Matching Items (10)
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- All Subjects: Social Media
- Creators: Gray, Nancy
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Description
Although previous research has explored the relationship between social media use and well-being, many studies are contradictory of each other and conclude varying findings relating to social media use and outspokenness. This study explores the relationship between active and passive social media use, perceived social media expertise, and outspokenness using the potentially mediating variable of perceived social acceptance. 162 participants, recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and ASU’s SONA systems, completed a survey relating to their own use of social media, perceived social acceptance, and outspokenness. Contradictory to my first hypotheses, no significant correlations were found between social media use and social media expertise. However, correlation analyses revealed that active social media use is related to an increased amount of perceived social media expertise (r = 0.23, p < .004). Perceived social media expertise was significantly positively correlated with outspokenness (r = 0.19, p < 0.015); however, it was not correlated with perceived social acceptance. When examining these relationships separately by gender, a strong association was found for males between active social media use and outspokenness, whereas passive social media use and outspokenness were negatively correlated for females. The results of this study add to previous research in the field of social media and outspokenness and lend new ideas for future research on these topics, such as exploring the gender differences that are associated with these variables. Further research in the area is needed for a more complete understanding of how one’s social media use affects his/her outspokenness and how gender modifies these effects.
ContributorsRubino, Kelli Erika (Co-author) / Rubino, Kelli (Co-author) / Mickelson, Kristin (Thesis director) / Halavais, Alexander (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This thesis explores the current relationship between high fashion and the advancements and changes in technology that have catapulted the industry into a potentially dangerous level. It is simple for one to identify fashion as a booming industry; however, upon further inquiry, it becomes clear that the pace of the fashion industry is unsustainable as the demands and expectations that the current consumer has for high fashion brands grow unproportional with the standard rate of the industry. In 2016, the fashion industry reached $2.4 trillion in total value, placing it as the seventh largest economy in the world (Amed, 2016), but these numbers are as fickle as a fashion trend. The fear and talk of the current state of fashion is that this will stagnate and even drop off, due to multiple factors. The shift to the "see now/buy now" platform (CFDA, 2016), a marked reliance on social media "influencers" in order to determine success (Friedman, 2016), and the commercialization of creative directors attributing to the high turnover rate at brands (Prigent, 2016) may lead one to conclude the technology is positively affecting the fashion industry. However, these factors ought lead one to conclude that high fashion is moving at an unsustainable pace, one which will result in long-term detriments to the seemingly unshakable industry and remove high fashion off its current pedestal. Over the past few years, a larger consumer base motivated growth in sales numbers, but in 2016, sales growth was at 2-3% with predictions of stagnation to come for the upcoming years (Amed, 2016). This thesis will look at if the high fashion industry itself has become "trendy" and where the current peak of the industry will lead for the future.
ContributorsGur-Arie, Hannah Esther (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Ostrom, Amy (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Releasing music 20 years ago looks a lot different than releasing music today, and it is still ever-changing. Artists can make music in their bedrooms and release it independently by simply uploading it online. These artists can use social media to market their music themselves. But with it being so easy for new and small artists to put out a song it begs the question: in this customer era of marketing, how can new and small artists use co-creational marketing strategies, such as themes of nostalgia and hidden messages, to differentiate themselves? This project seeks to answer that question. In this partial creative project and partial research project, I tasked myself with writing and producing a song myself, then using that work to test these different marketing strategies. I distributed a survey where participants would listen to the song and then decide which of two visuals they preferred for a cover, merchandise item, and social media feed. Each set of visuals had one with a nostalgic theme and one that utilized hidden messages. This project discusses the importance of social media in an independent artist’s career and marketing efforts, as well as discusses customer-centric marketing and co-creation marketing strategies through nostalgia and hidden messages. I found success in a nostalgic strategy and interest in hidden messages. This research sets the stage for testing similar strategies by collaborating with other artists and their work in the hopes of creating guidance for independent artists when marketing their releases.
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
Releasing music 20 years ago looks a lot different than releasing music today, and it is still ever-changing. Artists can make music in their bedrooms and release it independently by simply uploading it online. These artists can use social media to market their music themselves. But with it being so easy for new and small artists to put out a song it begs the question: in this customer era of marketing, how can new and small artists use co-creational marketing strategies, such as themes of nostalgia and hidden messages, to differentiate themselves? This project seeks to answer that question. In this partial creative project and partial research project, I tasked myself with writing and producing a song myself, then using that work to test these different marketing strategies. I distributed a survey where participants would listen to the song and then decide which of two visuals they preferred for a cover, merchandise item, and social media feed. Each set of visuals had one with a nostalgic theme and one that utilized hidden messages. This project discusses the importance of social media in an independent artist’s career and marketing efforts, as well as discusses customer-centric marketing and co-creation marketing strategies through nostalgia and hidden messages. I found success in a nostalgic strategy and interest in hidden messages. This research sets the stage for testing similar strategies by collaborating with other artists and their work in the hopes of creating guidance for independent artists when marketing their releases.
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
The goal of this research study is to examine the nature and effects of social media marketing and the role it has played towards driving Gen Z into the luxury fashion industry. In addition, qualitative exploration focused on uncovering the reason behind why this market chooses to purchase luxury products and investigated the relationship between social media influencers, luxury brands, and their consumers.
Through 12 qualitative research interviews, five key insights were suggested from the results of the study: people buy luxury to fit in or stand out in social groups, social media marketing portrays a false reality, social media has contributed to the rise of Gen Z consumers in luxury fashion, social media has normalized owning luxury products, and social media has caused lowered self esteem and social pressure amongst Gen Z. These insights can be explained through a triangular framework, making up a marketing ecosystem involving the brand, the social media influencer, and the consumer. These three roles work together to buy and sell goods from one another. If one of the players fails to do their role, the relationships fall apart.
Given phones and apps are highly personal items often only used by one individual, understanding and comparing the ads and images one user is exposed to versus another can be very tricky. Recently, the Federal Trade Commission has increased regulations over native advertisements when viewers became unable to decipher ad from reality. Gen Z’s may inadvertently compare themselves to influencers, ultimately causing lowered self esteem when they cannot possess or achieve the lifestyle of these individuals. These insights are important to help understand how to negate the negative effects of social media marketing and propel companies to be more transparent in their marketing initiatives to reduce social pressure and poor mental health amongst Gen Z. Luxury brands could utilize more explicit differentiators on paid advertisements compared to editorial material to make audiences more knowledgeable of the type of content they are viewing. In addition, society should change the way people perceive online content and have more open discussions surrounding the ethics of native advertising and decipection social media posts may cause. The way young users interact and process social media posts is very complex. Investigating this topic is important to prevent the possible underlying repercussions of social media and help marketers best cater toward this market in an open, ethical fashion.
This study concludes with managerial applications and directions for further research. Businesses should prepare to face increasing guidelines regarding native advertising. These guidelines may include requirements to have explicit markings on branded content and binding contracts with social media influencers. To work around these restrictions, the future of luxury fashion indicates that direct to consumer strategies are on the rise. Video livestream retail and social commerce are already taking the Chinese market by storm and it's only a matter of time before American brands will be forced to adapt to keep up with changing trends in the marketplace. DTC brands benefit from having a direct channel to the consumer without interpretation or the need for intermediaries. Given this research primarily focuses on the links between the brand to influencer and influencer to consumer, future exploration could focus on the channel between the brand and consumer through direct selling. Going forward, brands may prefer to interact with their customers directly, without the use of an influencer, to help establish a close relationship with their audience through a seamless customer journey.
ContributorsElton, Eila (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Gray, Nancy (Committee member) / Bush, Leslie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Based on the findings from previous studies and research, social media use and psychological issues among minors are increasing overtime. However, there are still questions about whether or not these factors are related to one another. The goal of my study is to better understand the relationship between social media use and the psychological issues among minors by analyzing their self-esteem, self-efficacy, social anxiety, locus of control, and peer pressure. My research examined minors' time spent on social media, their influencer engagement, and the social media platforms they use and how these factors impact the constructs of interest: self-esteem, self-efficacy, social anxiety, locus of control, and peer pressure. My study was conducted by distributing a survey to minors (ages 12-17) that asked about their social media use and habits. Based on my findings, I concluded that minors that use a large number of social media platforms have lower self-esteem and high levels of peer pressure, the more frequently a minor uses social media, the higher their self-esteem is, and the more social media influencers that the minor is following, the lower their self-efficacy is. Additionally, using certain social media platforms, following certain types of influencers, and participating in certain engagement behaviors had different effects on the minor’s self-esteem, self-efficacy, social anxiety, locus of control, and peer pressure. An implication from my results is that social media can be a positive outlet for a minor's mental health and it can impact a minor positively or negatively depending on how they use it.
ContributorsSmaw, Rebekah (Author) / Dong, Xiaodan (Thesis director) / Gray, Nancy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2022-05