Consumer Culture and Purchase Intentions towards Fashion Apparel

This study examines the effectiveness of different fashion marketing strategies and analyzes of the consumer behavior in a cross-section of demographic settings in reference to fashion apparel retailing. This paper also discusses the marketing competencies of fashion apparel brands and retailers in reference to brand image, promotions, and externalmarket knowledge. The study examines the determinants of consumer behavior and their impact on purchase intentions towards fashion apparel. The results reveal that sociocultural and personality related factors induce the purchase intentions among consumers. One of the contributions that this research extends is the debate about the converging economic, cognitive and brand related factors to induce purchase intentions. Fashion loving consumers typically patronage multi-channel retail outlets, designer brands, and invest time and cost towards an advantageous product search. The results of the study show a positive effect of store and brand preferences on developing purchase intentions for fashion apparel among consumers.Consumer behavior, purchase intention, socio-cultural values, designer brands, store brands, fashion apparel, brand promotion, personalization, fashion retailing, psychographic drivers

Training or vacation? The academic conference tourism

The current study concentrates on factors affecting the intentions of academics attending an academic conference. It highlights the importance of academic conferences and academic conference tourism and discusses meetings, the convention industry and also their utility in the career development of academics. Through qualitative research and a review of the literature on conference tourism push and pull motivation factors are suggested. The power of these factors to predict the intention to attend an academic conference is examined through quantitative research and regression analysis. The results indicate that ‘pull’ factors are better predictors of the intention to attend an academic conference than motivational ‘push’ factors

The Hallyu influences on travel motivation to Korea of Vietnamese Millennials and Generation Z: A case study on Korean dramas and movies

Growth of affordable tourism and expansion of Korean pop-culture, also known as Korean wave or Hallyu, are seen as factors that especially impact consumer habits of Millennials and Generation Z. This dissertation analyses the broad term of film-induced tourism with a specific case study of Korean dramas and movies as an influential factor motivating travel among Vietnamese young adults classified as Millennials and Generation Z. The analysis describes psychological factors, precisely travel motivation shaping decision-making process in tourism, and phenomenon of film-induced tourism. Thesis posed by this dissertation is supported by a practical exercise realized as a survey with a questionnaire designed as a set of nominal and 5-point Likert scale questions. Results of the survey are analyzed and discussed in detail. The findings confirm a relationship between Korean dramas, movies and travel decision of Vietnamese young adults where Korean dramas and movies exert their influence mainly on shaping image of featured locations and promoting awareness of Korea as a tourism destination. The findings also reveal that a low correlation between the level of exposure and travel decision as well as a moderate correlation of the level of affinity with travel decision. Moreover, two new determinants have been extracted from ten motivational elements, namely intrinsic desire and extrinsic factor which are seen as the primary motives behind travel decision

Study of the online funnel conversion of strategic consulting companies in Spain

The funnel conversion is the journey of an internet user from web surfer to loyal client, through intermediate stages. It consists of: 1. Acquisition → Convert visits into leads 2. Activation → Convert leads into prospects 3. Monetization → Convert prospects into Loyal clients The objective of the research is to study funnel conversion applied by consulting companies online, define alternative strategies and test them to understand how we could possibly improve the results. The results will be on both the funnel conversion techniques and tools that the companies examined could use. We will analyse each step of the funnel separately because, despite overlapping aspects, we cannot act on the three steps simultaneously. “You don’t turn cold prospects into leads, customers and multi-buyers all at once. A solid conversion funnel anticipates each step necessary to lead the prospect to the conversion.“ (Lindner, 2015) The actions performed to convert a prospect into a client are not the same, rather a good action in the wrong stage could reduce the effectiveness of our work. The existent research had only focused on products or services directly purchasable online. The aim of this research is to focus on a niche which is not directly sold online: Consulting services. Usually in the consulting activities the negotiation takes place in face-to-face meetings due to the complexity of the projects and the high value of the transactions, but the process of evaluating, or how a client decides, to go for a specific firm is not studied in depth in the literature, we will focus more on this topic. How consulting companies are attracting clients online, driving prospects to become clients and shape their online reputation between stakeholders, and how they could improve their process by using other techniques from different businesses

Interview study of online travel reviews and their impact on a person’s decision making process

In the past people sought for information via libraries, travel magazines or were inspired by marketing the travel agency made in order to attract consumers. Before the Internet era one way communication was the right way to follow. Since Internet was developed two ways communication has evolved and people can talk to each other worldwide. The development of the two ways communication has created a travel website where people can share and spread their opinions. Today people search for the most satisficing travel choice which makes more than one destination alternative selectable. The online reviews may extend or reduce an alternatives lifetime in the decision process. The online reviews are important factors in a person’s decision therefore the aim with this thesis is to investigate and evaluate how and if these online reviews affect a person’s decision-making process. The issue is based on what people think about online reviews, why they use them, how strong impact electronic word of mouth have against word of mouth, to the extent to which online reviews are used in a potential customers decision making. To obtain a result of the study, interviews with a focus group and a number of semistructured interviews have been conducted. The result highlights the dominance online reviews have on a person's choice. The participants in the paper believe that online reviews are good to rely on to get broad information and that they affect one. Participants, however, say that online reviews do not affect the final outcome but can affect the details of the arranged trip

Exploring Switching Intentions Among Generation Z Smartphone Users: A Push-Pull-Mooring Framework Analysis of Factors Across Smartphone Segments

This research uses the Push-Pull-Mooring Framework to explore the factors influencing smartphone users’ switching intentions, whether between levels of smartphone types within the same brand or across different brands. Using online survey data from 141 Generation Z Smartphone users in Jakarta, respondents have been divided into three segments according to the smartphone price. These are Entry-Level, Mid-Range, and High-End. This study uses the data triangulation research method by utilizing WrapPLS 7.0 and Nvivo 12 software. This study found that in every level of the smartphone, the Entry-level, Mid-range, and High-End, the most significant factor for switching intention is the Push factor. Apart from that, the quantitative analysis demonstrates that six other factors cause Smartphone users to change smartphone brands: convenience, features, durability, needs, user experience, and the price of smartphones

Role of digital content marketing in solo entrepreneurs’ pre-purchase process

Abstract. This Master’s thesis studies the role of digital content in the pre-purchase stage of the online purchasing process experienced by solo entrepreneurs in the business context of creative industries. The main research question is defined as follows: “What is the role of digital content during the pre-purchase phase of online purchasing behavior of the solo entrepreneurs?”. The aim of the study is to understand the solo entrepreneurs’ perspective on how different types of digital content influences their purchasing behavior during need identification, information search, and evaluation of alternatives stages. The main theoretical framework comprises several models for purchasing process with justification in favor of the customer journey framework for studying solo entrepreneurs as well as literature. Additionally, key concepts from digital content marketing are utilized. These aspects are adapted and combined in a novel framework in order to expand the understanding of the phenomenon of purchasing process experienced by solo entrepreneurs and the role of digital content during that. The research method used in the study is based on a qualitative case study as an empirical method to study the phenomenon of interest focusing on 12 solo entrepreneurs. The data collection is conducted by organizing semi-structured interviews with real estate photographers that comply with the solo entrepreneurs’ criteria. The interviewees are selected through a purposeful sampling approach in order to obtain empirical data from customers (solo entrepreneurs) activating in the United States. The thesis followed an abductive approach and thematic analysis throughout the research process. The findings from data analysis reveal that solo entrepreneurs’ purchasing process is seemingly adopting a non-linear buying structure instead of the traditional B2B buying process. However, some variables that are usually characteristic of the B2B buying processes such as long-term commitment, quality, and profitability were identified by solo entrepreneurs as relevant during the buying process. The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence concerning types of digital content influencing the pre-purchase stage but also highlights types of customer journeys experienced by solo entrepreneurs: considered and balanced journey linking it to their response to customer demand. Conclusions as well as managerial implications are provided suggesting to company to find ways to encourage the creation of UGC as it is perceived as more trustworthy than CGC by solo entrepreneurs but also to provide informational content during the pre-purchase stage. Lastly, the quality of the research is evaluated, limitations are presented and suggestions for future research are provided as well

Mobile Marketing Tools And The Consumer Decision-Making Process

This paper explores the influence of mobile marketing tools in the consumer decision-making process. The aim is to provide a better understanding of consumer mobile shopping behaviour. There is limited research on this topic, which mainly explains the use of qualitative method in this study. The dining industry in Lebanon provides the respective service and geographic research contexts for this exploratory study. In-depth interviews conducted with a purposive sample of service providers and consumer opinion leaders. Their views were contrasted. The results show that there is limited use of the traditional mobile marketing tools and a shift from traditional mobile tools to modern or more trendy ones was noticed (e.g., Push Notifications instead of SMS). Moreover, it is found that mobile tools influence consumer shopping differently and their effect varies given the customer type. The decision-making process of loyal customers and influencers is more affected by mobile marketing tools than the regular or ordinary customers. In addition, in some cases mobile marketing may speed up the shopping process and may encourage impulse purchases. Marketers should be aware of the different mobile tools and know how and when to use them to develop effective targeting campaigns

Innovation Trajectories in Honduras’ Coffee Value Chain. Public and Private Influence on the Use of New Knowledge and Technology among Coffee Growers

In this paper, results from a study on the use of improved coffee production technology schemes among smallholder coffee producers in three prominent coffee producing regions in Honduras are presented. The impact of various schemes (trajectories) in which different agents influence the producers’ decision to use new technologies was analyzed. In particular, there are differences in the influence of a) private coffee buying organizations and b) government and public development agencies on the innovation behavior of coffee growers. Drawing from network data that depict the internal and outbound connectedness of producers in three village communities in main coffee producing zones in Honduras, tools of social network analysis were applied to find out how interactions with certain agents, separately and cumulatively, has influenced their use of improved methods in coffee production and marketing. The results suggest that there are significant differences in the way that various providers of knowledge and technology, especially private buyers and development agencies, influence the farmers’ behavior towards innovation. The influence of buyers, according to the data, is focused on certification and quality aspects, whereas development agents focus on improved agronomic practices. Farmers who communicate with the extension branch of input providers tend to be more innovative. These results suggest that development programs should take more seriously into account the role of private actors in innovation among agricultural producers and, hence, design development programs in such a way to allow for collaboration with these agents.coffee production, innovation, upgrading, social networks, Honduras, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty,