The aim of this study is to investigate what factors are important when implementing cause-related marketing within the Swedish fashion retail market, in order to change the purchase intention of customers. Cause-related marketing (CRM) is a widely used marketing tool within the Swedish fashion industry. There has been an increasing trend of using cause-related marketing as part of corporate social responsibility strategy. Companies increasingly believe that associating their corporate identity with good causes can be an effective marketing tool. There is limited research about CRM with a bearing on the Swedish market and the fashion industry. This has given the authors an interesting field for research and analysis. A quantitative method was used to collect primary data. A survey was conducted among customers of H&M, Lindex, Mango and Indiska. These companies were chosen after the observation of a large amount of Swedish based fashion retailers and their involvement within CRM. The results indicate that there is a link between cause-related marketing and customer purchase intentions. CRM campaigns have positive effects on customers by increasing their purchase intentions. Marketing communication, price, customer attitude and fit are important factors that affect the purchase of CRM products. A further investigation can be useful for companies and researchers in the field of marketing strategies.

Recently many academic researchers have become interested in the retailers as part of the distribution channel. Today retailers have grown so influential, that sometimes they take the functions of the wholesalers. The retailers constitute the road for manufacturers to the end market. Therefore, knowing retailers’ decision variables and assortment considerations is important for manufacturers when designing upon their marketing strategies. The study is conducted with focus on the Bulgarian office products retail industry. The purpose of the present research is to get a deeper understanding of retailers’ assortment criteria and analyze how the latter relates to market coverage strategy. Retailers’ assortment criteria concern decision variables such as profitability and sales, economic conditions, assortment considerations, consumer evaluation, marketing, supplier characteristics, competitive considerations, distributive factors, tactical considerations. The meaning underlying the assortment criteria is applied for arguing what market coverage strategy would best serve the Bulgarian retailers of office products. The research is performed employing qualitative method, in particular, in-depth semi- structured interviews providing the possibility for a broad discussion. The results of the study revealed some common patterns pertaining to four main inductive categories including product, brand positioning, promotion and distributor’s attributes. The patterns corresponding to the categories were further related to the market coverage strategy alternatives, namely, intensive, selective and exclusive coverage strategy. The results of the study showed that the nature of the product requires considerable effort from the distributors’ side to persuade the retailers to become customers who are aware of the products’ attributes. In other words, the nature of the office products calls for certain knowledge and skills that the retailers have to gain in order to be successful as traders to their own customers and that can be best achieved if selective coverage strategy is employed. Further, the results of the study reveal that manufacturers of office products that would like to position their brands on the high quality dimension should pursue highly selective distribution as this creates a superior product image. The results of the study also show that greater selectivity is suitable since it guarantees that the retailers’ requirements related to promotion are met. Last, the authors suggest that higher degrees of selectivity is the most appropriate way for a manufacturer to follow the performance of distributors and thus, to ensure that the desired by the retailers distributor’s attributes are present.

The term ¡§Fast Fashion¡¨ has been under the spotlight since the Zara Empire emerged. Zara is one of the clothing retailers under a Spanish textile design, manufacturing and distribution group, the Inditex Group. Zara accounts for 70 to 80 percent of Inditex¡¦s retail sales on average. The founder, Amancio Ortega, has become the richest man in Spain and also one of the world¡¦s richest people. Inditex has 3207 stores located in 63 countries all over the world up to the fiscal year 2005. Zara has made elite fashion accessible to the mass market and has decreased the lifetime of clothing by providing customers new clothes to pick out every five to six weeks. In other words, Zara has made trendy clothing become disposable stuff. Studies and the garment industry call this phenomenon-- ¡§Fast Fashion¡¨. This study aims at clearly defining ¡§Fast Fashion¡¨, and analyzing Zara¡¦s positioning strategy and business model. By analyzing Zara¡¦s unusual structure, this study comes to a conclusion that clothing retailers would need some resources and core capabilities to implement fast fashion positioning strategy. However, fast fashion positioning strategy is not necessarily a competitive advantage for every clothing retailer.

<p>One of the newest emerging areas of research in supply chain management is ReverseLogistics. It involves all activities related to the flow of products from the customerback to the supplier. In the last decade scholars have developed theories and models,however empirical data is still in its infancy. In response, this paper strives to close thisgap by conducting research to create new knowledge on the first element of reverselogistics, which is the product return process. The main intention of having a returnprocess is to handle returned products efficiently in order to recover value and to savecosts. Therefore, it is a value-adding operation and can become profitable for thecompany.The purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation and perception of thereturn process of Swedish e-retailers. Sweden is considered to be one of the mostmatured e-commerce markets. In addition, e-retailers experience the highest rate ofproduct returns. Together those two factors influenced the decision to dedicate thisthesis to this particular region and industry.Initially, this paper introduces reverse logistics focusing specifically on the productreturn process. An overview of the existing theories and concepts within the returnprocess is presented and summarized, resulting in the creation of the Boomerang ReturnModel. Based on this foundation the questionnaire was created. By cooperating with theSwedish e-retail federation - Svensk Distanshandel, access to the industry was gained toperform a quantitative study.It was found that the empirical data only gives insight into the implementation andperception of the return process of small sized companies. The findings demonstrate thelimited awareness of the importance of an efficient return process. Companies tend toperceive the return process as unimportant instead of value adding. Hence, there is anopportunity for improvements in the Swedish e-retail market. From these findings amodified version of the Boomerang Return Model was created to adjust the initialmodel particularly for small sized companies. The model can be utilized as a theoreticalgroundwork in future research. Additionally, it could also serve as guidance for smallcompanies how to implement an appropriate return process.</p>

<p>The aim of this study is to investigate what factors are important when implementing cause-related marketing within the Swedish fashion retail market, in order to change the purchase intention of customers. Cause-related marketing (CRM) is a widely used marketing tool within the Swedish fashion industry. There has been an increasing trend of using cause-related marketing as part of corporate social responsibility strategy. Companies increasingly believe that associating their corporate identity with good causes can be an effective marketing tool. There is limited research about CRM with a bearing on the Swedish market and the fashion industry. This has given the authors an interesting field for research and analysis.</p><p>A quantitative method was used to collect primary data. A survey was conducted among customers of H&M, Lindex, Mango and Indiska. These companies were chosen after the observation of a large amount of Swedish based fashion retailers and their involvement within CRM. The results indicate that there is a link between cause-related marketing and customer purchase intentions. CRM campaigns have positive effects on customers by increasing their purchase intentions. Marketing communication, price, customer attitude and fit are important factors that affect the purchase of CRM products. A further investigation can be useful for companies and researchers in the field of marketing strategies.</p>

<p>Recently many academic researchers have become interested in the retailers as part of the distribution channel. Today retailers have grown so influential, that sometimes they take the functions of the wholesalers. The retailers constitute the road for manufacturers to the end market. Therefore, knowing retailers’ decision variables and assortment considerations is important for manufacturers when designing upon their marketing strategies. The study is conducted with focus on the Bulgarian office products retail industry. The purpose of the present research is to get a deeper understanding of retailers’ assortment criteria and analyze how the latter relates to market coverage strategy. Retailers’ assortment criteria concern decision variables such as profitability and sales, economic conditions, assortment considerations, consumer evaluation, marketing, supplier characteristics, competitive considerations, distributive factors, tactical considerations. The meaning underlying the assortment criteria is applied for arguing what market coverage strategy would best serve the Bulgarian retailers of office products. The research is performed employing qualitative method, in particular, in-depth semi- structured interviews providing the possibility for a broad discussion.</p><p>The results of the study revealed some common patterns pertaining to four main inductive categories including product, brand positioning, promotion and distributor’s attributes. The patterns corresponding to the categories were further related to the market coverage strategy alternatives, namely, intensive, selective and exclusive coverage strategy. The results of the study showed that the nature of the product requires considerable effort from the distributors’ side to persuade the retailers to become customers who are aware of the products’ attributes. In other words, the nature of the office products calls for certain knowledge and skills that the retailers have to gain in order to be successful as traders to their own customers and that can be best achieved if selective coverage strategy is employed. Further, the results of the study reveal that manufacturers of office products that would like to position their brands on the high quality dimension should pursue highly selective distribution as this creates a superior product image. The results of the study also show that greater selectivity is suitable since it guarantees that the retailers’ requirements related to promotion are met. Last, the authors suggest that higher degrees of selectivity is the most appropriate way for a manufacturer to follow the performance of distributors and thus, to ensure that the desired by the retailers distributor’s attributes are present.</p>

Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Canadian youth has increased considerably over the past few decades. In spite of considerable efforts, individual-level behavioural modification strategies have not been successful at preventing and treating obesity in youth. Research is emerging that has shifted attention to the environmental-level determinants of obesity. There is some evidence that the number and types of food retailers in a given neighbourhood may impact obesity risk in the individuals living in that neighbourhood, but little is known about the impact of the food retail environment on Canadian youth. Objectives: 1) To describe the food environment surrounding the school neighbourhoods of Canadian youth (grades 6 to 10), and, determine whether access to food retailers around schools differs by area-level SES. 2) To determine whether the number and type of food retailers surrounding schools is related to the overweight status of the students attending those schools. Each of these objectives was explored in a separate manuscript. Methods: A trend test was performed to determine if exposure to food retailers varied by neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES) for 188 schools across Canada. Logistic regression was performed using a multilevel modeling approach to determine if an association existed between exposure to food retailers and overweight and obesity in the 7,281 school-aged youth attending the 188 schools, adjusting for individual- and area-level covariates. Types of food retailers considered included: full-service restaurants, fast food restaurants, sub/sandwich shops, donut/coffee shops, convenience stores, and grocery stores. Results: Objective 1. Nearly 75% of schools had at least one food retailer within 1 km of schools, and over 90% had at least one food retailer within 5 km. Exposure to the different types of food retailers within 1 km of schools did not vary significantly (p<0.05) across schools in low, moderate, and high SES neighbourhoods, with the exception of full-service restaurants. At the 5 km distance, the SES gradient was significant across all food retailer types, with low SES neighbourhoods exposed to the least number of food retailers. This effect disappeared when population density (number of retailers per 10,000 people) was considered, except for sub/sandwich shops and donut/coffee shops. Objective 2. Increased exposure to all six types of food retailers in the neighbourhoods surrounding schools was associated with a decreased likelihood of overweight and obesity. At the 1 km distance, the total number of food retailers had the strongest protective effect, while individual types of food retailers had a stronger effect at the 5 km distance. Conclusions: Objective 1. Most students in Canada have at least one food retailer within walking distance of their school. The food retail environment surrounding schools is not significantly impacted by the neighbourhood SES. Objective 2. Increased exposure to different types of food retailers in school neighbourhoods is associated with a decreased likelihood of overweight and obesity in Canadian youth. This suggests that having access to a large number and variety of food choices may facilitate healthy food choices and protect against the development of overweight and obesity. / Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-26 10:25:11.453

Bokakademin i Östergötland AB möter framtiden – En studie av studenters köpbeteende vad gäller kurslitteratur och ett förslag på marknadsföringsstrategi för Bokakademin (Bokakademin i Östergötland AB meets the future – A study of students’ purchasing behaviour regarding textbooks and a proposal for a marketing strategy for Bokakademin) Authors: Fabian Hamnqvist and Emma Svensson Bachelor’s thesis in business administration Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, 2013 Supervisor: Mehran Noghabai Abstract This paper examines the competition arising from online textbook retailers met by physical college bookstores. The paper examines the implications of college students' purchasing behaviour when buying textbooks, how a specific corporate clientele is composed and the purchasing habits of these customers to the specific company in question. The company used as a practical example is a bookstore located on a university campus of Linköping University in Sweden. Data have been collected using a paper and pen survey of 200 students from Linköping University as well as conducting interviews with eight students and the Managing Director of the company in question. Empirical findings about the students’ purchasing behaviour are presented and these are accompanied by several theories about consumers and companies’ marketing activities. This paper presents a proposal for a marketing strategy for the company in question and considers how this particular bookstore should deal with the new market environment where online sales have increased rapidly. / Bakgrund Denna kandidatuppsats presenterar en marknadsundersökning genomförd vid Linköpings universitet. Fokus har legat på en specifik butik på Campus Valla och dess konkurrenssituation samt kundkrets, nämligen en butik tillhörande företaget Bokakademin i Östergötland AB, Bokakademin fortsättningsvis. Denna marknadsundersökning har genomförts våren år 2013 under författarnas sista termin på sin kandidatutbildning inom ämnesområdet företagsekonomi. Företagets VD har uppfattningen om att företaget står inför en hård konkurrens och vill därför informera sig om marknaden. Författarnas avsikt med denna undersökning har varit att kunna ge företaget en ökad förståelse för sin konkurrenssituation och ny kunskap om sina kunder. Bokakademin bedriver försäljning av kurslitteratur till studenter och på grund av internets utbredning råder idag mer transparens på marknaden än tidigare. Forskning har visat att kunder har blivit mer krävande och att de inte uppvisar en hög grad av lojalitet till återförsäljare, det råder alltså ökad konkurrens och en minskad kundlojalitet på den marknad som Bokakademins är verksam på. Av dessa skäl menar författarna att det är av relevans och intresse att undersöka och studera detta ämne, detta styrks av att tidigare forskning har bedrivits inom området. Syfte Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka studenters köpbeteende vid köp av kurslitteratur samt att utifrån denna information föreslå en lämplig marknadsföringsstrategi för Bokakademin att möta den nya marknadssituationen. Metod Den metodansats som uppsatsen har utgått ifrån är av induktiv karaktär då den har haft sin utgångspunkt i empiri, den empiriska data som har samlats in har legat till grund för den marknadsföringsstrategi som presenteras i uppsatsen. Det underlag som uppsatsen har baserats på har i första hand utgjorts av en enkätundersökning omfattande 200 respondenter ur Bokakademins potentiella kundkrets och målgrupp. Dessa respondenter har fått besvara frågor rörande deras köpvanor och köppreferenser vid köp av kurslitteratur, en kvantitativ undersökning har med andra ord genomförts. Utöver detta har en intervju med bokhandelns VD samt åtta stycken uppföljningsintervjuer med utvalda respondenter genomförts. Samtliga intervjuer har varit av mer samtalsliknande karaktär och kan anses utgöra kvalitativa informationskällor. Genom intervjuerna har författarna erhållit ytterligare data angående Bokakademin och dess kundkrets. För att uppnå ett mer kvalitativt djup i denna undersökning har författarna valt ut en respondent för att sedan jämföra denna persons uppfattning om hur mycket pengar denne spenderar på kurslitteratur per termin mot vad denne, enligt inhämtad kurs- och prisinformation, borde spendera på kurslitteratur per termin. Vad gäller den teori som presenteras i denna uppsats utgörs den främst av grundläggande teorier presenterade i Jobber och Fahy (2009) samt Blackwell et al. (2006). Denna litteratur har kompletterats med teoriavsnitt som återger teorier samt forskning av exempelvis Kotler (1999), Kotler et al. (2013), Wilson et al. (2012), Foucault och Scheufele (2002) samt Parment (2013).

Many rural districts are facing economic decline because of a range of factors such as demographic change, changing socio-economic development patterns, farm amalgamations, the entry of large retail businesses, the so called ‘Big Box Retailing’ (BBRs), and a decline in rural infrastructure investment. These factors in turn affect the viability of many small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the primary employers and the engines for economic growth and employment in rural districts. The combined effect of these processes is that many rural districts struggle to keep young people, maintain economic and social diversity and attract new settlers and investment. This thesis seeks to answer the question as to how large scale retail businesses, rural farm amalgamations and declining rural populations impact on the viability of SME retail businesses in rural areas. In order to answer this question, this study identifies the key factors, which affect the future viability of small-to-medium sized retail businesses in sparsely populated rural districts using the South Taranaki District as a case study. The role of economic development agencies and district councils is also examined using case studies of small towns in rural districts of Australia and the United States of America (USA). This study found a number of factors affect the future viability of small-to-medium sized retail businesses in sparsely populated rural districts. For the South Taranaki district, these factors include the arrival of large-scale supermarkets, followed by large scale retail chains such as The Warehouse. These factors, combined with changing rural population structures and economic ‘spikes’ relating to sporadic energy development, have significant implications for the long term viability of many SMEs in the district. Case studies of similar rural districts in the USA and Australia provided examples of strategies that could be used to manage these impacts. This thesis recommends policies, initiatives and strategies that may be considered by territorial local authorities, regional councils and central governments to help address the economic development challenges facing rural districts.

We adopt a Penrosean perspective to study the effect of rapid international expansion on the subsequent divestment of international operations. We draw on regional strategy theory and differentiate Penrosean managerial resources by their geographical fungibility to argue that the effect of rapid international expansion on the divestment of international operations varies with the regional patterns of firms' international expansion and international experience. We test our hypotheses using two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimation on data that capture the international expansion and divestment of retailers over the period 2003-2012.