Our modern society posts high demands for transparency, not least regarding organisational communication. The perception that the power of defining transparency lies with the audience aimed to perceive it has reached great academic anchoring, but research on the field is thin. The Swedish lifestyle company Oatly describes itself as transparent, but with a number of hypotheses the authors of this thesis essay examine whether their audience agrees. The study also investigates which key factors are contributing to the audience’s perception of the company’s communication. The study is both theoretically and empirically based on a model created by Rawlins (2009), in which four main categories determine an organisation’s transparency; Participation, Substantial Information, Accountability and Secretive. The empirical studies (an internet survey with 346 respondents and 4 conversational interviews) offered evidence which manifests trends among the audience. Oatly’s clear and accessible communication, trustworthiness and humor turned out to be key factors contributing to the audience perceiving Oatly as very transparent. The perception of Oatly’s transparency seemed to be created when the audience interacted with the company, their friends or product packagings, rather than when they were given information through a one-way channel. This thesis essay consequently concludes with an appeal for further research on the notion of transparency to - in order to achieve validity - be put in a modern context where mobility and social interaction are central concepts. / Vårt moderna samhälle ställer höga krav på transparens, inte minst när det gäller organisationskommunikation. Uppfattningen om att makten att definiera transparens ligger hos den publik tänkt att åtnjuta den har nått stark akademisk förankring, men forskningsfältet är tunnt. Det svenska livsstilsföretaget Oatly beskriver ​sig själva som transparenta, men med en rad hypoteser undersöker författarna av denna uppsats istället huruvida företagets ​publik uppfattar det som sådant , samt vilka faktorer som påverkar deras uppfattning. Studien finner både sin teoretiska och empiriska utgångspunkt i en av Rawlins (2009) sammanställd modell där fyra huvudsakliga faktorer avgör organisationers transparens: Deltagande, konkret information, pålitlighet och hemligheter. Studiens empiri (en internetenkät med 346 respondenter samt 4 djupintervjuer) erbjöd bevis som manifesterar uppenbara trender bland publiken. Oatly’s tydliga och lätttillgängliga kommunikation, produktförpackningar och humor visade sig vara centrala faktorer, och författarna når i uppsatsen slutsatsen att Oatly definieras som mycket transparenta av sin publik. Uppfattningen av Oatly’s transparens tycktes uppstå vid de tillfällen då publiken interagerade med företaget, sina vänner eller produktförpackningar, snarare än när de enbart levererades information. Uppsatsen avslutas därför med en notering om att forskning på ämnet transparens måste - för att uppnå validitet - sättas in i ett samtida kontext där mobilitet och social interaktion är centrala koncept.

Visual depictions of politicians play an essential role in the impression formation of the audience because they convey visual cues and attributes related to, for example, likeability or competence. This study examines the subjective audience evaluations based on the visual portrayals of a politician by using Q methodology, a qualitative–quantitative approach of audience research. Q-sorts of 33 different pictures showing a high-ranking European politician, along with personal interviews, were used to probe the audience’s perception of a favorable or unfavorable picture. Q factor analysis yielded four groups of participants. The audience groups differ regarding their expectation toward favorably depicted political behavior and the involved balance of professional political leadership competences, social competences, and personality. In addition, technical and formal representation strategies were identified as important visual cues, but not for all audience groups.