Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Consumer Concerns'

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Over the last decade, technological and Internet innovations have increasingly invaded the consumer market (N’Goala, 2016). The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming a common platform, and disrupts relationships between consumers and companies (Bohli et al., 2009); in essence, this is a timely research. The major goal of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of the acceptance and the adoption processes of the IoT and smart connected technologies, as well as the related consequences on perceived well-being. To do this, four contexts of study have been explored: smart connected objects, smart sleep applications, smart homes, and smart stores. First, we performed qualitative exploratory studies, and secondly we conducted quantitative studies to build conceptual models according to our qualitative findings and the literature. The results show that technology benefits are the first factors that enable technology acceptance through perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use; subsequently, self-improvement, through perceived social image and well-being benefits, are the main reasons to continue using the IoT and smart connected technologies. The acceptance and the adoption of these technologies also depend on users’ personality traits while perceived risks and fears on the use of the personal data are the main barriers. In turn, the IoT and smart connected technologies influence perceived well-being according to the experience of use, personality traits, and the technology

This thesis focuses on two under-researched areas of consumer behaviour: conflict handling styles and consumer bargaining. As illustrated in this thesis, consumer bargaining is a substantial and important behaviour that has rarely been studied from a consumer perspective. Further, conflict handling, which is considered an important and wellresearched phenomenon in an organisational context, has been rarely applied to consumer behaviour, despite the potential for conflict in many areas. The aims of this thesis were to a) examine consumer bargaining behaviour across a variety of culturally diverse nations; b) develop and validate a new instrument to measure conflict handling styles; and c) examine the relationships between the likelihood of consumer bargaining, preferred conflict handling styles, and personal values. Consumer bargaining was found to be common in both developed and developing nations. Respondents from Australia and Germany reported bargaining for a broad range of products that vary in their prices, including cars, electronics, appliances, clothing, and computers. Bargaining in South Korea was even more common, including everyday purchases like clothing, and food and drink. Finally, bargaining in Brazil was almost as common as in South Korea, and also included expensive consumer durable purchases, such as electronic products and cars, in addition to everyday purchases, such as clothing, and food and drink. The conflict handling style instrument developed in this project had convergent validity with existing ratings scales, reproduced the theorised structure of the dual-concerns model of conflict handling, and had predictive validity in a service recovery context. The benefits iii of the new scale over existing ratings scales include: a) capturing relative preference for the conflict handling styles; b) reduction of sources of common method variance; c) reduction of ratings scale response biases; and d) reduction of numerical effect biases, such as different perceived distances between response categories. The newly developed scale was also used to assess the hypothesised relationships between personal values, conflict handling styles, and consumer bargaining intensity in a developed Western country (Germany). As expected, the dominate conflict handling style was positively related, while the avoid conflict handling style was negatively related to consumer bargaining intensity. Although no relationship was found between personal values and consumer bargaining intensity, personal values were found to be an antecedent of conflict handling styles. Specifically, the power value type was found to be a positive predictor of the dominate conflict handling style, while benevolence and social universalism were found to be positive predictors of the integrate conflict handling style.

Online behavioral targeting (OBT) are customized ad messages based on personal information to enhance advertising effectiveness. Greater personalization typically increases relevance but is also told to cause privacy concerns. This study examines the constructs of advertising engagement and advertising avoidance on Instagram. Using the Critical Incident Technique, it identifies a typology of the three antecedents of both engagement and avoidance: relevance, degree of personalization and traceability of data source. While a high degree of personalization and relevance was found to be prevalent in both engagement and avoidance scenarios, tractability of data source was identified as an ethical boundary for research subjects and a decisive criterium in whether privacy concerns were being raised. The results propose common trigger combinations for both engagement and avoidance scenarios, yet there are cases falling outside the norm with suggests that acceptance and reactions to OBT is a highly complex construct were many external variables and as well as personal character traits might be at play.
Online beteendeinriktning (OBT) är anpassade annonsmeddelanden baserat på personlig information för att förbättra reklameffektiviteten. Större personalisering ökar vanligtvis relevansen men indikerar också att orsaka integritetsproblem. Denna studie undersöker konstruktioner av reklamengagemang och reklamundvikande på Instagram. Med den kritiska incidenttekniken identifieras en typologi av de tre föregångarna för både engagemang och undvikande: relevans, grad av personalisering och spårbarhet av datakällan. Emedan en hög grad av personalisering och relevans befanns vara vanligt i både engagemangs- och undvikelsesscenarier, identifierades datakällans spårbarhet som en etisk gräns för forskningsämnen och ett avgörande kriterium för huruvida integritetshänsyn togs upp eller inte. Resultaten föreslår vanliga utlösarkombinationer för både engagemangs- och undvikelsesscenarier, men det existerar fall som faller utanför normen men antyder att acceptans och reaktioner på OBT är en mycket komplex konstruktion där många externa variabler och personliga karaktärsdrag står på spel.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute with a cross-country approach to the research about consumers’ online privacy concerns by investigating Greek and Swedish consumers’ privacy attitudes and behaviours in the digital marketplace. Theoretical framework: The study’s theoretical framework is based on the Power-Responsibility Equilibrium Theory (PRE) perspective and three of Hoftsede’s cultural dimensions; uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and individualism. Methodology: The study has a deductive approach with a quantitative research method. The data was collected by a questionnaire in each country which resulted in 232 answers in total. The answers were then analyzed in Microsoft Excel 16.41, SPSS 26.0, and SmartPLS 3.3.3. Findings: Findings indicate that the impact of power-holders on consumer privacy concerns, privacy empowerment and trust is more prominent for Swedish than for Greek consumers. Moreover, the impacts of privacy concerns, privacy empowerment and trust on consumers’ power-balancing strategies are more substantial for Greek than for Swedish consumers. Implications: The study contributes to the marketing field and academics studying consumers’ behaviour as it adds a cross-cultural approach to the investigation of consumers’attitudes on e-commerce from a PRE theory perspective. Additionally, they can have practical implications for marketers and policymakers in the e-commerce sector as they can gain some insight into how essential corporate privacy responsibility and regulations are to gain the trust of consumers and decrease their privacy concerns. Limitations: Since the study covers Greek and Swedish consumers, it is limited to countries with similar characteristics. Moreover, the majority of the respondents were under 35 years old and their opinions contradicted, not allowing most of the effects to be statistically significant enough to be considered. Originality/Value: Consumer privacy attitudes and behaviours on e-commerce have not been studied from both a power-responsibility equilibrium and a cultural dimensions perspective. This study adds a cross-country approach by studying Greek and Swedish consumers, while at the same time combining two theoretical perspectives.

User needs and wants dictate the way in which products are designed, produced, used and disposed of. Western society in particular has become very consumer driven and the waste resulting from such activity has the potential to be disastrous. The creation of emotional attachment with possessions is one way of approaching sustainable consumer-product relationships. The aim of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of the interaction and emotional attachment that consumers have and develop with their products. It outlines literature relating to consumer emotion and experience in relation to products, and how pleasurable product user relationships can be prolonged. It is evident from the literature that the roles of materials in the emotional attachment consumers have with products needed to be further explored. A study was conducted to determine consumers. concepts of six materials currently used in product design. This involved participants being given a Concept Prompt Probe with textual prompts to assist in discussion about the materials in question. The discussions between the 15 participant groups of two people, one male and one female, were then transcribed and coded ready for analysis. The study findings demonstrate consumers. concepts of the six materials. The findings show both physical and emotional consumer concepts of the materials. It is, however, the interaction of these concepts that is the most significant finding of this research. Each material concept is not only judged emotionally by consumers in its own right but in relation to other concepts as well. The interaction of the consumers. concepts of materials can considerably effect the emotional judgement made about the material and the appropriateness of its application. This research makes a significant contribution to knowledge regarding the effect materials have on the consumers by identifying how materials can prompt emotional judgements and thereby alter the product user experience.

With society's growing concern of the environmental impact that consumerism has today, consumers are more aware than ever of how their consumption habits affect their surroundings. This study is based on the consumer's journey of choosing products based on their environmental impact and the complications of it. The study will examine a subsection of Greenwashing, called Executional Greenwashing, that is used to subconsciously communicate messages about greenery towards the consumer, inferring their decision making. The goal of the research is to provide an understanding of how consumers react to Fast-Moving Consumer Goods advertisements containing Executional Greenwashing elements and what factors influence their reaction. The study uses primary and secondary data together with conducted interviews to examine how the use of Executional Greenwashing affects consumers' emotions towards advertisements containing these elements. The findings reveal how knowledge and expertise are the main factors to influence how consumers react to Executionally Greenwashed advertisement. The study also provides a conceptual model based on the findings to explain what emotions are affected in consumers. Consumers and researchers can use these findings to gain a further understanding of the effects of Executional Greenwashing and continue upon this research to achieve a complete understanding.

1. Skinner B.F. Science and human behavior. New York, Simon & Schuster, 1965. 480 p. 2. Skinner B.F. About Behaviorism. New York, Random House USA Inc, 1976. 304 p. 3. Skinner B.F. Beyond Freedom and Dignity. Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Cambridge, 2003. 240 p. 4. Behaviorism and Marketing – URL: https://zg-brand.ru/statiy/marketing/bikheviorizm_i_marketing/ (accessed on 02 December 2021). 5. Mothersbaugh D., Hawkins D. Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy, McGraw-Hill Education, 2015. 816 p.
The question of what influences a consumer’s buying decision is, without exaggeration, one of the key questions in marketing. Building the brand’s interaction with the target audience, developing the idea and content of the advertising message, finding effective communication channels and implementing a dozen more urgent tasks depends on the answer to it. Social psychology, back in the last century, offered its own view of the problem, giving the world the theory of behaviorism, a theory based on the study of the dependence of the behavioral reactions of a person on stimuli from the external environment.

Pesquisas em que se procura investigar a relação entre os fatores ambientais e o comportamento dos consumidores são ainda embrionárias no Brasil, o que constitui uma oportunidade para estudos que relacionam o comportamento de compra dos consumidores com as questões ambientais. Nessa perspectiva, o objetivo da presente pesquisa foi verificar se existe correlação entre os construtos: conhecimento ecológico, afeto ecológico, preocupação ecológica, normas subjetivas e o comportamento de compras verdes. Na busca do alcance dos objetivos propostos, adotou-se uma metodologia caracterizada pela pesquisa exploratória, utilizando-se o método transversal simples no processo de coleta dos dados. Foram adotados no estudo dados secundários, provenientes de artigos, livros, dissertações, teses e internet, além de dados primários, coletados com a aplicação de questionários à população-alvo. Partindo-se de uma amostragem aleatória estratificada, essa população foi constituída pelas mulheres acima dos 18 anos, por representarem consumidoras potenciais de produtos cosméticos. No tratamento dos dados dos 500 questionários validados, contemplouse a utilização do coeficiente Alpha de Cronbach e da técnica multivariada de análise fatorial exploratória. Um modelo de regressão múltipla foi testado para explicar o comportamento de compra de cosméticos ecológicos. Os resultados deixam evidências de que as variáveis Normas Subjetivas (NS), Afeto Ecológico (AE), Preocupação Ecológica (PE) e Conhecimento Ecológico (CE) foram consideradas estatisticamente significantes para explicar as variações em Comportamento de Compra de Cosméticos Ecológicos (CCCE), com um R2 de 0,555. Entre as variáveis demográficas testadas, verificou-se que apenas a faixa etária e a classe social exercem influência moderada sobre a variável dependente. Tais resultados sinalizam similaridade entre os resultados obtidos na mensuração da correlação múltipla entre as variáveis independentes, a variável dependente e aqueles observados na teoria sobre a influência da primeira sobre o comportamento de compra de produtos ambientalmente corretos. Os resultados desta tese oferecem uma compreensão adicional sobre os fatores que afetam o processo de decisão de compra do consumidor. Considera-se, portanto, que este trabalho constitui um avanço no estado da arte das pesquisas sobre a relação entre os fatores ambientais e o comportamento dos consumidores, uma vez que foram investigados aspectos não contemplados em estudos anteriores.
Research which seeks to investigate the relationship between environmental factors and the consumer behavior is still embryonic in Brazil, which is a unique opportunity for those studies that relate the purchasing behavior of consumers to environmental issues. In this perspective, the goal of this research was to ascertain whether there is correlation between the following constructs: ecological knowledge, ecological affection, ecological concern, subjective norms and green purchase behavior. In pursuit of achieving the proposed objectives, a methodology characterized by exploratory search was used, adopting the simple transverse method in data collection process. In the study, secondary data from articles, books, dissertations, theses and the internet were used, in addition to the primary data, collected with the application of questionnaires to the target population. Based on a stratified random sampling, the population was constituted by women over 18 years old, since they represent potential consumers of cosmetic products. Regarding the data processing of 500 validated questionnaires, the use of Cronbach\'s Coefficient Alpha and multivariate exploratory technique of factor analysis were contemplated. A multiple regression model was tested to explain the behavior of buying ecological cosmetics. The results produce evidence that Subjective Norms (SN), Ecological Affection (EA), Ecological Concern (EC) and Ecological Knowledge (EC) variables were considered statistically significant to explain the variations in Purchase Behavior of Ecological Cosmetics (PBEC), with an R2 of 0.555. Among the demographic variables tested, it was found that only the age and social class exercise moderate influence over the dependent variable. Such results indicate similarity among the results obtained in the measurement of multiple correlations among independent variables, the dependent variable and those observed in theory concerning the influence of the former over the purchasing behavior of environmentally correct products. The results of this thesis offer additional insight about the factors that affect the purchase decision process. Therefore, it is considered that this work is an advance in the state of the art of research about the relationship between environmental factors and the consumer behavior, since aspects not covered in previous studies were investigated.

Since the 1980's environmentalism has developed into a major worldwide movement with concern for the environment having grown exponentially over the last two decades. With this change in thinking there have been corresponding shifts in consumer attitudes with many stating they are willing to pay more for eco-labelled products and services. With the increase in consumer demands on protection of the environment and businesses becoming aware of their responsibility towards the objective of sustainability, retailers and manufacturers have moved beyond simply addressing environmental regulatory issues and are introducing alternative products that could be classified as ecofriendly. However, at present, businesses find it difficult to predict consumers' reaction towards these products with a degree of accuracy that is necessary to enable the development of new targeting and segmenting strategies. This presumably has contributed towards several failures in green products development (D'Souza et al, 2007). This study tested whether the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991) explains consumers' intention to purchase eco-friendly products (EFPs). The researcher extended the TPB by including environmental concern in the model. The aim is to test whether this construct directly influences people's attitudes towards the purchase of these products. Furthermore, the study investigates whether consumers' search for information on EFPs and whether their price/quality sensitivity may also affect their intention to purchase these products. The respondent base is then divided by means of demographic segmentation in order to determine whether attitudes towards and intention to purchase EFPs differ between age, income and gender groups. A survey was conducted among 100 customers of a well-known retailer, known for its selection of EFPs. The data obtained was analysed using SPSS software. The results found the TPB to be valid within an environmentally responsible purchase decision framework and that environmental concern does influence consumer attitudes towards the purchase of EFPs. This is in line with the findings of De Groot & Steg (2007) and Bamberg (2003) which also found that ii environmental concern should not be seen as a direct determinant of behaviour, but an important indirect one. The emphasis should thus be on increasing consumers' level of environmental concern and then identify those consumers with favourable attitudes towards EFPs, rather than identify green consumers solely on the basis of environmental concern. Furthermore, the study found that consumers' search for information and trust in product labelling affect their intention to purchase these products. This study suggests that the consumer ought to be educated on the differences between EFPs and regular products by means of advertising and label information. It also emphasises the need for claims made about EFPs to be substantiated. With regards to price and quality sensitivity, the results show that both these constructs affect consumers' attitudes towards and intention to purchase EFPs. Consumers will not readily buy an EFP if it is somewhat more expensive than a regular product and they are even less likely to purchase such a product if it does not meet the same quality standards. With regards to demographic segmentation, the results show that women are more environmentally concerned than men and also have a greater intention to purchase EFPs in future. There is no difference between age groups in terms of their attitudes and intention to purchase EFPs but those aged 41-60 have greater volitional control over the purchase of these products as they are better able to afford them. Similarly, income groups show no difference in attitudes and intention but higher incomes groups have greater volitional control over the purchase of EFPs. Nevertheless, there was no difference found between age and income groups in terms of their price sensitivity. This brings into question the effectiveness of the premium pricing strategy currently employed by many manufacturers of EFPs as it seems that people with higher incomes, even though they are better able to afford EFPs, are not more willing to purchase these products if priced higher than regular products.

This study comprises what triggers ethical consumption, based on personality archetypes. It has been conducted through semi-structured interviews. The respondents were students at Linnaeus University in the ages of 20-27. The personality archetypes were mapped through a conceptual model, based on the foundations of a personality; ego or social, with tendencies of having freedom or order characteristics. The respondent’s ethical behaviour was mapped in a conceptual model, then analysed in accordance with existing personalities. The results show differences in what triggers consumers’ behaviour in ethical consumption and that the individual’s personality determines to what extent.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES
Understanding the relationship between the human being and the environment is a need present in the agenda of companies, governments, academy and consumers. Towards the sustainable development, everyone is looking for the causes and possible solutions to mitigate the environmental problems, since these might affect all of us. So, this study aimed to identify if the awareness of adverse consequences and the consumers' environmental concern contribute to the environmental conscious behaviors. These objectives were reached through the application of in-depth interviews allied with the projective technique with 33 consumers aged between 18 to 66 years old that were residents in João Pessoa city. The interpretation of the speeches through the content analysis with qualitative approach oriented by Bardin (1977) generated thematic categories and variables. These, when confronted in the light of the theoretical references, allowed the analysis of the environmental conscious behaviors and if these are oriented by selfish values (anthropocentric) or are guided by altruistic and biospheric values (ecocentric). The results showed a paradoxical consumers relationship that ranges among consuming less to preserve the environment and the planet (values oriented to our interests ) or consuming more to reach personal satisfaction in a way to maintain the own life quality, the health and the personal well-being ( my interests ). The study reveals a high concern and understanding referred to the negative consequences of the environmental degradation. However, despite of the declared intention of acting on behalf of the environment, the consumers demonstrate passivity and selfish behaviors. In this context, the consumers impute to the companies and the governments the environmental care and do not exercise their power to maintain the society s balance. From these verifications, it is necessary to make the consumers aware and to motivate them to change values and behaviors, towards this new thought related to an ecological rationality. The sustainable development can be reached by addressing the government actions together with the marketing strategies, but also counting with the consumer's active participation in this sense.
Entender as relações entre o homem e o meio ambiente é uma necessidade presente na agenda de empresas, governos, academia e consumidores. Na onda do desenvolvimento sustentável, todos buscam as causas e possíveis soluções para mitigar os problemas ambientais, já que estes acabam afetando a todos. Neste sentido, esta dissertação busca identificar se a conscientização acerca das consequências adversas e a preocupação ambiental dos consumidores contribuem para seus comportamentos ambientalmente conscientes. Estes objetivos foram alcançados por meio de entrevistas em profundidade aliadas à técnica projetiva conduzidas com 33 consumidores de idades entre 18 a 66 anos e moradores da cidade de João Pessoa. A análise qualitativa de conteúdo orientada por Bardin (1977) possibilitou interpretar as falas e gerou categorias temáticas e variáveis. Estas, confrontadas à luz das referências teóricas, permitiram analisar o comportamento ambientalmente consciente dos consumidores e verificar se são consoantes com valores egoístas (antropocêntricos) ou são orientados por valores altruístas e biosféricos (ecocêntricos). Os resultados apontam para uma relação paradoxal dos consumidores que se baseia entre consumir menos para preservar o meio ambiente e o planeta (valores voltados aos nossos interesses ) ou consumir mais para atingir satisfação pessoal e manter a própria qualidade de vida, a saúde e o bem-estar pessoal ( meus interesses ). O estudo revela alta preocupação e conscientização acerca das consequências negativas da degradação ambiental. Porém, apesar de os entrevistados declararem a intenção de agir em prol do meio ambiente, demonstram passividade e egoísmo nos comportamentos. Neste contexto, os consumidores imputam às empresas e aos governos os cuidados com o ambiente e não exercem seu poder para manter a sociedade em equilíbrio. A partir destas constatações, infere-se a necessidade de conscientizar os consumidores e incentivar a mudança de valores e comportamentos, face ao novo pensamento voltado à racionalidade ecológica. O desenvolvimento sustentável poderá ser alcançado a partir do direcionamento das ações governamentais aliadas às estratégias de marketing, mas também com a participação do consumidor mais atuante neste sentido.

This bachelor’s thesis is a literature review about big data, privacy concerns for individual consumers and how these two overlap together in a way to possibly explain what are the privacy concerns that customers have, and the companies maybe should think about, when they utilize data as a marketing tool. The thesis introduces an integrative framework for the privacy concerns emerging from the process of big data management for marketing purposes and gives insights for phases in this process first separately from companies point of view, then from the consumers point of view regarding the privacy issues and then together by bringing these two issues together.

Open Source och relaterade mjukvarukoncept och utvecklingsmodeller är vid det här laget allmänt bekanta och har varit föremål för många studier. Open Source Hardware är mindre spritt och studerat, och så även emergent teknologi som för in traditionellt industriella tekniker som 3D-printing, laserskärare, och CAD-baserade produktionsverktyg i mindre skala i hem- och hobbymiljöer. Dessa ämnen har främst studerats ur mer renodlat tekniska perspektiv, snarare än att sättas i samband i en vidare kontext. Denna kombinerar internet som infrastruktur och socialt medium för kunskaps- och resursdelning; open source-koncept; de möjligheter som tillgängligheten av mer och mer kapabel och överkomlig hårdvara byggd på öppen design bereder; och andra relaterade socio-tekniska fenomen vilka börjat framträda de senaste 5-10 åren. I denna uppsats undersöker jag denna större kontext. Uppsatsen har utförts i form av en litteraturstudie av existerande forskning inom ovanstående diskreta områden, och i den mån de finns även dess inbördes relationer. Denna kontext framträder som ett emergent paradigm kring produktion av hemelektronik, och även som exemplifierande trenden av teknologins fortsatta intåg som allestädes närvarande i våra liv och vår omgivning. Resultaten indikerar en gryende förändring i hur vi interagerar med teknik, vilka som gör det och varför, i vilka kontexter, och ett framträdande av en ny ekonomi. Jag visar på att ytterligare forskning behövs, och att perspektivet bör flyttas från att analyseras enbart i diskreta termer som teknik, open source-principer, DIY et cetera, utan även till vad som framstår som resultatet där dessa konvergerar, den naturliga konsekvensen av ett folkligt anammande av denna teknik och open source-koncept.

Le gaspillage alimentaire occupe une place croissante dans l'actualité et l'agenda politique. Les travaux en marketing sur le gaspillage en foyer restent relativement peu nombreux, et n'appréhendent pas la façon dont le consommateur est sensible à la question du gaspillage. Nous proposons dans cette thèse une définition de la sensibilité du consommateur au gaspillage alimentaire, et validons une échelle de mesure de ce construit. Puis nous testons un modèle décrivant les relations entre la sensibilité au gaspillage alimentaire, ses antécédents, et les comportements ayant un lien avec le gaspillage en foyer. Les analyses quantitatives révèlent une sensibilité à deux dimensions : l'une portant sur l'individu et l'autre plus générale. La sensibilité individuelle a un effet (positif) plus marqué sur l'adoption de pratiques "anti-gaspillage" et (négatif) sur un comportement de gaspillage que la sensibilité dite "globale". L'éducation reçue vis-à-vis du gâchis et la préoccupation pour le pouvoir d'achat sont, conformément à l'intuition,des antécédents de la sensibilité au gaspillage alimentaire. Enfin, nous déduisons de ces résultats des recommandations pour les pouvoirs publics, les consommateurs, et les managers, dans le cadre de l'objectif de réduire le gaspillage alimentaire
Food waste occupies a growing space in news and political agenda. Yet, studies on food waste are still relatively rare in marketing science, and they do not take into account the way consumers are concerned by food waste. In this work, we propose a definition of consumer's concern for food waste (CCFW) and, we validate a measuring scale for this construct. Then, we test a modeldescribing the relationships between concern for food waste (CFW), its antecedents and, behaviors linked with food waste at home. Quantitative analysis reveals a two-dimensional concern. The first dimension is "individual" (close to the person) and the second one is more "global" (general). Individual concern has a stronger impact on the adoption of waste-reducing practices than global concern. Education received regarding food waste and “concern for purchasing power” are, as expected, antecedents of CCFW. Finally, we give recommendations for governments, consumers and managers, in the light of these results, to help reducing food waste

The environmental concern has become a well discussed topic within today’s society and as a result awareness of the impact human behaviour has on the environment is continuously increasing. This concern is something companies take advantage of when marketing, as for instance by promoting their products or services as eco-labelled. Eco-labelled products have further shown to involve a lot of consumer opinions, and are thus common to study in relation to consumer attitudes. Theories also show that eco-labelled goods have been idealised in favour of conventional ones, referred to as a marketing placebo effect. In connection to this, companies have started to point interest at eco-labelled technology, which has become a recent phenomenon attracting attention. Nonetheless, the existing theory regarding this phenomenon has been mainly applied on specific areas, such as the food industry. The purpose of this study was therefore to explain the marketing placebo effect on eco-labelled technology. 162 experiments were conducted using one experiment group and one control group, in order to be able to detect an eventual marketing placebo effect when implementing an eco-label, using attitudes as an influencer. Based on the results, it was revealed that attitudes are crucial to take into consideration when applying an eco-label in a technology context. This as it was concluded that attitudes act as a trigger evoking a marketing placebo effect. The findings from this study contradicts current theories on how different factors cooperate in the process of a marketing placebo effect, and advances has thus been made in how the marketing placebo effect works when applied in a technology context.

Various multi-provider, multi-media and multi-technology systems have emerged from the convergence of communications and computing technologies. With such systems, the provision of services over heterogeneous networks with competing service providers becomes a very challenging issue. In the mobile communication environment, this trend is also accompanied by a reorganisation of the business model. For instance, with first generations of mobile systems, the network operator was also the service provider. This is now changing with the recent introduction of organisations that offer mobile services without owning a network infrastructure nor a radio licence to operate a network. It becomes therefore apparent that there will be a separation between the service and network provider roles in emerging mobile communication systems. This research study proposes a framework to allow this separation by allowing heterogeneous networks to support various service creation platforms. The proposal is organised around a set of 'digital marketplaces' where agents acting on behalf of users and organisations are able to trade communication services. These inter-agent interactions are performed according to a pre-defined auction protocol and controlled by a market provider. Dynamics of a marketplace are driven by economics principles so as to reach a market equilibrium where the demand of services equals its associated supply. In this context, scarce resources are preserved for users who value them most. In each marketplace, a reputation mechanism is in place to penalise network operators which are not fulfilling their contract commitments. Smart services can exploit the dynamics of a digital marketplace by exploiting more efficiently the radio resources. The key features of the proposed marketbased framework are a self-organisation in an environment where providers and users can register dynamically, a competition at the service level, the possibility to develop fairer pricing shemes and the integration of various service creation platforms over heterogeneous networks.

Consumers today are becoming more aware of how their behavior and use of resources affect the environment. It is becoming increasingly important for companies to understand consumer’s attitudes in order to predict their behavior. Extensive research has been conducted on the attitude-behavioral relationship in various fields of study. However, no research has been made on the attitude towards environmentally friendly automobiles and how it affects purchase intentions. Our research has been made in collaboration with Volvo Car Corporation, which in 2010 was acquired by Geely Automobile. The acquisition meant that an opportunity presented itself on the Chinese market, which today is the largest automobile market in the world. The thesis will focus on young Chinese consumer’s attitude toward the environment and how this may affect their purchase intentions towards environmentally friendly automobiles. The basis for our reasoning is that the factors environmental values, environmental knowledge and responsibility feelings make up an individual’s environmental attitude. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how environmental values, environmental knowledge and responsibility feelings affect purchase intentions towards environmentally friendly automobiles among young Chinese consumers. We have used a quantitative approach in our collection of empirical data. With the help of a web-based self-completions survey we managed to send out the questionnaire to all Chinese students studying at Jönköping University and received a high response rate of 65%. We based the design of the survey on a model from Kaiser, Ranney, Hartig and Bowler (1999). The major findings from our research conclude that the used model does not substantially explain purchase intentions of environmentally friendly automobiles. Our research suggests that the factors environmental knowledge and responsibility feelings are not significant when predicting intentions to purchase environmentally friendly automobiles. However, the factor environmental values proved to be strongly correlated when predicting intentions to purchase environmentally friendly automobiles.

This thesis discusses development of a future visioning system model that can be adopted to create new product concepts for consumer electronics companies operating in a highly competitive business environment. The research work investigates consumer electronic product companies and their market environment to identify problematic issues and indicates that a proactive new product strategy which opens new markets through developing concept-led products is a strategic priority, thus the concept development stage in new product development process is in need of improvement. An evaluation of existing concept development tools for the purpose of proactive product strategy is presented and concludes that future visioning procedure is the most appropriate tool. To develop a future visioning system model as a concept development tool, the theoretical future visioning system models are analysed and mapped to extract essential structure and contents of future visioning procedure. The consequent future visioning system model is then revised according to the findings and suggestions from the field research work which investigated four major consumer electronics product companies in practice. The findings also validates the necessity of adopting a proactive product strategy and evaluates acceptability of the future visioning system model for practical use. The final future visioning system model is defined after the opinions of the design managers are considered and applied. The major suggestions from the research findings are: (1) Executing proactive product strategy can be a valuable strategic tool (2) A new process is necessary for the companies to create one-step-ahead product (3) Future visioning system is recommended as an advanced approach that creates new product concept. (4) Future visioning system model should consist of eight stages: project initiation, environmental scanning, future visioning, generating product concepts, scenario planning, concept testing, concept visualisation, and finalized concepts. (5) Product concepts can be generated from future vision by applying backcasting. (6) Scenario planning should be used in the future visioning system model as a concept testing tool providing objective validating criteria. (7) Executing a future visioning system model creates new roles for the designer such as information integrator, process moderator, and futurist.

The emergence and development of mobile technology has changed traditional behavior during live music events and challenges concert etiquette. Artists have polarized reactions to the ubiquity of smartphones and companies have started realizing the potential to develop systems which allow the audience to interact more with both the performer and the light and sound show itself. Research has looked into how people traditionally behave and how consumer expectations have altered due to the digital revolution, but has not looked into differences between age groups, gender and concert genre to find out how different people express engagement. The research question is: How can interactive technology be used to enhance audience engagement? With the sub-questions: What engages individuals at concerts? How can engagement be measured? Findings within the study show that there are some differences between both age groups and between concert genres but engagement is expressed in similar ways regardless of gender. The differences that do exist between generations and genre preference are slight. People most commonly express engagement with a combination of voice and movement. Interactive technology designed for live music events settings needs to be based on existing patterns of behavior as people do not want too much focus to be on technology during concerts. The technology should enhance existing behavior and have a low learning curve as interactive technology risks becoming disengaging if it requires too much focus from the user.
Framväxten och utvecklingen av mobil teknik har förändrat traditionellt beteende under live musik konserter och lett till att konsertetikett utmanats. Artister har polariserade reaktioner gällande användningen av smartphones och företag har börjat realisera potentialen att utveckla system som gör det möjligt för publiken att interagera mer med både artisten samt ljus- och ljudspelet. Forskning har undersökt hur folk traditionellt sett beter sig och hur konsumenternas förväntningar har förändrats på grund av den digitala revolutionen, men har inte tittat på skillnader mellan åldersgrupper, kön och konsertgenrer för att ta reda på hur olika människor uttrycker engagemang. Forskningsfrågan är: Hur kan interaktiv teknik användas för att öka publikens engagemang? Med delfrågorna: Vad engagerar individer under konserter? Hur kan engagemang mätas? Resultatet i studien visar att det finns vissa skillnader mellan åldersgrupper och mellan konsertgenrer men att engagemang uttrycks på liknande sätt oavsett kön. Skillnaderna som finns mellan generationer och genrepreferenser är få och små. Folk uttrycker oftast engagemang genom en kombination av röst och rörelse. Interaktiv teknik som är designad för live musikevent måste baseras på befintliga beteendemönster eftersom människor inte vill att alltför stort fokus hamnar på teknik under konserter. Tekniken bör förbättra det befintliga beteendet och ha en låg inlärningskurva eftersom interaktiv teknik risker att blir oengagerande om det kräver för mycket fokus från användaren.

The concept of marketing has typically been perceived as an overtly commercial concept by both nature and origin amongst public sector professionals. Consequently marketing has conventionally been viewed as at best irrelevant and at worst antipathetic to the delivery of public services. The widespread adoption of market based approaches to the organisation of public services in Western economies, together with the emergence of active public sector consumerism has, however, forced a fundamental reconsideration of the potential role of marketing in the delivery of public services. Focusing on the experience of self-governing hospital Trusts operating within the NHS internal market in Scotland, this thesis critically examines the process of adoption and adaptation of marketing concepts within such organisations. Utilising a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches across a sample of acute NHS Trust in Scotland it provides a structured assessment of the issues impinging on the potential transfer of marketing concepts into a complex public sector organisation. The specific issues addressed in the research include; the utilisation of marketing techniques and concepts in such organisations, the extent to which marketing concepts have become structurally embedded in the organisation, the key organisational influences on the process of adoption, and whether current marketing paradigms offer a contextually relevant conceptualisation of marketing. The market within the NHS is ultimately characterised by the existence of a complex network of inter-locking relationships between the organisations within that market. Reflecting this market structure, there is a uniform rejection of traditional transactional conceptualisations of marketing by NHS professionals. The effective adoption of marketing concepts in such a public sector setting arguably requires less of a fundamental adaptation of marketing concepts than a substitution of a relational conceptualisation of marketing in place of the prevailing transactional models of marketing.

Purpose: To explore and reveal specific factors that affect consumers’ environmental concern, attitude and intention to use carsharing. Background: Due to the current environmental problems especially air pollution, the consumption of sustainable products has developed to be an upcoming trend. Consumers are increasingly concerned of the environmental issues and are more willing to act on those concerns. However, this willingness is not always translated into sustainable consumer behavior due to different reasons such as availability, affordability, convenience, product performance, skepticism and force of habit. One of the examples of sustainable consumption is carsharing which is often referred to as an alternative to owning a car. The service is eco labeled and all the cars in the fleet are driven on alternative and environmentally friendly fuel. Carsharing in Sweden is not so developed as in other European countries and companies which provide this service predominantly turns to business companies and municipalities. There is quite little research conducted when it comes to carsharing use by private households. The main focus of this study is to look at carsharing as a part of the sustainable consumption, studying consumers’ environmental concern, attitude and intention to use carsharing. Method: In order to answer the purpose a deductive approach has been applied where the data was collected through the questionnaires. Theories and previous research has been used in order to form the hypothesis which later has been tested. The data retrieved through the research has been processed and analyzed using SPSS software. Conclusion: The results show that personal environmental concern has an influence on attitude and intention to use carsharing. Control beliefs and behavioral beliefs have a stronger impact on formation of attitude and intention compare to normative beliefs which has a low impact. Perceived consumer effectiveness has a strong impact on intention to sustainable behavior where respondents believe that carsharing can contribute to a better environment. Government regulations and information about the service are strong triggering factors for intention to use carsharing. The study showed that consumers have insufficient amount of information about carsharing service and indicate that local authorities and government should provide incentives in order to facilitate usage of this service.

The authors of this study analysed the increasing use of personalized marketing and consumer concerns regarding the access to personal information. The purpose was to find out how companies could react to these concerns. Several theoretical concepts were explored, such as Personal Data, Personalized Marketing, Privacy Concerns, Privacy Policies, Consumer Trust and Consumer Behaviour. Facebook Inc. was analysed as an example to address the problem. An online survey was conducted on university students and two interviews were performed with representatives from the Data Inspection Board in Sweden. The main findings were that individuals seem to approve of personalized marketing but are concerned about their privacy. Companies should therefore inform their consumers on how personal data is used for personalized marketing and respect their rights and take governmental regulations into consideration.

This research was inspired by an exceeding number of global calls for action to limit global warming and combat climate change. This research aimed to investigate South African consumers’ overall consciousness of sustainable production and consumption practices, related concern for the environment, and their willingness to purchase sustainably produced clothing merchandise. The researcher was particularly interested in identifying market segments (income groups) that are conscious, concerned and willing to purchase, as they could be key to drive a call for more responsible purchase and consumption behaviour in the future. The theoretical perspective that guided this research was Rational Choice Theory (RCT) that attended to consumers’ conscious deliberation of product alternatives based on specific product information. RCT was an effective solution to guide the differentiation of consumer decisions across different income levels for this research. A survey was carried out in a single electronic phase by distributing a structured, quantitative questionnaire. A total of 325 completed questionnaires were collected through non-probability sampling techniques and analysed thereafter. The findings indicated that South African consumers are only moderately conscious and concerned about environmental practices, and specifically that they are less concerned about the future implications of their clothing consumption behaviour. These findings reveal a need for concerted effort to inform and educate consumers as many prominent retailers have already begun to do. This study could not indisputably confirm that consumers are discouraged from choosing sustainably produced merchandise over similar, more affordable items. A pertinent outcome of this research is that in South Africa, income level does not seem to influence consumers’ consciousness and concern about the sustainability of clothing production practices, as well as their willingness to purchase sustainably produced clothing. The implication for retailers is that they can therefore strategise to incorporate more extensive ranges of sustainably produced clothing in their stores, knowing that consumers, irrespective of the income category, are not unwilling to pay for it.
Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
pt2021
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MBA
Unrestricted

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: One of the phenomena's in the marketing industry of the past decade is the increased use of database marketing. Database marketing involves the collection, processing and dissemination of vast amounts of consumer information in order to compile detailed consumer databases. The increasing popularity of database marketing can be attributed to various factors. Consumer information can now be obtained easier, cheaper and faster due to the availability of information technology. It has become easier to segment consumer markets and it is possible to identify consumer trends. It is possible to make predictions of consumer behaviour or buying patterns because consumer databases provide a more complete consumer profile with information ranging from demographics, psycho graphics to life-style information. Database technology improves the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing campaigns because marketers can analyse the available information and select the most appropriate marketing strategies and tactics, while concentrating efforts on the most profitable consumer. Marketers therefore waste less effort, money, and other resources by not promoting to individuals who are unlikely to react upon such offers. Widespread databases assist marketers in offering products that are more reasonably priced and more precisely tailored for smaller, more homogeneous market segments. Improved product and service offerings as well as the availability of a wider variety of products and services will likely result in higher consumer satisfaction and could build consumer loyalty. Therefore, marketers use consumer information to improve the overall marketing strategy and individual customer service. Consumers are concerned about database marketing practices because consumers believe some data practices invade personal privacy. The need for privacy has always been inherent to human nature and the concept of privacy dates back to early mankind. One should however differentiate between an individual's basic need for privacy from a general perspective and privacy within a consumer-marketer context. Privacy from a general perspective refers to one's territoriality and need for physical seclusion, whereas consumer privacy mainly relate to the privacy of personal information. Bennett, as well as Stone and Stone proposed that a state of privacy exist when a consumer can control social interaction, unwanted external stimuli, and the dissemination of personal information as well as being able to make independent decisions without outside interference. Consumers' need for privacy is however, in conflict with the need for social interaction and the need to participate in commercial exchange relationships. The more a person interacts with other members of society, the more the person could expect to compromise some privacy. This implies that when consumers participate in a business transaction, or where an exchange relationship exists between the database marketer and consumer, consumers could expect that a degree of privacy will be lost. Consumer groups however, argue that some marketing practices invade the reasonable amount of privacy consumers should be able to expect. The raising consumer concern for privacy is attributable to several reasons. The primary driver of consumer concern is the general lack of knowledge on data collection and use. Other reasons for the raising privacy concern include the type of information collected and the amount of control consumers have over subsequent use of data; the use of personal information to identify specific individuals; collection and use of sensitive information, such as medical and financial data; the volume of information collected and used; secondary information use; the use and dissemination of inaccurate databases; the collection and use of children's data; the lack of tangible benefits received in exchange for information provided; and the use of consumer information for financial gain. Consumers have also expressed concern about electronic database marketing practices because of the secrecy in data collection and use. However, privacy concerns may vary depending on consumers' cultural orientation, age, perception on what constitutes good marketing ethics or the specific methods employed to obtain consumer data. One could distinguish between several consumer clusters when considering consumers" attitudes on database marketing practices and personal privacy. In this regard the typical South African consumer is classified as a "pragmatist". Pragmatists are concerned with privacy to the extent they are exposed to database marketing activities. The South African database marketing industry is still in its infancy phase and as the industry progress, and consumers become more knowledgeable, privacy concerns are likely to increase. It is important to address the issues that raise consumer privacy concerns and to find solutions for ensuring sustainable database marketing practice in future. Marketers' information needs and consumers' privacy needs should somehow be balanced in order to withhold government intervention. Compromises from both sides are necessary to reach a more balanced relationship between the two parties. The successful outcome of the privacy debate will depend on marketers' understanding of consumer privacy issues and by addressing these accordingly.Several approaches exist for regulating database marketing practices that invade consumer privacy: the implementation of information technology, self-regulation and government intervention. Self-regulation is preferred for regulating database marketing practices, whereas privacy-enhancing information technology is recommended as a supplemental tool for protecting consumer privacy. Government regulating seems to be the last resort because of unnecessary restrictions that might be imposed on database marketing activities. Recommended models for regulating database marketing activities and for protecting consumer privacy in South Africa are the Registration Model, together with elements of the Data Commissioner Model. These models were proposed after careful consideration of characteristics, unique to the South African database marketing industry. The models place the responsibility for data protection with the database marketer and the South African government, rather than with the consumer. The Registration Model and the Data Commissioner Model seems a viable combination for implementation in South Africa because these models acknowledge the fact that South African pragmatic consumers are not well educated and informed enough on privacy invading database marketing practices. This combination rarely involves any consumer participation and therefore suits the typical apathetic nature of South African consumers. The Registration Model acts like a notice system where an agency, currently the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa, develops principles of fair information practices to which registered marketers need to comply with. A commission, an element of the Data Commissioner Model, has power to investigate consumer complaints, constrain development of databases, review data practices and advise on improvements on data collectors' systems. The commission could also monitor advancements in information technology that may enhance consumer privacy. The only problem with these models seems to be that the agency and or the commission have no authoritative power to enforce compliance with principles and codes of conduct. Industry self-regulation in conjunction with some governmental control and the application of information technology seems to be useful in providing adequate levels of consumer privacy and data protection. Such a combination might strike a balance between South African consumers' need for privacy and South African marketers' need for consumer information.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Een van die verskynsels in die bemarkingsindustrie oor die afgelope dekade is die toenemende gebruik van databasisbemarking. Databasisbemarking behels die insameling, prosessering en verspreiding van groot hoeveelhede verbruikersinligting met die doelom gedetailleerde verbruikersdatabasisse saam te stel. Die toenemende gewildheid van databasisbemarking kan toegeskryf word aan verskeie faktore. Inligtingstegnologie maak dit baie makliker, goedkoper en vinniger om verbruikersinligting te bekom. Dit raak al hoe makliker om verbruikersmarkte te segmenteer en dit is moontlik om verbruikers tendense te identifiseer. Voorspellings kan ook gemaak word ten opsigte van verbruikersgedrag en aankooppatrone omdat die omvang van inligting in verbruikersdatabasisse strek vanaf demografiese, psigografiese tot lewenstylinligting en daarom 'n baie meer volledige verbruikersprofiel bied. Databasistegnologie verbeter die doeltreffendheid en effektiwiteit van bemarkingsveldtogte omdat bemarkers beskikbare inligting kan analiseer en die mees gepaste bemarkingstrategieë en taktieke kan selekteer, terwyl programme gerig kan word op die mees winsgewinde verbruiker. Bemarkers sal dus minder moeite, geld en ander hulpbronne vermors deurdat bemarkingsprogramme nie gerig word op individue wat heel waarskynlik nie op sulke aanbiedinge sal reageer nie. Omvangryke databasisse help bemarkers om goedkoper produkte te bied wat meer presies ontwerp is op kleiner, meer homogene marksegmente te dien. Verbeterde produk en diens aanbiedinge tesame met die beskikbaarheid van 'n wyer verskeidenheid van produkte en dienste, sal heel waarskynlik hoër verbruikersatisfaksie tot gevolg hê en kan verbruikerslojaliteit bewerkstellig. Dus, bemarkers gebruik verbruikersinligting om die algehele bemarkingstrategie en individuele diens aan verbruikers te verbeter. Verbruikers het belang by databasis bemarkingspraktyke omdat verbruikers glo dat sommige data praktyke inbreuk maak op persoonlike privaatheid. Die behoefte aan privaatheid was nog altyd inherent aan die menslike natuur en die konsep van privaatheid dateer terug tot vroeë beskawings. Daar behoort egter 'n onderskeid getref te word tussen 'n individu se basiese behoefte aan privaatheid vanuit 'n algemene perspektief en privaatheid vanaf 'n verbruiker-bemarker konteks. Privaatheid, vanaf 'n algemene perspektief, verwys na 'n individu se persoonlike ruimte en die behoefte aan fisiese afsondering, teenoor verbruikersprivaatheid wat hoofsaaklik verband hou met die privaatheid van persoonlike inligting. Bennett, sowel as Stone en Stone het voorgestel dat 'n mate van privaatheid heers wanneer 'n verbruiker beheer het oor sosiale interaksies, ongewenste eksterne prikkels, die verspreiding van persoonlike inligting, sowel as om in staat te wees om onafhanklike besluite te neem sonder invloed van buite. Verbruikers se behoefte aan privaatheid is egter in konflik met die behoefte aan sosiale interaksie en die behoefte om deel te neem aan kommersiële transaksies. Hoe meer 'n persoon in wisselwerking tree met ander lede van die gemeenskap, hoe meer kan die persoon verwag om 'n mate van privaatheid op te offer. Dit impliseer dat wanneer verbruikers deelneem in 'n besigheidstransaksie of waar 'n ruilverhouding bestaan tussen die databasisbemarker en verbruiker, kan verbruikers verwag dat 'n mate van privaatheid verlore sal gaan. Verbruikers kan 'n redelike mate van privaatheid verwag, maar verbruikersgroepe argumenteer dat sommige bemarkingspraktyke inbreuk maak op hierdie redelike verwagting van privaatheid. Die toenemende verbruikersbelang by privaatheid is toeskryfbaar aan verskeie redes. Die primêre dryfkrag agter verbruikers se belang is die algemene gebrek aan kennis oor data insameling en gebruik. Ander redes wat bydrae tot die toenemende belang by privaatheid sluit in die tipe inligting ingesamel en die hoeveelheid beheer verbruikers het oor die daaropeenvolgende gebruik van data; die gebruik van persoonlike inligting om spesifieke individue te identifiseer; die insameling en gebruik van sensitiewe inligting, soos byvoorbeeld mediese en finansiële data; die hoeveelheid inligting wat ingesamel en gebruik word; sekondêre gebruik van inligting; die gebruik en verspreiding van onakkurate databasisse; en die insameling en gebruik van verbruikersinligting om finansieël voordeel daaruit te trek. Verbruikers het ook belang getoon teenoor elektroniese databasis bemarkingspraktyke as gevolg van die geheimhouding oor data insameling en gebruik. Die belang by privaatheid mag egter varieër afhangende van verbruikers se kulturele oriëntasie, ouderdom, persepsie van wat goeie bemarkingsetiek behels of die spesifieke metodes gebruik om data aangaande verbruikers te bekom. Daar kan onderskei word tussen verskeie verbruikersgroepe wanneer verbruikershoudings teenoor databasis bemarkingspraktyke en persoonlike privaatheid oorweeg word. In hierdie verband kan die tipiese Suid-Afrikaanse verbruiker geklassifiseer word as 'n pragmatis. Pragmatiste is besorg oor privaatheid tot die mate waartoe hulle blootgestel is aan databasisbemarkingsaktiwiteite. Die Suid-Afrikaanse databasis industrie is nog in die beginfase en soos die industrie groei en verbruikers meer ingelig raak, sal besorgdheid oor privaatheid heelwaarskynlik ook toeneem. Dit is belangrik om die kwessies wat besorgdheid oor verbruikersprivaatheid veroorsaak aan te spreek en om oplossings te vind om volhoubare databasisbemarkingspraktyke in die toekoms te verseker. Daar moet gepoog word om bemarkers se behoefte aan inligting en verbruikers se behoefte aan privaatheid in ewewig te bring om sodoende owerheidsinmenging te voorkom. Opofferings van beide partye is nodig om 'n meer gebalanseerde verhouding tussen die twee partye te bewerkstellig. Die suksesvolle uitkoms van die privaatheidsdebat sal afhang van bemarkers se begrip vir verbruikersprivaatheidskwessies en om dit dienooreenkomstig aan te spreek. Die regulering van databasisbemarkingspraktyke wat inbreuk maak op verbruikersprivaatheid kan verskillend benader word: die implementering van inligtingstegnologie, self-regulering en owerheids-inmenging. Self-regulering word verkies as basis om databasisbemarkingspraktyke te reguleer, terwyl privaatheids-bevorderende inligtingstegnologie aanbeveel word as bykomende gereedskap om verbruikersprivaatheid te beskerm. Owerheidsregulering word gesien as die laaste uitweg as gevolg van onnodige beperkinge wat dit mag plaas op databasisbemarkingsaktiwitei te. Die voorgestelde modelle vir die regulering van databasis bemarkingsaktiwiteite en vir die beskerming van verbruikersprivaatheid in Suid Afrika, is die Registrasie Model, tesame met elemente van die Data Kommissaris Model. Hierdie modelle is voorgestel nadat eienskappe, uniek aan die Suid Afrikaanse databasisbemarkingsindustrie, deeglik oorweeg IS. Die modelle plaas die verantwoordelikheid van data beskerming in die hande van die databasisbemarker en die Suid-Afrikaanse owerheid, eerder as by die verbruiker. Die Registrasie Model en die Data Kommissaris Model blyk 'n uitvoerbare kombinasie vir implementering in Suid Afrika te wees, omdat hierdie modelle die feit inagneem dat Suid Afrikaanse pragmatiese verbruikers nie goed genoeg opgevoed en ingelig is oor die databasisbemarkingsaktiwiteite wat inbreuk maak op privaatheid nie. Hierdie kombinasie behels selde verbruikersdeelname en is daarom gepas by die tipiese apatiese aard van Suid Afrikaanse verbruikers. Die Registrasie Model dien as 'n kennisgee-stelsel waar 'n agentskap, tans die Direkte Bemarkings Assosiasie van Suid Afrika, beginsels vir regverdige inligtingspraktyke ontwikkel waaraan geregistreerde databasisbemarkers moet voldoen. 'n Kommissie, 'n element van die Data Kommissaris Model, het mag om verbruikersklagtes te ondersoek, die ontwikkelling van databasisse aan bande te lê en om datapraktyke te hersien en advies te gee oor verbeteringe in die stelsels van data-insamelaars. Die kommissie kan ook ontwikkelinge in inligtingstegnologie wat verbruikersprivaatheid bevorder, monitor. Die enigste probleem met hierdie modelle blyk te wees dat die agenstkap en die kommissie geen gesag het om te verseker dat beginsels en kodes van goeie gedrag afgedwing word nie. Industrie self-regulering, tesame met 'n mate van owerheidsbeheer en die implementering van inligtingstegnologie blyk nuttig te wees om voldoende vlakke van verbruikers-privaatheid en data beskerming te verseker. Dié kombinasie kan moontlik 'n balans vind tussen Suid Afrikaanse verbruikers se behoefte aan privaatheid en Suid Afrikaanse bemarkers se behoefte aan verbruikersinligting.

Den digital utvecklingen har gjort att vi idag rör oss i digitala miljöer för att jobba, kommunicera, söka information, shoppa och underhållas. Företag kan idag kan spara, kartlägga, mäta och analysera privatpersoners aktiviteter online vilket ställt högre krav på näringsidkare att hantera denna personliga information korrekt. Ett exempel på detta är GDPR som infördes under 2018. Lagen har lyft frågan om integritet online och gjort gemene man mer medveten om informationsinsamlingen som pågår runt oss då företagen är skyldiga att informera om den. Syftet med denna studie är att se hur två olika grupper, de generationer som har växt upp med internet sen barnsben gentemot de generationer som har tagit till sig internet vid vuxen ålder, resonerar kring integritet online. Vi vill se vilka skillnader/likheter som finns mellan grupperna, ifall det finns faktorer utöver ålder som är avgörande och ifall det finns någon paradox mellan åsikter och agerande i praktiken. I slutändan ämnar vi kunna ge praktiska råd kring hur företag ska kunna hantera konsumenternas integritet online. För att undersöka detta har vi studerat tidigare forskning på området samt gjort fem djupintervjuer inom vardera grupp. Den teoretiska referensramen innehåller teorier om the privacy paradox, medvetenhet kring informationsinsamling, Communication Privacy Management och Customer Relationship Management. Även GDPR och riktad marknadsföring behandlas, vilket sammantaget har ställs i relation till det insamlade materialet från respondenterna. Därefter har vi besvarat vår problemformulering: “Hur resonerar generation digital natives i jämförelse med generation pre-internet kring företags hantering av deras integritet online?” Resultatet av studien visar att det viktigaste för bägge respondentgrupper var att det finns ett relevant och tydligt syfte för att de ska delge sin information, samt ifall de får någon typ av kompensation. Den största skillnaden gick att se i deras delgivningsnormer, där den yngre respondentgruppen kände större press att dela med sig på social media och därmed indirekt till företag. Den mest framstående skillnaden på individnivå gällde medvetenhet kring insamling, där det varierade från respondent till respondent. Bägge grupperna känner dock en oro inför framtiden, då de ofta känner sig övervakade online. Denna oro härleds ur en känsla av maktlöshet och okunskap kring hur de kan skydda sin data. I spår av maktlösheten har många skapat sig en fabricerad trygghet där de i brist på kunskap istället hoppas på att de ska skyddas av lagar, regleringar och att vara “en i mängden”. Utifrån våra slutsatser rekommenderar vi företag att informera konsumenterna när och varför insamling sker, ge kompensation i någon form samt skydda den data de innehar.

Background: Retailing through Virtual Reality (VR) is faced with a dilemma of potential customers using the VR to look for products online, but somehow do not make a purchase online and prefer to visit the physical stores instead. This phenomenon is referred as Transition Risk. Aim: To develop an understanding regarding the concepts and factors that influence the occurrence of transition risk by using UTAUT2 framework. Identify those concepts and thus be able to assist retailers in diminishing the transition risk gap. Methodology: Is a quantitative study that involves an experiment followed by a questionnaire as the research instrument. The data was analyzed through regression analysis by using SmartPLS 3.0 as the data analysis tool for SEM. An exploratory research design for the cross-sectional study of a small sample of 45 people experimented. Findings: Findings of the research suggest that transition risk has a direct relation with the UTAUT2 constructs: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, hedonic motivation, and habit of the consumer. Moreover, absence of familiarity with VR retailing, social influence and consumer’s habit of web-rooming and retail therapy are significant contributors towards transition risk. Furthermore, UTAUT2 framework can also be used to identify reason for no usage and/or abandoning of use technology.

Malawi rural households’ dependence on fuelwood as a form of energy and as a source of income is contributing to alarming rates of deforestation in the country with detrimental consequences for climate change. This study targeted two of the rural areas in the southern part of Malawi, worst affected by climate change in recent years. The study aimed to generate empirical evidence of households’ energy consumption as a consequence of their way of life, and to gather evidence of their practical- and discursive consciousness concerning sustainable consumption practices and climate change as pre-requisites to facilitate and promote behavioural change. This research was conducted in three sequential phases. Phase 1 entailed a quantitative survey that involved 231 non randomly selected households from two rural areas, namely Balaka and Phalombe, in the south of Malawi. Questionnaires were completed in interview format, facilitated by trained research assistants following a pre-test in a nearby village. Phase 2 entailed focus group discussions with selected members from phase 1, to allow opportunity for discussion of main topics. Phase 3 involved the contribution of government officials and important role players to share their views about environmental issues, the issue of indiscriminate deforestation and use of energy sources by communities. Results show that biomass, including fuelwood, is still the predominant source of energy that most rural households use for diverse activities because other sources of energy are either inaccessible, or too expensive. Negative consequences such as respiratory problems caused by smoke inhalation are therefore common among females and children who are constantly exposed to toxic substances that are present in the air in their homes and immediate surrounds. The wood that is used, is mostly collected by females who perform this tedious task almost daily, collecting from nearby woodlots and forests, further aggravating deforestation. Households’ practical consciousness of sustainable energy consumption practices seem fairly good and their discursive consciousness, specifically with regard to the effect of climate change on rainfall patterns, micro- and macro factors that are responsible for climate change, are fairly impressive. This may be attributed to first-hand experience of the environmental challenges that they have experienced in recent years. Unfortunately, lack of knowledge concerning the implications of their behaviour in terms of the economic growth of the country, as well as nearby countries’ well-being, confirm the complexity of the phenomenon that may be difficult for them to comprehend. Concerted effort is thus required by local- and Governmental bodies to educate and empower communities socially and economically, also to supply safer sources of energy to replace what they are obliged to use presently. Rural households are struggling financially and will not be able to adapt their behavioral practices without the premeditated support of government and relevant role players who have an interest in environmental issues and who have the well-being of Malawi citizens at heart.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019.
Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development
PhD
Unrestricted

Doctor of Philosophy
Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design
Kim Hiller
This study examined the effects of knowledge of apparel and textile (AT) manufacturing’s impacts on the environment, environmental concern, attitudes toward environmentally sustainable apparel (ESA), and the cultural characteristics of adult, female Kuwaiti nationals on purchasing behaviors of ESA. This study was conducted because Kuwait is a large consumer market for apparel goods and there was a gap in the existing literature on sustainable apparel with regards to Kuwait. To measure the independent variables of knowledge related to the environmental impacts of AT manufacturing, environmental concern, attitudes towards ESA, and the cultural characteristics of Kuwaiti women on the dependent variable of ESA purchase behavior intentions, a mixed methods approach was used. This mixed method approach included a survey instrument featuring five different scales to acquire data through quantitative methods on a population of Kuwaitis acquired through snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were then utilized to acquire further data for a qualitative data analysis. The results were then analyzed through descriptive statistics, regressions, and coding. The data analysis of the quantitative survey responses of the female Kuwaiti nationals showed that their level of knowledge on the environmental impacts of the AT industry was low, their level of environmental concern was neutral, their ESA attitudes were neutral, and their ESA purchase intentions were slightly positive. Regression results found that environmental concern had no relationship with ESA attitudes, knowledge about AT related environmental issues positively influenced ESA attitudes, and both knowledge about AT related environmental issues and ESA attitudes had a positive influence on ESA purchase intentions. Additionally, the cultural dimensions of the surveyed population showed high power distance and collectivism, low long-term orientation and uncertainty avoidance, and intermediate levels of masculinity and indulgence. The qualitative interview revealed that Kuwaiti culture is strongly influenced by the Islamic religion, and the culture supports high levels of consumerism and ostentatious consumption. A majority of qualitative participants did not express any attitudes toward ESA, and none of the participants had purchased ESA products previously. This could be because female Kuwaiti nationals are limited in their knowledge related to AT environmental risks and are generally unaware of ESA and its purpose. The study’s data could be used to provide educators with information through which to tailor curricula towards the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of Kuwaiti nationals. Additionally, this information could be essential for manufacturers and retailers of ESA products, so that they can produce and sell ESA affectively in Kuwait.

The aim of this thesis is to identify and examine the factors influencing environmentally-significant consumption (ESC) by higher-income households (HIH) to provide theoretical and social marketing insights. Income is highly related to levels of energy consumption and associated environmental damage, but despite research documenting the links between income and energy use, there is a lack of enquiry into what shapes the ESC patterns of HIH and therefore how behavioural interventions might be best fashioned to reduce energy use. A postmodern approach to consumption that recognises the interplay between the psychological, the social and the cultural (a psycho-socio-cultural approach), indicates that ESC is not an automatic consequence of wealth but rather mediated through the way consumption practices are symbolically connected with the satisfaction of underlying needs, including the need for identity and other psychological orientations. These connections are not universal or static but socially and culturally contextual and influenced by many factors, particularly marketing. Social marketing, as marketing for social good, therefore has a critical role to play in altering these symbolic connections and therefore consumption behaviour. To design and market alternative lower energy consumption through social marketing interventions, an understanding of how environmentally-significant consumption is connected with modes of need satisfaction and psychological orientations is necessary. Additionally, an understanding of constraints to even higher levels of consumption is useful. This study provides initial research momentum, using a HIH sample from South Devon. Primary data from a quantitative questionnaire was supported in design by qualitative interviews. These provide descriptive and correlational results about what shapes the consumption of; leisure flights, large-engine cars and new durable products, as well as the role of environmentally-significant psychological orientations, specifically: values; materialism; environmental concern and identity. The research also provides a comparative analysis between a group of HIH who have participated in Global Action Plan’s EcoTeam programme, and the general sample of HIH.

Privacy has been discussed throughout the ages as the world has developed and changed however privacy concerns have been reignited by the development of technology. One of these technologies, Location Based Services (LBS), together with how organisations are using these technologies is pushing the consumers’ privacy boundaries. In order for this technology to become widely adopted these privacy concerns need to be understood and addressed. It is therefore the purpose of this research to examine whether consumers’ privacy concern can be negated through consumers receiving a benefit which caused them to forego this concern.The research used scenarios to evaluate consumers’ comfort levels for four different intrusion levels and five different discounts offered. Due to the nature of the scenarios a repeated measures ANOVA design was used in order to allow for the analysis of each of the scenarios, intrusion levels and discount offered for each respondent.It was found that although privacy concerns can and were influenced by the offers made to the respondents, consumers have not yet gained a complete sense of comfort with the privacy boundaries that are being challenged.
Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
unrestricted