Consumers today are bombarded with innumerable advertising messages. The need for companies to create advertisements that consumers find relevant is thus increasing. In order to break through the ad clutter, companies have to give something extra to their customers and show that they care about them. How a company decides to communicate might then be more important than what the company actually communicates.The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the use of creative media choices induces signaling effects and enhances advertising value as well as perceived corporate consideration. The two last mentioned variables are explored as potential driving forces behind the signaling effects.

Previous research has recognized that advertising creativity can result in positive signaling effects for consumers, thus proving creativity to be a useful tool and not a wasteful effort within marketing. However, research within this matter has only lightly touched upon the outcome of signaling effects within a business-to-business context. Since other implications prevail within a B2B market - for instance the professional position in which individuals act, the existence of buying centers, and the heavy weight placed on most decisions - the conception and influence of advertising creativity may be altered. This paper aims to give an overview of whether increased advertising creativity results in positive signaling effects among individuals employed within a B2B context. Furthermore, the paper aspires to examine the potential influence of aspects prevailing within B2B markets, such as the need for contemplating the desires of numerous individuals involved, on the outcome of advertising creativity.

Syndecan-1 is a cell surface proteoglycan which participates in cell adhesion, differentiation, motility, morphogenesis and intracellular signaling. The two glycosaminoglycans heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate are covalently attached to the ectodomain of syndecan-1 via a tetra saccharide linkage sequence. However, the ectodomain can be modified having only one or neither of the glycosaminglycans attached. The glycosaminoglycans are capable of binding ligands such as fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and support activation of receptors. The ectodomain is proteolytically cleaved from the cell surface by metalloproteinases in a process known as shedding.

This thesis studies the stock price reaction around 68 announcements of special dividends and share redemptions on the Swedish stock market between the years of 2003 and 2007. We show that for the Swedish private investor, the tax effect of a share redemption is lower than that of a special dividend. Moreover, a share redemption could be interpreted as a signal of undervaluation. These two factors lead us to assume that the stock market would react more positively in connection to the announcement of a share redemption. We test this hypothesis through an analysis of the risk-adjusted abnormal return for the observations in the sample.

In today's fast-paced, intense and complex media environment, it is hard for non-profit charity organizations to reach out and get their messages heard.In this study we examine whether the theories of advertising signaling also applies for charities. Past studies of the signaling theories indicates that higher perceived advertising expense leads to more positive effects on purchase behavior and brand perceptions. However, we believe that this does not apply for a charity organization. We argue that since charitable organizations have a fundamentally different mission than commercial companies, they will need different ways to signal quality and credibility, and therefore the common signal-theories will not hold for these organizations.To test our hypotheses, we conducted two surveys where the respondents saw one of five versions of the same ad for a well-known Swedish charity organization, or one of two ads for a commercial corporation. The ads had been manipulated to simulate different levels of perceived cost.Our results shows that perceived ad cost only affects attitude towards the ad if a charity was the sender, whereas perceived ad cost affects intentions, attitudes and credibility if a commercial corporation was the sender.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka vad känslor spelar för roll för beslutet att donera pengar till välgörande ändamål. Dessutom undersöktes om motivet ?social signaling? (publikt/anonymt) har någon påverkan på beslutet att ge pengar till en välgörenhetsorganisation. I ett experiment fick försökspersoner fatta ekonomiska beslut om donation till Rädda Barnen. Resultaten visade att generellt är människor generösare när de fattade besluten publikt än anonymt.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate how consumer advertising has an effect on other groups than the intended, the so-called extended audience of advertising. Previous research shows that consumer advertising can influence investors and employees of a company as well as affect the attractiveness of a company as a potential employer. In addition, research shows that more perceived cognitive effort in advertising results in positive signaling effects for consumers. This study aims to further build on these concepts in order to gain additional understanding of how consumer advertising can influence extended audiences. More specifically, it examines if more (versus less) effort in advertising can improve the future prospects on the labor market for an employee of the advertising company, by looking at recruitment consultants as an extended audience.

Share repurchases in Sweden has since legalization in 2000 gained momentum. Similar to other corporate events, there are studies that examine whether this affects the share price performance. With studies in the U.S. that measured excess returns of approximately 3,5 percent on the announcement day; Swedish buybacks, holding a tighter regulation is of interest to study. The Stockholm Stock Exchange regulation regarding reporting is also similar to the Stock Exchange in Hong Kong.

AbstractTitle:Sustainability reporting- For whom and what? What is the opinion of analysts, consultants and fund managers on sustainability reporting?Level:Bachelor thesis in business administration, 15 university creditsAuthors:Nils Johansson and Hannes ThomasfolkSupervisor:Sarah PhilipsonDate:20140108Keywords:Sustainability reporting, value relevance, stakeholder theory, Signaling theory.Purpose:The purpose of this paper is to study how different professional groups in the Swedish financial market in 2013 use sustainability reporting and explore how professional groups look at the future development of sustainability reporting.Limitations:The study focuses only on organizations that are members of SWESIF.Method:In this study we chose a multiple case study design, inspired by well grounded theory. The study's empirical data was obtained through ten semi-structured interviews with analysts, consultants and fund managers.Results and conclusions:It was revealed by the study that companies producing a sustainability report demonstrates transparency and are perceived as a company that is aware of risk, both economic risks as well as external risks. The study also shows that among the study's respondents, there is a strong belief that sustainable business in the long term is a good investment. The study also indicates that this is no concrete evidence of an association between the use of sustainability reporting and either increased or decreased profitability.

SammanfattningBakgrund: I och med Gro Harlem Bruntlands rapport "Our common future", som skrevs i mitten av åttiotalet, fick hållbarhetsfrågan ett uppsving och trots att det nu har gått mer än 25 år är ämnet fortfarande högaktuellt. Det finns ett stort behov av att göra samhället hållbart och det är av allmänt intresse att vi åstadkommer förändringar. Här har företagen och den offentliga sektorn en viktig roll och hållbarhetsredovisningen är ett verktyg att nå detta mål.Problem: I Sveriges kommuner är det idag väldigt stor variation på hur och om man hållbarhetsredovisar. Enligt FAR, branschorganisationen för revisorer och rådgivare, är kvaliteten på rapporterna dessutom långt ifrån tillfredsställande. Att upprätta hållbarhetsredovisning är inte lätt eftersom rapporten ska sammanställa ett flertal olika dimensioner.

The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is the first species ever domesticated. They can develop a close bond towards other dogs, almost like a relationship among siblings, which can be a high valuable resource for good relations and cooperation?s. Dominance in dogs is sometimes used to explain undesired behaviors and explained as a personality trait. Dominance though, is not a trait in a dog or a source for undesired behaviors, but can rather be explained as a relationship between individuals, were one of them receives more submissive signals from the other.

Inledning: Inom finansmarknaden där en handelsplats för värdepapper finns är IPO ett omtalat ämne. Fascinationen ligger vid introduktionen av ett företag på börsen som tidigare varit privatägd och dess avkastning på aktien. Vidare är prissättningen på aktierna och timingen för en notering intressanta aspekter som har studerats sedan många år tillbaka. I denna uppsats ska det undersökas hur aktiepriserna för de noterade bolag har utvecklats vid olika ekonomiska tillväxter.Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka om det ekonomiska läget påverkar aktiekursernas utfall vid en notering samt hur dessa utvecklas på noteringsdagen och 30 dagar efter noteringen.Metod: Genom beräkningar av introduktionspriserna i jämförelse med stängningskurserna på noteringsdagen och 30 dagar efter noteringen får man fram aktiekursernas utveckling.Teoretisk referensram: Den effektiva marknadshypotesen och signalteorinResultat: Undersökningens resultat visade på att skillnaden i aktiernas avkastning mellan företag som noterat sig under en hög respektive låg ekonomisk tillväxt var mycket liten. Företagen som hade noterat sig under en hög ekonomisk tillväxt hade endast 0,1 % högre avkastning än de företag som noterade sig under en låg ekonomisk tillväxt.

The gap between practise and theory is often described in negative words in teachers? professional lives. Learning study is a model for teachers´ professional development where a theoretical framework is used to enhance practice. The theoretical framework used by teachers in learning study is variation theory. In this study the research object is variation theory and the aim is to present how variation theory becomes a guiding principle to understand teaching and learning processes.

This master thesis concerns whether Swedish non-financial listed firms act in accordance with the optimal capital structure theory and/or pecking order theory. The examined period is 1998-2004 and we discover that Swedish companies neither follow optimal capital structure theory nor pecking order theory. From our results we conclude that there exists no single point of the capital structure which is optimal. Rather it seems as if the optimal point lies in-between an interval from 0 to the industry average, where firms tend to be indifferent to their debt-ratios. Our results show that Swedish companies prefer internal financing followed by equity and as last choice debt issuance..

This text concerns itself with war, the just war theory, and the application of that doctrine on the ?war on terrorism?. I present different views on the theory's place in the discourse, its relevance for unconventional wars followed by the analyses of above mentioned empirical situation.Particular interest is given the criteria concerning proportionality, both ad bellum and in bello, due to in part its difficult nature, and the attention it has received from others. This paper asks the question: Is the just war theory adequate for analysis of modern war?There are few alternatives.