This dissertation studies important issues in supply chain management and marketing interface research: competition, product line design, and channel efficiency, at the presence of vertically differentiated products. Vertical differentiation as a means of price discrimination has been well-studied in both economics and marketing literature. However, less attention has been paid on how vertical differentiation has been operationalized. In this dissertation, we focus our study on two types of vertical differentiation: the one created by a product line which is produced by the same firm, and the one created by products from different firms. We especially are interested in the so-called private label products vs. the national brand products. Specifically, this dissertation explores how vertical differentiation can affect the interactions among the members of a supply chain in several different contexts. In the first piece of work, we use a game theoretic model to explore how the ability of a retailer to introduce a private label product affects its interaction with a manufacturer of a national brand. In the second essay, we are investigating how an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) will be affected by the entry of a competitor when there are strategic suppliers of a critical component. If these suppliers behave strategically, it is not clear that the entry of other players will necessarily be harmful to the incumbent. In the last work, we pay our attention to an emerging change happening in the industry: some retailers begin to sell their private labels through their competitors. We investigate the strategic role of a retailer selling her own private label products through another retailer. In summary, this dissertation illustrates how vertical differentiation play a crucial role in firms' supply chain as well as marketing strategies. Therefore, it is important for firms to recognize these strategic issues related to vertically differentiated products while making operations/marketing decisions. / text

Con la entrada en vigor de la Ley 21/1995, de 6 de julio, reguladora de los viajes combinados (LVC) se instaura una nuevo régimen de responsabilidad contractual del organizador y el detallista. Ahora el consumidor de esos viajes no sólo mantiene una relación contractual con el organizador si no también, en su caso, el detallista, cuya actuación deja de tener carácter representativo. Ambos sujetos responderán frente al consumidor "en función de las obligaciones que les correspondan por su ámbito respectivo de gestión del viaje combinado..." (art. 11.1), circunstancia que plantea algunas dificultades en orden a delimitar el alcance de su responsabilidad. Esa misma norma establece la responsabilidad del organizador por los actos de los prestadores de los servicios del viaje utilizados como auxiliares en el cumplimiento contractual.Analizados los sujetos responsables, la presente tesis doctoral estudia los supuestos de incumplimiento del contrato de viaje, las partidas de daños resarcibles y su extensión. El trabajo propone distintos criterios en orden a calcular el valor de los daños por lesión al llamado interés de prestación, los daños corporales, los daños ocasionados por el extravío, destrucción o deterioro de objetos del consumidor, los daños por gastos inútiles y costes de negocios de reemplazo, los daños no patrimoniales y los daños por ganancias dejadas de obtener. Cada una de esas partidas e daños merece un estudio pormenorizado. Así, por ejemplo, se constatan enormes problemas en cuanto a la identificación e indemnización separada de los daños por frustración o pérdida de vacaciones, así como la nesesidad de establecer unas circunstancias a las que los jueces deban acogerse para llevar a cabo su valoración discrecional. La tesis propone que dichas circunstanciasd sean el alcance del incumplimiento del contrato de viaje, las condiciones personales del consumidor, el tipo de vacaciones objeto del viaje contratado y el valor residual de las vacaciones. / The Spanish Act 21/1995, of 6 July, reguladora de los viajes combinados (LVC) has established a new contractual liability regime of package travels' organisers and retailers. Now the consumer of this kind of travel is part of a contractual relationship not only with the organiser but also, occasionally, the retailer, whose activity is neither as a consumer's agent nor as an organiser's agent. Organiser and retailer will be liable to the consumer "depending on their corespective obligations according to their field of activity in the travel package" (art. 11.1), whose circumstance arising some difficulties in order to delimit their liability. The same provision states the organiser's liability for the proper performance of the contractual obligations, irrespective of whether such obligations are to be performed by him or by other supliers of services.Once analysed the responsible persons, this work examines some cases of breach of package travel contract, some kind of damages that can be awarded to the consumer and their extension. It suggests some approaches in order to calculate the value of special damages, personal damages, pocket expenses (consequential loss) or mental distress incurred because of the breach of contract by organiser or retailer. Each one of these damages deserves a particular examination. For example, if the organiser or retailer breaks his contract, damages can be given for the disappointment, the distress or the upset and holiday frustration caused by the breach. In this case, there are a lot of problems as concerns identification and separate compensation of this kind of damages, and there is an absolute necessity to establish some circumstances that should be taken into account for the judge in order to perform his discretionary assessment. The doctoral dissertation suggests that these circumstances should be the importance of the breach of contract, the personal consumer's conditions, the type of holidays object of the contract and the residual value of the holidays.

Notre recherche propose un enrichissement du paradigme expérientiel en s’intéressant aux conséquences de l’expérience. Nous soutenons la thèse qu’une approche par le souvenir de l’expérience peut, en partie, pallier les limites de la satisfaction pour comprendre la relation unissant le consommateur à l’enseigne. Notre revue de la littérature s’intéresse à l’articulation existant entre expérience, souvenir de l’expérience et expérience de souvenir. La conduite de deux études longitudinales permet de : [1]. conceptualiser les dimensions constitutives du souvenir de l’expérience de magasinage ; [2]. de comprendre l’évolution du souvenir au fil du temps ; et [3]. d’étudier ses effets sur la satisfaction du client, son attitude et son attachement à l’enseigne, ainsi que sur ses comportements. Nos résultats confirment que le souvenir de l’expérience semble être un meilleur prédicteur de la relation à l’enseigne que ne l’est la satisfaction, que l’expérience soit vécue dans un magasin, un centre commercial ou sur un site internet. Notre travail se termine par la suggestion de pistes opérationnelles permettant d’aider les enseignes dans leur « management du souvenir de l’expérience client » (Customer Experience Memory Management - CEMM). / Our research proposes an enrichment of the experiential paradigm by focusing on the consequences of experience. We support the view that an approach by the memory of the experience can partly compensate for the limitations of satisfaction in understanding the retailer-customer relationship. Our literature review leads us to a better understanding of the relationship between experience, memory of the experience and remembered experience. The completion of two longitudinal studies helps to: [1]. conceptualize dimensions of the memory of the shopping experience; [2]. understand the evolution of memory over time; [2]. study its effects on satisfaction, retailer attitude, retailer commitment, and consumer behaviors. Our results confirm that the memory of the experience seems to constitute a better predictor of the retailer-customer relationship than satisfaction, no matter whether the experience occurs in a store, in a mall or on a website. Our work concludes on the suggestion of operational avenues to assist retailers in their “customer experience memory management” (CEMM).

Background and problem discussion Organizations are today facing an uncertainty regarding how to properly integrate and work with CRM, in particular in regards to attraction and retention of customers. This can be managed through the use of marketing campaigns. There is a lack of practical research regarding the management and how to optimize the budget of marketing campaigns. Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of how small e-commerce retailers within the beauty industry can optimize the marketing budget for social media campaigns. The purpose will be realized through application of hypotheses. Method This study has applied an experimental method design, where cause-effect in regards to how the marketing communication has influenced the customer behavior was investigated. This has been made through applying a modified A/B-test through the use of a marketing campaign, containing of three ads. The ads have been adapted in regards to the pre-study, using a company’s historical transaction data. Conclusion The results of the A/B-test show higher effectiveness and efficiency in the form of CTR, CPC,CPM, link klicks, more purchases, and lower cost per result. This is the result of the adaptation of the ads in regards to the target group. All of the ads in the campaign display a higher value than the Swedish average. This validates the notion that ads adjustments have a positive effect on customer conversion, and as a result on optimizing social media campaigns marketing budget. / Bakgrund och problemdiskussion Det råder osäkerhet hos företag hur de ska integrera och arbeta med CRM, i synnerlighet om attraherandet samt bibehållandet av kunder. Detta är något som företag kan hantera genomkampanjer, dock finns det en brist på praktisk forskning runt hantering och effektivisering av kampanjer och dess marknadsföringsbudget. Syfte Syftet med studien är att skapa en djupare förståelse för hur små e-handelsåterförsäljare inom skönhetsbranschen kan optimera en marknadsföringsbudget vid kampanjer på sociala medier. Syftet kommer att uppfyllas med en rad hypoteser. Metod Studien har designats som ett experiment då orsak-verkan undersöktes i hur kunders beteende påverkas av anpassad marknadskommunikation. Detta har gjorts genom att utforma ett modifierat A/B-test i form av en kampanj innehållandes tre annonser, vilket anpassats utifrån en förstudiebaserat på ett företags tidigare transaktionsdata. Slutsats Resultat av A/B-testet påvisar en höjd effektivitet i form av CTR, CPC, CPM, länkklick, flergenomförda köp samt ett lägre kostnad per resultat, detta till följd av annonsens anpassning till en specifik målgrupp. Samtliga annonserna i kampanjen visar på högre värden än det svenskagenomsnittet. Detta resultat visar på att anpassade annonser har en positiv påverkan på kundkonvertering, och därigenom på optimeringen av marknadsföringsbudgeten för sociala medier.

This cumulative dissertation consists of four papers that investigate retailer switching and identify potential and threat of cross-channel retail services (CCRS) for retail businesses. The first, conceptual paper compares different theories and models of retail quality. It derives the concept of retailer aspects as a framework to measure retailer quality and further discusses how CCRS can serve as a tool to enhance those retailer aspects. The second paper discusses results from a consumer panel survey and quantifies the influence of satisfaction with retailer aspects on retailer switching during webrooming behavior. The findings of this second paper present the two retailer aspects assurance of delivery and competitive product pricing as key determinants for retailer switching. The third paper defines CCRS and outlines a conceptual classification scheme for CCRS assessments – the CCRS Pentagon. The fourth paper quantifies the impact of CCRS adoption and retailer aspect preferences on CCRS-induced retailer switching based on a second consumer panel survey. Results from this second study affirm the existence of CCRS-induced retailer switching. The paper concludes that CCRS can serve as a retailer’s lock-in mechanism, but that the availability of CCRS in retail environments also threatens retail businesses. In sum, the dissertation provides academic contributions and suggestions for further academic research as well as practical implications and management tools for application in retail businesses.:I. Introduction II. Enhancing Multi-Channel Retail Quality through Cross-Channel Services III. What Drives Competitive Webrooming? The Roles of Channel and Retailer Aspects IV. Cross-Channel Retail Services: A Service Classification Along The Retail Function V. Service-induced Retailer Switching – Power of Cross-Channel Retail Services VI. Conclusion Appendix A: Estimated parameters in baseline-category logit model Appendix B: Conditional marginal effects and conditional probability Appendix C: T-Tests for retailer aspects per service example

Abstract  Purpose:  The purpose of the research was to define Product-Service-System (PSS) and Product-as-a- Service (PaaS), identify the challenges and match mitigations with them when closing the supply chain from a B2C retailer’s perspective. The following three research questions were defined:  RQ1: How are Product-Service-System and Product-as-a-Service defined and related to the environmental sustainability context?  RQ2: What are the challenges that B2C-retailers with a Product-as-a-Service model encounter in regard to closing their supply chain loop?  RQ3: How can the closed loop supply chain related challenges that B2C-retailers encounter be mitigated to unfold the environmentally sustainable potential of PaaS business models?  Methodology: A systematic literature review was used for defining PaaS and PSS with an environmentally sustainable focus. The second part of the research is based on a qualitative research method with the use of an interview study setup where 2 industry experts and 4 PaaS companies from the fashion, furniture, mobility and whitegoods industries were interviewed. The empirical data was collected using six semi-structured interviews over zoom.  Findings:  Both PSS and PaaS are focused on providing the product with a service. The biggest difference between PSS and PaaS is that the former is seen as a paradigm shift with regards to linear models whereas the latter is seen as a practical business model to transform a linear system. Based on the intended use, PSS and PaaS are both not inherently more sustainable than linear business models. The standardised definition was further used and integrated for the development of the framework which displays the challenges and mitigations of different levels for an environmentally sustainable PaaS model. The final framework displays 25 challenges. To those challenges, 24 mitigations could be connected. Furthermore, there were 16 challenges that had not been cross validated and a total of 19 challenges that could not be matched with any mitigation. Those unmatched challenges show the need for further research in this area.  Contributions/value:  The contribution that this thesis brings to existing literature is threefold. First, PSS and PaaS are defined and related to environmental sustainability, solving the fragmentation that was caused in prior research. Secondly, the challenges found widen the scope of existing knowledge about PSS and PaaS in a CLSC. Thirdly, mitigation horizons were elaborated on in this research, giving practical handlebars to managers for overcoming challenges in the B2C PaaS field and theoretical insights for matching challenges and mitigations. Additionally, this thesis points out possibilities for future research, with which we hope to motivate other researchers to shed light on under-researched areas.  Keywords:  Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) - Product-Service-System (PSS) - Servitization - B2C Retailer - Circular Economy - Circular Business Model - Environmental Sustainability - Challenges - Mitigations - Closed Loop Supply Chain

<p>  </p> <p>My dissertation is composed of three independent chapters in the field of labor economics and international trade. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The first chapter studies marriage market signaling and women’s occupation choice. Despite the general closure of gender disparities in the labor market over the past half century, occupational segregation has been stubbornly persistent. I develop a new model that explains these occupational outcomes through marriage market signaling. Vertically differentiated men have preference over women’s unobservable caregiving ability. Heterogenous women choose caregiving occupations to signal their ability to be caregivers. My model generates unique predictions on the influence of marriage market conditions on women’s occupational choices. I find empirical support for these predictions using longitudinal data on marriage rates, policy shocks to divorce laws, and shocks to the marriage market sex ratio driven by waves of immigration. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The second chapter investigates Covid19 and consumer animus towards Chinese products. Covid19 has tremendously affected all areas of our lives and our online shopping behaviors have not been immune. China is the first country to report cases of Covid19 and suffers from rising animus in the U.S. In this paper, we study consumer animus towards Chinese products post Covid19 using Amazon data. We tracked all face masks sold on Amazon between Sep. 2019 to Sep. 2020, and collect product information that is available to a real consumer, including reviews. By analyzing both seller-generated (e.g., product name, description, features) and user-generated (e.g., reviews and customer Q&A) content, we collect information on the country-of-origin as well as consumer animus for the products. Under a fully-dynamic event study design, we find that the average rating drops significantly after a product is identified as made in China for the first time, while no such drop is found for products with other countries-of-origin. This negative impact is U-shaped, which quickly expands in the first five weeks, and then gradually fades out within six months. An informative-animus review affects the average rating of a Chinese product both directly (through its own rating) and indirectly (through other future ratings), with both mechanisms supported in data. We also provide strong evidence that the drop in average rating is driven by consumer animus instead of product quality. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The third chapter explores how cultural transmission through international trade affects gender discrimination. In this paper, I propose that international trade helps alleviate gender discrimination. With imperfect information on workers’ ability, there is statistical discrimination towards female workers. Through international trade, culture transmits asymmetrically between firms located in countries with different gender cultures. This cultural transmission benefits women because it transmits only in one direction from more gender-equal cultures to less gender-equal cultures. I prove this by linking the Customs data to the Industrial Firms data of China in 2004, and find that Chinese firms trading with more gender-equal cultures hire a higher fraction of female workers and enjoy higher profits. Similar patterns are not found in Chinese firms trading with less gender-equal cultures. The impact of cultural transmission goes beyond the firms engaged in international trade to have spillover effects onto purely domestic firms. Comparing across skill groups, cultural transmission benefits high-skill female workers more.</p>

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I dagens samhälle har den brottslighet som drabbar företagen blivit vardag och de efterföljande konsekvenserna är många. I Landskrona kommun har ungefär hälften av handelsidkarna blivit utsatta för brott och en majoritet är oroliga för att drabbas. Till följd av denna problematik syftar studien till att fördjupa förståelsen gällande Landskronas handelsidkares upplevelser av oro och utsatthet för brott, hur de arbetar mot problematiken idag samt vilka åtgärder de önskar implementeras. Utifrån resultatet har även åtgärdsförslag utarbetats. För att uppnå studiens syfte tillämpades åtta kvalitativa intervjuer med handelsidkare i Landskrona. En tematisk analys av intervjuerna resulterade i sex teman; oro för utsatthet, utsatthet, förändring, tillämpade åtgärder, rättssystemet och önskade åtgärder. Resultatet visade att majoriteten av handelsidkarna inte upplevde en oro att utsättas för brott samt att det skett en positiv utveckling i Landskrona. Alla deltagare vittnade om en utsatthet för brott där stöldbrottslighet drabbade dem främst. Dock polisanmäldes endast vissa brott och det framkom ett missnöje gällande att anmälningar sällan resulterade i något. Från intervjuerna framträdde även en okunskap gällande hur och när polisanmälningar kan och bör genomföras. Handelsidkarnas åtgärder inkluderar bland annat kamerabevakning, väktare, skalskydd, kommunikation, uppmärksamhet mot kunder och larm. Deltagarna önskar främst mer poliser och väktare i stan, fler bevakningskameror och förbättrad kommunikation. För att öka tryggheten och minska brottsutsattheten bland handelsidkare i Landskrona föreslås 1) utbildningsinsatser om polisanmälan och andra lagar och regler som är av relevans för handelsidkare, 2) ökad kommunikation via appen Säkerhetscenter och 3) ökad samverkan mellan kommun, skola, polis och handelsidkare. Förslag på framtida forskning inkluderar bland annat att liknande studier genomförs i andra städer eller med andra deltagare. / Crime affects businesses everyday, and the consequences that follow are numerous. About half of the retailers in Landskrona were victims of crime, with many fearful of victimization. As a result of this problem, the study aims to deepen the understanding of Landskrona’s retailers’ experiences of fear of crime and crime victimization, how they are currently addressing the problem, and what measures they would want to see implemented. Based on the results, three crime prevention strategies have been proposed. The research questions were answered by conducting eight qualitative interviews with retailers in central Landskrona. A thematic analysis of the interviews resulted in six themes: fear of crime, experiences of victimization, development, implemented measures, the legal system, and desired actions. The results indicated that a majority of retailers did not experience a significant fear of being victimized and that the overall development in Landskrona has been positive. All participants had been victims of crime and theft were the most common. However, few crimes were reported to the police and the retailers expressed discontent with the fact that reports rarely result in anything. The result also showed a lack of knowledge regarding how and when a crime should be reported. Crime prevention strategies used by the retailers include surveillance cameras, security guards, exterior protection, communication, attentiveness to customers, and alarms. There was a desire for enhanced police and security guards on patrol, increased camera surveillance, and communication with other retailers. To reduce fear of crime and victimization among retailers in Landskrona, this study proposes 1) educational initiatives regarding reporting crime, 2) improved communication through an app, and 3) increased collaboration between the municipality, schools, police, and retailers. Proposals for future research include among other things that similar studies are conducted in other cities or with other participants.

The issue of food scandals originating from unsafe food has in recent years caught the attention of the public. Consequently, the number of food recalls has increased, and food retailers and food producers are getting questioned regarding their ability to provide consumers with safe food products. Thus, because the primary responsibility to deal with this problem is the food business operators who have real control over the products within the Food Supply Chain (FSC). Even though food safety has received more interest from academic researchers and practitioners in the latter years, we could identify that previous literature still lacks research on food recalls. In addition, prior research interprets food recalls as generalizable within the FSC and does not have its various product flows in mind. In order to fill the research gap, this study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of food recalls in the context of the different product flows within the FSC from a retailer perspective. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate how the occurrence and the consequences of food recall differ across various product flows within the FSC by focusing on four elements. The elements include the challenges within the FSC to ensure food quality, the reasons behind food recall, the types of food recall, and the consequences they infer. The current study had finally answered the following research question: “How do the occurrence and the consequences of food recalls differ across various product flows within the FSC?” In order to answer the research question and address the purpose of the thesis, a qualitative study was conducted by focusing on Swedish food retailers and conducting interviews with responsible Purchasers within each of the product flows, and additionally, Quality Assurance Managers. The sample of the semi-structured interviews was selected based on the position and experience of food recalls within the retailers. This to assure that the interviewees possessed sufficient insights regarding the studied field to fulfill the purpose of the study and answer its research question. From the gathered data, several themes were derived through the thematic analysis, and the analysis and discussion regarding the elements led us to a conclusion. The result confirmed that the various product flows, and in some cases, even specific products within the flows, need to be taken into consideration when the occurrence and the consequences of food recalls are addressed within the FSC. This is because the different product flows include different products with different characteristics making them more or less complex to handle along the chain and when carrying out food recalls. Even though previous theories assume a general approach, the findings still confirmed the theories regarding the challenges within the FSC to ensure food quality, the reasons behind recalls, the types of recalls, and the consequences the recalls can infer. However, the main differences found between our study and prior research regarding the FSC were that supply chain-related reasons are more commonly related to food reclaims and that environmental consequences are considered an additional consequence of food recalls.