Perceived authenticity in influencer marketing

Abstract. The purpose of this master’s thesis is to enrich the knowledge regarding the perceived authenticity of a social media influencer. Perceived authenticity has been acknowledged as an attribute that impacts the successfulness of influencer marketing. Thus, the topic of perceived authenticity is examined within the context of influencer marketing and the objective is to discover elements that may foster or diminish the perceived authenticity of an influencer from their followers’ perspective. To achieve this objective, the study will answer the research question of “how do followers experience the perceived authenticity of a social media influencer?” The study’s findings are valuable for both influencers and brands. The concept of perceived authenticity has been studied extensively with other contexts, such as brand authenticity and within the context of personal and self-branding. In-depth knowledge regarding perceived authenticity within influencer marketing remains scant. Previous research related to influencer marketing has emphasized quantitative methods as the effectiveness of influencer marketing has received enormous interest. This study was conducted as qualitative research, utilizing semi-structured interviews as the primary data and content analysis as the secondary data. The chosen methods allow in-depth examinations regarding the research topic that is subjective and complex in nature. A total of eight semi-structured interviews were conducted in March 2023. The participants were chosen based on certain criteria: they must be active followers of influencers on social media. In addition, the participants were selected from different generations to achieve knowledge that can be applied to wider target groups. Research participants familiarized themselves with the subject before the interviews as they were asked to write journal entries regarding their thoughts and feelings related to influencers’ content. The journal entries were discussed in the semi-structured interviews and utilized as the secondary data of the study. The research’s key findings supported previous theories related to perceived authenticity, and novel contributions were discovered. The findings indicate that influencers’ perceived authenticity is related to elements of openness, vulnerability, personality, and similarity. Influencers’ content is perceived as authentic when it appears as spontaneous, interactive, and not-heavily edited. The findings highlighted the significance of brand-influencer fit as the parties’ values and brand must be aligned. In addition, the importance of influencers’ personal approach, extent of collaborations and transparency regarding brand endorsed publications were stressed

Development of a custom-built RTK-GNSS positioning system for agricultural operations

Received: February 1st, 2023 ; Accepted: June 16th, 2023 ; Published: July 6th, 2023 ; Correspondence: [email protected] objective of this research is to assess positioning accuracy of a custom-built RTK (Real Time Kinematic) base station. Setting up a RTK base station with open-source tools is rather straightforward process requiring only few components and basic programming skills. The base station and receiver unit were developed by using a SparkFun GPS-RTK2 Board with U-Blox ZED-F9P module. The board was paired with U-blox Multi band GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) antenna. The board can use GNSS satellite signals from Galileo, BeiDou, Glonass and GPS systems. The positioning accuracy was evaluated in a fixed position and during operations in agricultural fields. The RTK correction signal was used in connection with soil scanning measurements in different crop fields of the Viikki Research Farm of the University of Helsinki. For accuracy assessment, comparative measurements were carried out with a commercial network RTK (NRTK) correction signal. The vertical and horizontal accuracy of the positioning signal were evaluated based on the accuracy variables calculated by the receiver. The vertical accuracy was also evaluated by mapping the scanned trajectories on the height map which was obtained from NSL (National Land Survey of Finland) open map data service. The custom-built RTK positioning system accuracy was considered generally precise enough for autonomous field work, but the reliability of the observed accuracy should be confirmed with more extensive measurements. The commercial NRTK signal accuracy was considered very good and reliable also for the vertical direction

Voice symptoms in teachers during distance teaching : a survey during the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland

Purpose Due to the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), teachers during the pandemic have had to adapt to online teaching at short notice. This study aims to investigate the voice symptoms and their environmental risk factors as well as the work ability associated with distance teaching and to compare these with symptoms in previous contact teaching. Methods We conducted a survey of 121 primary and secondary school teachers across Finland. The survey was advertised online through social media and the replies collected from voluntarily participating teachers. Results During distance teaching vocal symptoms appeared less often than in school with 71% teachers experiencing them in regular teaching and 44% in distance teaching, VHI result decreased from 7.88 in school teaching to 4.58 in distance teaching. Acoustic conditions were reported to be more suitable in distance teaching with 73% of teachers finding them adequate during distance teaching in comparison to 46% for those in regular teaching. Background noise was the most disturbing factor for a teacher's voice in the classroom and in distance teaching and this was even more conspicuous in the classroom. Also, subjectively experienced poor indoor air quality at school influenced the voice negatively. Further, voice problems were associated with increased subjective stress levels and reduced ability to work. Conclusion Distance teaching has affected teachers' voices in a positive way compared with regular teaching. This difference is likely to be due to better acoustics and indoor air quality in distance teaching conditions.Peer reviewe

Ludics and its Applications to natural Language Semantics

Proofs, in Ludics, have an interpretation provided by their counter-proofs, that is the objects they interact with. We follow the same idea by proposing that sentence meanings are given by the counter-meanings they are opposed to in a dialectical interaction. The conception is at the intersection of a proof-theoretic and a game-theoretic accounts of semantics, but it enlarges them by allowing to deal with possibly infinite processes

Game theoretical semantics for some non-classical logics

Paraconsistent logics are the formal systems in which absurdities do not trivialise the logic. In this paper, we give Hintikka-style game theoretical semantics for a variety of paraconsistent and non-classical logics. For this purpose, we consider Priest’s Logic of Paradox, Dunn’s First-Degree Entailment, Routleys’ Relevant Logics, McCall’s Connexive Logic and Belnap’s four-valued logic. We also present a game theoretical characterisation of a translation between Logic of Paradox/Kleene’s K3 and S5. We underline how non-classical logics require different verification games and prove the correctness theorems of their respective game theoretical semantics. This allows us to observe that paraconsistent logics break the classical bidirectional connection between winning strategies and truth values

Fortran MPI Checkerboard Code for SU(3) Lattice Gauge Theory I

We document Fortran MPI checkerboard code for Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulations of pure SU(3) lattice gauge theory with the Wilson action on a D-dimensional double-layered torus. This includes the usual torus with periodic boundary conditions as an optional case. We use Cabibbo-Marinari heatbath checkerboard updating. Parallelization on sublattices is implemented in all D directions and can be restricted to less than D directions. The parallelization techniques of this paper can be used for any model with interactions of link variables defined on plaquettes.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, lots of cod

The Intrinsic Quantum Nature of Nash Equilibrium Mixtures

Every undergraduate textbook in game theory has a chapter discussing the difficulty to interpret the mixed Nash equilibrium strategies. Unlike the usual suggested interpretations made in those textbooks, here we prove that these randomised strategies neither imply that players use some coin flips to make their decisions, nor that the mixtures represent the uncertainty of each player about the others' actions.Instead, the paper demonstrates a fundamental connection between the Nash equilibrium 'randomised' or 'mixed' strategies of classical game theory and the pure quantum states of quantum theory in physics. This link has some key consequences for the meaning of randomised strategies:In the main theorem, I prove that in every mixed Nash equilibrium, each player state of knowledge about his/her own future rational choices is represented by a pure quantum state. This indicates that prior making his/her actual choice, each player must be in a quantum superposition over her/his possible rational choices (in the support of his probability measure). This result notably permits to show that the famous 'indifference condition' that must be satisfied by each player in an equilibrium is actually the condition that ensures each player is in a 'rational epistemic state of ignorance' about her/his own future choice of an action

Readout system test benches

We propose to develop and exploit versatile multi-purpose Personal Computer-based Test Benches to support the evaluation and design of the basic elements required for digital front-end readout and data transmission systems for an LHC experiment. These test benches will have modular hardware facilities for the operation of new readout system components under realistic conditions, and will implement advanced modern software engineering concepts. They will support components such as fast ADCs, hybrid fibre-optic transceivers, and the prototype VLSI systolic array and data-flow processors currently being developed in national research laboratories and by the emerging European HDTV industry. These efforts would also lay the foundations for projects involving the development of custom-designed VLSI circuits

A unitary model for meson-nucleon scattering

In an effective Lagrangian model employing the K-matrix approximation we extract nucleon resonance parameters. To this end we analyze simultaneously all available data for reactions involving the final states $\pi N$, $\pi\pi N$, $\eta N$ and $K \Lambda$ in the energy range $m_N + m_{\pi} \le \sqrt s \le 1.9$ GeV. The background contributions are generated consistently from the relevant Feynman amplitudes, thus significantly reducing the number of free parameters.Comment: Revised version. 60 pages, 17 figures. Two figures and a short discussion (\pi N \to \eta N, K \Lambda amplitudes) added, typos and minor errors in the citations correcte