This paper investigates the perception of dark posts in influencer whitelisting (IWL) and their impact on consumers’ trust compared to other forms of sponsored content on social media. The study employed a mixed-methods approach involving a survey with open-ended questions to gather data from participants across different generational cohorts - GenZ, Millennials and Gen-X. The findings indicate that dark posts are generally perceived as undisclosed advertisements, negatively impacting message trustworthiness and source credibility. Lack of authenticity and transparency from the social media influencer (SMI) and the brand were identified as key factors contributing to this perception. On the contrary, factors positively influencing consumers’ trust in dark posts included familiarity with the SMI, the brand, or the product, simple sponsorship disclosure, permanent content showcasing the product on the SMI’s feed, and authenticity in the influencer’s tone of voice and wording. The study contributes to the existing literature on influencer marketing and emphasises the importance for brands to find a balance between effective marketing strategies and consumer trust, particularly in the context of influencer whitelisting. Brands should consider factors of familiarity, authenticity, and transparency to impact source credibility in influencer whitelisting campaigns positively. / I den här artikeln undersöks hur dark posts uppfattas i influencer whitelisting (IWL) och hur de påverkar konsumenternas förtroende jämfört med andra former av sponsrat innehåll på sociala medier. Studien använde en blandad metod med en enkät med öppna frågor för att samla in data från deltagare i olika generationskohorter - Gen- Z, Millennials och Gen-X. Resultaten visar att mörka inlägg i allmänhet uppfattas som hemlig reklam, vilket har en negativ inverkan på budskapets trovärdighet och källans trovärdighet. Brist på autenticitet och transparens från influencern (SMI) och varumärket identifierades som nyckelfaktorer som bidrar till denna uppfattning. De faktorer som däremot hade en positiv inverkan på konsumenternas förtroende för dark posts var kännedom om SMI, varumärket eller produkten, enkel information om sponsring, permanent innehåll som visar produkten i SMI:s flöde samt autenticitet i influencerns tonläge och ordval. Studien bidrar till den befintliga litteraturen om influencer-marknadsföring och betonar vikten av att varumärken hittar en balans mellan effektiva marknadsföringsstrategier och konsumenternas förtroende, särskilt i samband med vitlistning av influencers. Varumärken bör ta hänsyn till faktorer som förtrogenhet, autenticitet och transparens för att påverka källans trovärdighet positivt i vitlistningskampanjer för influencers.

No description available.

Au cours des dernières années, le domaine de la consommation a grandement évolué. Les agents de marketing ont commencé à utiliser l’Internet pour influencer les consommateurs en employant des tactiques originales et imaginatives qui ont rendus possible l’atteinte d'un niveau de communication interpersonnelle qui avait précédemment été insondable. Leurs interactions avec les consommateurs, en utilisant la technologie moderne, se manifeste sous plusieurs formes différentes qui sont toutes accompagnés de leur propre assortiment de problèmes juridiques. D’abord, il n'est pas rare pour les agents de marketing d’utiliser des outils qui leur permettent de suivre les actions des consommateurs dans le monde virtuel ainsi que dans le monde physique. Les renseignements personnels recueillis d'une telle manière sont souvent utilisés à des fins de publicité comportementale en ligne – une utilisation qui ne respecte pas toujours les limites du droit à la vie privée. Il est également devenu assez commun pour les agents de marketing d’utiliser les médias sociaux afin de converser avec les consommateurs. Ces forums ont aussi servi à la commission d’actes anticoncurrentiels, ainsi qu’à la diffusion de publicités fausses et trompeuses – deux pratiques qui sont interdites tant par la loi sur la concurrence que la loi sur la protection des consommateurs. Enfin, les agents de marketing utilisent diverses tactiques afin de joindre les consommateurs plus efficacement en utilisant diverses tactiques qui les rendent plus visible dans les moteurs de recherche sur Internet, dont certaines sont considérés comme malhonnêtes et pourraient présenter des problèmes dans les domaines du droit de la concurrence et du droit des marques de commerce. Ce mémoire offre une description détaillée des outils utilisés à des fins de marketing sur Internet, ainsi que de la manière dont ils sont utilisés. Il illustre par ailleurs les problèmes juridiques qui peuvent survenir à la suite de leur utilisation et définit le cadre législatif régissant l’utilisation de ces outils par les agents de marketing, pour enfin démontrer que les lois qui entrent en jeu dans de telles circonstances peuvent, en effet, se révéler bénéfiques pour ces derniers d'un point de vue économique. / The evolution of consumerism in recent years has been nothing short of remarkable. The unprecedented use of the Internet by marketers to influence consumers in original and imaginative ways has rendered possible a level of communicative efficiency that had previously been unfathomable. Their interaction with consumers using modern technology manifests itself in several different forms – all of which are accompanied by their own assortment of legal issues. To begin with, it is not unheard of for marketers to use tools meant to track the behaviour of individuals throughout both the virtual and physical worlds. The personal information collected in such a manner is often utilized for Online Behavioural Advertising purposes – a use which does not always respect the boundaries of privacy law. It has also become rather common for marketers to utilize online social media to promote conversations with consumers. It has occurred, however, that these forums have also been utilized to further the anti-competitive ambitions of companies while also serving as an outlet for false advertising – two eventualities that are prohibited by both competition laws and consumer protection laws. Finally, marketers utilize various tactics in order to more successfully reach consumers through online search engines – a practice known as Search Engine Marketing – some of which are considered to be dishonest and could present issues from both competition law and trademark law perspectives. This thesis essentially provides a detailed description of these tools and the manners in which they are utilized and then proceeds to illustrate the legal issues that may arise as a result of their use. In doing so, it outlines the legal boundaries within which marketers must use these tools so as to ultimately demonstrate that the laws that come into play under such circumstances may, in fact, prove to be beneficial to marketers from an economic perspective.

Au cours des dernières années, le domaine de la consommation a grandement évolué. Les agents de marketing ont commencé à utiliser l’Internet pour influencer les consommateurs en employant des tactiques originales et imaginatives qui ont rendus possible l’atteinte d'un niveau de communication interpersonnelle qui avait précédemment été insondable. Leurs interactions avec les consommateurs, en utilisant la technologie moderne, se manifeste sous plusieurs formes différentes qui sont toutes accompagnés de leur propre assortiment de problèmes juridiques. D’abord, il n'est pas rare pour les agents de marketing d’utiliser des outils qui leur permettent de suivre les actions des consommateurs dans le monde virtuel ainsi que dans le monde physique. Les renseignements personnels recueillis d'une telle manière sont souvent utilisés à des fins de publicité comportementale en ligne – une utilisation qui ne respecte pas toujours les limites du droit à la vie privée. Il est également devenu assez commun pour les agents de marketing d’utiliser les médias sociaux afin de converser avec les consommateurs. Ces forums ont aussi servi à la commission d’actes anticoncurrentiels, ainsi qu’à la diffusion de publicités fausses et trompeuses – deux pratiques qui sont interdites tant par la loi sur la concurrence que la loi sur la protection des consommateurs. Enfin, les agents de marketing utilisent diverses tactiques afin de joindre les consommateurs plus efficacement en utilisant diverses tactiques qui les rendent plus visible dans les moteurs de recherche sur Internet, dont certaines sont considérés comme malhonnêtes et pourraient présenter des problèmes dans les domaines du droit de la concurrence et du droit des marques de commerce. Ce mémoire offre une description détaillée des outils utilisés à des fins de marketing sur Internet, ainsi que de la manière dont ils sont utilisés. Il illustre par ailleurs les problèmes juridiques qui peuvent survenir à la suite de leur utilisation et définit le cadre législatif régissant l’utilisation de ces outils par les agents de marketing, pour enfin démontrer que les lois qui entrent en jeu dans de telles circonstances peuvent, en effet, se révéler bénéfiques pour ces derniers d'un point de vue économique. / The evolution of consumerism in recent years has been nothing short of remarkable. The unprecedented use of the Internet by marketers to influence consumers in original and imaginative ways has rendered possible a level of communicative efficiency that had previously been unfathomable. Their interaction with consumers using modern technology manifests itself in several different forms – all of which are accompanied by their own assortment of legal issues. To begin with, it is not unheard of for marketers to use tools meant to track the behaviour of individuals throughout both the virtual and physical worlds. The personal information collected in such a manner is often utilized for Online Behavioural Advertising purposes – a use which does not always respect the boundaries of privacy law. It has also become rather common for marketers to utilize online social media to promote conversations with consumers. It has occurred, however, that these forums have also been utilized to further the anti-competitive ambitions of companies while also serving as an outlet for false advertising – two eventualities that are prohibited by both competition laws and consumer protection laws. Finally, marketers utilize various tactics in order to more successfully reach consumers through online search engines – a practice known as Search Engine Marketing – some of which are considered to be dishonest and could present issues from both competition law and trademark law perspectives. This thesis essentially provides a detailed description of these tools and the manners in which they are utilized and then proceeds to illustrate the legal issues that may arise as a result of their use. In doing so, it outlines the legal boundaries within which marketers must use these tools so as to ultimately demonstrate that the laws that come into play under such circumstances may, in fact, prove to be beneficial to marketers from an economic perspective.

Syftet med studien är att ge företag och organisationer kunskaper i hur de skapar relevant innehåll som intresserar deras kunder och hur de ska arbeta med sin marknadsföring på Facebook.  Metoder som används är en kvalitativ studie bestående av enskilda intervjuer med experter inom området för marknadsföring i sociala medier. Därtill har en kvantitativ studie genomförts för att mäta interaktionen på tre kommersiella Facebooksidor. Resultatet visar att det är viktigt att tänka efter vad som är målet och vilken utgång som marknadsföringen på Facebook kommer generera. Vidare är det inte ett ändamål i sig att få högt engagemang. Det krävs en kontinuerlig närvaro samt att företaget visar ett intresse och ger kunderna uppmärksamhet. Idag är användarna på Facebook mer anonyma än tidigare och det har blivit ovanligare att följa sidor. Att skapa innehåll som inbjuder till att samskapa och möjligheten att träffas utanför sociala medier visar på högt engagemang hos följarna i studiens kvantitativa undersökning. Implikationen är därför att användarna har blivit vana vid att innehållet riktas direkt till dem samt att det har hög kvalité och relevans. Innehåll utformas efter en specifik målgrupp som når dem vid rätt tidpunkt för att ge den ett så relevant innehåll som möjligt. Studien är begränsad till det sociala mediet Facebook och deras användare. Studien omfattar marknadsföring på Facebook via företagssidor. / Purpose – The purpose of this study is to give companies and organization's knowledge on how to create relevant content that interests their customers and how they can work with their marketing on Facebook.  Method – Methods used in this study are a qualitative study including interviews with experts in the field of marketing in social media. Furthermore, a quantitative study was made through measuring the interaction on three business sites on Facebook. Findings – Findings show that it is important to focus on the purpose and goal for the marketing, and what it will result in. Furthermore, it is not a goal itself to have high engagement. Today, the Facebook users are more anonymous online than earlier, and it has become unusual for them to follow a business site. Creating content that invites the users to co-create and to meet outside social media results in high interaction among the followers in the quantitative study. Lastly, continuous presence is required along with a genuine interest towards the costumers, and that the company gives their customer's attention. Implications – The implication is therefore that users have become more used to that content is directed directly towards them with a high quality and relevance. The content is designed for a specific target group that reaches them at the right time to give them as relevant content as possible. Limitations – The study is limited to the social media Facebook and its users. Furthermore, the study is focused towards marketing on Facebook for business sites.

The aim of the master thesis is to create a proposal of marketing strategy, resp. segmen-tation and marketing mix for a selected NGO which is aimed at protecting the cultural heritage. The thesis summarizes the principles of elaboration of a marketing strategy, which are needed for internal and external analysis. Emphasis is given to Customer analysis which (together with SWOT analysis) forms the cornerstones for setting the goals of marketing strategy. Benefits should be: increased awareness of the brand and organization’s activities, the acquisition of new customers and additional funds.

The aim of this research is to shed more light on an aspect identified as a gap in knowledge in the literature; the use of a social networking service as knowledge sharing platform. More specifically, this research sets out to establish if the social networking service Twitter could be used as knowledge-sharing platform in small South African businesses in the Western Cape. A mixed method research design is used. This includes gathering data through questionnaires as well as conducting semi-structured interviews for case study participants. The sample comprises 122 questionnaire participants together with 14 semi-structured interview participants across three small businesses located in the Western Cape Province. Although it is apparent from the study conducted that small businesses are not yet willing to forego traditional platforms such as Email to use Twitter exclusively as a knowledge sharing tool, the researcher proposes a case for using Twitter, which he believes, could take the most advantage of the functions Twitter brings to a small business operation. / School of Computing / M. Sc. (Computing)

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The study focused on the use of social media marketing in the telecommunication business in Zimbabwe, as it has received limited attention in the literature available to date. The study aimed to explore the use of social media marketing in a telecommunications business- Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited. The study took on an exploratory research design which was qualitative in nature. A case study approach was applied with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited as focus of being studied. Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited was chosen because it is the market leader in the telecommunications industry which has adopted the use of social media marketing in its business. Data collection was done through in-depth interviews with judgement sampling being used to choose the participants for the interviews. The data collected was analysed using thematic analysis. It was found that Econet Wireless Limited is using social media marketing to communicate with its customers, for their brand to be visible. They also use it because it is an inexpensive way to promote their business with a possibility to reach a large number of people in a short space of time. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

No description available.