Background: Social media has become a crucial aspect of individuals lives and it has provided businesses with a unique opportunity to connect with their customers. Instagram has grown to become one of the most widely used social networking sites in the world and there is a diversity of motivations of why consumers choose to engage with brand-related content on social media. The diversity in motivations should be studied to gain comprehensive understanding of consumer engagement and with the growing diversity of the Swedish population a challenge is presented for marketers looking to connect with consumers from various cultural backgrounds. Purpose: The purpose is to explore how people with diverse cultural backgrounds in Sweden experience their motivations for engagement with brand-related content on social media.  Method: This thesis is of qualitative nature where nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with women in the age of 20-30 who engaged with brand-related content on Instagram. The research adopted phenomenology as its strategy and used thematic analysis to find the themes connected to the participants experiences. Conclusion: The combined set of motivational factors for engaging with brand-related content, at various levels on Instagram, were the same for both cultural groups. However, the motivations which was experienced had both differences and similarities. It was concluded that some differences could be explained by the collectivistic and individualistic background of the participants, however, the differences were mainly based on the personality of the individual since differences were also indicated among participants within the same cultural group.

Med det ökade användandet av visuellt baserade sociala medier har Instagram blivit en viktig plattform för företag att skapa och stärka relationer med sina kunder. Genom att skapa innehåll baserat på kundens behov kan öka kundengagemanget vilket i sin tur har stor påverkan på kundrelationen och företagets försäljning. Denna studie avser att undersöka vilket innehåll som skapar högt respektive lågt engagemang på företaget Estrids Instagram-konto @Heyestrid och vilka behov som innehållet vill tillfredsställa för användaren. Tidigare forskning analyserar vilka faktorer som visar på ökad popularitet vid varumärkes inlägg och värdet i att engagera kunder. Metoden som tillämpas i denna studie är en kvantitativ innehållsanalys och sedan användes de teoretiska utgångspunkterna för att analysera insamlad data. Teorin utgick från bland annat användarmodellen och dubbel processteori. Empirin bestod av två månaders inlägg på Estrids Instagram-konto och sammanlagt 104 inlägg analyserades. Engagemanget mäts genom medelvärdet av antalet gillningar och kommentarer på inläggen och innehållet kategoriserades utifrån kategorierna underhållning, information, tävling, produkter, influencer och övrigt innehåll. Resultatet visade att inlägg som innehåller tävlingar hade högst engagemang via både gillningar och kommentarer. Därefter kom produkter, övrigt innehåll och information. Lägst engagemang hade kategorin influencer. Användarmodellen visar att de genomgående behoven som Estrid vill försöka fylla för kunden är det emotionella, kognitiva och socialt integrerande behovet. / With the increasing use of visually based social media, Instagram has become an important platform for companies to create and strengthen customer relationships. By focusing on producing content that the customer wants, customer engagement will rise which has a major impact on both the customer relationship and the company’s sale. This stydy aims to investigate which content creates high and low engagement on the company Estrid’s Instagram account @Heyestrid and to see which needs the content tries to satisfy for the user. Previous research analyzes the factors that show increased popularity of brand contributions and the value of engaging customers. The method used in this study is a content analysis and the collected data was analysed using collected theory such as uses and gratification theory and dual process theory. Two months worth of posts were analysed with a total of 104 posts from Estrid’s Instagram account. The engagement were measured by likes and comments and content were divided in the categories; entertainment, information, competition, products, influencers and other. The results showed that posts containing competitions had the highest engagement followed by products, information and other content. The entertainment category was the most published but had the second lowest engagement. The category influencers had the lowest engagement. According to the uses and gratifications theory the needs that Estrid wants to fulfill are the emotional, cognitive and socially integrated needs.

This study aimed to find out the primary need of individuals ages 25-39 have, when it comes to using SVT1, TV4, SVT Play and TV4 Play and to assess how easy and useful the tv-channels are for them. The target group was individuals between ages25-39 who lives in Sweden. 139 individuals replied to the online form. Out of the 139 individuals 110 identified as women and 29 as male. The respondents werecategorized in residential demographics and education level. The study collected data from the target group by sending out an online form. The study used Excel to generate clear tables illustrating the results from the form. The study used a quantitative method with a convenience sampling technique. Uses & gratification and Technology acceptance model where the theories used in this study. The result shows that the primary need of the target group was entertainment and that they preferred online streaming services, and in particular SVT Play, rather than liner television. 2 of 5 people does not have linear television and the results shows a trend of using streaming services as the primary sours of television. Amongst the target group, exceptionally few did not have the streaming services SVT Play and TV4 Play.It was primarily male, individuals with high school education and individuals that lives in a sparsely populated rural areas that do not have linear television. Onefinding was that the target group tend to use SVT1 and SVT Play to satisfy the needs of information and new knowledge, in contrast to TV4 and TV4 Play. Themajority of respondents expressed that SVT1 and TV4 was easy to use, yet the results shows that just because something is easy, does not mean that its useful. Is also shows that something can be slightly difficult to use, but it is useful and therefore individual tend to use it any way.

網際網路普及背後孕育著龐大商機，但電子商務仍然面臨商業競爭與來自消費者的挑戰。研究者認為引進品牌權益的概念，協助電子商務經營者建立強勢網路品牌，是一可行辦法。回顧文獻，發現過去顧客基礎品牌權益研究多半為行銷者導向，較少重視消費者個別差異。為了更進一步區分消費者的差異，研究者欲藉由使用與滿足理論對媒體使用動機的研究成果，來瞭解消費者在不同的使用動機下其重視的網路品牌權益構面。本研究以Aaker(1996)提出的品牌權益為基礎，並使用網路消費者為研究對象，建構顧客基礎的網路品牌權益構面。也一併瞭解消費者個別差異，作為電子商務經營者在發展電子商務時的重要參考依據。 本研究分四階段進行。第一階段為定義何謂網路品牌；第二階段透過焦點團體，發展出顧客基礎的網路品牌權益內涵；第三，透過第一、二階段的成果，進行網路品牌權益問卷編製與大樣本施測，確立顧客基礎的網路品牌權益構面。第四階段使用典型相關分析，以瞭解不同使用動機下的消費者，是否重視不同網路品牌權益概念。網路品牌權益量表透過線上調查，收集358份有效問卷。研究結果指出，網路品牌權益可分作五大構面，分別為網站管理（包含營運方式與互動關係）、品牌忠誠（包含使用偏好與使用習慣組成）、品牌聯想、自我表達及知覺品質，因素負荷量達52.77%；量表共33題，信度.905(p<0.01)，效標關連效度達.512(p<0.01)。本研究亦發現在不同網路使用動機之下，消費者重視的網路品牌權益不同；在資訊蒐集與娛樂動機下，消費者重視網路品牌的網站管理與知覺品質；在人際與娛樂動機下，則重視知覺品質與自我表達。 最後則對電子商務業者提出品牌經營參考，及未來學術發展方向。 關鍵字：品牌、網路品牌權益、顧客基礎、使用與滿足。 / Despite the universal availability of the Internet and the immense business opportunities generated e-commerce, e-commerce itself is confronted by endless business competition and consumer mistrust. How should e-commerce managers react to these competition and challenges? This research proposes that the introduction of the brand equity concept is viable in helping e-commerce managers establish strong online brands, yet existing literature on customer-based brand equity are mostly marketer oriented rather than customer oriented, thus not much weight is given to individual consumer differences. We use mass media theory “uses and gratification” theory to understand if customer have different internet use motivation will cause them prefer different online brand equity. We use online consumer as research participant, and build customer-based online brand equity construct, describe individual differences as our results. E-commerce managers can utilize as important reference when developing their business affairs. This research is conducted in four stages: the first stage is intended for understanding consumers’ definition of online brands; the second stage develops preliminary customer-based online brand equity constructs via focus groups; the third stage develops customer-based brand equity constructs by designing and testing a survey based on the results of the first two stages using large samples; and the fourth stage uses canonical analysis to find out whether customer have different internet use motivation will cause them prefer different online brand equity. We collected 358 validate questionnaires. Findings indicate that online brand equity can be divided into five dimensions: web site management, brand loyalty, brand associations, self expressions, and perceived quality. Totaling 33 items, factor loading 52.77%, with 0.905 in reliability and 0.512 (p<0.01) in criteria-related validity. When conusumer’s internet use motivation is search information and entertainment, the online brand equity construct they will prefer is web site managemet and perceived quality. But when conusumer’s internet use motivation is interpersonal and entertainment, the online brand equity construct they will prefer is perceived quality and self expressions. According results above, we propsed some recommdations for e-commerce managers and scholars. Keywords: Brand, Online brand equity, Customer-based, Uses and gratification

The current paper addresses the associations between video game content (i.e., physically aggressive, relationally aggressive, and prosocial) and physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior in two distinct developmental periods. The purpose of the paper is to test whether playing video games with a particular type of content influences behaviors over time, or whether individuals who have higher levels of physical aggression, relational aggression, or prosocial behavior prefer to play games with similar content. Two theories will be simultaneously examined and tested in order to determine the relative merit in using each in research examining the relationships between video game content and positive and negative behaviors. More specifically, this paper will address the General Aggression Model/General Learning Model (GAM/GLM) and the Uses and Gratification Theory. The GAM/GLM, at their core, predict that exposure to video game content will build a cognitive schema which will guide how an individual should behave when confronted with a later social encounter (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). Contrarily, Uses and Gratification would suggest that a person chooses to play video games with a particular type of content, and that video games should not influence behavior. Specifically, according to the theory, individuals should seek out video games in order to fulfill their inward feelings and motivations (e.g., an individual with aggressive tendencies would play games with more violent and aggressive content) (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1973; Whiting & Williams, 2013). A careful analysis showed a significant relationship between each type of video game content and its' corresponding behavior among adolescents, which supports the assumptions of the GAM and GLM. There was no relationship between video game content and behavior among preschoolers. With the exception of relational aggression of physically aggressive content, there was no support for Uses and Gratification Theory, in that preschoolers' and adolescents' levels of physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior were not related to the preference for video games with different types of content. The analysis adds significantly to the current literature by showing a relationship between video game content and behavior over a four year period.

This study researches communication 2020-2021 via the Tinder dating app in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a framework of mediatization, uses and gratification theory and affordance theory. Data collection was performed using qualitative interviews via Zoom video calls with respondents based in Sweden and findings were analyzed using thematic analysis.  Results of the study discusses phenomena when the physical world and a mediatized one interlock: even though the Tinder app afforded people to connect during the COVID-19 pandemic, the worlds are not independent of each other. Uncertainty and stress could seep into the dating app practice and create a hindrance to easy communication, even though the Tinder app was trying to accommodate the changing times. The study explores that the dehumanizing aspect of reducing a person to a single attribute and deleting that person is connected to a heightened affordance of gamification of relationships that is connected to deep mediatization, moments of our everyday practices immersed in new kinds of mediated communication. Steered behaviour from the app occurs in the Tinder interface which this paper explores, connected to data-driven decision making, a critical tool allowing mobile app developers to not only figure out customer behaviour but also to design customised products. Connected here is the mediatized interplay between humans and technology. If the Tinder app was hard to set up or navigate, the different needs and gratifications would not be met and users would simply vanish.  This paper argues the Tinder app design encourages speed and has coded distractions to actually work against the perceived gratification of meeting a partner and ultimately rendering the service redundant. The COVID-19 pandemic, this thesis explores, has spurred different generations to adapt to new practices and technologies but that these affordances do not always correlate to new dating app practices such as video dating. A mediatized way of meeting physically has been brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional step has been added to online dating practices, the walk, which has 2 lowered the threshold of the initial date by being perceived as an easier option. A direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic connected to online dating. This paper also argues intimacy through media sharing, such as humour and jokes via technology in a mediatized world. Lastly, this paper explores the safety aspects of the Tinder app, connected to catfishing and also gender blindness.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to find out if young adults, more specified in the ages between 15-30 years old, are affected by beauty ideals on social media and if so, how they are affected. Furthermore, the study wanted to find out if there are any gender differences and age differences in the matter, and how often an individual person publishes content on social media. The theoretical frameworks we applied and used as support was Uses and gratification theory, Social cognitive theory and Sociocultural perspective on body image. We also applied the research on “Why do people use social media?”. In order to find out the purpose of the study and get statistics we created and used a quantitative poll survey. The survey was made with Google Forms and contained 21 variables with closed-ended questions. A random sample was applied through publishing the survey on Facebook. A total of 146 people answered the survey. To get statistics through diagrams we used Google Forms as well as SPSS Statistics. For example, Google Forms introduced how many out of our total target audience who felt themselves being affected by beauty ideals on social media meanwhile SPSS Statistics introduced results where different variables were merged, e.g. comparing genders and influence of beauty ideals.   The survey results stated that women are affected by social media to a greater extent than men are. According to our results, women generally have a lower self-esteem than men do, and they are also more prone to comparing themselves with others. They also experience a stronger self-esteem when posting on social media. In opposite, according to the survey results, men generally have a higher self-esteem and are less affected by social media than women are. The categories “Body” and “Exercise/diet” is a common denominator for both men and women, as both genders experience themself being most affected by them. However, women proved to be more affected in these categories than men. It was furthermore very common with both genders to be affected both positively as well as negatively by social media.   To summarize, the results we got from the analysis of our empirical material agrees well with the theoretical frameworks we used and the research we found. For instance, the theories bring up that girls from an early age are exposed by unrealistic ideals, which can explain our results. / Syftet med undersökningen var att ta reda på om unga vuxna, som specificeras till 15-30 år, påverkas av skönhetsideal på sociala medier och på vilket sätt de påverkas. Undersökningen ville vidare ta reda på om det fanns en skillnad av påverkan mellan könen och åldersgrupper samt hur ofta en person publicerar innehåll på sociala medier. De teoretiska ramverk vi utgick från och tog stöd av var Uses and gratification theory, Social cognitive theory och Sociocultural perspective applicerat på kroppsbilden. Vi använde oss även av forskningen “Why do people use social media?”. För att ta reda på syftet och få fram statistik användes en kvantitativ enkätundersökning. Enkäten skapades i Google Formulär och innehöll 21 variabler med icke-öppna frågor. Ett bekvämlighetsurval tillämpades genom att enkäten publicerades på Facebook. Enkäten fick in totalt 146 respondenter. För att få fram statistik genom diagram användes Google Formulär samt SPSS Statistics. Google Formulär presenterade exempelvis hur många av vår totala målgrupp som upplevde sig påverkade av skönhetsideal på sociala medier medan SPSS Statistics istället presenterade resultat där variabler kopplats samman, exempelvis för att jämföra kön och påverkan av skönhetsideal.   Utifrån enkätens resultat gick det att anta att kvinnor påverkas i högre grad och i större utsträckning än män av sociala medier. Enligt våra resultat har kvinnor generellt en lägre självkänsla och stor tendens till att jämföra sig med andra, och de får även stärkt självkänsla vid publicering på sociala medier. Män har enligt enkätens resultat tvärtom generellt högre självkänsla och påverkas mindre av sociala medier än vad kvinnor gör. Kategorierna “Kropp” och “Träning/kost” är gemensam nämnare hos både män och kvinnor, då båda könen upplever sig påverkas mest här. Däremot visade resultatet att kvinnor påverkas mer än män inom dessa kategorier. Det var vidare vanligt förekommande att påverkas både positivt och negativt av sociala medier hos båda könen.   Sammanfattningsvis har resultaten vi fått fram via analys av vårt empiriska material stämt bra överens med de teoretiska ramverk som använts och den forskning som hittats. Teorierna tar bland annat upp belöning och att flickor i tidig ålder utsätts för orealistiska ideal, vilket kan förklara vårt resultat.

The main purpose of this essay is to investigate the role of teachers of religious education in the proactive work against violent extremism and radicalization. Furthermore, the ambition is to raise awareness of how these five teachers of religious education in the Swedish upper secondary schools and primary schools in the subject of religious studies work with and implement the school's democratic mission, and to find structures to teach about radicalization,fundamentalism, pro-violence extremism and terrorism. To obtain a result, five semi-structured interviews with active religious education teachers in the upper secondary schools and theprimary schools were conducted. To show the extent to which the school's democratic mission in the proactive work against radicalization and violent extremism is carried out, the collected empirical material has been analyzed based on Paulo Freire's awareness-raising pedagogy as a theoretical framework which indicates whether the interviewed teachers of religious education work according to what Freire calls the bank view or the liberating teaching. The study shows that all interviewed teachers work according to both these models. The teachers believe that it is inevitable to ignore the teaching of facts but prefer the liberating teaching. This is because all interviewed teachers believe that through dialogues and discussions, a critical thinking is created in the students.Furthermore, it appears that all teachers find it essential to create a good and open classroom climate where there is mutual acceptance of dissent. Thus, a long-term effort to create students as source-critical thinkers is fundamental.

The diploma thesis focuses on the role of the media in the lives of parents on maternity and parental leave and how they satisfy their needs through use of media. The thesis is based on the uses and gratification theory and especially on the typology of media-personal interactions defined by Denis McQuail. The aim of the thesis is to find out, through twenty interviews with mothers and fathers living in the household with a child or children, for what purpose the media are used by this specific group. The thesis includes a theoretical anchoring of the approach of uses and gratification theory concerning its historical development during the 20th century, but it also focuses on its concept at present after the spread of new media. The theoretical part of the thesis also deals with the characteristics of maternity and parental leave and it tries to identify everyday activities associated with this period and its positive and negative aspects. The methodological part describes the area of qualitative research and related procedures, including the choice of data collection method, which is a semi-structured interview, and the characteristics of the research sample. The analytical part interprets the findings resulting from the data obtained through interviews with respondents. The discussion and conclusion of...