ABSTRACT Date2022-06-01 Level: Master thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr Institution School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalens University Authors Ayari, Loïs                  Yousef, Nina (00/10/25)                  (99/10/21) Title: An exploratory qualitative study on the impact of cancel   culture on the consumer-beauty influencer relationship. Tutor: Safari, Aswo Keywords: Influencer, beauty, cancel culture, consumer, trust, commitment Research question: How does the cancel culture phenomenon affect the relationship between the consumer and the beauty influencer? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the cancel culture phenomenon affects the relationship between the consumer and the beauty influencer. Method: This study was conducted through a qualitative research method with an abductive approach. The conceptual model was based on the theoretical concepts and the actors within the relationship. Three focus group interviews conducted consisted of 6, 7 and 6 participants. The focus groups interviews were transcripted manually by the authors. The data extracted from the focus groups were analyzed using a thematic analysis based on the conceptual model. Conclusion: The findings and the analysis of this study provided an answer to the research question. It showed that the consumer’s trust is negatively affected by cancel culture and thus, decreases when this phenomenon occurs. This happens mainly because of a disruption of the perceived shared values and the beauty influencer’s failure. Moreover, the findings revealed that the consumer’s commitment is negatively affected by the cancellation. This was motivated by the decrease in the consumer’s trust along with the disruption of perceived shared values. Therefore, the consumer and beauty influencer’s relationship is negatively affected by the cancel culture phenomenon.

The beauty community on YouTube is a popular outlet for influencer generated video content. Beauty YouTubers provide their viewers with makeup-related videos from tutorials to the latest trends on the platform. As a result, the influencers have gained high subscriber counts that generate revenue through advertisements and brand partnerships. The influencers create relationships with their subscribers that lead to loyalty in the form of video views and merchandise purchasing. This study provides a content analysis of common characteristics within 10 popular beauty YouTubers’ videos examining the strategies used by the influencers. The top five videos from each beauty YouTuber were selected resulting in a total of 50 videos analyzed. Parasocial Interaction and Framing theories were the theoretical frameworks for this study. The results of this study indicated a series of commonly used characteristics within the most popular videos posted by the top beauty influencers on YouTube.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka inflytandet av influencers på sociala medier (SMI), elektronisk word-of-mouth (e-WOM) och upplevd kvalitet på svenska konsumenters köpintention vid skönhetsprodukter som rekommenderas av skönhetsinfluencers på Youtube. Det för att bidra till kunskap som företag kan utgå ifrån när de skapar sina marknadsföringsstrategier. Studien är en replikering av en studie av forskarna Rosaria och Luthfia (2020) som genomfördes i Indonesien och därmed användes samma metod: en kvantitativ metod via en webbaserad enkät. Den besvarades av 127 respondenter varav 91 uppfyllde urvalskriterierna då de var kvinnor mellan 17-30 års ålder som följer en skönhetsinfluencer på Youtube. Resultatet visade att SMI och upplevd kvalitet för sig har ett signifikant inflytande på köpintention, förutom e-WOM. Det visade också att alla tre har samtidigt ett signifikant inflytande på köpintention. När det gäller framtida forskning skulle det vara intressant att genomföra en kvalitativ studie om samma faktorer för att få en djupare förståelse om varför dessa faktorer har ett inflytande. / The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of social media influencers (SMI), electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) and perceived quality on Swedish consumers' purchase intention when it comes to beauty products recommended by beauty influencers on Youtube. This is to contribute to knowledge that companies can use as a starting point when creating their marketing strategies. The study is a replication of a study conducted by researchers Rosaria and Luthfia (2020) in Indonesia and thus the same method was used: a quantitative method via a web-based survey. It was answered by 127 respondents, of which 91 met the selection criteria as they were women between the age of 17 and 30 who followed a beauty influencer on Youtube. The results showed that both SMI and perceived quality have a significant influence on purchase intention, except for e-WOM. They also showed that all three factors collectively have a significant influence on purchase intention. In terms of future research, one suggestion would be to conduct a qualitative study on the same factors to gain a deeper understanding of why these factors have an influence.