This dissertation examines what motivates individuals to prefer certain types of product attributes over others. It is proposed that consumer preference regarding product attributes is fundamentally connected to an individual’s future orientation, i.e., how a person perceives, thinks about, and copes with time left in life. Specifically, it is posited that future orientations play key roles in shaping a person’s criteria in product evaluation. Thus, this dissertation seeks to integrate the study of future orientation with research on socio-emotional selectivity influences on consumption. Building on past research, this study proposes a conceptual model including four constructs: future orientations, chronological age, product evaluation, and preferences. An experimental study was used to investigate the research objectives and calibrate and validate the model. The experiment examines the moderating effect of future orientations and chronological age on consumer preference for hedonic vs. utilitarian attributes. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of two future orientations (expansive and limited) and one of two attributes contexts (hedonic and utilitarian). The sample for this study was drawn from consumers in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. The research results will lead to an improved understanding of how preference varies from individual to individual and changes over time. In particular the research will provide insights about the impact of an individual’s future orientation on product attitude. The findings will advance current theory in both the new product evaluation and preference literature and have implications for the practice of marketing at levels of marketing strategy, product development, integrated marketing communications and loyalty programs.

Föreliggande studie ämnade att undersöka vilka jobbattribut studenter på Jönköpings Tekniska Högskola (JTH) samt Hälsohögskolan (HH) i Jönköping värderade i valet av framtida arbetsgivare. Vidare undersöktes även huruvida kön och skola påverkade hur studenter värderade jobbattribut. Forskningsstrategin har utgått från en deduktiv ansats och grundade sig i kvantitativ design där en enkät valts som undersökningsmetod som distribuerades vid föreläsningar vid de båda högskolorna. Urvalsmetoden bestod i huvudsak av ett slumpmässigt klusterurval med inslag av ett bekvämlighetsurval vilket genererade 346 enkätsvar. Envägs ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U samt Univariat analyser utfördes för att analysera data. De fem högst värderade jobbattributen bland studenterna var arbetsuppgifter jag tycker om, trevliga kollegor, en säker och trygg anställning, bra arbetsförhållanden och möjligheten till att använda mina färdigheter. En signifikansnivå på p= .05 tillämpades och signifikanta skillnader visade sig i hur både kön och skola värderade enskilda jobbattribut. Vid kategorisering av jobbattribut visade det sig att inre jobbattribut värderades högre av studenterna än de yttre jobbattributen. Resultatet av studien bidrar med värdefull information om hur studenter i Jönköping värderar olika jobbattribut i valet av framtida arbete och kan användas av organisationer för att kunna rekrytera den målgrupp som efterfrågas. / The aim of this study was to examine what job attributes students at The School of Health and Welfare (HH) and The School of Engineering (JTH) in Jönköping preferred in the choice of their future employer. Furthermore, it was investigated whether sex and the choice of school influence students’ job attribute preferences. The study had a deductive research approach and quantitative data were collected by a delivery and collection questionnaire, which was handed out in classes at JTH and HH. The selection method consisted mainly of a random cluster sample with some elements of a convenience sample and the findings in this thesis are based on 346 students preferred job attributes conducted through a survey. One-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U and Univariate analysis was made to analyze collected data. The top five job attribute preferences among students was “work I like doing”, “friendly people to work with”, “a secure job”, “good working conditions”, and “opportunities to use my abilities”. A significant level at p= .05 was applied and showed significant differences in separate job attributes for both sex and school. By categorizing the job attributes the results showed that the internal job attributes was more preferred than the external job attributes. The result of this study contributes valuable information by which job attribute students prefer in their choice of their future employer and could be used by organizations to identify the target group which is inquired for.