The impact of credibility of influencers recommendations on social media on consumers behavior towards brands

Companies are becoming increasingly aware of the importance and opportunities provided by social media in order to communicate faster and more efficiently with their consumers. In order to convey the message about the value of their brands to their target market, organizations hire influential people who are considered to be the creators of public opinion in a virtual environment. Nowadays, social media are crowded with micro and macro influencers, or at least those who present themselves as such. Their main job is to represent and recommend brands to other users (their followers) and thus influence consumer attitudes about brands and possibly strengthen their purchasing decisions. Very often, influencers on social media are hired by companies to promote their brands for a fee. In order to have more control over their communication activities, companies provide them, in advance, with the content they want to be conveyed to consumers, but also the time frame when the message should be launched. In this way, organizations try to reduce the risk of turning electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM) communication into a negative one. In order for consumers to trust the recommendations of influencers on social media, these people need to have significant expertise in a certain area, charisma and respect from other users, so that their credibility affects the value of content and recommendations they place in the online environment. The aim of this paper is to present the attitudes of respondents who use social media websites about the impact of the credibility of influencers' recommendations on social media, and their opinion on whether and in what way their credibility influences consumer attitudes towards brands.

The impact of information management in developing new products in bank – an empirical analysis

Successful information management is big challenge for any organization. In this paper the emphasis is on information management in new product development in bank. Under strong pressure from competition and new technological changes, as well as the turbulent changes in the environment, financial institutions must continuously develop new products and services. In order to make the services more interesting to the users, it is necessary to collect data about the users, their wishes and preferences. The data should then be converted into useful information that will result with developing the right product or service that users will recognize as necessary. Products become personalized, user-friendly, and the emphasis is on the importance of long-term company relationships with customers. Only with well-organized information, managers can make the right business decisions and companies can react in time to market changes. When creating their strategy, successful companies analyze and identify elements that significantly contribute to creating a competitive advantage and ensuring long-term growth and development. The paper presents an empirical research of customer preferences which lead to new product development in bank.

Crisis of meaning in connection with mental distress of a modern man

In contrast with the contemporary spirit, which directs a person towards their own needs, satisfactions, and desires, logotherapy views the person and its life as an assignment. Man is not an individual "for himself" (according to Freud, the main internal motivational force is "the will of pleasure" and "the will of power" according to Adler), but a being of sense or a being for someone or something. According to Frankl, the purpose is defined as tasks, which life sets us in a precise moment and in a precise situation. These are tasks requiring a responsible reaction and a specific realisation of values. Each of them is unique. Each individual is responsible for a task, and only he can respond to it in a responsible man-ner. In this sense, life can be seen as a chain, whose links are the tasks themselves. Each in-dividual is unique, with a unique goal in life, which consists of individual, equally unique tasks. The centre of logotherapy is future - tasks and meanings. The founder of logotherapy is Viktor E. Frankl, who was a doctor of medicine and doctor of philosophy, and a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Vienna. The third psychotherapeutic school in Vienna - logotherapy - is based on a holistic approach to an individual, which means that it analyses a person on a physical, mental, and spiritual level. Spiritual dimension is, among others, a place of realisation of responsibility and freedom or space of realisation of actual possibilities and tasks. Existential crisis, exis-tential vacuum, and noogenic neuroses are issues and mental problems, which originate from the spiritual dimension. This means failing to perceive and failing in life as an assignment. The empirical part of the research, which is based on the psychometric instrument LOGO-test, performed on two hundred re-spondents, gave us the results that even 24 percent of respondents are in various mental distresses and seriously existentially endangered. The paper highlights the most problematic areas and causes for such mental distress. The COVID-19 pandemic only deepened and revealed this crisis of meaning.

Inter-, trans-, multi-, pluri-, supra-, cross-, katakulturell

Im DaF-Unterricht sowie im Fremdsprachenunterricht schlechthin spielte die Vermittlung kulturbezogener Inhalte seit immer eine wichtige Rolle, und zwar zunächst in Form der sog. faktografisch orientierten Landeskunde, deren Ziel ein reiner Informationstransfer war. Mit der Kulturwende in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts wurde der Fokus erstmals auf die pragmatisch-kommunikative Ebene, da-nach aber auch auf die interkulturell konzipierten Fremdsprachenlehr- und -lernmodelle verlagert, deren Ziele Sensibilisierung und Bewusstmachung von Unterschieden und Andersartigkeiten waren. Neben diesem Kon-zept entfalten sich in den letzten Jahren und Jahrzehnten auch weitere neue Modelle, die Unzulänglichkeiten und Defizite des interkul-turellen Ansatzes zu überwinden versuchen: transkulturelle, multikulturelle, plurikulturelle, suprakulturell, crosskulturelle, katakulturelle. Die Realität der Unterrichtsprozesse sowie konzeptuelle Einschränkungen der Lehrmate-rialien stellen jedoch Möglichkeiten zur praktischen Umsetzung aller angeführten Konzepte unmissverständlich in Frage. Der Unterricht bleibt mehr oder weniger der Idee von Kultur als einem essentialistischen, homogenen und statischen Konstrukt treu. Daher scheint das Plädieren für eine kulturwissenschaftliche Landeskunde als Bezugsdisziplin berechtigt, die sich um Operationalisierungen von Theoriemodellen und Forschungsergebnissen zu möglichst differenzierten Unterrichtszwecken bemühen würde. Aufgrund von zwei mittler-weile bekannt gewordenen Konzepten (von Jean-Claude Beacco und Claus Altmayer) wird hier abschließend ein eigener Didaktisierungsvorschlag zur Thematisierung von Kulturinhalten unterbreitet.

Social constructionism and the effects of media's portrayal of Nigeria's economic recession on foreign direct investment

Although Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa, it has been bedeviled by various issues in recent times, which has led to its experience of an economic recession. Its over-dependence on foreign products, the activities of militants and pipeline vandals in the Niger-Delta, poor economic planning and the delayed budget signing are some of the issues that have being credited to the fall into recession. However, some economists have suggested that Nigeria’s economy has the potential to rise from the recession and have identified the inflow of foreign direct investments as one of the key factors that will contribute to the rise. On the other hand, the media’s reporting of Nigeria’s recession seems to have caused mixed reactions from among the public who worry about their daily bread. Potential investors, both local and foreign, are also not left out in the expression of uncertainty. Since they rely on the media to provide information on the situation of the Nigerian economy, the power of the media in the making or marring of the government’s encouragement of FDI to boost the economy cannot be underestimated. The power of the media, which appears to be able to determine or construct the position and perception of individuals/organisation follow it can be relat-ed to the theory of social constructionism. So-cial constructionism suggests that the media’s have the capacity to selectively reproduce and construct the reality of any situation – in this case, Nigeria’s recession. However, it also acknowledges that the meanings offered by the media can be negotiated or rejected by those to whom it is directed. This study explores the capacity of the media’s construction of Nigeria’s economic recession to influence the inflow of foreign direct investments.

Life and academic activities of professors emeriti and retired professors on University of Maribor

Higher education lecturers go through a long developmental path from graduate students to academic title of professor. On this path, the most delicate period is the retirement. The age of 60 or 65, which is approximately the same as the retirement age in most developed countries, is supposed to be the onset of old age. Today, when we live longer and healthier, irreparable damage would occur if society and the state didn’t take advantage of the knowledge, wisdom and skills that senior professors have accumulated throughout their careers. The vast majority of senior professors could still contribute and participate in the development of society. In our article, we presented the results of a survey regarding the academic and life activities of senior professors, members of the Center for Retired and Distinguished higher education teachers of the University of Maribor. The results showed that the vast majority of retired and professors emeriti were still active in academic life and contributed to the development and functioning of the University.

On the differences between the language and style of Czech and Czech-american periodicals in the mid-19th century

The paper deals with the language and style of major Czech and Czech-American periodicals published in the mid-19th century. Czech periodicals of the time are represented by the papers Pražský Posel and Národní Nowiny; the Czech-American ones include the weeklies Slowan Amerikánský and Národní Noviny. The language and style of both of these types of papers are analysed in order to identify the similarities and differences, with citations illustrating the phenomena explored. In this way, the research aims to show which aspects of the “stylistic norm” change first and most strikingly in a different language and national environment.

Information: stress or lifestyle

Communication is a process of information exchange between stakeholders, so it is not surprising that the life of each individual changes with time under the influence of information. Information, as part of our habit, enables the individual to be more agile in both everyday living and business sphere. One of the significant impacts on the process of receiving and processing information is the appearance of the Internet. The aim of this paper is to show that it is the Internet that has increased the flow of information that a person can absorb and that the internet affects the changes in society. Furthermore, the paper suggests that information overload is increasing at work and out of work, which is reflected and influences everyday life. Due to the flood of information, there is also a sense of information fatigue, which represents a syndrome, i.e. apathy, indifference and mental exhaustion resulting from exposure to too much information. /1/ Based on the research on a sample of 164 respondents, this paper confirmed hypothesis that information anxiety differs with age. Since the internet occupies an increasingly important role among its users, features of application are indicated. An explicit indicator is the synergy of the internet usage and possessing knowledge regarding ICT application.

Rječito vraćanje istoga - neke manje vidljive uloge kalendara kao medijskog roda

Kalendar je medijski rod koji se rijetko propituje u stručnoj javnosti. Pored spomenutog, poznat je pod nazivima „dogodilo se na današnji dan“, „vremeplov“ i sličnima. On je suvremena medijska aplikacija drevnog ljudskog proizvoda smišljenog za razumijevanje, mjerenje i ovladavanje vremenom. Kao i njegov ishodišni oblik, pojavljuje se u mnoštvu varijacija i hibrida; formom, sadržajem i specifičnom kalendarskom atmosferom. Komunikolozi ga povezuju s narodnim kalendarom, koji je stoljećima bio dominantna publikacija pomoću koje su se ljudi opismenjavali i obrazovali. Kalendari su danas važna, premda ne uvijek dovoljno uočljiva medijska pojava. Pored informativne funkcije imaju određene društvene uloge. Oni su u različitoj mjeri zadržali stanovita izvorna svojstva, koja također nisu ozbiljno razmatrana. U tekstu se polazi od antropološkog pogleda na razumijevanje vremena i nastanka kalendara, iznosi pregled razvoja narodnih kalendara te na uzorku emisija i priloga predstavlja taj žanr u hrvatskim medijima danas. Na kraju, tekst pokreće pitanja koja iznova postavljaju kalendar kao medijski žanr u fokus zanimanja.

Children´s graphical records as universal non-verbal messages

Non-verbal communication depends on children’s experiences and knowledge. In artistic activity the richer one’s experiences are that are related to art workshop, the greater is that per-son’s the ability to transmit information about the world, both real and notional, fantastic, which is within the scope of interest of a young creator. The aim of planned research was: to determine ways of creating graphical records by children in preschool and early school age, as universal non-verbal messages. In the research proceedings it was important to define ways of presenting particular issues and types of perspective the children used in particular tasks. Additionally, the symbols were important that were used by children to underline the power of expression. Artistic works of children at preschool age are a creation of both the presence and the future and expression of psychical state. The artistic means used in art works are significant because they reveal logic of children’s thinking, feeling and knowledge the children have.