The presented bachelor thesis investigates which aspects of influencer marketing may affect the purchase intentions of women in the ages between 18-30 years. The study was conducted by interviews and questionnaires with a focus of attention on consumer shopping habits and Instagram usage. To analyse the collected data, we have applied relevant theories from the research fields of marketing, semiotics and cognition. This formed the theoretical basis when studying respondents answers and allowed identifying the factors that could affect their purchase intentions. The results showed that there was one factor that acted as a direct stimulant of the purchase intention, while four other factors had an indirect effect. The salient aspect was shown to be "consumer attitude" which marked itself as a dominant factor throughout the whole evaluation process. The other aspects of "source credibility", "source attractiveness", "product match-up" and "meaning transfer" where shown to have a combined impact on the purchase intentions, although no individual parameter could be shown as directly influential on its own. The study also revealed that the metric "meaning transfer" contained several underlying variables. These variables were shown to be linked to both cognition and semiotics as the image composition was able to stimulate the consumer attitude which was the dominant factor relating to purchase intention. / Följande uppsats undersöker vilka aspekter av influencer marketing som kan påverka köpintention för kvinnor mellan 18–30 år. För att besvara frågan genomfördes intervjuer och enkätundersökningar, med fokus på konsumenters shoppingvana och Instagram-användning. För att tolka den insamlade empirin har vi vänt oss till relaterad forskning och teorier som berör marknadsföring, semiotik och kognition. Utifrån dessa teorier har respondenternas svar granskats, för att hitta eventuella faktorer som kan påverka deras köpintention. Resultatet visar att det fanns en aspekt som direkt stimulerade köpintentionen, medan fyra andra påverkade indirekt. Den primära aspekten "consumer attitude" visade sig vara en relevant och genomgående del under hela utvärderingsprocessen. "Source credibility", "source attractiveness", "product match up" och "meaning transfer" är i sin helhet relevant, dock kunde ingen av dessa fyra konstruktioner på egen hand ledas direkt till köpintentionen. Utifrån studien framkom det att "meaning transfer" hade flera nivåer. Dessa nivåer kunde kopplas till både kognition och semiotik, då bildkompositionen kunde stimulera konsumenternas attityd som är den huvudsakliga faktorn som påverkar köpintentionen.

With the growing role of social media in society today, a more accessible dissemination of information between customers through eWOM is also growing. Especially the negative eWOM can have a huge impact on customers and get devastating results. Scandals in the fast fashion industry are getting more and more attention, which has contributed to consumers boycotting companies. It is still a relatively unexplored area where researchers mainly have been looking at boycott motivations. These purposes can be both social and ethical and customers can take different measures to show that he or she is against the scandal. It is common today that a scandal gets a lot of attention during a limited period of time where the customer chooses to participate in a boycott for a while and then returns to the company. Based on this research gap, the research question was further formulated as to;   Why do customers choose to return to companies within the fast fashion industry they have previously boycotted due to a scandal?   The study focuses on customers who have been loyal to fast fashion companies and where they have been active in a boycott and then returned. The main purpose of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of why boycotting consumers choose to go back to fast fashion retail companies that they have boycotted previously. Based on this, the interviews explored factors in relation to customer loyalty and eWOM that affect customers' view and perception of the company. By conducting this study and examining factors by using a qualitative approach, customer loyalty and eWOM's impact on customers' propensity to repurchase were examined, considering the theoretical framework.    The theoretical framework included customer loyalty, boycott and motivations for boycott as well as social media and more specifically eWOM. Based on the framework, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with people who participated in a boycott and then returned to companies. Furthermore, the empirical data was analysed by using the theoretical framework based on a thematic analysis. The analysis resulted in findings that customers are affected by negative eWOM and a high exposure of information which then decreases, which leads to customers forgetting the scandal and no longer associating the company with a negative feeling.

The use of e-mail communication between consumers has been growing and companies are seeking to increase their understanding of this type of private communication medium between consumers. The privacy and cost-effectiveness characteristics of e-mail make it an important communication medium for consumers. Consumers use e-mail to exchange a variety of information including electronic word of mouth (eWOM) about products, services and organisations. The travel industry, the context of this study, is increasingly being delivered online. Understanding what influences consumers and how consumers evaluate eWOM will increase the travel industry’s knowledge about its consumer base. This study aims to contribute to existing knowledge on the impact of eWOM on consumer purchase intention. Its focus is on an interpersonal context where eWOM is sent from the source to the receiver in an e-mail about holiday destination. The study, which was undertaken from a positivist perspective, used qualitative and quantitative research techniques to better understand the influence of eWOM on purchase intention. The literature on word of mouth (WOM) and eWOM was initially examined to identify the major factors that have an influence on the receiver of eWOM. Consistent with previous studies, both perceived expertise and similarity were identified as source characteristics that have an influence on the receiver’s purchase intention. The literature also indicated that trustworthiness belief would have a key effect on the influence of eWOM on the attitude of the receiver. Consequently, this study examined each trustworthiness dimension – ability, benevolence, and integrity – with respect to its role in the influence of eWOM on purchase intention. The literature review also revealed that certain receiver characteristics were important in the process of influence, especially consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence. The relationships between the variables identified were further developed into the research model, which has its roots in the theory of reasoned-action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) and the dual process theory of influence (Deutsch and Gerard, 1955). Methodologically, a scenario-building approach to developing authentic e-mail was used. The qualitative data gathered from eight focus group discussions were analysed using “framework analysis” (Ritchie and Spencer, 1994) to develop eight scenarios. This was then used to manipulate the moderating variables in the scenario. Three manipulations, each with two levels, were included: eWOM direction “positive and negative”; source characteristic of “expert/non-expert”; and source characteristic of “similar/non-similar”. These scenarios formed part of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of University of Bradford students. The final number of usable questionnaires was 477. Structural equation modelling was used to determine the validity of the conceptual model and test the hypotheses. In particular, multiple group analysis was used to assess both the measurement and structural models, and to identify the impact of the eWOM direction. The theoretical model that describes the relationships between the exogenous variables (source’s and receiver’s characteristics) and the endogenous variables (trustworthiness dimensions, interpersonal influence and purchase intention) was accepted. The research findings provided empirical evidence on the difference in the impact of positive and negative eWOM on purchase intention. The source’s and receiver’s characteristics and related trustworthiness beliefs, (i.e. ability, benevolence, and integrity) are influenced by the direction of eWOM. The findings show that positive and negative eWOM differ with respect to how they impact on consumers’ attitudes and intentions. For instance, consumers have more belief in the credibility of a source who provides negative eWOM. However, the overall influence of the source’s characteristics tends to be stronger with positive than with negative eWOM. The findings of this study provide insights for both academics and practitioners to understand the potential of eWOM. This might be tailored to help develop more private relationships with customers through e-mail marketing strategies that incorporate eWOM. Negative eWOM is more credible but less directly useful to marketers. Nevertheless, it is important for marketers to realise the significance of managing dissatisfaction and to harness the power of negative eWOM. Similarly, positive eWOM is effective especially when the source is both expert and similar. This might be translated into online marketing campaigns that use consumer-to-consumer discussions in addition to viral marketing. Future research might test the model in different contexts, (e.g. financial services), to provide a more comprehensive picture of the influence of eWOM on purchase intention.

Syftet: Uppsatsens syfte är att beskriva hur influencers kan framstå som trovärdiga för att kunna motivera konsumenternas köpintentioner i elektroniskt word of mouth (EWOM). Uppsatsens syfte ska även beskriva om influencers trovärdighet styr konsumentens uppfattning för varumärken som därigenom påverkar köpintention.  Metod: En kvantitativ metod som utfördes genom en enkätundersökning distribuerades via sociala medier. Uppsatsen innefattar granskade vetenskapliga artiklar och datainsamling från enkätundersökningen. De har analyserats för att förstå influencer marketing i form av trovärdighet och hur det motiverar konsumenternas köpintention inom EWOM.  Slutsats: Influencers trovärdighet är nödvändig för att motivera konsumentens köpintention, dessvärre anser inte respondenterna att influencer är trovärdiga. Tre faktorer är väsentliga för influencers trovärdighet; pålitlighet, informationskvalitet och likhet. På grund av brist på trovärdighet, har influencers ingen inverkan på sambandet mellan varumärke och influencer.  Begränsningar: Personer som använder sociala medier och följer influencers. Majoriteten av respondenterna var från ålder 18 till 30 år. / Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to describe how influencers can appear as credible for consumers to motivate their buying intentions in EWOM. The essay's purpose also proceeds to describe if influencers' credibility control the consumers' trust to brands which in turn motivates the buying intention.   Methodology: It is a quantitative study where a survey has been sent out through social media to respondents. This study is based on previous peer- reviewed articles with and data collection from the survey, which is analyzed to understand influencer marketing in terms of trust and effect on consumer buying intention in EWOM. Conclusion: Influencers credibility is a necessity to affect the consumers buying intentions, unfortunately the respondents on the survey do not view influencers as credible. Three factors were important attributes for influencers to maintain, trust, similarity, and information quality. The results of influencers' low credibility, makes strong brands more credible in influencer marketing for the respondents. Influencers do not control the relationship between strong brands and consumers' buying intention because of low credibility. However, because of its role in EWOM it can bring brands to attention which leads to affecting consumers buying intention, because of the high credibility the brands have.  Limitations: Social media users following influencers. Majority of the respondents are from age 18 to 30.

Swedish travelers’ consumption has increased in relation to better economic conditions and demographic changes. In 2017, domestic leisure travelers’ consumption increased and the reason for such a changed tourism industry which is due to a changed behavior among travelers. One major reason is that internet and social media has had a major impact on the tourism industry (TIllväxtverket, 2017). Social media has developed new marketing techniques such as Influencer Marketing (IM) and Viral Marketing. The purpose of this study is to find out how travelers are affected by IM when choosing a destination, as a basis for this research the writers created a web survey where the target group was Swedish travelers who like to travel, the survey was answered by 188 respondents. The writers used netnography to review ten influencers to build their own interpretation of the subject and the result suggests that influencers have a role as an information source (eWOM) but are not the decision-making source for travelers’ consumption.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur olika generationer agerar på eWOM-kommunikation via online recensioner. Metod: Studien använder en kvantitativ forskningsmetod med en enkätundersökning som underlag för framarbetat resultat. Enkätundersökningen baserades på 8 frågor och 148 svar samlades in från respondenter från tre olika generationer. Svaren analyserades med deskriptiv statistik och univariat analys. Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat visar hur generationstillhörigheterna Baby Boomers, Generation X och Generation Y agerar när de läser online recensioner. De tre generationernas köpintentioner baseras på centrala faktorer som riskbenägenhet, förtroende och internetkompetens. Alla tre generationerna hävdar att eWOM och i synnerhet online recensioner påverkar dem. Förslag till vidare forskning: Ytterligare forskning kan undersöka varför konsumenter av en produkt inte är benägna att själva skriva recension men vill ta del av recensioner av produkter som andra konsumenter skrivit. Trots att det tydligt framgår att recensioner är en viktig del av köpbeslutsprocessen. Denna ovilja finns representerade hos samtliga undersökta generationer vilket framtida forskning bör undersöka.    Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien bidrar med ett antal förtydliganden för konsumentbeteenden i eWOM-kommunikationen. Studien kommer fram till flertalet slutsatser om hur generationerna påverkas och agerar för online recensioner. / Aim: The purpose of the study is to explain how different generational affiliation react on eWOM-communication via online reviews. Method: The study uses a quantitative research method to conduct survey. The survey was based on 8 questions and 148 responses were collected from respondents from three different generations. The responses were analyzed by descriptive statistics and univariate analysis. Result and conclusion: The study shows how generational affiliations of Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y act on the online reviews. The three generations` buying intentions are based on key factors such as risk aversion, trust and internet knowledge. All three generations claims that eWOM and, in particular, online reviews affect them. Further research: A future study can deal with why consumers of a product are not inclined to write online reviews of the product but want to read online reviews on products from other consumers. Although it is obvious that reviews are an important part of the purchasing decision. All three generations investigated tend to not willing to write online reviews Contribution of the thesis: The contribution of the study is several clarifications for consumer behavior in general especially generation marketing. The study concludes how the generations are affected and act for online reviews.

Titel: Is sharing caring? En kvantitativ studie om intentionen att dela virala videor   Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi   Författare: Amanda Happ och Erik Wilhelmsson   Handledare: Jonas Kågström   Datum: 2019 – Januari   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att analysera faktorerna bakom intentionen att dela en viral video på internet utifrån begreppen videokvalitet, empati, kontroll, altruism och inkludering. Studien genomförs således för att bidra med kunskap om intentionen bakom virala videodelningar till marknadsförare inom ämnet.   Metod: En kvantitativ metod har använts där data har samlats in genom en webbaserad enkätundersökning med 480 kvinnliga respondenter från 16 år och uppåt. Data har bearbetats i analys- och statistikprogrammet SPSS genom deskriptiv-, faktor-, kluster- och korrelationsanalys.   Resultat & slutsats: Resultatet visar att inkludering, altruism och i viss mån kontroll är de främsta faktorerna för att skapa en intention att dela virala videor på internet. Vidare visar resultatet att personer som väljer att dela virala videor med sina vänner ofta vill uppnå förstärkta band till gruppens medlemmar och bekräftelse av sin egen roll i den sociala gruppen.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar till ökad kunskap om vilka beteendefaktorer som ligger bakom beslutet att dela en viral video på internet. Denna kunskap kan hjälpa yrkesutövare skapa en marknadsföringskampanj som har till syfte att bli viral på internet.      Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Fortsatt forskning bör rikta sig till andra målgrupper, förslagsvis män. Det är även relevant att utföra en större undersökning där intentionen hos både sändare och mottagare (som i sin tur delar videon vidare) analyseras för att kunna påträffa eventuella likheter och skillnader hos dessa olika grupper.   Nyckelord: Virala videor, delning, eWOM, FIRO, Moment-to-Moment Likeability / Title: Is sharing caring? A quantitative study about the intention behind sharing viral videos.   Level: Student thesis, final assignment for bachelor’s degree in business administration.   Author: Amanda Happ and Erik Wilhelmsson   Supervisor: Jonas Kågström   Date: 2019 – January   Aim: The aim of this paper is to analyze factors behind the intention to share a viral video on the internet based on the concepts of video quality, empathy, control, altruism and inclusion.  This paper aims to contribute knowledge of the intention behind sharing viral videos to marketers within the subject.   Method: A quantitative method has been performed where data has been collected through a web-based survey of 480 female respondents from 16 years and older. Data has been processed in the analysis- and statistical program SPSS by using descriptive-, factor-, cluster- and correlation analysis.   Result & Conclusions: The result shows that inclusion, altruism and, to some extent, control are the main factors for creating an intention to share viral videos on the internet. Furthermore, the result shows that people who choose to share viral videos with their friends often want to strengthen ties to other group members and reinforce their role in the social group.   Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes to increased knowledge of the behavioral factors behind the decision to share a viral video. Knowledge can help professionals when a marketing campaign is being created with the aim of becoming viral on the internet.   Suggestions for future research: Continued research should target other groups, preferably men. It is also relevant to conduct a larger survey where the intention of both creator and receiver of viral content are analyzed to identify any similarities and differences between them.   Key words: Viral videos, forwarding intention, eWOM, FIRO, Moment-to-Moment Likeability

<p>U radu je istraženo kako čitaoci prihvataju savete na blogovima. U<br />radu je integrisan model prihvatanja tehnologije (eng. Technology<br />Acceptance Model) sa dualnim procesnim modelima informacionog<br />uticaja, a u cilju dobijanja teorijskog modela za prihvatanje saveta. U<br />modelu je istaknut značaj korisnosti i kredibilnosti saveta kao<br />medijatora u procesu prihvatanja saveta.<br />Dualni procesni modeli su u radu primenjeni u cilju otkrivanja<br />faktora koji doprinose korisnosti informacija, u različitom<br />postupku obrade tih informacija. Istraživanje je sprovedeno na<br />SAAS platformi Beeshaper. Primenjena je mešovita metoda<br />istraživanja. Prvo je sproveden intervju na uzorku od 25 blogera od<br />uticaja. Nakon toga je sprovedeno kvantitativno istraživanje sa 356<br />korisnika koji dobijaju savete na blogovima. Istraživanjem je potvrđen<br />predloženi model.<br />Komunikacija na internetu sve više dobija na značaju u poslednjim<br />godinama. Rezultati istraživanja predlažu model za razumevanje<br />transfera znanja na platformi bloga, kroz računarski podržanu<br />komunikaciju.</p> / <p>The paper explores the way readers accept advice on blogs. The paper<br />integrates the Technology Acceptance Model with dual process information<br />model, in order to obtain a theoretical model for advice adoption. The model<br />emphasizes the importance of the usefulness and credibility of eWOM as the<br />mediators in the process of advice adoption.<br />Dual process models are applied in the paper to identify the factors that<br />contribute the usefulness of information, in a different process of elaboration<br />of these information. The research was conducted on the SAAS platform<br />Beashaper. A mixed method of research was conducted. The first part of the<br />reseach was an interview with the sample of 25 influencers. After qualitative<br />part of the study, a quantitative survey was conducted on the sample of 356<br />users who adopted blog advice. The study confirmed the proposed model.<br />Communication on the Internet is gaining significance in the recent years.<br />This research suggest a model for understanding knowledge transfer on the<br />blog platform, through computer-based communication.</p>

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur konsumenters varumärkesuppfattning påverkas av influencer marketing med avseende på influencers följarantal och tematiska inriktning. Metod: I denna studie har en kvantitativ metod genomförts för att totalt samla in 173 svar genom en webbaserad enkätundersökning. Efter sållning utifrån vårt urval bearbetades 153 svar i SPSS där deskriptiv statistik, korrelationsanalys och klusteranalys genomfördes. Resultatet användes för att genomföra en diskussion för att dra vidare slutsatser. Slutsats: Studien visar att både tematiska influencers och influencers med många följare har en positiv inverkan på konsumenters varumärkesuppfattning. Influencers med stora följarantal bidrar till mer positiv inverkan på konsumenters varumärkesuppfattning än tematiska influencers. För maximala resultat bör marknadsförare använda sig av en influencer som både har ett stort följarantal och är inriktad på ett tema. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studiens bidrag till teorin inom marknadsföringens forskningsområde är en ökad kunskap om olika sorters influencers påverkan på konsumenters varumärkesuppfattning. Studien visar att följarantal väger tyngre än tema i frågan om hur positivt påverkad en konsuments varumärkesuppfattning blir. / Aim: The purpose of the study is to investigate how consumers’ brand perception is influenced by influencer marketing with regard to influencers' number of followers and topical alignment. Method: In this study, a quantitative method has been conducted to aggregate 173 responses in a web-based questionnaire survey. After screening based on our selection, 153 responses were processed in SPSS where descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and cluster analysis were conducted. The result was used to conduct a discussion to draw further conclusions. Conclusion: The study shows that both topical influencers and influencers with many followers have a positive impact on consumer brand perception. Influencers with a large number of followers contribute to a more positive impact on consumer brand perception than topical influencers. For maximum results, marketers should use an influencer that has both a large number of followers and focuses on a topic. Contribution: The study's contribution to the theory of marketing research area is an increased knowledge of the influence of different types of influencers on consumer brand perception. The study shows that the number of followers weighs heavier than the topic in terms of how positively affected a consumer's perception of the brand is.

Titel: Kritik till allmän beskådan - En kvalitativ studie om service recovery på sociala medier Nivå: C-uppsats inom ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Cornelia Gustafsson och Emma Smyth Handledare: Akmal Hyder Datum: 2018 - maj Syfte: Denna studie syftar till att skapa förståelse för hur service recovery på sociala medier skiljer sig åt i jämförelse med traditionell service recovery som sker fysiskt på plats.   Metod: Studien antog en induktiv ansats och genomfördes med en kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Utifrån tidigare forskning genomfördes tio semistrukturerade intervjuer som spelades in och transkriberades. Materialet har bearbetats och analyserats för att kunna besvara studiens syfte.    Resultat och slutsats: Studien konstaterar att det är av yttersta vikt att företag bemöter och besvarar negativt eWOM som skrivs på deras sociala medier och att detta sker snabbt och effektivt.  Vi fann i studien att företag besvarar negativa recensioner på sociala medier med en positiv tonalitet, vilket kan handla om att visa förståelse, visa uppskattning och tacka för feedback. Studien kan även konstatera att service recovery-processen delvis har förändrats i och med utvecklingen av sociala medier och att företag numera ställs inför nya utmaningar när de ska hantera negativt eWOM   Förslag till vidare forskning: Utifrån begränsningarna i denna studie kan vidare forskning genomföras. En av begränsningarna är att studien är avgränsad till att studera enbart hotellbranschen. Detta innebär att ett alternativ till vidare forskning är att studera även andra branscher, för att ta reda på om resultatet är tillämpningsbart även då. En annan begränsning är att studien enbart studerar service recovery ur ett företagsperspektiv. En intressant aspekt hade därför varit att genomföra en studie som fokuserar på konsumenternas perspektiv.   Uppsatsen bidrag: Studien bidrar till en ökad förståelse för hur företag använder service recovery för att hantera negativt eWOM på sociala medier. Den bidrar även med en större förståelse för hur hanteringen av negativa kommentarer och recensioner ser ut i praktiken för hotellföretag. Detta kan ge nya insikter vad gäller personalbehov och strategier för att hantera de utmaningar som utvecklingen av service recovery på sociala medier medför.    Nyckelord: Sociala medier, service recovery, marknadsföring, word-of-mouth, WOM, eWOM / Title: Criticism on display - A qualitative study on service recovery on social media Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Cornelia Gustafsson &amp; Emma Smyth Supervisor: Akmal Hyder Date: 2018 – may   Aim: This study aims to increase the understanding about the way service recovery on social media differs in comparison to traditional service recovery that occurs face-to-face.   Method: This study takes an inductive approach and it was conducted with a qualitative research design. Based on the theoretical frame of reference, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The material has been processed and analyzed to answer the purpose of the study.   Result &amp; Conclusions: The study shows that it is extremely important that businesses respond to negative eWOM that is written on their social media, and that this response needs to happen quickly. Our research shows that businesses responds to negative eWOM with a positive approach; this can include showing understanding, appreciation and thanking the person that wrote the comment for the feedback. From this research we have come to the conclusion that the service recovery process partially has changed due to social media and that businesses today are faced with new challenges when it comes to dealing with negative eWOM.   Suggestions for future research: We suggest further research to be made in other industries as we have only focused on companies within the hotel industry. We also believe more research should be made from the customers perspective, as we have solely focused on the company perspective. Therefore, the same research could be concluded, studying service recovery on social media, but from the customer point of view taking things like customer satisfaction in to account.   Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes with an increased understanding about the way businesses use service recovery to deal with negative eWOM on social media. The study also contributes with an increased understanding about the way hotels deal with negative comments and reviews. This knowledge can lead to a better understanding about a possible change when it comes to hotel staff. The knowledge can also be beneficial when creating strategies on how to deal with the changes it brings, when service recovery takes place on social media.   Key words: Social media, service recovery, marketing, word-of-mouth, WOM, eWOM