This thesis deals with the purchase behavior and habits of consumers in the retail chain COOP, particularly cooperative COOP Hořovice. The work consists of two main parts -- theoretical and practical. The theoretical part solves the issue of purchase behavior of consumer and the factors that influence on consumer during all phases of their purcasing decisions, from a general perspective. Regarding the solving issue work also provides information about private labels, which are typical for retail. Furthermore it includes basic knowledge of marketing research and its phases. The practical part is beginning with important data about the cooperative COOP Hoovice (history, basic information, offered services and private labels). Recommendations for improvements are based on the course of research and its results interpretation.

The master's thesis deals with the purchase decision-making process of consumers in the market of the portable computers. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the different stages of the purchase decision-making process, specify the consumers in this market and describe their buying behaviour. In the theoretical part of the thesis there are described internal and external factors affecting the buying behaviour of consumers and also the purchase decision-making process. Furthermore, the thesis describes the market of portable computers, the current situation on this market and purchase decision-making process in this market. The thesis contains primary and secondary research. Primary research involves the analysis of data obtained from a questionnaire survey conducted in the form of online surveying. Primary research is devoted to the description of the various stages of the purchase decision-making process of the defined age categories. Secondary research specifies the consumers in the market of portable computers on the basis of data from the database MML-TGI.

Globalization has influenced the grocery retail industry and the most impactful changes are the preferences and habits of consumers. The increased consumption of consumers is one of the habits that have created a demand for sustainable products. The sustainable products can be marketed towards consumers by the frontline employees. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how grocery retail store personnel can be used as ambassadors toward consumers that will result in sustainable purchase behaviour. To answer the research question, several interviews have been conducted. The interview with the grocery retail expert aided us in the formulation of interview questions. The four interviews with two ICA stores’ personnel provided us with the empirical data needed for reaching the conclusions. Findings reveal that the involvement of personnel in communication with the consumers has positive a positive outcome. In this way, they can be seen as CSR ambassadors and, therefore, efficiently market the organization. To achieve CSR ambassadorship, employees and consumers must enhance organizational identification. One conclusion is that consumers may reach sustainable purchase behaviour when CSR ambassadorship is developed in coherence with a grocery retail store.

Ce projet de recherche a reçu le soutien d’une Bourse d’études supérieures du Canada Frederick Banting et Charles Best, offerte par les Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada (IRSC).

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, countless studies have been conducted about the pandemic regarding people's physical and mental health, but there is a significant gap on the persistent effects on consumer behaviour. Hence, this thesis aimed to investigate if there is a relationship between the social constraints as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential increased engagement of post-purchase behaviour. The research focused exclusively on Swedish female millennials who are active social media users.    The research used a deductive approach by formulating hypotheses based on already existing theories. The explanatory design was used when aiming to investigate a causal relationship between two variables, i.e., prior to the pandemic compared to today. Further, a quantitative strategy was used by collecting primary data through a questionnaire, which thereafter was analysed through SPSS, using the paired sample t-test. To target the desired sample a convenience sampling method was used which collected a total of 226 respondents, with 197 valid participants. The sample was collected through several Facebook groups, combined with the utilizing of the authors own social media channels. Since this study aimed to measure engagement, the key concepts were converted in the survey questions to more specific terms, by a modified existing scale. Indicators were established to be able to measure the engagement under controlled conditions.   Furthermore, the results from the statistical tests resulted in a p-value to confirm or reject the null hypothesis, followed by a correlation coefficient value to determine the strength of the relationship. The empirical findings combined indicated significant evidence that because of the social constraints since the COVID-19 outbreak, there has been an increased engagement in the post-purchase behaviour on social media for Swedish female millennials. This was confirmed through a p-value of 0.000 in the t-tests for all seven hypotheses. Furthermore, all tests show correlation values between 0.449 and 0.617, which means that all the existing relationships are positive.    This means that during the period when COVID-19 has been an active societal problem with all its effects, the new living conditions have entailed an increased involvement in post-purchase behaviour on social media for Swedish female millennials. If corporations take these changed behaviours in consideration and adapt the marketing strategy accordingly, it  can contribute to increased sales as the credibility of the brand gets strengthened through the transparency that the customer base values.

Digitaliseringen har bidragit till att man inför ett köpbeslut kan inhämta information från en mängd olika håll och i samband med det har forskningsbegrepp som elektronisk mun-till-mun marknadsföring (eWom) börjat äga rum genom att människor recenserar produkter, skriver om dom på sociala medier och betygsätter varorna. Dessa aspekter bidrar till att man kan bygga upp en trygghet inför sitt köp. Inom bilköp har digitaliseringen av köpprocessen inte fortskridit i samma takt som andra varor, men information inhämtas med hjälp av internet i hög grad inför ett köp. Detta examensarbete tittar närmare på förberedelse av bilköp med stöd från online-recensioner och diskussionsforum online och hur dessa påverkar användarförväntningarna. Användarförväntningar (User Expectations) är en del av användarupplevelsen (User Experience) och bygger på hur vi förväntar oss att vårt användande av en produkt eller tjänst kommer att se ut. Inom User Experience Design kan man genom att studera specifika kontexter, som exempelvis förberedelse av ett köp på ett mer noggrant sätt få en ökad förståelse för användarnas behov ur både ett pragmatiskt och hedoniskt perspektiv. Användarförväntningar påverkas av såväl tidigare erfarenheter och upplevelsersom av andra användare, dessutom formas användarförväntningar under själva upplevelsen. Målet med studien är att vidare undersöka hur en digital och social kontext inverkar på användarförväntningarna och utifrån det har en problemformulering med en forskningsfråga tagits fram. Forskningsfrågan för arbetet är Hur påverkas användarförväntningar inför ett bilköp av onlinerecensioneroch diskussionsforum online? Frågan besvaras med hjälp av en kvalitativ datainsamling i form av enkät och djupintervjuer sex av personerna som besvarade enkäten. Datainsamlingen visar att man använder diskussionsforum föratt få ”vanliga människors” upplevelser av bilar och att den största påverkan på hur man föreställer sig användandet är genom andra människors beskrivningar av deras användande i form av hur man löst ett problem eller att med en elbil åkt på bilsemester ner i Europa. Man tenderar att ta till sig information från särskilda användare, baserat på de uppfattas ha en stor kompetens på området eller att de påminner om en själv. Genom att hitta människor som påminner om en själv i forumen kan man med större säkerhet se sin egen framtida användning av den bil man tänkt införskaffa. / There is a digitalization proceeding which affects us in different ways, in order to make purchase decisions we are now able to gather information from many sources. As a result of this terms like electronic word of mouth marketing (eWom) started to appear in science, which means that people have started to review products online or discuss products in online forums or other kinds of social media. This has made buying easier in a lot of ways because one can assure oneself before the purchase through the experiences and opinions of other users. Regarding cars though, digitalizationis not as far ahead as other goods when it comes to actually purchase cars online, but the research process before the purchase is in many ways already a digital process. This thesis investigates the research process regarding car purchases, with a focus on the social aspects coming from other users through online-reviews and online forums to see how they affect the User Expectations. User Expectations is a part of the User Experience can be explained as how we as users build expectations about a product or a service through anticipating the use of it. Within User Experience context isrelevant, in this case the context is how users conduct the research process before buying a car, inorder to reach a deeper understanding of the users pragmatic and hedonic needs. User Expectations are affected by both past experiences and other users and User Expectations is also formed during the User Experience. The aim of this study is to explore how a digital and social context affects the User Expectations and in order to explore this a research question has been formulated which is: When conducting product research before buying a car, how do online-reviews and online forums affect the User Expectations? The research question is answered with a qualitative study through a survey and in depth interviews with six of the survey respondents. The sampled data show that one uses online forum in order toget “ordinary people’s” experiences of cars and that the main impact on anticipating the use of one’s future cars is through usage examples or how another user solved a problem, for example regarding electric cars how another user described how they went on a car trip through Europe only on electricity. The respondents tends to be more susceptible to information from specific users, these users are either regarded very competent or they tend to have a lot of similarities in life with the respondents. By finding other users in similar situations the respondents get more assured and are able to anticipate their use of the specific car in mind.

The study was conducted in Harare as regards Zimbabwe’s mobile telecommunications sector, examining the influence of a selected factors on consumers’ awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the effects that CSR awareness has on consumers. The practice of CSR influences a number of business aspects including firm financials, corporate image, corporate reputation and market share. This study has been ignited by the fact that little evidence exist in studies covering the precursors and effects of CSR awareness from the consumers’ perspective. More so, that Zimbabwe’s mobile telecommunications sector is currently the fastest growing sector accompanied with numerous CSR activities. The present study therefore sought to answer the questions which includes; (i) does ethical consumerism, consumer rights awareness, socio-environmental awareness and consumer generosity culture influence consumer awareness of CSR in the mobile telecommunications sector? (ii) what is the effect of age, gender and level of education on consumer awareness of CSR in the mobile telecommunications sector? (iii) what is the influence of consumer awareness of CSR on corporate image, consumer attitude, purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour in the mobile telecommunications sector? (iv) what is the effect of corporate image on consumer attitude in the mobile telecommunications sector? (v) what is the effect of consumer attitude on purchase intention in the mobile telecommunications sector? (vi) what is the effect of purchase intention on actual purchase behaviour in the mobile telecommunications sector? A mixed research study was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire on 1,100 mobile telecommunications sector consumers in Harare, Zimbabwe. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS with AMOS while qualitative data was analysed using NVIVO. The study results indicate that ethical consumerism, consumer rights awareness, socio-environmental awareness and consumer generosity positively influence consumer CSR awareness while age, gender and level of education do not influence consumer CSR awareness. CSR awareness proves to have a direct influence on corporate image, consumer attitude, purchase intention and not on actual purchase behaviour. The study findings show a direct positive relationship among corporate image, consumer attitude, purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour. The study recognized that respondents are aware of CSR in the form of firm donations, assistance towards social causes, improving the environment, building or renovating facilities, good services, affordable prices and promotional programs. Study results points out that respondents are aware of CSR through platforms such as advertising, sending text messages, firms’ ethical or professional conduct, campaigns and exhibitions. / Business Management / D. B. L.(Business Leadership)

Since the increased popularity of social media, new marketing strategies have been developed by companies and marketers in order to advertise more effectively. This has concluded in a new marketing strategy originated from celebrity endorsement, called influencer marketing, which is implied by various brands today and often used on the social media platform Instagram. Influencer marketing is a strategy where a brand invests in an individual who has a big influence over its followers, with the purpose to recommend a brand or a product. The issue however is that there are thousands of influencers, and companies have to be selective when choosing who to collaborate with. Furthermore, there are studies examining factors which have an effect on attitudes and purchase intention, but very few study purchase behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to study which factors of an influencer have an effect on consumers’ purchase behaviour. This will be done by examining commerciality, entertainment and factors included in source credibility towards purchase. There was also an interest to investigate if certain personality types of consumers were more prone to make a purchase. Because of this, extraversion and self-monitoring were also included in relation to purchase behaviour. Furthermore, two types of exposure will also be examined to see their effect on purchase. For this study a quantitative approach was applied with the use of a survey questionnaire which resulted in 524 valid answers. The results showed that commerciality, attractivity and similarity had a significant effect on purchase, whereas trustworthiness, knowledge and entertainment did not. Furthermore, personality traits are also a determinant factor as high levels of extraversion and self-monitoring show to have an impact on purchase. Lastly, purchase seems to increase if an individual spends more time on Instagram or follows more influencers, meaning exposure also had a significant effect. In conclusion, our results show clear differences in the dominating factors which have been previously researched towards purchase intention. Attractivity is the factor which has most influence over purchase, closely followed by commerciality. / Uppkomsten av sociala medier har förändrat människors sätt att söka och samla information. Detta har påverkat företags val av strategi för att nå ut till sina kunder på bästa möjliga sätt. Den strategi som kommit att bli dominerande bland företag på den sociala plattformen Instagram är influencer marketing. Denna strategi innebär att företag investerar i en individ som har stort inflytande över sina följare för att marknadsföra en viss produkt eller tjänst. Detta görs i syfte att påverka individens medvetenhet och uppfattning om företag men även dess köpintention för att potentiellt utföra ett köp. Influencer marketing innebär dock att en vanlig person utan att behöva vara känd kan ha ett stort inflytande över sina följare vilket resulterat i tusentals olika influensers. På grund av detta måste företag vara selektiva vid valet av influenser för att marknadsföringsstrategin ska vara effektiv. Tidigare studier har undersökt vilka faktorer som har en inverkan på individens attityd och köpintention men endast ett fåtal undersöker köpbeteende. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka faktorer av en influenser som påverkarkonsumenters köpbeteende. Detta kommer att göras genom att studera faktorerna kommersialitet, underhållning och de faktorer som ingår i modellen source credibility gentemot köp. Studien syftar även till att undersöka om individer med en viss personlighet är mer benägna att utföra ett köp, därav inkluderades extraversion och self-monitoring i relation till köpbeteende. Vidare undersöks effekten av två typer av exponering i förhållande till köp. För studien användes en kvantitativ insamlingsmetod som bestod av en enkät där 524 giltiga svar samlades in. Resultaten visade att faktorerna kommersialitet, attraktivitet och likhet hade en signifikant effekt på köp. Däremot visade faktorerna trovärdighet, kunskap och underhållning ingen signifikant effekt. Från resultaten framgick det även att personlighetstyp är en avgörande faktor där hög grad av extraversion och self-monitoring har inverkan på köp. Dessutom uppvisar resultaten att köp ökar om en individ spenderar mer tid på Instagram eller om hen följer fler influensers, vilket innebär att exponering har en betydande effekt. Slutligen visar våra resultat tydliga skillnader avseende de dominerande faktorer som tidigare undersökts i relation till köp. Faktorn attraktivitet har störst inflytande över köp följt av kommersialitet.