The present thesis aims to investigate students’ willingness to share customer data in the fashion e-commerce. Special attention is given to the way trust, benefits and law regulations are discussed in this context. An inductive approach was applied utilizing focus group discussions. The goal of the empirical study was to gain insights in the way students argue about customer data and which feelings are involved. The study highlights findings in the key areas trust, benefits and law regulations. A shift of customer trust from brands to recommendations could be observed. In terms of benefits, focus group participants tend to choose value exchange over traditional rewards. Findings regarding law regulations suggest that the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union can provide control of customer data but no security. Furthermore, consumer behavior plays an important role when it comes to data sharing attitudes. The experiences and observations of the participants may not be applicable to other studies. Furthermore, the study findings are bounded to the European Union. The findings suggest that trust, benefits and law regulations can influence students’ willingness to share customer data in the fashion e-commerce. The study is unique of its kind as it investigates the willingness to share customer data with the focus on students and fashion e-commerce. Hence, this research paper fills a gap in scientific literature and is valuable for businesses operating in the fashion e-commerce.

As the adoption of mobile devices grows around the world, the use of this tool to access the internet and, consequently, interact with a mobile store is also growing. A mobile commerce that is trustworthy tends to have advantages if compared to its competitors and, therefore, better results. This study focuses on understanding and measuring the influence of trust antecedents applied to mobile commerce, in Brazil. The final antecedents found are Data Controls, Website Interactivity, Reputation and Willingness to Customize. The results indicate that Data Controls, followed by Reputation and Website Interactivity are the main influencers of Trust. If Reputation is not considered as part of the model, Website Interactivity becomes an important antecedent. The results provided in this thesis are relevant, since there is a lack of research related to trust in mobile commerce. It has deep practical applications by helping an online business to focus on actions that are essential to build trust through a device with such differentiated capabilities and dynamics of use.

As information regarding origin, production method, and environmental certifications characterize a progressing seafood market, scare analysis has been made to understand market responses. This study focuses on consumer preference for wild-caught and farm-raised shrimp with several attributes. These include the Homegrown By Heroes label and Best Aquaculture Practices certification, as well as other existing attributes including the Marine Stewardship Council and each state’s local label. Also considered are hypothetical labels including Community Supported Fishery (CSF) and National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This study surveys consumers in Kentucky and South Carolina while utilizing a choice experiment to elicit willingness-to-pay measures for these various product attributes. Both wild-caught and farm-raised shrimp are considered since these species have significant market potential. Like previous studies, a strong preference for fresh as well as local shrimp was found. Furthermore, preference for Homegrown By Heroes was found to be highly valued by consumers, as well as the NOAA label signifying a federally operated ecolabel. Consumers were also found to value BAP and MSC certifications, two third-party agencies currently existent in the seafood market. Marketing and policy recommendations are given based on consumer willingness to pay estimates for these various seafood attributes in both states.

Most research on place in retailing and marketing examines retail atmospherics, spectacular consumption, third spaces and logistics. This study lies at the confluence of retailing, marketing, and geography, and focuses on the city as the product consumed by its residents. The study seeks to examine the degree to which the retail landscape of a city affects the residents' perceived value of the city, their urban identity, and ultimately, their willingness-to-pay to live there. In order to answer this question, this study utilized mixed research methods consisting of a survey, based on several adapted existing perceived value scales; an urban identity scale; a willingness-to-pay scale; as well as archival geodata used to map the existing and perceived retail landscapes of Tucson and San Francisco–the two cities of interest in this study. These two cities were chosen because they are on opposite ends of a spectrum of US cities that includes cost of living and median income, among other variables. Results show that perceived value of the city and urban identity are very highly correlated and suggest the existence of a new construct. While the retail landscape in Tucson tends to have a positive effect on residents' affective responses to living there, there results are not statistically significant. The relatively low cost of living may play a role in these expectations. Residents accept the existing retail landscape and tend to make do with the options available. In San Francisco, because residents already pay a premium to live there, the retail landscape plays a more statistically significant role in residents' affective responses to living there. These results are important to retailers and marketers because retail expenditures form a large part of the tax revenue a city earns each year. If residents are unhappy with their retail patronage options, they may spend money elsewhere resulting in a decreased tax base from which to run the city.

High school students often face foreign language requirements, either to graduate from their high school or to be accepted at a college or university of their choice (www.ncssfl.org). These requirements serve as external motivators and may decrease a student's intrinsic motivation to learn a language. Indeed, researchers have determined that extrinsic motivation greatly undermines self-motivation (Deci, et al., 2011). Without intrinsic motivation, students struggle to learn in meaningful ways and fail to implement strategies that lead to meaningful foreign language learning and proficiency. Educators must critically analyze their materials, instructional style, lesson plans and assessments and then remove from the curriculum any practice or task that does not foster learner autonomy that ultimately leads to intrinsic motivation. Further, to foster intrinsic motivation, language teaching and learning must focus on the relational aspect of language, as the use of any language is purposed to communicate needs and ideas with others This report explores how learner autonomy and interrelatedness aid the development of intrinsic motivation and provides pedagogical implications for the classroom. / text

The aim of this study is to quantify the social cost of air pollution in Bophelong Township. Bophelong is a dominantly Black low-income settlement located on the South-western part of the Emfuleni Local Municipality in the Vaal Triangle. In 2006 the Vaal Triangle was the first region in the country to be declared an Airshed Priority Area in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (39/2004). Economic literature reveals that there is a strong positive correlation between poverty and pollution. It is on this basis that the study provides a theoretical background to poverty and pollution. The study makes use of a Contingent valuation method to elicit respondents‘ maximum willingness to pay for the reduction of air-pollution in the area. The survey questionnaire covers three broad socio-economic categories namely, the demographic profile, labour force profile and the residents‘ attitudes towards environmental issues. The valuation part of the questionnaire makes use of an open-ended questionnaire to elicit the respondents‘ maximum willingness to pay for the reduction of air pollution in Bophelong. The mean willingness to pay for the reduction of air-pollution in Bophelong is estimated at R132 per annum. The annual social cost of air-pollution in Bophelong is calculated by multiplying the mean willingness to pay with the estimated total population. Bophelong‘s total population was estimated at 49 408. The annual social cost of pollution is thus estimated at R6 521 856. The regression analysis shows that several factors positively influence respondents‘ willingness to pay. The analysis shows that education, employment and level of income are positively correlated with the respondents‘ willingness to pay. This study indicates that there is a positive correlation between poverty and pollution. Most of the air pollution that affects the population of Bophelong is generated from domestic sources such as the burning of coal and biomass fuels for VALUING THE SOCIAL COST OF AIR-POLLUTION IN BOPHELONG TOWNSHIP heating and cooking purposes. In order to eliminate the negative impacts of air pollution on the residents of Bophelong the study recommends that authorities must begin by ameliorating the poverty situation in the area. On the main authorities must introduce measures that target domestic sources of pollution. Some of the measures that could be undertaken to reduce the impact of pollution could include: (a) encouraging residents to adopt the more cleaner top-down coal ignition method known as Basa-njengo-Magogo, (b) providing free basic electricity to poor households in the area and (c) ensuring that houses are constructed with thermal comfort in mind, as this will minimise the need for space heating particularly during winter months. / PhD (Economics), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

This study's primary aim is to explain Urban Adult Chinese Consumers' preference between foreign and Chinese products. It examines how Country of Origin (COO), Consumer Ethnocentrism (CE) and Consumer Animosity (CA) influence Urban Adult Chinese Consumers' product preference and willingness to buy. The existing knowledge is divided on this issue. By reviewing the relevant literature, it is clear that there are two completely different approaches of investigating the impact of COO on Chinese consumers. The researcher of this current study classified the two opposing methods as 'the simplistic approach' and 'the cautious approach'. Studies follow 'the simplistic approach' firmly believe Chinese consumers overwhelmingly evaluate foreign products positively and they have a strong preference for foreign products. Research follows 'the cautious approach' argues that Chinese consumers' complexity and internal differences cannot be ignored, some of them prefer Chinese products and they cannot be simply considered as in favour of foreign products. Past studies all concluded that Chinese consumers hold low to moderate level of CE beliefs. However, two investigations concluded Chinese consumers harbour strong animosity towards the Japanese. This study follows the philosophical understanding of pragmatism. The research questions are the most important factors that determine the research strategy and quantitative and qualitative methods can complement each other to address the research problem. This study employs a concurrent embedded mixed methods research strategy that consists of a street survey and semi-structured interviews. Due to the distribution pattern of the quantitative data, this study used non-parametric analysis methods including: Chi-Square Test for Independence, Spearman's Rank Order Correlations, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis Test. The qualitative section of the investigation focuses on four issues: how Urban Adult Chinese Consumers (UACC) determine whether a product is foreign or Chinese, sources and background of animosity, the impact of domestic alternatives and areas for Chinese products to improve. This study discovered that UACC's preference between foreign and Chinese products remain divided. They cannot be simply considered overwhelmingly in favour of foreign products or prefer Chinese products. For those UACC have a preference for foreign products, quality and design are the main two reasons. Desire to support China's domestic industry and patriotism are the main driving forces behind some UACC's preference of Chinese products. UACC holds low to moderate level of CE beliefs, which suggests they are worldminded consumers that capable of evaluate foreign products based on merits, without strong negative bias. UACC have strong animosity towards the Japanese, but antagonistic sentiments towards the Americans and French are relatively low. There are complex sources of animosity and this study identified a wide range of factors that contributed to UACC's strong animosity towards the Japanese. The main area of original contribution of this study concentrates on Consumer Animosity. It discovered a wide range of sources of animosity towards the Japanese and constructed an enhanced animosity model.

Intensive research activities in low-income countries during the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990) led to the conclusion that cost recovery is a prerequisite for the sustainability of water services provision. The challenges for cost recovery are greater in urban areas of low-income countries where, it is projected, 88% of all the increase in global population will live by 2015. In spite of these challenges, available data show that the bill collection efficiency in selected urban water utilities in Africa in 1996/97 ranged from as low as 50%. This study used empirical data, obtained through a cross-sectional survey in eleven towns in Uganda, to establish the influence of customer perceptions on bill payment behaviour. Using qualitative methods, a questionnaire was developed, pretested, piloted and refined, before it was sent to a probability sample of 690 registered customers of an urban water utility. Regression analysis of the obtained results showed that customer perceptions of technical quality, functional quality, service value and corporate image are individually strongly related to customer satisfaction. Correspondingly, service value and customer satisfaction predict substantial variation in customer loyalty, which in turn is a predictor of bill payment behaviour. Furthermore, gender, level of education, and type of occupation of the head of household, together with tenure status and household income, moderate the satisfaction/loyalty relationship. Findings of this research also highlighted the relative importance to customers of urban water utilities of such software attributes as: (i) how interface staff relate to customers during service encounters; (ii) how easy it is to transact with the utility, and (iii) the image organisational personalities project to the public. These findings have one major implication for supply-driven managers of water utilities: Similar to other services, customer orientation will improve profitability ratios in the urban water sector of low-income countries.

Marketing literature has propagated “customer-participation” and “co-production” in the seller-buyer framework since the 1970s (Lovelock and Young 1979), yet marketing knowledge gaps exist in this area. Recent management research emphasise the need to re-evaluate how value is created for consumers and to consider the close nature of the interactions between buyers and sellers (Payne et al 2008). Vargo and Lusch’s (2004) proposed service-dominant logic reiterates this need, arguing that the “customer is always the co-creator of value”, as they are part of the system that delivers value. Understanding value co-creation is then important to management research, as it uncovers new opportunities to create “value” for customers. This also enables firms to formulate better pricing strategies. This thesis examines value co-creation attributes and how they may impact on the customer’s willingness to pay. Three studies utilising qualitative and quantitative methods have been conducted to address the research question. The first two studies employed qualitative methods to derive insights into value co-creation attributes from a comparative case study perspective under two different service contexts; the defence and healthcare industries. The third study, conducted under the higher education context, employed quantitative methods to gauge the impact of value co-creation attributes on the customers’ willingness to pay. The qualitative studies found six generic value co-creation attributes, while the quantitative study empirically verified the importance of value co-creation attributes and the fact that they may impact on the customer’s willingness to pay for a service. This thesis validates that value co-creation is important in service provision. As customers become increasingly informed and empowered, a deeper understanding of how customers co-create value with the firm is then central to marketing activities, specifically in how firms design and price their services. Therefore, this thesis contributes to marketing knowledge by proposing value co-creation attributes that have both theoretical and managerial implications.

Syfte: Vår studie tar avstamp i det som tidigare forskning beskrivit som ett gap mellan konsumenters attityd och beteende till etisk konsumtion. Utifrån en efterfråga om ytterligare kartläggning och en upplevd avsaknad av studier som undersöker betydelsen av kunskap för betalningsvilja och konsumtion till fairtrade-produkter har vi därför formulerat följande syfte: "Syftet med studien är att få djupare förståelse för förhållandet mellan konsumenters kunskap om etisk märkning och deras konsumtion samt betalningsvilja för etiskt märkta-produkter." Metod: En enkätundersökning utfördes på Ica Maxi i Gävle där 143 slumpvis valda respondenter deltog. Respondenterna fick besvara frågor angående deras subjektiva ochobjektiva kunskap i avseende till fairtrade och därefter värdesätta priset för märkningen på tre utvalda produkter; banan, kaffe och honung. Utifrån detta kunde ett förhållande utläsas mellan kunskap och betalningsvilja. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet av vår undersökning visar ett positiv samband mellan konsumentkunskap och betalningsvilja samt konsumtion. Objektiv kunskap hade en större positiv påverkan på respondenternas betalningsvilja för fairtrade-produkter medan subjektiv kunskap hade större påverkan på uppskattad konsumtion och inställning. Fortsättningsvis kunde vi utläsa en generellt förhöjd betalningsvilja för fairtrade på samtliga utvalda produkter. Förslag till vidare forskning: Vi har i denna studie inte mätt respondenternas faktiska betalningsvilja eller faktiska konsumtion. Vidare forskning skulle således kunna undersöka betydelsen av kunskap om etisk märkning för betalningsviljan i verkliga marknadssituationer. Uppsatsens bidrag: Denna studie pekar på vikten av konsumentkunskap för etisk konsumtion. Bidraget är förståelsen för rollen objektiv och subjektiv kunskap spelar för att få konsumenter att inkludera etiskt märkta produkter i deras konsumentval samt  vara villiga att betala det pris premium som vanligtvis föreligger på fairtrade-märkta produkter. / Aim: Our study builds on what previous research has described as a gap between consumers' attitudes and behaviour to ethical consumption. Based on the request for additional mapping and a perceived lack of studies investigating the importance of knowledge to willingness to pay and consumption for fair trade products, we have formulated the following purpose: "The purpose of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between consumers' knowledge on ethical labelling and their consumption together with willingness to pay for ethical labelled products." Method: In this study, we performed a quantitative survey at the food store Ica Maxi in Gävle with 143 randomly selected respondents' who completed the questionnaire.The respondents where asked to answer questions regarding their subjective and objective knowledge regarding fairtrade and then price three different food products labelled with fairtrade with the price of the equivalent product without label stated as a reference point. The products were; banana, coffee and honey. Through this we could examine the relationship between knowledge and willingness to pay. Result &amp; Conclusion: The result of our survey show that the level of knowledge affects purchase intent and willingness to pay for fairtrade products. We also found a distinction between subjective and objective knowledge. Subjective knowledge had a more distinct affect on consumption and attitude while objective knowledge affected the willingness to pay to a greater extent. Furthermore it was found that the average willingness to pay for a fairtrade label exceeded the equivalent products without label for all examined products.<img src="file:///page5image1176" /> Further research: In this thesis we did not research the respondents' actual willingness to pay nor actual consumption behaviour. Further research should hence examine the importance of knowledge on ethical labelling for willingness to pay in actual market situations Contribution of the thesis: This study points out the importance of consumer knowledge for ethical consumption. The contribution is additional understanding to therole subjective and objective knowledge plays for consumers to include ethical labelled products in their product choice and also being willing to pay the current market price premium for fairtrade labelled products.