Influencer marketing (IM) har blivit en allt vanligare marknadsföringsstrategi. Tidigare forskning belyser att fenomenet autenticitet är en växande trend på sociala medier, vilket således är av intresse att studera vidare. Studiens syfte är att få en ökad förståelse för IMbyråers syn på influerares autenticitet samt hur dessa byråer upplever att autenticitet värderas bland såväl annonsörer som följare och hur det påverkar interaktionen mellan influerare och följare. Vidare är studiens syfte att skapa insikter om IM-byråers syn på vad som gör IM effektivt samt om branschens framtida utveckling och vilka potentiella utmaningar den står inför. Frågeställningarna som studien ämnar besvara är “Hur definierar IM-byråer autenticitet i relation till influerare?”, “På vilka sätt anser IM-byråer att influerares framställning av autenticitet påverkar interaktionen med följarna?”, “Vilka faktorer anser IM-byråer gör IM effektivt?” och “Hur ser IM-byråer på branschens framtida utveckling?”. För att besvara dessa frågeställningar har åtta intervjuer med yrkesverksamma på IM-byråer i Sverige utförts. Studien har ett medie- och kommunikationsvetenskapligt angreppssätt medutgångspunkt frånsocialpsykologisk dramaturgisk teori om social interaktion samt kommunikationsvetenskapligteori om medierad interaktion.Resultatet visar att IM-byråer menar att autenticitet värderashögt i branschensamt att influerares framställning av autenticitet påverkar interaktionen medföljarna genom att de upplevs som relaterbara, vilket leder till högre engagemang ochrelationsskapande. Resultatet visar också att IM-byråer menar att IM är effektivt dåmarknadsföringsformen är mätbar och gör att man kommer nära konsumenterna samtattnischade influerare och digitala plattformar är trender som väntas växa i framtiden. / Influencer marketing (IM) has become a more often used marketing strategy. Previous research illustrates that authenticity as a phenomenon is an increasing trend on social media, which therefore is of interest to further study. The aim with the study is to gain an increased understanding of IM agencies perception of authenticity among influencers and how these agencies are experiencing how authenticity is valued among advertisers and followers and how it affects the interaction between influencers and followers. Furthermore, the aim with the study is to create insights about IM agencies and their perception of what makes IM effective as well as their outlook on the future development of the industry and potential challenges it faces. The research questions that the study aims to answer are “How does IM agencies define authenticity in relation to influencers?”, “In what ways do IM agencies consider that influencers' portrayal of authenticity is affecting the interaction with followers?”, “Which factors make IM agencies consider IM effective?” and “What is IM agencies perception of the future development of the industry?” To answer these questions, eight interviews with professionals at IM agencies in Sweden have been conducted. With a media and communication science approach, the study builds upon theories such as the dramaturgical model of social interaction and an interactional theory of communication media. According to the results, IM agencies state authenticity as something highly valuable in the industry and that influencers presentation of authenticity affects the interaction with their followers by coming across as relatable, which leads to higher engagement and creation of relationships. The results also show that IM agencies believe that IM is an effective marketing method since it is measurable and creates closeness to consumers, and that niched influencers and digital platforms are trends that are expected to increase in the future.

No description available.

This thesis is a contribution to design-led research and addresses a readership in the fields of architecture as well as in media and communications. In juxtaposing the tools of the designer (e.g. drafting, prototyping, visual/textual/spatial forms of montage) with those of architectural theory, this thesis seeks to extend the disciplinary boundaries of architecture by observing its assimilation of other media practices. Its primary contribution is to architectural design and theory, and its aims are twofold: Firstly, this thesis applies the concepts of virtual and mediated space to architecture, proposing an extended architectural practice that assimilates the concept of remote presence. Through realized design examples as well as through the history and theory of related concepts, the thesis explores what designing mediated spaces and designing for presence entails for the practicing architect. As a fusion of architecture and media technology, video-mediated spaces facilitate collaborative practices across spatial extensions while simultaneously fostering novel and environmentally sustainable modes of communication. The impact of presence design on workplace design is examined. As an extended practice also calls for an extended discourse, a preliminary conceptual toolbox is proposed. Concepts are adapted from related visual practices and tested on design prototypes, which arise from the author’s extensive experience in designing work and learning spaces. Secondly, this thesis outlines presence design as a transdisciplinary aesthetic practice and discusses the potential contribution of architects to a currently heterogeneous research field, which spans media space research, cognitive science, (tele)presence research, interaction design, ubiquitous computing, second-order cybernetics, and computer-supported collaborative work. In spite of such diversity, design and artistic practices are insufficiently represented in the field. This thesis argues that presence research and its discourse is characterised by sharp disciplinary boundaries and thereby identifies a conceptual gap: presence research typically fails to integrate aesthetic concepts that can be drawn from architecture and related visual practices. It is an important purpose of this thesis to synthesize such concepts into a coherent discourse. Finally, the thesis argues that remote presence through the proposed synthesis of architectural and technical design creates a significantly expanded potential for knowledge sharing across time and space, with potential to expand the practice and theory of architecture itself. The author’s design-led research shows that mediated spaces can provide sufficient audiovisual information about the remote space(s) and other person(s), allowing the subtleties of nonverbal communication to inform the interaction. Further, in designing for presence, certain spatial features have an effect on the user’s ability to experience a mediated spatial extension, which in turn, facilitates mediated presence. These spatial features play an important role in the process through which trust is negotiated, and hence has an impact on knowledge sharing. Mediated presence cannot be ensured by design, but by acknowledging the role of spatial design in mediated spaces, the presence designer can monitor and, in effect, seek to reduce the ‘friction’ that otherwise may inhibit the experience of mediated presence. The notion of ‘friction’ is borrowed from a context of knowledge sharing in collaborative work practices. My expanded use of the term ‘design friction’ is used to identify spatial design features which, unaddressed, may be said to impose friction and thus inhibit and impact negatively on the experience of presence. A conceptual tool-box for presence design is proposed, consisting of the following design concepts: mediated gaze, spatial montage, active spectatorship, mutual gaze, shared mediated space, offscreen space, lateral and peripheral awareness, framing and transparency. With their origins in related visual practices these emerge from the evolution of the concept of presence across a range of visual cultures, illuminating the centrality of presence design in design practice, be it in the construction of virtual pictorial space in Renaissance art or the generative design experiments of prototypical presence designers, such as Cedric Price, Gordon Pask and numerous researchers at MIT Media Lab, Stanford Institute and Xerox PARC. / QC 20100909

Previous research into bottom-up processes on saltmarshes has mainly focused on the influence of plant succession on herbivores. This study will present original research exploring the influence of bottom-up processes in a saltmarsh ecosystem between three trophic levels: Orchestia, redshanks, and sparrowhawks. Density dependence, may be the dominant top-down effect when higher numbers of sparrowhawks and redshanks are present, and may mask top-down and bottom-up trait effects which are constant. Bottom-up effects begin to emerge when cold conditions force redshanks from muddy creeks onto the saltmarsh to forage for Orchestia, because their primary prey, Corophium become less available. Larger flocks form and feeding on Orchestia requires them to balance a need to profit from the best available feeding patches and to be vigilant to sparrowhawk attack. Redshank vulnerability is compounded, because Orchestia hide in cold temperatures, so probing in the soil with their heads down makes them more vulnerable to sparrowhawk attack. Larger flocks may be able to exploit areas closer to sparrowhawk-concealing cover at the terrestrial boundary because they feel safer in greater numbers. Warmer temperatures make Orchestia more active which attracts redshanks, which can simultaneously feed and be vigilant because they peck and catch crawling and jumping Orchestia with their heads up. Consequently, increased flock size may temporarily depress Orchestia abundance, so that redshanks become spaced, leaving isolated individuals more vulnerable to attack. Therefore, it is a temperature-dependent bottom-up process which impacts upon both Orchestia and redshank behaviour, which then may influence the hunting success of sparrowhawks. Whether the characteristics of this saltmarsh ecosystem and the trophic dynamics can be compared to other examples is questionable. Saltmarshes probably differ in their topography and the way in which environmental conditions affect them that then defines which species are present and how these species interact.