5 reasons why vloggers are the ultimate marketing tool for tweens: The need for advertising ethics and regulation on social media

Social media is fundamentally transforming marketing through consumer-generated content and the all-powerful practice of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Young vloggers, often referred to as YouTubers or creators, with vast numbers of dedicated followers, utilize their celebrity status and social media channels to spread marketing messages for products directed to even younger audiences. Though not all videos and images are sponsored, it is difficult to recognize which ones are, especially for gullible tweens ages eight to twelve. How ethical is this practice and what should we as marketers do about it?

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Are Social Media Marketer’s Claims of the Health Benefits of Exercise Accurate?

Social media has emerged as one of the most prominent, if the most prominent, forms of marketing and advertising today. Although nearly every conceivable product that is manufactured is also sold over social media, clearly some products have been more heavily promoted through this channel. In this way, thousands of exercise institutions such as gyms, yoga centers, or at-home fitness programs are in operation that have used social media to advertise the health benefits of their systems. However, because of conflicting opinions on exercise and the growth of a significant amount of questionable exercise practices, it is not easy to exactly determine just how truthful and ethical the issue of social media in this context of exercising is for improving health conditions.

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The manifestation of the ROPO-trend in the travel industry - How to successfully incorporate e-commerce strategies to perform offline

ROPO – research online, purchase offline – a trend, you might be familiar with. It is seen as the result of the development of the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Since the 21st century the web space has become more dynamic and is characterized by its user interactivity as well as network connectivity, highly affected by the rise of social media and content-sharing initiatives (Bell et al., 2014; Berthon et al., 2012). In a business context, companies experienced a shift from presenting themselves solely on their websites (used for information sharing) to a more customer-centric approach - being omnipresent and mediating between product and consumer – welcome in Web 2.0 (Bell et al., 2014). 

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#Hashtag: An unsung hero or a danger in lurking for brands in social media?

Social media has changed the landscape of today’s world. Currently more than a billion people are connected with social media and the figure is only rising. Facebook and Twitter are undoubtedly the most popular websites in social media. One of the most common and prominent aspect of social media is the hashtag label, which is denoted by the pound sign #. What was once a hardly used key in a typical keyboard, has now made headway in terms of its importance in social media. 

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The impact of travel blogs in destination marketing

The creation of the Internet has changed how travelers access information. (Hays, et al.2012). Social media has provided different experiences to plan and book trips. Travel blogs have become really important for destinations because written content provide consumers with the opportunity to share travel experiences that encourage others to consider visiting the destination. 

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The new age of social media advertising: Snapchat?

Nowadays, almost everyone has heard about Snapchat, the mobile app for sharing entertaining content. However, the more interesting question is, whether this unique mobile app is perceived as a social media platform for advertising and marketing. The most recent event that proved what a powerful advertising tool Snapchat might become was Super bowl in 2016. The worldwide prominent American football event in 2016 is not only related with the championship of the National Football League for Denver Broncos, but it also provoked analyses of the social media activity. For a first time since many years the social activity was not solely dominated by Facebook and Twitter. 

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The benefit of a celebrity brand ambassador to (un)consciously promote brands and products via social media in western society: An example by of Beats by Dre and Bastian Schweinsteiger

The focus and the use of social media, e.g. Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, increases constantly for customer and companies. Being provided with the possibility of easy internet access via a constantly improved communication network in the western society countries support a use of social media. Since 2005 the social media usage increased from 7% up to 65% (2015) of all American adults that is using at least one social media website (Perrin, 2015). Due to the society turning towards engaging constantly more within social media, companies realized the necessity of being represented there as well.

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Review comments: How to change a bad review into Strategy?

Online consumer’s reviews on social media have significant effects upon brand’s image. This paper will explore in the first part, markers’ responses to online consumer’s bad reviews from critical and appreciative perspective. Further, there will be analyzed the differences between responses based on old marketing tools and unconventional tools. Examples from LIDL retail will be presented to show how bad reviews on Facebook were or not changed into a marketing strategy.  Further, at the end will be illustrated the main actions that should be taken to create a strategy of response which will help marketers translate the consumer’s online insights into a successful marketing approach.

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Online Crisis Management – The Volkswagen Case

Although social media provide an excellent platform for crisis communications, most of the companies – like Volkswagen – fail to utilize it. SM offers a great opportunity to engage in conversations with the frustrated clients and to provide them with emotional support in during the time of crisis. Therefore, it is crucial to integrate social media crisis management into the corporate crisis communication strategy.

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Online customer loyalty, does it exist in the e-retail environment? Can social media aid in building a relationship between e-retailer and customer?

One might recall how price comparison was done before the e-retailers opened their doors. All the information about a product and its price was gathered from the physical store and one was depended on the store-staff and supported elements to provide this information. Whereafter we would visit multiple other stores based on the assumption that these might sell the same product as well. However, it could even occur that a store did not even would carry the product. Finally, after spending the day in several stores it was time to consider which store offered the best deal for example based on price or service. 

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