How companies in the apparel industry produce their products is receiving increasingly more attention, both in the society and marketplace, as well as by consumers. Despite the increasing amount of corporate scandals and corporate irresponsibility within the apparel industry, the previous research conducted within this field has mainly focused on how positive CSR affects consumers. This thesis aims to investigate how Swedish consumers’ attitude and behaviour are affected by negative CSR in the apparel industry. In order to fulfil the purpose of this thesis, a mix of quantitative and qualitative research was used to conduct an abductive study. The data was gathered through a survey posted on social media and by performing semi-structured interviews with participants consisting of Swedish consumers. The authors of this thesis have identified that Swedish consumer’s attitude is affected by negative CSR performed by apparel companies. However, the change in consumer attitude did not necessarily transfer into a change in behaviour, which generates an attitude-behaviour gap. The key barriers identified contributing to this gap are Swedish consumers’ lack of knowledge, and that they generally value personal needs and wants such as price, quality, and style greater than social responsibility.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the influential factors on consumer attitude towards organic food in a rapid growing market and how the attitude influences consumer purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach – after reviewing relevant literatures, a research model was developed based on six hypotheses. The model was tested by conducting an online survey on Chinese consumers. Findings – Four out of six hypotheses were accepted. In specific, health consciousness, consumer knowledge and personal norms obviously showed their impacts on Chinese consumer attitude and the last hypothesis indicates the positive relationship between attitude and purchase intention. Originality/value – Since two hypotheses from the research model were rejected, a new model was developed which is particularly represented for Chinese market. Keywords - Consumer attitude, Organic food, Health, Consumer knowledge, Environmental, Norms, China, Purchase intention Paper type - Research paper

The purpose of this research is to extend the understanding of consumers’ perceived brand innovativeness. Within a quantitative approach an online survey was conducted, using a quota-sample of 501 physically active Germans. The data was analyzed through simple linear regression, mediation and moderation analysis. Further, the effects for two brands were compared. The findings corroborate previous literature, suggesting a highly positive effect of consumers’ perceived brand innovativeness (CPBI) on brand attitude, purchase intention, consumer satisfaction and consumer excitement. Further, brand attitude mediates the impact of CPBI on purchase intention and consumer satisfaction. Consumer innovativeness and involvement have a negative significant effect on the majority of the relations. Most of the constructs are controlled by previous purchase experience. Managers should consider CPBI as a possible antecedent for consumer behavior, however, CPBI should be in line with the actual offer of the brand. Further, the involvement and innovativeness of the desired target group should be taken into account for the brand positioning. However, the survey was conducted using non-probability sampling, focusing on the sporting goods market in Germany, which might have caused some limitations. The study contributes to the CPBI literature in supporting the scale for CPBI and providing further knowledge into the effects CPBI has on consumer outcomes. Further, the research points out the differences in consumers’ evaluation of CPBI based on their level of innovativeness and involvement.

A quantitative research in the attitude of European students towards Chinese web shops. The purpose of this research is to determine which factors influence the attitude of European students the most while purchasing from Chinese webshops. The research framework is inspired by the Theory of Planned behaviour. The responses from the questionair were analysed using SPSS and the findings indicated that perceived behaviour control influences the attitude of European students the most, closely followed by website factors and service quality. In contrast, the factors subjective norms, price as well as product variety shows relatively smaller influence. Nevertheless, these factors should not be neglected when targeting European students for online shopping.

Introdução. A preocupação com saúde e o interesse por uma alimentação saudável com alimentos ricos em vitaminas e minerais, mais naturais, menos processados e sem resíduos tóxicos é uma realidade. O motivo pelo qual os indivíduos escolhem seus alimentos e como fazem estas escolhas é uma etapa importante na realização de orientações dietéticas adequadas, pois diversos fatores como atitude, hábito, valores, crenças e normas sociais afetam a maneira como os consumidores vivem, compram e consomem. Objetivo. Estudar o interesse em relação à saúde e comportamento de compra de produtos orgânicos entre funcionários e alunos da Faculdade de Saúde Pública/USP. Métodos. Um total de 221 voluntários responderam o questionário composto pela Escala de Atitude em Relação à Saúde (HTAS), perguntas sobre comportamento do consumidor e aspectos sociodemográficos. Realizou-se a análise descritiva dos dados, bem como testes de associação pelo qui-quadrado de Pearson, teste de Kruskal-Wallis para verificar diferenças entre distribuições e análise fatorial exploratória com rotação Varimax para identificação dos fatores de influência de compra de orgânicos. Resultados. A subescala de Interesse em Saúde Geral apresentou a maior média (5,03). Identificou-se um maior interesse por produtos light entre os homens e por produtos naturais entre as mulheres. A decisão de compra de produtos orgânicos está associada à renda (p=0,022) e entre os que compram, a proteção ambiental é o fator mais importante, seguido da saúde, informação e mercado, além de apresentarem maior interesse em saúde geral e em produtos naturais. Conclusão. A maior atitude em relação à saúde foi verificada entre aqueles que efetivamente compram produtos orgânicos, por apresentarem maior interesse em saúde geral e produtos naturais, buscando uma alimentação mais saudável, com menos alimentos processados e produtos químicos / Introduction. Concern for health and interest in healthy eating with food rich in vitamins and minerals, more natural, less processed and no toxic waste is a reality. The reason why individuals choose their food and how they make these choices is an important step in making appropriate dietary guidelines, since several factors such as attitude, habits, values, beliefs and social norms affect the way consumers live, buy and consume. Objective. Study the health interest and buying behavior of organic products in students and staff of the School of Public Health / USP. Methods. A total of 221 volunteers answered a questionnaire composed of Health Attitude Scale (HTAS), questions about consumer behavior and demographic aspects. We conducted a descriptive analysis of data, and association tests by the Pearson´s chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis test to verify the differences among distributions and exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation to identify factors which influence the purchase of organic food. Results. The subscale of Interest in General Health had the highest average (5.03). It identified a greater interest in light products among men and natural products for women. The decision to purchase organic products is associated to income (p = 0.022) and among those who purchase, environmental protection is the most important factor, followed by health, information and market, besides having greater interest in overall health and products natural. Conclusion. The greatest attitude towards health was observed among those who actually buy organic products because they have more interest in general health and natural products, looking for a healthier diet with less processed foods and chemicals.

Introdução. A complexidade da cadeia produtiva de alimentos (CPA) torna a Inocuidade de Alimentos (IA) questão fundamental em Saúde Pública, sendo os consumidores co-responsáveis neste processo. Objetivo. O objetivo geral foi identificar atitudes de consumidores em Unidades de Alimentação e Nutrição no município de São Paulo acerca da IA, sob a perspectiva da responsabilidade compartilhada. Metodologia. Pesquisa social de caráter exploratório que utilizou um instrumento previamente desenvolvido e testado. Foi desenvolvida em três fases: (1) abordagem qualitativa para levantar representações sociais sobre o tema (n=66); (2) desenvolvimento de um instrumento quantitativo para avaliar atitudes em IA a partir do material empírico da etapa anterior, utilizando escala de concordância/discordância com cada um dos itens (tipo Likert 5 níveis); (3) inquérito com amostra representativa de cada serviço (grupos X n=230; Y n=275), onde também foram coletados dados sócio-econômicos e demográficos (utilizando critério brasileiro oficial) que permitiram comparações entre os grupos. Foi adotada a técnica Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo e seus preceitos teóricos para tratamento dos dados qualitativos e construção dos itens da escala. O instrumento foi testado (n=61) para análises de confiabilidade (índice de discriminação dos itens e cálculo do coeficiente Alfa-Cronbach-). Por fim, foram executadas análises descritivas, comparação de médias de escores entre os grupos para segmentação dos consumidores, e Análises de Componentes Principais (ACP) para extrair estruturas subjacentes de padrões de atitude em cada grupo. Resultados. As representações sociais diferiram de acordo com o perfil sócio-econômico e demográfico dos grupos. A escala final de atitudes (25 itens) obteve boa consistência interna (=0,65) e discriminação de itens (p<0,05). O grupo Y (menor nível educacional e poder de compra) apresentou maior média de concordância com itens de sentido negativo perante o tema. Na primeira ACP foram extraídos 10 (grupo X) e 8 (grupo Y) fatores ortogonais explicando uma variância de 61,4 por cento e 54,1 por cento, respectivamente. Foi observada uma melhor discriminação de atitudes entre os grupos a partir de uma segunda ACP. Ambos os grupos atribuíram valor ao nutricionista e identificaram papel preponderante dos órgãos governamentais e menor grau de responsabilidade do consumidor no cenário de IA. A preocupação com doenças transmitidas por alimentos pareceu ser um bom fator discriminante entre os grupos. O envolvimento do consumidor na CPA se estabelece com padrão de atitudes diferenciado segundo características sócio-econômicas. Discussão e Conclusão. Utilização de parâmetros estéticos e sensoriais para avaliar segurança de alimentos, maior preocupação com alimentos cárneos e maior nível de percepção de risco com insumos agrícolas corroboram os dados da literatura internacional. Os achados permitem o direcionamento de estratégias em marketing social para o aperfeiçoamento de ações educativas e de comunicação de risco, contribuindo para o direcionamento de políticas públicas para o foco no consumidor / Introduction. The complexity of food supply chain makes the Food Safety key issue in Public Health, and demands consumers share responsibility. Objective. The objective of this study was to evaluate consumer attitudes towards Food Safety focusing shared responsibility, in two different foodservices in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Methodology. Exploratory consumer research that used a survey questionnaire previously developed and tested. The study was developed in three phases: (1) qualitative approach to raise the social representations (n= 66); (2) the development of an attitude scale, based on the empirical material produced in phase 1, to assess individuals agreement/disagreement to each item (5-Likert); (3) survey with a representative sample (n=230 group X, n= 275 group Y), which were also collected socio-economic and demographic data (based on Brazilians official criteria) to compare groups. The qualitative technique Collective Subject Discourse and its theoretical framework were used to construction scale items. The instrument was tested (n= 61) for reliability analysis (item analysis, Pearsons correlation, and Cronbachs alpha coefficient-). Finally, was performed descriptive analysis, comparing mean scores between groups for targeting consumers, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out to summarize the information for target and comparison groups. Results. The social representations differed according to the socio-economic and demographic status. The attitude scale (25 items) reached a good internal consistency ( = 0.65) and item discrimination (p<0.05). The group Y (lower educational level and purchasing power) showed higher mean agreement with negative statements. Ten (group X) e 8 (group Y) orthogonal factors were extracted in the first PCA, explaining a variance of 61.4 per cent and 54.1 per cent respectively. Better attitude pattern discrimination was observed from a second PCA. Both groups of consumers attributed great value to the nutritionist in the restaurant, identified key role of governmental agencies, and less responsibility to consumers related to Food Safety. The concern with foodborne diseases appeared as a discriminating factor between groups. The type of consumers involvement with the food supply chain varies according socioeconomic characteristics. Discussion and Conclusion. The use of aesthetic and sensory parameters to assess Food Safety, greater concern with flesh foods and higher level of risk perception of agrochemical hazards corroborate the literature. These findings allow the targeting of social marketing strategies for the improvement of nutritional education and risk communication, contributing to the direction of public policy focusing the consumer

This thesis is a study about subliminal messages and consumer attitudes towards the use of product placement as subliminal advertising and their behaviors afterwards. The effects of subliminal advertising have been ambiguous and controversial for a long time. Therefore this thesis was designed to understand consumer attitudes towards the way companies use product placement in movies or TV shows and how it may affect their behaviors by using focus group interviews, and the previous study about consumer attitudes towards product placement were also studied. As for the interviews, the samples from Karlstad University were divided into three groups: the Swedish group, the French group, and the German group; so that the results can be compared in order to see if people from different cultural backgrounds have different points of view. The results showed that most of the participants have the same idea that subliminal advertising is interesting, and as long as the product placement does not ruin the entertainment that they are supposed to get from watching a movie, then the attitude is still positive. The behaviors that can happen the most are talking with friends and looking up for information about products or brands, but the possibility of them to buy those brands are less since it also depends on other factors, such as brand preferences, center of interests, and purchasing power.

Background:           Today’s fashion industry is one of the most wasteful and polluting industries, which contributes to a global concern. A transition from a linear to a circular approach is needed, in which consumers play a key role. Clothing rental subscription is among the sustainable business models that aim to reduce the production and disposal of clothes by increasing their utilization and extending their lifetime. Based on the attitude-intention relation from the Theory of Planned Behavior and on current literature, we develop a theoretical framework. Purpose:                  The purpose of this study is to investigate the influences of perceived sustainability, perceived enjoyment, perceived financial risk, perceived performance risk, fashion leadership, psychological ownership and perceived convenience on consumers’ attitudes towards clothing rental subscription services and their intentions to engage in this circular fashion business model. Method:                  To fulfill the purpose, we conducted a quantitative study. Primary data was collected through online questionnaires, resulting in 282 responses from German females. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to identify the influences of the above-mentioned factors on attitude and on intention. Lastly, a linear regression analysis was used to test attitude’s influence on intention. Conclusion:               The results show that consumers’ attitudes towards clothing rental subscription are positively influenced by the perceived sustainability and perceived enjoyment of the business model, and negatively influenced by perceived financial risk and perceived performance risk. Their intentions to participate in clothing rental subscription were shown to be positively influenced by perceived enjoyment and attitude, while negatively influenced by perceived financial risk. Focusing on one clothing rental business model, we contribute to research in the field and provide valuable implications for practitioners.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第20719号 / 農博第2248号 / 新制||農||1054(附属図書館) / 学位論文||H29||N5085(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科森林科学専攻 / (主査)教授 神﨑 護, 教授 吉岡 崇仁, 准教授 仲村 匡司 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

In the retail environment, the salesperson is a strong factor of influence in consumer ´s decision process because a store image and ability to build loyalty can heavily depend on the ability and characteristics of the salesperson (Engel, Blackwell, & Miniard, 1995). A consumer may fully anticipate buying, but this intention may change if the salesperson´s performance is not satisfactory. Engel et al. (1995) indicated that appearance is an important characteristic of the salesperson. Clothing is an essential part of the salesperson´s appearance and it can transmit many meanings, such as identity, mood, and attitude (Stone, 1962). Hawkins, Best, and Coney (1998) indicated that consumers in different age groups have different attitudes, values, and behaviors. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of consumer age and the clothing type of the salesperson in the apparel consumer satisfaction process. Based on the previous literatures, a conceptual model was developed as a framework of the study. This model suggests that consumer age and the clothing type of the salesperson influence consumer attitude toward the salesperson, which in turn influences consumer expectation and evaluation of the salesperson´s performance. Consumer expectation and evaluation of the salesperson´s performance, and expectancy disconfirmation (i.e., the confirmation/ disconfirmation between consumer expectation and evaluation of the salesperson´s performance) are three factors that influence consumer satisfaction with the salesperson´s performance. Six hypotheses were generated to test this model. A 2 x 2 between-subjects factorial design was used with two age groups (adolescents and the elderly) and two clothing types of the salesperson (formal and informal). Two questionnaires with the same scenario, but two pictures of the salesperson with the different clothing types, were developed as the measurement of instrument. The participants were 120 adolescent males 16 to 19 years old and 120 elderly males 65 years and older. Results indicated that a significant interaction existed between consumer age and the clothing type of the salesperson in consumer attitude toward the salesperson. Adolescent participants had a more positive attitude toward the salesperson with an informal clothing type. On the other hand, elderly participants had a significantly more positive attitude toward the salesperson with a formal clothing type. Significantly positive relationships were found between consumer attitude toward the salesperson and consumer expectation and evaluation of the salesperson´s performance. These results indicated that a more positive attitude toward the salesperson was related to a higher expectation and evaluation of the salesperson´s performance. Significantly positive relationships were also found between consumer expectation and consumer satisfaction, and consumer evaluation and consumer satisfaction. A higher expectation and evaluation of the salesperson´s performance was related to a higher satisfaction with the salesperson´s performance. When the relationship between expectancy confirmation/disconfirmation and consumer satisfaction was examined, results indicated that participants were more satisfied with the salesperson´s performance when their evaluations of the salesperson´s performance were equal or better than their expectations, than when their evaluations were worse than their expectations. The results of this study suggest that consumer age and the clothing type of the salesperson influences consumer satisfaction with the salesperson. Several marketing applications were discussed and recommendation was given for the future study. / Master of Science