Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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 …

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 …

Participatory Democracy In The Chinese Cyber World: Case Studies From Weibo, Duyi Li

Master's Theses

This thesis discusses features of citizen communication on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform, and its relationship to participatory democracy in China. Weibo is a complex social space due to the interplay of different forces and social actors. On the one hand, Weibo provides the space for bottom-up political participation: it expands the horizontal discursive space where plural discourses coexist and interact; provides a social sphere where counter-discourses are created; a space where the culture of resistance is formed; and serves as an alternative source for information. On the other hand, the vertical political control of the state, and the …

Rugby's Rise In The United States: The Impact Of Social Media On An Emerging Sport, Benjamin James Kocher

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, the grounded theory approach was used to conduct a qualitative study about the effects the media has on rugby players in the United States. This study involved in-depth interviews with American-born-and-raised rugby players from the top rugby colleges and universities in the United States. These interviews helped identify the role played by traditional and social media in encouraging new players to begin playing the sport of rugby. Results showed that traditional media did not play a large role in bringing out new players in the United States. However newer, social media played a much larger role. New …

The Use Of Social Media As A Communication Tool By International Development Organizations: A Case Study Of The United Nations Children’S Fund (Unicef) In Egypt, Inas Taha Abbas Hamad

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates to understand how the United Nations development organizations in Egypt can manage social media as a communication tool to achieve their development objectives. A case study of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Egypt, is introduced. Using the Excellence Theory in Public Relations developed by Grunig (2002), this study examines how social media can contribute to the strategic management of the organization, rather than being a messaging, publicity, and media relations function. Through a content analysis of a number of social media pages of the UN organizations in Egypt, and in-depth interviews with four senior communication officers …

We Can Lie About How We Met: Msm Identity On Geo-Social Networking Applications, Levi Lindsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Location-based applications (geo-social applications) gained popularity in 2010, for individuals to meet others around them with similar interests. These applications have become extremely popular within the MSM community (men who have sex with men) but have had limited success for other communities. Geo-social networking apps offer a unique opportunity for individuals to present their identities in a limited manner in order to meet other users. This research looks at how such identities are experienced, performed, and assembled digitally and why. Using a qualitative approach, I conducted 10 in-depth interviews with users of the geo-social networking application, Grindr, regarding how they …

Opinion Mining Of Sociopolitical Comments From Social Media, Swapna Gottipati

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Opinions are central to almost all human activities by influencing greatly the decision making process. In this thesis, we present the problems of mining issues, extracting entities and suggestive opinions towards the entities, detecting thoughtful comments, and extracting stances and ideological expressions from online comments in the sociopolitical domain. This study is essential for opinion mining applications that are beneficial for policy makers, government sectors and social organizations. Much work has been done to try to uncover consumer sentiments from online comments to help businesses improve their products and services. However, sociopolitical opinion mining poses new challenges due to complex …

Toward A Uses And Gratification's Model Of Twitter, Philip Ryan Johnson

Theses - ALL

This study proposed a uses and gratifications model of Twitter, an internet medium and micro-blog--a platform with both mass and interpersonal communication features for sending short messages to others. A survey was conducted among 242 Twitter users to test the model, including a standard investigation of gratifications sought and gratifications obtained of Twitter usage. In addition, expectations and availability of usage behaviors from McLeod and Becker's (1981) uses and gratifications model were examined. In the model, expectations were conceptualized as user expectations of satisfaction and operationalized as the difference between users' gratifications sought and gratifications actually obtained. Usage behavior availability …

Revisiting The Spiral Of Silence In A Social Media Environment: Egypt’S 2014 Presidential Election As A Case Study, Heba T. Saleh Elshahed

Theses and Dissertations

With the advent of the Internet and anonymous features of online media, users have established novel platforms to voice their opinion freely without fear of negative feedback. This thesis explores the application of a long-standing public opinion theory– the spiral of silence by Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann–within the prevalent Social Networking Sites (SNS), particularly Facebook. When applying spiral of silence to online mediated environment, it seems intuitive that the lack of verbal cues and anonymity offered would serve to undermine the fear of isolation and restlessness that results in unwillingness to express minority views. This research contributes to understanding how the spiral …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Adult Attachment Style And Patterns Of Facebook Use And Facebook Behavior, Elizabeth Nailling

Honors Theses

Previous research suggests that various personality traits predict how individuals behave and portray themselves through internet-mediated communication and social media. In the current research, I examine the relationship between adult attachment style and the characteristics of Facebook use (e.g., frequency of "friending," "liking," and commenting). A pilot study conducted with Union College undergraduates who completed questionnaires measuring attachment style and Facebook use showed that higher attachment anxiety was associated with higher frequency and intensity of Facebook use as well as higher attention and reassurance-seeking Facebook behaviors, whereas higher attachment avoidance predicted less frequency and intensity of Facebook use as well …

The Relationship Between Narcissism Attachment Styles And The Response To Social Media, Caitlyn Collins

Honors Theses

Previous research suggests that narcissism is correlated with higher social media use and that self-esteem motivates this use. Additionally, research suggests that individuals with anxious or avoidant attachment styles have “self object” needs that are fulfilled through interactions with others. In the current research, we examined the correlation between narcissism and social media use, as well as the correlation between attachment style and social media use. Participants were given questionnaires to measure narcissism, attachment style, social media use, and self-esteem. Participants were also assigned to one of three feedback conditions, positive, neutral, or negative, on a social media site. Results …

Revolutionizing The Revolution: An Examination Of Social Media's Role In The Egyptian Arab Spring, Needa A. Malik

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

By asserting that no revolution occurs singularly, I propose that revolutions occur in a multiplicity. Within the framework of the Arab Spring Revolutions, another revolution has been occurring concurrently: a social media revolution. This revolution is taking place in the digital, social media age. It is a revolution that has been tweeted, facebooked, recorded, documented and shared instantaneously on platforms that obeys few lines of political sovereignty. Revolution and political action can now truly be shown from the perspective of the common citizen. Activists have discovered a greater platform for their voices to be distributed and causes promoted. The Arab …

Social Media Use During The College Transition, Kevin J. Yurasek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Starting college is an exciting and pivotal time for students. During this time, the student will be faced with challenges of his or her social identity and will need to develop or modify identities based on new social situations. Previous research shows that social media play a role in identity development, but there is little information regarding the extent. Are new college students using Facebook during their transition to communicate their new identity/social group to new peers? Are they using Facebook to maintain nostalgia for previous identities/social groups? This information will be valuable to higher education professionals working with these …

The Mediating Effect Of Team Identification On The Relationship Between Social Media Consumption And Intentions, Jaeahm Park

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to (a) identify the motivational factor for subscribing to collegiate athletics' social media (b) analyze the effect of subscribing to collegiate athletics' online social media on team identification (c) analyze the effect of subscribing to collegiate athletics' online social media on behavior intentions mediated by team identification. The study also examined the difference across demographic information which can be used for fan segmentation. By analyzing a total of 146 undergraduate students from University of Arkansas Recreation and Sport Management classes, this dissertation found the following.

This study verified seven motives for subscribing to school …

Gatekeeping The Social Games In A Post-Broadcasting World: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Nbc And User-Generated Olympic Twitter Coverage During The 2012 London Games, Daniel Anthony Sipocz

Dissertations

This study examined the Twitter use of both traditional gatekeepers, such as NBC, and audience members during the 2012 London Summer Olympics. The exploratory study examined NBC and audience members as gatekeepers with a particular interest in the audience’s role as a gatekeeper through social media use. NBC used Twitter, a social media platform, in ways that supported traditional gatekeeping models. The network aimed to drive audiences back to the traditional television broadcast while providing the audience with the illusion of having an influence on Olympic coverage. Most significantly, this study argues that the audience became a gatekeeper of Olympic …

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 …

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 …

Online Privacy Issues: Awareness, Attitudes, And Perceptions Amongst Internet Users In Egypt, Dalia Nagy Khalil Alfred

Theses and Dissertations

This study gauges the level of awareness, attitudes towards, and perceptions of online privacy policies for Internet users in Egypt. It examines how demographics as in age, gender, and education may affect the level of Internet users’awareness, attitudes, and perceptions of online privacy issues. Further, it surveys what personal information Internet users in Egypt perceive as private and accept to share with web providers, search engines or third parties. The theory of Communication Privacy Management (CPM), which was developed by Sandra Petronio, poised that Internet users choose and manage the usage of privacy policies and rules based on their cultural …

Online Course Management System For Wic Nutrition Education And Study Of Its Effectiveness In Behavioral And Attitude Changes, Ryan A. Amy

Theses and Dissertations

Social media has been used in a variety of contexts to connect people of varying backgrounds and as a method of teaching. This thesis collaborated with the Utah County Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) department to develop an online course management system that facilitated research to evaluate the effectiveness of social media on nutrition behavior and attitude changes among WIC clients. We created a toddler themed Facebook page in conjunction with the online nutrition classes and provided the opportunity for clients to use them. Previous social media research used individuals that had agreed to participate in the social media experiment …

Factors Affecting Student-Athletes' Perceptions Of Online Privacy Issues On Twitter: A Communication Privacy Management Perspective, Amanda Jo Pulido

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Based on the communication privacy management perspective, this study examined student-athletes' perceptions of privacy issues on Twitter. This study used an online questionnaire survey to survey 5,576 student-athletes within C-USA. A total of 113 valid responses were used in the statistical analyses. Several linear regression analyses found that student-athletes' perceived control of private information flow on Twitter and their perceptions of choice significantly predicted the total months of using Twitter. Perceived control of private information flow on Twitter also predicts how many times they will check Twitter. Finally, student-athletes' perception of boundary ownership/linkage also predicts the total amount minutes spent …

Looking And Liking: Applying Information Processing To Facebook Ads, Jennie A. Ford

ETD Archive

This study applied the Limited Capacity Model (Lang, 2000) to understand how individuals' process their Facebook pages. It is an eye tracking study that collected data from students at a Midwestern university to analyze how individuals process, encode, store and retrieve posts from their Facebook pages, specifically suggested/sponsored posts that are integrated into their newsfeed and targeted to them based on known information. The individuals explored their Facebook pages and were asked to recall the brands or advertisements they were first exposed to on their page. The results from eye tracking were used to analyze how they oriented to and …

From Social Media To Social Movement: Developing A Secondary Stakeholder Model For The Information Age – The Case Of Deepwater Horizon, Michele A. Jurgens

2014

Secondary stakeholders are thought to differ from primary stakeholders in that they interact with the firm mainly for the purpose of changing its ethical, societal, and environmental policies and practices. Research on secondary stakeholders has shown that they are successful in influencing their corporate targets despite the relative lack of power, legitimacy, and urgency of their requests. One explanation for the success of secondary stakeholders can be found in the `political process model' from the social movement literature. The political process model describes and predicts how social movements are formed and the conditions that are necessary for them being sustained …

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

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Art Tweets: A Content Analysis Of Social Media Activity Among Six Top Art Museums In The U.S.A., Patricia Ann Milford-Hoyt

LSU Master's Theses

This study presents a content analysis of Twitter posts tagged with one of six institutions to establish uses and gratifications with this medium and the art museum industry. Due to industry norms, copyright law, museums traditionally do not permit photography and therefore may limit the advancement of their mission through misuse of the social media. This study establishes a baseline by seeking to understand how museums and individual account holders engage on Twitter within the art museum space as well as begin to unearth whether museums are misusing this media outlet and limiting their potential to educate the public while …

Mother's Experience Of Social Media: Its Impact On Children And The Home, Abe Van Hatch

Theses : Honours

With the prevalence and accessibility of social media within the last 15 years it has become possible for children to have constant access to their friends and social networks. It is relatively unknown what impact adopting social media has on children and how mothers interpret this. There are gaps in the literature investigating the pervasive effects of modern technology and what meaning mothers ascribe to their children using social media as a method of connecting with the world. The present research aims to explore this phenomenon by investigating the experiences of mothers who have children that have recently adopted social …

Perceptions Of Collegiate And Professional Black Male Athletes Based On The Media, Dionell Mcneal

LSU Master's Theses

This study focuses on how media usage can affect one’s perceptions of Black collegiate and professional male athletes. While early research focused solely on traditional media, this study focuses on social media as well. This study investigates the relationships between the amounts of time spent using traditional and social media, and the perceptions of athletes in regards to their physical capability, the likelihood of being criminals, and prevalence of committing violent crimes. To explore relationships, this study utilized a total of 145 White participants. Findings showed a positive relationship existed between social media usage and perceptions of criminal-like characteristics. It …

Message Appeals Used By Nonprofits On Twitter To Increase Public Engagement, Lilliana Laura Lopez

LSU Master's Theses

As social media becomes a more prominent tool for mass communication, nonprofit organizations are using social networking sites as a means to communicate with their target audiences and recruit supporters. This study explores how nonprofits are using Twitter, a microblogging website, to communicate with their audiences during the year-end charitable giving period and investigate which messaging acquires audience engagement. This was determined by investigating nonprofit organizations’ use of Twitter’s multimedia features and the different types of message appeals used when tweeting about their organization’s year-end campaign. Another aim of this study was to identify which message appeals in online charitable …