À l’heure de l’internet haut débit, et à l’aube de la réalité virtuelle, les questions sur l’apport et l’efficacité des différents canaux de distribution mis à disposition du consommateur se posent avec encore plus d’acuité. Depuis l’article séminal de Kotler sur les « atmospherics » les chercheurs en marketing et en psychologie se sont attachés à mesurer les influences des différentes composantes de l’ambiance des points de vente, au départ uniquement sous forme de magasins physiques, puis, au fur et à mesure du développement d’internet, de magasins virtuels. L’explosion des performances matérielles et logicielles de ces dix dernières années a permis à ces magasins virtuels de proposer de nouvelles interfaces en offrant aux visiteurs une troisième dimension dans la visualisation de l’offre. La question de l’efficacité de ces nouveaux outils se pose pleinement, d’autant qu’internet est de plus en plus utilisé par les consommateurs dans leur processus d’achat. La problématique de cette thèse est donc de mesurer l’influence potentielle des facteurs d’ambiance d’un magasin virtuel en trois dimensions (3D) en ligne, facteurs que nous appellerons « 3Dspérics », sur le comportement des visiteurs. Nos travaux sont composés de trois revues littératures (marketing, informatique et psychophysiologie), d’une étude empirique et d’une étude expérimentale finale. Dans cette dernière, afin de pouvoir tester nos hypothèses, nous avons élaboré et réalisé un démonstrateur de magasin 3D reproduisant un magasin réel. En utilisant cette simulation nous avons observé les parcours de 44 personnes en leur assignant une tâche de magasinage de différents produits manipulables en 3D. Notre protocole expérimental est basé sur le recueil de données issues de questionnaires auquel nous avons ajouté des mesures de données objectives (parcours) et physiologiques (principalement oculaires) obtenues durant le magasinage de nos testeurs. Les résultats obtenus montrent que les composantes atmosphériques d’un site web marchand en 3D ont une influence directe sur l’immersion du visiteur et, de ce fait, contribuent positivement à la construction des comportements d’achat, d’intention de revisite et de bouche à oreille. / In the era of high-speed Internet, and at the dawn of virtual reality, questions about the contribution and efficiency of the different distribution channels available to the consumer are even more acute. Since Kotler's seminal article on "atmospherics", researchers in marketing and psychology have focused on measuring the influences of the different components of the retail outlet environment, initially only in the form of physical stores, fur and as the development of internet, virtual stores. The explosion of hardware and software performance over the last ten years has allowed these virtual stores to offer new interfaces by offering visitors a third dimension in the visualization of the offer. The question of the effectiveness of these new tools is fully posed, especially since the Internet is increasingly used by consumers in their purchasing process. The problem of this thesis is thus to measure the potential influence of the factors of atmosphere of an online virtual store in three dimensions (3D), factors that we will call "3Dsperics", on the behavior of the visitors. Our work consists of three literature reviews (marketing, computer science and psychophysiology), an empirical study and a final experimental study. In the latter, in order to test our hypotheses, we have developed and realized a 3D store demonstrator reproducing a real store. Using this simulation we observed the routes of 44 people by assigning them a task of shopping of different manipulatable 3D products. Our experimental protocol is based on the collection of data from questionnaires to which we added measures of objective data (pathways) and physiological (mainly ocular) data obtained during the shopping of our testers. The results show that the atmospheric components of a 3D merchant web site have a direct influence on the immersion of the visitor and thus contribute positively to the construction of buying behavior, revisit intention and word of mouth.

The primary objective of this study was to determine the degree of correlation between internal water potential of Engelmann spruce trees and selected environmental factors. The secondary objective of the study was to determine the effect of summer precipitation, both in meadow and forested sites, on the soil drying cycle. Four study plots (each roughly 154 square meters) under spruce cover and two study plots (100 square meters) in a small meadow were established. At each spruce plot, a thermocouple psychrometer was installed at one meter above the ground on the north side of three selected, mature Engelmann spruce trees. Thermocouple psychrometers were installed at 5, 15, and 30 cm depths in the soil at the meadow plots and at 15, 30, 45, and 90 cm depths at the spruce plots. A tensiometer and two soil temperature thermocouples were installed near the thermocouple psychrometers at each of the plots but at 15, 30, 45, and 90 cm soil depths. Throughfall gages were placed at each plot to obtain an estimate of rainfall which was not intercepted by the canopy but which fell to the forest floor. Gross precipitation was measured by a 20.3 cm diameter recording gage located at the meadow. Global radiation and wind were recorded at the meadow area also. Air temperature and relative humidity were recorded in wooden shelters. One shelter was located at the meadow area and one was located in the vicinity of the four spruce plots. Except for wind, weather parameters were recorded continuously. Wind movement was totalized on a digital counter and recorded on data sheets when needed. Psychrometric, pressure chamber, and soil data were obtained according to two schedules. Diurnal measurements of trunk water potential in six trees and independent variables were made during seven days in the summer months of 1971. Seasonal measurements of trunk water potential in twelve trees and independent variables were done at periodic intervals during the summer averaging every three to four days. Data to evaluate the effect of summer precipitation on the soil drying cycle was obtained periodically the summer of 1970 and concurrently (for the most part) with tree water potential measurements during 1971. Significant findings of this study included the following: as shown by analyses of variation of the data, within-season variations of tree water potential (by psychrometer and pressure chamber measurements) were statistically significant. In other words, fluctuations in water potential with time were large enough that they could not have been due to chance alone. On an hourly basis for seven cycles of diurnal measurements, daily peaks in wind movement corresponded roughly with trunk water potential minima, peak radiation occurred about two hours before water potential minima, and maximum vapor pressure deficits corresponded closely to water potential minima. Diurnal fluctuations in water potential of small understory branches, as determined by the pressure chamber, did not correlate well with weather factors. Seasonally, trunk water potential appeared to be highly correlated with fluctuations in vapor pressure deficit and less correlated with global radiation and wind. Soil factors such as matric potential and temperature were not correlated with trunk water potential. Correlations between water potential determined by the pressure chamber and environmental factors were not consistent. Pressure chamber values of water potential, however, did correlate roughly with trunk water potential during the latter half of the summer of 1971. By multiple regression analysis, a predictive equation was devised to predict trunk water potential on a daily and on a seasonal basis. With diurnal input data, radiation, vapor pressure deficit, and a transformation of vapor pressure deficit were significant variables. The model explained 81 percent of the diurnal variation in trunk water potential. Evaluation of the model with seasonal data input showed only one variable, vapor pressure deficit, highly significant. With seasonal data, 72 percent of the variation in trunk water potential was explained. Analysis of 18 rainstorms which occurred during two summers of study showed that roughly 0.25 cm of rain must fall before interception storage of a spruce canopy is satisfied and measurable amounts of rain can fall to the forest floor. Variability among sample catches of a given storm was great, apparently reflecting the irregular nature of the overmature spruce canopy. On the average, 96 percent of rainfall from storms between 0.0 0 and 0.13 cm, 70 percent between 0.13 and 1.3 cm, and 38 percent between 1.3 and 2.5 cm was intercepted. The influence of rain on soil matric potential was restricted to the first 45 cm of soil at the spruce plots with no substantial increase of matric potential before the onset of fall rains. The effect of rain on matric potential of soil in the meadow was more pronounced. The matric potential of the 5, 15, and 30 cm depths fluctuated greatly. A temporary increase in matric potential of these depths following summer storms was noted while more marked increases in matric potential were measured after heavier fall rains. The major conclusions made as a result of this study are (1) relative vapor pressure in the trunks of Engelmann spruce changes markedly from hour-to-hour and from day-to-day during the summer months, (2) trunk water potential as measured by thermocouple psychrometers is functionally related to atmospheric factors of radiation, wind, and vapor pressure deficit, (3) fluctuations in trunk water potential with weather factors imply a causal relation with transpiration, (4) precipitation during the summer months modifies soil matric potential-but only in the shallow profiles, (5) matric potential fluctuations in the meadow areas are extreme (from saturation to low as - 40 bars) and would impose a serious threat to the water economy of young Engelmann spruce seedlings established in such meadows, and (6) Peltier type thermocouple psychrometers are useful instruments for investigation of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum in field situations.

Background Several researchers have studied atmospheric factors like crowding, col-ours, music and olfactory cues and tested their effect on shopping behav-iour. In the particular case of the influence of music in consumers‟ be-haviour, several notable observations have been made. Yet, the majority of the studies have focused on the phenomena of the music and the influences of its different factors towards consumers‟ be-haviour but little research has focused on managerial awareness of such effects on its consumers. Thus, there are still a lot of doubts about man-ager‟s practices and perception regarding the use and effects of atmos-pheric music. In line with the approaches mentioned above, this thesis intends to fill this gap in the literature through the attainment of two objectives: the first one is to study what exactly clothing retailers are doing in terms of atmospheric music and the second objective is to examine their implicit theories about the impact of the music on consumers‟ shopping behav-iour. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to study managerial practices and percep-tions of how music affects customers‟ shopping behaviour in clothing retailers in Sweden. Method This study employs a qualitative method. The Data was obtained through semi-structured face to face interviews with managers and staff of clothing retailers in Jönköping. These interviews were conducted in clothing stores located in the two main commercial areas of the city where the majority of the stores were located. Conclusions Our research found that in the big retailers the atmospheric music is used in a more systematically way than in the small ones. This level of sys-tematization is directly related to the level of centralization in decision-making and to the size of the store. On the other hand, with regards to our second objective we found thatnot only managers but also the salespersons working in the clothing stores have a high degree of knowledge about how music affects their customer´s shopping behavior. Some of their implicit theories coincided with what previous researchers have found while others didn´t.