Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-2014

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Communication

Major Professor

John Haas

Committee Members

Laura Miller, Courtney Childers

Abstract

This project seeks to inform corporate marketing efforts, as well as add to the growing body of literature on social media marketing. The purpose of this project is to assess consumer perceptions of a brand’s social media marketing. Participants were obtained from the PetSafe® brand Facebook fan page, and a total of 195 respondents completed all measures and were included in the study. The results show that brands must be actively engaging their consumers via social media in order to compete in a competitive marketplace. Engagement can be promoted through entertaining and interactive posts, useful and relevant content, word of mouth communication from other consumers, as well as extrinsic reinforcers such as promotions and giveaways. Social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter, is a key platform to build relationships with consumers and for consumers to get information about a brand and its products. Consumers are trustworthy of the information posted by the brand and information posted by other consumers online. The future of social media as a marketing tool is also considered.

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