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China’s increasing importance in the pharmaceutical industry has attractedthe attention of the mechanical engineer for packaging machinery, Christ Packing Systems. Issues in entering the market have raised questions about the understanding of target customers in China and how the distribution system works. An in-depth understanding of the Chinese pharmaceutical market allows Christ Packing Systems to successfully approach the market.Based on interviews with experts in the field, industry reports and strategic analysis, this research paperwill provide insights into the pharmaceutical industry in China and its challenges and opportunities for Christ Packing Systems. Results show that pharmaceutical companies and their suppliers have to cope withgreat uncertainty. The involvement of the Chinese government stimulates the development of more and more innovative manufacturers of brand medicine. Drastically reducing prices for medicineand making them affordable for everyone in Chinais one of the governments’big goals. After supply shortages of critical medicines during the Covid-19 crisis, China has to expect that foreign groups will move some of their production closer to their customers in Europe and the United States. On the other hand, China is one of the most attractive marketsfor pharmaceutical companies. The largest population of the world which is ageingand increasingly suffers from chronic diseases, demands high quantities of medicine. Adding to that, the growing middle class and an improved healthcare system enables more and more people in China to afford and have access to pharmaceuticals. With this great market potential, Christ Packing Systems is advised to further pursue and intensify its market expansion to China. There are several alternatives to successfully enter the market while keeping the risks and costs at a reasonable level.
The rapid development of digital technologies has stimulated the shift from real life interaction to online communication. Internet audience is rapidly growing every day, while cost of reaching it is remains affordable.
Transformational changes in business environments, skills and cultures have led to the shift from product-based to knowledge-based economies.
New models of employment are getting more and more common, non-standardized employment has risen. The work lifecycle is changing. Instead of linear pattern— education, work, and retirement— there is a move to “cyclic life plans,” with periods of education, work and recreation overlapped and interspersed across a lifetime. This trend challenges standardized career paths, development programs and incentive systems. “Employee consumerism” is rising, especially for those with in-demand skills and experience.
All the above trends in global economy bring a new challenge for the individuals who want to succeed in their careers and personal development. This challenge is decent self-promotion on a labor market, which can be achieved by using efficient self-marketing channels and tools, in particular online.
The topic of this bachelor’s thesis is the connection between culture and social media marketing for environmental nonprofit organizations. It focuses on the question whether culture does have an impact on the performance of social media marketing for environmental nonprofit organizations. Based on this, the hypothesis is made that culture does have an influence on the intercultural performance of an environmental nonprofit organizations’ social media marketing. To provide an answer, the characteristics of environmental nonprofit organizations and social media marketing are analyzed by the use of cultural frameworks. Furthermore, a closer look towards the connection between culture and social media marketing for environmental nonprofit organizations is provided. As a result, this paper supports the hypothesis that culture does have an impact on the performance of social media marketing for environmental nonprofit organizations. The analysis shows that social media marketing and environmental nonprofit organizations both have characteristics that can be impacted by culture. This can lead to an effect on the performance of the environmental nonprofit organizations’ social media marketing caused by different cultural perceptions and aspects.
This thesis tries to answer questions with respect to a future cultured meat industry, that is what influences consumer behavior and which consumers will be likely to buy cultured meat products. In addition I am trying to answer the question if there even will be a cultured meat industry in the future or whether the current developments can be seen more like a bubble that will disappear once enough money is burned with no profits made. Answering these research questions was quite a challenge, even though I did an extensive amount of research the lack of available data was not ideal. Therefore, I need to acknowledge that with more available data more precise conclusions could have been drawn. Nevertheless, through my research I could conclude that the cultured meat industry, which is shortly before bringing the first products to market is unlikely to disappear. The technology seems sound and the concept behind it seems to make sense. Regarding potential consumers I concluded that marketers should try to identify consumers who go through extensive problem solving when making food or rather lifestyle choices. These consumers might be best to approach when launching the first marketing campaigns for a cultured meat product.
For thousands of years cash has been the only common payment method worldwide. From the markets of Ancient Rome to the itinerant tradesman of the Middle ages cash was indispensable. It was safe, easily transportable, and durable. Today, cash is considered a phase-out model. Newer, faster, more practical and, above all, more secure payment methods have long been available. Banks and governments in particular would like to abandon cash, as it is much easier to monitor electronic payment transactions than cash transactions. This results in concerns for many citizens, as they, especially the older generation, are still very attached to cash and still have difficulty using alternative payment methods.
However, the rise of electronic payment methods is unstoppable, all experts agree. This matter of fact and its input is an interesting and relevant topic for consumer research. This thesis examines the purchasing behavior of consumers using electronic payment cards. The cards do not differ in their external appearance, the difference lies in the components of the card and ensures that there are two types of cards of different weight. Cards which have the normal weight of this type of card and cards which are slightly heavier than the normal (standard) cards. The reason for the different weight of the cards is that objects of different weights are perceived differently by people. It is generally believed that heavier items are more valuable than light ones, probably due to the heaviness of metals such as gold and silver, which we humans generally consider as very valuable. The aim of this work is to find out if the weight of the cards which are intended for everyday use has an impact on the buying behavior of the consumers. This will be investigated scientifically with an empirical data analysis.
Brand ambassadors have the power to have a positive influence on how consumers feel and their relationship with the brand. Despite the popularity of brand ambassadors and their effectiveness, a company's employees as brand ambassadors have an ideal and credible impact on consumers and how the brand is perceived.
This bachelor thesis reviews the literature of theoretical and empirical nature to identify how business leaders strengthen the image of their corporate brands the objective is to examine and compare the case of Microsoft Bill Gates and Apples Steve Jobs illustrate how they strengthen their respective brand image.
The results indicate that even though the risk of having CEO’s as ambassadors may tarnish the image of the company in case of unethical behaviors, celebrity CEOs such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have a positive impact on their respective companies and strengthen the brand image.
This thesis explores the emerging phenomenon of second screen marketing, by providing a holistic view on this topic. The first part presents an extensive literature review, approaching second screen marketing from an advertiser’s view. Second screening and user groups are defined and common second screen measures are presented and evaluated.
The second part examines the consumer’s perception of a brand using second screen marketing, comparing two age groups (18 to 30 years and 50 to 62 years). Brand perception is measured following suggestions from Low and Lamb Jr. (2000), using a three-dimensional construct consisting of brand attitude, brand image and perceived quality. Main findings entail, that younger audiences perceive a brand using second screen marketing significantly more positive than the older generation. While perceived quality for both age groups is evaluated neutrally, brand image and brand attitude scores show more extreme values. This is relevant for advertisers, as indications about potential target groups, content creation and success of marketing campaigns can be derived: Especially younger consumers are potential target groups and perceive second screen marketing as modern and innovative, but dishonest. Concerning content, strong implications about quality, an uniform brand image and the communication of trustworthiness should be a focus to marketers.
Global warming threatens our climate. The planet we know today will deteriorate seriously if nothing changes. The massive consumption of textiles makes the fashion industry as the second leading global polluter after the oil industry. The rise in population increases demand and therefore, also production, which in turn leads to harmful environmental impacts. The global consumers have become increasingly concerned and aware of the importance of sustainability. Due to rising awareness of customers regarding the environment, green marketing strategies have become an important topic. Therefore, a huge number of companies are “greening” their marketing mix. Environmental concern and knowledge of consumers are growing but there is still contradicting behavior of consumers regarding environmentally friendly products. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of green marketing practices and environmental behavior factors on consumer buying behavior taking the fashion industry as an example. This thesis depends on theoretical findings of green marketing and environmental behavior factors in general and on the fashion industry. The practical part consists of a self-conducted survey were the impact of the above-mentioned determinants were examined on the example of eco-friendly fashion. Conclusions that can be drawn from the study were that even though consumers know about the negative impact of the fashion industry and they are concerned about the environment it does not translate into their behavior, since there are other factors which influence consumers decision more heavily when purchasing fashion items.
This thesis examines the culture concerning the Celebrity-Endorsed Advertisements in Luxury Brands. Culture and its value have an impact on the effectiveness of the advertisement. Culture can also impact celebrity endorsement as a celebrity can be seen differently according to the cultural pattern. Luxury is also seen differently according to the cultural values, and brand can have an impact on the value of the luxury. Since the advertisement is a very crucial tool for marketing strategies, commercials should be made according to the values of the culture to increase its effectiveness. Culture is a group phenomenon, and it influences the behavior of an individual which impacts the brand and product. Culture creates a lifestyle and new markets; it also allows market adaptation according to the local taste. Culture helps us to understand the changing attitude of the market towards a product or service. Culture plays a role in the perception of the product and advertisement as people from a different country will perceive and interpret things differently according to their culture and experience.
This thesis addresses various diverse questions related to the culture regarding celebrity-endorsed advertisements in luxury brands. The foremost question which addressed is; the culture impact on the customer's perception of the brand image for celebrity-endorsed advertisements as to luxury brands. This thesis is based on the Qualitative research method, including descriptive case study-based research with observations, following an inductive approach to generate a theory, model, and explanation by analyzing the data to finding patterns. This thesis follows the research task based on theory and applying research models to new situations, explaining phenomena, and analyzing the relationships. The information and data for the research are taken from the online & social media platforms YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are used for TV commercials. The data is analyzed through observation by checking the advertisement like and dislike on the online platform. How often they are comment and what kinds of statements are used for an advertisement. Afterwards, the data is analyzed according to the culture models. The findings of this thesis answer and highlight the challenges along with the research questions. The study helps us to understand what culture is and how to target the market more effectively. It explains the importance of the brand and the value of the luxury associated with it. This thesis helps us to understand the impact of the celebrity in the advertainments and how to use them effectively. It also helps us to understand consumer behavior and the perception of the product value. This thesis highlights the fact that what can be seen offensive in the advertisement by a different culture and its impacts on the brand image.
Prior research on choice in context demonstrated extremeness aversion to be very effective on consumers’ purchasing behaviour. However, it seems that previous studies have neglected to investigate the impact of the spatial arrangements of choice architectures on consumers purchasing behaviour. Based on indications of prior research, we pursued to demonstrate in this study that consumers who are uncertain regarding their
preferences tend to search for alternatives in the middle of a choice architecture. Therefore, we hypothesized that an alternative, positioned in the middle of a choice architecture, will present a relatively higher choice share. To research this hypothesis we conducted an online survey mainly in Central Europe, which involved a total number of
901 respondents at the age between 15 and 95. The study’s results demonstrate that the decision making of the majority of the participants is heavily influenced by a choice architecture’s spatial arrangement. It became evident that the choice share of one
alternative was higher when presented in the middle of a choice architecture than when presented in the periphery.
The following thesis examines the role of drug advertising in the United States. It takes a theoretical approach to explore the relationship between drug sales and the corresponding advertising and their perception, effects and implications on the public by focusing on the opioid crisis in the United States. In order to assess the effectiveness of drug advertising, the theoretical hierarchical framework by Robert J. Lavidge and A Steiner was utilized as it provides a straight-forward and frequently applied model to examine the workings of advertising in general.
The thesis’s conclusions give a synopsis of the results both for drug advertising and its effects on sales, as well as the implications drug advertising can entail as demonstrated in the case of the opioid crisis.
The thesis emphasizes on the scale of production and waste of plastics, market share of single use plastics and attempts to find alternatives to one of the most problematic single use plastic marine litter items – single use plastic tableware and cutlery. The thesis is further narrowed to one of the Biodegradable tableware and cutlery BIOTREM from Poland that produces single use or disposable tableware and cutlery with the raw materials wheat bran and bioplastics PLA.
A study involved in the internationalization of BIOTREM is carried out based on the guidelines and principles of Global Marketing by Hollensen (2014). The study includes the important steps in internationalization process such as decision whether to internationalize, factors affecting internationalization, internationalization models suitable for BIOTREM.
Germany is considered as a hypothetical target market for the expansion of BIOTREM and the challenges for internationalization to Germany is analyzed with the help of Porter’s Five Force framework and SWOT Analysis. Further, various types of entry modes and factors that would influence the strategy for BIOTREM’s entry into German Market are studied and the suitable options are recommended.
A few recommendations w.r.t elements of marketing mix – product, place and promotions are suggested and also included are the general recommendations regarding company’s website contents. A recommendation is made on new form of crowd funding option – Security Token Offerings (STO’s) for BIOTREM expansion plan.
Finally, it is concluded with enlisting the answers found for the research questions and the message on taking responsibility for single use plastic pollution problem.
This thesis deals with the marketing of today and its benefits for companies and universities. The focus is on the recruitment of students at universities through the business platform LinkedIn. The tools offered by LinkedIn will be presented and the purpose for which they are beneficial will be determined. Surveys are used to clarify questions about the use of social networks for different activities. In addition, it will be worked out why students choose a university and how LinkedIn fosters this. These findings are then translated into marketing measures for the HFU Business School in Villingen-Schwenningen.
Sales promotion are commonly used tool by marketers to manipulate consumer toward a certain offer or product. Attractiveness of a promotion can increase the demand of the promoted product. Monetary and non-monetary are considers the two main types of sales promotions. Monetary sales promotion, also known as price promotion, will provide immediate price discount upon purchase, for example 50% discount. Non-monetary sales promotions or premium promotion, on the other hand, usually grant consumer an extra free product or additional service for free. Previous studies also demonstrated that different sales promotion affect consumer behavior differently. Consumers’ value perception can be influenced by several factors. For instance, marketers use specific “phrase” such as “value pack” to influence consumer price perception. Rationally, consumers’ value perception should remain unchanged regardless of the phrases use to describe the promotion with same discount value. In this study, we examine the impact two sales promotion those are “50% discount” and “buy one get one free” on value perception of Thais consumers. These two deals have equal economic value but perceived differently by consumer. We aim to answer the question “does two different deals with the same value impact value perception of the same product differently?” In order to obtain logical answer, two set of questionnaires were send out to observe the maximum price which consumer willing to pay for “instant noodles” and “soy protein powder”. Unfortunately, the result from our survey were not significant enough for us to derive a concrete conclusion. We also discuss about potential cause of the unexpected result and interpret our result for better understanding. Even without a significant finding, this paper address that different sales promotions impact consumer in various ways supported by other literatures and also self-assumption.
The study investigated what is the generalist education in nursing, how Keppler-Stiftung Haus Raphael, Senior Citizens’ Centre will start the implementation of this training and how people can be well informed using social media to convince them for a career path in nursing. The study examined if the use of social media will increase the turnout of people for this education. This thesis also researched, if the use of this promotional medium can help change people’s negative impression about old people’s home, especially for its funny smells and that, senior citizens are not well taken care of there as expected. From the starting theoretical background consisting generalist education in nursing and the trends of social media were discussed in details. Based on the theoretical issued examined, the empirical research is established, collecting data from staff of old people’s homes in five provinces in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Correlational analysis was used to test the sample on the two hypotheses. The positive correlation between social media campaign and the turnout for the generalist education in nursing was identified. The alternative hypothesis was supported because there was a significant relationship of independent variables to turnout of youths for generalist education in nursing
The interest in topics such as understanding the communication between product design and customer has increased dramatically in recent years. Researchers have been dedicated to understanding more of product design, its dimensions and the consumer perception of it.
The spirits industry competition is dominating in the alcoholic beverages, and the second largest spirit which has a highly competitive market, is vodka. Companies are struggling to stand out from the competition and grab the consumer attention. The following study will explore the aesthetic and symbolic dimensions of a product design and it will show how the design of the vodka bottles is communicating with the consumer. The research questions that are going to be explored are: Which parts of the aesthetic dimension are positively influencing the consumer and how does the consumer perceive the bottle shape when there is no brand influence?
In answering these questions, a secondary data has been reviewed and a questionnaire has been developed where participants will be answering attitudinal questions, open-ended questions and picture choice questions. The questionnaire has been completed from a random sample group of 92 participants of whom mostly are students.
The findings of the questionnaire indicate that angular shape and thin body of a vodka bottle are most positively appraised by the customer. In combination with a bright colour, the bottle express feelings of excitement and elegance. However, the questionnaire has been conducted with no brand logos, shapes or descriptions, and consumers still have found similarities in the shapes because of the strong influence of some world-famous brands.
This research shows that consumers are affected of how a product is designed and, that certain shapes and colours do not seem to be an option for a vodka bottle. The findings in this study are important, because a better understanding of colour-shape composition could potentially improve vodka company’s marketing strategy.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often said to increase efficiency which is why it is especially interesting to companies seeking possibilities to improve existing processes. Consequently, this thesis, written in cooperation with the Corporate Communications and Marketing / Public Affairs department at Marquardt GmbH, explores opportunities in this field by determining prerequisites that should be met when considering working with AI as well as risks that should be taken care of. In order to determine the department’s level and progress in the field of AI, the employees involved in the existing tasks and processes completed a questionnaire, resulting in the department being at the lowest level. Moreover, providers of tools within the fields of social bots, document classification, content marketing, media planning and sentiment analysis are compared with the help of utility analyses, allowing for a recommendation regarding what the next steps of the department should be. The fields were chosen premised on the emplyoees’ current tasks while information required for the analyses was obtained by contacting the providers as well as their websites. Based on findings of the thesis, the department is recommended not to follow the trend of AI immediately as the effort required would be disproportionate to the return.
The impact of human trust on business performance by the example of non-governmental organizations
(2020)
How important, scalable and influenceable is the factor trust for charities? This thesis deals with this question regarding social media appearances of three NGOs. Furthermore, it aims to capture the general state of trust of millennials in non-governmental organizations.
This work is predicated on extensive literature research, an online survey, a group discussion with millennials and an application of the HuTrust Model by mext consulting.
Findings indicate that the level of trust matters in different areas such as social media engagement rate and the willingness to donate money to an NGO
Online Controlled Experiment at Euranka Sàrl: Improvement of a/b testing by increasing sensitivity
(2020)
Web-facing companies and online businesses generate more revenue than before, and the internet is growing exponentially. Conversion rate optimization has become a hot topic among online marketers and online businesses. Giant data-driven companies like Google, Microsoft, or Bing are pioneers in this field and use their big data to optimize their websites and services with online controlled experiments, but still, facing pitfalls. For companies with smaller user numbers, running experiments with reliable and conclusive results is even a greater challenge. As it is a critical success factor for online businesses, the thesis deals with ways to improve online experimentation for companies with smaller user numbers by increasing the sensitivity of experiments based on information provided in whitepapers and conference findings of pioneers in the field. These methods and guidelines are applied to a practical case at Euranka Sàrl, an online affiliate marketer based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The endowment effect shows that selling prices are higher than buying prices (Kahneman et al. 1990). This paper wants to answer the question whether the endowment effect can be reversed and the value perception for the sellers can be lower than the one of the customers. To answer the question two studies were executed where sellers and customers were asked to tell their willingness to pay or rather their willingness to accept. The product for the studies was a wedding dance course, customers were potential participants, sellers the dance schools/ teachers offering the course.
The results show that customers were willing to pay a much higher price than what sellers found was as an appropriate price. Sellers were accepting a much lower price. The endowment effect was reversed for this product. Reasons were the high involvement of the customer and the missing loss aversion on the part of the seller. However, the reasons show that it might not be possible to reverse the endowment effect for every product on the market.
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.
„We are not thinking machines that feel, we are feeling machines that think.” (A.R. Damasio). This quote from famous neuroscientist Antonio R. Damasio illustrates the significant role emotions play in human perception, behavior and decision making. Marketers in Business-to-Consumer and Business-to-Business sectors increasingly realize that establishing an emotional connection with the company’s or brand’s target group is crucial to aid differentiation, competitiveness and awareness. Especially in highly competitive environments it is important to find ways to connect more closely with the target groups. KLS Martin Group, a medical technology company based in Tuttlingen, Germany, strives to strengthen its brand awareness through Audio Branding and Influencer Marketing and thereby adding an emotional value to the brand. Hence, this bachelor thesis investigates how these two concepts can contribute to this ambition. An empirical qualitative study has been conducted with eight cases to examine the concept of Audio Branding and nine cases regarding the topic of Influencer Marketing as tools to emotionalize the brand and to find out how they can support awareness-raising endeavors. This thesis reveals and illustrates frameworks, emphasizing the dimensions of acceptance, identifiability, continuity and adaptability for Audio Branding and the 4-C framework including the elements credibility, content communication, closeness and control. Further, practical approaches regarding the implementation of Audio Branding and Influencer Marketing in the context of emotions at KLS Martin Group are expounded.
A growing population, climate change, animal welfare and health concerns are issues with increasing relevance. They draw attention to new technologies that focus on more sustainable and healthier solutions. This thesis analyses the market of meat substitutes with the aim of getting a deeper understanding of the market drivers, what contributes to consumer acceptance and a successful market positioning. The focus lies on the factors that make meat substitutes successful alternatives in Germany.
The research includes previous literature, expert interviews and a marketing mix analysis. The secondary literature is used to introduce the topic, to analyse the market drivers and to gain insights into consumer food choice behaviour, whereas the expert interviews focus on market assessment and effective company positioning. The marketing-mix analysis is conducted on the basis of purchased meat substitute products which are compared to regular meat products. The researcher included a place analysis that takes the entire German market into account, as well as a promotional analysis that highlights effective marketing strategies.
Based on the findings of the thesis, it can be concluded that animal welfare, sustainability and health trends are major drivers of meat substitutes. The market is expanding and has great future potential. However, large scale consumer acceptance is highly dependent on the preferred sensory properties such as authentic taste and texture, as well as a product variety that meets German consumer preferences. All in all, the promotion of meat replacement products should focus on a combination of benefits that include both functional and emotional aspects.
Sustainable product offerings in food retailing have been increasing in the last years, making their way from specialized stores to mainstream food retail stores. It is the case of Germany in which sustainable food products are found in many retailing channels, even discounters. Many pieces of research have been focusing on the bio- and fair-trade labels effect on consumers' behavior, and increased interest has been put in the effect it has regarding WTP towards food products. These studies tend to conclude in a higher WTP towards sustainable labeled food products. However, the studies focus only on the valuation of the product qualities and leave the retailer format aside, which is the location where the product and the labels are being displayed and evaluated by the customer. This research will focus on assessing if the retailer format influences consumers WTP towards bio and fair-trade labels in the German food retail market. In total, 400 randomly selected participants answered one of four surveys regarding WTP towards food products in different retailer formats. Two retailer formats are considered discounters and supermarkets. This research analyses if the labels are performing adequately throughout all food retailing formats in order to provide valuable information for the future of sustainable consumption and regulation. In the end, we cannot conclude a statistically significant difference through the analysis of variance of the means of the label performance in both retailer formats.
The current master thesis makes an effort to investigate relationships between perceived service quality, membership satisfaction, and membership loyalty at “Gesellschaft für technische Kommunikation – tekom Deutschland e.V.”, applying adjusted SERVQUAL model. To attain the formulated objectives in scope of the current research, the “Satisfaction – Profit Chain” model is applied, consisting of “Attribute Performance”, represented by SERVQUAL service quality dimensions supposed to serve as antecedent of the second component of the chain “Membership Satisfaction”, and “Membership Loyalty” in order to investigate relations between these three. The findings of the study are supposed to serve as a basis for altering the existing CRM Strategy in order to eliminate current issues within the association, develop strategic marketing capabilities, and create value for members’ attraction and retention.