Date of Defense

12-11-2015

Date of Graduation

12-2015

Department

Marketing

First Advisor

Ann Veeck

Second Advisor

Phil Straniero

Third Advisor

Robert Samples

Abstract

Throughout my time at Haworth College of Business, Social Media has been a big topic of discussion. The issue has not been if companies should use it as a tool to reach consumers but how do companies effectively utilize Social Media sites. Companies have two important ways to utilize these sites: the first is to collect data from users, and the second is to create a platform where they can interact and influence purchasing decisions. I wanted to create a thesis that focused on the interaction side of Social Media. Initially, I wanted to see if Social Media would create brand loyalty among consumers using Social Media sites. A study done by Irem Erdogmus and Mesut Cicek, The impact of social media marketing on brand loyalty, was the starting foundation for my theis. The study found that there are four factors contribution to brand loyalty on social media: relevancy of content, popularity of the content among friends, appearance on different Social Media sites, and delivery of applications (Erdogmus and Cicek 2015). Noticing that these themes could have a possible overlap to consumer’s viewpoints on ads on Social Media, I decided to change my topic to encompass consumers’ viewpoints on ads.

To get more information about ads I reached out to two industry professionals, John Kochmanski, Senior Channel Manger for VML and Keith Boswell, Director of Social Strategy for Meijer. Mr. Kochmanski, who works for an advertising agency, expressed the importance of personalization. On the other hand, Mr. Boswell, who works for a retailer, emphasized the importance of creating a space where Meijer can market their product, provide customer service, and create engagement with consumers. Both stated that consumers want a customized experience, with the crucial problem being how to use all this consumer data to find out how to personalize their companies’ communications to reach consumers. Companies today cannot send one generalized messaged to consumers. Consequently, I wanted to create a study that looked at how successfully companies personalize their messages to consumers.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access

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