Abstract Apple Computers Inc. is known for their loyal and passionate followers. This study focuses on the brand communities and brand loyalty that is frequently seen among Apple customers. It focuses on the factors that create an apparent deep-set loyalty and passion towards their computers among Mac-users. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of why some consumers feel such a strong attraction to a company, its brand and its products.

Sleep has a substantial effect on health status where good sleeping habits proves positive on learning. The aim of the present study was to map the views and perceptions of sleep and its effects on health and school performance on 12-year olds. The goal is to visualize these views to give teachers the possibility to better plan the education in concordance with the students? abilities. The study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews where 12 students aged 12 have partaken.

Background: The business market today is characterized by tough competition amongst the competitors to capture consumers? interest and money. One marketing tool companies can use to achieve this is the company?s image. The customer buys not only a product, but also the image that the company or the product is associated with.

Today, there is no uniform definition of what an ethical fund is. Fund management companies choose themselves what they believe is ethical and not. The lack of the definition makes it difficult for consumers to understand why these funds are special compared to other funds. The purpose of this study is to examine three Swedish companies; KPA Pension, Swedbank Robur and Folksam, to obtain a clearer picture of the concept ethical funds and its definition. The study describes each company's view of Ethics and how they may affect other companies to work for a more sustainable world.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how family members perceive family support, and to gain a deeper understanding of how the relatives' part is affected by the dementia ill person. The result has been produced by semi-structured interviews with five respondents interviewed individually. The respondents who participated in the study, care for the dementia sufferer husband / wife at home, or the husband / wife has moved to a special housing. The result includes the perception of being a relative of a person with dementia, how they experience support from various parties, if there are any differences between men and women as well as the importance of communication and attitude. Overall it was shown that relatives often felt a sense of security and that they were satisfied with the support they received from the various parties.

Social inequality, economic imbalances and greenhouse gas emissions are some of the greatest risks threatening society today. Society has become more aware of these risks and has started to demand firms to take more responsibility. During the last 30 years firms and mainly large firms has chosen to work with something called CSR. CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility which is the work firms engage with to take responsibility for environment and society as a whole. Scientists and business people has taken two sides towards CSR, one side argues that CSR cost more than it tastes and the other side argues that firms which engage with CSR will gain economic benefits.

The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of how patients following cerebral vascular attacks percieve personal Control and their ability to influence the course of their rehabilitation. Specific questions relating to the concept of Health Locus of Control such as perception of personal responsibility and own influences as well as the recognition of the influence of outside phenomena such as faith, luck and divine power were asked for. The empirical findings of this study were based upon semistrucutural interviews with five respondents. The results showed that the respondents efforts, together with the efforts of others were a necessity in successful rehabilitation. The influence of faith or luck on the other hand, was not percieved as a factor for success.

The intention of the study is to investigate pedagogues understanding of physical activities in preschool. Should special activities be planned in order to stimulate children´s progress in motor skills? I also want to find out if pedagogues found the acitivities in preschool curriculum which says that the aim is to develop children´s body perception and teaching children how to care for their own health. I have interviewed seven pedagogues and focus of the question lied within motor skills and the joy of movement among preschool children. The result shows that pedagogues regard it to be important to stimulate motor activities and to encourage joy of movement in preschool.

The purpose of the thesis is to investigate whether a higher income make individuals more likely to exceed the speed limit. In addition to income the variables age, sex, perception of the speed of the average driver and offense history for the last three years are taken into account.The method used is based on a survey performed at the mandatory annual motor-vehicle inspection (Bilprovningen). 177 individuals were asked to participate, of these, 124 completed the survey which in turn left us with 117 usable observations.The analysis is based on two forms of regression, a linear regression and an ordered logit regression to confirm the results for the ordinal data.The final model indicates a result where income and age are statistically significant. Sex is considered insignificant for our data material and is excluded from the model. Age has a negative effect on the propensity to exceed the speed limit while income has a positive effect.

Although English is commonly used in Swedish advertising, little is known about its effects. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how a Swedish or English language choice in product advertisements affects the effectiveness of the ad. Further, a local/global dimension of the advertisement was created to investigate how the results differ for local and global brands. Subsequently, an experiment was conducted where the effect of language choice on several well-established measures of ad effectiveness such as awareness, comprehension of the ad message, credibility, attitude and buying intentions was analyzed. In line with previous research, English in product advertisements is not completely comprehended since English is not the local language in Sweden.

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancer diseases among women worldwide. Breast cancer brings fear into many womens? life. It is a threat against life, but also to the psychological health, self-esteem and the female identity. Aim: The aim of this literature review was to describe newly breast cancer patient?s perception of information provided by healthcare personnel.

The Oresund Region, consisting of the Swedish county of Scania and the Danish islands of Sealand, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, is widely recognised as a successful example of European cross-border co-operation. The purpose of this region building project is to form a cross-border fully integrated functional region in order to accomplish a high level of economic growth and employment.This thesis argues, by the means of discourse analysis, that the project can be viewed as a kind of post-politics, defined as a politics that under a neoliberal hegemonic consensus strives to manipulate citizens (and to redefine them as consumers and investors) into better economic performance.This manipulation is carried out by extensive discourse production aimed at convincing people that the Oresund Region exists, that it is a successful region, and that the people who inhabit it are also successful. The deliberate vagueness and contradictory character of the Oresund discourse is investigated and explained as a discursive strategy to incorporate as many views and desires as possible..

This study is a semi-­structured, qualitative depth-­interview study investigating Swedish institutional investors' perception of the fact that companies purchase non-­audit services from its signing auditor and if they see this as a threat to auditor independence. The study focuses on independence in appearance rather than independence in fact. The study is based on the current media debate on auditor independence and aims to provide a deeper insight to enlighten legislators how users of audited financial information look at the problem. The study builds on agency theory's notion that there is an information asymmetry between management and shareholders, which the auditor is to reduce. The results show that Swedish institutional investors perceive that there is a threat to auditor independence when companies buy non­-audit services from its signing auditor.

This paper examines the impact of conscious shelf management on online grocery stores. An S-O-R framework is used to unveil if some established shelf management techniques from physical stores are applicable in an online context. We also explain some of the cognitive processes customers experience as they get exposed to online buying situations. A main study with two data sources is conducted: one quantitative website experiment with 168 participants who got exposed to five different organisation patterns within five different categories; and one more qualitative eye tracking experiment with 20 participants. The results indicate that a disorganised product page evokes not only different scan paths and cognitive patterns but also generates higher sales.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of how dairies use colour, picture and shape in order to influence customers? buying decisions of fruit yoghurt. In order to reach this purpose the research was conducted through case studies of three dairies. In this research three research questions were created with focus on the visual elements colour, picture and shape. The method of data collection was performed through interviews with dairies as well as documentations.