Over the past decades, the scholarly discourse of violent video games as a possible influence for aggressive behaviors has gained much attention, primarily relying on the content of such games. This study aims to explore the environment of competitive multiplayer gaming interms of technicality (e.g. game mechanics), social interactions within a video game, and additional resources outside of the game as possible influential factors for toxic behaviors in competitive multiplayer games. Bourdieusian social theory is applied to gain a better understanding of the relationship between agents (players) and the field (competitive gaming) and the relevance of gaming capital. This study is based on a digital ethnographic approach to gain a comprehensive understanding of the gaming environment, and reports on semi-structured online interviews with 14 participants aged between 17-40, to gain insight on players’ perception and responses towards toxic behaviors in competitive games. This study proposes a spectrum of toxic behaviors in competitive multiplayer games, in which actions may be distinguished based on the form of expression (eg. verbal, physical or in-game). Primary findings suggest there may be a causal relationship between a player’s knowledge ofa game and their conveyance of toxicity, regardless of age and gender. The degree of toxicity may vary depending on the player, and is more frequently performed by men. Lastly, toxic behaviors should not be examined in isolation from contextual factors such as game mechanics or social interactions, but need to be further explored as a medium-specific phenomenon.

Influencer marketing är en av de snabbast växande delarna i reklambranschen, och med hjälp av influencer marketing har varumärkena möjlighet att skapa en nära relation med sina konsumenter på Instagram. Idag använder många företag sig av influencers med ett stort antal följare för att marknadsföringen skall vara så effektiv som möjlig. För att bli en framgångsrik influencer krävs det att influencern har en bra fingertoppskänsla mellan vad som är intressant, relevant samt vad följarna vill se i deras Instagramflöden. Eftersom det i nuläget inte finns mycket forskning angående företags strategier om hur de använder sig av influencers i sin marknadsföring. Det finns ett gap i forskningen eftersom att detta är ett relativt nytt sätt för företag att marknadsföra sina produkter på. Det har gjorts lite forskning angående influencer marketing strategier ur ett företagsperspektiv. Detta gjordes genom observationer på utvalda modeföretags Instagramkonton samt på de olika influencernas Instagramkonton som respektive modeföretag samarbetar med i sin influencer marketing. Utöver detta genomfördes kvalitativa, strukturerade intervjuer med respondenter från svenska modeföretag angående företagens influencer marketing strategier på respektive Instagramkonton. Studiens slutsatser visar på att modeföretagen tar någon form av strategiska val i sin influencer marketing när de väljer ut vilka influencers de vill samarbeta med på Instagram. De strategiska valen modeföretagen fattar i sin influencer marketing på Instagram är bland annat hur väl influencern passar företagens målgrupper och kampanjer. Influencer valet grundar sig ofta i influencernas storlek, deras sätt att bygga relationer med sina följare samt sättet de kommunicerar på med sina följare. De strategiska val företagen tar vid val av influencers i sin influencer marketing liknar ofta varandra, men beroende på vilket marknad de riktar sig mot är det större variation på vilka influencers de samarbetar med på Instagram. / Influencer marketing is one of the fastest growing parts of the advertising industry, and with the help of influencer marketing, brands have the opportunity to establish a close relationship with their consumers on Instagram. Today many companies use influencers with a large number of followers to make marketing as effective as possible. To become a successful influencer, it requires the influencer to have a good understanding between what's interesting, relevant and what followers want to see in their Instagram feeds. As there is currently not much research on corporate strategies on how they use influencers in their marketing. There is a gap in research because this is a relatively new way for companies to market their products. There has been little research on influencer marketing strategies from a business perspective. This has been done with observations on selected fashion companies Instagram accounts as well as observations on the various influencers Instagramaccounts with which the respective fashion companies collaborate in their influencer marketing. In addition to this, qualitative, structured interviews were conducted with respondents from Swedish fashion companies regarding the companies' influencer marketing strategies on their respective Instagramaccounts. The study's findings show that fashion companies make some form of strategic choice in their influencer marketing when choosing which influencers they want to collaborate with on Instagram. The strategic choices fashion companies make in their influencer marketing on Instagram include how well the influencer suits the companies' target groups and campaigns. The influencer choice is often based on the size of the influencers, their way of building relationships with their followers and the way they communicate with their followers. The strategic choices companies make when choosing influencers in their influencer marketing are of-ten similar, but depending on which market they targeting, there is greater variation in which influencers they collaborate with on Instagram.

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Purpose – Online environments, such as social networks and online forums, offer new possibilities and a wide variety of identity and social relationship management for the users. However, besides functional contributions like mutual support and easy ways of establishing contacts there are critical perspectives on computer-mediated communication (CMC) regarding detrimental behavior like provoking, overbearing, attacking and insulting other users, especially when anonymity is high. Recent research has shown that these kinds of online behavior are associated with personality traits like sadism, machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy (Buckels, Trapnell & Paulhus, 2014) and can lead to severe trouble, negative affect and dysfunction in online communities (Cheng, Danescu-Niculescu-Mitzil & Leskovec, 2015). As such, in the public perception “trolls“ have become a synonym for counterproductive and dysfunctional behavior (Bishop, 2014a, 2014b). Our research aim was to shed more light on trolling and counterproductive online behavior theoretically as well as empirically. In other words: We wanted to know who is behind the troll? How can he or she be characterized in terms of personality traits and what can be expected from trolls when it comes to the organizational context and job performance? Design/methodology/approach – In a first step, we formulated a theoretical framework on counterproductive online behavior. On that ground, two online surveys (N = 122; N = 133) were conducted. The first study’s goal was to develop and validate a questionnaire on counterproductive online behavior. The second study analyzed counterproductive online behavior and tested for possible interrelations to personality traits and work-related outcomes. Originality/value – Using explanatory factor analyses we developed a 40-item questionnaire with two higher dimensions: Constructiveness and destructiveness. 15 subscales focus on different communication styles and trolling strategies. The second study tested the two dimensions of counterproductive online behavior on work-related outcomes such as work engagement, task-related performance and interpersonal facilitation. As was expected, destructiveness revealed significant negative correlations with all work-related outcomes as well as deviant work behavior. Constructiveness, in contrast, showed positive associations with interpersonal facilitation. Practical implications – So far, research on trolling and counterproductive online behavior has been limited to theoretical or anecdotal approaches in most cases (cf. Bishop, 2013a, 2013b). Our study aimed at a more systematic examination of this CMCspecific phenomenon. However, our study design, acquisition of the samples and the formulation of the questionnaire suggest that the results are valid indeed. On that note, our research is a first step for a deeper understanding on people showing counterproductive online behavior.