Millennials' Personal Connection With Brands Via Social Media Tools

70 Pages·2015·1.25 MB·English

by  David Michael Frady

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2011
Millennials' Personal Connection with
Brands via Social Media Tools
David Frady
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION

MILLENNIALS’ PERSONAL CONNECTION WITH BRANDS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

TOOLS

By

DAVID FRADY

A Thesis submitted to the
College of Communication
and Information in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
of Master of Science

Degree Awarded:
Fall Semester 2011
David Frady defended this Thesis on November 7, 2011.

The members of the supervisory committee were:

Jay Rayburn
Professor Directing Thesis

Ulla Bunz
Committee Member

John DuBard
Committee Member

Gerry Gilmer
Committee Member

Davis Houck
Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and
certifies that the Thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements.

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This Thesis is dedicated to my mother, Michelle Frady, who is the most amazing person I have
ever known. She sacrificed so much to make sure we grew up in a home full of love and
encouragement. You were taken from us far too soon, but you live on in everything I do. I think
of you every day and I know you are proud of the person I have become.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express sincere appreciation to Dr. Jay Rayburn for his direction as my committee
chair and instructor. Writing this Thesis has been trying, but in the end it was an invaluable
learning experience. His patience and guidance made this Thesis possible. Through his
leadership, an assortment of related ideas has developed into a piece of scholarly literature.

Additionally, I am indebted to my other committee members for their guidance. Dr. Gerry
Gilmer added his public relations experience and was essential in helping a boy from
Okeechobee write a little better. Dr. John DuBard was wonderful in keeping me on track and on
point. Dr. Davis Houck and Dr. Ulla Bunz graciously brought communication theory expertise
on short notice to help finish this study.

I would also like to thank my family for helping me to get where I am. My mother, who gave up
so much, made me the person I am today. My father inspired me to reach higher and never be
satisfied with easy.

Finally, though she could never know how much I need her, I’d like to thank my beautiful wife
Beth. Without her, I would be lost. I love you.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables vii

List of Figures viii

Abstract ix

1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 What are Social Media and Web 2.0 2
1.2 Social Media are a Toolset 5
1.3 NASCAR Nation 5
1.4 Tweets Heard Round the World 7
1.5 Stand up for the WWE 7
1.6 Measuring Success 8
1.7 Conclusion 8

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 10
2.1 Millennials 10
2.2 Organization-Public Relationship Scale explained 10
2.3 Who is using Social Media to Manage Relationships 12
2.4 How are Organizations Using Social Media to Manage Relationships 14
2.5 How Do We Measure Success 16
2.6 Increasing Use of Social Media Marketing 20
2.7 Social Media Outlets to be Studied 21
2.7.1 Facebook 22
2.7.2 Twitter 23
2.8 Research Questions 25

3. METHODOLOGY 26
3.1 Participants 26
3.2 Collection Process & Survey Instrument 26
3.3 Survey Questions 27
3.3.1 Anthropomorphic Questions 27
3.3.2 Personal-Commitment Questions 28
3.3.3 Demographic/background Questions 28

4. RESULTS 30
4.1 Research Question #1 30
4.2 Research Question #2 34
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4.3 Research Question #3 36
4.4 Research Question #4 39

5. DISCUSSION 42
5.1 Overview of Findings 42
5.1.1 Research Question #1 42
5.1.2 Research Question #2 44
5.1.3 Research Question #3 45
5.1.4 Research Question #4 46
5.2 Limitations and Considerations 47
5.3 Suggestions for Further Research 48
5.4 Conclusion 49

APPENDIX A 51

APPENDIX B 53

REFERENCES 55

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 59

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LIST OF TABLES

4.1 How often do participants read and share messages posted by brands with others
on Facebook 33

4.2 How often do participants read and share messages posted by brands with others
on Twitter 34

4.3 Anthropomorphic correlation among Facebook users 35

4.4 Anthropomorphic correlations among Twitter users 36

4.5 Personal-Commitment correlations among Facebook users 38

4.6 Personal-Commitment correlations among Twitter users 39

4.7 Mean time spent on Facebook and Twitter by gender 40

4.8 Participants’ race 41

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LIST OF FIGURES

4.1 Mean hours spent on Facebook and Twitter 31

4.2 How many business/organization/not-for-profit pages do you like/follow on
Facebook and Twitter 32

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this Thesis is to examine the relationship between Millennials’ (also
referred to as Generation Y) engagement with brands on social media outlets and the relationship
they have with brands they interact with. Many organizations are shifting their marketing and
public relations dollars away from traditional media outlets to social media outlets, yet there is
little academic research on the effectiveness of these efforts. Moreover, there is much debate
over how to measure success in social media campaigns.
In this study, nearly 700 Millennial students at Florida State University were surveyed to
examine their level of social media use, engagement with brands, and attitudes about the brands
they interacted with. A modified version of Bruning and Galloway’s (2003) Organization-Public
Relations Scale was used to test the relationships that brands build through their social media
efforts. This scale is a diagnostic tool for managers of Organization-Public relationships to
measure relationships with key publics. Two dimensions, Anthropomorphic and Personal-
Commitment, were used to assess the connection Millenials had with the brands they interacted
with on Facebook and Twitter. Race and gender were also examined for correlation with social
media engagement.
Statistical analyses were conducted to determine the level of correlation between
exposure and engagement with messages from brands on social media and participants’
connections to brands. Spearman Rho correlation tests confirmed significant positive
relationships between reading and sharing messages on social media outlets and the respondents’
commitment and trust associated with the brands they followed.
Chi-Squared tests indicated that female participants spend more time on social media
outlets in general. Research results indicated that demographics did not have significant
correlations with Personal-Commitment or Anthropomorphic values. Nearly all participants
(98.6%) indicated using Facebook or Twitter in the last 90 days and most (92.6%) indicated
following at least one brand on either outlet.
This study builds on the current body of knowledge in the marketing and public relations
fields by providing specific information about the way Millenials interact with brands on social
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