Den här studien fokuserar på influencer marketing och opinionsbildning. Den valda empirin för studien är sex blogginlägg sponsrade av företaget Natural Cycles. Studiens syfte är att få ökad kunskap om hur influencers konstruerar sponsrade blogginlägg. För att uppnå syftet har en kvalitativ textanalys utförts. Den teoretiska utgångångspunkten för studien är tvåstegshypotesen. Tvåstegshypotesen används tillsammans med influencer marketing och begreppen emotional appeals och fear appeals som är lånade från psykologiforskning.   Studiens tillvägagångsätt grundar sig i en kvalitativ textanalys. Mer specifikt har en stilanalys använts för att se hur blogginläggen konstrueras språkligt, innehållsligt, socialt och kontextuellt. Utifrån de olika stildragen har gemensamma kvaliteter hittats i blogginläggen som sedan använts för att presentera analysresultatet. Analysen gav kvaliteterna gemenskap, opinionsbildning, vardagligt språk, personliga erfarenheter och åsikter, engagemang i ämnet och kontextuella faktorer. Resultatet visade att influencers använder ett personligt och engagerat språk. De skriver om personliga erfarenheter och om hur de mår, sin kropp och sina känslor. Influencers tar även på sig en självutnämnd expertroll för produkten när de försöker övertyga läsarna om fördelarna med produkten och företaget. För att övertyga läsarna används fear appeals och avskräckande exempel, som biverkningar de har upplevt med andra produkter.

Informational sources affecting purchase intent in online shopping: A qualitative approach to determine external informational sources affecting the online purchase intention of high involvement products.

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to create an understanding of how influencer marketing could be used to increase the purchase intention in an area of a high involvement product in a niche market. Since this study is collected together with a Swedish golf company, the golf industry was evaluated. In order to fulfill the purpose, the social media influencer value (SMIV) model was adopted in this study. Method – A quantitative experiment was conducted through the use of experimental vignette methodology (EVM) together with a qualitative validity check-in form of an interview with a key person from the industry. The main data was collected through a combination of exposure to the independent variable (through a stimulus) and a set of following questions (a questionnaire). The questionnaire was sent out to the company’s consumer through email and to analyze the collected data an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used. Findings – In the collected data, evidence indicating that golf is a high involvement activity where the participants put down a lot of time and effort in the sport was found. In the SMIV model three significant paths was found between expertise and purchase intention, similarity and purchase intention, and usefulness and purchase intention. All three independent variables had a positive impact on purchase intention which tells us that when expertise, similarity, or usefulness increases, consumers purchase intension increases as well. Theoretical and practical implications – The results in this study contributes to current literature in the area of influencer marketing by confirming some relationships but also by extending the literature. The study also contributes to important insights for marketing practitioners since the results present important variables to consider when using influencer marketing to create purchase intention. It also creates meaningful insights for the influential person itself and open up for further research in the area of the effect of influencer marketing in a high involvement product.

Increasing employee involvement in innovation activities opens up for opportunities to apply previously unused resources within established employee network connections. Despite identified possible outcomes from increasing participation, no previous research investigating how an IT infrastructure company can increase employee involvement in innovation activities exist. Therefore, this thesis investigates how a market-leading, Nordic IT infrastructure company can increase their employee participation in innovation activities through becoming a High Involvement Innovation Organisation, and the purpose of the thesis is to develop a recommendation of actions to take to increase employee involvement. To fulfil the purpose of the thesis, a single case study consisting of semi-structured interviews and two quantitative surveys was conducted. The project was initiated by an extensive literature search of the six identified main fields within High Involvement Innovation; Management support, Communication, Resource allocation, Competence development, Incentives and Measurements & KPI’s. The results from the study show a lack of sufficient communication and management support to be the main challenges for companies to conquer, as is confirmed in the literature. The conclusion is that the investigated firm has good preconditions to increase their employee involvement in innovation, and the provided recommendation consists of five actions for the firm to take; Communicate the urgency of innovation, implement a feedback system, stimulate the competitive culture through a recognition system, establish measurable innovation KPI’s and develop educational plans targeting innovation. / Ökat engagemang hos medarbetare i innovationsaktiviteter öppnar upp för möjligheter att tillämpa tidigare oanvända resurser inom etablerade nätverk för medarbetare. Trots att ökat deltagande medför identifierade möjligheter finns det ingen tidigare forskning som undersöker hur ett företag inom IT-infrastruktur kan öka medarbetarnas engagemang i innovationsaktiviteter. Därför undersöker denna avhandling hur ett marknadsledande, nordiskt IT-infrastrukturföretag kan öka sina medarbetares deltagande i innovationsaktiviteter genom att bli en High Involvement Innovation Organisation, och syftet med avhandlingen är att utveckla en rekommendation innehållande åtgärder att vidta för att öka medarbetarnas engagemang. För att uppfylla syftet med avhandlingen genomfördes en fallstudie hos ett företag bestående av semistrukturerade intervjuer och två kvantitativa enkäter. Projektet inleddes av en omfattande litteratursökning av de sex identifierade huvudområdena inom High Involvement Innovation; Ledningsstöd, Kommunikation, Resursallokering, Kompetensutveckling, Incitament samt Mätningar och KPI:er. Resultatet från studien visar att avsaknaden av tillräcklig kommunikations och ledningsstöd är de viktigaste utmaningarna för företag att övervinna, vilket bekräftas i litteraturen. Slutsatsen är att det undersökta företaget har goda förutsättningar för att öka sina anställdas engagemang i innovation, och den tillhandahållna rekommendationen består av fem åtgärder för företaget att vidta; Kommunicera hur brådskande innovation är, Implementera ett feedback-system, Stimulera tävlingsinstinkten genom ett system för uppskattning, Etablera mätbara innovativa KPI: er samt Utveckla utbildningsplaner som är inriktade på innovation.

Background: It is an essential clothing piece for women, which is proven to enhance the consumers’ perception of themselves, namely a woman everyday bra. There seems to be a lack in recent research on women lingerie especially within the Generation Y. The complex purchase decision for the high-involvement product everyday bra in combination with the characteristics of this generation have a vital impact on their considerations. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to describe how Generation Y is considering the perceived influential factors in their purchase decision of the high-involvement product everyday bra. Thereby, an existing theory was extended by two new factors, namely psychosocial and physiological and tested on the Generation Y. To fulfil the purpose of this study, one research question was established. Method: An interpretivism philosophy was used as part of this study, along with an abductive approach. Descriptive research was conducted to analyse the qualitative data collected through 18 semi-structured in-depth interviews. To adequately reach the selected target population, a combination of convenient, judgmental and snowball sampling technique was employed. Conclusion: The empirical findings of this study suggest, that six factors are considered by Generation Y’s purchase decision. A remarkable recognition is given to comfort, followed by a high relevance of aesthetics and the remaining factors. This knowledge is highly relevant for lingerie companies, especially when considering the store layout and supplementary distribution channels such as e-commerce.

Organisations can create a competitive advantage through the way they design their human resource systems. High involvement work systems are considered to be a way to increase organisational performance and decrease employee turnover. However, the components involved are difficult and complex to define, and the synergy amongst the different components hard to evaluate. The literature suggests that the research is not uniform in its approach, and most research does not clearly define the variables involved or agree on the expected results of such systems. This research looks at high involvement work systems in the New Zealand organisational context, and relating these systems to employee turnover and organisational performance. The results of the study suggest that there does not appears to be a relationship between high involvement work systems, and employee turnover and organisational performance; but high involvement systems may contribute to increased labour productivity in New Zealand organisations.

Internet har gett konsumenten en ökad marknadsöverblick, detta har gjort det möjligt för konsumenten att tidseffektivt jämföra varor och priser. Detta innebär att dagens konsument är betydligt mer välinformerad. Medvetenheten om en stor och komplex marknad innebär ett högt engagemang och upplevda risker med köpet som följd. Det höga engagemanget innebär att man som konsument bland annat söker information för att reducera sina upplevda risker. Syftet med denna uppsats är att minska luckan i teorin om konsumenters riskreducerande informationsbeteende då de genomgår köpprocessen i ett högengagemangsköp. Ett annat syfte blir att se vilka faktorer kring informationssökning som är viktiga i ett högengagemangsköp på en högteknologisk marknad 2006. Frågeställningarna rör hur informationskällorna används idag, vilka källor som har störst utvecklingspotential och hur denna utveckling borde se ut. Datainsamlingen har skett genom åtta stycken djupintervjuer med studenter från olika fackhögskolor inom Högskolan i Jönköping. Studenternas köp av bärbar dator de senaste sex månaderna har fungerat som underlag för samtalet. Resultatet av studien visar att de ekonomiska och funktionella riskerna upplevts vara mycket omfattande för våra respondenter. Priset och krav på en viss funktionalitet har varit klart tidigt i köpprocessen, funktionalitetskravet har under köpets gång översatts från behovsbeskrivningar till teknisk specifikation. Översättningen har mestadels inneburit omfattande informationssökning på Internet, vilket i många fall inneburit att respondenten engagerat personliga källor för värdering av informationen. De ekonomiska och funktionella riskerna har varit aktuella växelvis under köpprocessens olika faser. Många upplevelser kring informationssökningen präglas av ineffektivitet. Det icke kommersiella intryck information från jämförelsesajter på nätet och personliga källor ger ser vi ha en stor potential att kunna utvecklas. Detta genom att både i butik och på Internet aktivt arbeta med konsumenternas referenspunkter. Lösningsorienterad information med fokus på att bygga relationer och förtroende har enligt studiens resultat utvecklingsmöjligheter både på Internet och bland säljare. / Today Internet has given consumers a greater possibility to have a more complete view over the range of products on a market. This has made it possible to in a time effective way compare products and prices. A greater amount of perceived risks when purchasing a high involvement product is one result of the consumers awareness of a large and complex market. To reduce the risks, that high involvement purchase in hazes, the consumer is in a greater need of information The purpose with this essay is to reduce the gap in the theory about consumers risk reducing information behaviour when following the buyer’s decision process in a high involvement purchase. Another purpose is to identify which factors that is important when seeking information during a high involvement purchase. The ambition with this study is to explain how different information channels are used today, which channels that has the best potentials and how the development of these should be done. Interviews with eight different students from Jönköping University underlie the result of this study. During the six latest months these students have purchased a laptop, this purchase has been the starting-point for the interviews. The result shows that the economical and functional risks are those that have been most frequent perceived among our respondents. Requirements concerning price and functionality where also those things that the respondents early in the buyer’s decision process hade a clear opinion about. Functional requirements was in the beginning spoken out as to solve certain needs. These needs have been translated to technical specifications during the process. This translation has been signified with a lot of time spent on seeking information on the Internet. It has also engaged personal contacts with friends etc for valuation of information. Many experiences of information seeking shows on inefficiency. The non-commercial impression that personal contacts and Internet pages, with product comparison, has given is something that we mean should be taken to account in a larger scale. This could be done by actively working with the consumer’s frame of references to the product. Information that is solution orientated, on Internet and from sellers, and which has the ambition to build long term relations has from this reports result shown to have great possibilities for development.

<p>Internet har gett konsumenten en ökad marknadsöverblick, detta har gjort det möjligt för konsumenten att tidseffektivt jämföra varor och priser. Detta innebär att dagens konsument är betydligt mer välinformerad. Medvetenheten om en stor och komplex marknad innebär ett högt engagemang och upplevda risker med köpet som följd. Det höga engagemanget innebär att man som konsument bland annat söker information för att reducera sina upplevda risker.</p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att minska luckan i teorin om konsumenters riskreducerande informationsbeteende då de genomgår köpprocessen i ett högengagemangsköp. Ett annat syfte blir att se vilka faktorer kring informationssökning som är viktiga i ett högengagemangsköp på en högteknologisk marknad 2006. Frågeställningarna rör hur informationskällorna används idag, vilka källor som har störst utvecklingspotential och hur denna utveckling borde se ut.</p><p>Datainsamlingen har skett genom åtta stycken djupintervjuer med studenter från olika fackhögskolor inom Högskolan i Jönköping. Studenternas köp av bärbar dator de senaste sex månaderna har fungerat som underlag för samtalet.</p><p>Resultatet av studien visar att de ekonomiska och funktionella riskerna upplevts vara mycket omfattande för våra respondenter. Priset och krav på en viss funktionalitet har varit klart tidigt i köpprocessen, funktionalitetskravet har under köpets gång översatts från behovsbeskrivningar till teknisk specifikation. Översättningen har mestadels inneburit omfattande informationssökning på Internet, vilket i många fall inneburit att respondenten engagerat personliga källor för värdering av informationen. De ekonomiska och funktionella riskerna har varit aktuella växelvis under köpprocessens olika faser.</p><p>Många upplevelser kring informationssökningen präglas av ineffektivitet. Det icke kommersiella intryck information från jämförelsesajter på nätet och personliga källor ger ser vi ha en stor potential att kunna utvecklas. Detta genom att både i butik och på Internet aktivt arbeta med konsumenternas referenspunkter. Lösningsorienterad information med fokus på att bygga relationer och förtroende har enligt studiens resultat utvecklingsmöjligheter både på Internet och bland säljare.</p> / <p>Today Internet has given consumers a greater possibility to have a more complete view over the range of products on a market. This has made it possible to in a time effective way compare products and prices. A greater amount of perceived risks when purchasing a high involvement product is one result of the consumers awareness of a large and complex market. To reduce the risks, that high involvement purchase in hazes, the consumer is in a greater need of information</p><p>The purpose with this essay is to reduce the gap in the theory about consumers risk reducing information behaviour when following the buyer’s decision process in a high involvement purchase.</p><p>Another purpose is to identify which factors that is important when seeking information during a high involvement purchase. The ambition with this study is to explain how different information channels are used today, which channels that has the best potentials and how the development of these should be done.</p><p>Interviews with eight different students from Jönköping University underlie the result of this study. During the six latest months these students have purchased a laptop, this purchase has been the starting-point for the interviews.</p><p>The result shows that the economical and functional risks are those that have been most frequent perceived among our respondents. Requirements concerning price and functionality where also those things that the respondents early in the buyer’s decision process hade a clear opinion about. Functional requirements was in the beginning spoken out as to solve certain needs. These needs have been translated to technical specifications during the process. This translation has been signified with a lot of time spent on seeking information on the Internet. It has also engaged personal contacts with friends etc for valuation of information.</p><p>Many experiences of information seeking shows on inefficiency. The non-commercial impression that personal contacts and Internet pages, with product comparison, has given is something that we mean should be taken to account in a larger scale. This could be done by actively working with the consumer’s frame of references to the product. Information that is solution orientated, on Internet and from sellers, and which has the ambition to build long term relations has from this reports result shown to have great possibilities for development.</p>

Organisations can create a competitive advantage through the way they design their human resource systems. High involvement work systems are considered to be a way to increase organisational performance and decrease employee turnover. However, the components involved are difficult and complex to define, and the synergy amongst the different components hard to evaluate. The literature suggests that the research is not uniform in its approach, and most research does not clearly define the variables involved or agree on the expected results of such systems. This research looks at high involvement work systems in the New Zealand organisational context, and relating these systems to employee turnover and organisational performance. The results of the study suggest that there does not appear to be a relationship between high involvement work systems, and employee turnover and organisational performance; but high involvement systems may contribute to increased labour productivity in New Zealand organisations.

In several years researchers have focused on identifying different socialization agents that influence the child consumer in the purchasing process. These studies have identified parents, friends and peers, television, role models, and different virtual communities as socialization agents. However, there is still no understanding of how the socialization agents are integrated in the decision-making process. The purpose is therefore to identify how the child-consumers are influenced by different sources in their decision-making process, and recognise the socialization agents’ interaction as influencers. The authors have found that there is a continuous interaction between the socialization agents in the decision-making process. The socialization agents, such as parents, siblings, friends and peers, television, role models and virtual communities, separately influence the adolescents in the purchasing process, however, the adolescents do not only take into consideration the opinion of one socialization agent but rather they use all of them. The authors have also found that the socialization agents act as support systems to other socialization agents, this in both influence and credibility.