Background: Literature regarding brand identity within the service industry is relatively under developed. As a result one theory is used for both the service and product brands, even though there is a significant difference between a product and a service. As a result of this, the brand identity within the service industry has consequences. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the brand identity within the service industry. This is done by focusing on how and why this work is done.

The purpose of this thesis was to study the importance of virtual communities for independent record companies. It also aims to examine how these companies use virtual communities in their marketing activities and how to gain competitive advantages by working with virtual communities. A case study based on interviews was conducted with managers from two independent record companies, Music Is My Girlfriend Recordings and B&B Records. Our study has shown that virtual communities are important for independent record companies as tools for finding and addressing the right target market. Useful information about the members of these communities can easily be gathered with the use of the various search options that are available.

Over the last decade, the private insurance market has undergone a stable growth in turnover and growing demand for insurance products in all Member States of the European Union. Therefore, the creation of a single market in insurance will enable consumers to have access to wider choice of insurance products, and insurance companies to gain access to markets in various Member States and compete effectively. The EU legal framework for the insurance industry embraces the Treaty freedoms of services, establishment and capital, the EC Directives and the ECJ case-law. The present thesis identifies numerous factors that hinder the Community insurance market integration and offers possible remedies. The summary of the market obstacles is all-inclusive and reflects the responses to the questionnaires and the Commission surveys.

This study examines if there are any behavioural differences in-store between consumers who choose a healthy product and consumers who choose a regular product. 540 observations were conducted were different variables were studied. Tthe results indicate that there are some variables that show a significant difference in behaviour at the point of choice between consumer who choose healthy products and those who choose regular products..

Strong relationships are something that is really important for companies to succeed with, in purpose to increase and protect their market shares. After major research on the subject, it has been found that variables like exchange of relationship, trust, control mutability, satisfaction and commitment are important in the establishment of measuring a relationship. The purpose with this thesis was to: increase the knowledge on how companies measure, and then consequently evaluate, their relationships. To answer the purpose of the study we chose to do a case study at Stadium AB, which is a retailing concern with a high level of customer contact on a daily basis. The conclusion is that trust most likely is the key variable in measuring relationships.

Uppsatsen syftar till utifrån teorier om legitimitet, hyckleri och kända personers medverkan i marknadsföring titta på hur kända personer väljs ut till cause-related marketing (CRM) kampanjer i Sverige. Frågeställningen lyder; Vilka faktorer ligger till grund för valet av känd person i en CRM-kampanj enligt företagen, de ideella hjälporganisationerna och de kända personerna själva?Primärt emiriskt material samlades in via intervjuer med sju kända personer, fem företag samt fyra ideella hjälporganisationer och sekundärt material samlades in från bland annat tidningsartiklar, hemsidor och pressmeddelanden för att komplettera det primära materialet.De slutsatser som kunnat dras är att när företagen och de ideella hjälporganisationerna väljer kända personer som ska medverka i en CRM-kampanj är processen överlag likartad den när företag väljer en känd person i andra marknadsföringssammanhang enligt teorin. Dock skiljer sig resultaten en aning från teorin är när det gäller matchning mellan känd person och målgrupp alternativt produkt. Dessutom har vi sett att vid CRM-samarbeten mellan företag och ideella hjälporganisationer är att de ofta inte gemensamt för ett resonemang om vilken känd person som skulle passa kampanjen på båda på bästa sätt, utan det är ofta en part som föreslår ett koncept som den andra accepterar.De kända personerna ställer upp i CRM-kampanjer av olika anledningar, den slutsats vi dragit är att det i princip finns lika många faktorer och anledningar att medverka i en CRM-kampanj för en känd person som det finns kända personer.

The presence of nostalgic emotions during consumption is often seen as something purely positive to a product. To evoke these emotions has become a very common tool in marketing and advertising. Paradoxically very few studies have focused on the effects of nostalgia. The purpose of the thesis has been to understand how the presence of nostalgic emotions during consumption effect consumers. The research model used is a quantitative study with testing of hypotheses generated from theory.

The purpose with this thesis was to describe the importance of the creative industries for a town. We thought that towns could design a strategy to attract creative industries and creative people to establish their business in the town. During the study some important topics, such as a town brand, a town image and a town identity has been identified as factors that can influence and attract people and creative industries. Towns can use these topics in their marketing of the town. The method that we used was a case study: we conducted interviews to collect information about the chosen case study, the town of Skellefteå.

Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka hur transsexuella personer passerar som sitt upplevda kön och om det finns några skillnader mellan hur transsexuella män respektive transsexuella kvinnor passerar. Transsexuella personer beskrivs ofta som en utsatt grupp i samhället som ibland råkar ut för negativ uppmärksamhet genom olika typer av stigmatiseringar, till exempel för att de inte följer heteronormen. Därför valde jag stigma och queer som teoretiska begrepp för att analysera empirin. Materialet varvas även utifrån de centrala teman som vuxit fram genom tio kvalitativa intervjuer i en abduktiv analys. Resultatet ger sedan exempel av hur transsexuella personers vardag kan se ut genom kopplingar med hur väl de passerar som deras upplevda kön.

Title: ?Content, Contact, Cash?- En kvalitativ studie om framgångsrik marknadsföring viasociala medierAuthors: Andreas Hadzikostas and Helli ShahidiAssigner: NewsroomCourse: Degree thesis in Bachelor of Media and communication at the faculty ofJournalism and mass communication at University of Gothenburg, SwedenSemester: Spring semester, 2010Tutor: Ingela WadbringPages: 49, including two enclosuresPurpose: To elucidate which factors are significant for successful marketing via the social media.Method: Expert interviews, Informative interviews and content analysisMaterial: Interviews with Lena Carlsson at Kreafon PR agency, Peter Baeza at IHM Business School, Eva and Kalle Bodestig at Mandel, Lena Ekman at Saltå kvarn and Rick Short at Indium Corporation.Main result: This study has resulted in both comprehensive and concrete proposals for how Newsroom should work and market themselves, but mainly their customers via the social media tools such as Facebook and blogs. In order for companies to be successful with their marketing, they ought to build a strong, personal and enduring relationship with their customers by being attentive of their target group. The main purpose of the social media is to encourage individuals to interact and conduct dialogue with the participants rather than focusing entirely on one way communication. Furthermore, in order for a company, regardless of size, to be successful in building a healthy relationship with their costumers, they ought to showcompassion for their feelings and needs, as well as providing them with as much information as possible, via all of the selected social media tools to work with.

The purpose behind this study is to explore and explain the role of fear arousal when combined with the concept of customer satisfaction and retention in one marketing strategy. The major theories applied are the concept of fear appeals and the concept of customer satisfaction & customer retention. We chose to conduct our research through an ethnographic case study of KM. We did a qualitative study where we collected 10 interviews and we conducted observations. Our empirical data consists of academic articles from scientific journals, interviews andobservations.

A segmented market, according to traditional methods, appears increasingly difficult in mature consumer markets. A common explanation is that the mature markets are often characterised by over-supply which results in a great variety of choices for the consumer. Furthermore, the consumer of today has a more complex and flexible purchase behaviour which is difficult to catch. This makes consumer segmentation difficult. International studies indicate that dividing consumers into generation cohorts might be advantageous in understanding consumers of today.

Title: The internal attractiveness of the sales position within ABB SwedenProblem: What is the cause of the low internal applicants for the sales position at ABB?Purpose: To identify why there are so few internal applicants for the sales position at ABB.Method: In order to achieve the purpose of the study, a survey was conducted amongst the employees of ABB. The target groups were sales managers, sellers and other employees. The result from the survey where then analyzed based on the theory chapter. Conclusion: A GAP-analysis showed a difference in the attitude towards the sales position at ABB.

Over the last decade, the private insurance market has undergone a stable growth in turnover and growing demand for insurance products in all Member States of the European Union. Therefore, the creation of a single market in insurance will enable consumers to have access to wider choice of insurance products, and insurance companies to gain access to markets in various Member States and compete effectively. The EU legal framework for the insurance industry embraces the Treaty freedoms of services, establishment and capital, the EC Directives and the ECJ case-law. The present thesis identifies numerous factors that hinder the Community insurance market integration and offers possible remedies. The summary of the market obstacles is all-inclusive and reflects the responses to the questionnaires and the Commission surveys.

Companies spend huge amounts on communicating their brand through marketing. Many of these contact areas where the consumer comes in contact with the brand is con-trolled by the company. The brand image is also affected from outside the company. It can be from users, media, blogs etc.Burberry is an example of a company that got in trouble with their brand image after hooligans where associated with their products. If a company with a brand with a strong image is associated whith consumers that are not compatible with the target group the company wants, there is a risk of a negative affect on the brand image.Our purpose is to investigate and describe the phenomenom when a company brandimage is affected by being associated whith consumers not compatable whith, by the company, intended target group.We have chosen a qualitative research where we use a multiple case study.