Dissertationen zum Thema „Qualitative marketing research“

This thesis contributes to the field of research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and explores the underresearched phenomenon of CSR innovation. It sheds light on this phenomenon by comparing CSR innovation in two nations with differing degrees of economic development, namely the UK and India. An interpretive, multicase study approach was chosen to compare CSR initiatives of British and Indian retailers. Data were collected through interviews, archival research, and observation. The research used sensemaking theory as a theoretical lens to examine how actors made sense of CSR innovation and communicated it to others. Data analysis was guided by a conceptual framework focussing on the triggers of sensemaking for CSR initiatives, formalisation as a key sensemaking process for CSR innovations, and the legitimation strategies employed by the case companies. The analysis shows that CSR leaders, close followers, and aspirants think differently about CSR; it also points to broader patterns of CSR innovation in the UK and India. CSR innovations were identified in both the British and Indian retail industries, contextual differences between the innovations in the two countries were observed, and the complex nature and role of these innovations were illustrated. CSR innovation was seen as involving complex constellations of continuity and newness. The British companies studied engaged in deliberate CSR leadership, actively tried to change CSR practises, and communicated these efforts externally. In contrast, the Indian companies mainly discussed CSR initiatives within the business, experimented with nonphilanthropic CSR, and tried to determine the role of CSR in the emerging Indian retail industry. The observed differences were traced back to country-specific regulatory and market environments and differences in field level conditions were highlighted. The study also examined the impact of environmental uncertainty on the management of CSR innovation and discussed strategies that the case companies use to deal with challenges related to CSR innovation.

There is myriad research that explores the nature of marketing generally, and more specifically within SME (small to medium sized enterprise) contexts. Most of this research, however, focuses upon orthodox and relational marketing. Recently, it has also been argued that the literature fails to pay adequate attention to the role that critical studies might take in helping to understand marketing. Moreover, qualitative approaches to researching SME marketing have recently gained favour. This thesis takes the opportunity to employ a qualitative approach to researching SME marketing while at the same time exploring the implications for education, training and development (ETD). This research explored how the subjective individual can make sense of particular social arenas. Adopting a social constructivist approach involving the researcher and participants, this research offers some clarity to the SME marketing ETD context. To illuminate new ways of seeing, this research looked to both SME and ETD participants to be part of a study located in the North East of England. The study employed a semi-structured interview that, when transcribed, provided research texts that were then analysed through a Discourse Analysis lens. This allowed discourses to emerge from the texts that illuminated aspects of marketing in a SME context, as well as aspects of ETD. It is clear from the research that the extant nature of orthodox marketing’s central model, known as the 4Ps, is for the SME participants obvious and in the background. For the ETD participants this model is still central to how they see marketing ETD for SMEs in their role as educators, trainers and developers. However both SME and ETD perspectives include relational components, particularly networking. Critical components, in the light of Critical Theory and the turbulent business environment, can also be seen in the discourses of this thesis. The standpoints that the participants of this study combine, adapt, juxtapose or shape to fit conditions to their everyday lives, were exposed. The research texts contain metaphoric and other references that negotiate key tensions leading to confrontation and resistance to the dominant orthodox marketing form. This thesis explores the ways that participants use marketing-related discourse to inscribe their behaviours in a complex ideological system, immersed in social worlds. Marketing realities are found to be more critical than at first assumed. A schema is developed that portrays the relationships between these actors and this social arena. I therefore assess themes that emerge from the narratives of participants and within each theme discourses are used to describe participants’ world views. This thesis provides a new way of seeing marketing and develops the relational, orthodox and critical (ROC) schema of SME marketing, applied to ETD. This schema informs thinking on a range of issues such as flows of information, relationships, network coordination and specific competencies. The schema should be considered carefully before the design and delivery of any form of SME marketing ETD programme and any materials are devised. The findings of this thesis suggest that the ROC schema is potentially applicable to other marketing contexts.

Positioned within the corporate marketing domain, and adopting an explicit managerial perspective, this doctoral thesis advances knowledge in the form of a substantive and analytically generalisable theory of corporate heritage identity stewardship, which is derived from an empirical, theory-building, qualitative case study of Great Britain’s oldest brewer. In broad terms, corporate heritage identity stewardship theory articulates the particular management requirements of a corporate heritage identity in terms of two mutually constitutive dimensions namely (a) stewardship mindset and (b) enactment. Stewardship mindset refers to a shared awareness amongst management (i.e. positionality, heritage, and custodianship awareness) underpinned by specific managerial dispositions to feel, think, and act (i.e. sense of continuance, belongingness, self, heritage, responsibility, and potency). Enactment refers to the multi-modal implementation (i.e. narrating, visualising, performing, and embodying) of a corporate heritage identity and its relational positioning visà-vis stakeholders (i.e. temporal, spatial, and socio-cultural anchoring), which at once is predicated on and reinforces the stewardship mindset. The theoretical contribution of this study is significant in that it empirically confirms the existing, largely conceptual, literature in terms of the applicability and efficacy of the nascent corporate heritage identity construct per se. More importantly, it expands the extant body of literature by introducing a detailed theoretical explication of corporate heritage identity stewardship, which has important implications for future scholarly work. The study is, additionally, of instrumental relevance for corporate marketing management practice. First, it identifies different ways of implementing and anchoring a corporate heritage identity within societal environments vis-à-vis stakeholders, which can be utilised by organisations. Second, it articulates different enabling management dispositions, which help management to better understand the specific requirements of corporate heritage identity stewardship. The doctoral thesis articulates several avenues for future research (qualitative and quantitative) and provides – with the analytically generalisable corporate heritage identity stewardship theory – a new conceptual lense for future empirical and conceptual work within this nascent area of corporate marketing.

Film tourism is fast becoming a recognised and lucrative sector within the tourism industry. Film tourism combines knowledge from the tourism industry with that of the film industry in such a manner that it offers an attractive opportunity that can be included when marketing South Africa as a destination. The purpose of the study is to explore the attractiveness of the film tourism market for destinations, identify the unique aspects involved when marketing a destination though film tourism, explore the marketing strategies used by the local South African DMOs and local and foreign film commissions/offices in attracting international film producers, determine what local South African DMOs and local and foreign film commissions/offices perceive as important factors in attracting international film producers, determine and describe the factors influencing international film producers’ selection of a location, determine international film producers’ perceptions of South Africa as a film location in terms of these factors, develop a model for promoting South Africa as an ideal film location to international film producers and then relate the developed model to guidelines in accordance with the services marketing mix (7 Ps). The results obtained identified a number of factors that influence international film producers’ selection of a location and the model can be used to assist DMOs in developing effective marketing strategies in order to attract international film producers to South Africa. This was a qualitative study where three data collection instruments were used on four participant groups; secondary data was also analysed. It was found that South African DMOs do not yet have a working relationship with the relevant film industry leaders; that local film commissions’/offices’ current marketing activities are in line with foreign film commissions’/offices’ marketing strategies; that local DMOs and local and foreign film commissions/offices are more often than not aware of the factors influencing international film producers’ selection of a location and that South Africa has a positive image as a film destination. This research contributes to tourism literature by developing a model and suggesting guidelines that could be used by South African DMOs to attract more international film producers to the country and thus ultimately increase the number of film tourists who visit. All South African DMOs should consider the suggested guidelines when developing a marketing strategy for promoting South Africa as a preferred film destination to international film producers.<br>Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014.<br>tm2015<br>Tourism Management<br>MCom<br>Unrestricted

The demand for sustainability initiatives is increasing by both consumers and organizations (Gittell, et al. 2013). It changes the way businesses are operating and communicating, hence the interest for sustainable marketing has increased. Sustainable marketing should not only be about initiatives to appear more environmental friendly or socially conscious, but rather about a more substantive and meaningful levels of commitments (ibid). Alongside these practical ideas of sustainable marketing, consumers’ requirements for sustainability have sometimes been used as a strategy to create sustainable communication, although companies are lacking initiatives of sustainability. The idea of marketing as a strategy to create desire and needless spending along with sustainability goals has been criticized as being in direct contradictories (Meller &amp; Magaš 2014, Pettie 2001, Pettie &amp; Belz 2010). Thus, the problematics compose of the discussed oxymoron between sustainability and marketing together with the difference between sustainable communication and communicating sustainability.   This qualitative study has been done with a starting position from the idea of addressing how sustainable marketing is practiced, why it is practiced and how the future outlook of the concept is perceived from a company perspective. The chosen theories for this study compose mainly of basic marketing theories and models with a sustainability adaption. A qualitative study addressing this issue from a company perspective has not been discovered in previous researches, which resulted in the idea of highlighting different companies’ opinions and practices of sustainable marketing. The findings have discovered the usage of sustainable marketing today and potentially in the future, together with reasons for why it is practiced. Sustainability has become a well-known concept with a lot of business scandals associated to it, which has been mentioned in this study as one of the reasons for the predictions of a future demand of real sustainable marketing practices.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a global era of growing consumer economies, retailers rely extensively on the exploitation of consumers’ personal and behavioural information, in order to successfully execute and sustain their business models and strategic objectives. The gathering and mining of consumers’ personal and behavioural information represent tremendous potential in the application of relationship marketing tactics, towards consumer intimacy, and ultimately towards competitive advantage. However, in their quest to understand consumers better, retailers need to be acutely aware of consumers’ views regarding the gathering and use of their personal and behavioural information, in order to derive the associated benefits whilst mitigating the risk of alienating consumers. To this end, the main objective of this research assignment was to understand the thoughts and feelings of a selected sample of retail consumers, regarding the use of their personal and behavioural information in relationship marketing tactics. The research aim was achieved through a qualitative exploration of the thoughts and feelings of thirty millennial retail consumers who shared their individual views in written format and small group interviews. Cognitive mapping was used as the central technique for the coding and interpretation of written and interview data, depicting the central themes of consumer rationale, as well as the causal relationships of the concepts, which influenced their sentiment and decisions. The insights produced by the cognitive mappings were triangulated using additional techniques of sentiment analysis and word frequency analysis. The combination of research techniques produced robust overarching insights of universal value, coupled with insights of specific subtleties alluding to consumer groups with differentiated engagement needs. Universal insights included strong negative sentiment whenever consumer participants considered the possibility that retailers with whom they engage on the basis of their personal information could potentially share such personal information with third-party entities outside of their explicit or implicit relationship with a particular trusted retailer. Similarly, the personally intrusive nature of telemarketing as an engagement and communication channel was met with universal disdain at every mention thereof, clearly eliminating it as a viable channel for any retailer who would seek to build and sustain trusted consumer relationships. The sample of participants revealed four broad groups of millennial consumers, each with different preferences of engagement with retailers. The majority of the participants across two groups recognised a conditional and transactional basis for exchanging varying degrees of personal information for a variety of derived benefits. A small group of participants indicated a clear preference towards avoiding engagement on a personal basis and sharing of personal information with retailers. A similarly small group of participants exhibited general openness and willingness to engage retailers and share personal and behavioural information with little restraint or concern. The insights derived from this research assignment provide a solid foundational exploration for future research on the specific and related topics, whilst the application of the cognitive mapping technique provided profound multi-dimensional insights. Businesses stand to gain potential material benefit through the careful consideration of the terms of engagement with their consumers, as provided through the universal and specific insights of this research assignment.

The purpose of this research was to explore if there is a role that consumer brands play in shaping the attractiveness of an employer brand. This qualitative study was conducted using the exploratory approach, because the prior insights of the proposed relationship were modest and inconclusive. The population constituted of all registered Masters of Business Administration students at the Gordon Institute of Business Science. The sampling frame constituted second year (2013/14) and full time (2014/15) students. The reason for this choice was that these individuals are knowledgeable on brand concepts, are mostly likely thinking about employment prospects, and have had the opportunity to evaluate employer attractiveness. A sample size of 15 was drawn; this number was chosen based on the likelihood that data saturation would be reached at that point because of the homogeneous nature of the population. The outcome of this study revealed that consumer brands play a role in shaping employer brand attractiveness, with the main role being that consumer brands project employer brands. Potential employers utilise brands’ dimensions such as quality, innovativeness, longevity and public perception, amongst others, as an indication of employer brand attractiveness. Also uncovered by the study was that the extent of consumer brand influence on an employer brand varies with profession, industry and maturity. Moreover, consumers play a role in attracting potential employees towards investigating employment prospects in a certain organisation, but contribute very little to retaining employees if employment expectations are not met.<br>Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2015.<br>lmgibs2015<br>Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)<br>Unrestricted

Ancré dans le champ du marketing interne, ce travail s’intéresse au phénomène de participation des salariés à la prise de décision. Inscrit dans le paradigme interprétativiste, il adopte une approche qualitative compréhensive et s’appuie sur une méthode d’étude de cas. Il est illustré par le cas de la démarche « Vision 2020 », mise en place auprès des salariés de la RATP en vue de la création du plan d’entreprise 2013-2020. Abordés dans une perspective systémique et interactionnelle, propre à l’approche communicationnelle de l’école de Palo Alto, les résultats émanent d’un raisonnement abductif et sont construits à l’aide d’un processus itératif d’allers retours entre la théorie, le recueil et l’analyse des données empiriques. Ainsi, l’analyse et l’interprétation des données recueillies par triangulation ont permis d’aborder la notion de participation selon trois angles, en se plaçant du point du vue des salariés : la conceptualisation du phénomène de participation, les objectifs et les effets de ce type d’initiative et les éléments pouvant exercer une influence sur l’attitude des employés envers celle-ci. Ce travail a par ailleurs souligné des enjeux majeurs inhérents à la participation des salariés, tels que le suivi de l’action participative, l’importance des supports, l’évolution de l’attitude des salariés lors de la mise en place de ce type d’action, ou encore le rôle particulier du manager dans ce type de démarche. Il constitue une théorisation de pratiques managériales existantes<br>Anchored in the field of internal marketing, this work investigates the phenomenon of employee participation in decision-making. Inside an interpretivist paradigm, it adopts a qualitative and comprehensive approach, based on a case study method. We choose the case of the initiative "Vision 2020", set up with RATP employees in order to create the 2013 to 2020 business plan. Addressed in a systemic and interactional perspective, specific to the communication approach of Palo Alto, the findings result from an abductive reasoning and are built using an iterative process that goes back and forth between theory, collection and analysis of empirical data. The analysis and interpretation of data collected by triangulation thus allow us to address the notion of participation from three angles, adopting the point of view of employees: the conceptualization of the phenomenon of participation, the objectives and effects of this type of initiative and the elements influencing the attitude of employees towards it. This work highlights major challenges inherent in employee participation, such as the monitoring of participatory action, the importance of media, changing the attitude of employees during the implementation of this type action, or the special role of the manager in this type of initiative. It proposes a theorization of existing management practices

The management accounting literature (e.g., Cooper and Kaplan 1988b; Shillinglaw 1982) argues that cost information is beneficial for marketing management in order to improve the business profitability. Accounting for strategic management also proposes the use of accounting information on cost drivers, business strategy, market and competitors (e.g., Shank and Govindarajan 1993). In the accounting and control literature it is also suggested that a company gains if it includes interactive control systems, with the participation of the various functional areas, including marketing, in addition to the traditional diagnostic systems (Simons 1995b). Moreover, the marketing literature states that there is a loss of influence and stature of the marketing department (Webster Jr et al. 2005) and relates this in part to the lack of performance measures (see Ambler 2003b; McGovern et al. 2004; Nath and Mahajan 2008), particularly the financial ones (e.g., Schultz and Gronstedt 1997). The marketing literature also recognises the usefulness of cost accounting information (e.g., Dunne and Wolk 1977; Kirpalani and Shapiro 1973; Winter 1979), in particular the information from the activity-based costing systems for marketing management (e.g., Goebel et al. 1998; Lere 2001). Although the literature in both accounting and marketing note benefits from using accounting information, the interaction, communication and the exchange of information between marketing and accounting departments is poor (Phillips and Halliday 2008; Srivastava et al. 1998) and little researched (De Ruyter and Wetzels 2000; McManus and Guilding 2008). The purpose of this research is to understand what influences the ability of the accounting system to meet the managers’ demand of accounting information, as well as why and how marketing managers are demanding accounting information. In keeping with the exploratory and explanatory research nature of the research an interpretative case study was conducted (see Lukka and Modell 2010; Mason 2002; Yin 2009). Two companies were selected from the Portuguese fashion retail sector (cf. Perloff and Salop 1985; Snyder 1989; Swartz 1983). The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, observation, and documents. The analysis and comparison of these two cases revealed that the use of accounting information was influenced by both structural and functional factors. From the structural point of view, it was important for the two companies to have very detailed accounting information in the system and have the financial and non-financial databases integrated. The mentality of the management control staff – oriented towards the real needs of the managers – was also a key factor. From the functional point of view, it was observed that two complementary forms of transmission of accounting information contributed to the effectiveness of its use. The self-service access to updated information and both automated and customised reports, contributed the accounting information being frequently accessed and interpreted by all managers – particularly commercial and sales managers. The face-to-face presentation and discussion of management accounting reports positively influenced the collective use of accounting information – in order to diagnose problems, find solutions and align the various managers in the implementation of plans. As a result, these interactions were still opportunities for mutual learning. Managers learned the potential of the accounting system and accountants perceived the specific needs of each manager. Therefore, it enabled both financial and management accountants to create and to maintain the management accounting system adapted to the managers' demand. Managers in both companies seek information to analyse sales, control costs and manage profitability. In one of the companies the information was also used strategically – the cost drivers, the market situation and the competitors’ accounting information were analysed. In one company, the accounting information was also used to protect the marketing department, i.e., the accounting information was used to maintain or increase the funds allocated to the marketing budget. In this particular case of marketing performance measurement, the unit of analysis was the marketing project and the metric was the contribution to profits. In conclusion, the marketing managers in these companies do seek management accounting information. Regular face-to-face, multi-functional and multi-hierarchical interaction is a key factor for the use of the accounting system; this is where managers learn the potential of the accounting system and accountants understand the real managers’ needs of accounting information.

Purpose - The purpose of this research was to investigate the adoption of ERP tool by employees within a product manufacturing organization. Design/methodology/approach - In order to fully achieve the research task, the authors applied a qualitative case study that was descriptively designed. During data collection processes, primary and secondary data were utilized as information resources. The primary data obtained were multiple in-depth and semi-structured interviews performed with fifteen (15) employees over the course of an empirical investigation. While secondary data were, information obtain through various scientific articles, case organization’s webpage and other resourceful ones. Finally, convenient sampling method was used during identification and selection of respondents that were highly resourceful to the case study. Findings - An identification from the empirical data obtained highlighted some likely impediments to technological innovation adoption. More often, constraints to innovation adoption are not always individual factors but rather frequently organizational ones which can hinder employees’ from promptly adopting new innovations in various working environments. Research limitations/implications - Future research is proposed to measure the effect of employees’ adoption of technology innovation can have on an organization’s industrial performance. Furthermore, in order to encourage rapid adoption of innovation within an organization, recognitions and praises to employees whom are making good efforts is recommended. Personal recognitions from top managers to performing employees’ can persuade other employees to be more proactive in innovation utilization to obtain the same praise. Originality/Value - This study defines innovation adoption from an individual employee’s perspective as: an employee having a proper knowledge of the technology given to be used, personal acceptance of the technology, managerial empowerments to the employee and most importantly is an employee having the adequate ability to fully utilize the technological tool provided in order to fulfil the specific task. Keywords -  Innovation, Adoption, Technology, IT Tool, Enterprise Resource Planning, Organization Factors and Individual Factors.   Paper Type -  Master’s Thesis<br><p>To Reference this paper:</p><p>Mbachu, C.I. and Bizien, Q. (2017). Adoption of innovation: A qualitative research about employees' adoption of information technological tool (ERP) within an organization. Department of Business Administration, LNU, Växjö - Sweden. Page 1 - 75.</p>

The purpose of this session is to provide interested researchers with information regarding the development of photographic research methods in the social sciences, their potential as a novel qualitative tool in organizational research, and the decisions that are required when planning or conducting research leveraging these methods. The intent of this session is to promote the integration of photographic research methods and organizational research by emphasizing the unique contributions that photographic research methods can provide as a data source and as a tool to facilitate interactions between researcher and participant, and communication from researcher to audience.

Background:                Diseases caused by nutrition-related factors are globally increasing. Consumers can use help making healthier food choices. Nutrition labeling, front-of-pack, in particular, is reviewed as an important policy tool to assist consumers in this matter. Research found that front-of-pack nutrition labeling is influencing consumer’s product choice but no study researched the influence on Millennials while they are the most interesting consumer group of these times due to their large size and increasing power.   Purpose:                  Explore how Front-Of-Package Nutrition Labeling (FOPNL) is influencing Millennials to make healthier food purchasing decisions.   Method:                       To attain the purpose, a qualitative study was conducted. A theoretical framework was created to evaluate excising factors related to FOPNL that are influencing consumer purchasing behaviour. To create in-depth insights on the influence of front-of-package nutrition labeling on Millennials, 18 semi-structured interviews have been conducted.   Conclusion:                 The results show that the influence of FOPNL on Millennials is dependant of the type of label. Currently, the main problem concerning all FOPNL types is the lack of believability of these claims, which makes them less influential on Millennial purchasing behavior. Even though, interpretive nutrient-specific claims are perceived as the most influential FOPNL type. Additionally, the influence varies depending on trial or repeat purchase.

Purpose of the thesis was to find out and describe associations that are linked to the category of healthy food by consumers. Above all the aim was to identify, what represents healthy food for them and what other thoughts and themes are associated with healthy food by consumers. In-depth ZMET interviews were conducted to determine these associations. The findings and other issues related to the topic such as broader context and specifics of healthy food marketing are presented. The information mentioned can be used for marketing mix planning of companies in food industry. The research found out that healthy food is not perceived as special food category, but approach to the food consumption. Approach that takes into consideration what is good for the person in terms of health. For respondents healthy food represented mainly homemade dishes consisting quality, fresh, natural ingredients. According the respondents healthy eating is a way of eating respecting sum of principles. Main principles are variety and balance in the consumers diet.

In my diploma thesis "Positioning of selected product" I focused on analysis of the positioning of the product CEWE photobook from Fotolab on the Czech market in the context of its competition. The theoretical part explains the concept of marketing, marketing mix 7P, SWOT analysis, positioning, brand and quantitative and qualitative research. The practical part presents the company Fotolab and its three main competitors in the market. In this part, all companies are compared on an extended marketing mix 7P. The Fotolab company is evaluated in the context of a SWOT analysis. The practical part is based on questionnaires and individual interviews, from which the recommendations will come for the company in the conclusion.

This diploma theses is focused on marketing mix of a selected company which operates in an international environment. .The diploma thesis consists of three parts. The theoretical part focuses on the description of basic characteristics and concepts which are related to given issue. The analytical part consists of analyses performed in both internal and external environment of the company WoodBag s. r. o. on the assumption of its future expansion to the Swedish market. Results that we achieved are stated in SWOT analysis. The final part is the draft part, in which recommendations and potential suggestions from perspective of marketing mix towards successful expansion of the company to the Swedish market with results from particular analyses and theoretical background are presented.

The authors of this study want to build a classification model which can help researchers and marketers to evaluate what kind of characteristics that photo online especially on Instagram can attract more attention. The process of this case of study can be divided into two steps. First of all, the authors of this paper will create a classification model of the characteristics of these pictures on Instagram based on several theories and previous studies. Then the authors of this paper will conduct nineteen semi-structured interviews with participants to reinforce the classification of categories color, visual composition, image type and emotional expression, and further develop this model to make it more comprehensive.

É objetivo deste trabalho, compreender como a vaidade física feminina influencia o consumo de produtos e serviços de beleza. A partir de uma metodologia qualitativa baseada em entrevistas, motivações e estratégias de consumo utilizadas pelas mulheres na modificação e melhoria da aparência física foram reveladas e organizadas em um esquema conceitual. Em termos de consumo, a vaidade física mostrou-se um conceito ambivalente podendo originar um construto positivo, a vaidade equilibrada, e um construto negativo, a vaidade extrema. A natureza controversa dos resultados encontrados motivou uma discussão final sobre os limites éticos das práticas de marketing que influenciam o auto-conceito feminino sobre beleza e aparência física.<br>It is the objective of this work to comprehend how the physical vanity influences the consumption of beauty products and services. Using a qualitative methodology based on interviews, consumption motivations and strategies employed by women in the search for modifying and enhancing physical appearance were revealed and organized in a conceptual schema. In terms of consumption, the physical vanity turned up to be an ambiguous concept, originating a positive construct, balanced vanity, and a negative construct, extreme vanity. The controversial nature of the results motivated a final discussion about the ethical limits of the marketing practices that influence the female self concept about beauty and physical appearance.

Private business subjects are characterised by their continuous effort for increasing their market position. Therefore they are permanently monitoring their own sthrengths and weaknesses, and they are also monitoring their competitors´ behaviour and customers´ needs and wishes. Such pieces of information can be received by analysis of business surroundings and from custommers´ opinion. Activities like these are called marketing research. The research should include all aspects that influence the way of perception of the company by any other market subject, or even the atmosphere inside the company. Information received is valuable for managers and their decision-making. Marketing research is a dynamicly developing field where new findings of social sciences are permanently applied. A significant developement in this field was reached mainly in last years. It is a result of the rapid progress of information and communication technologies. Modern forms of marketing research often use the Internet for collecting various information on the market.

Interní marketing je dnes aktuálním tématem, kterým se zabývá vedení mnoha firem. Tato práce se zaměřuje na metody, které mohou zlepšit interní marketing firmy a přispět tak k lepší motivaci zaměstnanců. V práci je analyzována současná situace interního marketingu firmy Imcon Electronics v oblastech interní komunikace, motivace a vzdělávání se ve firmě. Cílem této práce je navrhnout způsoby, které by měli zvýšit motivaci zaměstnanců této firmy. Práce přináší bližší pohled na současné praktiky ve společnosti a návrhy, jak lépe motivovat její zaměstnance. Také obsahuje ekonomické zhodnocení, náklady a odhad ekonomického přínosu pro firmu.

The primary aim of this thesis was to explore the role culture plays in service delivery, more specifically on consumers' perceptions of service quality and its potential impact on complaint behaviour. A key premise of the thesis was that prominent models of service quality are conceptualized largely in western contexts without considering conceptual meaning in various contexts or nuances of meaning. Furthermore, there may indeed be unique aspects of culture in each context not yet identified in the extant literature. With this in mind, a qualitative approach was employed in order to gain an in-depth understanding of consumers' perceptions. The thesis was conducted in three stages culminating in three separate papers. Stage 1 involved a student sample of Trinidad and Tobago nationals currently enrolled at university in the North West region of the UK. Generally this stage served as a pilot for the larger cross-national study. Interview data and subsequent thematic analyses culminated in a holistic, multi-dimensional hierarchical framework labelled Conceptualization of Service Quality in Cultural Context (CSQCC). Within this framework two key cultural triggers called Culture of Closeness and Culture of Servitude where found to have an overarching influence on all variables in the model. As well as uniquely including culture, the CSQCC also encompasses human resources and operational variables not included in traditional service quality models namely Employee Work Ethic/Attitudes, Organizational Responsibility and Customer Responsibility. Stage 2 which included samples of British and Trinidad and Tobago nationals, all currently living in their country of birth were part of the larger study sample. Findings from both country contexts indicate that the general structure of the CSQCC identified in Stage 1 is upheld demonstrating universality in terms of the range of factors consumers utilize in their evaluations of service quality, at least in Britain and the UK. Notwithstanding the similarities, the importance weightings for the universal aspects of the CSQCC framework appear to vary. Furthermore, cultural triggers again were found to have an overarching influence consumers' perceptions, two such triggers were identified for British nationals-British Reserve and Culture of Cordiality, and for Trinbagonian nationals two additional triggers-Festive Culture and Culture of Entitlement. Data for Stage 3 was collected at the same time at Stage 2 and involved a cross-national analysis of consumer complaint behaviour. Based on the empirical data a Cultural Framework of Consumer Complaint Behaviour (CFCCB) was proposed inclusive of consumers' behavioural processes and post-interaction behavioural outcomes. There are four key processes-cognitive, motivational, environmental and emotive-with emotions playing a central role. The unique cultural triggers identified in Stages 1 and 2 were also found to influence these behavioural processes which in turn impact behavioural outcomes. To the best of the researcher's knowledge such a holistic model as the CFCCB has not been previously conceptualized. There is no such thing as "culture-free" behaviour; culture and human behaviour are deeply intertwined, and thus multinationals and global firms need to be environmentally sensitive, identify the cultural triggers in potential markets, and assess their likely impact on service quality delivery.

The diploma work summarizes in the first section the common knowledge in the audit field of information systems and technologies theory as well as common state of knowledge in the field of marketing in small and medium-sized enterprises and market research as well. In the second section, the tools summarized in the first part are used for designing marketing research project on "The audit of information systems and technology in smaller businesses." The aim of the research was to seek the experience and customer feedback from the segment of smaller businesses to audit information systems. The research was designed as a qualitative one. As technique implementation of research was elected a research interview with looser structure. The work is divided to three parts -- designing of marketing research methodology, as well as conducting this research and it's evaluation.

La digitalització en el entorn del marketing està canviant la manera en la que els consumidors decideixen comprar. Així mateix, el risc percebut té un rol determinant en les decisions de compra dels consumidors. No obstant això, encara que la literatura emergent suggereixi que l´ ús de les fonts d’informació digital generi nous processos de cerca i avaluació de productes diferents a aquells dels entorns de compra tradicional, el desenvolupament de noves teories sobre la naturalesa d’aquestes diferencies ha sigut limitada. Específicament s’han detectat resultats contradictoris en la literatura actual pel que fa a la relació entre el risc percebut i la cerca d’informació de productes d'experiència en entorns digitals. Mentre que alguns estudis asseguren que el risc percebut provoca un augment en la cerca d’informació, ja que una forma de reduir el risc percebut es obtenir més informació, un altre vessant de literatura assenyala que cercar informació addicional pot més aviat resultar en un major risc percebut i en un abandonament de la compra. Per tant, amb el fi d’aclarir aquest gap en la literatura i entendre millor el fenomen del risc percebut durant el procés de compra digital, aquest treball d´ investigació avança amb un enfocament detallat i amb una perspectiva longitudinal per entendre com la digitalització en el entorn del marketing afecta al risc percebut pels consumidors durant els seus processos de cerca d’informació. Mitjançant una investigació realitzada amb múltiples mètodes qualitatius, aquest estudi revela que hi ha cinc etapes en el processament del risc percebut durant el procés de cerca d’informació. Aquestes etapes son: preparació per a la cerca d’informació; cerca d’informació inicial; cerca d’informació avançada; preparació per a la compra i decisió de compra i comportament post-compra. Basat en aquestes troballes, aquest estudi proposa que en l´ actual era digital, el risc percebut es un procés dinàmic que consisteix en etapes on diferents tipus de riscs son percebuts pels consumidors quan avancen en la cerca d’informacions durant el procés de compra. A més a més, la percepció d’aquestes tipus de risc fluctua a mesura que els consumidors cerquen informació. Per tant, aquest descobriment explica que l´ etapa de cerca d’informació es un procés dinàmic suggerint que aquest dinamisme es una de les raons per les quals el nou viatge del consumidor s’estén com un procés cíclic i dinàmic. Finalment, aquest treball d’investigació contribueix al desenvolupament de teories del risc percebut en entorns digitals proporcionant noves evidéncies i suggerint que en l´ actual context digital, el risc percebut es un constructe multidimensional que es desenvolupa, canvia i s’adapta en funció de la informació recollida en el procés de compra. Consegüentment, aquesta investigació proposa entendre el risc percebut des d’una perspectiva de procés per entendre completament com es comporta en el actual entorn digital i suggerir que el procés del risc percebut i cerca d’informació es dinàmic i alineat amb la naturalesa cíclica del nou viatge del consumidor. Finalment, aquest treball vol fer una contribució al marketing aplicat l´ aclarir on i com es poden mitigar els diversos tipus de risc durant la cerca d’informació amb el propòsit d’incrementar la satisfacció i la participació dels clients en el procés de compra.<br>La digitalización en el entorno del marketing está cambiando la manera en la que los consumidores toman decisiones de compra. Asimismo, el riesgo percibido tiene un rol determinante en las decisiones de compra de los consumidores. Sin embargo, aunque la literatura emergente sugiere que el uso de fuentes de información digital genera nuevos procesos de búsqueda y evaluación de productos diferentes a aquellos de los entornos de compra tradicionales, el desarrollo de nuevas teorías sobre la naturaleza de estas diferencias ha sido limitado. Específicamente, se ha detectado resultados contradictorios en la literatura actual en cuanto a la relación entre el riesgo percibido y la búsqueda de información de productos de experiencia en entornos digitales. Mientras que algunos estudios aseguran que el riesgo percibido provoca un aumento en la búsqueda de información, ya que una forma de reducir el riesgo percibido es obtener más información, otra vertiente de literatura señala que buscar información adicional puede más bien resultar en mayor riesgo percibido y en un abandono de la compra. Por tanto, con el fin de aclarar este gap en la literatura y entender mejor el fenómeno del riesgo percibido durante el proceso de compra digital, este trabajo de investigación avanza con un enfoque pormenorizado y con una perspectiva longitudinal para entender cómo la digitalización en el ámbito del marketing afecta al riesgo percibido por los consumidores durante sus procesos de búsqueda de información. A través de una investigación llevada a cabo con múltiples métodos cualitativos, este estudio revela que hay cinco etapas en el procesamiento del riesgo percibido durante el proceso de búsqueda de información. Estas etapas son: preparación para la búsqueda de información; búsqueda de información inicial; búsqueda de información avanzada; preparación para la compra y decisión de compra y comportamiento pos compra. Basado en estos hallazgos, este estudio propone que en la actual era digital, el riesgo percibido es un proceso dinámico que consiste en etapas en las cuales los diferentes tipos de riesgo son percibidos por los consumidores a medida que ellos avanzan en la búsqueda de información durante el proceso de compra. Además, la percepción de estos tipos de riesgo fluctúa a medida que los consumidores buscan información. Por lo tanto, este descubrimiento elucida que la etapa de búsqueda de información es un proceso dinámico sugiriendo que este dinamismo es una de las razones por las cuales el nuevo viaje del consumidor se entiende como un proceso cíclico y dinámico. En definitiva, este trabajo de investigación hace una contribución al desarrollo de teorías del riesgo percibido en entornos digitales al proveer de nuevas evidencias que sugieren que, en el actual contexto digital, el riesgo percibido es un constructo multidimensional que se desarrolla, cambia y adapta en función de la información recolectada en el proceso de compra. Por consiguiente, esta investigación propone entender al riesgo percibido desde una perspectiva de proceso para entender por completo cómo se comporta en el actual entorno digital y sugerir que el proceso del riesgo percibido y búsqueda de información es dinámico y alineado con la naturaleza cíclica del nuevo viaje del consumidor. Finalmente, este trabajo hace una contribución al marketing aplicado al esclarecer dónde y cómo se pueden mitigar los diversos tipos de riesgo durante la búsqueda de información con el fin de incrementar la satisfacción e involucramiento de los clientes en el proceso de compra.<br>The digitalization of the marketing environment is changing the manner in which consumers take purchase decisions. Moreover, perceived risk has a determinant role on consumers’ purchase decision-making. However, although emerging literature suggests that consumers’ use of digital information generates new search and product evaluation processes different from those in traditional purchase setting, theorizing about the pattern and nature of these differences has been limited. More specifically, contradictory findings on the relationship between perceived risk and information search of experience-type products in digital environments have been identified in current literature. While some studies assert that perceived risk increases information search because one way of reducing risk is to obtain more information, other streams of literature point out that further engaging in information search might actually result in increased risk perception and purchase deterrence. Therefore, in order to clarify this gap and understand better the phenomenon of perceived risk during digital purchase decision-making process, this research advances with a finer-grained approach and with a longitudinal perspective in order to understand how the digitalization of the marketing environment affects consumers’ perceived risks during the process of information search. By conducting a qualitative multi-method research, this study discloses five stages in the process of risk processing during digital information search. The stages are: preparing for information search; initial information search; advanced information search, preparing for purchase and purchase decision-making and post purchase behavior. Based on these findings, the present study proposes that in the current digital context, perceived risk is a dynamic process consisting of stages in which the different types of risk are perceived by consumers as they progress in the search stage of the purchase decision-making process. Moreover, the perception of these dimensions of risk fluctuates as consumers search for information. Thus, these findings highlight that the search stage is a dynamic process and suggest that this is one of the reasons why the new customer journey is understood as a cyclic and dynamic process. Ultimately, this research contributes to the theorizing process of perceived risk in digital information search by providing new insights that suggest that in the current digital context perceived risk is a multidimensional construct that develops, changes and adapts to the information collected in the purchase decision-making process. Thus, this research proposes to understand and theorize perceived risk from a process-driven perspective in order to fully understand its behavior and suggests that the process of perceived risk processing and information search is dynamic and aligned with the cyclic nature of the new customer journey. Finally, this research contributes to the marketing practice by shedding light on where to act and how to mitigate the different types of risk in order to increase customer satisfaction and engagement during information search.

Health and eating healthy has become increasingly popular during the recent decades. On television, countless numbers of food commercials claim their products to be healthy, and fit good looking people propagate for the benefits of the products. At the same time, there are many studies showing these marketing messages to be highly misleading. Consequently, a great extent of existing research within this field treats the subject of consumers, children in particular, and television in relation to eating habits. However, in this study, we are not interested in confirming these facts; instead we focus on the attitudes that consumers have towards these marketing messages with underlying health claims shown in TV commercials. Today, many new types of communication channels exist, nevertheless, watching TV is an increasing activity, especially among young consumers. It was found that research including young adult consumers was scarce, why the segment of university students belonging to the generation Y was chosen for this study. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the attitudes that Swedish generation Y university students have towards TV commercials with underlying health claims. The aim is also to investigate why these consumers react to the commercials the way they do. In this thesis both a quantitative and a qualitative method was used, where the qualitative method was the most dominating. Thus, it can be considered a mixed methods approach. However, the quantitative part is dominating. For the empirical study we conducted tests where a number of persons in focus groups were exposed to different TV commercials, all with an underlying health claim. The respondents answered an in-group questionnaire and thereafter during the group discussion they were asked to describe their reactions to the TV commercials. Finally, the respondents were also asked what factors they believed important to them when they consider buying a product. The Swedish generation Y university students presented a number of attitudes towards the chosen television commercials. The students did recognize the underlying health claims and furthermore indicated other factors noticed within the commercials. Also, we could see that factors such as memory, unconscious influence as well as positioning of thecommercials had an influence on the attitudes. The results also specified that factors influencing these consumers in their purchasing decision, except the TV commercial itself, were; whether they had bought the product before, what family and friends used and recommended, as well as price and quality. The above features also had an influence on how these consumers reacted to the marketing messages. The study shows that the model of the emotional process by Holbrook and O‟Shaughnessy (1984) could be followed. We furthermore built on Bagozzi et al.‟s (1999) classification of advertisements by introducing the multi message ad. To conclude, it can be stated that factors influencing these consumers‟ attitudes of TV commercials with underlying health claims had different aspects and explanations, although common patterns could be seen.<br>Hälsa och att äta hälsosamt har blivit alltmer populärt under de senaste decennierna. På tv hävdar ett oräkneligt antal reklaminslag för matprodukter hur hälsosamma de är och vältränade, snygga människor propagerar för fördelarna med produkterna. Samtidigt finns det många studier som visar att dessa reklambudskap är vilseledande. Följaktligen handlar en stor del av forskningen i ämnet om sambandet mellan konsumenter - i synnerhet barn, och TV i relation till matvanor. I denna studie är vi inte intresserade av att bekräfta dessa fakta, utan fokus är istället inriktat på hur tittarna tolkar reklambudskap med underliggande hälsopåståenden. Idag finns många nya typer av kommunikationskanaler, men trots det ökar TV-tittandet, i synnerhet bland unga konsumenter. Forskning kring generation Y och deras syn på TV-reklam med underliggande hälsobudskap är hittills begränsad. Syftet med denna uppsats är att identifiera de attityder som svenska universitetsstudenter tillhörande generation Y har gentemot TV reklam med underliggande hälsobudskap. Syftet är också att undersöka varför dessa konsumenter tolkar reklamen som de gör. I rapporten användes både kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder, där den kvalitativa var mest dominerande. Man kan därför säga att en blandad metod användes för att få fram bästa resultat. För den empiriska studien gjordes ett test där ett antal personer i fyra fokus grupper fick se olika TV-reklaminslag, alla med ett underliggande hälsobudskap. Gruppmedlemmarna fick individuellt svara på ett antal frågor ur ett formulär och därefter i gruppen diskutera sina reaktioner på reklaminslagen. Hur dessa påverkade dem och vad de anser som viktigt när de själva ska köpa en produkt var andra frågor som diskuterades. Det visade sig att reklaminslagen uppfattades på olika sätt av studenterna i fokus grupperna. De identifierade de underliggande hälsobudskapen i reklamerna och även andra uppfattningar om reklambudskapen kunde utläsas. Ur resultaten kan utläsas att faktorer såsom minne, undermedvetet inflytande och även reklaminslagens position i förhållande till varandra var av vikt för hur de uppfattades. Resultatet visar också att studenterna påverkades av många fler faktorer än själva reklamen i sig, exempelvis huruvida de köpt produkten innan, vad familj och vänner använde och rekommenderade, samt pris och kvalité. Dessafaktorer påverkade även hur studenterna tolkade reklammeddelandena. Dessutom visar vi hur Holbrook och O‟Shaughnessy‟s (1984) Model of the Emotional Process, stämmer överens med resultaten i denna studie. Vi bygger även vidare på Bagozzi et al.‟s (1999) två klassificeringar av reklam och introducerar en tredje; multimeddelande-reklam. Sammanfattningsvis kan konstateras att många olika faktorer påverkade dessa konsumenters attityder gentemot TV-reklam med underliggande hälsobudskap. Trots det kunde ändå vissa gemensamma mönster utläsas.

This research is the result of a need within the entrepreneurial community, amongst both existing businesses as well as aspiring entrepreneurs, to pay attention to the marketing skills, abilities and activities required to navigate in the rapidly changing business environment in which they operate. It’s no longer enough that an entrepreneur only possesses the entrepreneurial will and drive to start an enterprise. In order to succeed and thrive, they require a skill set that needs to be employed from the beginning. The ability of the entrepreneur to successfully market their business, particularly in the early phases of development, is a crucial skill that can ensure the survival of the enterprise. The research comprised of sixteen in-depth interviews with existing entrepreneurs in South Africa, as well as four with experts in the fields of SMEs and Marketing. All of the interviews were conducted face-to-face, with the exception of one of the SME and Marketing experts, whose interview was conducted telephonically. The interviews followed a semi-structured discussion guide that allowed for variations in the discussion as required. A number of the entrepreneurs interviewed had not conducted any marketing planning in the start-up phase of their ventures, yet succeeded. The entrepreneurs did, however, practice ad-hoc marketing activities in the early stages of their business, as well as networking with customers, suppliers and their industry. It was also found that the respondents’ knowledge of how to market their businesses increased over time, and as their businesses matured, they allocated more significant resources towards marketing their businesses. The research project concludes that: whilst beneficial, upfront marketing planning is not essential for start-ups; networking and ad-hoc marketing is important for start-ups to practice; putting a significant allocation of resources towards marketing is valuable.<br>Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.<br>lmgibs2015<br>Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)<br>Unrestricted

O principal objetivo deste trabalho final de mestrado passou por elaborar um plano estratégico para a marca Squadra, especializada em consultoria de gestão de marketing. Mais concretamente, pretendia-se analisar o posicionamento da marca no mercado e a adequação dos seus serviços, de forma a formular sugestões futuras para aumentar as vendas e o número de clientes. Deste modo, para estudar o posicionamento, proposta de valor e relevância da oferta da marca, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa junto de diferentes públicos, nomeadamente clientes atuais, clientes potenciais, associados e parceiros, com o objetivo de conhecer a sua perceção sobre o posicionamento da marca, de forma a definir caminhos futuros a seguir. Assim, a pesquisa mostrou que os pontos fortes da Squadra são a proximidade estabelecida com os clientes, integrar-se na realidade das empresas, a sua componente estratégica, prática e operacional e a especialização em marketing. Para além disso, foi salientada a relevância da aliança com os seus Business Partners e o seu potencial para aumentar o número de novos clientes. Por fim, relativamente a pontos a melhorar, foi sugerida a implementação de um modelo de remuneração mais flexível, diversificar e aumentar do alcance da comunicação, estabelecer novos contactos, e dar mais a conhecer os seus projetos e casos de sucesso.<br>The main objective of this final master thesis was to elaborate a strategic plan for the brand Squadra, specialized in marketing management consulting. In particular, the purpose was to analyze the positioning of the brand in the market and the adequacy of its services, in order to formulate suggestions to increase sales and the number of clients. Therefore, in order to study the positioning, value proposition and relevance of the brand’s offer, a qualitative research was carried out among different audiences, current and potential clients, associates and partners, in order to know their perception about brand positioning and to define future paths. The research has shown that Squadra’s strengths are the close relationship with clients, the integration in their reality, its strategic, practical and operational component and its marketing expertise. In addition, the relevance of the alliance with its business partners and their potential to increase the number of new clients was highlighted. Finally, it was suggested that Squadra should implement a more flexible remuneration model, diversify and increase the reach of its communication, establish contacts with new clients, and give more information about their projects and successes.

The ‘bottom of the pyramid’ (BoP) refers to the world’s poorest socio-economic group. In South Africa, consumers in this segment are an increasingly attractive target market for multi-national corporations (MNCs), partly because they constitute more than one-third of the population. However, a key managerial challenge remains in distributing goods and services to these consumers. This research sought to identify the alternative channels of distribution that firms develop to reach the BoP. Using a qualitative research methodology, eighteen depth interviews were conducted tracing the channels of seven firms from firm to end-user. The results suggest that many MNCs are indeed developing BoP channels, with varying degrees of success. Further, success seems to be driven by the level of managerial commitment. In addition, the BoP in South Africa is best understood as two distinct sub-segments, the urban BoP is characterised by more competition and crime, while the rural BoP has lower population density which heightens logistical challenges. Community involvement, where locals serve as distributors or salespeople, is a central feature of successful strategies to reach the BoP. Finally, the findings suggest that alternative distribution channels present benefits for MNCs in terms of cost to serve, local knowledge and increased penetration.<br>Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.<br>zkgibs2015<br>Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)<br>Unrestricted

Influencer marketing has in recent years developed as a new concept for both companies and individuals. Social media has presented a new way for companies to market themselves. The emerge has produced influencers and nowadays influencers need to be divided into different levels according to the number of followers. Companies have proven that they easily look blindly at the number of followers, which has meant that the emergence of micro influencers has not received the publicity it deserves. The purpose with this degree project is therefore to investigate micro influencers and see the brand awareness they create. The authors will apply the conducted research on startup companies.  The research was conducted through a qualitative study were semi-structured interviews created the empirical findings chapter. The data were later analyzed and discussed by the authors in the analyze part of the degree project. The analyze was compared with an early conducted literature review to find similarities and differences by the literature review.  The conclusion of this degree project is that micro influencer is a useful marketing method for startups. If micro influencers are used correctly, which means that the company has analyzed its target group, it helps startups to create brand awareness for a favorable price

Presented diploma thesis deals with the issue of territorial marketing in the Czech Republic, focusing primarily on the city marketing. The main aim of this work is to determine the current position of city marketing in the cities in Moravian-Silesian Region and compare tools that cities use. The research, which is part of this work, took place in 2014 and 2015. A semi- structured interview aimed to find out whether they are nowadays responsible workers from among city leaders familiar with the theory of city marketing and how they work with each of its types. Major emphasis in this research was put on marketing of investment opportunities, promoting tourism, but also the feelings of competition and threat among the surrounding towns. It was proved that the city in the Moravian-Silesian region with the concept of city marketing usually work, even though it is often called by other names. Currently cities seek marketing activities to attract new investors and promote tourism with an emphasis on events marketing. Keywords: territorial marketing - regional marketing - city marketing - towns - qualitative research

The effective integration of social media into the sales and marketing process for pharmaceutical companies can be complex. The complexity is further increased by the regulatory limitations (Code of marketing practice) within the industry as well as other considerations. This research explores some of these considerations and implications for social media integration. Further, the research determines the value of social capital as well as the process for social media engagement. The study surveyed three pharmaceutical companies in different stages of social media integration. A heterogeneous sample was selected to include diverse characteristics because the topic is still new within the pharmaceutical environment. A qualitative multiple case study method was selected which included interviews, direct observations and document reviews. Despite regulatory limitations, the findings provide insights for other industries with possible considerations for social media integration into sales and marketing. This is complemented by the Social Capital Theory that states that social media adds value. The issues of adverse event reporting and how to measure the return on investment remain a challenge. In conclusion, the engagement and management of social media processes is not easy to implement; therefore a four-phased process for social media engagement is proposed as a framework that allows easy integration.<br>Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.<br>pagibs2015<br>Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)<br>Unrestricted

碩士<br>銘傳大學<br>管理學院高階經理碩士學程<br>98<br>The development of drugs usually takes a considerable investment of capital and time; therefore the research-based pharmaceutical company will obtain the patent and the exclusivity for selling. This is intent to encourage continuous investment on the development of new medications to against disease. When patent expired, any entity can produce and launch the same therapeutic effect with same bioequivalence of drugs with the active ingredients, under the competent authority for approval which were called generics. Multi-branding marketing strategy is one of branding strategy in marketing, commonly found in consumer products such as fashions, boutique, electronics, cosmetics, sports goods, etc. Multi-branding marketing strategies in the global pharmaceutical environment could found sometimes. But there are limited amount of literature about systemic research on comparison of multi-branding strategy and single-branding strategy. In real world practice, product managers of research based-pharmaceutical companies should start to plan for future marketing strategies before facing the loss of exclusivity(LOE), due to lack of information for comparing different branding strategies as their references, the progress of decision making will be affected. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate how different branding strategy will impact to its sales when the prescription drugs LOE. There are 2 companies executing different branding strategy for their antidepressants has identified. Pre-specified questionnaires for in-depth interviewing will be conducted with product managers from the subject companies. The differences of strategy development, key factors of decision making and marketing mix will be compared from the result of interview, also the secondary sales data from IMS Health will be checked for comparing the performance. The professional, academic background, qualifications of two product managers and even the ranking of the product, numbers of competitions, trials and customer acceptance are similar. The members of decision making faculty involve in single-branding or dual-branding strategies, policy formation process, market segmentation and product positioning are different, of course, the variety of marketing strategy adoption, business operations, permit license holders, manpower deployment, channels and pricing strategies will also impact the performance of sales. No matter which branding strategy was performed, there are theoretical basis to support the strategic options. In real world practice, operation has no return tickets, and can not be re-set in business competition. Neglecting may impact the result differently. The suggestions for the brand managers when facing the challenge of LOE are: keep abreast of all possible development of policies, monitoring competitors more closely, and simulating potential strategic options accurately.

This Mixed Method Research Project examines the possible marketing strategies that can be used to market township schools in the Gauteng province, within an increasingly competitive educational system. These strategies are investigated within the largely unbalanced infrastructural and resource dichotomy that exists between most township schools and the former Model C schools; the results of which has seen among many other challenges, the ever increasing learner migration from the township schools to the former Model C suburban schools. This pedagogical manuscript adopts a case study approach while simultaneously integrating the influences of established research paradigms like pragmatism and enterpretivism. Within the attempt to find the best marketing options for township schools, the project also consciously attempts to identify the challenges (and possible solutions) that the said schools face as they try to market themselves. The benefits of implementing the marketing matrix within the education product are henceforth highlighted within the narrative of the project.<br>Educational Leadership and Management<br>M. Ed. (Education Management)

Title: Marketing communication of the running race We Run Prague Objectives: The aim of this work is to describe and analyse and to design and propose new and effective marketing communication elements and features of the running race We Run Prague. Methods: The diploma thesis used methods of descriptive analysis, analysis and evaluation of internal Nike data and documents and qualitative research in the form in-depth interviews. Results: Based on the results of the individual analyzes and qualitative results, I found out that to achieve predetermined objectives and to reach the target group accordingly the future marketing communication of We Run Prague race should focus on the use of online communication and event marketing. Key words: Marketing communication, communication campaign, qualitative research, Nike

The reality of a so-called theory/practice divide between what the academic world research and teach and how it is applied by practitioners has existed for decades. Academics commented about the practical applicability of theories concerning business management applications. This research attempts to understand a concept from a practitioners’ viewpoint. The focus of the research was on marketing and management practitioners’ application of market segmentation principles in their businesses. The study was qualitative in nature. Discussion guidelines were used in in-depth interviews from purposefully selected case study organisations. The analysis indicated that practitioners readily apply the economic principle of market segmentation. That is to divide the broad market into parts (segments) and then focus their attention on selected segments. The analysis also indicated that practitioners deviate from the current marketing theory on market segmentation. It was further found that management practitioners could benefit from applying some of the principles taught in market segmentation theory. The implications from the findings are twofold. The first is that an alternative theory regarding market segmentation emerged from management practitioners’ perspectives. The second is that it is possible to integrate aspects of other market segmentation schemes with the alternative theory to ensure a market segmentation approach that confirms management intuition as well as existing market segmentation theory. Merging these approaches creates a possible improvement in the practical application of current market segmentation theory.<br>Business Management<br>D. Phil. (Business Management)

<p><b>Background: </b>Male<b> </b>contraceptive options are limited to condoms or vasectomy and have lacked significant developments for about a century, suggesting the value of exploring male hormonal contraceptives (MHC). In October 2018, a transdermal gel method entered Phase 2 clinical trials, indicating MHC may soon be available. However, eventual uptake of potentially contentious innovations, like MHC, requires informed marketing and promotional strategy. Consumer behavior research methodologies can aid in determining consumer perspectives, providing a framework for effective marketing to encourage MHC adoption upon market introduction.</p><p> </p><p><b>Methods: <i>Phases 1 & 2.</i> </b>Focus groups (n=29) and individual, in-depth interviews (n=20) among college-aged men and women aged 18-26 years were conducted using a semi-structured approach. Techniques from expanded grounded theory were used, allowing for a constant comparative approach to data contextualization and theme identification. Ads were created based on focus group results and tested in the interviews. Content analysis served as the data analysis strategy, allowing for a constant comparative approach to data contextualization and theme identification. <b><i>Phase 3.</i></b> College-aged men and women (n=1,997) aged 18-26 years participated in a web-based survey. Multiple linear regression was used to examine significant predictors of attitudes toward, interest in, and intention to use or encourage use of MHC. A conjoint analysis procedure was also used to assess the relative importance of attributes on ad effectiveness and preference.</p><p> </p><p><b>Results: <i>Phase 1.</i> </b>Three primary themes emerged from focus group discussions: 1) openness to MHC; 2) resistance to MHC; and 3) MHC gel innovation characteristics. Men and women were generally interested in the idea of an MHC method. Hesitance about MHC surrounded the social acceptance of a novel contraceptive product, resistance to changing current contraceptive routines, and fear of health consequences. Participants shared insights about promotional strategies which fell within the diffusion of innovations (DOI) characteristics of relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability. <b><i>Phase 2.</i></b> In-depth interviews offered insight into perceptions of message development for MHC. Four themes emerged: 1) humor, 2) information, 3) relatability, and 4) credibility. Message testing in interviews yielded an understanding of elements participants responded most strongly to, including: 1) ad sentiment, 2) trustworthiness, and 3) visual appeal. <b><i>Phase 3.</i></b> Regression analyses revealed being sexually active (p=0.001) and having prior knowledge of potential MHC methods (p=0.031) aligned with positive MHC attitudes, interest, and intention. Conservative political views (p=0.002) and being satisfied with current male birth control offerings (p=0.000) were associated with negative MHC attitudes. Conjoint analysis identified informational messages as most important (56.62%). Informational (p=0.000) and aspirational messages (p=0.003) paired with relatable characters were the most highly preferred ads.</p><p><b> </b></p><p><a></a></p><p><b>Conclusions: </b>Findings revealed college-aged men and women express a general interest in the idea of MHC, with hesitance stemming from social acceptance of a novel contraceptive product, resistance to changing current contraceptive routines, and fear of potential side effects and long-term health consequences. Promotional strategy for MHC, or similar novel health products, must focus on stratifying consumers based on their readiness to accept a potential innovation and use tactics like aspirational marketing, social norms marketing, and informational marketing to confirm benefits and address concerns. Qualitative formative research also illuminated salient concepts for MHC advertising. Message testing revealed informational ads with elements of credibility may be most useful for promoting MHC, along with ad concepts audiences feel they can relate to or trust, and practical messaging or imagery meant to increase agency in use. The quantitative survey further supported these findings among a broader, university audience, indicating informational messages or aspirational messages paired with trustworthy, relatable characters are the most effective ad attributes to incorporate into marketing strategy when promoting a novel contraceptive product, like MHC.<b></b></p>

碩士<br>嶺東科技大學<br>國際企業研究所<br>98<br>In this study, the most representative precision machinery manufacturers in the middle of Taiwan is selected and to explain the interaction between the relevant actors of the marketing department and design department. In addition to explore the design and marketing department of the relevant development properties from the development point of view. By using case study approach for data collection from the design and marketing department and interviews the president of the company in order to explore the interaction between R & D and analyze the data. Propose the following conclusions as reference: 1. Comply with product customization needs of the communication mode, includes a formal mode of communication within the company, as well as informal communication. Appropriate informal mode of communication, will help those who master the usual management problems that might arise with a minimum of time to solve the problem. 2. The product design process, designers and marketing personnel interactive communication approaches, including strengthening the staff training, increase the designer's communication skills for the establishment of marketing personnel to understand the professional capacity of the product. Help to improve the quality of product design and increase the competitiveness of the company. 3. Interactive communication solutions are process issues within the company in charge through the communication between the problems encountered by the views of the dispute, only by the general manager to decide, is a direct type of internal management. The benefits of this approach can be done directly instructed by the company executives, is conducive to efficient progress.

A thesis on analysis media communication of selected microbreweries explores the relationship between small brewing companies and media. The work focuses on selected small businesses, offering to consume their own beer on-site production, ie., breweries whose part is the restaurant operation. The thesis depicts the first principles of marketing and media communications and a brief history of beer brewing in the Czech Republic. It also discusses the particular selected Prague microbreweries and evaluates elements of their presentation and promotion in traditional and new media. Chapters are dedicated to quantitative and qualitative research, which familiarize readers with theoretical knowledge of these surveys, the design of the questionnaire survey and its results. Similarly, also provide information regarding the implementation and results stemming from interviews with representatives of selected microbreweries within qualitative research. In conclusion, based on the acquired knowledge and research, a set of recommendations are provided for the improvement of marketing communication media for each of the microbreweries.

The subject of the diploma thesis is the process of online persuasion in the case of higher education applicants for bachelor's and master's programmes at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University (FSV UK) subject to tuition fees. The selected programmes form a specific class within the set of study programmes offered by the faculty resulting in necessity of different promotion strategies. The specificity of these programmes lies in the primary focus on multidisciplinarity, specific target group and the requirement of tuition fee payment. Online marketing and the recipient's persuasion being an effective tool gaining attention rapidly in recent years is the focus of this thesis. The attitudes of the main actors involved in the online persuasion in case of FSV UK are analyzed employing both quantitative (a questionnaire survey) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews with applicants and students) approaches. A SWOT analysis is performed based on a theoretical framework of information from universities, university marketing, marketing mix of universities and the persuasive principles and tools used to persuade the applicants to apply for studies at FSV UK. The work concludes with a summary of results obtained in a proposal of marketing strategy optimization for the Department of Public...

The study focused on the use of social media marketing in the telecommunication business in Zimbabwe, as it has received limited attention in the literature available to date. The study aimed to explore the use of social media marketing in a telecommunications business- Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited. The study took on an exploratory research design which was qualitative in nature. A case study approach was applied with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited as focus of being studied. Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited was chosen because it is the market leader in the telecommunications industry which has adopted the use of social media marketing in its business. Data collection was done through in-depth interviews with judgement sampling being used to choose the participants for the interviews. The data collected was analysed using thematic analysis. It was found that Econet Wireless Limited is using social media marketing to communicate with its customers, for their brand to be visible. They also use it because it is an inexpensive way to promote their business with a possibility to reach a large number of people in a short space of time.<br>Business Management<br>M. Com. (Business Management)

In der Dissertation wurde ein Vergleich des deutschen Studierendenmarketings und des amerikanischen Student Recruitments vorgenommen, um eine Erweiterung des Modells des deutschen Hochschulmarketings auf die Zielgruppe der zukünftigen Studierenden vorzunehmen und praktische Implikationen für deutsche Hochschulen abzuleiten. Hierzu wurde der Forschungsgegenstand in die Organisations- und die Marketingtheorie eingeordnet. Anschließend erfolgten eine theoretische Gegenüberstellung des deutschen und des amerikanischen Hochschulsystems sowie eine theoretische Darstellung des Student Recruitments. Die Betrachtung des Letzteren wurde empirisch durch qualitative Experteninterviews untermauert. Diese wurden im Rahmen eines Forschungsaufenthalts in den USA mit Spezialisten aus den Bereichen Student Recruitment durchgeführt und validierten das zuvor theoretisch dargestellte Konstrukt weitestgehend. Abschließend wurden das theoretische Modell des deutschen Hochschulmarketings auf die Zielgruppe der zukünftigen Studierenden erweitert und Implikationen für die Anwendung von Student Recruitment an deutschen Hochschulen abgeleitet.

The thesis "Political image of emerging politicians and media they use to build their image" examines the reationship of young aspiring politicians to the topic of political image. The main objective of this thesis is to examine the relationship of young aspiring politicians to political image and whether they are actively seeking to build their own political image. Young aspiring politicians are defined for purposes of this thesis as members of youth political organizations Young Social Democrats and Young Conservatives over 18 years old. The first part of this thesis summarizes theoretical findings on the issue of political image in terms of political marketing and political communication and defines political youth organizations and describes their function in relation to society and political parties. The second part of this thesis examines the relationship of young aspiring politicians to political image through qualitative research using semi-structured interviews as research tool.

This third chapter of “From global efficiency to local self-sufficiency” represents the trend analysis part. Chapter one and two outlined world economic developments and its impact on consumer trends as well as introduced the food industry. This third section connects these topics while investigating which changing consumer trends shape the food industry. Based on 28 in-depth interviews, qualitative prospection attempts to validate topic relevance and identifies categories to group consumer trends. Quantitative validation consisting of 327 survey responses verifies identified trends and represents critical changes to respond to by supply-side of the food industry.

This diploma thesis discusses Instagram as a means for spreading trends in gastronomy with a focus on gastronomy and related trends in the field specifically from the Czech Republic. The author tries to map the influences that the online environment can have on their formation, especially the social network Instagram. After a thorough acquaintance with the environment of social networks, the social network Instagram, its influence on the spread of experiences, trends and the media environment in general, is described in more detail. The author seeks to clarify whether what is happening on this network can guide the direction of what is popular in the gastronomic environment, understand the role that well-watched creators from Instragram play in society and what it means for ordinary users to share food experiences. "Influential" users from the gastronomic sphere on Czech Instagram and their further connection with the media environment are presented. In the research, the author determines, via the form of a structured questionnaire (which was attended by 1143 respondents from the environment of social networks), what role Instragram plays in spreading gastronomic trends in the Czech Republic. The data obtained is supplemented with opinions based on interviews with representatives from the Czech...

São várias as investigações que apontam os benefícios do estilo de liderança humilde, considerando ser, este, um dos fatores de sucesso das organizações. Apesar da pertinência destas investigações, são raros os estudos que exploraram as perceções que os principais agentes em estudo: os líderes, têm sobre esta matéria. De modo a explorar este ponto, este estudo utilizou uma abordagem qualitativa, tendo-se entrevistado 19 líderes em Portugal, para estudar as perceções dos mesmos sobre o papel da humildade no desempenho das suas equipas. Analisaram-se as perceções dos participantes sobre o impacto de três comportamentos (autoconsciência; mostrar apreciação pelas forças e contribuições dos outros; e ser ensinável) no desempenho, bem como as noções de humildade e a perceção dos entrevistados sobre o impacto que líderes humildes têm no desempenho das organizações. Dos três comportamentos em análise, o primeiro comportamento foi aquele que foi considerado pelos entrevistados como de menor relevância para um desempenho positivo das equipas tendo sido associado, por alguns, a desempenhos negativos. Sobre os outros dois comportamentos, a perceção geral dos entrevistados foi positiva, sendo considerados enquanto importantes a adotar para um melhor desempenho, ainda que haja a perceção que a eficácia de todos os comportamentos seja condicionada por diversas situações. No que diz respeito às noções de humildade, verificou-se uma grande dispersão na interpretação deste conceito entre os participantes. Relativamente à perceção sobre o impacto de líderes humildes no desempenho, a maioria considerou que líderes humildes podem não ter melhores desempenhos nas organizações em determinados contextos.<br>There are many researches that point out the benefits of a humble leadership style, considering this as one of the factors of success of some organizations. Despite the importance of such researches, it’s rare for studies to explore the perceptions that the main agents in those studies: the leaders, have on the matter. To explore this subject, this research made use of a qualitative approach, interviewing 19 leaders in Portugal, to better understand their perceptions about the role that humbleness plays on their team’s performance. One analyzed the perceptions of the participants on the impact that three behaviors (a manifested willingness to view oneself accurately, a displayed appreciation of others’ strengths and contributions, and teachability) have on performance, as well as their notion of humbleness and their perception of the impact that humble leaders have on the performance of their organizations. Of the three behaviors in question, the first one was considered between the interviewees as the least relevant to achieve better performance for the teams, even being associated by some as a factor for worst performance. On the other two behaviors, the common notion was a positive one, with both being considered as important to adopt in order to achieve better performance, although there’s the notion that how effective these are varies depending on several situations. About the notion of humbleness, it was noted a great dispersion between everyone’s interpretation of this concept. On the perception about the impact that humble leaders have on performance, most participants considered that humble leaders may not achieve better performance on their organizations under certain contexts.

This study focuses on the extent to which the various elements of corporate brand identity as identified in the literature are perceived to contribute to corporate brand image formation. In doing so, a theoretical perspective is adopted for this study that borrows from both marketing communication and corporate communication theories. Three data collection techniques – Q methodology, an online questionnaire and computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) – were used to determine to what extent these elements are perceived significant in corporate brand image formation among participants from 106 South African organisations across various business sectors. Four categories were identified to be perceived as significant for corporate brand image formation, namely transformational leadership and management, positioning and differentiation strategy, brand equity and employee orientation and mentorship. To date, a comprehensive measuring instrument that theoretically includes all the corporate brand identity elements perceived to be significant in corporate brand image formation has not been developed. Based on the research findings, the study aims to propose a theoretical framework for establishing a measuring instrument that includes all the corporate brand identity elements deemed significant in corporate brand image formation as perceived by South African organisations. The objective of providing a theoretical framework for establishing a measuring instrument is to enable organisations to assess the role of their corporate brand identity in corporate brand image formation among their stakeholder groups. The theoretical framework includes the four identified categories perceived as significant in corporate brand image formation. It indicates which of the corporate brand identity elements included in the four categories are perceived to be more significant in corporate brand image formation by South African organisations. In addition, it provides assumptions on how these corporate brand identity elements are perceived to work in synergy to enhance corporate brand image formation based on the research results.<br>Communication Science<br>D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)