Sponsored activities can conduct an effective communication channel between the enterprise and its targeted customers, and among all kind of sponsored activities, sports sponsorship is the most popular one. Enterprise always hope to successfully lift up the brand¡¦s awareness and image all over the world by sponsoring a big sport event. However, whether the enterprise can benefit from the sponsorship is the main thing enterprise really caring about after throwing big bucks and efforts, and it is also the focus of this study. We take the Acer as our targeted enterprise, and examine the sponsorship effect of two different sport events that Acer sponsor (We pretend that Acer sponsoring the 2010 World Cup). The data were collected through a questionnaire. This study totally sent out three hundreds and ten questionnaires, two hundreds and ninety-six questionnaires were received, two hundreds and seventy-nine of them were effective. The results suggest that when consumers have positive attitude toward the sport events, the enterprises can enhance the awareness through sponsoring the sport events. But it is uncertain whether the enterprise can enhance the image by sponsoring the sport events when consumers have positive attitude toward the sport events. The results also suggest that the consumers¡¦ perception of sponsor-event fit will affect the awareness and image. Moreover, the study indicate that both the awareness and image have significantly positive effects on purchase intention.

ABSTRACT Users¡¦ opinions and needs of the underlying products and services are allowed to gather at the Internet communities. Thus, Internet communities play information sharing roles in modern society. This thesis serves laptop computers as the object being studied and asks consumers¡¦ opinions about Internet communities and their purchase behaviors. In addition, brand awareness and risk of awareness played major roles in consumers¡¦ purchase decisions. As a consequence, this research took the three dimensions into consideration and examined the relations between the dimensions and consumers¡¦ purchase decisions for the sake of providing suggestions to laptop firms. The questionnaire answerers are generally students whose age between 20 and 30. The outcomes show that the Internet group bears the greatest loading while the other two dimensions reported significant results as well. Gender, on the other hand, showed no significant differences in dimensions except the male value brand publicity more. Thus, this study gave suggestions to firms based on the results.

Traditionally speaking, some firms believe that great brand awareness will affect consumers¡¦ purchasing intention and bring much more profit in returns. Hence, a large number of entrepreneurs are spending a tremendous amount of capital on enhancing their brands and brand awareness but they often ignore the importance of word-of-mouth communication on internet. Recently, the internet has become much more popular and common than decades ago and such channel has changed consumers¡¦ purchasing habits. In fact, there are more consumers who share their experience on those products and services that they have used through internet. Furthermore, there are also more consumers who use internet to receive the information that they need for specific products and services. Thus, the importance and effectiveness of ¡§word-of-month of communication¡¨ on internet are much more important than the traditional ¡§word-of-mouth communication¡¨. This research study will be focused on hotels in Kenting area to discuss the effectiveness of purchasing intentions based on the brand awareness of that hotel and messages from the word-of-mouth communication on internet. More importantly, this research study will use customers¡¦ involvement as moderators to further understand the relationships between brand awareness & purchasing intentions, and word-of-mouth communication on internet & purchasing intentions. This research study has chosen two hotels in Kenting area. One hotel has high brand awareness while the other one has low brand awareness. This dissertation has also conducted on-line research based on their word-of-mouth communication on internet and the questionnaire participants are customers who have been to Kenting hotels. After collecting all data, this research has discovered that a hotel¡¦s brand awareness will affect customers¡¦ purchasing intentions. In other words, higher the brand awareness, more purchasing intentions from consumers. In addition, messages from word-of-mouth communication on internet will also affect customers¡¦ purchasing intentions. When the word-of-mouth communication on internet is negative, there will be fewer customers with lower purchasing intentions. Yet, the messages from word-of-mouth communication on internet will have higher effectiveness than the brand awareness of that specific hotel. Nevertheless, consumers¡¦ involvement will not affect the brand awareness, word-of-mouth communication on internet, and purchasing intentions. Last, the conclusion of this research study will provide some practical recommendations for hotel owners. Key words: brand awareness, word-of-mouth on internet, customers¡¦ involvement, and purchasing intentions.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate whether RTM-advertising is a more effective and attractive way of creating social media content compared to traditional social media marketing, and if so, provide insights on what makes it successful. The objective is also to get a greater understanding if such real-time marketing may affect the consumers’ perception of a brand due to the lack of time to consider the content of the marketing message. Further we wish to research if and what kind of impact events have on the real-time marketing effectiveness. Lastly we provide recommendations on how to, according to us, best practice RTM-advertising on social media today. Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework consists of the essentials of brand equity and the importance of having a strong brand, as well as the emerging of a digital marketing platform and how it affect how companies perform marketing activities today. Further the theoretical framework covers the basic of social media and development of RTM. Considering RTM being a new phenomenon, previous scientific theories on the subjects are limited. Method: The research is based on a triangulation, a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. This was made to get a broad perspective on the subject with viewpoints from both experts and consumers. The qualitative part consisted of five interviews with experts in the field of marketing as well as online observations of real-time marketing activities. The quantitative part consisted of a survey with 296 responses. Conclusions: The conclusions made in this research is that RTM is an effective and attractive way of creating social media marketing if made according to the following guidelines: 1) Build content on up-to-date news, so called newsjacking, 2) Be selective on what events to work on to make sure they are in alignment with your brand personality, 3) Use weather related happenings to build real-time content that is relevant and geographically on target, and 4) Interact with other brands and start a two way conversation. However, advertising in real-time may jeopardize how the brand is perceived by its consumers, since it may 1) Confuse the consumers, a luxury brand may for example come off as too mainstream, 2) Be misunderstood, considering the lack of time to plan and reconsider, and 3) Have the brand come out as Page 3 of 76 unauthentic, if the real-time content fail to reach high engagement, making it look dull and unattractive. Lastly, events have shown to have an impact on the effectiveness of the real-time advertisement, since 1) It provides brand with a short-cut to creating content that people are talking about, 2) Events are easy to plan beforehand, and 3) Events often open up to unpredicted happenings that consumers want to talk about, creating a so called opportunistic real-time opportunity.

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>

Titel: Relationen mellan brand awareness och eWOM i förhållande till tillit Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Daniel Jonsson och Gabriel-Johan Saliba Handledare: Akmal Hyder och Michelle Rydback Datum: Juni 2019 Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka om relationen mellan trovärdigheten av eWOM och tillit är starkare än relationen mellan brand awareness och tillit.  Metod: I denna studie har vi använt en kvantitativ metod och en webbaserad enkätundersökning för att bekräfta eller förkasta våra fyra hypoteser. Vi fick totalt in 85 svar inklusive diverse bortfall. Dessa svar analyserades sedan i SPSS där deskriptiv analys, korrelationsanalys, faktoranalys och T-test genomfördes. Resultat och Slutsats: När det kom till korrelationen mellan brand awareness och tillit, visade vår empiriska data att det inte fanns en stark korrelation mellan dessa variabler. Detta innebär att vår hypotes som påstod att brand awareness var starkt kopplad till tillit förkastades. De andra tre hypoteserna gällande sambandet mellan eWOM och tillit kunde bekräftas då vi fann en hög korrelation vilket påvisade ett starkt samband mellan dessa variabler. Vi fann att låg trovärdighet påverkade tilliten negativt och hög trovärdighet påverkade tilliten positivt. Vi kunde också bekräfta att anonymitet påverkade trovärdigheten negativt och därmed också tilliten. Detta uppfyllde också studiens syfte. Enligt vår studie kom vi slutligen fram till att eWOM som ansågs trovärdig ansågs som mer tillitsingivande än brand awareness. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar främst till teorin och understryker tidigare forsknings påståenden. Låg trovärdighet påverkar tilliten negativt, hög trovärdighet påverkar tilliten positivt och anonymitet påverkar trovärdigheten på ett negativt sätt vilket leder till låg tillit. Empirin vi producerat ger framtida forskare en plattform att utgå ifrån när det gäller kommande kvantitativ forskning inom liknande forskningsområden. Vi bevisar också att eWOM som betraktas som trovärdig har en starkare korrelation till tillit än vad brand awareness har, vilket kan ge tips och stöd till forskare och företag. Ytterligare presenteras en metodkritik med förslag till förbättringar gällande metod som kan underlätta andra forskares arbeten. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Det blev uppenbart för oss att vi hade behövt lägga mer tid på att få in fler svar och förbereda ett bredare urval för att få ett mer representativt resultat. Vi tror dessutom att fler faktorer behöver undersökas i samband med brand awareness (exempelvis brand equity) för att se en bredare bild av hur tillit skapas till eWOM som sprids via sociala medier. Vi tror att med hjälp av en annan utformning på enkäten och med hjälp av ytterligare variabler skulle kunnat bevisa att brand awareness faktiskt påverkar tilliten till eWOM. Nyckelord: eWOM, tillit, brand awareness, WOM, trovärdighet, anonymitet. / Title: The relation between brand awareness and eWOM relative to trust Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor’s Degrees in Business Administration Author: Daniel Jonsson and Gabriel-Johan Saliba Supervisor: Akmal Hyder and Michelle Rydback Date: June 2019 Aim: The aim of this research is to examine if the relation between the credibility of eWOM and trust is stronger than the relation between brand awareness and trust. Method: In this study we applied a quantitative method with the help of a web-based survey to test our four hypotheses. We gathered a total of 85 answers including the non-usable surveys. This empirical data was later analyzed using SPSS. We performed a descriptive analysis, a correlation analysis, a factor analysis and a T-test to prove or reject our hypotheses. Result and Conclusions: The connection between brand awareness and trust was according to our study not strongly correlated. However, we could prove a connection between low credibility and low trust and vice versa. We also found that anonymity played a part and influenced credibility in a way that made eWOM less trustworthy. This proved three of our four hypotheses. We also fulfilled our purpose and proved that eWOMs relation was stronger with trust than the relation between brand awareness and trust. Contribution of the thesis: This research further confirms previous researchers’ findings. Low credibility of eWOM results in low levels of trust and high credibility of eWOM results in high levels of trust.  The anonymity of eWOM affects the credibility in a negative manner, and therefore it also leads to lower levels of trust. We believe that our empiric data should give future researchers a platform to build similar quantitative trust research upon.  We have also proved that eWOM which is seen as credible has a stronger relation with trust than brand awareness has. This finding alone could give inspiration, tips, and guidelines to researchers and companies. We have also included a method criticism which should give future researchers some guidance as well. Suggestions for future research: Future research should however focus on gathering a more representative sample of respondents, which we believe would lead to a better result. To acknowledge more factors and to take more variables into account when researching trust (for example brand equity) would also help future researchers to develop a deeper understanding of this subject. We do believe that a future quantitative survey could further specify their questions and by doing so find a stronger relation between brand awareness and trust than we managed to. Key words: eWOM, trust, brand awareness, WOM, credibility, anonymity.

Syfte: Syfte med uppsatsen är att öka vår kunskap om product displacement samt att utreda den påverkan product displacement har på mottagaren sett ur ett marknadsföringsperspektiv. Pararellt undersöks om fenomenet kan vara en fördel eller nackdel i marknadskommunikationen. Utgångspunkten i utredningen är att varumärkesinnehavare själva använder sig av product displacement. Metod: Denna studie har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod och induktiv ansats. Metodvalet har sin utgångspunkt i den bristande teorin då fenomenet product displacement är ett nytt begrepp sett ur ett marknadsföringsperspektiv. Undersökningen bygger på tjugo kvalitativa intervjuer med mottagare av product displacement samt två respondenter med yrkesanknytning inom marknadsföring. Avgränsningar: Denna uppsats behandlar endast product displacements effekter på mottagaren som i vårt fall är begränsat till studenter i ålder 20-25 år. Product displacement behandlas som en möjlig marknadsföringsstrategi förutsatt att varumärkesinnehavare själva använder denna. Slutsatser: Product displacement medför ett överraskningsmoment som genererar känslor för mottagaren. Mottagaren gör associationer till det ursprungliga varumärket och får därmed en ökad brand awareness som i sin tur leder till engagemang i form av bland annat word-of-mouth. / The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the impact that product displacement has on the receiver from a marketing communication perspective. This thesis is built upon that the companies themselves make use of this possible marketing strategy. This study is based on a qualitative method with an inductive approach. The main choice of methods has its origins in the lack of product displacements theory since it is a new concept from a marketing communication perspective. The survey is based on twenty interviews with recipients of the phenomenon and two respondents with professional ties.  This thesis deals only with the effects off the product displacement phenomenon on the receiver, as in our case, is limited to students with 20-25 years of age.

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.

Background: Marketing communication is constantly changing and one way to communicate with customer is to use sponsoring. Sponsorship in sport has changed over the past years and new opportunities has developed. It is therefore interesting to ask sponsors what their opinion about sponsoring is. Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to find out why companies choose to work with sport sponsorship and what there opinion about it is versus other marketing strategies. Method: A qualitative study based on interviews with non-probability sample. Conclusion: This study reveals that there are several reasons to sponsor sporting events. The main reason is the possibility to communicate with a large and diverse targetgroup and have the opportunity for a personal meeting with the targetgroup. In today's information society, it is important to be unique and to communicate on a platform where consumers are responsive. All sponsorship needs to be evaluated and measured to be justified. The study also indicate that sponsorship is different from other marketing methods but the message is the same as in other marketing channels. The primary difference is the relationship with the customer and also the companies commitment to the sporting event through activation.

<p><strong>Introduction:</strong> Mass marketing techniques have dominated the marketing strategies implemented by companies worldwide. Media such as radio, television, newspapers, direct mail etc. were the ones carrying out the message to the large audience. The rapid growth of digital media opened new marketing possibilities for businesses, now the masses can be reached faster and more efficiently. The digital media capabilities can help businesses to spread viral messages to the mass market; like viruses. It is very powerful technique to be used to increase brand awareness of the organization.</p><p><strong>Problem:</strong> As Berthon, Ewing and Napoli (2008) stated in their work that the band awareness literature has focused almost only on large multinational brands, where SMEs were not taken into consideration. Therefore, it is interesting in current study to address the lack of research focused on the use of viral marketing by SMEs to increase their brand awareness. Thus this thesis aims to fulfill this gap in the academic research.</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of the thesis is to investigate how Small and Medium-size Enterprises use Viral Marketing and what impact it has on their brand awareness, moreover, thesis also aims to identify how SMEs create successful Viral Marketing campaign.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> The empirical data was collected through three interviewa with the CEOs and owners of organizations located in USA, Belgium and Sweden. There were two phone interviews with representatives of USA and Belgium companies and one face-to-face interview with the respondent from Swedish company.</p><p><strong>Frame of Reference:</strong> Frame of references used in this thesis consists of theories regarding Viral Marketing, Branding and Brand Awareness. The authors have summarized the frame of reference by developing a model that integrates viral marketing and brand awareness. The model will help us out when formulating questions and when analyzing the empirical findings.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> The authors have come to the conclusion that viral marketing does have an effect on brand awareness, but to different extend for different SMEs. In some SMEs the increased brand awareness is more clear and can be seen immediately, such as increased sales, increased frequency on the webpage and billions of viewers on their video campaign on Youtube, while others only got more friends on Facebook and small increase in sales then before the viral marketing campaign. This study points out that SMEs need to implement as many strategies as possible (slogan, jingle, symbols, slogan), but that is not enough. They also need to be unique, creative and clever when implementing a viral marketing campaign.</p>