ONLINE FORMS OF REACHING CUSTOMERS IN THE CONTEXT OF MASS MEDIA AND MARKETING IN A SMALL POST-COMMUNIST COUNTRY. THE CASE STUDY OF HERBALIFE IN SLOVAKIA.

According to experts, the rise of consumerism in Slovakia is associated with the end of communist totalitarianism. However, consumerism is a common phenomenon in developed countries of Western Europe as well, where the relaxation of the social happened for different reasons. Consumerism was accompanied by an increase in alternative "spiritual" trends (e.g. new religious movements) and an increase in the number of client cults such as Herbalife. The new "alternatives" have proven to be able to adapt to the current needs of humanity, and address the depths of human being. The current paper presents an analysis of the forms under which Herbalife reached old and new customers online, in the context of mass media and marketing communication. In order to identify the forms of effective advertising employed by Herbalife in reaching new or existing customers, the paper carried out content analysis of the main and official websites of the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]