Abstract In today’s society, clothing companies and their consumers have an increased presence on social media where they interact with each other in different ways. This relatively new kind of interaction can have many advantages for both clothing companies and consumers. It makes it possible for the clothing companies to meet their consumers on the consumers’ home ground, and for the consumers to interact with the clothing companies. How the presence of clothing companies on social media is perceived among the consumers and whether or not this is in line with what the consumers’ expect from companies’ presence on social media, is still not completely developed. To help the clothing companies to increase their knowledge about their consumers’ needs and what they expect of the clothing companies while being present on social media, the intention is to answer the following research question: “What are the female consumers’ perceptions and expectations of the Facebook & Instagram usage by clothing companies?” The purpose with this degree project is to increase the understanding of how consumers perceive and expect clothing companies to act toward them on the social media channels Facebook and Instagram, in order to satisfy their needs. We aim to specifically explain how clothing companies’ are perceived on the social media channels Facebook and Instagram, based on consumers’ experiences of clothing companies’ activities. Furthermore, we aim to provide insight into what consumers expect from a presence of clothing companies on Facebook and Instagram. With this, we want to help the clothing companies to create a better relationship between them and their consumers on Facebook and Instagram. In this explorative study, a qualitative sampling method has been used. The data collection consists of 8 semi structured in-depth interviews of female students at Umeå university. The biggest reasons for why the female consumers perceive that clothing companies have an online presence is to: Act as a source of information, communicate and socialize with their consumers and to create value by being more available. They furthermore expect clothing companies on Facebook to provide their consumers with: To make it more comfortable/easy to shop online, act as a source of information and to communicate and socialize with consumers. On Instagram the female consumers perceived that clothing companies’ want to have a presence to: Be a part of the consumer’s everyday life, reach the consumer in a relaxed way, communicate and socialize with consumers. On Instagram, the consumers expect clothing companies’ presence for: To reach the consumer in a relaxed way, make it more comfortable/easy to shop online, create value by being more available. These activities taken into consideration will increase the understanding for clothing companies’ online presence and lead to a better relationship between the clothing companies and their female consumers. The study contributes with new theoretical knowledge about the consumer’s perspective on clothing companies on social media. Our findings show that previous recommendations regarding how companies should try to act on social media is too general, and needs to be applied based on consumer preferences, needs and the specific social media channel. The empirical contribution are the reasons that the consumers expect clothing companies to have for being present on Facebook and Instagram.

Marketers attempting to please a large part of the population in order to gain more customers, already have a demanding job. However, things get even more complicated when the population consists of a variety of cultures, such as in Sweden. With the aim to appeal to people belonging to different cultures, more and more campaigns of transcultural and multicultural content are created. Those campaigns, being controversial, do not go unnoticed and generate a division in views. We have therefore decided to investigate: “How do consumers perceive trans-cultural and multicultural marketing campaigns?” ​and “What are the dimensions of these types of campaigns on buyer behaviour?”. This study will attempt to answer the research questions by exploring the themes of culture and ethics alongside. This is done to clarify the reasons behind the differences among customers’ perceptions on the campaigns chosen. In order to explain the difference between transcultural and multicultural campaigns, two campaigns, one by Åhléns and one by H&M, were used. A qualitative research was conducted by interviewing twelve people, six for each campaign. Based on our results, all of the interviewees stated that culture is directly correlated with ethics. The different perspectives on the campaigns were due to matters of ethicality. Half supported the campaigns due to their inclusiveness while the other half deemed them unethical for different reasons. While everyone associated the campaigns with ethicality, the majority does not take ethics into consideration while shopping. Furthermore, corporate social responsibility proved to have a smaller impact on buyer behaviour than a company’s involvement in an unethical activity that weighs more in consumers’ eyes. Last but not least, even though the customer perceptions on these types of campaigns are divided, there is no direct effect on buyer behaviour, but more towards brand loyalty.

The diploma thesis is about new trends in online marketing. It focuses on online marketing tools and how to realize successful online marketing activity. The thesis is the analysis of the current company state. Based on informations gathered propose new strategy of content optimalization and social media strategy. How can the company enter the social network targeted on Facebook. Main areas are on-page and off-page factors in SEO and how to build Inbound marketing.

The concept of the invisible college is a key focus of scientific communication research with many studies on this topic in the literature. However, while such studies have contributed to an understanding of the invisible college, they have not adequately explained the interaction of social and structural processes in this phenomenon. As a consequence, past research has described the invisible college differently based on researchers’ perspectives, resulting in misinterpretations or inconsistent definitions of the relevant social and structural processes. Information science and related disciplines have focused on the structural processes that lead to scholarly products or works while placing less emphasis on the social processes. To advance understanding of the invisible college and its dimensions (including both social processes and structural processes), a proposed model (Modern Invisible College Model, MICM) has been built based on the history of the invisible college and Lievrouw’s (1989) distinction between social and structural processes. The present study focuses on the social processes of informal communication between scholars via social media, rather than on the structural processes that lead to scholarly products or works. A developed survey and an employed quantitative research method were applied for data collection. The research population involved 77 scholars from the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), in Saudi Arabia. Descriptive statistics, frequency and percentage were conducted for each statement. Means and standard deviations were calculated. The results indicate that the majority of participants heavily use social media for scientific communication purposes. Also, the results confirm that scholars consider social media to be an effective and appropriate tool for scientific communication. Seven factors were found in the findings to have positive correlations with uses and gratifications theory and the use of social media. This research contributes to and benefits scholars, reference groups (i.e., the invisible college itself), and institutions, and provides insight about the systematic development of indices for the use of informal communication channels.

Though often seen as a panacea for organizational objectives, nonprofits must be judicious in deploying social media, particularly due to resource limitations. Nonprofits deploy many types and styles of digital texts, including social media. Classical rhetorical appeals can be effective means for achieving positive impact in that context. When used correctly, these ‘digital texts’ can be leveraged for maximum engagement with audiences. This study examines both a large, national organization – the National Sexual Violence Resource Center – and a small, regional one – Branch House Family Justice Center – for not only what sort of digital texts are utilized, but also how rhetorical appeals play into building narratives. A census of postings is taken, categorized, and organized. Findings suggest these appeals can and are used for strategic effect in nonprofit contexts. In addition to ethos, logos, and pathos, Kairos is drawn upon to construct organizational narrative in the pursuit of organizational goals.

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SOCMINT, or Social Media Intelligence has recently become focus of security community and started to be increasingly favored intelligence gathering method. Apart from providing relevant information and its cost-effective use, main advantage is that the potential of this intelligence technique is very diverse. Due to the relatively public nature of social networks, SOCMINT was generally regarded as unproblematic. However, on closer examination, this intelligence method presents a number of risks. The interest it raised from intelligence and security services in such a short time has given way to a situation where the techniques used by SOCMINT have begun to develop without precise methodological, legal and ethical rules. If the intelligence community wants to use this tool in its full potential and without risking negative response to SOCMINT techniques from the society, a framework must be set up as soon as possible to keep SOCMINT within the proper limits. This thesis aims to examine what opportunities and challenges SOCMINT brings to security community and society and propose how to deal with them.

Die zunehmende Bedeutung von Social Media im privaten und beruflichen Kontext ist mit der steigenden Notwendigkeit einer spezifischen Kompetenz für Social Media als Voraussetzung für die Bewältigung individueller beruflicher Alltagssituationen verbunden. In dem vorliegenden Beitrag wird das Konstrukt der Social-Media-Kompetenz beschrieben und mit dem Projekt „Social Media Communication“ eine Möglichkeit vorgestellt, wie die Entwicklung einer solchen Kompetenz unter gleichzeitiger Verwendung von Social-Media-Technologien als Lernmethode gefördert werden kann. Hergeleitet aus theoretischen und organisatorischen Anforderungen an ein entsprechendes Lernarrangement wird die Entwicklung und Erprobung eines prototypischen Blended-Learning-Arrangements zur Förderung einer hochschultyp- und fächerübergreifenden Social-Media-Kompetenz vorgestellt.

The advent of the digital era has brought transformation to various practices including consumer boycotts. Social media has enhanced consumer power and most boycott actions have an online presence so that their influence is no longer limited to specific geographical areas. Instead, there is a far-reaching global impact through online platform technologies. This study aims to fill in the gap in existing research on consumer boycotts by addressing the impact of social media on this practice. Using the case of the #NoJapan movement in SouthKorea, the thesis discusses the transformatory trends and changing motivations of consumer boycotts in the times of social media. The theoretical frameworks used in the analysis process include Self-Determination Theory and The Honeycomb of Social Media Framework which help explain diverse motivation factors, types of motivation, and social media functionalities. This research uses a mixed-methods approach to conducting in-depth interviews of #NoJapanparticipants and analyzing posts related to this particular boycott campaign. The main focus of this process is to investigate social media utilization and boycott motivation shown in the#NoJapan case. The findings of the study show the diversity of practices prevalent in social media use by people engaging with #NoJapan boycotts in the online environment. Moreover, the finding problematizes the social media space as one which has both positive and negative effects on an individual’s boycott motivation. This thesis has made significant contributions to the field of SDT and boycott studies by expanding their perspective on online interaction.

Background: Even though the use of social media is one of the most popular activities of our time a decline in the number of active users can be observed at present. Users discontinue using social media platforms temporarily or stop the usage permanently. Thereby, the trend to do a social media detox has emerged, meaning users consciously take a break from social media platforms like Instagram, often for a set period of time. Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms of the younger generation, especially Generation Y, and is also noted for its addictive potential. Purpose: Previous studies and scholars have primarily concentrated on the permanent discontinuance of social media, whereby users permanently stop using social media platforms without actively planning to return. Thereby, the focus of the research was often on the social media network Facebook. By studying the journey of intermittent discontinuance of Instagram, the purpose of this research study is to explore Generation Y’s motivation before, experiences and feelings during and post-behavior after a 14-day detox by holistically representing the Instagram Detox Journey. Method: To fulfil the purpose of this thesis being of exploratory nature, a qualitative research design was applied. Empirical data were collected over 4 weeks, beginning with a focus group discussion before, followed by diary research during and 15 in-depth semi- structured interviews after the detox, and concluding with another focus group discussion at a later time. Using an inductive approach, the data was decoded, analysed, and interpreted using thematic analysis. Conclusion: The findings of the study show two main motivations before starting the detox: gaining back control and self-reformation. During the detox, five final themes were identified: mood & satisfaction, technological craving, mental well-being, physical well- being, and social relationships. Lastly, three different post-behaviors after completion were noted: the boomerang effect, conscious consumption, and an attitude change. The findings led to the development of the conceptual framework “Instagram Detox Journey”.