Title: Users motivational drives to engage with athletes on social media Authors: Victor Videgren, Alexander Jost Auf Der Stroth, Jean-Paul Mathieu Supervisor: Viktor Magnusson Examiner: Åsa Devine Background: With social media becoming a more and more prominent tool of communication within sports marketing, athletes stand to gain much by implementing it in their branding and marketing efforts. However, existing literature on the matter inclined that further research in which the perspective of the user was taken, thus advancing the understanding of user engagement motivation toward these athletes on social media networks. This study adapted the Uses and Gratifications theory in which six motivational categories had been summarized, these being: Informational, Entertainment, Remunerative, Social, Communicative and Convenience. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe what motivates users to engage with athletes on social media. Methodology: This work has incorporated a qualitative approach sided with a descriptive purpose. The empirical findings were collected through semi- structured interviews. Furthermore, these findings are coded and analysed by taking inspiration from grounded theory. Analysis: The empirical data was discussed within six motivational categories and was used to describe existing theory. Through the process of analysis, patterns of motivational theories interrelating with each other emerged. These being, a common interest which led users to engage with athletes, honesty and transparency which is what users saw and appreciated in the athlete and finally, the building of relationship which was what created from the engagement with athletes on social media. Conclusion: Through the analysis of the motivational drives patterns were discovered regarding users’ motivations to engage with athletes. The three patterns discovered interrelate with each other and are interpreted to be the typical motivation of a user to engage with an athlete on social media. The motivational patterns are “common interests with athlete”, second being the “transparency of athletes” and third “building a relationship” Keywords: Athlete branding, Social media, Uses and Gratification theory, Motivation, Engagement, Marketing, Grounded theory

This paper aims to examine what kind of relation social actions have to the sharing behavior on social media. The technology is developing rapidly and contributes to an information-rich society, which has many positive aspects. In contrast, a lot of shared information is old, biased, incorrect, or come from extreme sources, because people do not take the time to investigate the origin of the information. These negative aspects and the sharing behavior it leads to are examined in this paper to find out if they are related to the simplicity of sharing. The procedure for investigating this has been through two different methods. The first is a survey that was shared on Facebook, to get an understanding of what is primarily given and why. Based on the results from the survey interview questions were developed to be addressed to a number of Facebook users, to understand how they act on social media. Analysis of the results was carried out with the help of Uses and Gratification Theory as it focuses on how people consciously choose the media that satisfies their needs. The study concluded that people's past experiences create expected feelings, which then form the basis for the decision to perform an action, for example, to share information.

Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur unga personer som lever med psykisk ohälsa uppfattar sin användning av Facebook och hur de resonerar kring betydelsen av Facebook i deras vardag. Vi vill även belysa hur de uppfattar att de påverkas av samhällets krav kring ideal, normer och känslan av tillhörighet genom Facebook. ● Hur beskriver unga människor som lever med psykisk ohälsa sin användning av Facebook? ● På vilka sätt uppfattar unga människor att Facebook kan utgöra ett verktyg för tillhörighet och delaktighet för personer som lever med psykisk ohälsa? ● På vilka sätt uppfattar unga människor att de normer och ideal som förmedlas via Facebook utgör ett hinder för tillhörighet och delaktighet för personer som lever med psykisk ohälsa? Metod och material: Studien utgår ifrån en kvalitativ metod där det empiriska materialet samlades in genom 6 semistrukturerade intervjuer med unga personer med psykisk ohälsa. Huvudresultat: Studiens resultat visar att Facebook känns som en trygghet där Facebookgrupper ökar tillhörighetskänslan och används för att få tips och hjälpa andra i svåra situationer. Kraven att behöva leva upp till samhällets ideal kan påverka känslan av utanförskap.

Background: With the emergence of new social platforms, nascent strategies of Viral Marketing utilizing User-generated Content has developed. TikTok is a new social media based on User-generated videos, where content is mainly expressed in the form of #challenges. Given its nascent nature, marketers lack clear directives of how to capitalize on #challenges by engaging the user base, in their pursuit of reaching virality. As the underlying motivations behind the participation of #challenges are unknown, further research is required. Purpose: The purpose of this study is therefore to explore what motivates Gen Z users to participate in #challenges on TikTok and how companies can utilize these motivations to structure their own #challenges’ in marketing campaigns.   Method: This is an exploratory qualitative study inspired by grounded theory where sixteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews were held with participants classified as Gen Z. Qualitative content analysis was used to develop a revised model of Uses and Gratification Theory.   Conclusion: The results suggests that the Uses and Gratification theory could be used in explaining the underlying motivation for participating in #challenges on TikTok. By drawing connections between Uses and Gratification Theory and empirical data, a revised model was found to include the six traditional forms of motivations with structure as an added seventh prevalent motivation on TikTok. The results propose the motivators factors to participate in a challenge to be intertwined but suggest Entertainment to be a superseding motivator. Suggestions of elements that marketers could implement in their campaigns were thereafter derived.

Studiens syfte är att bidra med ökad kunskap kring varför medlemmarna i Oatlys brand community engagerar sig i communityn och hur de värderar information som kommer från Oatlykontra från externa källor. Studien syftar även till att undersöka om medlemmarnas konsumtionsbeteenden påverkas av negativ information de får om Oatly. Det empiriska materialet bygger på medlemmar i Oatlys brand community på Instagram och samlades in genom två fokusgruppsdiskussioner. Studien har visat att medlemmarna engagerar sig i communityn för att tillfredsställa behov av gemenskap, identitet, och information samt att medlemmarna värderar information från Oatly som pålitlig och positiv medan de värderar externa källors informationsom felaktig och opålitlig. Ännu en av slutsatserna från studien är att deltagarna i communityntolkar budskap utifrån en gemensam tolkningsram. Vidare visade studien att mer lojala medlemmar uppgav att de ökade sin konsumtion i mötet av negativ information om Oatly.

This study aims to investigate how parents are reasoning when it comes to sharing photos of their children on Instagram. The phenomenon, known as sharenting, has been questioned due to the morality problems that arise from the fact that children don't have the same opportunity to approve their exposure in social channels as an adult. The fact that parents make money off their Instagram account is another aspect that is included in the study, which is relevant because of a new law in France. This law regulates profitable content that includes children, in order to protect the children. The aim and purpose of the survey was therefore to gain a deeper understanding of what motivating factors that surround sharing pictures and information about your child on Instagram, and also investigate how parents are reasoning about moral issues. The theoretical framework for this study is uses and gratification theory and communication privacy management theory. Through interviews and a qualitative method of analysis, the results show that many motivating factors are affecting, but that the connection and communication created between parents online is one of the biggest driving forces. There is a significant variation in awareness of the moral issues, but it was possible to decipher a pattern regarding where the boundaries of integrity go. For example, naked content and conflicts are being held outside Instagram. Discussions are held about whether this could be linked to a media morality where societal norms control what is considered accepted to share or not.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur studenter vid svenska högskolor och universitet utövar samt förhåller sig till informationssökning om potentiella partners i sociala medier samt i tjänster som Lexbase och Ratsit. Studien har genomförts med utgångspunkt i teorier om privat och offentligt i sociala medier samt uses and gratification. Studien undersöker vilken typ av information som eftersöks av studenter, hur informationen tolkas, samt hur studenter förhåller sig till att själva utsättas för informationssökning av potentiella partners. I enkätstudien deltog totalt 127 respondenter från 17 olika högskolor eller universitet, och undersökningen visar att informationssökning om potentiella partners i sociala medier är överväldigande vanligt. Hela 89% av studenter i Sverige bedriver informationssökning, och gör det ofta redan vid första kontakt med en potentiell partner. Informationssökningen motiveras ofta av nyfikenhet, men vid informationssökning i offentliga handlingar spelar motiv som säkerhet även en viktig roll. Undersökningen visar att informationssökning är något som även sker ömsesidigt, och studenter är medvetna om och accepterar att potentiella partners kan komma att söka information om studenterna själva. Slutligen visar undersökningen att studenter vid svenska högskolor och universitet betraktar informationssökning som en naturlig del av skapandet av alla nya relationer. / The purpose of this study is to examine how students at Swedish colleges and universities exercise and relate to information seeking about potential partners in social media and in services such as Lexbase and Ratsit. The study examines the types of information sought by students, how the information is interpreted, and how students relate to themselves being made subject of the information seeking process. The study was conducted on the basis of theories about private versus public in social media as well as uses and gratification. A total of 127 participants from 17 different colleges and universities took part in the survey, and the results show that searching for information about potential partners in social media is overwhelmingly common. As many as 89% of students in Sweden conduct information searching, and often do so already at first contact with a potential partner. The search for information is often motivated by curiosity, but when searching for information in public documents, motives such as security also play an important role. The survey shows that information seeking is something that takes place mutually, and students are aware of and accept that potential partners may seek information about the students themselves. In conclusion the study shows that students in Sweden consider information seeking a natural and given part of creating new relationships.

With the rapid pace of technological development, the way we consume media has changed drastically. Not too long ago, the very idea of never watching TV in the sense of broadcasted TV channels was absurd. Nowadays more and more people spend most if not all their media consumption time on streaming services like Netflix and Viaplay. We conducted a study on the reasons behind this change in media consumption, to find out why more and more people choose to spend their days watching Netflix instead of TV6 like they used to. We chose to perform our study through the lens of two different consumer behavior models: The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Uses and Gratification Model (UGT). With the concepts of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use from TAM, and information seeking, affinity and accessibility from UGT. A quantitative study was conducted with 72 respondents. Our choice of method was a questionnaire which we designed to gather data on the respondents’ thoughts towards streaming services and towards the different behavior models. The survey, which was web-based, was distributed on different Facebook groups to reach potential respondents. The data gathered was then analyzed using Cronbach’s alpha and linear regression. From the results, we could gather that perceived usefulness was the most important factor of TAM, and the largest explanation behind a consumer’s usage of streaming services. Information seeking, affinity and accessibility were the largest contributing factors in the UGT model, although our results showed that UGT was not as significant as TAM in usage of streaming services. We were able to conclude that streaming services are an innovation that offers usefulness to the respondents that broadcast TV cannot compete with. We also found that TV broadcasts have a potential niche audience which they can reach with the right priorities. There were some aspects of information seeking which our respondents felt streaming services lacked, meaning if broadcast TV capitalizes on this type of informative content that streaming services lack, they can hopefully maintain a significant enough audience.

I dag kan man konstatera att mobiltelefonen är en given ägodel för nästa alla människor. I denna studie har vi undersökt hur mobiltelefonen har blivit en del av det sociala spelet och förväntningarna på att alltid vara tillgänglig. Detta har vi undersökt med hjälp av en kvantitativ enkätundersökning, genom teoretiska underlag såsom uses and gratifications-modellen och symbolisk interaktion. Det var 70 personer som deltog i undersökningen och resultatet visar att majoriteten av respondenterna anser att det är viktigt att vara tillgänglig via mobiltelefonen så att andra individer har möjlighet att nå dem. Resultatet i studien visar även ett tydligt mönster på hur det finns en förväntan på att andra människor ska vara tillgänglig via mobiltelefonen om man själv är det. All den tid och tillgänglighet som förväntas av varandra via mobiltelefonen, skapar också oro när en vän eller familjemedlem inte är tillgänglig när hen förväntas vara det. Slutsatsen vi har kommit fram till för studien är att majoriteten tycker att den största fördelen med att vara tillgänglig är för att man alltid är nåbar för andra om det skulle hända något. Men samtidigt känner man en stress över att alltid vara nåbar och hur det försvårar avkoppling när mobiltelefonen alltid finns intill en.

Background: Throughout recent years, the amounts of competitions on Instagram have increased and is now a popular marketing tool for companies to use. The strong competition in digital marketing has led to the need for brands to effectively utilize this marketing strategy. However, what motivates users to participate is a subject that lacks previous research. Hence, the question of what motivates the users to participate remains. Purpose: The purpose of this study is, therefore, to explore the motivational factors for women in the ages between 16-25, which leads to participation in contests on Instagram. Further, this research additionally aims to proceed with the knowledge of UGC and partly investigate how companies can use the appeared motivational factors when designing and formulating contests.  Method: For this qualitative study, 15 interviews were conducted, using a phenomenological interview approach.  Conclusion: The main conclusion from the analysis was that several motivational factors were discovered that had not earlier been presented in previous research, the most significant one being the social aspects. Furthermore, the size of the prize and the non-motivational factors proved to be of importance for the users. Secondly, factors relating to entertainment, aesthetics and the desire to win were proved to be of high importance as well. Lastly, several managerial applications have also been discovered that could help businesses when forming contests on Instagram.