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Whilst influencer marketing has become a more common practice for decision makers within the field of influencer marketing, qualitative measurements are yet intangible and hard to measure, hence, requiring standardization. Recent scholars suggest that the phenomenon of influencer marketing have drastically changed over a short period of time, and there are reasons to believe that it is still changing. Therefore, relevant scholars have suggested that further research on the subject is of highest importance to the society as well as for brand/ company perspectives. The authors of this thesis have therefore focused on the most crucial elements that needs further research within the field of influencer marketing. These elements are elaborated by previous research, however, there are inconsistencies that needs to be reviewed and clarified. Although, influencer marketing requires more research in general, the authors of this thesis have decided to focus on the Swedish market, to understand and display the common strategies used within influencer marketing today, andpotentially foresee future strategies and trends.Inconsistency among previous research exists in terms of influencer selection, influencer evaluation and disclosure strategies. Additionally, there is a further need of elaborating on preferred relationships between brands/ companies and influencers, as well as preferred traits and characteristics brands/ companies seeks within an influencer. Therefore, the research question states; How do decision makers within the field of influencer marketing select andevaluate influencers; andhow are the different disclosure strategies used?Based on theoretical books, scientific articles, and journals the authors of this thesis have chosen suggested approaches to evaluate and analyse the data gathered. The primary data itself was gathered through semi-structured interviews consisting of six respondents. The respondents operate in different industries, but all are decision makers within the field of influencer marketing. For convenience, the authors of this have categorized the respondents based on size of company and whether their main focus are products or services.The findings of the thesis are presented in a model where the most common practices are displayed. The result will provide the reader with cause of action within the quantitative and qualitative approaches one can take. It has been established that qualitative approaches are becoming more common, contributing to a need of a trustworthy evaluation of such subjective approaches. In addition, the model presents the disclosure strategies used by the respondents in this study, hence, providing an understanding of how disclosure can be used to prevent certain issues. Evidence also points at missing opportunities regarding disclosure strategies. Furthermore, influencer characteristics and relationship approaches will be discussed. This thesis provides the most common approaches used by decision makers within the field of influencer marketing, especially when selecting and evaluating influencers. However, there is a need for further research regarding selection and evaluation of qualitative approaches as well as for disclosure strategies.

Frankrike är det första landet i världen att ta ställning till barns exponering i marknadsföring. I april år 2021 tillträdde den världsunika lagen som ska skydda barn från att utnyttjas av andra parter i marknadsföringssammanhang. Det är brist på tidigare forskning som undersöker barn som exponeras i marknadsföring av influencers på sociala medier och i relation till etiska och moraliska ställningstaganden. Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till forskningen genom att undersöka föräldrars ställningstaganden till barn som exponeras i marknadsföring av influencers på sociala medier och vilka etiska och moraliska dilemman som det bidrar till. Studien grundas i en deduktiv forskningsansats och en kvalitativ datainsamling där empiriska data samlas in från urvalet föräldrar och därigenom en fokusgrupp och sju enskilda intervjuer. Resultatet visar att innebörden av etik och moral skiljer sig mellan individer, att barns intresse i marknadsföring inte är prioriterat och att barn i marknadsföring på Instagram leder till mer uppmärksamhet åt influencers och företag. De etiska och moraliska dilemman som framkallas av att barn exponeras i marknadsföring på Instagram är individbaserat och baseras på den enskilda individen. Föräldrarna tar ställning till att barn som exponeras av influencers på sociala medier är oetiskt och omoraliskt, men när de själva delar bilder och filmer på sina egna barn är det etiskt och moraliskt korrekt. Därmed kommer det att fortsätta vara dilemman tills det finns tydliga riktlinjer samt forskning inom marknadsföring med barn. / The first country in the world to take a stand on children’s exposure in marketing is France. The world-unique law was adopted in April 2021 to protect children from being exploited by other parties in marketing contexts. There is a lack of previous research that examines children’s exposure by influencers and in relation to ethical and moral positions. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the research by examining parents' attitudes towards children who are exposed in marketing by influencers on social media and what ethical and moral dilemmas it contributes to. The study is based on a deductive research approach and a qualitative data collection where empirical data is collected from the sample of parents and thereby a focus group and seven individual interviews. The results show that the meaning of ethics and morals is different between individuals, that children’s interest in marketing is not a priority and that children in marketing on Instagram lead to more attention to influencers and companies. The ethical and moral dilemmas caused by children's participation in marketing on Instagram are individual-based. The parents take a stand that children exposed by influencers on social media are unethical and immoral, but when they share photos and videos on their own children it is ethical and moral correct. This will continue to be dilemmas until there are clear guidelines and research in marketing with children.

Aim: In connection with digitalization, companies have increased their use of social media marketing and influencer marketing. Thanks to this, the skincare industry has had a magnificent effect on its sales, where millennial women are a strong target group for its digital marketing. These marketing channels contribute to direct interaction on social media and research has shown that there are seven different behaviors on social media: co-creation, positive contribution, consumption, dormancy, detachment, negative contribution, and co-destruction. The purpose of the study is to understand whether there is a connection between millennial women's behavior on social media in relation to the marketing of skincare and their frequency of purchase of skincare products. The research question that is answered is which behaviors on social media towards marketing of the skincare industry have an effect on millennial women in Sweden's purchase frequency of skincare products. Method: The study is based on a quantitative method with a deductive approach. Hypothesis development and a survey were conducted with a total of 200 respondents who are millennial women living in Sweden. The data were analyzed through multiple regression analysis and is reported through a hypothesis test. Result and Conclusions: The study shows that there is a connection between millennial women's buying frequency and its behavior on social media towards the marketing of skincare products that are co-creative, positive contribution, consumption, detachment, and co-destruction. However, there is a lack of this connection when it comes to the behaviors of dormancy and negative contribution. Contribution of the thesis: The contribution of the study is theoretical knowledge for the skincare industry regarding the effect on the purchase frequency of skincare products that millennial women have, based on their behaviors on social media towards its marketing. The study also contributes with practical knowledge that there are reasons for marketers to pay attention to this in order to achieve increased sales. Suggestions for future research: Further research into the subject could be to apply these behaviors to other industries and populations than those to which this study relates. This is because these behaviors that have been investigated are not limited to a specific industry or population. Another suggestion is to study the effects on specific brands and influencers, as all of them are different and consumers can thus perceive these in different ways. / Syfte: I samband med digitaliseringen har företag fått ökad användning av marknadsföring i sociala medier samt influencermarknadsföring. Tack vare detta har hudvårdsbranschen fått en storslagen effekt i sin omsättning, där kvinnliga millennials utgör en stark målgrupp för dess digitala marknadsföring. Dessa marknadsföringskanaler bidrar till direkt interaktion på sociala medier och forskning har visat att det finns sju olika beteenden på sociala medier: samskapande, positivt bidrag, konsumtion, viloläge, avskildhet, negativt bidrag och medförstörelse. Studiens syfte är att förstå om det finns samband mellan kvinnliga millennials beteenden på sociala medier i relation till marknadsföring av hudvård och deras köpfrekvens av hudvårdsprodukter. Forskningsfrågan som besvaras är vilka beteenden på sociala medier gentemot marknadsföring av hudvårdsbranschen som har en effekt på kvinnliga millennials i Sveriges köpfrekvens av hudvårdsprodukter. Metod: Studien har en kvantitativ utgångspunkt med en deduktiv ansats. En hypotesutveckling samt en enkätundersökning har genomförts där svar från totalt 200 respondenter som är kvinnliga millennials bosatta i Sverige erhölls. Datan har analyserats genom multipel regressionsanalys och redovisas genom en hypotesprövning.  Resultat och slutsats: Studien visar att det finns ett samband mellan kvinnliga millennials köpfrekvens och dess beteenden på sociala medier mot marknadsföring av hudvårdsprodukter som är samskapande, positivt bidrag, konsumtion, avskildhet och medförstörelse. Däremot finns en avsaknad av detta samband när det gäller beteenden viloläge och negativt bidrag. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar till teoretisk kunskap för hudvårdsbranschen angående vilken effekt på köpfrekvensen av hudvårdsprodukter som kvinnliga millennials har baserat på deras beteenden på sociala medier gentemot dess marknadsföring. Studien bidrar även med praktisk kunskap om att det finns anledningar för marknadsförare att uppmärksamma detta för att uppnå ökad försäljning.  Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Fortsatt forskning som kan genomföras är att applicera dessa beteenden på andra branscher och populationer än för de som denna studie avser. Detta då dessa beteenden som har undersökts inte är bundna för enbart en specifik bransch eller population. Övrigt förslag är att studera effekten för specifika varumärken och influencers eftersom alla dessa är olika och konsumenter kan därmed uppfatta dessa på olika sätt.

Background: Influencer marketing is a rather new marketing strategy where companies use influencers to promote their products and services on their own social media platforms. Previous studies have shown that companies use influencer marketing for creating purchase intentions for the consumer, whereas other studies have indicated three different characteristics of an influencer, authenticity, attractiveness and trustworthiness, that are important to possess in order to be able to influence its followers, which is why this study wanted to do a combination of these types of studies. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain the relationship between influencers’ characteristics and consumers’ purchase intentions. Methodology: This quantitative study used a deductive approach and had an explanatory purpose, along with a cross-sectional research design. This study also presented a new model, including three hypotheses that assumed a positive relationship between the characteristics of an influencer and consumers’ purchase intentions. In order to collect data, a questionnaire was shared online, both through a convenience sampling technique and a snowball sampling technique, which resulted in 195 responses that passed the qualification questions. Findings: Two of the hypotheses within the proposed model were rejected, which meant that Authenticity and Attractiveness of an influencer did not show to have a positive relationship with consumers’ purchase intentions. Hypothesis 3 (H3) was however accepted, and it was shown that 14,8 % of consumers’ purchase intentions is explained by influencers’ Trustworthiness.   Conclusion: This study contributes with the theoretical implications that there is a relationship between the characteristic Trustworthiness of an influencer and consumers’ purchase intentions, along with the managerial implications which helps companies and marketers to know what characteristics to look for in an influencer when they want to create purchase intentions for consumers. Keywords: Attractiveness of an influencer; authenticity of an influencer; influencer characteristics; influencer marketing; influencers; purchase intentions; social media; trustworthiness on an influencer.

Purpose: The study aims to explore the effects of social media influencers' credibilitydimensions (attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise) on consumer behavior (purchase intention and attitude towards the brand) while considering the followers' loyalty as the mediating variable in the fashion industry.Theoretical approach: The proposed conceptual model of the study is based on assumptions of source credibility theory and theoretical reasonings provided in the previous literature related to social media influencer marketing.Design/methodology: Quantitative research design is used and data is collected through selfreported questionnaires. The population of the study consists of social media users who follow social media influencers on different social media platforms. Findings – Based on data collection from 225 Pakistani respondents, the analysis of the study indicates a positive impact of the three social media influencer credibility dimensions on the purchase intention, and followers’ attitude towards the endorsed brands. Moreover, influencers’ credibility positively impacts followers’ loyalty to the influencers. In addition to the direct effects, followers’ loyalty towards the influencers partially mediated (1) the relationship between influencers’ credibility and purchase intention, as well as (2) the relationship betweeninfluencers’ credibility and followers’ attitude towards the brand. Practical implications – The findings of the thesis provide implications for businesses and marketers to understand the role of credible social media influencers in shaping consumer behavior and it also answers the question of how they influence it.Originality/value – This study adds to the influencer marketing literature by investigating the mediating role of followers’ loyalty in between the relationship of influencer’s credibility and purchase intention of followers as well as their attitude towards the brand.

The digitalization and emergence of the Internet have given rise to new platforms providing marketing, distribution and revenues to happen in the same place, a significant difference from the past. New platforms have become new places for artists to compete for, for instance, positions on toplists. This is the fundamental background to the occurrence of manipulated streams in the music industry. The purpose of this study has been to examine and create a deeper understanding of manipulated streams and its role in the music industry, from a marketing perspective. Thus, the study aims to provide knowledge on the meaning of having high streaming numbers, why streams are being manipulated and how they are used in marketing.  The empirical data is based on six interviews with people from different parts of the music business. The results indicate that manipulated streams affect expectations of the artist and provide an opportunity for the artist to stand out in today's information overload. The artists have gained more power and influence as they are now being compared with influencers, and can influence the way the audience listens to music. Moreover, the findings also indicate that actors and platforms of the music industry need adjustments to encounter the phenomenon of manipulated streams.  Lastly, we suggest that future research should focus on how to prevent the occurrence of manipulated streams, in addition to social media's effect on cognitive behaviours of the users in relation to high streaming numbers.

Bakgrund: Influencer- och kändismarknadsföring är idag vanligt förekommande. Många företag använder sig av denna marknadsföringsstrategi för att skapa ett större förtroende för företaget och dess varumärken. En kändis eller en influencer kan såväl stärka en varumärkesimage som försämra det. En kändis eller influencers egna rykte och kontroverser kan påverka varumärkets rykte. På samma sätt kan en varumärkesskandal påverka de kändisar och influencer som marknadsför varumärket i negativ riktning genom ett försämrat rykte. Idag kan konsumenter, kändisar och influencers med mindre ansträngning se till att varumärken bojkottas. Konsekvenserna av en bojkott kan vara både temporära i form av offentliga tillrättavisningar och skamning online. Medan en mer permanent och långvarig konsekvens kan vara förlust av intäkter, skada varumärkespositioneringen, leda till annullerade kontrakt och en försämrad varumärkesimage. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur en varumärkesimage påverkas av en så kallad varumärkesskandal. Studien ämnar främst att undersöka hur en sådan skandal uttrycks och tas emot på sociala medier av influencers, av kändisar och av allmänheten, att undersöka vilka mekanismer som uppträder, samt studera hur företags varumärken kan komma att påverkas. Metod: Studien tillämpar en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en deduktiv ansats för att kunna besvara forskningsfrågorna. Undersökningen genomförs med hjälp av en textanalys av inlägg och kommentarer på sociala-medieplattformar som Twitter och Instagram. Detta görs för att kunna fånga upp de uppfattningar och åsikter om de valda varumärkesskandalerna. Empiri: I denna del presenteras insamlingen av den data som studien kommer att utgå ifrån. Författarna sammanställer resultaten utifrån olika teman som genererats med hjälp av analysen. Därefter görs en djupdykning i dessa teman vilka styrks med ett antal citat. Slutsats: Eftersom bojkott har visat sig vara en stor del av de kommentarer som uttrycks för varumärkesskandaler kan ett liknande mönster skönjas gällande konsekvenser och cancelfenomenet av varumärkesskandaler. Eftersom alla människor uppfattar saker på olika sätt så betyder detta att det alltid kommer att finnas olika åsikter om ett ämne. Detta gäller även för uppfattningar om varumärkesskandaler. Ämnet rasism uppfattas som ett mer normaliserat ämne än sexualisering av barn som uppfattas mer tabu. Majoriteten av individerna ansåg företagens reklamkampanj som en skandal och uttryckte ilska och besvikelse gentemot företagen. I sin helhet uttryckte individerna en negativ varumärkesattityd och refererade ofta till bojkott. Flera av de kommentarer som uttrycker moralisk upprördhet hade en förväntan om att fler kändisar och influencers borde yttra sig offentligt om skandalen och använda sitt sociala inflytande för att sprida medvetenhet. Med hjälp av analysen gick det att fastställa fastän det fanns kändisar och influencers som yttrade sig så var det inte många.Varumärkets image påverkas av negativa kommentarer vilket blir en riktlinje för allmänheten i valet att bojkotta varumärket eller inte. Negativ publicitet av kändisar som jobbar med eller gör reklam för ett specifikt varumärke kan påverka själva varumärkets image och i sin tur även påverka konsumenternas köpintentioner i negativ riktning. Negativ WOM påverkar ett varumärkes image och leder till lägre försäljning. Bra storytelling kan leda till en bra helhetssyn av varumärkets image och vidare till en effektiv försäljning och tvärtom.

The rise of social media has emerged the social phenomena called cancel culture, where individuals hold influencers and endorsed brands accountable for perceived immoral actions. Cancel culture originates from a desire for social justice, where the consequences of those cancelled could be temporary and long-lasting reputational damage. The behavior to cancel is individually complex and has many different drivers influencing the performance of behavior.  Despite its significant impact, cancel culture within research is just in its early stage and has received limited research from a qualitative perspective. Previous studies have researched cancel culture through the perspective of consumer power, celebrity transgressions, psychological drivers, and social identity. Moreover, previous research has studied the intended behavior to cancel, not the actual performance to cancel. There still remains a research gap in understanding the personal and social drivers that influence the process to cancel an influencer and endorsed brand. By this, it led us to our research question: “What are the personal and social drivers that could influence the behavior to engage in cancel culture?”. With an aim to provide a deeper understanding of the complex phenomena of cancel culture between consumers, influencers and the endorsed brands. By examining drivers such as norms, beliefs, values and traits our study seeks to shed light on the drivers and how they influence the behavior of cancel culture.  The findings revealed an interesting insight from the consumer perspective. An actual cancellation has a higher chance of occurring if the influencer's action is perceived to cross an moral barrier of a follower. However, our study found that subjectivity increases complexity of the behavior as every individual has their own moral barrier. For example, if the action is perceived to clash with the followers’ personal beliefs and values, cancellation might occur, however another individual might not perceive the action to cross their moral barrier. Moreover, our study found that the desire of social belongingness and social acceptance has a significant role when making a decision to cancel. From our study we have revealed that cancel culture is both an individual and social phenomenon, where the influence of one's own personal drivers is just as influential as the social influence. More specifically, followers' idea of their self- concept is just as influential as the pressure from their social environment. In conclusion, personal and social drivers influence the decision to cancel an influencer and endorsed brands. However, as subjectivity matters, these personal and social drivers influence the process differently for each individual. From a managerial perspective, our findings could contribute to influencer marketing strategies trying to improve their selection process or response strategy if an cancellation would occur.

Influencer marketing is a new marketing strategy that has risen in popularity to be used by businesses during the last decade. Even though studies have been previously made on influencer marketing, little research has been made specifically on influencer marketing in combination with their discount codes being offered. The main purpose of this research paper is to examine the connection between the discount codes and the effect it might have on consumers' purchase intention, behavior and impulsive buying. Furthermore, the satisfactory levels after a purchase due to influencer marketing has been examined as it has not been seen in previous studies. The findings revealed that consumers are directly affected by influencer discount codes, causing impulsive buying to a certain level and affects the purchase intentions and decision-making in a faster manner. Furthermore, consumers who had purchased products due to influencer marketing obtained a high satisfactory level post-purchase. The same result could be seen both with and without discount codes. These results contribute to a positive insight of influencer marketing for businesses as the majority of the consumers were satisfied with their purchases. The research paper is written in english.