Social media has grown to an integral part of our everyday lives and companies are focusing heavily on finding new, efficient ways to reach their target market. One strategy that has received much attention is influencer marketing – where focus has shifted from an entire audience of potential customers to influential people that have a strong impact on their followers. After reviewing previous research we identified a gap in consumers trust in influencer marketing from a corporate perspective. Our study aims to examine follower’s attitudes to influencer marketing and propose how companies can find a balance of trust and influence when working with social media marketing, while the attitude to influencer marketing is becoming increasingly sceptical. To get a wide and fair perspective, a triangular model has been used. In addition to secondary data from previous research, we have completed an online survey on consumer’s opinions and experiences with influencer marketing, two interviews with key people at Swedish fashion companies and one interview with a researcher on consumer reactions. The recurring term throughout the study is trust, proved to be crucial for consumer attitudes to influencer marketing. For companies not to risk the trust of their potential customers, the influencer’s following must match the audience the company wishes to reach, the brands must be compatible for the message to reach out and value-building relationships must be created.This thesis is written in Swedish. / Sociala medier har vuxit till en integrerad del av vår vardag och företag fokuserar hårt på att hitta nya, effektiva sätt att nå sina målmarknader. En strategi som har fått stor uppmärksamhet är influencer marketing - där fokus har skiftat från en hel publik av potentiella kunder till inflytelserika personer som har en stark inverkan på deras följare. Efter att ha granskat tidigare forskning identifierade vi ett gap i konsumentförtroende för influencer marketing ur ett företagsperspektiv. Vår studie syftar till att undersöka följares attityder till influencer marketing för att analysera hur företag kan hitta en balans mellan förtroende och inflytande när man arbetar med marknadsföring på sociala medier, samtidigt som inställningen till influencer marketing blir alltmer skeptisk. För att få ett brett och rättvist perspektiv har en triangulär forskningsmodell använts. Förutom sekundärdata från tidigare forskning har vi genomfört en enkätundersökning online om konsumentens åsikter och erfarenheter av influencer marketing, två intervjuer med nyckelpersoner på svenska modeföretag och en intervju med en forskare med fokus på konsumentreaktioner påmarknadsföring via sociala medier. Det återkommande begreppet under hela studien är förtroende, som visar sig vara avgörande för konsumenters attityder till influencer marketing. För företag ska undvika att riskera potentiella kunders förtroende, måste influencerns publik matcha företagets önskade målgrupp, varumärkena måste vara kompatibla för att meddelandet ska nå ut och slutligen måste värdeskapande relationeretableras mellan alla parter.

Objective: To explore consumer attitudes towards generic medication. Methods: A quantitative method was used in this explorative study to assess consumer attitudes towards generic medication. A survey design was utilized. A questionnaire was devised that comprised four sections which assessed attitudes towards generic medication. A Living Standards Measure (LSM) assessed socio-economic status. Convenience sampling resulted in the recruitment of 266 respondents. Statistical analysis of the data included non-parametric (Chi-square and correlation analysis) and parametric statistics (factor analysis, MANOVA and regression analysis). Results: More than half the respondents (54.8%) report preference for original medication over generic medication. A large percentage believes there is a place for generic medication (88.9%). The majority (95%) indicate they would purchase generic medication if it proves to be just as effective as the original product. More respondents (91.2%) trust physician over pharmacist recommendations to purchase generics. More than half the respondents (57.9%) would purchase generic medication if recommended by friends but they trust their family members more (68.6%). The findings indicate that respondents generally hold favourable attitudes towards the efficacy of generic medication despite the fact that slightly more than half prefer original medication. Respondents indicate that pricing and branding influence their attitudes towards generic medication. Chi-square analyses indicated that more men would choose original medication and more women would choose generic medication. Age differences revealed that the older consumer is more likely to choose generic medication. White respondents indicated a preference for generic medication, while Black respondents indicated that they prefer original medication. Middle-class (LSM 5-8) and middle-upper class (LSM 9) respondents prefer generic medication, while upper class (LSM 10) respondents prefer original medication. The correlation analysis found no significant relationship between medical aid status and original or generic medication choice. A principle component factor analysis produced nine factors based on the items in the questionnaire, with only eight factors being subjected to further testing. These eight factors were subjected to a MANOVA and tested against gender and race with no significant differences found between men and women and between Black and White respondents. These eight factors were also subjected to further testing by means of regression analysis where it was found that three of the eight factors were statistically significant. These three factors can be productively explored in future research. Implications: This explorative study focused on consumer attitudes towards generic medication, however, it was identified that the consumer valued their physician’s recommendation for type of medication. For future studies, it would be beneficial to explore medical personnel (physician and pharmacist) attitudes towards generic medication as these individuals play an important role in product choice. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychology / unrestricted

Transparency is a business approach which has become more and more popular for fashion companies to apply in recent years. The purpose of transparency is to publish internal company information for stakeholders. Most often, the information is about how companies act socially, environmentally and economically. This study investigates consumer attitudes towards fashion companies that have chosen to apply transparency in their business practices. In order to explicate previous research, the study also examines how consumers want this information assigned along with what specific information consumers’ request. The study’s empirical data is based on nine qualitative interviews conducted with female consumers of different ages. The result of the study shows that consumers in general have no deeper knowledge or awareness of transparency or corporate social responsibility. This unconsciousness proved to have a major impact on the consumer's behavior, attitude and preferences towards transparency. Even though all respondents have a positive attitude towards the idea of transparency, there is some skepticism about the concept. The intentions of applying transparency and the content that is being conveyed are questioned. Respondents believe that the content can easily be manipulated in order to make companies appear better than they actually are. However, this skepticism can be reduced if an external party can control and review the company's transparency. This study also shows that consumers are happy to see that companies publish and convey internal information. The information should be brief, straightforward and easy to understand. It should be assigned to the consumers, instead of asking the consumers to search for it themselves. Perceptions of how the information should be conveyed differ greatly among respondents depending on age and amount of prior knowledge. Therefore it is crucial for companies to adapt the content and pick an appropriate platform for their customers. By understanding the target group's preferences, companies can more easily find a starting point in their work with corporate social responsibility and more effectively to convey it to stakeholders. However, there is a need to raise general awareness of the industry's problems. A way to do this is by discussing the subject in broader channels. This study is written in Swedish. / Transparens är ett arbetssätt som på senare år har blivit mer och mer populärt för klädföretag att applicera. Syftet med transparens är att kunna offentliggöra intern företagsinformation för intressenter. Oftast handlar informationen om hur företag agerar socialt, miljömässigt och ekonomiskt. Denna studie undersöker konsumenters attityder till klädföretag som väljer att applicera transparens i sin verksamhet. För att utveckla tidigare forskningen undersöks även hur konsumenter vill tilldelas denna information och vad för specifik information som efterfrågas. Studiens empiri bygger på nio stycken kvalitativa intervjuer som hållits med kvinnliga konsumenter i olika åldrar. Resultatet i denna studie visar att konsumenter överlag inte har någon djupare kunskap eller medvetenhet om transparens och företags arbete med deras sociala och miljömässiga ansvar. Denna omedvetenhet visade sig ha en stor påverkan på konsumentens beteende, attityd och preferenser till transparens. Även om samtliga respondenter är positivt inställda till idén av transparens finns en skepsis till konceptet. Avsikterna med att applicera transparens och vad som förmedlas ifrågasätts. Respondenter anser att innehållet lätt kan förskönas i syfte att få företag att framstå som bättre än vad de egentligen är. Denna skepsis anses dock kunna minska om en extern part kan kontrollera och granska företags transparens. Denna studie redogör även att konsumenter gärna ser att företag offentliggör och förmedlar intern information. Formatet ska då gärna vara kortfattat och lättförstått, informationen ska tilldelas konsumenten istället för att konsumenten själv ska behöva leta upp den. Hur detta ska förmedlas skiljer sig mycket åt mellan respondenterna beroende på ålder och mängd förkunskap. Därför är det särskilt viktigt för företag att utgå från den specifika målgruppen för att kunna välja ett passande format att förmedla via den mest lämpliga plattformen. Genom att förstå sin målgrupps preferenser kan företag lättare finna en utgångspunkt i sitt arbete med samhällsansvar och mer effektivt förmedla detta till intressenter. Dock finns det ett behov av att lyfta branschens problematik utanför företagen och öka konsumenters medvetenhet genom att diskutera ämnet i bredare kanaler.

This thesis concerns with effectiveness of cause related marketing, the promotion tool, by which the firm tries to positively influence relations with consumers. In first three chapters the tool of cause related marketing is presented, some examples of successful foreign and also home campaigns are given, and facts about perception and attitudes of American consumers especially the Millenial generation members toward the cause related marketing are placed here. In next four chapters the thesis concerns with own research of attitudes of Czech millenials, analyses the outcomes and compares the differences in answers according to sex, age and the place of living. At the end some contrasts in the attitudes of Czech and American consumers are studied.

Virtual Reality (VR) has gained tremendous interest within the last decades and is rapidlybecoming a disruptive marketing tool across all industries. Predictions show that the VR marketis expected to reach a staggering US$120 billion by 2026 (Fortune Business Insights, 2019).While previous research has investigated the impact of VR on consumer attitudes, theconnection between its immersive characteristic, i.e. telepresence (Steuer, 1992), and thecomplexity of consumer attitudes (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993), is still relatively unknown. Hence,this paper addresses the discrepancy in extant literature by applying a qualitative researchapproach. We conduct in-depth interviews using a quasi-experiment design, displaying anapartment through 2D (pictures) and followingly 3D stimuli (VR). The increased telepresencefrom VR and its impact on participants’ responses towards the apartment is thereby captured.Results show that both technological variables of telepresence (vividness & interactivity) arepositively influential in the three-dimensional spectrum of consumer responses (affective,cognitive & conative). Moreover, this study reveals that telepresence contributes to enhancedproduct knowledge, produces a hedonic experience and aids in decision-making. Conclusively,managerial recommendations are provided, detailing aspects to consider before implementingsuch immersive technologies.

Virtual Reality (VR) has gained tremendous interest within the last decades and is rapidly becoming a disruptive marketing tool across all industries. Predictions show that the VR market is expected to reach a staggering US$120 billion by 2026 (Fortune Business Insights, 2019). While previous research has investigated the impact of VR on consumer attitudes, the connection between its immersive characteristic, i.e. telepresence (Steuer, 1992), and the complexity of consumer attitudes (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993), is still relatively unknown. Hence, this paper addresses the discrepancy in extant literature by applying a qualitative research approach. We conduct in-depth interviews using a quasi-experiment design, displaying an apartment through 2D (pictures) and followingly 3D stimuli (VR). The increased telepresence from VR and its impact on participants’ responses towards the apartment is thereby captured. Results show that both technological variables of telepresence (vividness & interactivity) are positively influential in the three-dimensional spectrum of consumer responses (affective, cognitive & conative). Moreover, this study reveals that telepresence contributes to enhanced product knowledge, produces a hedonic experience and aids in decision-making. Conclusively, managerial recommendations are provided, detailing aspects to consider before implementing such immersive technologies.

Background: China's rapidly growing beauty consumer market has led to environmental deterioration and Chinese citizens are aware of this important issue, however, despite positive pro-environmental attitudes, consumers are reluctant to buy green products. This issue is known as the attitude-behavior gap, and existing research lacks information on how this gap operates in the Chinese beauty market. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to use the ACB (Affective, Cognitive, Behavioral) Attitude Model to explore how the attitude-behavior gap works in the Chinese beauty market, specifically, the attitudes of Chinese consumers and how they influence behavior. Method: This study was an exploratory qualitative study in which 30 Chinese participants were interviewed in 3 focus groups consisting of 10 participants each. For the purpose of this study, participants' attitudes toward beauty and personal care products were investigated. Conclusion: The empirical findings show that green knowledge is considered the most important factor in the attitude-behavior gap, as consumption habits and patterns hinder purchase behavior. Second, is health consciousness, where purchase behavior is hindered by the skepticism of product attributes and insufficient information. Third, self-image, as overpackaging makes consumers think that it is detrimental to their image of green consumption. Finally, social influence is the least important factor, as Chinese people are collectivistic and purchasing behavior is more likely to be influenced by surroundings. By prioritizing these four factors, beauty companies and marketers can understand what is preventing Chinese consumers from purchasing beauty and personal care products, and then have the appropriate marketing strategies to respond.

Background: Increased awareness of the climate crisis leads to sustainability becoming moreimportant to many people as the actions made today will have a large impact on futuregenerations. Generation Z is soon to be the largest consumer group globally, where most peopleare interested in implementing sustainable lifestyles. Gen Z will soon hold a powerful positionas fashion consumers and has the ability to drive positive changes for societies globally. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study consumer attitudes and behaviour towardspurchasing sustainable fashion products on the Swedish market. The group aimed to be studiedincludes people over the age of 18 in Sweden that belong to generational cohort Z. Method: The method used for this research is exploratory, taking on an inductive approachand collecting qualitative data through 10 semi-structured interviews with people between theages of 18-27 in Sweden. The findings from the data emerged from thematic analysis. Conclusion: The results show that there is a genuine concern for the climate and the future ofthe planet among the cohort, which also has an impact on the attitude. Despite the positiveattitude towards purchasing sustainable fashion products, there is an existing gap between thepositive attitude and consumer behaviour. The accumulated value from factors such as price,style, and availability is often higher than the sole value of an item’s sustainability factor.

Is it more effective to evoke negative emotions in social advertisements than positive emotions? This study compared positive and negative message framing strategies in social marketing advertisements that aimed to encourage a reduction in meat consumption. This project explored how each strategy influences consumers' attitudes toward the recommended behaviour and investigated the role of emotional and attentional responses to each message framing strategy. The purpose of this research was to determine whether negatively framed messages are more effective than positively framed messages in influencing consumers' attitudes, emotions, and attention. The motivation of the study was to provide formative research for the design of social marketing interventions to effectively influence consumers' attitudes towards advertised causes with the use of message framing, and to advance theoretical understanding of how consumers respond to social marketing interventions. Furthermore, this research attempted to resolve differences between results obtained in previous framing research in the social marketing context. This study uniquely proposed the use of cutting-edge consumer neuroscience techniques to develop a clearer understanding of consumers' emotional and attentional responses to social marketing advertisements. The results were presented from a mixed-method approach, which combined quantitative and qualitative research methods. An experiment was conducted by using two social marketing print advertisements aimed at encouraging a reduction in meat consumption, by highlighting the impact of consuming meat products on animal welfare. Respondents involved in the experiment viewed an advertisement that was either positively framed or negatively framed. The research applied self-reporting methods, as well as consumer neuroscience methods, including facial coding, galvanic skin response (GSR), and eye-tracking, to explore the proposed research framework. The combination of these methods allowed the collection of data on attitudinal, emotional, and attentional responses. The results of this research demonstrated that negatively framed advertisements are more effective in changing consumers' attitudes towards reducing meat consumption than positively framed advertisements. Thus, messages aimed at encouraging a reduction in consumption should highlight the negative consequences of participating in certain behaviours. Neither emotion nor attention were found to mediate the relationship between message framing and attitude. However, positively framed advertisements elicit significantly higher levels of emotional valence; and negatively framed advertisements elicit significantly higher levels of disgust and attention. Social marketers should, therefore, leverage these feelings of disgust; and they should implement negative framing strategies to increase the attention paid to an advertisement. However, educational social marketing interventions should be considered, in combination with negative message framing, to effectively influence consumers' attitudes towards social issues. These findings have provided research for better developing message framing strategies for the communication of sustainable consumption. Furthermore, these strategies contributed to the existing social marketing literature by addressing the lack of information on marketing efforts aimed at reducing meat consumption. This research also filled important gaps in the literature regarding positive versus negative message framing strategies, and social marketing interventions can now be implemented with an increased understanding of how consumers respond to different message framing strategies.

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