Adopting the view that a virtual community is an influential social entity, this study provides a theoretical framework that identifies a linkage among the individual values of virtual community members, commercial orientation of virtual communities and attitudes towards the information provided by virtual communities. The present study suggests that individual values (i.e., purposive, self-discovery, social and entertainment) influence the selection of virtual communities. The community's commercial orientation (i.e., commercial or noncommercial), in turn, influences the individual attitudes towards the information provided by the communities. Credibility, relevance and empathy are the proposed attitudes that individuals may form towards the information provided in virtual communities. The proposed model provides valuable implications for marketers and business people who want to source virtual communities as viable marketing channels.

Bakgrund och problem: Tidigare studier visar att antalet hållbarhetsrapporter växer men att det finns stora brister i kvaliteten i form av relevans och trovärdighet. Den svenska stålindustrin brukar få mycket mediauppmärksamhet för sina stora utsläpp, som år 2019 stod för 12,16%, av landets totala utsläpp. Sedan 2017 har det varit obligatoriskt för företag som uppfyller särskilda kriterier att hållbarhetsrapportera. Således uppstår frågan om hur lagkravet påverkat kvaliteten i dem svenska stålföretagens hållbarhetsrapporter mellan åren 2016–2019. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att granska och mäta kvaliteten i svenska stålföretagens hållbarhetsrapporter för att sedan se hur dem har förändrats mellan åren 2016–2019. Detta för att se hur införandet av obligatorisk hållbarhetsrapportering år 2017 har påverkat kvaliteten i hållbarhetsrapporterna. Resultaten av studien kan förslagsvis användas som underlag vid jämförelser med andra branscher. Metod: I denna studie har en longitudinell forskningsdesign valts för att följa kvalitetsutvecklingen från år 2016 till och med år 2019. Studien använder sig av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys utifrån ett kodningsschema för att undersöka kvaliteten i form av relevans och trovärdighet i hållbarhetsrapporterna. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet stöds av tidigare forskning och visar att kvaliteten ihållbarhetsrapporterna har ökat successivt över åren 2016–2019. Den lägsta nivån har höjts avsevärt i både relevans och trovärdighet samtidigt som CSR-aktiviteterna blivit mer homogena över tid. Företag som tillämpad GRI:s standarder får högre kvalitet i sina rapporter. Tydligare lagar och krav på innehåll och standarder kan leda till hållbarhetsrapporterna kan få ökad kvalitet och jämförbarhet. / Background and problem: Previous studies show that the number of sustainability reports is growing, but that there are major shortcomings in quality in the form of relevance and credibility. The Swedish steel industry usually receives a lot of media attention for its large emissions, which in 2019 accounted for 12.16% of the country's total emissions. Since 2017, it has been mandatory for companies that meet special criteria to report sustainability. Thus, the question arises as to how the legal requirement affected the quality of the Swedish steel companies' sustainability reports between the years 2016–2019. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine and measure the quality of Swedish steel companies' sustainability reports and then see how they have changed between the years 2016–2019. This is to see how the introduction of mandatory sustainability reporting in 2017 has affected the quality of the sustainability reports. The results of the study can be used as a basis for comparisons with other industries. Method: In this study, a longitudinal research design has been chosen to follow the quality development from 2016 to 2019. The study uses a qualitative content analysis based on acoding scheme to examine the quality in terms of relevance and credibility in the sustainability reports. Results and conclusions: The results are supported by previous research and show that the quality of the sustainability reports has increased gradually over the years 2016–2019. The lowest level has been raised significantly in both relevance and credibility, while CSR activities have become more homogeneous over time. Companies that apply GRI's standards get higher quality in their reports. Clearer laws and requirements for content and standards can lead to sustainability reports can increase quality and comparability.

E-commerce has become popular over the years with millions of people using this way of shopping. However e-commerce has also brought forth issues of fraud with consumers getting their identities stolen or being tricked into spending their money on products they don’t look the same in real life as on their mobile devices. There are current methods to try and prevent e- commerce fraud however the problem is still present. Consumers need to be able to identify credible websites. Studies have brought forward that there is a connection between the visuals of a website and it’s credibility. The purpose of this study is to discover how the visuals of a website affect consumers assessment of credibility. It is also the purpose to use this discovery to strengthen the credibility of e-commerce websites. A qualitative method, focus group interview, has been used to interview four females corresponding the e-commerce market’s current majority consumer. During the interview the visual content of four websites were navigated through and analysed. The results showed that for there to be credibility trust between the consumer and e-commerce website needs to be established. This is done by visually prioritizing consumer’s needs as consumers.

Despite more than $769 million in charitable gifts in 2013, U.S. nonprofit organizations lost $735 million in lapsed and reduced gifts. Donor attrition is a problem for most charitable organizations, and many are using the Internet to cultivate donors. Online communication has become an important part of fundraising for many charitable organizations. The online communication factors in the current study include trust, credibility, and satisfaction. These factors may affect donor loyalty. Donor loyalty may increase or decrease donor attrition. Reducing donor attrition is important to anyone who plays a role in the success of a nonprofit organization. The purpose of the current cross-sectional quantitative study was to examine the relationship between the communication factors and the loyalty among online donors. The theoretical foundation for this study includes Bandura's social cognitive theory and Luhmann's social systems theory. Data were collected online from a random sample of online donors aged 18 years or older in the United States. Spearman correlation was used to assess the correlation between the independent and dependent variables. The results indicated there is a correlation between communication factors and loyalty among online donors in the United States. This study may help organizations communicate better with donors in an online environment and reduce online donor attrition. Reducing attrition will increase funding to a charitable organization through repeat donations, thereby helping improve finances to support the organization's mission and positively influencing societal change.

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The drastic growth of the influencer market has spiked an interest in defining the significance of influencer credibility (IC). This thesis primarily aims to identify which drivers of IC are important to Swedishconsumers and how these can impact purchase intention (PI). The data was collected through a questionnaire shared on social media resulting in a sample size of 201 (N=201). After analyzing the data in SPSS through a nonparametric one sample and independent sample Chi-square test the following characteristics were found as impacting IC and PI. Expertise, trustworthiness, Image quality, entertainment value, and product and endorser fit influence IC and subsequently PI. The personal connection was also found to influence PI and when comparing different influencer sizes a smaller influencer generated substantial IC through a personal connection compared to larger.

Designing a good customer relationship is important for a company to function and trust plays a major role when building customer relationships. The importance of this becomes more highlighted in the context of non- testable, non-testable products online since the customer cannot evaluate anything physically beforehand. Here trust is the mediator for a successful customer relationship within online shopping. The purpose of this study was to explain the impact of Source of Information and Credibility of Information on online consumer trust in the setting of non-testable, non-returnable products online. With a deductive approach to this quantitative research, the methodology of operationalization was used to measure the theoretical framework and to derive two hypotheses to be rejected or accepted based on the results of an online self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaire got a total of 74 answers that were analyzed by running a multiple regression analysis. The result of this study is that one hypothesis is accepted, the Credibility of Information has a positive relation to Trust when shopping non-testable, non- returnable products online, based on the positive relationship found. By accepting only one hypothesis, this resulted in a modified research model visually presenting the outcome. Which can be concluded that Credibility of Information has a positive relationship with Trust in the context of non- testable, non-returnable products online. Which implies that companies within this area should increase credibility in order to increase customer online trust.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of counselor profanity on subjects' perceptions of counselor credibility and client satisfaction.

The clinical relevance of patients’ psychotherapy outcome expectations has been substantiated by a fairly robust correlational literature. Furthermore, as a related yet distinct construct, patients’ treatment credibility beliefs have also been associated with positive treatment outcomes. Addressing several methodological limitations of past research, the current study examined the influence on early adaptive process (patient-psychotherapist alliance quality) and early treatment outcome (patient distress level) of patients’ outcome expectations and credibility beliefs, measured both statically and dynamically with a psychometrically sound self-report instrument. Patients were 110 adult outpatients receiving naturalistically delivered psychotherapy in a community mental health training clinic. The primary research questions were tested with a series of hierarchical multiple regression models, which revealed: (a) An increase in patients’ initial outcome expectations (from baseline to post-session 1) was positively associated with patient rated alliance quality at session 7 (B = 1.28, p < .05), and (b) early (post-session 1) outcome expectations (B = 1.13, p < .05) and credibility beliefs (B = .83, p < .05) significantly predicted patient rated early alliance. The findings further underscore the clinical importance of patients’ treatment beliefs, and they are discussed with respect to their empirical and clinical implications.