The rapid penetration of the Internet and the prevalence of various social media facilitated by new technologies provide new opportunities for how marketing techniques are developed and refined. The creation of viral marketing has been driven by technological innovations and cultural changes. Responding to marketing trends and catering to consumers’ psychological demands and behavioral changes, viral marketing represents the latest online customer-centric marketing (Shukla, 2010). Extending the advertising effects of word-of-mouth (WOM) communication and Internet marketing, viral marketing has demonstrated considerable success and utility in a promotional phase and development process of a product and/or service. This study intends to illustrate the benefits and challenges of viral marketing. The effects and concerns with the adoption of viral marketing are reinforced by previous research and findings from marketer and consumer focus groups. This thesis will contribute to building a theoretical and empirical foundation for viral marketing research and professional practice.

Submitted by Bruno Storchi Bergmann (famequiano@gmail.com) on 2015-06-01T20:58:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_BBergmann_310515.pdf: 1659176 bytes, checksum: 168075ddcddff80ae413327f3271cb72 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br) on 2015-06-02T12:58:58Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_BBergmann_310515.pdf: 1659176 bytes, checksum: 168075ddcddff80ae413327f3271cb72 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-02T17:25:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_BBergmann_310515.pdf: 1659176 bytes, checksum: 168075ddcddff80ae413327f3271cb72 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-15 / The main objective of this thesis was to examine the effects between e-loyalty and eWOM. As a secondary objective, the significance of e-loyalty predictors established in prior literature was verified. The subject of research was focused on one type of product/service: online book purchase made in an internet retailer’s (e-tailer’s) website. Two hundred forty two online surveys were completed with respondents from the Millennial generation residing in different locations in Brazil and the United States. The analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM on a research model built based in prior empirical research. While the effects between e-loyalty and eWOM were found to be weak, a high quality eWOM environment was considered a significant predictor of e-loyalty. All predictor variables had significant values, with commitment generating the strongest effect on e-loyalty. / O objetivo principal da dissertação foi o de examinar a relação entre lealdade (e-loyalty) e o boca-a-boca (eWOM) no contexto do varejo eletrônico. Como objetivo secundário, foi feito uma verificação da significância das variáveis preditoras de e-loyalty. Essa pesquisa foi focada em um tipo de produto/serviço: compra de livros através da internet. Duzentos e quarenta e dois questionários online foram respondidos por um público representativo da geração Y (millennials), e rresidentes em diferentes localidades no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos. A análise de dados foi efetuada pela aplicação do método PLS-SEM sobre um modelo de pesquisa cuidadosamente formulado com base em resultados empíricos prévios. Enquanto que a relação entre e-loyalty e eWOM foi classificada como fraca, um ambiente de boca-a-boca online de alta qualidade representou uma variável preditora significativa para o sentimento de e-loyalty. Todas as variáveis preditoras foram classificadas como significativas nesse estudo, sendo que comprometimento tem o efeito mais forte sobre a variável e-loyalty.

Purpose:The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of stakeholders’ corporate reputation regarding a brand’s crisis communication.                                                                   Research Questions:  How are stakeholders’ cognitive reputation affected after exposure of the crisis communication and the generated eWOM? How are stakeholders’ affective reputation affected after exposure of the crisis communication and the generated eWOM?   Methodology:The research was of qualitative nature and had an explorative approach. The collection of data was done by semi-structured interviews based on a convenience sample of six respondents.  Findings:The results of this study indicated that the crisis communication had a higher impact on the respondents’ corporate reputation than the eWOM had. The generated eWOM worked as an influential factor of the corporate reputation rather than the dominant factor in connection to corporate reputation. The crisis communication is proposed to be a dominant factor affecting one’s corporate reputation of a brand, even though one’s corporate reputation of a brand previous to the crisis lays the foundation for how one is affected. Research limitations:Since this study applied the crisis communication of two fashion-retailer brands, there was a limitation by aiming the focus towards the fashion industry. Previous corporate reputation towards these two specific brands may also have affected the results.

Problem: The nature of marketing communications is changing as a result of the rise and development of social media. In response to this advancement, the way in which companies communicate with their target audience has shifted. Consumers today attain greater control in terms of receiving and influencing a message. Companies may need to gain an understanding on how various marketing communication tools can be integrated and utilized instead of primarily using one marketing communication tool for the purpose of optimizing the impact of persuasive communication. However, a company’s attempt to control brand related discussions on social media can be executed through the use of influencer marketing. The use of influencers is expanding within the fashion industry but the recognition of influencers being a part of a company’s modernized marketing strategy is low. This causes the researchers inquiry to explore this further.    Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to explore how a company within the fashion industry can use influencer marketing as a part of their integrated marketing communication and how a company can use an influencer to strengthen its brand in view of its brand identity. The study targets the fashion industry in Sweden.    Methodology: In order to fulfil the purpose of the study and to answer the two research questions, a qualitative research approach together with a multi-method approach was adopted. Semi-structured interviews and qualitative email questionnaires were used in the empirical data collection process. The selected participants obtained high knowledge in the field of influencer marketing as well as knowledge within the fashion industry. The participants were selected through convenience sampling.    Conclusion: The empirical study showed that influencer marketing can be used as a part of a company’s IMC by integrating the influencer with the six marketing communication tools. Furthermore, influencer marketing can be incorporated into a company’s IMC as a tool used to partially control eWOM to a desired target audience by speaking positively about a product, service and brand. An influencer can strengthen a brand through laying a foundation for a brand identity and a brand image to cooperate as a unit. It was further found that the influencer should be integrated internally within a brand identity for the purpose of externally communicating the brand identity to the company’s desired target audience. A conceptual model was developed by the researchers with the intention of providing a comprehensive illustration of the answers to the research questions.

Social media is an important part of today's society and Facebook has become a place where more and more companies are being seen. With this, Facebook Brand Communities (BC) has become more common and a part of this phenomenon means that members use of electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) has become important for the consumers and also for the company. In this paper, we investigate how and why eWOM are being used on Fredagspoddens vänner, a BC on Facebook that can be connected to several brands, such as Daisy Grace and Perfect Day Media, and that today has over 10 000 members. The investigation is based on the eight factors for motivating eWOM among users that Hennig-Yhuraus et al. (2004) describes in their article. These are: platform assistance, ventilating negative feelings, concern for other users, positive self-improvement, social benefits, economic driving force, helping the company and seeking advice. Theories on posters and lurkers are also being used, as user behavior is shown to depend on the type of user being investigated. In order to answer the question, a case study has been conducted containing three methods: observation, questionnaire and interview. Respondents for all methods have been members of the community. The result shows that members of the community can not only be divided into user groups of posters and lurkers, but that another user group, likers, are required to define the members that are somewhere between these two completely different user groups. It also emerged that connection between members is important for the members of the community and that eWOM is commonplace, both in terms of negative and positive parts of the community.

Bakgrund: Vid etableringen av sociala medier utvecklades ett nytt begrepp nämnt eWOM (elektronisk Word-of-Mouth). eWOM handlar om hur konsumenter sprider sina åsikter och ger respons om företag på sociala medier och internet. Det tidigare forskning har bekräftat är att företag vill anstränga sig för att kunna hantera konsumenternas åsikter och respons, däremot visar inte forskning hur företag ska hantera konsekvenserna och påverkan av detn eWOM som konsumenter sprider på sociala medier. Tidigare forskning har kommit fram till att företag inte insett fördelarna som arbeta eWOM kan bidra med. Utifrån den här bakgrunden undersöks våra problemformuleringar.   Syfte: Syftet med det här examensarbetet är att ge en fördjupad kunskap och förståelse om företag inom livsmedelsbranschen påverkas av eWOM och hur de kan hantera konsekvenserna och påverkan av den eWOM som konsumenter sprider på sociala medier. Metod: Examensarbetets empiriska material samlades in genom intervjuer. För att samla det empiriska material genomfördes tio stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer med representanter från livsmedelsbutiker runt om Västra Götalands län. Slutsats: Examensarbetet har påvisat att livsmedelsbutiker påverkas av den eWOM som konsumenter sprider på sociala medier. De påverkas positivt i form av bättre kommunikation och effektivitet genom att arbeta med den här typen av kommunikation. Undersökningen belyser att livsmedelsbutiker främst behöver arbeta med att ständigt övervaka de sociala medier som konsumenterna befinner sig på, för att kunna hantera konsekvenserna och påverkan av eWOM. Det här bör livsmedelsbutiker göra för att direkt kunna ge svar och för att återställa eventuella misstag de har gjort. Nyckelord: Sociala medier, Word-of-Mouth, electronic Word-of-Mouth, motivationsteori, påverkan och konsekvenser av eWOM. / Background: In connection with the development of the information communication technology in general and social media in particular, a new concept electronic Word-ofMouth (eWOM) is introduced. eWOM deals with how consumers spread their opinions and responses about companies on social media and the internet. Previous research has confirmed that companies do work hard to manage consumers’ response. However, research does not show how companies deal with the consequences and the impact that consumers spread on social media through eWOM. Earlier research also claims that companies do not realize the benefits that eWOM can contribute. Based on this bakground our problems are investigated. Purpose: The aim of this study is to provide a deeper knowledge and understanding if grocery stores are affected by eWOM and how they can handle the consequences and the impact of the eWOM as consumers spread on social media.  Method: The empirical material of the study was collected through interviews. Ten semistructured interviews were conducted with representatives from grocery stores around Västra Götaland. Conclusion: The study has shown that grocery stores are affected by the eWOM that consumers spread on social media. They are affected in ways such as working with this type of communication it is providing benefits such as better customer communication and efficiency. The study shows that grocery stores mainly need to deal with the consequences and the impacts of eWOM are to constantly monitor the social media consumers are on. This should be done by grocery stores to correct and to provide immediate answers to recover any mistakes they made. Keywords: Social media, Word-of-Mouth (WOM), electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM), motivations theory, impact and consequences of eWOM.

Consumer generated product reviews is a tool growing in popularity among e-retailers. On account of its many benefits and as the internet is continuously taking over as a market place this may come as no surprise. However, deception has found its way in with the intention to further extend these benefits and as reviews keep growing as a go-to tool for the practitioners – so does the phenomenon of brand generated opinion spam. Since legal repercussions of opinion spamming is found in theory to be largely absent, the authors sought for other facets of a brand that could potentially be influenced by this phenomenon. Aiming straight for the heart of a brand, namely brand trust. Taking a foothold in theory on brand trust as a psychological variable, the present thesis aims to explore how revealed opinion spam activities can affect brand trust. Through a qualitative and embedded case study, this thesis thereby aims to explore how brand trust is affected by opinion spam activities unveiled within brands, and ultimately contribute with a deeper understanding of this affect. Data was collected through two focus groups consisting of 14 participants in total, and as found – being engaged in opinion spam activities is a risky business. Brand generated opinion spam is found to influence the antecedents of brand trust negatively. Further research is advised to examine the relationship between opinion spam and brand trust extending beyond an exploratory stage. As antecedents of brand trust can be derived from an array of different constructs, and since brand trust is not uniformly defined in literature - varying sets of findings can surface depending on how brand trust is conceptualized. Brand generated opinion spam itself and its supposed affects ought to be examined further as this contemporary phenomenon is certainly on the horizon for most retailers operating online.   "Dare to be true: nothing can need a lie; A fault which needs it most, grows two thereby." – George Herbert - 1633 / Konsumentgenererade produktrecensioner är ett verktyg som växer i popularitet bland internetbaserade återförsäljare. På grund av dess många fördelar och eftersom internet kontinuerligt växer som marknadsplats är detta kanske ingen överraskning. Dock, har bedrägeri letat sig in i syfte att ytterligare utöka dessa fördelar allteftersom kundrecensioner fortsätter att växa som ett verktyg bland utövare, så kommer opinion spam – fenomenet att växa i takt. Då de juridiska påföljderna av opinion-spamming lyser med sin frånvaro i den vetenskapliga litteraturen, sökte författarna till denna avhandling efter andra aspekter av ett varumärke som potentiellt kan påverkas av detta fenomen. Med siktet inställt på hjärtat av ett varumärke, nämligen varumärkesförtroendet. Avhandlingen tar avstamp i teorier om varumärkesförtroende som en psykologisk variabel i syfte att undersöka hur ett avslöjade opinion spam-aktiviteter kan påverka just varumärkesförtroende. Genom en kvalitativ och en ”embedded” fallstudie syftar denna avhandling därmed till att undersöka hur varumärkesförtroende är påverkat av opinion-spammande aktiviteter som avslöjats inom varumärken, och bidra med en djupare förståelse av denna påverkan. Datan samlades in genom två fokusgrupper bestående av totalt 14 deltagare, och som påvisat är opinion-spamming en riskabel verksamhet. Varumärkesgenererad opinion-spamming har visat sig påverka förtroendet för varumärken negativt. Ytterligare forskning rekommenderas att undersöka förhållandet mellan opinion spam och varumärkesförtroende bortom ett förberedande stadium. Då förtroende för varumärken kan härledas från en rad olika konceptualiseringar, och eftersom varumärkesförtroende som en vetenskaplig term inte är enhetligt definierat i litteraturen – kan varierande uppsättningar av resultat genereras beroende på hur varumärkesförtroende som koncept är uppbyggt. Varumärkesproducerad opinion-spam i sig, och dess påverkan på förtroendet till varumärken borde undersökas ytterligare, detta eftersom det som ett kontemporärt fenomen ligger i riktlinjen för de flesta återförsäljare som är verksamma på internet.

The rapid penetration of the Internet and the prevalence of various social media facilitated by new technologies provide new opportunities for how marketing techniques are developed and refined. The creation of viral marketing has been driven by technological innovations and cultural changes. Responding to marketing trends and catering to consumers’ psychological demands and behavioral changes, viral marketing represents the latest online customer-centric marketing (Shukla, 2010). Extending the advertising effects of word-of-mouth (WOM) communication and Internet marketing, viral marketing has demonstrated considerable success and utility in a promotional phase and development process of a product and/or service. This study intends to illustrate the benefits and challenges of viral marketing. The effects and concerns with the adoption of viral marketing are reinforced by previous research and findings from marketer and consumer focus groups. This thesis will contribute to building a theoretical and empirical foundation for viral marketing research and professional practice.

Word of Mouth (WOM) is an ancient concept that has been around since the uprising of markets. However, due to the increased internet usage a new form of WOM has emerged called Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM). The concept of eWOM takes form when consumers communicate with each other or a company online. Consumers can communicate by sharing positive and negative comments about the experiences they have had with companies and products. These comments have a positive or negative effect on consumer satisfaction and a company's reputation. Due to this it is important for companies to communicate with their consumers online across various platforms. Companies can communicate with their consumers by responding to comments. An industry that frequently responds to consumers eWOM is the hotel industry. Hotel guests often write reviews and comments online that managers in the hotel industry respond to. However, hotels have visitors from all around the world and consumers from different cultures tend to engage in eWOM in different ways. This is important for hotels to be aware of. Hence, the purpose of this study is to gain a more profound understanding on how managers in the hotel industry respond to eWOM posted on social media and review sites by consumers from different cultures.   This study is a case study where two hotels located in northern Sweden have been interviewed. The interviewees of the two hotels are managers with a lot of experience of the hotel industry. The findings of the case study suggest that hotels respond to consumers' positive and negative eWOM. Positive comments are usually responded to with a personalized and appreciative response to increase consumer satisfaction. Negative comments are responded to by addressing the issue in order to make up for service failure. The study also found that hotels do not pay much attention to cultural differences and the reason for this is because most of the hotel’s consumers are from individualistic cultures.

This paper extends the understanding of the word of mouth (WOM) concept and its new role within social media and thereafter analysing the impact that electronic WOM (eWOM) has on marketing campaigns. Quantitative descriptive research was employed, using the tweets that were part of the Vodacom Twitter network. This data was used to analyse the differences of activity and sentiment within the tweets. The collection of tweets were then measured against a proxy, Vodacom’s rebranding campaign. The researcher was able to identify the impact of the rebranding campaign on consumers through the changes in the responses before, during and after the campaign. The research found that the rebranding campaign resulted in higher levels of engagement between consumers and the brand. During the rebranding process, negative sentiments were lowered, however the end result of the campaign left consumers with more negativity regarding the branding. The paper advances marketing practitioners understanding of how WOM and social media play a critical role in today’s marketing. Consumers are no longer bystanders in the marketing process and are instead turning to social media as a source of information as well as a platform to communicate their opinions and attitudes. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted