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Course of studies
This research examines the impact of social media on consumer behavior, focusing on how consumer behavior and habits change after the use of social media by German and Chinese young consumers. A comparison of the differences between the two groups is also conducted. The study was conducted based on theoretical background and terminology, followed by six hypotheses. Then this research determined the scope, target population, and sample size before using focus groups and online questionnaires as survey methods. While analyzing the questionnaire data, the research tested the hypotheses and demonstrated the effects between the variables. The results indicated partial agreement with existing studies. Browsing time positively correlates with the purchase journey. The duration of online discounts negatively correlates with transaction speed. Young consumers' demand increases with the amount of time they spend browsing product advertisements. However, some findings ran counter to previous investigations. The impact of SMM on young consumers has no adverse effect on the time spent browsing products. Moreover, only in some cases, young consumers' purchase intentions are positively correlated with demand.
Keywords: Young consumers, Social media marketing, Consumer behavior, Purchase journey, Purchase intention, Online time-limited discounts, Demand
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.
This thesis investigates the effect choice options in e-commerce applications have on consumers’ decision making. Previous research showed that a large number of options
can affect consumers negatively. However, the conditions for such choice overload are unclear. After reviewing the existing research, the amount of information (entropy)
contained in a choice set and individual differences were determined as possible influencing factors in an online environment. In a choice experiment, choice sets with
varying information loads and an assessment of the Big Five personality traits were used to test the impact of the two identified factors on choice avoidance behavior. Results from chi-square-tests and a logistic regression model suggest choice overload but without entropy having an effect. A logistic regression model revealed that extraverted consumers are easier overloaded. A low Neuroticism score was found to be related to less occurrence of a too-much-choice-effect. Consumers with a high Openness score on the other hand choose one of the presented options more often and were therefore less often
overwhelmed by the assortment. An interaction effect between personality and the amount of entropy was not found. These findings extend the research on choice overload and offer valuable input for marketers targeting consumers online.
As a leading medical technology company, KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG continuously wants to bring innovations and applications into the market and expand its existing product portfolio. As strategic initiatives, the company has set priorities and goals to ensure its sustained success. One of those strategic initiatives is to start developing new products in the field of robotic surgery and compete in this segment. To achieve these ambitions, the company decided to spin off its robotic solutions department and establish a new business called KARL STORZ VentureONE Pte. Ltd. With a smaller and more agile structure, the new venture seeks to implement new ways of working and promote innovation.
This new-born company is playing in a fast-growing market that one single competitor has traditionally dominated. However, robotic surgery still has much potential, and existing suppliers have not yet reached different market segments. One segment that has called the attention of the spin-off is the ambulatory surgery centers in the US.
These surgical institutions are growing and gaining relevance in the American surgery landscape. Hence, the company is particularly interested in developing a robotic solution for this segment. Before introducing a product, the company must understand the target customer intended to address. Management at the new venture is also convinced that new business models can be successfully implemented in this segment. Thus, this academic work aims to evaluate the ambulatory surgery center market in the US and propose a suitable business model for this target customer.
For this purpose, this thesis was divided into two main parts. The first aimed to conduct market research on the ambulatory surgery centers in the US by collecting secondary data from articles, reports, and governmental publications. The second part focused on proposing a business model for the ambulatory surgery center segment. To do so, primary data was obtained by interviewing experts in this market.
The research found that the ambulatory surgery centers segment is a growing market where robotic surgery has not yet been fully implemented due to its high cost and reduced reimbursement rates for outpatient procedures. Another barrier to robotic surgery in surgery centers is the high upfront investment needed to buy the technology. Based on these insights, different business models, such as leasing, renting, pay-per-use, and subscription, were assessed. A subscription model was selected and further developed by presenting the most advantages. Using the “Business Model Navigator” methodology, this work defined and documented the target customer, the value proposition, the value chain, and the profit mechanism.
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.
The aim of this thesis is to identify and investigate the meaning of customers’ expectations in the IT-industry explained by the example of introducing a new product and to develop a strategy how expectations can be managed in the IT-industry.
The first part of the thesis deals with the reasons and the general framework for the research and defines objectives and scope of the thesis.
In the second part, results of the literature and theories about expectations are presented. These show what previous research has found out and give an overview about different types of expectations and corresponding effects. The flowing part constitutes the case study as research instrument and how it can be used to generate results. With the help of a case study of a specific example of the IT-industry the meaning of expectations regarding new products will be highlighted. Additionally, it gives_a basis to develop a strategy to manage expectations in the IT-industry.
Afterwards the results of the literature review and the case study are combined into a usable strategy to manage expectations of new products in the IT-industry. The thesis illustrates the necessary steps of the strategy and gives an assessment of the results.
In conclusion, the thesis argues that expectation management is an essential step of influencing innovation to optimize business and gives instruction to identify, manage and influence customer’s expectations. Besides, this thesis addresses industries which are faced with the challenge of expectation management and offers an initial research about expectation management in the IT-industry. Furthermore, this thesis intends to provide a basic research to show the importance of expectation management and inspire following research.
Rising globalization and digitization resulted in crises for the fashion industry. High competition and the interconnectedness of the consumers rule the market and put it under pressure. Owing to the growing power consumers possess, the requirements towards the fashion players are increasing. Customer experience is frequently discussed these days by academics as well as practitioners and emphasized as a competitive advantage. Yet, it is difficult to measure and to track its consequences.
Since customer experience is elusive and no industry specific measurement scale is defined, at first this work aims to identify relevant touch points of customer experience in the fashion industry by dint of a focused interview. The further objective of this paper is to enhance the comprehension of the touch points’ effects or rather the relationship of customer experience with brand loyalty. This is approached by a questionnaire based on the preceding qualitative analysis and the resulting model. This model defines the customer experience touch points as the independent variables while brand loyalty is examined as the dependent variable. The conducted linear regression analysis reveals a moderate effect of customer experience on brand loyalty and the touch points concerning the products as most relevant in this relationship. Additionally, the digitization aspect is addressed by the examination of the relationship in the offline and online channels separately. With respect to this, the present study recognizes that the extent of the customer experience’s impact on brand loyalty and the significant touch points vary across channels to a certain degree.
Life insurance penetration rate in Malaysia has been stagnant in the past few years although a few InsurTech companies set up in Malaysia recently. Prior researches on InsurTech fail to clarify the gap of the target customers’ and the insurance experts’ opinions on how to enhance the customer experience in online life insurance with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). To address this, a model is recommended based on the literature review on similar articles and survey results conducted on both target customers and insurance experts. The recommended model has four main components: official website by InsurTech companies collaborated with traditional life insurers, customer support, customer service and customer engagement.
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.