Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.

Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.

Displaying 1 - 8 of 8
Filtering by

Clear all filters

147896-Thumbnail Image.png
Description

This research covers the landscape of influencer marketing and combines it with the knowledge of 11 content creators and one social media specialist, ultimately producing an actionable handbook. Participants were asked questions that were intended to discover key strategies, level of difficulty, and overall insight into the content creator world.

This research covers the landscape of influencer marketing and combines it with the knowledge of 11 content creators and one social media specialist, ultimately producing an actionable handbook. Participants were asked questions that were intended to discover key strategies, level of difficulty, and overall insight into the content creator world. Best practices and key findings are identified in the research paper, and outlined into four parts in the handbook. The handbook serves as a compilation framework derived from my primary and secondary sources designed to provide anyone interested in becoming a content creator or social media influencer on steps they may take given what their predecessors have done to successfully launch their careers in the space.

ContributorsEsparza, Alexa (Author) / Giles, Charles (Thesis director) / Schlacter, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
132100-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Influencer marketing is the latest phenomenon in the consumer marketing industry. Successful influencer sponsorships close the gap between companies and their customers by capitalizing on the connection influencers share with their audience. Producing advertisements more organically and directly, coming from a trustworthy and relatable source leads to greater returns. Therefore,

Influencer marketing is the latest phenomenon in the consumer marketing industry. Successful influencer sponsorships close the gap between companies and their customers by capitalizing on the connection influencers share with their audience. Producing advertisements more organically and directly, coming from a trustworthy and relatable source leads to greater returns. Therefore, influencer accounts are becoming increasingly popular throughout social media, especially Instagram. For this reason, the main focal point of this paper is to describe how to effectively create an influencer brand by finding a niche and growing an engaged audience on Instagram. Our findings consist of three studies: personal interviews, creating an Instagram account, and analyzing twelve well-known influencers. We first analyzed the environmental trends impacting the social media industry and what this means for a growing influencer. Using our discoveries, we launched an Instagram account, featuring the Nordstrom Twins, learning from the first-hand experience of successful and unsuccessful content strategies. Then, through data collection and analysis of twelve unique twin influencer (twinfluencer) accounts, as well as personal interviews with industry professionals, we established an influencer business strategy. Our research conveys how to increase user interactions and grow an engagement rate on the constantly evolving Instagram platform.
ContributorsNordstrom, Hailey Rose (Co-author) / Nordstrom, Brooke (Co-author) / Smith, Anna (Co-author) / Dong, Xiaodan (Thesis director) / Eaton, Kathryn (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
130961-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Influencer marketing is a fairly new concept within the marketing industry. Even though this strategy of digital marketing has not been around too long, it has grown an immense amount over the last 5 years. This thesis analyzes how influencer marketing affects consumer behavior. This was done through a literature

Influencer marketing is a fairly new concept within the marketing industry. Even though this strategy of digital marketing has not been around too long, it has grown an immense amount over the last 5 years. This thesis analyzes how influencer marketing affects consumer behavior. This was done through a literature review that highlights how consumers make decisions, the influencer marketing industry, and two case studies that evaluate influencer marketing campaigns along with their effects on consumer behavior. In addition, an online survey was distributed to consumers who actively follow influencers on social media to capture respondents’ attitudes of influencers and if they have been affected by them. The analysis of the responses showed that in this study, females are more affected by influencers than when compared to male responses. Other key insights were that the majority of respondents do not trust influencers; but yet, they still follow their content and take interest into influencers’ recommendations. The results indicate that there is a complex relationship between influencers and their followers that can be investigated upon further research. I recommend that influencers become more transparent with their followers to gain trust and authenticity so their followers view them as a credible and reliable source. Implementing the recommendations in this thesis can lead to more trust between influencers and their followers, as well as, more effective social media influencer campaigns for companies.
ContributorsHarris, Raquel Arleen (Author) / Giles, Charles Bret (Thesis director) / Schlater, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12
Description
Influencer marketing is when individuals with dedicated social media followings are sought out by brands to utilize their position on certain platforms to endorse a brand’s products and be compensated through payment or merchandise. I will be looking at the concept of trust when it comes to influencer marketing alongside

Influencer marketing is when individuals with dedicated social media followings are sought out by brands to utilize their position on certain platforms to endorse a brand’s products and be compensated through payment or merchandise. I will be looking at the concept of trust when it comes to influencer marketing alongside the Fogg Behavior Model. Used to evaluate an individual’s behavior in the decisions making process, The Fogg Behavior Model bases itself in a persuasive environment by focusing on three key elements: motivation, ability, and trigger. When utilized in collaboration with influencer marketing, these elements together could have a strong effect on driving consumer behaviors. I utilized one of the most recent and popular social media platforms, TikTok, known for its short-form mobile videos, to explore these behavioral elements in action. Like any other media platform, TikTok influencer marketing requires a high amount of trust between the consumer and influencer to be successful and efficiently persuade the target market. I collected primary research by surveying opinions on trust and buying behaviors based on three different videos. One video had a hidden partnership disclosure in the caption, the second had a plainly visible partnership disclosure, and the third had a plainly visible partnership disclosure and verbally disclosed the relationship between the brand and the influencer. The analysis showed that participants felt a higher degree of trust towards the video which contained a verbal disclosure of the influencer’s partnership with the brand. The results lacked specificity on whether this perception of trust would successfully lead to a purchase, which could be adjusted for in future research; however, it did show there was motivation through the Fogg Model to look further into the product presented. I recommend influencers be as transparent and genuine as possible to earn the trust or their followers, as well as ensure all three factors of Fogg are present to increase their persuasive abilities over consumers completing a purchase.
ContributorsGraves, Darien (Author) / Giles, Charles (Thesis director) / Schlacter, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2022-05
165438-Thumbnail Image.png
Description

Influencer marketing is when individuals with dedicated social media followings are sought out by brands to utilize their position on certain platforms to endorse a brand’s products and be compensated through payment or merchandise. I will be looking at the concept of trust when it comes to influencer marketing alongside

Influencer marketing is when individuals with dedicated social media followings are sought out by brands to utilize their position on certain platforms to endorse a brand’s products and be compensated through payment or merchandise. I will be looking at the concept of trust when it comes to influencer marketing alongside the Fogg Behavior Model. Used to evaluate an individual’s behavior in the decisions making process, The Fogg Behavior Model bases itself in a persuasive environment by focusing on three key elements: motivation, ability, and trigger. When utilized in collaboration with influencer marketing, these elements together could have a strong effect on driving consumer behaviors. I utilized one of the most recent and popular social media platforms, TikTok, known for its short-form mobile videos, to explore these behavioral elements in action. Like any other media platform, TikTok influencer marketing requires a high amount of trust between the consumer and influencer to be successful and efficiently persuade the target market. I collected primary research by surveying opinions on trust and buying behaviors based on three different videos. One video had a hidden partnership disclosure in the caption, the second had a plainly visible partnership disclosure, and the third had a plainly visible partnership disclosure and verbally disclosed the relationship between the brand and the influencer. The analysis showed that participants felt a higher degree of trust towards the video which contained a verbal disclosure of the influencer’s partnership with the brand. The results lacked specificity on whether this perception of trust would successfully lead to a purchase, which could be adjusted for in future research; however, it did show there was motivation through the Fogg Model to look further into the product presented. I recommend influencers be as transparent and genuine as possible to earn the trust or their followers, as well as ensure all three factors of Fogg are present to increase their persuasive abilities over consumers completing a purchase.

ContributorsGraves, Darien (Author) / Giles, Charles (Thesis director) / Schlacter, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2022-05
165439-Thumbnail Image.png
Description

Influencer marketing is when individuals with dedicated social media followings are sought out by brands to utilize their position on certain platforms to endorse a brand’s products and be compensated through payment or merchandise. I will be looking at the concept of trust when it comes to influencer marketing alongside

Influencer marketing is when individuals with dedicated social media followings are sought out by brands to utilize their position on certain platforms to endorse a brand’s products and be compensated through payment or merchandise. I will be looking at the concept of trust when it comes to influencer marketing alongside the Fogg Behavior Model. Used to evaluate an individual’s behavior in the decisions making process, The Fogg Behavior Model bases itself in a persuasive environment by focusing on three key elements: motivation, ability, and trigger. When utilized in collaboration with influencer marketing, these elements together could have a strong effect on driving consumer behaviors. I utilized one of the most recent and popular social media platforms, TikTok, known for its short-form mobile videos, to explore these behavioral elements in action. Like any other media platform, TikTok influencer marketing requires a high amount of trust between the consumer and influencer to be successful and efficiently persuade the target market. I collected primary research by surveying opinions on trust and buying behaviors based on three different videos. One video had a hidden partnership disclosure in the caption, the second had a plainly visible partnership disclosure, and the third had a plainly visible partnership disclosure and verbally disclosed the relationship between the brand and the influencer. The analysis showed that participants felt a higher degree of trust towards the video which contained a verbal disclosure of the influencer’s partnership with the brand. The results lacked specificity on whether this perception of trust would successfully lead to a purchase, which could be adjusted for in future research; however, it did show there was motivation through the Fogg Model to look further into the product presented. I recommend influencers be as transparent and genuine as possible to earn the trust or their followers, as well as ensure all three factors of Fogg are present to increase their persuasive abilities over consumers completing a purchase.

ContributorsGraves, Darien (Author) / Giles, Charles (Thesis director) / Schlacter, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
The purpose of this research is to create a model that will benefit this industry and the many changes to come. As of now, there are limited FTC guidelines which limit the protection of content creators, agencies, and brands. That is when I came up with the idea to develo

The purpose of this research is to create a model that will benefit this industry and the many changes to come. As of now, there are limited FTC guidelines which limit the protection of content creators, agencies, and brands. That is when I came up with the idea to develop a model to further improve efficiency of the influencer marketing industry, and to help the entrepreneurs who are leading it. This model provides the framework for a strong start in the influencer marketing industry. Through informational interviews, literary research, field studies, and surveys, the model was developed through the data analysis of each of these tools, based on common themes found within each. This research was conducted from a variety of perspectives, including consumers, brands, agencies, and content creators.
ContributorsFurnas, Madison (Author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Committee member) / Svirskis, Anthony (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2022-05
165719-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Influencer marketing continues to be a tool that companies utilize to add value to their brands. This thesis explores the impact that influencer marketing has within the alcohol industry. This was done by conducting secondary research that highlights the size of the alcohol industry, the rules and regulations that apply

Influencer marketing continues to be a tool that companies utilize to add value to their brands. This thesis explores the impact that influencer marketing has within the alcohol industry. This was done by conducting secondary research that highlights the size of the alcohol industry, the rules and regulations that apply to alcohol marketing, the power of social media and consumer behavior, and the effectiveness of influencer marketing. From this research, I compile a set of industry best practices and offer a series of recommendations for smaller brands to take into consideration when using influencer marketing. I believe that my research-based recommendations of partnering with local influencers to create genuine connections with niche audiences, creating branded hashtags for marketing purposes, and capitalizing on current social media market trends allows for niche alcohol brands to implement influencer marketing in a way that best fits the brand and the people it serves.
ContributorsSanyal, Anjali (Author) / Giles, Bret (Thesis director) / Montoya, Detra (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Comm (Contributor)
Created2022-05