The employment of virtual reality (VR) in the cultural heritage context has been recognized as a new trend shaping the way audiences interact with museums. This research explores the effect of VR experience on art interpretation through an audience reception analysis of two VR exhibitions: Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass and Dreams of Dalí. An ethnographic method was used, i.e., semi-structured interviews with 10 participants served to understand how audiences react to VR. Hall’s encoding/decoding model and Norman’s concept of affordances were employed to determine whether, and in what way, decoding of the VR affordances affects the interpretation of the presented art. First, the results showed that all five previously identified affordances (immersion, presence, empathy, embodiment and usability) are existent in the VR exhibitions. Space perception as an additional affordance has been identified, including seclusion as an anti-affordance specific to VR exhibitions. Second, the results of the conducted interviews’ analysis show proportionality between the VR affordances and interpretation, i.e., the preferred reading of the artwork. In most cases, the stronger the affordances are, the stronger the comprehension, and the more positive the evaluation. Empathy affordance has demonstrated to be the strongest indicator of a preferred interpretation since it is proportionate to the evaluation of all 10 interviewees. These results have implications both in and outside the cultural heritage context – VR employs unconventional and persuasive modes of communicating; it encourages creative, more inclusive, and tacit learning.

Studien undersöker hur vårdnadshavare till tonåringar mellan 15-18 år ser på kampanjmaterial från IQ och Systembolaget, vidare hur detta formar konversationerna från vårdnadshavarnas perspektiv om ämnet alkohol. Studien utförs i tre intervjuer i form av fokusgrupper med vårdnadshavare till tonåringar. I intervjuerna fick deltagarna ta del av fem olika kampanjer från både Systembolaget och IQ som är riktade till just vårdnadshavare kring ämnet alkohol och minderåriga. De teoretiska ramverk i studien är encoding/decoding av Stuart Hall (1973), Risksamhället av Ulrich Beck (2009) samt Tvåstegshypotesen av Lazarsfeld och Katz (1955). Målet är att se om dessa kampanjer når ut till den tänkta målgruppen, om kampanjerna används som stöd i konversationerna mellan vårdnadshavare och tonåringar samt vilka faktorer som spelar en roll i konversationerna kring alkohol. Analysmetoden som används är tematisk efter Braun och Clarkes (2006). Där ska vi generalisera mönster och hitta teman i svaren. Resultatet vi fick fram genom studien visar att kampanjmaterialet som finns är tillgängligt om behovet finns. De använder materialet till en viss del som stöd i konversationerna och de anser att det är en efterfrågestyrd kommunikation.

This study aims to investigate how female and male murder victims are represented in two swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet. By analyzing articles about the murders of Lisa Holm, Ida Johnsson, Ahmed Obaid and Rami Amin this study seeks to understand how they differ depending on the gender of the victim. To answer this, three research questions have been included; 1) How is the murder victim represented depending on if it’s a man or a woman? 2) Which other aspects than the murder victim is given a focus in the articles and what realities is formed from it? 3) ​Are there any differences between the morning newspaper and the evening newspaper, if so, which? The theoretical framework that was used to answer these three questions are social constructivism, Stuart Halls encoding/decoding and representation, gender theory, agenda theory and attribute agenda, priming and framing. The material consists of articles from the two newspapers, and the chosen methods are both a quantitative and qualitative textual analysis. The results shows that the male murder victims are described by their future plans and careers in a way that the female victims were not. There were two other aspects which were given a focus in the articles, the location and the murderer. ​The location of the murders of Ahmed Obaid and Rami Amin, which in both cases were Malmö, was described as a dangerous place with a lot of criminal acts. Since none of the victims were involved in any criminal activity they were represented as innocent, who fell victims to the city. In the case of Ida Johansson, the exact location of the murder, a jogging track, was given focus. Since a jogging track normally is not seen as a dangerous place the murder of Ida was represented as an unfortunate case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The murderer was only known in the two cases with the female victims, and were given almost as much focus in the articles as the victims. The main differences between the two newspapers were that Aftonbladet wrote more articles about the cases and also had a tendency to use more media dramaturgy than Svenska Dagbladet.

A reception analysis on Skellefteå Krafts external communication on CSR and sustainable development and in what ways students decode the message. As an effect of today's climate changes and global issues, one of the most important subjects for companies to communicate to consumers and stakeholders is corporate social responsibility (CSR). The purpose of this paper is to investigate in what ways the concept of responsibility in relation to corporate social responsibility and sustainable development infuse meaning in the external communication by the company Skellefteå Kraft. The paper also examines the way three respondent groups of students relate to this message. The theoretical frame stretches from different views on CSR- communication to green brand strategy and sustainable development. The critic on CSR-communication includes the concept of greenwashing. The study also relies on theories within semiotic analysis, reception analysis and Stuart Halls encoding decoding model. Using the method visual semiotic analysis made it possible to reveal what Stuart Hall calls the preferred reading of the company's external communication. To be able to analyze the way students relate to the message qualitative interviews was used. Tools within reception analyze was applied on the material from the interviews. Both the visual semiotic analysis and the analyze of the interviews showed that the external communication did not include the economic side of CSR as much as the social- and environmental aspect. This was to be expected since the campaigns are focused on customers and other stakeholders. The main result was that the respondents in large made a hegemonic read of both the advertising films and the campaign site. They lay focus primarily on the caption and less on the image itself. The respondents could mainly distinguish the communication of social responsibility. This may be because both campaigns focus primarily on the human being and different life styles. When it comes to environmental responsibility the analysis show that Skellefteå Kraft uses ecological arguments in their external communication about energy and electrician, but they do not demonstrate the extraction which does in fact have some negative effects on nature. If Skellefteå Kraft had been more willing to demonstrate the extraction process they probably would have been described as honest and their ecological arguments would have been more comprehensible. This would also be proof that the company has little to hide when it comes to environmental responsibility. The advertising film as well as the campaign site communicates joyfulness and naturally produced electricity.

<p>Purpose/Aim: Exhibitions in cultural-historical museums have traditionally been object-centered and associated with one-way communication. The aim of this thesis is to gain knowledge about how exhibition producers – and educationalists at swedish cultural-historical museums today relate to communication in exhibitions from a communication scientific perspective.</p><p>Material/Method: The method of the thesis is interviews exhibition producers – and educationalists at five swedish cultural-historical museums about how they work with communication issues in exhibitions. The empiricism gained from the interviews have been analyzed from a communication scientific angle, using two communication theories as idealtypes for communication processes; Shannon and Weaver´s model and Stuart Hall´s encoding/decoding-theory.</p><p>Main results: Communication in exhibitions have developed, much due to the use of more channels for communicating with the visitors and the acknowledgement of the visitor as an active subject in interpreting the exhibitions and their message.Despite this development, communication in exhibitions still have features of a one-way communication. The main feature is the lack of possibilities for visitors to communicate their interpretations and point of views of the exhibition back to the exhibition producers. This leaves the visitors more or less passive in the communication process that is taking place in exhibitions in the same way that the model for communication by Shannon and Weaver describes.</p>

Purpose/Aim: Exhibitions in cultural-historical museums have traditionally been object-centered and associated with one-way communication. The aim of this thesis is to gain knowledge about how exhibition producers – and educationalists at swedish cultural-historical museums today relate to communication in exhibitions from a communication scientific perspective. Material/Method: The method of the thesis is interviews exhibition producers – and educationalists at five swedish cultural-historical museums about how they work with communication issues in exhibitions. The empiricism gained from the interviews have been analyzed from a communication scientific angle, using two communication theories as idealtypes for communication processes; Shannon and Weaver´s model and Stuart Hall´s encoding/decoding-theory. Main results: Communication in exhibitions have developed, much due to the use of more channels for communicating with the visitors and the acknowledgement of the visitor as an active subject in interpreting the exhibitions and their message.Despite this development, communication in exhibitions still have features of a one-way communication. The main feature is the lack of possibilities for visitors to communicate their interpretations and point of views of the exhibition back to the exhibition producers. This leaves the visitors more or less passive in the communication process that is taking place in exhibitions in the same way that the model for communication by Shannon and Weaver describes.

This thesis explores the utilisation of satire within the television series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Employing Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model as a theoretical framework, this study delves into the complexities of how satire is constructed, received, and interpreted by viewers. Hall’s model will be paired with a genre studies and audience receptions studies. The research employs two methods; a text analysis of a specific episode (“A Woman’s Right to Chop”); and interviews. The issues displayed in the episode are: gender roles, women’s rights, abortion and adoption. These issues are portrayed in a satirical manner by the use of humour, exaggeration, irony, critique, stereotypes and symbolism. The majority of the interviewees were found to understand and engage with the satire. Parts of the interviewees understood some of the underlying meanings. Few of the interviewees did not understand or misunderstood the material completely. Apart from satire, the additional interpretations stemmed from viewers fixating on minor details, misconstruing the portrayed messages, taking a literal approach, and harbouring dismissive sentiments towards the episode's content.

What topics are discussed within the female genital mutilation debate? And who gets to speak out? Are there any prominent patterns able to detect? This thesis tries to elaborate these thoughts examining the journalistic coverage of FGM in Swedish newspapers during the year of 2016. A content analysis of all published newspapers during the year of interest sets the empirical basis, and is supported by interviews with journalists covering the issue. The dissertation holds a constructionist approach meaning that the perception of reality is constructed, and thereof differs. This approach also clarifies that there is no constant truth, but several. Findings within the empirical data are mainly discussed connected to feminist theory as well as the concept of agenda-setting, eventually involving discussions about human rights issue as a value for journalism. What is clear here is that women are overrepresented within the debate, and are depicted as strong individuals, are seldom victimized or depicted in stereotyped gender roles as opposed by scholars. Meanwhile, participating journalists are somewhat semi-aware about their own portrayals since they opine that they are focusing on representing female characters in their articles. This might indicate that the FGM debate is unilaterally represented in some ways. The result also shows a clear pattern in representing FGM in media as a global issue treating the prevalence of FGM around the world, even when a domestic perspective is used. The issue of interest is also perceived as a procedure aiming to control women and/or their sexuality in a quite vast extent, scholarly as well as empirically

This is a thesis in Media and Communication Studies at the Department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University; “Systembolaget's marketing - a little clever like that” (Systembolagets marknadsföring - lite fiffig sådär) written by Hanna Bjurenborg and Emma Lundemo Dahlin. This is a qualitative study that examines consumers' experience of Systembolaget's marketing. We have been using two different methods in this thesis. These methods are two focus group discussions and a web survey. We chose to combine our two methods in order to achieve a more valid result. By combining these two we got both a more general result and also a deeper understanding on how our respondents experience Systembolaget’s marketing. The aim of this thesis is to elucidate what the messages are in Systembolaget’s marketing, how these messages are perceived by the consumer and whether consumers feel that Systembolaget's marketing affects their buying habits. We want to investigate whether consumers believe that the selected campaigns in our study contribute to a change in their consumption from their own perspective. Based on the results of the material we collected in this study we see that depending on whether the message in the ad is seen as good or bad can be a result, if the customers thought the message was clear and easy to encode. There is also a clear pattern seen in the study that if the ad generates an emotion it receives more attention than if it is simply informative.

The feelings I receive when I see these commercials makes me curious of how emotions work and if there where others who had similar reactions on the content. This lead me to check out the comments on Facebook, related to the advertising campaign. This was the beginning of choosing this topic for my study. I wanted to find out which emotions IKEA used in their advertising campaign to market their products. I also wanted to know how the consumers responded to these films on Facebook and how IKEA responded to questions and criticism. The theoretical framework consist of Stuart Hall´s model of encoding/decoding and signs. I used a semiotic analysis method where I analysed the films with analytical tools like: rhetoric, frame, codes, non-verbal codes such as facial expressions and body language. The comments where primary analysed with rhetorical tools. I watched all of the 13 episodes in the campaign before choosing three of them for this study. The criteria was that the comments needed to be of diffrent character, both positive and negative. The result of the study show that IKEA clearly used emotions through frame such as filters and music to connect with the consumers. The analysis of the comments also show that consumers interact with IKEA more frequently when the story consists of strong emotions. Interaction is one important key to establish a successful brand and the conclusion is that IKEA knows that they need to be present in social media where their costumers are. The consequens might be that IKEA is present in social media but devotes too little time to a qualitative dialogue, if that is why the costumers choose to communicate in that plattform.