The everlasting noise in today's marketing landscape has given rise to provocative marketing, which has become a frequently applied technique by marketers in an attempt to attract individuals’ attention. Provocative marketing can be defined as a deliberate appeal within the content of a marketing message, expected to shock its audience, since it is signified with values, norms or taboos that are not generally challenged in marketing because of its equivocalness and distinctiveness. Profit-seeking companies are increasingly applying provocative marketing techniques in order to gain attention, and simultaneously, the World Wide Web has given rise to the phenomena of social media, which presents a new context for provocative marketing messages. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how provocative marketing from profit-seeking companies is perceived by users’ in a social media context. In order to answer the purpose of the study, the research question is: ‘What makes advertisements provocative in social media?’ The study is of qualitative nature, and uses a cross-sectional research design by conducting a semi-structured focus group. The results reveal that provocative marketing is seen as a risky venture for profit-seeking companies to apply in the context of social media, however, the receiver would not be as shocked to see provocative marketing messages with sexual content in the context of social media as in the traditional media context. Moreover, provocative marketing in the context of social media runs the risk of becoming habitualized if displayed over a long period of time, and the element of shock can become dimished. Therefore, profit-seeking companies who apply provocative marketing in the context of social media need to constantly innovate and revive their advertisements to avoid tediousness.

This thesis investigates how airline companies use dark patterns on their websites and how users perceive them. Dark patterns are deceiving design strategies that take advantage of users by integrating misleading user interface features to trick users into doing things they did not mean to. Previous taxonomies of dark patterns are introduced, together with earlier research on dark patterns and user experience, to understand their research approach. A qualitative approach is used, including a case study that starts with a content analysis of airline websites and then semi-structured interviews with users. The results show that six types of dark patterns can be found on airline websites. These are misdirection, nagging, urgency, interface interference, price comparison prevention and forced action. It was found in line with previous research that dark patterns benefit the company and manipulate the users into choices that are not in their best interest. Users’ perceptions of the patterns varied due to different experiences and backgrounds. Some participants were not bothered by some of the dark patterns since they were used to them from other websites, showing a sort of dark pattern-blindness. Some users accepted the dark patterns due to the airline being low-budget. However, some were against the use and did not trust the company. / Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur flygbolag använder dark patterns på sina hemsidor, och hur användare uppfattar dessa dark patterns. Dark patterns är vilseledande designstrategier som drar nytta av användarna genom att integrera vilseledande funktioner i användargränssnittet för att lura användare att göra saker de inte menade. Tidigare taxonomier av dark patterns presenteras, tillsammans med liknande tidigare forskning om dark patterns och användarupplevelse, för att få en förståelse för deras metod. En kvalitativ metod används genom en fallstudie som involverar en innehållsanalys av flygbolagens hemsidor och sedan semistrukturerade intervjuer med användare. Resultaten visar att sex typer av dark patterns kan hittas på flygbolags hemsidor. Dessa är misdirection, nagging, urgency, interface interference, price comparison prevention och forced action. I linje med tidigare forskning visar resultatet att dark patterns gynnar företaget och manipulerar användare till val som inte gynnar deras intresse. Användarnas uppfattningar om dark patterns varierade beroende på olika erfarenheter och bakgrunder. En del var inte besvärade av vissa av dem eftersom de var vana med dem från andra webbsidor, vilket visade en slags dark pattern-blindness. Vissa användare accepterade användningen av dark patterns eftersom flygbolaget var lågbudget. Däremot var vissa användare emot användandet och litade inte på företaget.