Texte remanié de: Th. doct.--Hist.--Paris 1, 1996. / Bibliogr. p. 515-543. Glossaire. Index.

With the rise of social media platforms and the increasing popularity of short-form video content, TikTok has emerged as one of the dominant platforms for entertainment, information sharing, and commerce. This thesis aims to examine the influence of community commerce TikTok content on adult users, exploring the impact it has on their purchasing behaviors, perceptions, and overall engagement. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods in an online survey. The quantitative analysis of results involves assessing demographic data in addition to establishing a clear, unambiguous understanding of the participants including their exposure to community commerce content, motivations for engagement, and existing purchase behavior. In the analysis of qualitative data, open-ended and narrative responses are analyzed. These responses speak to personal realities and provide insight on distinctive opinions. The theories deployed in the design of the study are Social Influence theory, the Stimulus-Organism-Response Model (SOR), and Word of Mouth (WOM). The findings of this research contribute to existing literature on social media marketing, digital commerce, and consumer behavior. The outcome of the study revealed that users feel more inclined to make a purchase in response to TikTok content (compared to traditional marketing) when the content feels catered to their interests and multiple users on the platform attest to a product's value. This category of content is referred to as community commerce, which intersects community, shopping, and entertainment. The elements that make this content unique were revealed to have the power to influence someone who has never made a purchase from TikTok before to be more inclined to do so if the content is relevant enough.  As such, the conclusions of this thesis also imply several implications for society at large. These include a more authentic approach to future influencer marketing, the democratization of trend-setting, and leveling the opportunities for small businesses that are up against larger brands.

This dissertation examines the causal relationship between inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth (GDP) in SADC countries. The study investigates, within a panel data context, whether causation is short-term, long-term or both; and explores whether the causal relationship between the two variables differs according to income level. The study covered a panel of 15 SADC countries over the period 1980-2012. In order to assess whether the causal relationship between FDI inflows and economic growth is dependent on the level of income, the study divided the SADC countries into two groups, namely, the low-income and the middleincome countries. The study used the recently developed panel data analysis methods to examine this causal relationship. It adopted a three stage approach, which consists of panel unit root, panel cointegration and Granger causality to examine the dynamic causal relationship between the two variables. Panel unit root results show that both variables in the two SADC country groups were integrated of order one. Panel cointegration tests showed that the variables for low-income country group were not cointegrated, while the variables for the middle-income countries were cointegrated. Since the low-income country group panels were not cointegrated, Grangercausality tests were conducted within a VAR framework, while causality tests for the middleincome country group were conducted within an ECM framework. Panel Granger causality results for the low-income countries showed no evidence of causality in either direction. However, for the middle-income countries’ panel, there was evidence of a unidirectional causal flow from GDP to FDI in both the long- and short- run. The study concludes that the FDI-led growth hypothesis does not apply to SADC countries. The results imply that the recent high economic growth rates recorded in the SADC region, especially middle-income countries, have been attracting FDI. In other words, it is economic growth that drives FDI inflows into the SADC region, and not vice versa. These findings have profound policy implications for the SADC region at large and individual countries. / Economics / MCOM (Economics)

This dissertation examines the causal relationship between inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth (GDP) in SADC countries. The study investigates, within a panel data context, whether causation is short-term, long-term or both; and explores whether the causal relationship between the two variables differs according to income level. The study covered a panel of 15 SADC countries over the period 1980-2012. In order to assess whether the causal relationship between FDI inflows and economic growth is dependent on the level of income, the study divided the SADC countries into two groups, namely, the low-income and the middleincome countries. The study used the recently developed panel data analysis methods to examine this causal relationship. It adopted a three stage approach, which consists of panel unit root, panel cointegration and Granger causality to examine the dynamic causal relationship between the two variables. Panel unit root results show that both variables in the two SADC country groups were integrated of order one. Panel cointegration tests showed that the variables for low-income country group were not cointegrated, while the variables for the middle-income countries were cointegrated. Since the low-income country group panels were not cointegrated, Grangercausality tests were conducted within a VAR framework, while causality tests for the middleincome country group were conducted within an ECM framework. Panel Granger causality results for the low-income countries showed no evidence of causality in either direction. However, for the middle-income countries’ panel, there was evidence of a unidirectional causal flow from GDP to FDI in both the long- and short- run. The study concludes that the FDI-led growth hypothesis does not apply to SADC countries. The results imply that the recent high economic growth rates recorded in the SADC region, especially middle-income countries, have been attracting FDI. In other words, it is economic growth that drives FDI inflows into the SADC region, and not vice versa. These findings have profound policy implications for the SADC region at large and individual countries. / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)