El presente trabajo de investigación se realizó con el objetivo de confirmar si existe una relación entre las características del eWOM, imagen de marca y la intención de compra de los millennials en las principales tiendas por departamento online. La metodología incluyó una investigación de tipo cualitativa y cuantitativa, con un muestreo no probabilístico por conveniencia. En primera instancia, se realizó un focus group como herramienta de investigación cualitativa, para conocer el comportamiento de los millennials en el e-commerce y el boca – oído electrónico. Luego, como instrumento de investigación cuantitativa, se aplicaron 339 encuestas para analizar la relación entre las variables de estudio. En el primer capítulo, se presentará el marco teórico, donde definimos las principales variables de estudio: el eWOM, la intención de compra y la imagen de marca. Así mismo, se analizarán los papers consultados para la elaboración del estudio y sus principales hallazgos de investigación. En el segundo capítulo, presentaremos las hipótesis, objetivos y determinaremos la problemática del estudio. Mientras que en el tercer capítulo hablaremos de la metodología, detallando el tipo de investigación, la operalización de las variables de estudio, el proceso de muestreo y los instrumentos metodológicos para el recojo de investigación. En el cuarto y quinto capítulo se analizarán los resultados de la investigación, junto a los análisis estadísticos, como el coeficiente de correlación de Spearman, y se realizará una comparativa entre los resultados y la teoría dentro de los papers de referencia. Por último, se brindarán las conclusiones y recomendaciones de la investigación. / The objective of the present study was to discover the impact of eWOM on the purchase intention of the millennial consumer towards the main online department stores. The methodology included a qualitative and quantitative research, with a convenience non-probability sample. In first place, we perform a focus group, as a qualitative research tool, to learn about the behavior of young millennials in the peruvian e-commerce, and their relationship with eWOM. After that, we used an online survey as a quantitative research instrument, that was applied to 339 users with the objective to verify the relationship between eWOM, brand image and purchase intention. In the first chapter, we’ll study the theoretical framework, where the variables of eWOM, purchase intention and brand image are defined; and the research findings of papers consulted for the investigation. In the second chapter, we’ll present the hypotheses, objectives and the study problems. While, in the third chapter, we’ll talk about the methodology used, the operationalization of the main variables, the sampling process and the methodological instruments for research. In the fourth and fifth chapter, the results of the investigation will be analyzed using statistical systems such as the Spearman Correlation Coefficient. Also, we´ll see a comparison of the results with the theory and the conclusions and final recommendations of the investigation. / Tesis

Nowadays the market is becoming increasingly competitive. Consumers have a wide variety of choices and make their decisions based on the recommendations of other peers, which they consider more trustable compared to traditional advertisements. In such a scenario customer engagement is becoming the most important challenge for businesses. In fact engaged customers are not only loyal, but also active recommenders of the product/service to other peers. Social media, thanks to their interactive features, allow building relationships with customers and therefore they have a key role for customer engagement.   The paper analyzes how companies can use social media in order to build a customer engagement strategy. The project begins with an overview of the literature available about two main topics: customer engagement and social media.  In the later analysis, the author demystifies social media for business by analyzing what are the main functionalities that they provide and how these functionalities can be used in order to create a social media engagement strategy. A new model is presented: “The Social Media Engagement Cycle” that highlights how engagement on social media helps driving repeat sales and getting new customers through the existing ones. The author addresses the organizational and cultural implications of the model to highlight which are the changes that companies should address in order to implement a successful social media strategy. Finally the author discusses a case study from the telecommunication industry, and drives general conclusions about how the engagement on social media has a pervasive importance across industries.

El presente trabajo tiene como finalidad identificar las variables imagen de marca, calidad percibida del producto, el boca a boca electrónico y el país de origen en relación a la intención de compra en la categoría de electrodomésticos. Por lo cual, se tomará en cuenta diferentes papers relacionados con las variables en mención para poder analizarlos y encontrar diferentes relaciones entre ellas. Asimismo, se plantean diferentes hipótesis que ayudarán a seguir enriqueciendo la investigación cómo también se podrá conocer si estas cumplen con los objetivos planteados. / The present document aims to identify the variables brand image, perceived product quality, electronic word of mouth and country of origin in relation to purchase intention in the home appliances category. Therefore, different papers related to the mentioned variables will be taken into account in order to analyze them and find different relationships between them. In addition, different hypotheses are proposed that will help to continue enriching the research and to find out if they meet the objectives set out. / Trabajo de investigación

Abstract The explosion of social networking through social media arose organically by three forces: people, technology and online economy. Today affect friends' recommendations purchasing decisions more than advertising. Customer impact is more effective in social media than the one-way promotional impact. Kotler's 4P model focuses on one-way campaign thinking to recruit new customers. Today, the focus should be on creating excellent customer experiences within 8 competition arenas. This report describes a new co-ceation model with 8P, which is better adapted to the digital economy. The new business environment demand companies to adapt their organization and systems of ideas, essential for customer co-creation of the service experience. It increases the value both for herself and the company. The essay focuses on how companies can use social media for business development and to personalize the customer experience of a service. The aim is to increase understanding and refine theories from an enterprise perspective. The research strategy is qualitative with a deductive method. The empirical study was conducted at three companies using social media. The study showed that the alignment of organization and system of ideas are key factors in how companies can use social media for business development and to personalize the customer experience. The research is further developed in the book Social Affärsutveckling i Nätverksekonomin Sociala Medier Ny Marknadslogik. Keywords: Social Media, Customers Experiences, Co-Creation, Business Development, Product Development, Service Marketing, Service Management, Brand, Word-of-mouth, Social Network. / Sammanfattning Explosionen av sociala nätverk via sociala medier uppkom organiskt genom tre krafter: människor, teknik och online-ekonomi. I dag påverkar vänners rekommendationer köpbeslut mer än reklam. Kundinverkan är effektivare i sociala medier än enkelriktad kampanjpåverkan. Kotlers 4P-modell fokuserar på enkelriktad kampanjtänkande för att rekrytera nya kunder. Idag krävs  fokus bör läggas på att skapa execellenta kundupplevelser inom 8 konkurrens-arenor. Denna rapport beskriver en ny co-ceation modell med 8P, som är bättre anpassad för den digitala ekonomin. Den nya affärssituationen kräver att företag anpassar sin organisationsstruktur och idésystem. Det skapar förutsättningar för kunden att medproducera sin tjänsteupplevelse och öka värdet för sig själv och för företaget genom sociala medier. Rapporten fokuserar på hur företag kan använda sociala medier för affärsutveckling och för att personifiera kundens upplevelse av tjänsten. Syftet är att öka förståelsen och förfina teoribildningen ur ett företagarperspektiv. Forskningsstrategin är kvalitativ och utgår i huvudsak från en deduktiv metod utifrån författarens teoretiska koncept. Den empiriska undersökningen genomfördes på tre internationella företag som använder sociala medier i kombination traditionell marknadsföring. Studien visade att anpassning av organisation och idésystem är nyckelfaktorer för hur företag kan använda sociala medier för affärsutveckling och för att personifiera kundens upplevelse av tjänsten. Forskningen vidareutvecklas i boken Social Affärsutveckling i Nätverksekonomin Sociala Medier Ny Marknadslogik. Sociala medier, Kundupplevelse, Affärsutveckling, Produktutveckling, Co-Creation, Service Management, Service Marketing, Tjänstemarknadsföring, Varumärke, Word-of-mouth, Social network.

Abstract Word-of-mouth (WOM) personal referrals are more efficient and influential than other forms of advertising; however, there is a lack of information regarding the value of referral programs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of business owners, staff, and customers of alternative health care organizations in a Midwestern U.S. state about efficient referral strategies, measuring the effect of those strategies, and motivations of consumers to make referrals. Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory of motivation and customer decision-making theories provided the conceptual framework. The research questions addressed how industry leaders perceived and ranked referral strategies and addressed customers' perceptions and motivations to make personal referrals. Data collection consisted of semistructured interviews with 4 business owners, 2 staff members, and 10 client participants. Data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis methods, and member checking enhanced the accuracy of the findings. Results indicated that participants viewed WOM personal referrals as the most efficient nontraditional strategy to make or receive referrals, and they perceived referrals from impartial and trustworthy sources as the most valued information. This research has implications for positive social change. Findings may be used to enhance business owners' understanding of the value of personal referrals in their marketing mix, and of the motivation for customers to make referrals. WOM personal referrals may be used as a marketing strategy to increase sales and lower costs of formal advertising, which may contribute to the growth of the business.

The interest of researchers and practitioners in e-Word-of-Mouth has accelerated with the rise of social media platforms. In the last decade it became more apparent that customers are not merely recipients of product and brand information, but also active participants in shaping product and brand perceptions. However, still no comprehensive understanding of customers’ desire to engage in positive and negative e-Word-of-Mouth has been found. Therefore, this study focuses on Customer Engagement in order to provide knowledge on what makes customers engage in e-Word-of-Mouth. We narrow our study to New Product Introductions due to their crucial role in both business success and failure. In order to study this topic, quantitative methodology using big data analysis of around 20 millions tweets in total, with text analysis of around three million items, obtained from Twitter has been applied. The findings indicate that Brand Benefits and Innovativeness Level are two important aspects that impact Attitudinal Engagement which enables Customer Engagement Behavior.

The mobile app market is continuously increasing and an increasingly number of actors aims to gain market shares in this business sector. At the same time the number of app stores with a significant influence on the market are few; with Google Play and Apple App Store as the major actors of the app store market. With few distributions channels, and many large companies with resources as competitors, it is crucial for initiated startups to find suitable marketing strategies in order to compete on the app market. This study focuses on startups which are in their earlier phase of existence and do not have an excess of resources. The case of Truecaller is of interest to mobile app startups in general because of its exceptional successfulness in a relative short amount of time. First a thorough research of secondary literature was performed to find marketing activities applicable to mobile app developers. These marketing activities were divided and applied by using the four P’s of marketing in order to achieve a perceivable framework which is possible to grasp. The marketing activities were reformed into open-ended questions which were conducted during the interviews on Truecaller’s Marketing Manager, and Release/Project Manager. The gathered marketing activities that were demonstrated to be successful by the case of Truecaller, which is the empirical example of a startup in this study, were structured into a marketing strategy framework. The central findings of this study were firstly that unpaid promotional marketing activities in form striving for customer reviews, social media integration and sharing functions implemented to the app should be done in order to increase the word of mouth spread. It is also emphasized to build good relationships with different opinion leaders and further on to send push notifications to remind users of the app. Paid promotional activities were found to be optional for startups in the context of this study. Secondly the central findings regarding the Product strategies were frequent updates of the app to remind users of its existence, strive for feedback, and try to build on network effects. Furthermore in addition to build a unique and functional app which enables a positive user experience, it is important to offer users instant support and to execute localizations strategies. Thirdly the findings of the Place category were the visibility aspects to choose an appealing app name and app description, have an attractive app icon and screenshots, and to choose effective keywords and categories. Moreover it is emphasized to ensure availability and compatibility by supporting several platforms. Lastly concerning Price it is important for startups to find their own customized strategy, but the case of Truecaller stressed the freemium pricing strategy.

No description available.

Idag finns det begränsade teorier som behandlar det postmoderna konsumtionssamhället utifrån ett medie- och kommunikationsvetenskaligt perspektiv. Syftet med examensarbetet är att undersöka spänningsfältet mellan ICA och högskolestudenter i ett konsumtionssamhälle genom att granska varumärkeskommunikationens betydelse på digitala plattformar. Materialinsamlingen är genomförd i form av kvalitativa intervjuer, med medarbetare på ICA, samt fokusgrupper med studenter. Med studien vill vi ge en inblick i hur kommunikationsprocesser strategiskt utformas för att nå rätt målgrupp, hur relationer vårdas och vad en god dialog innebär och har för framtida betydelser. Studien har analyserat det spänningsfält som ligger i grund till valet av konsumtion gällande matvaruhandel som högskolestudent. Studiens slutsatser visar på att det är en rad olika faktorer som är bidragande till att bygga upp en stark relation med ett företag. / Today there is limited theories considering reasearch on the postmodern consumtion society from a media and communication perspective. The purpose with this thesis is to investigate the tension between ICA and Univeristy students in a consumption society through analysis brandbuilding communications meaning on digital platforms. The material to the thesis is collected by qualitative interviews, both with employees at ICA and focus groups with university students. With this thesis we want to give an insight of how communication processes strategically is designed to reach their target group, how relationships are nurtured and what a good dialogue means for future brand building. The study has analyzed the tension of what includes the choice of consumption when it comes to retail business from university students perspective. The conclusions indicate how there are a number of factors that are contributing to build a strong relationship with an organization.

No / Marketers desire to utilise electronic word of mouth (eWOM) marketing on social media sites. However, not all online content generated by marketers has the same effect on consumers; some of them are effective while others are not. This paper aims to examine different characteristics of marketer-generated content (MGC) that of which one lead users to eWOM. Twitter was chosen as one of the leading social media sites and a content analysis approach was employed to identify the common characteristics of retweeted and favourited tweets. 2,780 tweets from six companies (Booking, Hostelworld, Hotels, Lastminute, Laterooms and Priceline) operating in the tourism sector are analysed. Results indicate that the posts which contain pictures, hyperlinks, product or service information, direct answers to customers and brand centrality are more likely to be retweeted and favourited by users. The findings present the main eWOM drivers for MGC in social media.