Word-of-mouth marketing (WOM) has been considered as one of the most effective marketing tools, yet the least understood. While its lucrative effects have been well proven in academic studies worldwide, little is yet known of why consumers engage in WOM, and what factors actually drive this sought-after behavior, particularly in an online context. While today's research lacks holistic views on the simultaneous effects of multiple WOM-drivers, this paper takes on a meta-analytic approach by building on the pertinent literature to construct an aggregated model, including several previously acknowledged drivers divided into two categories: (1) Brand related drivers and (2) Personal and situational drivers. The authors then empirically examine what drivers are the most influential on WOM in an online social media context. By doing so, this thesis does not only contribute to marketing managers' better understanding of online communications management, it also sheds light on the theoretical knowledge of the behavioral drivers of WOM.

In this degree project I have studied how an anti-discrimination bureau can adapttheir online information to the target group ? immigrants who only have modestunderstanding of the Swedish language. This group is often subject of discriminationmatters, and therefore it?s important that they can take part of the information.To find answers to my questions I have studied different relevant theories, performeda readability analysis on the online information and have had qualitativeinterviews with representatives from the target group. I have also tested my rewrittentexts on both representatives and other readers.The result from my studies has shown that it is words that are the most difficult inthe current online information, while length and structure of the sentences are alsoof importance when it comes to the readability.

Studien koncentrerades på den ökade uppmärksamheten kring pokerspel i media. Intresset tycks ha ökat kring detta "fenomen" vilket fört med sig både kommersiell uppmärksamhet och kanske en ökad nyfikenhet för dem som tidigare inte varit spelintresserade. Föreliggande analys diskuterade varför ett sådant intresse plötsligt fått genomslagskraft. Diskussionen inleddes med ett teoriavsnitt där flera teser togs upp. Dessa kom att handla om livsstilar, risktagande, tillfälligheten, Internet och spel i vardagen, störst utrymme fick Anthony Giddens.

AbstractTitle: How does people that meet online communicate? -An qualitativestudy of the media use for individuals that date online.Number of pages: 34Autohor: Malin JanssonTutor: Amelie HössjerCourse: Media and Communication Studies CPeriod: Spring term, January 2010University: Informatics and Media, Media and Communication ScienceUppsala UniversityPurpose/Aim: The aim of this essay is to see if mediea use changesthrogh time in a relationship between individuals that have metonline.Material/Method: Qualitative method with nine interviews divided into two groupsdepending whether the person is an actively dejting online or ifshe has a long term relationship with someone she have metonline.Main results: The use of digital media changes thorugh time in therelationship. The individuals stop using the net dejting whenthey meet someone. The digital medias are stage at the begginingof the relationship. Through time they use a multiple ofdigital medias but they have preferenses and prefers to use thetelephone both when they are communicating positive andnegatvie information.Keywords: Online dating, social penetration, process of getting to knoweachother, communication.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka grupp- och kommunikationsprocesser i en online community där den gemensamma nämnaren mellan medlemmarna var intresset för spelet World of Warcraft. Undersökningen utfördes med hjälp av en egenkonstruerad enkät samt observationer vars syfte var att undersöka deltagarnas grupptillhörighet, vänskap, konflikthantering och kommunikation online, samt deras beteenden gentemot varandra. Syftet var även att undersöka om sociala anpassningsstrategier, standardroller och in-och utomgruppsfavoritism var applicerbara på en virtuell grupp. Undersökningsresultaten pekar på att många av de teorier gällande grupptillhörighet och vänskap även är applicerbara på grupper formade online samt att kommunikationshjälpmedel såsom smileys underlättar konversationer i skriven form. Resultaten pekar även på att de sociala anpassningsstrategierna och standardrollerna är applicerbara på en virtuell grupp, dock anses urvalet för litet och observationstiden för kort för att med säkerhet säga att dessa återfinns.

As social interactions migrate to the ubiquitous Internet we are facing a change in theway we relate to each other, which presents interesting new opportunities foranonymity to create identities. An aspect of this radically evolving technology thatexhibits strong possibilities for altering or producing identities is the rapidly growingonline game genre MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game) which isentertainment that millions of people all over the globe engage in daily. Thisrelatively new platform for socialising has become of cultural and social significance,which is why it calls for examination and research. Thus, the main research questionsasked in this thesis are as following: How does players of MMOGs utilise the nighcomplete anonymity to present or modify their identities online? In which ways areMMOGs used as a platform for socialising and development of social groupdynamics? After observing a large group of players in a popular MMOG, as well asconducting several interviews with key identities within the group, I discovered three fundamental parts of identity creation, and created a model for use and applicationin different social situations and constellations..

År 2014, var kläder och skor två av de varukategorier som resulterade i flest transaktioner online, i Sverige. Till följd av att e-handeln växer, behöver företag inom modeindustrin utveckla sin visual merchandising online, så att den är lika effektiv som i fysiska butiker. De amerikanska forskarna Ha, Kwon och Lennon (2007) utvecklade i en studie en taxonomi där de undersökte visual merchandsing-element på den koreanska och amerikanska e-handelsmarknaden. Syftet med denna studie är att testa den taxonomi som Ha et al. (2007) utvecklade, på e-handelssidor riktade mot den svenska marknaden.

Through earlier research it has been established that more and more readers are turning to social media in their search for everyday news. In this report we zoom in on news concerning football and try to find out how readers reason in picking their sources, whether it is social, online or traditional media. By interviewing a group of six, all interested in football and active within social media, we have seen that allthough social media is becoming a major influence in news reporting, it does not seem to be competing with traditional online media. Instead the two are offering the readers very different things all together, and theese differences are what we try to show in this report. Our hope is that the research in sport journalism can be translated in to all kinds of areas and be an indication on how journalism and our society is evolving online..

A research on how impulse buying can be stimulated in physical retail stores and see to what extent these stimuli also apply in an online setting. Furthermore, the effects of demographic characteristics on impulse buying behaviour online are taken in consideration..

Syftet med denna kvantitativa fallstudie var att se hur mobbning kan få utlopp både i hemmet och i skolan, både via den traditionella mobbningen och via den mobbning som sker via till exempel sociala medier, så kallad nätmobbning. För att komma fram till ett resultat har vi delat ut enkäter i två årskurs sexor. Dessa svar analyserades sedan via induktiv metod. Resultaten visade att i de klasser vi undersökt var det fortfarande den traditionella mobbningen som dominerade, även om många också stött på nätmobbning. Vi har även sett att de redan vid ung ålder stött på både mobbning och kränkningar både i det verkliga livet och online. .

Microsoft Word - Ungdomssexualitet on- och offline.docxInternet a?r en relativt ny arena fo?r ungdomar och kunskap saknas fortfarande om hur ungdomars beteende i denna nya miljo? ha?nger samman med vad de go?r i traditionella miljo?er. Syftet med fo?religgande studie a?r att underso?ka ungdomars sexuella aktiviteter online respektive offline. Materialet som analyserats kommer fra?n de tva? fo?rsta insamlingstillfa?llena i en trea?rig pa?ga?ende longitudinell underso?kning i Va?stra Go?taland.

The advancements of Internet have contributed to the expansion of social networks and new communities online where people are given an opportunity to get help and support. An important reason why people join these groups and organizations is to share their experiences, meet people in a similar situation and get support. Social media is nowadays an important part of our society. In this study, we will focus on investigating the interaction in closed communities online and blogs. The study aims to investigate whether social media and social networks online can be a support for young adults with cancer in the same way as physical meeting places.

With this research we aimed to seek how youth workers express their experience of counselling on the internet compared to traditional counselling face to face with a theoretical ground in semiotics and symbolic interactionism. Our questions were 1) How do youth workers describe their experiences from anonymous, faceless online counselling? 2) How do youth workers experience the differences between online counselling and the traditional face-to-face counselling? 3) Which possibilities and difficulties do they see in online communication with adolescents? We used semi-structed interviews with seven youth workers. Six of those are active in non-profit organisations, and one in social services. The results from our interviews showed that the interviewees saw that misunderstandings were more frequent on the internet, but that online counselling with adolescents still was easier than in the face-to-face meetings.

Every year the Swedish gambling monopoly serves as a significant source of income for the government. This income is later distributed by the government on various areas for the common good. The question is wheather the state is allowed to preserve this lucrativemarket for itself by any means necessary. Also is it enough to claim that the monopoly exists to protect the citizens, and thus escaping the conditions of EC-law, and its struggle to harmonize trade between the member states? This thesis describes the Swedish gambling monopoly and its relationship with EC-law.

Today, literature is published in a wide variety of formats, it can be published digitally or in the more traditional paper format or as an audiobook. This thesis aims to take a closer look at fan fiction readers? reading habits and motivations for reading, as group accustomed to using different kinds of formats for their reading. It does so by analyzing fifteen responses to an online survey using only open-ended questions. The survey was posted online on fan fiction sites and could be answered anonymously.