The online revolution has developed digital marketing, and how businesses connect with new consumers. The commercial usage of the World Wide Web has created opportunities for businesses to market their product through new digital platforms and marketing strategies. Therefore, social media platforms such as Instagram has become a dominant communication channel for consumers. From a business perspective this has created an opportunity by marketing their product through influencer marketing. An influencer is a person who has built a social network with people following them on the social platforms. The influencer is getting paid to market products on their social media to influence their followers. 98% of people studying in Sweden are using social media frequently, this makes them a target group suited for influencer marketing. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate how influencer marketing affect students’ attitudes and subsequently purchase intention through social media. To answer this research purpose a theoretical framework has been developed based on Theory of Reasoned Action. Semi structured interviews were conducted on a one-to-one basis with 17 students at Luleå University of Technology (LTU). The interviews focused on attitudes towards influencer marketing and subjective norms, and how these would subsequently affect their purchase intention. To analyze the interviews a thematic analysis was conducted. The data was coded based on observations of repetitive answers and themes, consisting of negative or positive attitudes towards influencers, as well as the impact of the subjective norms on the participants and how it affects their purchase intention. Results showed that there was an overall negative attitude towards influencers, that the subjective norms seem to have a significant and that purchase intention is mostly affected by the direct influence from the subjective norms. Analysis of these results leads to the conclusion that influencer marketing has a negative impact on students’ attitudes. On the other hand, subjective norms seem to be more important than the influencer marketing, when it comes to the purchase intention among the students.

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to create an understanding of how influencer marketing could be used to increase the purchase intention in an area of a high involvement product in a niche market. Since this study is collected together with a Swedish golf company, the golf industry was evaluated. In order to fulfill the purpose, the social media influencer value (SMIV) model was adopted in this study. Method – A quantitative experiment was conducted through the use of experimental vignette methodology (EVM) together with a qualitative validity check-in form of an interview with a key person from the industry. The main data was collected through a combination of exposure to the independent variable (through a stimulus) and a set of following questions (a questionnaire). The questionnaire was sent out to the company’s consumer through email and to analyze the collected data an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used. Findings – In the collected data, evidence indicating that golf is a high involvement activity where the participants put down a lot of time and effort in the sport was found. In the SMIV model three significant paths was found between expertise and purchase intention, similarity and purchase intention, and usefulness and purchase intention. All three independent variables had a positive impact on purchase intention which tells us that when expertise, similarity, or usefulness increases, consumers purchase intension increases as well. Theoretical and practical implications – The results in this study contributes to current literature in the area of influencer marketing by confirming some relationships but also by extending the literature. The study also contributes to important insights for marketing practitioners since the results present important variables to consider when using influencer marketing to create purchase intention. It also creates meaningful insights for the influential person itself and open up for further research in the area of the effect of influencer marketing in a high involvement product.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to research the factors influencing the purchase intention of Airbnb in China from the perspective of liability of foreignness. Methodology: This thesis adopts a quantitative approach through a questionnairebased survey among Chinese people. Based on a PLS-SEM analysis of the data from 241 online questionnaires, this thesis teststhe effects of perceived risk, perceived higher price, lesser availability of listings, as well as lesser availability of advertising on consumers’ purchase intention towards Airbnb in China. Findings: The results illustrate that both perceived higher price and lesser availability of listings would reduce Chinese purchase intention towards Airbnb in China, whereas perceived risk and lesser availability of advertising do not significantly influence Chinese purchase intention towards Airbnb in China. Research implications: The study contributes to the literature on sharing economy and customer behavior by providing a new framework from the perspective of liability of foreignness in order to understand more completely the deterrents of the Chinese consumer’s purchase of Airbnb-related products and services in China. Specifically, this thesis invokes a relatively under-explored theoretical view (i.e., the liability of foreignness) in the research on the internationalisation of sharing economy, which enables us to enrich the research on sharing economy and international customer behaviors. This study also enhances the understanding of the barriers of international marketing of sharing economy and advances the research on the internationalisation of sharing economy by evaluating the four relevant factors (i.e., perceived risk, perceived higher price, lesser availability of listings, and lesser availability of advertising) in the host country. Practical implications: Our findings entail several practical implications for managers of Airbnb in conquering the Chinese market. For example, given that perceived higher price and lesser availability of listings appears to be the critical barriers of consumer intentions, we recommend that Airbnb China employ strategies to increase the availability of listings, and devise relatively lower pricing strategies to attract Chinese consumers.

Background: Social Media Content consists of characteristics by which have been found by previous research to have an influence on consumers' purchase intention. The social media content can be created by any social media user, who are referred to as content creators, whereby the degree of impact the social media content has on consumers' purchase intention is difficult to predict. There are specifically three social media content characteristics that have been shown to be more strongly related to consumers’ purchase intention than others, which are Usefulness, Informativeness and Interactivity. Previous research suggests that further investigation regarding consumers’ purchase intention in relation to the online context is of relevance to research since social media content is an influential factor regarding consumers’ purchase intention, for an increased explanation of consumers’ purchase intention. Purpose: The purpose is to explain the relationship between social media content characteristics and consumers’ purchase intention. Methodology: This explanatory research is using the deductive approach within the quantitative study and following a cross-sectional research design in order to detect patterns from the empirical investigation. Based on a theoretical foundation of previous research, the study presents three hypotheses which by support from the empirical investigation, consisting of 239 responses to a self-completed questionnaire, were either rejected or accepted. Findings: The acceptance of one out of three hypotheses were based on the authors revealing findings about there being a significantly positive relationship between the social media content characteristic Interactivity and consumers’ Purchase Intention. The findings also provide implications that the relationship has been accepted based on a combination of certain aspects. These are that consumers have a desire to take part in online conversations, they want their voice heard by being able to express opinions and also that they will immerse themselves in a social media platform if they find the content of the platform interesting. These findings allowed for the authors to suggest a new modified research model demonstrating the relationship between the social media content characteristic Interactivity and consumers’ Purchase Intention. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, this research provides a conclusion that there is a significant positive relationship between the social media content characteristic Interactivity and consumers’ Purchase Intention

The growing consciousness of consumers towards buying products that contain mainly natural ingredients and do not harm the health and the environment drives the growth of the natural personal care market. Additionally, men nowadays care more about their image and self-presentation which lead to an increase of the natural personal care products offered for men. As the drug store market in Germany is highly competitive, marketers need to understand the factors influencing men’s purchase decision. The attitude of consumers is an elemental influence factor on purchase intention that could lead to the actual behaviour as it predicts the intention to purchase a product. Therefore, this thesis investigates the factors influencing men’s attitude towards natural personal care products and attitude’s impact on purchase intention, particularly in the German market. This has been done through the development of an own theoretical model whereas the main idea was taken from the TPB model. Afterwards, it was extended by factors that influence attitude which were identified through literature review. To meet the purpose of this study, data were collected through a quantitative online survey which generated 207 valuable responses. In order to analyse the relationships between the different variables, descriptive statistics, factor analyses, Pearson correlation analyses as well as linear and multiple regression analyses were used. The findings of this study provide new insights about the predictors of attitude: German male consumers’ attitude towards natural personal care products is mainly predicted by their consciousness about the environment and subjective norms whereas health consciousness and product knowledge were identified to be no predictors. Moreover, the study confirmed attitude as a strong predictor for intention which is supported by the idea of the TPB model and findings in previous literature. The respondents of this study are environmentally conscious and are influenceable by others. Furthermore, they have an overall positive attitude towards natural personal care products and intent to some extent to purchase these products in the future. The study’s results provide a variety of theoretical and managerial implications as well as opportunities for future research.

Recent technological developments have changed the lifestyle of people around the world. The business sector is not an exception, and companies frequently adjust to such changes by investing in their online presence. Furthermore, the internet provides consumers with different channels to find and share their purchase experiences, and such digital interactions result in bringing forth the electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Although eWOM is an essential aspect of the overall marketing mix of modern firms, its research is heavily limited to the developed world. Thus, a qualitative study of 10 millennials from Pakistan was designed to understand how three eWOM components, i.e., Valence, Channels, and Length, affect consumer purchase intentions. The data was collected through semi-structured online interviews, and the findings show that each component has a significant impact on purchase intentions. The result confirms factors such as communicator credibility, trustworthiness, and Valence ratio as essential characteristics of the eWOM components. This study contributes to further understanding of global consumers and help companies to identify eWOM components useful for promoting and selling their products in the Pakistani market.

Background: Globalization and the aggravation of world economic integration make lots of overseas enterprises enter the Chinese market and win the market share by integrating Chinese elements into their brand names, logos, advertisements, and products. Therefore, what should local brands do to gain market share? Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to investigate the different effects of local Chinese brands with global, foreign, or local elements on consumers' perceived brand globalness, perceived functional benefits, perceived symbolic benefits, and purchase intentions. Methods: In this study, a quantitative method was used to collect data online through a pre-test questionnaire and a formal experimental questionnaire. And then statistically analyzed for valid data using SPSS. Findings: The results of the study show that consumers have higher perceived brand globalness for local brands that incorporate global and foreign elements, and higher purchase intentions for local brands that incorporate global elements. Perceived symbolic benefits have a higher impact on purchase intentions than the Perceived functional benefits. Perceived functional benefits and symbolic benefits mediate the effect of perceived brand globalness on purchase intention.

As the digital society, built up by the internet, gradually changes people's lives, online celebrities are emerging in China and have discovered the huge business opportunities of online platforms by establishing their own brands. Many brands created by Chinese online celebrities are increasingly popular among consumers, such as Li Ziqi and Taozi Sister. Responding to the emergence and popularity of Chinese online celebrities and their brands, this study – drawing on the source-credibility model and the stimulus organism response model – will investigate the determinants of Chinese consumers’ purchase intention regarding online-celebrity brand products. Following a survey of 198 valid questionnaires of Chinese consumers, the empirical results show that the attractiveness of online-celebrity brand products and consumers’ affection for online celebrities are important factors in encouraging consumers to purchase online-celebrity brand products. The expertise of online-celebrity brand products, and consumers’ trust in online celebrities, do not significantly influence consumers' purchase intentions. This means that Chinese people's purchase behavior regarding online-celebrity brand products seems to be emotional rather than rational. This study advances understanding of online celebrity and online-celebrity brands, which contributes to the literature on celebrity effects and brands.

Since influencer marketing is a relatively new term, there is a scarce theoretical foundation investigating the subject. Previous research has mainly focused on identifying female followers' behavior and how they are persuaded, fewer studies are on male followers and the ability of male influencers to influence their followers. Therefore this master thesis aims to investigate if and how male influencers persuade their male followers.    Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if and in that case how male followers are influenced by the persuasiveness of male influencers.   Method: Based on the literature review, a theoretical framework is proposed to accomplish the aim of the thesis. For the empirical evidence, a qualitative approach was taken, with the help of ten online based interviews. Furthermore, the content analysis method was used for the analysis of the collected data.   Results & Conclusions: The results of the study provide evidence that followers of these influencers are persuaded by influencers, and they are persuaded by influencers on two main factors, authority and likeability.    Suggestions for future research: As a suggestion for future research we suggest someone to research more in depth with more interviews carried out.  Also, more research is needed on persuasion over male followers +35 years old and how persuasiveness of an influencer is influencing in different industries.     Contribution of the thesis: This research study contributes with knowledge on male influencers and male followers and especially with knowledge on how male followers are persuaded by male influencers. This research findings contributes to the theoretical framework by showing that social media influencers, influences its followers on two main factors, likability and authority. Furthermore, influencers can use this study to enhance their persuasive power and it provides a good understanding of the mechanisms that are influencing the persuasive power.

Downstream fuel retailing among the major players in South Africa is highly competitive, and further compounded by the emergence of new players and changing customer orientation under the current price regulation environment. Marketing of fuel by way of expanding geographical coverage and the distribution network is no longer sustainable. Advertising benefits fuel companies by communicating their value proposition for brand differentiation, swaying consumer perception of fuel as a low involvement commodity with no difference in quality, and ultimately influencing their attitudes and behaviour. Fuel companies can take advantage of the advertising elements that have direct bearing – and are within their control – to make impactful advertisements to attract customers. Thus, this study investigates the influence of advertising controllable elements – namely, source and message – on attitude towards the advertisement, as well as attitude towards the brand and subsequently on purchase intention. A sample of 201 respondents was selected using convenience sampling method. The data was collected using an online self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. The relationship between the independent and the dependent variables was then examined using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 26.0. The study findings established that attitude towards the advertisement is positively and significantly influenced by source credibility, source likeability and emotional message. Rational message has a positive impact on attitude towards the advertisement, albeit insignificant. Meanwhile, only source credibility and rational message have positive significant effects on attitude towards the brand. The impact of source likeability on brand attitude although positive, is not significant. Contrariwise, emotional message has neither influence nor significant effect on attitude towards the brand. Moreover, the study findings showed that while attitude towards the advertisement positively influences brand attitude, it does not influence purchase intention. The purchase intention for fuel is nonetheless influenced by attitude towards the brand. This study offers useful insights that can be used to create an impactful fuel advertisement, leveraging on source attributes and message appeals to influence consumers' attitudinal as well as behavioural intention.