relativa da tecnologia. Evidenciado o crescimento recente da adoção da AP entre os produtores rurais no Brasil, emergem oportunidades de pesquisas que venham a contribuir com a indústria e instituições de fomento na difusão da AP. / Brazil plays an important role in world agricultural production. The adoption of technologies which allow the increase of food production with improving quality in addition to natural resources conservation is important for agribusiness development, and Precision Agriculture – PA stands out as an option to aid the achievement of these goals. The aim of this work was to investigate the Adoption of PA, as well as the factors related to its adoption by farmers in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. With this purpose, an online survey was sent to PA adopters. Descriptive analysis allowed the characterization of the PA adopters and the identification of the most adopted PA tools, while factor analysis followed by multiple linear regression were used in order to verify users’ perception regarding PA technology attributes. The results show a PA adoption growth and an average time of adoption of 4.3 years. PA adopters have a high level of formal education, use several sources of information, have a predominantly agricultural income and cultivate large areas. The most adopted PA tools used for growing soybeans, maize and wheat are grid soil sampling, variable rate application and lightbar guidance. It was noted that PA adoption is highly dependent on PA services. The number of PA tools adopted is positive associated with the size of cultivated areas, years of PA use, agricultural income and investments in PA. PA technology attributes – relative advantage, observability, compatibility and trialability – determine 48% of the PA adopters’ satisfaction, being relative advantage of technology the factor of greatest explicative potential. The recent growth of PA adoption by Brazilian farmers shows emerging opportunities for research development which may contribute with industry and government institutions on PF diffusion.

Establishing a strong fan base within the inaugural year of a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Program presents many challenges. Tracking consumers and their behavior becomes imperative as sport marketers seek to better understand the first fan adopters of a new program. With new NCAA football programs being established every year, sport marketers of a new program are challenged to not only find a loyal fan-base who will continue to support the program despite win or lose, but find new and innovative ways to grow their fan base. The purpose of this study was to examine attendance demographics and consumer behavior for the inaugural football season at a NCAA Division 1 program. Data were collected (n = 914) from a relatively equal distribution of fan groups (students- 34.8%, alumni- 32.9%, and other- 32.3%) via an in-person survey completed on a tablet interface. Results demonstrate that the level of fandom (temporary, devoted, or fanatic) impacts certain consumer behaviors, including; overall support of the program, media consumption, and game day behaviors.

A l’ère de la troisième révolution internet, celle de l’internet des objets (IoT), beaucoup d’espoir sont tournés vers les technologies numériques pour développer les économies et notamment dynamiser le commerce local. Dans les pays du Maghreb, en Tunisie notamment, ses espoirs sont tournés du côté de la demande. Plus précisément, à l’issu du printemps arabe, et en raison du rôle qu’ont joué les réseaux sociaux (Facebook notamment) pour mobiliser les jeunes à manifester dans les rues de Tunis, le nouveau ministère du commerce fonde ses espoirs dans cette population jeune pour développer le commerce électronique. Partant de ce constat, cette thèse propose d’étudier si les jeunes tunisiens sont les early adopters qui permettront de diffuser le commerce électronique en Tunisie. Pour cela, la problématique de recherche porte sur les facteurs d’adoption du commerce électronique par les jeunes en Tunisie. Pour répondre à cette question de recherche, la thèse propose dans un premier temps de dresser l’état des lieux de la diffusion de l’internet au sein d’un population de jeunes étudiants. Préalablement, elle propose dans la première partie de la thèse un état des lieux de la couverture du territoire en technologies d’accès aux services numériques. Cet état des lieux est discuté à l’appui d’une revue de la littérature sur la fracture numérique. Dans un deuxième temps, elle propose une analyse empirique et exploratoire menée auprès d’un échantillon de 400 étudiants tunisiens environ. Cette étude porte sur les facteurs d’adoption de l’internet et des services marchands (commerce électronique). Structurée en deux parties, le premier volet de l’enquête est exploité à l’aide de statistiques économétriques et le deuxième volet mobilise les méthodes d’analyse d’équations structurelles. Les résultats de la thèse montrent que si l’usage de l’internet est relativement bien diffusé auprès des jeunes tunisiens, la disposition à adopter le commerce électronique doit en revanche être encouragée. Pour cela, un modèle d’adoption est proposé en deuxième partie de la thèse. Il met en évidence quels facteurs favorisent ou inhibent l’adoption du commerce électronique en Tunisie. Les résultats de ce modèle et des travaux menés dans la partie 1 permettent dans la partie conclusive de la thèse de formuler différentes recommandations à l’égard des entreprises engagées dans un projet de mise en ligne de leur activité commerciale d’une part, et d’autre part envers les acteurs publics pour favoriser l’adoption des services internet marchands en Tunisie. / In the era of the third Internet revolution, that of the Internet of Things (IoT), a lot of hope is turned to digital technologies to develop economies and boost local trade. In the Maghreb countries, especially in Tunisia, those hope are turned on the demand side. More specifically, at the end of the Arab Spring, and because of the role played by social networks (Facebook in particular) to mobilize young people to demonstrate in the streets of Tunis, the new Ministry of Commerce hopes in this population young to develop e-commerce. Based on this observation, this thesis proposes to study whether young Tunisians are the early adopters who will disseminate e-commerce in Tunisia. For this, the research problematic focuses on the factors of adoption of e-commerce by young people in Tunisia. To answer this research question, the thesis proposes at first to draw up the inventory of the diffusion of the internet within a population of young students. Before doing so, we propose in the first part of the thesis an inventory of the technologies territory’s coverage of the access to digital services. This inventory is discussed in support of a review of the literature on the digital divide. In a second step, she proposes an empirical and exploratory analysis conducted with a sample of about 400 Tunisian students. This study focuses on the adoption factors of the Internet and market services (e-commerce). Structured in two parts, the first part of the survey is exploited using econometric statistics and the second part uses structural equation analysis methods. The results of the thesis show that while the use of the internet is relatively well distributed to young Tunisians, the willingness to adopt e-commerce should be encouraged. For this, an adoption model is proposed in the second part of the thesis. It highlights what factors encourages or inhibit the adoption of e-commerce in Tunisia. The results of this model and the work carried out in Part 1 allow in the concluding part of the thesis to make various recommendations to companies engaged in a project to put their commercial activity online on one hand, and on the other hand towards the public actors to encourage the adoption of the internet marketing services in Tunisia.

Battery electric vehicle adoption research has been on going for two decades. The majority of data gathered thus far is taken from studies that sample members of the general population and not actual adopters of the vehicles. This paper presents findings from a study involving 340 adopters of battery electric vehicles. The data is used to corroborate some existing assumptions made about early adopters. The contribution of this paper, however, is the distinction between two groups of adopters. These are high-end adopters and low-end adopters. It is found that each group has a different socio-economic profile and there are also some psychographic differences. Further they have different opinions of their vehicles with high-end adopters viewing their vehicles more preferentially. The future purchase intentions of each group are explored and it is found that high-end adopters are more likely to continue with ownership of battery electric vehicles in subsequent purchases. Finally reasons for this are explored by comparing each adopter group’s opinions of their vehicles to their future purchase intentions. From this is it suggested that time to refuel and range for low-end battery electric vehicles should be improved in order to increase chances of drivers continuing with BEV ownership.

Even though the e-book market is increasing, little research has been done on readers who are late adopters of e-books, and their resistance and scepticism to e-book adoption. The Swedish and Japanese e-book market have had similar adoption rates since 2010. However, even though their adoption rates resemble each other, how readers gain access to e-books differ in Sweden and Japan. Swedish readers use the library, and subscription services, while Japanese readers mostly use mobile apps that specializes in certain genres, such as manga or special mobile novels called keitai shousetsu.This study investigates the similarities and differences between late adopters of e-books in Sweden and Japan, with the use of the diffusion of innovation-theory by Everett Rogers (2003). Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted in spring 2017 with five Swedish and five Japanese respondents, all readers who had yet to adopt e-books. The analysis found that the main factors for the respondents’ choice to reject or resist e-book adoption are an emotional bond to the print format, and the reading experience. The factors were related to trust issues, and an uncertainty in how e-books would affect their personal lives as well as their social systems. There were few differences between the Swedish and Japanese respondents. The main difference was that the Swedish respondents would talk about books with people outside of their immediate family to a larger extent than the Japanese respondents.

Då nya innovationer uppkommer följer frågorna om vilka som använder dessa och varför. Denna studie fokuserar på de som hyrt el-scooter, då de bedöms vara en del av the early market. Studien syftar till att undersöka denna grupps demografiska kännetecken och vad som förklara deras konsumentbeslutsfattande. Vidare undersöker studien sambanden mellan konsumenters demografi, motiv för konsumentbeslutsfattande och frekvensen i användning. Det empiriska underlaget har samlats in genom en webbenkät som besvarats av 191 respondenter. Resultatet visar att de som hyrt el-scooter är unga, men inga könsmässiga skillnader kan bevisas. Däremot visar studien att män använder sig av el-scooter mer frekvent än kvinnor. De som hyrt el-scooter har en hög utbildningsnivå och studerar som huvudsaklig sysselsättning. Emotionella motiv förklarar i högst utsträckning varför konsumenter hyrt el-scooter. Studien visar ett samband mellan att hyra el-scooter mer frekvent och i högre utsträckning motivera sitt konsumentbeslutsfattande med passiva motiv. Studien bidrar till kunskaper om vilka som tidigt tar till sig nya innovationer, samt en praktiskt relevans för aktörer som hyr el-scootrar.

Insects have been proposed as a sustainable alternative to livestock to help feed the growing population. Edible insects such as mealworms require less land and resources and can utilize food by-products to grow. While insects are consumed by over 2 billion people worldwide, they are not widely accepted in developed countries like the United States because of their unfamiliarity and the perception of disgust associated with entomophagy. The objectives of this research are to 1) grow mealworms using carrot pomace and determine an optimum diet for growth and nutritional composition, 2) identify and classify early adopters of insects, and propose a product form, and 3) assess the acceptability of frozen, ready-to-cook mealworms with early adopters. A response surface design was used to evaluate the use of carrot pomace in various percentages in the substrate and as the moisture source in a mealworm growing system. Mealworms were grown under controlled conditions in a climate chamber until they began to pupate, and statistical models were fitted to predict mealworm mortality, weight, days to pupation, protein content, fat content, and moisture content. An algorithm in Design Expert was used to optimize mealworm growth based on maximizing mealworm weight and minimizing mortality and days to pupation, and the optimum diet was found to be 36% carrot pomace in the substrate with carrot pomace as the moisture source. Early adopters of insects were identified through a survey using Red Jade Sensory Software. Participants were segmented using partitioning around medoids clustering algorithm based on responses to questions on willingness to consume insects in a variety of forms. Four segments were identified: No-thank-you’s, Hideaways, Daredevils, and Peekaboo’s. Daredevils, Peekaboo’s, and Hideaways are early adopters of insects in the nonvisible form, and Daredevils and Peekaboo’s are also early adopters of insects in the visible form. Based on these insights, frozen, ready-to-cook mealworms were selected to target Daredevils and Peekaboo’s as a product to serve as a sustainable alternative to traditional livestock protein. Participants from each of the four segments were shown a video of mealworm cooking and asked their willingness to buy the product and the motivation behind their response. The majority of respondents were unwilling to buy this product, driven by unfamiliarity and the perception of disgust. However, over half of Daredevils were willing to buy the product, driven by the novelty and ease of preparation. Marketing a product towards this group may be a feasible route for entry into the market and increase the familiarity of edible insects, thereby contributing to long-term acceptability.

The purpose of this thesis is to find and categorize differences in the language used inonline reviews by early adopters. By filling this gap in knowledge, marketers can betterunderstand the nature of an online review, be it derived from professional or amateurearly adopters. These categorizations aim to pinpoint differences between professionalsand amateur reviewers who are considered to be early adopters of technology. Publiclyavailable third-party data was analysed using a descriptive text analysis tool, LIWC(Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count). The results regarding the professionals are highly conclusive seeing the uniformity of thepopulation. They compose long format, highly analytic, unpartisan reviews which canbe perceived as inauthentic due to the formality of the text and lack of personal opinions.With these traits, professional online reviews are subjected to the risk of alienating theiraudience, thus losing their influence over the potential adopters. The amateurs were not as uniform as the professionals. However, there are cleartendencies of shorter formats, personal experience-based writing which comes off as moreauthentic compared to the professionals. Within the population of amateurs, one canclearly distinguish that satisfied amateur reviewers’ write shorter reviews but morefrequently, compared to dissatisfied amateur reviewers who write longer format, but notas frequently. Due to the clear and statistically supported differences between the two populations, theyare easily distinguishable from each other. This also shows in their motives to post onlinereviews. Where professionals are financially incentivised, amateurs find their motivationin intrinsic motivators such as altruistic, egotistic, and other self-fulfilling motivators. These distinct differences enable marketers to allocate their efforts towards eitherprofessionals or amateur reviewers in order to achieve the desired market effect. To reacha customer on an emotional level, they should promote amateur reviews. But in order todisplay unadulterated facts and figures, they should promote professional reviews.

Today there is a global growing discourse regarding sustainability and the need for ecological responsibility. This in combination with the high level of shortage of accommodation on the market in Sweden and Stockholm, which is the geographically limitation of this study. One strategy to handle the shortage of accommodation and the high vacancy levels is property development through conversion where the change of use is in focus. This study is an exploratory study were the aim is to investigate how the existing property portfolio can be used to benefit the aspects of sustainability by conversion and a circular economic business model. There is also a goal to deepen the understanding of the incentives and market strategies in relation to conversion. The chosen method for this research is to use an abductive research method to ascertain the possibility for changes along projects’ life-time. Qualitative data have been collected with semistructured interviews as the main source where the respondents have been projects managers, and other essential actors, on a few selected companies as well as influential actors within the real estate sector. The three dimensions of sustainability, ecological, social and economic, have different influential roles depending on which explaining model that are studied. Also, there could be a ‘fourth dimension’ of sustainability, the cultural dimension, which widens the perspective. Further, the need for an environmental change have led to the birth of another economic model; circular economy. Here the traditional linear economic model is challenged with a model where recycling together with re-usage are in focus. Conversion is a strategy that is more frequently used now then for example 20 years ago, but the concept could have a larger role in today’s society. This could be seen as a circular economic approach for the construction, and/or real estate, industry, in which there have been investigations whether this new economic business model could have a bright future. Although, the actors on today’s market do believe that the traditional linear economic model is a better fit since it provides them with a larger profit in a shorter amount of time. Furthermore, the actors do believe that a circular economic business model is a good approach, but it is unfortunately not economically defendable in a large scale today. Since the market is full of uncertainties there are few actors that are willing to step into the world of conversion. / Diskussionen gällande hållbarhet och ett ekologiskt ansvar är idag ett stort globalt samtalsämne. Detta i kombination med den stora bostadsbristen som råder i Sverige och i Stockholm, för vilken är den geografiska avgränsningen i denna studie. En strategi för att lösa bostadsbristen och höga vakansnivåer är med hjälp av fastighetsutveckling genom konvertering där ändrande av användningsområde står i fokus. Denna studie är utforskande med syftet att undersöka hur det går att använda sig av det befintliga fastighetsbeståndet för att gynna hållbarhetsaspekterna med hjälp av konvertering och en cirkulärekonomisk affärsmodell. Målet är också att få en djupare förståelse för incitamenten och marknadsstrategier i relation till konvertering. Vi har valt att använda en abduktiv undersökningsmetod. Kvalitativ data har samlats genom semistrukturerade intervjuer som huvudkälla där respondenterna har varit projektledare, och andra viktiga aktörer, på diverse utvalda företag såväl som inflytelserika aktörer inom fastighetsbranschen. De tre hålbarhetsdimensionerna, ekologiska, sociala och ekonomiska, har olika inflytelserika roller beroende på vilken förklarande modell som studeras. Det skulle också kunna finnas en fjärde hållbarhetsdimension, den kulturella dimensionen, som breddar perspektivet. Vidare så har behovet för en miljömässig förändring lett till skapandet av en annan ekonomisk modell; cirkulärekonomi. Här utmanas den traditionella linjärekonomiska modellen av en modell där återvinning och återanvändning står i fokus. Konvertering är en strategi som allt mer frekvent används idag än för exempelvis 20 år sedan, men detta koncept skulle kunna ha en ännu större roll i dagens samhälle. Detta skulle kunna ses som ett cirkulärekonomiskt tillvägagångssätt för bygg- och/eller fastighetsbranschen där det funnits undersökningar gällande om denna nya ekonomiska affärsmodell skulle kunna ha en ljus framtid till mötes. Dock tror dagens aktörer på marknaden att den traditionella linjärekonomiska modellen passar dem bättre då den är mer ekonomiskt lönsam på en kortare tid. Vidare tycker dessa aktörer att den cirkulärekonomiska affärsmodellen är ett bra tillvägagångssätt men att den tyvärr inte är ekonomiskt försvarbar i en större utsträckning idag. Eftersom marknaden är full av osäkerhet finns det enbart få aktörer som är villiga att ta klivet in i konverteringsvärlden.