Date: (05/01/22)   Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr   Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University   Authors: Las Amin, Saad Husseino, Nour Kellawi   Title: The Impact of Instagram Influencers on Consumer Purchasing Intention   Supervisor: Noushan Memar   Keywords: Influencers, Online purchasing intention, Instagram, Online influencer marketing, Trust, eWOM, Generation Z   Research question: What are the impacts of Instagram influencers on online consumer purchasing intentions?   Purpose: The primary purpose of this research is to investigate how social media influencers, otherwise dubbed as “Instagrammers,” particularly impact the online purchasing intentions of buyers and understand the role of Instagram influencers in the different online purchasing trends in organizations that rely on these individuals for their marketing activities in e-commerce.   Method: Qualitative research using focus group method for data collection and analysis. Conclusion: Instagram influencers of all types have a noteworthy influence on the different online consumer purchasing intentions on the platform, where several factors determine the scope of their impact. Trust is considered one of the most significant ones. It is perspicuous that trust in Instagram influencers is intertwined with three aspects: the emotional feelings of the users in regard to the person, the social responsibility of the influencer toward the society, and the influencer fan base. Most users consider electronic word-of-mouth very effective, as it makes a difference in their pre-purchasing stage. The research resulted in a clear distinction between two types of eWOM, one being negative and the other being positive.

The diploma thesis From an influencer to a journalist - a new form of a deprofessionalization of journalism? aims to acquaint readers with a modern trend, where influencers, people operating primarily on social media, become journalists, who create media performances. In the theoretical part, conceptions such as an influencer, social media or even the concept of a deprofessionalization of journalism are established. In the methodical part, the author chose a qualitative research method, specifically throughout interviews with influencers already participating in the media. In addition to the research method and research set, the reader is also acquainted with research questions, which were formed into interrogative questions. The last part of the thesis is dedicated to the research itself. In the opening chapter, the concepts are ordered and categorized, which was later used by the author to assemble chapters Influencer, Education and practice, Employment relationship, Theoretical preparation, Working in the media and Social media. To each chapter citations from thorough interviews were implemented, which contributed as confirmation from influencers, who works or worked for the media. Thanks to open questions the closure could be made, that deprofessionalization of journalism is incorrectly linked with...

Sammanfattning Titel Effekten av Influencer Marknadsföring på konsumenters: En studie av hur influencer kampanjer påverkar konsumenternas varumärkeslojalitet och köpintention Nivå C- uppsats, 15 hp Författare Charlotte Krönlein och Hanna Kram Handledare Afshin Afsharipour Examinator Svante Andersson Termin VT 2023 Syfte: Syftet med studien är att förstå effekten av hur influencers medverkan i kampanjer på konsumenters varumärkeslojalitet och köpintention, samt att undersöka eventuella skillnader mellan män och kvinnor i detta sammanhang. Studiens syfte är att skapa en förståelse för hur mycket influencers medverkan i kampanjer påverkar människors vilja att köpa företagets produkter och hur de bidrar till varumärkeslojalitet, samtidigt som den tar hänsyn till skillnader mellan män och kvinnor. Teoretiska referensramen: Uppsatsen är fördelad och uppdelad på teori inom fem olika områden. Referensramen börjar med att presentera köpintention, därefter tillit och förtroende som följs med influencer marknadsföring,  social identitet och electronic word of mouth.  Metod: För att undersöka våra tre forskningsfrågor utfördes en kvantitativ studie med 294 respondenter som var jämnt fördelade mellan kvinnor och män, samt åldrar mellan 18-60+ år.  Empiri: Med hjälp av en enkätundersökning samlades 294 svar in från kvinnor och män. Vidare presenterades resultatet i form av tabell och diagram som senare har analyserats med hjälp av den teoretiska referensramen.  Diskussion och slutsats:  Denna studie belyser influencer-marknadsförings effekt på varumärkeslojalitet och köpintention. Nyckeln till framgång ligger i att välja rätt influencer och att det finns en positiv inställning till influencern och deras marknadsförda produkter. Resultaten visar också på könsrelaterade skillnader, att män tycker den känslomässiga anknytningen är viktigare vilket öppnar upp för vidare forskning. Nyckelord: Influencer marknadsföring, köpintention, varumärkeslojalitet, social identitetsteori, electronic word of mouth, Theory of Planned Behavior

Background: Social media influencers (SMIs) have become an important asset to the constantly changing world of marketing. The impact SMIs have within e-commerce and the influence they have on consumers have been observed. Therefore, the use of SMIs as a marketing tool in improving brand knowledge has been vastly adopted by many companies. However, the extent to which SMIs as co-founders contribute to creation of brand knowledge, remains undiscovered.  Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate how SMIs as co-founders in e-commerce companies contribute to creating brand knowledge. It aims to contribute with valuable knowledge in how e-commerce companies can implement modernized marketing and branding strategies by including SMIs as co-founders in a company.  Method: This qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews with six relevant participants operating in four companies within the same industry. A deductive approach was implemented, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis, enabling interpretations and extractions of important themes and patterns. Conclusion: The research concludes that SMIs as co-founders significantly impact brand knowledge in e-commerce companies. Consumers form associations with the SMIs that are transferred into the companies. Further, SMIs contribute with an already existing engaged consumer base through their established relationships of trust and credibility. However, it is important to refrain from completely relying on the SMIs.

Background The online second-hand fashion market is a growing market that can be promoted with the help of social media and influencers. Influencers can help with store promotion as well as to promote sustainability and, therefore, promote this alternative fashion consumption style. Furthermore, in social media marketing videos, the aspects of education, entertainment, and esthetics have been noted to be important dimensions to consider.  Purpose This study aims to describe what aspects of influencer marketing videos appeal to consumers in the second hand fashion online store market. Methodology The study took the form of a descriptive and qualitative study in order to describe what aspects of the dimensions of education, entertainment and esthetics appeal to consumers in the second hand fashion online stores. A pilot study with two participants was conducted in order to ensure that the interview guide was understandable for the main study. Six participants took part in the main study with online interviews. Findings The empirical data contributed to the consideration of the most relevant aspects within each dimension. In education, these were the type of information, the message delivery and the deliverer. For entertainment, this was the influencer’s personality and engagement. For esthetics, the visuality of the video was evidently to be considered.  Conclusion The findings contribute to describing an appealing influencer marketing video from all of the three dimensions. For education, the importance lies in the delivering verbal information about sustainability and about the online store, as well as the influencer’s trustworthiness and persuasiveness. The findings of education are highly context specific for the second hand fashion market. Similarly, the persona was important regarding the perceived entertainment, as energetic and engaging persona successfully engaged, together with the aspect of suitable and interesting plot. For esthetics, the visuality, such as basic colors and short text were perceived appealing, as well as the style of the influencer.  The dimensions of entertainment and esthetics, however, act more as enhancing dimensions for the appeal, and education can be seen as an important appealing factor on its own. Moreover, for all dimensions the influencer has a central role for how the content and the marketing video is perceived by the audience.

I dagens samhälle bidrar influencers till den köphets och konsumtionskultur som råder på sociala medier. Som en protest mot detta uppkom fenomenet de-influencing på sociala plattformar i början av 2023. De-influencing fördömer konsumtionskulturen och sägs vara en motreaktion på traditionell influencer marketing. Samtidigt diskuterar media huruvida de-influencing kan konkurrera ut den traditionella influencer marketing-branschen. Syftet med den här studien var att studera de-influencing som fenomen på TikTok, både ur ett mottagar- och avsändarperspektiv. Detta genom att undersöka hur de-influencing skiljer sig från traditionell marknadskommunikation, hur responsen på de-influencing innehåll kan se ut samt hur micro-influencers ser på fenomenet. TikTok-videos med tillhörande respons analyserades multimodalt och micro-influencers intervjuades sedan som ett komplement till den multimodala analysen. Huvudresultatet visade att både skillnader och likheter kan dras mellan de-influencing och traditionell marknadskommunikation. Strategier inom såväl Influencer Marketing som Corporate Social Responsibility identifierades i materialet som analyserades. Responsen på de-influencing innehåll visade sig vara övervägande positiv, något som talar för att det finns ett visst samband mellan de-influencing och förtroende. Resultatet visade även att micro-influencers ser såväl fördelar som nackdelar med att använda sig av de-influencing iframtiden.

Titel: Etik inom influencer marketing ur ett konsumentperspektiv - En kvantitativ studie  bland sociala medier-användare i Sverige.  Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi  Författare: Carl-Ludwig Grafoson och Nina Törnblom  Handledare: Blanca Astrid Moreno  Datum: 2023 – Juni  Syfte: Studiens syfte är att kartlägga hur vuxna användare av sociala medier i Sverige förhåller sig till olika aspekter av etik inom influencer marketing.  Metod: I studien har en kvantitativ metod med deduktiv ansats använts. Populationen är vuxna användare av sociala medier i Sverige som följer influencers. Urvalet är baserat på ett icke-sannolikhetsurval. Datan har samlats in genom en litteraturstudie och en webbaserad enkät som resulterade i 100 respondenter. Datan användes för deskriptiv, univariat analys, test av Cronbachs Alfa samt en korrelationsanalys som genomfördes i Microsoft Excel.  Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat påvisar samband mellan transparens, kredibilitet och autenticitet, samt hur dessa påverkar den parasociala relationen som i sin tur visar hur konsumenter förhåller sig till etik inom influencer marketing.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Denna studie bidrar till insikt och värdefull kunskap om hur etiska aspekter inom influencer marketing upplevs och hanteras av följare, men även influencers och företag. Denna studie lyfter nya resultat samtidigt som den bekräftar tidigare forskning inom ämnet.  Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Med hjälp av ett större och mer representativt urval där enkätfrågornas samband och tillförlitlighet är ännu starkare kan framtida forskning generalisera utifrån framtida resultat. Det finns även aspekter inom vardera begrepp som också borde utforskas av framtida forskning för att få en ännu djupare förståelse för den relation som råder mellan följare och influencers.  Nyckelord: etik, sociala medier, influencer marketing, influencers, marknadsföring, konsumentbeteende och följare. / Title: Ethics in influencer marketing from a consumer perspective - A quantitative study  among social media users in Sweden.  Level: Bachelor thesis for Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration  Author: Carl-Ludwig Grafoson and Nina Törnblom  Supervisor: Blanca Astrid Moreno  Date: 2023 - June  Aim: The purpose of the study is to examine how adult users of social media in Sweden relate to ethics in influencer marketing.  Method: In the study, a quantitative method with a deductive approach has been used. The population is adult users of social media in Sweden who follow influencers. The sample is based on non-probability sampling. The data has been collected through a literature study and a web-based survey that resulted in 100 respondents. The data was used for descriptive, univariate analysis, test of Cronbach's Alpha and a correlation analysis in Microsoft Excel.  Results and conclusions: The study's results show the connection between transparency, credibility and authenticity, as well as how these affect the parasocial relationship, which also shows how consumers relate to ethics in influencer marketing.  Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes to insight and valuable knowledge about how ethical aspects in influencer marketing are experienced and handled by followers, but also influencers and companies. This study highlights new results while also confirming previous research on the subject.  Suggestions for future research: With a larger and more representative sample where the connection and reliability of the survey questions is even stronger, future research can generalize the results. There are also aspects within the ethical attributes that could be explored to gain an even deeper understanding of the relationship between followers and influencers.  Key words: Ethics, social media, influencer marketing, marketing, consumer behavior and followers.

Background: The ideals of beauty standards had been under constant change throughout history, and quite often would remain out of reach to the determent of many. The application of an idealized image of oneself remains a powerful tool when it comes to persuasion in social media and marketing. Although mostly spoken of within the context of women, the pressure to appeal to the beauty standard does not leave men out. Within fitness, a lot of attention is already focused on the body, and with the boon in technology we find ourselves exposed to the idealized images more than ever. Fitness influencers impact the lives of many, and the trend of an idealized male body image is being promoted daily through social media channels with varying receptions.  Purpose: Previous studies have been primarily focused on women as a sampling group, whereby it has shown that also men suffer from the idealized beauty and body standards which are promoted through different media. Especially, nowadays where social media and the impact of influencer maintain gaining more power over individuals. By studying the effect that image posts from fitness influencer have on the male body image, it is able to understand how male user react to such unrealistic beauty standards. Method: To fulfil the purpose of this qualitative study, 10 in-depth interviews were conducted with male participants in their twenties from international background. All of them followed not only an active lifestyle, which included gymming but as well following fitness influencers on Instagram. As a deductive approach was utilized for this thesis, the collected date was decoded, analysed and interpreted thematically with support of the theory. Conclusion: The findings of this study reveal that men feel content with the perception of their body image when aligned with the ideals portrayed by the fitness influencers. The effects of witnessing the idealized images had led to temporary dissatisfaction in their body image, but the participants had shown to further reflect on the presented content and the outcome resulted in feelings of motivation and a positive expectation of what their further actions could bring. Moreover, the exposure to the images is accompanied by deliberate upward comparisons to further serve as a reflection of desires which results in motivation to continue to participate in the process.

This thesis aims to investigate Swedish PR practitioners’ assessments of and proposed response strategies to the cancellation case of Swedish social media influencer Margaux Dietz. Multiple organisations cancelled their collaborations with Dietz in November 2022 following a criticized video scandal. Furthermore, the thesis aims to examine Swedish PR practitioners’ reasoning of risk in their work with influencer marketing, considering a present “cancel culture”. Two research questions are posed: RQ1: How do Swedish PR practitioners reflect on the cancellation of Swedish social media influencer Margaux Dietz in November 2022, and how would they have handled the situation? RQ2: In what ways do Swedish PR practitioners reflect on the risks of working with influencer marketing in relation to cancel culture? With a sample of nine participants, semi structured interviews were conducted with PR practitioners active in Stockholm, Sweden. The interviews were first analysed through a qualitative content analysis, and thereafter a theoretical framework, consisting of the notion cancel culture as defined by Clark (2020) and Ng (2020), as well as Benoit’s (2015) Image Repair Theory, was applied. Findings suggested that there were five themes present in the interviewees’ responses, (1) Risks of Influencer Marketing, (2) Cancel Culture as Positive, (3) Cancel Culture as Negative, (4) Managing Being Cancelled and (5) Uncertainty. The main conclusions indicated that there was a general uncertainty in practitioners concerning their opinions of the Dietz case. Interviewees both expressed an understanding for and questioned the organisations’ actions in the case, however most would consider cancelling collaborations during similar circumstances themselves due to a need to protect their brands. There was a common reasoning that cancel culture could be limiting and even harmful, and interviewees perceived risks in their work with influencer marketing relating to a loss of control, the human factor and cancel culture.

Title – The influence influencer marketing and word-of-mouth have on the consumer's purchase decision in relation to trust: A quantitative study focused on consumer ́s trust in influencers and their surroundings Level – Candidate thesis, 15 hp Author – Ida Fransson & Evelina Lind Advisor – Afshin Afsharipour Examiner – Svante AnderssonTerm – Spring term 2023 Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine consumers' buying decision based on the extent to which they rely on influencer marketing and the influence word-of-mouth can have in relation to trust.Design/methodology/approach - This study is based on selected articles that are adapted to the chosen topic that this paper addresses. It is based on literature and peer-reviewed articles. It ́s a quantitative study where a survey has been sent out to respondents within the selected target group to get a better understanind of what is most influencing of influences and word-of-mouth their purchasing decisions. Conclusions - The conclusion of the study is that the main factor that affects a consumer's buying decision is word of mouth. The study also shows that influencer marketing has a minor effect on consumers' buying decision, but it is a valuable marketing strategy. Trust is the biggest factor that the consumer has in mind before buying a product or service.Research Limitations - The study is limited to only women between ages 18-30. Originality/ Value -The study can result in further research within the chosen topic. The influence influencer marketing and word-of-mouth have on the consumer's purchase decision in relation to trust. Keywords - Influencer marketing, word-of-mouth, trust, consumer buying behavior, social media