Background: In the field of marketing, relationship marketing plays an important role in establishing strong and long-term customer relationships, and in addition to this, the type of relationship between companies and consumers is also worth discussing. In a sense, value is the biggest component of relationship marketing. Consumers think that the value created by relationship marketing is more important than the product or service itself, and also value is the biggest component of relationship marketing, therefore, customers will perceive the value of a relationship because of their satisfaction, trust, loyalty, experience.  Purpose: The purpose of this project is to explore what leads consumers to stay loyal.  Methodology: The methods of qualitative research and the deductive approach have been used in this paper. In order to collect data, focus groups and semi-structured interviews give the opportunity to the researcher to get a realistic perception. When conducting the focus group, 8 participants have been selected which are between 22-40 years old, 4 males and 4 females.  Findings: The findings of this research showed that in order for a consumer to stay loyal to a company, factors such as quality, service, discounts, positive experience and engagement have a specific matter. Furthermore, when these factors are met, this makes the consumer want to maintain a relationship with the company, which in other words means staying loyal.

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A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Strategic Marketing, Johannesburg 2019 / Consumer brand identification is a concept that helps us to understand the reasons behind brands helping consumers to express their identities and find the true meaning of themselves through brands. Brands are used by consumers to construct their self-image and to fulfil self-verification needs. This study sought to test the six drivers of Consumer Brand Identification, (CBI) as identified by Stokburger-Sauer, Ratneshwar and Sen (2012) and their impact on brand loyalty. The six drivers/antecedent are; brand-self similarity, brand distinctiveness, brand prestige, brand social benefits, brand warmth and memorable brand experiences. These drivers were tested on the five South African commercial banks, namely, Standard bank, First National Bank (FNB), Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA), Capitec and Nedbank. A quantitative cross-sectional research design was used. A non-probability sampling method was employed with 244 respondents dispersed throughout South Africa who completed a self-administered questionnaire. The results confirmed the influence of four of the six drivers, being brand distinctiveness, brand prestige, brand social benefits and memorable brand experiences. Further to that, it was found that brand distinctiveness has a stronger causal relationship with CBI when consumers have lower involvement in the brand’s product category. Brand social benefits had a stronger relationship with CBI when consumers have a higher involvement in the brand’s product category. CBI was found to have a positive consequence on brand loyalty which further lead to brand advocacy. The findings also revealed that FNB was the most popular bank, with ABSA being the least popular bank. From the findings, it was recommended that banks should focus on driving an emotional connection with the brand and the consumer which can be through socially lead events that make them feel like they belong and taking consumers through memorable brand experiences. Through this, brand distinctiveness can be further enhanced. / XL2019

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in the field of Strategic Marketing Johannesburg, 2017 / Purpose: This study investigates the effectiveness of brand experience as a differentiator in the South African short-term insurance industry. Design/Methodology/Data Collection: This paper reviewed available literature in the fields of brand experience, brand differentiation, brand distinctiveness as well as the South African short-term insurance industry. A quantitative approach was used in order to prove the effectiveness of brand experience as a differentiator. The data was collected through a snowball sample using the Qualtrics online platform with a total of 101 responses received. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the relationship between the variables identified in the study. Key findings:  Brand distinctiveness and brand personality have a positive effect on brand experience.  A decrease in brand differentiation however has a high likelihood of resulting in an increase in brand experience. The same applies the other way round.  A combination of brand personality, education, employment status and consequences of brand experience affect brand distinctiveness positively. Implications: A highly competitive market as well as changing customer demands have resulted in marketers being challenged to develop strategies that will enable brands to connect both rationally and emotionally with their customers. Brand experience is crucial in achieving this. Research Limitations: The study only focussed on short-term insurance policy holders based in Johannesburg and excluded the rest of the country. Further research could consider looking at the rest of the country / MT2017

With the constant development of marketing strategies, it has become more vital to continuously communicate online with consumers. As Generation Z is born with digital devices and increased social media channels, customers demand fashion brands being present online. The empirical findings in this study were obtained using a qualitative research method through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with five fast-fashion brands in Sweden that target Generation Z. The authors have used a deductive approach in this thesis. The conclusion of this thesis shows several factors that fashion brands use to create brand loyalty with Generation Z. Findings indicated that social media should be a communication channel. Furthermore, this research is from a retailer’s perspective. Finally, loyalty is something that is earned by creating relationships.

Background: The leisure and recreational sports market, a multibillion-dollar industry, isexperiencing a transformative shift. With increased competition and changing consumerdemographics, businesses and facilities are seeking innovative strategies to ensure customerretention and maintain profitability. Golf, as a key player in this sector, has seen a resurgencein popularity due to its adaptability during social distancing measures. Amid this growth, theindustry faces challenges to engage and retain a new demographic of golfers. To address this,experiential marketing, emphasizing immersive and interactive customer experiences, hasbecome increasingly critical. This approach focuses on creating memorable experiences ratherthan simply providing product or service information. Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of experiential marketing oncustomer engagement and loyalty within the golf industry, specifically analyzing howdifferent golf course dimensions affect consumers' emotional responses and willingness toreturn. This research will provide valuable insights for the development of effectiveexperiential marketing strategies in participation sports. Method: Ontology - Constructivism; Epistemology - Interpretivism; Methodology - Multiplecase study; Data collection - 10 semi-structured interviews; Sampling - Criterion sampling,which followed the criteria: (1) recent experience, participants must have played at both golfcourses during the 2023 season, ensuring that their experiences and feedback are current andrelevant to the present-day amenities offered by the clubs, while also minimizing theinfluence of any seasonal effects. (2) geographic location, participants must reside within theJönköping region, as this helps ensure that their experiences are not biased due to traveling toa new region or country, which could potentially lead to biased conclusions. (3) time played,the golfers must have completed at least 18 holes of golf as to ensure that they get the fullexperience at both of the selected golf courses.; Data Analysis – Content Analysis (creation ofa tree-diagram based on quotes, sub-categories, generic categories and main categories) Conclusion: This research offers insights into how experiential marketing dimensions likeamenities, atmosphere, and customer service influence golfer satisfaction and returnintentions. Key findings indicate that these elements elicit strong emotional responses, drivinggolfer loyalty. A holistic approach that addresses both tangible and intangible elementsenhance overall satisfaction. This study underlines the need for continued research into thesefactors to support the development of effective strategies for the golf industry.

Background: Remote work has in recent years been adapted by many organizations and are described to challenge the traditional managerial role. Simultaneously, generation Z are taking an increasingly large part of the labor market and bring new behaviors to organizations and managers. The combination of a remote working environment with a new generation workforce implies for a changing management situation, something a manager needs to consider. However, there is insufficient research that puts these aspects in relation to each other and recognize this changing management situation. Moreover, this thesis has a focus on motivation and loyalty due to the recognition of potential challenges for a manager within these areas.  Purpose: The practical situation generated by generation Z and remote work is not sufficiently dealt with in literature. It has failed to provide knowledge concerning how managers in a remote working environment manage their generation Z employees. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to increase the understanding of the changing management situation that is created by generation Z that works remotely.  Method: A qualitative research design has been applied to fulfill the purpose of this thesis and has been guided by an abductive approach. 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted and a thematic analysis has been utilized to interpret and analyze the empirical material. Conclusion: This thesis found four main challenges that can arise in this changing management situation which are interaction with the employees, creating and maintaining relationships, stimulating individualism and personal development, but also to convey the feeling of being significant and balancing freedom with oversight. It also presents practices managers can use to face these challenges which are to find suitable ways to interact, prioritize social activities and strengthen connection to the company brand, nurture personal growth, providing recognition and autonomy. Additionally, the changing management situation is complex where several different parts are intertwined and affect each other. It was also found that as a manager, leadership qualities with a transformational leadership style is to be preferred when approaching this changing management situation.

Aim: The study aims to explore the process of service recovery, its transformation into a marketing tool and identifying the outcomes of the tool to the organizations. Methodology: The research employed a qualitative methodology with an inductive approach. Data collection was carried out via semi-structured interviews with participants from four organizations in Stockholm City. The analysis involved the use of questions based on the main concepts derived from the literature and manual coding scheme to identify new themes. Findings & Conclusion: Service recovery is a powerful marketing tool that can benefit organizations in various ways. By implementing effective strategies such as employee training, transparency, multiple service recovery options, and process improvement, organizations can turn service failures into opportunities. The outcomes of using service recovery as a marketing tool include customer retention and repeat purchases, positive word-of-mouth marketing, confidence and trust, building customer relationships, competitive advantage, and business growth and sustainability. The findings of the study highlight the critical importance of service recovery in marketing for customer retention and acquisition. Limitations and recommendations for further research: While this study provides valuable insights into how organizations can use service recovery as a marketing tool, further research is needed to understand its impact from a customer’s perspective and to broaden the scope of industries and geographic locations studied. Further research is also suggested to compare the performance of organizations that prioritize service recovery in marketing with those that don’t and to conduct a comparative analysis with other marketing tools. Also, exploring additional theories and concepts could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the topic.

The digitalization of society is a major trend that is currently transforming the businesslandscape (Parviainen et al., 2017, p. 63). Within this digital era, the AI chatbot hasemerged (Hsu & Lin, 2023, p. 2), enabling companies to provide high-quality customerservice 24/7. AI chatbots offer a range of benefits and possibilities that can be utilized invarious industries. There is evidence that AI chatbots have the potential to create loyalcustomers, making it a valuable tool for businesses. Therefore, this thesis investigateswhat AI chatbot attributes can relate to the two dimensions of customer loyalty amongGen Z.The purpose of this research is to help organizations to build relationships with customersand provide insight into which attributes of an AI chatbot can be used by companies tocreate value for customers. This to further facilitate their work of building customerloyalty. In this study, we utilize a framework to quantitatively measure AI chatbotsthrough various attributes, including Availability, Ease of Use, Accuracy of Response,Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy. Then the relationship of the attributes washypothesized together with the two dimensions of customer loyalty, attitudinal andbehavior loyalty. The questionnaires was distributed to Gen Z through snowball and self-selection sampling techniques. Through the online survey, 73 responses were collected totest the hypothesis. It was found that empathy has a significant relationship with bothdimensions of customer loyalty, and assurance has a significant relationship withattitudinal loyalty.We are convinced that this strengthens and reinforces the ongoing research on customerloyalty. Moreover, the study expands the quantitative work on AI chatbots by introducingand utilizing a framework to examine the attributes of AI chatbots in a general context.Furthermore, the thesis provides knowledge to companies that are currently working onor developing AI chatbots, of which attributes that should be prioritized to enhancecustomer loyalty. Our findings suggest that these attributes are assurance and empathy.

The food industry faces many challenges in its sustainability work, and consumers demand that companies in the food industry should increase their transparency. For the food industry to be more transparent, it must improve its traceability throughout the supply chain. Previous research let us know that traceability is not a new thing, but the way that new technologies such as blockchain revolutionize the way data can be communicated. Many companies have just started to use this to trace the supplies along their supply chain and are not using the data collected in the most efficient way. Therefore, this thesis presents data from two illustrative case studies to show the opportunities and challenges of using blockchain traceability technology. The opportunities show the benefits of being the first mover in the market to create new boosts for the products together with increasing consumer loyalty through more transparency. This paper also concludes that it's expensive to implement new technology in the supply chain and challenging to encourage consumers to make a local, organic, or sustainable choice despite the higher cost of the products.