Purpose - Traditional firms within mature markets are challenged, as they have to rely a lot on adaptation of new technologies in order to keep their service sales among consumers and survive in a highly competitive globalized environment. One of the examples of a mature industry is the hotel industry, in which sustainability is a vital necessity, however implementation efforts are slow. Nowadays, a business shift is occurring from traditional to disruptive innovation models. One such model is that of the sharing economy. The aim of this thesis therefore targets the finding of the understanding and reaction, by analyzing and describing actions, of traditional hotel firms for sustaining their business in times when sharing economy firms become increasingly influential on the traditional business.

Design/methodology/approach - An abductive approach was followed throughout the thesis spanning a qualitative data analysis of the empirical base of the study, which consisted of six semi- structured interviews of traditional hotel firms that were chosen through theoretical sampling. The multiple and holistic case study setup is a means of explaining response strategies in the hotel industry.

Findings - The findings are that while some are aware of the growing impact of sharing economy on the mature industry, few firms have concrete strategies to sustain their own business in the light of the upcoming challenges. Moreover, the interviewed firms have lost large percentages of their traditional direct sales channels, making it essential to sell increasingly through online channels and third party providers such as online travel agencies. This adds to the challenge that the service offerings of sharing economy firms and established firms are becoming more comparable to each other, making it easier for the customer to compare directly which choice is preferable. The empirical data suggests that this is of relevance for both the leisure and business segment of travelers. However, there were also positive effects found, that the sharing economy is an opportunity for traditional firms to learn and for travel destinations to be boosted through increased supply and variety.

Research limitations/implications - The chosen case study setup is a means of explaining responses from the hotel industry due to the sharing economy. However, there is an indication that a similar phenomenon can occur in a different mature industry, such as the taxi industry with Uber or the financial industry with Bitcoin. Moreover, this case had hotel firms operating on a 3-star level or higher, which imposes potential limitations for the applicability. However, for the research implications this thesis includes a model that contains theoretical description of a practical phenomenon within a shifting context.

Practical implications - Traditional businesses must find new ways to highlight their unique values, core competences and what most significantly distinguishes their offering, for example beyond being an accommodation provider, in order to develop a sustainable business that can withstand the challenges in the 21st century. It is recommended for firms to assess their position in the market, their customers and competitors to decide on which strategy is best suited, as it may vary with every firm. Analogous, it is not recommended to rest on previous successes.

Originality/value - Increasing influence of the sharing economy forces traditional firms to respond with their own strategic countermeasures. However, the response of traditional firms to the impact of sharing economy firms is not well described and has empirically been insufficient. In this way, the thesis contributes to the existing research on the sharing economy and its impact by studying the consequences for and responses of firms in a mature industry. Therefore, it addressed challenges in theory all well as in practice for the affected businesses. The finding and combination of response strategies in this thesis presents a valuable contribution to academia and practical implications for the mature industries.

Background: Companies have lately been engaging their business activities onto social mediaand its platforms. They are taking advantage of the opportunities provided by social media and they are starting to realize the importance of content marketing.

Problem Discussion: Content marketing has been researched previously research. However, the research regarding B2B content marketing and the differences between B2B and B2C content is still rather limited. The question lingers whether the same principles apply to firms working with B2B as well. Moreover, a clear framework or guide regarding the way that content should be created does not yet exist – a guide including the aspects may be taken into account when creating content and implementing content marketing.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand and describe how companies deal with the content creation process, within content marketing through social media.

Research Question: How do companies handle content creation for content marketing through social media?

Methodology: This thesis has taken a qualitative and abductive approach on the study. It hasbeen based on a multiple-case study, where semi-structured interviews took place with sevenfirms working with content marketing and content creation - in a B2B context.

Conclusion: All seven firms have a uniform understanding of content marketing, aligned withprevious research. The study concludes that there are similarities between the ways that companies handle content marketing. Furthermore, the study concludes that there are general traits that needs to always be taken into consideration when creating content s.a. long term planning, providing value to the customer, well thought out message and choosing the right channels for content distribution.

With projected economy growth rates of 5.5 percent over 2013 to 2017 (OECD, 2013),countries in South East Asia (SEA) are predicted a robust and resilient economicperspective. Consequently, this is accompanied by increased interest from internationalfirms of all size aiming at market shares. However, market entry appears to be prone todifficulties as high failure and withdrawing rates of foreign companies demonstrate. Thisstudy, therefore, contributes to the understanding of how emerging country markets canbe entered strategically, by evaluating how internal and external conditions can affectmarket entry strategy and how previous internationalization theory can be applied.Vietnam, as an example for a SEA country, comes with high economic growth rates,which have created vast business and growth opportunities for companies of all size andindustries. The case is examined based on a medium sized subsidiary of a Germancompany group, located in neighboring China, currently aiming at market entry inVietnam. As academic literature determines markets as business networks and entryprocess consequently as establishing an adept position built on relationships, it isassumed that entry strategy into Vietnam first of all depends on detecting the expedientanchor points within the complex environment of Vietnam. As, from a resource basedperspective scholars, furthermore, assume competitive advantage to rest in a firm´sparticular set of resources and capabilities, a successful market entry is considered todepend on establishing relationships into this network based on the firms inherentresources. The research was conducted by investigating the company’s resources,capabilities and its entry motives for Vietnam, the impact of the external environment inVietnam as well as appropriate strategies for gaining legitimacy from it. Empirically,findings are based on a qualitative single case study of the case company supported byinterviews with key company personnel and various Vietnam experts. Thorough analysisshowed that the case company’s market entry strategy is heavily impacted by weaknessesin brand management, which appeared to be necessity on customer side for the sale ofhigh involvement products in Vietnam, as well weaknesses in its sales managementconcerning the non-transferability of its current sales staff. External influences, such ashigh impact of the government, complicated retaining of labor; As a result forweaknesses on side of the company and difficulties in the market, a direct entry modewas recommended to the case company.

The purpose of this study is to explore whether tour operators work with CSR within their organizations in Mexico, and describe how they implement it as well as why they work with it. Furthermore, the paper will analyze similarities and differences between the Swedish and Mexican tour operator’s CSR strategies as well as the reasons for this. Lastly, recommendations will be made to the Mexican tour operators on how they can gain knowledge from Swedish tour operators on CSR strategies and the development of these.The theoretical framework contains descriptions of theories on strategy, competitive advantage, the CSR Pyramid, stakeholder theory as well as CSR in the context of developing countries, which are all relevant theories for the issue studied as well as for answering the research questions. The empirical findings that have been collected through interviews with two Swedish, and two Mexican tour operators address the respective tour operator’s work with CSR in Mexico.In the analysis the theoretical framework has been put in relation to the empirical evidence. The analysis consists of how and why CSR activities are implemented in the respective organization. It also addresses the difficulties tour operators from developed countries face when implementing CSR on destinations in developing countries.Lastly, our conclusions show that there are several ways of implementing CSR in developing countries, as well as different views on why taking social responsibility within the tourism industry is important. Moreover, the main reason for this divergence lies in different perspectives, which has also been shown to be a contributing factor to the challenges faced by Swedish tour operators in the context of a developing country.In the end of the thesis recommendations will be made to Mexican firms on how to develop, and implement CSR strategies more successfully as well as recommendations for further research within the field of CSR in developing countries.

Foremost, I would like to thank my tutor, Miralem Helmefalk for the guidance he provided thefew times we met while writing this thesis, also to the examiner, Anders Pehrsson for importantinsights he provided during seminars.

In addition, I would like to thank opposing team for valuable contribution and providingdifferent ideas in discovering errors and also Linnaeus university for providing a suitable andquality environment. Also, to my family, for providing moral and financial support especiallythese past few months while writing this thesis.

Nowadays the companies want to make sure that they have strong resources that can face the rapid changes in the environment. One of the most important resources is human resources. The interest of the companies to have committed employees have been increased because there is a big difference between the performance of committed employees and the rest of the employees. Committed employees perform well in the organization and help the organization to grow and face the competitive environment. Based on this, this research aims to evaluate and study the relationship between organizational commitment and individual performance.To do this one of the Multinational corporation(MNC) is selected, this MNC is the Japanese company Kansai Paint who has one subsidiary in Pakistan. The theoretical model of this study was formulated based on one dependent variable which is the individual performance and three independent variables which are an affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment.The data of the research was collected by questionnaires which sent to 100 employees on Kansai Paint in Pakistan, and SPSS testing was used to analyze the data. The finding of the study exposed that the affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment have a positive impact on the individual performance. At the end of the research, the conclusion of the research was drawn and several of recommendations were developed.

The digital world is constantly growing. This contributes to increasing expectations and demands in the technical aspect. Digitization is powerful, but it further contributes to a number of challenges, such as the coordination of physical and digital stores. During the corona pandemic, the digital transformation has accelerated for companies to adapt to customers. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to understand how swedish retailers can manage technological touchpoints in customer journeys in the furniture sector. Further the purpose is to investigate how retailers can use technological touchpoints to change the quality and customer engagement in the customer journey.  To be able to answer the empirical findings, six semi-structured interviews were obtained through a multiple case study. The theory from previous research and the empirical results were then discussed in the analysis.

The conclusion of the thesis resulted in the management of digital touchpoints is different depending on whether it concerns companies using physical stores or e-commerce. This thesis has identified that retailers in the furniture sector manage technological touchpoints to create a seamless customer experience, increase customer satisfaction, more easily engage customers and to be able to integrate with customers in several ways. Digital touchpoints have made it easier for companies to measure results and to be able to improve the customer journey. One identification was that customer engagement has increased in relation to the increased digitalization, but also that the researched companies believe that digitization is vital for increasing customer engagement. Due to the technology, opportunities are created to be able to develop the quality of the customer journey. Further, by being able to measure the customer journey, the companies gain an insight into what should be constantly improved. 

The use of online personalized advertisements has drawn attention among firms, in efforts of acquiring and maintaining competitive advantage. By collecting individual consumer information, firms are able to personalize advertisements to specific individuals in online contexts.

The collection and use of individuals’ personal information have given rise to privacy concerns among consumers. However, contemporary research displays disparate conclusions regarding the extent to which these privacy concerns influence the effectiveness of online personalized advertisements. In order to provide insights regarding this discrepancy, this study explored the theoretical foundations of consumer perceived benefits and risks, upon which contemporary research was based.

Two focus groups were conducted to explore how consumers perceive benefits and risks of online personalized advertisements. Using pattern matching, the interpretation of the empirically gathered material implied that consumer perceived benefits, in form of perceived relevance, appears to be insufficient in appealing to the interests and preferences of consumers. Instead, consumers’ perceptions of relevance appear to be dependent on several elements.

Furthermore, the findings imply that consumers are aware of the risks through personal information disclosure, yet appear to be unconcerned by them. Instead, consumers seem to possess a sense of hopelessness in online environments, that attempts to restrict the availability of their personal information are pointless.

The purpose of this research is to study how grocery stores handle their marketing and to investigate the impact on customers buying behavior during a pandemic. Furthermore, we want to investigate who decides on actions and changes during a pandemic. The study will help to fulfill an unexplored area of marketing in our view of how grocery stores act on government decisions in a pandemic.

Research questions: 

-       How do grocery stores adapt their marketing to a pandemic?

-       How does a pandemic affect customer buying behavior?

-       Which decision-makers control the behavior of grocery stores in the event of a pandemic? 

With this thesis, there is a will to find a greater understanding of fans and how they relate to their favorite band. The purpose is to look into how dedicated fans relationships looks like towards their favorite band and what such a relationship can mean for the fan.

This thesis has been conducted as a case study of fans of the swedish rock band Kent and is based on a qualitative empiricism of qualitative interviews with twelve fans of the band Kent. With this, the hope is to create a deeper understanding for the subject. The approach has been abductive, that is, the thesis has switched between inductive and deductive approaches.

With the help of empirical and theoretical analysis, we have found out that the relationship fans have to a band, is often of parasocial character. We also saw that loyalty and brand culture can strengthen the relationship. Being a fan is a feeling and a community towards other fans and is often a part of the relationship with the band. Some fans also exert their fandom through various forms of semiotic productivity. Being a fan often becomes a part of a person’s identity and music experiences like listening to music and concerts can have a valuable place in fans’ lives.

There has been a significant increase in e-commerce over the past years and to which extent consumers use it. During the past year, when the Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged among us, food consumption has also become a fact. Grocery stores have had the opportunity to develop their e-commerce and offer their customers a chance to purchase products at any time suitable.

As the market is evolving, the concept of consumer behavior and impulse buying behavior has become more relevant and exciting in research. Still, little research has been done regarding how grocery stores influence consumers’ impulse buying behavior when shopping for groceries online. 

The purpose of this research, from a business perspective, is to investigate how grocery companies influence consumers' impulse buying behavior online and to identify if there are any contributing factors to influencing this behavior. The aim is to develop a more profound knowledge within this topic due to the lack of previous research on impulse buying behavior when shopping for groceries online. 

The conclusion of this thesis shows that impulse purchases increase the additional sales to the store and that there are clear strategies for how the grocery stores do to influence the impulse buying behavior in the physical store. However, the study showed that grocery stores do not actively work to influence consumers' impulse buying behavior when shopping for groceries online as they do not have the power to implement them. This is because the head offices control their e-commerce. 

Problem: In the beginning of September 2017, Instagram introduced an advertising policy that clearly distinguishes between advertising and influencers own opinions. As a result of the branded content advertisement it should be clear to users of the social network that the content of the influencer’s message is influenced by a business partner and that value exchange has taken place. The risk is therefore that influencers lose the credibility that is an important part of the conviction and influence of the consumer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand how the consumer experiences that he or she in influenced by messages conveyed by branded content by influencer marketing at Instagram.

Research question: How does the consumer perceive that he or she is affected by messages conveyed by branded content by influencer marketing at Instagram?

Literature review: Word-of-mouth, celebrity endorsement, influencer marketing, Generation Y, reference group, self-concept, trust and the Ohanian Model of Source Credibility.

Method: Primary data has been collected by conducting unstructured interviews with five respondents.

Findings: This study found that messages conveyed through branded content overall were believed to lose credibility and thus also the potential for consumer impact. Therefore, in order for the consumer to be affected by that type of message, a credible message conveyed by a credible source is required, as previous research proved important for consumer conviction.

Background: Social Media Content consists of characteristics by which have been found by previous research to have an influence on consumers' purchase intention. The social media content can be created by any social media user, who are referred to as content creators, whereby the degree of impact the social media content has on consumers' purchase intention is difficult to predict. There are specifically three social media content characteristics that have been shown to be more strongly related to consumers’ purchase intention than others, which are Usefulness, Informativeness and Interactivity. Previous research suggests that further investigation regarding consumers’ purchase intention in relation to the online context is of relevance to research since social media content is an influential factor regarding consumers’ purchase intention, for an increased explanation of consumers’ purchase intention. Purpose: The purpose is to explain the relationship between social media content characteristics and consumers’ purchase intention. Methodology: This explanatory research is using the deductive approach within the quantitative study and following a cross-sectional research design in order to detect patterns from the empirical investigation. Based on a theoretical foundation of previous research, the study presents three hypotheses which by support from the empirical investigation, consisting of 239 responses to a self-completed questionnaire, were either rejected or accepted. Findings: The acceptance of one out of three hypotheses were based on the authors revealing findings about there being a significantly positive relationship between the social media content characteristic Interactivity and consumers’ Purchase Intention. The findings also provide implications that the relationship has been accepted based on a combination of certain aspects. These are that consumers have a desire to take part in online conversations, they want their voice heard by being able to express opinions and also that they will immerse themselves in a social media platform if they find the content of the platform interesting. These findings allowed for the authors to suggest a new modified research model demonstrating the relationship between the social media content characteristic Interactivity and consumers’ Purchase Intention. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, this research provides a conclusion that there is a significant positive relationship between the social media content characteristic Interactivity and consumers’ Purchase Intention

Syfte och forskningsfrågor                               

Syftet är att skapa en förståelse för internt varumärkesbyggande hos företag. Studien avser även att bidra med en insikt om hur den vetskapen kan ge bidrag till positiva kundvärden, för att stärka företagets goda anseende och därmed deras position på marknaden. För att undersöka det kommer vi utföra en fallstudie på företaget Gekås Ullared. Utifrån syftet formulerades två forskningsfrågor:

1. Hur kan ett företag arbeta med internt varumärkesbyggande för att stärka sitt anseende och därmed sin position på marknaden?
2. Hur kan ett företag med hjälp av internt varumärkesbyggande, skapa positiva kundvärde?                                                       

Metod                                              

Studien är en fallstudie över hur företaget Gekås Ullared arbetar med internt varumärkesbyggande. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ intervjumetod med en deduktiv forskningsansats. Vidare har det empiriska materialet samlats in genom sju semistrukturerade djupintervjuer.              

Slutsatser

Resultatet av studien visar att företag som tillämpar internt varumärkesbyggande, genom att öka förståelsen av vad varumärket står för, ämnar erhålla en mer motiverad och engagerad personalstyrka. Det i sin tur leder till att kunderna i större utsträckning mottar en positiv upplevelse av företagets varumärke. Det resulterar i att företagets goda anseende ökar och därmed stärks även dess position på marknaden.

For as long robotics has been a research topic, their impact on the traditional manufacturing industry have been discussed. Several theories have been presented through the years in how robotics will change the business climate. The Chinese labor market is facing big transitions and the question of what the effects on employment rate and economy will be remains uncertain.

 In this thesis, the focus in this thesis is to present the positive and negative effects of robotics in manufacturing industry and how it will affect the labor market. This is conducted by analyzing empirical findings from interviews and second-hand interviews. The collected findings will be compared with previous research regarding digitalization and robotics in China. 

The outcome of this thesis will show the positive and negative effects of robotics and manufacturing industry and its impact on the Chinese labor market. The thesis will show the correlation between robotics, education, quality, labor and the Chinese economy. 

Introduction: Recent trends have shown a steady growth regarding environmental concerns along with the pro-environmental attitudes among the consumers, yet a contradicting behaviour is observed in the purchase of environmentally friendly products, giving birth to the phenomena of attitude-behaviour gap. A fair amount of researchers have studied this attitude-behaviour gap over the recent years, investigating this very inconsistency in order to present a solution. This specific study is based on the findings of Davari & Strutton in relation to this attitudebehavior gap, where the researchers presented a simplified model of their study as an effort in overcoming this inconsistency. This specific study is based on the simplified model, where the research unearths the effect of green marketing mix elements on four dimensions of consumerbased brand equity with Swedish Generation Y and clothing fashion industry in perspective.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain the impact of green marketing mix elements (product, price, place and promotion) on dimensions of consumer-based brand equity (brand loyalty, brand association, brand trust and perceived brand quality).

Methodology: The research is based on quantitative approach designed in respect with the explanatory purpose. A closed-end online questionnaire was designed as the data collection method, resulting in 127 responses. The results were based on the multiple regression analysis, while the validity was tested against pearson's correlation method and reliability was tested through cronbach’s alpha.

Conclusion: The study did not measure significant results, where green product stands out as the only element on the green marketing-mix having a positive relationship on one consumerbased brand equity dimension in this case, brand loyalty. Whereas the other elements were concluded as having no significance. Even t

Corporate social responsibility is a widely discussed concept in today’s business, with different perceptions as well as explanations regarding the meaning and impact of the concept. Organizations are becoming more aware of the concept as well as their responsibilities to the society, which in turn results in organizations devoting more resources into CSR related activities. Nowadays, it is significant to establish a proper CSR performance while also having a solid financial foundation in order to reach a long-term sustainable success.

The purpose of this study is to describe how CSR is connected to firm performance, in terms of market share and market growth. While a growing number of studies have been made regarding investigating CSR and its various dimensions, it is still unclear what the underlying factors that tie the relationship together are. This purpose was tested on a company in southern Sweden; this company Emballator Lagan Plast (ELP) produces plastic packaging solutions for a number of industries. Alongside the literature research, a case study with semi-structured interviews was conducted at ELP in order to collect data needed to answer the purpose and research questions.

One of the essential findings of the study revealed from the literature, which was also proven in the case study, was that CSR is a fundamental element in an organization and it should be implemented throughout the entire organization to gain maximum effect. Moreover, the findings indicate that CSR has a positive impact on ELP’s performance. Even though the relationship is not direct, it still exists through mediating roles, and it has played an important role in the company’s growth and success.

Keywords:Corporate social responsibility, firm performance, stakeholders.

The marketplace in the 21^st century is intense and highly competitive. Customers have a great variety of products and services to choose from, therefor gaining competitive advantage is crucial for a company´s survival. Companies cannot rely on previous product success, they have to be innovative in order to meet the ever-changing customer needs and wants. New product launch is a critical and challenging phase for every company, which is proven by the high failure rates. There are many barriers that can hinder and determine a new product launch process. This study focuses on Business-to-Business, small and medium sized companies within the Swedish steel and metal industry with the purpose to investigate what barriers occur when launching new industrial products. The study also aims to answer the question on what actions can be taken in order to overcome these barriers. This is a qualitative and comparative study based on a theoretical framework combined with empirical findings gathered from five in-depth interviews. By analyzing and comparing the findings throughout this study, the authors can conclude that there are many barriers that can occur and affect a product launch process negatively. The main barriers identified were lack of knowledge, effort, planning as well as targeting and competition. The study also resulted in practical suggestions and actions that can be taken in order to overcome these barriers and ease the launch process.

Key words: New product launch, Barriers in launch processes, B2B, Swedish companies, SME`s, Marketing

Introduction​: Market has saturated in the point where customers are facing advertising overload. For companies it can be difficult task to achieve attention among desired target audience. Millennials

have become one of the most valuable target group that companies are aiming to target. One way to achieve attention is to do provocative advertising that aims to shock, or violate millennials norms, principles or social cause. Millennials is a special demographic group, compared to previous ones, baby boomers and generation X, since they are more resistant towards provocation. Thys, thesis stress the importance of exploring millennials emotional response when they are exposed to provocation.

Purpose: ​The purpose of this paper is to explore Millennials ́ emotional response when exposed to provocative advertising. Research Questions: ‘​Which negative emotions provoke millennials?’ and ‘Which positive emotions provoke millennials?’

Theoretical Framework: ​Theory foundation is builded on provocative advertising and emotional response. Provocative advertising is divided into shock, and social cause. Emotional response concentrates on positive and negative emotions.

Method: ​The authors of this paper used qualitative approach, deductive structure with explorative purpose that is aiming for in-depth information. Total amount of 8 semi-structured interviews were recorded. Information from interviews were further comprehended via coding schedule.

Empirical Investigation: ​Empirical chapter presents the main patterns of information from interviews. Chapter is divided into negative and positive parts. This chapters are following the coding schedule structure where main chapters are divided into subchapters based on the sub-categories of coding schedule.

Analysis: ​The analysis of the empirical investigation showed important information regarding millennials emotional response. Analysis presented that negative emotional response of fear, anger,

sadness and disgust are evoked when millennials are exposed to provocative advertising. While emotional response of positive emotions, millennials expressed emotional response of contentment to provocative advertising. Thus, no emotional response of love, pride, or happiness was found.

Conclusion: ​Conclusion of the thesis presented the important findings that millennials are more likely expressing negative than positive emotional response when they are exposed to provocative advertising. Thus emotional response of fear, anger, sadness, disgust or/and contentment were Millennials emotional response to provocative advertising.

Today’s market environment is increasingly growing due to the economical globalization; with international trade, financial transfers and foreign direct investments the economy is becoming highly interconnected. The advances in communication and transportation technology combined with free-market ideology, have given products and services remarkable mobility. Nowadays, international companies are focusing on opening the world markets to their goods especially in emerging markets in order to take advantage of these markets opportunities and be part of its developing and growing infrastructure.

In order for international companies to enter foreign markets, there are a variety of factors to consider while planning a strategic approach to reach new customers and differentiate their products and services from national and international competitors within the chosen market. This thesis will focus on featuring the significant factors that could affect companies entering new markets; the study is a qualitative single case study of IKEA, it will specifically investigate IKEA’s franchising in the Moroccan market and forms of internal and external factors that could affect IKEA’s entry into the market as well as it will highlight the main concepts that managers should consider when planning to enter the Moroccan market.

The study was based on theoretical framework combined with empirical findings that were collected from secondary data such as annually reports and trade documents as well as through conducting in-depth interviews with IKEA’s managers to increase the study reliability and validity.

According to the study findings and analytical results, the conclusion is that IKEA will not face major internal and external obstacles that would affect their operations significantly. There are few factors that could arise while entering the Moroccan market but from a holistic view this minor interferences can be overcame through IKEA’s full awareness of the market and their application of a vigorous, flexible and convenient strategic approach.

This chapter presents a state-of-the-art literature review of past research on service robots in the hospitality sector. Data collection took place between October 2021 and March 2022. The sample is made up of articles that have been published since 2017, which is the earliest research that is available. The dataset (Akiskali et al., 2022) included fifty-nine articles retrieved from the Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases. Analysis followed the micro-classification of the retrieved articles into three categories based on their focus of study: service robots' relationships with (1) customers, (2) employees, and (3) firms. Results and conclusions provide an overview of the existing literature and suggest directions for the future.

With the development of technology, the speed of social media development is getting fasterand faster. The relationship between the company and its customers is getting closer.Company profits are increasingly affected by the quality of the relationship betweencustomers and the company. Therefore, relationship quality has become a key research topicfor the company. The interaction of social media will affect the quality of the relationshipbetween the company and its customers to a certain extent. This study examines therelationship between the quality of the relationship between the company and its customersand their interactions on social media. In addition, this research also examines commitment,trust, satisfaction, responsiveness, social influence, and media richness. These factors mainlyaffect the relationship between relationship quality and social media interaction. This studydescribes how to analyze the impact of social media interactions on relationship quality froma customer's perspective. In order to answer the research questions and obtain customers'opinions, this paper uses quantitative research to interview customers of different types ofbrand social media through questionnaires. From what customers feel about the company’scommitment to customers, trust, and customer satisfaction through social media interactions,the impact of social media interactions on the quality of the relationship between thecompany and customers can be derived. In order to promote the development of the company

As social media platforms are increasingly becoming more popular and a part of everyday life, Business-to-Business (B2B) marketers from different industries are realizing social media’s potential for achieving marketing purposes. However, scientific literature regarding social media usage in B2B contexts is still filled with gaps in knowledge; especially when compared to literature about social media usage in Business-to-Customer (B2C) contexts. One of these research gaps is the lack of niched information about each effect of using social media. This paper aims at contributing to filling this research gap by presenting an extensive literature review about social media marketing in B2B; followed by an analysis of empirical data gathered from 11 different cases of B2B companies engaged in social media marketing. Moreover, this is to answer the research questions; how are B2B companies using social media to increase brand awareness? Which types of content inspire the most customer engagement? And how can B2B companies amplify their chances of succeeding in increasing brand awareness through social media? This paper will further contribute to this research topic, by identifying further research gaps and present suggestions for future research.

In this era of globalization and internationalization of business, effective interpersonal communication and intercultural relationship among coworkers still poses challenges and differences in an organization. This thesis aims to research and analyse challenges of interpersonal communication and intercultural differences in a multicultural organization and the way it can be solved using a qualitative method and an inductive approach on a single case study of a Swedish based multicultural company, Lyreco. The empirical data consist of ten semi- structured interview with addition of secondary data. Former research has focused on differences of individual’s ways of communication based on their cultural background. On a comprehensive analysis and the usage of existing theories, the findings of this research pinpointed ineffective usage of communication context as one of the challenges of curtailing interpersonal communication in a multicultural organization. Cultural differences like individualism, ethnocentrism, and ambient cultural disharmony are identified as challenges experienced in a multicultural organization. But with the intervention of organizational culture it can be managed. Individual team member’s attitude are curtailed under the rules of the organization. From findings, it is established that to abridge the friction within multicultural teams, the role of an organization is very important. There is need to institute structural intervention which encourages team members to adapt to each other’s culture by acknowledging cultural gaps and working around the differences.

Abstract

The thesis aims to investigate the role of sustainability strategy in digital

business in Bangladeshi and Pakistani SMEs. To attain our research goal,

we made conceptual and theoretical framework, conducted telephonic

interviews from digitized e-commerce SMEs working in Bangladesh and

Pakistan service sector.

Purpose: The purpose of the report is to explore the critical factors when

implementing an integration of sustainability strategy in digital business.

While doing this as well as dig deeper into a theory, we made analysis

through our conceptual building and interviews.

Methods: In this paper, a qualitative research method has been applied to

demonstrate the experiences and activities of the SMEs as they come across,

involve and survive by circumstances. A strong perception of phenomena

was founded under this research. Before conducting telephone interviews,

pilot tests had been taken to understand the significance and depth of the

questions.

Results: Based on the interviews it can be concluded that most of the

respondents are considering sustainability strategy as competitive

advantages and they are willing to utilize human, natural and financial

resources in their digital business for maximizing benefit. Most of the

respondents are using digital tools at their companies and concerning

sustainability strategies to survive in the competing markets, but still the

businesses who are working through sustainability strategy in their digital

business is not adequate. Sustainability strategies are considered as core

values of SMEs while doing digital business.

Practical Implication: The findings ensure sustainability strategies are

becoming core value in emerging markets like the mature markets. The

findings conceptualized by the authors can be developed in future for the

future studies in other emerging countries besides Bangladesh and Pakistan.

As the results show that sustainability strategy in digital business can bring

maximum benefit for the SMEs, the new entrepreneurs might be attracted

towards implementing the sustainability strategy in their business.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and provide a deeper understanding of how the national culture of China affects the use of formal and informal management control systems of Swedish firms, operating in China. In order to conduct this research, relevant theories concerning internationalization, culture and management control systems were gathered and analyzed in relation to each other. This resulted in a conceptual framework, which illustrates the interrelationships between the concepts. Thereafter, this was used as the ground to which the empirical findings were analyzed and compared to. The analysis chapter involves a discussion of the similarities and dissimilarities between theory and empirical data, which leads to the conclusions of this study. This is lastly followed by theoretical implications, practical implications and recommendations, limitations and suggestions for further research.

The study has been conducted with a qualitative research method, in order to obtain a deeper understanding of how national culture can affect the use of  management control systems of Swedish firms in China. Further, due to the unexplored and limited research area of this complex subject, the study followed an abductive approach.

The findings of this research indicate that the Chinese culture affects the use of formal control systems, in which they are used extensively within Swedish firms, operating  in China. However, the national culture of China does not have an effect on the informal control systems of Swedish firms. Nevertheless, the use of the informal control systems should not be undermined, as the use of these triggers for more innovation and creativity among the members of an organization. This in turn could lead to Swedish firms operating more efficiently in the Chinese market. This research can be valuable for Swedish firms that wish to internationalize to the Chinese market, as well as firms operating in China with concerns regarding the use of management control systems in relation to the culture.

Production outsourcing to a manufacturer has become a very common thing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a manufacturing choice. Offshore manufacturers provide cheap and skillful labor which is what companies need to make a decent profit and make the products affordable to the end consumer. These manufacturers are called Contract Manufacturers (CM), which is what this thesis is about. However, searching and choosing the right manufacturer can be a challenging process, which can be followed by difficulties and obstacles. This paper explores the process of how these SMEs in the toy industry select and find their contract manufacturer, identify the type of barriers they encountered, the process to overcome and solve those difficulties, and what recommendations SMEs offer to prevent those obstacles for those who want to take the path of dealing with an offshore contract manufacturer. Moreover, personal interviews with SMEs in the toy industries were conducted to investigate the purpose of this thesis. These companies shared their experiences with dealing with contract manufacturers and offered valuable recommendations to overcome those troubles that arise during the selection process of a contract manufacturer. One of the major findings was the communication barrier, which arose when the companies had to outsource their production to manufacturers in China. However, some used a middleman to help with solving this issue and others had a representative that can speak the language.

Bachelor thesis, Interior design and visual merchandising at School of business and economic Kalmar, Linnaeus university. 2FE77E. Spring of 2019.

The entry of phygital by Emma Albertsson, Fanny Wallin och Mikaela Westerlund

Background: The Swedish trade market began from wandering itinerant out on the countryside to stores where customers could pick the goods by themselves, this was the beginning of the development into becoming the retail industry which is still ongoing today. The companies had to make changes to go from multi-channels to omni-channels. And omni-channels led to new development called phygital, where the physical channels are intertwined with the digital channels to become one. This is what this thesis is aiming to study.

Reserarch question & Purpose: The research question of the study is: How do consulting-firms, online stores and physical stores work in the clothing business with phygital? The purpose of the study is to gain an increased understanding of how the various companies in the clothing business are using phygital. This is to contribute with knowledge of what phygital stands for, as well as which similarities and differences exist between the companies.

Method: This study involves a qualitative method with a hermeneutic approach, through a deductive approach with inductive elements. The collection of empirical data has been carried out through semi-structured interviews with representatives from three consulting-firms, one online store and one physical store.

Conclusion: The conclusion of the study shows that the digitization is constantly evolving which makes the digitalisation hard to surpass. The physical store becomes affected by the development of the digitization because it enables the physical stores to become smaller while still being able to offer the entire range of the companies supply. Thus, the digital channel do not become a competitor to the physical channels, but a complement to each other as they fill out the absences of each other. In the future it will evolve and change for the fygital channels to interact in the best way possible.

The first country in the world to take a stand on children’s exposure in marketing is France. The world-unique law was adopted in April 2021 to protect children from being exploited by other parties in marketing contexts. There is a lack of previous research that examines children’s exposure by influencers and in relation to ethical and moral positions. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the research by examining parents' attitudes towards children who are exposed in marketing by influencers on social media and what ethical and moral dilemmas it contributes to. The study is based on a deductive research approach and a qualitative data collection where empirical data is collected from the sample of parents and thereby a focus group and seven individual interviews. The results show that the meaning of ethics and morals is different between individuals, that children’s interest in marketing is not a priority and that children in marketing on Instagram lead to more attention to influencers and companies. The ethical and moral dilemmas caused by children's participation in marketing on Instagram are individual-based. The parents take a stand that children exposed by influencers on social media are unethical and immoral, but when they share photos and videos on their own children it is ethical and moral correct. This will continue to be dilemmas until there are clear guidelines and research in marketing with children. 

Sinnesmarknadsföring är ett högaktuellt begrepp inom marknadsföringssammanhang som syftar till att använda sensoriska stimulanser för att tillfredsställa konsumenter genom en differentierad och personlig upplevelse av varumärket. Att investera i strategier för de samtliga fem sinnena, ljud, doft, syn, känsel och smak, kan medvetet som omedvetet leda konsumenter till köp. Sensoriska stimulanser kan därmed stödja dolda försäljningsmetoder och styra konsumenter mot impulsköp istället för att uppfylla deras behov. Detta lade grunden för ett ifrågasättande av etiska dilemman som kan uppstå vid applicerandet av sinnesmarknadsföring i butiks- och servicelandskap. Med anledning av att det saknas ett konsumentperspektiv gällande sinnesmarknadsföring och etik, är studiens syfte att beskriva och analysera etiska dilemman inom sinnesmarknadsföring utifrån ett konsumentperspektiv. Forskningsfrågan lyder: vad utgör oetiskt agerande inom sinnesmarknadsföring ur ett konsumentperspektiv? För att få svar på denna fråga har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med tre genomförda fokusgrupper som insamlingsmetodik tillämpats. Resultatet visar på att majoriteten respondenter har svårt att konkretisera specifika situationer där etik och moral bryts. Ett fåtal företeelser som ses som oetiska har dock kunnat urskiljas ur diskussionerna. Konsumenter tar avstånd från sinnesmarknadsföring som används för att förvränga eller försköna produkter samt när det används på produkter som kan ha en negativ påverkan på deras välbefinnande. Det finns tillfällen där sinnesmarknadsföring går över gränsen och blir oetiskt, men att sätta en universell gräns för vad som är acceptabelt är inte möjligt på grund av att människor är olika. Vad som anses vara godtagbart och inte beror på våra tidigare erfarenheter och perception.

Syfte & forskningsfråga:

Syftet med denna uppsats är att skapa en djupare förståelse för utvecklingen av dagens modemarknad och fenomenet “fast fashion” genom att analysera och undersöka trenders uppkomst, hur trender anammas av konsumenter samt konsumenters inverkan på modebranschen. Uppsatsens forskningsfråga formulerades med uppsatsens syfte i åtanke och frågan blev följande: Vad är karaktäristiskt för dagens modemarknad och vilken betydelse har konceptet “fast fashion” för marknadens utveckling?

Metod:

Vår uppsats är baserad på en kvalitativ forskningsmetod då vi önskade att få en djupare förståelse kring det valda forskningsämnet. Vidare kom uppsatsen att få en abduktiv karaktär då vi haft ett växelspel mellan vald teori och empiri. För att vidare få en bredare syn på forskningsområdet valde vi att variera oss i vårt urval av respondenter och intervjuade därför 7 respondenter med olika positioner inom modebranschen.

Slutsatser:

I uppsatsens analys har vi kunnat se ett mönster där vår valda teori i stor utsträckning stämmer överens med vår empiriska insamling. I vår studie framkom det även att trender är både komplexa och svåra att specificera samt att de både kan pågå under en kortare samt längre tid. Vidare visade det sig att konsumenter idag har en stor påverkan på modebranschen, där de mångt och mycket kan ses som trendsättare. Fast fashion är ett koncept som har bidragit till snabba trendväxlingar på marknaden och via vår studie framkom det att konsumenters syn på fast fashion har förändrats, och att de numera önskar ett lugnare tempo.

Purpose

This study investigates the relationship between trust and performance in international joint ventures with the moderating effects of the structural mechanisms from transaction cost approach.

Design/methodology/approach

Using web-survey data is collected from 89 IJVs of Northern European firms in Asia, Europe and America. Empirical data is analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling and estimates moderating effects of symmetric dependence, symmetric equity share and resource complementarity.

Findings

The findings offer some interesting insights for transaction cost and the social exchange theory. This study demonstrates that a symmetric equity share between IJV partners does not moderate the trust -performance relationship, while a symmetric dependence and resource complementarity between partners effect positively. Therefore, trust takes on greater importance in enhancing IJV performance under symmetric dependence and resource complementarity and symmetric equity share between IJV partners deprecates the importance of equity distribution.

Practical implications

A symmetric dependence prevents the deceit from either partner in trusting relationships. Further, a trustful relationship enhances IJV performance regardless of the equity share in IJVs. IJVs with asymmetric equity share can also be successful, provided that IJV partners develop inter-partner trust.

Originality/value

The extant research has not examined how the trust–performance relationship is contingent on structural mechanisms of IJVs that transaction cost economics deem necessary to prevent opportunistic behavior. Three structural mechanisms of symmetric dependence, symmetric equity share, and resource complementarity moderate the trust-performance relationship in IJVs.

Purpose and research questions

The main purpose of this study has been to examine cultural appropriation in the music industry and what effects it can give an artist from a brand perspective.

Two research questions have been formulated, based on the purpose:

1. In what different ways can cultural appropriation occur in the music industry?
2. What effects can cultural appropriation have on an artist’s brand and image?

Method

The essay is based on a qualitative research method and is written with a deductive approach with some inductive elements. The study's empirical data has been gathered from eight semistructured interviews. The selection of respondents has been based on their knowledge and experience in the field of research and has helped to answer the essay's purpose.

Background: E-commerce is an evolving market; the number of retailers and the growth in online shopping has built up a competitive market. It is therefore essential for companies to continuously develop their online activity to remain and attract new customers. To do so, companies need to create value for the customers and meet their demands: therefore it is of great importance for companies to understand consumers’ buying behavior, and moreover investigate in which factors are related to the consumers’ online purchase intention.

Purpose: The purpose is to explain the relationship between trust, perceived risk, shopping enjoyment, site design quality and online purchase intention.

Hypotheses: The authors of this study set up the following hypotheses:

H1+: Trust is positively related to consumers’ online purchase intention.

H2-: Perceived risk is negatively related to consumers’ online purchase intention.

H3: Shopping enjoyment is related to consumers’ online purchase intention.

H4+: Site design quality is positively related to consumers’ online purchase intention.

Methodology: Survey study.

Conclusion: Hypothesis 1 was supported in this study. Hypothesis 2 was not supported in this study. Hypothesis 3 was supported in this study. Hypothesis 4 was supported in this study. 

Context: In cooperation with ICA, we chose to investigate how much the auditory and visual stimuli in combination affects consumer behavior in grocery store. There are few studies in the area, which gives good practical and theoretical implications.

Research question: How much influenced consumers' purchasing, movement and inspection behavior during exposure to auditory and visual stimuli in the fruit and vegetable department of a grocery store?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze how much the auditory and visual stimuli affect consumer behavior in the grocery store. We do this through a quantitative experiment of our partner’s fruit and vegetable section, where we observe customer behavior in stores. The paper will result in a number of recommendations for the use of auditory and visual stimuli for our partner ICA.

Method: We conducted a quantitative study that began in a deductive approach. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulated the auditory and visual stimuli. Observation and manipulation checks formed the basis of our empirical data collection.

Conclusion: We got two of the four hypotheses accepted where inspection and purchasing hypotheses had a significance level of 95% or over. ICA can therefore use auditory and visual stimuli to influence customers to more inspections and more purchases in stores.

Digital devices reshape the servicescape of wellness, helping people, e.g. young elderly, to benefit from digital wellness services (henceforth DWSs) provided in a digital servicescape. This paper builds on five prior studies and explores: (i) what requirements young elderly have, in order to benefit from DWSs, and (ii) what service providers should consider, and pay regard to, when they develop and offer DWSs to young elderly. Hence, this paper argues for DWSs to be subsets of a digital servicescape. This research developed a model for how different parties, e.g. young elderly, their friends and relatives, developers, providers, but also the society per se, could gain from the DWSs. The DWSs create opportunities for a win-win-win situation. Important for the young elderly are motivation, trust, and credibility. Important for developers and providers are to motivate the users, to create trustworthiness, to provide user guidance, and to develop through co-creation.

Customers have over the years been used to buying products and services in shops or by ordering over the phone. By the end of the last century shopping over the Internet was added as a new important channel for commerce. As a result, it has become more and more important for organizations to attract customers and their site on the Internet; the interface, is one part of this. In the discourse of marketing there is a field named servicescape and a related field named e-servicescape. For the providers of information systems the different views of service, servicescape and e-servicescape can be confusing. Hence it has to be considered   interesting if the intention is to build not only reliable and trustable systems but also information systems that are in accordance with what the e-servicescape user needs and demands. The question raised in this paper is whether there is a need for further research on the relation and connection between the terms servicescape and e-servicescape. To determine if e-servicescape is fully possible, plausible or not possible in comparison with servicescape the Conceptual model of servicescape by Harris and Ezeh (2008, p. 393) is used. 

This chapter focuses on servicescape in the context of physical servicescape and digital servicescape. It also highlights service and digital service. Within the framework of gamification, it is important to have an understanding for and knowledge of what is of importance when developing and providing services delivered in servicescapes, physical or digital, to customers. Hence, the focus also lies on co-creation between the three main stakeholders, the developer, the provider, and the customer. Finally, the chapter contains some suggestions built on previous research on the group of young elderly (age group 60 – 75), but that can be beneficial when working with other target groups.

Making it easier for Swedish young elderly (60-75 years) to live a rewarding life after retirement is an increasingly important issue in society. One way to achieve this is to give them a sense of purpose by helping other seniors, and to achieve that requires support systems. When developing an information system (IS) there is a need to know about the thoughts, demands and needs they (both those providing and receiving support) have about wellbeing and about use of IS. When designing IS and its interactive e-servicescape it is essential to identify consumer behavioural factors about wellbeing and the feeling of being needed. To do this, a pilot study with a survey was carried out and workshops conducted with a focus group. The conclusions are that expectancy, motivation, context, reward, and trust are the five key elements. These elements can be seen as a model for feeling needed when providing support to others and they also can provide important input to building an IS with its e-servicescape.

En story är en strukturerad berättelse med budskap, mål och målgrupp. Genom att slå an på känslorna hos mottagaren – oavsett om det gäller ett strukturerat berättande runt lägerelden eller i det digitala rummet är storytelling ett användbart verktyg för att nå ut med ett budskap.

På ett lättillgängligt sätt förmedlas här grundläggande arbetssätt, verktyg, teorier samt berättelser och storyexempel. Del 1 ger bakomliggande teorier som underlättar skapandet, del 2 beskriver stegvis storyskapandet och del 3 kompletterar del 1 och 2 genom att tillföra kompletterande arbetsmetoder.

Boken riktar sig till såväl studenter på universitets- och högskole­nivå som elever på folkhögskola, yrkeshögskola och gymnasieskola. Den riktar sig även till yrkesverksamma inom kommunikation, likväl till chefer och ledare.

Abstract. In this paper we show what kind of services the group known as young-elderly (60-75 years old) using on Internet. To been able to develop more effective information systems (IS) we want to know more about the actual demands, needs and wants by the young-elderly target group. We will through an explorative study conducted through three focus group interviews show the importance of knowing behavioral factors when designing effective IS and setting up interactive virtual servicescapes. Our conclusions are that it is not just a need, when developing IS and setting up virtual servicescapes on Internet, to know the customers demands, needs and wants. The IS industry also need to create customer trust to the service provider and the services and also been able to set up guiding possibilities to helping the customers finding what they want and to letting the customer to customize the digital service interface. This will together overcome anxiety by the growing young-elderly target group.

Sometimes things are taken for granted. If people in general, and elderly people in particular are asked, they might have different views of what they need, demand and are interested in when it comes to services produced with computers and mobile devices, as compared to what the industry offers and assumes that they want, need and value. When Information Systems (IS) are designed it is important that they are developed in accordance with their target group. This explorative study investigates how the group known as young-elderly (60 – 75 years of age) in Sweden perceives services on the Internet and what is required in order to capture their interest. This study indicates that it is vital to build a servicescape in coherence with the customers’ demands, needs and interests as well as to establish credibility in order to gain their trust.

Problemformulering:

På vilka sätt kan storytelling förstärkas genom

sinnesmarknadsföring i provrum?

Syfte:

Uppsatsens syfte är att genom ett kundperspektiv identifiera hur storytelling

förmedlas genom syn- och ljudsinnet i Monkis provrum och utifrån detta analysera på

vilka sätt storytelling kan förstärkas.

Metod:

Uppsatsen har baserats på en kvalitativ studie som kommit att anta en

abduktiv ansats. Den empiriska insamlingen har vi gjort med semistrukturerade

intervjuer, där vi har intervjuat det valda företaget, enskilda kunder samt fokusgrupper

för att få ett djup kring det ämnet snarare än en bredd.

Slutsats:

Vår analys visar på att storytelling kan förstärkas med hjälp av olika fysiska

attribut i ett provrum som förmedlas genom synsinnet, exempelvis speglar och

information. Storytelling kan även utvecklas via ljudsinnet genom röster och jinglar.

Background: Knowledge about consumers color preferences is important for marketers to be able to reach out with attractive product offerings to consumers. To determine the color that appeals to consumers, marketers have used color consultants. Associative to learning can help marketers better understand the evolution of color preferences.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the contextual independence/dependence of consumers associations of colors.

Findings: The result showed that color associations were dependent of the context. The two hypotheses, the association to the blue/black color on context is different compared to the general and symbolic associations to the color blue/black are not rejected. This means that the color associations depend on context. 

Forskningsfråga

• Hur kan mobiltelefonen integreras i detaljhandelsföretags marknadsföring?

Syfte

Syftet med vår uppsats är att urskilja och analysera likheter och olikheter mellan företag och konsumenter gällande marknadsföring med stöd av mobiltelefonen. Detta gör vi genom att klarlägga:

• Konsumenters upplevda värde via mobiltelefonen

• Företags användning av mobiltelefonen som marknadsföringsresurs 

Metod

Uppsatsen har baserats på en kvalitativ studie som kommit att anta en deduktiv ansats med inslag av induktion. Vi har gjort den empiriska insamlingen genom semistrukturerade intervjuer där vi valt att intervjua tre välkända företag inom detaljhandelsbranschen samt fokusgrupper.

Slutsats

Vår analys visar att mobiltelefonen kan integreras i detaljhandelsföretags marknadsföring på olika sätt. Det framkommer att mobila applikationer, den mobila hemsidan och SMS-utskick är de främsta marknadsföringsresurserna. Vidare framhålls enkelhet, tydligt syfte och struktur som betydande faktorer. För att företag ska lyckas integrera mobiltelefonen i sin marknadsföring, på ett bra sätt, visar vår studie att de måste erhålla en röd tråd genom samtliga marknadsföringskanaler.