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 [...]