The paper examines Meta ads in the adult education field. The ads are selected based onfour main criteria, ads with creatives that show people in the profession of the intendededucation, ads that the audience can quickly identify as an educational program, creativeswith a high signal-to-noise ratio and creatives with only one point of focus in the pictures.The ads are analyzed through a semiotic analysis and then the subject of a survey todetermine how they score in regards to informativeness, entertainment, irritation and speedof processing. The paper finds a connection between ads with a high CTR (Clickthroughrate) and high scores in the survey in “informative” and “fast to process” ads. The mainlimitation of the paper is the low amount of partakers in the survey, coupled with the methodof scoring ads based on a survey instead of in their natural habitat, not accounting forbanner blindness and other phenomena related to social media and the web.

[pt] As mídias sociais digitais fazem parte do dia a dia de muitas pessoas. Nestas mídias, as empresas também estão presentes, o que indica interesse destas em construir relacionamentos mais próximos com os consumidores, além de promover seus produtos/serviços. Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar a percepção de consumidores em relação aos anúncios nas mídias sociais digitais e avaliar se estes anúncios conseguem influenciar o comportamento de compra. Para entender esta influência, foi desenvolvido um modelo conceitual com os seguintes construtos: informatividade, entretenimento, irritação, credibilidade, incentivos, valor emocional, valor do anúncio e atitude em relação à anúncios em mídias sociais digitais. Foi aplicada uma survey online que resultou em uma amostra de 589 brasileiros que utilizam Instagram ou Facebook. Os dados levantados foram analisados através da modelagem de equações estruturais (SEM). Uma das contribuições teóricas deste estudo foi a proposta de analisar a influência do valor emocional sobre a atitude em relação aos anúncios em mídias sociais digitais, o que não foi identificado em estudos anteriores. Além disso, o resultado apontou que a informatividade, construto consolidado na literatura como antecedente de valor do anúncio e atitude, não apresentou efeitos significativos no modelo estimado. Ademais, foi estudada a moderação do tipo de mídia social digital (Facebook ou Instagram) sobre as relações propostas. Os resultados indicaram que, enquanto os usuários de Instagram percebem com mais intensidade o efeito do valor do anúncio sobre a intenção de compra, os usuários do Facebook percebem o efeito de atitude de forma mais intensa. O estudo também fornece contribuições gerenciais que permitem profissionais de marketing a desenvolverem anúncios em mídias sociais de forma mais eficaz. / [en] Digital social media is a daily part of many people s lives. Companies are also present in this type of media, which indicates their interest in building closer relationships with consumers, in addition to promoting their products/services. This study aims to analyze consumers perceptions of ads on digital social media and to assess whether these ads can influence purchase behavior. To understand this influence, a conceptual model was developed with the following constructs: informativeness, entertainment, irritation, credibility, incentives, emotional value, ad value and attitude towards digital social media ads. An online survey was conducted that resulted a sample of 589 Brazilians using Instagram or Facebook. The collected data were analyzed through the structural equation modeling (SEM). One of the theoretical contributions of this study was the evaluation of the influence of emotional value on attitude towards digital social media ads, a relationship that was not identified in previous studies. In addition, the results pointed out that informativeness, a construct consolidated in the literature as an antecedent of ad value and attitude, did not present significant effects in the estimated model. In addition, the moderating effects of the type of digital social media (Facebook or Instagram) on the proposed relationships were studied. The results indicated that while Instagram users perceive more strongly the effect of ad value on intention to buy, Facebook users perceive the effect of attitude more intensely. The study also provides managerial contributions that enable marketers to more effectively develop social media ads.

The thesis investigates the concept of trademark dilution under international and regional trademark law, and under the laws of selected jurisdictions; namely, the United States of America, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Republic of South Africa. The investigation includes measures undertaken to prohibit the internet-based dilution of famous marks through the registration of confusingly similar domain names. It is noted that dilution is imprecisely formulated under international trademark treaty law. In fact, the term "dilution" does not appear in international trademark treaties. To fill the gap of international trademark treaties, various policy initiatives, or `soft law' have been developed, which to some extent clarify both the concept of dilution, the type of mark protected from dilution, and the scope of such protection. The problem is that the policy initiatives are non-binding on States, so that different States have adopted different common law and statutory approaches to the protection of marks against dilution. This is demonstrated, for example, by the fact that the European Union and its Member States provide protection from dilution to "marks with a reputation", while the United States of America provides such protection only to "famous" marks, and the Republic of South Africa protects "marks which are well-known in the Republic" from dilution. The thesis analyses the protection granted in these jurisdictions, to determine the similarities and differences of approach, and to make appropriate law reform proposals to achieve uniformity of protection. In the final analysis, it is concluded that the burden of enforcing dilution provisions rest on the judiciary. This being so, the judiciary is urged to engage in a balancing exercise in deciding dilution cases. The courts should recognize that dilution provisions are powerful tools at the disposal of owners of trademarks with advertising value. At the same time, the courts should be steadfast in ensuring that protection from dilution does not stultify freedom of trade, or create absolute monopolies or a form of copyright in a trademark. / Jurisprudence / LL.D.

The thesis investigates the concept of trademark dilution under international and regional trademark law, and under the laws of selected jurisdictions; namely, the United States of America, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Republic of South Africa. The investigation includes measures undertaken to prohibit the internet-based dilution of famous marks through the registration of confusingly similar domain names. It is noted that dilution is imprecisely formulated under international trademark treaty law. In fact, the term "dilution" does not appear in international trademark treaties. To fill the gap of international trademark treaties, various policy initiatives, or `soft law' have been developed, which to some extent clarify both the concept of dilution, the type of mark protected from dilution, and the scope of such protection. The problem is that the policy initiatives are non-binding on States, so that different States have adopted different common law and statutory approaches to the protection of marks against dilution. This is demonstrated, for example, by the fact that the European Union and its Member States provide protection from dilution to "marks with a reputation", while the United States of America provides such protection only to "famous" marks, and the Republic of South Africa protects "marks which are well-known in the Republic" from dilution. The thesis analyses the protection granted in these jurisdictions, to determine the similarities and differences of approach, and to make appropriate law reform proposals to achieve uniformity of protection. In the final analysis, it is concluded that the burden of enforcing dilution provisions rest on the judiciary. This being so, the judiciary is urged to engage in a balancing exercise in deciding dilution cases. The courts should recognize that dilution provisions are powerful tools at the disposal of owners of trademarks with advertising value. At the same time, the courts should be steadfast in ensuring that protection from dilution does not stultify freedom of trade, or create absolute monopolies or a form of copyright in a trademark. / Jurisprudence / LL.D.