This masters thesis titled 'Buying across price tiers in the Australian wine market' explores if the duplication of purchase law (DoP) can be used to describe how consumers purchase across price tiers. The law has traditionally been used to describe how consumers buy across different brands in repeat purchase markets over time. This thesis builds on the generalisability of the DoP law by applying it to how consumers buy from different price tiers in a market where much price choice exists.

本論文之研究動機乃著眼於一般製造業自外界購入材料的金額，佔銷貨收 入的一半以上，所以採購活動對企業經營盈虧有甚大的影響，且採購活動 因下列三項因素日愈重要：一、公司所銷售的產品採購而來的比重愈來愈 高。 二、零組件工業的專業化。 三、產品生命週期的縮短有鑑於此，故 以美、日兩工業先進國家在採購系統方面的作法，作為探討對象。 透過 此項研究，瞭解美、日的作法異同，並期望可供作企業界實施的參考。 本研究以工業採購的七大步驟為研究架構， 即物料的需求、尋找供應商 、徵求供應商報價、選擇供應商、正式訂購、進料管理、及供應商績效考 核及輔導等， 並以汽車業及電工器材業， 每個產業美系廠商一家，日系 廠商二家，共六家作為研究探討的對象。 經由分析整理相關資料後，得 到下列結論：一、在決定外包的考量因素上，美、日無顯著差異，但產業 別有顯著不同， 汽車業為盡可能國內採購， 以提高自製率，使能符合政 府的規定，電工器材業主要考量為外包成本較低。 二、美、日廠商在尋 找供應商的方式上相同，現有產品的新設計發包時， 都是利用現有合格 供應商，全新產品的發包則以供應商業務代表介紹為主。 三、在供應商 的遴選準則上，美、日廠商首要考量因素皆是產品品質， 但次要考量因 素有顯著不同，美系廠商強調工程╱設計能力，日系廠商則重視交貨能力 。 四、在同一零組件承製供應商的家數上，美、日無顯著差異， 但產業 別卻有不同，汽車業以一家為原則，電工器材業則傾向二家左右。 五、 採購合約長度的比較上，美系廠商以一年期的短期性質合約為主，日系廠 商強調長期性質的合作關係。 六、在進料檢驗的方式上，美、日廠商無 明顯差異，都致力於免檢制度的推行， 期望透過供應商的自主檢查，可 不必經由檢驗，而直接送至裝配線上。 七、平時（月或季）的績效考核 上， 美系廠商為品質及交期，日系廠商則較多元化，除品質、交期外， 尚評核成本降低，擴大輸出，配合性或協調性等。 八、在供應商的獎懲 實施上，美、日無明顯差異，但若生產穩定， 內部作業因素影響到供應 商績效較小者，則獎懲方式較具實質性，否則較弱。 九、供應商的輔導 作法上，美、日無明顯不同，大都傾向消極性的輔導。 十、美、日廠商 都以實施 JIT 採購為目標，但生產平穩性較高的廠商， 實施 JIT 採購 的成效較高。

<p>In today’s world, consumerism is dominating all the aspects of our life. In society, life follows the pattern of the capitalist culture where the human values have a different measure. We do live in a branded world. There is no doubt about it. We all make product decisions every day. We probably all have certain types of products of which we like only one or two brands, while we buy other things based on what is on sale on a given day. This inclination to buy branded products is rooted in two basic things: recollection and satisfaction. We remember which one we like by brand name.</p><p>A survey by the Henley Centre revealed that the public trust brand names such as Kellogg’s, Heinz and Marks & Spencer more than Parliament, the police and the legal system (Sunday Times, “A can of worms is a bad diet”, 5 April 1998). This research highlights the importance of the relationship between consumers and key brands; and shows that it has strengthened to such an extent that it is now healthier than the relationship with our social structures. This is evidence of the power of consumer culture and the liberal free market economics of the westernized world. The Brands not just represent the symbol of the company but also to a greater extant defines lives people in the society. What a person uses can reflect his taste, his or her status in the society, his / her economic background as well. This makes a deep connection between the company and its brand, with the consumer. In this two way relation both the company and consumers are dependent on each other.</p><p>The salient of purpose of our study was to find out to what extent brand names influence the consumers’ purchase decisions with regard to high-involvement products. We conducted this study based on theories and survey. We reviewed a good number of relevant theories of brand and consumer decision making process. We also conducted a survey among the students. The respondents of our survey were those students who own a notebook PC, a high involvement product. We used convenience sampling for our survey. We analyzed the data of the survey in order to be able to draw conclusions and find answers to our questions.</p><p>On analysis of the collected data, we came to a conclusion that brand names have an influence on the consumer decision not only in case of notebook PC, but also in other product categories. The overall means of brand equity for male and female student are 3.64 and 3.66 respectively. Both the means are considerably higher than the average of 2.5 on the Likert Scale. So, it is reasonable to say that both male and female students’ purchase decisions are influenced by the brand equity to an extent. The consumers are very conscious about branded products because they have the view that well-known brands are more reliable. This study also explains that customers trust the branded products. Before purchasing a notebook PC people do not consider the lesser known brands. Our survey results show that the respondents previously automatically knew which brand of Notebook PC to buy. The mean of the statement “I automatically knew which brands of this product to buy” was much higher than average indicating that respondents had only a few brands in their evoked set and they ended up buying their top-of-the-mind brand. Consumers opined that well-known brand companies maintain quality of their product. Which is why, brand name affects the customer choice while making a purchase decision. Moreover, consumers also tend to trust well-known branded products. The mean of the statement “When I see an advertisement of this brand I believe the information in it is accurate” was much higher than the average which testifies to the fact that consumers usually trust the brands.</p>

<p>Title: A study about the purchasing process of IT</p><p>Level: Master thesis in Information Technology and Business Administration, 15 hp, EIK024</p><p>Authors: Emelie Johanson and Mikael Lindström</p><p>Tutor: Peter Ekman, Mälardalens Högskola</p><p>Keywords: IT-investment, purchase, decision</p><p>Problem: In the last decades the amount of IT investments increased and has become an important resource within most organizations. IT gives the ability to compete and could also be a condition for many to be able to compete. In different businesses it could vary in where they put their focus when they choose an IT investment. This thesis examines how the purchase process of IT looks. How does processes differs in a bigger company versus a smaller company? From these two perspectives this study examined these research questions: Who makes the decisions whether or not an IT solution should be purchased? What aspects decide when companies are to choose between different IT solutions? Where in the purchase process do problems usually emerge?</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the purchasing process of IT from a business perspective. The purpose is also to see if it differs in a bigger company versus a smaller company and where the problems usually emerge in this process.</p><p>Method: The study is based on a theoretical framework about IT investments and how a purchasing process might look like. It all lead up to a summarizing model made by the authors of this thesis and it shows all the different steps in a purchasing process. The study contains three interviews where two of them were in big companies and one in a smaller company.</p><p>Conclusions: This study shows that depending on the size on a company the decisions are made in one or several levels within the company and that the amounts of levels increase with the size of the company. A smaller company got better possibilities to get information from the end-users and the rest of the staff to make better requirements on the IT solution, which could increase the chance for an IT solution to satisfy their needs. The price of the IT-solution matters in the choice in what to buy and it seems like the price sensitivity increases the smaller size a company is. All company sizes wants long terming relations with a few suppliers. The problem often emerges in the progress to gather the requirements for the IT solution and also in the communication with the suppliers. The problem comes from misunderstandings between the company and the supplier because of different use of language. It also creates problems when there is lack of knowledge amongst the people making the specifications of the requirements for the IT solution.</p> / <p>Titel: En studie om inköpsprocessen av IT</p><p>Nivå: Magisteruppsats i IT-ekonomi, 15 hp, EIK024</p><p>Författare: Emelie Johanson och Mikael Lindström</p><p>Handledare: Peter Ekman, Mälardalens Högskola</p><p>Nyckelord: IT-investering, inköp, beslut</p><p>Problem: De senaste decennierna har investeringar i IT ökat och blivit en viktig resurs för de flesta organisationer. IT ger företagen förmågan att konkurrera och kan även vara en förutsättning för många att kunna konkurrera. Beroende på vilken bransch en organisation är verksam i kan deras fokus variera när de gör sina urval av IT-investeringar. Denna studie undersöker hur inköpsprocessen ser ut för IT. Hur skiljer sig denna process i ett större företag mot ett mindre företag? Utifrån båda dessa perspektiv har studien utgått ifrån följande problemfrågor:</p><p>Vem tar beslutet om att en IT-lösning ska köpas in till företaget?</p><p>Vilka faktorer avgör när företag ska välja mellan olika IT-lösningar?</p><p>Var i inköpsprocessen är problem mer förekommande?</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och analysera inköpsprocessen av IT utifrån ett företagsperspektiv. Studien ämnar även visa om den skiljer sig mellan mindre och större företag och var problem oftast uppstår i inköpsprocessen.</p><p>Teori & Metod: Undersökningen baseras på en teoretisk referensram som ger en inblick i vad IT-investeringar är och hur inköpsfasen av IT kan tänkas se ut. Den insamlade teorin utmynnar i en undersökningsmodell som är framtagen av uppsatsförfattarna, som visar de olika steg ett företag kan gå igenom vid inköp av IT.</p><p>Studien innehåller tre intervjuer på två stora samt ett mindre IT-företag. Därefter har data, med hjälp av undersökningsmodellen, analyserats för att resultera i ett antal slutsatser.</p><p>Resultat: Den slutsats som dras är att beroende på vilken storlek ett företag är så fattas besluten på en till flera nivåer inom företaget, där antalet nivåer växer med företagets storlek. Ett mindre företag har större möjligheter att kunna få in information till kravspecificeringen från slutanvändare och resten av företagets personal, vilket kan bidra till att de har större chans att hitta en IT-lösning som uppfyller just deras behov. När företag väljer ut vilka IT-lösningar de ska köpa in så konstateras att priset har en viss avgörande roll, där priskänsligheten ser ut att öka ju mindre ett företag är. Oavsett om ett företag är litet eller stort så värdesätter de långvariga stabila relationer med ett fåtal leverantörer. Problem är mest förekommande vid framtagandet av kravspecifikation och vid kommunikation med leverantörer. Problemet med leverantör är att parterna inte pratar samma språk vilket leder till missförstånd mellan dem. Det skapas även problem på grund bristande kunskap vid kravspecifikation.</p>

<p>Companies that are facing the global market are put in to new challenges in order to streamline its business. One industry that has realized that changes are necessary is the construction industry, it is an industry witch is far behind the development of introducing information technology-tools systems in there business. It has shown there is a relation between high IT usage and high productivity, which is one of the reasons to why companies in the construction industry should purchase a business system especially for procurement. However, companies that have purchased a business system are facing difficulties in having their employees using it for its purpose. </p><p>People react differently to changes and that’s why variations in quantities exist for usage of information technology-tools. We considered it to be interesting to look deeper into the question: “if the difference in utilization depends on resistance”? And if so: “which factors are behind the variation of participation”? This became a research project for us with the purpose to investigate and analyze the differences of attitudes of the NCC’s purchasers, in different regions in Sweden, while the process of the information technology-tool “Trade” was implemented. </p><p>Our dissertation is based on both qualitative and quantitative data. We carried out a survey and interviews to collect information to our empirical chapter. The Question formulas was created on the basis of our theories and the respondents where also chosen on the same base of theories. To be able to see the differences of the regions, we chose one of the better and one of the worst of using the Trade. Interviews took place in Stockholm and Umeå and the survey formulas was sent internally thru a web based application to all of the purchasers within NCC Construction AB in both Stockholm and Norrland. </p><p>The result of the research showed that in Stockholm the response was more positive then it was in the northern part of Sweden, regarding the use of the information technology-tool Trade. We did not find any strong connection between people with computer habit, their age and the usage of Trade. However, we did find that verbal information contributed to create a larger interest for the use of Trade. Furthermore we found some teething troubles, but also a few errors such as unclearness to what kind of construction site Trade suits for, low performance expectations and unclear informed advantages. These were the main factors for resistance and the difference between the regions.</p> / <p>Den globala marknaden ställer företagen inför nya utmaningar att förändra och effektivisera sin verksamhet. En bransch som har insett att en förändring är nödvändig är byggbranschen, det är en bransch som ligger efter i utvecklingen med att införa IT baserade verktygssystem i verksamheten. Det finns ett samband mellan högt IT-användande och produktivitet, därför är alternativet för byggbranschen att införskaffa ett inköpssystem. Men de företag som har införskaffat ett inköpssystem möter stora svårigheten när det gäller att personalen använder det fullt ut till dess syfte. </p><p>Människor agerar olika vid förändring och därmed varierar omfattningen av utnyttjandet av IT verktyg. Därför ansåg vi att det vore intressant att undersöka om skillnaden i användandet beror på motstånd och vilka faktorer som ligger bakom den varierande mottagligheten. Detta kom att bli ett uppdrag för oss, och syftet var att undersöka och analysera skillnaden i attityden i olika regioner i Sverige hos NCCs avropare vid införandet av IT-verktyget Trade. </p><p>Vår uppsats bygger på både kvalitativ och kvantitativ data. Vi genomförde enkätundersökning och intervjuer för att samla in material till empiri. Frågeformulär utformades utifrån våra teorier och respondenter valdes utifrån teoriernas grunder. För att se skillnaden valdes den region som var bättre samt region som var sämst på att använda Trade. Intervjun genomfördes i Stockholm och Umeå och enkäten skickades internt via en webbaserad applikation till alla avropare inom NCC Construction AB i både Stockholm och Norrland. </p><p>Resultatet av undersökningen visade att i Stockholm var man mer positiv än i Norrland vad gällde användandet av IT-verktyget. Vi fann inga starka samband mellan hög datorvana, ålder och användandet av Trade. Därmed fann vi att muntlig information bidrog till ett större intresse och användande av Trade. Dessutom fanns det så kallade barnsjukdomar som uppstår med nya system, men även flera brister som otydlighet om till vilken form av byggarbete Trade passade, lågt ställda krav och otydligt förmedlade fördelar. Dessa var de främsta faktorerna till motståndet och skillnaden mellan regionerna.</p>

<p>The purpose of this thesis was to increase the understanding of Swedish consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions of functional food for marketers by using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). It was discovered that previous research conducted in Sweden concerning functional food centered largely on motivational factors for adoption, and perception of the health claims made by these products; however there was a lack in research concerning purchase intentions and a use of theory to evaluate both attitudes and purchase intentions.</p><p>Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology were utilized in this thesis. The qualitative research data consisted of 14 short interviews designed to elicit beliefs about purchasing functional food. The quantitative research data was gathered using a questionnaire specifically designed for the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A total of 257 responses were received from students, employees, and members of the general public.</p><p>The results from the questionnaire revealed that Swedish consumers had slightly positive attitudes towards purchasing functional food and neutral intentions to purchase functional food. The results from the interviews revealed that amongst other things, Swedish consumers believed that functional foods provide beneficial health benefits, but they are quite expensive. Doctors and family were viewed as important when considering the purchase of functional food. And price and knowledge were viewed as controlling factors of whether or not these foods were purchased.</p><p>The results provided by this thesis will be helpful to marketers of functional food as they plan marketing related activities aimed at Swedish consumers</p>

The purpose of this thesis was to increase the understanding of Swedish consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions of functional food for marketers by using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). It was discovered that previous research conducted in Sweden concerning functional food centered largely on motivational factors for adoption, and perception of the health claims made by these products; however there was a lack in research concerning purchase intentions and a use of theory to evaluate both attitudes and purchase intentions. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology were utilized in this thesis. The qualitative research data consisted of 14 short interviews designed to elicit beliefs about purchasing functional food. The quantitative research data was gathered using a questionnaire specifically designed for the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A total of 257 responses were received from students, employees, and members of the general public. The results from the questionnaire revealed that Swedish consumers had slightly positive attitudes towards purchasing functional food and neutral intentions to purchase functional food. The results from the interviews revealed that amongst other things, Swedish consumers believed that functional foods provide beneficial health benefits, but they are quite expensive. Doctors and family were viewed as important when considering the purchase of functional food. And price and knowledge were viewed as controlling factors of whether or not these foods were purchased. The results provided by this thesis will be helpful to marketers of functional food as they plan marketing related activities aimed at Swedish consumers

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&amp;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.

In recent years, the internet shopping development is quite developed, what every shopping website developed is quite ripe too, and 3C products occupy sizable rates in the internet shopping. So I want to study that 3C shopping website influences factor that influencing consumers¡¦ will to use the internet shopping. This research base on demography and knowledge about 3C products to create the cause-effect model of electronic service convenient, electronic service quality, customer satisfaction, and purchase intention. Through statistics software, probe into the relationship, electronic service convenient, electronic service quality, customer satisfaction, and purchase intention in the internet. In order to have close look to on customer needs is essential. Overall, the entire model fit is acceptable. It is pointed that the whole theory model of this study completes the standard of the fit test. To sum up, the results shows the indeed influential relationship among the four concepts.The customer satisfaction is the most important factor that negative effect purchase intention in the entire model. The second factor is electronic service quality. And electronic service convenient only leads a positive effect on purchase intention via electronic service quality and customer satisfaction. However, the effect is very small.

Title: “A Study of Factors That Affect Green Purchase”   Due to the environmental issues, green products have got more attention during the latest years and the availability of such products is increasing in many food stores. The appearance of eco-label assists the consumers in the store to buy eco-friendly products which are less harmful to the environment. Eco-labels which are frequently available in the food stores are; The Nordic eco-label (Svanen), Krav, The Euro Flower, MSC label (Marine stewardship council) and Bra Miljöval.  Governments in some countries are supporting these labels to ensure the sustainable development and a better quality of life for everyone, and for the generations to come. A question, which arises here, is that what compels the consumers to choose eco-labelled products over conventional ones. We have short-listed several factors during literature review which can influence the consumers green purchase behavior and these factors are; Eco-motivation, Eco-knowledge, Gender, Peer influence, Price and Shelf space.    The purpose of this study is to get a deeper understanding of the factors that can affect green purchase of food products in the store. Thus our main research question that we want to answer with our study is: “Which are the most important factors that influence the purchase behavior of eco-labelled products?” Along with this main research question we are also interested to know if ‘shelf space’ is an important factor that can affect the consumer’s choice of eco-labelled products in the store. Due to lack of data there is still no clear understanding about the role of shelf space in the purchase decision of green products. To answer these questions we will investigate all these factors and try to understand their influence on consumer green purchase behavior.  This quantitative study is carried out in Umeå, Sweden with 150 respondents and focuses mainly on the food market consumers. We stand on objectivist position for this study and we believe that cross-sectional research design is most suitable to fulfill our research purpose. We developed several null hypotheses and for this purpose we distributed our research questionnaire at the entrance of different super markets in Umeå, Sweden to collect our data from the respondents. We applied convenience sampling with simple quota to this research. We evaluated the gathered data with help of SPSS. Results proved that eco-motivation and shelf space plays vital role (positive correlated) in the purchase decision of eco-labelled products. We have provided statistical evidence that eco-motivation and shelf space induce actual purchase of green products. Eco-knowledge shows to induce interest in eco-labelled product but does not help in actual purchase of eco-labelled products. Surprisingly price and gender has not shown any influence on the consumer green purchase. We believe that our findings and recommendations can contribute in the area of consumer’s ecological behavior research. Due to our sampling technique (convenience) and small size of our respondent we cannot generalize the results of this study.   Key words: Purchase decision, Green marketing, Eco-labeling, Shelf space, Eco-motivation, Eco-knowledge, Gender, Price, Peer influence