Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Personal Branding, Reality Television, And Social Media: How Former Big Brother Contestants Create, Maintain, And Alter Their Public Image, Justin L. Richards

Masters Theses

This study interrogated how these theories were potentially used, or aspects of the theories used to create, alter, or maintain, the contestant’s personal brands on two social media platforms. Informed by previous literature on personal branding and impression management, 1,021 pieces of social media communication were analyzed, 499 pieces of communication from Taylor Hale, and 522 pieces of communication from Paulie Calafiore. This study determined that there were up to five different patterns on the kind of content produced that still qualified under these theories for Taylor Hale, and up to four different patterns for Paulie Calafiore. Some patterns appeared …

Instagram Ideals: College Women's Body Image And Social Comparison, Paige K. Hill

Masters Theses

The present study unveils several themes that detail female college students’ experience, usage, and social comparison trends on Instagram, with a particular emphasis on body image. Compared to a study conducted by Meta Inc., which found that social comparison disproportionately affected young females (Social Comparison Exploratory Research, 2020), this study highlights insights directly expressed by young females in college concerning their past and current experiences on the platform. With over 90% of women in colleges across the United States reporting body and image dissatisfaction (Pritchard & Cramblitt, 2014), this study aims to contribute to existing literature, showcasing whether female students …

Examining Messaging Strategies Of Virtual Reality Companies On Instagram, Brian Galloway

Masters Theses

This study examines the messaging strategy and executional strategy utilized in the virtual reality industry on Instagram through the lens of Taylor’s Six-Segment Message Strategy Wheel. Content analysis examined a total of n=942 posts which were coded for high level message strategy, specific message strategy, and executional strategy. Engagement data was also recorded. Ritual-view messaging strategies were found to be utilized most often, with Social and Sensory-segment strategies used most frequently in terms of segments in Taylor’s model. In terms of executional strategies, User Image, Brand Image, and Use Occasion strategies were seen most frequently. Ego and Social segment message …

“Someone’S Got To Look Out For The People”: Exploring Donald Trump And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’S Online Performance Of Populism And Immigration Rhetoric, Taylor P. Koopman

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the performance of populism by a right- and left-wing politician in the digital sphere during the peak of the immigration crisis in 2019 using the lens of Moffitt’s populism as performance theory (performer, stage, and audience) and Baldwin-Philippi’s four methods of ‘centering the people.’ My findings show that Trump and Ocasio-Cortez’s performances of populism condemn the degradation of the U.S. and portray themselves as immigration warriors. Trump uses exclusionary rhetoric to advocate putting “America First,” and Ocasio-Cortez expresses inclusionary rhetoric to develop an “America for All,” in a way that informs their performances of …

Cell Phone Ethnography: Mixed Methods And The Brand Consumer Relationship, Robert Nathaniel Dove

Masters Theses

Overall, the goal of this study is to identify and differentiate the various motivations and cultural influences that can be used to explain consumer behavior. In doing so, this study hopes to facilitate the development of new and innovative marketing strategies, providing a new research design for the ethnographer’s toolkit. More importantly, this model can give shape to new constructs and new variables for further empirical testing in the field through quantitative and qualitative methods. By blending the two approaches, using qualitative interpretive anthropological analysis by field study with quantitative sentiment analysis adapted from market researcher Jeffery Breen’s (2012) methodology, …

The Analysis Of The Social Media Among The Youth In The Catholic Diocese Of Moshi And The Implications For Youth Faith Sharing, Faustine Tarimo

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine evangelization in the Catholic Diocese of Moshi in the advent of social media in the 21st century. It investigates the use of social media among youth to find out what social media young people are using and how they are using it to share their faith. It explores the question of whether the use of social media among youth helps them actively in the use in their faith. A survey of 220 youth was conducted across four Vicariates of the Catholic Diocese of Moshi. The results show themajority of the sampled population …

Yik Yak Posts: A Discourse Analysis, Snehal Ravindra Shirke

Masters Theses

"Anonymity and geolocation create a unique environment for users to communicate with each other. Discourse analysis was conducted to study the posts made on Yik Yak, an anonymous social networking mobile application to understand the communication patterns on an anonymous platform and the posts about taboo topics. The posts were analyzed specifically for patterns on taboo topics and how students interact on the anonymous platform on a particular campus (Missouri S&T campus). Student research assistants coded the collected posts into the pre-defined taboo categories namely sexual activity, non-sexual bodily functions, sexual orientation, mental/emotional health, and "other" taboo topics. I found …

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 …

Building And Maintaining Legitimacy Online: Unicef's Use Of Facebook, John Kraps

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Can You Get Beliefs From Retweets? An Examination Of The Extended Parallel Processing Model On Social Media, Xialing Lin

Masters Theses

The Extended Parallel Processing Model (EPPM; Witte, 1992) has been applied as a framework to examine risk information dissemination and effective sensation seeking in various health communication scenarios. Previous studies suggest that it is worth examining whether Twitter could have potential efficacy effects similar to face-to-face interaction or traditional media interventions. Given the overload and discrete information in the medium environment, people would adapt information processing short cuts, to tend to similar perceptions from various sources rather than reading specific messages.

The current study investigates the threat appeal perceptions of EPPM on system-generated and other-generated message cues in social media. …

Diffusion Of Social Media Among County 4-H Programs In Tennessee, Rebekah Bowen

Masters Theses

Over the past decade, Cooperative Extension and 4-H professionals have been faced with the decision of whether they should adopt new communication technologies such as social media to interact with their rapidly growing audience. Current research on social media and Extension shows that there are some identified risks and barriers (Fuess & Humphreys, 2011; Seger, 2011); however, many Extension professionals believe that social media usage could be very beneficial for Extension and\or 4-H usage (Coates, 2004; Rhoades, Thomas & Davis, 2009; Kinsey, 2010). In order to increase the body of empirical research on this subject, a quantitative study was conducted …

Sweetness And Strength: Codes Of Femininity And Body Image In Branded Social-Networking Messages And Consumer Responses, Anne M. Holcomb

Masters Theses

This study critically analyzes visual and text updates posted by two clothing brands to the social-networking site Facebook.com, including consumers' interaction with these marketing messages. A semiological textual analysis was conducted using Facebook updates by the Victoria's Secret PINK and Nike Women apparel brands, and the responses of fans who subscribed to these updates. Advertising aimed at women in print media has previously been analyzed in this way, revealing patterns of sexualization and objectification that can be harmful to women and men alike. My analysis builds on this tradition. Social-networking sites such as Facebook allow individual users unprecedented access to …