Millennials are leaving the Catholic Church in great numbers, despite being raised in the faith. When asked for the reason of disaffiliation, young adults do not blame sexual abuse scandals in the Church nor do they cite specific Catholic beliefs and teachings. Instead, they say that they have begun to ask why stay Catholic and what meaning does the Catholic faith provide in their lives. This search for meaning has caused them to leave their faith and seek it elsewhere. However, prominent figures in Catholic media, Emily Wilson and Fr. Mike Schmitz, use YouTube as a platform to reach out to young adults in the Catholic faith. This thesis aims to understand how the two Catholic YouTube influencers use eudaimonic messages in their videos to provide the meaning that young adults have been missing from their faith. Eudaimonics has been linked to a sense of enjoyment beyond pleasure, focusing on a sense of well-being instead; this provides a deeper sense of meaning for those who view media containing eudaimonics. Using a directed content analysis, videos will be analyzed for the seven dimensions of eudaimonics – meaning in life/sense of purpose, self-acceptance, autonomy, competence, relatedness, personal growth, and living according to central personal values – and two transcendent elicitors – hopefulness and religiousness. Comments left by viewers under the videos will also be analyzed to see if viewers pick up on these meaningful messages. This analysis will evaluate how those messages by the YouTube influencers may impact young adult viewers and their Catholic faith. / Master of Arts / Millennials are leaving the Catholic Church in great numbers, despite being raised in the faith. When asked for the reason of disaffiliation, young adults do not blame sexual abuse scandals in the Church nor do they cite specific Catholic beliefs and teachings. Instead, they say that they have begun to ask why stay Catholic and what meaning does the Catholic faith provide in their lives. This search for meaning has caused them to leave their faith and seek it elsewhere. However, prominent figures in Catholic media, Emily Wilson and Fr. Mike Schmitz, use YouTube as a platform to reach out to young adults in the Catholic faith. This thesis aims to understand how the two Catholic YouTube influencers use eudaimonic messages in their videos to provide the meaning that young adults have been missing from their faith. Research has shown that eudaimonics provides a deeper sense of meaning for those who view media containing eudaimonic messages. This thesis will analyze the YouTube videos by the Catholic influencers for eudaimonic messages as well as analyze the comments left by viewers. This will help to evaluate how the influencers' messages may impact young adult viewers and their Catholic faith.

The rapid growth of visual microblogging platforms, such as Instagram, has created new opportunities for brands to communicate with stakeholders. As these platforms evolve, brands have had to adapt in order to use the available social media platforms to gain visibility in the millennial audience. Recently brands have turned to online 'celebrities' known as a social media influencer (SMI) to distribute information and influence consumers' product perceptions. This specifically has become a common tactic in communication and marketing efforts with the fashion and beauty industry. Ample research is available on the effects of celebrity endorsements but currently there is a gap in research pertaining to the consumer's perspective towards SMIs and SMIs effects on consumers. The online experiment completed in this thesis addressed how promotion of a product by a SMI affects perceptions of consumers on Instagram by measuring social comparison and self-congruity. This is accomplished by comparing participant's product perception to promotional posts on Instagram by a SMI, brand, and unbranded retail source. A three-condition experiment (SMI, Brand, Control) compared effects of product perception, social comparison, and self-congruity. A questionnaire consisting of 48 questions pertaining to SMI, self-congruity, social comparison, and product perception was completed by 151 participants. Significant relationships were found between the source of the promotional post (SMI, Brand, Control) and product perception. There was also a correlation between self-congruity and social comparison towards the SMI as well as product perception. Results suggest that the post source influences product perception. Results also indicate consumers' perception of the SMI effects product perception. These results provide practical implications for communication practioners who utilize social media. The rapid growth of visual microblogging platforms such as Instagram, is creating new opportunities for organizations to communicate with stakeholders. Brands have used social media platforms in order to gain visibility in the college age audience. Currently there is a gap in research pertaining to SMI and their effects on consumers. This online experiment will address how promotion of a product by an SMI affects perceptions of consumers on Instagram through social comparison and self-congruity theory by comparing responses to a product promoted by an SMI to the same product promoted by the promoted by the brand and to an unbranded retail source. A questionnaire consisting 34 of questions pertaining to SMI, self-congruity, and social comparison will be asked to 180-240 participants. The participants will be randomly assigned one of nine Instagram posts to accomplish stimulus sampling across the three conditions: three from SMI, three from brands, and three from an unbranded retail source / Master of Arts / As visual social media platforms, such as Instagram, continue to rapidly grow in popularity, brands have been obligated to quickly learn how to utilize these platforms in order to reach their target audiences. Brands typically use social media platforms in order to gain visibility in the college aged audience, but new platforms require new strategies. A new popular tactic is utilizing an online “celebrity” known as a social media influencer (SMI) in order to distribute information and influence consumers’ perceptions. Using SMIs in communication and marketing campaigns has grown in popularity in industries such as beauty/fashion, home/family, health/fitness, travel/lifestyle, food/beverage, business/tech and entertainment. In beauty and fashion, the use of SMIs to reach the millennial audience has become a part of regular practice for companies such as H&M, Madewell, Gucci and others. There is ample research on the effects of celebrity endorsements but currently there is a gap in research pertaining to SMIs and their effects on consumers. This online experiment completed in this thesis addressed how promotion of a product by a SMI affects perceptions of consumers by measuring their social comparison and self-congruity. This is accomplished by comparing participant’s product perception to posts by SMI, brands, and unbranded retail sources that promoted a product on Instagram. A three-condition experiment (SMI, Brand, Control) compared effects of product perception, social comparison, and self-congruity. A questionnaire consisting of 48 questions pertaining to SMI, self-congruity, social comparison and, product perception was completed by 151 participants. Significant relationships were found between the source of the post and product perception. Correlations were found between self-congruity and social comparison towards the SMI, as well as product perception. Results suggest that where the source of the post influences product perception. Results also indicate that consumer’s perception of the SMI effects product perception. These results provide practical implications for communication and marketing professionals who are determining whether to use SMI and those who already use SMI.

Författare: Hero Eliassi & Emma Jändel Handledare: Åsa Lindström Examinator: Bertil Hultén Kurs: Examensarbete 30hp, Civilekonomprogrammet inriktning marknadsföring, Linnéuniversitetet Kalmar, VT 2016. Forskningsfråga: Hur ser olika aktörer på användandet av influencers sociala mediekanaler i digital marknadsföring? Syfte: Syftet med detta examensarbete är att analysera användandet av influencers och deras sociala mediekanaler i digital marknadsföring. Fenomenet kommer att undersökas utifrån fyra aktörers perspektiv; influencer marketing-byråers, handelsföretags, influencers och konsumenters perspektiv, för att utforska hur man kombinerar synsätten från de olika aktörerna och på så sätt har möjlighet att effektivisera marknadsföringen genom influencers. Vi ämnar tolka de olika aktörernas syn på denna typ av marknadsföring för att bidra med implikationer till handelsföretag som använder sig av eller funderar på att marknadsföra sig genom influencers sociala mediekanaler och influencer marketing-byråer som agerar mellanhänder mellan handelsföretag och influencers. Vidare ämnar vi även bidra med implikationer till influencers som genomför denna marknadsföring. Metod: Detta examensarbete har haft en kvalitativt inriktad fallstudie med en induktiv ansats och ett explorativt syfte. Databildningen har bestått av en litteraturstudie och en empirisk undersökning genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och fokusgrupper. Det empiriska materialet som erhölls analyserades genom en kvalitativ dataanalys. Resultat & slutsatser: Vi kan konstatera att de fyra aktörerna ser på influencer marketing som ett effektivt marknadsföringssätt som föredras framför företags egen marknadsföring. Vad som framkommer är att ett antal krav bör tas i beaktning för att budskapen presenterade av influencers ska nå ut till den tänkta målgruppen. För att budskapen ska mottas av konsumenter som trovärdiga bör matchning ske mellan varumärken och influencers, samarbetena bör vara genuina och inspirerande, budskapen bör passa in i den kontext där de marknadsförs och balans bör finnas mellan personlighet och professionalitet. Teoretiska och praktiska implikationer: Examensarbetets teoretiska implikationer består av en reviderad undersökningsmodell där viktiga aktörer och aktuella sociala mediekanaler för influencer marketing presenteras. De praktiska implikationerna består av en TRIMPP- modell där begreppen trovärdighet, relevans, inspiration, matchning, personlighet och professionalitet presenteras som viktiga vid skapandet av influencer marketing-kampanjer. Nyckelord: Influencer marketing, influencers, sociala medier, digital marknadsföring / Authors: Hero Eliassi & Emma Jändel Supervisor: Åsa Lindström Examiner: Bertil Hultén Course: Master Thesis in Marketing 30 ECTS, Business Administration and Economics Programme, Linnaeus University Kalmar, Spring 2016. Research question: How does different actors view the usage of influencers’ social media channels in digital marketing? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the usage of influencers and their social media channels in digital marketing. The phenomenon will be studied from the perspective of four different actors; influencer marketing-agencies, companies, influencers and consumers, to be able to examine how to combine the different actors’ views in order to make influencer marketing more effective. We aim to interpret the different actors’ views of influencer marketing to be able to provide implications to companies using or thinking about using influencer marketing and to influencer marketing-agencies that act as intermediaries between companies and influencers. We also aim to provide influencers with implications. Method: This thesis had a qualitatively oriented case study with an inductive approach and an explorative purpose. Data formation consisted of a literature review and an empirical study through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The empirical data obtained was analyzed through a qualitative data analysis. Results and conclusions: We can conclude that the four actors view influencer marketing as an effective marketing method which is preferred over companies' own marketing. A number of requirements should be taken into consideration when producing influencer marketing-campaigns in order for the messages to reach out to the intended audience. For the messages to be received by the consumers as credible matching must occur between brands and influencers, the cooperation should be genuine and inspiring, the messages should fit into the context in which they are presented and balance should be found between personality and professionalism. Theoretical and practical implications: The theoretical implications of the thesis consists of a revised research model with key stakeholders and relevant social media channels for influencer marketing. The practical implications are made up of a TRIMPP-model in which the concepts of trustworthiness, relevance, inspiration, matching, personality and professionalism are presented as important in the creation of influencer marketing- campaigns. Key words: Influencer marketing, influencers, social media, digital marketing

Influencer utnämndes, av Språkrådet och Språktidningen, som nyord 2016. Fenomenet har sedan dess befunnit sig i blickfånget för vetenskapliga studier, årsrapporter och för det mediala landskapet i Sverige. Tidigare studier har i huvudsak fokuserat på hur influencers inlägg påverkar följare på sociala medier som Instagram, Twitter och Facebook. Primärt har kvantitativa metoder använts för att undersöka faktorerna som avgör vilket material som sprids. De årliga rapporter som beskriver användningen av sociala medier har visat att det huvudsakligen är ungdomar som använder de digitala sociala tjänster där influencers vanligen figurerar. Denna studie ämnar därför att med kvalitativ ansats och diskurspsykologisk analysmetod undersöka hur ungdomar som bor i Sverige konstruerar fenomenet influencer. Vi hoppas att med vår studie skapa en förståelse för hur unga vuxna konstruerar influencers. Denna studie har genom kvalitativa intervjuer undersökt tio ungdomar från Uppsala och Stockholm som följer influencers på sociala medier. Det insamlade materialet analyserades med diskurspsykologisk utgångspunkt med avsikt att urskilja de språkliga resurser deltagarna använde sig av för att förstå fenomenet. Vi fann två etablerade tolkningsrepertoarer som intervjupersonerna använde för att förstå fenomenet influencer. Typisk influencer och egen influencer utkristalliserade sig under studiens analys och vi fann att moraliska aspekter avgjorde distinktionen mellan de två tolkningsrepertoarerna. Avslutningsvis fann vi även att majoriteten av deltagarna under intervjuerna uppvisade ett avståndstagande mot den typiska influencern.

Denna studie undersöker ungdomar och influencers i sociala medier. Syftet är att studera hur ungdomar beskriver influencers, hur deras relation till influencers ser ut och vilken roll influencers har i ungdomars liv. Tidigare forskning har visat att ungdomar spenderar mest tid online jämfört med andra åldersgrupper och influencers används ofta i marknadsföringssyfte, eftersom de anses trovärdiga. Influencers har även en viktig samhällelig normskapande funktion. Genom semistrukturerade intervjuer via direktmeddelandeapplikationer och kvalitativ bildanalys har berättelser från 12 skolungdomar i Sverige i åldrarna 15–18 år, och 18 bilder och videor från tre populära svenska influencers utgjort studiens empiriska material. Med hjälp av de teoretiska begreppen självpresentation, referensgrupp och förebilder analyserades materialet med en fenomenologisk utgångspunkt. Resultatet visar att ungdomar definierar en influencer som en person med många följare som kan påverka andra, men ungdomarna är samtidigt motvilliga att säga att de blir påverkade. Ungdomarna upplever inte att det finns en vänskapsrelation mellan dem och influencers, utan snarare en gemenskapskänsla som kan härstamma från influencers inbjudande intrycksstyrning. Influencers kan ses som betydelsefulla för ungdomar i rollen som förebild och som en inspirationskälla. Tillsammans skapar och förkroppsligar ungdomar och influencers samhälleliga normer om bland annat skönhet och genus. / This thesis examines adolescents and influencers on social media. The aim is to explore how adolescent define influencers, their relationship and influencers role in their lives. Previous findings suggest that adolescents spend a great deal of time online and influencers are often used in marketing as well as help shape societal norms. The thesis uses semi-structured interviews via instant messaging and qualitative visual analysis. The material consists of 12 interviews with adolescents in Sweden between 15-18 years old and 18 posts by three popular Swedish influencers. The theoretical framework covers concepts of self-presentation, reference group and role models. The results show that adolescent describe an influencer as someone with a lot of followers that tend to influence others, but at the same time, adolescents are reluctant to admit that they are influenced. According to the interviewees in the study, no friendship exists between adolescents and influencers. Instead there is a feeling of community, which might be the result of influencers’ inviting self-presentations. Influencers are significant to adolescents as role models, especially as sources of inspiration. Adolescents and influencers create and embody norms concerning beauty standards and gender, and finally, adolescents expressed different expectations of influencers due to their background.

Bakgrund Konsumenters förtroende för traditionella marknadskommunikationer sjunker. Företag försöker därför hitta nya sätt att nå fram till konsumenter. En marknadskommunikation som vuxit fram till följd av detta är Influencer Marketing, vilken innebär att inflytelserika individer influerar människor på sociala medier. Influencer Marketing är dock fortfarande en gråzon och studier inom området är begränsade. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att, genom att undersöka konsumenter, erhålla en djupare förståelse för hur deras köpprocess påverkas av Influencer Marketing genom att identifiera och förstå faktorer som påverkar deras inställningar och handlingar som ett resultat av Influencer Marketing. Genomförande: Studien har utförts genom en trianguleringsmetod, vilken innebar en datainsamling genom en kvantitativ enkät och tio kvalitativa intervjuer. För att kunna kartlägga och analysera konsumenters köpbeteende i relation till Influencer Marketing, ställdes frågor kopplade till syftet. Slutsats: Studien fastställer att främst personliga faktorer, psykologiska faktorer och sociala faktorer påverkar konsumenters uppfattning av influencers och följaktligen Influencer Marketing. Studien visar att konsumenter med en positiv uppfattning av influencers, i stor utsträckning värderar och tillgodogör innehåll via Influencer Marketing, vilket i sin tur leder till att deras köpprocess förkortas. Vidare visar studien att motsatsen gäller för konsumenter med en negativ uppfattning av influencers. Studien fastställer även att köpprocessen är en iterativ process istället för en statisk ordning. / Background: The consumers trust in traditional marketing communications is decreasing. Therefore, companies try to find new ways to reach the consumers. A marketing communication that has blossomed as a result of this is Influencer Marketing, which means that influential individual influence people on social media. However, Influencer Marketing is still a gray zone and research within the field is limited. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to, by researching the consumers, gain a deeper understanding for how their buying process is affected by Influencer Marketing by identifying and understanding the factors that affect their attitudes and behaviors as a result of the marketing communication. Completion: The study has been conducted by a triangulation method, which has involved data collecting through a quantitative survey and ten qualitative interviews. In order to map and analyze the consumers buying behavior in relation to Influencer Marketing, questions were asked in regard to the purpose of the study. Conclusion: The study displays that mainly the personal factors, psychological factors and social factors affect the consumers’ perception of influencers and hence of Influencer Marketing. The study shows that the consumers with a positive perception of influencers, value and appropriate content via Influencer Marketing to a larger extent, which in return shortens their buying process. Furthermore, the study shows that the case is the opposite for the consumers with a negative perception of influencers. The study also displays that the buying process is an iterative process instead of a static order.

The overall aim with this study is to get a better understanding of influencers and the relationship between influencers and companies in relation to companies’ strategic communication. The method used in this thesis is a qualitative interview study and a qualitative content analysis of the interview results. The theoretical perspective of the study is strategic communication focusing on two further aspects: opinion leader and electronic word-of-mouth. The results from the interview study show that an influencer is a person who works with social media channels and has a large number of followers. An influencer has the opportunity to influence their followers through these social media channels. Influencers communication is based on honesty and credibility which is the most significant factor why companies want to collaborate with influencers today. The result shows that companies have a planned approach for strategic communication in collaboration with influencers; however, the result also shows that influencers have significant discretion in deciding how to execute the collaboration. Therefore, the companies do not entirely control the strategic communication.

Research shows that adolescents are major users of various social media, and adolescent girls who use social media are more likely than adolescent boys to come into contact with so-called Influencer marketing, i.e. a form of marketing in which focus is placed on influential people rather than the target market as a whole. Influencers tend to effect their audience’s consumption habits, and their main audience often tend to be adolescent girls. This caught our attention since influencers are a quite new phenomenon and not much research on has been done on it. The main object of the study is to examine if there any correlations in what extent influencers affect adolescent girls consumption of ”status symbols” given their social class. The second object of the study builds on identifying and explaining differences in adolescent girls and their definitions of status symbols and how this affects their consumption of status symbols given their social class. To do this, we constructed a survey which we posted on the social media Facebook. The survey was only open to persons belonging to so-called ”girl groups”, consisting of girls only. Our respondents consist of adolescent girls at attending at swedish high schools. Our study draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of; habitus, capital and field. We conclude that adolescent girls of a lower social class are more likely to consume status symbols recommended by influencers on social medias. Other conclusions are that adolescent girls regardless of their social class consume the same type of status symbols But also that there are no differences’ in adolescent girls and their definitions of which status symbols they consider to be highly valued.

Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att få en bättre förståelse för influencers och förhållandet mellan influencers och företag i förhållande till företags strategiska kommunikationsarbete på sociala medier. Metoden som används i denna avhandling är en kvalitativ intervjustudie och en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av intervjuresultaten. Studiens teoretiska perspektiv är strategisk kommunikation med inriktning på ytterligare två aspekter: opinionsledare och electronic word-of-mouth. Resultaten från intervjuundersökningen visar att en influenser är en person som arbetar med sociala medier och har ett stort antal följare. En influencer har möjlighet att påverka sina följare genom dessa sociala medier. Influencers kommunikation bygger på ärlighet och trovärdighet vilket är den viktigaste faktorn för att företag ska vilja samarbeta med influencers idag. Resultatet visar att företagen har ett planerat tillvägagångssätt för strategisk kommunikation i samarbete med influencers; dock visar resultatet också att influencers har ett väsentligt utrymme att bestämma hur de ska genomföra samarbetet. Därför kontrollerar företagen inte helt den strategiska kommunikationen. / The overall aim with this study is to get a better understanding of influencers and the relationship between influencers and companies in relation to companies’ strategic communication. The method used in this thesis is a qualitative interview study and a qualitative content analysis of the interview results. The theoretical perspective of the study is strategic communication focusing on two further aspects: opinion leader and electronic word-of-mouth. The results from the interview study show that an influencer is a person who works with social media channels and has a large number of followers. An influencer has the opportunity to influence their followers through these social media channels. Influencers communication is based on honesty and credibility which is the most significant factor why companies want to collaborate with influencers today. The result shows that companies have a planned approach for strategic communication in collaboration with influencers; however, the result also shows that influencers have significant discretion in deciding how to execute the collaboration. Therefore, the companies do not entirely control the strategic communication.

Syfte och Forskningsfrågor: Syftet med denna studie är att urskilja olika samarbetsprocesser för hur influencers nyttjar digitala nätverk och hur det främjar såväl influencer och företag som väljer att samarbeta. Utifrån detta syfte har vi formulerat tre frågeställningar som lyder enligt följande: 1.På vilka sätt nyttjar influencers digitala nätverk? 2.Vilka lärdomar kan företag få av ett samarbete med influencers gällande vilka strategier som är framgångsrika för att förmedla sitt budskap? 3.Hur kan co-branding mellan företag och influencers ge olika respons? Metod Studien är utformad utifrån en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod för att få en djup förståelse för fältet. Ansatsen är av induktiv karaktär och empirin utgör därför en central del av studien. Empirin utgörs av insamlad data i form av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med individer relevanta för ämnet. Slutsats: Studiens resultat har påvisat hur co-branding mellan en influencer och företag kan utveckla sociala medie nätverkande och mynnat ut i en samarbetsmodell. Karakteristiska drag av ett co-brand på sociala medier är att det krävs en engagerad och dedikerad publik och att ett trovärdigt samarbete är avgörande om ett co-brand ska bli lyckat. Utöver detta visar studien på att influencermarknadsföringen är en metod i framkant när det gäller att segmentera fram rätt målgrupp. Slutligen visar resultat på att influencermarknadsföringen är under utveckling och att den har stor marknadspotential.