Product customisation has always been a regular practice as a form of self or group identification. Previous studies have demonstrated that when investing time and effort to customise a product, an emotional attachment to that product develops. Since the 1980s, new technologies in design, manufacturing and communications have facilitated customisation practices for mass manufacturers as well as for individual consumers. For example, computer algorithms can now automate customisation (i.e. individualise), meaning that the investment of time and effort can be significantly lower than in other customisation processes. Such novel automated practices have, however, not considered the effects on emotional attachment to products, which occurs when the consumer personally engages in the process. This research investigates individualisation as a form of customisation by looking at the relationship between an individualised product and the consumers’ attribution of value and emotional attachment to the end result. This was achieved through a mixed methods approach: following a literature review, in-depth interviews, observation and experiments were carried out. Four pilot studies were conducted, involving 42 respondents (designers, company directors, and consumers). The main study engaged a further 44 respondents, profiled as one of two types of consumers depending on their critical engagement with customisation processes, namely Active Consumers (AC) that Passive Consumers (PC). Data was collected through five Action Research cycles and incorporated key features of Design-Based Research. It was then processed, coded and analysed using thematic analysis. This study makes contributions to knowledge in the area of product customisation and individualisation, as well as in the research methods developed, applied and refined over the four pilot iterations and in the main study. Results suggest that despite limiting freedom of choice, individualisation is a valuable approach to product customisation, particularly for PCs willing to relinquish part of the decision making to an automated process, in order to obtain a customised and unique design. ACs, on the other hand, value their freedom to customise their own products and see individualisation as a limitation to the customisation experience and as a hindrance to developing emotional attachment to the product. These findings have the potential to inform entrepreneurs’ and designers’ decisions to better understand and exploit the benefits associated to individualisation processes. Offering specific consumer groups opportunities to engage with the individualisation process can trigger a strong emotional product attachment and potentially generate new business opportunities.

The marketing landscape is changing, with the focus shifting from traditional marketing methods towards digital marketing. Enterprises must realize the importance of this new paradigm to not risk falling behind competitors. The new paradigm focuses on customer relationships and trying to attract and create loyal customers. A new way of creating loyal trusting customer relationships is by using content marketing, meaning providing customers with valuable information in the form of content and enabling two-way communication. To understand how consumers perceive content and why they choose to engage or not, is crucial for enterprises, in creating successful content marketing.This study aims to provide knowledge and understanding of how content marketing affects customer engagement from a consumer's perspective. This study is a qualitative study using several semi-structured interviews and observations to gather data. A conceptual framework from previous research is used to analyse the result, this framework is a multidimensional approach of how consumers react and perceive different types of online content marketing.The outcome of this study shows that consumer engagement is a psychological state that is hard to reach for any enterprise/brand, to be truly successful the consumers dimensions of cognitive, emotional and action response must all be affected, which can be enabled through credible, targeted and differentiated content marketing. / Omgivningen för marknadsföring håller på att förändras, fokus har flyttats från traditionella metoder mot digitala marknadsmetoder. Företag måste förstå hur viktig detta paradigmskifte är för att inte halka efter sina konkurrenter. Det nya paradigmet fokuserar på kundrelationer och att försöka attrahera och skapa lojala kunder. Ett nytt sätt att skapa dessa relationer är att använda innehållsmarknadsföring (content marknadsföring), med det menas att tillhandahålla värdefull information i form av innehåll och att bistå med plattformar för att underlätta tvåvägskommunikation mellan kunder och företag. Att förstå hur kunder uppfattar innehåll och varför de väljer att engagera sig i den eller inte är avgörande för ett företag i att skapa lyckad innehållsmarknadsföring.Syftet med denna studie är att förse läsaren med kunskap och förståelse för hur innehållsmarknadsföring påverkar kundengagemang ur ett kundperspektiv. Studien är en kvalitativ studie som använder semi-strukturerade intervjuer och observationer som dataunderlag. Ett ramverk baserat på tidigare forskning används för att analysera resultatet, som byggs på ett flerdimensionellt synsätt hur kunder reagerar och upplever olika typer av innehållsmarknadsföring.Resultatet av studien visar hur kundengagemang är ett psykiskt tillstånd som är svårt för företag/varumärken att skapa hos konsumenten. För att uppnå lyckosam innehållsmarknadsföring måste kundens kognitiva, emotionella och viljan att ta handling stimuleras, vilket kan skapas genom trovärdig, målinriktad och differentierad innehållsmarknadsföring.

Utvecklingen av den digitala världen och sociala medier har gjort att konsumenter fått större makt i hur ett företag uppfattas då de direkt och indirekt påverkar företagets image genom det de delar, kommenterar och recenserar (Alam och Khan 2019). Ji, Li, North och Liu (2017) menar att en enda negativ kommentar på sociala medier kan växa till en allvarlig kris, som i denna studie definieras som en onlinestorm. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur köpintentionen kan påverkas utifrån den onlinestorm som företaget NA-KD fick erfara i december 2020. Fallet uppmärksammades i sociala medier utifrån hur tidigare praktikanter och anställda hos NA-KD hade upplevt utskällningar från chefer, mobbning och ohållbar stress på arbetsplatsen (Hansson 2020).För att köpintentioner ska kunna förutsägas måste konsumenternas förändrade varumärkesattityd och känslornas påverkan på konsumentbeteende undersökas. För att besvara vårt syfte formulerades två frågeställningar samt två hypoteser utifrån tidigare forskning och teori och en kvantitativ undersökning i form av en enkät genomfördes. SOR-teorin av Jacoby (2002) användes som teoretiskt ramverk för studien. Resultatet av studien påvisar att konsumenterna upplevt ilska och därmed antagit ett negativt beteende som svar vilket gör att varumärkesattityden försämrats. Detta påverkar i sin tur köpintentionen negativt. Studiens resultat visar även att i detta fall har engagemanget på sociala medier varit relativt lågt hos respondenterna, men trots det har varumärkesattityden försämrats hos det allra flesta. Detta indikerar på att konsumentengagemang på sociala medier inte är en betydande faktor för att varumärkesattityden och köpintentionen ska bli påverkade i en onlinestorm. Studien är skriven på svenska. / The development of the digital world and social media has given consumers greater power in how an organisation is perceived as they have a direct and indirect impact on an organisation's image through what they share, comment on and review (Alam & Khan 2019). Ji, Li, North and Liu (2017) argue that one single negative comment on social media can develop into a crisis, defined in this study as an online storm. The purpose of this study is to examine how purchase intention can be affected by analysing the online storm that NA-KD experienced in December 2020. This case was highlighted on social media where former interns and employees at NA-KD shared that they had experienced verbal abuse from bosses, bullying and untenable stress at the workplace (Hansson 2020).Consumers changing brand attitudes and the role that emotions play in consumer behaviour must be examined to predict purchase intentions. To attain the purpose of this study, two research questions were formulated as well as two hypotheses, based on previous research and theory, and a quantitative study in the form of a questionnaire was conducted. The SOR theory proposed by Jacoby (2002) was used as a theoretical framework for the study. The results show that consumers experienced anger and therefore assumed a negative behaviour towards the organisation, which worsened brand attitude. This in return negatively affects purchase intention. The results of the study also show that in this case consumer engagement on social media had been relatively low. Despite this, brand attitude had been affected negatively with the majority. This indicates that consumer engagement on social media is not a significant factor in affecting brand attitude and purchase intention by an online storm.The study is written in Swedish.

Fast fashion-industrin blir ständigt anklagad för att inte vara hållbar och konsumenters kunskap om hållbarhet är bristande. Forskning visar att konsumenternas förståelse för fast fashion-industrin och hur det påverkar omvärlden är nyckeln för att nå förändring och en hållbar industri. I och med att intresset för hållbarhet har ökat senaste åren och att engagemang är en viktig faktor för att skapa konkurrensfördelar för företag är syftet med arbetet att analysera svenska fast fashion-företags hållbarhetskommunikation på Instagram samt undersöka vilka faktorer som är viktiga för konsumentengagemang. Studien genomfördes med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys på Instagram med hjälp av en analysmodell som skapats baserad på tidigare forskning där hållbarhetskommunikation och konsumentengagemang kategoriserats utifrån olika faktorer.  Resultatet av studien visade att företagen kommunicerade hållbarhet i liten utsträckning men att när det väl kommunicerades gjordes på ett sätt som speglade respektive företags fokus. Hållbarhetskommunikationen på Instagram bestod i störst utsträckning av miljömässig och social hållbarhet där bilder var det mest använda formatet. Modefotografering, produktfoto, användargenererat innehåll och människor var motiven som kommunicerades mest. I företagens hållbarhetsinlägg kommunicerades hållbara affärspraxis, arbetet för beteendeförändring och insamlingar för att öka medvetenheten för hållbarhetsfrågor.  För aktivt konsumentengagemang konstateras att det är viktigt för fast fashion-företag att identifiera företagets målgrupp. Hållbarhetsinlägg som kommunicerades genom video genererade mer engagemang än bilder. Inlägg som illustrerade modefotografering och användargenererat innehåll engagerade konsumenter mest. Konsumenterna engagerades främst av känslomässigt laddade inlägg där företag ökade medvetenheten för hållbarhetsfrågor genom bland annat insamlingar till välgörenhet. Studien avslutas med en vägledning för svenska fast fashion-företag med en beskrivning av hur hållbarhet kan kommuniceras för att engagera konsumenter. / The fast fashion-industry is constantly accused of being unsustainable and consumers' knowledge of sustainability is lacking. Studies show that consumers' understanding of the fast fashion-industry and how it affects the outside world is the key to achieving change and a sustainable industry. With the interest in sustainability increasing in recent years and engagement being an important factor in creating competitive advantages for companies, the purpose of this study is to analyze Swedish fast-fashion companies' sustainability communication on Instagram and examine which factors are important for consumer engagement. The study was conducted through a qualitative content analysis on Instagram where a conceptual model, based on previous research, was used to categorize different factors of sustainability communication and consumer engagement. The results of the study showed that the companies communicated sustainability to a small extent, but when they did, it reflected the respective companies focuses. The sustainability communication on Instagram consisted mostly of environmental and social sustainability, where images were the most used format. Fashion photography, product photography, user-generated content and people were the most used factors by the companies. Sustainable business practices, social marketing and fundraising was used most frequently by the companies to raise awareness of sustainability issues. For consumers to be engaged, it is important for fast fashion-companies to identify their target group. Sustainability posts communicated through video generated more engagement than images. Posts that illustrated fashion photography and user-generated content engaged consumers the most. Consumers were especially engaged by emotional triggering posts where companies raised awareness of sustainability issues through fundraising. The study concludes by guidance for Swedish fast fashion-companies with a description of how sustainability can be communicated to engage consumers.

The phenomenon of Virtual Power Plant (VPP) has gained increased attention in many parts of the world in recent years. In 2022 the European Union, in response to the rising energy prices as well as the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, set a goal of speeding up the process of creating a digital energy system (European Commission, 2022, p. 20). VPP is the/a solution to the problem, and the EU is set to start its deployment of a common European energy data space no later than 2024 (European Commission, 2022, p. 3).  Previous academic research on VPP has been conducted on the technical aspects of the phenomenon and the adoption of VPP has not been approached from a consumer standpoint. We therefore identified a research gap, since, to the best of our knowledge, no qualitative or quantitative research has been conducted in the area of acceptance of VPP by individuals or households. We could see that there is a need for this type of research due to the goals set by the European Union, and the lack of current research. To fulfill the purpose of our study, we draw on the literatures on supplier switching in homogenous markets, innovation adoption, and technology acceptance to develop a conceptual framework and further empirically extend it via a mixed-method approach. The qualitative component of the study consists of three online on-on-one interviews, conducted with the help of a discussion guide. The interviewees selected were considered to be appropriate participants, suited for our study. The interviews gave us a deeper understanding of how VPP came across to the Swedish consumer, as well as how it was perceived by them. The quantitative study was done by the means of a survey of 75 respondents, enabling us to conduct a set of linear regressions in order to test our hypotheses.  Through our mixed-method study, we were able to develop an integrative framework, showcasing factors related to Swedish consumers’ intention to partake in VPP. We could conclude that Swedish consumers see value in VPP, and that there is curiosity related to the topic which indicates that there is an interest to explore and partake in VPP. We further discuss a range of recommendations to policy-makers and energy providers, as well as the potential contributions of VPP to the two important social aspects: sustainability and energy security.

Denna studie är ett examensarbete utfört i Grafisk design och kommunikation vid Tekniska högskolan vid Linköpings universitet. Studien syftade till att undersöka till vilken grad konsumentgenererat innehåll används av företag och användare samt användarnas motiv till varför de skapar konsumentgenererat innehåll. Vidare kommer studien undersöka hur konsumentgenererat innehåll gestaltas samt vilka tillvägagångssätt som finns för att uppmana till konsumentgenererat innehåll och vilket som fungerar bäst. Med hjälp av tre olika metoder kunde syftet besvaras. Studien innefattade en empirisk förstudie, semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer som har förstahandserfarenhet av konsumentgenererat innehåll samt genom en observation och bildanalys på två utvalda företags Instagramkonton. Resultatet av studien påvisar att det finns flera olika tillvägagångssätt för företag att uppmuntra till konsumentgenererat innehåll på Instagram. Det framkommer även varför användare motiveras till att skapa konsumentgenererat innehåll, en av dessa motivationer är att bidra till informationssökning. Innehållets gestaltning tenderar att spegla företagets värderingar. / This study is a bachelor dissertation project carried out at the program Graphic Design and Communication at the department of Technology at Linköping University. The study aimed to investigate the extent to which consumer-generated content is used by companies and users as well as users' motives for why they create consumer-generated content. Furthermore, the study will examine how consumer-generated content is designed and what approaches are available to encourage consumer-generated content and which works best. Using three different methods. Using three different methods, the purpose could be answered. The study includes an empirical feasibility study, semi-structured interviews with people who have first-hand experience of consumer-generated content and through an observation and image analysis on two selected companies' Instagram accounts. The results of the studies show that there are several different approaches for companies to encourage consumer-generated content on Instagram. It also appears why users motivate the creation of consumer-generated content, and one of these motivations is to contribute to information retrieval. The design of the content tends to reflect the company's values. / <p>Examensarbete utfört i Grafisk design och kommunikation vid Tekniska högskolan vid Linköpings universitet</p>

Denna studie är ett examensarbete utfört i Grafisk design och kommunikation vid Tekniska högskolan vid Linköpings universitet. Studien syftade till att undersöka till vilken grad konsumentgenererat innehåll används av företag och användare samt användarnas motiv till varför de skapar konsumentgenererat innehåll. Vidare kommer studien undersöka hur konsumentgenererat innehåll gestaltas samt vilka tillvägagångssätt som finns för att uppmana till konsumentgenererat innehåll och vilket som fungerar bäst. Med hjälp av tre olika metoder kunde syftet besvaras. Studien innefattade en empirisk förstudie, semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer som har förstahandserfarenhet av konsumentgenererat innehåll samt genom en observation och bildanalys på två utvalda företags Instagramkonton. Resultatet av studien påvisar att det finns flera olika tillvägagångssätt för företag att uppmuntra till konsumentgenererat innehåll på Instagram. Det framkommer även varför användare motiveras till att skapa konsumentgenererat innehåll, en av dessa motivationer är att bidra till informationssökning. Innehållets gestaltning tenderar att spegla företagets värderingar. / This study is a bachelor dissertation project carried out at the program Graphic Design and Communication at the department of Technology at Linköping University. The study aimed to investigate the extent to which consumer-generated content is used by companies and users as well as users' motives for why they create consumer-generated content. Furthermore, the study will examine how consumer-generated content is designed and what approaches are available to encourage consumer-generated content and which works best. Using three different methods. Using three different methods, the purpose could be answered. The study includes an empirical feasibility study, semi-structured interviews with people who have first-hand experience of consumer-generated content and through an observation and image analysis on two selected companies' Instagram accounts. The results of the studies show that there are several different approaches for companies to encourage consumer-generated content on Instagram. It also appears why users motivate the creation of consumer-generated content, and one of these motivations is to contribute to information retrieval. The design of the content tends to reflect the company's values. / <p>Examensarbetet är utfört vid Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap (ITN) vid Tekniska fakulteten, Linköpings universitet</p>

Intérêt du sujet : Avec l’avènement du web2.0, l'influence interpersonnelle inclut désormais son extension dans le cyberespace avec le bouche-à-oreille électronique (eBAO). Internet modifie ainsi en profondeur les relations établies avec les consommateurs et conduit à une redéfinition de la relation marque -consommateur. Le web 2.0 apparaît ainsi comme un outil formidable au rééquilibrage des pouvoirs entre eux. Cependant, au-delà de ce constat, nous nous interrogeons quant à l’asymétrie entre les consommateurs et les marques dans ces conversations : le marketing est-il prêt à jouer le jeu ? Quelle perception le consommateur a-t-il de ce rééquilibrage ? Objectif de recherche : L’objectif de cette recherche est de comprendre les perceptions du web 2.0 par les consommateurs et les comportements qui en résultent. Thèse défendue : Face à cette redéfinition des relations entre consommateurs et entreprises, nous suggérons que les entreprises souhaitant des consommateurs engagés doivent accepter de céder une partie du pouvoir. Contribution attendue : Cette thèse vise à contribuer aux études précédentes et à pallier leurs limites. Alors que la littérature académique étudie les motivations des consommateurs à poster des avis en ligne en général (Hennig-Thurau et al, 2004 ; Sher et Lee, 2009), il manque des études empiriques considérant l’impact de facteurs individuels des consommateurs sur leur participation et sur leur engagement vis-à-vis d’une marque en particulier sur le web 2.0. Nous chercherons ainsi à comprendre le rôle des capacités de pouvoir du consommateur sur cette participation et cet engagement en ligne. Méthode : Une combinaison des approches qualitatives et quantitatives a constitué notre méthodologie de recherche. Dans un premier temps, une étude qualitative et une étude quantitative ont été réalisées auprès des consommateurs dans un contexte touristique. Celle-ci s’est déroulée en collaboration avec les offices de tourisme du Grand Bornand et d’Aix les Bains. Dans un deuxième temps, une expérimentation a été réalisée auprès des jeunes consommateurs (de 18 à 30 ans) dans le secteur spécifique des Smartphones et des tablettes mobiles. Principaux résultats : L’étude exploratoire nous a permis de souligner dans un premier temps les multiples paradoxes générés par l’eBAO diffusé sur les plateformes d’opinions. L’eBAO apparaît comme utile pour les consommateurs et les entreprises, cependant, un fort scepticisme règne face à celles-ci. La première étude quantitative nous a permis de mettre en avant les facteurs de participation et d’engagement : l’aide à l’entreprise, la sincérité perçue des avis postés, le scepticisme des consommateurs concernant les pratiques en ligne et l’attachement à la marque. D’une manière générale, nous constatons la volonté des consommateurs d’influencer. La seconde étude quantitative, l’expérimentation, nous montre que les caractéristiques des plateformes d’opinions en ligne ont un impact sur l’intention d’engagement et le comportement engageant. Cette étude nous montre l’importance de la véracité des commentaires en ligne et le risque infime de voir une plateforme d’opinions se transformer en défouloir. / Topic of interest : With the advent of Web 2.0, the interpersonal influence now includes its extension in cyberspace with electronic word of mouth. Therefore, the Internet deeply modify relationships between consumer and the brand and led to a redefinition of the relationship brand -consumer. Web 2.0 appears as a great tool rebalancing powers between them. However, beyond this, we wonder about the asymmetry between consumer and brand in these conversations: is marketing willing to play the game? What perception the consumer has of this rebalancing? Research Objective : The objective of this research is to understand the perceptions of Web 2.0 by consumers and resulting behaviors.Thesis defended : Faced with this redefinition of the relationship between the consumer and the brand, we suggest that companies wishing to engage consumers must agree to give up some power. Contribution expected : This thesis aims to contribute to previous studies and to overcome their limitations. While the academic literature explores the motivations of consumers to post online reviews in general (Hennig -Thurau & al , 2004; Sher &Lee, 2009) , it lacks empirical studies considering the impact of individual factors on their consumer participation and engagementtoward a particular brand on the web 2.0 . Thus, we seek to understand the role of consumer power capacities on online participation and engagement. Method : Our research methodology consists in a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Firstly, a qualitative study and a quantitative study were conducted with consumers in a tourism context. It was held in collaboration with the tourist offices of the Grand-Bornand and Aix-les-Bains. Secondly, an experiment was conducted among young consumers (18 to 30 years) in the specific sector of Smartphones and mobile tablets. Main results The qualitative study allowed us to initially highlight multiple paradoxes generated by eWOM broadcast on opinion platforms. EWOM appears useful for consumers and businesses; however, a strong skepticism is facing them. The first quantitative study allowed us to highlight the determinants of participation and engagement: Helping company, perceived sincerity of posted comment, consumer skepticism regarding online practices and brand attachment. In general, we see consumer willingness to influence.The second quantitative study, the experimentation, shows that the characteristics of online opinion platforms have an impact on the intention of engaging and engaged behavior. This study shows the importance of online review accuracy of and the small risk for an online opinion platform to become a way to get out consumers anger.

Submitted by Vitor Moura Lima (vitormlima@gmail.com) on 2015-01-28T18:14:40Z No. of bitstreams: 1 VitorLima_Dissertação_MEXFGV_low.pdf: 2263989 bytes, checksum: 4e0a234fad546a31a03c19cff7dafe73 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2015-02-04T19:26:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 VitorLima_Dissertação_MEXFGV_low.pdf: 2263989 bytes, checksum: 4e0a234fad546a31a03c19cff7dafe73 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-02-11T17:11:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 VitorLima_Dissertação_MEXFGV_low.pdf: 2263989 bytes, checksum: 4e0a234fad546a31a03c19cff7dafe73 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-02-11T17:11:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 VitorLima_Dissertação_MEXFGV_low.pdf: 2263989 bytes, checksum: 4e0a234fad546a31a03c19cff7dafe73 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-18 / The objective of the research was the investigation of the consumer engagement in a virtual brand community, which considered L'Oréal Paris Brasil Facebook Fan Page as a context of observation. On this purpose, by a netnography method, the interactions were collected from members of the website over three months and analyzed from the perspective of the conceptual model presented by Brodie et al. (2011b). During content analysis, which considered Bardin (2007) techniques, the dimensions, processes and sub-processes of the consumer engagement were identified, as proposed by the conceptual model. In addition, the results point to the validation of the model and reinforce the view that the mere participation or involvement doesn't indicates engagement, because it reflects a complex psychological state, context dependent and requires antecedents and consequences processes. Based on these findings, theoretical and practical implications, as well as suggestions for future studies, are discussed. / O estudo objetivou a investigação do fenômeno de engajamento do consumidor em uma comunidade virtual de marca, tendo a Fan Page da L'Oréal Paris Brasil como contexto de observação. Para isso, por meio de método netnográfico, foram coletadas as interações entre os membros da comunidade ao longo de três meses e analisadas sob a perspectiva do modelo conceitual apresentado por Brodie et al. (2011b). Durante a análise de conteúdo, considerando as técnicas propostas por Bardin (2007), foram identificadas as dimensões, os processos e sub-processos do engajamento do consumidor, conforme proposto pelo modelo conceitual. Além disso, os resultados encontrados apontam para a validação do modelo e reforçam a perspectiva de que a simples participação ou envolvimento não pressupõe engajamento, pois este reflete um estado psicológico complexo, dependente de contexto e que necessita de processos antecedentes e consequentes. Com base nos achados, são discutidas as implicações teóricas e práticas, assim como sugestão para futuros estudos sobre o tema.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Mateus Ferreira (2017).pdf: 2637208 bytes, checksum: 72d86778b24ee6f41ebbb06fd605a123 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-27 / Academic research has suggested that social media can improve corporate reputation, sales, return on investment, positive word-of-mouth and create value for consumers. Playing the central role in this relational process, consumer or customer engagement (used interchangeably in this context), emerged as one of the main constructs explaining the success and failure of brands on social media. Considering engagement as a multidimensional construct composed of cognitive, emotional and behavioral dimensions that varies according to the subject (e.g., customer or employee), focal object (e.g., brand, product or advertising), and context (e.g., retail or online), in this dissertation we make a specific field cutting in order to discuss consumer engagement (subject) with brands (object in Article 2 and 3) or brand communities (object in Article 1) on social media (context). As a general aim of the dissertation, we analyze consumer engagement in different nomological networks, prioritizing its antecedents and mediating role (Article 1) or consequences and its relationship with another measure of engagement (Article 3), in addition to perform a comparative analysis of different scales developed to measure it (Article 2). In the Article 1, we show that the Vivek, Beatty, Dalela, and Morgan (2014) consumer engagement scale, originally developed for application in multiple contexts, can also be applied to multiple objects. We validate this scale in a nomological network with perceived homophily and brand involvement as antecedents and corporate reputation as consequence. Our results show that besides having a direct positive effect on corporate reputation, consumer engagement has a strong mediating role. In the Article 2, our goal is to compare some of the main scales developed to measure consumer engagement: Dessart, Veloutsou, and Morgan-Thomas (2016), Hollebeek, Glynn, and Brodie (2014) and Vivek et al. (2014). To do this, we propose a procedure for the comparative analysis of scales that involves i) the selection, ii) standardization and iii) analysis of measures. We replicate three selected scales with the same object (brand) and context (social media), considering that most of the developed scales were applied to the same object and context. Based on the Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis, our results show similarities, differences, and advantages of applying each scale. In Article 3 we jointly analyze two streams of consumer engagement studies by considering brand engagement in self-concept (BESC) as a measure of engagement with brands in general (Sprott, Czellar, & Spangenberg, 2009) and consumer engagement with a specific brand Vivek et al., 2014), and how the latter impacts the perceived value of consumers and corporate reputation. By means of the multigroup analysis with samplings carried out in Brazil and the United States, our results showed that in addition to excellent adjustment, both at the model level and at the path level there was no difference between the groups, which indicates the cross-cultural invariance in the structural model. Finally, in Chapter 5 we synthesize the conclusions of the dissertation. / Pesquisa acadêmicas sugerem que as mídias sociais podem melhorar a sua reputação corporativa, vendas, retorno sobre o investimento, boca-a-boca positivo e criar valor para os consumidores. Desempenhando o papel central neste processo relacional, o engajamento do consumidor ou cliente (usados como sinônimos neste contexto), emergiu como um dos principais construtos que explicam o sucesso ou fracasso de marcas nas mídias sociais. Considerando o engajamento como um construto multidimensional composto por dimensões cognitiva, afetiva e comportamental que varia de acordo com o sujeito (ex. consumidor ou empregado), objeto focal (ex. marca, produto ou propaganda) e contexto (ex. varejo ou online), nesta tese nós fazemos um corte mais específico do campo e para discutir o engajamento do consumidor (sujeito) com marcas (objeto no Artigo 2 e 3) ou com a comunidade de marca (objeto no Artigo 1) em mídias sociais (contexto). Como objetivo geral da tese, nós analisamos o engajamento do consumidor em diferentes redes nomológicas, priorizando seus antecedentes e papel mediador (Artigo 1), ou consequentes e sua relação com outra medida de engajamento (Artigo 3), além de realizar uma análise comparativa de diferentes escalas desenvolvidas para medi-lo (Artigo 2). No Artigo 1, nós mostramos que a escala de engajamento do consumidor da Vivek, Beatty, Dalela e Morgan (2014), originalmente desenvolvida para aplicação em múltiplos contextos, também pode ser aplicado a múltiplos objetos. Nós validamos esta escala em uma rede nomológica com homofilia percebida e envolvimento com marca como antecedentes e reputação corporativa como consequente. Nossos resultados mostram que além de ter efeito positivo direto na reputação corporativa, o engajamento do consumidor tem um forte papel mediador. No Artigo 2, o nosso objetivo é comparar algumas das principais escalas desenvolvidas para medir o engajamento do consumidor: Dessart, Veloutsou e Morgan-Thomas (2016), Hollebeek, Glynn e Brodie (2014) e Vivek et al. (2014). Para fazer isso, nós propomos um procedimento para análise comparativa de escalas que envolve i) a seleção, ii) padronização e iii) análise das medidas. Nós replicamos três escalas selecionadas com um mesmo objeto (marca) e contexto (social media), considerando que a maioria das escalas desenvolvidas foram aplicadas para este mesmo objeto e contexto. Baseado nas análises da Teoria Clássica dos Testes (TCT) e na Teoria de Resposta ao Item (TRI), nossos resultados mostram similaridades, diferenças e vantagens da aplicação de cada escala. No Artigo 3 nós analisamos conjuntamente duas correntes de estudo do engajamento do consumidor ao considerar engajamento com marca no autoconceito (BESC) como uma medida de engajamento com marcas em geral (Sprott, Czellar, & Spangenberg, 2009) e engajamento do consumidor com uma marca específica (Vivek et al., 2014), e como o último impacta no valor percebido dos consumidores e na reputação corporativa. Por meio da análise multigrupo com amostragens realizadas no Brasil e Estados Unidos, nossos resultados mostraram que além de excelente ajuste, tanto no nível do modelo como no nível de caminho não houve diferença entre os grupos, o que indica a invariância intercultural dos grupos no modelo estrutural. Por fim, no Capítulo 5 nós sintetizamos as conclusões da dissertação.