本研究搜集299份線上問卷，以類社會互動理論的取徑去探究在Facebook中介下的品牌關係。研究結果發現，品牌吸引(包括社會吸引和任務吸引)以及粉絲的工具性媒介使用動機與類社會互動成正相關，但粉絲的年齡、教育程度、收入此三個人口統計變項與類社會互動間的關係則不顯著。而類社會互動與品牌關係亦成正相關，並完全中介品牌吸引且部分中介粉絲的工具性媒介使用動機對品牌關係的影響。 / This study collected 299 Web questionnaires and applied parasocial interaction perspective to examine the relationship between fans and brands on Facebook. Finding revealed a positive relationship between brand attractions (including social and task attraction) and instrumental media motivation to parasocial interaction. Demographics (including age, education, and income) did not have a significant relationship with parasocial interaction as expected. There is also a positive relationship between parasocial interaction and brand relationship. Parasocial interaction perfectly mediated the influence of brand attractions and partially mediated the influence of the instrumental media motivation on brand relationship.

In this study, an overview is presented regarding how the mechanics in a resource-based game, specifically Crusader Kings II (Paradox Development Studio 2012), might affect the player's connection to the characters in the game. The study introduces conventions prevalent in grand strategy games, roleplaying games as well as literature theory. Participants of the study played two different versions of a mod for Crusader Kings II (2012), and were interviewed, to find indications for how different players related to characters in the game, what mechanics they valued, and their view on the characters themselves. The conclusions that are reached in the study indicated that there are mechanics in the game that influence the player’s connection to the characters, but that it is, to a certain degree, up to the player as to what extent they are used or employed.

Denna uppsats handlar om hur följare på olika sätt uppmuntras av influencers att köpa modeprodukter på Instagram, utifrån ett informatikperspektiv i den digitala kontexten. Syftet är att öka förståelsen för hur en följare på olika sätt uppmuntras att köpa modeprodukter som marknadsförs av en influencer på Instagram, vilket även kan ge förståelse för hur modeföretag strategiskt kan arbeta med influencer marketing. För att undersöka detta har vi haft 11 intervjuer via personliga möten eller online över Zoom med kvinnor i åldrarna 20-35 år. De har fått svara på frågor relaterade till hur de upplever att relationen till en influencer och exponeringen av deras innehåll inspirerar dem till att handla de modeprodukter som de marknadsför. Intervjuerna transkriberades och analyserades sedan utifrån en tematisk analys. De olika teman som uppkom utifrån den tematiska analysen var inspiration skapar nya behov, tilltalande innehåll, spara pengar genom rabattkoder och trovärdiga samarbeten. Studiens slutresultat visar att de parasociala relationerna spelar roll för att en respondent ska handla de modeprodukter som marknadsförs av influencers. Resultatet visar även att rabattkoder, rörligt material, igenkänning, tillgänglighet och inspirerade outfits är bidragande faktorer för att respondenterna ska genomföra ett köp av en influencers. / This essay is based on how followers are encouraged by influencers in various ways to purchase fashion-related products on Instagram, from an informatics perspective in a digital context. The purpose is to increase understanding of how a follower is encouraged in various ways to buy fashion-related products that are marketed by an influencer on Instagram, which also can provide an understanding of how fashion companies strategically can work with influencer marketing. To investigate this, we conducted 11 interviews through personal meetings or online through the program Zoom with women in the ages of 20-35 years old. They were asked questions related to how they perceive their relationship with an influencer and the exposure to their content inspires them to purchase the fashion products they promote. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The different themes that emerged from the thematic analysis were inspiration creates new needs, appealing content, save money with discount codes and credible collaborations. The study's final results show that parasocial relationships play a role in a respondent's decision to purchase fashion products marketed by influencers. The results also show that discount codes, video content, recognition, accessibility, and inspired outfits are contributing factors for respondents to make a purchase from an influencer.

Characterization in Pulitzer-awarded features and traditional features was measured using a characterization typology developed by the author. Although some of the results were statistically constrained by a small n, those results which were statistically significant reflect that what separates Pulitzer-winning features from regular features are those elements of characterization particular to scene: a character's distinctive physical characteristics, clothing and possessions; the setting and environment as it defines a character; a physical description of character that is not lineament nor habitual posture or expression but bodily appearance in the immediate moment; a character's movements and actions, facial expressions, words, and thoughts. In an era when the predicted demise of newspapers is more fact than fiction, the reader's experience with newspapers is paramount. Crucial to the news reading experience is the reader's enjoyment: how "I" experienced a story through empathy, parasocial interaction, and/or identification. Perhaps a solution to newspapers' loss of readership is scene: within scene, fear, anguish, exhilaration, and joy are not only the experiences of the characters, but also that of the reader's.

In the light of the digitalization and the emergence of social media, the concept of influencer marketing has increased significantly in importance on a global scale and is now considered one of the most effective, powerful and cost-effective marketing tools for businesses in today’s society. Nevertheless, despite the effectiveness of influencer marketing, the growing worldwide marketing trend of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) influencers, also described as human-like influencers, is currently revolutionizing today’s influencer marketing and is expected to become the new way of marketing from a future perspective. With millions of followers on social media, CGI influencers are quickly gaining three times higher follower engagement than prominent celebrities and human influencers, even though their existence is not real. As a result, the organizational use of CGI influencer marketing has intensified markedly on a global scale from several world-leading brands. Although CGI influencers are expected to increase significantly within marketing, the current knowledge and understanding of CGI influencers as a marketing strategy for brands and products is insufficient and is in essential need of further exploration. This thesis contributes to the yet very limited empirical research by focusing on the research gap of differences between CGI influencers and human influencers from a consumer perspective, with the following research question: “How do CGI influencers differ from human influencers in terms of its impact on consumers’ purchase intentions?”  The research purpose of this thesis is to explore whether there is any difference in the impact of CGI influencers and human influencers on consumers’ purchase intentions in order to increase the understanding of the effectiveness of virtual influencer marketing in comparison to influencer marketing on consumer behavior. The research purpose was fulfilled by undertaking a qualitative inductive research approach and performing ten semi-structured interviews with respondents which both follow at least one macro- or mega human influencer and CGI influencer on Instagram. The thesis focuses on CGI influencers in relation to the aspects of motivations to follow, opinion leadership and parasocial relationships, since these are closely linked to purchase intentions. By increasing the understanding of consumers’ view, attitude and behavior, this thesis has discovered multiple key aspects in how CGI influencers differ from human influencers in terms of its impact on consumers’ purchase intentions. The results show that CGI influencers are generally seen as more or less the same as human influencers in terms of inspiration. Followingly, it is possible for consumers to create parasocial relationships with CGI influencers. Nevertheless, this thesis has identified a dominant perspective that CGI influencers affect purchase intentions to a lesser extent than human influencers at present, which is primarily based on higher-developed parasocial relationships, a greater perceived genuineness and higher consumer trust for human influencers. The core theoretical implications are the expanded scientific research on CGI influencers as a marketing phenomenon, and the perceived differences and similarities between CGI influencers and human influencers from a consumer perspective. The key practical implications are the increased understanding of the effectiveness of virtual influencer marketing in comparison to influencer marketing on consumer behavior, and how to implement CGI influencers in the marketing strategy successfully. On a societal level, the most central societal implications are several ethical issues of CGI influencers within marketing.

La cancel culture (culture de l'annulation) est depuis quelques années une pratique en ligne populaire, mais controversée. Souvent par milliers, les utilisateurs de réseaux sociaux se rassemblent pour dénoncer publiquement et tenter de minimiser la présence en ligne d’une personnalité publique ou d’une entreprise qu'ils jugent problématique, leur fureur atteignant parfois des sommets impressionnants. Considérant l'impact de cette pratique, nous nous sommes interrogées sur la manière dont elle est perçue et vécue par les personnes qui y participent. Cette étude exploratoire définit d'abord la culture de l'annulation à travers diverses modalités numériques et sociohistoriques, puis analyse les réponses de 19 individus ayant participé à des annulations en ligne. Ces étapes ont permis de découvrir pourquoi les gens décident « d’annuler » et d'explorer les expressions de leurs participations. Finalement, c'est surtout le désir de défendre leurs propres valeurs et les communautés marginalisées qui sont ressorties comme les principales motivations de leurs annulations. / Cancel culture has been a popular, but controversial online practice for the past few years. Often by thousands, social media users gather to publicly denounce and attempt to minimise the online presence of a public figure or company they deem problematic, their fury sometimes attaining impressive heights. Considering the impact of this practice, it is worth asking how it is perceived and experienced by the people concerned. This exploratory study first defines cancel culture through diverse digital and sociohistorical modalities, and then analyses the responses of 19 subjects who have participated in online cancellations. These steps served to discover exactly why people canceled and to explore the expressions of their participations. In the end, it was mostly the desire to stand up for their own values and for marginalized communities that stood out as their main motivators for canceling.

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In an ever-evolving social media landscape, online communication has become more prone to the revelation of our affective states. In this study, I investigate how iterations of emotional capital, an extension of Pierre Bourdieu’s four forms of capital, shape social interaction in mediated relationships on YouTube, a platform that fosters a participatory culture. Previously, the field of media studies has devoted itself to the cognitive-behavioural effects of media consumption, allowing research on consumers’ emotionality as an influence on virtual sociality to be left behind. I attempt to elucidate the emotional footprint left by the discourse of the user comment by applying Marci D. Cottingham’s theorisation on emotional capital, paired with Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s Discourse Theory and by extension Discourse Theoretical Analysis expanded by Nico Carpentier et al on a sample of three sets of thirty most popular user comments, each attributed to a video by UK-based content creators Jade Bowler, Lucy Moon, and Venetia La Manna, to argue that the sociality found within their discourse is formed by the parasocial relationship the user exhibits towards the creator. Depending on the affective distance the user expressed towards the creator or to the other subscribers, different forms of emotional capital emerged - care and vulnerability derived from the address to self; inspiration, communication, encouragement stemming from the address to the community; and empathy and respect originating in the address to the creator. Thus, this study provides a novel outlook on mediated relationships in an online setting, where users actively, and more importantly, emotionally engage with themselves, their community, and the creator, to form affective social networks.

Listan över influerare som har gjort skönhetsingrepp kan göras lång. För att nämna ett exempel har Bianca Ingrosso med ett följarantal på 343 000 på Youtube talat öppet om att hon gjort lipfillers (Ingrosso, 2020). Dessa inlägg där influerare talar om hur de korrigerar sin kropp i kombination med att de unga är i majoritet på internet och sociala medier (Svenskarna och internet 2019) ligger till grund för vår vilja att genomföra denna undersökning. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur influerares reklam och framställning av skönhetsingrepp kan skapa betydelse för hur unga kvinnor ser på den egna kroppen. För att genomföra studien har vi använt oss av sex stycken kvalitativa intervjuer med kvinnor i åldrarna 15–17 år. Intervjuerna har spelats in och transkriberats och materialet har sedan analyserats för att besvara våra frågeställningar. Utifrån våra intervjuer kan vi se att influerares sätt att tala om och göra reklam för skönhetsingrepp har betydelse för unga kvinnors attityder till den egna kroppen. Några av respondenterna har även uttryckt att de blivit osäkra gällande sin egen kropp efter att ha sett inlägg gällande skönhetsingrepp från en influerare. Vi kan tydligt se att respondenterna tror att unga kvinnor är den grupp som påverkas mest av influerares framställning av skönhetsingrepp. Intervjuerna visar att respondenterna tar del av ett dominerande skönhetsideal på sociala medier och de beskriver idealet som att man ska vara smal, lång och vacker. Vi kan tydligt se, genom de analyserade intervjuerna, att de unga kvinnorna som deltog i denna studie är kritiska till influerare som talar om och gör reklam för skönhetsingrepp, då de tycker att det uppmanar andra till att korrigera sin kropp. Trots kritiken så spelar influerare en stor roll i de unga kvinnornas liv och de uttrycker att de får inspiration av influerare gällande var och vad man äter, hur man klär sig och hur man tränar. Vi kan därmed se en viss ambivalens i respondenternas svar då de följer specifika influerare samtidigt som de riktar kritik gentemot dessa. / The list of influencers who has had cosmetic procedures done can be made long. To mention one example, Bianca Ingrosso with 343 000 followers on Youtube, has spoken openly about her lip fillers (Ingrosso 2020). These types of posts, where influencers talk about how they correct their body, in combination with the fact that young people are a majority of the internet and social media users (Svenskarna och internet 2019) forms the basis of our motivation to conduct this study. This study aims to analyze whether, and if so, how influencers advertising and speech about cosmetic procedures contribute in creating meaning regarding how young women view their own body. This study was conducted with six qualitative interviews, with women in age 15-17. The interviews have been recorded and transcribed and the material has been analyzed to answer our research questions. Throughout our analyzed interviews can we see that influencers' speech and advertising about cosmetic procedures are meaningful regarding young women's attitudes to their own body. Some of the respondents expressed that they felt insecure about their own body after seeing an influencer talk about cosmetic procedures. We can also see that the respondents think that young women as a group of people are affected by influencers' opinions about cosmetic procedures. In the interviews, we can also see that the respondents take part in constructing a dominating beauty ideal on social media and they define the ideal as being skinny, tall and beautiful. Clearly the young women who took part in this study are critical of how influencers talk and do commercials about cosmetic procedures, they think influencers tell others to correct their body. Despite the criticism, the young women in this study are still inspired by influencers, regarding where and what they eat, how they dress and how they work out. We can clearly see some ambivalence in the way the respondents answer as they follow specific influencers while they also are criticizing them.

本研究是為了比較電視媒體和網路社交媒體在名人與粉絲間的類社會互動程度與後續情感及行為效果上是否有差異。藉由蒐集314份網路問卷，以類社會互動程度為自變項、情感效果與行為效果為應變項，分別比較這兩種媒體。研究結果顯示：第一、不同媒介在引發粉絲對名人的類社會互動上的確存在差異，且以電視的影響力較大。第二、在類社會互動程度引發的情感、行為反應方面，電視都顯著地高於網路社群。第三、整體來說類社會互動程度在預測網路社群上的情感、行為反應是有效的預測變數，與過去電視媒體的文獻結果一致。此外，本研究也發展出粉絲類型量表，以量化的方式將粉絲依照對名人的感興趣程度分成低、中、高三類。進一步將三類粉絲分開檢視，發現粉絲類型確實會調節類社會互動程度與情感、行為效果。 / This research was done to study the relationship between the level of fans’ parasocial interaction and the effects caused by television and online social media. This study collected 314 online questionnaires. The independent variable was the level of parasocial interaction and the dependent variables were affective effects and behavioral effects, including the importance of celebrities, emotions of celebrities’ disappearance, activity, and adaption.The findings of this study indicate that television produced significantly greater influence on the level of parasocial interaction toward celebrities than online social media.Furthermore, the affective effects and behavioral effects caused by parasocial interaction from TV are more significant than the result from social media. Generally speaking, the level of parasocial interaction effectively predicts fans’ affective and behavioral in the context of online social media, which is consistent with the result found in the past television studies. Besides, this study developed a fan scale to classify fans into three levels, including low-interest fans, moderate-interest fans, and high-interest fans. The result reveals that the level of fans can moderate the effects of the level of parasocial interaction, affective effects, and behavioral effects of television and online social media.