Marketing Commons^™

Emoji Marketing: Toward A Theory Of Brand Paralinguistics, Jacob Almaguer, Reto Felix, Colleen M. Harmeling

Marketing Faculty Publications

Emojis, or pictographs that supplement or replace written language, have become ubiquitous in contemporary communication, including emoji marketing. Drawing on insights from linguistics and sign theory, the current research proposes an emoji marketing framework in which emoji symbolism (symbolic vs. iconic emoji use) affects consumers’ message appraisals (perceived message intimacy and clarity), which in turn influence brand cultural relevance (propositions P1 and P2). Emoji syntax (i.e., whether emojis are supplemented with text or not) and marketer-consumer group relatedness (shared vs. unshared group membership) moderate the relationship between emoji symbolism and consumers’ message appraisals. The framework suggests that messages that use …

Examining Consumer Adoption Of Social Commerce: An Extended Meta-Utaut Model, Prianka Sarker, Laurie Hughes, Tegwen Malik, Yogesh K. Dwivedi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Social commerce has evolved into a mainstream channel for marketers and businesses for selling products online. However, consumers in many developing economies have yet to fully adopt social commerce technology. This research, therefore, aims to develop and empirically validate a conceptual model for understanding the factors influencing consumer adoption of social commerce in Bangladesh using an adapted and extended version of the Meta-UTAUT model. Analysis was undertaken to determine the appropriateness of external constructs such as trust, social support, anxiety, grievance redressal, innovativeness, and continuous participation intention. This research collected data from 402 social commerce users from Bangladesh to test …

A Socioeconomic Analysis Of Fashion Entrepreneurs And The Use Of Self-Branding To Influence Consumer Behavior, Jasmine Gibbs-Stepter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The fashion industry is widely recognized as a significant sector within the global economy, crucially driving trends, creating jobs, and shaping culture. Despite its prominence, entrepreneurs from marginalized socioeconomic backgrounds often encounter considerable hurdles in establishing their businesses and sustaining them over time. These challenges manifest in various forms, including access to vital financial resources, insufficient networking opportunities, and restricted entry into lucrative markets, making it difficult for these entrepreneurs to compete in a dynamic and competitive landscape.

The rise of social media, with platforms like Instagram leading the charge, has ushered in a new era for fashion entrepreneurs. As …

Shaping Strategy In The Digital Age: The Impact Of Consumer Electronic Word Of Mouth On Firm Strategic Emphasis, Brandon Holle, Hang T. Nguyen, Hieu V. Phan

Faculty Scholarship

This research explores how consumer electronic word of mouth (eWOM) influences a firm’s strategic emphasis, focusing on the distinct effects of positive and negative eWOM on value appropriation (e.g., advertising) versus value creation (e.g., R&D). Analyzing over 33 million social media posts covering 39 corporate brands from 2010 to 2020, the authors find that positive consumer eWOM influences firms to prioritize a strategic emphasis on value appropriation, while negative consumer eWOM is associated with a strategic emphasis on value creation. These effects are moderated by product category, market competition, and industry instability. Firms in hedonic categories have attenuated responses to …

An Evaluation Of Promotional Tools: Trends And Practices, Eve M. Umberger

Honors Projects

It is generally acknowledged that marketers achieve promotion objectives through the optimal use of Advertising, Sales Promotion, Direct Marketing, Personal Selling, the Internet, and Social Media. Nevertheless, there is a widespread misconception when it comes to comprehending what promotion entails. Moreover, the distinction between various promotional tools, including their individual merits and demerits, remains largely underappreciated. Thus, to address this knowledge gap, the current study employed secondary data along with qualitative interviews to examine the application and effectiveness of various promotional tools across different communication contexts. The findings present a rich analysis and description of specific promotional tools, including Advertising, …

Marketing The Message: Maximizing Engagement With Digital Publications Through Social Media, Email, And Analytics, Rich Evans

AADEJ - The Communicator

This article outlines a strategic approach for professional associations to enhance engagement with their digital publications in today's digital-first environment. Drawing from the Michigan Dental Association (MDA)'s transition to a fully digital Journal, it emphasizes the vital role of marketing and analytics. Key recommendations include leveraging social media for strategic visibility (e.g., summarizing articles, tagging authors, video pitches), implementing direct email delivery to members (e.g., monthly digests, audience segmentation), and ensuring easy website integration for accessible content. The piece also stresses the importance of mobile-responsive design, clear formatting, and multimedia embedding to improve the digital reading experience. It suggests evaluating …

How Art Centers In Michigan Use Social Media To Communicate Mission, Alexandria Milot

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The use of social media for marketing purposes has become a widespread practice for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Social media can assist in communication efforts in many ways, including communicating an art center's mission. However, with limited documentation of the use of social media marketing within these organizations, it can be challenging to know how current art centers are using social media and if their social media marketing strategy is reaching their intended audiences. This research explores how art centers in Michigan use social media to communicate their mission to their audience and if it matches the organization’s original purpose …

Posting About Goals On Social Media: The Unexpected Effect Of Posting Goal-Intention Photos Rather Than Goal-Pursuit Photos On Goal Attainment, Kelly Eunjung Yoon, Cornelia Pechmann

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Can posting photos online help individuals achieve their goals? Past research has generally found that posting about goals on social media increases motivation to achieve those goals. However, little is known about the consequences of posting different types of goal-related content. This research uses real-world Instagram data to test the effects of posting photos about goal pursuit (i.e., goal enactment behaviors) versus goal intention (i.e., goal planning or setting) on goal attainment. Our findings indicate a positive and significant relationship between posting goal-pursuit photos and goal attainment. Conversely, posting goal-intention photos yields no measurable effect. This finding challenges the generalized …

Towards New Forms Of Using Social Media: Museums Activity On Linkedin, Magdalena Sawczuk

Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets

The social media landscape changes very fast. It regards, among others, the accessible platforms and the features of social media tools. It also concerns the broad spectrum of institutions that start their virtual activity in different ways, and museums’ participation in social media can be indicated here. Their activity mainly focuses on communication with the audience or other museums, but some new approaches can also be observed. One of them is activity on LinkedIn, which is closely connected to the professional perspective and employee-related issues. Hence, the article aims to explore the main paths and forms of the Polish museum’s …

Would You Pay An Insta-Doctor A Visit? Social Media Personal Brands And Young Consumer Perception, Małgorzata Szwed

Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets

Technological developments and the broad availability of the Internet provide constant access to social media for users. These platforms are used to communicate with friends as well as to follow other users and brands. Also, physicians have public social media profiles on which they publish both professional and personal content. The objective of the paper is to explore and understand customers’ perception of physicians’ social media use. To obtain the purpose, a qualitative research method was adopted that involved 12 semistructured interviews with people who followed physicians’ profiles on social media. The study identifies three consumer groups: social media enthusiasts, …

Facebook And Consumer Research: A Review, Ai-Driven Thematic Visualisation, And Research Agenda, Moulik Zaveri, Violetta Wilk

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper explores the evolution of academic consumer research on Facebook by consolidating the existing body of literature. The study consists of 336 papers on the topic of Facebook and consumers, published in top journals between 2008 and 2023, sourced via Scopus. The data collection followed the PRISMA framework, and bibliometric analysis was conducted using descriptive and performance analyses with the aid of data tabulation software. Additionally, natural language processing (NLP) and thematic analysis of the data were conducted via text mining, topic modelling and data visualisation with Leximancer—an artificial intelligence (AI)-based programme. The results revealed that, over the 15-year …

How Trust In Human-Like Ai-Based Service On Social Media Will Influence Customer Engagement: Exploratory Research To Develop The Scale Of Trust In Human-Like Ai-Based Service, Jin Jingchuan, Shali Wu

Asia Marketing Journal

This research is on how people's trust in human-like AI-based service will influence customer engagement (CE). This study will discuss the relationship between trust and CE and explore how people's trust in AI affects CE when they lack knowledge of the company/brand. Items from the philosophical study of trust were extracted to build a scale suitable for trust in AI. The scale's reliability was ensured, and six components of trust in AI were merged into three dimensions: trust based on Quality Assurance, Risk-taking, and Corporate Social Responsibility. Trust based on quality assurance and risk-taking is verified to positively impact customer …

The Impact Of “Humorous” Ads Featuring Social Media Influencers On Perceptions Of The Influencer, Brand, And Purchase Intention, Jason L. Snyder, Robert Forbus

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The present study explored the use of humor in social media ads that featured both a product being advertised and a social media influencer (SMI). Using extant literature and the theory of planned behavior as guides, the goal of the study was to explore the role of perceived humorousness on consumer perceptions of the SMI, the ad, the brand, and consumer purchase intentions. The experiment (N = 292) exposed self-identified males living in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 40 to one of two versions of an ad for a men’s grooming product. The ads were run …

The Development Of A Social Media Strategy For The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights, Natalie Ritter

Senior Honors Theses

In this thesis, an examination is conducted on the design, development, process, and execution of a social media strategy for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights, a junior hockey team composed of 16-20 year old players based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The strategy takes into consideration not only the extraordinary role that social media can play in the success of a team’s overall development and marketing plan, but also the team’s specific mission and objectives as well as the intricacies that come with media within the sports industry. An in-depth literature review discusses the importance of a social media strategy and how an …

Zeitgeist Of The 2010s And Impact On Fashion Trends, Sophie Scott Anderson

Senior Theses

The zeitgeist of the 2010s can be examined through shifts in technology, politics, economy, environment, religion, and entertainment. This research explores how fashion serves as both a mirror and a driver of societal change during this transformative decade. Trend diffusion itself evolved from the traditional theories of trickle-up and trickle-down because of the prominence of influencer culture, giving average consumers the platform to influence numerous like-minded consumers. Defining the 2010s zeitgeist requires an analysis of the significant patterns in the technological and sociocultural environment through as many sources as possible for a holistic approach. Sociologically, fashion has been accepted as …

Esg To Brand Equity: Stake Holders, Social Media & Signaling., Sowmdeb Sen

AMTP Proceedings 2024

The value of the companies increasingly consists largely of intangible values such as brand equity. Intangible decisions like involvement in ESG present a considerable opportunity for different stakeholders to impact brand equity. Signaling theory suggests that firms use signals to overcome information asymmetry (Karanges et al, 2018; Grinblatt et al,1998) when firms signal achievements and ESG. How do stakeholders share and signal ESG information and achievements in social media to drive brand equity? The author argues that CEO characteristics and investor base shape the firm’s social media ESG-brand management strategy in driving brand equity.

Understanding The Application Of Evolutionary Psychology In Consumer Behavior: A Review And Future Research Agenda, Faegheh Taheran, Veronica L. Thomas, Kendra Fowler, Abdolati Mortazavi

Marketing Faculty Publications

This paper is the first to offer a comprehensive literature review of the role of evolutionary psychology (EP) in marketing and consumer behavior. This study takes a holistic approach, combining techniques of a systematic review with bibliometric analysis, to provide a performance analysis and identify theories and methodologies used in the literature. Most importantly, by studying the current state of EP, we elucidate six major themes: the role of gender in families, the role of affect in consumer behavior, food preferences and shopping behavior, motivations for and consequences of status signaling, the impact of ovulation on consumer motives and behaviors, …

Sugardale Marketing Research - Group 5, Alex Gee, Greg Lewis, Carley Nastasi, Anna Nosek, Anna Pond

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Sugardale research findings for group 5

Tips From Sir Cluckerton: Effective And Fun Social Media With A Library Mascot, Allison Boswell, Laura Pitts

Research, Publications & Creative Work

In 2021, the Houston Cole Library (HCL) at Jacksonville State University (Jacksonville, AL) added a mascot to enhance social media posts, and the result has been successful. HCL’s simple low-cost mascot has consistently stimulated positive interactions between the library staff/faculty and students, community members and university officials. HCL’s library mascot has created a cult-like following that watches and comments on his adventures. This current discussion indicates how any library can create their own mascot regardless of budget restrictions and time commitments.

Social Media Marketing: Coffee Chains, Sunny Woods

Whittier Scholars Program

Coffee chains use various marketing strategies on social media to engage their target audience. I specifically examined Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Starbucks, and Dunkin’ through their content and the number of likes and comments on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for the year of 2022. I found that Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf uses psychographic segmentation, real time marketing, and seasonal marketing for their content. They focused on targeting users who live in California by posting content that goes along with California’s weather, such as cold drinks even in the winter time. Starbucks posted content that was emotion evoking, action-inducing, …

Enhancing A Brand With The Introduction Of Merchandise And A Social Media Content Schedule, Rachel Imming

Theses

This project focuses on how to enhance a brand by incorporating merchandise for the brand and utilizing a social media content schedule to push out content consistently and uniformly. The primary beneficiary of this project is J.E.D.I. Brew Co, a small craft brewery out of Southern Illinois. The aim of the project is to study the important aspects of marketing and brand awareness, in order to help a brand better promote themselves. Ultimately, the project studies consumer engagement, advertising, experiential marketing, storytelling, and consumer behavior to help brands understand how these things affect and aid their business.

Crossing Digital Borders: An Exploration Of Changes In Exposure And Perceptions Of Other Cultures Via Social Media Platforms, Madison Mahoney

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Social media's explosive growth has revolutionized global connectivity, engaging billions of users and transforming how we learn and share in digital communities. Social media has enabled cross-cultural connectivity and cultural exploration, showcasing diverse lifestyles and customs.

In this Honors undergraduate thesis, research was conducted exploring the relationship between exposure to other cultures on social media and user's perception from seeing this content. This research gauged if there were more positive or negative associations for people from other countries or cultures due to exposure via social media, users' perception and reaction to culturally-insensitive content on platforms, and consumer reaction to culturally-oriented …

Social Media Marketing, Tyra M. Burton

KSU Distinguished Course Repository

This Social Media Marketing course explores the many realms of social media and includes case studies, discussions, interactive exercises as well as articles from the current literature. We will examine the changing role of social media in the promotional marketing mix, the role of the consumer in social media, online communities, how social media impacts both marketing and consumer lifestyles, how to measure the ROI of social media, and the metrics of social media.

The Psychological Motivations Of Attendees To Engage And Share Their Event Experiences, Denise Matoushek

Theses

Social media usage, content creation and consumption has increased steadily throughout the years. This facet has impacted the event industry and their audiences’ expectations of immersive and high-end digital opportunities with the goal of memory capturing and user generated content. In addition to providing digital event opportunities, meeting audiences on their psychological level when in attendance at events heightens the likelihood of revisits, word-of-mouth, and social media sharing. The two main psychological aspects to study are that of belonging and internal motivation. In the event field, belonging is the feeling or association to a community of peers and internal motivation …

Gift Sharing On Social Media: What Drives It?, Mira Lee, Yoon-Hee Kang

Asia Marketing Journal

This study examines factors influencing gift sharing on social media. An online survey gathered data from American adults. It investigates how motivations for social media content posting, gift attributes, giver characteristics, and recipient reactions affect gift-sharing behavior. Findings show self-expression motives in content posting drive sharing, while social interaction motives do not. Gifts perceived as experiential and expensive are more likely to be shared. Recipient-centric gifts positively influence gift sharing, while giver-centric gifts hinder sharing. Attitude towards the gift predicts sharing, while appreciation does not. The study enhances understanding of gift sharing on social media and offers marketing insights for …

Effect Of The Intensity Of Instagram Usage As A Social Media Tool On Conspicuous Consumption, Duygu Firat

Journal of Global Business Insights

As internet usage grew, social media sites proliferated, and consumers began to use them more frequently. On social media, people share their daily lives, but they also express what they want to symbolize. This sharing includes conspicuous buying or consumption, presenting both opportunities and challenges for organizations. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate how the intensity of Instagram’s usage as a social media platform affects conspicuous consumption. The data was gathered through a questionnaire administered to Instagram users (N = 230). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) determined the effect of the intensity of Instagram’s …

Live Music Venue Marketing In A Post-Covid Northwest Arkansas, Griffen Walden

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

What does a medium sized music venue, nearing its centennial in a college town, do when its doors have closed for the first time since a short 2004 renovation, due to the novel Coronavirus Pandemic? George’s Majestic Lounge, the historic live music venue located in the heart of downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas, ceased operation for 134 days, its longest ever closure, and emerged into a climate massively different from what it had entered the pandemic in (Drury, et al. 2021). This venue has stood the test of time; opened in 1927 by George Pappas, it has remained in its railroad-adjacent position …

Being Authentic On Social Media With Generation Z, Soyombo-Erdene Ariunbold

Theses

This paper discusses the evolving landscape of social media and the significance of authenticity on social media platforms for Generation Z. It emphasizes the rise of social media platforms, shedding light on their authenticity and the profound influence they have on users' mental well-being. The paper also highlights the necessity for content creators and brands to adapt by incorporating more unpolished content on social media platforms.

The final deliverable will include a detailed survey analysis of the content authenticity on BeReal application. The findings of this study will offer valuable insights into the increasing demand for authenticity on social media …

Analyzing The Effect Of Sponsorship Disclosure On Social Media Influencer Contribution To Engagement In The Test And Measurement Industry, Todd B. Baker

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Audiences are consuming digital content at an increasing rate, and they use social media as a substantial source of information on products and services. Businesses are leveraging influencer marketing to reach their audiences and create a pre-disposition to buy from their brands represented by these social media influencers. Marketers are likely to increase their investments in social media by 53.6% in the coming five years, placing greater attention on this topic for many business executives (Moorman, 2021). This quantitative study explored the varying forms of sponsorship disclosure cues and their effect on engagement rates for different influencer types in the …

Fake News Detection Using Narrative Content And Discourse, Hongmin Kim

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

With the growth of modern technology, we are living in a world where anyone can share news with the tap of a finger. The simplified process of news sharing has brought an inundation of information on the Internet, along with a vast amount of fake news. Researchers have been working to understand the characteristics of fake news, in order to accurately identify them through automated text analysis.

In this thesis, we propose the Narrative Content and Narrative Discourse features brought from the ideas by van Laer et al., Berger et al., and Aleti et al. We performed various experiments including …