Influencer marketing has made its way to the forefront of online marketing due to the rapid expansion and usage of social media platforms. Despite the increased adoption of influencer marketing, the effect of sponsorship disclosure on source credibility remains under-researched in academia. This study aimed to address this research gap in two parts. Firstly, by evaluating the characteristics and significance of social media influencers. Secondly, by investigating the effect of sponsorship disclosure on consumers perception of source credibility and the likelihood to recommend organic hair care products. The selected social media platform for this study was Instagram, due to its growing popularity and increased usage by influencers. The hair care retail business as a proven multi-billion dollar industry, set itself as a valuable industry for the purposes of this study. The research methodology involved the collection of primary data from existing literature on influencer marketing strategies and social media influencers. Ohanian's Source Credibility model was found to be of relevance to the research objectives, therefore, it was used a theoretical framework for the study. Secondary data was collected by exploring the relationships between sponsorship disclosure, source credibility and electronic word-of-mouth marketing. Quantitative data was collected through a structured questionnaire which was issued online to University of Cape Town students. To ensure that the research contributed to existing academic literature, the target population chosen for the study was the Generation Z. The data collected was analysed using inferential statistical methods in order to test the hypotheses. A structural equation model was used to analyse the relationship between variables and the results indicated that all hypotheses were found to be supported, depicting that sponsorship disclosure has an impact on perceived source credibility. Additionally, the results indicated that respondents were more likely to participate in word-of-mouth recommendations for products endorsed by influencers that they regarded to be credible. The overall research findings provide valuable insights on consumer perception towards the credibility of social media influencers. This information can be used in marketing practice to aid marketers to develop appropriate strategies for sponsored influencer marketing campaigns. Furthermore, this study contributes to academia by adding empirical data to the existing body of literature on influencer marketing.

Den österrikiske entreprenören Dietrich Mateschitz grundade 1983 Red Bull tillsammans med thailändska investeraren Chaleo Yoovidhya. 38 år senare sålde Red Bull uppskattningsvis 9,8 miljarder burkar årligen. Dietrich Mateschitz lanserade 1983 inte bara en ny produktkategori utan ett marknadsföringskoncept som idag kan återfinnas inom sport, musik och kultursammanhang.    I denna uppsats utforskas 18–32 åriga svenskars relation till Red Bull, både varumärket som energidrycken i ambitionen att expandera och belysa den typ av marknadsföring och varumärkesarbete som företaget genomför. Detta sker genom en kvantitativ enkätundersökning med frågor inspirerade av Lynn B.Upshaws Building Brand Identity, A strategy for success in a hostile marketplace och Lena Leikas i Nordiska ministerrådets Otraditionella marknadsföringsmetoder mot barn och unga. Redovisning av resultatet och analys följer. Totalt 153 svar samlades, varav 152 av dem tillfrågade var bekanta med varumärket i fråga.    Enkäten belyste åsiktsskillnader och starka känslor de tillfrågade kände kring varumärket, övervägande majoriteten positiva men också en avsevärt stor proportion negativa. Enkäten visade en åsiktsskillnad mellan varumärket och produkten med motivationer grundade i produktens natur.

The surge of mobile internet and electronic devices has revolutionized consumer interactions and information consumption. Livestreaming emerges as a prevalent advertising method in e-commerce, compensating for the static nature of traditional platforms by providing dynamic buying experiences. Yet, its impact on sales and customer engagement remains unclear. This study delves into how influencers leverage livestreaming for engagement and product promotion. This study investigates China's influencer e-commerce livestreaming strategies' effectiveness in enhancing consumer engagement and sales. It focuses on Li Jiaqi and Wei Ya's broadcasts, aiming to understand their communication strategies and impact on consumer behavior. Drawing on Laswell's communication model and "key opinion leader" theory, this research scrutinizes influencers' strategies to engage followers and drive sales. It explores how these influencers utilize personal branding, content, platforms, timing, and messaging to promote products effectively. Using qualitative methods, this study analyzes the livestreamed e-commerce content of Li Jiaqi and Wei Ya. Employing Netnography, it examines their language styles' persuasive aspects and their influence on product sales. Additionally, observation and interviews with consumers complement this analysis. The study underscores the rapid growth of influencer-driven e-commerce post-COVID-19, highlighting challenges such as audience retention, product quality, and false advertising. Addressing these issues is crucial to establishing effective influencer e-commerce livestreaming strategies in China.

Trends in self-presentation in social media (i.e., Twitter and Instagram) constantly fluctuate as fads come and go, especially when one’s image is being commodified. Specifically, numerous instances of celebrities and social media influencers altering their images to fit popular online trends and “aesthetics” contribute to increased blackfishing, Asianfishing, and Hispanicfishing. Some celebrities and influencers accused of “-fishing” in the presentation of ethnicity include the Kardashians, Ariana Grande, Addison Rae, Iggy Azalea, Selena Gomez, and Gigi Hadid. The present study (N = 685) investigated gender, personality, fame appeal, self-esteem, and need to belong in relation to attitudes towards the “-fishing” culture. Gender was a significant predictor of acceptance of this phenomenon and participation in it, with males less accepting compared to females. Higher scores in any of the Dark Triad personality types, including Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, were significant predictors in participation in “-fishing,” but not in attitudes toward it. Fame appeal, self-esteem, and the need to belong were not predictors of either attitude toward or participation in “-fishing.”

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This bachelor is a qualitative study about the social phenomena social media and how it affects young women’s consumption behavior and self-identity. The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how young women experience that social media affects their consumption behavior and self-identity. Hence the research questions will be the following: In what way do young women experience that their consumption patterns are influenced by social media? Do young women experience that social media, in a positive or negative sense, influences their attitudes and attitudes towards their identity and body? The study is based on six semi-structured interviews with women in the ages of 18-30. The theories being used are Erving Goffman's dramaturgical perspective, Anthony Giddens modernity and self-identity, Uses and Gratification Theory and previous research, using a thematic approach. The results show that women experience that social media influences their consumption behavior, there are also both positive and negative impacts about how it affects their self-identity.

More and more companies have started to use influencers on social media platforms for promoting their product or service, in exchange for a compensation. While this has enabled reach for a low cost, it is the nature of the authentic endorsement that has made the marketing channel so efficient. This thesis seeks to investigate how different collaboration types, depending on size and length, impacts the financial performance of Instagram influencer collaborations. In addition, it investigates what underlying factors that might be prevalent in impacting these collaboration types. The thesis is conducted as a mixed method descriptive single case study, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative data. To understand the financial performance of influencer collaborations, data from three consecutive years from the case company are presented and analyzed. To understand what characteristics that impacts this outcome, interviews with marketing professionals are used together with relevant previous literature in the field of influencer marketing. It is found that long-term collaborations have a higher return compared to short-term, along with other useful advantages of collaborating long-term. Additionally, it was found that influencers with more followers tend to have a lower financial return, but can be more efficient in other aspects, such as promoting the brand. Lastly, contributions based on the findings for both theory and practice are presented. / Fler och fler företag har börjat att använda sig av influencers på sociala medieplattformar för att lyfta fram deras produkt eller tjänst i utbyte för kompensation, kallat influencer marketing. Medan det här har möjliggjort räckvidd för en låg kostnad, är det naturen av den autentiska ”omfamningen” av varumärket som gjort marknadsföringskanalen effektiv. Den här uppsatsen söker att förklara hur olika samarbetstyper, beroende på antalet följare som influencern har samt längden på samarbetet, påverkar det finansiella resultatet av influencersamarbeten på Instagram. Därtill, så undersökes vilka underliggande faktorer som ytterligare kan påverka utgången av de olika samarbetstyperna. Fallstudien genomfördes med en blandad metodologi, baserat på både kvantitativ och kvalitativ data. I ett försök att kunna förstå det finansiella resultatet av influencersamarbeten, används data från tre påföljande år som presenteras och analyseras. För att förstå vilka attribut som påverkar utfallet av det finansiella resultatet, intervjuas marknadsförare för deras professionella insikt. Upptäckterna visade att långsiktiga samarbeten med influencers har en högre avkastning jämfört med korta, tillsammans med andra fördelar med lånsiktiga samarbeten. Utöver det upptäcktes det att influencers med fler följare tenderar att ha en lägre avkastning men kan vara användbara på andra sätt, exempelvis för att främja varumärket. Till sist, så beskrivs bidrag för både forskning och praktik baserat på uppsatsens upptäckter.

The purpose of this project is to examine how contemporary contexts of Islamophobia contribute to shaping notions and performances of Muslim womanhood. I center Muslim female social media influencers in my analysis and examine how they perform and (re)define Muslim womanhood through fashion, aesthetic labor, the hijab, and modest embodiment practices online. The specific research question that undergirds this project is, "How do contexts and discourses of Islamophobia contribute to shaping notions and performances of Muslim womanhood?" My data is derived from interviews with Muslimah social media influencers in the US, UK, and Canada; a survey with their social media followers, and a content analysis of their photo and video posts on Instagram and YouTube. Findings suggest that racialized and gendered expectations of Muslim womanhood emerge on the one hand, from the western non-Muslim community's racialized perceptions and understandings of Muslim women and Islam, and on the other, from the western Muslim community's reaction to its racialization in the global war on terror. The result of these expectations is the imposition of representational and moral responsibilities on Muslim women, who are regarded as visible and public representations of the Muslim community and of Islam as a faith. Findings also suggest that in response to the burden of these expectations, Muslim women exercise their agency to mobilize Islamic feminisms to their advantage in order to negotiate with, resist, and critique western Muslim and non-Muslim expectations of modesty, piety, empowerment, and the hijab. Consequently, Muslimah influencers are forcing western Muslim and non-Muslim communities to reevaluate their expectations of who fits within the category the 'Muslim Woman' while also opening up a discursive space for the possibility of new formulations and conceptualizations of Muslim womanhood that are more aligned with egalitarian Islamic feminist interpretations of Muslimah ways of living and being. / Doctor of Philosophy / In this research study, I examine how Islamophobia has contributed to shaping western Muslim and non-Muslim community perceptions and expectations of Muslim women. I focus specifically on Muslim female social media influencers to understand how they perform Muslim femininity, modesty, piety and the hijab on Instagram and YouTube. I collected data from interviews with Muslim female social media influencers in the U.S., UK, and Canada, a survey with their social media followers, and photos and videos posted by Muslim female influencers on social media. My findings show that Muslim women must contend with expectations from western non-Muslim communities, whose perceptions of Muslim emerge from Islamophobic understandings of Muslims and Islam. Simultaneously, Muslim women must contend with certain moral and representational responsibilities imposed on them by Muslim communities in the west, who are currently working to address and counteract Islamophobia, by posing a positive image of Muslims and Islam in the eyes of the western public. My findings also show that in response to the burden of these expectation, Muslim women critique these gendered burdens by exercising their agency to interpret Quranic scripture on modesty, the hijab, and gendered behaviors with an Islamic feminist lens. In doing so, they are forcing Muslim and non-Muslim communities to reevaluate the moral and representational burdens placed on Muslim women's shoulders, while also offering a space where others can conceptualize and perform Muslim womanhood in ways that align more with egalitarian Islamic feminist interpretations of Muslim women's ways of living and being.

A modified grounded theory approach was used to analyze the 2016 Target #NOFOMO swimwear campaign in which Target partnered with top bloggers and social media influencers to promote their inclusive swimwear line. Public and public prioritization as well as message themes, message styles, and message consistency were analyzed in research questions one A through F. Relationship management theory emphasizes that the organization-public relationship is key to organizational success. Constructs of trust, openness, and transparency are important measures of this organization-public relationship. Thus, research question two analyzed the frequencies of these constructs in public commentary on Target and blogger related content. Findings indicate that there was overall campaign consistency in both message themes and message styles across Target, the bloggers, and their publics. Moreover, the campaign prioritized the social media platform Instagram and, in doing so, created an intentional online social community of strategic publics that helped facilitate trust between Target, the bloggers, and their publics. Trust was the most frequently used construct of relationship management theory in public commentary, transparency seemed to be assumed in trust, despite the low frequency findings. Target mainly prioritized small-bodied white models/bloggers despite the campaign's inclusive messages and the greater opportunities for public interaction when medium- and large-bodied, non-white models/bloggers were featured. Finally, campaign disclosure and disclosure placement by Target partners were inconsistent across social media platforms which remains troubling in light of FTC requirements and Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Code of Ethics guidelines. / Master of Arts / In 2016, Target partnered with top bloggers and social media influencers to promote their #NOFOMO swimwear campaign, which emphasized their inclusive message and extended swimwear sizes. The analysis examined publics, public prioritization, message themes, message styles, and message consistency through an examination of press releases, blog posts, and related posts on social media platforms. In addition, comments on these same platforms were analyzed to determine if constructs of trust, transparency, and openness were apparent between Target, the bloggers, and their publics. Findings indicate that there was overall campaign consistency in both message themes and message styles across Target, the bloggers, and their publics. Moreover, the campaign prioritized the social media platform Instagram and, in doing so, created an intentional online social community of strategic publics that helped facilitate trust between Target, the bloggers, and their publics. In examining trust, the analysis also showed that commenters assumed transparency in their trust of Target and the bloggers. Target mainly prioritized smallbodied white models/bloggers despite the campaign’s inclusive messages and the greater opportunities for public interaction when medium- and large-bodied, non-white models/bloggers were featured. Finally, campaign disclosure and disclosure placement by Target partners were inconsistent across social media platforms which remains troubling in light of FTC requirements and Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Code of Ethics guidelines.

Background: Before digitization, it was increasingly difficult to reach new target groups. However, during the early 2000s, this changed when the web 2.0 emerged with the "dot-com" bubble. This paved the way for a new phenomenon, social media that is a way for users to share their views and thoughts. Using social media as a marketing strategy has contributed to an increasing number of companies being able to reach a wider audience. This has led to a new concept which is influencers, where they can influence their followers via their social media, which companies have started to use. By implementing this in their marketing strategies, it allows them to reach new target groups and markets. However, it can be difficult for the followers to decide what is genuine or not when marketing is via influencers. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the relationship of the followers to influencers is affected by different collaborations between companies and influencers. Method: This study implements a qualitative research strategy where semi-structured interviews and observations have been applied to collect the empirical material. To get a variation in the result, 12 respondents of different ages and genders have been interviewed. Conclusion: Based on the results of the study, it has proved important that an influencer shows authenticity, in order for the followers to trust them and that values should be consistent with the image they want to convey. The conclusions also show that previous relationships to an influencer and how often they make a collaboration can play a crucial role in how the followers receive it. / Bakgrund:Innan digitaliseringen var det allt svårare för företag att nå ut till nya målgrupper. Under början av 2000-talet ändrades dock detta då web 2.0 växte fram med “dot-com” bubblan. Detta banade vägen för ett nytt fenomen, sociala medier som är ett sätt för användare att dela sina åsikter och tankar. Att använda sociala medier som en marknadsföringsstrategi har bidragit till att allt fler företag kan nå en bredare publik. Detta har lett fram till ett nytt begrepp vilket är influencers, där de via sina sociala medier kan påverka sin följare vilket företag har börjat utnyttja. Genom att implementerat detta i sina marknadsstrategier kan de nå nya målgrupper och marknader genom att rikta sig på de områden som är attraktiva. Dock kan det bli svårt för följarna att avgöra vad som är äkta eller inte när marknadsföringen sker via influencers.  Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur följarnas förhållande till influencers påverkas av olika samarbeten mellan företag och influencers.  Metod: Studien förhåller sig till en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi där semi-struktuerade intervjuer och observationer har tillämpats för att samla in det empiriska materialet. För att få en variation i resultatet har det intervjuats 12 respondenter i olika åldrar och kön.  Slutsats: Utifrån studiens resultat har det visat sig vara viktigt att en influencer visar på autenticitet, en form av äkthet för att följarna ska känna förtroende till dem och att värderingar ska stämma överens med den bild de vill förmedla. Slutsatserna visar även på att tidigare relationer till en influencer och hur ofta de gör ett samarbete kan spela en avgörande roll i hur följarna tar emot det.