JOMC 279 Research Study

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JOMC 279 | Section 002

Professor HesterApril 6, 2012

Group 3

Social Media Usage in Brand Marketing

A research study conducted at UNC-Chapel Hill


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Executive Summary

Nearly 88% of college students are active Facebook usersand 25% are active Twitter users. The growing social mediacraze has taken over the University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill campus as students are becoming more and moreactive on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Theyare using Facebook and Twitter not only for socialnetworking, but also to receive news updates andinformation from companies. Our team was interested inlearning more aboutstudents behavior on social media sites.Specifically, we wanted to learn how and why studentsinteract with brands on Facebook and Twitter. Our study,which conducted during the Spring 2012 semester as part ofthe Advertising and Public Relations Research course at UNC-Chapel Hill, allowed us to determine Chapel Hill students

social media habits.

The Group

From left to right: Gabi Browne, Paige Warmus, SabrinaHusain, Rahel Gebremeskel, and Charlotte Steddum

Contact

Rahel Gebremeskel

UNC 2013 | School of Journalism and Mass Communication

[email protected]| 252.414.2493

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erature Review 3

search Questions 8

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commendations 12

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ppendix 14
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Purpose of the Study

Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter have becomeincreasingly popular with students at UNC-Chapel Hill inorder to maintain personal relationships as well as receive

constant news updates. Research by Mashable Businessindicates that the top reasons why Facebook and Twitterusers follow or like brands are the following: service, supportor product news; interesting or entertaining content; specialoffers and deals. The purpose of this study is to determine ifstudents at UNC-Chapel Hill follow or like brands on Twitteror Facebook, and if they do, which brands are the mostpopular and for what reasons. For the purpose of our study,we utilized the American Marketing Association definition ofa brand as a name, term, design, symbol or any other featurethat identifies one sellers good or service as distinct from

those other sellers.

Research Methods

The first step in our study was to conduct a review of allrelevant published literature. The goal of the literaturereview was to gain insight into the reasons why people,specifically college-aged students, use social media sites, andhow those students interact with brands. Our researchsuggested that social media sites such as Twitter and

Facebook have the potential for brand involvement,discussion and marketing. Companies that use social mediamarketing hope to influence social communication byfostering new relationships with their consumers.

Following an extensive analysis of our research, our teamdeveloped a survey that was distributed to college-studentsat the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, askingquestions that would gauge (A) usage of social media sites(B) brand interactions via social media and (C) incentives forbrand interaction. 117 surveys were collected by a

convenience sample; surveys were sent out via UNC emaillistservs. See appendix for complete survey data.

Contents

ummary 1

roup Contact Info.

urpose 2

Methods

terature Review 3

esearch Questions 8

esults

onclusion 11

ecommendations 12

eferences 13

ppendix 14


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Literature Review

Twitter has evolved from a social networking site to aconstantly-updating source of information. In addition tofriends, users of Twitter follow the accounts of companies

like Nike or Old Spice. For our project we hope to askstudents at UNC via survey to rank their top five companyaccounts to follow on Twitter and explain their motives forfollowing.

The Mashable Business infograph shows that the top reasonswhy Facebook and Twitter users follow or like brands are

the following: service, support or product news; interestingor entertaining content; and special offers and deals. Thesebrands give incentives to users to follow or like their pages

in order to receive free giveaways and prizes or get

promotional codes. In fact, a study by Chadwin Martin Baileyand iModerate Research Technologies found that people are67percent more likely to purchase products from brandsthey follow on twitter and 51percent more likely to do so ifthey like a brand on Facebook. Following or liking a

brand on Facebook or Twitter can ultimately lead to peopleconsidering the brand when in the market for the product,buying the product or service from the brand orrecommending the brand to others. 97.09 percent ofrespondents in the Mashable Business infograph studyreported that an online experience influenced whether or onhe or she bought a product or service from a brand.

Launched on July 13, 2006, Twitter is a microbloggingservice that allows users to update a network of followersfrom a variety of devices. Twitter has grown considerablysince its launch in 2006; today 13 percent of online adultsuse Twitter and half of Twitter users access the service on acell phone. (Pew Research, 2011). As a microblogging

service, Twitter has potential for brand involvement anddiscussion. Currently, 19 percent of tweets contain a mentionof a brand. And of the tweets that mention a brand, nearly 20percent contain some expression of brand sentiments. Ofthese, more than 50 percent were positive and 33 percentwere critical of a company or product (Chowdury, Jansen,Sobel, & Zhang, 2009). Twitter has huge potential for positive(and negative) word of mouth, which is a major componentin customer buying decisions. Companies that use twitter canhope to influence social communication by fostering new

Contents

ummary 1

roup Contact Info.

urpose 2

Methods

terature Review 3

esearch Questions 8

esults

onclusion 11

ecommendations 12

eferences 13

ppendix 14


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relationships in the commercial sector, specifically, in gaugingmarketplace reactions (i.e., sentiment), externalcommunication (i.e., information providing), and gatheringmarketplace information (i.e., information seeking). Twittercan be useful for companies to monitor discussion about their

brand identity, because 80 percent of tweets mentioning abrand express no sentiment. This suggests that people areseeking information, asking questions, and answeringquestions about brands. (Chowdury, Jansen, Sobel, & Zhang,2009). Twitter allows companies to monitor their consumers

perceptions of a brand more closely than they could before.

Twitter has emerged as the latest evolution of the always-accessible technology of the past few years. (Washington

Post, 2007). Twitter is easy for users because it requires 20seconds for a quick thought, rather than 20 minutes for a blogpost. Twitter may appear to critics as a disorganized

collection of random thoughts, but it has forever changed the

way we use social media. Companies that successfullyintegrate twitter into their marketing and branding strategycan more successfully monitor brand community discussionsand push information to consumers.

Ordinary people use Twitter for a variety of reasons. Zhaoand Rosson categorized these motivations for using themicro-blogging world into ten distinct categories throughtheir exploratory research (Zhao & Rosson, 2009). The semi-structured interview based research 11 participants (7 menand 4 women). Questions were based off two primary sets ofquestions including peoples current microblogging usage and

their experiences microblogging with co-workers andsubsequent effects on their collaborative work. The interviewquestions dealt with both information sender and receiverperspectives and also asked more generally about peoplesperceptions of microblogs in comparison to other socialmedia (Zhao & Rosson, 2009).

Findings from the study revealed reasons for using Twitterboiled down into ten entities: frequent brief updates aboutpersonal life activities, real-time information, people-basedRSS feed, brevity of information, mobility and pervasiveaccess, broadcast nature, person perception, common ground,connectedness, and work-relevant information sharing andexpertise seeking. In sum, ordinary people like Twitter for its

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reach 164.2 million of U.S. Internet Users (Williamson, 2011).With such immense growth in social networking services, it iscrucial that we begin to understand how SNS such as Twitterand Facebook are changing peoples online conversation,

interpersonal relationships and communicative outcomes.

Tracking this behavior can help determine how effectiveconsumer-brand interactions in SNS are and, ultimately, whatthe effects on online and offline consumer behavior are(Bagozzi and Dholakia 2006; Brown, Broderick, and Lee2007; McWilliam 2000; Taylor, Lewin, and Strutton 2011).

Nearly 88 percent of college students are active Facebookusers and 25 percent are active Twitter users. So why exactlydo students use social media networking sites? According toa research study conducted by Kim and Lee, college studentsuse Twitter for six main reasons: entertainment, passingtime, social interaction, information seeking, informationproviding and professional advancement (2010). BothFacebook and Twitter also provide a huge platform thatallows college studentsthe consumersto connect withbrands or businesses. More than half of college studentsfollow or like a brand on Facebook and 16 percent followbrands on Twitter. One in two students follows a brandssocial networking page to monitor and take advantage ofspecial offers.

It is expected that by 2013, social networking sites likeFacebook and Twitter will reach 164.2 million of U.S. InternetUsers (Williamson, 2011). With such immense growth insocial networking services, it is crucial that we begin tounderstand how social networking sites such as Twitter andFacebook are changing peoples online conversation,

interpersonal relationships and communicative outcomes.Tracking this behavior can help determine how effectiveconsumer-brand interactions in SNS are and, ultimately, whatthe effects on online and offline consumer behavior are(Bagozzi and Dholakia 2006; Brown, Broderick, and Lee

2007; McWilliam 2000; Taylor, Lewin, and Strutton 2011).

As a microblogging service, Twitter has enormous potentialfor brand involvement and discussion. Currently, 19 percentof tweets contain a mention of a brand. And of the tweets thatmention a brand, nearly 20 percent contain some expressionof brand sentiments. Of these, more than 50 percent werepositive and 33 percent were critical of a company or product

Contents

ummary 1

roup Contact Info.

urpose 2

ethods

terature Review 3

esearch Questions 8

esults

onclusion 11

ecommendations 12

eferences 13

ppendix 14


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(Chowdury, Jansen, Sobel, & Zhang, 2009). Twitter has greatpotential for positive (and negative) word of mouth, which isa major component in customer buying decisions. Companiesthat use Twitter can hope to influence social communicationby fostering new relationships in the commercial sector,

specifically, in gauging marketplace reactions (i.e.,sentiment), external communication (i.e., informationproviding), and gathering marketplace information (i.e.,information seeking). (Chowdury, Jansen, Sobel, & Zhang,2009). Twitter can be useful for companies to monitordiscussion about their brand identity, because 80 percent oftweets mentioning a brand express no sentiment. Thissuggests that people are seeking information, askingquestions, and answering questions about brands.

(Chowdury, Jansen, Sobel, & Zhang, 2009). Twitter allowscompanies to monitor their consumers perceptions of abrand more closely than they could before.

Our research study will take a closer look at the professionalaccounts that college students at UNC-Chapel Hill follow. Weare interested in learning why students follow certainbrands, and what the incentives are for following thesebrands. Although Twitter and Facebook are relatively young,plenty of research has been conducted about all aspects ofthese social media sites. We've explored the research relatedto our study and compiled studies of demographicinformation, the common uses of Twitter and Facebook, andusing Twitter and Facebook as professional tools for

business.

Contents

ummary 1

roup Contact Info.

urpose 2

ethods

terature Review 3

esearch Questions 8

esults

onclusion 11

ecommendations 12

eferences 13

ppendix 14


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General Research Questions and Overall

Rationale of the Research Project

The goal of the research was to determine if students at UNC-Chapel Hill follow or like brands on Twitter or Facebook, andif they do, which brands are the most popular and for whatreasons. The literature prompted the following researchquestions regarding the attitudes, awareness and behaviors ofthese students.

RQ1: Do students at UNC-Chapel Hill use Facebook and/orTwitter?

RQ2: What brands are most followed or liked on Twitter andFacebook by students at UNC-Chapel Hill? The American

Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term,design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one sellersgood or service as distinct from those other sellers.

RQ3: What are the incentives for students to follow or likebrands on Twitter and Facebook?

Results

Based on the secondary research conducted, our researchteam decided to conduct a 14-question survey to collect data

regarding UNC-CH students social media usage. The surveyexamined why college students follow brands on Twitter orlike brands on Facebook. The survey was conducted over a

two week period in March 2012. The survey was createdusing Qualtrics and administered online.

We surveyed 117 UNC-Chapel Hill students ranging in agefrom 18-23. The sampling frame included students from allgrade levels. Students were selected to participate in thesurvey by convenience sampling--the survey was e-mailedacross class, Greek, athletic, and extracurricular listservs. Our

respondents were 76 percent female, 24 percent male. This,perhaps, is a reflection of the gender distribution at UNC-Chapel Hill--59 percent of the freshman class from 2010 wasfemale.

To gain an understanding of our targets Facebook and

Twitter activity level, we included a general assessment ofsocial media usage in our survey. The respondents

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overwhelmingly use both Twitter and Facebook (79 percentof total respondents), though 35 percent answered that theyonly used Facebook. Our research showed that UNC-ChapelHill students are more often logged on to Facebook thanTwitter. Eighty-eight percent of respondents use Facebook

daily, while only 47 percent of respondents use Twitter daily.

Q5: How often do you use Facebook?

Q6: How often do you use Twitter?

When asked about brand involvement on Facebook andTwitter, 57 percent of participants said they like brands on

Facebook, while 44 percent said they follow brands onTwitter. Of participants that do like or follow brands onFacebook and Twitter, most respondents liked or followed 1-5 brands.

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Q8: How many brands to you like on Facebook?

Q9: How many brands do you follow on Twitter?

We found that UNC-Chapel Hill students are most interestedin following music (30 percent), news (29 percent), sports(18 percent) and television brands (14 percent). They weremost interested in following these brands for the news andinformation, entertainment purposes, and for coupons andspecials. The top three brands students like or follow onFacebook and Twitter are ESPN, CNN and various Carolina-related brands. Many respondents also listed a retail store,though there was variety in the specific store listed.

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Recommendations

UNC-Chapel Hill is a representative group of the millennialgeneration, which uses social media such as Twitter andFacebook on daily basis and for a variety of reasons.Companies that want to promote their brand in a wayeffective enough to reach such a fast-paced, digital populationshould be aware of the habits of this millennial generation,especially in regard to social media.

Brands should keep up with the fast-paced generation byupdating their websites (e.g., tweets) as often as newinformation is available. The number one reason studentslike/follow a brand is for news and information. Fortypercent of students use Twitter on a daily basis and thirteenpercent use it 2-3 times a week. With new streams ofinformation coming in continuously, it is important for abrand to keep up with the pace and not get lost in all of theother streams of information. Moreover, news and musicwere the top brands students were interested inliking/following. Music and news companies shouldespecially have an engaging presence on social media sites.

These recommendations are attainable and easy toimplement. Based off of our research, these proposals shouldhelp brands more effectively use their resources to reach

target audiences for brand awareness and promotion.

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References

Bryant, Shannon. "U.S. College Students Wield $417B in Spending Power: MarketingForecast from Ad-ology." .

Chowdury, A., Sobel, K., Jansen, B., Zhang, M. 2009. Twitter Power: Tweets as electronicword of mouth.Journal of the American Society for Information Science andTechnology, 60 (11), 2169-2188.

Diaz, Sam. (2007, June 9). Life, in Little Chirps. The Washington Post. Retrieved from.

Gulasy, Lisa. "Why You Should Follow Your Favorite Brands on Twitter: Saving on aShoestring Budget."

.

Huberman, B., Romero, D. and Wu, F. 2008. Social networks that matter: Twitter under themicroscope. Social Computing Lab, HP Laboratories..

Java, A., Song, X., Finin, T. and Tseng, B. 2007. Why we Twitter: understandingmicroblogging and communities. University of Maryland, NEC Laboratories America.

.

Keane, Meghan. "Study: People Who Follow Brands in Social Media Are Much More Likelyto Shop with Them in the Real World Econsultancy: Become a Smarter Digital

Marketer. .

Lenhard, Amanda. 2009. Teens and Social Media: An Overview. Pew Internet & AmericanLifeProject. .

Lin, Jhih-Syuan, and Pea, Jorge, 2011. "Are You Following Me? A Content Analysis of TVNetworks' Brand Communication on Twitter.Journal of Interactive Advertising..

Rosson, Mary Beth & Zhao, Dejin, 2009. How and why people use twitter: the role thatmicroblogging plays in informational communication at work.ACM Digital Library.

Smith, Aaron. Twitter Update 2011. 2011. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from
http://www.marketingforecast.com/archives/16062http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/08/AR2007060802614.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/08/AR2007060802614.htmlhttp://savingonashoestringbudget.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/http://savingonashoestringbudget.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1313405http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1348556http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/5609-study-twitter-and-facebook-boost-saleshttp://econsultancy.com/us/blog/5609-study-twitter-and-facebook-boost-saleshttp://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=11549689133190204506%20&hl=en&as_sdt=0,34http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=11549689133190204506%20&hl=en&as_sdt=0,34http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=11549689133190204506%20&hl=en&as_sdt=0,34http://jiad.org/article150http://jiad.org/article150http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2007/twitter-users-cell-phone-2011-demographicshttp://pewresearch.org/pubs/2007/twitter-users-cell-phone-2011-demographicshttp://pewresearch.org/pubs/2007/twitter-users-cell-phone-2011-demographicshttp://pewresearch.org/pubs/2007/twitter-users-cell-phone-2011-demographicshttp://jiad.org/article150http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=11549689133190204506%20&hl=en&as_sdt=0,34http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=11549689133190204506%20&hl=en&as_sdt=0,34http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/5609-study-twitter-and-facebook-boost-saleshttp://econsultancy.com/us/blog/5609-study-twitter-and-facebook-boost-saleshttp://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1348556http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1313405http://savingonashoestringbudget.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/http://savingonashoestringbudget.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/08/AR2007060802614.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/08/AR2007060802614.htmlhttp://www.marketingforecast.com/archives/16062


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Q9: Do you follow brands on Twitter?

Yes 44%No 56%

St.Dev. = 0.50Q10: If so, how many brands do you follow on Twitter?

1-5 23%5-10 9%10-15 9%15 or more 7%I dont follow brands on Twitter 51%

St.Dev. = 1.70Q11: What types of brands are you most interested in following/liking?

Music 30%Sports 18%Television 14%Technology 3%News 30%Government 6%

St.Dev. = 1.78Q12: Why do you like/follow brands?

News & Information 75%Coupons & Specials 46%Job/Internship Opportunities & Postings 30%Entertainment 58%Brand Loyalty 24%Interaction 11%Q13: What is your favorite brand to follow/like?

(Free response)Q14: Why do you follow/like that brand?

News and Information 50%Coupons & Specials 17%Job/Internship Opportunities and Postings 1%Entertainment 18%Interaction 1%Brand Loyalty 9%Other 3% (free response)

St.Dev. = 1.87

JOMC 279 Research Study

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