Several studies have examined the use of emoji and emoticons in computer mediated communication among peers and colleges but there is yet academic research on the impact of businesses using these paralinguistic cues when responding to online consumer reviews. This research is examining the influence these paralinguistic cues have on the consumers perception of the companies quality of the response to an online consumer review, brand relationship, purchase intent. Using an online survey, participants are asked to answer general questions about the brand, the quality of the response, brand relationship, and purchase intent after seeing a random condition of both a low and high involvement product. Result support previous eWOM research as valence of the review had the largest impact on the consumers perception of the companies quality of the response to an online consumer review, brand relationship, purchase intent with an interesting finding where in most cases the addition of an emoji in positive valence message attributes to the strongest findings. With the increase in emoji usage in marketing and advertising, it is important that business are utilizing these tools in effective means otherwise the use of these paralinguistic cues could negatively impact the companies quality of the response to an online consumer review, brand relationship, purchase intent.

Bakgrund: Sociala medier har blivit en plattform för kommunikation mellan företag och konsumenter. Konsumenter kan samla information innan ett köp och därför är annonsering på sociala medier ett strategiskt verktyg för att rikta in sig på konsumenter och skapa behov. När pandemin av Covid-19 inträffade gav det konsekvenser som att stanna hemma och social distansering. Detta resulterade i att företagen var tvungna att anpassa sig till de förändrade kosnumentbeteendena. Syfte: Denna studien syftar till att studera hur konsumenter upplevde sabbmode-reklamen på sociala medier under Covid-19-pandemin. Dessutom, hur konsumenter har upplevt individualiserad snabbmode-reklam på sociala medier under pandemin. Slutligen, om reklamen har påverkat konsumenternas köpbeslut under pandemin. Forskningsfrågor: Hur och på vilket sätt har konsumenter upplevt snabbmode-reklam på sociala medier under Covid-19-pandemin? Hur och på vilket sätt har konsumenter upplevt individualiserad snabbmodereklam på sociala medier under Covid-19-pandemin? Hur och på vilket sätt har fast fashion-reklamen på sociala medier påverkat konsumenternas köpbeslut under Covid-19-pandemin? Teorier: Det teoretiska ramverket börjar med teorier kopplade till sociala medier som inkluderar reklam på sociala medier och rörlighet. Den består också av individualiserad reklam med teorier om interaktiv kommunikation och beteendereklam online. Slutligen kommer konsumentbeteende där köpbeslut, varumärkesimage och förtroende presenteras. Metod: En kvantitativ metod användes i denna studie med en deduktiv ansats. En enkät skickades ut för att få fram den data som behövdes för denna studie. 312 svar samlades in och analyserades med hjälp av SPSS. Resultat: Baserat på analysen av studiens empiriska data kan det konstateras att svenska konsumenter upplevde reklam på sociala medier och individualiserad reklam om snabbmode under pandemin på olika sätt. Flera faktorer och jämförelser hade inverkan. Samma resultat kunde hittas när det gäller konsumentköpbeslut för snabbmode under pandemin. / Background: Social media have become a platform for communication between companies and consumers. Further, consumers can gather information before a purchase and therefore social media advertising is a strategic tool to target consumers and create needs. However, when the pandemic of Covid-19 occurred it gave consequences such as staying home and social distance. As a result, companies had to adapt to the changed behaviors. Purpose: This research thesis aims to study how consumers experienced fast fashion advertising on social media during the pandemic of Covid-19. Furthermore, how consumers have experienced individualized fast fashion advertising on social media during the pandemic. Lastly, if the advertisement has impacted consumers' purchase decisions during the pandemic. Research questions: How and in what way have consumers experienced fast fashion advertising on social media during the pandemic of Covid–19? How and in what way have consumers experienced individualized fastfashion advertising on social media during the pandemic of Covid-19? How and in what way has fast-fashion advertising on social media affected consumers' purchase decisions during the pandemic of Covid-19? Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework starts with theories connected to social media which includes advertising on social media and vividness. It also consists of individualized advertising with theories about interactive communication and online behavioral advertisements. Lastly, comes consumer behavior where purchase decision, brand image and trust is presented. Methodology: A quantitative method was used in this study with a deductive approach. A survey was sent out to obtain the data necessary for this study. 312 answers were collected and analyzed with the help of SPSS. Findings: Based on the analysis of the study’s empirical data it can be stated that Swedish consumers experienced advertising on social media and individualized advertising about fast fashion during the pandemic in different ways. Several factors and comparisons had an impact. The same result could be found regarding consumer purchase decisions for fast fashion during the pandemic.

ABSTRACT  Date: 02.06.2021  Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr  Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Märlardalen University  Title: An exploratory study: The role of trust and perception through influencer marketing and artificial intelligence on millennials and generation Z’s purchase intent in the online retail context.  Tutor: Leanne Johnstone  Keywords: Online consumer behavior, Influencer marketing, Artificial intelligence, Trust in the online context, Perception in the online context, Millennials and Generation Z  List of abbreviations: SNS, SMI, AI, Gen Z, Gen Y, TRA, TPB, TAM  Research questions: How does Influencer’s marketing and AI affect trust and perception (i.e. aspects of consumer buying behavior) for millennials and generation z’s purchase intent in the online retail context?  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to develop an understanding on how trust and perception, through social media influencers and AI (algorithms) influences the purchase intention of millennials and generation Z’s in the online retail context.  Method: This thesis used an inductive approach towards theory development. In order to accomplish this qualitative research focus group interviews were conducted. The data collected through these focus group interviews were then thematically analyzed to identify common patterns, themes and topics.  Conclusion: The conclusion for this study finds that influencer marketing and artificial intelligence influences trust and perception in the online retail context, which in return impacts the purchase intentions of Millennials and Gen Z. Furthermore, this study also finds that Millennials and Gen Z, based on the experiences of their respective generations, have different behavioral attitudes in the online context.

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nÃo hà / O objetivo desta pesquisa à analisar o comportamento Boca a Boca (BAB) manifestado por consumidores no Brasil acerca dos melhores e piores sites de varejo eletrÃnico, por meio de Modelagem de EquaÃÃes Estruturais. A pesquisa foi realizada com 247 usuÃrios na cidade de Fortaleza, Cearà e utiliza como referÃncia um modelo de mensuraÃÃo de Goyette et al. (2010), que mede BAB em quatro dimensÃes: Intensidade, ValÃncia Positiva, ValÃncia Negativa e ConteÃdo. Como achados desta pesquisa, sugere-se que no mercado brasileiro existe uma âqueda de braÃoâ entre o BAB negativo e positivo, que no caso dos lÃderes de mercado, o BAB negativo à vencido pelo positivo. Quando a experiÃncia do consumidor à positiva, o comportamento BAB tende a se focar em aspectos do produto, como qualidade, preÃo ou variedade. Jà quando a experiÃncia à negativa, o comportamento BAB foca-se em aspectos logÃsticos e de serviÃo, como atendimento pÃs-compra e entrega. Na pesquisa tambÃm foi identificado que frequÃncia de uso possibilita a ocorrÃncia de experiÃncias negativas e consequente detraÃÃo de sites, e que BAB negativo dos melhores sites pode estar relacionado a atendimento pÃs compra e BAB positivo dos piores sites pode estar relacionado a Facilidade de Uso. Este trabalho contribui com a formulaÃÃo de um modelo de mensuraÃÃo multidimensional do BAB, especÃfico para o varejo eletrÃnico brasileiro, capaz de captar aspectos relevantes do construto e aplicado a contextos diferentes (melhores e piores sites). / The objective of this research is to analyze the behavior of Word of Mouth (WOM) expressed by consumers in Brazil about the best and worst electronic retail sites, through structural equation modeling. The survey was conducted with 247 users in the city of Fortaleza, Cearà and uses as a reference a model of measurement Goyette et al. (2010), which measures BAB in four dimensions: intensity, positive Valencia, Valencia Negative and Content. As findings of this research, it is suggested that the Brazilian market there is an "arms race" between the negative and positive BAB, in which case the market leaders, the negative BAB is overcome by the positive. When the consumer experience is positive, the BAB behavior tends to focus on aspects of the product, such as quality, price and variety. But when the experience is negative, BAB behavior focuses on logistics and service aspects, such as post-purchase and delivery service. In the survey also identified that use of frequency enables the occurrence of negative experiences and consequent sites detraction, and that negative BAB of the best sites may be related to post purchase service and positive BAB of the worst sites may be related to ease of use. This work contributes to the formulation of a multidimensional measurement model of BAB, specific to the Brazilian retailing, able to capture relevant aspects of the construct and applied to different contexts (best and worst sites).

Lack of trust is argued to be one of the key reasons behind buyers’ reluctance to purchase online. In mobile commerce (m-commerce), gaining initial trust upon the first visit from prospective consumers highly depends on the design of the website. However, the number of qualitative empirical studies investigating what and how website characteristics affect initial trust in an unfamiliar m-commerce website remains limited. The aim of this thesis was thus to gain a deeper understanding of the influence of website characteristics on initial consumer trust in a m-commerce website, to provide insights for designers. An exploratory case study of the mobile version of an e-vendor’s website was conducted and qualitatively examined through Think-Aloud sessions and semi-structured interviews. By thematically analyzing the data, the following website characteristics were identified as influencing initial trust in an unknown m-commerce website: purposeful and clear visual design, internal design consistency, mobile adaptation and reading experience, content quality, similarity and expectations, social proof and external validation. Based on the insights, the study further provides recommendations to practitioners on how to design trustworthy m-commerce websites, both as support in the design pro-cess and for evaluation purposes. / Brist på förtroende anses vara en av de viktigaste orsakerna till att köpare tvekar att handla online. Att få initialt förtroende vid potentiella konsumenters första besök inom mobil handel (m-commerce) beror mycket på webbplatsens design. Antalet kvalitativa empiriska studier som undersöker vad och hur webbplatsens egenskaper påverkar initialt förtroende för en okänd m-handelswebbplats är dock fortfarande begränsat. Syftet med denna avhandling var således att få en djupare förståelse för hur webbplatsens egenskaper påverkar konsumenternas initiala för-troende för en mobil handelswebbplats, för att ge insikter till designers. En undersökande fall-studie av mobilversionen av en e-handlares webbplats genomfördes och undersöktes kvalitativt genom Think-Aloud-sessioner och halvstrukturerade intervjuer. Genom att tematiskt analysera den insamlade datan identifierades följande webbplatsegenskaper att påverka initialt förtroende för en okänd mobil handelswebbplats: målmedveten och tydlig visuell design, internt konsekvent design, mobilanpassning och läsupplevelse, innehållskvalitet, likhet och förväntningar, socialt bevis och extern validering. Baserat på insikterna ger studien rekommendationer till designers om hur man kan utforma pålitliga m-handelswebbplatser, både som stöd i designprocessen och för utvärdering.

Submitted by Pedro Lopes (pedroyucky@gmail.com) on 2014-12-19T17:37:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_pedrohmlopes_facebook-vs-website.pdf: 1519392 bytes, checksum: dc06ac128d0fe6b1fb246fdd8d498edb (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by ÁUREA CORRÊA DA FONSECA CORRÊA DA FONSECA (aurea.fonseca@fgv.br) on 2015-01-07T11:12:27Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_pedrohmlopes_facebook-vs-website.pdf: 1519392 bytes, checksum: dc06ac128d0fe6b1fb246fdd8d498edb (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-01-09T18:02:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_pedrohmlopes_facebook-vs-website.pdf: 1519392 bytes, checksum: dc06ac128d0fe6b1fb246fdd8d498edb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-01-09T18:04:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_pedrohmlopes_facebook-vs-website.pdf: 1519392 bytes, checksum: dc06ac128d0fe6b1fb246fdd8d498edb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-11-14 / Companies have looked for many new ways to communicate with their customers. In the current scenario, Facebook has proven to be an efficient communication tool between consumers and businesses. This study aims to understand the differences in the complaint messages sent to companies, through an experiment that measured the emotional tone and the lack of formality in each message received by the website and the Facebook page of the company. As expected, people are more informal on Facebook. However, contrary to our intuition, participants tended to display more emotions on the company website. The social norms theory and the impression management contributed to explain the phenomena found. / As empresas têm procurado encontrar diversas novas maneiras de se comunicar com seus clientes. No atual cenário, o Facebook tem se mostrado uma eficiente forma de comunicação entre consumidores e empresas. Este estudo busca entender as diferenças nas reclamação enviadas para empresas, através de um experimento que mede o nível de emoção e comprometimento com a formalidade em mensagens recebidas através do website e a página do Facebook da empresa. Como esperado, as pessoas são mais informais no Facebook. Porém, contrariando nossa intuição, tendem a demonstrar mais emoções no website da empresa. A teoria de normas sociais e de gestão de auto-imagem ajudaram a explicar os fenômenos encontrados.

The purpose of this study is to explore online consumers' experiential response towards visual user-generated content in online shopping environments for fashion online shopping. The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework has been widely used in online shopping environment studies to examine the effect of website attributes on online shoppers' internal affective and cognitive states, and shopping behaviour (Kawaf and Tagg, 2012). Recent literature in the field proposes a more holistic approach towards online experiences (e.g., Pentina, Amialchuk, and Taylor, 2011) which is conceptualise to mediate the relationship between website attributes and behavioural responses. Consumer experiences are considered to be a critical concept in consumer behaviour and marketing for understanding consumers and to create competitive advantage in online retailing (Schmitt, 2010). Building on existing online shopping environment research, the study conceptualises online experiences for fashion online. This study seeks to investigate online consumers' experiential responses (aesthetics, relational, emotional, Flow experience and interactivity) towards two visual user-generated stimulus: (1) Looks - photographs of individuals modelling their own fashion, and (2) Outfits - digital collages displaying an assortment of products centred around a theme. They are both features which have been created by community members in an online social shopping community, ASOS Fashion Finder. The context of this study was exploratory and utilised a mixed methods approach where 13 photo-elicited interviews (PEI) with female online shoppers of ASOS, aged 18-34, were conducted to identify and understand consumers' online experiential responses and online shopping intentions towards the two visual stimulus. Using the same sample criteria, an online survey with 555 responses was also conducted to measure and test relationships between consumers' experiential responses and shopping intentions. The results of this study provides insight to the experiential states of fashion online consumers for online retail marketing, and contributes knowledge to research literature and theory on online shopping environments and customer experiences.

The study addresses the limited and fragmented approaches of consumer behaviour studies in the existing literature and a lack of comprehensive integrated theoretical models of online consumer behaviour. The aim of the study is to propose a conceptual integrated theoretical model for online consumer behaviour which suggests a deviation from the existing purchasing approaches to consumer behaviour - hence a move towards an understanding of consumer behaviour in terms of two new approaches, namely the web-based communication exposure and internal psychological behavioural processes approaches, is proposed. The study addresses two main research problems, namely that inadequate knowledge and information exist on online consumers’ behavioural processes, especially their internal psychological behavioural processes during their exposure to web-based communication messages and their progression through the complete web-based communication experience; and that there is no conceptual integrated theoretical model for online consumer behaviour in the literature. This study, firstly, allows for systematic theoretical exploration, description, interpretation and integration of existing literature and theory on offline and online consumer behaviour including the following: theoretical perspectives and approaches; determinants; decision making; consumer information processing and response; and theoretical foundations. This systematic theoretical exploration and description of consumer behaviour literature and theory commences with the contextualisation and proposal of a new definition, perspective and theoretical approaches to online consumer behaviour; the discussion and analysis of the theory of the determinants of consumer behaviour; the discussion and analysis of decision-making theory; the proposition of a new online information decision-making perspective and model; the discussion and analysis of consumer information-processing and response theory and models; the discussion and analysis of the theoretical foundations of consumer behaviour; and the identification of theoretical criteria for online consumer behaviour. Declaration – acknowledgements - abstract Secondly, the study develops a conceptual integrated theoretical model for online consumer behaviour, thereby theoretically grounding online consumer behavioural processes in the context of internal psychological behavioural processes and exposure to web-based communication messages. It is hence posited that the study provides a more precise understanding of online consumers’ complicated internal cognitive and psychological behavioural processes in their interactive search for and experience of online web-based communication and information, which can be seen as a major contribution to the field of study. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

The study addresses the limited and fragmented approaches of consumer behaviour studies in the existing literature and a lack of comprehensive integrated theoretical models of online consumer behaviour. The aim of the study is to propose a conceptual integrated theoretical model for online consumer behaviour which suggests a deviation from the existing purchasing approaches to consumer behaviour - hence a move towards an understanding of consumer behaviour in terms of two new approaches, namely the web-based communication exposure and internal psychological behavioural processes approaches, is proposed. The study addresses two main research problems, namely that inadequate knowledge and information exist on online consumers’ behavioural processes, especially their internal psychological behavioural processes during their exposure to web-based communication messages and their progression through the complete web-based communication experience; and that there is no conceptual integrated theoretical model for online consumer behaviour in the literature. This study, firstly, allows for systematic theoretical exploration, description, interpretation and integration of existing literature and theory on offline and online consumer behaviour including the following: theoretical perspectives and approaches; determinants; decision making; consumer information processing and response; and theoretical foundations. This systematic theoretical exploration and description of consumer behaviour literature and theory commences with the contextualisation and proposal of a new definition, perspective and theoretical approaches to online consumer behaviour; the discussion and analysis of the theory of the determinants of consumer behaviour; the discussion and analysis of decision-making theory; the proposition of a new online information decision-making perspective and model; the discussion and analysis of consumer information-processing and response theory and models; the discussion and analysis of the theoretical foundations of consumer behaviour; and the identification of theoretical criteria for online consumer behaviour. Declaration – acknowledgements - abstract Secondly, the study develops a conceptual integrated theoretical model for online consumer behaviour, thereby theoretically grounding online consumer behavioural processes in the context of internal psychological behavioural processes and exposure to web-based communication messages. It is hence posited that the study provides a more precise understanding of online consumers’ complicated internal cognitive and psychological behavioural processes in their interactive search for and experience of online web-based communication and information, which can be seen as a major contribution to the field of study. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)