Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att studera hur mindre företag i resebranschen kan använda sociala medier som en framstående marknadsföringskanal för att öka kännedomen om företagets varumärke, samt skapa ett gemensamt värde för både kund och företag. De huvudsakliga teorier som ligger till grund för den här studien är sociala medier, sociala medier som marknadsföringskanal, varumärket, segmentering, strategi, krishantering, marknadsföring och kundservice, kundrelationer och värdeskapande, word of mouth, samt framtid. / The purpose with this thesis is to study how smaller companies within the travel industry can use social media as a prominent marketing channel, in order to create increased awareness of the corporate brand and create joint value for both the customer and the company. The major theories that form the basis for this study are; social media, social media as a marketing channel, the brand, segmentation, strategy, crisis management, marketing and customer service, customer relationship and value creation, word of mouth and the future.

The primary objective of this study was to determine the role of the host community in the marketing of arts festivals with reference to the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. This goal was achieved firstly by analysing the relationship between the events industry and the community. Secondly, a literature study was conducted to explore the role of the community in tourism marketing. Thirdly, a survey was done to determine the perceptions of the community in terms of the marketing of the Festival as well as the social impact thereof. From previous studies it was found that the local community can be seen as a group of people of different gender, race, age and different race and social groups living together in a certain geographic area. The local community is the main suppliers of an event; they provide many of the businesses, public places and hospitality services used by tourists and visitors at an event. Staff, volunteers and many other resources come from the local community. The attitude of the local community towards the Festival is proven to be important. Positive attitudes are associated with economic and social benefits gained from the event. The attitude of the local community can influence their behaviour towards tourists as well as their message spread concerning the event, through word-of-mouth communication. They can influence the buying behaviour of tourists and visitors. Research was undertaking at Grahamstown National Arts Festival to determine the perceptions and attitudes of the local community towards the Festival and the marketing thereof. This was determined by means of a questionnaire as adopted from Fredline, Jago and Deery. It was distributed among the local community according to a stratified random sampling procedure. A total of 265 questionnaires were completed by residents. Firstly, the data was used to compile tables and graphs with a view to interpret the descriptive data: demographic information as well as perceptions and attitudes of the local community towards the Festival and the marketing thereof. It was found that the Festival has a positive impact on their personal lives as well as on the community as a whole. Positive and negative social impacts were identified, which indicates that the community are aware of the impacts: positive, including the range of things to do in Grahamstown has improved (80%), the number of people in the area has increased (80%) and there are more opportunities to meet new people (80%). The highest rated negative social impacts include the fact that the availability of parking has decreased (79%), that the public money spent on the Festival would be better spent on other things (43%) and that ordinary residents get no say in the planning and management of the Festival (50%). In terms of the marketing, the local community markets the Festival verbally by telling friends and family about it and also by attending the Festival themselves. However, the local community feel that they should be more involved in the planning and marketing of the Festival. Secondly, a factor analysis was performed with a view to synthesise the large amount of data concerning the perceptions and marketing of the Festival in smaller, more descriptive factors. These factors were used to determine the role of the community in the marketing of the Festival. The factor analysis yielded a 2-factor solution and the factors were labelled: Factor 1: Verbal marketing of the Festival; Factor 2: Action marketing of the Festival. Thirdly, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to explore the impact of the variables: age, gender, race, income, level of education, attitudes towards continuation of the Festival, attendance of the current festival, attendance of previous festivals, level of interest in the Festival, length of stay in Grahamstown, attitudes towards living in Grahamstown on the dimensions Verbal and Active marketing, as determined in the factor analysis. It was found that a medium effect exists between the middle-aged group and the older-age group on the Verbal marketing dimension. A medium effect also exists between the black and Asian respondents on the dimension Verbal marketing. There is a large effect between attendance of the Festival and Verbal marketing but a medium effect on the dimension Action marketing. A large effect was determined between avid fans and those that are not interested but attend occasionally, between avid fans and those who have no interest in the Festival, between those that are interested and attend some aspects of the Festival and those that are not interested but attend, those that are interested and attend and those that are not interested, on the Verbal marketing dimension. A medium effect was discovered between avid fans of the Festival and those that attended some of the aspects of the Festival, and those that are not interested but attend some aspects, and those that are not interested at all, on the Verbal marketing dimension. On the Verbal marketing dimension a medium effect was determined between the following: A medium effect was determined between avid fans of the Festival and those that attended some of the aspects of the Festival, avid fans and those that are not interested but attend occasionally, those that are interested and attend and those that are not interested, on the Action marketing dimension. This study contributes to the information that already exists concerning the role of the community in the marketing of arts festivals and on marketing communication research. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

I denna studie undersöker jag kommunikationen i restaurangbranschen i Stockholm idag (2013) och avgränsar mig till fyra restauranger i två segment, de etablerade och de nyetablerade, expanderande restaurangerna. Grunden till uppsatsen är det föränderliga restaurangklimatet i Stockholm stad, och hur restaurangbranschens kommunikation ser ut. Det har det senaste året öppnat fyrahundra procent mer restauranger än 2000.  Det tycks finnas en kutym att man inte genom klassisk annonsering i tidningarna kommunicerar inom restauranger av högre kvalitet och ambition. De restauranger jag har granskat faller alla inom ramen för högkvalitativa restauranger. Jag ställde mig frågan hur de då kommunicerar ut restaurangens varumärke? Hur de befintliga restaurangerna skulle klara sig på marknaden och hur arbetet kring kommunikationen ser ut, hur kommunicerar man sitt varumärke? Jag har också frågat om det har skett en förändring i restaurangernas kommunikation och om det är något man funderar kring.   Jag har genomfört semistrukturerade intervjuer och analyserat svaren med hjälp av olika teorier rörande relationsmarknadsföring, Service Management, varumärkeskvalitet och Word-of-Mouth.   De slutsatser jag kommit fram till är att restaurangerna i dagsläget har en större förståelse för att kommunikation och varumärke än innan, samt en förståelse för att man måste arbeta med aktivt och skapa en tydlig restaurangkommunikation. Konkurrensen är hård och det gäller att hänga med i det föränderliga klimatet, att hela tiden vara aktuell. Man börjar se sig om efter hjälp med att kommunicera ut sitt varumärke och göra sig intressant för gästen genom exempelvis public relations-, reklam-byråer och digitala medier. Det är ett outforskat territorium och en ny marknad för kommunikationsbyråer.

Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet är att belysa hur ICA och Lidl kommunicerar och marknadsför sig via Facebook, samt att se huruvida de även använder det för att skapa mer symmetriska band med sin publik. Frågeställningar berör vilka mönster som finns i kommunikationen och hur interaktionerna mellan företagen och de som kommenterade ser ut. Metod och teori: En kvantitativ innehållsanalys och en kvalitativ textanalys har använts i uppsatsen. Materialet består av Facebook-inlägg från respektive företag, samt tillhörande kommentarer. Dessa har analyserats med hjälp av teorier inom kommunikation, marknadsföring, retorik samt tidigare forskning kring inlägg företag lägger upp på Facebook och hur det påverkar läsarens beteende. Resultat: Facebook användes främst som ett marknadsföringsverktyg av bägge företagen. Innehållet i en viss del av inläggen som lades upp tydde på en vilja att bjuda in till dialog. Lidl och ICA verkade dock vara selektiva angående vilka inlägg de besvarade. Negativa kommentarer fick i flera fall inget svar Rent retoriskt präglades både ICA och Lidl:s språk främst av logos. Utifrån urvalet som studerades gick det inte att säga att de bedrev symmetrisk tvåvägskommunikation. Intentionerna finns dock där till viss del – men i sådana fall behöver både ICA och Lidl ställa fler öppna frågor till läsarna och även bemöta de mer negativa kommentarerna mer konsekvent. Dålig eller utebliven respons ökar risken för negativ word-of-mouth – vilket potentiellt kan försämra relationen med deras kunder.

The primary objective of this study was to determine the role of the host community in the marketing of arts festivals with reference to the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. This goal was achieved firstly by analysing the relationship between the events industry and the community. Secondly, a literature study was conducted to explore the role of the community in tourism marketing. Thirdly, a survey was done to determine the perceptions of the community in terms of the marketing of the Festival as well as the social impact thereof. From previous studies it was found that the local community can be seen as a group of people of different gender, race, age and different race and social groups living together in a certain geographic area. The local community is the main suppliers of an event; they provide many of the businesses, public places and hospitality services used by tourists and visitors at an event. Staff, volunteers and many other resources come from the local community. The attitude of the local community towards the Festival is proven to be important. Positive attitudes are associated with economic and social benefits gained from the event. The attitude of the local community can influence their behaviour towards tourists as well as their message spread concerning the event, through word-of-mouth communication. They can influence the buying behaviour of tourists and visitors. Research was undertaking at Grahamstown National Arts Festival to determine the perceptions and attitudes of the local community towards the Festival and the marketing thereof. This was determined by means of a questionnaire as adopted from Fredline, Jago and Deery. It was distributed among the local community according to a stratified random sampling procedure. A total of 265 questionnaires were completed by residents. Firstly, the data was used to compile tables and graphs with a view to interpret the descriptive data: demographic information as well as perceptions and attitudes of the local community towards the Festival and the marketing thereof. It was found that the Festival has a positive impact on their personal lives as well as on the community as a whole. Positive and negative social impacts were identified, which indicates that the community are aware of the impacts: positive, including the range of things to do in Grahamstown has improved (80%), the number of people in the area has increased (80%) and there are more opportunities to meet new people (80%). The highest rated negative social impacts include the fact that the availability of parking has decreased (79%), that the public money spent on the Festival would be better spent on other things (43%) and that ordinary residents get no say in the planning and management of the Festival (50%). In terms of the marketing, the local community markets the Festival verbally by telling friends and family about it and also by attending the Festival themselves. However, the local community feel that they should be more involved in the planning and marketing of the Festival. Secondly, a factor analysis was performed with a view to synthesise the large amount of data concerning the perceptions and marketing of the Festival in smaller, more descriptive factors. These factors were used to determine the role of the community in the marketing of the Festival. The factor analysis yielded a 2-factor solution and the factors were labelled: Factor 1: Verbal marketing of the Festival; Factor 2: Action marketing of the Festival. Thirdly, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to explore the impact of the variables: age, gender, race, income, level of education, attitudes towards continuation of the Festival, attendance of the current festival, attendance of previous festivals, level of interest in the Festival, length of stay in Grahamstown, attitudes towards living in Grahamstown on the dimensions Verbal and Active marketing, as determined in the factor analysis. It was found that a medium effect exists between the middle-aged group and the older-age group on the Verbal marketing dimension. A medium effect also exists between the black and Asian respondents on the dimension Verbal marketing. There is a large effect between attendance of the Festival and Verbal marketing but a medium effect on the dimension Action marketing. A large effect was determined between avid fans and those that are not interested but attend occasionally, between avid fans and those who have no interest in the Festival, between those that are interested and attend some aspects of the Festival and those that are not interested but attend, those that are interested and attend and those that are not interested, on the Verbal marketing dimension. A medium effect was discovered between avid fans of the Festival and those that attended some of the aspects of the Festival, and those that are not interested but attend some aspects, and those that are not interested at all, on the Verbal marketing dimension. On the Verbal marketing dimension a medium effect was determined between the following: A medium effect was determined between avid fans of the Festival and those that attended some of the aspects of the Festival, avid fans and those that are not interested but attend occasionally, those that are interested and attend and those that are not interested, on the Action marketing dimension. This study contributes to the information that already exists concerning the role of the community in the marketing of arts festivals and on marketing communication research. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2006.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Abstract Purpose – The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding on how brand equity for non-profit entertainment-based service firms in the cultural sector can be cultivated. Design/approach/methodology – An existing model to cultivate brand equity in commercial service firms is utilised to assess the applicability on specific non-profit firms. Furthermore, five interviews have been held to investigate the case companies’ practises and a survey has been taken to measure the perceptions from the visitors/customers’ point of view, which is referred to as a triangulation method. Findings – The findings show that brand equity can be cultivated by the means of the tested model, though, the popularity and famousness of a particular artist temporarily transfers its brand equity to the particular cultural institution wherefore the brand awareness is boosted significantly and brand meaning becomes more elucidated. As a result, entertainment-based cultural (non-profit) firms need to guarantee high quality experiences in which both the service and performance are amalgamated. Furthermore, companies must adapt to the rapid changing advertisement methods to reach (new) visitors. Thereby, a new model has been developed based on the study outcomes, which includes a new factor that influences the cultivation of brand equity in the specified sector and firms. The added factor in the developed model is “Programme Brand Equity” and exerts its influence on the original factors. Limitations and further research – Limitations are that the findings from these particular firms may not be found in other similar firms, which is a typical implication of every case study. Furthermore, this research is first in this topic wherefore supplementary literature is obligatory. Consequently, the findings of this research may have substantial abnormalities from practise. The developed model should be tested for generalisation of outcomes. Originality/value – This study links brand equity cultivation methods to entertainment-based cultural non-profit service firms and is first on this topic hence suggestions for further enlightenment are provided since it brings implications along. Key words – Brand equity, Word-of-Mouth/WOM, Brand Meaning, Brand Awareness. / <p>none</p>

Service failure within the airline industry has been a prominent topic within the media. Each story of a failure features a disgruntled passenger. Emotions are already high during the consumption of any airline service, and a service failure will bring on а slew of unwanted emotions. The purpose of this paper is then to understand what type of relationship do these negative emotions and feelings of lack of control have after a service failure, and do any of those given emotions lead to negative word-of-mouth (NWOM). The method used to accomplish this is correlation hypothesis testing of survey results in relation to the specified negative emotions and the causal attribution theory of control, as well as analysis between the same emotions and NWOM, again using correlation tests. This aim will be achieved by breaking service failure down into five negative incidents that are referred to as service failure scenarios, namely: luggage handling, delayed/cancelled flight, missed flight due to factors beyond customers’ control, negative customer service at the airport, and negative service experience during the flight. The five scenarios are studied against six specified emotions which are anger, frustration, helplessness, nervousness, worry, and panic. The relationship between these emotions and lack of control is tested, then these same emotions are tested in regards to NWOM. The findings express a weak to moderate positive relationship between at least one of the emotions and lack of control in three of the scenarios, leading to the conclusion that customers’ lack of control over the situation increases the intensity of the emotions. In the findings for emotions and NWOM, four out of the six tested negative emotions lead to NWOM, which are anger, frustration, helplessness, and worry. This discovery proves that different emotions in different scenarios make people react in a different manner, and this leads to the conclusion that emotions should be tested separately and scenarios should be created to research the real intensity of the emotions in different situations, without grouping them into one.