College Students' Engagement in Social Media Marketing
Open Access
Author:
Borgida, Lane Elizabeth
Area of Honors:
Advertising/Public Relations
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Dr. George Anghelcev, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Susan Mary Strohm, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
social media Facebook Twitter brand marketing brand communication college students
Abstract:
This research investigated brand-consumer relationships on social media sites, Facebook and Twitter, among U.S. college students. Understanding how college students perceive social media marketing and how they interact with brands’ social media pages allowed the development of
suggestions for using social media as a marketing tool.
A mixed methodological approach involving the use of qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative (survey questionnaire) techniques was used. The initial exploratory focus group research informed the development of the survey questionnaire administered to 209 students at a large northeastern university. The results show significant managerial implications for brand marketing strategies. Findings include differences between use of Facebook and Twitter as brand communication platforms in terms of benefits for users and for brands, and their respective predictors.
