Diss. Univ. Bayreuth 2003.

As the Chinese luxury market has become one of the biggest in the world, this thesis seeks to investigate the relationship between the luxury perception of Chinese consumers and their willingness to buy under the price reduction. Drawing from Wiedmann’s concepts of luxury values, we propose a framework to measure the luxury value perception of Chinese consumers through the functional, individual, and social dimensions.   We conduct a quantitative research and collect 315 valid questionnaires from Chinese luxury consumers. In questionnaires, we ask them to rate the perception of luxury goods and their willingness to buy when the price is reduced by 20% and 40% respectively. We perform multiple linear regression with SPSS. The results show the value perception in the individual dimension has positive impact on the willingness to buy, and the more price is reduced, the more impact it will have, whereas, the value perception in the functional dimension is not significantly related to the willingness to buy under both price reductions. The value perception in the social dimension is positively related to the willingness to buy when the price is reduced by 20%, but there is no significant relationship when the price is further reduced by 40%.

p. 1 - 92 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-01-23T17:54:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 333.pdf: 1032310 bytes, checksum: e49482d5872a55d1a01af45cc14be70d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-23T17:54:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 333.pdf: 1032310 bytes, checksum: e49482d5872a55d1a01af45cc14be70d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / As Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) privadas experimentaram um crescimento vertiginoso nas duas últimas décadas. Num ambiente de extrema concorrência e de vital importância como este, conhecer melhor o usuário torna-se essencial. Este estudo procura identificar os critérios considerados na escolha de uma IES privada de Salvador/Bahia. Foram selecionadas quatro hipóteses a partir dos seguintes critérios: marca, localização, grupo de referência e/ou indicação de pessoas próximas e infraestrutura. Com este objetivo foi feita uma abordagem qualitativa e elaborado um questionário onde constavam 13 perguntas abertas, semi-estruturadas, o qual foi aplicado em 122 estudantes do primeiro e segundo semestre do curso de Administração de Empresas, de 05 IES privadas na Cidade de Salvador, no período de outubro de 2007. Na conclusão do estudo percebe-se que, dos quatro critérios considerados para construir as hipóteses, a marca foi o mais relevante. Todavia, foram encontrados outros critérios que devem ser considerados. / Salvador

The theme of diploma thesis is ?Attitudes and Buying Behavior of Customers in selected Shopping center.? The theoretical part is to obtain as much information on the issue as possible. A survey was carried out simultaneously directly in a shopping center. In the practical part, there is the evaluation of the response of the evaluation of the response of customers in the shopping center selected by the survey. For the research I have chosen the shopping center in Ceske Budejovice.

CSR och transparens blir alltmer vanliga verktyg för företag för att kunna belysa konsumenter om deras ansvarstagande och hållbara arbete. För att dessa aktiviteter ska nå konsumenterna krävs en kommunikation från företaget. Som konsument kan det vara svårt att uppfatta informationen och tolka den som företaget önskar. Den här studien undersöker hur konsumenter uppfattar H&Ms marknadskommunikation gällande CSR och transparens och hur kommunikationen påverkar konsumentens köpbenägenhet av gröna modeprodukter på H&M. I studien genomfördes sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med kvinnliga studenter i åldrarna 21-26. I intervjuerna förklarar informanterna sina åsikter gällande företagsmarknadskommunikation av dessa områden och hur de uppfattat H&Ms sådan. Efter genomförd tematisk analys av det empiriska datamaterialet har det kunnat fastställas att konsumenterna haft svårigheter att uppfatta H&Ms marknadskommunikation angående dess hållbarhetsarbete. Den information som nått ut har därmed mottagits med bristande trovärdighet. Detta visade sig vara oberoende av respondentens kunskapsnivå eller grad av engagemang inom hållbarhetsfrågor. / CSR and transparency are becoming two common tools for companies to highlight consumers about the company’s responsibility and sustainable work. In order for these activities to reach the consumers, a communication from the company is required. As a consumer, it may be difficult to perceive and interpret the information in a way that the company desires. This study investigates how consumers consider H&M’s marketing communication regarding these topics and how this communication affects consumers’ willingness to buy green fashion products at H&M. In the study, seven semistructured interviews were conducted with female students in the ages between 21-26. In the interviews the informants explained their opinions on the company’s marketing communication of these subjects and how they perceived H&M’s communication. After a succeeded the matic analysis of the empirical data material it has been found that the consumers had difficulty understanding H&M’s marketing communication regarding its sustainable work. The information obtained has thus been received with insufficient credibility. This is stated as not related to the level of knowledge the respondents possessed or their commitment in sustainability.

A presente pesquisa tem como principal tema a decisão estratégica de fazer ou comprar no contexto do setor químico. Apesar de ser um tema relativamente recorrente, o foco da literatura neste tipo de pesquisa tem sido no contexto da indústria automotiva e/ou eletroeletrônica. Indaga-se, então, se existe aderência entre os modelos teóricos e o que ocorre nas empresas do contexto químico brasileiro. O desenvolvimento teórico desta pesquisa teve por base uma compilação dos principais modelos de fazer ou comprar apresentados pela literatura desde final da década de 1980. O desenvolvimento empírico teve por base uma pesquisa qualitativa, predominantemente exploratória, baseada na técnica de estudo de casos múltiplos, contando com uma amostra de duas empresas de grande porte no contexto químico brasileiro. Foi verificado que existe um razoável nível de aderência entre o que preconiza a literatura e o que é feito nas empresas pesquisadas, mas existem algumas contribuições relevantes que podem ser consideradas para os modelos de fazer ou comprar existentes na literatura. / The main theme of this research is the strategic decision making process associated with make-or-buy decisions. Said theme has been developed in the literature with primary focus on automotive and hardware industries, not chemical industry, what leads to the main question of this research: what is the adherence level between the literature and the actual behavior of the chemical industry, when going through this type of strategic decision making process? The literature research development was primarily based on a compilation of different makeor- buy decision models which have been presented by the literature since late eighties. The empirical research development was based on an exploratory qualitative approach, with the aide of multiple case studies techniques on a small sample of two large Brazilian chemical enterprises. The main result indicates a reasonable level of adherence to what the literature has presented so far, however there are other important aspects that should be taken as relevant contributions from the empirical research to the existing make-or-buy decision process models.

Approximately 50% of girls and young women are not satisfied with their bodies. A huge reason for this is the thin body ideal dominating today’s social media. Lingerie and swimwear companies like Victoria’s Secret, Hunkemöller and Triangl uses the thin body ideal in their social media marketing but do not get any consequences for it. Today’s generation Z have been affected a lot from this kind of marketing. The purpose of the study was to understand how it is possible that young women from generation Z are willing to buy products from the lingerie and swimwear industry, when most of the time these companies’ social media marketing have an unrealistic image of the perfect body. In order to fulfill the purpose, a qualitative strategy was conducted through the use of three different focus groups. In these interviews, fifteen young women discussed the Instagram pictures of Victoria’s Secret, Hunkemöller and Triangl. The conclusions of the study show how companies are using the thin body image in their marketing to influence young women from generation Z into wanting to buy their products. When companies use the stereotyped woman in their marketing, consumers would either want to resemble the models that are perceived as the female stereotype or be socially accepted by being thin. However, consumers could also want to be perceived in a certain way, that is the way of the stereotyped woman on social media. Therefore, the product is attractive for the consumers even though this situation can be understood as unethical.

Les contrats pétroliers iraniens sont habituellement de type Buy-back mais devraient évoluer sous la forme d’IPC, s’éloignant du modèle traditionnel des contrats de partage de production. Un contrat Buy-back est essentiellement un contrat de service en vertu duquel une société étrangère développe une ressource pétrolière ou gazière. Elle est rémunérée grâce aux revenus issus du projet, mais cette dernière ne possédera aucun intérêt dans le projet après le remboursement des investissements effectués. Les contrats de partage de production sont des contrats dans lesquels, la compagnie internationale pétrolière agit comme un entrepreneur, et possède le droit d’explorer et d’exploiter un gisement pour une durée déterminée et dans une région précise. Le pétrole ainsi produit de ce champ sera partagé entre la compagnie nationale et la société pétrolière étrangère selon les termes du contrat. L’une des questions à laquelle il faut accorder une attention particulière, c’est celle relative au mode contractuel qui permet de concilier les intérêts des pays d’accueil et les intérêts des sociétés étrangères. C’est en ces termes que se pose la problématique des contrats pétroliers. Chaque type de contrats articule ces deux exigences de manière différente. Le choix de l’Iran s’est porté sur les contrats Buy-back. Les contrats Buy-back, considérés comme étant plus conformes au droit iranien, essuient des critiques de la part de ses détracteurs. Mettant en exergue ses lacunes, ces derniers proposent son remplacement par le contrat partage de production qui est le plus couramment utilisé dans le monde. Cependant, l’amélioration des contrats Buy-back serait plus adaptée. / Iranian oil contracts are usually Buy-back contracts, but should evolved as IPC, away from the traditional model Production Sharing Agreement. A Buy-back contract is essentially a service contract under which a foreign company develops an oil or gas resource. The company is repaid by the revenues of the project, but does not share in the project outcome after being repaid. Production sharing agreements are contracts, in which the international oil company as a contractor has the right to exploration and exploitation in a specific area and within a specific period. Finally, the oil product of the field in question is shared between the national company and the foreign oil company as agreed upon under the terms of contract. One question which needs to be carefully examined pertains to the types of contracts which allow the reconciliation of the interests of host countries and those of foreign companies. This is in these the main issue, which arises in relation to oil contracts. Each type of contracts takes a different form depending on the way they meet these two requirements. Iran has often preferred Buy-back contracts. Buy-back contracts, considered most consistent with the Iranian laws, have been subject to criticism. Highlighting these gaps, some critics propose substituting Buy-back agreements whit production sharing agreements, which are most commonly used in the world. The effectiveness of such reform is, however, questionable. Improving Buy-back contracts would, arguably, be more appropriate.

The diploma thesis is focused on smartphones and user product reviews. The purpose of the diploma thesis is to establish a link between user product reviews and their willingness to buy the product. The thesis is divided into two parts. The theoretical part deals with consumer behavior, brands, willingness to buy a product and user product reviews. In the practical part there is a research demonstrated. The research is applied on a target group of czech consumers in the age from 16 to 24. In the last part of the thesis there is an evaluation and some recommendations. These recommendations can help to realize the key aspects which influence the customers willingness to buy the product.

Combining concepts regarding the make-or-buy decision, such as Williamson’s (1981) ideas on transaction costs in conjunction with theories of supply chain management, the thesis outlines what factors should be of importance to firms when deciding to make or buy certain processes within the supply chain. Using Porter’s (1985) division of the supply chain into 5 sections we analyze the make-or-buy decisions of Catamaran Sports/Adidas sailing, finding that while many decisions taken match the theory-based predictions, a lot of processes are handled the way they are because of external constraints faced by the firm. In the case of Adidas their main reason for taking certain strategic decisions are to maintain their competitive advantage in the market, which they build on a benefit leadership strategy. This has resulted in them often choosing a production method that has a relatively high accounting cost, compared to what could have been achieved, in order to maintain flexibility, reduce lead times and provide a higher level of service.