This dissertation presents two studies on the value relevance and perceived credibility of pro forma earnings. In the first study, I investigate the value relevance of pro forma earnings relative to two alternative earnings measures GAAP earnings and analysts actual earnings. Value relevance is assessed using two approaches. The first approach examines whether the markets expectations (contemporaneous returns or price) is best reflected in future pro forma earnings, future GAAP earnings, or future analysts actual earnings. The second approach is to determine through pair-wise comparisons of the three earnings measures (e.g., pro forma earnings versus GAAP earnings), which has the greatest explanatory power (comparing adjusted R2s) in explaining price and returns. Across approaches and models, each of the three earnings measures tends to be value relevant. However, Pro forma is consistently the most value relevant, followed by analysts actuals, with GAAP earnings having the least value relevance. That is, pro forma earnings have the greatest information content. This finding is consistent with managers, in aggregate, using pro forma to inform rather than to manage expectations or to mislead. <p>In the second study, I examine the impact of credibility attributes board characteristics, auditor quality and overall information quality on the value relevance of pro forma earnings. It is hypothesized that the credibility attributes will have a statistically significant impact on investors reaction to pro forma earnings. Consistent with the predictions, I find that stronger board characteristics, higher auditor quality and higher overall information quality are positively associated with higher market reaction to the pro forma announcement. That is, credibility attributes increase the value relevance of pro forma earnings. This finding is consistent with some firms providing pro forma earnings that are perceived to be credible and others providing pro formas that are perceived as less credible and possibly provided to manage expectations or to mislead.

Varje dag fattas beslut som kan komma att förändra människors liv. Årligen berörs omkring 50 000 barn av föräldrars separation där cirka 7000 av fallen leder till en vårdnadstvist som löses i tingsrätten. Familjerättens utredning blir ofta avgörande för domstolsbeslutet om vem som tillskrivs vårdnaden över barnet. Följande studie fokuserar på att ur ett deskriptivt beslutsteoretiskt perspektiv finna vilka faktorer som influerar bedömningsprocessen med fokus på könsdiskriminering och presentationsordningseffekt, alltså huruvida ordningen av föräldrarnas utsaga påverkar bedömningen. För att undersöka hur individen blir påverkad i sitt beslutsfattande fick en deltagargrupp med högskolestudenter läsa ett vårdnadstvistfall där modern och faderns utsaga presenteras för att sedan ta ställning till bland annat vilken förälder de ansåg vara mest trovärdig. Resultatet visade ingen signifikant effekt av presentationsordning, men selektiva könseffekter framkom.

This dissertation presents two studies on the value relevance and perceived credibility of pro forma earnings. In the first study, I investigate the value relevance of pro forma earnings relative to two alternative earnings measures GAAP earnings and analysts actual earnings. Value relevance is assessed using two approaches. The first approach examines whether the markets expectations (contemporaneous returns or price) is best reflected in future pro forma earnings, future GAAP earnings, or future analysts actual earnings. The second approach is to determine through pair-wise comparisons of the three earnings measures (e.g., pro forma earnings versus GAAP earnings), which has the greatest explanatory power (comparing adjusted R2s) in explaining price and returns. Across approaches and models, each of the three earnings measures tends to be value relevant. However, Pro forma is consistently the most value relevant, followed by analysts actuals, with GAAP earnings having the least value relevance. That is, pro forma earnings have the greatest information content. This finding is consistent with managers, in aggregate, using pro forma to inform rather than to manage expectations or to mislead. <p>In the second study, I examine the impact of credibility attributes board characteristics, auditor quality and overall information quality on the value relevance of pro forma earnings. It is hypothesized that the credibility attributes will have a statistically significant impact on investors reaction to pro forma earnings. Consistent with the predictions, I find that stronger board characteristics, higher auditor quality and higher overall information quality are positively associated with higher market reaction to the pro forma announcement. That is, credibility attributes increase the value relevance of pro forma earnings. This finding is consistent with some firms providing pro forma earnings that are perceived to be credible and others providing pro formas that are perceived as less credible and possibly provided to manage expectations or to mislead.

According to the report of effective advertising analysis in the Taiwan area released by Rainmaker XKM International Corp., the advertising amount of care product industry is up to 28.8 million dollars, ranking second place in whole industry. In the market of care products, each firm is in high competition. For winning form the competition and accessing to consumer, the firms look for celebrities to be the endorsers for their own products, and even spend tons of money to make consumers know their products and brands in the short period. The strategies of endorser have many advantages, and be adopted widely. Besides, based on the properties that the care product industry is in high competition and the product life cycle is very short, whether the expenditure of spokesman can reach firm¡¦s expectation? Are the endorsers that firms choose are liked by public? This research takes Olay as example to discuss the effect of endorser credibility on advertising effectiveness. Also, this research takes involvement with advertisement as moderator variable to realize the relationship between endorser credibility and advertising effectiveness. Finally, comparing Olay¡¦s endorsers belong to different products to understand consumer¡¦s evaluation. The consequences of analysis indicate that the endorser credibility will affect advertising effectiveness and the trustworthiness, relevance, and likability has higher positive relationship. In addition to, the attractiveness and expertness has lower relationship. Besides, involvement with advertisement certainly has moderator effect between endorser credibility and advertising effectiveness. Finally, this research gives some practical advices for the business administrator according to the consequences of research.

To help online trip planners, some online travel agencies and travel service providers have adopted travel recommender systems. Although these systems are expected to support travelers in complex decision-making processes, they are not used efficiently by travelers due to a lack of confidence in the recommendations they provide. It is important to examine factors that can influence the likelihood of recommendations to be accepted and integrated into decision-making processes. The persuasion literature suggests that people are more likely to accept recommendations from credible and likable sources. It has also been found that technologies can be more credible and likable when they give a variety of social cues that elicit social responses from their human users. Thus, it is argued that enhancing the social aspects of travel recommender systems is important to create more persuasive systems. One approach to enhancing the social presence of recommender systems is to use a virtual agent. Current travel recommender systems use various types of virtual agents. However, it is still not clear how those virtual agents are perceived by travel recommender system users and influence users' system evaluations and interactions with these systems. Consequently, this dissertation aimed to investigate the influence of virtual agents presented in travel recommender systems on system users' perceptions. Specifically, the virtual agents' anthropomorphism as well as similarity and authority cues on system users' perceptions of system credibility and liking were examined. For this purpose, two experiments were conducted. For Study 1, the impacts of anthropomorphism of the virtual agents on users' perceptions of virtual agents as well as recommender systems in terms of credibility and attractiveness/liking were examined. Anthropomorphism was manipulated with visual human appearance and voice output. Study 2 tested the influence of virtual agents? similarity and authority on travel recommender system users' perceptions of virtual agents and system credibility and attractiveness/liking. Similarity and authority of the virtual agent were tested by manipulating nonverbal cues (age and outfit) of the agent. The results showed that the characteristics of virtual agents have some influences on system users' perceptions of virtual agents as well as recommender systems. Specifically, a human-like appearance of the virtual agent is found to positively influence users' perceived attractiveness of the virtual agent while voice outputs were found to enhance users' liking of the system (Study 1). Findings also indicate that RS users' perceptions of virtual agent expertise are increased when virtual agents wear a uniform rather than a casual outfit (Study 2). In addition, system users' perceptions of the virtual agent's credibility are found to have a significant influence on users' perceived credibility and liking of the overall system, which implies an important role of virtual agents in recommender system evaluations. Further, perceived credibility and liking of recommender systems lead to favorable evaluations of the recommendations, which, in turn, increase users' intentions to travel to the recommended destination. Past travel recommender system studies have largely neglected the social role of recommender systems as advice givers. Also, it is not clear whether the specific characteristics of virtual agents presented as a part of the system interface influence system users' perceptions. This dissertation sought to close this knowledge gap. By applying classic interpersonal communication theories to human and system relationships, this dissertation expands the scope of traditional theories used in the context of studying recommender systems. Further, the results of the research presented in this dissertation provide insights for tourism marketing as well as practical implications for travel recommender system design.

With great growth of the use of internet ,the communication based on computer-mediated system or so called electronic word-of-mouth becomes more important. In these ways to exchange information, forward mail is unique and powerful especially. In this research, we would like to know what factors make people to decide to forward a e-mail or not, and what kind of roles these factors play in the process to make decision. Three factors were discussed in this research, including¡Gmessage framing, source credibility and product involvement, and the theory of reasoned action was applied to explain the behavior of forwarding e-mail. Through ANOVA and regression analysis to analyze 472 effective samples, the findings are outlined below¡G 1. E-mail users hold better attitude to forward negative message, and have more intention to forward it. 2. E-mail users hold better attitude to forward the message which has high source credibility, and have more intention to forward it. 3. The effect of subjective norm on intention to forward the email is greater than the effect of attitude.

<p>Abstract</p><p>The use of celebrity endorsement strategy is nowadays more frequently used by marketers in order to increase their sales and thereby extend their market shares. Many celebrities are used in various marketing campaigns and in most cases; the use of celebrities as endorsers is seen from mainly positive aspects. This made the authors curious whether the negative aspects, that also exists when using celebrities as endorsers, affects consumers in their purchasing decisions when a celebrity gets associated with negative publicity. Another cause of interest is which factors of a certain celebrity are most important and crucial in consumers’ perceptions, in the case of negative publicity.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study which factors consumers find important for a company to consider when a celebrity gets negative publicity, to maintain successful brand recognition.</p><p>Literature review: The use of previous studies within the field of celebrity endorsement clarifies many important aspects when it comes to celebrity endorsement and this chapter is elaborated from 4 different perspectives; Company, Celebrity, Brand and Consumer. Based on previous studies, the authors identified 6 crucial attributes when using celebrities as endorsers and this can also be seen as a pre-study that the research process has been based upon. Furthermore, the 6 attributes are chosen from the three first mentioned perspectives in order to be able to fulfil the purpose. Hence, this thesis is conducted from a consumer’s point of view.</p><p>Method: A quantitative method is used in this thesis since the authors want to base the results on collected data that is expressed in numbers and also to generate a general apprehension in this phenomenon. Moreover, the combinations containing the 6 attributes are used in the conjoint experiment.</p><p>Conclusions: It was proven in this study that consumers do get affected by celebrities as endorser, when the attributes from the literature review are in a combination. But, the consumers’ perception of the attributes differs in different cases. However, the main finding was that there are two crucial attributes, trustworthiness and expertise that companies should take into account when using celebrities in their advertising campaign.</p>

Aim The study aims were to identify young adults’ sources of nutritional advice on the Internet and how they perceive the credibility of these. The study also aimed at exploring young adults' knowledge of national recommendations issued by the National Food Agency. Method A web-based survey was distributed on the social media platform Facebook. The questionnaire contained a total of 14 questions regarding online nutritional advice and its credibility. Finally, it requested the respondent's knowledge and credibility of the national nutritional recommendations. The survey quickly gained a large spread and 302 respondents between 20 and 30 years old took part in the survey. Results The study results showed that 59 percent of the respondents were looking for nutritional advice on the Internet, with a larger proportion of women than men. In addition, the women searched more frequently. The main sources of nutritional advice were blogs. The perceived credibility of blogs was relatively high. The primary purpose of searching for nutritional advice on the Internet was weight loss for women and muscle increase for men. The study also showed that 67 percent of the respondents were aware of the nutritional recommendations by the National Food Agency. Conclusion This study demonstrates that the Internet is a powerful tool in the creation of young adults’ identity and also in influencing their view of healthy eating habits. It is of significant importance for the future of public health authorities that they must understand and find their role in the modern information society. / Sammanfattning Denna studie syftade till att identifiera unga vuxnas källor till kostråd på internet och hur de upplevde trovärdigheten av dessa. Studien syftade även till att undersöka unga vuxnas kännedom om Livsmedelsverkets näringsrekommendationer En webbaserad enkätundersökning distribuerades via det sociala mediet Facebook. Enkätens formulär innehöll totalt 14 frågor om kostråd på internet och dess trovärdighet. Slutligen efterfrågades respondentens kännedom och i förekommande fall, trovärdigheten av Livsmedelsverkets näringsrekommendationer. Undersökningen fick snabbt en stor spridning och 302 respondenter mellan 20 och 30 år deltog i undersökningen. Studiens resultat visade att 59 procent av respondenterna sökte efter kostråd på internet. Det var en större andel kvinnor än män som sökte, dessutom sökte kvinnorna mer frekvent. Den främsta källan till kostråd på internet bland respondenterna var bloggar. Den upplevda trovärdigheten för bloggar var relativt hög. Det främsta syftet för att söka efter kostråd på internet var viktnedgång för kvinnor och muskelökning för män. Studien visade även att 67 procent av respondenterna kände till Livsmedelsverkets näringsrekommendationer. Den upplevda trovärdigheten för Livsmedelsverkets näringsrekommendationer var högre än den upplevda trovärdigheten för de främsta källorna till kostråd på internet. Denna studie visar att internet är ett kraftfullt verktyg i skapandet av unga vuxnas identitet och även när det gäller påverkan av deras syn på hälsosamma matvanor. Det är av stor betydelse för den framtida folkhälsan att politiker och hälsovårdande myndigheter finner och förstår sin roll i det moderna informationssamhället.

Product placement, also referred to as stealth advertising, raises important questions when it comes to television because a far larger audience views television than movies. Product placement in newscasts is even more controversial. Television news is expected to be free of persuasive attempts and provide citizens with basic information that is of public importance. Yet, product placement blurs the line between journalism and commercial promotion, thus destroying the integrity of the news. Product placement in newscasts raises ethical questions about the effect it has on viewers, provided that they do not realize that they are presented with commercials, framed as news story. Yet, this paper argues that, since viewers focus on the actual news and do not elaborate consciously on the advertised product or brand, product placement in newscasts has little effect on their brand recall. To support this hypothesis the paper compares brand recall from product placement and commercials. Results revealed that this hypothesis is partially true. Important discovery from this study is the fact that product placement directly affects news credibility.

This exploratory study examined the interaction and effect of message characteristics, organizational credibility, and the presence of disaster on intention to donate to a Disaster Relief Organization (DRO). The Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior were used to theorize and test participant's message processing and donation behaviors. The study design incorporated random assignment into one of eight conditions. Findings reveal (a) participants have a higher donation intention when a disaster is present, (b) negative framing, when compared with positive framing, yielded the highest intention to donate when a disaster was present, (c) when no disaster is present, participants expressed a higher intention to donate to a highly credible DRO over a DRO that lacked credibility, (d) perception of DRO credibility is mediated by presence of a disaster, and (e) social media is being used in addition to more commonly found traditionally mass media for information during a disaster. In summary, this study extends previous research on processing and donation behaviors by examining the interaction of message characteristics and source credibility both during a disaster and without a current disaster. The study contributes to the growing body of research on disaster donations by incorporating social media use. / text