M.A. / The principle aim of the present study was to uncover the similarities and differences between the National Plan for Family Life (NPFL) and six state-funded programmes of social welfare organisations. A checklist was compiled from the NPFL on the basis of an explorative-descriptive research design with the following categories: "principles", "aim", "objectives", "the identified needs of families", "target groups" and "actions". The content of the said six state-funded programmes of social-welfare organisations were then analysed by means of the said checklist in order to uncover any possible similarities and differences. The latter checklist was also utilised as the framework for the dissemination of the findings and recommendations arrived at and made on account of the study. Of these thirty-five findings, the following deserve to be mentioned: • In the category entitled "principles", no correlation could be drawn, as not one of the programmes documented principles as their basis. • In the category entitled "aim", the concept "marriage and family life" only featured in two programmes, whilst no programme provided for the concept "optimum quality marriage and family life". • The strengthening of marriage and family life featured in the category entitled "objectives" especially as far as significance attribution, interpersonal relations and resilience to overcome adversity were concerned. Similarities in respect of the concept "strengthening" were only uncovered in one programme, whilst three programmes included facets of marriage and family life such as interpersonal relations. The NPFL takes cognisance of the effect and affect of inhuman and inhibitory circumstances in families' physical environment. Only one programme bore partial resemblance to this, thanks to a formulated objective aimed at the improvement of children's physical environment. The privileges, rights, responsibilities and joys associated with parenthood and family life are highlighted in the NPFL, whilst children's rights are only referred to in one programme and the honouring of these responsibilities is referred to in another. No programme, however, make any mention of the joys of parenthood and family life. Preparation for the various life phases in order to prevent dysfunctioning is emphasised in the NPFL, whilst none of the other programmes barring one allow for the word "preparation" in their objectives. The facilitation of therapeutic and supporting services, aimed at the handling of dysfunctions in family life, is emphasised in the NPFL; an aspect which all six programmes share. • The following sub-categories feature in the category entitled 9dentified needs" of the checklist: "marital relations", "family relations", "parent/child relations", "individual factors", "needs relating to the interface between family and community" and "value orientations". With the exception of the interface between family and community, as well as value orientations, a similarity was uncovered between all these sub-categories. • Strong similarities were found between the categories entitled "target groups" and "actions", as contained in the checklist of the NPFL and the six programmes.

Att veta hur en internationell besökare eller eller turist upplever en maritim kulturarvsattraktion är av yttersta vikt för att kunna utveckla produkter som kan attrahera, tillfredsställa och ge en god upplevelse. Att veta vad det är som motiverar dem att besöka olika sorters attraktioner är viktig kunskap för att kunna komponera en komplett produkt.Syftet med studien är att kartlägga vilka sinnen som är de mest viktiga för internationella besökare och turisters upplevelse av en maritim kulturarvsattraktion samt att se vilka motiv de har till besöket.Uppsatsen har en kvantitativ forskningsmetodik i form av enkäter baserade på valda teorier och innehåller kvalitativa inslag då den har öppna frågor med svar som kan variera utifrån respondentens egna preferenser. Studiens resultat visade på att synsinnet är det mest vitala och att smaksinnet är det minst viktiga för de undersökta segmenten. Studiens resultat gällande besöksmotiv för de valda segmenten var ganska likvärdiga. De mest framträdande besöksmotivet för de valda segmenten var lärande- och utbildningssyfte. Det minst framträdande besöksmotivet var kunskapsutvecklande för arbete eller hobby.

The thesis looks at the process of setting up a platform between civil society and public sector where the intention is for stakeholders to have a dialogue around different solutions to societal issues. The second component involves the legal arrangement where government uses public procurement to buy a service from a civil society organisation. The thesis explores what motivates this process and what some of the consequences are for the stakeholders. The discussion takes its stance in the conflict between civil society as a voice bearer of specific societal issues or as a service deliverer towards government. It also looks at whom partake in this process and whom gets left out. The thesis looks at the policy documents at a national and regional level and as well compare two regions with one being considered the “best practice” region. Informants from the Värmland region where interviewed and their impressions where compared to the policy documents and some keywords.  The thesis concluded that the stakeholders partaking in general are positive towards the process but that there are institutional setups that could be better dealt with to handle issues of power imbalances and exclusion.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka hur logiverksamheter i Stockholms skärgård har recenserats på hemsidan TripAdvisor samt hur resesidans recensionsverktyg är utformat. Den metod som tillämpades var en innehållsanalys av 152 omdömen vid TripAdvisor. Vidare genomfördes observationer av hemsidan samt av dess poängsystem TripCollective. Fyra artiklar valdes som teoretisk utgångspunkt för denna uppsats. De två första artiklarna diskuterar hur konsumenter väljer att agera utifrån recensioner online. Vidare diskuteras i de två senare artiklarna vilka komponenter som är mest förekommande i omdömen om hotell. Undersökningen resulterade i ett empiriskt material som påvisar att TripAdvisors recensionsverktyg är utformat utifrån ett antal riktlinjer och förslag att följa. Om riktlinjer inte följs av hemsidans skribenter är det inte möjligt att publicera ett omdöme. De områden som var mest förekommande i omdömen om hotell och vandrarhem i Stockholms skärgård var följande: Restaurang (18 %), Logi (16 %), Värdskap (15 %) samt Miljö (14 %). Framtida konsumenter kan påverkas av skribenters förmedlade omdömen genom hemsidans poängsystem och dess recensionsverktyg TripCollective. / The aim of this study was to investigate how hotels and hostels in the archipelago of Stockholm has been reviewed on the website TripAdvisor. Another aim was to analyse how TripAdvisor’s review system is constructed. The used method for this study was content analysis of 152 reviews collected from TripAdvisor. Moreover, observations of TripAdvisor's review system and its point system TripCollective were executed. Four articles were chosen as the theoretical framework for the study in which the authors of the first two articles discuss how consumers choose to act based on reviews online. The authors of the second two articles discuss which components are most frequent in reviews about hotels. The study resulted in an empirical material which demonstrated that TripAdvisor's review system is designed with regards to a number of guidelines and suggestions. These guidelines and suggestions can, or have to be, followed in order to create and publish a review. The most frequent themes in the reviews regarding hotels and hostels in the archipelago of Stockholm were Restaurant (18 %), Accommodation (16 %), Hostship (15 %) and Environment (14 %). Future consumers can be influenced by the writers reviews due to TripAdvisors review system and point system TripCollective.

This study provides an examination of the link between psychic distance and consumers’ behavior towards purchasing from foreign online retailers. A self-administered online survey, with an observation unit of 123 respondents is provided for data collection. The findings from the data imply that psychic distance is valid from a level of high uncertainty. The level of uncertainty decreases as customers gain knowledge externally, access of relevant knowledge builds trust for the customer with the foreign online retailer.

The purpose of this thesis was to get an idea of how tourism in Ukraine and specifically in the capital, Kiev, changed since the major events in recent years. In 2012 Ukraine and Poland welcomed the big football event Euro 2012 where Kiev was one of the hosting cities. After that the tourist flow increased until the terrible riot that took place at the end of 2013. Among other consequences, it led to Kiev receiving a bad image internationally via mass media, which in turn led to the reduction of the tourist flow. This thesis is a qualitative study, based on interviews with two government officials who had given us an overview of how tourism is today and what government does to improve the city’s image of having poor security and threats to potential tourists in Kiev today. Interviews with both representatives took place on location in Kiev. In addition to that, we conducted an email-survey with 13 Swedish tourists who had not previously visited Kiev to get a picture of their knowledge of Ukraine’s capital. Based on the answers from our respondents, we had worked to obtain the relevant theories and previous research for further analysis. The results of this thesis show that nowadays tourism in Kiev is not a profitable industry and there is too little focus dedicated to this topic as well as the city's marketing, because of the ongoing war in parts of the country. Furthermore, there is no ministry responsible for tourism in Kiev, but only departments that are being constantly moved between different ministries. / Syftet med denna uppsats var att få en uppfattning över hur turism i Ukraina och specifikt i huvudstaden Kiev ser ut, då den ändrades i och med stora händelser under de senaste åren. År 2012 hade Ukraina och Polen välkomnat det stora fotbollsevenemanget EM 2012 och Kiev var en av städerna som evenemanget arrangerades i. Efter detta hade turistflödet ökat tills det förfärliga upploppet som skedde i slutet av år 2013. Det ledde till att Kiev fick en dålig image internationellt via massmedia som i sin tur ledde till turismflödets minskning. Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ studie, byggt på intervjuer med två myndighetsrepresentanter som har gett oss en överblick om hur turismen ser ut idag och vad staten gör för att avlägsna denna image om dålig säkerhet och hot mot potentiella turister som Kiev har idag. Med potentiell turist menas en person som hittar något intresse för att besöka ett turistställe. Intervju med både representanter skedde på plats i Kiev. Samtidigt hade vi genomfört en undersökning då vi via e-post intervjuade 13 svenska turister som inte tidigare hade besökt Kiev. Syftet med e-post intervjuerna var att få deltagarnas bild av vad de har för kunskap om Kiev. Utifrån svar från våra respondenter hade vi arbetat för att få fram de relevanta teorier samt tidigare forskning för vidare analys. Resultatet av denna uppsats visar att dagens turism i Kiev inte är den lönsamma näringen och det fokus som läggs på detta område samt stadens marknadsföring är obetydlig, då det pågår krig i delar av landet. Samtidigt som förvärvsarbetet av turismen brister på grund av saknad av ett departement som ska vara ansvarig för turismen i Kiev. Det finns endast inaktiva avdelningar som ständigt flyttas till olika departement.

In light of the cyber-activist simulated incidences dubbed Occupy Wall Street in New York City, New York, USA and the mirrored Occupy JSE movement in Johannesburg, South Africa, the internet and its social media networking sites have been instrumental in facilitating both the dissemination of information as well as facilitating a mediated environment for activists to coordinate online and offline protest action. This research examines the extent to which activists for social change have used social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, web blogs and other online forums to garner support for their cause as well as generate social mobilization by creating awareness of the economic disparities in their respective societies. Established theories of social presence have been used to explain the relevance and role of social media tools in instigating social mobilization whether online or offline. This discussion focuses on the Occupation Movements staged in various countries globally and to what extent social media played in facilitating social change. It is important to note that the video footage and other social media data under analysis is specifically that which was uploaded onto YouTube and the subsequent URL links posted on Facebook. By scrutinizing these videos and calls for action as well as the comments posted by the international online community, this research elucidates the ‘trickling down effect’ of this type of cyber-activism on the behavioural patterns of contemporary South African society, and further argues that this process is indicative in the resultant Occupy JSE movement.

In light of the cyber-activist simulated incidences dubbed Occupy Wall Street in New York City, New York, USA and the mirrored Occupy JSE movement in Johannesburg, South Africa, the internet and its social media networking sites have been instrumental in facilitating both the dissemination of information as well as facilitating a mediated environment for activists to coordinate online and offline protest action. This research examines the extent to which activists for social change have used social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, web blogs and other online forums to garner support for their cause as well as generate social mobilization by creating awareness of the economic disparities in their respective societies. Established theories of social presence have been used to explain the relevance and role of social media tools in instigating social mobilization whether online or offline. This discussion focuses on the Occupation Movements staged in various countries globally and to what extent social media played in facilitating social change. It is important to note that the video footage and other social media data under analysis is specifically that which was uploaded onto YouTube and the subsequent URL links posted on Facebook. By scrutinizing these videos and calls for action as well as the comments posted by the international online community, this research elucidates the ‘trickling down effect’ of this type of cyber-activism on the behavioural patterns of contemporary South African society, and further argues that this process is indicative in the resultant Occupy JSE movement

The aim of thesis is to evaluate how elder people (seniors) perceive the product offer on the Czech market and the marketing activities of Czech companies. The thesis is focused on the seniors characteristics and specific features of their consumer behavior. The thesis is divided into two major parts: a theoretical and a practical one. The theoretical part is principally dedicated to reviewing basic marketing concepts and procedures for market segmentation and also to factors that affect it. There are mentioned few basic types of segmentation as well as the criteria commonly used for market segmentation. A separate chapter is devoted to a consumer and the factors that influence consumer's purchase decisions. The practical part is focused particularly on the specific features of the Czech consumer and the charakcteristics of the elder consumers. A chapter is devoted not only to statistical data of demographic and socio-economic nature, but also to characteristics of the elder people in terms of sociological perspective. The final part is devoted to the analysis of senior's purchase decision making, arising from the results of the interview survey, and to senior's opinions about marketing and a product offer on the Czech market.

In recent years, social media has experienced tremendous growth in the number of users. Facebook alone has more than 1.3 billion active users and Twitter has attracted over 600 million active users. Social media has significantly changed the way humans communicate. Many people use social media to keep in touch with family and friends and receive up-to-date information about what happens around the world. Politicians are using social media to support their campaigns. Use of social media is not restricted to individuals and politicians. Businesses are now using social media to promote their products and services. Many companies maintain Facebook and Twitter accounts to keep in touch with their customers. Consumers also use social media to receive information about products/services. Online product reviews are now an important source of information for consumers. This dissertation aims to address one fundamental research question: how do individual differences among users lead to different levels of performance on social media? More specifically, this dissertation investigates the motivations of use and the predictors of performance in the context of social media. We utilize sentiment mining to predict performance in different types of social media including information diffusion in Twitter and helpfulness and readership of online consumer reviews. The results show how different motivations lead to different levels of participation in social media and level of participation consequently influences performance. We also find that sentiment of the messages posted on social media significantly influence their performance.