Studies show that activity based costing (ABC) is not widespread in practice even though it has been present in the academic world since the 80's. This thesis examines the reasons for the discrepancy between theory and practice through a case study of a Swedish manufacturing company. The intension is to answer the question of what contributes to the choice of precision in product costing.We found arguments for increasing precision in product costing but not to the extent of a full-scale ABC implementation. The company's estimation of the value of increased precision. In the study three company unique factors were isolated that affected the company's estimation of value; drifting purpose of product costing, historical use of product costing and knowledge about product costing..

In article 1.2 c) EC regulation 852/2004 it says that the regulation is not applicable to producers who directly supply small quantities of primary products to the final consumer or to the local retailers who in their turn directly supply the final consumer. An almost identical regulation can be found in article 1.3 c) EC regulation 853/2004. The supply by a primary producer of small quantities of primary products, of animal origin or not, are consequently excepted from these two hygiene regulations. In article 1.3 EC regulation 852/2004 and article 1.4 EC regulation 853/2004 it says that the member states are to establish national rules in their national legislation as to the regulation of exception for small quantities. The aim of this study was to investigate the handling of small quantities of primary products distributed locally in Sweden but also the handling of these products in other countries.

The aim of this paper is to define the perceived consumer values that physical record stores create in order to compete with other distribution technologies. A qualitative method has been used, based on interviews with managers of three records stores in Stockholm. Interviews with their customers have been conducted also. The content has been analyzed with passable theories and the two sources have been compared when adequate.The conclusion of the study is that the physical record stores create many different consumer values, and that many of these are hard to transfer to other distribution technologies. One of the most important values for the consumer is that the personnel have a broad knowledge about music.

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.

Purpose: The purpose of our thesis is to analyze the application of models from product branding on job-seeking business students as a way to establish a personal brand.Conclude: We found that the principles of product branding closely resembles those of personal branding and are therefore applicable. The models that build a products brand can do the same for a business student. Thereby we can conclude that personal branding does derive from product branding..

Title: Establishing in China?s ?good-enough? market - A benchmarking study on Scandinavian engineering industries? further establishment in China. Problem discussion: The Chinese market is gaining importance for Scandinavian engineering industries and is by many considered a crucial market to be successful in. These companies have a tradition of producing premium products for premium customers. However, in China many are currently experiencing the threat from local competitors producing products of somewhat less quality aimed at the vast Chinese middle market - the good-enough market.

This thesis is an addition to pictures and animation that has been developed using CATIA V5. The animation and the images are a market basis to test whether the product is of interest in the Nordic market. The thesis is structured with elements of the Fredy Olsson method. In this thesis there is also a short presentation of the company Tylö AB, which been chosen to market test the product. A product definition with the sub-headings; ?Description and use of product?, ?Environmentand users?, ?Economy? and ?Product inquiry?, are the basis for the product.

The thesis provides with the broad overview about the consumer awareness of the gender dimension within brand personalities. The research contributes to branding theory and gender studies and demonstrates that consumer gender influences does not influence the perceived brand personality gender. However, it also shows that consumers prefer brands with a clear gender, but not necessarily the same gendered brands..

 The current estimations in regards to the increase in environmental threats underline the importance of influencing individual behavior towards a more sustainable lifestyle. At the same time current trends show an increasing interest into ecologically produced foods around the world and that the consumption has seen a major rise in the 20th century. It is therefore of great importance that companies show their interest and commitment in order to offer and influence the consumer into choosing the environmentally sustainable alternative. Also, in order to properly reach out to the consumers, it is of outmost importance to map out their attitude towards these types of products. It is equally important, in order to fully realize the potential of successful positioning, to show an understanding for the underlying decision processes that dictates purchase.

The authors study the effects of brand salience on how consumers form brand attitudes and how consumers value the importance of various brand attributes. The study was conducted through two separate tests, the one focusing on the link between brand salience and brand attitudes and the other focusing on the link between brand salience and evaluations of attribute importance. Both tests measured brand salience as the ease with which brands are recalled by respondents who have been cued with a specific product category. The results show that brand salience has direct effects on both brand attitudes and the evaluation of attribute importance. As brands are recalled, high brand salience for a brand creates a more positive attitude towards that brand in the mind of the consumer.

Multichannel-shopping has become a wide spread phenomenon in the retail industry due to a significant development of retail channels and formats. Consumers now shop for the same product category in many different retail settings and this trend is increasing. Therefore both the academic world and the retail industry are screaming for knowledge about the multichannel-shoppers. Several studies have focused on the characteristics of different channels and how multichannel strategies should be designed to minimize cannibalization. There is however a lack of research concerning what characterizes multichannel-shoppers and what drives them to shop in several channels.

Thesis purpose: The aim of this paper is to extend the knowledge of what influences the purchase decision of functional food in the store. By applying the M-R model in a new setting - the dairy department in grocery retailing in Sweden - and adding variables related to health attitudes, the aim is to contribute to existing research concerning in-store purchase decision making and store environment as well as consumer attitudes. Methodology: This thesis employs a quantitative strategy with a deductive approach and data has been collected with questionnaires. Theoretical perspective: Environmental psychology serves as an overarching framework where, more specifically, certain aspects of store atmospherics and some variables concomitant to health attitudes provide the theoretical base. Empirical data: The empirical data consists of customer purchasing a functional food product, Proviva, and this is contrasted with a test group, Bravo.

Ever since Internet revolutionized the world, e-stores and e-commerce has grown into becoming a natural part of consumer's everyday life. Much thanks to it's facilitative and time saving characteristics. Online, consumers are provided with a huge assortment and the opportunity to shop any time they like. Yet, the absolute greatness of e-stores is the possibility to push prices below the physical store price, which seems to be most appreciated to a large extent by consumers worldwide. The fact that e-store sales in Sweden grew 14% last year verifies this.As more players step into the virtual world of e-commerce the competition gets tougher.

This paper studies the option market?s implied dividend as a predictor of future equity market returns. We introduce this variable in the simple total return framework and discuss some complications of using it as a proxy for the expected dividend. We construct some regressions using the price-dividend ratio and the implied dividend growth, and test them on six years worth of data on the EURO STOXX 50-index. The main result is that implied dividend growth exhibits some forecastability over two-year horizons, but that the dataset is too short to draw any definitive conclusions about long-horizon forecastability.

The present study concerns a concept development of a product idea that Bengt Magnuson, associate professor, had when a heavy storm caused a widespread power failure of long duration. With a basic power-producing unit one should be able to get through a power loss. The product could also be useful for other tasks if different modules are connected, e g grass mower or snow-blower.According to the product idea the basic unit will be able to produce electric power enough for a fridge, freezer, TV, and a few electric lamps. Normally the basic unit can be used e g as a mower, when such a module is attached. An increased number of tasks would make the contraption useful and tempting for those who do not own an electrical power set in reserve.