Consumers are becoming more socially conscious in their purchasing behaviours (Freestone & McGoldrick, 2008), and for some it is becoming a more salient aspect of buying criteria (Memery et al., 2005). Individuals‟ conceptions of themselves can influence behaviour (Aquino et al., 2009). An on-line experiment demonstrated the importance of consumers' ethical self-identity (ESI) in the mental processing of socially conscious consumer decisions. Findings reveal not only how individuals process decisions, but how they react to external stimuli. This study categorizes consumers into three levels of ESI, and shows differences and similarities between them. Individuals who feel an ethical orientation is part of their core self-identity were more inclined to mentally consult upon their previous behaviours when considering their current choice. Additional findings indicate that an assimilation effect took place; priming the environment led to more environmental purchase intentions (Herr, 1989). This study provides important insight into socially conscious consumer behaviour. / viii, 102 leaves ; 29 cm

Darbo objektas: vartotojų elgsenos ypatumai. Darbo tikslas: nustatyti vartotojų elgsenos ypatumus sveikatingumo centre „Linija“. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Apžvelgti vartotojų elgsenos teorinius aspektus. 2. Pagrįsti vartotojų elgsenos tyrimo aktualumą. 3. Išanalizuoti vartotojų elgsenos ypatumus sveikatingumo centre „Linija“. Pagrindiniai rezultatai ir išvados Bakalauriniame darbe analizuojamos paslaugų vartotojų elgsenos savybės ir jai įtaką darantys veiksniai. Tema yra aktuali tuo, kad sveikatingumo paslaugos yra populiarios, perspektyvos, vis labiau naudojamos ir vertinamos, vartotojai vis daugiau laisvo laiko skiria tokioms paslaugoms. Apibendrinti tyrimo rezultatai parodė, jog vartotojų elgsenai įtaką daro daugelis veiksnių: kultūriniai, socialiniai, asmeniniai, psichologiniai faktoriai. Prieš įsigydamas prekę ar paslaugą kiekvienas pirkėjas pereina visus pirkimo proceso etapus, tačiau vieni užtrunka ilgiau, kiti trumpiau, kol galiausiai juos visus įveikia. / Determination of consumer behaviour features in health center “Linija”.

Despite a long-standing tradition to view gender as a unitary theoretical construct, there is an increasing approbation afforded to gender identity as a multifarious construct. Over and above physiological characteristics, gender identity is a psychological and a social construct. More than simply a biological classification, both gender and gender identity have been explored as portentous moderators of consumers' cognitive and emotive states, brand attributions and shopping behaviors. How might gender differences be manifested in building and sustaining brand relationships? This is the seminal question addressed in the present research. The overarching objective of this research is to address how the broadened conceptualization of gender impacts customer-based brand equity across U.S. and Chinese consumers. The focal populations of interest are related to markedly different levels of brand penetration in each a post-developed and transitional market setting. Furthermore, it provides a platform for investigating how gender identities may differ across two of the largest consumer buying groups in the global marketplace. Toward this goal, this research explores the multidimensionality of gender as a construct, and then empirically investigates how an extended view of gender may or may not impact consumer-based brand equity. Based on an integration of extant theories in gender identity and self-congruity, this study proposes a research framework to investigate the relationship among gender identity, brand connections, and consumer-based brand equity. An online survey was conducted to collect consumer panel data in the U.S. and China respectively. Results from regression analysis and path analysis suggest that physiological gender alone cannot adequately explain consumers' brand perceptions. The empirical analysis offers further support for including three unique gender related constructs (physiological gender, psychological gender traits, and gender role attitudes) to understand gender-related consumer behavior. The results also indicate that brand connections serve as important intermediate steps to understand the relationship between gender identity and consumer-based brand equity.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Marketing, Durban University of Technology, 2009. / Store layout is an important factor affecting consumer behaviour and a critical determinant towards the creation of store image. Well designed layouts are extremely important because they strongly influence in-store traffic patterns, shopping atmosphere, shopping behaviour, and operational efficiency (Vrechopoulos et al., 2004: 13). When an inconsistency occurs, some consumers will abandon that establishment in search of another one which offers fast, convenient and better services (Andersen, 1997: 118). Taking a more strategic approach to store layout can reap big rewards by boosting sales, increasing customer loyalty and ultimately increasing turnover (Clark, 2003: 42). The overall aim of the study was to ascertain if independent convenience stores in Kwa Mashu are aware of the impact of store layout on purchasing patterns of consumers. In order to accomplish the objectives of the study, a quantitative study was conducted at the convenience stores at Kwa Mashu by means of self-administered questionnaires. A sample of 400 respondents was asked questions pertaining to the study. The respondents were selected through non-probability sampling within which convenience sampling was applied. Conclusions and recommendations were thereafter drawn from the literature and the findings of the study. The results of this study show that consumers experience problems with store layout. It was found that appearance of the store, merchandise display, store atmosphere, instore service and accessibility are the major causes of this discomfort. Therefore, it is recommended that convenience retail owners in Kwa Mashu attend to those areas and see to it that necessary strategies are implemented to help customers where there is a need.

Consumers are often confronted with incomplete product information. In such instances, they can eliminate the product from further consideration due to higher associated uncertainty or ask for more information. Alternatively, they can apply subjective theories about covariation to infer the value of missing attributes. This paper investigates the latter option in the context of sustainability and provides an in-depth exploration of consumers' inference formations. Drawing from rich qualitative data, it offers a conceptualization of the underlying relationships consumers use to infer product sustainability based on other product attributes. The study further assesses whether these findings can be captured in a quantifiable way. To this end, inferred sustainability is conceptualized as a formative second-order construct, thereby depicting the influence of inference-triggering product attributes. (authors' abstract)

Currently, the experience economy, as a new form of economy is developing and following the service economy. The experiential marketing is the product of experience economy and it is increasingly used by more and more enterprises. A good way of carrying out experiential marketing improves consumers’ user experience when they do shopping. Nevertheless, there are some issues regarding the existing marketing strategy that need to be looked into.The purpose of this thesis is to try to find out Chinese consumers’ attitudes towards experiential marketing. IKEA, a Swedish furniture retailer, has a large number of stores in China and IKEA is widely known for its experiential marketing. It seems appropriate for a case study on the Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward experiential marketing.The case study method has been chosen for doing this research, and the research is conducted from a consumers’ perspective. This thesis first introduces the background of this kind of marketing strategy and explains the basic theory of it and then, analyzed according to IKEA’s actual situation of implementing experiential marketing. How IKEA applies experiential marketing mode and makes full use of its characteristics is studied, especially from Chinese consumers’ perspective. The analysis is based on Chinese consumers who belong to different age groups.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research focused on how entrepreneurs (1) think; (2) see business opportunities; (3) convert an idea into a successful business; (4) observe and tap into consumer behaviour; and (5) how they use the information that they have gathered to their own best advantage. Various researchers and authors attempted (and will attempt) to define an entrepreneur, entrepreneurial traits, opportunity recognition and consumer behaviour. Literature focusses on each individual aspect of an entrepreneur, but no comprehensive literature is available on how entrepreneurs’ minds work ‘prowling’ for opportunities, implementing the opportunity they saw into practice and how they deal with failure. The researcher interviewed six entrepreneurs from his community in the North Coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal. A questionnaire of 27 specific questions was compiled to direct the discussions, but the candidates were given freedom to relay their stories. The questions were designed not only to cover the 5 issues mentioned in paragraph 1, but also to cover softer issues such as: how they handle failure and difficult situations; why they have beaten the statistics in being a successful entrepreneur and who and what their supporting structures are. All the interviews were recorded, then transcribed for analysis and coding. Once all the data was ‘given a label’, the data was grouped by using axial coding that resulted in the data being grouped into themes. The researcher then looked for core themes emanating from the answers given by the participants. Financial success is usually driven by commercial values, where the primary goal is to achieve the maximum profit by outwitting and outperforming the competition. On the other hand, the entrepreneurial spirit is driven by other values and entrepreneurs are at times totally oblivious of the competition in the market. Entrepreneurs have a tendency to tenaciously listen to themselves with an unflinching trust that success will follow the implementation of their ideas. This research found that the entrepreneurial spirit could not be bottled, labelled, or sold. The entrepreneurial spirit is a natural phenomenon that does not suit everyone. Entrepreneurs have a propensity towards risk-taking, but they take calculated risks. They see risk as a calculated even and not a gamble. The research further found that ‘to see opportunities you have to be in the game’. Opportunities seldom come by sitting on the side-line. A key word that was uncovered was ‘pivoting’ – one idea leads to the next and the new idea and opportunity ‘pivots’ further, causing an idea chain reaction into other business opportunities and diversification. The research finally uncovered that entrepreneurs rely heavily on their support structure, they can see the ‘wood for the trees’ when it comes to failure (not making it a personal failure) and they are quasi-philanthropists, investing in their communities and other emerging companies.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

I combine quantitative data on minute-resolved electricity-consumption profiles and survey data with qualitative interviews of PV adopters to create a holistic understanding of how PV adoption influences behavioral change of electricity use. In particular, I examine the information and heuristics consumers use to make energy-related choices and evaluate how consumption behavior affects the total amount and timing of electricity use. Consumption behavior post adoption can significantly alter the environmental benefits of solar PV. Post-adoption changes such as decreases in energy consumption or load shifting from times of high peak demand to times of lower peak demand increase the amount of solar PV generation that is exported to the grid. Higher outflows may reduce the need for less efficient peaking generation units during peak demand, particularly in the summer when solar PV is at its highest generation capacity and electricity demand is greatest. I find that PV adoption does trigger increases in awareness of electricity use. However, while adopters report small or insignificant decreases in household consumption post-adoption, examination of actual records shows both significant increases and decreases in consumption post-PV adoption at the household level. I explain this seeming discrepancy by noting that these households were already energy-conscious prior to PV adoption and had newer, more energy efficient homes, which could offset effects of increased awareness. Supporting this, a majority of respondents considered PV adoption as one action within a larger electricity conservation campaign initiated prior to system adoption. Because they had already implemented several energy efficiency measures, respondents could not easily identify additional ways to reduce electricity use. Most respondents have a method of monitoring consumption, but their attentiveness to monitoring declines after installation-- which could explain the awareness gap as well as the consumption increase. In addition, exogenous factors such as the purchase of an electric vehicle and changes in household size may explain increases in consumption. While I find changes in total consumption after adoption of solar PV at the individual household level, the aggregate mean consumption for all households is just 1.0% but the change in means is insignificant. / text