Background: Consumers have created resistance towards marketing which can be seen for example as cynicism and criticism towards advertisements. Consequently, marketers do not achieve the aimed effect to consumers as easily as earlier. Authentic advertisement is said to be a tool to surpass the consumers’ resistance. Additionally, authenticity is argued to be the cornerstone of modern marketing and influencer marketing is said to be an appropriate channel fostering this. Aim: With this thesis the aim is to research how this the perceived authenticity of consumers affect on the engagement in Instagram to influencer marketers’ postings. Also, to determine and identify the consumers’ perception of authenticity in influencer marketing, especially in Instagram postings. Additionally, the aim is to identify what is the significance of consumers’ perceived authenticity to engagement in influencer marketing postings in Instagram. Methodology: A qualitative explorative research including an influencer interview, focus group interview with five Instagram users and observational study to three Instagram influencers. Findings: Consumers’ perceived authenticity have a positive significance to engagement in influencer marketing in Instagram. However, causes of engagement are relatively ambiguous, and the engagement in influencers’ postings is influenced by other aspects as well than consumers’ perceived authenticity.

Användandet av sociala medier fortsätter att växa allt mer. Influencer marketing är ett relativt nytt fenomen, och många företag väljer att använda sig utav influencers för att marknadsföra sina produkter. Syftet med denna studie är att utifrån ett kommunikationsperspektiv undersöka hur olika organisationer inom livsstilsbranschen förhåller sig till influencer marketing. Detta för att utveckla en förståelse för hur organisationer jobbar med influencers som en del av marknadsföringsstrategin.

Influencer marketing is today a well-known marketing strategy used by many companies and the phenomenon is growing day by day. This is mostly a strategy with the spotlight on how the company can reach their consumers through famous people on social medias, not with focus on what relationship is created between all the parties. This study has the purpose to create a better understanding of how influencers use a marketing communication strategy to build a relationship with their target groups. To delimitate the research the focus will be on Instagram as a platform for influencers to work on. To get an answer on the purpose, a qualitative case study consisting of three interviews with influencers, together with three complementary content studies have been executed. The theories used in the study are influencer marketing along with a marketing communication strategy and relationship marketing model. These are the foundation and the theoretical framework for the study and used to investigate the influencer - follower relationship from the perspective of the influencer. The collected data presents a result that shows that influencers are concerned about their relationship to the followers and are dedicated to improve this. They all see a meaningful gain in creating a long-term relationship with respect and trust shown from both parties. The influencers are in some ways conscious about their usage of marketing communication strategies and in some ways not. We can see similarities and differences between all the influencers regarding all theories. The differences can depend on various nationalities among the respondents and inequality in the number of followers. As a conclusion and theoretical contribution from this study we claim that several parts of the marketing communication strategy used can have a direct impact on specific parts of the relationship marketing model used in this research. Influencers and companies who are aware of these factors may have a bigger chance of success.

The purpose of this study is to further explore the modern phenomenon of COO, brand image, and online influencer marketing as they relate to consumer's purchase intention online. This empirical study employs a mixed method approach with quantitative exploratory factor analysis through a survey as well as qualitative exploration through focus groups and in-depth interviews. Quantitative data analysis revealed that online influencers have a significant effect on consumers’ purchase intent as well as their perception of COO or brand image. Qualitative data analysis further revealed that when consumers do not follow online influencers, they have a less than significant effect on the consumers’ perception of COO. However, if consumers actively follow online influencers, the probability of them adhering to the recommendations of purchasing from an unfamiliar COO is high. This results in the recognition of the need for further research, as well as some insightful avenues to investigate.

Idag brukas internet av majoriteten människor i Sverige och företag har upptäckt möjligheten att använda internet i sin marknadskommunikation. Det har öppnat upp nya dörrar för företag att annonsera ut sitt budskap på internet istället för i de traditionella kommunikationskanalerna, såsom tv, radio och tidningar. Utvecklingen gör det möjligt för företag att nå en bredare målgrupp och även enklare att målgruppsanpassa sitt budskap. Vid produktlanseringar gäller det att synas i de medier som företagets målgrupp befinner sig och placera marknadsföringsbudgeten rätt. Sociala medier ett modernt sätt att nå ut med sin marknadskommunikation och detta har ändrat synen på de gamla kommunikations rutinerna. På sociala medier finns det så kallade influencers som företag kan använda som en kommunikationskanal där influencern blir budbäraren av budskapet.  Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva hur företag marknadskommunikation vid produktlanseringar har förändrats allt eftersom influencer marketing etableras som kommunikationskanal utifrån ett företagsperspektiv. Metod: Genom en kvalitativ metod samlades empiriska data in i form av 7 intervjuer. Respondenterna arbetade antingen som marknadschef eller marknadsansvarig på respektive avdelning. Slutsats: I studien har vi kommit fram till att svenska detaljhandelsföretag inte längre använder sig av traditionella kommunikationskanaler vid produktlanseringar i samma utsträckning. Företag tenderar idag att välja kanaler och verktyg efter vart konsumenten befinner sig, vilket till största del är på nätet.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how municipalities can work with place marketing through the use of social media and influencers. This has been explored through a case study of the blog Resfredagand the blog’s thematic series Svenska pärlor, a collaborative marketing initiative initiated by the municipalities of: Borås, Karlstad Karlskrona, Marstrand, Nynäshamn, Skaftö/ Lysekil, Söderköping, Skara, Tjörn, Strömstad, Östersund and Umeå. The study has been carried out through nine semi-structured interviews with key sources representing the municipalities who have an entry posted to the blog, but also with Annika Myhre who runs the blog Resfredag. The result of the study showed that the similarities and differences between the municipalities work with place marketing can be viewed through the themes of: the changed role of the tourism organizations, target markets and groups, as well as digital presence. The municipalities´ collaborations with the blog Resfredagcould also be answered through the themes of: selling an idea, daring to make an attempt and paid/non- paid collaboration. Finally, the possibilities and problems of influencer collaborations were described through the themes of: credibility, cooperation and difficulties to measure. The different themes have created the understanding that municipalities tourism organizations are increasingly becoming tourism actors in a more and more digitalized market.

I denna studie undersöks representationen av virtuella influencers och interaktionen mellan publiken. Syftet med undersökningen är att få en djupare förståelse för detta nya fenomen som idag växer på sociala medier, och framför allt Instagram. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna som ligger som grund för undersökningen är hyperrealitet, identitet och personas, semiotik och representation. Metoderna som används för att analysera materialet är en kvalitativ innehållsanalys samt en semiotisk analys. I genomförandet av den kvalitativa innehållsanalysen (publikens kommentarer) identifierades följande teman; hyllningar/kritik, politik och realitet. I den semiotiska analysen identifierades tre andra teman, dessa var livsstil, politik och relationer (bilder och bildtexter från de virtuella influencers). Resultatet av undersökningen visade att beroende på influencer, bilder och bildtexter var variationen stor mellan hur publiken tog emot materialet. Det gick också att se en stor skillnad i den semiotiska analysen mellan de olika virtuella influencers som undersöktes.

The aim of this thesis is to get an understanding of how Daniel Wellington is using visual communication to communicate their brand identity on Instagram. It is also about how they use hashtags to engage their consumers into their brand community. The questions this thesis answers are “How does Daniel Wellington use visual communication to communicate their brand identity on Instagram?” and “How does Daniel Wellington use hashtags to engage their consumers?”. To answer these questions consumer to consumer marketing, influencer marketing, semiotics and snapshot theory have been used as a theoretical basis. Methods used for this thesis is a semiotic analysis with denotation and connotation. Through denotation and connotation, the chosen pictures have been carefully analysed to answer the questions of the thesis.             The results from the analysis shows that Daniel Wellington communicate their brand identity very good because the pictures posted on their Instagram represented it well. The sign of engagement in the hashtags turned out to be very engaging for the consumers to keep wanting to post pictures with and of Daniel Wellington’s products.

Viral marknadsföring är någonting som alltid har funnits på ett eller annat sätt. De senaste åren har sociala medier tagit en stor roll inom marknadsföring, framförallt för virala kampanjer. De senaste åren har något som kallas “challenges” funnits i våra flöden på olika sociala medie plattformar. Många av dessa är kopplade till dans. Många känner igen “In My Feelings-Challenge, Harlem Shake, Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) och Gangnam Style”. Idag så har många låtar fått mer uppmärksamhet och streams, tack vare en viral koreografi som spridit sig på ett eller annat sätt. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur artister kan använda koreografi för att marknadsföra en låt, samt vilka faktorer som höjer potentialen till att få den viral. Vidare undersöker vi betydelsen av image hos en artist vid marknadsföring av en låt med koreografi. Hur kan en låt bli viral i samband med koreografi? Hur kan en artist sprida sin koreografi via sociala medier? Detta är frågor som vi i denna studie har besvarat efter bästa möjliga förmåga. Vår empiri är baserad på 8 kvalitativa intervjuer med personer som har en relation till ämnet, samtliga respondenter har bidragit med mycket bra tankar och åsikter. Vi kom fram till att det ligger stor betydelse i vilken image artisten har, samt målgrupp och aktiviteten på sociala medier. Vi kom också fram till att video marketing är en oerhört central faktor vid spridandet av koreografier och man kan öka potentialen av att få en viral koreografi genom att samarbeta med passande influencers, men man ska inte som artist uppmana till att starta en koreografi självmant. / Viral marketing is something that has always existed in one way or another. For the past few years, social media has taken a major part within marketing, especially for viral campaigns. In the past years, something called "challenges" has existed in our feeds on our various social media platforms. Many of these challenges are connected to dance. Many people recognize "In My Feelings Challenge, Harlem Shake, Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae) and Gangnam Style". Today, many songs has gotten more attention and streams, thanks to a viral choreography connected to the song, that has spread in one way or another. The purpose of this study is to investigate how artists can use choreography to market a song, as well as which factors increase the potential to get it viral. Furthermore, we analyze the importance of image for an artist with the cnnection to the marketing of a song with choreography. How can a song become viral with the help of choreography? How can an artist spread their choreography through social media? These are questions that we in this study have answered in the best ability as possible. Our empirical data is based on 8 qualitative interviews with people who have a relation in some way or another to the subject. All respondents have contributed with very good thoughts and opinions. Our conclution with this study is that it is a great importance in which image the artist has, as well as the target group and the artists activity on social media. We also found that video marketing is an extremely important factor in the spreading of choreographies. To increase the potential of having a viral choreography, the artist can cooperate with suitable influencers, but the artist their selfes should not encourage their fans to start a choreography independently.

Systematizace celé problematiky vlivných spotřebitelů na základě rešerše sekundárních zdrojů a analýzy prostředí českého internetu. Výzkum konkrétní situace v oblasti videa ve vysokém rozlišení za použití kvantitativní obsahové analýzy jednotlivých zdrojů vlivných spotřebitelů a jimi používaných sociálních médií.