Two topics currently lead the debates in the museum sector: audience development and the use of digital media. This study addresses these debates by investigating how gamified mobile applications can support engagement with museums’ topics. It examines the online audience and their motivations for the use of media. It uses “MuseumStars” - which can be characterized as a museums quiz app for remote use - as a case study. Based on the uses and gratifications theory the study uses a mixed-methods approach. An online survey and two focus groups were conducted. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and qualitative content analysis. The findings show that the main user motivation is to learn new things and to prepare or substitute a museum visit. In contrast to other research on mobile gaming, the connection to the physical space played a crucial role in using the application, while competition was less prominent. The findings also demonstrate that to better accommodate the audience's needs content is key. Hence, it can be concluded that digital media per se will not enhance engagement without the right presentation of the content: It must be translated to the media in an appropriate way to support the uses and gratifications of the audience and thus enhance engagement with museums’ topics.

Title: Rethinking the Spectrum of Marketing Communication Tools in B2B  Date: 2022-06-03 Level: One-Year Master’s Thesis 15, ECTS Institution: Karlstad Business School Authors: Jonathan Segerström & Elina Tidström Tutor: Bo Rundh Keywords: Business-to-business (B2B), Business marketing, Marketing communication, Digital media. Research question: How does a company within the automation industry work with their marketing communication? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain the transformation of marketing communication in a company within the automation industry. By doing this, the study aims to contribute to the growing literature about marketing communication’s usefulness for the business market. Method: This thesis had a deductive approach in which a single case-study method was used to investigate the research area of interest. Having used qualitative methods of data collection, interviews were held and triangulated with other documents that were later thematized and analyzed with the chosen theoretical framework. Based on the analysis, conclusions were drawn. Conclusion: The initial conclusion from this case study is that along with the addition of a marketing function within the company ABB Robotics, they have become more customer focused. This new focus has allowed for more marketing communication tools being used, and more specifically those that traditionally are viewed as non-personal ones which have been enabled with developments in the digital media landscape. All marketing communication tools within the theoretical framework were identified, and found to support the personal selling function in different ways. The findings from this study suggests that it could be beneficial for B2B companies to deploy a wider spectrum of marketing communication tools, however, future studies would have to include more companies to further validate this statement. / Titel: Omtänkande av spektrumet av marknadskommunikationsverktyg inom B2B  Datum: 2022-06-03  Nivå: Magisteruppsats, 15 ECTS  Institution: Handelshögskolan i Karlstad  Författare: Jonathan Segerström & Elina Tidström  Handledare: Bo Rundh  Nyckelord: Business-to-business (B2B), B2B marknadsföring, Marknadskommunikation, Digitala medier.  Forskningsfråga: Hur arbetar ett företag i automationsindustrin med sin marknadskommunikation?  Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att förklara transformationen av marknadskommunikation inom ett företag i automationsindustrin. Genom att göra detta syftar studien till att bidra till den växande litteraturen om marknadskommunikationens användbarhet för B2B-marknaden.  Metod: Detta examensarbete utgick från en deduktiv ansats där en fallstudiemetod användes för att undersöka forskningsområdet av intresse. Efter att ha använt kvalitativa metoder för datainsamling hölls intervjuer som triangulerades med andra dokument som senare tematiserades och analyserades utifrån det valda teoretiska ramverket. Utifrån analysen drogs sedan slutsatser. Slutsats: Den initiala slutsatsen från denna fallstudie är att genom tillägget av en marknadsföringsfunktion inom företaget ABB Robotics har de blivit mer kundfokuserade. Denna nya inriktning har möjliggjort fler marknadskommunikationsverktyg, och mer specifikt de som traditionellt ansetts vara icke-personliga. Detta har i sin tur möjliggjorts genom utvecklingen i det digitala medielandskapet. Alla verktyg för marknadskommunikation inom det teoretiska ramverket identifierades och visade sig stödja den personliga säljfunktionen på olika sätt. Upptäckterna från denna studie tyder på att det kan vara fördelaktigt för B2B-företag att använda ett bredare spektrum av marknadskommunikationsverktyg, men framtida studier bör inkludera fler företag för att ytterligare validera detta fynd.

Journalists rely on image and video verification to support their investigations and often utilize open source tools to verify user generated content, but current practice requires experts be involved in every step of the process. Additionally, lacking custom tools to support verification efforts, experts are often limited to the utility of existing, openly available tools, which may or may not support the interactions and information gathering they require. We aim to support the process of geolocating images and videos through crowdsourcing. By enabling crowd workers to participate in the geolocation process, we can provide investigative journalists with efficient and complete verification of image locations. Parallelizing searching speeds up the verification process as well as provides a more extensive search, all while allowing the expert to follow up on other leads or investigative work. We produced a software prototype called GroundTruth which enables crowd workers to support investigative journalists in the geolocation of visual media quickly and accurately. Additionally, this work contributes experimental results demonstrating how the crowd can be utilized to support complex sensemaking tasks. / Master of Science

This thesis examines one magazine's transition from print to digital media in order to shine a spotlight on one successful magazine brand and its attempts to navigate the digital revolution while also maintaining a successful magazine. Through a systematic descriptive analysis of communication strategies, a case analysis of Bon Appétit magazine is the focus of this thesis. Guided by the uses and gratifications theoretical perspective and informed by a systematic descriptive analysis, this thesis offers a rich examination of the Bon Appétit magazine brand and the ways the brand has been extended in the evolving digital media environment. The unique approach implemented in this thesis provides the opportunity to observe uses and gratifications from the organization's standpoint, instead of the consumer's. This unique approach was designed to reveal how Bon Appétit is attempting to fulfill consumer needs and gratifications through the digital media brand extensions, specifically its website, social media, and podcast. Analysis of Bon Appétit brand extensions indicate that six of Parham Santana's ten brand extension strategies are being implemented by Bon Appétit, including shift the form, transfer a component, transfer a benefit, leverage a special expertise, leverage your consumer base, and leverage a lifestyle. Another significant finding indicates that Bon Appétit implemented communication strategies centered on accessibility and convenience, surveillance, diversion, and interaction gratifications on its digital media platforms. Findings from this study suggest that future researchers would benefit from adding convenience and accessibility as gratifications considered in the uses and gratifications theoretical approach when researching digital media. Additionally, replication of the systematic method in this thesis, especially if applied to other magazine brands, could help reveal the types of brand extensions at play in digital platforms and whether other magazines use similar strategies to build and maintain relationships with consumers. / Master of Arts

Climate change and climate protection are issues that society must urgently address. It istherefore even more important to promote and advocate for a sustainable lifestyle. In thisscientific paper, I aim to explore approaches to make social media advertising moreeffective in reaching the sustainable values of Gen Z. Since Generation Z is particularlyopen to sustainable lifestyles, this work will reflect their perspective.To answer the research question, a qualitative methodology was employed, involvinginterviews with 13 participants born between 1995 and 2010. The analysis of the collectedempirical data shows that Gen Z places great value on sustainability, but the issue lies inthe reachability of advertising.Social media marketing strategies such as Paid Media and Content Marketing seem tohave a positive effect on the participants. A balance between content with informationand entertainment also shows potential for success, considering their short attention span.Furthermore, the analysis highlights the importance of incorporating both strong (creativeand adventurous) and weak characteristics (impatient, FOMO1, and short attention span)as well as the values they share (equality, diversity, LGBTQ+2, tolerance, andacceptance).These empirical findings should provide options and serve as inspiration for companiesthat already act sustainably and want to promote and advertise a sustainable lifestyle moreeffectively in relation to Gen Z to raise sustainable awareness.

This thesis aims to conduct a socio-political discourse analysis (SPDA) of digital articles discussing "The Portrait of Edmond Belamy," created by the Obvious team using AI. The sale of this portrait at Christie's auction for a record $432,500 excited the world. This was the first work sold at auction and created in collaboration with AI. The purpose is to explore AI and its integration into artistic practices and media discourse surrounding the event. The research question this dissertation seeks to explore is: "How AI-generated art, namely the portrait of Edmond de Belamy, is represented in digital media?". The sample consists of 12 articles from the UK and the USA outlets. It is analysed according to Van Dijk’s SPDA concepts as well as Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Media Dissemination theory. Speaking about key findings, it can be mentioned that political-oriented magazines stress authenticity, while those on art and technology explore broader themes. Power dynamics among stakeholders shape perceptions of AI art, influencing its reception and evaluation. Market recognition at auctions underscores its value, reshaping perceptions of artistic worth. Ethical concerns raise questions on intellectual property, authorship, and code attribution, necessitating regulatory frameworks. Critical analysis provides diverse views on AI-generated artworks, challenging traditional notions of creativity and authenticity. The discourse reflects societal attitudes towards technology, creativity, and cultural production. Understanding AI art's implications aids informed dialogue and decision-making. Future research on practitioners' experiences offers insights into human-AI interactions in creativity, contributing to a nuanced understanding of this interplay.

<div>This project engages in an intersectional and interdisciplinary tracing of the emerging field of feminist game studies and the epistemologies and methodologies that exist within this field. Through such tracing, this project asks—what are feminist game studies’ epistemological goals and frameworks? What methodologies can the field draw from in order to achieve these epistemological goals? Ultimately, this project argues that feminist game studies enacts an epistemology of feminist worldbuilding—that is, an inclusive, embodied, space-claiming mode of producing knowledge—and achieves this worldbuilding through methodologies of intersectional disruption in order to perform disruptive feminist interventions into video game culture. </div><div><br></div><div>In the first chapter of this project, I make use of a methodology of narrative autoethnography to discuss my experience with online harassment as an inroad into interrogating the bodies at risk in gaming spaces in order to make a case for the need for feminist interventions to disrupt the violent structures within video game culture. The second chapter traces the ways hegemonic, patriarchal frameworks in game studies epistemologically deprivilege material, representational analyses of bodies and culture in the study of games and, instead, argues for the implementation of intersectional approaches to video game culture. The third chapter maps the intersectional feminist methodologies that can be implemented in feminist game studies in order to perform generative and disruptive interventions into video game culture and build feminist worlds. </div><div><br></div><div>In the fourth chapter, I apply some of these methodologies of disruption to the alienation of mothers in the gaming industry’s workplace culture and representations of mothers in the games Among the Sleep and Horizon Zero Dawn in order to intervene into video game culture’s prejudicial attitudes regarding labor, mothers, and women. The final chapter continues my autoethnographic work through the connection of my experiences with online harassment to previous experiences with gendered violence and trauma in order to underscore the stakes of feminist game studies praxis. In all these ways, I argue that feminist game studies builds worlds by performing interventions into video game culture through intersectional and pluralistic methodologies of disruption, for such methodologies imagine new, inclusive models of existence and futurity in video game culture.</div>

The tourism industry in Sweden has expanded in recent years and the increasing industry has meant that customers are in need of a reseller for their trips abroad. Today there are three types of retailers available. These are : Traditional travel agencies , tour operators and online travel agencies. Online Travel agencies are the most modern online option for customers. Their existence has made it easier for the customer and reservation can be made anytime and anywhere. The competition has intensified between the three retailers and the traditional alternatives must find new ways to survive. Through effective marketing and selecting the right channel may be vital to the travel agency's survival. The theories that have been essentiell for this Investigation are: marketing mix, relationship marketing, porter curve, the buying process, the agent's role, word-of-mouth and marketing of services and products company. In this essay, the authors investigated four tour operators and one traditional travel agency and everyone is placed in Stockholm. The authors has choosed to investigate their market businesses and how the customer's requirements have changed since online travel agencies took over a large part of the market. The authors have also decided to conduct interviews with an online travel agency and one travel company that works with marketing for travel agencies. The tour operators in Stockholm mainly use relationship marketing as a primary strategy for maintaining a loyal relationship with the customer. The channels that travel companies utilize is a combination of word-of- mouth, digital media and printed media. All companies could state that the consumer in the current situation is more aware than before and this has led an increased requirement for travel agencies. Travel agents and tour operators must offer something unique or give the client an  xceptional service that they can not recieve in another place. Service in this case may involve travel on customers behalf, visa application, bookings for specific requests and helping to add travel insurance.

Social media are common channels for organisational communication the world over. This study explores the perceptions and attitudes towards social media that encourage or impede the effective use of such media in communication departments in Mbabane Eswatini. To ascertain this, the researcher undertakes a robust literature review to determine the sources of these perceptions as encapsulated in the problem statement of the study. Thereafter, the researcher thereby conducts an exploratory study on four regulatory authorities in Mbabane Eswatini and uses an open-ended questionnaire to obtain the qualitative data. Additionally, secondary data sources are analysed which include social media pages of the study population, newspapers, reports, research papers, e-books and journals. Summartively the research finds largely positive perceptions towards social media use in regulatory authorities in Mbabane Eswatini with most communication officers taking part in this study regarding social media as beneficial platforms due to their measurability, affordability and wide reach. Furthermore, the study outlines the theory of social media usage further highlighting the growing importance of social media as salient features in the private and organisational lives of present-day societies. As established from the study, social media can be beneficial as they can foster business relationships sorely through virtual interactions as outlined in the literature review. Additionally, social predispositions and organisational norms can influence perceptions and attitudes towards social media use. Over and above the use of these media for organisational communication, they can promote departmental efficiency as expressed by the respondents in this study. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication Science)

This thesis explored MySpace and Facebook, two popular social networking sites (SNS), from the perspectives of the uses and gratification model and impression management theory. As a qualitative exploratory study, this thesis had three objectives. First, it investigated why young people use SNS. Second, it sought to discover how members use SNS for self-presentation. Finally, it aimed to contribute to the current body of literature and serve as a basis for future qualitative and quantitative studies on SNS. The focus groups that were conducted for this thesis elicited ten themes that provided insights on the motivations and behaviors of individuals who use SNS for needs fulfillment and impression management. These themes included: 1) efficient communication, 2) convenient communication, 3) curiosity of others, 4) popularity, 5) relationship formation and reinforcement, 6) self-enhancement, 7) otherenhancement, 8) self-disclosure, 9) conformity and 1 0) identity-management. Based on the first five themes, the study suggested that an emerging theory of instant gratification is being developed. The theory helps researchers explain why young people use SNS and predict what factors motivate young people to get ,_ involved heavily in SNS. Based on the second five themes, this study confirmed the relevance of Goffi:nan's theories of the presentation of the self in explaining how young people manage their impressions through SNS. As a powerful socialization agent, SNS provide new opportunities and diverse ways of presenting one's self online. Though there are some evident differences between online and face-to-face social interaction, it is clear that Goffman's theories will continue to help researchers explain self-presentation within the context of SNS.