Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Curtis B. Matthews / China’s society has been changing since 1979, when the open-door policy was implemented. Many great events in politics, economy and culture have brought lots of diversities to the Chinese younger generation who were born after 1979. These diversities have led to a cultural value change from collectivism to individualism among this generation (Cao, 2009; Sun & Wang, 2010; Moore, 2005). Cultivation analysis theory may be appropriate to explain this phenomenon as the open-door policy allowed American and European TV programs and other media products come into China. Effective advertising should cater to its audience in order to effectively persuade them to purchase its merchandise or service (Zhang & Harwood, 2004; Chang, 2006). If the cultural value of the Chinese younger generation has changed, it may be reflected in the commercial content of successful advertisers. This research conducted a content analysis of Chinese commercials, comparing the commercial contents in recent years to approximately ten years ago. It examined if the individualistic factors were more frequently showed in the commercials in recent years than approximately ten years ago, with the consideration to merchandise type and production place. Research results exhibited an increase of individualism revealing in Chinese commercials from approximately 2006 to 2016.

Magistro darbo tema – vyresniosios ir jaunesniosios kartos santykių įtampos laukas bei jo mažinimas švietimo veikla (Kaišiadorių rajono atveju). Tema aktuali, nes pastaruoju metu nebeišlaikoma pusiausvyra tarp kartų ir manoma, kad švietimas yra vienas iš būdų užtikrinti visaverčio senėjančios visuomenės gyvenimo galimybes. Darbas teoriškai ir praktiškai reikšmingas, nes vyresniosios ir jaunesniosios kartos santykių įtampos lauko mažinimas švietimo veikla dar mažai tyrinėtas. Tyrimo objektas – vyresnioji ir jaunesnioji karta bei jų santykiai senstančioje visuomenėje. Tyrimo problema – vyresniosios ir jaunesniosios kartos santykių įtampos laukas senstančioje visuomenėje. Tyrimo hipotezė: tarp kartų egzistuoja pakankamai ryškūs vertybinių orientacijų skirtumai. Tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti vyresniosios ir jaunesniosios kartos santykių įtampos mažinimo švietimo veikla galimybes. Tikslas realizuojamas šiais uždaviniais: a) išanalizuoti vyresniosios ir jaunesniosios kartos situaciją; b) aptarti švietimo veiklos galimybes vyresniosios ir jaunesniosios kartos santykių įtampai mažinti; c) ištirti vyresniosios ir jaunesniosios kartos vertybes bei santykių tarp kartų formavimo švietimo veikla galimybes Kaišiadorių rajone. Tyrimo metodai: teorinė literatūros bei galiojančių teisės aktų analizė; Kaišiadorių rajono savivaldybės administracijos, Kaišiadorių rajono nevalstybinių organizacijų parengtų dokumentų analizė; anketinė Kaišiadorių rajono gyventojų apklausa; tyrimo duomenų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The subject is very important, because nowadays balance between generations isn’t keep and, supposedly, education is one of the means to safeguard possibilities of life for a new senescent society. The paper is theoretically and practically significant because intension field of relations between younger and old generations almost aren’t still studied. The object of this study is the younger and older generations and their relations in the senescent society. The problem of the study is intension field of relations between younger and old generations in the senescent society. The hypothesis of this study: enough keen differences of values’ orientations between generations exist. The purpose of this study is to reveal the possibilities of relief of the intension field of relations between younger and older generations with the help of education activity. The purpose is reached by these goals: a) to analyze the situation of younger and older generations; b) to discuss what are the possibilities of education activity which can relief the intension field of relations between younger and older generations; c) to explore values of younger and older generations and possibilities of formation of relations between generations with the help of education activity in Kaisiadorys District. The methods of the study: analysis of scientific literature and law deeds, analysis of documents of Administration of Kaisiadorys District Municipality and Kaisiadorys non-governmental organizations... [to full text]

This dissertation examines whether Buddhist beliefs and practices serve to reinforce and/or promote a Korean and/or Canadian cultural prism for next-generation Korean Buddhist practitioners in Toronto, Canada. I define Korean and Canadian cultural prisms based on the cross-cultural psychological framework of Individualism-Relational Collectivism (I-RC) and Analytical-Holistic (A-H) cognition. The aim of my research is to problematize culture in the construction of religious meaning and behaviour for relatively bicultural individuals. My research question can thus be summarized as follows: How is religious meaning and behaviour culturally constructed by next-generation Korean Buddhist practitioners in Canada? What role do individual cultural orientations and the different Buddhist cultural traditions play in this cultural construction and how does Buddhism compare to the other religions (namely Protestantism) practiced by younger-generation Korean-Canadians in this regard? By answering these questions, I ultimately hope to show whether the meaning system of Korean culture is preserved through religion among the younger generation of Korean Buddhist practitioners. I hypothesize that, due to the relatively non-authoritarian nature of Buddhism, the light of Buddhist beliefs and practices will predominantly be refracted through the a priori cultural prism of the individual in question, and the role of Buddhist doctrine and institutions in promoting a particular orientation (individualistic/relationally collectivistic and analytic/holistic) will be minimal and subordinate to the individual. The particular cultural orientation of this prism will, in turn, be dependent upon individual levels of monoculturalism (Korean or Canadian) or biculturalism (Korean and Canadian). In this way, Buddhism may serve to both preserve and undermine the Korean cultural meaning system. By comparison, I hypothesize that the relatively authoritarian nature of (Protestant) Christianity will likely encourage younger-generation Korean Christians to relate to their religion in a predominantly uniform way, regardless of the individual’s cultural orientation.

This dissertation examines whether Buddhist beliefs and practices serve to reinforce and/or promote a Korean and/or Canadian cultural prism for next-generation Korean Buddhist practitioners in Toronto, Canada. I define Korean and Canadian cultural prisms based on the cross-cultural psychological framework of Individualism-Relational Collectivism (I-RC) and Analytical-Holistic (A-H) cognition. The aim of my research is to problematize culture in the construction of religious meaning and behaviour for relatively bicultural individuals. My research question can thus be summarized as follows: How is religious meaning and behaviour culturally constructed by next-generation Korean Buddhist practitioners in Canada? What role do individual cultural orientations and the different Buddhist cultural traditions play in this cultural construction and how does Buddhism compare to the other religions (namely Protestantism) practiced by younger-generation Korean-Canadians in this regard? By answering these questions, I ultimately hope to show whether the meaning system of Korean culture is preserved through religion among the younger generation of Korean Buddhist practitioners. I hypothesize that, due to the relatively non-authoritarian nature of Buddhism, the light of Buddhist beliefs and practices will predominantly be refracted through the a priori cultural prism of the individual in question, and the role of Buddhist doctrine and institutions in promoting a particular orientation (individualistic/relationally collectivistic and analytic/holistic) will be minimal and subordinate to the individual. The particular cultural orientation of this prism will, in turn, be dependent upon individual levels of monoculturalism (Korean or Canadian) or biculturalism (Korean and Canadian). In this way, Buddhism may serve to both preserve and undermine the Korean cultural meaning system. By comparison, I hypothesize that the relatively authoritarian nature of (Protestant) Christianity will likely encourage younger-generation Korean Christians to relate to their religion in a predominantly uniform way, regardless of the individual’s cultural orientation.

I slutet av 2019 upptäcktes ett nytt och okänt virus i staden Wuhan i Kina. Det visade sig vara mycket smittsamt och i början av 2020 hade tusentals människor runt om i världen drabbats av viruset. Utbrottet av coronapandemin har inneburit och innebär än idag stora förändringar för både individer och företag. Dagligvaruhandeln som är en central del av näringslivet är inget undantag. Eftersom dagligvaruhandeln utgör en så stor del av svenska konsumenters vardag ansågs det intressant att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar val av dagligvarukedja. Syftet med studien är att undersöka om de faktorer som ansågs vara viktiga vid val av dagligvarukedja är samma före som under pandemin, eller om pandemin har lett till förändrade konsumentbeteenden. Studien syftar även till att undersöka huruvida den ökade användningen av e-handel kommer att bli bestående i framtiden, när restriktionerna har minskat och smittspridningen i samhället har lugnat sig. Teorierna som har använts för att undersöka syftet är teorier inom konsumentbeteende som inkluderar konsumenters karakteristiska drag och konsumenters köpprocess, marknadsföringsmixen liksom tjänstemarknadsföringsmixen och slutligen customer relationship management. För att samla in empiriska data utformades ett frågeformulär baserad på den teoretiska referensramen i vilken 229 svenska konsumenter deltog i. Deltagarna var både män och kvinnor från 19 år eller yngre upp till 70 år eller äldre. Tidigare forskning har visat att ålder är en faktor som påverkar konsumentbeteende, vilket också visas i denna studie. Deltagarna delades därför in i tre olika grupper som representerar den yngre generationen, mellangruppen och den äldre generationen. Den största skillnaden i preferenser vid val av dagligvarukedja var mellan den yngre och den äldre generationen, därför ansågs det vara mest intressant att undersöka. För den yngre generationen visade det sig att produktutbud, pris, avstånd samt fräscha och välorganiserade butikslokaler var de viktigaste faktorerna före pandemin. Produktutbud, avstånd samt fräscha och välorganiserade butikslokaler var även viktigast under pandemin men istället för pris har öppettider blivit en av de viktigaste faktorerna vid val av dagligvarukedja. För den äldre generationen var de viktigaste faktorerna före pandemin trevlig och hjälpsam personal, produktutbud, pris och butikslokaler. Reklamblad värderades också högt av den äldre generationen. Produktutbud och butikslokaler var viktiga även under pandemin men istället för personal och pris har avstånd och e-handel blivit viktigare för majoriteten i den äldre generationen. Genom studien får svenska dagligvaruaktörer en tydlig bild av vilka faktorer som anses vara viktigast vid val av dagligvarukedja. Dessutom får dagligvaruaktörer en bättre förståelse för vilka faktorer som har omprioriterats till följd av pandemin. Studiens bidrag är därför framför allt att underlätta och vägleda aktörer inom dagligvaruhandeln om coronapandemin blir långvarig eller om liknande situationer skulle uppstå i framtiden. / In the end of 2019, a new and unknown virus was discovered in Wuhan, China which turned out to be highly contagious. In the beginning of 2020, thousands of people around the world had been affected by the virus. The eruption of the corona pandemic has meant and still means major changes for both individuals and companies. The grocery trade, which is a central part of the trade and industry, is no exception. Since the grocery trade constitutes such a big part of Swedish consumers´ everyday lives, it was considered interesting to examine which factors influence the choice of grocery chain. The purpose of the study is to examine whether the factors that are considered important when choosing a grocery chain are the same before as during the pandemic, or whether the pandemic has led to changing consumer behaviours. The study also aims to examine whether the increased use of e-commerce will be consistent in the future, when the restrictions and the spread of contagion in society have reduced.    The theories that have been used to examine the purpose are consumer behaviour, including consumer characteristics and the consumer buying process, the marketing mix as well as the service marketing mix, and at last customer relationship management. To collect empirical data, a questionnaire based on the theoretical framework was designed in which 229 Swedish consumers participated. The participants were both men and women from 19 years or younger up to 70 years or older. Previous research has shown that age is a factor that influences consumer behaviour, which is also shown in this study. The participants were therefore divided into three different groups, representing the younger generation, the middle group and the older generation. The biggest difference in preferences when choosing a grocery chain was between the younger and the older generation, therefore it was considered most interesting to examine. For the younger generation, it turned out that product range, price, distance and store environment were the most important factors before the pandemic. Product range, distance and store environment are most important during the pandemic as well but instead of price, opening hours have become one of the most important factors when choosing a grocery chain. For the older generation, the most important factors before the pandemic were friendly and helpful staff, product range, price and store environment. Offers were also highly valued by the older generation. Product range and store environment were important even during the pandemic but instead of staff and price, distance and e-commerce have become more important for the majority of the older generation.    Through the study, Swedish grocery actors get a distinct picture of what factors are considered most essential when choosing a grocery chain. In addition, grocery actors get a better understanding of what factors have been re-prioritized as a result of the pandemic. The contribution of the study is therefore, above all, to facilitate and guide actors within the grocery trade if the corona pandemic becomes prolonged or if similar situations would arise in the future.