Abstract Title: The old generation and the New World - A qualitative content analysis of media usage of the older generation Keywords:Digital natives, digital immigrants, diffusion of innovation, content analysis This study has its focus on how the older generation looks at today's media society and the use of today's media. Through a method of qualitative content analysis based on questionnaires, the aim is to examine what the older generation thinks about today's media, how they use them, and whether there are differences in groups according to age and previous work. The study selected theories bases on Marc Prenskys idea of ​​digital natives, digital immigrants and Everett M Rogers book on "Diffusion of Innovation". These theories take up the difference on digital natives and digital immigrants and the spread of new technological ideas takes place through communication over different channels in time among causes people in a social system. The result of the study shows that many older people are good at making use of today's media, but also that many may feel alienation of today's media society. Development has proceeded rapidly in recent years and for the older generation it's sometimes hard to keep up. The conclusion of the study is that the older generation may need more help to discover how today's media can facilitate everyday life and enrich it with more communication despite the fact that it takes place through a screen.

The phenomenon of Virtual Power Plant (VPP) has gained increased attention in many parts of the world in recent years. In 2022 the European Union, in response to the rising energy prices as well as the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, set a goal of speeding up the process of creating a digital energy system (European Commission, 2022, p. 20). VPP is the/a solution to the problem, and the EU is set to start its deployment of a common European energy data space no later than 2024 (European Commission, 2022, p. 3).  Previous academic research on VPP has been conducted on the technical aspects of the phenomenon and the adoption of VPP has not been approached from a consumer standpoint. We therefore identified a research gap, since, to the best of our knowledge, no qualitative or quantitative research has been conducted in the area of acceptance of VPP by individuals or households. We could see that there is a need for this type of research due to the goals set by the European Union, and the lack of current research. To fulfill the purpose of our study, we draw on the literatures on supplier switching in homogenous markets, innovation adoption, and technology acceptance to develop a conceptual framework and further empirically extend it via a mixed-method approach. The qualitative component of the study consists of three online on-on-one interviews, conducted with the help of a discussion guide. The interviewees selected were considered to be appropriate participants, suited for our study. The interviews gave us a deeper understanding of how VPP came across to the Swedish consumer, as well as how it was perceived by them. The quantitative study was done by the means of a survey of 75 respondents, enabling us to conduct a set of linear regressions in order to test our hypotheses.  Through our mixed-method study, we were able to develop an integrative framework, showcasing factors related to Swedish consumers’ intention to partake in VPP. We could conclude that Swedish consumers see value in VPP, and that there is curiosity related to the topic which indicates that there is an interest to explore and partake in VPP. We further discuss a range of recommendations to policy-makers and energy providers, as well as the potential contributions of VPP to the two important social aspects: sustainability and energy security.

Digital video recorders have given a growing number of viewers the ability to skip television commercials. In an effort to combat ad-skipping, television providers and advertisers are looking at ways to embed advertising into the video content; one way this can be accomplished is with graphic overlays known as snipes. Little is known about how content providers use snipes and what research they have conducted. This study is qualitative and uses long telephone interviews with 8 respondents from various cable television network and broadcast affiliate stations; examining the characteristics of innovation, as found in Rogers's (1995) diffussion of innovation theory. One discovery is that some cable networks are taking measures to ensure that snipes do not appear during emotional moments in the narrative. The study is the first piece of academic research dedicated to understanding how snipes are used and stands as a foundation for future research on the subject.

More research is needed to be able to fully understand the role that social media plays in elections, specifically in local elections. Candidates need to understand how it works and how they can effectively use this new communication medium. By exploring Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Social Information Processing Theory, and the Two-Way Symmetrical Model of communications this study sought to answer one overarching question: how should a candidate employ social media in a local election? This qualitative, single case study explores the 2014 recall and general election in Yorba Linda, California. Councilman Tom Lindsey and candidate Matt Palmer are the primary subjects of study. Observations were made through analysis of documentation, interviews, and participant and direct observation. The researcher was employed as the campaign manager for both Lindsey's and Palmer's campaigns. The findings support the use of social media in local campaigns on a case by case basis. Determining use depends on the demographics of the voters and the abilities of the candidate. The data suggests that social media needs to be part of comprehensive strategy that includes traditional communication tools. Observations from the case study illustrate the need for candidates to engage in two-way communication that is monitored and regulated. This study begins to establish social media as a tool that candidates can use to inexpensively reach voters in a way that showcases the candidate's personality and allows them to connect on a personal level with constituents. Social media will play a role in politics at all levels.

Andersson, et al. (2008) konstaterar i sin rapport att byggbranschen i Norden har erfarit låg produktivitet. Bristen på digital användning i branschen har anförts som en av de främsta orsakerna. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vad som krävs av en organisation för att förändra medarbetares arbetssätt till att bli mer digitala. Studien har begränsats till att undersöka ett stort svenskt byggföretag som i studien benämns Byggföretaget. Empirin bygger på en fallstudie omfattande en intervjustudie och enkätundersökning. Genom studiens teori och empiri noteras faktorer som påverkar hur spridningen av innovationer sker inom en organisation samt individers förändringsbenägenhet. Dessa berör struktur och kultur inom organisationen samt det stöd och de resurser som finns inom organisationen ämnat för digitalisering. Byggföretaget satsar brett på digitalisering och har en stor vilja att förändra medarbetares arbetssätt till att bli mer digitala. De anställda upplever däremot att resurser saknas för att möta Byggföretagets vision.  Författarna har observerat den stora påverkan som organisationskultur och lokala projektkulturer har på företagets digitaliseringsarbete. De lokala kulturerna kan motverka organisationens övergripande kultur. Individers förändringsbenägenhet påverkar innovationsspridningsförmågan inom företaget, där det är viktigt att nyckelpersoner har en positiv inställning till digitaliseringen.  För att gynna innovationsspridningshastigheten och få med sig alla typer av individer, allt från innovatörer till eftersläntrare, är det viktigt att organisationen har en tydlighet i sin digitala strategi. Det är även viktigt att organisationen skapar en miljö där den digitala förändringen innehåller så få motgångar som möjligt för individerna som ska förändra sina arbetssätt. Till sist är det viktigt att se till innovationen i sig och dess grad av användarvänlighet. Att genomföra en standardisering av program, där särskilda program utses av organisationen, skulle effektivisera arbete och minska graden av dubbelarbete vid inlärning. / According to Andersson, et al. (2008), the construction industry has experienced low productivity, and the lack of digital use in the industry has been mentioned as one of the main reasons. The purpose of this study is to find what is required of an organization to change employees' working methods to become more digital. The study has been limited to investigating a large Swedish construction company, that will be referred to as Construction Company for the remainder of this thesis. The empirical study is based on a case study comprising an interview study and questionnaire survey. The theory and empirical study identifies factors that influence the spread of innovations within an organization and the individuals' tendency to change. These concern the structure and culture within the organization as well as the support and resources available within the organization for digitization. The Construction Company invest heavily in digitalization and has a great willingness to change employees' working methods to become more digital. Employees, on the other hand, experience that resources are missing to meet the construction company's vision. The authors have observed the great influence that organizational culture and local project cultures have on the company's digitization work. Local cultures can counteract the organizational culture. Individuals' tendency to change affects the ability of diffusion of innovations within the company. It is important that key people have the right attitude towards digitization. To benefit from the spread of innovation and bring in all types of individuals, it is important that the organization has a clarity in its digital strategy. It is also important that the organization creates an environment where the digital change contains as few setbacks as possible when individuals are to change their way of working. Finally, it is important to look at the innovation itself and its level of user-friendliness. An implementation of standardized programs, where specific programs are designated by the organization, would streamline work and reduce the degree of learning duplication.

This study examines the role of the Campus Technologist in diffusing innovation at the Central Texas High School. The study defines the CT position, its evolution and the effects of the position on the diffusion of innovation. The study further examines the relationship of the CT with the facilitation, infusion and integration of technology in the classroom at the Central Texas High School. Interview and survey data from both the CT and the faculty provided insight and findings that indicate the role of the CT has evolved. The evolution of the CT position was found to be characterized as three distinct roles a pedagogy specialist, a content specialist and a technology specialist. The study also investigated teacher perception, utilization frequencies and data patterns in relationship to the role of the CT at the Central Texas High School. Finally, the study examined technology integration in the classroom and provided findings in a frequency distribution of technology application practices and integration applications by teachers in their classrooms at the Central Texas High School.

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The rapid development of plastic production the last couple of decades has led to extensive use of plastic products and vast problems with littering, waste management and exploitation of natural resources. Due to the cheap and easy production of plastics, the world’s population has extended the limit of acceptable usage. The world’s oceans are filled with plastic debris and waste is landfilled, which have had large impacts on the ecosystem, animal and human life (World Environment Day Outlook, 2018). One of the industries that have been revolutionised by the development of plastic advancement is the packaging industry, where products can be protected and quality can be kept, helping globalisation and developing the modern economy (UNEP, 2018). However, due to the lack of waste management systems and recycling facilities for plastics, the world’s population is demanding change. The United Nations have developed the Sustainability Goals and issued The New Plastics Economy, where governments, citizens and regulatory institutions are to work towards a circular economy (The New Plastics Economy, 2019). The demands are addressed towards whole value chains, from production to end-use, and include waste minimising, material optimisation, increase of recyclability, and the development of sustainable alternatives. The fish industry has historically been limited to a few packaging options and expanded polystyrene (EPS) has been the least inferior one when packaging fresh fish for transportation and keeping the quality of the fish. EPS has great material properties for this purpose, however, with the sustainability transition and increasing demands from consumers, the material is regarded as unsustainable with limited availability and profitability to recycle (Hansen et al., 2012). This master thesis aims to investigate if there are sustainable packaging solutions for fresh fish and how these could be adopted by the fish industry. This was done by conducting a qualitative case study on an alternative packaging solution made from corrugated cardboard. Stakeholders from the whole fish value chain were interviewed in order to understand the value perception of existing and alternative packaging solutions for fresh fish. The findings have been analysed using innovation adoption theory together with a sustainability framework. This in order to understand the adoption behaviour of innovative sustainable packaging solutions, and the sustainability impact of these with regards to environmental, social and economic aspects. The study has identified two packaging solutions, develop recycling systems for EPS and fish boxes made from corrugated cardboard, that the fish industry should consider adopting. The two identified packaging solutions have different diffusion possibilities, where the corrugated cardboard fish box is considered as the most sustainable solution. / Den snabba utvecklingen av plastproduktion de senaste decennierna har lett till en omfattande användning av plastprodukter, vilket har medfört problem som nedskräpning, ökad avfallshantering och överdriven användning av naturresurser. På grund av billig och enkel tillverkning av plast har världens befolkning överskridit gränsen för acceptabel användning. Världens hav är fyllda med spillror av plast och avfall deponeras, vilket har haft stora effekter på ekosystemet och djur- och människoliv (World Environment Day Outlook, 2018). En av branscherna som har revolutionerats av utvecklingen av plast är förpackningsindustrin, där plasten bidrar till att produkter kan skyddas och kvalitet kan bevaras, vilket har hjälpt globaliseringen och utvecklat den moderna ekonomin (UNEP, 2018). På grund av bristen på avfallshanteringssystem och återvinningsanläggningar för plast kräver dock världens befolkning förändring. FN har utvecklat hållbarhetsmål och utfärdat The New Plastics Economy, där regeringar, människor och tillsynsinstitutioner ska arbeta för en cirkulär ekonomi (The New Plastics Economy, 2019). Kraven riktas mot hela värdekedjor, från produktion till slutanvändning, och inkluderar avfallsminimering, materialoptimering, ökad återvinningsbarhet och utveckling av hållbara alternativ. Fiskindustrin har historiskt sett varit begränsad till att använda materialet expanderad polystyren (EPS) vid förpackning av färsk fisk för transport och för att behålla fiskens kvalitet. Detta material har bra materialegenskaper för dessa ändamål, men med hållbarhetsövergången och ökade krav från konsumenter anses materialet vara ohållbart med begränsad tillgänglighet och lönsamhet att återvinna (Hansen et al., 2012). Denna masteruppsats syftar till att undersöka om det finns hållbara förpackningslösningar för färsk fisk och hur dessa bör anammas av fiskindustrin. Detta gjordes genom att genomföra en kvalitativ fallstudie av en alternativ förpackningslösning gjord av wellpapp. Intressenter från fiskens hela värdekedja intervjuades för att förstå värdesynen på befintliga och alternativa förpackningslösningar för färsk fisk. Resultaten har analyserats med hjälp av innovations teori, tillsammans med ett hållbarhetsramverk. Detta för att förstå adoptionsbeteendet för innovativa hållbara förpackningslösningar och hållbarhetspåverkan av dessa när det gäller miljö, samt sociala och ekonomiska aspekter. Studien har identifierat två förpackningslösningar; ett utvecklat återvinningssystem för EPS och fisklådor tillverkade av wellpapp, som fiskindustrin bör överväga att anamma. De två identifierade lösningarna har olika diffusionsmöjligheter, där wellpappfisklåda betraktas som den mest hållbara lösningen.

Overcrowded emergency departments (EDs) are a critical problem in healthcare, and emerging technology presents new solutions to this problem. One solution is ambulatory in-home services, like Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) programs, offering care to patients inside of their homes using telehealth technology. For an ambulatory in-home service to cross the chasm and be accepted by a larger population, two aspects have to be investigated and developed for an earlystage implementation: 1) The product offering, and 2) stakeholder attraction. A case of a newly developed MIH program has been studied with the purpose to understand what aspects should be prioritized in the development of an ambulatory in-home service, such as the MIH program. Firstly, the product offering should have a niche approach using early triaging, to ensure that its selling promise gets fulfilled. Secondly, the generic product should consist of basic services that can be expanded after the service has proven trialability. However, the potential of the product should be researched and presented to the management with a realistic selling promise commitment. Lastly, the complexity, mostly associated with administrative tasks, should be minimized. To further increase the adoption rate, knowledge exchange with other programs should be utilized. Moreover, the study shows evidence that both patients and providers have a high satisfaction associated with ambulatory in-home services, and that they have a relative advantage in comparison to an ED visit. The diffusion will mostly be through word-of-mouth, making the product offering even more important. To achieve maximum diffusion the patients and providers have to know that the service is available to other individuals in their social system. During the early stages of adoption, external influence will also play an important role in creating awareness. Moreover, loyalty and continuous use of the service have to be promoted. / Överbelastade akutmottagningar är ett kritiskt problem i sjukvård, och utvecklingen av ny teknikger en lösning till detta problem. En lösning är akuta hemtjänster, liksom "Mobile Integrated Health" (MIH) program, som erbjuder vård till patienter inuti deras hem genom att använda "telehealth" teknologi. För att en akut hemservice ska korsa spridningsklyftan och bli accepterad av en större befolkning måste två aspekter undersökta och utvecklade i ett tidigt stadie: 1) produkterbjudande och 2) intressentattraktion. I denna studie har ett nyutvecklat MIH program studerats med avsikten att förstå vilka aspekter som ska prioriteras under utvecklingen av en akut hemtjänst, liksom MIH programmet. För det första så måste produkterbjudandet ha en nischad strategi, som använder sig av tidig triage för att säkerhetsställa att säljlöftet genomförs. För det andra så ska den generiska produkten bestå av bastjänster, vilka kan expanderas efter att provbarhet har bevisats. Dock så ska den potentiella produkten undersökas och presenteras för ledningen med ett realistiskt säljlöfte. Slutligen så ska komplexiteten, som är mestadels kopplad till administrativa uppgifter, minimeras. För ytterligare ökning av spridningsfrekvensen så ska kunskapsutbyten med andra program utnyttjas. Fortsatt, så visar studien på att både patienter och vårdgivare har en hög belåtenhet kopplat till akuta hemtjänster, och att de har en relativ fördel i jämförelse med besök på akutmottagningar. Spridningen sker mestadels genom "word-of-mouth" vilket gör produkterbjudandet ännu viktigare. För att nå maximal spridning måste patienter och vårdgivare veta att tjänsten är tillgänglig för andra individer i deras sociala system. Under den tidiga adoptionsfasen, är extern influens också viktigt för att sprida medvetenhet. Även lojalitet och fortsatt användning av tjänsten måste framhävas.

This study of the diffusion and evolution of the 311 innovation in the form of citizen service centers and as a technology cluster has been designed to help identify the catalysts for the spread of government-to-citizen (G2C) technology in local government in order to better position future G2C technology for a more rapid rate of adoption. The 311 non-emergency number was first established in 1996 and had spread to 80 local governments across the United States by 2012. This dissertation examines: what factors contributed to the adoption of 311 in American local governments over 100,000 in population; how did the innovation diffuse and evolve over time; and why did some governments' communications with citizens became more advanced than others? Given the problem of determining causality, a three-part research design was used to examine the topic including a historical narrative, logistic regression model, and case studies from Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and St. Louis. The narrative found that the political forces of the federal government, national organizations, and policy entrepreneurs (Karch, 2007) promoted the 311 innovation to solve different problems and that it evolved beyond its original intent. The logistic regression model found that there was a statistically significant relationship between 311 adoption and the variables of higher population, violent crime rate, and the mayor-council form of government. The case studies revealed that mayors played a strong role in establishing citizen service centers in all three cities while 311 adopter Pittsburgh and non-adopter St. Louis seemed to have more in common in their G2C evolution due to severe budget constraints. With little written about the 311 innovation in academic journals, practitioners and scholars will benefit from understanding the catalysts for the diffusion and evolution of the 311 in order to determine ways to increase the rate of adoption for future G2C communication innovations. / Ph. D.