Abstract The use of celebrity endorsement strategy is nowadays more frequently used by marketers in order to increase their sales and thereby extend their market shares. Many celebrities are used in various marketing campaigns and in most cases; the use of celebrities as endorsers is seen from mainly positive aspects. This made the authors curious whether the negative aspects, that also exists when using celebrities as endorsers, affects consumers in their purchasing decisions when a celebrity gets associated with negative publicity. Another cause of interest is which factors of a certain celebrity are most important and crucial in consumers’ perceptions, in the case of negative publicity. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study which factors consumers find important for a company to consider when a celebrity gets negative publicity, to maintain successful brand recognition. Literature review: The use of previous studies within the field of celebrity endorsement clarifies many important aspects when it comes to celebrity endorsement and this chapter is elaborated from 4 different perspectives; Company, Celebrity, Brand and Consumer. Based on previous studies, the authors identified 6 crucial attributes when using celebrities as endorsers and this can also be seen as a pre-study that the research process has been based upon. Furthermore, the 6 attributes are chosen from the three first mentioned perspectives in order to be able to fulfil the purpose. Hence, this thesis is conducted from a consumer’s point of view. Method: A quantitative method is used in this thesis since the authors want to base the results on collected data that is expressed in numbers and also to generate a general apprehension in this phenomenon. Moreover, the combinations containing the 6 attributes are used in the conjoint experiment. Conclusions: It was proven in this study that consumers do get affected by celebrities as endorser, when the attributes from the literature review are in a combination. But, the consumers’ perception of the attributes differs in different cases. However, the main finding was that there are two crucial attributes, trustworthiness and expertise that companies should take into account when using celebrities in their advertising campaign.

<p>Abstract</p><p>The use of celebrity endorsement strategy is nowadays more frequently used by marketers in order to increase their sales and thereby extend their market shares. Many celebrities are used in various marketing campaigns and in most cases; the use of celebrities as endorsers is seen from mainly positive aspects. This made the authors curious whether the negative aspects, that also exists when using celebrities as endorsers, affects consumers in their purchasing decisions when a celebrity gets associated with negative publicity. Another cause of interest is which factors of a certain celebrity are most important and crucial in consumers’ perceptions, in the case of negative publicity.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study which factors consumers find important for a company to consider when a celebrity gets negative publicity, to maintain successful brand recognition.</p><p>Literature review: The use of previous studies within the field of celebrity endorsement clarifies many important aspects when it comes to celebrity endorsement and this chapter is elaborated from 4 different perspectives; Company, Celebrity, Brand and Consumer. Based on previous studies, the authors identified 6 crucial attributes when using celebrities as endorsers and this can also be seen as a pre-study that the research process has been based upon. Furthermore, the 6 attributes are chosen from the three first mentioned perspectives in order to be able to fulfil the purpose. Hence, this thesis is conducted from a consumer’s point of view.</p><p>Method: A quantitative method is used in this thesis since the authors want to base the results on collected data that is expressed in numbers and also to generate a general apprehension in this phenomenon. Moreover, the combinations containing the 6 attributes are used in the conjoint experiment.</p><p>Conclusions: It was proven in this study that consumers do get affected by celebrities as endorser, when the attributes from the literature review are in a combination. But, the consumers’ perception of the attributes differs in different cases. However, the main finding was that there are two crucial attributes, trustworthiness and expertise that companies should take into account when using celebrities in their advertising campaign.</p>

TitelMarknadsföringsaktiviteter på Instagram - En kvantitativ studie om hur varumärkesattityd påverkas av företags samarbeten med influencers på sociala medier. NivåC-uppsats i ämnet Företagsekonomi. FörfattareFelicia Johnsén &amp; Wintana Habte Gimariam HandledareJonas Molin &amp; Lars-Johan Åge. Datum2021 – juni SyfteStudiens syfte är att undersöka hur varumärkesattityd påverkas av den upplevda attraktiviteten hos influencers när de utför samarbeten med företag. MetodDenna studie tillämpar en kvantitativ metod med en tvärsnittsstudie. Studiens datainsamling har utförts med en online enkätundersökning. Den baserades på 79 godtagbara svar från Instagram användare som följer en eller flera influencers. Enkätsvaren har analyserats genom IBM SPSS Statistics och Excel. Därefter har en deskriptiv analys samt en korrelationsanalys gjorts för att tolka studiens resultat. Resultat &amp; SlutsatsResultatet av denna studie visar att attraktiva egenskaper påverkar varumärkesattityd mer än fysisk attraktivitet. Studiens resultat visar även innebörden av att välja en passande influencer till varumärket för ett företags framgång. Förslag till vidare forskningDenna studie föreslår bland annat att genomföra två kvalitativa studier där ena lyfter frågan om fysisk attraktivitet har blivit tabu att tala om och den andra kan utföra samma studie som denna, men med intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Andra förslag till vidare forskning är att undersöka olika generationer och begränsa urvalet efter könsfördelning, exempelvis endast kvinnor. Uppsatsens bidragStudiens bidrag är att attraktiva egenskaper hos influencers påverkar konsumenter mer än deras fysiska attraktivitet. Det är även viktigt för företag att välja en passandeinfluencer till sitt varumärke för att främja positiva attityder gentemot varumärket. NyckelordInfluencer, Influencer marketing, Instagram, Product Match-up. Source Attractiveness, Source Credibility, Varumärkesattityd. / TitleMarketing activities on Instagram - A quantitative study of how brand attitude is affected by companies colloborations with influencers on social media. LevelFinal assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration. AuthorsFelicia Johnsén &amp; Wintana Habte Gimariam. SupervisorsJonas Molin &amp; Lars-Johan Åge. Date2021 – june AimThe purpose of the study is to investigate how brand attitude is affected by the perceived attractiveness of influencers when they do collaborations with brands. MethodThis study applies a quantitative method with a cross-sectional study. The study's data collection was conducted with an online survey. It was based on 79 acceptable responses from Instagram users who follow one or more influencers. The survey results have been analyzed through IBM SPSS Statistics and Excel. Subsequently, a descriptive analysis and a correlation analysis were performed to interpret the study results. Result &amp; ConclusionThe results of this study show that attractive properties affect brand attitude more than physical attractiveness. The results of the study also show that the meaning of choosing the right influencer for the right brand is important for a company's success. Suggestions for future researchThis study proposes, among other things, to conduct two qualitative studies where one raises the issue of physical attractiveness has become taboo to talk about and the other can perform the same study as this, but with interviews as a data collection method. Other proposals for further research are to examine different generations and limit the selection by gender distribution, for example only women. Contribution of the thesisThe study's contribution is that attractive characteristics of influencers affect consumers more than their physical attractiveness. It is also important for companies to choose a suitable influencer for their brand in order to promote positive attitudes towards the brand. Key wordsBrand attitude, Influencer, Influencer Marketing, Instagram, Product Match-up, Source Attractiveness, Source Credibility.

Syftet med uppsatsen var att förklara hur svenska kvinnliga Millennials attityd och köpintention påverkas av influencers på Instagram inom modebranschen. För att besvara syftet har influencerns effektivitet analyserats genom fyra variabler; dessa är source credibility, source attractiveness, product match up och meaning transfer. Studien har grundats i teorier om celebrity endorsement och influencer marketing och olika sätt att mäta hur effektiva endorsern är. Hypoteser formades för att kunna bekräfta samband mellan de fyra variablerna och attityd och köpintention. Empirin samlades in via enkäter till kvinnliga Millennials i Norrbotten där respondenterna fick besvara frågor baserat på en bild och utifrån bilden besvara vilket ord som stämde bäst överens med deras åsikt. Uppsatsen testade nio hypoteser och fem av dessa kunde styrkas. Resultatet visade att source credibility påverkar köpintentionen, det finns ett samband mellan source attractiveness och attityd men attraktivitet är inte en tillräcklig stark källa för att övertyga konsumenter till köp. Product match up påverkar Millennials köpintention, meaning transfer har ett positivt samband till konsumenternas attityd och attityd påverkar köpintention. För vidare forskning föreslås en kvalitativ undersökning för att få djupare förståelse av Instagram-influencers påverkan paå Millennialskonsumenter. / The purpose of this report was to explain how Swedish female Millennials attitudes and their purchase intention were affected by influencers on social media. This has been done by analyzing four variables; source credibility, source attractiveness, product match up and meaning transfer. The study was based on theory about celebrity endorsement, influencer marketing and different ways of measuring how effective the endorser is. Hypotheses were formulated to be able to confirm relationships between the four variables, and attitudes and purchase intention. The data were gathered from female Millennials in Norrbotten via an online survey and the respondents got to answer questions based on a picture and answer what word which best described their opinion of the picture. The report tested nine hypotheses and five of these could be confirmed. The result showed that source credibility affects the purchase intention. There is a relationship between source attractiveness and consumer attitude, however attractiveness is not a strong enough source to convince the purchase intention of consumers. Product match up affects Millennials purchase intention, meaning transfer has a positive relationship towards consumer attitude, and attitude affects purchase intention. For future research, it is suggested to make a qualitative study in order to gain deeper understanding the effect of Instagram-influencers on Millennial consumers.

Background: With social media being ever present in today's marketing world, research guiding and aiding this phenomenon is of mount importance. With social credibility and source attractiveness being lucrative schemes on citizen influencers persuasiveness towards target followers on Instagram and ultimately the drive of online purchase intentions, a holistic approach is introduced to understand each key determinant of each phenomena. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of citizens influencers’ persuasiveness and its relationship with source credibility and source attractiveness, as well as determining a consumers’ online purchase intention on the social media platform Instagram. Method: The study was written in a quantitative manner, aiding the need for generalizable data within the field. An exploratory research design was used with web-based surveys sent out to the sample selection for completion. Main Findings: Four out of the five hypothesis regarding source credibility and attractiveness towards the persuasiveness of citizen influencers were rejected, indicating interesting results as it contradicts previous literature. Furthermore, online purchase intention hypotheses were found to have more positive alignments towards citizen influencers. Grounds for theoretical and practical implications as well as future research endeavors were found.

Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka skillnaden mellan en mänsklig influencer och en virtuell influencers effekt på en konsuments varumärkesattityd och köpintention när ett varumärke marknadsförs på sociala medier. Metod: Studien tillämpar en kvantitativ forskningsmetod med en deduktiv ansats. Populationen som avses studeras är svenska Instagram-användare mellan 15 och 60 år. Urvalet är baserat på ett icke-slumpmässigt urval. Data har samlats in genom en webb-baserat enkät. Enkäten resulterade i 182 godtagbara svar som har analyserats via statistikprogrammen Jamovi och SmartPLS. En deskriptiv analys, ensidiga och parade t-tester, korrelationsanalys samt strukturerad ekvationsmodellering har använts för att tolka studiens resultat. Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att både en mänsklig- och en virtuell influencer har en effekt på en konsuments varumärkesattityd och köpintention. Effekten av en konsuments köpintention förmedlas i båda fall genom den varumärkesattityd respektive form av influencer genererat. Utifrån studiens teoretiska ramverk har studien även kunnat visa att olika faktorer har en relation till en mänsklig- respektive virtuell influencer, trots att de marknadsför samma varumärke. Bidrag: Studien bidrar till teoretisk kunskap om att en virtuell influencer har en effekt på en konsuments varumärkesattityd samt köpintention. Studien bidrar även med kunskap om att det finns olika faktorer som har en relation till en konsuments varumärkesattityd och köpintention i relation till en mänsklig- respektive virtuell form av influencer. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vidare forskning föreslås undersöka personlighetsdrag som är kopplade till en större omtyckbarhet gentemot virtuella influencers. En replikering med modifiering föreslås även samt studier om vilka organisationer/branscher som kan dra fördelar från att använda en virtuell influencer i sin marknadsföring. / Aim: The purpose is to investigate the difference between a human influencer and a virtual influencer's effect on a consumer's brand attitude and purchase intention when a brand is marketed through social media. Method: The study applies a quantitative research method with a deductive approach. The population to be studied is Swedish Instagram users between the ages of 15 and 60. The selection of respondents is based on a non-random sample. Data has been collected through a web-based survey. The survey resulted in a total number of 182 respondents. The data has been analyzed through the statistical programs Jamovi and SmartPLS. A descriptive analysis, one-sided and paired t-tests, correlation analysis and structured equation modeling have been used to interpret the study's results. Result and conclusions: The result of this study shows that both a human- and a virtual influencer have an effect on a consumer's brand attitude and purchase intention. In both cases, the effect of a consumer's purchase intention is mediated by the brand attitude the influencer has generated. Based on the study's theoretical framework, the study has also been able to show that different factors have a relationship to a human- and virtual influencer, even though they are marketing the same brand. Contribution: The study contributes to theoretical knowledge that a virtual influencer has an effect on a consumer's brand attitude and purchase intention. The study also contributes to the knowledge that there are different factors that have a relationship to a consumer's brand attitude and purchase intention in relation to a human- or virtual form of influencer. Suggestion for future research: Further research is suggested to investigate personality traits that are connected to a greater likability towards virtual influencers. A replication with modification is also proposed as well as a study on which type of organizations/industries that can benefit from using a virtual influencer in their marketing.

El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo principal determinar si existe una relación entre la actitud del consumidor hacia el anuncio y la intención de compra generada por el influenciador de moda en Instagram, para las MYPES en Lima Moderna. El panorama actual propone la implementación del “Influencer Marketing” como una estrategia impulsora frente a un mercado global en el cual el consumidor está más informado y confía en opiniones de expertos que brindan sus experiencias de moda. Surge entonces la necesidad de que las micro y pequeñas empresas logren comprender la importancia del Marketing Digital dentro de su plan estratégico, con el fin de incrementar su cartera de clientes y ser más competitivos en el mercado global. En base a ello, las MYPES en Lima moderna utilizarán influenciadores en redes sociales que generan mayor credibilidad en los usuarios. Sin embargo, en Lima Moderna aún existe indiferencia hacia el Marketing Digital. Es por ello que resulta fundamental lograr que las MYPES conozcan el efecto que tiene el Marketing Digital sobre el consumidor actual. También se buscó identificar quienes son los influenciadores de moda más seguidos por los jóvenes. Asimismo, a partir del análisis de regresión múltiple utilizado en la herramienta SPSS, se demostró que todas las variables usadas en el presente estudio influyen en la intención de compra. / The main objective of this research work is to determine if there is a relationship between the attitude of the consumer towards the advertisement and the purchase intention generated by the influence of fashion on Instagram, for the MYPES in Modern Lima. The current scenario proposes the implementation of "influence marketing" as an impulsive strategy against a global market in which the consumer is more informed and confident in the opinions of the experts who provide their fashion experiences. The need arises for micro and small companies to understand the importance of Digital Marketing within their strategic plan, in order to increase their client base and be more competitive in the global market. In this sense, the MYPES in Lima will used that strategy to improve the credibility of users. However, in Modern Lima there is still indifference towards Digital Marketing. That is why it is essential to achieve that the MYPES join the effect that Digital Marketing has on the current consumer. We also seek to identify who is the fashion influence most followed by young people. Likewise, from the multiple regression analysis used in the SPSS tool, it was shown that all the variables under study influence purchase intention. / Tesis