No / This SpringerBrief offers a state of the art analysis of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communications and its role in marketing. The book begins with an overview of traditional word-of-mouth (WOM) and its evolution to eWOM. It discusses the differences between traditional and online WOM. The book examines why people engage in eWOM communications, but also how consumers evaluate its persuasiveness. It also looks at the effects of eWOM. The book identifies current gaps in the eWOM research, but also highlights future directions for this growing field. eWOM is an important marketing technique in brand communications, and it plays an important role in modern e-commerce. Marketers become extremely interested in enhancing the power of eWOM developing loyalty programs and building brands. Studying the effect of eWOM can be beneficial for companies. This book should be a good resource for scholars and practitioners that need to understand the pervasive effects of eWOM.

Allt eftersom turismen ökat genom åren har även konkurrensen hårdnat och detta har resulterat i en ökad marknadsföring och taktik för att locka turisterna till destinationer. Många forskare har visat att ett bra sätt att förankra en destination hos den tilltänkta turisten är att marknadsföra den med hjälp av personlighetsdrag för att göra destinationen mer mänsklig.I denna uppsats har vi valt att fördjupa oss i Göteborg med hjälp av intervjuer med befattningshavare på Göteborg & Co. De svar vi fick lade grund för vår enkätundersökning. Enkäterna delades ut till turister som fick svara på ett antal frågor om hur de uppfattade Göteborg och vilka personlighetsdrag som passade bäst in på staden. Det vi ville undersöka var om det fanns en skillnad mellan vad turister tycker om Göteborg och hur Göteborg & Co vill att Göteborg ska uppfattas.När marknadsförare kommunicerar en destination är det bra att känna till vem som faktiskt definierar sig som en turist eller inte. En av dagens utmaningar är att många turister inte vill titulera sig som turister utan vill känna sig som en del av lokalbefolkningen.Slutligen har vi kommit fram till att Göteborg & Co vill att Göteborg ska förknippas med personlighetsdragen mänsklig, pluralistisk och inspirerande. Dessutom vill organisationen att turister ska känna att Göteborg är en välkomnande, avslappnad och härlig stad. Genom att ha genomfört en enkätundersökning mot turister i Göteborg kan vi se att dessa personlighetsdrag till stor del stämmer överens med hur besökare beskriver staden. / With the development in the charter industry over the last decades, marketing companies must create ways to make a destination stand out against others to potential tourists. Some researchers argue that brand personality is a good tool to use for this purpose. In this essay written in Swedish, we explore tourism in Gothenburg based on personality traits. One qualitative data collection is gathered from interviews with two marketing employees at Göteborg & Co, while a quantitative survey was also completed with tourists visiting the city. The results show that personality traits that are desired by Göteborg & Co marketing, match the personality traits of tourists visiting the city.

Abstract Title: Recruiting Through the Grapevine - The relevance of employee referral programs within the field of employer branding   Date: 2016-06-03   Authors: Mikaela Löjdqvist & Isabella Nilsson   Course: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration (FOA214), 15 HP   University: Mälardalen University   Academia: School of Business, Society and Engineering   Supervisor: Magnus Hoppe   Examiner: Eva Maaninen-Olsson   Co-assessor: Konstantin Lampou ____________________________________________________________________________   Research question: How do employee referral programs, as a part of the recruitment process, connect to the employer brand of a company?     Purpose: Understanding the correlation and connection between the two concepts, employer branding and employee referral programs, may help companies recognize the importance of using such programs as a stable foundation of their recruitment process. Thus concurrently, identifying the consequences that the employer brand presents, has on the employees and their willingness to recommend. This leads to the purpose of this thesis, which is to examine the connection between employee referral programs and a company's employer brand.     Methodology: Answering the purpose and research question was approached by using a mixed method, based on the qualitative and quantitative approaches. The qualitative method was used in the two semi-structured in-depth interviews, while the quantitative approach was used in construction and analysis of the survey. Both methods provide a foundation to strengthen the arguments not only for the results of the survey, but also for drawing conclusions when trying to answer the research question. By using a case company, a real-life understanding of how the connection between employer branding and the employee referral program correlates.     Conclusion: A connection between employee referral programs and the employer brand can be denoted from the conducted research within the chosen case company. However, if this connection is true for all companies, needs to be further investigated.     Keywords: employer branding, employee referral programs (ERP), employee value proposition (EVP), recruitment, staff-word-of-mouth (SWOM), word-of-mouth (WOM)

Kurs/nivå:            2FE16E, Kandidatuppsats Författare:            Martin Alm, Anton Bengtsson, Pär Ivarsson Handledare:         Dan Halvarsson Examinator:         Åsa Devine Titel:                     Bakomliggande motiv, alla har dem. Nyckelord:           e-WOM, electronic word-of-mouth, e-wom motiv, sociala medier, Facebook.   Bakgrund:            Att veta varför kunder delar med sig och sprider information om företag har blivit viktigt för företag om de vill effektivisera sin marknadsföring på Internet. Mycket av den tidigare forskningen gällande e-WOM har fokuserat på informationsspridningens effekt men inte vad kunder har för bakomliggande motiv till att sprida e- WOM. Forskning har också visat att det finns skillnader i hur kunder sprider e-WOM på sociala medier jämfört med övriga plattformar på Internet. Det är därmed betydelsefullt att på ett djupgående sätt utforska vad kunder, utifrån deras perspektiv, har för bakomliggande motiv till att sprida information om företag på sociala medier.   Forskningsfråga: Varför sprider kunder e-WOM på sociala medier? Syfte:                    Syftet är att utforska kunders bakomliggande motiv till spridning av e-WOM på sociala medier.   Metod:                  Utförd som en fallstudie av ett enda fall genom sex stycken semi-strukturerade intervjuer.   Slutsats:               Undersökningen visade att det finns 15 bakomliggande motiv till kunders spridning av e-WOM på sociala medier. Några av de bakomliggande motiven är överraskningsmomentet, möjligheten att påverka andra, få bekräftelse samt att vänner och bekanta ska gynnas av informationsspridningen. / Course/Level:      2FE16E, Bachelor Thesis Authors:               Martin Alm, Anton Bengtsson, Pär Ivarsson Tutor:                   Dan Halvarsson Examiner:            Åsa Devine Title:                     Underlying motives, everybody has them. Keywords:            e-WOM, electronic word-of-mouth, e-wom motives, social media, Facebook.   Background:        Knowing why customers will share and spread information about companies has become important for companies if they want to improve their marketing on the Internet. Much of the previous research regarding e-WOM has focused on the effect but not about customers underlying motives to spread e-WOM. Research has also shown that there are differences in how customers spreading e-WOM on social media compared to other platforms on the Internet. It is therefore significant that in a profound way explore what customers’, from their perspective, have for underlying motives to spread information about companies on social media are.   Research question: Why do customers spread e-WOM on social media? Purpose:               The purpose of this thesis is to explore customers underlying motives to spread e-WOM on social media.   Methodology:       Conducted as a single embedded case study through six semi-structured interviews.   Conclusion:         The empirical investigation revealed that there are 15 underlying motives for customers to spread e-WOM on social media. Some of the underlying motives are the element of surprise, the ability to influence others, to obtain confirmation and for friends and acquaintances to benefit from the information.

Följande studie syftar till att undersöka den interaktion som följer två kommunikationsstrategier på resebolaget TUI:s Instagramkonto och faller inom det medie- och kommunikationsvetenskapliga fältet. För att uppfylla studiens syfte utformas en huvudfråga och två stödfrågor, som utgör utgångspunkten för uppsatsens resultat- och analysdel. Dessa frågor är: - Hur ser interaktionen ut mellan TUI och dess följare på Instagram? - Hur arbetar TUI med rotationskuratering respektive kommersiell kuratering på Instagram? - Hur skiljer sig interaktionen åt mellan dessa två kommunikationsstrategier? Det ramverk som studien vilar på är teorier kring strukturer i sociala medier, avsändare, word of mouth och visuell kommunikation. Studiens metod är kvalitativ och genom en netnografisk observation studeras kommunikationsstrategierna rotationskuratering, där en anställd kuraterar (skapar) innehållet veckovis, och kommersiell kuratering, där huvudkontoret kuraterar innehållet. Det insamlade materialet analyseras genom en semiotisk bildanalys och en tematisk textanalys. Studien visar att TUI vid kommersiell kuratering använder ett opersonligt textspråk, som kan liknas vid redaktionellt skrivet material, och bilderna är av hög kvalitet. Följden av detta blir kortfattade och opersonliga kommentarer, där fokus ofta ligger på bilden. Följarna omnämner (taggar) andra användare i stor utsträckning vilket leder till interna konversationer följarna emellan i kommentarsfältet. Vid rotationskurateringen använder TUI istället ett mer avslappnat språk, där kuraterarens personlighet tydligt framkommer. Detta genererar kommentarer av mer personlig karaktär, där följarna ställer frågor till TUI och delar med sig av egna erfarenheter. Slutsatserna är att rotationskurateringen resulterar i en mer personlig interaktion, vilket stärker relationen mellan TUI och följarna, medan den kommersiella kurateringen leder till en större delning samt att större fokus läggs vid bilden. / This study falls within the field of media and communication, and aims to research two different communication strategies on the travel company TUI’s Instagram page, as well as the interaction that these strategies result in. In order to fulfill the purpose of the study the following research questions have been defined:  - What kind of interaction is displayed on TUI’s Instagram page, between the corporation and their followers? - How is TUI working with rotation curation versus commercial curation on Instagram? - How does the interaction differ between these two communication strategies? The study is based upon theories about structures in social media, the sender, word of mouth and visual communication. A qualitative method has been used and through a nethnographic observation on rotation curation, where an employee curates the content, and commercial curation, where the head office curates the content, the outcome of both strategies have been studied. The results of the study are interpreted through a semiotic analysis of the images and a thematic text analysis. The study shows that TUI, when using commercial curation, adopts a strict and impersonal way of writing and uses high quality images. Brief and less personal comments, that often revolve around the images, is the resulting fallout. Sharing posts by tagging other Instagram accounts is also common. During the rotation curation, however, a more casual way of writing is being used and the curator’s personality is prominent. This results in comments and interaction of a more personal nature, where the followers ask questions and share personal experiences with TUI. In conclusion, the rotation curation results in a more personal interaction, in which the relationship between TUI and the followers improves, while the commercial curation results in greater sharing and comments focusing on the content of the images.

網際網路興起與行動裝置普及後，人們越來越容易在各大社群媒體、討論區留下評論。其中，本來就影響甚大的負面口碑，結合了網路驚人的散步速率和廣大接觸群眾的特性，轉變為影響更為巨大的網路負面口碑。 過往有許多針對負面口碑的研究，這些研究大多面向一般企業，卻鮮少有研究針對公眾人物。然而，同時也有許多研究指出，許多企業會與公眾人物合作，而公眾人物自身做為容易被社會關注的目標，負面口碑有可能對其職業生涯與形象造成不良影響，故希望能針對網路負面口碑之於公眾人物的留言動機、內容以及解決方式研究。 本研究著重個案分析，我們將從PTT，全台灣知名的網路討論板，找尋針對個案中公眾人物評論，並且分析留言的措辭與內容，歸納留言者的動機、該負面留言的內容類型。並從網路上蒐集該公眾人物處理該負面網路口碑的資訊，分析其策略。 最終，本研究將歸納整理出動機、留言內容與公眾人物使用的策略，為未來在這塊學術領域有興趣繼續研究的同好們提供一個基礎，並為公眾人物以及其公關團隊避免與解決網路負面口碑提供建議與方針。 / Since the rise of social media and the spread of mobile devices, sharing comments, advice and information with people on the internet without the constraints of time and space has become part of modern life and has resulted in major changes to how people receive information. Because of these changes, one particular issue has become more important than before: the influence of electronic word of mouth (EWOM), especially the negative type. Word of mouth has long been a topic of research, and researchers have found that negative word of mouth (NWOM) can have a greater impact than positive or neutral word of mouth. Furthermore, EWOM can spread faster and wider than traditional WOM. Thus, if negative word of mouth were spread via electronic channels such as social media on internet, it can cause unimaginable damage to the target individual or organization. To date, few studies focus on public figures’ negative EWOM. However, public figures play important roles in many areas because of their high attention from society and may sometimes be the target of negative EWOM. Based on the above, this study seeks answers to the following questions: Why do people on the internet reply negatively to the target public figures (negative EWOM motivation)? What types of negative content do people on the internet generate toward the public figures? What types of strategies may be applied to deal with different types of negative EWOM and negative EWOM motivation more frequently? This study first searched and reviewed previous literature related to NWOM, EWOM and public figures and categorized a few motivation, types of negative content and strategies. We then chose twenty case studies, and collected comments about these twenty cases on PTT, the largest terminal-based bulletin board system (BBS) based in Taiwan. Based on the using words of these comments, we can find out new motivation and new types of negative content did not exist in previous literature. Furthermore, we tracked how these public figures deal with NWOM, and tried to find out new patterns of strategies. The research results can help managers and researchers prevent crises caused by negative EWOM or take appropriate approaches for these crises. Keywords: Negative Word of Mouth, Electronic Word of Mouth, Public Figures

This study’s purpose was to provide a deeper understanding regarding how millennials’ attitudes towards brands are influenced by online communication. With the aim of fulfilling the purpose of the study, two research questions of descriptive and explorative kind were stated; “How can the factors that influence millennials’ use of electronic word-of-mouth be described?” as well as “How does electronic word-of-mouth influence millennials’ brand attitude?”. In order to generate potential answers to the stated research questions, a conceptual framework was conducted by reviewing scholarly literature. The conceptual framework then provided the study with a theoretical foundation of which was utilized during both the data collection and the data analysis. Methodologically, this was a case study analyzing qualitative data that was collected through eleven semi-structured and in-depth interviews with both male and female millennials. The findings and conclusions of this study implied that electronic word-of-mouth has a meaningful impact on both the formation of and influence on attitudes towards brands amongst the millennials. Moreover, this was heavily dependent on the one disseminated it. However, with regard to the ever-evolving area of social network sites, other noteworthy factors such as millennials’ need for affiliation, aesthetically appealing firm-generated content and intense exposure to digital advertising were emphasized as components of which too formed their attitudes towards brands. Furthermore, the results suggested that adopting personalization- and social interaction strategies will encourage the spreading of positive electronic word-of-mouth. Lastly, positive electronic word-of-mouth was then for its part related to brand loyalty, which was reckoned to promote the persistency of positive brand attitudes.

Fenomenet “influencer” har den senaste tiden på grund av den stora spridningen av sociala mediervärlden över blivit ett allt mer vardaglig uttryck inom marknadsföring. Namnet influencer kommer från engelskans influence. Vidare betyder det att man influerar någon, då bland annat till olika köp och livsstilsbeslut. Vilket har gjort influencers till en potentiell reklampelare. Detta då influencerns följare vill leva som influencer och därför vill köpa det den köper. Syftet med vår studie är att studera hur företag genom användning av influencers kan stärka sinavarumärken. Vidare studerar vi hur man som företag utför processen att välja en influencer med mål om att skapa störst möjlighet till stärkandet av varumärket. För att besvara frågeställningen valde vi att göra en kvalitativ studie med fem företag; Abacus Sportswear, Style by Mouche, Plodder PR och kommunikation, en PR och kommunikationsbyrå med fokus på mode/lifestyle och en PR och kommunikationsbyrå med fokus på skönhet. Vi valde att utföra semistrukturerade intervjuer medföretagen för att skapa en intervju med utrymme för följdfrågor och diskussion. Studien har visat att företag framförallt marknadsför sig genom influencers för att sprida varumärkeskännedom och på så vis även stärka sitt varumärke. Det är viktigt för företagen att influencern står för liknande värderingar, kan förmedla ett trovärdigt budskap och att de kan starta en spridning av word of mouth i en positiv riktning. Dock visar vår studie att dagens processer för att välja influencers till varumärken inte fokuserar tillräckligt på varumärkesstärkande utan främst på statistik. Vi har genom att koppla ihop teori och empiri kommit fram till att för att ett samarbete med influencers ska ha goda förutsättningar till att kunna stärka varumärket behöver företag förutom att studera statistik även studera influencerns förtroende, personlig intimitet och ifall influencern går i linje med varumärket. Detta beskrivs i form av en modell på sju steg. / The phenomenon of "influencer" has recently become an increasingly used expression in marketing because of the wide spread of social media across the globe. The name influencer comes from English influence. Furthermore, it means that you influence someone, for example, for different purchases and lifestyle decisions. Which has made influencers a potential advertisers. This is when the influencer's followers want to live as influences and therefore want to buy what they buy. The purpose of our study is to study how companies through the use of influencers can strengthen their brands. Furthermore, we study how, as a company, they perform the process of selecting an influencer with the goal of creating the greatest opportunity for strengthening the brand. In order to answer the question, we chose to do a qualitative study with five companies; Abacus Sportswear, Style by Mouche, Plodder PR and Communication, one PR and communications firm that specializes in clothing and finally a PR and communications firm that specializes in beauty. We chose to conduct semi-structured interviews with companies to create an interview with space for follow-up questions and discussion. The study has shown that companies primarily market through influencers to spread brand awareness and to strengthen their brand. It is important for companies that influencers accounts for similar values, so that they can convey a credible message and that they can start spreading word of mouth in a positive direction. However, our study shows that today's processes for choosing influencers for brands do not focus enough on brand strengths, but primarily on statistics. By linking theory and empirical evidence, we have found that, in order for cooperation with influencers to have good conditions for strengthening the brand, companies need to study the confidence of the influences, personal intimacy and the influencer goes in line with the brand, in addition to studying statistics. This is described in the form of a seven-step model. Our study will be written in Swedish.

<p>Vi vill reda ut vilka olika faktorer som kan ha betydelse för bloggar som trovärdig marknadsföringskanal.</p><p>Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ ansats för att få en djupare förståelse för bloggar som ett marknadsföringsverktyg. Genom en deduktiv metod har vår teoretiska referensram utgjort utgångspunkten för vår empiriska data.  Vårt empiriska material har vi samlat in genom sex genomförda personliga intervjuer med bloggrelaterade personer. Därefter har vi ställt vårt resultat i relation till vår teori och utifrån vår frågeställning fört en diskussion.<strong></strong></p><p>Företag kan inte styra vad bloggaren skriver och det är viktigt att bloggen får behålla sin personliga karaktär, då det styrker trovärdigheten för denne som marknadsföringskanal. Bloggen ska inte verka i säljande syfte, utan mer som rekommendationer till läsarna. Bloggare kan i vissa sammanhang agera som opinionsledare och besitter förmågan att påverka en stor grupp av människor. MeWe-generationen är en viktig målgrupp för företag, eftersom de frekvent influeras av modebloggar. Våra slutsatser visar även att öppenhet och relationer är viktiga begrepp vad gäller marknadsföring via bloggar.</p> / <p>We want to examine what different elements that can be of importance to blogs as a trustworthy marketing channel.</p><p>We have used a qualitative approach to be able to get deeper understanding of blogs as a marketing tool. Through a deductive method our theoretical frame of reference has made the base for our empirical data. Our empirical material we have collected by executing six personal interviews with blog related people. We have then come to our conclusions by analysing our theoretical and empirical material in relation to each other.<strong></strong></p><p>Companies cannot control what the blogger is writing and it is important that the blog keeps its personal spirit, since it strengthens the trustworthiness of the blog as a marketing channel. A blog is not supposed to communicate in an obviously selling purpose. What they write will rather more be recommendations for the reader. A blogger may sometimes be seen as opinion leaders and they possess the ability of influence a large number of people. The MeWe-generation makes an important target group for companies, since they are frequently influenced by blogs of fashion. Our conclusions also show us that openness and relations are important notions when discussing blogs as a marketing tool.</p>

<p>The purpose with this study is to enlighten and discuss the information and communication which is spreading through social media, about the tourist operators and also to examine the operators view on social media. Social media can be described as a tool to use word of mouth on the Internet. To make this possible, five actors involved in tourism were picked on Gotland and interviewed for a content analysis. The results showed that the use of social media as an information channel before the consumer buys a trip, has increased. The study also shows that the selected actors have a lot of work to do, before they understand how to use the social media in their best interest for further developing their companies. But as an overall result we can conclude that “word of mouth” is the most desired information for both producers and consumers, especially the positive “word of mouth”, from the producer’s prospect of view. Social media contributes for the possibility to make the information available for more people in a faster way.</p>