李艷紅. / "2000年6月" / 論文 (哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2000. / 參考文獻 (leaves 140-147) / 附中英文摘要. / "2000 nian 6 yue" / Li Yanhong. / Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2000. / Can kao wen xian (leaves 140-147) / Fu Zhong Ying wen zhai yao. / Chapter 第一章： --- 導論 --- p.1 / 從一宗訴訟說起 --- p.1 / 當代中國消費者權益運動與新社會運動 --- p.3 / 理論背景：當代中國的國家與社會關係及制度變遷 --- p.7 / 媒介與話語運動 --- p.11 / 論文的基本結構及研究方法說明 --- p.17 / Chapter 第二章： --- 從“消費者保護運動´ح到“消費者維權運動´ح --- p.28 / Chapter 第三章： --- 背景：當代中國的媒介變革與“消費欄目´ح的出現 --- p.35 / Chapter 第四章： --- 身体、故事、表演：媒介與“集体行動框架 --- p.43 / 媒介的´ب´ب焦點轉移´ح --- p.44 / 身体、受難故事與非正義框架 --- p.46 / 維權故事、個体能動性與“消費者運動´ح的公共身份 --- p.61 / 重新發現“消費者´ح --想象的社區，苦難的受害者 --- p.80 / Chapter 第五章： --- 表達、象征性“表達´ح與議程建构 --- p.93 / 《醫療事故處理辦法》進入公共議程 --- p.93 / “電信价格政策´ح進入公共議程 --- p.104 / 議程建构：表達與互動、象征表達與象征互動 --- p.113 / 媒介的行動者角色 --- p.116 / Chapter 第六章： --- 結論與討論 --- p.123 / 參考文獻 --- p.140

The relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and consumer attitudes has been investigated in previous research; however, empirically there is no studies deliberate the role of consumer ethics in order to achieve the CSR, that is, to achieve greater CSR, there is a need to be accompanied with consumer ethics. Therefore, the emergence of consumer ethical behaviour has brought a new perspective to determining the influences of CSR on consumer attitudes. Based on The Theory of Planned Behaviour and Vitell-Hunt theory, this study aims to examine the link between CSR and consumer ethical behaviour, and its influences on consumer attitudes. In order to address the aim, this study explores the relationship between CSR from the philanthropic perspective, and consumers' ethical behaviour. It also determines the extent to which CSR affects brand trust and consumer affective behavioural attitudes. Finally, it examines the role of consumers' ethical behaviour in influencing consumers' attitudes alongside CSR. To address these objectives, this study adopted positivism research philosophy, using a quantitative survey method. The data were collected from consumers who make purchases from the retail sector in the UK. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on the previous literature. Then, 500 questionnaires were distributed, of which 350 were completed and used for the final analysis. Multivariate analysis was employed, with the questionnaires analysed using a covariance-based structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. The findings reveal that as hypothesized, CSR 'philanthropy' is significantly associated with consumer ethical behaviour; however, this study reveals a negative relationship between them. This study also hypothesized that philanthropic retailers have an influence on (a) consumer affective attitudes and (b) consumer behavioural attitudes. This study does not support the hypothesized relationship between philanthropy and (a) consumer affective attitudes or (b) consumer behavioural attitudes. However, the study identifies a positive relationship between philanthropy and brand trust. Consumers' ethical behaviour is not statistically significantly related to brand trust or consumer affective attitudes. However, the relationship between consumer ethical behaviour and consumer behavioural attitudes is found to be statistically significant. Moreover, the study demonstrates a positive relationship between brand trust and consumer behavioural attitudes, and that consumer affective attitudes mediate this relationship. This study offers a number of theoretical contributions to the literature on CSR and consumer ethics. First, the important contribution lies in the attempt to explore the relationship between CSR and consumers' ethical behaviour. This study unexpectedly, discovers the negative relationship between CSR and consumers' ethical behaviour. The possible explanation is that when consumers perceive the company to behave philanthropically, they are less likely to evaluate themselves as ethical because they may attribute their ethical behaviour to the company's perceived philanthropic behaviours. This study further highlights the positive relationship between consumers' ethical behaviour and their behavioural attitude. The second contribution lies in the relationship between CSR and consumers' responses. In line with previous studies (e.g. Willmott 2003; Hustvedt 2014; Singh et al. 2012), this study concurs that CSR positively affects consumers' brand trust. However, the relationship between CSR and consumers' attitudes is not statistically significant. Instead, this study highlights the important role of brand trust; that is, based on this finding, brand trust is the key driver of both consumers' affective and behaviour attitudes. Third, this study discovers the partially mediating role of consumers' affective attitude on the link between brand trust and behavioural attitude; which seems to be an essential sub-process regulating the effect of brand trust on consumer behavioural attitudes. This study also has practical implications. Firstly, retailers are recommended to effectively communicate their philanthropic activities to consumers in order to enhance their brand trust. It is particularly important that they also aim at influencing consumers' trust in their brand because it is the brand trust that would positively affect their purchasing decision. The final recommendation is that management should focus their CSR communication on the ethical consumer segment because ethical consumers show strong intention to purchase from a socially responsible company.

This study has covered the duty to provide pre-contractual information and the right of cancellation, the two important key areas of consumer protection in distance selling contracts. These two protection models are invented to rebalance the distance contract in favour of the consumer albeit differently. The duty to provide information rebalances the contract in terms of information, and the right of cancellation provides the distance consumer with an opportunity to rethink the decision about the contract. The study has looked at pertinent laws of distance selling contracts in England and Iraq. In doing so, the study has followed comparative and analytical methodology, whereby strengths and weaknesses, similarities and dissimilarities between the selected laws under a chosen theme are addressed. The aim is to explore problems and loopholes, which may need future amendments, including legal gaps, ambiguity, and incomplete treatment. During the study, specific challenges related to the theme of study are critically analysed. Apparently, the quantity and type of information required, the time and manner of sending information, and the remedy available at the breach are challenges of the information requirements. Challenges of the right of cancellation are the conditions and effects of using the right. The study has concluded that many aspects of protection under both laws need further improvements. The need for changes is more obvious with Iraqi Law than English Law, where distance selling protection has not been recognised yet.

The thesis examines the enforcement of consumer rights in South Africa, and is set against the backdrop of the underlying principles and theories on the enforcement of consumer protection law. It then analyses the various forms of consumer protection law enforcement mechanisms that were in place prior to the implementation of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, and sets out why there was a need for the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act. The thesis then critically discusses the consumer protection law enforcement mechanisms introduced and/or catered for by the Consumer Protection Act. The in-depth comparative analysis against the consumer protection law enforcement dispensations in both India and the United Kingdom culminates in a critical analysis of the successes and shortcomings of consumer protection law enforcement regime in present-day South Africa; as well as recommendations (in the form of legislative amendments and practical solutions) on how the South African consumer protection enforcement framework can be improved in order to facilitate the realisation of consumer rights. / Mercantile Law / LL. D.

Cause-related marketing is an emerging area within the marketing discipline, originating in the United States in the 1980s. This thesis defines the term cause-related marketing as a marketing strategy whereby the firm makes a contribution, financial or otherwise, to a nonprofit organisation(s) contingent upon the customer engaging in a revenue providing exchange that satisfies business and individual objectives. This strategy may include additional elements such as sponsorship, sales promotion, co-branding and employee involvement. -- In examining the literature relating to cause-related marketing, a need for further research was identified for a number of reasons. First, there is considerable investment and growth in this strategy both in Australia and overseas. Second, academic and practitioner research have indicated strong consumer support for the concept of cause-related marketing, yet there has been limited evidence to date regarding the effectiveness of this strategy, especially in comparison to other marketing strategies. Finally, in an increasingly challenging business environment, marketing practitioners are seeking to explore new strategies and the efficacy of traditional forms of marketing communications is subject to debate. As such, this thesis explored the following research questions: What is the impact of cause-related marketing on the consumer's response in terms of attitude to the strategy, attitude toward the brand and purchase intention? Do consumers respond more positively toward cause-related marketing than toward sponsorship or sales promotion? To address these questions, an experimental research design incorporating self-administered questionnaires was used. The major finding of this research is that consumers may have a more favourable attitude to cause-related marketing than to either sponsorship or sales promotion, however the brand must be perceived to have a natural association or fit with the cause. Further, cause-related marketing has the ability to engender a more favourable change in attitude to the brand than does sales promotion. This change in attitude is affected by the consumer's attitude to the strategy itself. This study did not, however, demonstrate that exposure to cause-related marketing, sponsorship or sales promotion had a significant effect on purchase intention. Finally, neither gender nor personal values have been shown to influence the above outcomes. The findings of this research have a number of practical implications for the effective use of cause-related marketing.

E-commerce is increasingly recognised as an integrated, rather than independent, part of the retail industry. As online competition grows and online marketing activities intensify, the importance of customer loyalty in e-retailing has also taken central stage in marketing research. This study explores the nature and characteristics of e-loyalty and its direct and indirect antecedents. Drawing from the literature on customer loyalty in the traditional, offline business context, it contends that e-loyalty is determined primarily by the quality of the relationship between an Internet retailer and its customers, and the customers' overall satisfaction with the retailer. Relationship quality, in turn, is influenced by the levels of perceived safety, trust and commitment that customers have in relation to their retailer, while service quality, Web site quality and value perception contribute to overall customer satisfaction in this context. Thus, relationship quality and overall satisfaction mediate the relationship between e-loyalty and its indirect predictors. To test these relationships, over 500 customers of four Australian Internet retailers were surveyed online. The questionnaire contains 92 indicators that have been either employed in prior research, or newly developed based on existing theory. These indicators were first factor analysed to determine the underlying dimensions of the research constructs. The relationships between these constructs were subsequently tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). In general, most hypothesised relationships were well supported, suggesting a consistency in the relationships between these constructs across online and offline settings. To this extent, the results indicate that existing offline marketing theories can provide a platform to create a body of knowledge pertinent to Web-based marketing. The results of the analysis, however, also show that not all hypothesised relationships could be upheld. Also, the findings indicate that the dimensionality of some constructs differs, to varying degrees, from what is reported in prior studies. These suggest that online consumer perception and behaviour are likely to differ, in some way, from those in the offline context, signalling a need for more context-specific research into this domain. On the whole, the study confirms the existence and benefits of customer loyalty in online retailing. In addition, it identifies four underlying dimensions of e-loyalty. Dimension 1 comprises behaviours commonly cited as the most prominent and beneficial indicators of customer loyalty (such as repurchase behaviour and word-of-mouth communication). Dimension 2 reflects the level of attachment that loyal customers feel towards their retailers. Dimension 3 indicates customer willingness to adjust their consumption patterns in favour of the retailer's range of offerings. The last dimension is related to customer willingness to move beyond a pure buyer-seller relationship, and to engage in partner-like behaviours (e.g., tolerating mistakes and providing feedback). With regard to relationships between the research constructs, the SEM results confirm that service quality, web site quality, and value perception are major predictors of overall satisfaction, while trust and commitment, but not safety perception, are antecedents of relationship quality. E-loyalty is not found to be significantly affected by overall satisfaction, whereas relationship quality only has a slightly noticeable impact on this construct. The findings thus fail to support the notion that customer satisfaction and relationship quality are two major antecedents of e-loyalty. The results also do not support the speculation that satisfaction and relationship quality are the main mediators of the relationship between e-loyalty and its primary antecedents. On the contrary, e-loyalty is found to be influenced directly by customer commitment, value perception and service quality, and indirectly by Web site quality, safety perception and trust. With online shopping growing in popularity, insights into the dimensionality of e-loyalty, as well as the factors that engender e-loyalty, can provide a useful framework on which appropriate marketing strategies could be developed to enhance the loyalty of online shoppers. To this extent, findings from this research are meaningful not only for marketing academics but, also, for Internet retailers.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

The adoption process is an information seeking and information-processing activity (Rogers, 1983,p. 21). Fashion information which consumers receive from various sources directly affects their decision to adopt or reject a style (Sproles, 1979, p. 173). Research has shown that consumers vary in their use of fashion information sources during the adoption process based upon their level of fashion leadership and demographic characteristics such as age and sex. However, little is known about the influence of cultural values on the fashion adoption process. As apparel manufacturing and retailing companies increase global marketing efforts, further understanding of cross-cultural differences in consumer behavior during the fashion adoption process is needed. The present study explored the influence of cultural values on fashion information seeking during the adoption process. The purpose of the present study was to compare Korean and U.S. college women's fashion information seeking. Comparisons were made on two levels: (1) between fashion leaders and followers within each culture and (2) between Korean fashion leaders and U.S. leaders. The type of information sources (categorized as marketer dominated, consumer dominated and neutral sources) used at the selected stages of the adoption process model as depicted in Sproles model (1979, p. 197) (awareness of object, interest and evaluation) was investigated. Frequency of use and variety of fashion information sources used by consumers were also examined. The subjects of the present study were a purposive sample of 95 Korean and 82 U.S. college women, recruited from clothing and merchandising courses at Chungnam National University and Seoul National University in Korea and at Oregon State University during 1993 Spring term. Data were collected through the use of a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of four parts: (1) fashion innovativeness and fashion opinion leadership scales, (2) questions asking fashion information sources used at the selected stages of the adoption process, (3) a scale to measure frequency and variety of fashion information sources used, and (4) questions asking demographic characteristics of the subjects. The questionnaire was first developed in English and translated into Korean. To confirm the equivalency of the two versions, the Korean questionnaire was back-translated into English. The questionnaire was also pre-tested for clarity with subjects from the same population as the sample. The data were analyzed by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and chi-square analysis. Fashion leaders were those who were self-identified as fashion opinion leaders or fashion innovators. 31.6% of the Korean sample (n=30) and 47.6% of the U.S. sample (n=39) were classified as fashion leaders. Korean fashion leaders were found to use marketer dominated sources at the awareness of object stage more than did U.S. leaders. No differences were found in the type of information sources at the interest and evaluation stages between Korean fashion leaders and U.S. leaders. Through all the stages of the adoption process, the Korean leaders used foreign fashion magazines and non-fashion magazines (advertisements and fashion columns) as fashion information sources more than did U.S. fashion leaders. U.S. fashion leaders showed a greater frequency of use of consumer dominated sources than Korean leaders. No difference was found in variety of fashion information sources used by Korean fashion leaders and U.S. leaders. For both Korean and U.S. consumers, fashion leaders had a greater frequency of use and a greater variety of fashion information sources used than followers. Similar to what had been found with U.S. consumers, Korean fashion leaders may prove to be an effective target for fashion marketing efforts. / Graduation date: 1994

The online marketplace is growing every year. As it continues to grow it is important to understand the interactions between online consumers and online merchants. This study examines the relationship between online merchants and online consumers focusing on how information is passed between the two. With consumers able to search and view dozens of stores in the time it used to take for many of them to drive to one, why are consumers not able to find the best price for the good they hope to buy? By examining past literature on information theory and consumer behavior, combined with considering a 3 x 3 sample of online consumers actually finding items in an online environment, this study will serve as a base for further research on what drives consumer interaction with electronic markets.

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