Memes are a popular phenomenon in internet culture, despite this fact, meme marketing has not received a lot of attention within the field of marketing research. Therefore, this thesis studies the effect meme marketing has on brand recall and sharing intention using a meme template with an unknown brand. The thesis was a quantitative study, and two questionnaires were conducted. One of the questionnaires was a meme advertisement and the other one was a questionnaire with a “serious” advertisement, the results from the studies were then compared. The thesis relied on previous research and methodology by Yang (2022) who studied meme marketing’s effect on brand recall and sharing intention. The results indicate that meme marketing has a positive effect on sharing intention compared to serious marketing. The results also indicate that meme marketing’s effect on brand recall is positive. However, the effect on brand recall was not statistically significant, but close. This thesis contributes to the understanding of meme marketing’s effect on brand recall and sharing intention compared to serious marketing. / Memes är ett populärt fenomen i internetkulturen, trotts det har inte meme-marknadsföring fått mycket uppmärksamhet inom den akademiska sfären. Denna uppsats studerar därför effekten av meme-marknadsföring och har använts sig av en populär ”meme-mall” för att studera brand recall och sharing intention. Denna uppsats var en kvantitativ studie där två enkäter genomfördes. En av enkäterna behandlade rolig meme-marknadsföring och den andra var en enkät om marknadsföring som inte är avsedd att vara rolig. Resultatet från respektive enkät undersöktes och jämfördes. Studien bygger på forskning och metodik av Yang (2022) där hon studerade meme-marknadsförings effekt på brand recall och sharing intention. Yang (2022) använde sig av två enkäter där en enkät innehåll meme-marknadsföring och en med” seriös” marknadsföring. Meme-marknadsföring tycks ha en positiv effekt på brand recall och sharing intention i jämförelse med ”seriös” marknadsföring. Dock var effekten på brand recall inte statistiskt signifikant. Denna uppsats har bidragit med förståelse och kunskap om meme-marknadsförings effekt på sharing intention och brand recall jämfört med ”seriös” marknadsföring.

Titel: Är influencers vampyrer? En studie om influencer-baserad marknadsföring och brand recall. Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi. Författare: Julia Jansson och Christina Najm Handledare: Jonas Kågström Datum: 2018 - maj Syfte: Syftet med studien är att analysera hur influencer-baserad marknadsföring, vad gäller brand recall, påverkas av tidsaspekten, vampire effect, source credibility och match-up hypotesen. Metod: Data har insamlats med hjälp av två enkäter med 1461 respondenter. Respondenterna fick svara på enkäter gällande två olika influencers och dess samarbete med ett företag. Materialet har sedan analyserats och bearbetats med hjälp av deskriptiv statistik, T-test, korrelationsanalyser, faktoranalyser samt klusteranalys. Resultat & slutsats: Studien visade betydelsen för företag att välja en lämplig influencer för deras marknadsföring. Dessa influencers har möjligheten att nå en stor del av konsumenterna och det är då viktigt att de kan sända ut rätt information om varumärket. I fallet om vampire effect kom studien fram till att detta hot inte nödvändigtvis behöver påverka varumärkets brand recall, utan vid val av en lämplig och rätt influencer kan istället varumärket gynnas av influencer-baserad marknadsföring. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studiens bidrag till marknadsföringens forskningsområde är en ökad kunskap om influencer-baserad marknadsföring, vad gäller brand recall och dess effekter. Studien bidrar också med olika aspekter för företag att ta hänsyn till i valet av lämplig influencer. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Forskning bör vidare undersöka hur tidsaspekten har en påverkan på brand recall, då tidigare forskning varit begränsad. Vi anser att fler studier ska göras om influencer-baserad marknadsföring och brand recall då detta fält är relativt nytt och outforskat. Nyckelord: Brand recall, the vampire effect, source credibility model, match-up hypotesen, influencers, tidsaspekt. / Title: Are influencers vampires? A study about influencer-based marketing and brand recall. Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration. Authors: Julia Jansson and Christina Najm Supervisor: Jonas Kågström Date: 2018 – may Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate how influencer-based marketing, in terms of brand recall, is affected by the time aspect, vampire effect, source credibility and match-up hypothesis. Method: Data were collected from two surveys, with 1461 respondents. The respondents answered surveys about two influencers and their collaboration with a company. The data has been analysed and processed with descriptive statistics, T-test, correlation as well as factor and cluster analyses. Results & Conclusion: The study showed the importance for companies to choose an appropriate influencer for marketing. These influencers have the ability to reach a large portion of consumers and it is, therefore, important that they can send accurate information about the brand. Regarding the vampire effect, the study showed that it is not necessarily a threat to brand recall, but if the appropriate influencer is chosen, the brand can benefit from influencer-based marketing. Contribution of the thesis: The contribution of this study to the marketing research area is an increased knowledge about influencer-based marketing, in terms of brand recall and its effects. The study also contributes with different aspects for companies to consider in selecting an appropriate influencer. Suggestions for future research: Future research should examine how the time aspect can affect brand recall, since prior research has been narrowed. We believe that more studies should be done especially about influenced-based marketing and brand recall since it is relatively new and unexplored. Key words: Brand recall, the vampire effect, source credibility, match-up hypothesis, influencers, time aspect

The aim of this study is to examine whether search engine marketing may influence consumers’ brand awareness in terms of brand recall and brand recognition. The theoretical background derives from the definition and rationale of brand awareness. The study is further based on a theoretical outline of search engine marketing and its components. Furthermore, the Hierarchy of Effects Model is used in order to describe the steps a company may influence consumers in their purchase process. In order to capture consumers’ reasoning and behaviour in the search engine context, a two-way study approach was conducted. Firstly, by letting ten participants conduct a log related to their search engine behaviour, spanning for a period of ten days. Secondly, by conducting semi-structured interviews, using their logs as a base for further discussions. Results from this study show that search engine marketing can have an effect on consumers’ brand awareness by creating initial awareness or by building upon existing awareness. Secondly, in the context of unknown brands, the results show that it had a particular strong effect on brand recognition among the participants. Thirdly, it appeared that SEM can work as a gateway for brands and an enabler for building a brand attitude amongst its potential customers. Lastly, the website experience is a crucial step for brands in order to positively influence consumers in their purchase process.

Estudos comprovam que a lembrança de determinada marca é um componente essencial para a geração de seu valor. Na tentativa de atrair a atenção visual e, consequentemente, influenciar o processo de fixação da marca na memória do consumidor, profissionais de marketing utilizam, em seus anúncios, conteúdos com a presença de apelo sexual. Tais conteúdos sugerem, dentre outras formas, a exposição da nudez (total ou parcial) de modelos fisicamente atraentes. Neste contexto, a presente pesquisa tem como principal objetivo verificar se a presença de apelo sexual em anúncios de mídia impressa influencia a lembrança da marca sob a ótica do Neuromarketing. A disciplina do Neuromarketing pode ser definida como uma área de estudo que utiliza ferramentas de análises clínicas para entender melhor reações fisiológicas dos indivíduos e como tais reações afetam o comportamento do consumidor. A ferramenta utilizada na pesquisa foi o Eye-Tracking, que consiste em um aparelho que capta a movimentação dos olhos e registra os pontos de maior atenção visual. A pesquisa foi realizada em três etapas: inicialmente, foram escolhidos trinta anúncios reais de mídia impressa e, por meio de uma pesquisa com 96 participantes, foram selecionados seis anúncios com apelo sexual. Em seguida, 201 participantes assistiram, durante cinco segundos, seis anúncios diferentes. Destes 201 participantes, 100 deles assistiram os anúncios com a presença de apelo sexual e 101 participantes assistiram anúncios sem a presença de apelo. Nesta etapa, os registros da movimentação ocular foram captados pelo eye-tracking. No final do experimento, os participantes responderam um questionário em que, dentre outras informações, mencionaram quais marcas estavam contidas nos anúncios. O teste estatístico para provar se há diferenças entre os dois grupos, considerando os dados coletados, foi o teste de Mann Whitney Wilcoxon. Os resultados evidenciaram que não existe diferença estatisticamente significante entre a lembrança da marca e a presença ou não de apelo sexual no anúncio. Já no contexto do Neuromarketing, os resultados mostraram que os participantes fixaram mais o olhar na imagem com apelo sexual do que na imagem sem apelo sexual. Entretanto, no que diz respeito à fixação do olhar na logomarca do anúncio, não houve diferenças estatisticamente significantes do tempo de fixação na logomarca dos anúncios com apelo sexual e sem apelo sexual / Studies show that the recall of a particular brand is essential for its value generation . In an attempt to attract visual attention and thus influence the process of fixing the brand in the consumer\'s memory, marketing professionals use, in their ads, content with the presence of sex appeal. Such content suggest, among other forms, the exhibition of nudity (partial or total) of physically attractive models. In this context, this research aims to verify if the presence of sex appeal in advertisements for print media influences brand recall from the perspective of Neuromarketing. The discipline of Neuromarketing can be defined as an area of study that uses clinical analysis tools to better understand physiological reactions of individuals and how such these reactions affect consumer behavior. The tool used in the research was the Eye-Tracking, which consists of a device that captures eye movements and records the points of greatest visual attention. The research was conducted in three stages: initially, were chosen thirty real print media ads and , through a survey with 96 participants, six ads with sex appeal were selected. Then two hundred and one participants watched, for five seconds, six different ads. Of these two hundred participants, 100 of them watched the ads with the presence of sex appeal and the 101 watched ads without the presence of appeal. At this stage, the records of eye movements were captured by the eye-tracking. At the end of the experiment, participants answered a questionnaire that, among other information, mentioned which brands were contained in the ads. The statistical test to prove whether there are differences between the two groups, considering the data collected, was the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test. The results showed that the presence of sex appeal in advertising has no influence in the consumer\'s ability to remember a brand. Under the Neuromarketing vision, the results showed that participants spend more time looking to the sex appeal image comparing with the non sex appeal image. Considering the fixation duration in the brand image, the results presented that there no statistical difference between sex appel and non sex appeal advertising

Marketers have always been looking for alternative ways to reach the target population with their messages. One approach that has grown the last decades is product placement that has become a large arena for companies to involve in their marketing communication. It has been shown that people tend to dislike traditional advertisement such as commercial brakes in TV and tries to avoid it by switching channel. Since product placement is a type of advertisement that is embedded in a movie or TV-show and cannot be zapped away without missing the story of the movie or TV-show, it is a good opportunity to reach out with a company’s message. Several studies have been done in the field of mapping the attitudes towards product placement but no research has been done with the Swedish audience in focus. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is: “…to investigate what attitudes the Swedish audience has towards product placements in Movies and TV-shows”, which will lead to a greater knowledge for Swedish marketing managers about the attitudes towards product placement in Sweden. This thesis is a quantitative study with a descriptive single cross-sectional design. The data was retrieved through a questionnaire online. The sample frame was generation Y which is people that are between the ages 18-35. The study showed that the general attitude towards product placement is positive for the Swedish audience. When it comes to the different dimensions of product placement; visual-only, audio-only and a combination audio-visual it is shown that the visual placements is seen as the most positive way to place a product in a movie or a TV-show. It could also be seen several similarities with previous studies that prominent placement has a lower attitude while a subtle placements has a more positive attitude.

Estudos comprovam que a lembrança de determinada marca é um componente essencial para a geração de seu valor. Na tentativa de atrair a atenção visual e, consequentemente, influenciar o processo de fixação da marca na memória do consumidor, profissionais de marketing utilizam, em seus anúncios, conteúdos com a presença de apelo sexual. Tais conteúdos sugerem, dentre outras formas, a exposição da nudez (total ou parcial) de modelos fisicamente atraentes. Neste contexto, a presente pesquisa tem como principal objetivo verificar se a presença de apelo sexual em anúncios de mídia impressa influencia a lembrança da marca sob a ótica do Neuromarketing. A disciplina do Neuromarketing pode ser definida como uma área de estudo que utiliza ferramentas de análises clínicas para entender melhor reações fisiológicas dos indivíduos e como tais reações afetam o comportamento do consumidor. A ferramenta utilizada na pesquisa foi o Eye-Tracking, que consiste em um aparelho que capta a movimentação dos olhos e registra os pontos de maior atenção visual. A pesquisa foi realizada em três etapas: inicialmente, foram escolhidos trinta anúncios reais de mídia impressa e, por meio de uma pesquisa com 96 participantes, foram selecionados seis anúncios com apelo sexual. Em seguida, 201 participantes assistiram, durante cinco segundos, seis anúncios diferentes. Destes 201 participantes, 100 deles assistiram os anúncios com a presença de apelo sexual e 101 participantes assistiram anúncios sem a presença de apelo. Nesta etapa, os registros da movimentação ocular foram captados pelo eye-tracking. No final do experimento, os participantes responderam um questionário em que, dentre outras informações, mencionaram quais marcas estavam contidas nos anúncios. O teste estatístico para provar se há diferenças entre os dois grupos, considerando os dados coletados, foi o teste de Mann Whitney Wilcoxon. Os resultados evidenciaram que não existe diferença estatisticamente significante entre a lembrança da marca e a presença ou não de apelo sexual no anúncio. Já no contexto do Neuromarketing, os resultados mostraram que os participantes fixaram mais o olhar na imagem com apelo sexual do que na imagem sem apelo sexual. Entretanto, no que diz respeito à fixação do olhar na logomarca do anúncio, não houve diferenças estatisticamente significantes do tempo de fixação na logomarca dos anúncios com apelo sexual e sem apelo sexual / Studies show that the recall of a particular brand is essential for its value generation . In an attempt to attract visual attention and thus influence the process of fixing the brand in the consumer\'s memory, marketing professionals use, in their ads, content with the presence of sex appeal. Such content suggest, among other forms, the exhibition of nudity (partial or total) of physically attractive models. In this context, this research aims to verify if the presence of sex appeal in advertisements for print media influences brand recall from the perspective of Neuromarketing. The discipline of Neuromarketing can be defined as an area of study that uses clinical analysis tools to better understand physiological reactions of individuals and how such these reactions affect consumer behavior. The tool used in the research was the Eye-Tracking, which consists of a device that captures eye movements and records the points of greatest visual attention. The research was conducted in three stages: initially, were chosen thirty real print media ads and , through a survey with 96 participants, six ads with sex appeal were selected. Then two hundred and one participants watched, for five seconds, six different ads. Of these two hundred participants, 100 of them watched the ads with the presence of sex appeal and the 101 watched ads without the presence of appeal. At this stage, the records of eye movements were captured by the eye-tracking. At the end of the experiment, participants answered a questionnaire that, among other information, mentioned which brands were contained in the ads. The statistical test to prove whether there are differences between the two groups, considering the data collected, was the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test. The results showed that the presence of sex appeal in advertising has no influence in the consumer\'s ability to remember a brand. Under the Neuromarketing vision, the results showed that participants spend more time looking to the sex appeal image comparing with the non sex appeal image. Considering the fixation duration in the brand image, the results presented that there no statistical difference between sex appel and non sex appeal advertising

Product placement as one of the modern tools of marketing communication has become very important. This is also the case of the Czech Republic, especially after recent legislative changes and related legalization of product placement. The thesis characterizes product placement, states its particular forms and methods of evaluating its effectiveness. The aim of the thesis is to determine the difference between product placement in a situation when in an audiovisual work is presented in the first case known brand, in the second case unknown brand and in the third case fictitious brand. This is examined by the executed experiment based on watching a video with three type situations and filling in a subsequent questionnaire survey. Analysis of the survey results reveals that product placement is the most effective when displaying known brand, using unknown brand is considerably less effective and that the effectiveness of fictitious brand is the lowest. On the basis of statistical hypothesis testing, it is confirmed that there is a statistically significant relation between brand knowledge and its effectiveness.

Consumers are nowadays presented with many choices regarding products and services. In addition, there is a wide array of brands that one is forced to choose from. In this study you will get to know the brands that Swedish consumers think of first when given a specific category, thus the brands that are Top-of-mind. The purpose of this study is to investigate possible opportunities for a new entrant to become Top-of-mind and whether the importance of being Top-of-mind differs. The study examines four product categories: Toothpaste, Soft drink, Insurance company and Sportscar. The study’s empirical data is based on a survey of 200 respondents. The results of the study show that there are greater opportunities for a new market entrant to become Top-of-mind within the product category Insurance company and Sportscar, at the same time as it indicates that the possibilities within Toothpaste and Soda are smaller. Furthermore, the study's results conclude that it is more important to be Top-of-mind in the product categories Toothpaste, Soft drink and Insurance company.

Product placement has long been a popular advertising tool that is still heavily used in today’s market. Therefore, this thesis adds a new construct to the field of product placement, namely language barriers, to see if that can have an impact on consumers’ ability to perceive product placement, in terms of brand recall. Moreover, this study also explores alternative constructs, such as brand attitude, to examine if they have an influence on consumers’ ability to recall brands when viewing SVoD entertainment content containing product placement. Furthermore, the Tripartite Typology of Product Placement conducted by Russell (1998) was applied as the main theory throughout this thesis as a foundation of the product placement-concepts. Additionally, the aforementioned research topics were explored via 14 semi-structured interviews with Swedish consumers, where all participants were within the age group that are the largest consumers of SVoD content. After the data was collected and analyzed, the results yielded that language barriers have a negative impact on brand recall, in terms of verbal placement, and no impact in terms of visual placements. Moreover, some other factorsthat also impacted the participants’ ability to recall the placed products included brand attitude, personal interests and perception of brands.

This thesis measures college students' attitudes toward, and the effectiveness of, brand placement in the genre of reality television. Surveys were used to discover the level of brand recall for the products and brands displayed in reality television programming and to discover viewers' reported reasons for paying attention to these brands. The study found that viewers tended to have positive attitudes toward brand placement in reality television and that focus on a brand was a major reason for recall. Furthermore, the study found no significant difference in the recall scores of reality television viewers versus non-viewers and no significant difference based on the perceived level of the reality of the programming.