Using gender lenses, this dissertation examines the emergence of celebrity diplomats as viable political actors, providing diplomatic services focused on negotiation and humanitarian aid, in current international politics and the global economy. More specifically, this dissertation uses feminist political economy literature to examine how neoliberal globalization has contributed to the growing role of celebrity diplomats in international politics. I argue that the increased presence and involvement of celebrity diplomats in the post-9/11 era is the result of neoliberal globalization and the neoliberal state's shift toward privatization of the public sector, increased militarization, and increased emphasis on commodification and consumption. In order to examine this phenomenon, this dissertation examines the diplomatic endeavors of two celebrity diplomats, Angelina Jolie and George Clooney. More specifically, this study provides an in-depth analysis of Jolie and Clooney's roles and involvement in international politics. Moreover, this dissertation examines the gender roles of celebrity diplomats. Therefore, this dissertation provides a gender analysis of Jolie and Clooney's diplomatic endeavors. I argue that Jolie's diplomacy reflects her role as mother, while Clooney takes a masculine approach to his diplomatic agenda. Finally, the dissertation concludes with an analysis of the ways in which celebrity diplomacy can further promote a neoliberal agenda. / Ph. D.

Nowadays, about one fourth of all prime time commercials in the United States feature celebrity endorsers. Previous research has identified numerous benefits of this powerful marketing strategy. Unfortunately, celebrities have been increasingly involved in negative publicity in the recent past. Using event study methodology, I examine the influence of negative celebrity endorser publicity on immediate and subsequent stock returns, covering 59 events during a 25 year period from 1988 to 2012. My research shows that firms do not have to take losses for granted. By choosing proactive versus reactive/passive strategies, firms can successfully counteract the subsequent negative stock returns. Thus, it is not the negative event itself that drives the subsequent financial performance, but rather the immediate response of firms. Although immediate firm reactions increase the salience of the event and cause stock prices to drop initially, they also build up investors' trust and confidence again, ultimately leading to increased stock returns in the subsequent weeks. On the flipside, a reactive/passive strategy shows a lack of control and leadership, which can lead to substantial financial losses in the subsequent weeks. I show that this main effect is attenuated for subsidiary (vs. corporate) brands. Further, the appropriateness of the reaction (match between expected and actual firm reaction) is also crucial. Overall, this dissertation helps to advance the knowledge regarding the financial risk of negative celebrity endorser publicity and provides firms with advice to best manage the situation. / Ph. D.

The notion that pretrial media coverage impacts the judicial process of highly publicized trials is not limited to contemporary times. This study sheds light on the modem day issues that pretrial media surrounding celebrity criminal cases imposes on the United States judicial system and juries. A literature review examines the conflict between the First, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to free press and fair trials, the impact of prejudicial pretrial media, precedents established in case law, and remedies that the courts use to limit the effects of prejudicial media. Expanding upon the literature review, the study next analyzes the public's view on crime, the media's manipulation of celebrity criminal trials, social and psychological theories on pretrial publicity, problems with current remedial measures, and specific celebrity case examples. The study provides a comprehensive analysis examining each individual aspect in determining the overall effect pretrial media has on celebrity criminal cases. The media is an essential part of society, but its reporting of the pretrial stages of celebrity criminal court cases impacts the jury's ability to give a celebrity defendant a fair trial.

I denna studie undersöker vi hur stor roll influencers spelar in på den digitala marknadsföringen bland världens tre största sportföretag. Kända personer har sedan långt tillbaka innan internet använts av företag i marknadsföringssyfte vilket legat till grund för kommunikationsteorier som celebrity endorsement och parasocial relations. I dagens läge är denna typ av strategi lika relevant om inte mer, då det talas om influencer marketing som en betydande roll inom den digitala marknadsföringen. Denna studie går ut på att undersöka och mäta hur ofta influencers används på sociala medier samt att se mer djupgående på vilka sorts influencers som blir mest representerade. De grupper som studien undersöker är nano, micro, macro och mega-influencers. Vi vill se om det finns ett mönster i vilken typ av influencer som skapar störst engagemang i form av gillningar och kommentarer då tidigare forskning visat en delad bild. Något som även kan vara en påverkande faktor i ökat engagemang är i vilket format inlägget publicerats i. Vi kommer därför undersöka om inläggets format bidrar till ökat engagemang, det vill säga om inlägget är publicerat som en bild, video eller karusell. För att utforma denna studie har vi utgått från en kvantitativ metod där vi samlat in data från alla publicerade inlägg på Adidas, Puma och Nikes Instagram profil 2023. Totalt har 564 inlägg analyserats utifrån ett utformat kodschema för att få svar på frågeställningarna. I inläggen undersöker vi hur ofta företagen använt sig av influencers, vilka influencers som förekommer och vilket format som har använts mest. Detta har vi sedan jämfört med antalet gillningar och kommentarer inlägget besitter för att komma fram till ett resultat i vad som väcker störst, kontra minst engagemang. Huvudresultatet av studien visar att influencers har en betydande roll för alla tre företagens digitala marknadsföring då majoriteten av alla undersökta inlägg innehöll åtminstone en influencer. Mega-influencers är den grupp som både används mest och presterat bäst bland alla tre företag. Det är den grupp som lyckats skapa störst engagemang jämfört med de andra grupperna. Generellt kunde vi se att ju fler följare en influencer besitter desto bättre presterade inlägget, men att påverkan fortfarande är diskuterbar då många inlägg även visade lågt engagemang. När det kom till formatet kunde vi se att videoinlägg används mest frekvent, men att karusellinlägg presterade bäst i engagemanget.

The use of the social media platform Instagram has increased the fastest and has given the opportunity for the phenomenon of influencer marketing to grow in the fashion industry. The increase of influencer marketing has led marketers to understand that a change of focus is needed. Much of the previous research done in the field has focused on what distinguishes or does not distinguish effective use of influencer marketing for a company. Therefore, it is interesting to study the actual role of influencers in a fashion company’s brand communication and this by studying the fashion companies’ choice of influencers and the way consumers perceive the role of influencers in a fashion company. To operationalize the study, a semiotic analysis has been applied where images have been analyzed to answer the purpose of the study from a business perspective. The results from this are the basis for the design of a qualitative method which is then followed up by a quantitative method for answering the purpose from a consumer perspective. The data was collected through the themes formulated with the support of previous research and theories. These were consumption, the consumer’s approach to influencers and belonging to a group and identity. Within the framework of these themes, the study’s findings showed that influencer marketing is beneficial to use for a company in some areas and in others not. The semiotic analysis showed with certain deficits in the match that the companies choose influencers based on the respondents’ preferences and wishes. / Användningen av det sociala mediet Instagram är den plattform som idag ökar snabbast och har gett möjlighet för fenomenet influencer marketing att växa fram främst inom modebranschen. Ökningen av influencer marketing har lett marknadsförare till att förstå att det behövs ett fokusskifte. Mycket av den tidigare forskning som gjorts inom området har fokuserat på vad som utmärker eller inte utmärker effektiv användning av influencer marketing för ett företag. Därför är det intressant att studera den faktiska rollen av influencers i ett modeföretags varumärkeskommunikation och detta genom att studera modeföretags val av influencers och på vilket sätt konsumenter uppfattar rollen av influencers i ett modeföretag. För att operationalisera studien har en semiotisk analys tillämpats där bilder analyserats för att besvara studiens syfte utifrån ett företagsperspektiv. Resultaten från denna ligger som grund för utformningen av en kvalitativ metod som sedan följs upp av en kvantitativ metod för att besvara syftet utifrån ett konsumentperspektiv. Datan samlades in genom de teman som formulerats med stöd av tidigare forskning och teorier. Dessa var konsumtion, konsumentens förhållningssätt till influencers samt grupptillhörighet och identitet. Inom ramen för dessa teman visade studiens resultat att influencer marketing är gynnsamt att använda för ett företag i vissa avseenden och i andra inte. Bildanalysen visade med vissa brister i matchningen att företagen väljer influencers utifrån respondenternas preferenser och önskemål.

Det faktum att unga människor, genom sociala medier, i allt större utsträckning erhåller makt att påverka har kommersialiserats av företag genom marknadsföringsmetoden influencer marketing. Merparten av forskningen kring influencer marketing fokuserar dock på företag eller följare – men vad vet vi egentligen om hur dessa influencers själva betraktar fenomenet och sin roll? Vad är det egentligen som driver influencers under 18 år? Denna studie ämnar besvara dessa frågor och därigenom tillhandahålla viktig insikt kring hur företag bäst förhåller sig till gruppen unga influencers. I studien medverkar fem influencers i åldrarna 14–17 år från mobilappen TikTok, där de i skrivande stund har mellan 172 000 till 2,3 miljoner följare. Studien visar på en relativt medveten grupp unga individer med god förståelse för sin roll i marknadsföringssystemet, likväl som för sin roll som opinionsbildare och influencer. Generellt uppvisar de en negativ uppfattning till reklam i allmänhet men en positiv inställning till influencer marketing. De innehar vidare stark kritisk inställning till det som de identifierar som missbrukande av rollen influencer. Trots att influencers främst tycks drivas av personlig vinning så har de en tydlig önskan att fungera som förebild och inspirationskälla. Influencers tycks vidare i stor grad drivas av inre motivationskällor och uppvisar stor personlig integritet samt selektivitet vid val av företagssamarbeten. Ett framgångsrikt samarbete bör därför upplevas som självvalt, innehålla rätt typ av budskap samt ge visst utrymme för egna tolkningar. / The fact that young people, through social media, has increasingly been given the power to influence has been commercialized by companies through the marketing method influencer marketing. However, most of the research on influencer marketing focuses on companies or followers – but what do we really know about how these influencers themselves regard the phenomenon and their role? What is it that drives influencers under the age of 18? This study aims to answer these questions and thereby provide important insights about how companies best relate to the group of young influencers. The participants in the study, which are aged between 14 and 17, are active on the mobile app TikTok. At the time of writing, they have between 172,000 to 2.3 million followers on the platform. The study shows a relatively conscious group of young individuals with a good understanding for their role in the marketing system, as well as their role as opinion leaders and influencers. Generally, they show a negative view of advertising in general but a positive attitude to influencer marketing. They also have a strong perception of possible negative aspects, that they identify as an abuse of the role influencer. Despite the fact that influencers mainly seem to be driven by personal gain, they have a clear desire to act as a role model and source of inspiration. Influencers seem to be strongly driven by internal sources of motivation and therefore show great personal integrity as well as selectivity to collaborations with companies. To achieve a successful business collaboration, the cooperation should therefore be perceived by influencers as self-chosen, contain the right kind of message and finally give enough room for the influencer’s own interpretations.

In recent years, old-hand development scholars, in the category of Dan Brockington, have expressed their concern over academia’s neglect of the significance of celebrities in the field. As has been the case of an outturn hereof, namely beauty pageants. In the last six decades, Venezuela has positioned itself not only as one of the world's largest exporters of oil but also as one of the leading engenderers of titleholders in international pageantry. The latter, which has resulted in Venezuelans regarding the pageant as a fundamental cultural undercurrent in their collective identity, seems to be a ceaseless manifestation in spite of the country’s worrisome current socio-economic status. Rather than adopting a condescending paradigm towards the Miss Venezuela pageant, it is precisely this vertex of ambiguity that opens the avenue for an interesting development question. After all, if celebrity beauty queens from Venezuela are deemed as part of the nation’s identity, could the pageant, in the same breath, be deemed as a contributor to communication for development? While espousing historical context as an analysing method and in pursuit of David Hulme’s Celebrity-Development nexus and Elizabeth McCall’s four strands of communication for development, this paper presents a qualitative study in which hands-on experts are given a platform. The findings show the evolution of a beauty pageant from a, nearly, nationalist device into a system that is grounded in the Millennium Development Goals and that aims to forge socially responsible beauty representatives that are competent enough to herald purposeful messages.

This thesis aims to uncover the reasons behind the sudden rise of the YouTube celebrity and to test (by means of an experimental study of teenager interests) media claims that YouTubers have become more popular among teenagers than any traditional type of celebrity. The thesis integrates YouTubers into celebrity studies by first outlining the origins of celebrity and its general role in society and then drawing parallels between traditional types of celebrity and YouTubers via describing the characteristics they embody and the specific roles they perform. As a result, YouTubers are found to be a technologically determined next step in the evolution of the TV personality, whose celebrity is mainly structured around the concepts of familiarity and intimacy. What follows is a discussion of participatory culture, monetization and doing YouTube as a job, with emphasis on the effects these developments had on the rise of the YouTube celebrity and online content & culture in general. The thesis is concluded by an experimental study conducted using quantitative research methods on a sample of over 5,000 Czech teenagers by analyzing their Facebook page-likes. The results suggest that YouTubers really are more important to teenagers than traditional celebrities.

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This written thesis unpacks the thoughts and motivations behind the decisions I have made in my artistic practice that have ultimately culminated in my M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition: Sub for More. By merging images of my own work as well as internet sourced images of the culture that drives my work, I have created a platform to begin to understand my experience during graduate school. This text examines and explores my belief in the inherent power in pop culture, my obsession with fame, celebrity, and my self-identity as a participant in current pop-culture.