How does Event Marketing work on Social Media? A qualitative study exploring Event Marketing in a Social Media context Bachelor Thesis Authors: Sophie Längvik, Linnéa Kjörling, Louise Larsson Supervisor: Dan Halvarsson Examiner: Åsa Devine Term: VT19 Subject: Communication Level: Undergraduate Course code: 2FE21E
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How does Event Marketing
work on Social Media?
A qualitative study exploring Event Marketing in a Social
Media context
Bachelor Thesis
Authors: Sophie Längvik, Linnéa Kjörling,
Louise Larsson
Supervisor: Dan Halvarsson
Examiner: Åsa Devine
Term: VT19
Subject: Communication
Level: Undergraduate
Course code: 2FE21E
Appendices
Appendix 1: Print screen of marketing events on social media
Appendix 2: Coding scheme
Appendix 3: Transcription of interviews
Abstract
Background: Event marketing is a way for businesses to entertain
consumers and promote the brand or product through the use of events.
Within event marketing, entertainment, excitement and enterprise are
important concepts to include in order to create a successful event.
Purpose: The purpose is to explore event marketing in a social media
context. The research question is “How is event marketing on social media
experienced?”
Methodology: This research undertook a qualitative research approach of
explorative nature. Un-structured in-depth interviews was conducted with
seven participants, sampled with quota sampling. The participants were
selected with the criteria of being between the ages 16-34 and using social
media and having previously experienced event marketing on social media.
After these seven interviews had been conducted, saturation was reached.
Conclusion: The main findings of this research are that entertainment,
authenticity, innovation and quality are important categories of event
marketing in a social media context. Thus, all four categories have an impact
on the experience of an individual seeing a marketing event on social media.
The category entertainment was shown to be influenced by authenticity,
innovation and quality, which in turn has an effect on the experience of the
viewer of the event.
Key words
Event marketing, communication, social media, experience, event marketing
on social media, marketing events on social media.
Acknowledgments
This bachelor thesis was conducted by Sophie Längvik, Linnéa Kjörling and
Louise Larsson during the final semester of the Marketing Programme at
Linnaeus University in Växjö.
We would like to thank our supervisor Dan Halvarsson for providing
valuable support and engagement into our research, which made it possible
for us to conduct this study. We want to thank our examinator Åsa Devine
for helping and encouraging us to execute this thesis in the best possible way.
Finally, we would like to give special thanks to the participants of the
interviews for providing valuable information needed for this research to be
accomplished.
Linnaeus University, Växjö, 29th of May 2019.
______________ ________________ ________________
Sophie Längvik Linnéa Kjörling Louise Larsson
Table of contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Problem discussion 2
1.3 Purpose 3
1.4 Research question 3
2 Theoretical Framework 4
2.1 Event Marketing 4
2.1.1 Entertainment 5
2.1.2 Excitement 5
2.1.3 Enterprise 6
2.2 Social media marketing 6
2.3 Event Marketing on Social Media 7
3 Methodology 9
3.1 Research approach 9
3.1.1 Inductive Research versus Deductive Research 9
3.1.2 Quantitative Research versus Qualitative Research 9
3.2 Research Design 11
3.3 Data sources 12
3.4 Data Collection Method 12
3.4.1 Unstructured interviews 13
3.4.2 Operationalization 14
3.4.3 Execution of unstructured interviews 15
3.4.4 Interview guide 18
3.4.5 Pre-testing 18
3.5 Sampling 20
3.5.1 Sampling Frame 22
3.5.2 Sample Size 22
3.6 Data analysis method 24
3.7 Quality Criteria 26
3.8 Ethical Considerations 28
3.9 Societal issues 30
4 Empirical findings 32
4.1 Anna 32
4.2 Filippa 35
4.3 David 37
4.4 Lisa 40
4.5 Ebba 42
4.6 Peter 45
4.7 Martin 48
4.8 Synopsis of empirical findings 50
5 Analysis 51
5.1. Entertainment in marketing events on social media 51
5.1.1 Analytical point 51
5.1.2 Analysis of Entertainment in marketing events on social media 51
5.2 Authenticity in marketing events on social media 54
5.2.1 Analytical point 54
5.2.2 Analysis of Authenticity in marketing events on social media 54
5.3 Innovation in marketing events on social media 57
5.3.1 Analytical point 57
5.3.2 Analysis of Innovation in marketing events on social media 57
5.4 Engagement in marketing events on social media 59
5.4.1 Analytical point 59
5.4.2 Analysis of Engagement in marketing events on social media 59
5.5 Quality in marketing events on social media 61
5.5.1 Analytical point 61
5.5.2 Analysis of Quality in marketing events on social media 61
5.6 Combination of categories 63
6 Conclusion 64
7 Research implications 65
7.1 Theoretical Contribution 65
7.2 Managerial Contribution 65
7.3 Limitations and further research 67
8 Reference list 68
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1 Introduction
This chapter will introduce the subject of event marketing followed up by a
problematization of event marketing in a social media context. Lastly, the
purpose of this research will be presented as well as the research question.
1.1 Background
Event marketing is a way of coordinating communication for an event and
can be defined as an activity that collects a target group in time and place
where experience is created (Grönkvist, 2000). Event marketing aims for
both entertaining consumers as well as promoting and advertising a brand or
product through the use of events (Keller, 2013). When creating social bonds
with consumers through event marketing, a relationship between the
company and the consumers is established. A good relationship is more
likely to spread positive experiences, rather than sharing negative attitudes
(Grönkvist, 2000). Event marketing is also used to establish the relationship
between a brand and a consumer and create loyalty among the consumers
(Mcalexander, Schouten & Koenig, 2002). It also makes it possible for the
consumer to understand the values of the company which impacts the
relation between the customer and the company. Consequently, the events
can create customer loyalty (Mcalexander, Schouten & Koenig, 2002).
Gwinner and Eaton (1999) state that it is important to have a correlation
between the image of the product and the event. They further state that if the
characteristics of the event is related to the image of the product, the image
of the brand can be more distinct. Furthermore, Hoyle (2002) argue that it is
the promotion of and event rather than the nature of the event that determines
the success of it.
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Within event marketing, it is of importance to include entertainment,
excitement and enterprise in order to create a successful event (Hoyle, 2002).
Entertainment should entail the feeling that the event is merely designed and
made for the individuals experiencing it. Excitement can create different
levels of expectations before the event is about to take place. Enterprise
allows new thinking within event marketing and means doing what has not
been done before. This, in order to make individuals experience something
new and spread the word about the event (Hoyle, 2002).
1.2 Problem discussion
There is a continuous shift in marketing with new ways of communicating,
interacting and engaging consumers (Brown, 2012). If businesses want to go
beyond traditional marketing, marketing a brand on social media is an
efficient strategy to connect with the audience (Brown, 2012). When creating
attention among the audience of today, building relationships and
interactivity through social media is becoming the most successful way of
doing it (McCue, 2018). According to Papasolomou and Melanthiou (2012)
traditional marketing has changed due to social media since it has the
possibility for marketers to create attention towards a company. Studies have
shown that the use of social media is rapidly growing worldwide and is one
of the most used and popular online activities, in which individuals are
having a high level of engagement (Statista, 2019: a).
Within the subject of event marketing, the theory of the three E’s of event
marketing: entertainment, excitement and enterprise, is existing in the
literature. These are all considered to be important factors for businesses to
include when executing events in order for the event to be successful (Hoyle,
2002). Li and Duan (2018) mention that event marketing on social media
have recently been a growing trend among organizations in order to promote
their brand and products. According to Tiwari, Weth and Kankanhalli
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(2018), event marketing on social media provides updates from events
through the use of social media content on different social media platforms.
Although, Zhao, Wang and Jin (2015) state that only a few studies have been
conducted with the purpose to discover event marketing on social
media. Correspondingly, Marine-Roig, Martin-Fuentes and Daries-Ramon
(2017) explain that there is a lack of theory in the literature regarding event
marketing in a social media context. Harb, Fowler, Hyo, Blum and Alakaleek
(2019) also mean that more research needs to investigate event marketing on
social media and how this can work as a marketing tool. In order for the
brand to obtain attention from the consumers, which in turn could affect their
purchase intention, the brand must have knowledge about the reactions of the
consumers (Géci, Nagyová & Rybanská, 2017). Moreover, in order to fill the
existing theoretical gap from a business perspective of how event marketing
work on social media, it can be interpreted that one must first and foremost
explore how consumers experience event marketing on social media.
1.3 Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore event marketing in a social media
context.
1.4 Research question
How is event marketing on social media experienced?
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2 Theoretical Framework
The following chapter will provide the reader with an explanation of the
theoretical concepts of Event Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Event
Marketing on Social Media. The theories will further function as a
fundamental basis for the forthcoming chapters.
2.1 Event Marketing
Event marketing plays an important role when it comes to brand
management since it creates engagement among consumers through senses
and imagination. Through event marketing, awareness and knowledge
towards a brand or product can be developed for consumers (Keller, 2013).
Gwinner and Eaton (1999) state that the connection between the event and
the image of the product is of importance. If there is a strong relationship
between the characteristics of the event and the image of the product, the
image of the brand can be more pronounced.
Through an event, consumers can get an understanding of the value and
heritage of the company that they otherwise would not know about.
Therefore, events have an impact on the relationship between the company
and the customer, which can develop the customer loyalty (Mcalexander,
Schouten & Koenig, 2002). In order to create a successful event and achieve
an interaction with the consumers, the event must achieve a fit between the
marketing event, target audience and the brand (Wohlfeil & Whelan, 2006).
Hoyle (2002) describes that there are three E’s of event marketing:
entertainment, excitement and enterprise that should be included in order to
create a successful marketing event.
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2.1.1 Entertainment
Entertainment can be found everywhere in the society (Hoyle, 2002). Before
technology was developed, entertainment could mainly be experienced if
individuals left their homes. As the technology has been more advanced
through the years, experience can be found through televisions, computers or
other technological devices. Entertainment can furthermore be explained as
the action of providing or being provided with enjoyment. Hence,
entertainment at events is designed to attract and entertain others (Hoyle,
2002). Sit and Birch (2014) identifies two participant segments at an event
which are “entertain me” and “engage me”. “Entertain me” includes for
instance, watching other people and enjoy free entertainment which puts the
customers into a more passive role at events. Meanwhile “engage me” puts
the customer into a more active role. Sit and Birch (2014) further state that
understanding how event managers can stimulate customers at events
through these segments by entertaining and engaging them can have an
impact on the degree of the length of stay and spending at the event. As
individuals prefer different kinds of entertainment and act differently during
an event, it is of importance to deliver the experience expected from the
consumer to avoid negative outcomes (Sit & Birch, 2014). Entertainment
should entail the feeling that the event is unique and made just for the
individual experiencing it (Hoyle, 2002).
2.1.2 Excitement
Excitement is one of the most important factors within events since it can
develop loyalty and involvement among the viewers if they find an event as
fun, exciting and enjoyable (Alexandris, 2016). Excitement is connected to,
for instance, the launch of a product or something new within an
organization. Moreover, to build up the expectations towards events creates
attention among consumer (Hoyle, 2002). By creating engagement among
the audience of the event, emotional feelings such as excitement helps to
capture the imagination of the event attendant (Yang & Tan, 2017). In order
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to maintain the excitement of an event attendant, it is beneficial for brands to
be creative considering the performance of the event which can consequently
increase the audience of the event (Yang & Tan, 2017). When developing an
interaction between the customer and the company, the audience will be
more involved in the brand (Yang & Tan, 2017).
2.1.3 Enterprise
Enterprise in an event marketing context is defined as doing something new
and untried in an event (Hoyle, 2002). This includes initiative and energy,
which is seen as the main characteristics of the pioneers in event marketing.
Doing something new and untried creates imagination and excitement among
the audience that can attract a larger audience if the experience of the event is
spread (Hoyle, 2002). An event can be made in all kinds of different forms
and characteristics, and is only limited by the imagination of the marketer
(Keller, 2013). The experiences that the customers get during an event can
make them view the whole business as unique and innovative. In order for an
enterprise to stay competitive and achieve customer loyalty, the company
must have a desirable image and create value among the customers by having
innovative events (Yang & Tan, 2017). Hence, event innovation creates a
better corporate image. For instance, this could be created by emotional
attachment through the events. In fact, emotional value has a strong
correlation to corporate branding and emotional experiences are the
underlying motives for attending events (Yang & Tan, 2017).
2.2 Social media marketing
Social media marketing is defined as the use of social media for
organizations in order to encourage exchanges to their consumers (Tuten &
Solomon, 2015). Social media are online means of communication between
interacted networks of people and organizations and is a technique for
organizations for research, promotion, customer service and a creation of
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relationships (Tuten & Solomon, 2015). It is an inexpensive strategy that
allows organizations to reach customers and a variety of ways to both
interact and engage their consumers at different stages in the purchasing
process (Tuten & Solomon, 2015). Cant (2016) describes social media
marketing as when companies are using already existing networking tools in
order to expand their customer base and also to improve their brand
exposure. According to Tiwari et al. (2018), users on social media do usually
prefer content that is considered to be more “appealing” which could be
obtained both from textual or visual content or the combination of both. Zhu
and Chen (2015) state that with social media marketing, marketers must
provide targeted consumers with an insight of the products. Cant (2016)
explains that social media is a vital phenomenon in people’s lives which
many people have access to. Hence, he suggests that organizations should
continue to focus on improving the communication to consumers on social
media platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter. Moreover, social media
marketing should be the focal point within a brand’s promotion strategies
(Cant, 2016).
2.3 Event Marketing on Social Media
Event marketing on social media is recently introduced among businesses in
order to promote their brand and products and has been considered as a
growing trend (Li & Duan, 2018). Through the use of social media, it makes
it more efficient for companies and individuals to share information, for
instance when publishing events on social media (Li & Duan, 2018).
According to Tiwari et al. (2018), content on social media can be used to
provide updates from events and is often captured from various social media
platforms. Events on social media should publish a diversification of content
and avoid posts with similar messages since it can make the viewers feel
annoyed (Li & Duan, 2018). It is considered that using social media to
promote events by frequently providing viewers with updates, it can give the
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brand an extension with more viewers and an increase of brand personality
(Walsh, Clavio, Lovell & Blaszka, 2013). Although, Zhao et al. (2015) state
that studies aiming for discovering event marketing in social media are few.
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3 Methodology
This chapter will present the chosen methods and research techniques which
was used for gathering relevant information for this research. Lastly, the
ethical considerations and societal issues will be discussed.
3.1 Research approach
The research approach concerns the issue of inductivism and deductivism.
Also, it handles the choice of having a qualitative or quantitative research
approach (Bryman & Bell, 2015).
3.1.1 Inductive Research versus Deductive Research
The selection of doing a deductive or an inductive research depends on the
nature of the research and its relation to theory (Saunders, Lewis &
Thornhill, 2016). Saunders et al. (2016) state that a research with a deductive
theory is the most common perception of the relationship between research
and theory, and that the selection of having either a deductive or an inductive
approach is based on the amount of knowledge that exists about the subject
of the research. Bryman and Bell (2015) mean that the research is created
based on existing theory, one is having a deductive research approach. It is a
process of testing theory that seeks to create hypotheses from the theory
which later could be either verified or falsified by empirical material
(Bryman & Bell, 2015). In comparison to a deductive research, Hyde (2000)
describes an inductive research as a process of theory building. He further
states that the research starts with observing the phenomenon which in turn
will create new theory. This study was based on existing theories placed in a
new context, therefore, this research used a deductive approach.
3.1.2 Quantitative Research versus Qualitative Research
When conducting a research, one can either do a qualitative or quantitative
research approach (Bryman & Bell, 2015; Saunders et al., 2016). A
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qualitative research involves focus of people’s behavior regarding the values,
norms and the culture of the group or organization in which the researchers
wants to investigate in. Moreover, a qualitative research tries to address
meanings in form of words and gaining understanding of underlying reasons
and motives (Bryman & Bell, 2015; Saunders et al., 2016). A qualitative
research is seen as unstructured and flexible and requires coding of text and
relies considerably on a rather few respondents where they share their
opinions and information in detail, compared to a quantitative research
approach in which instead is rather strict and structured (Bryman & Bell,
2015). A quantitative research focuses on a larger number of respondents
where the aim is to obtain large number of data (Bryman & Bell, 2015). A
quantitative research has a lack of details and gives poor relation of the
actual behavior from the respondents. Moreover, compared to a qualitative
research approach, a quantitative approach instead involves a study of
meanings in forms of attitude scales as well as to quantify data and
generalize the results to the population of interest (Bryman & Bell, 2015;
Saunders et al., 2016).
Due to the fact that a qualitative research involves a deeper understanding of
people’s behavior in detail, this research undertook a qualitative research
approach. This, since it was considered to be more suitable regarding the
subject in which one must be able to understand the opinions of the people in
order to explore the phenomena in question. Hence, this research aimed to
focus on the words of the respondents in order to obtain detailed information,
which is of qualitative nature, rather than numbers which is of quantitative
nature (Bryman & Bell, 2015).
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3.2 Research Design
Different research designs are presented by Bryman and Bell (2015). These
are the intermediary between the collected data and the purpose of the
research. The research designs presented by Bryman and Bell (2015) are
experimental design, cross-sectional design, longitudinal design, case study
design and comparative design. Experimental design consists of a control
group and an experimental group of which a manipulation is conducted on
the experimental group. Longitudinal research design is another approach
which aims for identifying a change over time at two or more points in time.
A comparative research design compares two or more groups in order to
possibly find a distinction between the results. Another research design is
case study which implies a detailed analysis of one single case. Lastly, a
cross-sectional research design is studying a snapshot of the population
which is done at only one point in time. Furthermore, a cross-sectional
design collects data from more than one case with the aim to connect it to
two or more variables, which will result in patterns of association (Bryman &
Bell, 2015). Stated by Ruane (2016), a typical feature for a cross-sectional
design is that it entails a collection of data at a single point of time, meaning,
during only a specific and limited time-period.
The research design of this study was cross-sectional design since this study
was collecting data from one point in time through several components. This
was done through collecting individuals’ opinions regarding event marketing
in a social media context. According to Ruane (2016) a cross-sectional
research design is suitable when exploring or describing a subject within a
specific time-period. Since this study was of an explorative nature, this was
another argument for using a cross-sectional design for this research.
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3.3 Data sources
There are two ways of collecting research data, either through primary or
secondary data (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Primary data is collected for a
specific research and is consisting of new empirical data. In comparison,
secondary data consists of data collected from other researchers having a
research with a different purpose (Bryman & Bell, 2015). It is common that
the researcher is participating in the collection of primary data. This could
for example be when doing focus groups, in-depth interviews or observations
(Ghauri & Grønhag, 2005). For this research, the empirical chapter as well as
the analysis chapter was based on primary data. This since there were not of
enough existing information about the phenomena to be able to only collect
secondary data.
3.4 Data Collection Method
When conducting a research, deciding a data collection method is crucial
(Bryman & Bell, 2015). It is of major importance that the chosen data
collection method is correlated with the purpose and objective with the study
and subsequently geared with the problem that has been identified at the
outset. The methods are many and can differ whether the research is of
qualitative or quantitative nature (Bryman & Bell, 2015). This research holds
a study of qualitative nature with an explorative purpose in which examples
of data collection methods according to Bryman and Bell (2015) could be
focus groups or interviews. The data collection method for this research was
interviews since this study desired to obtain answers from the respondents
with no influence from other participants. This, since the Bryman and Bell
(2015) claims that the respondents could be affected by the attitudes and
opinions of the other participants. Furthermore, they state that there are
various types of interviews. The most common ones for a qualitative research
are semi-structured interviews and unstructured interviews (Bryman & Bell,
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2015; Saunders et al., 2016). Semi-structured interviews have a series of
somewhat more general questions of an interview schedule where the
interviewer has chosen a relatively specific topic. Semi-structured interviews
are still considered to be quite strict compared to unstructured interviews
which are usually much more informal and the questions are open-ended
(Bryman & Bell, 2015; Saunders et al., 2016). Based on the research
approach for this study, it was suggested to do unstructured interviews. This,
because this research desired to obtain in-depth information where the
respondents could respond relatively freely about a specific topic which is,
according to Bryman and Bell (2015), possible through unstructured
interviews.
3.4.1 Unstructured interviews
During unstructured interviews, the interviewer has the possibility to only
ask few questions regarding a specific area to the respondents in which they
can answer freely about (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Rather than the interview
being strictly between interviewer and interviewee, an interview of an
unstructured nature becomes more of a conversation between these two parts
(Carsson, 1991). Subsequently, this type of interview can give valuable
answers in depth where the respondents’ behavior and opinions can further
create an open discussion (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Key advantages with open
questions in an unstructured interview is that the respondents can answer in
their own terms which is useful when exploring new areas in which the
researcher has only a certain amount of knowledge (Bryman & Bell, 2015).
This type of data collection method is although having characteristics as for
being time-consuming, since the answers has to be coded and there are
requirements from the respondents to put much effort in answering for a
longer time and in detail (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Carlsson (1991) explains
that this kind of interview is of difficulty to have specific rules for the
interviewer to use during the interview. He means that what can be
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appropriate in one situation, might not be suitable in another one. Although,
Carlsson (1991) further state that it is suggested to use less rules and only to
guide the interviewee towards the topic of the research. However, having
unstructured interviews was still considered appropriate for this research
since it, according to Bryman and Bell (2015), give information in detail
from the respondents and the researcher can obtain valuable opinions and
information. The researchers could also obtain a deep understanding of the
participants’ behavior and see patterns from the different respondents derived
from the questions where they had the possibility to answer a single question
freely and then create a discussion.
3.4.2 Operationalization
The term operationalization is defined as a process where a theoretical
concept is transferred into measurable concepts and variables in which are
used to ensure clarity of the collection of data relevant for the empirical
chapter (Bryman & Bell, 2015). An operationalization can support the
researcher to draw a stronger and more precise conclusion of the research
(Bryman & Bell, 2015). This process is presented in an operationalization
table where the theories, measurable concepts and operational definitions are
translated into questions that further will be answered in the interviews
(Bryman & Bell, 2015; Saunders et al., 2016). For this research, the
theoretical concept of event marketing was broken down into sub concepts
which were entertainment, excitement and enterprise. In order to for the
researchers to be able to obtain a deeper understanding of these sub concepts
and how to translate them into measurable questions understandable for the
participants, the operationalization table below provided a definition of each
sub concept. This was followed by an operational definition of the sub
concepts which explains what the researchers aimed to get an understanding
of through the questions. See operationalization table below.
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Theoretical
concept Sub concept Definition of
concept Measurements
within
subconcepts
Operational
definition Alternative questions
Event marketing Entertainment The action of
attraction and
enjoyment at
an event
(Hoyle, 2002).
Enjoyment Engagement Personalization
To understand if
they think
events on social
media are
entertaining.
1. What do you enjoy seeing on
marketing events on social
media?
2. How you engage into these?
3. How does the events on
social media meet your
personal interests?
Event marketing Excitement The building of
expectations
for an event
(Hoyle, 2002)
Expectations Attention Loyalty
To understand
how event
marketing in
social media
context can be
exciting.
1. What do you expect from a
marketed event on social
media?
2. What catches your attention
towards an event on social
media?
3. Do you follow any specific
brands on social media that
usually promote events?
Event marketing Enterprise Doing
something new
and untried at
an event
(Hoyle, 2002).
Innovative Imagination Emotions
To understand
how event
marketing in
social media
context can be
enterprising.
1. What do you think about
events on social media doing
something new and untried?
2. What imaginations do you
get from seeing these
events?
3. What do you feel when
seeing marketing events on
social media?
Table 3.1 Operationalization
3.4.3 Execution of unstructured interviews
The interviews started by introducing the interviewers to the subject and how
the interview would be executed. Then all the ethical aspects were explained
to the participants. For instance, the ability for the interviewees to be
completely anonymous and that they were not forced to answer questions
they did not feel comfortable with. They were also allowed to take breaks
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during the interview if they desired to and had the possibility to not take part
of this study after the interview if they did not felt convenient with the
interview. After the all the interviewees were fully informed with the subject
and ethical aspects, three short videos of marketed events on Instagram and
Facebook were showed to the interviewees in order for the participants to get
an understanding of how a marketed event on social media could look like.
The first example was a video from Xide’s Instagram, were they show short
clips from a summer brunch with invited people drinking non-alcoholic Xide
ciders and eating brunch. The second video was from Nocco’s Facebook
page showing a short video from a training day that Nocco, showing people
working out and drinking Nocco. The third example of a marketed event was
from Nelly’s Instagram stories showing pictures of an event where all invited
people wore clothes from Nelly.
The first question of the interview was a broad and open question with the
purpose to start a discussion about the subject which the interviewees were
allowed to answer freely to. In order for the participants to answer in depth
about their thoughts and feelings, the interviewers often asked the
participants to elaborate their answers by asking questions such as “why?”
and “what do you mean?”. In order for the interview to gain valuable
information about the relevant concepts for the research, alternative follow
up questions was asked in order to guide the interviewees towards the
relevant subjects. There was one alternative question for each concept which
was asked if the concepts were not discussed during the first question. For
each interview, 3-5 follow up questions was needed. This, since the
interviewers received a great amount of information from the first question.
The interview was held in Swedish since the participants were Swedish in
order for the interview have a natural flow. Three researchers were
participating during the interviews, whereas one of them asked most of the
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follow-up questions and guided the interview, and two of them observed the
interview in order to make sure that relevant information for the study was
conducted. The time for the interviews were around 35-65 minutes per
interviewee, allowing the interviewees thinking and analyzing their answer
of the question. The interviews were held in a neutral and calm environment
in order to avoid distractions as well as not being overheard by an outsider,
since these are important guidelines according to Bryman and Bell (2015).
Coffee and sweets were offered for the participants to further create a relaxed
and friendly environment.
The interviews were recorded and later written down in Swedish, which can
be found in Appendix 3. This in order for the researchers to be able to focus
on the conversation and what was being said and be able to use the
information in the study. The interviews were translated into English in the
empirical chapter. According to Bryman and Bell (2015), there are three
kinds of problems that can occur during translation of an interview. First,
linguistic means that there can be issues regarding the wording and grammar
of the language. In order to contact the interviewee and ask if the choice of
words is correct, the translation can be changed and correspond with the
actual answer. Second, sociocultural stands for the contrasting backgrounds
of the researcher and the interviewee where misunderstandings between
these can occur. For instance, if the researcher and the interviewee has
different cultural backgrounds, there can be confusion of the context because
of the language. In order to have a translator from the same cultural
background or using footnotes that explains the background of the context,
this problem can be avoided. Third, methodological issues regarding the
language could occur if the researcher gets too influenced by her or his own
culture (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The researchers of this paper used these
guidelines in order for the answers not being not being different from the
actual responses.
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3.4.4 Interview guide
The purpose of an interview guide for unstructured interviews is to provide
the research with a brief schedule of which areas to cover (Bryman & Bell,
2015). To have an interview guide is important for qualitative researches that
collects data through individual interviews in order to ensure that the
questions that the interviewer ask is relevant for the area of the
research (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The interview guide also has the ability to
make the interview consistent and connects the research problem with the
research questions and previous literature (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2014).
Moreover, the researchers should strive for obtaining responses from the
participants that creates value for the research (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The
interview should consist of broad questions that are connected to the research
questions as well as more specific questions that creates a natural
conversation during the interview. Hence, the form of the questions differs in
the interview but the first question is usually more open and introducing
(Brinkmann & Kvale, 2014). Bryman and Bell (2015) further state that the
researchers should strive for having a conversation with a relevant language
that is understandable for the participants of the interview. Due to the
advantages of having an interview guide presented above, the researchers did
take use of an interview guide in order to ensure that the questions were
asked in the best possible way.
3.4.5 Pre-testing
Before administering an interview, researchers should conduct a pre-test in
order to ensure that the research instrument is functioning in a way the
researchers’ desires (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The purpose with pre-testing is
to identify if the questions of the interview are understandable and if they are
placed in an order that creates a good flow of the interview (Bryman & Bell,
2015). If any errors would occur during a pre-test, such as confusing
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phrasing, poorly worded instructions or confusing positioning in the
interview schedule, these could be discovered and fixed before administering
the actual interviews (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Malhotra (2010) explains that
the significance of pre-testing is the testing of questions on a small sample of
respondents in order to identify or eliminate possible problems that may
occur. Malhotra (2010) further means that a pre-test should include all
aspects of the interview such as the content, wording and the questions
difficulty and instructions. Correlated with Hair, Wolfinbarger Celsi, Money,
Samouel and Page (2011), pre-testing can assess clarity of instructions, time
of interview and quality of responses. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, (2009)
also describes pre-testing as a tool that can increase both the reliability and
validity of the interviews. For instance, if the questions make sense for the
respondents.
The pre-testing of this study was reviewed by three individuals that were all
considered to be potential participants for the actual interview. The first
interview question was questioned in the same way as the actual interview.
However, due to the fact that this study undertook unstructured interviews,
the alternative followed up questions were asked differently for each
participant. This, since the discussion turned out to be different depending on
the answers of the first question. The pre-test consisted of three parts. First,
the interviewers shortly introduced the research. Secondly the interviewers
asked the questions and probing questions if needed. Lastly, there was a
discussion between the interviewers and the respondents about the structure
of the interview and how the respondents have understood the questions.
Furthermore, it was discussed how certain questions could be reformulated in
order for them to obtain a better understanding of them.
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3.5 Sampling
Data collection is essential when doing research and can be gathered in many
ways by different members of a target population (Bryman & Bell, 2015). A
population is defined as those people which includes all members of a
specific group (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Saunders et al. (2016) state that
collecting data from a whole population is possible, however, in most cases it
is considered as impracticable and not always feasible. Therefore, they mean
that one can choose to collect data from a sample of the target population.
A sample is defined as a subset of the population which can be based on
either a probability sample or non-probability sample (Bryman & Bell,
2015). A probability sample is a sample in which the researchers are seeking
to sampling research respondents that has been chosen on a randomly basis.
This, in order for the population to have equal chance of being selected
(Bryman & Bell, 2015). The aim with a probability sample is to minimize
sampling errors and reducing bias in the selection of samples (Bryman &
Bell, 2015). According to Saunders et al. (2009), sampling a population is a
technique that provides valuable benefits and can save time for the
researchers.
When doing research of a quantitative nature, a probability sampling is most
appropriate since it gives the researchers a possibility to involve a
representative sample from the randomly selected people from the
population. This, in order to make sure that the data collection will be
objective and create a possibility to generalization (Bryman & Bell, 2015,
Saunders et al., 2016). Although, when doing a research of qualitative nature,
a non-probability sample is most appropriate (Bryman & Bell, 2015,
Saunders et al., 2016). According to Bryman & Bell (2015), a non-
probability sample is defined as an umbrella term where the sample is not
selected randomly and some members of the population has greater
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probability to be selected than others. It is most common in a qualitative
study due to its possibility for the chosen sample to describe, discover and
develop the theory in question that has been found within the selected sample
(Bryman & Bell, 2015), which signifies for why this study undertook a non-
probability sampling method.
There are different types of non-probability samples (Bryman & Bell, 2015).
The first one is convenience sampling having characteristics of being easily
available for the researchers but still gives relevant information and
interesting findings. Although, there is a risk that certain groups of people
can be over-representative or under-representative in the research (Bryman &
Bell, 2015). The second type of sampling is snowball sampling, which is a
form of a convenience sample, although the difference is that the researcher
contacts a small group of people relevant for the research subject which in
turn help the researchers to further find more respondents of relevance within
that target population. Although, a disadvantage with this type of sampling is
that is that this sample will not represent the whole population. The third type
of sample is quota sampling in which the researchers knows the target group
and thereby not carried out randomly. A quota sample gives the researchers
the opportunity to divide the population into different categories such as age
groups, gender, ethnicity, region of residence and a combination of these
categories. This type of sampling is highly common in marketing research.
Quota sampling is considered to be cheap, easy to manage and is useful when
doing explorative studies with an aim to generate new theoretical ideas.
Although, one must take into consideration that there is a possibility for the
sample to be biased which can result in that the sample is not representative
of the population (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Due to the fact that this study is of
explorative nature and the sample was selected by the researchers, a quota
sampling was chosen to be the sampling technique for this research.
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3.5.1 Sampling Frame
The sampling frame is about listing the units determining the sample used in
a study and since a study relies on the sampling frame, it is necessary that the
sample is sufficient and representative of the population (Bryman & Bell,
2015). According to Byrne (2001), it is of importance to have a purpose
when performing sampling. The sample has to be described with age, gender,
ethical background and other criterias that can be relevant, in order to
provide understanding about the sample and why it was chosen for the
specific study (Byrne, 2001). Statista (2019: b) identifies that individuals
between the ages 16-34 are the ones using social media the most. Therefore,
people between these ages were selected for this study in order to achieve as
much and valuable information as possible from the respondents. Between
men and women, there is no distinguished difference considering the usage
of social media (Statista, 2019: c). Therefore, both men and women were
requested to participate in the interview. Bryman and Bell (2015) claim that
the geographical position of the sample can save both time and cost if it is
within a narrowed area. Therefore, the individuals asked to join the interview
was within the Växjö region. To target the potential participants to the
research, the individuals had to use social media daily and observe events on
social media at least once a month in order to ensure that the participants
have experience within the field.
3.5.2 Sample Size
Selecting a sample size for a research study is vital since it dictates the
amount of information which in turn has an impact on how reliable and valid
the result or conclusions would be (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The sample size
can also be defined as the number of variables or number of elements that are
included within the research (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The decision regarding
sample size is determined by a number of considerations and a definitive
answer does not exist (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Determining a sample size can
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depend on whether the research is of qualitative or quantitative nature. If
conducting a study of quantitative nature, the researcher aims to gather a
large sample size with a large number of respondents. Meaning, in a
quantitative study, the larger the sample size, the larger precision. This, due
to a minimized chance for a sampling error (Bryman & Bell, 2015).
Although, if conducting a study of qualitative nature, as for this study, a
smaller sample size was suggested in order to gather a deeper understanding
(Bryman & Bell, 2015; Malhotra, 2010). Boddy (2016) also claims that a
qualitative research concerns with obtaining a deeper understanding from a
smaller sample size. He further explains and suggest that data saturation
becomes evident when conducted a minimum of six interviews and a
maximum of 12 interviews.
Due to the fact that this study undertook a study of qualitative nature, a
smaller sample size was conducted. The number of interviews was
determined based on data saturation. Meaning, the researchers of this paper
collected new data until no new knowledge or information could be found
from the interviews (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The researchers of this paper
asked the same questions from the same topic for each respondent, although
with some level of extent due to their different opinions and answers. The
researchers of this paper took an overall insight into the gathered information
after six conducted interviews and thenceforth conducted one extra interview
in order to ensure and verify that data saturation was reached and that no new
codes was appeared (Bryman & Bell, 2015).
See table below for a detailed presentation of the interviewees participating
in research. The participants of the interviews are presented by fictional
names in order to protect their anonymity.
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Nickname of
participants Age Gender Time Social Media User
Anna 22 Female 50 min Yes
Filippa 24 Female 45 min Yes
David 28 Male 40 min Yes
Lisa 26 Female 45 min Yes
Ebba 23 Female 1h 05 min Yes
Peter 21 Male 50 min Yes
Martin 23 Male 35 min Yes
Table 3.2 Representation of interviewees in research
3.6 Data analysis method
In a qualitative research, interviews or participant observations creates the
primary data (Bryman & Bell, 2015). This material is seldom easy to analyze
because of the amount of unstructured material. Hence, qualitative researches
have a more general approach of analyzing data in comparison to
quantitative researches where distinct rules are set for how to analyze the
data (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The difficulties with a qualitative research is to
select what data to include in the research and what data to exclude (Vaughn
& Turner, 2016). Although, it is common among qualitative researchers to
utilize coding for the analysis process in order to organize the collected data
(Bryman & Bell, 2015). The process of coding consists of breaking down
data into different subjects that are being labelled. This research used coding
according to Bryman and Bell (2015) is a method for analyzing qualitative
data from unstructured interviews or focus groups. It is done by closely and
objectively reading the collected data and identifying patterns out of this
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which will become new theory (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Theoretical
saturation is a state in the process where no new information can be found
(Bryman & Bell, 2015). Reaching theoretical saturation is done when first
doing open coding by objectively reading the text several times in order to be
able to put words on the paragraphs and sentences, called codes. At this state,
it is of big importance to do constant comparison with the original text to
make sure that no information or codes are left behind, and hence saturation
is reached. Then the researcher should group the codes into different
concepts. Thereafter, the concepts will be grouped into different categories
which will become the new theory of the research (Bryman & Bell, 2015).
This process of analyzing data was applied to the data analysis method for
this research. Shortly after all interviews had been executed, the recorded
interviews were written down in detail by the researchers. Then the text was
read through by the authors several times. Thereafter, the coding process
started by creating codes out of the text. The codes were written on post-it-
notes and put on the walls in order to get an overview of the words and to be
able to group them into different categories. When all codes had been
identified, the number of codes were reduced by excluding the words that
had been repeated as well as the words that was not considered to be relevant
for the purpose of the research. When dividing the codes into categories, the
groupings was based on similarities between the codes. The same procedure
was done when grouping the categories into concepts, which then became the
base for the new theories of the research. The structure of the empirical
investigation was based on these categories. See Appendix 2 to see the
coding scheme.
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3.7 Quality Criteria
Stated by Flick, von Kardoff, Steinke and Jenner (2004), a qualitative
research cannot exist without a quality evaluation, since it without any
criterias can result in randomness and absurdity. Further, this can damage the
further research within the same research area (Flick et al., 2004). Crucial in
conducting research is to take various criteria into consideration and one way
is to distinguish whether or not measures are reliable and valid (Bryman &
Bell, 2015). Therefore, the researchers of this study are required to ensure
that the quality of the empirical data is accurate and that the analysis has
remained constant.
Reliability and validity are closely related to quantitative studies but can also
be applied in studies of qualitative nature (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Reliability
refers to the degree to whether or not a measure of a concept is stable over
time (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Data is considered as reliable if the study can
be reproduced or replicated with a consistency of the measures and
responses. Fundamentally, a replication study aims to investigate and
determine if the researcher can reproduce the study and receive the same
results as previous study (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Validity, on the other hand,
is concerned with the integrity of the findings and conclusions and whether
or not the research is measuring what it is supposed to measure and also if
the measure reflects the concept in question (Bryman & Bell, 2015).
In qualitative context, reliability and validity can be determined from an
internal and external aspect in which this study actively controlled (Bryman
& Bell, 2015). They both are concerned with observing and identifying if the
measures is measuring what it is supposed to base on the research purpose of
the study (Bryman & Bell, 2015). External reliability refers to what degree of
which study can be repeated over time while internal reliability refers to the
consistency and stability of those measures that are studied over time.
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Meaning, internal reliability aims for whether or not there is an agreement
amongst various observers or members of a research to what they see and
hear. External validity also refers to the degree that if the findings can be
transferred and generalized into other situations outside the contexts of the
study. Internal validity refers to if there is a good match between observation
and developed theory. Moreover, it covers the consistency between the
observer or researchers results and their developed theoretical contribution
(Bryman & Bell, 2015).
Another alternative criterion for qualitative research is assessing the quality
of trustworthiness and authenticity. Bryman & Bell (2015) state that
trustworthiness is closely related to reliability and validity, however,
trustworthiness refers to focus on the objectivity where one can make sure
that no personal beliefs or any relying from theory does have an influence on
the researchers’ results of the study. They further mean that authenticity on
the other hand, is not seen as influential but do have some level of provoking
and controversial aspects on the impact of research. Moreover, it considers
how well the social settings has been presented (Bryman & Bell, 2015).
The researchers of this paper continuously checked and ensured that this
study had the highest possible quality by actively assured the reliability and
validity, both internally and externally as well as the trustworthiness and
authenticity. Although, another issue that the researchers of this paper had to
take into consideration was the different types of bias which is a type of
error. When doing interviews, there are existing evidence that the
interviewers can have an impact on the respondent’s replies (Saunders et al.,
2016). Both the topic as well as the interaction between the characteristics of
the interviewer and the characteristics respondents can affect the study. Also,
the body language, verbal comments, values or beliefs of the interviewer
have to be avoided in order for the research study to be objective (Saunders
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et al., 2016). Bias could also be referred to social desirability bias, which is
an effect that can occur if the interviewer is acting and asking questions to
the respondents that are related to the perception of the social desirability of
those answers. Meaning, the answers of the respondents could turn out as
expected and it would represent errors in the measurement of the concepts in
question (Saunders et al., 2016). Thereby, the researcher of this research was
not judgmental about the respondent’s replies or become overly friendly with
the respondents.
3.8 Ethical Considerations
Ethical issues can arise in research through the relationship between the
researcher and other individuals involved in the research if this relationship
is handled in an incorrect manner (Flick et al., 2004). Therefore, it is of
importance to consider a number of ethical points when conducting a study
(Bryman & Bell, 2015). Firstly, it is crucial to not harm the respondents,
either mentally or physically. The researchers have to ensure to not cause any
type of stress, create low esteem for the participants and not affect or damage
their career ambitions.
Secondly, it is of importance that the participants are fully informed by the
researchers when participating in a study, in order to have knowledge
towards the study itself and what they are participating in (Bryman & Bell,
2015). By mediating the purpose of the study, it could result in biased
respondents. Therefore, the researchers need to establish what and how they
should announce information. For instance, it is important that the researcher
informs the respondents whether the interview would be recorded or not
before the execution of the interview (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Thirdly,
researchers are unable to do research without taking the respondents’ right to
privacy into account (Bryman & Bell, 2015; Flick et al., 2004). Meaning, it is
importance that the respondents should not be forced to answer any questions
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that they are not comfortable with or any questions that accounts for their
privacy (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Therefore, the researcher should not ask any
questions that could be interpreted as sensitive or questions that respondents
do not wish to be available for the public. The researchers have to provide
confidentiality and ensure that the respondents are aware that they have the
possibility of being anonymous. Especially, the researchers must take the
privacy into consideration when doing a research of qualitative nature since
it focuses on fewer people where the researchers are analyzing both the
statements of the participants, but also the behavior (Bryman & Bell, 2015).
The last principle accounts for deception, which means that the researchers
mediate that their research is something else than what it actually is (Bryman
& Bell, 2015). Deception can mean that the researchers withholds
information for the respondents. The entailed information can be limited
since the answers should be more honest and natural, rather than influenced
by the information and therefore be bias. Bryman & Bell (2015) state that
this can lead to the participants being dissatisfied, which can create a
negative perception of the researchers and do harm to future studies. In order
to avoid deception, the researcher should give inform about the purpose of
the study, ask the respondents if certain study techniques are accepted such
as recording, as well as entail counselling if necessary (Bryman & Bell,
2015).
Due to the fact that this research undertook a study of qualitative nature, in
which according to Bryman and Bell (2015) desires to obtain in-depth
information from the respondents, it was of great importance for this research
to not make harm to the participants or to disrupt their privacy. This, by
providing them with anonymity and not mention the names of the
participants in the research. Moreover, respecting the integrity of the
respondents. The interviewers informed about this prior to the interview.
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They were also informed about the fact that the interview was to be recorded.
If the participants were unsure of whether to participate or not, they had the
option to cancel their participation. Furthermore, they could leave the
interview at any time during the session as well. Before the interview started,
the interviewers also informed the participants of the structure and the length
of the interview. If they had any questions about the interview, they were
allowed to ask them to the interviewers before, during and after the
interview. In order to make the participants feel comfortable and not stressed
by any other factors, the interview was held in a separate room. In order for
the research to avoid deception, the interviewees explained for the
participants how the interview and their answers would be used for this
specific research. Before the research was published, the researchers read
through it carefully in order to ensure that no ethical issues could be
identified that could possibly harm the participants.
3.9 Societal issues
From a societal point of view, it is also of importance that the researcher has
knowledge of what effects the research might have on the society, meaning,
if any societal issues could appear throughout the study (Bryman & Bell,
2015). The researcher should hence consider the paradox whether that even if
the results of study turn out to be positive, it may not be carried out by the
society (Bryman & Bell, 2015). This means that if the result of the study
would lead to a change in behavior of the people in society, it could create
societal problems (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Throughout this study, the
researchers carefully tried to make sure that the outcome would not harm the
society in any way, even though one could never completely ensure this.
However, this was done by explaining for the readers in what environment
this study was executed in. Also, a brief explanation of the participants’
cultural background was included in this research in order to not make any
type of harm to people from other cultures. Moreover, the researchers made
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it clear in this paper that this study was conducted in a specific geographical
area. The researchers of this study carefully read through the paper before the
publishing in order to ensure it would not cause any possible societal issues.
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4 Empirical findings
In this chapter, the answers from the interviewees regarding their
experiences of event marketing on social media will be mediated. A short
description of each participant will be given in order to create an
understanding of their background and personalities. A synopsis of the
empirical findings will be found in the last part of this chapter.
4.1 Anna
Anna, 22, uses social media every day and sees marketing events on social
media weekly, however, she does not follow any specific brands on social
media.
Fun
The subject about enjoyment was brought up in the interview in order to find
out what experiences they enjoyed while watching marketed events on social
media. According to Anna, a successful marketed event gives her a good
feeling, especially when there is music in the background. She said that
watching an event on social media makes her feel influenced to do the same
as what they are doing at the event and that she feels excited when watching.
She gave an example of an event she has seen on social media where Ideal of
Sweden, a brand she has interest for, had an event with famous influencers.
The event was located at an outdoor restaurant in the sun where they enjoyed
the pouring of champagne while taking selfies that she later saw was
uploaded on social media. While watching, she experienced the event in a
way by feeling inspired to be there as well. She believes that the marketing
events than she can relate to in her personal life feels natural, which makes
her think that the events are fun to watch. She also stated that if the people
attending, for instance influencers, has a good looking physical appearance,
it is of higher possibility that she would continue watching the event for a
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longer time. This makes her think that the events are more fun to watch
because she gets inspired to look the same.
Unreliable
Anna said that watching events having activities she could attend to in her
own personal life, for instance a day party, she could relate even stronger
since she experiences that this meets her personal interests. She further
mentioned that watching marketed events on social media with too many
famous influencers attending makes the event feel fake and unreliable.
Hence, she experiences it hard to relate to the event. Even though the people
at the event look happy and joyful in front of the camera, they are not
actually having fun behind the camera. She interprets it as fake
advertisement. She believes that the event is only created to gather attention
about the brand among consumers watching the event on social media. She
further mentioned that she believes that it is of importance that events on
social media is evoking emotions, otherwise she will not watch them. If she
is watching an event that is evoking a good feeling, it will make her watch
more events in the future. However, she also said that evoking a bad feeling
is better than no feeling at all, since she believes that it can be improved in
the future.
Wow-factor
For Anna to obtain a positive experience while watching a marketing event
on social media, she desires something new and exciting. She believes that
currently, all events she sees on social media are similar to each other and
need something new with a wider variation. Her current experiences of
watching similar marketing events on social media makes her experience
them as boring. She believes that having different happenings during the
event could be exciting. That the event is correlated with the product from
the brand is also important for her. She also said that the event should look
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natural in order for her to be excited to continuing watching it on social
media.
Low level of engagement
When the interviewers asked Anna how much she is engaging into marketing
events on social media, she said that she is rarely comment anything on
social media. Sometimes she can share videos to her friends if she thinks the
marketing event is fun. Yet, she is not following any brands on social media.
Although, she explained that she follows a few well-known influencers that
often do collaborations with different brands. For instance, Bianca Ingrosso
for Ideal of Sweden. Thenceforth, she sees the marketing event by Ideal of
Sweden through Bianca Ingrosso’s feed.
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4.2 Filippa
Filippa 24 years old, uses social media channels daily in order to take part
of updates from friends and those brands she follows. However, she does not
see marketing events on social media as often.
Enjoyment
Filippa described in the interview that watching marketing events on social
media looks more realistic than what it does with regular pictures. Boohoo,
which is a brand she is following, has many marketing events in different
types of environments that she enjoys watching. She thinks that events on
social media are entertaining, which is one reason to follow and watch an
event. By only observing these events, she can feel inspired and excited to do
similar things as the people at the event do.
Dishonesty
Even if an event is entertaining according to Filippa, she explained that she
also can get negative feelings from watching the event and end up comparing
her life environment with the fancy event on social media. Hence, she gets a
feeling of envy. However, this depends on her mood. If she is in a bad mood,
she can easily end up perceiving herself in a negative way. She mentioned
that if there are too many famous people at the event, she knows she would
never be invited to these types of events. Moreover, she does not perceive
herself as important and fun as the people attending, which can entail the
feeling of depression. The interviewee further described that she interprets
the overall picture of an event on social media as fake and unrealistic. For
instance, if there is a party event and the people attending seems to have an
extremely great time and are all very good looking, it does not seem
trustworthy. Moreover, she believes that these types of events probably do
not even exist in reality and therefore it does not appeal to Filippa.
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Attractiveness
Filippa stated that she expects event on social media to be of high quality.
For example, she mentioned Boohoo. Since it is a well-established brand, she
expects that their events should be done in a good way and with high quality
of the graphic material such as videos, pictures and music, since it makes it
more exciting to watch. Also, the activities of the event should be presented
in a clear way in order for the brand to be able to inspire the viewer. Even if
marketing events often aim for showing the overall picture of the event, it is
of importance to show the products that the event is marketing, since that is
why she is following the brand in the first place. She believes that if the
environment of the event is very different from her own everyday life, to
watch the event through social media is a good way for her to escape her
own life for a while, even if the event seems to be unrealistic.
Variation
According to Filippa, it is good to have variation in marketing events on
social media by showing both the product and the characteristics of the
event. She further stated that if a brand has boring content on social media,
she will most likely not follow the brand. Brands such as Red Bull that often
come up with new and cool ideas within their event marketing catches the
attention of Filippa, contrary to those brands not doing anything exciting.
Brands that has boring content does not give her any kind of contribution.
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4.3 David
David, 28 do not use social media that often. Although, he has seen a couple
of marketing events on social media.
To make a show
David explained that he has seen marketing events on social media before
and that he believes that it usually looks like the people at the events are
having a good time. He believed that if he can relate to the event in some
way, it makes him more interested to watch. He gave an example of when he
recognized the location of an event that he saw through social media since he
had been there before, and that it catches his attention. It is the same thing
when he sees a person on an event that he recognizes. Moreover, it becomes
more interesting for him. Despite this, he believed that he unconsciously
wants to watch a specific event on social media when they show something
that looks good. For examples if they would show a picture of a very good-
looking suit. An important factor that he brought up regarding the feeling of
the event, is that he likes big and open events where more people are
attending and that the company make more of a “show” out of it. This,
because it makes it feel more fun and welcoming. He gave an example of an
event by a clothing brand called Nelly. He perceives their events as fun and
entertaining because their events have a party feeling, more people are
invited and since they focus on the clothes they are marketing at the event.
Moreover, he gets the feeling that the guests are actually caring about the
purpose of the event, in this case the clothes.
Show-off
David stated that some of the events that he sees on social media looks very
strained and stiff, for example GANT’s event. These are usually smaller
events where a limited number of influencers are invited. Therefore, he does
not really like these types of events. He further stated that it looks like the
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guest does not really want to be there, they just stand there holding a beer
and mingle while a DJ is playing in the background. He gets the feeling that
they just go there because in order to promote themselves and their own
personal brand and that no one really cares about the actual purpose of the
event, for example that a company is releasing a new clothing line. He
believes that the company only want to “show-off” by bragging about the
attending influencers instead of showing what the company is actually
marketing.
Not engaging but observing
David sees marketing events on social media through his own feed on
Instagram and is usually taking only a short look at it and then keeps
scrolling. Hence, he is not engaging in any other way than just quickly
observing the events because it is fun to watch. Most of the marketed events
he sees are from the few brands that he is following, because those are the
brands that he is interested in. Although, he mostly sees marketed events
from fashion brands.
Bad quality creates confusion
According to David, marketing events on social media are often impersonal
since they show events that he himself would never go to. Therefore, the
events do not usually appeal to him. Although, if it is a brand that he likes,
for example GANT, he said that he would experience the event as more
interesting to watch than if it would be from a brand that he is not interested
in. Furthermore, he discussed graphic material of an event and that he gets
confused if the quality of a video is bad. However, if the video is from a
brand that he likes, the bad quality of the video does not change his
perception of the brand.
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Difference
David explained that he experiences marketing events as interesting if a
brand does something that differs from other marketing events on social
media. This, since he thinks that it creates curiosity. However, he stated that
he does not expect brands to always do something new and innovative, but
when they do, it makes him more interested in the event.
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4.4 Lisa
Lisa is 26 years old. She uses her social media channels ones a day,
however, during weekends she spend more time on social media channels.
Performance is fun
Lisa explained that she has seen several marketing events on social media.
She mentioned that some events that are “top notch” and have payed
attention to details are fun and interesting to watch. If there are any special
activities, such as a music performance, this creates attention and she
believes that it makes the event more fun and to watch. She thinks it is fun to
see how the companies can express their personality through their marketing
events on social media. Also, she experiences events as interesting and
inspiring when companies create an event for a new clothing line since she
has a passion for fashion. She further explained that seeing events through
videos from the brand and the attending influencers, she can easily get
imaginations of the environment and how it would feel to be there. Although,
she does not always wish to be present at the event, but it is fun to watch
other people enjoying the event.
Hard to engage
Lisa do not usually engage in any way when experiencing marketing events
on social media. She believes it is hard to engage since the events do not
usually put that much focus on the products which is what she is interested
in. The focus is more on the people attending and the environment around the
event. Therefore, she only observes the events without taking her further into
the purchase process, since the products were not exposed enough. Although,
if she spots a good-looking collection from a brand she follows, she
sometimes goes to their website in order to look further.
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Information overload
Lisa mentioned that she sometimes spots too much content from marketing
events on social media. For instance, when people constantly upload pictures
and movies from an event. This can make her feel annoyed and not wanting
to continue watch the event. She experiences most events on social media as
just a reminder for customers that the brand is active. Moreover, she thinks
the events are impersonal. The events are also interpreted as too fancy and
expensive and not suitable for customers. Therefore, watching the events on
social media can sometimes reveal a feeling of being excluded from the
event.
Personality zero to personality hero
While Lisa is experiencing marketing events on social media, she gets a
feeling that all the events are too similar to each other. She would desire
something new with unique activities to catch her attention and create a
wow-factor. She thinks that companies are not enough innovative as well as
impersonal. She wishes that the companies would try to stand-out with their
marketed events and perhaps include more “regular” people to make the
event evoke imaginations of the event being personal. An example of an
event that included “regular” people was brought up by Lisa. This was
experienced as interesting and fun to watch since she could imagine herself
being there. Hence, it was also perceived as more personal.
Make an effort!
Lisa stated that she enjoys when all details of an event are done in a good
way, in order to increase the quality of the event. Also, that the event should
have some kind of activity in order to catch her attention and therefore create
a wow-factor. For instance, to have a great DJ playing at the event.
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4.5 Ebba
Ebba is 23 years old and check her social media channels every day and sees
marketing events almost every day.
A niche creates interest
Ebba has seen marketing events on social media before and interpret them as
interesting when it is clear why the event is hosted. She brought up an
example with a brand she follows, called For Love and Lemons, and
explained them as being interesting since they have a special “niche”, which
she describes as having their own specific style contrary to other brands.
Also, she prefers when the brand has invited people at the events being “low-
key” and not only famous people such as influencers. She explained that
“low-key” people are people who has a more relatable lifestyle to the event
compared to influencers. Meaning, she meant that she believes that the “low-
key” people would attend the same type of events even if they were not
famous. Ebba admires when the focus of the events is not only to show the
products of the brand, but also the environment of the event.
Engagement depends on importance
When the subject about marketing events on social media was further
discussed, Ebba made clear that she is following a few clothing brands on
social media. Yet, she is only engaging with the events when she considers
the topic as being important. Such topics could be to arrange an event for
animal rights. If the brand would have petition against this, she would engage
by signing it. In those cases, she described that she would not hesitate to
engage. Although, she does not engage in any way when there are marketing
events on social media for clothing brands. She mentioned that it all depends
on the topic and the purpose for the event. It needs to have some kind of
“importance” in order to make her engage. For instance, charity and animal
rights.
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Extremely impersonal
Ebba interprets most of the marketing events she has seen on social media as
extremely impersonal. She stated that most of the events seems to be both
fake and unrealistic. She also described the events as being forced and she
would get a feeling of being excluded and not prioritized. Her interpretation
of the events on social media was that the events are only created for the
brands themselves, and not for the customers. She meant that since there are
often only well-known people and influencers who does collaborations with
the brand invited, she feels not prioritized and therefore do not think that the
events are personal. She did also describe some events as a “show-off” and
“money-maker” for the companies. Moreover, that the brands are not
realistic towards their customers. What was also mentioned was that she
prefers quality before quantity. She meant that she often sees a large amount
of marketing events on social media from the same brand too often. “Do you
really need this event too?” she stated. She pointed it out as information
overload.
Uniqueness of events
Ebba considered most of the marketing events on social media as non-
innovative. She described them as monotonous and stereotypical. Therefore,
she often avoids regular events, such as fashion events. An event being
unique and extreme is much more appreciated according to her. She gave an
example of the company Red Bull and their extreme sports events and
describe them as being “kings” at events on social media. This, since she
prefers when she can experience adventures through the events that can
evoke an insight and pictures in her mind of how it would be to attend those
types of events. She stated that especially Red Bull catches her attention with
their “cool events” and that they go beyond and do crazy things related to
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sports. She also said that marketed events on social media should entail trust
and a feeling of community.
Is it suitable?
Among the marketing events on social media that Ebba has experienced, she
considers most of them as being very similar to each other. They are often
not considered as interesting for her and she feels like the events are not
suited for the customers. She would prefer to experience events on social
media where it is clear why they have the event. Also, that the events evoke a
purpose of importance with high quality and characteristics suited for the
brand-image. According to her, it would increase the quality of the event and
create a greater level of imaginations in which would be fun to watch.
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4.6 Peter
Peter is 23 years old, spends about one hour each day on social media
platforms and sees marketing events a couple of times a week.
Motivation!
Peter stated that he experiences some of the marketing events on social
media as very fun. This is usually when they not only show the people who
are attending the event but also show what the event is actually for, for
example a clothing brand releasing a new clothing line or a brand having an
event for charity. Sometimes he experiences that it is fun to watch which
people that are attending the event, but it should not take away the focus
from why they are organizing the event. This, because if the event is
marketing new products from the brand, that is what Peter is interested in to
see. Hence, he likes seeing new product launches through events on social
media if they show a lot of the products.
He can also get motivated to do things by watching events on social media
that evokes feelings. For example, when Nike had a training event and
showed people running, it made him feel like go running himself. Hence, he
usually experiences the events as inspiring, fun and entertaining.
Common thread
Peter argued that the movies and pictures published from the event by the
brand should be of high quality. He also stated that it is important for him to
get a good overview of the event through social media. Moreover, to show
the environment, what is happening, the people attending as well as the
products. He highlights the importance of showing the products in order for
him to understand the purpose of the event and what they are actually trying
to market. Also, he thinks that it should be a common thread throughout the
event, in order to understand the purpose of it.
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Not comment, only follow
Peter explained that he enjoys watching the events without feeling the need
to engage in them. He does not comment anything, he rather follows brands
he has interest in, with the purpose to stay updated about their products and
to be inspired. He believes that it is convenient and entertaining to observe
marketing events since the information is easy to access on social media.
Lack of trust
Peter talked about the fact that he likes when marketing events on social
media are personal, which some of the events he has experienced have been.
He gives an example of a company having an event where they invited
“normal” customers who were no celebrities or influencers. This made him
feel that he could relate more to the event since it was likely that he could
have been at the event as well, which made him perceive it as more personal
and real. He further discussed the reliability of the event by explaining that
he has less trust in the brand if there are only well-known influencers at their
event. This, since he is aware of that the influencers gets money only for
talking good about the products of the brand, which gives him a feeling of
the event being fake. Hence, he questions if the influencers actually like the
product and the brand.
To stand out
Peter experience many of the marketing events on social media as similar.
Therefore, he pinpointed the importance for events to do something new and
different in order for them to get his attention. He also mentioned that he
experiences events as exciting and fun if there is a special happening that
makes the event a bit unique. This, since it makes it stand out from other
events. He further stated that events that are too stereotypical makes him
bored. Hence, he prefers events that use rethinking considering their events.
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4.7 Martin
Martin is 23 years old and uses social media daily, however, he does not see
marketing events as often.
Interruption from content
When Martin uses social media, he wants to see content from people or
brands that he actually follows. If events being too commercial pops up, he
often relates this to something negative, since it interrupts him from the
content he really wants to see and takes away his focus. Moreover, when
content that he has not asked for to take part of appears in his feed, he gets
the feeling of irritation. These negative feelings especially occur when the
content shown is not in line with the interest of Martin. However, a
marketing event can create good feelings if he can relate to the people at the
event, since it feels reliable if he can see himself in the context of the event.
If the event feels reliable, Martin state that he wants to keep watching the
event and look for other events from the same brand.
Observer
Martin follows a few brands such as Nike, Adidas and FIFA. He also follows
some athletes, which sometimes are sponsored by brands. However, even if
he follows these accounts, he does not actively engage, such as commenting
the posts. He rather observes the content. The posts can be of his interest, but
it is not of his nature to make any kind of ”mark” after himself, since he
basically does not see the meaning of doing so.
Innovation brings knowledge
According to Martin, it is new knowledge and new information that captures
his interest. An example that Martin brought up was the account NASA that
he follows, which show information and new happenings on their social
media channels. He explained that this kind of information and knowledge
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contributions remind him about what he is interested in and why. He further
stated that it is the same regarding the athletes he follows on social media.
When he learns something new within, for instance workouts, he can get
inspired to do the same kind of workouts. Martin later stated that he thinks it
is cool and fun when the marketing events on social media entail something
new. This creates interest and the feeling of wanting to know more. He
described an event that he saw on social media from the brand FIFA, where
they come up with new types of events every year. One of the events was
taking plat at an arena where the audience watched two people playing FIFA
tournaments. The fact that sports within technology, such as video and TV
games, can become this big and appear as a show, entertaining so many
people, is really cool according to Martin. This makes him wonder how it
would be for him to play this game and how the new functions would affect
the game. When it comes to work out-events, he often puts himself into the
situation that the athlete is in. He imagines how it would be if he did the
same kind of workout.
Personal interests
According to Martin, he does not have any expectations on events on social
media when they appear in his feed. However, the quality is one of the most
important parts of an event, since one can easily notice if the quality of an
event is poor. He also stated that it is fun if the events are entertaining. If an
event meets his personal interests, it makes him excited. Not necessarily the
event itself, more that the event has to do with something that he is interested
in.
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4.8 Synopsis of empirical findings
The table below show the concepts that each of the participants of the
interviews talked about when they were asked about their experiences of
event marketing on social media.
Interviewees Anna Filippa David Lisa Ebba Peter Martin
Concepts Fun Enjoyment To make a
show Performance
is fun A niche
creates interest Motivation! Interruption
from content
Unreliable Dishonesty Show-off Hard to
engage Engagement
depends on
importance
Common
thread Observer
Wow-factor Attractiveness Not engaging
but observing Information
overload Extremely
impersonal No comment,
only follow Innovation
brings
knowledge
Low level of
engagement Variation Bad quality
creates
confusion
Personality
zero to
personality
hero
Uniqueness of
event Lack of trust Personal
interest
Difference Make an
effort! Is it suitable To stand out
Table 4.1 Synopsis of empirical findings
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5 Analysis
Based on the answers of the respondents from the interviews regarding their
experiences of event marketing on social media, the researchers of this study
constructed four categories, Entertainment, Authenticity, Innovation and
Quality. These categories will be analyzed in relation to the existing theory.
Lastly, a summarized combination of the four categories will be analyzed in
the end of this chapter.
5.1. Entertainment in marketing events on social media
Based on the empirical investigation, the following concepts Fun,
Enjoyment, To make a show, Performance is fun, A niche creates interest and
Motivation, are interpreted by the researchers as discussing the topic of
Entertainment.
5.1.1 Analytical point
It was discovered that the level of entertainment has an impact on people’s
experience of watching marketing events on social media since it was shown
that people want to be entertained in order for them to perceive the event as
enjoying and exciting. Therefore, one could perceive entertainment as being
of importance for event marketing on social media.
5.1.2 Analysis of Entertainment in marketing events on social media
Hoyle (2002) describes entertainment as the action of providing or being
provided with enjoyment. This correlates with the respondents’ answers from
the interviews in which all of them said that marketing events on social
media are in different ways enjoying. Sit and Birch (2014) explain that
people can get entertained by only watching other people or just enjoying
free entertainment. This corresponded with the participants since Anna
mentioned that marketed events on social media are fun to watch, Filippa
mentioned that marketed events on social media are enjoying and Peter
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mentioned that marketed events on social media are motivating. David enjoy
watching marketing events when he recognizes the location or the people at
the events, when there are many people invited to the event and when the
company makes the event like a “show”. He further explained that he is
entertained when the events on social media are focusing on the actual
products that the brand wants to market. Lisa stated that she gets entertained
watching marketed events on social media when there are different types of
performances at the events, for instance a major music performance. Ebba,
on the other hand, enjoys unusual events on social media with brands that has
their own type of “niche”. She also explained that she is entertained by
marketed events on social media where one can see the actual purpose of the
event and that there are “low-key” people attending instead of well-known
influencers. Martin does not particularly get entertained by events on social
media, however, watching events that meets his personal interests can make
him excited.
According to Sit and Birch (2014), companies can also entertain consumers
by stimulating them in different ways in order to impact the degree of length
and time spent at the event. Simultaneously, Anna stated during the interview
that she thinks it is fun to watch the events on social media if the people
attending the event has a good looking psychical appearance and that it
would most likely make her spend more time watching the event. Therefore,
it can be interpreted that it is important for businesses to ensure that the
people are experiencing entertainment in order for people to spend a longer
time watching the event. If they spend a longer time watching it, it could
possibly make the business benefit by obtaining brand loyalty. Consequently,
all participants experienced entertainment while watching marketing events
on social media. This corresponds with Hoyle’s (2002) theory that
entertainment is a part of event marketing, which strengthen the suggestion
that entertainment is an important part for businesses to include in event
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marketing on social media. However, Hoyle (2002) mentions that
entertainment at events should include a feeling of enjoyment, engagement
and personalization. Although, in a social media context, enjoyment was the
only concept mentioned by the participants in relation to the experience of
entertainment. Experiences about engagement and personalization in a social
media context was found from the interviews, yet in relation to the category
Innovation and Engagement which will be discussed below.
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5.2 Authenticity in marketing events on social media
Based on the empirical findings, the concepts Unreliable, Dishonesty,
Negative thoughts, Show-off, Information overload, Extremely impersonal,
Lack of trust and Interruption from content are considered discussing the
level of Authenticity.
5.2.1 Analytical point
It was discovered that the current experience of most of the events are seen
as fake and untrustworthy. This implicates that authenticity could be an
important category within event marketing on social media.
5.2.2 Analysis of Authenticity in marketing events on social media
Derived from the interviews for this research, concepts within authenticity
was mentioned by all participants of this study. Peter stated that he likes
when the events on social media are personalized and invites “normal”
customers which are not influencers or celebrities. This would allow him to
relate to the event and therefore interpret it as being more real, and not as
fake as he thinks that events often can appear to be. Lisa had similar
thoughts, as she stated that including “regular” people makes an event being
more fun and interesting to watch, since she can imagine herself taking part
of the event. Martin explained that if he can relate to the people attending to
a marketing event on social media, it creates a feeling of the event being
reliable, which makes him interested in keep watching the event and want to
see more marketing events from the same brand. Due to this statement, it
could be interpreted that the level of authenticity is a crucial part of their
experience due to marketing events on social media.
Anna mentioned that too many famous influencers attending to an event on
social media makes it impossible to personally relate to the event. Hence, she
often gets the impression that events are fake. She further explained that she
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gets a feeling that the people participating at the events are not actually
having as fun as it looks like. Moreover, this makes her perceive the event as
fake advertisement. Filippa can obtain a negative self-perception when
watching the events, by not feeling as important and fun as the people at the
event. Additionally, it can give her a feeling of envy. Currently, Anna and
Filippa are experiencing the events as having a low level of authenticity.
Hence, it can be perceived as that both of them would enjoy the events if the
people participating were considered as being more like-minded to herself,
which would make her perceive the events as more reliable.
Lisa explained that she can get the feeling that the event is too expensive and
not made to suit the customers, which can entail the feeling of her being
excluded from the event. The feeling of being excluded was also mentioned
by Ebba, combined with the feeling of not being prioritized since she
believes that the events are created for the brands themselves, and not for the
consumers. Analyzing Lisa’s and Ebba’s experiences from marketing events
on social media, it can be comprehended that they perceive the events as not
being personalized enough, which in turn can lead them to feel that the
lifestyle the brands entail through the event on social media is not correlated
with their own lifestyle. Hence, it creates a feeling of unreliability and a low
level of authenticity.
Lisa mentioned that too much content from marketing events on social media
can be annoying, which can result in her stop watching the event. The feeling
of being irritated was also mentioned by Martin, as he gets interrupted from
the content he actually wants to see on social media from the accounts he
actually follows. Ebba said that some events on social media can give the
feeling of being a “money-maker” and a “show-off”, which she beliefs is not
realistic towards the consumers. “Show-off” was also mentioned by David,
describing that companies only want to brag about the people attending to the
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event rather than showing the actual products of the brand. Additionally, that
the people attending the events on social media usually does not even care
about purpose of the event. Taking these perceptions of “show-off” and
“money-maker” into consideration, one can interpret these stances as that
people experience marketing events on social media as being unreliable and
untrustworthy.
The category of “authenticity” was not described as being a part of event
marketing in the existing literature. However, in this research, authenticity
was shown to have an impact on how people experience marketing events on
social media. This, since all seven participants had experienced strong
feelings and thoughts within the subject of authenticity.
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5.3 Innovation in marketing events on social media
The researchers of this paper identified the concepts of Wow-factor,
Variation, Difference, Personalization zero to hero, Uniqueness of events, To
stand out and Innovation bring knowledge as being correlated with each
other within the subject of Innovation.
5.3.1 Analytical point
Discussing the experiences of marketing events on social media with the
seven participants from the interviews, it was discovered that innovative
events have a positive impact on the experiences of marketing event on
social media.
5.3.2 Analysis of Innovation in marketing events on social media
Hoyle (2002) explains that within event marketing, doing something new and
untried is of importance for enterprises in order to stay competitive on the
market and achieve customer loyalty. Based on the seven interviews in this
study, they all discuss the importance of innovation. Ebba meant that
monotonous events makes her feel bored. Anna corresponds with this by
stating that she feels bored when the events are too similar to each other.
Filippa desires a wider variation of events. This is strengthened by Li and
Duan (2018) stating that if the content of events on social media is without
diversification, it can lead to the users feeling annoyed.
Furthermore, Ebba desires new and unique events. David believes that
marketing events on social media creates curiosity when a brand does
something different with their events compared to other events. Lisa wants to
see unique activities on social media in order to obtain a wow-factor. Peter
likes to see marketing events on social media having a special happening.
Hence, not being stereotypical. Martin believes that it is “cool” and fun when
the events consist something new, which makes him want to know more
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about the event. Consequently, based on the participants want for new and
unique events, it accounts for that there is a clear lack of innovative events
on social media. The information gathered from the interviewees was
correlated with concept of enterprise from the theory by Hoyle (2002). He
explains enterprise as when an event is considered as new an untried which
creates imagination and excitement among consumers. Hoyle (2002) also
mean that if an event is considered as innovative, the brand can obtain
customer loyalty. Although, during the interviews, concepts within
innovation was more commonly mentioned by the participants rather than
concepts about the enterprise itself. Hence, the researchers’ beliefs that
“innovation” is a more suitable category for marketing events on social
media.
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5.4 Engagement in marketing events on social media
Out of the interviews and empirical investigation, the concepts Low level of
engagement, Not engaging but observing, Hard to engage, Engagement
depends on importance, Not comment, only follow and Observer are
composed into the common category Engagement.
5.4.1 Analytical point
It was discovered that participants have a low level of engagement in
marketing events on social media. This, since they mostly only observe the
events. Tentatively, the engagement does not have any impact on the
experience of marketing events on social media.
5.4.2 Analysis of Engagement in marketing events on social media
From the empirical investigation, it was discovered that Anna, Filippa, Lisa,
Ebba and Peter most likely do not engage in events on social media, they
rather observe the events. Anna mentioned that she sometimes shares an
event to someone but she rarely comments on posts. Ebba said that she can
engage in an event if it is of a good cause, for instance to sign a name list for
supporting animal rights that the event encourages one to do. However, she
would not engage if it was an event about, for instance, clothing. David and
Martin said that they do not engage in events on social media at all, they only
observe the event if they think it is interesting. Consequently, this suggests
that the participants think the event is interesting without necessarily having
the need to engage in the event. Sit and Birch (2014) state that there are two
types of participant segments of an event: “entertain me” and “engage me”.
Sit and Birch (2014) explain that “engage me” means that the participant
actively takes part of the event, in which corresponds with the findings of
this research. This, since it could be interpreted that the participants from the
interviews consider that it is more important to be entertained rather than
being engaged in the social media context. Seeing that the level of
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engagement among the participants at marketing events on social media was
low or did not even exist, the concept “engagement” is not considered as
important for event marketing in a social media context. Hence, in the matter
of this research, “engagement” will not be further discussed as being a part of
the experience of event marketing on social media.
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5.5 Quality in marketing events on social media
Based on the concepts of the empirical chapter, Attractiveness, Bad quality
creates confusion, Make an effort!, Is it suitable?, Common thread and
Personal interest are concepts that are considered as being related to each
other within the subject of Quality.
5.5.1 Analytical point
It was discovered in this research that individuals require marketing events
on social media to have a superior quality. It speaks for that a good quality
could have a positive impact on people’s experience of marketing events on
social media.
5.5.2 Analysis of Quality in marketing events on social media
Filippa said that she expects that an event of a well-established company
should be done in a good manner and of good quality regarding the graphic
material. Also, David said that an event that publishes graphic material of
bad quality creates confusion around the brand. This correlates with Tiwari,
Weth and Kankanhalli (2018) who mean that users of social media most
commonly prefer both textual and visual content to be appealing. Filippa
further stated that the events should present the activities on a clear way and
to show the products of the brand in the event, in order for her to perceive it
as having a high quality of the marketing event. This is also correlated with
Zhu and Chen (2015) who explain that it is of importance that marketers are
providing an insight of the products on social media to the consumers. Lisa
stated that a brand should put effort into the event on social media order to
achieve high quality. Meanwhile, Ebba said that a purpose of an event is of
importance to have for obtaining high quality of the event. Meaning, it
should be clearly stated why the event is taking place, as well as having
characteristics connected to the brand of the event. The purpose of an event
was also important according to Peter, as he stated that a brand should
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display the environment, happenings, people and products of the event in
order for him to understand the reason for arranging the event. He explained
that he perceives it as good quality when there is a common thread
throughout the event. Peter further said that movies and pictures from the
event should be of good quality. This can be correlated with Martin who said
that the quality of the graphic material, such as videos of the event, is one of
the most important parts of an event on social media. Ebba explained that she
sometimes gets the feeling that brands focus more on quantity rather than
quality when hosting the events. She can sometimes think “Do they really
need to have this event as well?” when seeing too many events from one
specific brand.
The concept of quality has not been considered as one of the main parts of
event marketing in the existing theory. Throughout the interviews of this
study, the concept of quality was however repeatedly mentioned by the
participants. One can clearly see that the quality is, according to the
participants, of importance within event marketing in social media. It is
expected that an event on social media should be of good quality, both
considering the purpose and appearance of the event, as well as the quality of
the movie and pictures from the event. This suggests that in order for a
marketing event on social media to be experienced as good, it should yield
high quality in the graphic material published on social media and mediate a
clear purpose throughout the event.
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5.6 Combination of categories
The four identified categories Entertainment, Authenticity, Innovation and
Quality was identified as might having an impact on the experiences of
individuals seeing marketing events on social media. One can see that there
are connections between these categories and that they together can have an
influence on how a marketing event on social media is perceived. In the
interviews of this study, the participants experienced marketing events on
social media with different descriptions such as fun, enjoyable, motivating
and being like a performance or show. These concepts can be correlated into
the category of entertainment, which the researchers of this study discovered
being the most dominant category. This, since authenticity, innovation and
quality drives entertainment among the participants. For instance, Lisa
mentioned that she thinks that it is fun and interesting if she experiences the
event as relatable and thenceforth, authentic. If she would interpret an event
as unreliable and impersonal, it could decrease the level of entertainment.
Martin said that he would think the event as fun if he the event is new and
innovative. Hence, if an event would be too similar to other events and not be
innovative, the experience could turn out to be boring and thenceforth, not
entertaining. Filippa also mentioned that she would see the event a more
exciting if the event would be of high quality. If an event would miss out on
quality, she could possible perceive the event as less entertaining.
Consequently, if one of the categories are lacking, it could negatively affect
the experience of event marketing on social media. Therefore, it can be
understood that entertainment is the key category for event marketing on
social media. However, in order for it to be experienced as entertaining, it
should also be perceived as innovative, have good quality and be considered
as authentic.
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6 Conclusion
The main findings of this research are that entertainment, authenticity,
innovation and quality are important categories of event marketing in a social
media context. It was explored that these categories have a positive impact
on the individuals’ experiences of marketing event on social media.
Among the categories, entertainment was perceived as the dominating
category for how people experience the event. Consequently, it was shown
that authenticity, innovation and quality have an impact on the perceived
level of entertainment, which in turn affects the experience of a marketing
event on social media. What was also found from this research was that if
one of these categories are lacking, it could negatively impact the
experienced entertainment and the overall experience of a marketing event
on social media could be impaired.
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7 Research implications
7.1 Theoretical Contribution
In the existing literature about event marketing, the categories entertainment,
excitement and enterprise are established. This research explored how event
marketing works in a social media context from a consumer perspective in
order to contribute with new knowledge and fill the theoretical gap in
literature from a business perspective. The study undertook a qualitative
nature in order to obtain an understanding of how social media users
experience marketing events in a social media context. This, since it is of
necessity to understand the experiences of users in order to develop existing
theoretical implications.
From the perspective of social media users who have seen marketing events
in this context, the categories Entertainment, Authenticity, Innovation and
Quality were discovered to be the striving forces when experiencing
marketing events in a social media context. Entertainment is the strongest
driving force for the viewers to watch marketing events, however,
authenticity, innovation and quality effects the level of entertainment.
7.2 Managerial Contribution
From the result of this study, guidelines of what businesses should focus on
when implicating event marketing in their social media channels have been
established. Overall, there are four different categories a brand should
consider when executing a marketing event on social media. If one of the
categories are lacking, it can have an impact on the experiences of the
audience. Most importantly, the entertainment of the event should be
prioritized to be the focal category since it has the strongest striving factor
for individuals watching the event. If the entertainment of the event is
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lacking, it is of great risk for the brand to lose viewers and thenceforth
possible consumers’ loyalty and revenues. Although, if there is a lack of
authenticity, innovation or quality of the marketing event on social media,
there is a risk for the viewers to be less entertained.
Firstly, a brand should be careful when creating an event regarding the fact
that an event can easily be perceived as being unreliable, fake and
impersonalized by the audience. Throughout this study, it was found that it is
common that viewers feel that there is a lack of authenticity, which indicates
that businesses need to focus on showing material that individuals can relate
to and therefore be seen as being realistic. Secondly, a business should make
an effort to be innovative since the audience perceive monotonous events as
being boring, which in turn have an impact on the entertainment of an event.
To do something new and untried contrary to other marketing events on
social media are therefore crucial for businesses to stay competitive on the
market. Thirdly, the quality has a great impact on the entertainment of the
marketing event on social media. The viewers of a marketing event expect,
especially for well-established brands, to have good quality of graphic
material. If the event does not meet the expectations of the audience
regarding the quality of videos, pictures or music of the event, it could
damage the level of entertainment, and therefore influence the experience of
the event from the viewers’ perspective.
Conclusively, in order for a brand to execute a successful marketing event on
social media, it is recommended to include entertainment, authenticity,
innovation and quality in mind since they all could have an influence on the
experience of a marketing event on social media.
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7.3 Limitations and further research
This research has had both limitations and weaknesses throughout its
execution. Bryman and Bell (2015) discuss that it is crucial to mediate the
procedures and processes of the research. To be authentic about the
weaknesses of the research makes the reader perceive the research as being
trustworthy (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The selection of examples of marketing
events on social media that was shown to the participants before the
interview started, was only consisting of three different types of marketing
events on social media. Hence, this could limit their view of what a
marketing events on social media could possibly be. One must take into
account that if the researcher would have shown marketing events on social
media from other environments, the findings could have turned out
differently.
Another limitation of this research is that one of the participants of the
interviews had experienced a marketing event physically which was also
posted on social media. Because of this, she stated that it had an impact on
how she experiences other marketing events on social media. This, since she
got insights of how it is to attend the actual event.
The main limitation of this research is the lack of depth in the theoretical
framework. Due to a lack of literature in both event marketing and event
marketing on social media, the theoretical framework is rather weak and
could entail a risk of not being strong enough to rely this study on. Although,
since this study undertook an explorative purpose, the existing theory was
still considered by the researchers to be strong enough for being able to
explore the subject further in this research. Hence, in order for the theoretical
contribution of this research to be generalized, a future research of
quantitative nature is suggested to be conducted. This, in order to be able to
verify the findings of this research.
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