Social media have transformed business commerce and consumer communication, yet organizational leaders lack clear strategies for using social media platforms to their advantage. The purpose of this qualitative multicase study was to explore social media marketing strategies for increasing sales. The relationship marketing conceptual framework grounded this study. Data collection included semistructured interviews with 5 organizational leaders from 5 different organizations in the San Francisco, California, Bay Area and a review of participants’ documents including marketing materials, social media posts, and published sales reports. Data analysis included coding, categorization, and identification of major themes. The thematic assessment approach revealed 5 major themes from participants’ responses that aligned with findings from the literature review. Themes included identifying the target audience, developing a customer roadmap to convert prospects to consumers, managing customer relationships to increase brand loyalty, and developing key performance indicators to measure the success of social media campaigns. Study findings may increase local organizational leaders’ knowledge of social media strategies that they can use to increase brand awareness, brand loyalty, and sales for their organizations. Implications for social change include the opportunity for local leaders to increase sales, which could lead to more jobs and improved economies in local communities.

El turismo ha evolucionado gracias al surgimiento de los nuevos medios de comunicación y la tecnología, como motor de cambio, generando variaciones en este sector. El turista actual es un gran desafío para los especialistas del marketing, pues es más experimentado y ha visitado muchos destinos. A partir de ello, la aparición de nuevos actores para el espacio tradicional de la comunicación, son los influenciadores, enmarcados dentro de la opinión pública. Presentándose una oportunidad y una ventaja competitiva, al poder trabajar con herramientas que posibilitan la comunicación directa, una de las grandes apuestas ha sido realizada por el portal Web ¿Y Tú Qué Planes? La presente investigación pretende definir la efectividad del marketing de influencia como estrategia para el portal Web ¿Y tú qué planes?, a través de un estudio de metodología de carácter cualitativo basado en estudio de caso, sustentado en la aplicación de la técnica de entrevista semiestructurada. Los resultados mostraron que la comunicación de los influenciadores resulta más efectiva. Concluyendo que el portal Web ¿Y tú qué planes?, debe actualizarse y aplicar el marketing de influencia para ofrecer espacios colaborativos y participativos en los que los usuarios puedan compartir sus experiencias, opiniones y referencias. / Tourism has evolved thanks to the emergence of new media and technology, as an engine of change, generating variations in this sector. The current tourist is a great challenge for marketing specialists, as he is more experienced and has visited many destinations. From this, the emergence of new actors for the traditional space of communication, are the influencers, framed within public opinion. Presenting an opportunity and a competitive advantage to be able to work with tools that allow direct communication, one of the big bets has been made by the Web portal Y tu que planes? This research aims to define the effectiveness of influence marketing as a strategy for the Web portal Y tu que planes? through a qualitative methodology study based on a case study, based on the application of the semi-structured interview technique . The results showed that the communication of the influencers is more effective. Concluding that the Web portal Y tu que planes?, influence marketing must be updated and applied to offer collaborative and participatory spaces in which users can share their experiences, opinions and references. / Tesis

This study examines how wineries in Skåne market themselves as a visitor business. What their work on marketing strategies looks like and what attractiveness wineries have. It is a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with winery owners and winemakers from four different wineries in Skåne. The vineyards that were selected are Flädie Mat & Vingård, Hällåkra Vingård, Kullabergs Vingård and Skepparps Vingård. The results show that wineries have become an attraction for foreign visitors and that there has been an increase in Swedish visitors to the wineries in recent years. People are curious and find vineyards as a new attraction in Sweden. Social media was considered as the most used marketing channels to market the vineyards and their offerings. Another strategy has been word-of-mouth to spread the word to friends and family. Many of the wineries see opportunities to further develop their business, partly their winery, but also to attract more visitors. Challenges for the vineyards are partly the climate but have mainly been the ban on farm trade, which prevents wine tourism from being fully experienced. The ban means that they cannot sell their wine directly to the consumer but need to either sell it at Systembolaget or have a restaurant business with full rights to serve wine to their visitors. The conclusion that can be drawn is that it showed that the pandemic has had an impact in that wineries have had more Swedish visitors in the past year as people have not been able to travel abroad during the summer due to the restrictions of the Covid-19 virus, several people from Sweden choose to spend their holiday in Sweden, hence a higher pressure on visits to vineyards. The marketing of wineries to be a niche attraction has also made more people visit the business by marketing it via social media, which is considered a powerful tool to reach out to people.

In a time where the retail sector is undergoing continuous changes and increased competition, establishing and maintaining long-term customer relationships become increasingly critical for a company's success. Marketing constitutes the core of creating and communicating value to customers, as well as sustaining robust customer relationships. This study sheds light on the strategies and methods employed by retail companies in Sweden to address this challenge. The purpose of this study is to examine the strategies retail companies employ to obtain long-term customer relationships. Through semi-structured interviews and an abductive research perspective, the study not only identified challenges and opportunities for retail companies but also provides concrete insights and tools to develop and preserve strong customer relationships. With a specific focus on membership programs, the study revealed companies' unique strategies to enhance customer loyalty and meet today's complex consumer needs. The results reveal that successful retail companies not only offer quality products but also create customer experiences and build long-term customer relationships. Membership programs, sustainability efforts, and technological adaptation are common themes in their strategies. The study provides valuable insights for industry players striving to strengthen their customer relationships in a competitive environment.

The study aims to investigate user engagement in the Generated Artificial Intelligence (GAI) marketing content within social media marketing. The increasing prominence of GAI content has sparked diverse reactions, particularly concerning the safety of personalized content and individuals' awareness of their data being utilized for customization. The main goal of this research is to understand the impact of GAI on user engagement in social media marketing, focusing on the utilization of customer data and preferences on social media platforms. The research unfolds as an empirical exploration, employing a quantitative approach and a structured questionnaire. In conclusion, the research implications emphasize the significance of transparent communication, strategic content creation, and a nuanced understanding of the relationship between awareness, personalization, and consumer engagement in the context of AI-generated content. Marketers can leverage these insights to refine their strategies, enhance user experiences, and build trust in the era of AI-driven marketing.

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This essay uses material from two visual campaigns by two vegan food brands, Oumph! and Anamma. A visual analysis and a critical discourse analysis investigates what kind of marketing strategies is used and how discourse around climate, health and veganism affects their target groups and in return the outcome of their marketing campaigns. The findings of the analyses then take part in a broader discussion involving symbolic consumption, ontological design, cultural capital and representation. The investigation shows that Oumph! and Anamma have very different target groups, therefore they use different marketing strategies. Anamma uses a calm and informative appeal to the collective using the environment as a reason for a diet change while Oumph! uses a more aggressive appeal to the individual and their cravings. It is clear that people’s awareness of climate change has affected the discourse around veganism. A plant-based diet is proven to be healthier for both our bodies and our planet which brings more people a vegan or partly vegan lifestyle which creates new social gaps in this field.

Tourists' information processing is a dynamic process in that their information use depends on the surrounding context. From tourists' personal characteristics (e.g., age, gender, and travel experience), nature of tourism products (e.g., intangibility and variability), to the development of information technology (e.g., the prevalent usage of mobile devices for information search), a variety of contextual factors are involved when tourists process information for decision-making. Given the importance of online reviews in the hospitality and tourism field as information sources, this dissertation aims to understand the contextual effects of online reviews on tourists' decision-making. By selecting several contextual factors, three independent and interrelated essays examine how tourists' cognitive or behavioral responses to online reviews are affected by those factors. Considering that local search (e.g., looking for nearby restaurants by using "restaurants near me" as a search query) becomes an important context for using online reviews, both Study 1 and 2 focus on the local search context. Study 1 investigates the role of online reviews in the local search context; specifically, how online reviews are used as ranking factors by local search platforms (LSPs), is examined with an analytical approach. Study 2 investigates tourists' processing of online reviews in the local search context; specifically, how online reviews are differently processed in the local search context (e.g., searching for a restaurant that can be visited immediately) compared with the non-local context (e.g., searching for a restaurant that can be visited in a month), is examined by conducting an experiment. Building on Study 2, Study 3 investigates how tourists' processing of online reviews is affected by another contextual factor, the nature of tourism products; specifically, how the variability of tourism products (i.e., their change in quality over time) influences the way tourists process online reviews, is examined through social media analytics. Results of the three essays provide empirical support for the underlying argument of this dissertation: understanding tourists' responses to online reviews depends on factors that transcend their information characteristics. As a whole, the findings of this dissertation suggest the need for considering the surrounding context to further understand how online reviews affect tourists' decision-making. As practical implications, this dissertation discusses the importance of leveraging various types of information about tourists' context (e.g., location accessed from smartphones, and physiological condition accessed through smartwatches). / Doctor of Philosophy / Tourists use online reviews within specific situations. The effects of such reviews on tourists' decision-making are difficult to explain without considering the surrounding contexts. Depending on when (e.g., before or during the trip), where (e.g., at home or destination), or for which products (e.g., restaurants, attractions, or hotels) they use online reviews, even the same online review can be differently perceived by tourists (e.g., how helpful it is). Therefore, the reviews have an increased or reduced influence on their product choices. This dissertation aims to understand the context-dependence of tourist's use of online reviews. The three essays in this dissertation examine how online reviews are used or processed by tourists under certain context: how online reviews affect tourist's decision-making in the local search context (e.g., searching for "restaurants near me" using smartphones during the trip) (Study 1); how tourists process online reviews while relying on reviews for immediately choosing places to visit (Study 2); and how tourists perceive online reviews when they are recently posted (Study 3). The findings confirm the dynamic nature of tourist's use of online reviews and offer several insights for tourism businesses to hone their strategies on marketing online reviews.

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Climate change and climate protection are issues that society must urgently address. It istherefore even more important to promote and advocate for a sustainable lifestyle. In thisscientific paper, I aim to explore approaches to make social media advertising moreeffective in reaching the sustainable values of Gen Z. Since Generation Z is particularlyopen to sustainable lifestyles, this work will reflect their perspective.To answer the research question, a qualitative methodology was employed, involvinginterviews with 13 participants born between 1995 and 2010. The analysis of the collectedempirical data shows that Gen Z places great value on sustainability, but the issue lies inthe reachability of advertising.Social media marketing strategies such as Paid Media and Content Marketing seem tohave a positive effect on the participants. A balance between content with informationand entertainment also shows potential for success, considering their short attention span.Furthermore, the analysis highlights the importance of incorporating both strong (creativeand adventurous) and weak characteristics (impatient, FOMO1, and short attention span)as well as the values they share (equality, diversity, LGBTQ+2, tolerance, andacceptance).These empirical findings should provide options and serve as inspiration for companiesthat already act sustainably and want to promote and advertise a sustainable lifestyle moreeffectively in relation to Gen Z to raise sustainable awareness.