One rapidly growing market of Sweden: organic food : A qualitative study portraying some consumers’ decision to purchase organic food

In recent years there has been a significantly rising trend amongst consumers for health and environmental issues, which has resulted in greater attention for and sales of organic food. Organic food production strives to use natural resources, such as land, energy and water in a sustainable way and the products does not contain artificial fertilizers or chemical pesticides. However, organic food products are also often more expensive and less available in comparison to conventional food products. Despite this, interest for and sales of organic food products have increased around the globe, and in Sweden particularly, the increase in sales has grown largely from an international perspective. This thesis is of qualitative character and is focused on studying some consumers from the Swedish market of organic food. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute with a better understanding on the buying decision process regarding organic food purchase. To achieve this, the authors have studied some consumers that purchase organic food and have searched for patterns that could be identified in the decision process. The consumer buying decision process model has been used for portrayal of the chosen consumers’ decision to purchase organic food products. Interviews with six Swedish consumers were conducted, whereas each respondent continuously purchase organic food products. Results show that the purchase of organic food products begins with discovering an unsatisfied need state, which the consumers of this study desired to change with the purchase of organic food products. This study show how six consumers reason when passing through the stages of the buying decision process, in order to satisfy their desired need state. The authors found that the respondents feel satisfied with purchasing organic food products, which lead them in to continuously buying these products. Altogether, the findings contribute with knowledge that can come to be helpful when wanting to understand more about the consumer decision to purchase organic food.

Utvärdering av programvaror för variabeldata till Lugnetgymnasiets färgskrivare,Ricoh AFC 6513.

The Lugnetgymnasium in Falun has a graphic education that supplies a color printer, which is availablefor the students in their hall. The printer is a Ricoh AFC 6513 and it is a model that can handlevariable data. It was bought in the autumn of 2002. The teachers of the graphic education want to makeuse of the variable data function and procure a variable data software. The purpose of this project is toevaluate variable data software’s, so that the most suitable choice of software can be made for the graphiceducation. To be able to make this choice, criterions has been made what the variable data softwarewill fulfil. Different software’s of variable data has been examined and a summary was made whichtells what software that fulfils all the criterions. The software’s that seemed appropriate for the graphiceducation were PrintShop Mail and Personalizer-X. Adecision which one of these software’s thatwill be purchase was made by the teachers on the graphic education. Tests and a more detailed studyon the software’s have been done. The information has later been presented for the teachers. They madea decision, which were Personalizer-X. After this decision, an easier manual for Personalizer-X wasmade. The purpose with the manual is that the students on the graphic education, quickly and easy canget started with the use of variable data.

Utvärdering av digitala provtryckssystem

Six different Digital Proofing Systems from three different techniques have been evaluated as totechnique, printing quality, economy and usability. Digital proof from two paper qualities, coatedand uncoated, has been compared with references printed in offset, to see how good they match eachother. Only two Proofing Systems manage to print on reference paper. The other Proofing Systemsuse special paper for digital proof.Measurements and visuell judgement show that the Digital Proofing Systems visualise referencepictures with quite good quality. Proof optimised for coated paper visualise the colours with goodresult. Proof optimised for uncoated paper shows higher quality than the references, which depends onthe surface of the proofing paper. Comparison between reference paper and proofing paper has takenplace as to differences in colour and paper quality.The Digital Proofing Systems are fully automatic, which demand a quite comprised education forcorrect handling. The purchase price and printing costs vary considerably between the ProofingSystems.

"Selling/Buying"

The article belongs to the field of lexical semantics studies, associated with describing the Russian linguistic world-image. The work focuses on the universal situation of purchase and sale as reflected in the Russian language.

The Concept of ’Selling/Buying’ in the Russian Linguistic Picture of the World : from standard to sub-standard

The thesis belongs to the field of lexical semantics studies, associated with describing the Russian linguistic world-image. The research focuses on the universal situation of purchase and sale as reflected in the Russian lexical standard and sub-standard. The work deals also with subjects related to the sphere of social linguistics: the social stratification of the language, the structure of sub-standard, etc. The thesis is a contribution to the description of the Russian linguistic world-image as well as to the further elaboration of the conceptional analysis method. The results are applicable in teaching Russian as a foreign language, particularly in lexis and Russian culture and mentality studies.

Ekologiska kläder : En studie om varför konsumtionen av ekologiska kläder haft en svag ökning sett utifrån konsumenternas perspektiv

Syftet med denna studie är att förklara varför konsumtionen av ekologiska kläder haft en svag ökning sett utifrån konsumenternas perspektiv. För att kunna besvara syftet har en kvantitativ metod legat till grund för denna studie. Data har samlats in med hjälp av enkäter för att undersöka om det föreligger något samband bland konsumenter. För att kunna presentera ett mer djupgående resultat har den kvantitativa metoden kombinerats med en kvalitativ metod vid analys av data. Teorin i denna studie har använts som utgångspunkt för att bättre förstå konsumenternas köpbeteende samt betydelsen av varumärken. Studiens empiri består av den data som samlats in genom enkäter. I studies analys och diskussion har teorierna sedan tillämpats på den data som enkäterna genererat för att öka resultatets trovärdighet. I denna studie framkom att kvinnliga konsumenter i åldern 20-35 har låg kunskap om de konventionella klädernas påverkan på miljö och individ. Konsumenternas personliga behov värderas högre än socialt ansvarstagande och det som prioriteras högst vid köp av kläder är pris, design och kvalitet. Utbudet av ekologiska kläder är inte tillräckligt stort och de kläder som finns tillgängliga på marknaden saknar varumärkesimage och förknippas ofta med basplagg.

Förpackningsdesign i genusperspektiv : En granskning av duschcremesförpackningar

Färg och form kan bidra till att skapa uppmärksamhet, förmedla budskap och skapa känslor som i sin tur kan öka sannolikheten av att kunden genomför köpet. Förpackningens färg och form bör synkronisera för att budskapen inte ska motsäga varandra, och det är mycket viktigt att designen lämpar sig till målgruppen. Färg kan ses som ett språk som kommunicerar med konsumenten, och att förstå detta språk kan vara ett starkt redskap inom marknadsföring och design. Det är vanligt att förpackningsdesign riktas mot något eller bägge könen och att ge produkten en karaktär av maskulint eller feminint kan vara ett effektivt tillvägagångssätt att särskilja produkten från resterande sortiment. I samband med färg och form är det nödvändigt att förstå konsumentens behov samt användning av produkten, och det är viktigt att skapa en god design riktad mot rätt målgrupp. Det är viktigt att förstå vad konsumenten attraheras till och vad som lockar till att genomföra ett köp. Syftet med denna studie var att ta reda på varför förpackningsdesign för duschcreme specificerade för kvinnor respektive män skiljer sig, och vad som anses vara kvinnligt och manligt när det kommer till färg och form, i samband med duschcremesförpackningar. För att ta reda på detta genomfördes en visuell innehållsanalys samt en enkätundersökning. Resultatet som genererades av dessa metoder sammanfattades i tabeller och diagram, som tydligt visar de färger som anses vara maskulina samt feminina. Mörka färger, som svart och blått, anses vara maskulina medan ljusa färger och rosa toner anses vara feminina. Mjuka grafiska element och former kopplas till femininitet medan motsatsen kopplas till maskulinitet. Slutsatsen av detta är att anledningen till att förpackningarna skiljer sig är för att lättare kommunicera med målgruppen, och i detta fall via färg och form.

Perceptions of Sustainability and Functional Aspects on Liquid Carton Board Packaging Materials versus Competing Materials for Juice Applications in Sweden

This research explores the downstream perceptions of liquid carton board versus competing materials in packaging applications for juice. The methodology used is focus groups. The context is sustainability and functional performance, and related potential implications for the beverage industry value chain. The purpose is to get a deeper insight and understanding of functionality in relation to juice beverage packaging. The results confirm that there is no optimal packaging for every juice product, but a multitude, depending on the distribution channel, retail outlet, customer preferences, and context of consumption. There are some general packaging preferences, but the main deciding criteria for purchase seem to be the product characteristics in terms of quality, taste, brand, price and shelf life. For marketing reasons, packaging has to be adopted to the product and its positioning, liquid carton board packaging seem to have some functional advantages in distribution and is considered as sustainable and functional among many consumers. Major drawbacks seem to be shape limitations, lack of transparency, and lack of a “premium look”. To improve packaging performance and avoid sub-optimization, actors in the beverage industry value chain need to be integrated in development processes.