The purpose of this study is to gain in-depth knowledge of how the members of online communities form impressions of organisations that use online communities in their communication activities. Online impression formation has its peculiarities and in order to succeed companies need to better understand this phenomenon. In order to appreciate and evaluate an interaction, those involved in it must know their own identity. Hence, individuals as well as companies engage in identity production by trying to project a favourable impression. The process of identity production can take place in both the offline and the online world. This study focuses on the online world, more specifically on online communities, by investigating how online community members form impressions of companies that produce their identities in online communities. Technology has changed customer behaviours dramatically. People have embraced the Internet to meet and interact with one another. This behaviour is in line with the postmodern assumption that there is a movement towards re-socialisation. Online communication platforms connect people globally and give them the possibility to interact and form online social networks. These platforms are interactive, and thus change the traditional way of communication. Companies therefore have to embrace those interactive ways of communication. In the online world consumers are quick to react to communication weaknesses. Inappropriate corporate communication activities can affect the image they have formed of the company in question.

Self-presentations are goal-directed acts designed by individuals to convey particular images of their selves and thereby influence how they are perceived and treated by various audiences (Goffman, 1959). Recent literature suggests that individuals are increasingly interacting with their workplace colleagues on personal networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. In such overlapping interactions, individuals often move swiftly and in an asymmetric fashion between physical-virtual settings and personal-professional life. Presumably, diverse self-presentations across physical-virtual settings and personal-professional life may create conflicts or tensions. Drawing on 31 semi-structured interviews, this thesis explores the self-presentations of Indian IT professionals on social media. Overall, the analysis suggests that in most cases, respondents enacted diverse self-presentations across physical-virtual settings and personal-professional life. In such cases, they expressed concerns that overlapping audiences may view their self-presentations on social media out-of-context and inevitably misconstrue their professional image. From a theoretical perspective, the thesis illustrates that individuals who exercise region behavior experience cognitive discomfort when they enact self-presentations on social media as overlapping self-presentations are inevitable. From a practical perspective, empirical evidence suggests that employees take their interactions on social media seriously and thus dispute managers arguments that interacting on social media is merely a time-pass.

Overconfidence and its relationship to investor market participation is well established in the finance literature. The research into investors and social networks is only in its infancy, however. This thesis extends the literature by expanding on both subjects individually, then bringing them together. Empirical work on individual investors in the existing literature links overconfidence and excess trading, resulting in impaired returns. The preferred activity metric, monthly account turnover, encapsulates two separate elements, though. One is trade frequency. The other is leverage use. Chapter 4 of this thesis theorizes based on the existing literature that in fact trade frequency is not a good measure of overconfidence. It then demonstrates through empirical analysis of a group of individual non-professional foreign exchange traders that leverage is much more suitable to that role. Chapter 5 turns the focus to social networks, particularly with respect to information transfer. The literature in finance anticipates that network members benefit from their membership. Further, network position (social capital) enhances that benefit. This thesis challenges that expectation with respect to non-professional investors. Findings based on analysis of members of an online retail foreign exchange trader social network indicate that while there may be an educational benefit accruing to unsophisticated members, for more sophisticated ones membership appears to have a negative effect on returns. One potential explanation for the negative impact of network membership is explored in Chapter 6 in the form of impression management. It is hypothesized that sophisticated investors are influenced in their behaviour by the realization they are being observed, and also the size of their audience. Analysis of foreign exchange traders indicates an increase in leverage use among sophisticated investors as their audience size increases, coinciding with a decline in trade excess returns, making the case for an observation-based rise in overconfidence.

本論文計乙篇，凡分四章，約四萬字。 第一章，緒論。一、闡明本研究之動機及目的旨在調查觀眾對電視新聞播報人條件之 期望，與觀眾如何評定播報人之專業形象。二、檢閱國內外相關文獻。三、界定本研 究各變項之意義及關係。 第二章，研究方法。一、描述本研究調查之樣本。二、選定測量之播報人、設計測量 播報人專業形象之量表及修訂問卷。三、概述調查過程及問卷回收情形。 第三章，資料分析。一、分析播報人條件與受試者背景、收視習慣之關係。二、播報 人專業形象因素分析。三、播報人熟悉度及專業形象之差異。 第四章，結論。一、本研究主要發現。二、研究限制及未來研究建議。

The aim of this study is to define and further the understanding of the practice of lobbying as it manifests in the participants’ interactions with each other and to identify its specific conditions (rules, standards, traits). A research overview shows that lobbying as a political phenomenon is well researched, but that the action per se tends to been taken for granted as ‘talking’. Communication between lobbyists and politicians has predominantly been reconstructed as transmission, informationexchange. The study addresses this deficiency by applying an ethnographic method, shadowing, and by focussing on the micro-level of lobbying as a socio-political phenomenon. Lobbying is researched in moments of interaction between interest representatives and representatives of the political system, i.e. MEPs and their assistants. Seven lobbyists and politicians in Brussels have been shadowed for one week each; a further 34 interviews were conducted. The analytical strategy was to infer from the actors’ impression management (Goffman). The study is informed by a neo-institutional perspective. It assumes that cognitive, normative, and regulative structures provide meaning to social behavior, and that these resources are identifiable. Goffman’s concept of team and the distinction between frontstage and backstage emerged as central categories. My results suggest that the small world of the EU’s capital results in a sense of ‘us in Brussels’ shared by lobbyists, politicians and assistants alike. Lobbying-interaction in frontstage-mode is governed by strict conventions; ignorance or transgression are sanctioned as unprofessional. The key result, however, is that lobbyists actively work towards engagement on other terms. Lobbyists employ various strategies and build relations with politicians in order to create moments of backstage-interaction. In backstage-mode, lobbyists not only gain access to soft information, but can negotiate ways of working together with politicians in pursuit of different, but partly overlapping agendas.

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Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Les glycosaminoglycannes (GAGs) sont des molécules polysaccharidiques polysulfatées intervenant dans des processus aussi variés que la prolifération, différenciation ou migration cellulaire, la coagulation sanguine ou l‟infection virale. Il est généralement admis qu‟une séquence particulière de GAG doit être associée à une fonction biologique spécifique. Les structures chimiques globales des GAGs sont connues. Cependant, contrairement au séquençage des gènes ou des protéines, la détermination de la séquence saccharidique exacte impliquée dans une fonction biologique particulière n‟est encore pas possible. Le séquençage « glycomique » constitue donc un enjeu majeur. L‟une des technologies les plus novatrices pour aborder ce problème de séquençage des GAGs semble être l‟impression moléculaire. En effet, elle permet d‟obtenir des polymères (MIPs pour Molecular Imprinted Polymer) spécifiquement imprimés par la forme structurale d‟une molécule cible.En nous appuyant sur des travaux antérieurs réalisés avec des modèles saccharidiques sulfatés simples, nous avons appliqué cette technologie à la reconnaissance de glycannes sulfatés complexes d‟intérêt biologique tels qu‟une héparine de bas poids moléculaire ou un mimétique ayant une activité anticoagulante. Il a été démontré une reconnaissance spécifique et sélective selon la molécule étudiée à l‟aide de MIPs spécialement conçus pour chaque GAG. De plus, nous avons obtenu des MIPs qui, en immobilisant temporairement un sucre, permettraient leur substitution de façon stéréospécifique. La détermination des conditions optimales de synthèse des MIPs s‟est avéré une étape nécessaire à l‟obtention d‟une bonne reconnaissance. Ces travaux ouvrent des perspectives d‟application de la technique d‟impression moléculaire à l‟analyse des séquences de GAGs d‟intérêt biologique / Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are polysulfated polysaccharide molecules involved in many biological processes such as cellular proliferation, differentiation or migration, blood clotting or viral infection. It is generally admitted that a particular GAG sequence is connected to a specific biological function. Depending on their composition in disaccharides, GAGs are classified into subfamilies whose overall chemical structures are known. Unlike gene or protein sequencing, determination of the exact saccharidic sequence involved in a particular biological function is not yet possible with the available technological tools. "Glycomics" is a real challenge nowadays. One of the most innovative technologies to achieve this goal seems to be the molecular imprinting. Indeed, it provides polymers (MIPs for Molecular Imprinted Polymer) imprinted by the structural form of a target molecule.Based on previous studies performed with simple sulfated saccharides, this technology has been applied to the recognition of complex sulfated glycans. MIPs were achieved demonstrating specific and selective recognition for a Low Molecular Weight Heparin or a synthetic anticoagulant mimetic. Other MIPs were able to temporally immobilize sugars which make them available for stereo-specific modifications. Screening of optimal synthesis conditions of MIPs appeared a necessary step to obtain a specific and selective recognition. These studies open further possibilities to analyze GAG sequences carrying biological functions by the molecular imprinting technology

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