Marketers of today are confronted by the fact that it is increasingly difficult to gain the customer's attention, as they first have to break through the ad clutter. In a landscape where the general attitude towards advertising is negative, one way to successfully deliver the message to the customer involves communicating through personal impact. By using stimuli containing identical information with different senders, this thesis seeks to quantitatively explore whether brands can make use of the personal networks of its employees, in their social media marketing strategy. The purpose of the study is to investigate if communication via the employees could enhance traditional communication effects, such as buying intention and electronic WOM intention. Furthermore, the study aims to examine which role the employee should hold when communicating on behalf of the brand, and if the communication effects vary with the degree of product involvement.

This bachelor thesis examines the library as a public sphere in the notion of Jürgen Habermas? theory from 1962. The questions asked concerns how the public sphere is discussed in relation to Swedish public libraries today in our late modern society. The analyzed material consists of the Swedish Cultural Bill of 2009 and five qualitative interviews with librarians. The material is analyzed with two of the four social actions presented by the sociologist Maw Weber: value-rational and instrumental.

Research indicates that a more hands-on education in mathematics could improve how students relate to mathematics. Laboratory mathematics is a way of making mathematics more concrete.  How is the purpose of laboratory mathematics perceived? This thesis has its focus on the pupils? perceptions of the purpose of laboratory mathematics, but the intention of the teacher involved is also investigated. The main research questions asked were:What is the teacher's definition of laboratory mathematics?Which is the teacher's purpose in using laboratory education?How do the students perceive the purpose of the laboratory teaching of mathematics?To answer the questions, I conducted a series of qualitative interviews.

Property companies? results are affected by unrealized changes in value of properties. Since market values are never completely reliable there is always a risk with revaluation with property´s value. The fair value is determined only when a sale is completed. The paper studies how well the Swedish listed property companies reported under the accounting standard, IAS 40.

Concerns for the environment and our impact on it are becoming more prevalant; however, we rarely act accordingly. Consumers mainly choose products based on perceived personal benefits despite the environmental motives that increasingly affect them. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the major drivers behind the purchase of ecological wine. A quantitative study was conducted, using Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as an initial starting point. The subsequent model was then completed with three variables: environmental concern, feelings and word-of-mouth.

Many companies choose to market their products and brands with help from celebrities. This is not a new phenomenon, though, this strategy is something that we consumers start to get used to and the risk that the consumer unconsciously unselects the message grows. A recently much-disputed theory is the use of incongruent marketing. This means that companies uses a marketing message with the objective to not match the consumer?s expectations.

Business across the Internet has increased in recent years and most companies that are selling trips have increased their sales online. Many companies that are selling trips strive for customers to receive and experience a personal service online. The meeting between the client and a webpage service system on the Internet should work. Service encounters are an essential part of the contact between customer and company and play a big part in how the first impression is perceived by the customer. To understand how a service encounter works, meeting face to face, companies need to understand how customers perceive that meeting.

The aim of this study was to compare perceived disability in daily activities, anxiety and depression for patients with chronic pain (>3 month), before and after rehabilitation. Another aim was to examine if there were any correlations between disability in daily activities and the extent of anxiety and depression before and after rehabilitation.For the measurements, Disability Rating Index (DRI) that measures disability in daily activities, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) ) which measures the extent of anxiety and depression were used. The study was carried out with 50 patients who had suffered from chronic pain and with the objective to return to work after rehabilitation. Of these, 90 % were female. The measurements were carried out at three measure points; before rehabilitation, seven weeks after rehabilitation and one year after rehabilitation.The main result did not show any statistically significant improvement in ability to perform daily activities.The only significant difference that emerged was an improvement in anxiety seven weeks after rehabilitation compared with before.

The purpose of this essay is to illustrate how the position of power / exercise of power are perceived in today's schools from the teacher's perspective. I have examined how students' freedom and democracy education interpreted in real life, and how this affects both teacher and student learning approaches. I would also highlight the need to set standards for children's psychological development related to the consequences will be. I have chosen to perform a qualitative research through individual interviews with five participating teachers from different experiences in different type of school. I have used the hermeneutic method of analysis to analyze the material.

Heart failure is the most common reason to hospitalization among persons over 65 years old. Self-care is an important part in the treatment of heart failure, but poor information and knowledge limits the ability of self-care and increases the risk of admission to hospital.The aim of the study was to investigate what information patients with heart failure describes that they receive from health care personal, how information is perceived, who provides the information, and on what occasions it is given. The aim was also to investigate whether patients' perception of knowledge about heart failure increased after hospitalization.The study is cross-sectional study with a descriptive design. A consecutive selection was used. A questionnaire was filled in by 28 participants.The study has shown that patients with heart failure largely experience information about heart failure inadequate.

Background: Quality of life is a concept of individual meaning which is perceived differently depending on the person experiencing it. To have a chronic disease in the lung, such as asthma, has an effect on the quality of life. Asthma affects people of all ages. It is a disease that causes a constriction in the patients? airways which leads to a feeling of suffocation which in turn produces a feeling of anxiety.Aim: The purpose is to illuminate which factors affect the quality of life in adult patients with asthma.Method: This is a literary review based on ten articles, both quantitative and qualitative, from four different continents.

The aim and purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate the effects of affirmative action as a tool to improve the equality of the sexes in a male dominated organisation such as the Swedish armed forces. The study takes a qualitative approach, using feminist theory as a point of departure. Primarily socially based differences between men and women are identified and the resistance towards change is taken into account.To understand the impact of affirmative action I have observed the political debate on the subject and contrasted it to the ongoing debate from within the armed forces. Extensive interviews have been held with both men and women from varying ranks and ages to understand what the overall opinion of the method is.My results show that there is a widespread animosity towards affirmative action as a method of improving equality. Both in the political debate and within the organisation in question.

Partly as a reaction to a perceived crisis in contemporary democracy, the nineties witnessed an upsurge in different forms of citizens? fora, dedicated to the promotion of increased participation by the citizen in the political process. Youth councils are a special point in case as they entail the general characteristics of a deliberative forum, with an emphasis on political learning. This study aims to undertake an evaluation of a regional youth council in the region of Skåne in the south of Sweden. Through qualitative analysis, the study aims to portray the origin, purposes and consequences of such a forum.

In the Swedish general election of 2006, the citizens were faced with the fact that there were two parties that called themselves a ?workers´ party?. It was not just the Social-Democratic Party, which we usually identify as a traditional workers´ party, it was also the Moderate Coalition Party, which we usually identify as a traditional conservative party, which during this suffrage also called them self the ?new moderates?. The central and the main election pledge for the new moderates took its standpoint in the idea that everybody should have a job.

The purpose of this essay is to illustrate how the position of power / exercise of power are perceived in today's schools from the teacher's perspective. I have examined how students' freedom and democracy education interpreted in real life, and how this affects both teacher and student learning approaches. I would also highlight the need to set standards for children's psychological development related to the consequences will be. I have chosen to perform a qualitative research through individual interviews with five participating teachers from different experiences in different type of school. I have used the hermeneutic method of analysis to analyze the material.