The increasing involvement of individuals in social media over the past decade has enabled firms to pursue new avenues in communication and sponsoring activities. Besides general research on either social media or sponsoring, questions regarding the consequences of a joint activity (sponsoring activities in social media) remain unexplored. Hence, the present study analyses whether the perceived image of the brand and the celebrity endorser credibility of a top sports team influence the perceived brand value of the sponsoring firm in a social media setting. Moreover, these effects are compared between existing customers and non-customers of the sponsoring firm. Interestingly, perceived celebrity endorser credibility plays no role in forming brand value perceptions in the case of the existing customers. Implications for marketing theory and practice are derived. (authors' abstract)

Denna studie handlar om Celebrity Endorsements, det vill säga samarbeten där kändisar borgar för en produkt eller ett företag i syfte att utbyta värden och förhoppningsvis öka försäljningen. Tidigare forskning inom detta område är fokuserat på vad en kändis kan tillföra företaget. Denna uppsats undersöker fenomenet från andra hållet, det vill säga vad företaget gör för kändisen. Vi vill ta reda på om svenskarna, fotbollsspelaren Zlatan Ibrahimovic samt Robin Carlsson, även känd som popartisten Robyn, genom respektive celebrity endorsement-aktion gällande kampanjen “Made By Sweden” med Volvo, övertar värden från företaget. För att applicera våra resultat på existerande teoretiska ramverk och därigenom kunna besvara våra frågeställningar har vi valt att förhålla oss till tidigare forskning om celebrity endorsement, teorier om hur budskap överförs exempelvis Meaning transfer model, samt marknadsteorier om varumärkesidentitet. Genom tre fokusgruppsintervjuer fick vi av respondenterna fram en image av de två utvalda kändisarna som låg till grund för vår analys. Genom att jämföra intervjupersonernas image med företagets profil kunde vi avgöra huruvida värden hade överförts från företaget till kändisen. Vår studie kom fram till att värden inte överförs från företag till kändis. Värdeord inkodade av företaget fanns inte representerade i den image som våra svarspersoner redovisade gällande de två olika kändisarna. Studien visar dock på att en kändis kan få helt nya värden genom en celebrity endorsement- kampanj. / This study regards Celebrity Endorsements, meaning collaborations where celebrities vouch for a product or a company in order to exchange values and hopefully increase sales. Previous research within this field is focused on what a celebrity can provide for the company. This essay examines the phenomena from the other direction, meaning what the company can provide to the celebrity. We want to find out if the swedes, football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robin Carlsson, also known as the pop artist Robyn, through separate celebrity endorsement actions regarding the campaign “Made by Sweden” by Volvo, assumes values from the company. In order to apply our results on existing theoretical frameworks and thereby enabling ourselves to answer our questions, we have chosen to relate to previous research regarding celebrity endorsements, theories regarding how messages are transmitted, for instance the Meaning transfer model, as well as marketing theories regarding brand identity. Through three focus group interviews, we received an image of the two celebrities from the respondents, making the foundation for our analysis. Through comparing the image created by the respondents with the profile of the company, we could determine whether values had been transmitted from the company to the celebrity. Our study concluded that values are not transmitted from company to celebrity. Values encoded by the company were not represented in the image pictured by our respondents regarding the celebrities. The study does however show that a celebrity may gain new values through a celebrity endorsement action.

This collection is an observation of the relationship between celebrity culture, fashion and the female form. Exploring how the modern fashion image is communicated to a wider audience through mass media. At the same the work aims to explore new ways of developing clothing from a starting point in figurative prints. The work explores the body as the new context of the celebrity image in order to display different perspectives of both image and body. This has been found through an interaction between print and body, the visual perception within the relationship of these and from a social point of view. The work displays thoughts regarding perspectives on body ideals, female stereotypes, fashion, clothing, mass media and fame in today’s society. The bodies of celebrities are seen as walking billboards and advertisement for designers, the work questions this adopted culture by highlighting the phenomenon. While the work is a comment on the ridiculousness within the mass media and celebrity worship, it is also a homage to these women who have put a mark in fashion history. The final result could be seen as a series examples of possible outcomes from working with the image in relation to body. But also as a statement on how the current state of fashion, where new ideas seem less important as who is wearing what.

This thesis chronicles the progression toward and creation of my thesis show, Limelight & Indigestion, as well as the cultural, technological and artistic influences and discussions that underpin the works therein. The show is an exploration of celebrity, mass media, and the nature of the desire for fame. I hope to situate my work through an investigation of topics such as Hollywood and the use of green screens and associated technology, our physical and ideological connection to cinema, the absurd in cinema history, and the complex nature of media digestion.

Thesis advisor: Christopher Constas / Philosophers throughout the ages have grappled with the concept of glory-seeking and have offered many different references, analyses, insights, and explanations. Three great thinkers in particular stand out above the rest: Plato, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Paul Sartre. While these three minds span from circa 420 BC all the way up to 1980 AD, they all would agree that glory-seeking certainly matters – they would most likely argue over the following: In what way? For Plato, glory-seeking is an inherent part of the human soul. It matters because it is an essential part of our being. Plato’s model for the soul found in The Republic as well as a comparable illustration in the Phaedrus expresses this claim most thoroughly. Additional support for the idea of glory-seeking being an existing precondition of humanity can be found in other ancient works as well, most notably Homer’s Iliad. A current example is professional athletes in the NFL risking their earning potential in order to play injured. For Hobbes, glory-seeking is a tool to be used for social advantage. It matters because it can be used it for advantage and power. Chapters X and XIII in The Leviathan most critically highlight this sentiment. Further support for the idea of glory-seeking being a weapon in the self-made man’s arsenal can be found in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. The largest modern-day example is celebrity culture: the news and entertainment factory so woven into current American culture, which is particularly embodied by the public behavior and lyrics of hip-hop artist Kanye West. For Sartre, glory-seeking provides an answer to existential angst. It matters because it helps us believe that we matter. The Sartre’s philosophical work, Being and Nothingness, as well as his existential novel, Nausea, provide ample evidence of this notion. More support for the idea of glory-seeking as a method of coping with the awareness one’s own existence can be found in Søren Kierkegaard’s The Present Age. Contemporary manifestations include the incessant self-promotion and self-presentation found on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The goal of this work is to first investigate glory-seeking for Plato, Hobbes, and Sartre and analyze what each thinker has to say on the matter. After that, modern examples and additional input from other relevant philosophers will be assessed within the overall context of glory-seeking for Plato, Hobbes, and Sartre. Finally, after everything has been considered, I will attempt to synthesize all that has been presented thus far while answering the question: Why does glory-seeking matter? / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Philosophy Honors Program. / Discipline: Philosophy.

Thesis advisor: Donnah Canavan / Social Energy is an intrinsically attractive, energy generating, and genuinely satisfying construct that occurs when two people who are intrinsically motivated towards a common interest form a relationship over that interest. The following study was conducted to test a new branch of this construct, Imagined Social Energy Relationships. It was believed that this type of relationship would be perceived to lead people to feel less lonely, disconnected, and betrayed and more fulfilled, purposive, validated, understood, and energized than an individual who is depicted as having a strong interest and no one to share it with or a person who originally has this kind of relationship and then loses it. It was also believed that people who feel very strongly connected to their interests and/or are more introverted will be more likely to have personally developed Imagined Social Energy Relationships with media figures. It was found that a person with an Imagined Social Energy Relationship was described as feeling less lonely, disconnected, and betrayed, and more fulfilled, purposive, validated, understood, and energized than someone who lost this type of relationship. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Introdução - A rede social digital Instagram possui características de plataforma de criação de conteúdo e de meio de comunicação que possibilitaram o surgimento de uma nova classe de usuários chamados de influenciadores digitais. Objetivo - Compreender os efeitos das funcionalidades do Instagram na jornada trilhada por seus participantes desde a criação de perfis até a ascensão à categoria de influenciadores. Métodos - Os canais oficiais de relacionamento do Instagram com seus usuários foram usados para mapear as funcionalidades que formam seu ambiente interativo. A análise das funcionalidades considerou as características de meios de massa cuja tecnologia interativa age como extensão do corpo do usuário na construção de uma máquina midiática, com prática discursiva própria e incentivadora da formação de influenciadores. Resultados - O mapeamento cronológico das construção do ambiente do Instagram permitiu observar a influência dos componentes sociais e de produção de conteúdo na jornada dos usuários. Conclusões - Os primeiros anos do Instagram foram de experimentação e formação da comunidade com os componentes de criação de conteúdo e com a acessibilidade da plataforma, seja por conectar-se a outras redes sociais ou multiplicar os tipos de dispositivos compatíveis. A partir da compra pelo Facebook é possível observar uma tendência em favor de reconhecer o indivíduo antes do coletivo, como o primeiro passo para migrar de uma cultura participativa - que justifica a ideia de comunidade - para uma cultura da conectividade com incentivos para formação de influenciadores digitais. / Since its arrival, Instagram has been providing to mobile users an environment that combines features of content creation, self-expression and social interaction. These technical advances in digital communication enabled the emergence of a new class of users called digital influencers, recognised by their popularity when compared to other users. This research explores the effects introduced by Instagram functionalities on its users journey, from profile creation to digital influencer. Instagram\'s official blogs were used to create a chronological map of its functionalities according their characteristics of interactive mass media in an evolving digital environment.

Celebrity endorsement has received academic attention since the 1970s and it has widely been used by companies in their marcom (marketing communications) activities as an effective strategic tool to promote their brands, companies, products and services. Instead of only being appointed as endorsers, this new phenomenon sees how celebrities have changed their roles as human brands and are now better known as celebrity brands. Celebrities, as they are known today, are progressively becoming brands in their own right (i.e. celebrity brand), have their own value, owning their own products and/or services and businesses/companies (i.e. corporate brand), and endorsing other corporate brands too. Companies use celebrity endorsements to position and communicate their individual/product brand image to consumers at large. However, due to the changing marketing environment (from traditional to digital marketing), companies are finding that their communication through celebrity endorsements have become costly and less efficient when trying to project a coherent corporate image and reputation across various audiences. Rather, the new trending phenomenon of celebrity chefs may achieve the desired effect. Unlike other human brands such as CEOs, athletes or artists, which roles limit to either personal or corporate roles, celebrity chefs are unique as they encompass both. Furthermore, they also endorse other brands and corporate brands simultaneously, enabling them to project their own personal and corporate brand as well as the brand they are endorsing. Hence, this study's novelty lies in the exploration and development of the celebrity chef concept at both the product and corporate brand level of their 'own' and 'endorsed' activities (termed as celebrity corporate brand or CCB in this study); and operationalises the CCB concept. The study aims to investigate whether a change in the celebrity brand roles by addressing both traits (human personality) and states (brand personality) and by associating it at the corporate brand level, given the best contextual setting, is one of the possible ways to strategically use celebrity brand beyond endorsement in marcom activities. The study has three objectives, which are: 1) to explore the concept of celebrity brand at a corporate brand level, known as Celebrity Corporate Brand - CCB; 2) to investigate the impact of CCB on attitudinal (identification, image and reputation) and behavioural (loyalty) outcomes (termed as corporate brand enhancement); and 3) to develop a holistic conceptual model to understand the consumers attitudinal and behavioural response and association impact of celebrity brand at corporate brand level named as Celebrity Corporate Brand Association Impact on Corporate Brand Enhancement Model. A mixed method approach was employed by using qualitative data (netnography - Study1; and in depths interviews - Study 2) as well as quantitative data (population-based survey experiments - Study 3). A qualitative approach is used to explore the concept and dimensions of CCB, which is later used to assist the items and measure development for Study 3. Data collection was done covering samples selection from the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Random sampling is used to select respondents that fulfilled the criteria required for the study. The study finds that CCB represents and carries his Personal Brand, Product/Service Brand and Corporate Brand. CCB Product Brand refers to the celebrity chefs own developed products and services which are their foods, cookbooks, kitchen utensils. CCB Corporate Brand refers to the celebrity chefs' businesses, corporations and companies such as their restaurants, colleges and programs. CCB is further conceptualised through the CCB's Authentic and Functional Quality, CCB's Cognition and CCB's Personal Quality. The CCB's Philosophy also projects the celebrity's own corporate brand and endorsed activities. CCB Personal Brand refers to the celebrity chefs' traits such as their interpersonal skills and quality, symbolic value and authenticity; and their and their personality states such as enterprising and technical quality. Theoretically, the research is novel in four different ways: 1) it offers a fresh insight to scholars and practitioners in celebrity endorsement, human or celebrity brand, into how to address the new phenomena of changing consumer and celebrity roles by going beyond the celebrity endorsement concept (i.e. via CCB); 2) it explores, develops, defines and provides measures for the newly developed CCB concept; and 3) it extends the nascent literature on celebrity brand, which explores mainly at product brand level, to corporate brand level (celebrity with personal brand also owning corporate brand), and 4) it test CCB empirically and further investigates its relationship in terms of both attitudinal and behavioural outcomes in an effort to enhance corporate brand (corporate brand enhancement process). Previously, studies on celebrity endorsement only look at the use of celebrity as an endorser and discussion in this area is made based on the Source Model which only discusses the personality traits of the celebrities. In addressing the changing roles of celebrities (having personal brands, product brands and corporate brands), this study defines CCB by including both the celebrity brand personality traits and states and researching its impact on corporate brand enhancement. Furthermore, this study looks at both the attitudinal and behavioural outcome of the CCB on multiple stakeholders (celebrities, consumers and endorsed corporate brands). Methodologically, the study contributes in three ways: (1) a new context (celebrity chefs) is chosen to add new insights to celebrity branding literature; (2) approaching the research with three different studies, namely Study 1- netnography; Study 2 - in depths interviews; and Study 3 - population-based survey experiments; and (3) the inclusion of multiple stakeholders as the samples. Practically, the study proposes marketers to select a new type of celebrity: one that has a personal brand of their own, own product and/or corporate brand to increase the promotional marketing campaign success. Thus, both parties need to work together to build upon their brand strategy to ensure that the consumer identifies closely with them, thereby enhancing their image and reputation and subsequently increasing brand loyalty to the advantage of both parties. Interestingly, once CCB has built upon reputation, this guides the business and marketers to carefully select them in the hope of enhancing its corporate brand. The study's findings also demonstrate that it is essential to address various audiences in this new era by designing an appropriate positioning and communication strategy. The results will assist businesses and organisations in the context of defining and developing strategy alongside celebrity chefs (as the CCB) with their businesses and the endorsed corporate brands.

This research adds the growing body of literature on the role of celebrities as emergent spokespersons in climate advocacy and the process and consequences of its effects on public attitudes and behaviors to resolve the climate crisis. By applying social cognitive theory in conjunction with emotional appeals and language styles as message frames, the study examines the effects of role-modeling in adoption of eco-attitudes and behaviors. In a 2 x 2 design, the independent variables were emotion frame (fear, hope) and celebrity involvement frame (first person pronouns; FPP, non-first person pronouns; NFPP). For the manipulation check, the tweets were pilot tested. The main study was an experiment that asked participants to read tweets attributed to Leonardo DiCaprio or Pharrell Williams. Four main dependent variables were attitudes toward climate change mitigation and three behaviors, including support for government action, intention to engage in sustainable behavior, and intention to participate in activism for climate change mitigation. The role of two mediating variables (risk awareness, response efficacy) and one moderating variable, parasocial interaction (PSI) with the celebrity, were also examined. First, one-way ANCOVAs compared the effects of emotion frames to the control group. No evidence of the effects of emotion frame over unrelated messages on any dependent variables was found. Second, 2 (fear vs hope) x 2 (FPP vs NFPP) ANCOVAs found that fear-framed messages were more effective than hope-framed messages in driving intention for participation in activism, but emotion frame did not affect any other variables. The results also found that FPP frames led to more positive attitude (compared to NFPP frames), but had no effect on behaviors. Third, regression analyses found no evidence that risk awareness or response efficacy mediated the effect of emotion frames on attitudes or behaviors. In addition, the study discovered that PSI was a strong positive predictor of attitudes and all behaviors, but PSI did not moderate the impact of the celebrity involvement frame. The findings provide empirical evidence of the potential for celebrities to serve as role models in climate advocacy by psychologically involving people, which can be translated to the adoption of attitudes and behaviors.

Diplomová práce začíná uvedením do problému nákupního chování a vliv referenčních skupin na spotřebitele, pokračuje historii celebrity marketingu, využitím celebrit v reklamě, jako komunikačního nástroje. Práce také popisuje vliv celebrit na vzhled, módu a jejich působení v sociální sféře a politice. Na konci teoretické části popisuje vodítka, jak si celebrity vybírat, jak jich kontaktovat a vyjednávat s nimi a v závěru jsou popsané výhody a nevýhody využití celebrit v reklamě. Praktická část se zaměřuje na porovnání České republiky a zahraničí ve vnímání a ovlivňování zákazníků celebritami.