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The market for foods and beverages is one of the largest worldwide. Thus, there is a lot of interest in understanding and predicting consumer behavior. Two subjects that have gained attention recently in the food sector are perceived naturalness and high-tech eco-innovations like cultured meat. This work addresses how the preference for natural products and the inference of product attributes via perceived naturalness causes problems for novel technological food products. By reviewing existing literature following questions will be answered: (1) What do most people assume about the health, taste, sustainability, and safety of food products based on perceived naturalness? (2) How is the public acceptance of high-tech food eco-innovations influenced by a lack of perceived naturalness? (3) How can these challenges be addressed by food businesses? It will first be determined what natural means for customers and how it influences food choices in general. The main findings based on the currently available market research are consumers do not desire to consume any highly unnatural foods including technological eco-innovations and it might be more efficient in terms of sustainability gains and customer needs to commit resources to developing existing products or eco-innovations that are perceived to be natural.
This research thesis examines affiliate review’s role in the relationship between direct-to-consumers (D2C) brands and consumers. Three D2C brands were selected as case companies for the multiple-case study. Seventy-five affiliate reviews were analysed, out of which fifteen were analysed in-depth. Additionally, a share of voice analysis was performed to establish the market share of each case company. The research has shown that affiliate reviews play a dual role as recommenders and sellers, which D2C brands use to achieve competitive advantage. However, the dual role is created at the expense of review quality, which is low.
In der heutigen Wirtschaftslage ist es für Unternehmen zunehmend wichtig sich aufgrund von einem zunehmend gesättigten Markt und steigendem Wettbewerb klar zu positionieren. Eine Grundlage für das strategische Marketing kann zum Beispiel durch ein Marketingkonzept geschaffen werden. Es dient als Leitfaden für weitere unternehmerische Marketingaktivitäten. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die Grundlagen für ein Marketingkonzept analysiert und aufgezeigt, mit dem Fokus auf der Kommunikationspolitik. Für die Ausarbeitung wird beispielhaft ein Produkt des kroatischen Unternehmens Terra Marascae d.o.o. verwendet. Die Kommunikationspolitik ist auf den unternehmenseigenen Online-Shop sowie die Gewinnung von Neukunden ausgerichtet. Die Informationen werden anhand des AIDA-Modells gewonnen. Auf dieser Grundlage kann die Kommunikationspolitik des Marketingkonzepts weiterführend abgeleitet werden. Dazu wird in Interviews sowie theoriegeleiteter Konzeption konkret ausfindig gemacht, welche Informationen für den Kunden und dessen Kaufprozess relevant sind. Die Ergebnisse der Studie zeigen, dass es wesentlich ist, die Besonderheiten der Produkte in der Kommunikationspolitik klar zu kommunizieren.
Conception and development of a corporate website strategy on the example of KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG
(2022)
In recent years, digitalization has caused an increasing transformation of the entire business world towards a digitalized economy. The Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated this ongoing digital transformation. Therefore, online presence is also becoming increasingly important for companies to survive in the digital economy. KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG, a traditional medium-sized company firmly focused on face-to-face sales, was strongly affected by the limitations of the pandemic. Switching to digital alternatives, especially the corporate website, stands out as the most critical digital cross point.
This bachelor thesis uses a marketing strategy model to analyze and research the position of KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG in the market and explores the functions and characteristics that a corporate website must have to meet today’s customer, stakeholder, and employee needs.
First, this work intends to offer an overall understanding of digitalization and its impact on the medical technology industry and medium-sized companies. Secondly, the corporate website characteristics are considered. The third theoretical part includes the analysis of two digital marketing strategy models, which are compared with each other. Finally, the company KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG and its website are presented, and a strategy model for developing a website strategy for the business year 2023 and beyond is applied.
Interviews conducted with internal and external experts on websites provide valuable information and a deeper understanding of the importance of a website in the digital environment.
In the end, this paper gives recommendations for actions for website development.
In two experiments, this empirical research examines consumers’ willingness to pay and the likelihood of purchase decisions by thoroughly investigating the neural, behavioral, and psychological properties of packaging design. A general theory is tested by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a NeuroPricing online survey on consumer behavior using the example product Tassimo. Hypotheses are tested with 592 German consumers who evaluated the packaging of Tassimo coffee. A closer look at the neural data from the brain imaging experiment shows that uncertainty can arise among consumers with regard to sustainable packaging and this can have a negative impact on the purchase decision and willingness to pay. The results from both experiments show that it is not possible to make a holistic statement as to which sustainable or enjoyment-focused packaging design increases the likelihood of a purchase decision or the willingness to pay. Implications for future packaging design research and underlying complexities with sustainable packaging are discussed.
Das Unternehmen XYZ befindet sich in einer entscheidenden Phase in der Umsetzung der Digitalisierungsstrategie. Im Rahmen dieser Strategie wird die neue Unternehmenshomepage mit dem neuen Onlineshop gekoppelt. Die Plattform fungiert zum einen als zeitgemäßer Onlineauftritt und zum anderen soll dadurch ein neues Rollenverständnis für das Unternehmen geschaffen werden. Herzstück der Plattform ist die mit dem Onlineshop verbundene Onsite Suchfunktion.
Ziel dieser Arbeit ist Teile der Strategie zu analysieren und teilweise kritisch zu würdigen. Um die Suchfunktion für den neuen Onlineshop neben grundlegenden sprachlichen Features zu erweitern, wurde eine Umfrage mit ausgewählten Mitarbeitern durchgeführt.
Die Ausgangssituation dieser Arbeit ist das Unternehmen zu präsentieren. Darauf aufbauend wird die Schnelllebigkeit der Digitalisierung erläutert, sowie die Reaktion des Unternehmens darauf. Kern der Arbeit ist die Analyse von User Experience (UX)- und User Interface (UI)-Komponenten des Shops sowie die Suchfunktion im Allgemeinen, als auch im Kontext von XYZ zu beschreiben.
Darauf erfolgt die Erklärung der Methodik der qualitativen Datenerhebung, welche für die Umfrage eingesetzt wurde. Anschließend werden Ablauf, sowie die dazugehörigen Ergebnisse dargelegt. Das letzte Kapitel liefert einen wertenden Ausblick auf Teile der Ergebnisse und fasst die gesamte Arbeit nochmals reflektierend zusammen. Abschluss der Arbeit bildet eine Diskussion, sowie ein persönliches Fazit.
Growing environmental awareness, especially among young generations, is reflected in the willingness to accept price premiums for sustainable and recyclable products. In recent years, marketers have focused on reinforcing consumers’ attention and interest in green goods by increasing the effectiveness of various sustainability information on product packaging.
In this thesis, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) investigated the effect of visual and verbal recycling claims on product packaging upon the willingness to pay (WTP). Although findings showed no changes in WTP related to a visual claim, the presence of a verbal claim positively impacted the WTP in two of four cases. Further, significant interactions between the two factors were detected. The results suggest that students considered an imagery seal irrelevant during product evaluation, whilst communicating recycling information with a textual message or with a conjunction of both claims showed a tendency to improve price-value perception. However, results for the verbal and interaction effects showed variations across products. Therefore, one may not draw unequivocal assumptions from the findings of this study without research replication on a larger scale.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit behandelt das Thema einer Social Media Strategie für ein kleines und mittelständisches Unternehmen, welches im Business-to-Business Sektor tätig ist. Aufgrund der zögerlichen Nutzung von Social Media von KMUs im Business-to-Business Sektor und den mangelnden empirischen Erkenntnissen besteht die Frage, wie Social Media am effektivsten eingesetzt werden kann. Mithilfe einer systematischen Literaturanalyse arbeitet diese Bachelorarbeit eine Social Media Strategie heraus. Der praktische Teil wird mit der Überprüfung der empirisch belegten Erkenntnisse an der Werbeagentur teufels garantiert.
In the quickly developing industry landscape of the organic food market, keeping pace with consumer demands and market growth can be a challenge. Organizations with long histories in the organic market, such as dairy supply cooperatives are facing difficulty to maintain their competitive advantage. These cooperative organizations are unique compared to traditional firms in their committed responsibility to multi-stakeholder value creation and protection as defining measures of successful operations.
The paper investigates what factors and principles could be implemented by a cooperative to establish a consumer retail brand in the organic food market. It also examines the effects of this strategic marketing decision on the relationship between, and outcomes for, several of their stakeholder groups. To balance between narrowing the variables and context, while still providing relevant findings on a national scale, a French organic dairy coop serves as a qualitative case study. In addition, a pool of expert semi-structured interviews was conducted, obtaining real time information applicable to the current case study situation.
The findings supported the development of a consumer retail brand to enhance competitive position in the French organic food market. Beyond organizational competitiveness, these results conclude that a retail brand presence for the cooperative could return synergistic additional value to the cooperative stakeholders, including the business, members and their social and biological environments. Finally, the outcome suggests a reciprocal, reinforcing relationship between a corporate brand strategy and the mission of the organic dairy cooperative case study subject. These findings are partially transferable to other organic cooperatives and add a cooperative organizational perspective to the brand strategy and development academic work.
Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die Funktion von Keywords für den Suchalgorithmus zu untersuchen und festzustellen inwieweit die Optimierung von Keywords für die Suchmaschinenoptimierung wichtig ist. Während die Funktion von Keywords für den Google Algorithmus theoretisch untersucht wurde, wurde die Bedeutsamkeit von Keywords mit einer praktischen Suchmaschinenoptimierung und deren Auswirkungen auf die Google Suchergebnisseite gemessen. Um die Auswirkungen von optimierten Keywords zu messen, wurde eine Forschungsstudie zur Datenerhebung durchgeführt. Diese Studie umfasst eine E-Commerce Website, die Handyketten verkauft und wurde über einen Beobachtungszeitraum von 17 Wochen implementiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich sowohl die Keyword-Optimierung, als auch die On-page Optimierung positiv auf die Ranking-Position der Suchergebnisliste auswirken. Generell deuten die Daten an, dass die Optimierung von On-page Faktoren eine größere Auswirkung auf die Ranking-Position haben und somit eine größere Gewichtung durch den Suchalgorithmus zugeteilt bekommen.
Die vorliegende Arbeit ermöglicht eine Erkenntnis über die Herausforderungen, die die chinesischen Unternehmen AliExpress und Shein implizieren und den aktuellen Erfolg auf dem Markt, der durch angewandte Strategien bestehend bleibt. Das Ziel der Arbeit umfasst die Herausforderungen der beiden Unternehmen, die diese ihren Kunden gegenüberstellen und den angewandten Marketing-Strategien, die grundlegend dafür sind, Problematiken als primärer Kunden nicht allzu kritisch aufzufassen. Für die Analyse wurden Problemfelder dargestellt und anhand einer Umfrage diskutiert. Die Analyse bietet einen Überblick über die Herausforderungen, dennoch sind Optimierungsansätze nicht vollständig realisierbar. Die steigende Popularität der beiden Online-Shops ist auf bestehende Strategien zurückzuführen und diese sollen auch weiterhin ausgeführt werden und die Schwierigkeiten überwiegen.
Frugality has become a prerequisite for success in a low-resource environment, a reality exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. When it comes to consumer needs, the priorities affordability and functionality are increasingly coming into focus. This study examines how frugal products are performing in developed markets, whether they meet consumer needs, and ultimately if there is a demand for these products.
The aim of this paper is to assess the status of Frugal Innovation (FI) in developed markets, using Germany as an example, and thus consumer behavior, in order to better evaluate the current status and related potentials based on this. The link between FI and environmental and social sustainability can be traced back to and limited to the minimal use of resources. Against the backdrop of the current economic and political situation, these factors represent one of the most significant competitive advantages of today.
This multi-method experiment helps to understand the consumer behavior towards frugal products as well as the opinions and attitude towards it. As a result, it can be said that there is interest in innovation in general as well as FI. The respective buying decisions were balanced, what means that frugal products do not necessarily outperform non-frugal ones, but they are in strong competition. It can be concluded that there will be an increasing demand for frugal products in developed markets such as Germany, especially for certain product categories.
Today, in an increasingly digitalized world, the Internet and social media allow for connection on a global scale. Companies utilize social media for their business-to consumer and business-to-business marketing activities.
This paper focuses on establishing a LinkedIn strategy development process in business to-business social media marketing for the AMOS Sport Business School in Strasbourg, which is seeking new partnerships with partners from the German sport industry, who will bring added value to the school.
To answer the research questions, interviews were conducted with six experts who either came from the business-to business marketing sector or worked at or on behalf of LinkedIn. Based on the interviews, the focus was on determining key components for a LinkedIn strategy. The results highlighted four reasons for choosing LinkedIn: the presence of a national and global target group, the seriousness of the content and users, the importance of LinkedIn presence for company marketing, and LinkedIn’s use as a recruitment tool. Seven key components of a LinkedIn strategy were identified: “definition of goals,” “target group identification,” “adaptability and agility,” “content creation approach,” “employees’ integration,” “LinkedIn monitoring,” and “LinkedIn algorithm.” Special attention must be paid to the fourth, fifth, and seventh components, which can influence each other. The research made it possible to determine how to develop the strategy successfully by paying particular attention to LinkedIn’s algorithm, which can be “artificially” influenced by employees’ LinkedIn engagement activities, thereby resulting in a more successful strategy. Such a chain reaction can be initiated at the content creation stage by observing the eight elements of “content creation approach”: “generation of a high level of engagement with published content,” “language,” “relevant and authentic message,” “up-to-date content,” “hashtags,” “time and frequency,” “selection of the appropriate type of content,” and “content distribution plan.”
An AMOS Strasbourg LinkedIn strategy was developed, along with recommendations for action for each component. Investment in the sales navigator was highlighted, as it facilitates target group identification and therefore provides a higher guarantee of success for the LinkedIn strategy when used in conjunction with the other key components. The strategy’s organization and implementation was accompanied by a content guideline and content distribution plan so that AMOS Strasbourg’s strategy can achieve positive results.
The Impact of Using Sustainability Labels in Advertisements of Fashion Brands on Social Media
(2022)
This thesis investigates the impact of sustainability labels in advertisements of fashion brands on social media. It aims to answering the following research questions: Do consumers search for more information on sustainability labels? Do sustainability labels impact credibility? Do sustainability labels impact purchase decisions? To answer the research questions an online survey with 202 participants was conducted. The empirical study revealed that consumers tend to search for less additional information when a sustainability label is displayed in an advertisement on social media. Few consumers believe that brands are fully sustainable when sustainability claims in an advertisement are not supported by a sustainability label. The display of a sustainability label may not be one of the most important factors for consumers considering purchasing fashion items. Those results suggest that brands should use sustainability labels as an important tool in advertising on social media to fill the informational need of consumers and increase credibility.
Year after year, global warming, and plastic output increase, and massive volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2) are being released into the atmosphere. Even though humans are aware of their environmental impact, they do struggle to change their behavior. But what is the reason for this?
The purpose of this thesis is to illuminate the factors that make it difficult for people to demonstrate pro-environmental behavior (PEB) and to form ideas from the field of nudging to assist in guiding humans to a better PEB. As a result, a meta-analysis was created from a multitude of papers on the issues of PEB and nudging. The proposals presented in this work serve as an impetus for future studies in the field of PEB nudging.
Der Begriff Greenwashing bezeichnet den Versuch von Firmen oder Organisationen ihr eigenes Image, ihre Produkte oder auch Dienstleistungen als besonders gut für die Umwelt anzuwerben, ohne dass dies der Wahrheit entspricht. Das Ziel in der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es zu beantworten, welchen Einfluss Greenwashing auf die Generation Z hat. Denn zumindest auf den ersten Blick scheint die Generation Z, welcher u.a. auch die wohl berühmteste Klimaaktivistin Greta Thunberg angehört und auf welche die Fridays for Future Bewegung zurückgeht, im Vergleich zu anderen Generationen ein besonderes Umweltbewusstsein entwickelt zu haben.
Um die Forschungsfrage zu beantworten, wurde eine quantitative Studie in Form einer Online-Umfrage mit Teilnehmenden aus vier verschiedenen Generationen durchgeführt.
Die quantitative Studie zeigte, dass kein Unterschied bezüglich der Ausprägung des Umweltumweltbewusstseins zwischen den verschiedenen Generationen bestand. Ebenso konnte nicht bewiesen werden, dass es einen Zusammenhang zwischen der Ausprägung des Umweltbewusstseins einer Generation und der Ausprägung der Skepsis gegenüber der Umweltfreundlichkeit grüner Produkte gibt. Auch konnte nicht bestätigt werden, dass die Generation Z eine höhere Skepsis aufweist als andere Generationen. Dies zeigt, dass der Einsatz von Greenwashing größtenteils unentdeckt bleibt.
Due to technical advances, multisensory technologies have gained traction in the research and development of many industries. With the launch of virtual and augmented reality systems, the potential for these technologies increased even further. The senses of vision and hearing have long been integrated into current products, leading to the assumption that olfactory stimuli are likely to be included soon to stimulate the sense of smell.
With this trend, the issue of implementation into current digital products and services arises, as odors currently cannot be captured in one place and released in another on a large scale. Therefore, this thesis deals with the nature of smell from a cognitive psychological and technological viewpoint. We show why it makes sense to stimulate the sense of smell in multisensory experiences and present early and current technical standards. In addition to this, we conducted expert interviews enabling us to provide insights into the digital scent and olfaction industry. Among other aspects, our results suggest that there are fundamental challenges that developers have to overcome and that a successful implementation depends on the business application.
Prior research found extremeness aversion effects to be common and robust. Nevertheless, most research neglected the spatial arrangement's influence on a consumer's choice and placed the compromise option of a choice set simultaneously in the spatial middle. Following these findings, five bachelor theses were conducted to investigate both aspects by analyzing numerical and spatial choice architectures – their data comprised three online surveys and three field experiments. This study aimed to compare their findings and analyze their data sets to search for overarching effects. Therefore, we hypothesized that there is either information-format compatibility or a general tendency towards the spatial middle of a choice set. To research this hypothesis, we brought the data sets into a comparable format, analyzed our findings, and conducted t-tests to test for statistical significance. Even though the study could not find overarching effects across the data, it supports the notion that a choice set's spatial arrangement, like the numerical one, can influence consumer behavior. Furthermore, it led to valuable insights for future research approaches concerning expanding extremeness aversion into a spatial dimension.
Sustainability first caught greater attention when the Brundtland commission first published their report “Our Common Future”. Since then, a lot has been done to fight against climate change. Sustainability has become one major issue in the daily business of companies. One industry that is surely going to change as a cause of the increased awareness of sustainability issues is the automotive industry. The disruptive electrification push plays an important role in the fast changing industry. E- mobility solutions as a means for more sustainable mobility are demanded more and more by customers. Also, governments shape the change in the industry with new regulations, bonus payments for buying electric cars and their emission targets. All this might sooner or later push traditional combustion engine cars out of the market. New players like Tesla focusing only on electric vehicles are entering the market and traditional car companies are changing their business towards e-mobility as well. That this change works well, companies also will need a well-developed marketing as well as brand positioning strategy and this is where the concept of green marketing kicks in. Broadly spoken, green marketing is the marketing of products that minimize the negative effects on our environment. Therefore, the thesis is generally researching the details of literature on green marketing and brand positioning. Later on, a detailed transition to the automotive industry is made with the analyzing of the three companies Volkswagen, BMW and Tesla. The thesis works out how those three companies managed to transfer their marketing mix into a green one and how this then affected their brand positioning. The thesis discusses the findings critically and gives implications for theory and practice as well as a guide to what needs to be done to be recognized as a green player in the automotive industry.
This thesis paper aimed to compare the marketing of wine in Germany and France. Though Germany and France are neighboring European countries, they are culturally, politically, socially, economically, geographically, and technologically different. These differences, directly and indirectly, affect the way both countries do business.
Three research questions helped to compare wine marketing in Germany and France. These questions are the following:
Factors that go into the wine production as well as certain indicators or characteristics inform the potential customers about the quality of the wine they have in their glasses. That is why the first question in this thesis focused on how the quality of wine is defined in Germany and France.
Wine Associations at different layers: regional, national, European, and international play an important role in wine promotion. So, the second re-search question was to investigate the contribution of these different wine co-operatives in wine marketing.
To market their wine, many countries put in place different marketing strategies to increase their wine image and customer base. That is why the Last part of this paper was to compare the different marketing strategies used in the wine sector in Germany and France.
This thesis ended up with a conclusion.
The present master thesis assesses the customer attitudes towards e-food in Germany. As more shoppers are ordering their groceries online, stationary food retailers are increasingly interested in the development and acceptance of e-food.
In the secondary literature review, the determining factors of the customer attitude towards ordering groceries online were identified through the Tricomponent Attitude Model, shopper characteristics and the Technology Acceptance Model. Additionally, potential changes in the customer attitude in the next five years were assessed. The theoretical findings were tested for their relevance and underlying motivations using qualitative in-depth expert and shopper interviews. Ultimately the results were analyzed, compared, and interpreted regarding their theoretical and managerial implications. As a result, a recommendation of action was derived for the Traders’ Cooperative Göppingen.
The findings suggest that the customer attitude depends on the perceived value of e-food based on its benefits and risks, the relationship quality built on emotions, satisfaction, and trust, and the switching intentions depending on the customer loyalty. The shopper’s motivation, situation, and technological abilities are stronger predictors than socio-demographic characteristics. Even though German shoppers are curious to try e-food occasionally, they are still skeptical and need to be convinced of the utility. The results indicate a slowly improving attitude in the next five years resulting in more hybrid cross-channel shoppers. As a result of the Covid pandemic, e-food became a convenient alternative for certain products and situations. As some shoppers and market shares are expected to drift online, stationary grocery stores like Edeka Staufers must focus on their advantages in terms of social interaction and multi-sensory shopping experience.
As prerequisite to final graduation of my master in international business management MBA at Business School, Hochschule Furtwangen University, I conducted this Thesis but also as a practical business case that match with the nature of my master’s focus of international business and could be used in real life.
I put myself as a member of project’s managing team for a pharmaceutical company, this team as a part of strategic decision-making process is responsible about assessing different potential international markets and segments as a part of the company plan to expand their operations, tape and penetrate new markets.
Narrowing down the options to two geographic markets (Germany & Saudi Arabia) and two pharmaceutical segments (Diabetes& OTC), starting this assessment with macro analysis (PESTEL) of Germany and Saudi Arabia followed by micro analysis (Porter’s five forces) of the pharmaceutical industry in the two markets of concern, having more in depth review of the two potential segments in each individual market then head to head attractiveness comparative analysis of the two potential segments in the two potential countries showing the pros and cons for each of the potential available opportunities and finally reach a conclusion to solve this business scenario.
In order to satisfy both scientific research basis and business need I utilized Data from both peer reviewed articles, reports from highly trusted international institutions and organizations for their data accuracy and few theoretical books.
Limitation of this paper: taking in consideration that some relevant data i.e., regarding specific market profitability are not accessible due to either company’s confidential policies or data consolidation for example the financial statements of Bayer, the pharmaceutical company shows consolidated data combining Europe and middle east allowing no possibility(for outsider) to directly compare profitability of each specific country, here in our research Germany and Saudi Arabia, also I tried my best to use the most recent accessible data , but some of the most updated relevant data is out of my reach either due to confidentiality or it is paid data that requires funding resources not available in my case as I am doing this Thesis independently not in partnership with a company, these limitations might to some degree affect the precision of the final conclusion.
One size fits all? A multicultural marketing perspective on the U.S. market for luxury watches
(2021)
The purchase of luxury goods like mechanical watches is experiencing steady growth and it is increasingly shifting to e-commerce platforms, also due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, there are culture-related different motivations to purchase those items. One size fits all? According to this question it was investigated if there can be several cultures detected and if they show a different purchase behavior along the customer journey that can be explained with one of the six dimensions of Geert Hofstede (2001). Therefore, several hypotheses along the customer journey are set to find out if there are still ethnical backgrounds that have an influence on the buying process of the U.S. customers. The focus for this research lies on Asian Americans and Hispanics in comparison with the 'Rest of the USA', including ethnic groups like White Caucasians, Afro Americans, and many more.
In order to answer the research question, a quantitative study was deducted with the help of Google Analytics. It provided several Key Performance Indicators like for example sessions, bounce rates, session durations, purchased brands, and many more on Chrono24’s marketplace in the USA.
The study shows that the observed cultures in fact have different characteristics along the customer journey, but not every hypothesis could be explained conformingly with one of Hofstede’s dimensions. Consequently, a one size fits all customer journey does not exist. Additionally, the work suggests how further research and cultural adaptions can lead to optimized customer journeys on a marketplace.
Social Media spielt in der heutigen Zeit für viele deutsche User eine wichtige Rolle im Alltag. Doch aufgrund der hohen Nutzungszahlen, werden die sozialen Netzwerke inzwischen nicht mehr nur für freizeitliche Aktivitäten benutzt, sondern sind auch bei Unternehmen eine beliebte Möglichkeit Konsumenten auf sich aufmerksam zu machen.
Und nicht nur im B2C-Bereich werden die sozialen Netzwerke genutzt, sondern auch immer mehr B2B Unternehmen verwenden die sozialen Netzwerke um Aufmerksamkeit für sich und ihre Produkte zu wecken. Aufgrund der geringen Ressourcen die dafür aufgewendet werden müssen, bieten sich bei Social Media vor allem für kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen viele Möglichkeiten.
Die vorliegende Arbeit wird daher zunächst die theoretischen Grundlagen über die Zielgruppe und die bevorzugten Interaktionsmöglichkeiten der User erläutern, während im nächsten Schritt Social Media und insbesondere die Plattformen Facebook und LinkedIn inklusive ihrer Nutzer analysiert werden. Dabei werden zur Veranschaulichung Best-Practice-Beispiele vorgestellt, welche bereits in den sozialen Netzwerken erfolgreich sind.
Ziel ist es, ausgearbeitete Handlungsempfehlungen aufzuzeigen, welche es gewerblichen Unternehmen mit begrenzten Ressourcen ermöglichen ihre Reichweite durch die Plattformen Facebook und LinkedIn zu erweitern.
A Descriptive Study on Customer Attitudes towards Green Branding in the Fashion Industry in Germany
(2021)
This paper attempts to provide an up-to-date representation and analysis of customers' attitudes towards green branding in the fashion industry and their willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable and ethical clothing in Germany. Related literature strands are reviewed to understand how the fashion industry works, what green branding means, and how customer attitudes are shaped. After creating an attitude measurement model, an online questionnaire was designed and sent to Furtwangen University students, with 153 valid responses returned. The descriptive analysis sheds light on the three attitudinal components related to sustainability and ethics in the fashion industry. It is noted that customers do not hold a definite attitude. However, a tendency towards the positive end is ascertained. Significant gaps still exist in terms of knowledge and awareness of some commitment by fashion brands. Another huge factor influencing attitudes appears to be a lack of trust. The behavioral component showed that customers are trying to contribute through proper disposal and are willing to buy sustainable and ethical clothing more often. However, there is still some room for improvement in terms of customer education. Nevertheless, it is found that they are willing to accept an additional contribution for sustainable and ethical clothing. In general, it can be concluded that there is a foundation to improve the fashion industry towards more sustainability. However, all stakeholders, i.e., customers and fashion brands, as well as the government, need to work together to change the industry in the long run.
The research defines the optimization possibilities of listing content for entrepreneurs on Amazon. The research aims to provide insights into the measures to the improvement of the ranking and the user experience. This thesis examines the strategies leading to Amazon's current market position. Due to Amazon's customer-focused orientation, this strategy enables cross-market development.
The theoretical background indicates the success strategy of Amazon, driven by the Content Marketing Strategy (CMS) in which the compilation of content elements is performed in a value-added manner. Amazon's Content Marketing Strategy is an unbeaten strategy that contributes to today's customer reach. This is driving all retailers to embrace the concept of CMS and integrate it as part of their business to benefit from amazon's success and effectiveness in the future.
Based on the frameworks used, the relevance factors and the performance factors, which have a direct and indirect influence on the ranking of the products are analyzed. The result of the analysis describes how keywords, authority, conversion rate, and the Click- Through-Rate are shaping ranking components. In addition, there is a need for the right approach to Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
By optimizing the content components, the listing is received with better interest by the target audience, which leads to direct increases in traffic. Successfully implementing SEO measures result in a unique and excellent user experience, which in turn drives the need and buying behavior of the users.
The results prove the importance of such measures to enable successful and effective participation of entrepreneurs on Amazon. Thus, the entrepreneur is considered a relevant and trustworthy retailer who encourages users to buy.
Key words: e-commerce, search engine optimization, content marketing, content optimization, user experience
Oversupply on the market and excessive consumption by consumers are a by-product of a globalized world, causing severe societal and environmental damages. These factors have increased society's fears and have resulted in a loss of trust in corporate’s business operations, leading companies to gradually lose market share. Modern society is increasingly becoming aware of the necessity to behave sustainably, resulting in higher expectations towards sustainable practices of businesses. As a result, a growing number of consumers are demanding companies to operate in a more environmentally friendly way, with more transparency, collaboration, and consumer participation to alleviate societal fears. Consequently, responding to customer needs and desires is crucial for the company's success and future survival. In general, companies are now expected to attract and retain a loyal customer base and help make the world a better place by developing a sustainable corporate brand.
This paper studies based on a selected case study, the impact a Purpose-Driven Marketing Strategy can have on business operations, illustrating how the latter societal requirements can be addressed and fulfilled through a Purpose-Driven Marketing Strategy.
The aim of this study is to understand the concept of Ethical Branding from the perspective of Generation Z. This umbrella question was divided into three research questions: 1. What constitutes an ethical brand for Generation Z, 2. What is Generation Z´s attitude towards ethical brands, and 3. How will the future of ethical brands look like? For this, ten individual online interviews with undergraduate students were conducted. Findings reveal that young people view Ethical Branding as an important personal issue. Members of Generation Z view an ethical brand as holding values such as fairness, honesty, integrity, and consideration at its core and consistently acting according to these values. This manifests itself in the fulfillment of environmental, social, legal, and economic responsibilities. Participants depict a largely positive outlook for ethical brands as society – in particular young consumers – becomes more aware of the importance of mindful and responsible consumption, challenging existing brands in the future. Companies should therefore focus on delivering what they promise and aligning all business activities if they want to be perceived by Generation Z as a truly ethical brand.
Travel bans, lockdowns, and social distancing shape the daily pandemic rou- tine and force marketers, producers, business, and consumers to changed buying behavior and disrupted buying habits. Online sales are sky rocking and hence the comprehension of changes in consumer behavior towards online shopping play an important role for the economy. The aim of the present thesis is to investigate changes in consumer behavior due to COVID-19 and give insights whether these changes last or not. Subordinately, it is examined whether – and if, how – online and offline buying motives are linked to possible lasting changes. Therefore, a deductive quantitative method, namely an online questionnaire, was chosen to conduct, and descriptive statistics to display and analyze data. The conducted data confirms a surge in online shopping fre- quency during the pandemic, but also shows that the respondents will not re- turn to old buying frequency habits and keep buying online as much as during the pandemic. Besides that, the present work confirms the assumption that COVID-19 raised awareness to support local stores. I further conclude that the research subjects gain trust in shopping online and will repeat new online shopping experiences. Hence, adopted consumer behavior will be repeated respectively and old buying habits are being refrained.
How does corporate communications succeed in reaching non-desk employees with important news and which communication channel is most suitable for this purpose? Due to the continuous changes in technology, companies must also consider how they can update and improve their information distribution channels. Digitalization is making operational processes increasingly flexible and more efficient in many areas.
The goal of this bachelor thesis is to answer the research question "Does a podcast help to sustainably increase the information level of manufacturing employees at Roche Diagnostics Automation Solutions GmbH (RDA)?" using qualitative interviews.
A total of two surveys were conducted with guided interviews with employees from the manufacturing division of RDA. The first round of interviews focused on determining the status quo of the level of information of the production employees, while the second round of interviews addressed the perception of the podcast in the manufacturing area of the RDA.
The results of the qualitative research demonstrate the great importance of internal communication and reveal the value added and success factors of a podcast in the operational area of a company. The central findings of the interviews were the flexibility, convenience and time savings that a corporate podcast provides.
Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, einen Lösungsansatz für den Zwiespalt zwischen dem grossen Marketingsegment für Werbung für Programme für Gewichtsverlust und der steigenden Fettleibigkeit der Gesellschaft zu finden. Neben der physischen, soll die psychische Gesundheit in Bezug auf das Selbstbild der weiblichen Gesellschaft langfristig geschützt werden, weswegen die Darstellung der Frauen in Werbung genau analysiert wird.
Besonderes Augenmerk liegt hierfür bei der ASA (Advertising Standards Authority), wie sie bereits in Großbritannien existiert. Es soll geklärt werden, ob dieses Konzept ebenso für die in dieser Arbeit angesprochene Problematik funktionieren könnte.
Als Ergebnis wird die Werbung für Gewichtsverlust als Folge für ein grundlegendes gesellschaftliches Problem genannt. Es werden mehrere praktische Lösungsansätze geboten, bei der alle Unternehmen zusammenarbeiten müssten. Das Prinzip der ASA stellt dabei einen guten Anfang dar.
The leisure industry experiences a shift in selling their services online. While external sales channels have been dominating the online ticket sales in the last decade, a new trend of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) sales through individual platforms has been on the rise. This study aimed to research on the usage of external and direct sales channels in the leisure industry and tried to find reasons for the rapid increase of leisure venues shifting their sales channels on their own online platform and abandoning external sales channels. For this study, a primary research with leisure venues across Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the form of a questionnaire with 104 participants was conducted. The topic of the questionnaire was the usage of external and direct sales channels and ticket reseller as well as promotion methods of the leisure venues participating. Furthermore, an expert interview with the CEO of a wellness centre was conducted to gain first-hand knowledge on the research topic. The thesis ends with an analysis of the survey results and conclusions on what the usage of external and direct sales channels in the leisure industry are and how the DTC trend emerged from the state of the industry.
Understanding how consumers choose between alternatives and how they use the context in doing so is the aim of numerous consumer behaviour studies. The effect of extremeness aversion has been found to be a replicable phenomenon in this field. According to this context effect, alternatives with extreme numerical attributes are less likely to be chosen than the alternative with intermediate attributes in a choice set. A new research direction regarding extremeness aversion considers not only these numerical attributes of a choice set but also the implications of the spatial dimension. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that there could also be a preference for the spatial middle in a choice set. As the phenomenon of extremeness aversion corresponds with decision uncertainty, this research aimed to investigate numerical and spatial extremeness aversion in a product class of high uncertainty and complexity. Thus, consumer preferences regarding the product class of wine were analysed in different choice architectures. Interviews in a wine specialist store and an online survey were conducted with a total number of 924 participants. The study’s results are not consistent over both data collection methods. However, independently of each other, they support the notion that consumer choices may be partly influenced by a preference for the numerical middle option, as well as by a preference for the spatial middle option.
Die COVID-19-Pandemie ist Treiber der Digitalisierung, welcher das Verhalten von Menschen nachhaltig beeinflusst und Organisationen vor neue digitale Herausforderun-gen stellt. Diese Forschung untersucht hierzu 75 Sparkassen aller Größenklassen und Regionen Deutschlands auf deren Digitalisierungsstand während der COVID-19-Pandemie. Der DSV-Gruppe als zentraler Lösungsanbieter der Sparkassen, liegt derzeit keine aktuelle Forschung zu Einstellungen und Maßnahmen bezüglich der Digitalisie-rung in den Sparkassen vor. Daher sollen die Forschungsfragen „Welche digitalen Her-ausforderungen bestehen zum aktuellen Stand bei den Sparkassen?“ und „An welchen Punkten kann die DSV-Gruppe ansetzen, um die Sparkassen bestmöglich in ihren digita-len Herausforderungen zu unterstützen?“, durch eine quantitative Online-Umfrage be-antwortet werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die befragten Sparkassen Unterstüt-zungsbedarf in der Digitalisierung von Prozessen, vor allem für Beratungsgespräche und Home-Office, aufweisen. Zudem wurden Defizite in der Agilität und Gewinnung digi-tal geschulter Mitarbeitenden identifiziert. Die DSV-Gruppe könnte den befragten Sparkassen in der Digitalisierung mehr Führung durch zentralere Steuerung zeigen und eine individuellere strategische Beratung bieten. Außerdem könnte die Schulung von Mitarbeitenden in ihrer digitalen Fitness unterstützt und tiefergehende Forschungen zum Zusammenhang zwischen dem Kostendruck, der digitalen Einstellung und den digitalen Maßnahmen der befragten Sparkassen angestellt werden. Die Forschung erkennt Relati-onen, welche die DSV-Gruppe in weiteren Forschungen auf Kausalität untersuchen soll-te, um die untersuchten Sparkassen bei der Anpassung ihrer Geschäftsmodelle an die veränderten Gegebenheiten der Digitalisierung zu unterstützen und somit die Ge-schäftsbeziehung zu den Sparkassen nachhaltig zu festigen.
The world is constantly changing, and cosmetic companies need to adapt to these changes to survive. In particular, cosmetic companies should not underestimate changes in how customers value information from different sources because proper marketing can lead to increased sales. Therefore, this thesis aims to determine which information sources customers of Generation Y are using and how they weight the information from these different sources. A survey was conducted with people of Generation Y to answer the research question. The survey showed that the most frequently used and highest weighted sources for getting information are search engines, friends and family, and product ratings. Furthermore, the results indicate that information gathered from offline sources has a more significant impact on purchase behavior than information gathered from online sources. Potential customers using search engines are more likely to buy a product online. However, the price of a product does not influence how consumers weight the opinions of friends and family, and age does not impact the weighting of social media or the total number of sources a customer uses. To conclude, a company should not ignore the importance of offline information sources because the data shows that offline sources significantly impact buying behavior. They should also aim to have their online shop appear as one of the top search engine results because this will impact the likelihood that customers visit their websites and buy their products.
The video game industry has come a long way from its humble beginnings in a computer lab at the Brookhaven National Laboratory’s instrumentation group to a multi billion-dollar industry. Considering that the gaming industry is a relatively young industry, it has faced a substantial amount of structural changes and shifts that were intensified by mega trends (i.e. Digitalization) that influence every industry in a certain way. One of these structural changes was the emergence of smaller studios, also known as “indie studios”. Even though these studios have always been a part of the industry, they themselves and their games respectively have gained a lot of appreciation and support over the last decade. Some of these titles even managed to upset those of the big and established studios, also referred to as AAA studios. The most dominant factors that allowed for the emergence and the success of smaller studios were the drastically reduced entry barriers (i.e. free development kits, online distribution websites) and the supportive environment offered to them (e.g. university programs, incubators). Yet, some studios manage to generate better results with their games than other studios do and therefore remained capable of competing in the industry. This circumstance inspired this thesis to identify the KSFs (i.e. Key Success Factors), also referred to as CSFs (i.e. Critical Success Factors) that allow for a successful launch of the game. Generally speaking, KSFs are those business areas and activities that, if executed in a proper way, enable a company to compete successfully in a given market. Since their introduction in 1961 by D. Ronald Daniel, a consultant with McKinsey & Company, the KSFs have been the subject of many studies and academic research papers. A majority of the research tends to focus on applying the KSF methods to more established industries (i.e. healthcare, construction). In addition to that most of the research conducted within the field of KSFs tends to gravitate around identifying and forecasting the KSFs that might be of interest for a given time period instead of focusing on a dedicated event such as the launch of a product. This thesis therefore provides the first comprehensive research on the KSFs in the context of the gaming industry, with special regard to the smaller studios (i.e. indie studios) and the launch period of a game.
First and foremost, this study aims to identify the KSFs that are of great importance to the successful launch of a given game. Furthermore, it tries to research how these KSFs are identified and implemented by the studios. Additionally, it will be researched if the studios are using the traditional model outlined by Howell, M. (2010) or if they rely on other methodologies to identify and implement the relevant KSFs for a successful launch. Lastly, it will be analysed, how smaller (i.e. indie studios) determine whether or not a game was a success and what metrics they use for this evaluation.
The study relied on secondary data provided by scientific journals, books, conference papers from the fields of busines, project management, strategic management and gaming. Since the available scientific literature for this specific research topic was considerably scarce, a lot of the needed content and references used in this thesis were acquired through practical research.
The research followed a hybrid approach, indicating that quantitative as well as qualitative research methods were applied. The qualitative research was conducted in the form of interviews with six industry experts that all had contributed in their way to successful game launches in the past. They were thoroughly researched and evaluated before being contacted in order to ensure their ability to contribute to answering the research question. The data and inputs gathered from the qualitative research were used throughout the theoretical part of the thesis in order to compensate for the continous lack of academic resources and to support the claims made by the author. Furthermore, the data was used to create the survey (i.e. quantitative research) that would be distributed among 409 potential participants. Similar to the quantitative research, these participants were also thoroughly researched and evaluated in order to ensure the legitimacy of the results.
Findings suggest that smaller studios (i.e. indie studios) are not familiar with the traditional model proposed by Howell(2010), which tends to be employed larger corporations in rather established industries. Yet they are familiar with the concept of KSFs and determine as well as implement them through agile project management, which has its origins in the software development industry. This way studios are able to adjust and adapt their KSFs at a faster pace, which is essential due to dynamic environment they operate in. The results indicate that a majority of the participating studios use the Scrum development method in order to determine and implement the required KSFs for developing and launching their games. A significant number of studios rely on dedicated agile project management software programs that aid the companies throughout the project lifecycle. The most popular programs being Trello and Jira. The qualitative research identified a total of 22 potential KSFs that are deemed to be important for the successful launch of a game. The most crucial KSFs were considered to be the following:
- Team chemistry & intrinsic motivation & internal communication
- Budgeting & scheduling & scoping
- Selecting distribution channel & front-page promotion
- Presentation of game on websites & USP
- Active community on social networks & strong customer support & transparency
The results indicate that the traditional one dimensional metrics (i.e. sales level) of evaluating the success of a game launch might no longer have the highest weight in the opinion of studios. The success tends to be determined by a set of one-dimensional metrics, which are quantifiable (e.g. sales levels, positive reviews) and multi-dimensional metrics which are not quantifiable (e.g. learning experience, fulfilment).
Summing up, there might not be such a thing as a “magic formular” that will ensure the success of a game launch. Yet, the research aims to provide suggestions based on the findings from practical research that could be of usage to studios when launching their next game.
In light of the rising commoditization of products, manufacturers worldwide are adopting the strategy of offering value-added services to remain competitive. With the emergence of the new single-use technology, it is becoming increasingly difficult for traditional endoscope manufacturers to create competitive advantage by enhancing the product quality.
The aim of this paper is to investigate how value-added services can effectively differentiate the company KARL STORZ in the single-use endoscope market. In this
regard, insights into the decision-making process of customers in the medical technology industry are provided.
Qualitative exploratory research in form of in-depth expert interviews with KARL STORZ sales & marketing managers and physicians were conducted to gather new ideas and perspectives about the research topics.
The food delivery industry is growing rapidly. As the biggest delivery platform in the western world, Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) must adapt its processes according to its growth. This growth is especially reflected in need for delivery drivers. To adapt to this increasing need, JETs current recruitment marketing affiliate campaign is examined by reviewing the literature, such as books, magazines, journals, and business reviews. Best practices and processes within JET are explained in depth to draw a picture of the current campaign status. Through this research, hypotheses on campaigns issues are drawn. Through a qualitative publisher survey, these hypotheses are either accepted or rejected. Furthermore, a SWOT analysis discusses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the program. Finally, conversion strategies are used to discuss where JET can improve by highlighting potential plans for the optimization of recruitment marketing affiliate campaigns.
COVID-19 has caused severe consequences for the tourism sector, many small- to medium sized travel agencies went bankrupt. Furthermore, the digitalization has been an important global trend, which also affects tourism. The question “how a travel agency could survive in these external circumstances?” is now under the spotlight.
With information from secondary literatures, the macroenvironments surrounding the Chinese and German travel markets are examined. This comparison results in two PEST analyses in order to find out the differences. The case of KaiYuan GmbH, a travel company with Sino-German background, represents a survivor of COVID-19. The SWOT analysis on the company´s microenvironment shows that to possess a broad portfolio and to enter new markets are crucial. The results from the macro- and microenvironment analyses lead to the creation of the new business model Intelligent Travel Agency (ITA), which combines digital developments and a diversified product portfolio. Refined marketing strategies as a German travel agency towards Chinese customers are presented, such as utilizing different Chinese media channels. With feasible components and implementation suggestions, ITAs could replace traditional travel agencies and ensure the existence of travel agencies.
Gender Marketing für Kinder - Wie Gender Marketing zum Erhalt veralteter Geschlechternormen beiträgt
(2021)
Die vorliegende Bachelorthesis erörtert wie gängige Gender Marketing Methoden bei Kindern zum Erhalt veralteter Gendernormen und Rollen beitragen. Weiterführend soll gezeigt werden, dass Gender Marketing nicht nur ein Resultat der Gesellschaftsordnung ist, sondern diese durchaus auch beeinflusst. Studien zeigen, dass Stereotypen im Gender Marketing Kinder vermehrt beeinflussen, da ihnen das Wissen und die Reife fehlt um diese zu erkennen. Kinder beginnen schon früh mit der Entwicklung ihrer Persönlichkeit, dabei orientieren sie sich an den Vorbildern ihres Umfelds. Um diese Frage zu beantworten werden in der folgenden Arbeit wissenschaftliche Artikel, Bücher und Studien analysiert.
Die Arbeit ist in vier grundlegende Bereiche aufgeteilt. Diese Bereiche sind die Hinführung zum Thema und der Forschungsfrage, eine Einführung in die Grundlagen der Marktsegmentierung sowie in die Entwicklung moderner Genderkonzepte. Es folgen der Hauptteil und im Anschluss eine abschließende Diskussion verschiedener Kritikpunkte.
Der Hauptteil erörtert anhand der angegeben Literatur, wie Firmen und Marketingexperten Gendermarketing nutzen um ihre Zielgruppen anzusprechen. Des Weiteren wird in diesem Abschnitt gezeigt, dass Gendermarketing Kindern hauptsächlich beibringt wie die Rolle des Mannes und der Frau im Beruf-, Sozial-, und Privatleben aussieht.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit wurde in Kooperation mit der ZF Friedrichshafen AG verfasst, welche am 1. Januar 2021 eine neue unternehmensinterne Division für Elektromobilität gegründet hat. Im Zuge der Umstrukturierung in dem Unternehmen soll die Digitalisierung der internen Kommunikation vorangetrieben werden.
Ziel der Arbeit ist es, im Rahmen der Neugründung der Division zu erarbeiten, wie die bisherige Nutzung digitaler Medien ausgebaut werden kann, wie digitale Medien als Informations- und Kommunikationsmittel bei den verschiedenen Mitarbeitergruppen des Unternehmens wahrgenommen werden und wie die interne Kommunikationsabteilung die Mitarbeiter der neuen Division am besten durch digitale Medien erreichen und beteiligen kann. Für die Analyse wurden interne Dokumente, Experteninterviews sowie eine internationale Mitarbeiterumfrage als Erhebungsinstrument herangezogen.
Anhand der Forschung der Arbeit zu dem Thema der internen Kommunikation mit einem besonderen Fokus auf digitale Medien, kann eine Basis für ein digitales Kommunikationskonzept innerhalb der neuen Division erarbeitet werden. Zusätzlich werden Handlungsempfehlungen bezüglich der Integration der gefundenen Ergebnisse in das bereits bestehende Kommunikationskonzept der internen Kommunikation abgeleitet.
Can the different framing of price promotions decrease consumer value perception and their willingness to pay? Prior research provides evidence of differences in consumer perception of economically equivalent monetary and non-monetary price promotions. In detail, many research works suggest that non-monetary promotions positively affect consumer perception and are therefore preferred over monetary ones that are associated with a drop in quality. Results suggest that this biased consumer behavior is caused by the framing of the promotion, causing difference in cognitive processing and dissimilarities in perception of benefits and product quality. We put this theoretical foundation to the test on the Turkish consumer market of non-durable goods, in order to contrast effects on consumers of the economically equivalent formats ‘50% discount’ as a monetary and ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ as a non-monetary promotion. In particular, the focus was set on analyzing attractiveness perception of the two promotion types and the development of WTP pre- and post-promotion. To achieve this, the non-durable goods rice and antibacterial soap were selected as product stimuli to stage scenarios before, during and after a promotion period. Four sets of questionnaires were shared on social media and distributed to a total of 919 participants via randomization generator. The survey results put forward empirical validation of product-related decrease in value perception as a consequence of both promotion types, namely the ‘promotional effect’. Nevertheless, our data provide no evidence for the ‘framing effect’ in neither attractiveness perception nor post-promotional WTP. This paper aims to bridge the gap on empirical research of key theoretical implications of promotional impact on consumer behavior and to benefit domestic and foreign marketing managers conducting business operations on the Turkish market.
The trend of digitalization has fundamentally changed numerous industries. The field of marketing in particular has changed significantly in recent years. Technological progress makes it possible to reach new customer groups individually with the targeted use of artificial intelligence. It is highly relevant for companies to know how modern marketing can be used profitably with the help of artificial intelligence and which hurdles and challenges need to be considered. The numerous applications of artificial intelligence in marketing include, for example, sales forecasts, personalization of websites or chatbots. This bachelor thesis focuses on the use of artificial intelligence in marketing and analyses the effects on customer loyalty. In order to explain the success of the use of artificial intelligence in marketing, three established theories are considered. The trust-commitment theory emphasizes the role of trust and commitment in the process of developing relationships between buyers and sellers. Several studies show that customers trust a company or a deployed artificial intelligence technology more when the services are personalized, convenient and of high quality. A high level of trust in turn has a positive impact on the overall service experience. The expectation-confirmation model consists of three determinants to explain users' intention to continue using the artificial intelligence enabled service: confirmation of expectations, perceived usefulness and satisfaction. When users' expectations are met or even exceeded, this has a positive impact on customer satisfaction, which in turn has a positive impact on the intention to reuse a technology. The technology acceptance model predicts an individual's attitude towards technology use, taking into account two main determinants: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Various studies show that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are necessary preconditions for user satisfaction and intention to reuse the artificial intelligence technology. These results are also in line with the findings from the expectation-confirmation model.
It is generally recognized that emotions aroused in individuals through marketing communications have an influence on their buying decisions in the B2C context. However, it is often disregarded that individuals are also decision-makers in organizations. Therefore, in the B2B context, emotional stimuli in marketing communications may influence their organizational buying decisions as well. In this paper, we examine the extent to which marketers in the mechanical engineering industry can influence their customers by positive emotional stimuli. Practical recommendations are given for the marketing communication of the newly launched production line CUBE by ZAHORANSKY AG, one of the worldwide leading organizations in the industry for brushmaking machinery.
Zoom fatigue - a phenomenon that has been occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing regulations forced numerous companies into home office, which shifted the internal communication to video conferencing platforms. Nevertheless, these solutions do not offer the same interactive atmosphere and social factor as face-to-face meetings. That is the reason why some people experienced a sense of distance and a lack of motivation and concentration.
Virtual reality collaboration platforms are a digital solution resembling a serious game situation that could solve the problem of impersonal teamwork. With this application users could meet in the virtual space, giving them enhanced possibilities to interact with their team members and work together on projects regardless of the distances in location.
As the platform is an innovation that is new to the market, the awareness about this product is not yet widely spread. With the help of an effective marketing mix and a market launch strategy, potential users should therefore be informed about this possibility, leading to a successful implementation of the platform in various institutions. To gain insights into the market and gather information about the target group an analysis through literature research as well as a survey has been carried out. The results showed that the market shows a general interest in virtual reality collaboration platforms. Nevertheless, several respondents expressed their lack of understanding and imagination to use the platform constructively in their professional environment. Additionally, expected high expenses and the lack of technical equipment could be an obstacle to implementing virtual reality collaboration platforms in traditional work processes. Therefore, the mission for the market launch strategy will be to develop a marketing mix that responds effectively to all questions and inspires organisations to discover their possibilities and benefits with this digital solution.
Mental health is becoming a more important topic in the workplace, and it is not anymore only addressed in employee's free time. Due to increased sick leave, costs are rising for companies, the company's reputation could be improved, and productivity could be raised.
To prevent and handle common mental disorders in the workplace better, the research paper focuses on how a corporate culture should look like.
If the corporate culture is supportive and understanding, employees will feel secure enough to disclose their common mental disorder. If there is no stigmatization and judgment, people will feel normal no matter if they are diagnosed or at risk of a mental health problem.
Also, if people are empathetic and know each other well, colleagues, managers, and bosses will recognize stress and adapt to employee's tasks and jobs, which will prevent common mental disorders at all.
As a result, the board of management should think about how the current corporate culture is and how a supportive culture looks like that shows empathy and understanding.
Small measurements and selected interventions can make a huge difference.
Prior research agrees that consumer choice is heavily influenced by the choice context.
According to the compromise effect, the middle alternative in attribute space is preferred over more extreme options. However, the role of the spatial order of alternatives seems to be neglected by most compromise effect studies. Usually, alternatives are ordered by attributes, meaning that the compromise option is placed in the spatial middle of the choice set, despite the fact that research indicates a consumer preference for the spatial middle of a choice set. To investigate this issue, we hypothesized that an alternative would be chosen more frequently when positioned in the spatial middle of a choice set versus at the edge of a choice set. We assumed that this effect would be stronger when consumers are unfamiliar with a product category. Therefore, we expected to observe a negative correlation between decision-makers’ familiarity with a product category and their tendency to choose an alternative more frequently when positioned in the spatial middle of a choice. To find out, we conducted an online survey targeting 907 university students. The results support our hypothesis and the notion that the compromise effect might be partly driven by a preference for the spatial middle position of a choice set rather than only by a preference for the compromise option.
Customer Relationship Management has focused on numerous data privacy practices in the current information and big data era. The present study focuses exclusively on the declaration of consent (DoC) in the context of the automotive industry, particularly in the sector of premium car manufacturing. A DoC is an individual's authorization to an organization for data processing; within the context of this study, a DoC is referred to as the authorization of an individual for processing its personal data in order to receive personalized marketing communications. Not much is known about the factors that influence individuals to grant such permission. Relevant literature on consumer behavior, permissions marketing, and psychology is reviewed from a marketing perspective to develop a framework based on the privacy calculus, which distinguishes individuals' costs and benefits based on assessing selected cost and benefit drivers. The influence of perceived benefits, incentives, both monetary and non-monetary, consumer control, trust, information protection, and transparency is identified as benefit-associated factors, whereas the influence of opportunity costs entitled to the providing the consent, privacy concerns, intrusiveness, and the quantity of the information supplied by the organizations during the consent collection is identified as costs-associated factors. In accordance with the literature, several hypotheses were formulated to estimate the consumers' intention to consent. This study supports Mercedes-Benz AG to improve its consent capturing management and related processes.
The topic of education and web-based training in particular in the technical domain has gained wide acceptance as an effective medium for enterprises to deliver learning and training for their employees and customers. Since learning through the web has several didactic challenges to face, companies must choose the adequate learning method to deliver training to their employees. In the case of Bosch Communications Systems, using web-based training for instruction in the field of professional audio engineering, software remains a subject of investigation and constant innovation. The present study aimed to determine which method of web-based training is better to apply for Expert Level learning on the use and configuration of the sound system software SONICUE. To achieve so, the instructional design of the two methods of study, video tutorial and simulation tutorial, were developed based on cognitive theories. Learning outcomes and levels of user experience of both methods were measured and compared. A sample of 31 participants of Bosch Communications Systems, divided into the two tutorial groups, took part in the present research. Results indicated no significant differences in learning outcome; however, the video tutorial received higher levels of preference among participants and was perceived in a more positive manner than the simulation tutorial in terms of practicality, design, features and navigation. The results of this evaluation reflect the importance of incorporating cognitive research based frameworks to improve the learning quality.
Die vorliegende Arbeit dient der Beurteilung einer virtuellen Substitutionsmesse hinsichtlich deren Erfolgspotenzial und den Stärken und Schwächen gegenüber physischen Messen. Dabei gibt die Literaturrecherche allgemeine Blickpunkte wieder, die Bezug nehmend auf die Reitsportbranche im praktischen Teil vertieft werden. Eine Analyse des Messewesens und der Reitsportbranche geben vorweg einen Einstieg in die Thematik. Aspekte der Flexibilität, der Wirtschaftlichkeit, des Messe-Erlebnisses und der Multisensorik sowie der Kommunikation und Technik werden zur theoretischen Betrachtung herangezogen und bilden die Grundlage für die Einschätzung der virtuellen Messe. Im Rahmen einer zusammenfassenden SWOT-Analyse können Stärken innerhalb der flexiblen Zeitgestaltung und der technischen Funktionen festgestellt werden. Zusätzlich werden Schwächen innerhalb der Kommunikation und der Erzeugung eines multisensorischen Messererlebnisses erkannt.
Das praktische Beispiel anhand der Pferdemesse „Online Horse Fair International“ unterstreicht die Stärken und Schwächen und resultiert in konkreten Empfehlungen zur Weiterentwicklung einer virtuellen Publikumsmesse im Rahmen der Pferdebranche. Anhand einer Teilnehmer Zufriedenheitsumfrage kann ein besonderer Fokus der Informationsfunktion der Messe festgestellt werden, während das Einkaufen in den Hintergrund rückt. Folglich kann sich die virtuelle Messe durch Schaffung eines Ortes des Erfahrungs- und Wissensaustausch von der physischen Messe abheben. Allgemein gilt es daher nicht die bestmögliche Annäherung an eine reale Messe zu kreieren, sondern ein aus den Stärken abgeleitetes Alleinstellungsmerkmal hervorzubringen.