Date of Defense

12-7-2017

Date of Graduation

12-2017

Department

Marketing

First Advisor

Scott Cowley

Second Advisor

Ann Veeck

Abstract

This research project focuses on high school athletics social media pages and their relevance to high school communication audiences and institutional communication goals.

I conducted two in-depth interviews with school officials from a large Michigan high school, a survey of the high school sports social media followers, and an analysis of data from that high school’s Facebook page.

I was able to determine that seeing social media content from high school athletics pages had a positive relationship with how the school’s quality of social media communication was perceived, intentions to attend athletic events, and an increased awareness of the school’s academic mission.

It was also determined that engaging with a school’s social media content from high school athletics pages had a positive relationship with how the school’s quality of social media communication was perceived, intentions to attend athletic events, and an increased awareness of the school’s academic mission.

Additionally, my content analysis found that high school Facebook posts with academic accomplishments about student athletes had a significantly higher engagement rate than other types of content put out. Content with academic and athletic accomplishments tended to outperform other types of content on the Facebook page as well.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access

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