Title: Generation Z and sports brands Objectives: Main goal of the diploma thesis is to find out brand importance in decision-making process of generation Z living in capital city of Prague using group interviews. Methods: The qualitative method was used in the diploma via group interviews. Scenario of the group interviews was based on literature search. Audio record was taken during the interview which was used with notes to analyzing the data. Summary protocol method was used to rewrite data from audio record. Results: For generation Z living in the capital city of Prague, the brand plays its role in the buying decision-making process in all its phases in the purchase of sporting goods. Generation Z living in capital city of Prague got good relationship with sporting brands. They are willing to pay more money for branded goods and they are loyal to brands. Keywords: generation Z, brand, sports brand, consumer, consumer behavior, buyer decision process

The aim of the thesis is describe how discounts are formulated in construction work. Different types of discounts are discussed from the point of view of the constructor. Mechanisms of providing discounts and calculations of total discounts are studied. Contract and signing over the construction work are analysed, because of their importance to prevent disagreement between customer and constructor.

Influencer marketing is a new marketing strategy that has risen in popularity to be used by businesses during the last decade. Even though studies have been previously made on influencer marketing, little research has been made specifically on influencer marketing in combination with their discount codes being offered. The main purpose of this research paper is to examine the connection between the discount codes and the effect it might have on consumers' purchase intention, behavior and impulsive buying. Furthermore, the satisfactory levels after a purchase due to influencer marketing has been examined as it has not been seen in previous studies. The findings revealed that consumers are directly affected by influencer discount codes, causing impulsive buying to a certain level and affects the purchase intentions and decision-making in a faster manner. Furthermore, consumers who had purchased products due to influencer marketing obtained a high satisfactory level post-purchase. The same result could be seen both with and without discount codes. These results contribute to a positive insight of influencer marketing for businesses as the majority of the consumers were satisfied with their purchases. The research paper is written in english.

Syftet med denna studie är att genom en kombinerad metod undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar konsumenters beslutsprocesser samt vad konsumenter upplever som inträngande på den personliga integriteten, i kontexten av personaliserad marknadsföring. För att uppnå studiens syfte har ett visst antal konsumenter undersökts genom semistrukturerade intervjuer samt via en enkät. Resultaten visar att tillförlitlighet, diverse betalningsalternativ, leverans- och returpolicyer samt olika förmåner är faktorer som påverkar konsumenters beslutsprocesser. Ännu en slutsats är att konsumenter upplever marknadsföring och erbjudanden om produkter och/eller tjänster de endast talat om som inträngande på den personliga integriteten. Dessa slutsatser baseras på respondenternas egna åsikter och tidigare upplevelser. / The purpose of this study is to, by using a combined method, investigate which factors influence consumers' decision-making processes and what consumers perceive as intrusive on personal integrity, in the context of personalized marketing. To achieve the purpose of the study, a certain number of consumers were surveyed through semi structured interviews and via a questionnaire. The results show that reliability, various payment options, delivery- and return policies and various benefits, are factors that affect consumers' decision-making processes. Another conclusion is that consumers experience marketing and offers of products and/or services they have only talked about as intrusive on personal privacy. These conclusions are based on the respondents' own opinions and previous experiences.

Intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) are computer programs that model individual learners and adapt instruction to help each learner differently. One way ITSs differ from human tutors is that few ITSs give learners a way to ask questions. When learners can ask for help, their questions have the potential to improve learning directly and also act as a new source of model data to help the ITS personalize instruction. Inquiry modeling gives ITSs the ability to answer learner questions and refine their learner models with an inexpensive new input channel. In order to support inquiry modeling, an advanced planning formalism is applied to ITS learner modeling. Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) differ from more widely used ITS architectures because they can plan complex action sequences in uncertain situations with machine learning. Tractability issues have previously precluded POMDP use in ITS models. This dissertation introduces two improvements, priority queues and observation chains, to make POMDPs scale well and encompass the large problem sizes that real-world ITSs must confront. A new ITS was created to support trainees practicing a military task in a virtual environment. The development of the Inquiry Modeling POMDP Adaptive Trainer (IMP) began with multiple formative studies on human and simulated learners that explored inquiry modeling and POMDPs in intelligent tutoring. The studies suggest the new POMDP representations will be effective in ITS domains having certain common characteristics. iv Finally, a summative study evaluated IMP’s ability to train volunteers in specific practice scenarios. IMP users achieved post-training scores averaging up to 4.5 times higher than users who practiced without support and up to twice as high as trainees who used an ablated version of IMP with no inquiry modeling. IMP’s implementation and evaluation helped explore questions about how inquiry modeling and POMDP ITSs work, while empirically demonstrating their efficacy

Digitaliseringen och dess teknologiska utveckling har gett upphov till nya digitala lösningar, däribland AR (Augmented Reality) är ett av de digitala verktyg som under de senaste åren fått en ökad uppmärksamhet bland både chefer och forskare. Augmented reality är ett virtuellt verktyg vars innehåll integreras i en användares uppfattning om den verkliga världen. Tidigare forskning har riktat en stor del av sitt fokus på AR och dess implementering som marknadsföringsstrategi, inom främst möbel- och accessoarindustrin, där modebranschen däremot inte givits samma typ av uppmärksamhet. Detta påpekar även forskarna själva, och som menar att det på grund av detta kan medföra en stor risk då konsumenters möjlighet att prova och interagera med produkten innan köp, därmed begränsas. Forskning kring att undersöka och förklara den psykologiska mekanismen bakom konsumenters mentala process gentemot virtuell provning, är även det begränsat inom modebranschen. Denna studie syftar därav till att utveckla en vidare förståelse kring vilken typ av effekt, AR genom virtuell klädprovning kan ha, dels på konsumentens upplevelse dels på dess köpbeslutsprocess.  För denna studie har en kvalitativ metod implementerats där datainsamlingen skett genom tolv utförda semistrukturerade intervjuer, på informanter i åldrarna 18-30 år. Det studien kom fram till var att AR implementerat på virtuell klädprovning, visat sig ge en positiv effekt på majoriteten av informanternas upplevelse och köpbeslutsprocess. / Digitization and its technological development have given rise to new digital solutions, among which AR (Augmented Reality) is one of the digital tools that in recent years has received increased attention among both managers and researchers. Augmented reality is a virtual tool whose content is integrated into a user's perception of the real world. Previous research has directed a large part of its focus on AR and its implementation as a marketing strategy, mainly within the furniture and accessories industry, where the fashion industry, on the other hand, has not been given the same kind of attention. This is also pointed out by the researchers themselves, who believe that because of this, it can entail a great risk as consumers' opportunity to try and interact with the product before purchase is thus limited. Research into investigating and explaining the psychological mechanism behind consumers' mental process towards virtual fitting is also limited within the fashion industry. This study therefore aims to develop a wider understanding of what kind of effect AR through virtual clothing fitting can have, partly on the consumer's experience and partly on their purchase decision process. For this study, a qualitative method has been implemented where the data collection took place through twelve conducted semi-structured interviews, on participants between the ages of 18-30 years. What the study concluded was that AR implemented on virtual clothing fitting, proved to have a positive effect on the majority of the participants' experience and purchase decision process.

A Linear Program is a problem where the goal is to maximize a linear function subject to a set of linear inequalities. Geometrically, this can be rephrased as finding the highest point on a polyhedron. The Simplex method is a commonly used algorithm to solve Linear Programs. It traverses the vertices of the polyhedron, and in each step, it selects one adjacent better vertex and moves there. There can be multiple vertices to choose from, and therefore the Simplex method has different variants deciding how the next vertex is selected. One of the most natural variants is Random Edge, which in each step of the Simplex method uniformly at random selects one of the better adjacent vertices. It is interesting and non-trivial to study the complexity of variants of the Simplex method in the number of variables, d, and inequalities, N. In 2011, Friedmann, Hansen, and Zwick found a class of Linear Programs for which the Random Edge algorithm is subexponential with complexity 2^Ω(N^(1/4)), where d=Θ(N). Previously all known lower bounds were polynomial. We give an improved lower bound of 2^Ω(N^(1/2)), for Random Edge on Linear Programs where d=Θ(N). Another well studied variant of the Simplex method is Random Facet. It is upper bounded by 2^O(N^(1/2)) when d=Θ(N). Thus we prove that Random Edge is not faster than Random Facet on Linear Programs where d=Θ(N). Our construction is very similar to the previous construction of Friedmann, Hansen and Zwick. We construct a Markov Decision Process which behaves like a binary counter with linearly many levels and linearly many nodes on each level. The new idea is a new type of delay gadget which can switch quickly from 0 to 1 in some circumstances, leading to fewer nodes needed on each level of the construction. The key idea is that it is worth taking a large risk of getting a small negative reward if the potential positive reward is large enough in comparison. / Ett linjärt program är ett problem där målet är att maximiera en linjär funktion givet en mängd linjära olikheter. Geometriskt kan detta omformuleras som att hitta den högsta punkten på en polyeder. Simplexmetoden är en algoritm som ofta används för att lösa linjära program. Den besöker hörnen i polyedern, och i varje steg väljer den ett närliggande bättre hörn och flyttar dit. Det kan finnas flera hörn att välja mellan, och därför finns det olika varianter av simplexmetoden som bestämmer hur nästa hörn ska väljas. En av de mest naturliga varianterna är Random Edge, som i varje steg av simplexmetoden, uniformt slumpmässigt väljer ett av de närliggande bättre hörnen. Det är intressant och icke-trivialt att studera komplexiteten av olika varianter av simplexmetoden i antalet variabler, d, och olikheter N. År 2011 hittade Friedmann, Hansen och Zwick en familj av linjära program där Random Edge är subexponentiell med komplexitet 2^Ω(N^(1/4)), där d=Θ(N). Innan dess var alla kända undre gränser polynomiska. Vi ger en förbättrad undre gräns på 2^Ω(N^(1/2)), för Random Edge på linjära program där d=Θ(N). En annan välstuderad variant av simplexmetoden är Random Facet. Dess komplexitet har en övre gräns på 2^O(N^(1/2)) när d=Θ(N). Alltså bevisar vi att Random Edge inte är snabbare än Random Facet på linjära program där d=Θ(N). Vår konstruktion är väldigt lik den tidigare konstruktionen av Friedmann, Hansen och Zwick. Vi konstruerar en Markov-beslutsprocess som beter sig som en binär räknare med linjärt många nivåer och linjärt många noder på varje nivå. Den nya idén är en ny typ av försenings-multinod som kan byta snabbt från 0 till 1 i vissa fall, vilket leder till att det behövs färre noder på varje nivå av konstruktionen. Nyckelidén är att det är värt att ta en stor risk att få en liten negativ poäng om den potentiella positiva poängen är stor nog i jämförelse.

This study aims to explore consumer behaviors and purchase decisions in e-commerce within the fashion industry. E-commerce has grown significantly in Sweden over the past years and the fashion industry has experienced rapid growth in e-commerce, becoming an important aspect of consumers' purchasing habits. To fulfill the purpose of the study, a quantitative method with "qualitative assessments" was used, and a questionnaire survey was designed and sent to university students in Borås University which is located in Sweden. A total of 201 respondents participated and answered the survey that was sent to their email through a platform the University of Borås provides. The results of the respondents provided information that there are some factors that affect their consumption behavior and how they take decisions when purchasing clothes online. Factors such as price, quality of clothes and a website's comfort were essential for the respondents’ consumption behavior in their purchasing decisions-making process. Other findings were that feedback and review from other consumers online can have a significant impact on other consumers' decisions, especially regarding factors such as quality, fit and credibility. Therefore by contributing to a better understanding of consumer behaviours and purchase decisions in e-commerce within the fashion industry, this study can help e-commerce companies develop more effective strategies to meet customers' needs and demands. The results of this study can also contribute to the ongoing societal debate in Sweden regarding the impact of digitalization on the retail industry. This study will be written in Swedish. / Denna studie syftar till att undersöka konsumentbeteenden och köpbeslut inom e-handel genom modebranschen. E-handeln har vuxit kraftigt i Sverige de senaste åren och modebranschen har upplevt en snabb tillväxt inom e-handeln och blivit en viktig del av konsumenternas köpvanor. För att uppfylla studiens syfte användes en kvantitativ metod med “kvalitativa bedömningar”, och en enkätundersökning utformades och skickades till högskolestudenter på Högskolan i Borås som ligger i Sverige. Totalt deltog 201 respondenter och besvarade enkäten som skickades till deras mejl via en plattform som Högskolan i Borås tillhandahåller. Respondenternas resultat gav information om att det finns några faktorer som påverkar deras konsumtionsbeteende och hur de fattar beslut när de köper kläder på nätet. Faktorer som pris, kvalitet på kläder och en webbplats bekvämlighet var avgörande för respondenternas konsumtionsbeteende i deras köpbeslutsprocess. Andra fynd var att feedback eller recensioner från andra konsumenter på nätet kan ha en betydande inverkan på andra konsumenters beslut, särskilt när det gäller faktorer som kvalitet på kläder, klädernas passform och en hemsidas trovärdighet. Genom att därför bidra till en bättre förståelse för konsumentbeteenden och köpbeslut inom e-handel genom modebranschen kan denna studie hjälpa e-handelsföretag att utveckla effektivare strategier för att möta kundernas behov och krav. Resultaten av denna studie kan också bidra till den pågående samhällsdebatten i Sverige kring digitaliseringens påverkan på detaljhandeln. Studien är skriven på svenska.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of how Generation X perceive that their purchase decisions are influenced by their use of social media. Method: The study is based on a qualitative research strategy. A semi structured interview was applied. The semi structured interview was conducted with ten respondents who were aged between 40–60 years and utilizes social media.  Theory: This study contains the following theories: The purchase decision process and eWOM.   Empirics/analysis:  The result incorporates a summary of the processed data that forms the basis for the ongoing analysis. Conclusion: This study sheds light on the intricate process of purchase decision-making among Generation X consumers on social media. In the realm of needs identification, the majority of participants discovered new needs through social media advertisements, while a smaller fraction did not associate need discovery with ads. The significance of information search on social media emerged, with participants perceiving it as a tool to gather relevant information for planned purchases. External information-seeking involved personal, commercial, and public sources.   The study uncovered that respondents react to both positive and negative reviews on social media, influencing their product and service evaluations. Nevertheless, varying levels of trust exist for social media reviews, with some participants dismissing them due to perceived bias and unreliability. Positive electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM), especially from reviewers with substantial followers, enhances the likelihood of purchase decisions for half of the respondents. Conversely, negative reviews, particularly those highlighting issues like shipping costs or customer service, can negatively impact purchase decisions. The credibility of eWOM influences respondents' willingness to adopt or dismiss information in their purchasing process. Negative consumer confidence may lead some respondents to refrain from making purchases. Credibility is attributed to reviewers with a significant following, while anonymous reviewers are perceived as less credible. Comprehensive and detailed reviews, offering nuanced insights and solutions, enhance credibility. Respondents' prior experiences and internet literacy affect their trust in online reviews, and those encountering fake reviews may exhibit more skepticism. In the evaluation of alternatives, consumers emphasize the importance of both price and quality, with social media significantly impacting pricing and product comparisons. Within the category of purchase decisions, the study found that even after consumers make a decision, unexpected situations can lead to changes, such as negative reviews, social factors, and unforeseen circumstances like price changes or sudden shifts in needs. This underlines the dynamic nature of Generation X's purchase decision-making, demonstrating the continued influence of external factors even post-decision

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