During the last few decades, "regular people" have become increasingly involved with investing in the stock market. One way of doing this, which has become more and more popular, is to invest in mutual funds. The mutual fund industry has, due to its explosive growth, been described as a success story of the 20th century. These days, sources report that over 70% of the Swedish population actively invests in mutual funds. This thesis is an investigation into consumer decision making regarding one specific type of mutual fund: Socially Responsible Investment (SRI). SRI profiled mutual funds are different from "regular" mutual funds in that they incorporate social, ethical, and environmental (SEE) criteria. In this manner, SRI profiled mutual funds could be said to have two separate dimensions. The regular financial dimension has the purpose of generating a high level of financial return while managing risk. The socially responsible dimension, on the other hand, focuses on incorporating SEE issues into the investment process. However, consumers that desire to choose mutual funds that will both perform well financially and have a good socially responsible dimension face a more difficult decision than consumers who choose to invest in "regular" mutual funds. As each of the dimensions come with its own set of challenges which the consumer must overcome, choosing an appropriate combination of these is a difficult task. In this manner, consumers of SRI profiled mutual funds have to navigate through a complex decision making environment to arrive at a good choice. Based in this notion of decision making in complex environments, this thesis investigates how consumers combine their "traditional" financial objectives with their "additional" SEE consideration and examines the impact of personal factors related to these two areas on consumer investment in SRI profiled mutual funds. Four separate essays on these topics, each investigating a specific stage in the Engel-Kollat-Blackwell (1968) consumer decision making process, are presented. Moreover, in order to understand how complexity impacts consumer decision making in the area, the results of each study are analyzed against a conceptual framework focusing on the complexity of the market. The results show that consumers of SRI profiled mutual funds care about both financial and SEE issues. However, how consumers combine these in their decision making differs. Factors, such as the stage of the purchase decision making process, personal abilities, preferences, and perceptions are found to impact consumer decision making.  Against this background, this thesis generates an increased understanding of consumer decision making in complex decision making environments in general and of SRI profiled mutual funds in particular.

Cultural, social, personal and psychological factors were identified by Rani (2014) as the four major influences on consumer’s buying behavior. While There are many studies about the personal values and consumer purchase behavior, but there is very little research to study Africa women’ consumer behavior, and in Zambia there is even less studies which are conducted to analyze their women’ values and their consumer decision-making styles. The purpose of this study is to explore Zambian women’ personal values and their consumption decision-making styles and how personal values influence their consumer decision-making styles in the context of human hair extension products. It is very important to analyze the consumer values of Zambia women and their consumer decision-making styles in the context of human hair extension, because the demand for hair extension in Zambia is growing fast and the hair extension has become a muti-billion dollars industry This paper had reviewed literature regarding consumer behavior, in specifically personal values and consumer decision-making styles. The LOV scale proposed by Kahle (1983) and the Consumer’s decision making styles proposed by Sproles and Kendall (1986) were adopted to analyze the inter relationship through methodology of multiple regression. The author conducted a descriptive analysis of the primary data collected by a field survey of research questionnaire toward Zambian women. All the questionnaires are distributed and collected at the main shopping malls and universities in Lusaka, Zambia. Through a series analysis of the sample by SPSS, the paper had detected all the list of values and decision-making styles of Zambian women. There are only two consumer values namely Security related with physical and financial safety and Self-fulfillment related with achievement of consumption which achieved a reasonable degree of reliability, and the consumer decision-making styles of Confused by Over-choice related with lacking ability of information analysis and Novelty-Fashion Consciousness related up-to-date fashion pursuit achieved a reasonable degree of reliability. The results reveal that the higher the value of Security, the greater the adoption of Novelty-Fashion Consciousness, and the higher the value of Self-fulfillment, the greater the adoption of Confused by Over-choice Decision-making Styles. However the Security value does not have any significant impact on the adoption of Confused by Over-choice Decision-making styles and the effect of Self-fulfilment value on Novelty-Fashion Consciousness is not significant.

Cultural, social, personal and psychological factors were identified by Rani (2014) as the four major influences on consumer’s buying behavior. While There are many studies about the personal values and consumer purchase behavior, but there is very little research to study Africa women’ consumer behavior, and in Zambia there is even less studies which are conducted to analyze their women’ values and their consumer decision-making styles. The purpose of this study is to explore Zambian women’ personal values and their consumption decision-making styles and how personal values influence their consumer decision-making styles in the context of human hair extension products. It is very important to analyze the consumer values of Zambia women and their consumer decision-making styles in the context of human hair extension, because the demand for hair extension in Zambia is growing fast and the hair extension has become a muti-billion dollars industry This paper had reviewed literature regarding consumer behavior, in specifically personal values and consumer decision-making styles. The LOV scale proposed by Kahle (1983) and the Consumer’s decision making styles proposed by Sproles and Kendall (1986) were adopted to analyze the inter relationship through methodology of multiple regression. The author conducted a descriptive analysis of the primary data collected by a field survey of research questionnaire toward Zambian women. All the questionnaires are distributed and collected at the main shopping malls and universities in Lusaka, Zambia. Through a series analysis of the sample by SPSS, the paper had detected all the list of values and decision-making styles of Zambian women. There are only two consumer values namely Security related with physical and financial safety and Self-fulfillment related with achievement of consumption which achieved a reasonable degree of reliability, and the consumer decision-making styles of Confused by Over-choice related with lacking ability of information analysis and Novelty-Fashion Consciousness related up-to-date fashion pursuit achieved a reasonable degree of reliability. The results reveal that the higher the value of Security, the greater the adoption of Novelty-Fashion Consciousness, and the higher the value of Self-fulfillment, the greater the adoption of Confused by Over-choice Decision-making Styles. However the Security value does not have any significant impact on the adoption of Confused by Over-choice Decision-making styles and the effect of Self-fulfilment value on Novelty-Fashion Consciousness is not significant.

Bakgrund Klädesbranschen står inför nya möjligheter i form självserviceteknologi (SST). Ett flertal butiker har redan börjat använda olika typer av teknologiska lösningar. Det verkar dock finnas meningsskillnader angående om det är en god idé att införa SST i alla typer av butiker. Syfte Syftet med studien var att skapa en djupare förståelse för hur svenska konsumenters shoppingstil och teknikmognad möjliggör användningen av SST i klädesbutiker. Genomförande Efter en utförlig litteraturstudie konstruerades en enkät baserad på inom ämnet etablerade metoder inom köpbeteende och teknikmognad. Enkät delades ut i Linköping. En statistisk analys genomfördes därefter med hjälp av programvaran SPSS. Resultatet jämfördes och utvärderades till sist mot tidigare genomförda studier inom området. Slutsats Svenska konsumenter har olika shoppingstilar samt olika nivåer av teknikmognad. Studien identifierade fem konsumentgrupper av shoppingstilar samt fem konsumentgrupper av teknikmognad. De konsumenter som klassificerats som vane- och lojalitetsshoppare samt undvikare av shopping har en hög teknikmognad således är implementering av SST en god idé för dessa konsumentgrupper. För stilarna: shoppingälskaren och den förvirrade shopparen verkar potentiellt användande av SST mindre positivt då dessa karaktäriseras av lägre teknikmognad. / Background The apparel industry faces new possibilities in the form of selfservice technology (SST). Several stores have already started using different types of technological solutions. There seem to be a disagreement regarding whether or not this is a good idea to implement SST in all types of apparel stores. Purpose The purpose of this study is to create a deeper understanding regarding Swedish consumers decision making styles and their technology readiness and how this enables the use of SST in apparel stores. Completion After an extensive literature review a survey was created. The survey was based on well established tools for measuring consumer decision making styles and technology readiness. The survey was distributed in Linköping, Sweden and then analyzed in SPSS. Conclusion Swedish consumers have different consumer decision making styles and different levels of technology readiness. The study showed that it was possible to divide the consumers into four different groups regarding consumer decision making style. The consumers classified as habitual and brand loyal and shopping avoiders showed high levels of technology readiness, the enabling of SST for this type of consumer seems promising. The shopping lover and the confused shopper enabling of SST seems less promising since they show low levels of technology readiness.

The aim of the thesis is to afford a complex perspective of a parallel development of psychology and economics to the readers. It is suggested, how psychological experiments could be used for the overall enrichment of the classical theory of economics. In the thesis, readers are introduced to the development of economic theories over time, and also to what role a human takes as a personality. Including the thesis is the part engaging in consumer decision process.

In recent years, the sales promotion techniques provided by marketing strategies has increased and has become an important factor in the fashion industry. In todays society customers have more knowledge and easier access to information online. Due to the growth of consumer awareness, businesses need to gain insight on how limited-time promotion techniques affect consumers.  Accordingly, the purpose is to gain insight and understand how millennials' impulse buying is influenced by limited-time promotion when purchasing fashion products online, and explore if hedonic and utilitarian motivation appear and lead millennials to a purchase decision. The aim is to develop a more recent and essential knowledge within this topic due to the poverty of recent studies on if limited-time promotion influences millennials impulse buying behavior.  The empirical findings that were collected using a multiple-method qualitative study of four focus-groups and six semi-structured interviews with people originated from Sweden. The findings were analyzed and discussed with the literature that have been presented to determine their similarities or differences.  The conclusion of this thesis demonstrates millennials in Sweden's awareness of businesses marketing strategies, and that they are detached to the process. Throughout the thesis, millennials' attitudes towards the businesses promotions in the market is saturated, and that they are not influenced by limited-time promotion online since the knowledge that there will soon occur a discount again. Although the increased awareness of millennials in Sweden, utilitarian and hedonic motivations tend to create impulse-buying behavior online. Furthermore, to attract millennials in Sweden some factors have been identified.

Background: The emergence of mobile phones today and in history proves to beexceptionally unique in the consumer electronics market as well as the telecommunicationmarket. The reason behind the huge growth of the industry has been the exceptional evolutionof the technology used in the mobile devices in terms of performance and miniaturization. Purpose: The purpose of the research is to investigate the different stages within theconsumer decision making process and the influencing factors that have a grip overconsumers and shape the consumer behaviour towards smartphones. The study is aimed atexploring the main reasons that affect the buying decision of students regarding a specificcase, which is the iPhone product and its student users in the Swedish market. By focusing ona specific segment of the iPhone consumers, the research will present more accurate and clearresults. The theoretical perspective of the study will be using the traditional five-stagedecision-making model as a backbone thus putting the main focus of the analysis on theconsumer behaviour of the respondents. Method: Additionally, the paper will take the customers’ point of view in order to portray theinfluencing factors that exist within the consumers’ decision-making. For the purpose of thestudy, 12 iPhone users will be interviewed through semi-structured interviews and thegathered data would be analysed and coded in order to find and synthesize the results into aframework that will be developed specifically for the case. Conclusion: According to findings that were made regarding the iPhone case, there were afew factors that stood out as the most relevant when it comes to the students’ purchasedecision - brand loyalty, culture and society, perceived risk, financial influence, usage andproduct features. After the initial purchase of an iPhone which is mainly influenced by socialinfluences, it can be concluded that brand loyalty plays a key role in the repurchase behaviourof customers.

This paper examines the concept of sustainable development and sustainable consumption in the food industry and how consumers relate with the idea of organic food produce and their alternatives. The research was developed by using the Consumer Decision Making model and the Norm Activation Model to be able to understand what motivates consumers in their buying choices and why. These models break down the steps a consumer goes through before making a purchase and the emotional evaluation that occurs after that decision is made. With a total of 70 responses from a structured survey sent out, the results indicated that consumers are conscious about sustainable products, are aware of the environmental and social impact but 30.6% of consumers have never looked out for sustainable products.

In recent years there has been a remarkable distribution of the omnichannel environment, which has emerged as a significant factor in the fashion industry. Today's society is characterized by customers who possess extensive knowledge and easy access to information online, with the added convenience of constantly available e-commerce. As consumer awareness has escalated, it has become imperative for businesses to understand how customers' needs, pain points, and desires impact their customer journey in an omnichannel environment. Consequently, the aim of this research is to gain a comprehensive understanding of how Generation Z customers' needs, pain points, and desires influence their behavior throughout the customer journey within the fashion industry's omnichannel landscape. This study aims to contribute new and crucial insights to the existing body of knowledge, given the lack of recent research on this topic from the consumer perspective. To achieve these research objectives, empirical data was collected through a qualitative multi-method study comprising five focus groups and five semi-structured interviews, with a total of 25 participants. The participants consisted of individuals of Swedish origin who were born in, and belong to, Generation Z. The collected data was afterwards analyzed and discussed, which meant comparing and contrasting the results with previous research on the topic. The conclusion of this thesis reveals remarkable observations about Generation Z in Sweden, where this study has identified the most common combinations of different channels in omnichannel atmospheres. Overall, this study highlights a clear preference among female participants to use the services provided by e-commerce, while male participants show a propensity for physical, traditional commerce. In addition, this report sheds new light on the information search and evaluation process, which constitutes the initial stage of the consumer's decision-making process. Finally, needs, pain points and desires based on each step in the customer journey are identified, as well as how the problems can be resolved with initiatives from the companies.

Fast fashion brands provide consumers with constantly available opportunities to update,not only their wardrobes, but themselves. As our identities have become a constant projectto work on, consumption of fast fashion involves the possibilities of trial and error ofpersonal development. Consumers are predisposed to shape or change their personalities byusing brands as additional traits. This is conceptualized as Brand Engagement in SelfConcept (BESC) to explain how consumers build and express identities. Even if FastFashion is recognized to make trends available for a democratized audience who continuallyevolve temporary identities, it is a limited researched area where Brand Engagement in SelfConcept (BESC) is addressed. As this tendency to involve brands in consumers' self-concept(BESC) is defined as an individual trait to be measured, there is still no qualitative researchto our knowledge that provides deeper insights of how this subjective objective is displayedor affecting the pre-purchase stage within the context of fast fashion.The purpose of this degree project is to develop a deeper understanding of consumers'tendency to incorporate brands as a part of their self-concept and how brand engagement inself-concept (BESC) influences the pre-purchase stage in the decision-making process inthe context of fast fashion. In order to fulfil this purpose, a qualitative study wasimplemented by applying semi-structured interviews with six individuals with the propertyof being consumers of generation Z. Pursuant to previous research that states how thesegeneral tendencies of BESC varies amongst individuals, we were able to identify diversegeneral tendencies in the empirical findings of involving brands in self-concept.These various indications of involvements were represented by the identified themesreflecting how the consumers are applying the silent, but expressive languages of clothing,regarding their representation of themselves through what they wear, awareness of trendsand the extent of purchasing.With regard to these identified indications of involving brands in self-concept to differentextent, our empirical findings resulted in themes, addressing how the pre-purchase stagewas influenced in the context of fast fashion. Our results show how the pre-purchase stageis initiated by recognizing a need or opportunity congruent with the self-concept.Additionally, as information is searched, this stage is influenced by the involvement ofbrands in the self-concept by the identified themes: inspiration, coincidence and familiarity.As the evaluation of alternatives is made, the themes of “considerations to social context”and “the fit” are identified as being influenced by BESC. The consumers' self-concept hasbeen found to be defining the extent of influence, in terms of composing the reference tocompare fast fashion brand personalities with. Consequently, we draw the conclusion thatthe negative associations of fast fashion limited the involvement of fast fashion brands inthe self-concept as these personalities were considered unappealing by representing cheap,quick compliance, low quality and unethical values. Our results demonstrate how the needfor social consistency and approval motivates young consumers to involve fast fashionbrands in their self-concept. This is contradicting displayed in terms of buying the basicassortments with the absence of fast-moving trends.