It is not you; it is your social media behavior : An explorative research of what influences consumers’ perceptions of a brand within a social media context

Sammanfattning: Bachelor Thesis in Enterprising and Business Development, School of Business and Economics – Linnaeus University, 2EB01E, Spring Semester 2017.  Authors: Lina Hiltunen and Maya Strinnhed Tutor: Pär Strandberg Examiner: Frederic Bill Title: It is not you; it is your social media behavior - An explorative research of what influences consumers’ perceptions of a brand within a social media context Background: With the emergence of social media the communication landscape has changed and consumers tend to rely on online social information in a larger extent. Interactions on social media are becoming more significant than ever to companies, brands and consumers since it can change consumer’s perception of a company or brand. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the interaction between consumers and influencing aspects on the perception of a brand in a social media context. Methodology: This is a qualitative research with a deductive approach where the empirical material was collected through two focus groups. A non-probability sampling has been used and the sampling parameters are based on social media users in Sweden. Conclusion: This thesis concludes that certain interactions influence users and consumers, which leads to them changing their perception of a company or brand. These interactions are mainly based on trust but the shared content is also a significant aspect. Keywords: Social media, Content Generation, Trust, Interactions, Influencers, Buzz, Word-of-mouth, Reputation