Title: Marketing content containing sexual depiction.- An empirical study of social media platforms after a scandal's occurrence. Authors: Gülay Edin and Elin Månsson Level : Master thesis, 30 credits Keywords: Social media marketing, content analysis, sexual marketing, gender discrimination, scandals in marketing Background: The internet has seen significant growth in marketing, leading to opportunities for sexual marketing practices that are difficult to control. Despite increased regulation and awareness, sexist marketing persists over time. This creates negative consequences, and ethics play a role in highlighting public vulnerability and marketers' responsibility. Sexual marketing can lead to scandals, and mitigating their impact is crucial for businesses. Businesses must therefore communicate with their audiences during crises. Research Questions: How a scandal related to sex appeal in marketing influence the content of businesses’ social media publishment afterwards? Purpose: This study aims to gather and analyse content published on social media after the deemed to include sexism in marketing. The aim is to broaden the academic field of sexual marketing and social media content by adding new empirical findings in this field. Method: This paper adopts a qualitative research approach to gather information. The qualitative approach allows for questioning existing variables and obtaining new perspectives. The study focuses on marketing scandals related to sexual appeal and social media content in the Swedish context, divided into two parts. Both stages utilise qualitative and inductive research approaches. Frame of Reference: The main theories in this research do cover several blocks in the field that are, social media marketing and visual content, sexual objectification in visual marketing content, the linkage between ethics and sexuality in marketing, corporate Social Performance, regulations, crisis management in the social media environment and Scandals in business contexts and mediatic influence. Findings: The results of this paper highlight a trend of sexism in the beauty and health industry's marketing. The research question focuses on how scandals related to sex appeal in marketing influence subsequent social media content, and the analysis reveals a significantly low impact in all contexts. / Titel: Marketing content containing sexual depiction. - En empirisk studie av socialamedieplattformar efter att en skandal inträffats. Författare: Gülay Edin och Elin Månsson Nivå : Examensarbete, 30 hp Nyckelord: Marknadsföring i sociala medier, innehållsanalys, sexuell marknadsföring, könsdiskriminering, skandaler inom marknadsföring Bakgrund: Internet har ett en betydande tillväxt i marknadsföring, vilket leder till möjligheter för sexuell marknadsföring som är svåra att kontrollera. Trots ökad reglering och medvetenhet kvarstår sexistisk marknadsföring. Detta skapar negativa konsekvenser och etiken spelar en roll för att synliggöra allmänhetens sårbarhet och marknadsförares ansvar. Sexuell marknadsföring kan leda till skandaler och att mildra deras inverkan är avgörande förföretag. Därför måste företag kommunicera med sin publik under kriser. Forskningsfråga: Hur påverkar en skandal, relaterad till sexappeal i marknadsföring,innehållet i företags sociala medier efteråt? Syfte: Denna studie syftar till att samla in och analysera innehåll som publiceras på socialamedier efter fällande dom från Reklamombudsmannen för sexuell marknadsföring. Syftet är att bredda det akademiska forskningsområdet angående sexuell marknadsföring och innehåll i sociala medier genom att bidra med mer emperi och analyser i detta område. Metod: Denna artikel antar en kvalitativ forskningsmetod för att samla in empirin. Den kvalitativa metoden gör det möjligt att ifrågasätta befintliga variabler och få nya perspektiv. Studien fokuserar på marknadsföringsskandaler relaterade till sexuella utryck och innehåll isociala medier i den svenska kontexten. Artikeln är uppdelad i två delar, båda stegeninnefattar kvalitativa och induktiva forskningsmetoder. Referensram: Huvudteorierna i denna forskning täcker flera området inom marknadsföringsom är sociala medier och visuellt innehåll, sexuell objektifiering i visuelltmarknadsföringsinnehåll, kopplingen mellan etik och sexualitet i marknadsföring, företagenssociala prestanda, regleringar, kris hantering i sociala mediemiljöer och Skandaler iaffärssammanhang och medial påverkan. Resultat: Resultaten av denna artikel visar på en trend av sexism inom skönhets- och hälsobranschens marknadsföring. Forskningsfrågan fokuserar på hur skandaler relaterade till sexuell marknadsföring påverkar efterföljande innehåll i sociala medier och analysen avslöjar en signifikant låg påverkan i alla sammanhang.

This  research  emphasizes  the role  of  social  media  in  customer  acquisition  retention.Furthermore, it investigates insights that have the potential to benefit tech startups inshaping  their  strategies  and  effectively  allocating  resources  to  achieve  consistentcommunication with their customer base. The field of research is particularly relevant dueto the research gap present in the literature that does not investigate how technologystartups should approach the initial acquisition and retention of the user base, consideringthe limited resources available to these newborn organizations. The research providesinsights into customers' perceptions of brands and companies on social media platforms.It offers intuitions on how to enhance customer trust through these platforms and whichare the preferred way of interaction between customers and companies both on and offsocial media.The study was performed using qualitative and quantitative primary data with the purposeof gaining a deep understanding of the research topic. However, the focus has been puton the quantitative data aiming to create objective and generalizable  results, seekingunbiased findings.The  results  of  the research  showed  how important it  is  to  have  an  effective CRM(Customer Relationship  Management) system as well as  being able to identify  theaudience, understanding, therefore, the communication method that best fit the chosentarget, with the aim of interacting with them in the expected and preferred way, beingthus one step closer on achieving customer retention and acquisition.

The increased use of social media has enhanced the way consumers make their everyday purchasing decisions. This has increased the importance of e-commerce companies to be present on social media. E-commerce companies that now use the capabilities of social media have led to the emergence of social commerce. Social media gives mutual gain for customers and companies but has also increased the amount of interactions e-commerce companies need to manage their customer experience (CE) in. As social media gives more control over the CE to the customer themselves it now becomes a challenge in maintaining the seamless CE that is demanded by the customer.  Customer experience management (CEM) is becoming a priority for managers and one of the most promising marketing approaches. CEM is about using customer insight to achieve long term customer loyalty. To gain competitiveness on the market and increase profitability e-commerce companies now need to provide a memorable CE in social media. Despite this, most companies have failed to implement CEM initiatives. There is moreover a lack in research on the combination of the topics of social commerce and CEM. This makes it highly relevant to conduct a study with the intention of answering the following research question: How can Swedish e-commerce companies work with their customer experience management on social media? This study conducted a multiple case study on Swedish e-commerce companies to investigate how Swedish e-commerce companies use CEM on their social media and what challenges and opportunities that exist. The study uses an inductive research approach with an element of deduction where the theoretical framework presents theories in the field of social media, social media marketing strategy (SMMS) and CEM. The study conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with seven marketing managers. The respondents' answer showed that feelings and company culture worked as strategic directions when creating CE that in turn created engaged customers that through two-way interactions gave valuable insight for the company to use for improving their CEM. Challenges for the management was the decreased attention span of customers and an ever-changing context on platforms while there were opportunities in social listening software and the possibility to forecast upcoming trends using the data gathered from social media.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how green marketing can bridge the gap between young consumers' attitudes towards green fashion and their actual purchase intentions. In order to identify and gain an understanding of the factors that influence the effect of green marketing, a multi-research method is used (a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods). The qualitative data is collected through focus groups and is analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings from the focus groups are summarized as three themes: green identity, environmental knowledge, and consumer cynicism. The quantitative data is collected through a questionnaire that is based on the three identified themes. The quantitative data has two main functions, a descriptive one, as it examines a larger sample, and the ability to study the correlation between the identified factors and the affected purchase intention.  The result presents that the green gap between young consumers' attitudes toward green fashion and their purchase intentions is affected by fashion companies' green marketing on social media. The results of the combined statistical and thematic analysis show a significant negative correlation between two of the identified themes (environmental knowledge and consumer cynicism) and the variable affected purchase intention. The third identified theme, green identity, indicates a positive significant correlation with affected purchase intention, although the correlation is weak. / Det finns en vilja hos många konsumenter att konsumera hållbart men den hållbara attityden återspeglas inte alltid i konsumentens köpintentioner eller köpbeteenden. Detta fenomen kallas för attitude-behavior gap och omtalas ibland på svenska som det gröna gapet. I denna uppsats undersöks hur svenska modeföretags gröna marknadsföring på sociala medier påverkar det gröna gapet mellan unga konsumenters attityder till grönt mode och deras faktiska köpintentioner. För att identifiera och studera vilka faktorer som påverkar effekten av grön marknadsföring används en flermetodsforsknings, en kombination av kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod. Den kvalitativa datainsamlingen utgörs av fokusgrupper och den kvantitativa av en enkätundersökning. Genom en tematisk analys av fokusgruppernas data identifierades mönster bland de unga konsumenternas tankar och upplevelser, som sammanställts under tre teman: grön identitet, miljömedvetenhet och konsumentcynism. Med utgångspunkt i dessa teman, studiens syfte och uppsatsens teoretiska referensram utvecklades en analysmodell, baserad på delar av Ajzens (1991) modell theory of planned behavior. Utifrån analysmodellens teman utformades enkäten. Data från enkätundersökningen har bidragit med deskriptiv data från ett större stickprov från populationen men har även gjort det möjligt att statistiskt analysera korrelationen mellan variablerna relaterade till analysmodellens teman.  Resultatet visar att det gröna gapet mellan unga konsumenters attityder till grönt mode och deras faktiska köpintentioner påverkas av svenska modeföretags gröna marknadsföring på sociala medier. Det föreligger signifikanta negativa samband mellan två av analysmodellens teman, miljömedvetenhet och konsumentcynism, som testats mot variabeln påverkad köpintention. Resultatet från fokusgrupperna och enkätundersökningen har visat att en medelhög nivå av miljömedvetenhet har en positiv påverkan på det gröna gapet. En hög nivå av miljömedvetenhet resulterar istället i att konsumenter blir mer skeptiska gentemot företags gröna budskap och har därmed en negativ påverkan på det gröna gapet. Konsumentcynism har i båda undersökningarna visats ha en stark negativ påverkan på det gröna gapet. Bland konsumenter som upplever att grön marknadsföring skapar köpintentioner finns ingen utbredd konsumentcynism vilket kunde identifieras bland en övervägande majoritet av konsumenterna som upplever att grön marknadsföring inte påverkar deras köpintentioner. Det föreligger ett signifikant positivt samband mellan temat grön identitet och variabeln påverkad köpintention. Emellertid är korrelationen svag och inga betydande skillnader kunde identifieras i den sammanställda empiriska data. Grön identitet har således ingen påverkan på det gröna gapet mellan unga konsumenters attityder till grönt mode och deras faktiska köpintentioner.

In today’s world, using social media is part of many people’s daily routine. As many consumers exists on social media, the networks have become attractive marketing channels for brands around the world. To stand out in the crowd of companies and become more recognisable among consumers, brands can implement a consistent brand identity across their communication channels. This study examines the importance of brand identity for Swedish micro and small book publishers (MSPs) on social media, in order to find out how the use of brand identity on social media impacts their businesses. To accomplish this, four respondents from book publishing companies were interviewed to learn how developed their companies’ brand identities are, how they market their business on social media, and what they think is most important about brand identity and social media marketing. The results from this empirical research were then categorised according to qualitative content analysis. Through analysis, it was concluded that the companies themselves find brand identity important, but that they implement it differently. It was also concluded that the most important part of brand identity on social media is the companies’ tone of voice and brand personality, and that these parts steer the visual identity. So, in conclusion, brand identity is important for Swedish MSPs on social media, but it does not have to be fully developed to be effectful. / I dagens samhälle är användningen av sociala media en del av många människors dagliga rutin. På grund av att många konsumenter finns på sociala medier har nätverken blivit attraktiva marknadsföringskanaler för varumärken runt om i världen. För att stå ut bland alla företagen, och bli mer igenkännliga för konsumenter kan varumärkena implementera en konsekvent varumärkesidentitet på sina kommunikationskanaler. Denna studie undersöker betydelsen av varumärkesidentitet för svenska mikro och små bokförlag (MSP:er) på sociala medier, för att ta reda på hur användningen av varumärkesidentitet på sociala media påverkar deras verksamheter. För att åstadkomma detta intervjuades fyra respondenter från bokförlag, detta för att granska hur utvecklade deras förlags varumärkesidentitet är, hur de marknadsför sitt varumärke på sociala medier, och vad de tycker är viktigast med varumärkesidentitet och marknadsföring på sociala medier. Resultaten från denna empiriska undersökning kategoriserades sedan enligt kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Analysen ledde till slutsatsen att företagen själva tycker att varumärkesidentitet är viktigt, men att de implementerar det på olika sätt. Resultatet visade också att den viktigaste aspekten av varumärkesidentitet är företagens röst och varumärkespersonlighet, och att dessa delar styr hur den visuella identiteten ser ut. Sammanfattningsvis visade resultatet att varumärkesidentitet är viktigt för svenska MSP:er på sociala medier, men den behöver inte vara fullt utvecklad för att vara effektiv.

В ходе диссертационного исследования был выявлен недостаток исследований социальных сетей в области формирования актива маркетинговых знаний, было проведено исследование роли социальных сетей в формировании нематериального актива маркетинговых знаний. Был разработан и апробирован алгоритм формирования нематериального актива маркетинговых знаний на предприятии посредством социальных сетей. / In the course of the dissertation research, was revealed a lack of research of social networks in the field of formation of an asset of marketing knowledge, was made a study of the role of social media in the formation of an intangible asset of marketing knowledge. An algorithm for the formation of an intangible asset of marketing knowledge in an enterprise through social media was developed and tested.

Выстраивание компанией коммуникации с потенциальными потребителями через маркетинг социальных медиа может стать одним из основных путей поддерживания двухсторонней коммуникации в интернете. В нашей работе мы сфокусировались на формировании модели коммуникации компании с учетом характеристик социокультурных групп, а именно поколений. Работа посвящена изучению психологических, демографических и культурных особенностей поколений, а также особенностей их поведения в социальных сетях. Мы предложили SMM-модель, а также матрицу, которые могут упростить выбор основных элементов коммуникации в социальных сетях. Проведенная на основании сформулированной модели SMM-кампания показала высокие результаты и перспективность учета характеристик социокультурных групп для ведения коммуникации. / The company's building of communication with potential consumers through the marketing of social media can become one of the main ways to support two-way communication on the Internet. In our work we focused on the formation of the company's communication model, taking into account the characteristics of sociocultural groups, namely generations. The work is devoted to the study of psychological, demographic and cultural features of generations, as well as features of their behavior in social networks. We proposed an SMM-model, as well as a matrix, that can simplify the choice of the basic elements of communication in social networks. Based on the formulated model SMM-campaign showed high results and the prospect of taking into account the characteristics of sociocultural groups for communication.

В данной работе представлено исследование восприятия рекламных обращений осуществляется на основе методов наблюдения и оценки экономической и коммуникативной эффективности, с целью выявления инструментов маркетинговых интернет-коммуникаций, влияющих на предпочтения целевой аудитории при выборе компании, оказывающей концертные услуги. Обоснован алгоритм использования традиционных методов и приемов маркетинга, применяемых для продвижения товаров или услуг в интернет-среде. Предложена авторская концепция оформления рекламы, разработанная на основе формирования маркетинговых средств выразительности, влияющих на предпочтения интернет аудитории в возрасте 18-30 лет, при выборе компаний, оказывающих концертные услуги. Усовершенствован алгоритм формирования инструментов маркетинговых интернет-коммуникаций, с применением бережливых технологий, для влияния на предпочтения целевой аудитории, на основе существующего алгоритма, используемого конкурентами. В данной работе была сделана попытка объединить владение практическими знаниями в области оценки маркетинговых коммуникаций в интернет среде и использованием научного подхода к исследованию темы эффективности оценки маркетинговых коммуникаций в интернет среде, как инструмента влияния на предпочтения целевой аудитории при выборе компании, оказывающей концертные услуги. / In this paper we present a study of the perception of advertising appeals on the basis of methods for monitoring and evaluating economic and communicative efficiency, with the aim of identifying tools for marketing Internet communications that affect the preferences of the target audience when choosing a company that provides concert services. The algorithm of using traditional methods and methods of marketing, used to promote goods or services in the Internet environment, is grounded. The author's concept of advertising design, developed on the basis of the formation of marketing means of expressiveness, affecting the preferences of the Internet audience at the age of 18-30 years, when choosing companies that provide concert services is offered. The algorithm for the formation of tools for marketing Internet communications, using lean technologies, to influence the preferences of the target audience, based on the existing algorithm used by competitors, has been improved. In this paper, an attempt was made to combine practical knowledge in the field of evaluating marketing communications in the Internet environment and using a scientific approach to research on the effectiveness of evaluating marketing communications in the Internet environment as an instrument for influencing the preferences of the target audience when choosing a company that provides concert services.

This thesis is investigating how consumers’ attitudes on fashion advertisements are affected by the models featured in the advertisements, with the consumers’ own body size being taken into consideration. The topic for the thesis was formed when conducting a thorough literature search, which revealed a gap in research. My study considers consumer behavior in marketing, specifically in digital advertising, which in this case is Instagram. My study aims to identify which model body size is the most suitable and effective one when seeking to target plus-size versus skinny consumers, focusing on the female Generation Z of Finland. Ultimately, my thesis strives to help companies in attracting their desired customer base by creating positive attitudes within the consumers, which can consequently lead to increased purchase intentions. This thesis features the characteristics of a deductive, quantitative, explanatory and cross-sectional study. The data is gathered from 82 female respondents in Finland, within the age range of 18 to 27. A survey is designed to measure their attitudes towards advertisements that feature plus-size models, versus advertisements that feature skinny models. Respondents rate their attitudes towards various Instagram advertisements, and additionally choose whether they identify themselves more with a skinny or plus-size body. The results are analyzed through the Interaction term on Repeated measures ANOVA. With significance found, I proceeded to analyze it further with Post Hoc, which then revealed six new hypotheses to examine. The results of the analysis showed some significant changes between the attitudes of skinny respondents and plus-size respondents. Plus-size respondents showed more positive attitudes towards plus-size models than they did towards skinny models. Equivalently the skinny respondents had a more positive attitude towards skinny models than they did towards plus-size models. This is consistent with previous literature regarding perceived similarity and women wanting to see female portrayals in advertisements that they can personally relate to. Additionally, skinny models caused more negative attitudes in plus-size consumers, and plus-size models caused more negative attitudes in skinny consumers. Fashion industry has received a lot of criticism for their use of thin and highly attractive models, but these results give some evidence and understanding to the statement that skinny models are still effective in advertising. However, this seems to only be the case when marketing for skinny consumers. When considering the plus-size consumers, their attitude was more positive towards plus-size models. That being the case, my study suggests that fashion companies should firstly determine their main target group, and whether it is skinny consumers, or plus-size consumers. Secondly, their marketing strategies should be planned accordingly, by casting the models suitable for the target group.

The thesis focuses on bookfluencers – content creators that create content about books and reading. The study explores how they perceive the gifted books they receive from book publishers and other actors, which they are expected to create content about – often unpaid. The aim of the thesis is to investigate the aspirations behind bookfluencers’ content about gifted books and their experiences of reading them. Furthermore, it explores unpaid labour on social media platforms and attachment to art as an aspiration. How do bookfluencers on social media differ from literary critics in traditional media? The study’s methodology is semi-structured interviews with 10 Swedish bookfluencers. The theoretical framework consists of the concepts of “affective labor” (Hardt, 1999, p. 89; Hardt & Negri, 2004, p. 108), “aspirational labour” (Duffy, 2015, p. 443), “attunement” (Felski, 2020, p. 41) and “work-net” (Felski, 2020, p. 144). The analysis emphasizes on the labour behind creating content about gifted books, how bookfluencers position themselves and their content in relation to literary criticism, and the processes of attunement to books that they are gifted. Main findings are that seeing reading as an aspiration behind content gives bookfluencers a certain power to negotiate, despite collaborators’ demands. Defining themselves as book recommenders rather than literary critics may imply other expectations on their labour. Further, expectations from collaborators can affect bookfluencers’ reading experiences: the need to adapt their content to the book market can be seen as a form of affective labour. In the last section, the thesis discusses different processes that affect the reading experience of a gifted book, and how bookfluencers imagine getting paid for their work in the future. It problematizes how social media platforms do not pay their content creators. Thus, possible future research topics can explore bookfluencers’ relations to social media platforms and book streaming platforms further.