The flash mob movements in London, UK

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract:

Flash mobs are an urban movement in which it seems that random people meet at a random place and do something out of the ordinary to amuse people as well as to make them think, ‘What just happened?’ They begin as a communication in cyberspace and end as participation in real life, and with the growing popularity of flash mobs, corporations are starting to use this urban movement for commercial purposes. This research seeks to understand the perceptions and attitudes of both participants and the audience of flash mobs and will also examine the impact that commercial use has on this movement. The research is divided into three parts.

The first part involves interviewing the audience of an actual flash mob organized by the author in London and will examine their perceptions towards the event they have just watched.

The second part involves a questionnaire sent out to the general public, including a video of a real flash mob and a video of a commercialized flash mob. This questionnaire is divided into two parts, whether the interviewee knows what a flash mob is or not.

The third part of the research involves interviewing the participants of the flash mob movement and examining their perceptions towards the commodification of the flash mobs by a corporation and the possible impacts of this commercialization on the urban movement.

The analysis shows that the majority of the interviewees can detect the commodification of the real flash mob and the agents see the possibility that the urban movement may become mainstream through the commercial use by corporations. Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents:

AbstractIII

Table of ContentsIV

List of Figures1

List of Appendices2

Introduction3

1.Literature Review5

Chapter Outline5

Flash mob5

The development of a flash mob6

Word-of-mouth7

Viral Marketing9

Online Communities11

Community Marketing12

Authenticity13

2.Research Methods17

Chapter outline17

Problem Statement19

Objectives of this research19

Defining the Research Method21

Philosophies23

Data analysis27

Limitations27

Ethics27

3.Empirical Findings & Analysis28

Chapter outline28

Audience survey28

General public survey29

General Public A29

General Public B42

Agent Survey54

4.Conclusion & Recommendations81

Chapter outline81

Conclusion81

Recommendations83

Future Research83

References List84

Appendices87 Textprobe:Text Sample:

Chapter 2, Philosophies:

This part of the ‘research onion’ consists of […]