Studien syftar till att analysera equity- och debt baserad crowdfunding i förhållande till studiens primära teori om elaboration likelihood model (ELM) och hur dess variabler påverkar potentiella investerares investeringsbedömningar. Informationsasymmetri och behavioral finance har inkluderats i studien som två kompletterande delteorier. För att undersöka detta har studien avgränsats till potentiella investerare som geografiskt är bosatta i Stockholms län. Undersökningen har genomförts med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer där totalt elva potentiella investerare har intervjuats. Respondenterna har baserats på ett snöbollsurval. Intervjuerna har skett genom att respondenterna tagit del av fyra scenarion som innehåller variabler kopplade till teorin om ELM. Studiens resultat påvisar att potentiella investerare bedömer samt väljer investeringsprojekt utifrån den centrala vägen i ELM teorin, som karaktäriseras av projektets kvalitet vilken är motsatsen till den perifera vägen som istället belyser elektronisk word of mouth (WoM). / The study aims to investigate how equity- and debt based crowdfunding in relation to the study’s primary theory of elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and its variables effect on potential investors’ investment decision. Information asymmetry and behavioral finance has also been included in the study as two complementary theories. To investigate this, the study has been delimited to potential investors who are geographically resident in Stockholm County. The survey has been conducted using semi-structured interviews, where a total of eleven potential investors have been interviewed based on a chain sampling. The potential investors have been presented four scenarios that contain variables linked to the theory of ELM. The study's findings show that potential investors assess and choose investment projects based on the central path of ELM theory, characterized by the quality of the project and opposite to the peripheral road that instead illuminates the electronic word of mouth (WoM).

Das IceCube Neutrino-Observatorium ist ein am geografischen Südpol im Eis installierter Neutrinodetektor. In IceCube werden Neutrinos mit Tscherenkow-Strahlung von Sekundärteilchen aus Neutrino Interaktionen detektiert. Für den Nachfolgedetektor IceCube-Gen2, werden neue und verbesserte Lichtdetektoren gesucht. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt die Entwicklung eines dieser Lichtdetektoren. Dieser basiert auf Wellenlängen schiebenden und Licht leitenden Technologien. Der Detektor mit dem Namen "Wavelength-shifting Optical Module" (WOM) verwendet eine transparente Röhre, mit wellenlängenschiebender Farbe, als passiver Photonendetektor. Das in der Wellenlänge verschobene Licht wird durch Totalreflexion, zu kleinen PMTs an beiden Enden geleitet. Die Auswahl dieses Designs reduziert die Kosten und verbessert das Signal-Rausch-Verhältnis wesentlich, möglicherweise können mit dieser Lösung extragalaktische Supernova in zukünftigen Detektoren beobachtet werden. Als eine Kernkomponente wird die wellenlängenschiebende Röhre ausführlich untersucht. Verschiedene Messaufbauten und Auswertungsmethoden werden entwickelt, um diese im Anschluss zu untersuchen und zu bewerten. Iterative Verbesserungen der Materialien und des Farbauftrageverfahren als auch Messmethoden, resultieren in einer kombinierten Einfang-, Wellenlängenschiebe- und Transporteffizienz von 28,1 +/- 5,4 % der Röhre. Ein Model zur Beschreibung des Lichtverhaltens in der Röhre wird entwickelt um eine Diskrepanz zwischen Theorie und Messung zu untersuchen. Die Kombination zwischen Messung und Model, bestätigt die Aussagekraft des Models und zeigt, dass ein Großteil der Verluste beim Lichttransport zustande kommen. Darüber hinaus werden die physikalischen Eigenschaften des WOM in die IceCube Simulationsumgebung eingebaut. Der Vergleich zu einem Konkurrenzmodul zeigt eine Überlegenheit des WOM um den Faktor 1,05 +/- 0,07. Es werden Vorschläge und Ausblicke für Verbesserungen der Leistungsfähigkeit des WOMs gegeben. / The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is an in ice neutrino detector located at the geographic South Pole. In IceCube neutrinos are detected via Cherenkov light produced by secondary particles in neutrino interactions. For the upgraded detector IceCube-Gen2, new and improved light detectors are sought-after. This work describes the development of one of those light detectors based on a novel combination of wavelength-shifting and light-guiding technology. The detector named the Wavelength-shifting Optical Module (WOM) utilizes a large transparent tube, coated with wavelength-shifting paint as a passive photon detector. The wavelength-shifted light is guided via total internal reflection towards small active light detectors, at each end of the tube. This design reduces costs and improves the signal to noise ratio significantly, thereby potentially enabling extragalactic supernova detections in future detectors. As a core component, the wavelength-shifting tube is extensively investigated. Different measurement setups and evaluation techniques are developed and investigated. Iterative improvement of materials and coating techniques as well as measurement methods currently result in a combined photon capture, shift and transport efficiency of 28.1 +/- 5.4 % for the tube. Those results contrast the theoretical maximum of 74.5 %. A model is developed to describe the light propagation and loss processes in the tube and to understand the discrepancies between theory and measurement. The combination of the measurements with the model, validate the descriptive qualities of the model and show that most of the light is lost during the light propagation in the tube. Additionally, the physical properties of the WOM are included in the IceCube simulation framework. A comparison to a competing module showed that the WOM outperforms by a factor of 1.05 +/- 0.07 in photon detection numbers. Where applicable, suggestions and outlooks are given to enhance the performance of the WOM.

With the gradual rise of Web-2.0 based platforms, Internet users were given the possibility to interact with each other in virtual communities. Originating from this development was the concept of user-generated content (UGC), which implies that people were able to enrich each other’s user-experiences by sharing creative efforts and communicating openly (O’Reilly, 2007).   As Web 2.0 features continued to grow, marketers became aware of the opportunities this new development online created and how they could use it to their advantage (De Chernatony & Christodoulides, 2004). The development online however also faces companies with challenges, as consumers now are able to create and share opinions and thoughts about brands, which to an extent is uncontrollable by companies (Christodoulides et al., 2012). Just as marketer-controlled communication can create new brand associations in the minds of consumers, for better or worse - so can also externally-generated communication, such as brand-related UGC, do.   Knowing that consumers generally trust what other consumers say about products more than marketing communication (Cheong & Morrison, 2008; Song & Yoo, 2016), and that there does not exist much research on how consumers perceive brand-related UGC, this is a considerably important topic to study. A classic way of studying communication effectiveness is through credibility, which is argued to be a major determinant of whether consumers accept and adopt what is communicated (e.g. Hovland et al., 1953). Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to gain an understanding of how consumers assess credibility of brand-related UGC and furthermore, what their consequent responses are.   A qualitative approach was taken as the purpose is to gain insight rather than proving a point. The interviews were semi-structured and formed around three Instagram posts relating to a specific brand, which were deliberately chosen based on the content of the theoretical framework developed. Through using these example cases, interviewees’ first reactions could be captured and their reasoning around credibility could be followed and discussed.   The results from this study indicate that there exists a certain level of irritation as well as a scepticism towards brand-related UGC. This seem to stem from a suspicion that most content that promotes products and brands is part of sponsored collaborations, into which consumers put noticeably much distrust. Beyond questioning sponsorship, it was also found that the source played a particularly important role when assessing credibility. When a source is familiar, it is easier to determine credibility of brand-related UGC, and credibility furthermore increases with perceived expertise, attractiveness and trustworthiness. The channel through which a message is communicated also matters, as it is more difficult to be ingenuine through a video than an image or a text, which implicated that consumers may find videos more credible than other media formats. The message itself was also deemed to influence the credibility assessment, as the message was questioned both based upon common sense but also on knowledge and previous experience.   As for practical implications, this study indicates that encouraging or generating positive brand-related UGC through paid collaborations, is a balancing act, into which much consideration needs to be put. With the evident irritation that consumers feel when it comes to brand-related UGC, marketers should be careful to push too much positive brand communication onto the consumer, or it will turn negative. To come across as genuine, the “who”, ”what” and ”how” of communication should be carefully considered.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:14:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 61080100031.PDF: 7443816 bytes, checksum: a82ca7f98a374b3f75cdb221b7fb942b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-22T00:00:00Z / O impacto do boca a boca na Imagem da Marca e no julgamento de produtos (bens e serviços) tem sido estudado há tempos na disciplina de comportamento do consumidor. Com o crescimento da internet como mídia social e meio de comunicação entre consumidores e empresas, o boca a boca ganhou força junto a profissionais e pesquisadores de Marketing. Uma revisão da literatura permitiu traçar um paralelo entre o boca a boca tradicional e o eletrônico. É preciso compreender cientificamente a influência do boca a boca eletrônico no comportamento do consumidor. Para isto, foram realizados dois estudos nesta dissertação, sendo o primeiro um estudo exploratório a partir da realização de entrevistas e aplicação de questionários a consumidores, profissionais de Marketing e especialistas do assunto com o intuito de levantar percepções gerais sobre o tema. Para avaliar estatisticamente as hipóteses propostas nesta dissertação, o segundo estudo foi a realização de um experimento com 168 estudantes, contando com cinco cenários e três tipos de produtos (Vestuário, Cosméticos e Lojas Online). A variável independente foi o Comentário Postado pelo consumidor. Duas foram as variáveis dependentes: Imagem da Marca e Intenção de Compra dela. Para a mensuração da Imagem da Marca se utilizou a escala de Personalidade de Marca de Aaker (1997). No tocante à Intenção de Compra, um concurso foi elaborado para os sujeitos. No início e no final da coleta de dados, os participantes escolhiam as empresas das quais ganhariam um prêmio (vale compra), caso fossem os vencedores. Mediu-se a Intenção de Compra em função da escolha dos consumidores antes e depois do estímulo, sendo comparados, ainda, os resultados dos diferentes cenários. Constatou-se que os comentários negativos e positivos que os consumidores postam na internet têm um impacto significante na Imagem da Marca para outros consumidores nos produtos Vestuário e Loja Online. Mas não foram percebidos impactos destes comentários na Imagem da Marca no produto Cosmético e na Intenção de Compra dos outros consumidores nos três tipos de produtos testados. O Gerenciamento dos Comentários negativos (resposta da empresa a comentário postado pelo consumidor) apresentou uma redução no impacto do comentário na Imagem da Marca para os outros consumidores no produto Loja Online. Contudo, os tons alinhados com Foco Regulatório do consumidor nas respostas das empresas não provocaram diferenças significativas, contra indicando essa concepção teórica como meio de aprimorar os resultados do Gerenciamento dos Comentários. Várias implicações científicas e profissionais interessantes decorrem da pesquisa. Para o praticante, se viu que a internet 2.0 é uma mídia a ser considerada no esforço de comunicação da empresa e que ela deve ser considerada como um canal de comunicação bidirecional. / The impact of Word of Mouth Communication on Brand Image and the evaluation of products (goods and services) has been studied for some time in the discipline of consumer behavior. With the growth of the Internet as a social media and as a means of communication between consumers and enterprises, Word of Mouth has gained strength with Marketing professionals and researchers. A review of the literature draws a parallel between traditional Word of Mouth and its electronic version. It is essential to understand scientifically the influence of Electronic Word of Mouth on consumer behavior. In order to do this, two main studies were made: the first one was an exploratory stage conducted with interviews and questionnaires applied to consumers, marketers, and experts on the subject in order to raise general perceptions on the issue. The second study aims to evaluate statistically the hypotheses proposed in this work and involves an experiment applied to 168 students, considering five scenarios and three types of products (clothing, cosmetics and Online Stores). The independent variable was the Comment Posted by the consumer on the internet. Two were the dependent variables: Brand Image and Purchase Intention. To measure Brand Image, the scale "The Brand Personality" by Aaker (1997) was used. To measure Purchase Intention subjects participated in a contest where they chose, at the beginning and end of data collection, the companies from which they would gain a gift certificate, if they won the contest. Purchase Intention was measured depending on the choice of consumers before and after the stimulus, and compared also the results of different scenarios. It was found that the positive and negative comments that consumers posted on the internet have a significant impact on Brand Image for other consumers of products in Clothing and Online stores. However, there was no perceived impact based on these comments regarding Cosmetic products. No impact was found on other consumers' Purchase Intention. Management of Negative Comments (company's response to comments posted by the consumer on the internet) decreased the negative impact of comments on other consumer's Brand Image on product Online Store and the use of Regulatory Focus Theory on companies' responses did not cause significant differences, counter indicating this theoretical concept as a mean to improve the results of managing the comments posted by the consumer on the internet. Several implications of scientific and professional interest arise from this research. For a Marketing professional, it is evident that internet 2.0 should be considered in the media plan of a company and that it should be treated as a two-way communication channel with consumers.

No description available.

Social Media ist Kommunikation, ein weiterer Evolutionssprung in den zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen. Die damit verbundenen Tools, wie Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, XING, Blogs, Wiki, und Co, sind nur Werkzeuge, die, wenn man sie strategisch und professionell nutzt, erheblich den aktuellen und vor allem den zukünftigen unternehmerischen Erfolg ausmachen werden. Social Media verändert das Verhalten der Bürger und ist ein Element des sich gegenwärtig vollziehenden Kulturwandels. Das Gesundheitswesen insgesamt steht noch am Anfang der Nutzung von Social Media. Die vom Autor durchgeführten Befragungen, Analysen und Wertungen haben diese Einschätzung bestätigt. Erfolgreiche Beispiele der Anwendung von Social Media in Krankenhäusern und Arztpraxen dürfen nicht darüber hinweg täuschen, dass von der Mehrheit der medizinischen Einrichtungen, die Möglichkeiten der Nutzung von sozialen Netzwerken für die externe und interne Kommunikation und damit für die Erhöhung des unternehmerischen Erfolges nicht ausreichend erkannt werden. Aktives Zugehen auf die Zielgruppen, permanente Nutzung der Tools und des Feedbacks für die Erhöhung des Bekanntheitsgrades der Einrichtung, die Integration der Mitarbeiter und Dienstleister führen zu einer Verbesserung der Patientenzufriedenheit. Sie sind der Schlüssel nicht nur für mehr, sondern auch für qualitativ hochwertigeren Umsatz. Social Media führte zu einem Wertewandel in der Arbeitskultur auch der medizinischen Einrichtungen. Von Beginn an bei der Arbeit mit sozialen Netzwerken müssen alle Mitarbeiter in den Prozess integriert werden. Ihr Wissen über moderne Medien sollte gezielt und mit Übertragung von Verantwortung eingesetzt werden. Social Media muss zu einem integrierten Arbeitsmittel im Unternehmen werden, denn es lebt von der Einheit externer und interner Kommunikation und trägt entscheidend zur Mitarbeiterzufriedenheit bei. Die Aktivitäten zur Nutzung von Social Media werden erfolgreich, wenn für alle Arbeiten genügend Zeit und die erforderlichen Ressourcen für die ersten Schritte und für das notwendige permanente Controlling bereitgestellt werden. Der Erfolg von Social Media ist nicht zuletzt davon abhängig, welches Wissen in den medizinischen Einrichtungen vorhanden ist. Die oft zitierten Risiken beim Einsatz sozialer Netzwerke reduzieren sich im Wesentlichen auf ein nicht professionell geführtes Herangehen. Datenrechtliche- und Sicherheitsrisiken sind mit entsprechendem Wissen und einer klaren Positionierung was, wie, durch wen und wo publiziert wird beherrschbar. Der Erfolg ist nur dann erreichbar, wenn mit exakten Zielvorgaben, machbaren Schritten, klaren Verantwortungen und professionellem Controlling herangegangen wird. Die Arbeit gibt Anregungen für die Anwendung von Social Media in der Praxis, wie und mit welchen Methoden an den künftigen Einsatz der sozialen Netzwerke herangegangen werden kann, welche rechtlichen Fragen zu beachten sind und das ein effektives Monitoring unbedingt installiert werden muss. Social Media ist eine strategische Aufgabe und sollte in jedem Unternehmen so angesehen und eingeordnet werden. Ein brauchbares Mittel für die weitere Arbeit sieht der Autor in den erarbeiteten Leitfäden für Entscheider.:Inhaltsverzeichnis I 0. Einleitung 4 1. Social Media - Entwicklung bis heute 6 1.1. Social Media Definition 7 1.2. Social Media - Chancen, Risiken und Missverständnisse 10 1.3. Gründe gegen Social Media 14 1.4. Social Media Entwicklungstendenzen 14 2. Social Media aus psychologischer Sicht 18 2.1. Die Patienten – Digital Natives – Digital Immigrants 18 2.2. Wie kaufen wir? 20 2.3. Soziale Beziehungen im WEB Zeitalter 21 2.4. Meme/Botschaften – Weitersagen ja/nein 22 2.5. Mund zu Mund Propaganda / Word of Mouth 29 2.6. Wahrnehmung und Vergesslichkeit 31 3. Social Media im Gesundheitswesen 32 3.1. Nutzung von Social Media im Gesundheitswesen 32 3.2. Das Social Media Dilemma für Anbieter von Gesundheit sleistungen 35 3.3. Chancen und Risiken von Social Media im Gesundheitswesen 38 3.4. Social Media Chancen für die Unternehmenskultur 42 3.5. Zielstellungen für die Nutzung von Social Media in Praxen und Krankenhäusern 44 4. Ergebnisse eigener Analysen der Social Media Nutzung von Krankenhäusern und Praxen 47 4.1. Ergebnisse der Befragung von Krankenhäusern zu Social Media Marketing 47 4.2. Social Media Werkzeuge im Krankenhaus und der Arztpraxis 53 4.3. Klinikverbünde - Unikliniken 62 4.4. Betrachtung von 50 Facebook Auftritten von Krankenhäusern/Kliniken 64 4.5. Betrachtung von 30 Facebook Auftritten von Praxen 67 4.6. Betrachtung der Likes / Kommentare nach Botschaftsverstärkern 68 4.7. Sozial Media Shitstorm 72 4.8. Werbung von Gesundheitsunternehmen auf Social Media Plattformen 74 4.9. Social Media Mobile 75 4.10. Empfehlungen und Hinweise für die Nutzung u.a. für Facebook 76 5. Social Media Umsetzung 79 5.1. Social Media Strategie 79 5.2. Social Media Guidelines – Social Media CSO 82 5.3. Social Media und Recht 84 5.4. Social Media Monitoring 85 Inhaltsverzeichnis II 6. Leitfaden für Entscheider 87 7. Summery 93 Literaturverzeichnis II Abbildungsverzeichnis V Tabellenverzeichnis VI

Abstract Word-of-mouth (WOM) personal referrals are more efficient and influential than other forms of advertising; however, there is a lack of information regarding the value of referral programs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of business owners, staff, and customers of alternative health care organizations in a Midwestern U.S. state about efficient referral strategies, measuring the effect of those strategies, and motivations of consumers to make referrals. Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory of motivation and customer decision-making theories provided the conceptual framework. The research questions addressed how industry leaders perceived and ranked referral strategies and addressed customers' perceptions and motivations to make personal referrals. Data collection consisted of semistructured interviews with 4 business owners, 2 staff members, and 10 client participants. Data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis methods, and member checking enhanced the accuracy of the findings. Results indicated that participants viewed WOM personal referrals as the most efficient nontraditional strategy to make or receive referrals, and they perceived referrals from impartial and trustworthy sources as the most valued information. This research has implications for positive social change. Findings may be used to enhance business owners' understanding of the value of personal referrals in their marketing mix, and of the motivation for customers to make referrals. WOM personal referrals may be used as a marketing strategy to increase sales and lower costs of formal advertising, which may contribute to the growth of the business.

The interest of researchers and practitioners in e-Word-of-Mouth has accelerated with the rise of social media platforms. In the last decade it became more apparent that customers are not merely recipients of product and brand information, but also active participants in shaping product and brand perceptions. However, still no comprehensive understanding of customers’ desire to engage in positive and negative e-Word-of-Mouth has been found. Therefore, this study focuses on Customer Engagement in order to provide knowledge on what makes customers engage in e-Word-of-Mouth. We narrow our study to New Product Introductions due to their crucial role in both business success and failure. In order to study this topic, quantitative methodology using big data analysis of around 20 millions tweets in total, with text analysis of around three million items, obtained from Twitter has been applied. The findings indicate that Brand Benefits and Innovativeness Level are two important aspects that impact Attitudinal Engagement which enables Customer Engagement Behavior.

The mobile app market is continuously increasing and an increasingly number of actors aims to gain market shares in this business sector. At the same time the number of app stores with a significant influence on the market are few; with Google Play and Apple App Store as the major actors of the app store market. With few distributions channels, and many large companies with resources as competitors, it is crucial for initiated startups to find suitable marketing strategies in order to compete on the app market. This study focuses on startups which are in their earlier phase of existence and do not have an excess of resources. The case of Truecaller is of interest to mobile app startups in general because of its exceptional successfulness in a relative short amount of time. First a thorough research of secondary literature was performed to find marketing activities applicable to mobile app developers. These marketing activities were divided and applied by using the four P’s of marketing in order to achieve a perceivable framework which is possible to grasp. The marketing activities were reformed into open-ended questions which were conducted during the interviews on Truecaller’s Marketing Manager, and Release/Project Manager. The gathered marketing activities that were demonstrated to be successful by the case of Truecaller, which is the empirical example of a startup in this study, were structured into a marketing strategy framework. The central findings of this study were firstly that unpaid promotional marketing activities in form striving for customer reviews, social media integration and sharing functions implemented to the app should be done in order to increase the word of mouth spread. It is also emphasized to build good relationships with different opinion leaders and further on to send push notifications to remind users of the app. Paid promotional activities were found to be optional for startups in the context of this study. Secondly the central findings regarding the Product strategies were frequent updates of the app to remind users of its existence, strive for feedback, and try to build on network effects. Furthermore in addition to build a unique and functional app which enables a positive user experience, it is important to offer users instant support and to execute localizations strategies. Thirdly the findings of the Place category were the visibility aspects to choose an appealing app name and app description, have an attractive app icon and screenshots, and to choose effective keywords and categories. Moreover it is emphasized to ensure availability and compatibility by supporting several platforms. Lastly concerning Price it is important for startups to find their own customized strategy, but the case of Truecaller stressed the freemium pricing strategy.

No / Marketers desire to utilise electronic word of mouth (eWOM) marketing on social media sites. However, not all online content generated by marketers has the same effect on consumers; some of them are effective while others are not. This paper aims to examine different characteristics of marketer-generated content (MGC) that of which one lead users to eWOM. Twitter was chosen as one of the leading social media sites and a content analysis approach was employed to identify the common characteristics of retweeted and favourited tweets. 2,780 tweets from six companies (Booking, Hostelworld, Hotels, Lastminute, Laterooms and Priceline) operating in the tourism sector are analysed. Results indicate that the posts which contain pictures, hyperlinks, product or service information, direct answers to customers and brand centrality are more likely to be retweeted and favourited by users. The findings present the main eWOM drivers for MGC in social media.