1.

Acceptance of blog usage: The roles of technology acceptance, social

influence and knowledge sharing motivation.

Chin-Lung Hsu is an associate professor of Information Management at Da-Yeh

University, Changhua, Taiwan. He received BS, MBA and PhD degrees from National
Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan in 1997, 1999 and
2004, respectively. Dr. Hsu's articles have appeared in Information &
Management, Omega, and Computers in Human Behavior, International Journal of
Computer Applications in Technology, Information Management & Computer
Security, and International Journal of Mobile Communications. His research interests
include electronic commerce and Internet marketing

Judy Chuan-Chuan Lin is a professor of Computer and Information Science at

Soochow University, Taipei, Taiwan. She received the BS in Electrical Engineering
from Columbia University, New York, the MS in Computer Science from Polytechnic
University of New York, and the PhD in MIS from National Taiwan University of
Science and Technology. Dr. Lin's articles have appeared in Information &
Management, International Journal of Information Management, Behavior &
Information Technology, International Journal of Management and Decision Making
and in the proceedings of international conferences and various other journals. Her
research interests include Internet marketing, electronic commerce and innovation
adoption

Recently, there has been a dramatic proliferation in the number of blogs; however,
little is published about what motivates people to participate in blog activities.
Based on the theory of reasoned action, we developed a model involving technology
acceptance, knowledge sharing and social influences. A survey of 212 blog
participants found strong support for the model. The results indicated that ease of
use and enjoyment, and knowledge sharing (altruism and reputation) were
positively related to attitude toward blogging, and accounted for 78% of the
variance. On the other hand, social factors (community identification) and attitude
toward blogging significantly influenced a blog participant's intention to continue to
use blogs. Together they explain 83% of the variance of intention to blog
2. YouTubers’ impact on viewers’ buying behavior

YouTubers have achieved a status as one of the biggest influencers in social media,
gaining a wide, loyal audience to support them. Celebrity endorsement has been
around for years, however, with the rise of YouTubers’ fame, companies have taken
this as an opportunity to influence a new audience and gain visibility to their brand.
The aim of the thesis was to examine the influence Finnish female lifestyle
YouTubers have on their viewers buying behavior, what is their decision-making
process and what are the external factors influencing their buying behavior. The
goal was to provide valuable information for viewers, YouTubers themselves and
content providers as they work together with YouTubers to market their brand. The
research was carried out using qualitative approach as eight semi-structured
interviews were conducted. The sample was formed of Finnish female lifestyle
YouTubers’ viewers between the ages of 16 to 23. The respondents were
interviewed for their conceptions on their purchase behavior and habits as well as
their thoughts on YouTubers and the impact they have on them. The data provided
was recorded and transcribed for the analysis phase. The results suggested that
trust with YouTubers plays a big part in the viewers’ purchase behavior. When trust
for a YouTuber has been achieved, trust for companies are easily met. YouTubers’
own marketing was seen as a positive way to market products and was the main
way of marketing that influenced the audiences purchase decisions. Most of the
purchases were based on want rather than need. The influence of YouTubers has
reached a stage where the viewers are changing products they were originally going
to purchase to one the YouTuber recommended

Influencer marketing, buying behavior, purchase decision, psychological buying

behavior, YouTubers, content marketing
3 . Beauty vloggers and their influence on consumer-buying intentions

Through an experimental survey design Dutch consumers are asked how they
perceive the persona of two beauty vloggers, after they are presented with two
shortened YouTube clips per vlogger. Then they are asked how likely they are to buy
the product recommended or discussed by the beauty vlogger in the videos.

The study is mainly limited in its size. However, this study brings innovation to the
debate on social influencing by researching a particular type of social influencer that
has not been the focus point of any study before, the beauty vlogger, and thereby
adds to existing knowledge on the exact workings of interpersonal relations online
in this particular context.

The findings are innovative in that research on this new type of people that have
recently emerged, the social influencer, has so far been very limited and has failed to
determine the actual impact of the content these people create.

Finally, the findings show that even though scientific research organizations point
towards 18 to 34 year-olds as the most frequent watchers of online vlogs, a large
group of younger and a small group of older people are interested in beauty videos
as well.
4. Youtube Vloggers' Influence On Consumer Luxury Brand Perceptions

And Intentions

This study examines how video blogs (vlogs) influence consumer perceptions of

luxury brands. Using para-social interaction (PSI) and social comparison theory, this

study proposes a model that assesses the influence of physical attractiveness, social

attractiveness, and attitude homophily of video blogger (vlogger) on PSI; and PSI

effects on luxury brand perceptions (i.e., brand luxury, luxury brand value, and

brand-user-imagery fit) and luxury brand purchase intentions. Study 1 tests the

hypothesized model using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results supported

the proposed model. Using within-subject design by comparing pre- and post-luxury

perceptions, Study 2 finds luxury brand perceptions were significantly increased

after watching vlog and increases were moderated by PSI with the vlogger. Study 3

investigated vlog effects on luxury brand perceptions and purchase intentions using

between-subject design. Results show that luxury brand perceptions and purchase

intentions for the experimental groups, who watched vlogs reviewing luxury

products, were higher than control group, who did not watch vlog. Overall, the

findings generally support for PSI as a brand management tool and the use of

YouTube for positive perceptions of luxury brands.

5. The Impact Of Youtube Brand’s Channels On Brand Related
Attitudes: Affective Commitment, Affective Brand Loyalty And Purchase
Intention

Nowadays, social media websites have a daily presence on people’s life. Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube represent the most global social media platforms, having a
monthly access rate of hundreds of millions. Many brands try to use these social
media platforms, but in many cases they are not doing it in a correct way, or even
sometimes they are not using the most adequate social platform for the
communication objective they are trying to accomplish. Having this in mind, this
thesis wants to be a contribute for further investigation of social media. So the main
objective of this thesis is to verify if the social media website, YouTube can in fact be
efficient as a marketing tool. More specifically this research studied whether brands
through YouTube brand’s channels communication can influence brand related
attitudes and if YouTube could act as a rich brand experience. The chosen attitudes
were: affective commitment, affective brand loyalty and purchase intention. This
research was analyzed through a descriptive study using an online survey as
measuring instrument. As a result it was found that in fact YouTube can influence
some of the tested attitudes. It could be stated that YouTube can be used as an
efficient marketing tool, where it is best suited for brand-consumer relationship
support and fomentation. Keywords: YouTube, Social Media, Brand Attitudes, Brand
Experience.