Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries / Department: Agricultural Economics.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Society, Culture, Media & Philosophy, Dept. of Media, 2007. / Bibliography: leaves 281-305.

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Social Media Influencers (SMIs) and their sponsored posts on the Social Media represent a growing part of tomorrow’s digital marketing landscape. Marketers hire them to recommend their products to their large audiences through friendly and engaging social media posts. To please marketers, increasing and maintaining their audience size is of the utmost importance. Consequently, number of followers, likes, and comments have become the metrics of SMIs success. However, recent contradictory publications of business magazines and academic research raised the question of SMIs’ online popularity, credibility, and their efficiency as brand endorsers. Hence, an online-based survey experiment based examined the audience’s attitude of SMI credibility across three different level of online popularity using Ohanian’s (1990) source credibility model. Further, the relationship between SMI credibility and brand attitude, and the mediating effect of attitude toward sponsored post were investigated using a research model adapted from Attitude toward advertising models. The findings revealed that the more an SMI is popular, the more he is perceived as a credible brand advocate, and SMI credibility was found to positively and directly influences brand attitude. Semi-structured interviews strengthened the discussion of the quantitative results. Theoretical and managerial contributions of the study are presented and suggestions for future research ensue.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Marketing)-Dept. of Marketing, Durban University of Technology, 2007 xiv, 129 [19] leaves / This study examined brand awareness after a change in sponsor and audience perceptions about the sponsors and the event before and after the change.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Marketing)-Dept. of Marketing, Durban University of Technology, 2007 xiv, 129 [19] leaves / This study examined brand awareness after a change in sponsor and audience perceptions about the sponsors and the event before and after the change.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the use of celebrities and the types of products endorsed. Advertisements from one popular magazine in the U.S. and two popular magazines in Thailand were used.

The purpose of this study is to examine the evolution of six U.S. corporate logos – Apple, McDonald‟s, Nike, Pepsi, Shell, and Starbucks – from each logo‟s inception until the newest version of the graphic emblem today. The objective is to determine the meanings that logos have for a corporation‟s identity, mission, and relationships, as well as the messages that logos convey to viewers (i.e., mostly customers). By “evolution” of logos here, the researcher means “ongoing transformation” of logos. The semiotic model used in this analysis is Charles Sanders Peirce‟s (1958 [1931]) semiotic framework. Peircean semiotics is made up of a three-part paradigm of signification: the representamen (or the sign itself), the object (or “referent” – what the sign refers to), and the interpretant (the effect on the viewer, or the viewer‟s interpretation). Based on the semiotic data on logo evolution, the researcher found six main themes that emerged across the analyses of U.S. corporate logos. These themes are (1) Direction toward the Future, (2) Identity with Viewers, (3) Instant Recognition and Distinctiveness, (4) Consistency throughout Evolution, (5) Invocation of Change, and (6) True Representation of Corporate Identity. The ultimate conclusion of this analysis is that the communicative intent of a company, through its logo, tends to take a long time to develop. A successful logo is one that portrays the true objectives and principles of a company. For this reason, the ideal identity of a corporation tends to be built over a long period of time, which makes logo improvement “evolutionary” in nature. In all six cases, communication plays a major part in logo improvement.

隨著網際網路快速發展，自2007年起網路就已經超越報紙、成為台灣第二大消費者最常接觸的媒體，2010年台灣網路廣告投資量為新台幣85億元(預估2012年更高達117億元)，但卻僅占台灣整體廣告量的9.1%、屈居第四名，落後傳統電視、報紙、雜誌的廣告投資量，其中很重要原因之一就是網路廣告的價值仍被許多廣告主質疑，且尚無被公認接受的網路廣告效益評估標準。 若以目前最常被用來評估網路廣告效益指標：CPM (每千人廣告曝光成本)及CTR(廣告點選率)而言，由於網路廣告的“曝光”不代表一定被看見，因此CPM只能作為媒體採購成本的參考；若以CTR作為評估標準，台灣目前平均廣告點選率已低於0.1%(2012年業界實際經驗值)，是否就可以直接推論：『99.9%的廣告曝光是無效的？』(因為99.9%的曝光並不會吸引網友點選) 由於網路廣告的曝光一定有其價值性，因此期望透過本研究證明以下假說： 假說一: 曝露在指定品牌廣告下的消費者，比沒有曝露在指定品牌廣告下的消費者更容易回答有看到廣告中的指定品牌。 假說二: 曝露在指定品牌廣告下的消費者，比沒有曝露在指定品牌廣告下的消費者更容易回想到廣告中的指定品牌。 假說三：曝露在指定品牌廣告下的消費者如果家中有液晶電視，會比沒有曝露在指定品牌廣告下的消費者更容易提高對廣告中指定品牌的記憶度或偏好度。 假說四：曝露在指定品牌廣告下的消費者，比沒有曝露在指定品牌廣告下的消費者更容易引發聯想其他競品品牌(廣告外溢效果)。 研究結果證明：『即使網友在一般網路瀏覽行為中不刻意瀏覽網頁中的附帶廣告、甚至點選廣告，但只要在廣告上明顯揭露指定品牌名稱，就會有一定比例的網友對廣告留下印象』，因此即可推論：『即使平均廣告點選率= 0.1%，也不能直接推論 99.9%的廣告是無效的』。只要在廣告的設計上明顯揭露品牌/產品/活動名稱，就會有一定比例的消費者對廣告留下印象，但若廣告設計時無明顯揭露品牌名稱，則結果就如同本研究中的“無廣告操弄”，對提升品牌印象/價值毫無加分作用，更遑論可以提升偏好度/購買意願。 根據本研究結果顯示，即使消費者在搜尋網路資訊時已有特定目的，但仍會稍事注意到一旁的網路廣告(雖不一定很明確地意識到廣告的存在)，因此建議廣告主不要以“廣告點選率CTR”作為唯一評估網路廣告成效的指標，以本研究證實，即使所有的受訪者皆無點選廣告，網路廣告曝光仍會有具有一定的價值。 最後有關“廣告外溢效果”的探討，雖然本次研究結果無法證明：『若是一個中等品牌偏好度的品牌在做廣告時，其產生的外溢效果會加惠於該產業的知名品牌，讓消費者因 “中等品牌偏好度的廣告” 而自動回憶起原本即喜歡的他牌，尤其是高知名度的領導品牌』，但如果後續能持續研究此議題並證明其假設成立，則領導品牌的媒體廣告投資週期就可適度避開二線品牌的廣告曝光期，因為當二線品牌刊登廣告可能也會同時喚起對領導品牌的回憶，領導品牌的廣告就可延後刊播，待二線品牌廣告停止時再接續播出，有可能達到整體媒體投資效益最大化(最佳化)、拉長廣告影響期間的目標。