"Det vita snuset och marknadsföringsruset” : En kvalitativ studie om det vita tobaksfria snusets marknadsföring riktat mot unga.

Sammanfattning: Between 2018 and 2021, the amount of young snuff users increased drastically. The same year, 2018, Velo, a tobacco free nicotine snuff, was launched on the Swedish market. They made themselves known through organizing big events and by engaging in influencer marketing. Due to Velos product being tobacco-free, the company is not covered by the Swedish Tobacco Act. As a result of this, they are able to engage in different marketing strategies than its peers that sell snuff containing tobacco. This new possibility of marketing is unique and gives the company a competitive edge and broadens its marketing possibilities. A loophole in the legislation enables new and effective communication strategies for the addictive "All White" snuff. Through this, Velo can market its products on social media and use influencers to entice their followers to start consuming the highly addictive product The purpose of this study was to investigate which visual resources Velo chooses to present and which group belonging this creates. Since images carries signs, this makes the images a central part of the exchange of meaning between sender (Velo) and receiver (young target group). It is therefore essential to look more deeply at how visual resources are used to possibly attract a young target group. The essay aims to answer the two research questions: "What visual resources are used in Velo's Instagram feed to attract and influence a young target group?" and "How does Velo use visual resources to create a sense of group identity for its target audience?" The theoretical frameworks on which the thesis was based were primarily semiotics and social semiotics. Additionally, the semiotic concepts denotation and connotation were used to identify the underlying meaning of the signs in Velos images. To be able to answer the research questions, theories such as Goffman's self representation theory and Bourdieu's take on social fields and capital were used. Previous studies regarding the identity shaping of young adults and teenagers, communities and its creation of groups belonging online as well as influencers persuasion on social media was applied. By using denotation,connotation, theoretical frameworks and previous research we were able to unravel repeated patterns, similarities and themes in Velos images. The study was conducted using a qualitative semiotic content analysis where 143 photos from Velo's Instagram account were selected between a certain time frame. The material was demarcated and resulted in 41 images. From the remaining pictures, three themes were found which were "Accessory", "Image of person" and "Social context". Then nine posts from each 4theme were randomized, which resulted in a total of nine images that became our final analysis objects. After analyzing the nine analysis objects based on denotation and connotation, the theoretical frameworks were applied to the analysis. The result showed that the analysis object contained various symbols for a certain social and cultural capital that could be interpreted as a desirable habitus for the target group. The capital that Velo presented could be seen as common interests and a contributing factor to create a sense of group belonging. The interests could be seen as requirements for identifying with the group affiliation. Group belonging is important for the formation of identity of young people. Influencers as opinion leaders with characteristics as reliable and authentic contributed to a natural recommendation of the brand. Influencer's associations were naturally transferred to Velo. In summary Velo uses signs to build an attractive lifestyle which it invites people to be a part of. The result concluded that visual resources such as influencers, signs of social context, high cultural and social capital and the transfer of positive associations were contributing factors to an attractive group identity to target a young audience.