Dagens överkonsumtion har resulterat i förödande problem för både natur och oss själva. En av alla lösningar till att minska problemet är att tillverka och erbjuda etiskt korrekta produkter till konsumenter. Men trots att intentionen att köpa dessa produkter har ökat hos konsumenter, genomförs inte dessa köp. I samma veva som konsumtionen förändrats har en ny generation vuxit upp och blivit redo att konsumera - Generation Z. Generation Z skiljer sig från andra generationer i både attityd och handlande. De ägnar stor tid åt sociala medier där de utvecklar sina nätverk, ökar sin kunskap och finner inspiration. Om dagens forskning har rätt om denna generation, är det de som har möjlighet att vända den onda trenden med överkonsumtion och få konsumenter att handla på ett mer etiskt korrekt sätt. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur generation Z uppfattar vad som visas på sociala medier, samt hur denna information sedan används i praktiken. Detta undersöks för att se om sociala medier kan påverka generation Z till att genomföra fler etiskt korrekta köp. Med ett synsätt baserat på en teori som säger att det finns ett gap mellan etisk intention och genomförande, är det därför viktigt för både kunder och företag att förstå vad det är som påverkar konsumenter till att faktiskt genomföra ett köp. Om denna kunskap inte uppdagas, kommer problemet kvarstå. Forskning på generation Z är idag väldigt begränsad, på grund av detta har en kvalitativ tvärsnittsdesign med semistrukturerade gruppintervjuer genomförts. Val av metod härleds till att den var bäst lämpad för att uppnå en djup förståelse om ämnet under en kort tid. Undersökningen baseras på fyra fokusgrupper med tre till fem respondenter i varje grupp, totalt 17 personer. Intervjuerna ägde rum i Borås och utfördes på kvinnor i åldern 16-25 år. Utifrån resultatet från empirin och analysen kunde trovärdiga slutsatser om generation Z och dess användning av sociala medier dras. Generation Z använder sig frekvent av sociala medier. De främsta användningsområdena är för att hålla kontakten med omvärlden, inspireras och hämta information. Dessa användningsområden varierar beroende på vilken plattform som används. Nyheter som prioriterades på sociala medier var sådant som snabbt fångade intresset och var lättillgängligt att läsa. Det var också av vikt att informationen kom från en trovärdig källa. Gällande reklam från influencers på sociala medier var det också viktigt att produkten kunde kopplas till personen i fråga, det vill säga även här behövde källan vara trovärdig. Hos generation Z var gapet mellan intention och genomförande av etiskt korrekta köp påtagligt. Slutsatserna som drogs från intervjuerna var att sociala medier bör användas som ett verktyg för att minska gapet då det påverkar konsumenter till hög grad. Majoriteten av respondenterna ville genomföra etiskt korrekta köp, men hänvisade till diverse faktorer som påverkade genomförandet. Främst var okunskap anledningen till att mindre “bra” köp gjordes. Antalet etiska köp kan ökas genom snabbläst information om hållbarhet på sociala medier. / Today's overconsumption has resulted in devastating problems for both nature and ourselves. One of many solutions to reducing the problem is to manufacture and offer ethically correct products to consumers. But even though the intention to buy these products has increased amongst consumers, these purchases are not implemented. At the same time as the consumption changes, a new generation has grown up and are now ready to consume - Generation Z. Generation Z differs from other generations in both attitude and action. They spend a lot of time on social media where they develop their networks, increase their knowledge and find inspiration. If today's research is right about this generation, they are able to reverse the evil trend of overconsumption and make consumers act more ethically correct. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate how generation Z perceives what appears on social media, and how this information is then used in practice. This is investigated to see if social media can affect generation Z to implement more ethically correct purchases. With an approach based on a theory that says there is a gap between ethical intention and implementation, it is therefore important for both customers and companies to understand what it is that influences consumers to actually conduct a purchase. If this knowledge is not discovered, the problem will persist. Research on generation Z is today very limited. Because of this, a qualitative cross-sectional design with semi-structured group interviews has been conducted. The choice of method was found to be best suited to obtain a deep understanding of the subject in a short period of time. The survey is based on four focus groups with three to five respondents in each group, a total of 17 people. The interviews took place in Borås and were performed on women in age 16-25 years. Based on the empirical results and the analysis, credible conclusions about generation Z and its use of social media could be drawn. Generation Z uses social media frequently. The main uses are to keep in touch with the outside world, inspire and retrieve information. These uses vary depending on the platform. News that were prioritized on social media were those that quickly caught the interest and were easy to read. It was also important that the information came from a credible source. Regarding advertising from influencers on social media, it was also important that the product could be linked to the specific person. So, even here the source needed to be credible. Amongst generation Z, the gap between intention and implementation of ethically correct purchase was significant. The conclusions drawn from the interviews were that social media should be used as a tool to reduce the gap, as it highly affects consumers. The majority of respondents would do ethically correct purchases, but referred to various factors that influenced implementation. Mainly, lack of knowledge was the reason why less "good" purchases were made. The number of ethical purchases can be increased by fast-paced information on sustainability at social media. This thesis is written in Swedish.

The thesis reports on the evaluation of a digital information literacy program (DILP) to determine the program’s effectiveness in enhancing students’ digital information literacy skills. The program was originally designed and developed for the South African student, as member of Generation Y, but was adapted to suit the demographics and characteristics of Generation Z. New learning technologies were incorporated to enhance students’ learning experience. One of the characteristics of information literacy programs that illustrate best practice is the evaluation of the program itself to judge it’s effectiveness and validate the program as a learning tool. A review of the literature confirmed the paucity of the evaluation of such programs using assessment of student learning through outcomes assessment instruments, based on information literacy competency standards, designed with proven validity and reliability. The literature review found no evidence of the evaluation of the effectiveness of such programs through meaningful assessment of student learning using outcomes assessment in South Africa. For these reasons, the evaluation of the DILP was undertaken. To evaluate the effectiveness of the DILP, a non-randomised quasi-experimental research design, focusing on a single-group pre-test/post-test design which incorporated a combined quantitative and qualitative research approach was used. The primary research instrument was a pre- and post-test. A group of students, belonging to Generation Y and Z, completed a pre-test, worked through the DILP and completed a post-test. Telephonic and e-mail interviews were used to collect further data. The statistical analysis is presented by using descriptive statistics (stacked bar charts for the quantitative data and pie charts for the qualitative data). Inferential statistics were used to reach conclusions beyond the immediate data presented in the charts. The final step was to judge the overall effectiveness of the DILP. The difference between the means was statistically significant, indicating that the DILP was effective in enhancing the digital information literacy skills of students. Based on this research, additional research could be the evaluation of a DILP designed specifically for “digital natives”; the development of online outcomes assessment instruments for web-based tutorials with proven validity and reliability and research in the area of integrating emerging learning technologies with such programs, evaluating their effectiveness. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

I denna studie fokuseras ledarskapets påverkan på generation Z:s arbetsmotivation. Denna generation börjar etablera sig på arbetsmarknaden, vilket betyder att ledarskapet inom organisationer påverkas. Därför undersöker jag i denna studie hur man som ledare kan motivera generation Z på bra vis. Med intervjuer som primärdata är syftet med studien att undersöka grunden till arbetsmotivation, både ur generation Z:s perspektiv samt ur ett ledarskapsperspektiv. Den empiriska studien kommer sedan att analyseras utifrån grundad teori, där Gioias metodologi tillämpas. Här genereras teori där även existerande teori används för att stärka, bekräfta och skapa nya hypoteser utifrån den aktuella forskningen.

Esta investigación tiene como objeto de estudio central las estrategias de información de la denominada generación centennial en la ciudad de Lima. Esta generación es caracterizada por tener un mayor vínculo con la tecnología a comparación de las anteriores. Este factor influye en sus formas de comunicarse y de obtener información, pues se desarrolla en un entorno periodístico e informativo distinto: el digital. El periodismo digital destaca por estar en constante cambio, está relacionado con el alto flujo de información y también cambia paradigmas que se tenía con el periodismo tradicional, pues las noticias se construyen progresivamente y llegan a su audiencia con mayor inmediatez. Esta investigación inició con la definición de los conceptos clave y la delimitación temporal de los centennials. En el segundo capítulo se ilustra el entorno en el que esta generación se desarrolló. Finalmente, a través de la herramienta de la entrevista, se procedió a analizar a profundidad los hábitos de los centennials para informarse sobre hechos políticos. / This investigation has as the main purpouse studying the information strategies of denominated centennial generation in Lima. This generation is caracterized for having a stronger link with technology, compared to the previous ones. This factor influences their way of communication and the way of how they get information, since this is developed in a journalistic and informative different environment: the digital. Digital Journalism stands out for being in constant change, is related with the high flow of information and also changes paradigms of traditional journalism, since news are constructed progressively and reach its audience faster. This investigation started with the definition of key concepts and temporary delimitation of centennials. In the second chapter the environment of development of this generation is illustrated. Finally, through interviews, it was proceed to analyze deeply centennials habits to get information about political facts. / Trabajo de investigación

Small apparel retailers face extreme competition with larger retailers. Large retailers have the upper hand in resources to stay updated with various trends, specifically social media. Social media has lowered the barriers to enter the retail industry. However, once these small retailers enter, half of them fail because they don't attract and retain customers. Small-medium enterprises (SMEs) greatly impact the economy, so it is important to study various facets of their business to increase performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate customer's development of social capital (i.e. affiliation, responsiveness, shared values, norm of reciprocity) in small apparel retailer's Instagram page that ultimately lead to purchase intentions for the retailer. Perceived benefits (i.e. perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment) are also investigated in relation to purchase intentions. More specifically, social bonding, brand identification and trust are examined as mediating variables between the perceived level of social capital, perceived benefits and purchase intentions. Over a 3-month period, 200 responses were collected from students at a southern university. The findings reveal that younger customers develop a relationship with retailers on Instagram and it transfers to behavioral outcomes towards the retailer. The theoretical contribution of this study draws from the lack of literature for small apparel retailer and social capital built in Instagram, leading to purchase intentions. Managers can implement the findings into their social media marketing strategies to improve business performance. Lastly, this study has methodological limitations that creates opportunity for future studies.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of influencer marketing with a focus on Generation Z. The study aims to reveal which properties of environmental and sustainability related content are important to maintain the social media engagement of Generation Z, as influencers start to include this on their social media platforms.  Method: The study takes a deductive and qualitative approach, focusing on the underlying factors of social media engagement. Data has been collected through three semi structured focus groups.  Results: The results from this study show that Generation Z have a double sided relationship with sustainability issues, where many consider these to be important, but few show this in their consumer behaviour. Furthermore, the participants’ attitudes towards sustainability issues being implemented on influencers’ social media platforms are positive, but there is also a large risk of decreased social media engagement from Generation Z. Messages about the environment and sustainability that are too negative or too frequent, can lead to the participants feeling anxiety or losing interest in the influencer at hand.  Conclusion: To summarize, there are some properties of environmental content which can be crucial for the sustention of the social media engagement of Generation Z. The content should use several types of media (images, videos, text, etc.), be well integrated with the influencer’s niche and the message should be short. The message is more appreciated if it is not in the form of a paid collaboration and the content should not appear so frequently that the influencer’s niche appears to have changed. Finally, the social media engagement might increase over time if the content is consistently interesting and engaging. / Syfte: Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för området influencer marketing med ett fokus på generation z. Detta för att ta reda på vilka egenskaper i miljö- och hållbarhetsrelaterat innehåll som är viktiga för att följarengagemanget hos generation z inte skall minska, när influencers inför detta på sina sociala plattformar.  Metod: Studien har en deduktiv och kvalitativ ansats, med fokus på de underliggande faktorerna hos följarengagemang. Data på detta har samlats in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer i tre fokusgrupper. Resultat: Resultaten från denna studie visar att generation z har en tvåsidig relation till hållbarhetsfrågor, där de flesta anser att dessa är viktiga, men ett fåtal visar detta i sitt konsumtionsbeteende. Vidare är respondenternas inställning positiv till införandet av sådana frågor på influencers sociala plattformar, men risken är också stor för ett minskat följarengagemang från generation z. Budskap om miljö och hållbarhet som är för negativt lagda eller för frekventa kan skapa ångest hos respondenterna samt ett minskat intresse för influencern i fråga.  Slutsats: Sammanfattningsvis framgår det att vissa egenskaper i miljörelaterat innehåll kanvara avgörande för generation z:s fortsatta följarengagemang. Innehållet bör vara multimedialt, kortfattat och väl integrerat med influencerns nisch. Budskapet uppskattas mer om det inte är i form utav ett betalt samarbete och bör inte förekomma så pass ofta att influencerns nisch upplevs som förändrad. Vidare kan följarengagemanget öka med tiden om innehållet är konsekvent intresseväckande och engagerande.

I media framställs Generation Z som en miljömedveten generation som kan tänkas ha Greta Thunberg som förebild eftersom hon blivit en symbol för miljönrörelsen. Trots att undersökningar visar att Generation Z intresserar sig mer för miljöfrågor och etiska frågor entydigare generationer så finns det forskning som hävdar att generationen är oengagerade, egoistiska och konsumistiska. Uppsatsens syfte är att studera individer i Generation Z:sattityder till hållbart mode och huruvida dessa attityder speglar deras intentioner till hållbarkonsumtion. Avsikten med studien är att få en ökad förståelse till hur ett eventuellt gap mellanattityd och agerande kan förklaras. För att få en djupare förståelse för hur individernas attityder formas samt hur den speglar deras agerande används Trekomponentsmodellen som teoretiskt perspektiv i studien. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom en kvalitativmetod i form av tre fokusgrupper där svenska individer i Generation Z deltog. De teman som uppkom under kodningen har kopplats ihop med Trekomponentsmodellen som består av komponenterna uppfattning, känsla och beteende. Resultatet i vår studie tyder på att den viktigaste komponenten till den tvetydigheten som finns hos individerna i Generation Z verkar vara sociala medier. Empirin tyder på en kunskapsbrist, egoism, lathet och bristande engagemang är orsakerna till hur respondenternas agerar. Intervjupersonerna anser att det inte är dem som bär ansvaret för miljön och de hävdaratt miljökrisen ännu inte drabbat dem. Analysen visar även att när de väl konsumerar hållbart är intentionen aldrig att handla hållbart och att mycket av deras attityder till hållbart modeformas utifrån sociala medier. Slutsatsen kan därför dras att sociala medier är den största orsaken till deras attityder och beteende eftersom det visar sig att sociala medier även påverkar det som ligger till grund för deras attityder. Attityderna till respondenterna i denna studie skiljer sig från det Greta står för vilket kan tänkas bero på att hennes attityder speglar hennes agerande. Hennes hållbara attityder och agerande påverkas inte på samma sätt utifrån vad som sägs på sociala medier utan hon använder sociala medier för att nå ut med sinaåsikter. Då denna studie endast är gjord på individer i Generation Z kan resultatet inte generaliseras för en hel generation precis som Greta inte kan tala för en hel generation. Eftersom denna studie endast riktat in sig på tjejer i Generation Z skulle ett förslag till vidareforskning skulle vara att utföra samma studie fast på killar för att undersöka om resultaten skiljer sig. / In media, Generation Z is portrayed as environmentally conscious and that it could conceivably have Greta Thunberg as its role model since she has become a symbol for the environment. Although studies show that Generation Z has more interest in environmental and ethical issues than previous generations, there is also research that claims that the generation is unengaged, egoistic and consumeristic. The thesis purpose is therefore to study individuals in Generation Z’s attitudes towards sustainable fashion and whether these attitudes reflect their intentions towards sustainable consumption. The purpose of the study is to gain a greater understanding of how a possible gap between attitude and behavior can be explained. In order to gain a deeper understanding of how individuals' attitudes are shaped and how they reflect their actions, the three-component model is used as a theoretical perspective in this study. In this study, a qualitative method have been used where the empirical data was collected through three focus groups where swedish indiviuals in Generation Z participated. The themes that occurs during coding are then linked to the three-component model, which consists of perception, feelings and behaviour. The result of our study indicates that the most important component to this ambiguousness that exists among the individuals in Generation Z appears to be social media. The empirical data indicates that knowledge-deficiency, selfishness, indolence and lack of commitment are the reasons for the respondent’s actions. The respondents believe that it is not those who are responsible for the environment and they claim that the environmental crisis has not yet affected them. The result also shows that once they consume sustainably, the intention is never to act sustainably and that much of their attitudes towards sustainable fashion are shaped from social media. It can therefore be concluded that social media is the main cause of their attitudes and behaviour, as it turns out that social media also affects what underlies their attitudes. Unlike the respondents in this study, Greta Thunberg's attitudes and actions differ from those of the respondents since her attitudes reflect her actions. Her sustainable attitudes and actions cannot be changed based on what is being said on social media, instead she uses social media to reach out and get her voice heard. Since this study only focus on individuals in Generation Z, the result cannot be generalized for an entire generation just as Greta cannot speak for her entire generation. Since this study only focused on girls in Generation Z, one suggestion for further research could be to perform the same study on boys to see if the results differ.

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to find solutions to increase the purchase intention of HIP’s and encourage Generation Z to influence todays’ customers to buy online as well as to purchase in future online when they become relevant customers in the new-car market, and to enable car manufacturers to use the potential of increased margins and sales, of online shopping in the car industry. Design/Methodology/Approach: The structure was followed by a deductive approach. Moreover, a quantitative approach was applied in the form of a questionnaire based on 5 hypotheses with 200 valid responses. The programs for the analysis are AMOS-SEM. Findings: Evidence has shown a positive relationship between variables in the hypotheses.The attitude and subjective norms, affected by behavioral beliefs and normative beliefs, of Generation Z affected the purchase intention of Generation Z, towards online purchase of HIP’s, positively and enabled them to act as influencers. Research Contributions/Limitations: The contribution highlights that, Generation Z as influencers of today and the future customer, could change consumer behavior towards online purchase of HIP’s, which help car manufacturers improve their online sales and grow their business. The research is limited to 200 people that are representative for Generation Z. Practical Implications: The results contribute important insights of selling HIP's online to Generation Z. Furthermore, the implications are developed to decrease the perceived risk of buying cars online. Value: The study about Generation Z, as influencers of today and future customers for online purchase of HIP's and specifically cars, indicated that there is a lack of scientific studies on this specific field. Therefore, the value of the study is based on new findings to help car manufacturers create a better experience for customers and increase their online sales on the new-car market. Keywords: E-commerce, Customer Experience In Online Shopping, Generation Z, Consumer Behavior Toward Online Shopping, High Involvement Products, New-Car Market

Background: Brands have started paying attention to brand authenticity since consumer demand for authenticity is increasing. Especially Gen Z is constantly seeking for authentic, inclusive, and diverse brands as they are the first generation to choose brands based on authenticity. Especially the LGBTQ community’s representation in advertising is often perceived as inauthentic and superficial. Since Gen Z is not only a big consumer of fast fashion but also the first to include fast fashion as part of their everyday life, the fast fashion industry is required to be more authentic in its use of LGBTQ in advertising. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how Gen Z perceives LGBTQ images in fast fashion advertising and how this impacts brand authenticity. Method: For this study, an exploratory research design with a qualitative approach was applied. Using an abductive approach, existing literature was used as a basis to create the conceptual model of this study. Further, a fictional fast fashion brand including five advertisements were created and presented to twenty informants during semi-structured interviews to gain a more in-depth understanding of the research problem. Conclusion: The study found that Gen Z’s perceptions of LGBTQ images in fast fashion advertising can be classified into three categories: positive, neutral, and negative perceptions. Informants with a positive perception perceived the brand to be authentic whilst informants with a negative perception the opposite. Since informants with a neutral perception sometimes had similar perceptions as the informants with a positive or negative perception, no clear answer on their perception of brand authenticity can be given.

With the increased focus on climate change, sustainability has become a common term for both organizations as well as consumers. The clothing industry is one of the industries that have the biggest negative impact on climate change. Still, the fast fashion business, based on cheap materials and low production costs, continues to thrive. The clothing companies stand before an increased review from society and are therefore forced to work with sustainability and acceptance. Depending on how the companies handle their communication with regards to sustainability, their consumers are put at risk of being subjectable to greenwashing, since the companies regard themselves to be more sustainable than they are. Generation Z consists of people born between the years of 1995 to 2005 and they were born into the so-called climate crisis. Generation Z is ultimately the generation that will live during the unpredictable future due to climate change. This makes the generation the most environmentally conscious generation yet. Still, the generation is the world’s largest group of consumers, and a large part of their identity lies within how they dress. This study aims to examine how generation Z, as an environmentally conscious group with a lot of purchasing power, perceives the Swedish fashion brand's communication about sustainability. The study is based on a quality method, using focus groups to gather data. This method is chosen since the aim is to analyze generation Z perception, feelings, and ideas. The theory studies terms within the roam of sustainability, both in the Swedish fashion business and as well as marketing. How Swedish fashion companies communicate their work on sustainability and how this is perceived by generation Z is presented via “a linear model of communication”. The result of the study shows that all the respondents have a similar perception of how confidence-inspiring the fashion business combination on sustainability is. Previous research has described generation Z as a consumer group that highly values sustainability, this is in line with the results of this study. The respondents describe that they consume sustainably by shopping second-hand but finds it hard to do sustainable choices when shopping for newly produced clothes. Fashion companies in the fast fashion sector that work with sustainability limited areas of the organization have low to no credibility from the respondents. The will to consume sustainably produced clothes is hindered by the fact that the respondents lack the trust for the actual sustainability in the products and production chain. The respondents seek companies with transparency, since thisincreases their trust and fulfills their will to consume sustainably. / I takt med att vår klimatpåverkan ökar har hållbarhet blivit ett uppmärksammat begrepp hos såväl organisationer som hos konsumenter. Modebranschen är en av de branscher som har störst negativ påverkan på miljön, trots detta fortsätter den så kallade fast fashion-industrin, baserad på billiga material och tillverkningskostnader, att blomstra. Modeföretagen står samtidigt inför en ökad granskning av samhället och tvingas att arbeta med hållbarhet för att få acceptans. Beroende på hur företagen väljer att kommunicera sitt hållbarhetsarbete riskerar konsumenterna att bli utsatta för greenwashing, då företagen anser sig vara mer hållbara än vad de egentligen är. Generation z, personer födda mellan åren 1995–2005, är födda in i den så kallade klimatkrisen samt är också den generation som ska leva i en orolig framtid med växande klimatförändringar. Detta resulterar i att målgruppen är den hittills mest kritiska och miljömedvetna av alla generationer. Samtidigt är målgruppen världens största konsumentgrupp och är måna om att skapa sin identitet genom vad de klär sig i. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur generation z som köpkraftig och miljömedveten målgrupp uppfattar de svenska modeföretagens hållbarhetskommunikation. Forskarna har valt en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med fokusgrupper som insamlingsmetod eftersom studien syftar till att på ett djupgående sätt undersöka generation z:s uppfattningar, känslor och idéer. Teorin belyser begrepp som berör området hållbarhet i den svenska modebranschen och hållbar marknadsföring. Hur svenska modeföretag kommunicerar hållbarhetsarbetet och hur detta tolkas av generation z presenteras via kommunikationsmodellen “A linear model of communication”. Resultatet av studien visar att samtliga respondenter har liknande uppfattningar om hur förtroendeingivande modebranschens hållbarhetskommunikation är. Tidigare forskning beskriver generation z som en konsumentgrupp som värderar hållbarhet högt vilket stämmer överens med studiens resultat. Respondenterna beskriver att de handlar mycket hållbart i form av second hand men anser att det är svårt att göra hållbara val av nyproducerade plagg. Modeföretag verksamma inom fast fashion-industrin som arbetar med hållbarhet inom begränsade delar av organisationen har lågt eller inget förtroende hos representanterna. Viljan att handla nyproducerade hållbara plagg hindras av det faktum att respondenterna inte litar på graden av hållbarhet i produkterna och produktionskedjan. Greenwashing är ett begrepp samtliga respondenter är bekanta med vilket minskar förtroendet för företagen eftersom det är vanligt förekommande inom modebranschen. Samtliga respondenter efterlyser transparens hos företagen vilket skulle öka deras förtroende och vilja att konsumera hållbart.