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 thesis, nearly 700 Millenial 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 media outlets. These fields deal primarily with managing the perception of brands in the eyes of consumers and managing relationships with those consumers on behalf of organizations. This study provides some preliminary information for brands to make more informed decisions about social media strategy. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Communication and Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester 2011. / November 7, 2011. / brand, Facebook, marketing, Millennial, public relations, Social Media / Includes bibliographical references. / Jay Rayburn, Professor Directing Thesis; Ulla Bunz, Committee Member; John DuBard, Committee Member; Gerry Gilmer, Committee Member; Davis Houck, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182859 |
| Contributors | Frady, David (authoraut), Rayburn, Jay (professor directing thesis), Bunz, Ulla (committee member), DuBard, John (committee member), Gilmer, Gerry (committee member), Houck, Davis (committee member), School of Communication (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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