Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Consumer selection behaviour'

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 177-189). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Globally, there is a growing demand for food away from home as a result of higher incomes, changes in consumption patterns, changes in household composition, and the time pressures created by dual-working families. The foodservice industry has become highly competitive as the number of foodservice outlets has increased to meet the demand. In order to succeed in such a competitive industry, restaurant operators need to understand the factors (and their relative importance) that influence restaurant patrons’ decision when selecting a restaurant. The demand for ethnic foods has also increased, in New Zealand and worldwide, due to the influences of ethnic diversity, overseas food and cultural experiences, and media exposure. Despite the importance of restaurant choice criteria and a growth in popularity of ethnic foods, published research on consumers’ restaurant selection behaviour that focuses on the ethnic segment is relatively limited. Furthermore, there are no published empirical studies on ethnic restaurant choice behaviour in New Zealand. This research aims to fill these gaps in the literature by empirically identifying the factors that influence a decision to dine at an upscale ethnic restaurant, their relative importance, as well as their relationships with dining occasion and consumer characteristics. Focus group discussions and the literature review helped identify a set of restaurant choice factors. A mail survey was used to collect the data. Factor analysis was used to refine the restaurant choice factors, and logistic regression analysis identified the five significant factors that influence consumers’ decision. These are: Dining Experience, Social Status, Service Quality, Food Quality, and Value for Money, listed in order of their importance. The results of t-tests and ANOVA suggested that consumers perceived the restaurant choice factors differently based on their demographic characteristics. The results of this study contribute to the marketing theory by providing an empirical framework of consumer selection behaviour in New Zealand upscale ethnic dining establishments. The study will also assist marketing practitioners and operators of ethnic restaurants to develop their strategies and offer the attributes that attract and retain customers.

The present study investigated the potential of personal values to segment business traveler markets in the hospitality industry. The study was conducted both in the U.S. and Korea. Mail surveys were sent to a random sample of one-thousand business travelers in each country. Two hypotheses were tested to examine the relationship between personal values and hotel choice criteria, and two other hypotheses were tested regarding cultural differences of personal value structures and hotel choice criteria. In the U.S. sample, two major value groups were identified with distinct hotel choice criteria whereas three value groups were found in the Korean sample. In the both samples, respondents' value structures appeared to be related to the importance of hotel choice criteria. Consumer groups with homogeneous value structures seemed to have similar needs and wants regarding hotel services. The influence of personal values on hotel choice criteria was identified across cultures. However, the specific value-to-choice criteria relationship appeared to be culture dependent, preventing generalization of value-choice criteria relationships across cultures. Results revealed considerable cross-cultural differences relative to consumers' value structures and hotel choice criteria. Findings of the present study suggested that personal values hold potential for market segmentation in the hotel industry both in the domestic and international market. Several implications regarding existing consumer behavior theory and application to marketing management practices in the hospitality industry were investigated.
Ph. D.

There is a paucity of information about the various factors that influence the selection of primary care physicians. Also, the relative significance of these factors is not known, making it difficult to properly address ways to improve the information flow to patients when they select a primary care physician.

This dissertation deals with the decision-to-move process of elderly persons—from a marketer's perspective. The central problem addressed is the lack of empirical knowledge concerning the factors and influences associated with the information search process of elderly persons in making a residential move decision. The purpose was to investigate and understand the key factors and influences which are viewed as important by elderly individuals in their search for and use of information.

Thesis advisor: Juliet B. Schor
In an era of increasing awareness about the impacts of everyday consumption on ecological sustainability, this study investigates the factors that influence mothers' selection of household cleaning products. The data for this study are from 28 in-depth interviews with mothers who maintain diverse preferences across a cleaning product profile spectrum. Incorporating the concepts of risk, trust, and convenience, the analysis highlights the ways in which considerations of ecological health in relation to cleaning products influence purchasing decisions of some participants but not others. This study contributes to understandings of how consumer practices shift toward environmental sustainability
Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2011
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Sociology

La prémisse de la rationalité décisionnelle des agents, généralement définie comme la « prise de décision optimale sous l’information disponible », occupe une place centrale dans la théorie économique, à tel point que, lorsque la rationalité décisionnelle passe à la loupe, c’est souvent l’ensemble de la science économique qui l’est à sa suite. Pourtant, le quotidien abonde de cas ne se conformant pas à une certaine définition de l’optimalité; pour des décisions de faibles enjeux, les agents économiques pourront couper court à leur réflexion et se contenter d’une décision potentiellement sous-optimale afin de minimiser le coût de la prise de décision. Or, avec l’ubiquité d’Internet, l’information et la puissance de calcul sont plus disponibles que jamais, à tel point où le tri de l’information dans la surabondance d’Internet constitue une nouvelle forme de coût de décision. Ce mémoire s’intéresse donc à deux questions concernant la prise de décision avec échéances; la première est: à quels types de décisions, en fonction de la taille de leur enjeu, les agents économiques consacreront-ils le plus de temps de réflexion? La seconde est: à quels types d’informations les agents se fient-ils le plus? Essentiellement, nous testons si les individus optimisent l’effort qu’ils mettent à optimiser . Nous utilisons une méthodologie expérimentale basée sur un jeu-questionnaire, avec incitatifs financiers à la performance, simulant différentes décisions à caractère économique auxquelles des personnes sont appelées à être exposées au cours de leur vie. Comme résultats, nous trouvons une relation concave entre la taille de l’enjeu sur lequel porte une décision et les ressources allouées à la décision. Cette relation s’estompe lorsque les contraintes de temps se resserrent. Nous tentons également de vérifier s’il existe un lien entre et le choix de sources d’informations à des fins de décision et la familiarité de celles-ci pour l’agent, mais ne trouvons pas de relation significative. De plus, nous ne parvenons pas à établir de relation entre le temps consacré à prendre une décision et l’optimalité de celle-ci.

This thesis deals with the research on consumer behavior when selecting a summer holiday. The theoretical section summarizes the current knowledge of consumer research and consumer behaviour issues, which forms the basis for the practical part of the thesis. The practical part of the thesis is focused on the analysis and evaluation of the results of the quantitative on-line research conducted with three hundred respondents. The aim is to contribute to the understanding of consumer behavior when selecting a summer holiday and in particular to determine how the amount of consumer's income affects the consumer's choice of destinations for summer holidays and also to identify which channels are the main sources of information for consumers deciding about summer holiday. The research results show a correlation between the level of respondent's income and selection of a particular type of summer holiday destination. In terms of respondent's information sources, internet was evaluated as the most used source of information for holiday decision-making.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2016-06-21T14:43:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LeonardoVils.pdf: 1317899 bytes, checksum: 72185e376a3439d97442d46618097bf6 (MD5)
Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-21T14:43:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LeonardoVils.pdf: 1317899 bytes, checksum: 72185e376a3439d97442d46618097bf6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-05
Two experiments based on principles of Darwin´s Sexual Selection and assumptions of Evolutionary Psychology, evaluate the tendency to conspicuous display of men and women in romantic stimulus conditions. The first experiment, 2x2 between subjects, indicates that men and women tend to a larger conspicuous display by choosing more risky sports activities, under romantic motives of short-term than long-term. As part of this propensity for exhibitionism, the second experiment, 4x2 between subjects, indicates that men and women, stimulated by short-term romantic motives, show a preference for differentiation messages when promoting services, showing an increase of competitiveness in the search for a casual partner than for the search for a lasting relationship. This study contributes to the understanding of consumer behavior under emotional stimuli of the same positive valence, and it relationship with different choices motivated by interest in short and long term relationships.
Dois experimentos baseados em princípios da Seleção Sexual de Darwin e em pressupostos da Psicologia Evolucionista, avaliam a tendência a exibição conspícua de homens e mulheres sob estímulo de condições românticas. O primeiro experimento, 2x2 entre sujeitos, indica que homens e mulheres tendem a uma maior exibição por meio da escolha de atividades esportivas mais arriscadas, sob motivações românticas de curto prazo do que de longo prazo. Como parte desta propensão ao exibicionismo, o segundo experimento, 4x2 entre sujeitos, indica que homens e mulheres, estimulados por motivações românticas de curto prazo, demonstram a preferência por mensagens de diferenciação quando da promoção de serviços, evidenciando uma maior tendência à competitividade na busca por um(a) parceiro(a) casual do que na busca por um relacionamento duradouro. Este estudo contribui para o entendimento do comportamento do consumidor, sob estímulos emocionais de mesma valência, positiva, em sua relação com escolhas distintas motivadas pelo interesse em relacionamentos de curto e de longo prazo.

Durante o rebaixamento ocorrem modificações muito rápidas na estrutura do dossel forrageiro, fato que afeta os padrões de deslocamento, procura e ingestão de forragem, os padrões de desfolhação e seletividade e a composição da dieta consumida. Contudo, essas variações podem ser manipuladas por meio de ajustes na frequência e severidade de pastejo, resultantes de variações nas metas pré e pós-pastejo utilizadas. O objetivo com este trabalho foi mensurar e descrever a influência de estratégias de pastejo rotativo sobre a estrutura do dossel forrageiro, padrões de deslocamento, procura e ingestão de forragem, padrões de desfolhação e seletividade e composição da dieta consumida por bovinos em pastos de capim-mulato ao longo do processo de rebaixamento. O experimento foi realizado em área do Departamento de Zootecnia da ESALQ/USP, de outubro de 2008 a abril de 2009. Os tratamentos corresponderam a combinações entre duas condições pós- (alturas pós-pastejo de 15 e 20 cm) e duas condições pré-pastejo (95% e máxima interceptação de luz pelo dossel forrageiro - IL) e foram alocados às unidades experimentais (piquetes de 1200 m2) segundo arranjo fatorial 2x2 e delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com três repetições. As avaliações foram realizadas em duas épocas do ano: (1) primavera (outubro a dezembro de 2008); e (2) verão (janeiro a abril de 2009). Foram avaliados os seguintes grupos de variáveis-resposta: (1) modificações na estrutura do dossel e dinâmica do rebaixamento - relação folha:colmo, distribuição vertical dos componentes morfológicos da massa de forragem; (2) padrões de deslocamento e procura por forragem - número de estações alimentares, número de passos entre estações alimentares, número de bocados por estação alimentar, taxa de deslocamento e tempo de permanência por estação alimentar; (3) características do processo de ingestão e comportamento animal - massa do bocado, taxa de bocados, taxa de consumo, tempo dedicado às atividades de pastejo, ruminação e outras; (4) Padrões de desfolhação e seletividade - profundidade dos bocados, frequência e severidade de desfolhação de folhas e perfilhos, índices de seletividade de folhas e perfilhos; (5) composição morfológica da forragem consumida - porcentagem de folhas, colmos e material morto. Maiores taxas de rebaixamento foram registradas para os tratamentos 99/20 e 95/20 na primavera e 95/20 no verão logo no início do período de ocupação dos pastos. O tratamento 95/20 apresentou menor proporção do tempo gasto em atividade de pastejo e maior taxa de consumo, sugerindo maior consumo diário. Os tratamentos 95/20 e 95/15 resultaram em maiores valores de bocados por estação alimentar, com cerca de 10 a 11 na primavera e no verão, respectivamente. Os padrões de desfolhação de folhas expandidas e em expansão variaram ao longo do rebaixamento. Durante o rebaixamento do dossel, pastejos mais frequentes e menos severos permitem otimizar o processo de pastejo, oportunizando a seleção de dietas com elevada proporção de folhas mesmo em condições controladas de pastejo rotativo, sendo as metas de manejo pré- e pós-pastejo de 95% de IL (equivalente a 30 cm de altura) e 20 cm, respectivamente, as que propiciaram as melhores condições de pastejo.
During grazing of rotationally stocked pastures changes in sward structure happen quickly and interfere with patterns of movement, search and intake of herbage, patterns of defoliation and selectivity and diet composition. However, these changes can be manipulated by adjustments in frequency and severity of grazing related to the management targets used. The objective with this experiment was to measure and describe the influence of rotational grazing strategies on sward structure, patterns of movement, search and intake of herbage, patterns of defoliation and selectivity and diet composition of cattle on mulato grass throughout the occupation period of paddocks. The experiment was carried out at Departamento de Zootecnia, ESALQ/USP, from October 2008 to April 2009. Treatments corresponded to combinations between two post-grazing (post-grazing heights of 15 and 20 cm) and two pre-grazing (95% and maximum light interception by sward canopy LI) conditions, and were allocated to experimental units (1200 m2 paddocks) according to a 2x2 factorial arrangement and a completely randomised design, with three replications. Measurements were performed in two seasons of the year: (1) spring (October to December, 2008); and summer (January to April, 2009). Response variables corresponded the following groups: (1) Modifications in sward structure and dynamics of the grazing down process leaf-to-stem ratio, vertical distribution of morphological components in sward herbage mass; (2) Patterns of movement and search for herbage number of feeding stations, number of steps between feeding stations, number of bites per feeding station, rate of movement (steps/min) and time spent per feeding station; (3) Characteristics of the herbage intake process and animal behaviour bite mass, bite rate, intake rate, time spent grazing, ruminating and with other activities; (4) Patterns of defoliation and selectivity bite depth, frequency and severity of defoliation of leaves and tillers, selectivity indexes for leaves and tillers; (5) Morphological composition of the consumed herbage percentage of leaf, stem and dead material. Larger rates of decrease in sward height were recorded for treatments 99/20 and 95/20 in spring and 95/20 in summer right at the outset of the occupation period. Treatment 95/20 resulted in the smallest proportion of time spent on grazing and in the highest rate of herbage intake, suggesting a larger daily herbage intake. Treatments 95/20 and 95/15 resulted in the largest number of bites per feeding station, around 10 and 11 in spring and summer, respectively. Patterns of defoliation of expanding and expanded leaves varied throughout the occupation period. Overall, during grazing, more frequent and less severe defoliation allowed optimisation of the grazing process, favouring the selection of diets with high proportion of leaves even under the controlled conditions of rotational stocking management, being the pre- and post-grazing targets of 95% LI (equivalent to 30 cm) and 20 cm, respectively, the ones that provided the best grazing conditions.

The aim of this thesis is to determine whether there has been a change in buying behavior of customers over the previous two years, when a similar research was done within my bachelor's work done. This thesis is divided into 3 parts. The first part concerns the theoretical description of the decision-making process of customers, defining the types of retail sales and also deals with private-brand and organic food. The second part is devoted to the development of the Czech retail market in the past few years, the current situation on the Czech market and outlines possible future developments. The third section includes a detailed description of the shopping opportunities in the district of Tabor and an evaluation of my research, that was realised on basis of the questionnaire confrontation of obtained results with the data from previous research. The whole thesis is finished by evaluation and summary of the results which have been identified in carried out research. There are suggestions at the end where the observed results could be applied directly in practice.

D. Tech. (Marketing, Department of Marketing and Sport Management, Faculty of Management Sciences) Vaal University of Technology
The concept of green marketing has gained prominence in academia in recent years with concomitant implications for marketing strategy. The considerable attention accorded to green marketing is accentuated by concerns about global climate change and its threat to the sustainability of livelihoods. As the debate on green marketing continues to unfold, there are important issues yet to be addressed, one of which relates to the antecedents of green consumer buyer behaviour and selection attributes of green products. In view of the growing importance of green consumer buyer behaviour in contemporary markets, the purpose of the present study was to examine empirically the antecedents of green consumer buyer behaviour and the selection attributes of Generation Y consumers. The Generation Y cohort was considered as the ideal target population for the present study owing to its size, bespeaking a profitable market segment with the potential to provide a “snap-shot” of future pro-environmental behavioural intentions. The theories of Reasoned Action and Consumption Values provided the theoretical lens through which to examine and delineate the antecedents of green consumer buyer behaviour and the selection attributes of Generation Y consumers in the context of a developing country such as South Africa. The present study adopted a sequential mixed-methods methodology that commenced with a qualitative study and was followed by a quantitative study. For the qualitative study, data were collected from a purposively selected Generation Y student sample comprising sixteen participants. The principle of technical saturation was employed to ascertain the adequacy of the sample size. The credibility and trustworthiness of the qualitative study were achieved through pretesting of the interview guide, bracketing, prolonged ngagement with participants, member checks, peer de-briefing, an audit trail of the interviewing process and researcher reflexivity. The analysis of the qualitative data was conducted through the use of content and thematic analyses. The qualitative study identified environmental attitude, environmental concern, social influence, environmental responsibility, government influence, selection attributes and green purchase intention as the main determinants of green purchase behaviour. The qualitative study also revealed that the demand for green products is thwarted by marketing-related barriers such as high prices, misleading green marketing messages and unavailability of products. In line with the methodology of the study, the determinants of green purchase behaviour that emerged from the qualitative study were further examined through a quantitative study. The data for the quantitative study were generated from a conveniently selected Generation Y student sample of 386 respondents, using a structured selfadministered questionnaire. The historical evidence method and the pre-conditions of multivariate data analysis (confirmatory factor analysis) guided the determination of the sample size for the quantitative study. The statistical data analysis procedures utilised for the quantitative study were descriptive statistics, reliability and validity analysis, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Prior to questionnaire administration, a pilot study was conducted to improve the accuracy of the survey instrument. The collected quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 22.0 and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) 22.0. The preliminary data analysis involved the process of coding and checking the distribution of scores. The results of the normality test revealed that the data were not normally distributed. Thus, non-parametric statistics were employed for correlation analysis and for testing gender difference in green consumer buyer behaviour. The Mann-Whitney U Test and the Kruskal-Wallis Test revealed that Generation Y female consumers are more apt to engage in pro-environmental behaviours than their male counterpartsIn order to verify the reliability of the measurement items, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, the item-to-total values and composite reliability were computed. In addition, the validity of the survey instrument was enhanced through content, convergent, discriminant and predictive validities. The reliability and validity measures employed in the present study attested that the survey instrument utilised in the quantitative study was both reliable and valid. The results of correlation analysis indicated that environmental concern, environmental attitude, environmental responsibility, government influence, social influence and selection attributes have a positive association with green purchase intention. The correlation analysis also revealed a weak association between green purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour. Prior to testing the hypothesised relationships, the fitness of the measurement and structural models was assessed. The model fit indices that included the chi-square value over degree of freedom ( 2/df), Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Incremental Fit Index (IFI) andTucker-Lewis Index (TLI) yielded satisfactory results that are consistent with acceptable thresholds, demonstrating that the measurement and structural model fitted well with the data. The posited relationships were tested using structural equation modelling. The hypotheses testing results revealed that green purchase intention was significantly and positively influenced by environmental attitude, environmental concern, social influence, environmental responsibility and selection attributes, but not by government influence. The results also showed that the relationship between green purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour was moderated by selection attributes. The findings of the study imply that marketers need to formulate and implement green marketing strategies that enhance environmental attitudes and concerns, initiate programmes that foster environmental responsibility, understand the selection attributes of Generation Y consumers and utilise social networks to stimulate pro-environmental behaviours. The results also suggest that the South African government needs to re-invigorate its environmental initiatives to foster green purchase intention and the purchase of green products. Finally, the study also provided evidence that suggests an insignificant relationship between green purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour. This result suggests an urgent need by marketers to understand the underlying factors causing the gap between green purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour. To effectively promote green consumer buyer behaviour, marketers need to understand the determinants of green purchase intention and craft effective strategies to translate green purchase intentions into actual purchasing behaviour. The findings of the present study provide avenues for further study in a discipline that is increasingly gaining theoretical and practical prominence. Future research efforts should consider the use of an integrated research model that encompasses more variables, utilising a broader sample frame and employing a longitudinal study in order to enhance the generalisability of the research findings. Overall, the study offers valuable insights for stimulating green purchase behaviour among the potentially profitable Generation Y cohort and equips marketers with green marketing strategies to position green products competitively in the marketplace.

M. Tech. (Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology.
Research on apparel store choice and patronage has been widely studied locally and internationally. However, it is still important to understand consumers’ purchase behaviour and to develop appropriate retailing strategy. South Africa is currently experiencing a substantial growth in retail infrastructure especially in townships. Formal retailers are now expanding into township markets. Most of those retailers differentiated themselves from their competitors by developing a corporate identity, inter-alia through their store image. The purpose of the research was to examine apparel store selection criteria amongst black consumers in Soweto. In addition, this research examined the relationship between store satisfaction and loyalty. The literature review focuses on consumer behaviour variables and store image variables influential in store selection. The review was necessary to provide an overview of how consumers decide where, how and when to shop. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 489 respondents who were selected using non-probability convenience sampling. The sample size comprised sportswear apparel shoppers (blacks), both male and female, 18 years and older who patronised three shopping malls, namely Protea Gardens, Southgate, and Jabulani Mall. Data were analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), mean rankings, the Mann Whitney U test, correlation analysis and regression. Six factors were found to be appropriate to capture the dimensions of store selection. These factors were labelled sales assistant, store atmospherics, store appeal (interior/exterior), in-store induced appeals, promotion/brand availability and store accessibility. Furthermore, the data obtained revealed a strong linear relationship between satisfaction and loyalty as well as significant relationship amongst the dimensions of store selection. Regression analysis revealed that promotion/brand availability and store satisfaction are strong predictors of loyalty. The Mann Whitney U test revealed no significant difference in the store choice dimensions between female and male respondents. The recommendations arising from the current study could help retailers understand what motivates shoppers to select one store amongst other stores. The identification of in-store and out-of-store activities that encourage consumers to stay store loyal, are critical to the success of retail businesses. Future studies may be extended on the purchase of other products apart from sportswear items.

This diploma thesis deals with consumer behaviour when choosing a store for food purchase. The main aim is to evaluate the importance of individual factors that play role in the selection of grocery store using a questionnaire survey. Secondary goals are to characterize how consumers currently behave in the selection of the store and to confirm or disprove established hypotheses. The thesis is divided into two main parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part deals with issues related to the topic of the work, the practical part focuses on the marketing research itself, through which all the goals of this work have been fulfilled. As a method of collecting the primary data an electronic questionnaire was used. The data obtained were evaluated using MS Excel and "R" program. Based on the findings possible recommendations for the retailers are also formulated at the end of the practical part.

Although South African consumers are reflecting increased green purchasing intentions, the factors that will lead to their intended behaviour to select green hotels have yet to be researched. Accordingly, the research proposes to explore the predictive ability of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and then further modify and develop extended model structures surrounding the TPB, to identify and confirm an independent theoretical model that will effectively and comprehensively be able to predict South African consumers’ intended behaviour towards selecting green hotels. To answer the aim and objectives set, the research positioned itself within a non-experimental quantitative paradigm. An online questionnaire was distributed to South African consumers that stayed at a hotel at least once within a 12-month period. A total of 402 completed and error-free responses were used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to assess, derive and understand the demographic profile of the respondents and determine the respondent’s characteristics as South Africans who intend to stay at or visit hotels. Structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that Azjen (1991)’s original TPB is a strong predictor of behavioural intention, indicating its applicability to the domain of South African consumers’ behavioural intention towards selecting green hotels. In addition, it was found that South African consumers’ intended behaviour towards selecting green hotels can statistically be best explained by expanding on the original TPB model to include emotive and non-cognitive predictor variables, namely anticipated regret (AR) and perceived moral obligation (PMO), as direct constructs to behavioural intention as well as by including environmental knowledge (EK) as a direct predictor variable to attitude (ATT). Furthermore, it found that the relationship between behavioural intention and perceived behavioural control (PBC) was the strongest and most significant, followed by subjective norm (SN), ATT, PMO and AR. Lastly, the findings revealed that PBC, ATT, SN, PMO and AR can all act as positive and highly significant intermediaries between EK and behavioural intention. The study contributed towards theory by identifying and assessing the psychographic factors that will best explain the consumer decision-making processes leading to behavioural intention in context to green hotel selection. The study further extends its contribution by adding value to environmental sustainable literature in context to an emerging economy, namely South Africa. Although South African consumers are reflecting increased green purchasing intentions, the psychological factors that will lead to the intended behaviour towards selecting green hotels have not received much attention in research. It was, therefore, important and theoretically valuable to not only investigate the predictive ability of the original TPB, but to also modify, develop and extend model variations surrounding the TPB to thoroughly explore the predictive ability for South African consumers’ intention to select green hotels.
Life and Consumer Sciences
M. Sc.

Xu, Silei.
Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2014.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-67).
Abstracts also in Chinese.
Title from PDF title page (viewed on 27, September, 2016).

碩士
元培醫事科技大學
企業管理系碩士班
105
With low entrance barrier, Our country had many glasses stores have been rapidly opened，which also attract some foreign investors come into the optical market in Taiwan. All of these has bring a big challenge for small glasses stores. Foreign optical shops in Taiwan often provid innovative service process in comparison to domestic optical shops, resulting in greater competition pressure for the domestic optical shop owners. This paper intends to investigate consumers’ buying intention in glasses selection. This paper uses brand image, product quality, word of mouth and buying intention as research variables. A quantitative research method is employed, and 297 questionnaires were administered to those who visited glasses stores in the last six months. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS 22 to verify the research hypotheses. The finding shows that the brand image positively affects buying intention. Brand image positively affects word-of-mouth communications. Word-of-mouth communications positively affect consumers’ buying intention. Product Quality positively affects consumers’ buying intention. Product quality also positively affects word-of-mouth communications. And that the Word-of-mouth positively affects brand image and buying intention. The suggestions are provided in accordance with the research findings.

碩士
國立彰化師範大學
會計學系企業高階管理
94
Abstract With the bounty mountain, ocean, river and ecology environment made Taiwan a place of tourism paradise. Plus the multi-products of recreation and culture are highly valued economy. Accompany with the raising income and 2 days weekend system, the domestic tourism industry is booming now. The government, cities and civil are promoting the local characteristics of tourism and provide many ideas for promoting tourism industry.The Bureau of Tourism shows the domestic tourism and foreign tourist (include China) is growing in 2005. So, how to control the trend is a very important issue for tourism runner. Uplift the service quality, create customer’s satisfaction and control the keypoints for future management become an urgent subject. In past, there are many detailed satisfactory analysis on tourism spots to customers.But few on the factors of deciding tourism spots. So we decide to study why the customer choose the spot, and through the perception of customer to the service quality we analysis the satisfactory and loyality , and develop the management grid for the runners for reference. We sent the questinnnairs to different places in Taiwan and received 606 questionnairs back for analysis. Through the study we find the first grad(protential highly profit) includes: maketing factor,promoting the price discount or hotel discount.staff active service,staff active provide new information,staff responsivensee,staff best condition in service and image phases.Mostly in second grad(keep maintaining).includes:all service phases means the runners do good customers orientations and uplifting quality work. In third grad(optional management),we find mostly are stretgic items, the runnesr should choose the necessity and capability to invest or wait the importancy is raising then valued. There are no items in fourth grad (no question) indicates the runners in Taiwan mostly can control the resources.Except that the customers values the quality most but not satisfied the hotel price most. And the objective loyality of customers is more important than the subjective loyality . Keywords： Consumer Behavior、 Service quality、 Selling、 Customer’s satisfaction Management Opportunity Grid.

Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Hospitality Management
Junehee Kwon
With the advancement of the Internet and information technology, consumers have access to a massive amount of information before purchase. In the hospitality industry, consumers frequently search online information to make decisions. However, there has been limited hospitality research exploring the actual information search behaviors in the online setting. The purpose of this research was to assess the actual information search behaviors of consumers when choosing restaurants through consumer review websites. To accomplish the purpose, three mixed-methods were used including eye-tracking experiments (Phase I), qualitative, retrospective think-aloud (RTA) interviews (Phase II), and a scenario-based survey (Phase III). In the eye-tracking experiments, 30 participants were recruited and instructed to conduct restaurant search tasks. Variables included fixation duration, fixation count, and visit count, indicating how long and how often consumers’ attention had been attracted to certain information areas. The eye-tracking data was also visualized through heat maps and gaze plots. Following eye-tracking experiments, RTA interviews were conducted to investigate the underlying thinking process of consumers. A playback of the recorded eye-tracking video was presented to each participant while participants verbalized their thinking process and reasoning of information search behaviors. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed through grounded-theory model to identify important information elements. To overcome the limited generalizability of the eye-tracking experiments and interviews, a scenario-based survey was created, and seven hypotheses were developed to evaluate impacts of online reviews, images, and advertisements on consumers’ interests and restaurant visit intentions based on the results of Phases I and II. Restaurant selection scenarios were provided to the participants to look through screenshots of webpages in order to mimic the online environment. The online survey company Amazon MTurk was used for data collection. A total of 406 usable survey responses were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-sample Chi-square tests, and visualized heat maps. Eye-tracking experiment results revealed that images, consumer reviews, and filter functions were the top information areas to which consumers paid considerable attention. Advertisements in Yelp also received much attention from participants, but during RTA interviews, advertisements were found to be less impactful for consumers’ decision-making than the number of reviews, images with food items, and consumer reviews. Five out of seven hypotheses in Phase III were supported, indicating that it was mostly consistent with findings of the eye-tracking experiments and interviews (Phase I and II). Specifically, consumers’ interests and intentions to visit restaurants were greater for restaurants with a higher number of reviews, food images, and without advertisements. Consumers also were more interested in extremely rated reviews and preferred evenly-distributed image groups. This study contributes to the existing hospitality literature related to consumer behavior with the utilization of the innovative, combined methods of eye-tracking technology, RTA interviews, and scenario-based survey. This approach allowed the researcher to obtain a holistic view of actual consumer behavior, thinking process accompanying the behavior as well as the verification with large sample. Consumer review websites and restaurateurs were provided with specific recommendations to enhance the online user experience and improve customer satisfaction, respectively.

碩士
淡江大學
國際貿易學系
86
The research objects of this study are career women. To discuss their consumer behavior in selecting ladies'' wear. There are three purposes of this study. 1. to discuss what life styles influence career women. 2. to discuss how career women get information about buying ladies'' wear. 3. to analyze what attributes of ladies'' wear which career women prefer.The data is analyzed with each main methods as factor analysis, cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, analysis of variance, and chi-square test. The results of this study are as follows:(1) Career women''s life styles can be divided eight kinds:1. Brand and quality factor2. Fashion factor3. Often- buying factor4. Price calculation factor5. Outdoor pleasure factor6. Family care factor7. Entertainment factor8. Objective wear factor(2) Career women can be divided three groups by their life style factors:1. Objective buying group2. Traditional buying group3. Rational buying group (3) These groups have significant differences in life styles, demographic variables, product attributes, etc.

碩士
中國文化大學
生活應用科學研究所
98
Abstract Natural crystals and their related ornaments were introduced into the Taiwan market in the early 1990's and have been popular now for almost two decades. During this period, the market was stimulated by the Western New Age Movement as well as the legend of Atlantis. As a result, many people have been fascinated with the mysterious powers of natural crystals. However, very limited study of natural crystals has been undertaken domestically. The main purpose of this research is to investigate consumer behavior in this industry, to determine key drivers in terms of marketing stimuli and psychological factors, and accordingly to develop new marketing strategies for future development reference. A on-purpose sampling survey of 420 consumers was undertaken from the four branch shops of Blanco Enterprise Company Limited (located at Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung respectively), by scale table questionnaires including the subject's personal background, marketing stimuli, psychological factors and consumer behavior with respect to natural crystal ornaments. The data analysis of 413 effective questionnaires used descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe’s method, chi-square test, Pearson’s product-moment correlation, and multiple- regression-analysis from SPSS 12.0 for Windows. The results of this study were as follows: 1. The consumer’s age and religious belief showed significant difference with respect to psychological factors. 2. The consumer’s average annual visiting time and on-line order showed significant difference with respect to marketing stimuli. 3. The consumer’s average annual visiting time, date of arrival, main purpose and on- line order showed significant difference with respect to psychological factors. 4. The six factors of marketing stimuli including products, price, distribution, promotion, service & communication showed a positive low correlation with psychological factors, characteristics and motivations(r=.260). 5. The prediction model built with marketing stimuli and psychological factors showed positive relation with satisfactory degree 3.7% only. 6. The marketing strategy, made up according to the research results, successfully reached the pre-estimated goal of 15%. It is hoped that the results and conclusions of this research can provide useful recommendations to the natural crystal ornament industry and to any follow-up research. Keywords: natural crystal ornaments, consumer behavior, marketing stimuli, psychological factor, marketing strategy.

碩士
逢甲大學
公共政策所
97
The research aims at examining the behavior of how elementary school teachers select textbooks through consumer behavior theory. Through the aspects of consumer involvement, brand recognition and brand loyalty in consumer behavior theory, the inter-relationship of teacher’s professionalization of textbook adoption, awareness of textbook brands and selection behavior including: 1. Understanding current status of textbook selection behavior; 2. Analyzing differences among teachers from diverse backgrounds which affects their selections; 3. Further exploring the depth of involvement while choosing textbooks, textbook brand recognition and loyalty. The major approach is through questionnaire survey. Pilot study are taken, as a reference to questionnaire design, to explore the involvement of textbook selecting and brand recognition. Survey targeted at teachers from five public elementary schools, with 571 committee members; and 88.3% return rate. “Elementary School Teachers Textbook Selection Inventory Charts” are used to measure and collect the important opinions implied; Pearson product-moment correlation, t-test, one-way ANOVA and Multivariate regression are used to analyze the data. The significant results of this study are listed as below： Teacher’s behavior of selecting textbooks: 1. Tendency of professionalization when choosing textbooks; 2. “Commercialization” of textbook brand images; 3. Teacher’s complex decision in brand loyalty. Selecting behavior among teachers from different backgrounds: 1. There is no significant difference on choosing textbooks between sexes and education backgrounds; 2. Experienced teachers are more involved professionally and more aware of brand images than less experienced teachers; 3. 3rd or 4th grade teachers are least involved; 4. Teachers highly experienced in textbook selection are also more professionally involved and aware of textbook image; 5. Teachers in medium-sized schools are most loyal to certain textbook brands. Thus, textbook selection behavior corresponds to consumer behavior model: 1. “involvement of textbook selection”, “textbook brand recognition”, and “textbook brand loyalty” are apparently and positively co-related; 2. Highly positive correlation is existed between strategy evaluation of selecting textbooks and textbook brand loyalty.3. “textbook brand recognition” and “service involvement” are key factors to predict “loyalty to textbook brands”. Based on the findings above, several recommendations are proposed.

The primary hypothesis of this study was that low-income individuals purchase more packaged foods of lower healthiness and lower price compared to similar packaged foods of higher healthiness and higher price. The Nutrition Metric was chosen as the system to measure the nutritional value of foods because it is in the public domain and uses nutrients common to the Nutrition Facts panel; however, prior to use, the validity of the Nutrition Metric needed to be tested. The convergent validation of the Nutrition Metric was tested with four systems (NuVal, Guiding Stars, WXYfm, Go-Slow-Whoa) that met the study criteria. A sample of 600 foods that were purchased over a 104 week period that ended in November 2009 by 34,407 low-income households was drawn to achieve at least 168 items having scores available for each system. The Nutrition Metric had a positive correlation with all scoring systems for the 174 foods (P<0.01) that verified its validity as a tool to assess food healthiness. The Nutrition Metric was used to measure the healthiness of packaged products from the list of low-income food purchases (n=316). Products had a negative mean healthiness score of -0.88 ± 1.72 and low levels (<5% Daily Value) of dietary fiber, vitamin A and C, iron, and cholesterol. The majority of the products (n=305) did not have a nutrient claim on product packaging. The Nutrition Metric was a successful tool that can be utilized to assess the healthiness differences between products with and without nutrient claims purchased by low-income shoppers with counterpart products at the supermarket. Food price and healthiness differences were evaluated for the list of packaged products (n=305 (minus 11 single ingredient cooking staples)) commonly purchased by low-income shoppers to counterpart products of the same brand and package size with or without nutrient claims. Products with nutrient claims (n=77), on average, had higher healthiness scores and prices than products without claims (n=77) (P<0.01). Research and education initiatives that promote the selection of products with claims instead of products without claims are potential options to improve the diets of low-income consumers.
text

碩士
大葉大學
國際企業管理學系碩士在職專班
95
According to the statistics of International Coffee Organization, the global coffee bean consumption is 7,376,000 tons. Taiwan’s coffee bean consumption increased from 29,451 tons in 2003 to 35,135 tons in 2004. It grows up around 19.29%. The previous studies related with coffee are mainly on those of Canned-Coffee or Coffee Chain Store. But, this research focused on direct purchasing behavior of coffee beans consumption and the relationship between it and the channel selection. The 660 researching questionnaires are mailed and the valid samples were 252 copies. The valid response rate is 38.2%, which studied the relationship and difference on the characteristics of the consumer/channel, decision of consumer and channel selec-tion. The data were analyzed by Descriptive statistic, One-way Anova Analysis , crosstabs analysis and Correlation analysis. The result and findings are summarized as follows: 1.The findings present a positive relationship between the characteristics of the con-sumer or channel and the consumer’s decision. 2.The sources of information and purchasing place present a positive relationship. 3.As for the consumer of selecting different channel, there is significant difference between their consuming characteristics and channel characteristics. 4.In conclusion, there is no significant difference of consuming characteristics be-tween choosing the solid store or the virtual store. Therefore, the solid store is sug-gested to sell more famous brand coffee beans. On the other hand, the virtual store can sell more inexpensive brand coffee beans.

碩士
國立高雄第一科技大學
風險管理與保險所
91
The study is to investigate some factors for the consumers to select personal fire and earthquake insurances. We sampled one hundred eighty people from the members of the presbyterian churches and the construction companies in Kaohsiung area. The survey was conducted by interviews and mails. The study questions are designed according to the EKB model. We use factor analysis and logistic regression analysis, and find that： 1.Few salespersons actively market personal fire and earthquake insurances. 2.When buying a policy, a consumer will first look at the claim service of an insurance company and then the coverage of that policy. 3.Most consumers anticipate disasters to be covered in the current polices. 4.Those people who are middle-aged, married, with stable income, or with other insurance, are more likely to buy personal fire and earthquake insurances. To certain extent, the findings support our hypotheses. We hope that the findings will facilitate the insurance companies with marketing their products.

碩士
明志科技大學
工程管理研究所
94
In recent years, companies have broadened their competitions in different directions such as distribution, customer service, and retailing. Therefore, different retailing formats appear in the market increasingly and the convenient store becomes one important format among them. To achieve better performance of the logistic network, selecting suitable convenient store location is a pertinent decision for companies. In the selection of convenient store locations, mathematical programming is usually applied to achieve optimal facility location. However, these optimal locations did not perceive the impact of competitions from other convenient stores and consumers’ behavior. Hence, this research develops a three-echelon logistic model with the inclusions of competition and consumers’ behavior to determine the best convenient store location. In this research, every case could find an optimal location for a new convenient store. Five factors, distribution center location, transportation cost, new convenient store’s capacity and β value (consumer’s sensitivity of distance) have been identified in this research. Different levels in these factors have been tested to understand the impact on the optimal convenient store location. The results show that the inclusions of competition and consumers’ behavior would affect demand and have significant influences on selecting the convenient store location. This research considers customers’ behavior, the locations of the distribution centers, and the discount rate in determining the convenient store location and transportable products quantity. The results show that, our research provided a methodology to find an optimal location for a convenient store.

碩士
國立交通大學
經營管理研究所
93
As the society changed, cosmetics is no longer a luxury for mature women and has become a necessary for more and more people. To attract the younger customers, there are more and more cosmetics brands involving in the self- selective channel.Therefore, The goal of this study is to understand purchasing behavior of female self-selective cosmetics consumer in Taipei the customer. This research through the purchasing behavior of the self-selective Cosmetics consumers to understand which product properties consumers pay most attention to, and from the point of view of market segments to discuss the differences in product preference. This is necessary to help the self-selective Cosmetics providers form their marketing strategy. In this research, the questionnaire is adopted to collect the data, the EKB consumer purchasing behavior model is used as a conceptual framework, and the AIO lifestyle variables are used as a basis for market segmentation. Demographic factors, product properties, and consumption reality variables are used to describe the characteristics and behavior of consumers. All data analyzed with following methods: Frequency Distribution Analysis, Factor Analysis, Reliability Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Discriminant Analysis, ANOVA Analysis, Scheffe’s Test and Chi-square Test. The research result shows that the self-selective Cosmetics consumers could be effectively segregated by lifestyle variables, such as “Convenient & Social Buyer”, “Newfangled & Impulsive Buyer”, and “Astute & Independent Buyer”. Among the three segments, demographic variables, purchase motive variable, sources of information, product properties and consumption reality variables are significant predictions of product choice. The results and recommendations of this research could help the self-selective cosmetics providers form their product, price, place, and promotion strategy.

Individuals tend to make unrealistically optimistic self assessments about themselves and their future behavior. While little studied in marketing, unrealistic optimism by consumers may have negative consequences for both marketers and consumers. This dissertation proposes and explores a selective hypothesis testing view of unrealistic optimism. Specifically, I propose that consumers adopt the tentative hypothesis that they will behave in an ideal fashion when predicting their future behavior. They then selectively test this hypothesis by accessing information consistent with it, with the ultimate consequence being unrealistically optimistic predictions of future behavior. To validate this theory I use the following experimental paradigm. I have individuals first provide an idealized estimate for the behavior of interest (e.g., In an ideal world, how often would you exercise next week?) and then provide a second estimate (e.g., How often will you exercise next week?). The idea here is that by making the idealized nature of the ideal behavior salient consumers will be less likely to test a hypothesis of ideal behavior when subsequently providing an estimate. In a series of ten studies, I find that prior consideration of idealistic performance does indeed temper optimism in subsequent self-assessments (henceforth post-ideal estimates). Specifically, post-ideal estimates are free of relative optimism versus expectations of others behaviors, are more reflective of actual past behavior, and better predict actual future behavior. Furthermore, this attenuation of optimism is mediated by increased consideration of realistic thoughts and is moderated by both expertise and decisiveness. All of these results are consistent with selective hypothesis testing being a key driver of unrealistic optimism. Additionally I demonstrate that the debiasing effect of my method extends from behaviors to above average (and in some cases below average) views of traits and abilities. As such my work raises the possibility that selective hypothesis testing underlies a wide variety of self assessment biases. Having found strong support for my selective hypothesis testing view of unrealistic optimism, I also explore the potential consequences that unrealistic optimism may have for consumer decisions. In particular, I demonstrate that unrealistically optimistic predictions of future behavior appear to be associated with greater willingness to pay for socially desirable products (e.g., treadmills) and that attenuation of such optimism can reduce willingness to pay. Some researchers have argued that unrealistic optimism with respect to future behavior causes people to make vice choices in the present because they expect to make virtuous choices in the future (Kahn and Dhar 2007). If so, then the current research suggests one way to help consumers from falling into the trap of justifying vice behaviors with optimistically held views about future actions.
Dissertation

碩士
朝陽科技大學
企業管理系碩士班
97
Beauty is gradually accepted by male now, however there stands barriers when purchasing on male consumers. The aim of this thesis was people focuses on understanding the purchasing behavior of male skin care products in female consumers to expand the market scale of male skin care products. The data of this research was obtained by questionnaire. According to the result of questionnaire, the crosstab analysis was the key factor to analyze the correlation between purchasing behavior and variable in different background. Moreover, the data was systematically analyzed through ANOVA to estimate the variation in people''s background on purchasing motive, source of information and product attribute. The result of this dissertation showed that the consumers of different variation in population background focus their skincare products on essential cleansing and functional products. The main physical purchasing channel was in open-shelf type store such as Watson''s, and the expense was under NTD 1,000.

碩士
義守大學
管理學院碩士班
98
Aging population is the social problem of global currently. The progress of medical technology and preventive health promotion extend the life expectancy, and also raise the elderly chronic disease. The social transformation in Taiwan in recent years is by agricultural society into the industrial and commercial society that impact declining traditional family structure. When the small families become more common, women’s employment increased and weakening the traditional family care function. With the changes in family structure, family care personnel gradually decreased, and the family chose to home care facilities for the elderly placed increasing demand. In this research, we hope to understand the consumer behavior, decision making of nursing home, the consumer characteristics, and the life-style. And then, to explore the relationship between research results and long-term care services provide the relevant unit of reference and apply to the long-term care marketing strategies of use in the future. The subject of this investigation is the relation whose elderly live in the nursing home. The research adopts the questionnaire survey which is design by the variables of demographic variables, consumer behavior, life-style, and the decision-making factors. Furthermore, the questionnaire use the reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, chi-square test, t test, one factor analysis of variance, Scheffe analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, to carry on the data analysis. This study finds some results. Firstly, the results show that different demographic variables impact the different result of consumer behavior, purchase decision-making. Secondly, the different patterns of family life-style will effect consumer behavior and purchase decision. Thirdly, the different purchase decision factor of family causes the different consumer behavior. Finally, the different role of consumer who have different consumer behavior because the product, price, sales channel, sales promotion is not the same degree of importance. Therefore, to analysis different decision-making purchaser impact the consumer behavior and purchasing decision factors, and their families in order of importance and made in the industry marketing strategies recommended by reference, and finally a follow-up on the academic research proposals.

碩士
淡江大學
教育科技學系碩士班
100
The purpose of this study was to apply consumer behavior theory to investigate elementary school parents’ decision on selecting children’s supplementary education for creativity learning, as well as the factors influcing their choices. Four demensions of supplementary education for creativity learning were identified, including products, distribution, promotion and price. Twelve categories were included in the above 4 dimensions, such as curriculum, teaching, environment, teacher quality, location, transportation, advertisement, personel selling, discount activity, public relations, time for learning, and expenses. In addition, gender, age, job, level of education, family incomes, family structure, number of children, school district and school size were also studied to realize the differences. The instrument of this study was a self-developed questionnaire with 6 points Liker-type scales. The population of this study was 14953 parents’ representatives in Taipei and New Taipei city. The sample is taken based on 95% confidence intervals and 5% sampling error. There were 350 of the 430 parents’ representatives with 81 percent rate of response. After eliminating invalid questionnaires, the effective response is 331 with the valid rate is 71 percent. The findings of this study are summarized as followings: 1.Parents select children’s supplementary education for creativity learning based on the considerations of Products, Distribution, Promotion and Price. 2.The most important factor for selecting the supplementary education for creativity learning is “Price”. Then, following the “Products”, “Distribution”, and “Promotion” are considered. In addition, they also concern about the “personnel service” and “environment security”. 3.Besides, parents also care about “interest”, “pressure” and “future development” of their children. 4.There are significant differences among parents’ “gender”, “age”, “job” and “level of education”, “family incomes” on the factors of “Products”, “Promotion” and “Price”. Furthermore, the above personal and environmental factors also have significant differences on the categories of “Course”, “Teaching”, “Environment”, “Teacher Quality”, “Advertising”, “Personal Selling”, “Public Relations” and “Expenses”. 5.Parents’ decisions on creativity learning are mostly focused on “Teacher Quality”. The suggestions of this study are provided for future research in terms of research topics, research instruments, demographic variables, as well as school size and locations.

碩士
大葉大學
觀光餐旅碩士在職學位學程
104
The main purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between lifestyle, consumer behavior of food away from home and restaurant selection in the case of the elementary and high school teachers in Hsinchu County. Besides, further analyze the differences of the above three variables with different background variables. This study focuses on the teachers of elementary and high school in Hsinchu County and convenient sampling method was implemented.There were total 410 questionnaires delivered and 391 valid questionnaires were collected. The valid response rate is 95.37%. The main findings are as follows:(1) The lifestyle, consumer behavior of food away from home and restaurant selection were all above the average.(2)There were significant differences between the consuming time period in the restaurant and teachers’ lifestyle.(3) There were significant differences between family numbers living together, the consuming frequency in the restaurant and consumer behavior of food away from home.(4) There were significant differences between high school and elementary teachers for restaurant selection. (5) There were positive effects on restaurant selection through lifestyle and consumer behavior of food away from home for teachers of elementary and high schools in Hsinchu County.Based on the study results, some suggestion are provided for the reference of restaurant operation and future further research.

JEL: Q13, Q16, M31
No Brasil, e mais especificamente no Estado de Goiás, a agricultura é uma atividade importante na economia, representando 3,2% do PIB do país. O segmento de comércio de tratores mostra grandes oportunidades de crescimento, pois o índice de mecanização nacional é alto, em termos de área por trator, mas está distante de países altamente mecanizados. Além disso, apenas 10% das terras cultiváveis são usadas para este fim. A compra de um trator é um evento importante, por ser um investimento de peso significativo para os agricultores e pecuaristas brasileiros. Este trabalho busca contribuir para um melhor entendimento do comportamento de compra neste mercado, através do estudo do processo de decisão de compra de tratores, investigando os seguintes fatores: motivação para o ato de comprar, tempo dedicado ao processo de escolha, influência da publicidade, importância da escolha da revendedora de tratores, conhecimento das alternativas disponíveis, compra inteligente e influência de outros. Investigamos também quais são os critérios do cliente para seleção e escolha da marca do trator. Com vista a conhecer estes fatores e outros aspectos da compra, realizou-se a pesquisa em duas etapas: uma qualitativa/exploratória e outra quantitativa/descritiva com agricultores e pecuaristas compradores de trator na cidade de Mineiros no Estado de Goiás. O estudo traz conclusões para aprimorar a visão das empresas que buscam um maior conhecimento do consumidor, que se torna cada dia mais exigente. Nesta pesquisa concluímos que a marca é de forma destacada o quesito mais importante no processo de decisão de compra, demonstrando a lealdade dos clientes perante a mesma.
In Brazil, more specifically in the State of Goiás, the agriculture is an important activity in the economy, representing 3,2% in national GDP. The segment of tractors trade shows great oportunities of growth, considering the high nacional mechanization rate, in terms of area per tractor, but it is far from highly mechanized countries. Besides that, only 10% of the arable land are used on this purpose. The purchase of a tractor is an important event, being considered a significant investment for Brazilian farmers and ranchers. This work has the purpose of contributing with a better understanding of the purchase behavior in this market, through the study of the process of tractors purchase, investigating the following topics: motivation to buy, the selected time in the process of choice, the influence of advertising, the importance of the choice of a tractor reseller, the knowledge of the avaible alternatives, smart purchase and the influence of others. We also investigate the customer`s criteria to select and choose the tractor`s brand. In order to know about these topics and other aspects of the purchase, the search was conducted in two stages: one qualitative/exploratory and the other one quantitative/descriptive with farmers and ranchers who are tractors buyers in the city of Mineiros, in the State of Goiás. The study brings conclusions to improve the companies’ vision, seeking a greater knowledge of the consumer, who becomes ever more demanding. In this search, we conclude that the brand is in a highlighted way the most important topic in the process of decision to buy, showing the customer`s loyalty with it.

In South Africa household debt has increased rapidly over the past few years, therefore illustrating the importance of analysing liability usage behaviour of individual members within the household. In order to comprehend the behaviour of South Africans regarding liability usages, this study provides insight into why individuals find it necessary to obtain liability products as well as to indicate whether liability products are used to address the financial needs for the purpose it was developed for. To achieve the aim of this study, it was firstly necessary to develop a theoretical framework for the process of selecting credit products when satisfying financial needs. Secondly, the characteristics and intended usage purposes of different credit products available in South Africa were discussed and a debt classification framework was developed. Finally, data obtained from the Finscope South Africa survey was analysed according to the developed frameworks following a combination of two approaches. Firstly, a qualitative approach was used to identify the different financial needs which are satisfied when using liabilities. The financial needs identified were classified according to Alderfer’s existence relatedness growth (ERG) theory and the factors that have an influence on liability usage. Secondly, a quantitative approach was followed to indicate which financial needs are fulfilled when using different credit products. The results of this study suggest that individuals do not use liabilities only for the purpose what the products were originally developed for. The findings clearly indicated that individuals mainly use liabilities to satisfy basic needs which are classified as existence needs according to Alderfer’s ERG theory. Based on the data analysis a variety of factors such as access to credit and certain demographic characteristics have an influence on liability usage behaviour of individuals. The results further show that individuals mainly use informal, unsecured, short-term loans when satisfying their financial needs which might indicate that South Africans are unable to access formal credit products.
Financial Accounting
M. Phil. (Accounting Science)

Social media is an important part of the everyday lives of young and old alike. Consumers today turn to online sources more and more to help them make decisions. They ask for advice online on purchases they want to make and read extensive reviews that help them to make a purchase decision. With a broad literature review conducted, it was noted that in the past traditional media was mainly used by students as information sources in their decision-making process. The purpose of this study was to determine what role social media as an information source has in the decision making of students when selecting a university. Data was collected from University of South Africa students by means of an online questionnaire. The sample was selected using probability sampling in the form of simple random sampling. The results of this study indicated that students use social media as an information source to some extent when making a decision about a university. Social media was found to be a credible source of information albeit it only has a slight influence on their decision-making process. Students are present online and use social media mostly on their cell phones for entertainment purposes. Universities should take note of the role that social media plays in the lives of students. It can enable them to better market their institutions to potential students.
Business Management
MCOM (Business Management)