This thesis focuses on the increasing emphasis on sustainability within the fashion industry and how brands, specifically H&M, can increase their market share through updating their in-store retail strategy. Seven common retail strategies are analyzed and recommendations in each area are made to enhance H&M’s emphasis on sustainability. To support these potential recommendations, two focus groups were conducted to evaluate some potential in-store marketing elements. Upon the conclusion of the focus group research, participant’s thoughts were taken into consideration to revise the recommended retail strategies. Overall, by implementing the recommended retail marketing strategies, H&M can incorporate their Conscious line more fully within their stores and promote their new sustainable focus to further their brand in the future.

In this thesis, we surveyed homeless individuals at the Saint Vincent de Paul homeless shelter to discover any trends amongst the homeless population in the areas of mental health and quality of life, as well as the effectiveness of the shelter for homeless individuals. Our overall findings show us that not only is the shelter successful in assisting homeless individuals in their daily lives and quality of lives, but friends and family play a crucial role in supporting homeless individuals as well.

In this thesis, we surveyed homeless individuals at the Saint Vincent de Paul homeless shelter to discover any trends amongst the homeless population in the areas of: mental health and quality of life, as well as to how effective the shelter is for individuals. Our overall findings show us that not only is the shelter successful in assisting homeless individuals in their daily lives and quality of lives, but friends and family play a crucial role in supporting homeless individuals as well.

This project involved the researchers conducting interviews at the Saint Vincent de Paul homeless shelter in downtown Phoenix. Interviews were transcribed into quantifiable data that was then used for data analysis. Our goal was to see how effective, or ineffective, the shelter was at improving the lives of its clients. Ultimately, our research suggests that the shelter does improve the lives of individuals experiencing homelessness. We hope this research will be used as evidence to support the shelter's efforts to receive more funding to improve its services.

With the majority of films today being adapted from original source material, the market is in need of guidance on how to produce a motion picture authentic to the original source material while also providing new, engaging viewing experiences. When the source itself has established itself as a brand with a strong fanbase or group of brand lovers, these needs become heightened and extremely valuable to the success of the adapted film brand. By examining the concepts of brand love, brand authenticity, films as brands, and brand ambidexterity I was then able to evaluate the need for an adapted film brand ambidexterity framework to produce a higher likelihood of success amongst fans. This need became further apparent when examining the brand history of the Star Wars franchise, one of the largest adapted film brands. From the prior research, I was able to construct in-depth interviews with fans of the Star Wars brand to deduce what aspects of brand love remained within this market, what they identified as the essential brand identity that must remain consistent with future projects, and what relevant ideas they anticipate in brand extensions. The unveiled concepts included the importance of long-term relationship with the brand, connection to the film brand’s philosophy, nostalgia, high family involvement, world expansion, and creative brand leaders.

With the United States' diverse group of people, diverse set of beliefs and diverse cultural backgrounds, it’s no wonder that over the last few decades there has been a 51 percent increase in second-generation Americans in the United States (Child Trends, 2018). Though each of these second- and third-generation Americans experience life in the U.S. vastly different, the common steps of self-identity, acculturation and assimilation persist. However, what is often missed with this seemingly linear process is the delineating step: retro acculturation. Their sense of disconnect sparks a feeling of blurred identity, introducing the phenomenon of retro- acculturation, or an individual’s conscious efforts to connect to their heritage in new ways. Understanding the “why” behind this revelation is essential in understanding the “how”- or the actions taken by the individual to connect with their withdrawn culture. A deeper understanding of retro-acculturation and its processes is essential to leveraging a successful marketing effort in order to reach this demographic. As this population steadily reaches a larger population and quickly gains consumer buying power, it is important to be taking note of new and innovative ways of making lasting impressions on this demographic. This study focuses on exploring and discovering why individuals experience retro-acculturation and their triggers, as well as what approaches they use to connect to their heritage culture. Additionally, the insights gained were leveraged to provide recommendations as to how business can more effectively market to reach this demographic.

In this thesis, I attempted to analyze different rebrands that proved to be either successful or unsuccessful. As case studies, I looked into Old Spice and Sprite, the successful rebrands, and Tropicana, the unsuccessful one. From there, I attempted to breakdown and provide an analysis of similarities and differences of the factors affecting the successful rebrands, as well as between the successful and unsuccessful rebrands. This included key aspects such as the effects of competition as well as what external and internal conditions affected the result of the rebrand.

Additionally, I provided a self-made framework that analyzes several factors that make up the market which companies should research and be aware of. This framework breaks down into both external, how market, customer, and competitive factors lend themselves to a rebrand as well as internal, how the rebrand will address the market and how the brand image will be changed by the rebranding.

Where is the fashion industry at now in terms of sustainability and how is it looking to improve for the future? The fashion industry has become one of the most environmentally destructive industries in the world. Since technology has allowed brands to mass produce clothing quickly and cheaply, consumers have become accustomed to purchasing clothing much more frequently. This drastic change in consumer behavior and mass production of garments has led to an incredible amount of waste in our landfills. The current process of manufacturing clothing has pushed fashion to become the second most polluting industry in the world behind oil (McKinsey & Company, 2020). The amount of greenhouse gas emissions released and water used during the clothing manufacturing process is very high. Additionally, harmful chemicals used in the dyeing process pollute nearby water supplies and leave laborers vulnerable to dangerous toxins.

The purpose of this thesis is to assess where the fashion industry has been in terms of sustainability and how it is looking to improve in the future. I researched how fast fashion has caused harm to the environment as consumer behavior has changed, raw materials are sourced unsustainably, and manufacturing of the garments themselves create environmental issues. I also conducted an external environment analysis to assess which current trends will impact the success or failure of sustainable fashion initiatives as well as the competitors that sustainable brands face in the current market. Based on these trends, I identified the demographics that would most likely be interested in sustainable fashion. Finally, I conducted interviews with six professionals in the industry to get their insight on how the industry has changed and where it is heading in terms of sustainability.

In this paper, I have designed a business model for a new type of fashion retail
store. This store will perfect the personal styling experience by utilizing customer and
apparel data to make individualized apparel recommendations. The format of this store
will heavily reduce the amount of search time for customers by only showing clothing
pieces that each person is likely to purchase, based on predictive analytics. In order to
plan this business model and determine whether a company of this style could be
successful, this paper includes research on the current environment of the fashion
industry, the company’s potential target market segmentation, and tactics for developing
the best customer offering.