Marketing Commons^™

Viral Hollywood: How Social Media & Other Emerging Technologies Have Molded The Modern Moviegoing Landscape, Benjamin P. Conniff

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

There’s no denying that the rise of the internet has brought about change in the Hollywood landscape. Fans now use social media, like Facebook and Twitter, to share word-of-mouth about movies both good and bad. In a sense, anyone can use these new “spreadable media” to be a critic. I myself took it one step further and started my own film review blog. I was even published in the College Heights Herald student newspaper for over a year! In gauging my audience’s tastes in social media usage and in film, I have uncovered the fact that the hot-button marketing issues …

Social Media Marketing For The Medical Industry: Best Practices To Avoid Legal And Ethical Issues, Jessica Padilla

Journalism

This study analyzes the best social media practices for medical industry professionals and the proper and ideal uses for social media. It analyzes the public relations functions of social media—relationship building, reputation management, and crisis communication. With the constant rise of social media as a widely-used medium for marketing comes increased potential for damage to a medical business’ reputation, loss of medical licensing, or lawsuits if practitioners do not act within the lines of legal and ethical standards. Medical offices must have an online presence to remain relevant and build and keep relationships with new and current patients. This study …

Consumer Perceptions Of A Brand's Social Media Marketing, Taylor Michelle Smith

Masters Theses

This project seeks to inform corporate marketing efforts, as well as add to the growing body of literature on social media marketing. The purpose of this project is to assess consumer perceptions of a brand’s social media marketing. Participants were obtained from the PetSafe® brand Facebook fan page, and a total of 195 respondents completed all measures and were included in the study. The results show that brands must be actively engaging their consumers via social media in order to compete in a competitive marketplace. Engagement can be promoted through entertaining and interactive posts, useful and relevant content, word of …

Opportunity Or Obstacle? A Preliminary Study Of Professional Sport Organisations In The Age Of Social Media, Michelle O'Shea, Abel Alonso

Abel D Alonso

An extensive body of academic literature has acknowledged the importance that relationship marketing, community alliances and mass communications play in the marketing and branding of professional sport organisations. However, little has been directed at recent media developments and the degree to which they affect professional sport organisations. The present case study examines the ways in which three professional clubs from two different sporting codes are leveraging traditional marketing approaches as well as adapting to emergent technologies and an increasingly media-driven consumer-base. Responses clearly demonstrate the blending of traditional marketing strategies and technology, including social media, in an effort to convert …

The Relationship Between Social Media Use And Consumer Brand Engagement, Joshua Stein

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The use of social media by businesses as a communication tool has grown rapidly in recent years. Despite this rapid adoption, little is known about the use of social media among consumers and its effect on brand behavior. This research study aims to fill this gap by investigating the relationship between social media use and consumer brand engagement. To conduct this research, an on-line survey was administered through Survey Monkey to 60 undergraduates ranging in age from 18-24 through a snowball method. Survey questions included: extent of social media use, willingness to engage with brands, views on online vs. offline …

Building A Social Media Presence From The Ground Up, Lori Snyder, Cynthia Schmidt

Lori B Snyder

No abstract provided.

Using Technology To Engage And Improve Millennial Students' Presentation Performance, Michael Rodriguez, Haya Ajjan, Earl Honeycutt

Atlantic Marketing Journal

No abstract provided.

A Healthy Digital Image: Exploring Its Impact On B2b Sales Lead Generation In A Professional Social Network, Jaclyn G. Getonga Ms.

Honors Scholar Theses

This project looks at the social media-selling environment and how a “healthy” digital image can assist a firm in identifying itself to create value for new customers. This project will explore whether the B2B sales lead generation process can be conducted as part of a social media strategy and how a digital image affects its performance. The sales landscape has changed: buyers have more power, relationships are based on two-way communication, and customer-centric technologies have enabled users to create, share, and converse about content over the Internet. A “healthy” digital image is based on the attributes of a LinkedIn company …

Social Media Public Relations Practices Of Community Non-Profit Organizations, Megan Stockhausen

All Theses

This thesis examines the use of social media for public relations in the non-profit sector. Specifically, self-perceptions and the implementation of social media by non-profit organizations was investigated through both interviews with social media practitioners and content analysis of Twitter. Through the lens of the five principles of dialogic communication, as set forth by Kent and Taylor (1998), eight community non-profit organizations were analyzed in a multiple case study. One interview and 150 tweets from a 12 month period were examined for each organization to determine the motivations for employing social media and whether dialogic communication was used to interact …

Fostering Consumer-Brand Relationships In Social Media Environments: The Role Of Parasocial Interaction, Lauren Labrecque

Lauren Labrecque

Making The Magic: How Public Relations Is Handled At The Disney Parks, Elizabeth Demeo

Senior Honors Theses

The Walt Disney Company has always been an organization that has prided itself on its corporate image. One of their biggest successes has been their 11 theme parks across the globe. Ever since its creation in 1955, Disneyland has been known as "the happiest place on earth." However, many wonder how this reputation came to be and how it is being maintained today. To find this answer, one must look to the creative minds behind Disney's public relations. By examining the Disney parks and their public relations history, tactics, crisis management and current and future campaigns, companies can find out …

Adoption Of Social Media Marketing Among Professionals, Liana Moran

Honors College Theses

Social media marketing is the professional use of social media websites such as Facebook for marketing purposes. This thesis project examines the adoption patterns and factors behind the decision to use social media marketing among professionals. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with business professionals from the real estate rental industry in Statesboro, Georgia, and analyzed the results and implications using thematic analysis. Everett Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory provides the theoretical framework for the research with social media marketing being the innovation. The participants identified that observability, relative advantage and complexity/simplicity were major factors for adopting social media marketing. The …

[Sabbatical Report], Joanna Phillips

Sabbatical Reports

Research suggests that 2.4 billion conversations about brands occur daily in social media. Managers consistently cite consumers being negative as the number one fear upon entering social media, yet few organizations have policies in place to handle negative comments and there is a lack of research focusing on how to strategically handle negativity from consumers on social media. My sabbatical project addresses this paucity in the marketing literature by developing a construct called "Consumer Social Voice," defined as public complaining behavior attempting to change the operations of an organization.

Impact Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Otc Medicines Consumers, Vasja Roblek

Vasja Roblek

In the article is presented the case of trust-based marketing of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. The relationship between the hypotheses was tested by means of structural equation modelling. The results of the first model show that the predictor variable (consumer satisfaction with safety and information) has a significant effect on the mediator variable (consumer trust). The results of the second model show that the consumer trust also has a significant effect on virtual brand loyalty (dependent variable). Model 3 was developed by including consumer perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and consumer trust as independent predictor variables and virtual brand loyalty …

Information Disclosure On A Chinese Social Media Platform, Lixuan Zhang, Clinton Amos, Iryna Pentina, Bj Blackwood

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2014

The nature of social media encourages people to contribute voluntarily to public web and inevitably, leaving a persistent and cumulative repository of personal information. Aware of the privacy risks, about one third of the Internet users in the United States have expressed concerns of their personal privacy. However, users are often cavalier in the protection of their own data profile. There is often a discrepancy between users’ intentions to protect privacy and their actual heavier. This behavior is often terms as “privacy paradox”. The privacy paradox might arise because users balance between risks and benefits of disclosing information on social …

Consumer Empowerment: The Framework, Sanam Akhavannasab, Danilo C. Dantas, Sylvain Senecal

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2014

There is mounting evidence that consumers possess more power now than they ever have before. Stories such as “United Breaks Guitars” (Tripp and Grégoire 2011) are regularly reported in the press as illustrative examples of this phenomenon. In our era of user-generated content, consumer power is an important issue for any business. For instance, an increasing number of companies are using social media monitoring tools to keep track of online conversations. However, the marketing literature on consumer empowerment is limited (Hunter and Garnefeld 2008; Kucuk 2009; Pranić and Roehl 2012). Generally adopting a conceptual approach (e.g., Kucuk, 2009); consumer empowerment …

Social Media In The Financial Services Industry, Nathaniel Gibbs, Perry Haan

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2014

Innovative strategies set a company apart from its competitors. Lindsay and Hopkins (2010) said strategy is making the most of a current situation and devising a plan for the future. Likewise, if banks and other financial organizations want to enhance their brands, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, boost innovation, increase revenue, and maintain their competitive positions, they need to embrace social media. Social networks are used by marketers to connect and communicate with customers (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Organizations must be receptive and flexible to remain relevant in the business environment (Bouckenooghe, Devos, & Van den Broeck, 2009). The environment …

Intensity Of Linkedin Usage By “Truly Small” Firms To Promote Business-To-Professional Interactions, Lisa Witzig, Joe Spencer, Nikole Maki

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2014

LinkedIn is the largest business-oriented collaborative tool enabling Professional-to-Professional (P2P) and Business-to-Professional (B2P) connections. Regardless of organizational type, there are distinct advantages for firms to utilize LinkedIn. This research builds on previous work examining the intensity of LinkedIn usage by organizational type -- Fortune 200, INC 200, Fortune 200 Non-profits – by focusing on truly small businesses and small non-profits with revenues between $500K to $2M revenue. The study of approximately 1000 organizations finds that truly small non-profits and small businesses utilize the B2P features of LinkedIn significantly less than all three types of larger organizations. This paper applies a …

An Exploratory Research On The Use Of Social Media, Raven Clark, Melek Meral Anitsal, Ismet Anitsal

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2014

Peering years into the future may seem bit hubris, but in today’s uncertain society there seems to always be room for change. Ignoring short and long-term trends of social media could be damaging to a company whose main source of reaching their target market is through social media. Consumers are using social media as part of their daily routine, so why shouldn’t companies try and reach their customers through this platform? Can companies actually keep up with the changing trends demanded by the consumers? How do consumers feel about their social media being used as an advertising strategy for companies? …

Are Qr Codes Here To Stay Or Are They A Thing Of The Past?, Monica B. Fine

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2014

Quick response (QR) codes, a type of two-dimensional barcode, are a marketing tool used all around the world. Particularly, in Japan and China QR codes have been gaining popularity. Early adopters with higher education and recent promotional marketing campaigns are utilizing this mobile, information-sharing tool. QR codes are now widely used as a marketing tool by many companies. This research investigates consumers’ perception of QR codes. An increasing amount of firms and sales representatives are using QR codes as a channel to market their products/services to their customers’ mobile devices. The following questions will be the focus of this study: …

The Impact Of Social Media On The Advertising Competitiveness Of Small Businesses, Cale Robert Hall

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2014

Every business, from the largest enterprise to the smallest start-up, faces the continual challenge of staying in touch with their customers and continually earning their trust and business. Social media is the catalyst that is continually changing customer relationships and making them more interactive, open and collaborative. Today’s customers have more choices than ever before in terms of how they choose to learn about new products, services, and gain insights into areas of interest. For marketers to be successful, they need to realize that their customers; preferences are changing quickly, and that agility over formal, often static processes from a …

Game-Changer: A Case Study Of Social-Media Strategy In Big Ten Athletic Departments, Makayla Hipke, Frauke Hachtmann

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This study used a case study approach to develop an understanding of how social media strategy is developed and deployed in Big Ten Conference athletic departments and to explore the issues associated with it. Based on in-depth interviews with department officials, the following six themes emerged: connecting with target audiences; varied approaches in coordination of postings; athletic communications as content gatekeepers; desire to incorporate sponsors and generate revenue; focusing on building fan loyalty through engagement; and challenges of negativity and metrics. The social media strategy in Big Ten Conference athletic departments appears to be driven by athletic communications/sports information departments …

The Significance Of Social Media And Website Use In The Promotion Of Regional Festivals, Áine B. Organ

Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate the significance of social media and the use of website in the planning of an event. In any industry, communication is vital to the development process. This communication is especially important in the event planning industry. Communication with suppliers, civil servants, clients and general publics is an element of every event. Promotion falls under the communication process. This promotion can be done via: press releases; fliers; posters; word of mouth; traditional media and social media. Social media is a growing importance in relation to the promoting of events.

Those who have worked …

Online Service Benefits’ Impact On Relationship Strength, Quality, & Continuation Intention, Kendra Fowler, Eileen Bridges

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2014

Many service providers now use social media, both as a way to interact efficiently with their customers, and as a means of gathering customer data needed to better manage customer relationships. Thus, social media can both provide service and assist in developing better future service. In the present research, we examine in detail whether and how social media perform the first of these tasks by examining its use as a tool for online service benefit provision. Then, we consider how benefits customers receive from maintaining relationships with service providers via social media impact outcomes, including reported relationship strength, customer loyalty, …