The online consumer engagement is becoming very significant for companies striving to build their relationship with their consumers. Social media gives an opportunity not only to reach consumers in a passive way, but to engage them in active communication and to upload content that is consequently updated and drawing followers´ attention. Successful online consumer engagement can improve consumers’ loyalty and trust in the brand. Therefore, it is important for a company to be aware of actions that can encourage consumer engagement on social media. The goal of this study is to help marketers achieve higher consumer engagement that will consequently lead to more loyal customers.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The goal of this study was to develop a demographic profile of food co-op shoppers and to assess the relationship between policy importance ratings and two measures of shopper involvement. A survey measuring co-op shopper demographic characteristics, ratings of co-op environment and ratings of the importance of 13 co-op policies was completed by 283 food co-op shoppers in the fall of 1983 at the Food Conspiracy Co-op in Tucson Arizona. Overall, the strongest distinction between working members and non-members was a tendency for members to spend more at the food co-op. The two groups were similar demographically and similar in their ratings of the quality of food co-op atmosphere. Both groups rated range of co-op policies as important factors in store selection. These co-op policies were equally important to both members and non-members, and the importance ratings were largely unaffected by length of involvement with the organization.

No description available.

No description available.

We present a novel marketing method for consumer trend detection from online user generated content, which is motivated by the gap identified in the market research literature. The existing approaches for trend analysis generally base on rating of trends by industry experts through survey questionnaires, interviews, or similar. These methods proved to be inherently costly and often suffer from bias. Our approach is based on the use of information extraction techniques for identification of trends in large aggregations of social media data. It is cost-effective method that reduces the possibility of errors associated with the design of the sample and the research instrument. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated in the experiment performed on restaurant review data. The accuracy of the results is at the level of current approaches for both, information extraction and market research.

This research focuses on dining experience as an example of experience marketing. In this study, the qualitative research method has been used to derive particular concepts involved in the dining experience from the bodies of reviews. Similarly, quantitative content analysis method has been used to provide rich and valuable information about the concepts explored from the qualitative data. Inferential statistics has been used in the study to test hypotheses about the relationships between elements in the dining experience context. The results indicate that food quality is the most important predictor of the dining satisfaction while service quality may not be an effective factor to create satisfaction. Moreover, social needs in dining experience are more evident in dinners than in lunches. The results of the study reveal the effectiveness and applicability of the online review analysis in bringing new insights from dining experience to contribute to the field of experience economy. / viii, 127 leaves ; 29 cm

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, Durban, 1991.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

Following the deregulation of the Baking Industry in South Africa, the baking industry has since then burgeoned into a highly competitive, cut-throat industry, where survival depends on market share. As a direct result of the government's deregulation of the Bread Industry, all bread producers were forced to review their business strategies and consumer relationships, in order to survive. With an industry characterised by low margins and the notoriously low levels of brand loyalty, the challenges facing industry players in terms of strategy implementation and consumer focus has necessitated a re-look at the way businesses in the Industry operate. This study examines the factors influencing consumer behaviour in respect of bread purchases at Albany Bakeries Gauteng, with the aim of getting a deeper understanding of the drivers, of such behaviour. The study also critically examines Albany Bakeries current strategy to determine if the strategy is best suited to ensure market growth and consumer satisfaction With no formal research having been done on this subject matter, the purpose of this study is to deepen understanding, of consumer behaviour and to provide Albany Bakeries with meaningful insights in this regard. The knowledge gained from this research will help Albany Bakeries make more informed decisions and to support key marketing decisions, going forward The primary objective of this study is to determine the factors influencing consumer behaviour in respect of bread purchases at Albany Bakeries Some of the secondary objectives of this study included the determination of the strategic priorities of Albany Bakeries in relation to keeping consumers satisfied, the determination the drivers of consumer behaviour in respect of bread purchases and the determination to ascertain whether Albany Bakeries was consumer centric. IV This research study is exploratory in nature, to gain insight into the research problem. An extensive investigation into the relevant literature was done. An empirical study was also conducted and the measuring instrument consisted of a self - administered questionnaire. The population selected consisted of bread consumers from the Germiston (East Rand), Pretoria, Randburg and the West Rand geographical areas. The major findings indicated that Albany Bakeries dominates the Gauteng bread market with its product differentiation strategy. The research results indicate that product freshness and taste are the category passport factors and the major influencing decisions when making a purchase. In a deceptively complex and cut throat industry, Albany's product innovation is a key success factor Other main conclusions were also drawn. Albany Bakeries was seen to be consumer centric, with an admirable high level of consumer satisfaction. It was, inter alia, recommended that Albany Bakeries create more brand awareness by increasing the familiarity of the brand through repeated consumer exposure. It is also recommended that Albany Bakeries implement a programme to measure customer satisfaction, on an ongoing basis and to have available a mechanism to translate what customers want into information that can be usable for managerial decision making purposes. Based on the findings, the research study concludes with various recommendations, which provide direction for future research. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.