Title: Culture?s Affect on the Determinants of Customer Satisfaction in Retailing: The Case of a European Retailer in the U.S. and China Date of the Seminar: 29th of May 2007 Course: BUS 809 Master thesis in International Marketing Authors: Lisa Bustamante Chesley Norman Charlotte Valind Advisors: Johan Anselmsson Cecilia Cassinger Keywords: International Retailing, Determinants of Customer Satisfaction, Culture, United States, China Thesis purpose: Our study aims to identify the determinants of customer satisfaction of two national cultures in a global retail setting, in order to clarify what role culture has, if any, in customers? satisfaction with an international retailer. Further, this will uncover if a Western perspective of determinants of satisfaction is a universal means of capturing what satisfies customers across cultures in a retail setting.

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate how value creation influences consumers´ choice of market place. We have chosen to focus on how inner city centers can compete with external shopping malls by examining what values consumers find essential in shopping areas. The development within the retail market with more external malls outside cities has resulted in impoverished city centers; therefore, new strategies towards more attractive servicescapes in the inner city are crucial. The study is based on a qualitative approach due to deeper understanding and closeness to the subject, where Kalmar city is chosen as a case. We have completed a focus group study where respondents from each target group where represented.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Swedish retail companies work with CSR internationally.The study also sought to explore the opportunities and challenges that exist, and the stakeholders that motivate companies CSR commitment.The theoretical framework is composed of international CSR guidelines of the OECD and the UN, Carroll's CSR pyramid and three-stage model and Freeman's stakeholder theory. Furthermore a qualitative research approach was applied where four in-depth interviews were conducted with representatives from Axfood, Löfbergs Lila, Oriflame and CSR Sweden.Finally, the study demonstrated the conclusion that the companies CSR strategies are structured in a similar way regardless of the market. CSR attract and retain workers, create a good reputation for brands and results in working conditions, living standards and environmental improvements. Difficulties, however, are the complexity of being able to control each partner and manage differences in language, laws and culture between countries. Finally there are a number of stakeholders that motivate companies to work with CSR, of which shareholders are considered the most important..

AbstractWe´re surrounded by music in many different ways. Sometimes we choose the music ourselves and sometimes it?s just there. The purpose of my thesis is to illustrate the students apprehension and understanding of the teaching of music in school. Moreover, my own interest in this subject and its influence during my school years motivated me in researching my thesis.

The purpose of this essay is to study the film culture in South Africa in a national cinema-context, focusing on the relationship between anti-apartheid film from 1974-1994 and the film in South Africa today. By pitching the South Africa-specific works of Lucia Saks and Jacqueline Maingard against the over-arching debate on national cinema as formulated by, amongst others, Stephen Crofts and Andrew Higson, this study aims to find whether or not a specific South African national cinema have existed, and exists today, or not. The study finds that an underground culture of documentaries and short films made by and for the black population has been in place since the apartheid, and the distribution method on video and television is still being used to reach the black population today. By re-examining the concepts of both the national, and of national cinema to also include film on video and television, the study shows that South Africa has indeed a film culture that can be called a national cinema..

This thesis examines how to improve the exhibition of products within retail for clothes and gift articles. The purpose is to investigate and test how light sources and different directions of light affect how the products are perceived regarding their exhibition. Our question formulations are:To what degree does the level of light in combination with the background of the interior design of a shop affect whether a product is perceived more or less attractive?What can we recommend to make the exhibition of products more attractive? From our observations shops nowadays have relatively high levels of light when they expose products on vertical areas. We have looked on the recommendation from ?Energimyndigheten? in order to see what they think is important when designing retail lightening.

Thesis: The aim of our study is to identify how IKEA's externalestablishment at Norra Backa can affect Kupolen and the centre. This in order to provide suggestions on how these trade areas can be connected and create a whole to thereby gain the purchasing power.Method: In our study we used triangulation. That means we have used both a quantitative and a qualitative approach. The quantitative method based on a survey with 100 respondents. The qualitative method is based on interviews with the centre conductors of Borlänge, Laila G Prosén and Anna Timander.Theory: The theories we have used is STP, substitution effects and effects of overspill, important factors for an attractive market town, Town Centre Management, Urban Retail Product.Conclusion: We found how IKEA's establishment at Norra Backa may affect Kupolen and the center of Borlänge then we gave suggestions on how these trade areas can be connected..

This essay is a qualitative study of the Swedish joint-stock company Svenska Spel AB?s television commercial from 2008. The commercial is called ?Spela lagom - When I grow up?, and is meant to serve as an informational commercial about being underaged in situations regarding gambling. Using semiotics and rhetoric?s, we are analyzing how elements seen in the commerical affects the rhetorical situation the clip is bound to; how the marketing is done to enhance Svenska Spel?s brand; and what strategies are used to make sure the public service announcements regarding persons involved with underage gambling gets acceptance.

Because of the mass tourism industry that exploits sensitive locations all over our planet a new kind of tourism came into focus in the 1980?s. This new form of tourism was named ecotourism, and as the name reveals ecotourism deals with low-impact travel. Today, all sorts of places can be gazed upon in a flick of a switch; all you need is a television set. It is well known that destination marketing successfully uses visual media as a tool to sell trips to potential tourists.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how four Swedish retail companies describe their information management in connection to ethical trade. My purpose is also to examine how this information management relates to organizational learning. My questions at issue are ? ?Which activities related to information management in connection to ethical trade is described by the companies?? and ?How can these activities and statements be related to organizational learning?? My method of investigation is to perform qualitative interviews with representatives from the retail companies and relate the results to theories on information management and organizational learning, mainly theories of double-loop- and single-loop learning. The information management literature address issues such as information needs, information sources and information seeking.

Uppsats för avläggande av filosofie kandidatexamen iKulturvård, Bygghantverk, 27 hp, 2013. På omslaget felaktigt 2012..

The essay explores how the category ?religion? occurs and functions in the regulatory documents governing the Swedish public service companies. The study also highlights Swedens changed religious demographics and the changing media landscape. The material that is under investigation is the external and internal policy documents for Sveriges Radio, Sveriges Television and Utbildningsradion. The study is done by a qualitative content analysis which results are carved out by search units in relation to the category religion and then discussed and analyzed.

In this study we examine how the image of women, through framing and stereotyping in interviews, is constructed in the Swedish television morning show Gomorron Sverige on International Women?s Day. Our study is based on qualitative method, using the ECA (Ethnographic Content Analysis) model.Our main theoretical assumptions are that media contributes to constructing the images of reality we see in our heads, and that the images of women mediated through television are stereotypes which are displayed in the presenter?s questions and in the respondent?s answers. By defining the problems related to International Women?s Day, showing causal connections, making moral judgments and presenting solutions, television contributes to the viewer?s perception of what is important, why it is important, what is wrong and how to make it right.Based on our theoretical assumptions we have divided our study into three analytical themes:1.

Background: The Swedish retail trading company KappAhl has reorganized all the boutiques in Sweden. Before the reorganization many of the boutiques consisted of four levels: shop manager, assistant shop manager, department managers and regular personel. After the reorganization assistant shop managers and department managers have been replaced by a so called ?responsibility group? consisting of some of the employees. The change is presented as a decentralisation.

This thesis contains a usability evaluation of ?Barnplay?, a Swedish video-on-demand service targeted at children. The objective of the study was to identify usability issues in the video service and to develop measures on improving the user interface, with special focus on adaptation to the broad target group of 3-11 year olds.The study was conducted by first mapping established practices in designs of VOD-services targeted at children, followed by interviews and usability tests with children between 2-11 concerning their use of ?Barnplay?. Based on the initial data collection, a prototype was developed and then evaluated by usability testing and A/B-testing.The main conclusion of the study is the need of better individual adjustment of the video content selection to better appeal to different age segments within the target group.