Erasmus University Thesis Repository
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Constructing Global Hegemony: U.S.-China Strategies and the Struggle for the Indo-Pacific
No full textThis thesis explores the rivalry between the United States and China in the Indo-Pacific and examines how both powers intend to (re)shape global order. From a Neo-Gramscian theoretical framework, the thesis conceptualises hegemony as the interplay of coercion and consent, which are articulated through ideas, material capabilities and institutions. It analyses how the United States, a hegemon in crisis, and China, a rising counter-hegemonic power, engage in order-building strategies in the Indo-Pacific, reflecting broader transformations of the Liberal International Order (LIO). Drawing on primary sources released by the Chinese and American governments, the analysis reveals that while China challenges U.S. dominance, it does so through a reformist approach to the existing order, instead of an outright rejection. Through its regional focus and critical theoretical lens, this thesis contributes to understanding the dynamics of global hegemony and the narratives underpinning global order transitions
The Role of Google Maps Reviews in Co-Creating Brand Identity: A Case Study of NDSM, Amsterdam
No full textThis thesis explores how user-generated content on Google Maps contributes to the co-creation of place identity within the context of urban regeneration, using the NDSM-wharf in Amsterdam as a case study. Formerly a shipbuilding site, NDSM has been repurposed into a creative and cultural hub through adaptive reuse, positioning itself as a flagship example of post-industrial transformation. While urban regeneration and place branding are often analyzed through top-down strategies and institutional narratives, this study addresses a critical gap by focusing on bottom-up digital narratives shaped by everyday visitors. Specifically, it investigates how Google Maps reviews, an accessible but often overlooked form of user-generated content, narrate visitor perceptions of NDSM's evolving identity as a cultural hotspot.
The central research question is: How do Google Maps reviews narrate visitor perceptions of NDSM's transformation into a cultural hotspot? To answer this, the study employs thematic content analysis combined with a qualitative interpretive approach, drawing on theoretical frameworks of digital placemaking and place identity branding. A total of 602 English- and Dutch-language Google Maps reviews posted between January 2023 and January 2025 were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding using ATLAS.ti. This process identified recurring themes and emotional tones across different levels of evaluative sentiment.
The findings reveal five overarching thematic categories: (1) Cultural Identity & Artistic Expression, (2) Accessibility & Infrastructure, (3) Spatial Identity & Urban Transformation, (4) Visitor Experience & Emotional Engagement, and (5) Narrating Place Through Reviews. These themes demonstrate how visitors attribute symbolic, emotional, and aesthetic value to NDSM, and how these digital narratives both reinforce and challenge the area's urban branding as a creative hub. Star ratings and affective language further reveal that positive reviews tend to emphasize inspiration, artistic programming, and inclusivity, while negative reviews express frustrations related to infrastructure, navigation, or perceived commercialization.
By integrating qualitative with descriptive quantitative data, this study argues that Google Maps reviews serve as a form of informal cultural expression and bottom-up place-making. They reflect the participatory co-creation of meaning and identity in regenerated urban spaces, offering an alternative lens through which cultural transformation can be assessed beyond institutional discourse. This study contributes to urban and media studies by demonstrating the analytical potential of user-generated digital narratives in shaping the lived and perceived identities of post-industrial cultural sites such as NDSM
Designing Immersive Experience: The Interplay of Audience Experience and Artistic Vision in cross-disciplinary immersive and Interactive Theatrical experience
No full textThis study aims to understand the dynamic relationship between artistic vision and audience
experience, designed by creators of immersive and interactive theatrical experiences across
different immersive formats. Drawing upon nine semi-structured interviews with stakeholders
from the Netherlands, the UK, Norway, and the USA, along with two participant observations
and document analysis, the research explores five productions. These five immersive
productions are distinct in formats and storytelling across/in spatial environments (physical,
digital, and hybrid). They are The Uncanny Thing Trilogy- Interactive Immersive Opera,
Sleepy Hollow- XR and Theatre, Orphée | l'Amour | Eurydice -Immersive Opera, Briar and
Rose in the Land of Fairytales -Live Stage Theatre Performance in using AR (augmented
reality), and A Christmas Carol VR-Virtual Theatre live performance.
Through five case studies and thematic analysis, this study concludes that the relationship
between artistic vision and audience experience is not binary or strictly hierarchical; instead,
they are multifaceted and interconnected. The interplay is context-dependent and dynamically
negotiated through iterative processes, team dynamics, technological and spatial design, and
the unique challenges and constraints of each production. Additionally, broader structural
conditions such as funding environments, local policy, audience expectations, and
infrastructures also influence the sustainability of the practice
The Role of AI Streamers in Live-Streaming E-Commerce: Examining the Impact of Interaction on Consumer Trust and Purchase Intention
No full textAs AI-driven technologies become increasingly integrated into digital commerce, understanding how consumers perceive and interact with AI streamers in live shopping environments has become crucial. This study investigates how varying levels of AI streamer interactivity influence consumer trust and purchase intention, with perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) as key mediating variables. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a controlled between-subjects experiment was conducted with 157 Chinese-speaking participants, who were randomly assigned to one of three interactivity conditions: low, medium, or high. Data were analyzed using regression analysis and mediation testing via the Model 4 of Hayes' (2022) PROCESS macro for SPSS (Version 4.2). The results showed that higher AI interactivity significantly enhanced both PU and PEU, which subsequently increased trust in the AI streamer. Further mediation analyses confirmed that PU and PEU partially mediated the relationship between AI interactivity and trust. Additionally, consumer trust strongly predicted purchase intention. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature on AI-human interaction in digital commerce and provide actionable insights for e-commerce platforms aiming to optimize AI streamer design to build consumer trust and drive purchasing behavior
Too Much Information?
No full textThis paper examines the extent to which the level of personalization within advertisements on Instagram affects the privacy concerns of Gen Z users. The study also explores the mediating roles of perceived creepiness and perceived relevance on the relationship between personalization privacy concerns. This study employs a survey experiment method, utilizing a three-level between-subjects experimental design. Here, three conditions were presented to participants as fictitious ads and scenarios, attempting to mimic personalized Instagram ads. These ads were then split into three groups: high, moderate, and non-personalized ads. These levels were constructed using three distinct elements of personalization: interests, location, and age. Where the highly personalized condition portrayed all three elements, the moderate only made use of the middle element, location, and the non-personalized one did not include any. Participants of this survey were asked about their privacy concerns, data sharing behaviors, their perceived creepiness, and perceived relevance after viewing the given scenario and ad. Additionally, they were questioned on some potential confounding variables as well, including their general online privacy concerns, Instagram (brand) trust, and sustainability efforts, as well as certain sociodemographics. To test the relationships between these variables, ANOVA, regression, and PROCESS macro mediation (Model 4) analyses were employed. The study found a positive association between personalization and privacy concerns, with increasing levels of personalization leading to greater privacy concerns. Only high levels of personalization significantly influenced perceived creepiness, which was also positively linked to privacy concerns. The mediating effect of perceived creepiness was partial, present only through indirect effects. Perceived relevance showed partial significance, with only high personalization presenting significant results, while low vs moderate levels did not. Interestingly, perceived relevance did not reduce privacy concerns; instead, it appeared to increase them after participants viewed the ads, suggesting the opposite of what was expected. Following these findings, heightened privacy concerns notably influenced participants' reluctance to share their data. The results indicated a clear tipping point between moderate and high personalization, as most of the differences between these levels were significant, whereas the differences between moderate and low levels were not. Theoretical and societal implications are discussed, along with the study's limitations and future recommendations
Instagram, Political Participation, and Critical Media Literacy
No full textThe use of social media platforms like Instagram for consumption of news and political content has gained large popularity among young adults in Germany. Simultaneously, an increase of criminal right-wing organization and radicalization has been noted in the same demographic group. These developments make it crucial to better understand how and why young adults engage with political content on social media. Notably, while much research has been invested in developing insights at this intersection, little to no works have focussed on the role of critical media literacy in the engagement patterns and motivations. Further, as most approaches have been quantitative, qualitative understanding is lacking. This thesis addresses these scientific gaps, by focussing on the most used social media platform among the target group, Instagram, and asking: How do German young adults draw on critical media literacy when engaging with political content on Instagram? Based on thematic analysis of ten semi-structured interviews with politically left-oriented, well-educated young adults, this work finds, that the participants overall successfully apply critical media literacy for informed and reflected consumption of and engagement with political content on Instagram. This e.g. includes detecting underlying algorithmic structures or purposely applied representational means for opinion manipulation, as well as questioning reliability of content and seeking additional sources to fact-check. However, the findings also highlight a selective application of critical media literacy, as the participants mostly applied their criticality in favor of the own and against other viewpoints. This challenges the predominant scholarly assumption that critical media literacy naturally fosters a balanced approach to media texts. Thus, this study highlights a need for revisiting the definition of critical media literacy, and points at the relevance of increasing scholarly engagement with the concept in relation to young adults' political socialization and participation on social media platforms, specifically with additional foci on different educational and political backgrounds, in order to further contribute to the societal relevance and create a more exhaustive, nuanced picture
Leading the Brand: The Influence of CEO branding and CEO gender on Consumer Purchase Intention
No full textIn today's digital economy, the role of a chief executive officer (CEO) has evolved from a behind-the-scenes decision-maker into a visible figure whose personal image can significantly influence the opinions and behaviors of consumers. As a result, the concept of CEO branding has come into practice, where CEOs have become more visible, trusted, and authentic. To reveal the effects of the strength of CEO branding and the gender of the CEO on consumer purchase behavior, this study draws from the signaling theory and the role congruity theory. Although prior literature suggests that visible leadership cues can enhance brand trust and loyalty, limited research has explored how these signals interact with gender-based expectations. This thesis investigates the following research question: How do CEO branding strength and CEO gender influence consumer purchase intention? This study addresses this gap by employing a 2x2 between-subjects experimental design (N = 171). Both CEO branding strength (high vs. low) and CEO gender (male vs. female) are manipulated. Participants were exposed to fake CEO profiles and assessed on their purchase intentions on products from those CEOs, using a validated 7-point Likert scale. These theoretical frameworks guided both the experimental design and the interpretation of consumer responses to visible branding cues and gender signals. The findings show a significant main effect of CEO branding: high branding strength leads to higher consumer purchase intention. This is consistent with the signaling theory's premise that visible and high-cost cues signal competence and authenticity. However, CEO gender did not significantly influence consumer purchase intention, nor did it moderate the effect of the branding strength. The results suggest that CEO branding seems to outweigh the gender stereotyping in the context of consumers making a purchase decision. This study contributes to the literature on leadership branding by establishing the influence of CEO branding strength and consumer behavior, regardless of gender. Implications include the importance of developing strong CEO branding strategies that emphasize credibility and digital presence, regardless of the CEO's identity. Future research should explore the impact of additional cues such as race, culture, and real-world brand settings to understand their impact on consumer trust and purchase intention
Healthy Food Products: Testing the Impact of Ad Type and Content Format on Consumers' Purchase Intention
No full textThe promotion of healthy food products through social media has increased significantly in recent
years. While previous studies have examined the effect of Brand-Generated Content (BGC) and User-
Generated Content (UGC) on purchase intention, little is known about the effectiveness of Employee-
Generated Content (EGC). This study examined the extent to which ad type and content format
influence consumers' purchase intention regarding high-protein food products. To examine this, a 3 ×
2 between-subjects experiment was conducted among 207 participants, where each participant was
randomly exposed to one of six fictitious social media posts. The results of a two-way ANOVA
showed a significant main effect of ad type. However, no significant effect was found for content
format, neither an interaction effect between the two independent variables, ad type and content
format. These findings suggest that, for high protein food products, the source of the message plays a
more significant role than the way the message is delivered. The study highlights the convincing
power of EGC and offers practical guidance for companies operating in the healthy food industry.
Furthermore, it provides a foundation for future research seeking to further examine the relationship
between message source, message format, and consumer decision-making
The civil-military role of the KNIL during the Japanese Occupation and Independence War in the Dutch East Indies from 1942 till 1949
No full textThis thesis examines the transformation of the civil-military role of the Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger (KNIL) in the Dutch East Indies between 1942 and 1949, during the Japanese Occupation and the Indonesian Independence War. This question was raised due to the changing view on the reputation of the KNIL because of new information that comes to light on the KNIL's role and operations during the Japanese Occupation and the Independence War. It explores how the KNIL, initially tasked with maintaining colonial order, was affected by the Japanese invasion, forced to capitulate, and later reestablished itself in cooperation with the Koninklijke Landmacht (KL) amid a growing Indonesian independence movement. By answering three sub-questions-how the KNIL was affected by the Japanese Occupation, how it reestablished itself afterwards, and what effect the Independence War had on its role-this study highlights the transformation of the KNIL's civil-military function. Drawing on primary sources such as official reports, diaries, and portraits, the thesis applies a content analysis methodology to better understand morale, restructuring efforts, and military strategy. The thesis argues that the KNIL's role changed significantly across both periods: from a colonial army with a focus on internal policing to a force cooperating directly with the Dutch, using extreme violence on the population during the Independence War. These transformations had long-term effects on civil-military relations in Indonesia, especially as former KNIL and PETA soldiers were integrated into the Indonesian National Army (TNI). The findings contribute to ongoing discussions about colonial violence, shifting military identities, and the legacy of the KNIL in Dutch and Indonesian memory
Tarnished together
No full textThis master's thesis explores the Elden Ring fan community on TikTok through a qualitative thematic analysis of fan-made videos. Being motivated by both academic interest and personal enthusiasm for gaming, this research analyses how Elden Ring fans interpret their game's experience, contribute to participatory culture, and build community through their creative content. Furthermore, Elden Ring's widespread success, critical acclaim, and vibrant presence on social media platforms like TikTok, known for its personalized algorithm and short-form video content, make it a compelling case for studying digital fandom and fan engagement. Using reflexive thematic analysis, four main themes emerged from the fan video: boss fights and hardships which highlights the emotional and challenging encounters, building your own character and skills which focuses on customization and player builds, online how-to guides and progression strategies which emphasizes fan knowledge-sharing, and the beauty of Elden Ring in fan edits which showcases the game's aesthetic appeal. These themes reveal diverse fan experiences, ranging from competitive gameplay and rapid progression to relaxed exploration and roleplaying, highlighting different ways fans participate and contribute to the community on TikTok. These themes reveal a complex fan environment, where some players share fast progression and strategic skills, while others adopt alternative playstyles, such as roleplaying or exploring the game world in a more relaxed manner like a cozy game, reflecting diverse approaches to experience the game. Moreover, the analysis illustrates how fan-made videos serves multiple functions: as a resource for game knowledge-exchange, a creative outlet, to actively participate within the community and to feel a sense of belonging among Elden Ring fans on TikTok. Ultimately, this thesis highlights that Elden Ring fan-made videos on TikTok are more than just entertainment, they act as dynamic environment for participatory culture, facilitating shared meaning-making and collective negotiation of the gaming experience in Elden Ring. All in all, the findings emphasize the significant role of TikTok in shaping digital fandom and highlight how fan communities use social media to co-create cultural value and are making vibrant engagements around highly popular media texts