abstract: In this study I investigate the factors that may influence consumer preference and choice in China’s home interior decoration industry. With the fast development of information technology such as the internet in China, it becomes increasingly important to have a more precise understanding of consumer preference and choice in home interior decoration decisions so that companies in this industry can provide better services to meet customer needs. Using survey data from a sample of potential customers and a sample of existing customers of a large home interior decoration company, I find that (1) internet has become the mostly used channel by consumers to gather information about home interior decoration, (2) design style is the most influential factor in consumers’ choice of home interior decoration company, and (3) consumers are more likely to choose home interior decoration companies to provide full services when they are between 35 to 45 years old or above 55 years old, when it is the first time for them to purchase a real estate property, and when they are located in the Eastern region of China. Findings of this study can help home interior decoration companies better understand customer needs and preferences, facilitate changes in their marketing and sales strategies, and consequently strengthen their competitive advantage． / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2015

Never before have we invested so much time and money in our homes as we do today. The growing interest in home interior is partly due to an increase of commercialisation of home and interior design in various media. New opinion leaders have spread out on several levels in society as a result of social media's measureless growth and it is increasingly talked about influential influencers. Considering the increased interest in home interior and the fact that social media has become more prominent, it was interesting to study these phenomena and the connection between them. The purpose of this paper was therefore to investigate how the home is represented on social media and how this exposition is linked with consumption and identity creation for users of social media. In this study, a qualitative methodological approach has been applied in the form of a semiotic analysis of blog posts and semistructured interviews. The study has shown that when the blogger shows and distributes ideals of a home, that often symbolizes status, it shapes users' perception of how a home should look. This can further lead them to such symbolism in their consumption. The daily inspiration from the digital sphere can thus contribute to increased consumption, which further reflects the identity of individuals and how they want to be perceived by others. However, this consumption is not always clear and often does not occur directly, but may come to the surface later on. Thus, the study shows that the consumption of home interior has become an important tool for the identity of individuals. That is, both how an individual sees himself, but also how the individual wants to be perceived by others. / Aldrig tidigare har vi svenskar investerat så mycket tid och pengar på våra hem som vi gör idag. Det växande heminredningsintresset beror dels på en ökad kommersiell gestaltning av hem och inredning i diverse media. Nya opinionsledare har brett ut sig på flera plan i samhället till följd av sociala mediers måttlösa framväxt och det talas alltmer om de inflytelserika influencerna. Med hänsyn till det ökade heminredningsintresset samt att sociala medier har blivit mer framträdande var det intressant att studera dessa fenomen och kopplingen mellan dem. Syftet med denna uppsats var således att undersöka hur hemmet framställs på sociala medier och hur denna framställning kopplas samman med konsumtion och identitetsskapande för användarna av sociala medier. I denna studie har det tillämpats en kvalitativ metodologisk ansats i form av en semiotisk analys av blogginlägg samt semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studien har visat att när bloggerskorna visar och sprider ideal av hemmet, som ofta symboliserar status, formar det användarnas uppfattning om hur ett hem bör se ut. Detta kan vidare leda till att användarna söker sig till sådan symbolik i sin konsumtion. Den dagliga inspirationen från den digitala sfären kan sålunda bidra till en ökad konsumtion, som vidare speglar individernas identitet och hur de vill uppfattas av andra. Dock är inte denna konsumtion alltid tydlig och sker ofta inte direkt, utan kan komma upp till ytan under en senare tid. Studien visar således att konsumtion av heminredning har blivit ett viktigt verktyg för individers identitetskonstruktion. Det vill säga, både hur en individ ser sig själv men även och hur individen vill uppfattas av andra.

Title: Aesthetics as a norm of life Author: PhDr. Helena Jarošová Department of Aesthetics Supervisor: Prof. PhDr. Vlastimil Zuska, CSc. The thesis focuses on body (corporeality), things and private (home) interior as the exemplary areas of a contemporary aesthetics of life. In the thesis, I do consider this relatively autonomous domain of general aesthetics (a field of aesthetic function outside art, according to Mukařovský), or more precisely a sphere of growing influence of all-embracing aestheticization of the world (G. Lipovetsky) not only as a phenomenon, with which we have to deal today, but as a much older process, the roots of which can be traced back at least two centuries to the past. In this subject matter I especially emphasize primary and derived relations of this kind of aestheticization to a public space, i.e. an aesthetic function that originally only supports the main function of a given thing or event can eventually become dominant and independent and finally influence the very domain from which it originated (e.g. female decorative make-up used to be, historically, an accompanying effect of male dominance in the society, later it became a mean of female emancipation or of an individually designed style of life). I also pay attention to a phenomenology of an aesthetic experience;...