Consumption of surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures are increasing every year and are consumed by women to a far greater extent than by men. To bear the role of an influencer has also become increasingly common. When influencers post on their social media, they reach out to a large audience with the intention of  influencing their followers to consume the goods or services that they share. Since consumption of beauty procedures has increased in Sweden and continues to increase, we want to investigate whether influencers convey messages about consuming beauty procedures. The aim of the study is to analyze Swedish female influencer's opinions and arguments about the consumption of surgical and nonsurgical beauty procedures. To fulfill the aim of the study, the following questions will be answered: what opinions and arguments about the appearance and consumption of beauty procedures do influencers express? and What norms and values are visible in influencer's opinions and arguments? In total, 14 YouTube videos and 10 Swedish female influencers were examined. The women's ages range from 18 to 35 years old. The phenomenon was studied through netnography because influencers are very much active online and do sometimes share their opinions about beauty procedures online. The theories and concepts we analyze and interpret our empirical material with is Bauman’s (2008) theory of consumer society, Bordo’s (1993) view of feminism, western culture and the body and Cooley’s (1902) concept the looking-glass self. The findings showed that there were five values and norms that the influencers in our survey expressed, these were: believing the human being to be autonomous, women need to look a certain way to be accepted as beautiful, beauty procedures lead to happiness, the body should be subjected to examination, evaluation, modification and objectification, that beauty procedures should not be taken very seriously but instead accepted as an everyday practice.

Digitaliseringen har påverkat samhället på många olika sätt, företag och konsumenter är inget undantag. E-handeln är i en stark tillväxtfas och man ser även hur olika branscher tar plats på den nya digitala marknaden. Skönhetsindustrin är en av dessa branscher som vuxit de senaste åren inom e-handeln. I takt med detta är det av intresse att undersöka varför konsumenter väljer att handla skönhetsprodukter online. Denna kvalitativa undersökning har studerat hur kvinnor i åldern 25-40 år väljer att handla skönhetsprodukter och hur faktorer som bekvämlighet, pris och information är avgörande vid köp. Studien undersöker det traditionella konsumentbeteendet jämfört med den nya digitala konsumenten och hur digitalisering påverkar hur konsumenter handlar skönhetsprodukter. Genom digitala verktyg som mobiltelefon har digitalisering bidragit till ett förändrat konsumtionsmönster där digitala verktyg som sociala medier och influenser börjat ta plats. Studiens syfte är att både kartlägga och förstå faktorerna som är av vikt vid inköp av skönhetsprodukter online, i syfte att bidra till kunskap för företag på den konkurrerande nya digitala marknaden. / Digitalisation has affected society in many ways, companies and consumers are no exception. E-commerce is in a strong growth phase and one can also see how different industries are taking their place in the new digital market. The beauty industry is one of those industries that has grown in the recent years in the field of e-commerce. In line with this, it is of interest to examine why consumers choose to shop for beauty products online. This qualitative study has studied how women between 25-40 years of age choose to buy beauty products and how factors such as convenience, price and information are crucial when buying. The study examines traditional consumer behaviour compared to the new digital consumer and how digitalisation affects how consumers buy beauty products. Through digital tools such as mobile phones, digitalisation has contributed to a changed consumption pattern where digital tools such as social media and influences have begun to take place. The aim of the study is to understand the factors that are important when purchasing beauty products online to contribute to knowledge for companies in the competing new digital market.

As consumers continue to make their purchases solely online without visiting brick-and-mortar stores, they increasingly look for ways to “touch, feel and try on” products without actually doing so. We believe social media influencers provide a way to do this, with the influencers themselves acting as “stand-ins” for consumers in their place. Finding influencers that look like you in 2022 sounds like it would be easy, but it isn’t. Until now. LIKE YOU aims to answer this gap in the market by creating a proprietary search engine that, through answering a few questions, recommends a list of influencers that can help you digitally “touch, feel and try on” products and finalize your purchase decision.

This dissertation approaches the concept of beauty. Looking through the consistent efforts ofphilosophers and artists over the centuries to define and capture beauty, we come to the conclusionthat such a thing is impossible in its entirety. The rules and the standards that measure out thebeautiful. By being something that can be defined and measured, I come to the conclusion thatbeauty and the way we talk about it and recognize it, forms a set of rules that establish a system.This system helps the dominant beholding part of power to maintain its status. Nietzsche, throughhis genealogical method, managed to prove that perhaps the easiest way to define or try tounderstand a concept is to examine how it evolved in various historical contexts. Nietzsche realizedthat distinct historical periods give a variable conceptual results for a certain value. The onesregulating those standards of evaluation, are the relations of power within a society. Foucault,evolving Nietzsche's hypothesis and thought, finds that the respective systems of power are the onessetting the specifics of evaluation that better suit them in order to maintain control. Systemsaccording to Foucault define and set the limits for our actions and thoughts. The respective socialvalue systems set the limits for the beautiful in our case and its definitive characteristics, resultingto a series of variable beauty standards that have been dominant in different historical periods. Themost effective tool of the dominator is the creation of regimes of truth. Regimes of truth arehistorically specific mechanisms that produce discourses which function as true in particular timesand places. These systems of truth are being regulated through narratives. In our time screentechnology has achieved something unprecedented in the communication chronicles of humanity,the possibility of globalized broadcast. The emergence of cinema has managed to influence anddefine the standards of beauty with unprecedented results in pop culture.

Während Gebäude des letzten Jahrhunderts dem Vitruvianischen Dreieck „Firmitas“ (Standfestigkeit), „Utilitas“ (Zweckmäßigkeit) sowie „Venustas“ (Anmut oder Schönheit) noch wie selbstverständlich entsprachen, tritt bei moderner Wohnbebauung das letztgenannte Prinzip der Schönheit zu oft zugunsten des Zwecks in den Hintergrund. Viele Baugesellschaften sind auf hohe Baulandpreise sowie die sich daraus ergebende Notwendigkeit der maximalen Ausnutzung des Grundstücks bei gleichzeitig minimalen Investitionen in das Gebäude fixiert. Angesichts der fundamentalen ökonomischen wie auch sozialen Bedeutung des Erscheinungsbildes von Wohnquartieren ist es das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit, den zwischen den beiden Faktoren „Schönheit des Wohnquartiers“ und „Wert der sich darin befindlichen Immobilien“ bestehenden Zusammenhang zu beleuchten. Dies geschieht im Rahmen theoretischer Ausführungen zum Schönheitsideal von Wohnquartieren, den für Anbieter bestehenden Anreiz, selbiges zu realisieren sowie die in Deutschland folglich typischerweise vorzufindenden Gebäudebestände. Ergänzt wird dieser theoretische durch einen empirischen Teil. In diesem kann der Nachweis über das Vorhandensein eines signifikant positiven Zusammenhangs zwischen der Schönheit des Wohnquartiers sowie sowohl der Einzugs- als auch der Zahlungsbereitschaft der Nachfrager für die sich darin befindlichen Gebäude geführt werden. Mittels der vorliegenden Arbeit kann somit belegt werden, dass sich das Maß an Befriedigung ästhetischer Bedürfnisse der Allgemeinheit in ökonomisch wirksamen Entscheidungen der Nachfrager niederschlägt. / While buildings oft he last century corresponded to the Vitruvian triangle „Firmitas“ (stability), „Utilitas“ (appropriateness) as well as „Venustas“ (grace or beauty) still as of course, the latter principle of the beauty steps with modern living building too often in favour oft the purpose in the background. Many building companies are fixed on high building land prices as well as the necessity arising from it of the maximum utilization oft he property with at the same moment minimal investments in the building. In view of the fundamental economic as well as social importance of the appearance of living accomodations it ist he aim oft he present work to identify eventual correlations between the two factors „beauty oft he living accomodation“ and „value of the real estate“.

This project is a journey of finding sustainable well-being through re-creating beauty stan-dards and generating changes that support a sustainable lifestyle. The starting point of the project is to support women’s well-being while patriarchal capitalist society diminishes their self-worth to make them consume. However, not only women but everyone is affected by beauty standards from society. By applying different design methods, the aim is to sustain an individual’s mental and physical well-being by reducing the pressure while navigating the demands of society through investigating the problems and finding ways to stay with the problem.

For a long period, the fashion- and advertising industry have contributed to unattainable beauty ideals among young women and retouching is not a new phenomenon. However, the rise of social media has led to easy access to free retouching applications and beautifying camera filters. The beauty ideals are maintained in today's society through camera filters' allusion to female beauty ideals. Young women can easily transform their appearance to fit within societal norms. Due to this, the study aims to investigate young women’s experiences of image manipulation tools. The study also aims to analyze whether image manipulation is important for young women's self-image and whether self-presentation on social media is adapted to the expectations of the individuals in the environment. The results of this qualitative study are based on six semi-structured interviews with women between the ages of 18 - 25, who continuously use image manipulation tools on social media. Furthermore, the study's theoretical framework is based on Goffman's dramaturgical perspective, Hirdman's gender system and West and Zimmerman's concepts of 'doing gender'. The results of this study clearly illustrate an ambivalence in young women's reasoning concerning camera filters and retouching. On the one hand, a positive attitude to the possibility of changing one's appearance is emphasized. On the other hand, negative consequences and their damage are clarified. Consequently, a prominent conclusion is that image manipulation tools have an impact on young women's self-image, which results in a normalized approach to beauty procedures. The results also show that individuals in the environment are important for female self-presentation on social media. Preparation of self-portraits and feedback in terms of likes and comments is an important part of self-presentation. / Reklam- och modebranschen har sedan länge bidragit till utseendefixering bland unga kvinnor och retuschering är därmed inget nytt fenomen. Framväxten av sociala medier har dock skapat en lättillgänglighet av retuscherande gratis-applikationer och förskönande kamerafilter. Detta har medfört att utseendenormer upprätthålls genom kamerafilters anspelan på kvinnligt skönhetsideal. Unga kvinnor kan genom endast en knapptryckning förvandla utseendet för att passa in i samhällsnormerna. Syftet med studien är därmed att få en djupare förståelse för unga kvinnors upplevelser av bildmanipulationsverktyg. Studien syftar även till att undersöka om bildmanipulation har betydelse för unga kvinnors självbild och om självpresentationen på sociala medier anpassas efter omgivningens förväntningar. Resultatet av den kvalitativa studien baseras på sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med kvinnor i åldrarna 18 till 25 år, som kontinuerligt använder bildmanipulationsverktyg på sociala medier. Vidare utgår studiens teoretiska ramverk från Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv, Hirdmans genussystem samt West och Zimmermans begrepp “doing gender”. Studiens resultat betonar en ambivalens i unga kvinnors resonemang om kamerafilter och retuschering. Å ena sidan poängteras en positiv inställning till möjligheten att förändra det egna utseendet. Å andra sidan tydliggörs negativa konsekvenser och dess skada. Ytterligare en framträdande slutsats är att bildmanipulationsverktyg har betydelse för unga kvinnors självbild, vilket i sin tur innebär ett normaliserat förhållningssätt till skönhetsingrepp. Resultatet belyser ytterligare att individer i omgivningen har en avgörande betydelse för unga kvinnors självpresentation på sociala medier. Förberedelser av självporträtt och feedback i form av likes och kommentarer utgör en viktig del av självpresentationen.

This study examines intersectionality, white privilege and essentialism in Toni Morrison’s stories The Bluest Eye and “Recitatif”. Moreover, intersectional markers are taken into consideration to analyze how the characters are advantaged or disadvantaged in the white dominant society of the two novels. Additionally, white privilege is compared to the lack of privilege that the black characters experience and how that further affects them is discussed. Furthermore, the issues that critical race theorists acknowledge with the essentialized approach in movements for social justice will be connected to Morrison’s stories. More specifically, the tendency to overlook intersectionality when essentializing women’s experiences will be connected to how the realities of Morrison’s multidimensional female characters cannot be generalized. In addition, the negative effects white standards of beauty have on the black female characters in The Bluest Eye are examined. It is concluded that black female subjectivity makes the reader better understand the intersectional experiences of the characters and this subjectivity also makes white privilege visible in the stories. Additionally, in “Recitatif”, where the reader does not know the specific race of the characters, conclusions can be made about how race and class intersect by considering historical aspects and how signs of white privilege show up in the story. Although, more important than deciding the race of Morrison’s characters, is for the reader to acknowledge the challenge she creates of considering intersectionality in the story.

In order to produce work that prompts the viewer to undergo a process of personal exploration resulting in discourse and the understanding of feelings, it is necessary to balance ideals and realities, combine experience and creativity, and blend concepts and materials. Ideals and realities are discussed in this paper, using an approach that concentrates on foundational principles. The ideals of morality, beauty, goodness, acceptance, and unity form a foundation for the motivation behind my work. They are described in relationship to the philosophy of aesthetics. Ideals are contrasted with realities of life which have patterns and rhythms. These repetitive patterns bring experience and predictability, which can give us peace of mind and comfort. Predictability needs to be balanced with creativity, so that life remains interesting and challenging, and so that we can handle the unexpected. There is a natural tension when combining ideals and realities, experience and creativity. Alleviating that tension in my work necessitates working cognitively as well as using the skill of my hands — blending concepts and materials. The balance and tension between ideals and realities, concepts and materials, is discussed in connection with my first installation, Matter Out of Place (2002), and my final project, Perennial (2005). By using principles as a foundation for my work, and incorporating a combination of experience and creativity, concepts and materials, I hope to successfully convey meaning to viewers in a manner that will cause discourse and reflection.

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to examine which experiential dimensions that are perceived as important for customers and how these dimensions are delivered by Swedish beauty and makeup retailers. The focus is to examine how their physical in-store environments succeeds with delivering extraordinary customer experiences. The thesis is conducted through a deductive approach and a quantitative research method have been implemented. Further on, the software Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) have been used to process the data collected from an online questionnaire. The empirical findings were then calculated into six variables that were analyses and discussed in relation to existing theories to strengthen and improve the research of customer experience. The thesis found that experiential dimensions of interaction, emotion, differentiation and in-store technologies are considered as important by customers within the age of 18-30, when creating extraordinary customer experiences in the context of beauty and makeup in-store environments. Moreover, the collected data prove that Swedish Beauty and makeup stores fails to deliver these four dimensions in the extent to create extraordinary customer experiences. Customers of today want new and interesting in-store environments, which means that retailers need to permanently elaborate their environments with unique design element within these dimensions to deliver memorable customer experiences. The result from this thesis can be used by beauty and makeup retailers and other industries to increase their delivery of extraordinary customer experience.