Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TO THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION Honors Portfolio Volume II University Honors 464 June 11, 2018

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my primary sponsor, Dr. Rizkallah and my secondary sponsor, Dr. Mallery, for their constant support throughout the project; I would like to thank the Honors Department for giving me a platform on which to do this research study; and finally, I would like to thank my friends for their constant support and willingness to listen to my complaints.

CONTENTS

26 Case Study Glossier

64 Discussion Interpretation of Results Limitations and Future Research

7 Abstract

8 Review of Literature Millennials and the Internet Millennials and Consumerism Nature of Current Study

34 Focus Group

Perceptions of Social Media

70 References

40 Online Survey Method Results

74 Appendices Interview with Professor Razzouk Focus Group Question and Answer Notes Survey Questionnaire

Abstract The millennial generation, born 1980 – 2000, has a high level of spending power but are resistant to traditional marketing efforts. Prior research has found that social media marketing can be very instrumental in garnering millennial interest and retaining them as long-term customers. This study tests that theory. It looks at five different type of social media marketing: user-generated content contests, sponsored links, brand utilities, sponsored conversations, and social proof, to see which kind would be the most effective. It then takes an in-depth look at social proof marketing, which other researchers have postulated to be the most effective type of marketing to this generation. Five types of social proof marketing are examined: expert social proof, celebrity social proof, user social proof, wisdom of crowds social proof, and wisdom of friends social proof. Results showed low overall effectiveness of social media marketing. Social proof marketing was one of the most effective types of social media marketing, and wisdom of friends social proof was the most effective type of social proof.

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Recently, the term “millennial” has been used to describe a generation of individuals who are now coming of age. Although this word has been used sporadically to describe a variety of age ranges, many agree that at this point in history, “millennials” are now coming into adulthood, and thus into their buying power. This has made millennials a primary focus of marketers, as they try to figure it out how to best use advertisements to tap into this buying power and increase overall company sales. This study is based on the acknowledgment of the relatively new, and therefore untapped, buying power of the millennial generation at this point in history, the role that social media and the internet plays in the life of a millennial, and the access to said buying power marketers could gain via social media marketing.

Review of Literature

Millennials & The Internet Researchers have been dividing groups of individuals into generational cohorts for years. These social groupings are created from the idea that the members of a generation will share common characteristics that serve to distinguish them from the generation before or after them (Mannheim, 1952; Sessa, Kabacoff, Deal, & Brown, 2007). Traditionally, each generation is classified by a 20 year period (Horovitz, 2001). As stated before, we will be looking at the generation known as the millennials, and we will be defining this age range as individuals born between 1980 and 2000. Table 1 lists a variety of years that researchers have used to identify this generation. As with all generations before it, the actual birth years vary depending on the researcher studying it (Koeppel, 2017). Some researchers place the beginning of the millennial generation as early as 1977 while others have it spanning from 1984 to 2002 ( (Alch, 2000; Bakewell & Vincent-Wayne, 2003; Bush, Martin, & Bush, 2004; Farris, Chong, & Danning, 2002; Horovitz, 2001; Martin & Turley, 2004). This study uses the time frame of 1980 to 2000 because this set of years brings the two extreme definitions of birth years (1977 – 1994 and 1984 – 2002) to a middle ground. Several other researchers, especially those more recent, have also used

these years to define this generation (Eastman, Iyer, Liao-Troth, Williams, & Griffin, 2014; McDonald, 2015; Weber, 2017). There are a few critiques of this 20-year time frame as well as the idea of a millennial as a whole.

Horovitz, 2001 notes that with technology changing so quickly and lifestyles changing due to it, perhaps groups of individuals only share characteristics with individuals within ten years of their birth. In an interview done with Professor Razzouk, a professor of marketing at La Sierra University (see Appendix A for a full transcript of the interview) it was noted that people born in the 80s are not very similar to those born in the later 90s and early 2000s (Razzouk, 2018). Later-born individuals were not old enough to remember some of the significant, life-changing events that brought together those born in the 80s. Further, Razzouk (2018) went on to mention that the term “millennials” is often used as a marketing ploy designed to be a catch-all for a large group people, projecting on to them what a millennial ought to be to better influence their behavior. This research acknowledges the issues with the term millennial and the discrepancies with the 20-year period, but to effectively match previous research findings to this study, the 20-year period will be used.

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TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF DIFFERENCES IN INTERVALS OF MILLENNIAL BIRTH YEARS BIRTH YEAR INTERVAL 1977 – 1994

STUDY Sports Celebrity Influence on the Behavioral Intentions of Generation Y (Bush et al., 2004) Malls and consumption motivation: an exploratory examination of older Generation Y consumers (Martin & Turley, 2004)

1977 – 1997

The echo-boom generation: A growing force in American society (Alch, 2000) Generation Y female consumer decision-making styles (Bakewell & Vincent- Wayne, 2003) Generation Y: Purchasing Power and Implications for Marketing (Farris et al., 2002)

1978 – 1994 1979 – 2000

Endlessly Creating Myself: Examining Marketplace Inclusion Through the Lived Experience of Black and White Male Millennials (Thomas, 2013) Developers Give Gen Y What They Want (Kirk, 2011)

1980 - 1999

Monotony of social networking among millennial and its effect on social advertisement: a challenge to digital marketers (Singh, 2016)

1980 - 1999

The Role of Involvement on Milennials’ Mobile Technology Behaviors: The Moderating Impact of Status Consumption, Innovation, and Opinion Leadership (Eastman et al., 2014) 5 Ways Marketers Can Break Through to Millennials (Koeppel, 2017) Are Millennials Really the “Go-Nowhere” Generation? (McDonald, 2015) Discovering the Millennials’ Personal Values Orientation: A Comparison to Two Managerial Populations. (Weber, 2017)

1981 – 1996

Pew Research Center

1981 – 1999

Understanding Generation Y and their use of social media: a review and research agenda (Bolton et al., 2013)

1982 – 1999

Generational Differences in Work Values: Leisure and Extrinsic Values Increasing, Social and Intrinsic Values Decreasing (Twenge, Campbell, Hoffman, & Lance, 2010)

1984 – 2002

After Gen X, Millennials, what should next generation be? (Horovitz, 2001)

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These birth years encompass all individuals turning 18 – 38 in 2018. This group includes teens and young adults finally maturing into adulthood, and this maturity means that they have established their own sets of norms and behaviors (Mascarenhas & Higby, 1993).

Many of these behaviors that we will heretofore note as generational personalities were derived from group stereotypes researchers found within this generation.

A few of the personality traits of this cohort includes confident, self-expressive behavior, liberalism, racial and ethnic diversity, less religiosity and more education than the generation before them (Pew Research Center, 2010). This group is said to be very narcissistic in their attitudes and behaviors, with more self-sufficiency and focus on individuating passions than the generations before them (Campbell, Goodie, & Foster, 2004; Farris et al., 2002; Kroeger & Abugideiri, 2017; Sebor, 2006; Twenge & Campbell, 2008; Weber, 2017). Numerically, they are the largest generation segment in the United States (McDonald, 2015), and researchers have estimated that they take up a fourth of the world’s population, numbering around 76 to 80 million worldwide (Farris et al., 2002; Kirk, 2011; Singh, 2016). Although all these characteristics are very useful in differentiating this generation from the ones before it, there is one characteristic that most researchers agree to be defining of this generation. This is the integration of technology into their daily lives. The individuals of this generation are digital natives, having had early and frequent exposure to computers (Bolton et al., 2013; Kilian, Hennigs, & Langner, 2012; Koeppel, 2017). They came of age in a time where there were rapid advances in communication, technologies, media, and globalization (Park & Gursoy, 2012). This pervasiveness of technology and media had a notable effect on their behavior (Farris et al., 2002). They are significantly more likely than the generations before them to participate in technologyassisted behaviors (Djamasbi, Siegel, & Tullis, 2010).

According to a study done by the Pew Research Center (2010), 6 in 10 U.S. millennials cite the internet as their primary source for news, 9 in 10 spend time browsing the web, and 8 in 10 sleep with a cell phone by their bed.

93% of U.S. millennials own a smartphone (Jiang, 2018).

Figure 1 chronicles the rise of technology, specifically the internet, during the years of growth and maturity of a millennial. As you can see, by the year 1990, when

the oldest of Millennials would be just ten years old, almost half of American adults had used a computer. Five years later, 18 million Americans would have a computer in the home with access to the internet. By the time older millennials were reaching the latter half of their teenage years, the first cellphone with internet capabilities would be released by Nokia. By the year 2000, when all of the members of this generation had been born, about half of all American adults had used the internet.

As millennials grew into their maturity, technology mirrored their growth. The early 2000s saw the rise of popular social media sites such as Myspace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, and by 2008, 19% of Americans could access these sites from their mobile devices. Favorite products such as the iPhone and the famous massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft were also developed at this time. By 2010, 35% of adults had cell phones with application capabilities and social photo sharing sites like Pinterest and Instagram launch.

The timeline, unfortunately, ends with 2013, but at that time Facebook had reached 1 billion active users, and Ecommerce sales had topped $1 trillion worldwide (Pew Research Center, 2014). With this unprecedented, rapid growth of technology occurring within the developmental period of this generation. It’s easy to see then, why researchers say that technology is the key differentiating factor that sets apart the millennial life (Eastman et al., 2014).

From their love of technology came the millennial’s love of social media (Hewlett, Sherbin, & Sumberg, 2009). According to Razzouk (2018), social media is content that is generated then distributed socially. There is a platform by which this media gets distributed which is called a social media site. Colloquially, social media has now come to mean the mediums themselves rather than the media that is shared. Within this paper, the terms “social media” and “social media site” will be used interchangeably to mean the mediums by which content is distributed. With this in mind, social media sites are internet-based mediums through which people can create public or semi-public profiles to connect, interact, and share media with a group of others (Uhrig, Bann, Williams, & Evans, 2010). This model allows a many to many sharing of content among users (Kilian et al., 2012). There are many different types of social media sites. There are online review/rating sites,

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1995 Pierre Omidyar launches eBay, originally named Auction Web

1997 Netflix launches as a company to send DVDs to homes via mail

1995 Amazon opens for business

1995 18 million American homes now online

2001 Wikipedia launches and writes over 20,000 encyclopedia entries in the first year

1997 Google.com registers as a domain

2003 Myspace.com is founded and is adopted by musicians seeking to share music and build their fan bases

2001 The average internet user spends 83 minutes online

1999 41% of adults are now using the internet

2003 Linkedin launches

2003 Skype lauches

1996 Nokia releases the first cellphone with internet capabilities

1995

2000

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2010 Social photo-sharing sites like Pinterest and Instagram are launched

2004 Facebook is launched and goes on to become the world’s biggest social media site

2005 YouTube is found on Valnetines Day

2013 56% of Americans own a smart phone of some kind

2006 Twitter Launches

2007 Apple releases first Iphone 2012 E-commerce sales top $1 trillion world wide

2005

2010

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social networking services, virtual game worlds, video sharing sites, content community sites, wikis, internet forums, and location-based social media (Krishnamurthy & Dou, 2008; Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014). The sites have become a part of everyday life (Chu & Kim, 2011).

They are so pervasive within modern culture that they are the top online destination in every country, encompassing the majority of time spent online and reaching over half of all internet users (Nielsen, 2009). This type of Internet-based social interaction is not entirely new; in fact, it has been around for 20 years (Inks, Schetzsle, & Avila, 2012). Recently, however, it has grown to an unprecedented amount, allowing people to express themselves in a way that has never been so widespread and immediate (Kroeger & Abugideiri, 2017). In America alone, social media sites have overtaken the routines of daily life. Pew Research Center has identified six major social media sites: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Twitter. Americans use YouTube more than any other site, with 7 in 10 considering themselves an active user (Pew Research Center, 2018). About 7 in 10 Americans also use Facebook, 4 in 10 use Instagram, 3 in 10 use Pinterest and Snapchat, while only 2 in 10 use Twitter (Pew Research Center, 2018). Those who do use social media tend to include it as a part of their daily routine. 70% of Facebook users, 60% of Snapchat and Instagram users, and 50% of Twitter and YouTube users incorporate each social media into their daily life (Pew Research Center, 2018).

According to Pew Research Center (2018), the generation that uses social media the most are the millennials. This generation uses social media to generate and maintain not only interpersonal relationships but also fictitious ideas of their ideal personas (Wickel, 2015).

They spend an average of eight hours a day on social media (Leonhardt, 2015), with about two-thirds of them always connected, regularly updating their social media profiles on the go via smartphone (Twenge, 2009).

In fact, millennials are so techno-literate that they often update social media profiles while also browsing the internet, texting, shopping, and reading at the same time (Ofcom, 2013; Singh, 2016). By the time they are 21 years old, it is estimated that millennials will have seen 23 million media messages, or perhaps even more for those of the generation who are not yet at that age (Sebor, 2006).

They do not just spend a lot of time browsing these sites, but they also actively contribute with follows, likes and retweets, the social currency of the generation (Bolton et al., 2013; Zhang, Abound Omran, & Cobanoglu, 2017).

Statistically, 9 in 10 millennials use at least one form of social media; 94% use YouTube, 80% use Facebook 78% use Snapchat, 71% use Instagram, 45% use Twitter and 71% visit a platform multiple times per day (A. Smith & Anderson, 2018). It is clear that social media use is paramount to the individuals of this generation. How, then, do the traits of this generation, and their technological use relate to marketing?

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Review of Literature

Millennials & Consumerism According to historians Hollander and Germain (as cited in Wolburg & Pokrywczynski, 2001), marketers as early as the 1920s saw the value in the young adult market segment, and this continues today as this segment is one of the most coveted of all. There are several reasons why a tremendous amount of effort is put into reaching this group. Those who live on college campuses are especially popular due to their sheer size, the role of trendsetter they are often placed in, the loyalty to brands that students develop then take way into adulthood, and their receptiveness to new products (Wolburg & Pokrywczynski, 2001).

At this point in history, millennials include college students and those just entering the workplace. They are now the largest segment of U.S. consumers coming it at thrice the size of the generation before them (Cheng, 1999; Koeppel, 2017). Not only do they surpass the previous generation in size, but they also do so in economic power. Researchers have cited them as enormously wealthy (Cheng, 1999; Djamasbi et al., 2010; Eastman et al., 2014; Farris et al., 2002). They have more spending power now than any previous generations did at their age (Wolburg & Pokrywczynski, 2001). Some estimates put their spending ex-

penses between $155 - $200 billion a year (Djamasbi et al., 2010; Lazarevic, 2012; Nusair, Bilgihan, Okumus, & Cobanoglu, 2013). They are very compulsive shoppers with little concern for costs, few financial responsibilities, a hunger for new products, and a propensity to buy products immediately (Sebor, 2006). It is behaviors like these coupled with their economic prosperity that has led marketers to believe that this generation represents the perfect customer (Sebor, 2006).

Unfortunately for marketers, this generation is resistant to traditional marketing efforts (Megehee, Dobie, & Grant, 2003; Wolburg & Pokrywczynski, 2001).

Traditional marketing includes mostly outbound marketing, the type of marketing in which an advertisement is created then sent out to the general population with hopes that at least 10 – 15% of the population will see the ad and it will be relevant to their needs (Razzouk, 2018). Common examples of traditional marketing techniques include billboards, newspaper advertisements, television advertisements, and radio advertisements. Researchers have found that millennials are difficult to reach using these strategies (Barnes & Lescault, 2014; Cheng, 1999). Part of the

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reason they are so difficult to reach via these media is the fact that they are more diverse than the generations before them and they seek their entertainment from a wide variety of outlets (Wolburg & Pokrywczynski, 2001). With such a diverse generation using a variety of media, there is no one size fits all. A marketer who is sending out flyers or billboards in hopes to reach this generation will have a hard time because the chances that many millennials are not only seeing but internalizing the messages on those advertisements are meager. They have become so accustomed to intrusive marketing practices of this kind that they are not likely to focus on the messages portrayed (Bakewell & Vincent-Wayne, 2003).

This resistance to traditional marketing tactics makes it difficult for marketers to acquire them as customers and makes it even harder to maintain their loyalty (Farris et al., 2002; Sebor, 2006; Wood, 2004). Wolburg & Pokrywczynski (2001) hypothesized that this lack of brand loyalty could be in part because most millennials grew up with constant exposure to advertising. Cheng (1999) found that the internet is an effective alternative to traditional marketing efforts. However, other research has found that people tend to see online advertisements as intrusive and ineffective (K. T. Smith, 2011). This is even truer for millennials because they are subjected to 23 million media messages by the time they are 21, they are desensitized to an onslaught of identical marketing media (Sebor, 2006).

been the internet (Ha, 2008). This tool provides effective marketing strategies, most notably its precision in targeting consumers. Most social media sites give you the option of age ranges, gender, interests and more for marketers defining the parameters of the individuals they are trying to reach (Razzouk, 2018).

The internet is not only useful in allowing precise targeting of consumers but also in allowing consumers to find and connect with brands. Over half of all active social media users follow a brand (Nielsen, 2009). This spells good news for brands because they are able to use these connections for effective image building and brand awareness, thus leading to the increase of sales (Alameddine, 2013). Further, users who find brands they love are likely to create and post positive content regarding these brands which can create new customers from the people these users are connected with (Bowen, 2015). If consumers are not posting or contributing to a brand’s hype, it is likely that they are at least observing the movements of the brand (Schlosser, 2005; Shao, 2009). In fact, most consumers use social media to observe rather than to actively participate (Jones, Ravid, & Rafaeli, 2004). Bilgihan and colleagues (2014) found that this observation has two goals, to find information and to experience pleasure. Razzouk (2018) suggests that if a consumer is in need of making a purchase, a quick search on social media can help them decide which business to give their patronage to. This could signify that in order to attract patrons, a business needs to exist on the sites where consumers are searching. Finally, marketing to millennials via social media also follows a simple marketing principle – go where your consumers are. With 93% of millennials using some form social media site, it follows that a marketer trying to reach this generation would need to be on these sites as well (Smith & Anderson, 2018). Finally, social media has been very crucial in the develOpment of their consumer identity. These

Research shows that it is through the use of social media that marketers are the most successful in reaching this generation of cohorts

Social Media Marketing While consumers have reported online ads are annoying and intrusive, research shows that it is through the internet, specifically through the use of social media, that marketers are the most successful in reaching this generation of cohorts. The fastest growing marketing medium of the past decade has

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websites affect their expectations of service, formations of buying habits, engagements with brands, and brand loyalty (Bolton et al., 2013). The consumer socialization of this generation has been propelled by their constant presence on social media which suggests that a business presence on these sites is crucial for the formation of a relationship between a brand and a millennial.

Because of this newfound knowledge of social media marketing, many firms have begun incorporating social media as a key component to their marketing tactics (Lim, Jeen-Su, Lim, Kee-Sook, & Heinrichs, 2014). Researchers believe that social media could be the key to leveling the playing fields when it comes to big and small businesses (K. T. Smith, 2009). With a surplus of brands utilizing social media marketing, how then does a company diversify itself from its competition? This paper will examine a variety of different social media marketing techniques that can be utilized by brands, hopefully giving readers insight into effective ways marketers can turn social media into sales, even amidst competition. Researchers have not spent much time detailing the different types of social media marketing. Most firms use what is known as sponsored advertising in order to reach their target markets. This include image and video advertisements created by a company, with payments going directly to the social media site, for a guarantee of an audience. While a quick scroll through any social media site finds mostly sponsored advertisements, there are other types of advertising campaigns as well. These campaigns focus mostly on electronic word of mouth, using user-generated content to get the word out about brands or products. This area, again, has not been well researched. One company that has taken its time to detail these types of usergenerated social media ad campaigns is Dummies.

Dummies is a company dedicated to transforming hard to understand facts into easy to use data (“About For Dummies,” n.d.). It details five types of social media ad campaigns: user-generated content contests, brand utilities, podcasts, sponsored conversations, and blogger outreach. This study will not be taking into account podcast campaigns because podcasts are not a whole social media marketing campaign, but rather are syndicated as parts of other campaigns

(Consumer Dummies, n.d.). User-generated content contests are structured competitions built around users who contribute something in return for rewards.

For example, a competition could ask users to repost a photo of a product the brand is advertising and one of the individuals who reposts the photo is then chosen to win the advertised product. Brand utilities are those that provide a consumer with some sort of utility application of actual value. A simple example of this is a brand-sponsored Snapchat filter. Some brands will sponsor a fun filter that users can take photos with and send to their friends that advertises the specific company or a specific product. Sponsored conversations are any kind of online conversation about a brand. The most basic kind of sponsored conversation is a hashtag. Many brands, especially on Twitter, will sponsor a hashtag, asking people who follow the brand to tweet about the company as a whole or a specific product using that hashtag. Finally, there is blogger outreach. Despite the word “blogger” in its title, this is really just outreach to influential members of a social media community, asking them to use their brand then communicate to with followers what they like about the company. While all of the previously mentioned ad campaigns are very popular, Dummies has indicated that blogger outreach is the most common.

Social Proof Marketing This paper postulates that perhaps blogger outreach ad campaigns are the most popular because they are the most successful. The theory behind what makes blogger outreach so popular is the Theory of Social Proof. Social Proof is rooted in the idea of consumer socialization, a process by which young people learn relevant skills and knowledge about their function as consumers in the marketplace (Ward, 1974).

One way these individuals can determine appropriate behavior for themselves is through observing the behavior of others, especially those they believe to be similar to themselves (Cialdini, Wosinska, Barrett, Butner, & Gornik-Durose, 1999). In essence, social proof is just what the name suggests: proof. When an individual sees another behaving a certain way, that becomes proof that this is acceptable (Rieck, 2000).

Researchers have found evidence that individuals do

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behave as their peers do in a variety of diverse situations. The effect of social proof is observed in small behaviors such as returning a lost wallet (Hornstein, Fisch, & Holmes, 1968), or littering in a public space (Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990), to more dangerous behaviors like approach a scary dog (Bandura, Grusec, & Menlove, 1967), engaging in promiscuous activity (Buunk & Bakker, 1995), or even in deciding whether or not to commit suicide (Garland & Zigler, 1993). Perhaps if these mimicking behaviors are so pervasive throughout everyday life, a degree of mimicking can take place via social media as well. Hypothetically, if an individual posts on social media, explicitly saying “this is the product I use, and this is why I like it,” it could become a way by which others decide that using this product is okay. This idea that social proof can affect people by offering evidence that those close to them are using a product, thus heightening their awareness of and likelihood to use the product, is mostly unexplored by researchers and marketers (Das, Kramer, Dabbish, & Hong, 2014).

This paper suggests that the theory could be useful as a marketing tactic, specifically through social media and specifically with the millennial generation.

Social media is shifting the socialization pattern of individuals from one person socializing with another to many people capable of reaching many others (Solis, 2010). Thus, just by reaching out to one influencer within a community and asking that individual to provide direct proof about their love of a product, tens of thousands of individuals can be affected by this social proof instantaneously. And these tens of thousands of people are just the followers of the influencer. If a few of that influencer’s followers then share their love of a product, the number of people being affected by social proof grows exponentially.

This theory should be especially useful in affecting the consumer socialization of millennials because, as found by Viswanathan & Jain (2013), when looking for a product or service, millennials seek their peer’s approval to raise their confidence and to better fit in with their friends. This process of socialization in millennials is significantly affected by social media because it helps them develop their identity (Kilian et al., 2012). Researchers have found that another key way for individuals to develop and express their

identity is through consumption. This theory, termed symbolic consumption, suggests that people use different products to convey attributes about themselves (Belk, Mayer, & Bahn, 1982). This makes social media the perfect platform for marketing to millennials because they are able to use both this platform and the products they buy to assert their identity. This is good news for marketers for two reasons. First, if an individual likes a brand so much that they view it as a part of their identity, they are likely to share their love of this brand with their friends. Christofides and colleagues (2011), supports this idea with their findings that what individuals share about themselves on social media are a part of what they believe to be their identities. Next, if individuals are looking to their friends for cues on what products to buy as the theory of social proof and consumer socialization suggests, posts by other users about the brands they love could be very instrumental. Brands have found that social media posts from users praising their brands can turn their simple marketing messages into viral marketing phenomenon (Kaplan, 2012). This type of viral marketing through a sort of electronic word of mouth helps a marketer’s message better penetrate a medium. It allows users to feel like they have happened upon a product rather than had this product thrust upon them which leads to higher loyalty and return over the long term (Sebor, 2006).

Marketing to millennials in the most straightforward sense is giving them something to talk about (Sebor, 2006). It is evident that they are willing to compliment brands via social media and Chu and Kim (2011) have found that this type of electric word of mouth is a very effective strategy. It is also not a complicated strategy to utilize because millennials like engaging with companies and sharing their opinions of brands (Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014). In fact, with a primary goal of delighting customers, a brand is likely to generate user content about their products because about 62% of delighted consumers share their experiences (Swanson & Davis, 2012). Razzouk (2018) expresses it as such: if an individual spends time engaging and connecting with a brand, and has a delightful experience doing it, they may then consider themselves as a friend to the brand. When a consumer moves from being just a consumer to being a friend, then they will

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establish a lasting sense of loyalty. This is crucial to any millennial marketing tactic because when an individual is fiercely loyal to a brand, it will be harder for competitors to steal them. In tying all this back into the theory of social proof, it is important to remember that customers will always trust other customer’s opinions or the opinions of their friends and family, more than any advertisement (Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006; Kerrane, Hogg, & Bettany, 2012). So, marketers who reach out to Influencers in the social media community, asking them to share their favorable opinions of a brand, are creating what is hypothesized here to be the best way to reach a millennial.

With millennials, it is not only feasible to influence them using proof from other users on a site, but it is also possible to shape them into becoming an evangelist for a brand.

This paper regards social proof as the best marketing tactic to use when trying to influence a millennial. Social proof can further be broken down into five types. These types were coined by Aileen Lee, a partner at a venture firm that focuses on consumer internet ventures. She is cited as believing that engineering a product to generate social proof can lead to amplifying a product’s discovery and influence (Lee, 2011). She lists five ways in which a marketer can engineer their product to do so. The first is expert social proof. Expert social proof, as the name suggests, is having approval from a credible expert.

An example of this within the social media sphere is having an endorsement from a beauty guru. Beauty gurus are usually YouTubers, sometimes Instagram or Twitter stars who have spent years making videos on how to use specific makeup products. People who watch their videos regard them as experts within the sphere of beauty because of the sheer volume of products they have tried and the vast amount of makeup arrangements they can put together. Getting expert social proof in this sense would mean having a beauty guru express how much they enjoy a particular product within a social media post or video. The next type of social proof Lee describes is celebrity social proof.

Celebrity social proof has been around long before social media. Halstead (2006) found that celebrities are an essential part of the consumer socialization process of millennial females, and Bush and colleagues

(2004) found that celebrity sports athletes have some influences on the brand choices of adolescence. User social proof are basic testimonials that come from other users. A primary example of this is individuals who write reviews on products online. This type of social proof marketing does not necessarily have to include people a consumer knows. Just the act of seeing another consumer that is satisfied can have an impact on the choices of individuals. Remember, Chevalier and Mayzlin (2006) found that consumers trust other consumers opinions. The last two types of social proof marketing include groupings of people. The first is wisdom of crowds social proof who’s basic idea is that when a brand is wildly popular, the numbers imply that such a significant subset of people cannot be wrong. An example of this on social media is brands that have a large follower count. Lastly, there is the wisdom of friends social proof which can be explained by the basic consumer socialization process that young adults usually go through. Friends have been found to be the primary socialization agent, especially for young adults who are establishing themselves as independent from their parents (Goerge P. Moschis, Moore, & Stanley, 1984). The basic idea behind this is that just through a friend on social media saying that they like or use a specific brand, another user can be persuaded to try that brand.

While this paper is suggesting that social proof is the best kind of social media marketing for millennials, it also acknowledges that there are issues with the theory. Firstly, it has been found that a need for social approval is low and a dislike for conformity is paramount in the Millennial generation (Twenge, Campbell, Hoffman, & Lance, 2010). With a small need for social approval, this generation would not be susceptible to social proof. The whole concept of social proof being effective to millennials hinges on the idea that millennials want to conform to the behavior of their peers. Further, it has also been found that media messages suggesting a behavior as the “norm” is not very influential on this generation either (Mascarenhas & Higby, 1993). Again, these findings negate the very idea of social proof marketing which pushes normative media messages. With social proof marketing, the message is “everyone is doing it, so you should too.” Although these researches have interesting find-

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EXPERT SOCIAL PROOF

BRAND UTILITIES SOCIAL MEDIA CONTESTS

CELEBRITY SOCIAL PROOF

SOCIAL PROOF

USER SOCIAL PROOF

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

SPONSORED LINKS

WISDOM OF CROWDS

WISDOM OF FRIENDS

BRAND CONVERSATIONS

Figure 2. Subsects of social media marketing and social proof marketingon social media

ings, this paper still hypothesizes that social proof marketing is the best kind of social media marketing to millennials, because while a few studies detail the lack of conformity of the generation, there is a wealth of studies that claim the individuals of this generation to be conformists. Finally, to touch on the fact that user-generated content contests, brand utilities, and sponsored conversations also have a hint of social proof marketing within them, it is important to note that most of these other kinds of user-driven social media marketing tactics do not have the critical testimonial component. So, when participating in a contest or using a brand utility or joining a sponsored

conversation, it is not necessary for an individual to testify as to why they enjoy using a brand. With blogger outreach it is. Blogger outreach, or as it will be referred to from here onwards, social proof marketing, requires users to utilize social media to testify about their feelings towards a product.

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Review of Literature

Nature of Current Study The literature reviewed here has led to one realization: millennials are ready to spend, but marketers are having a hard time converting their advertisements to sales. Previous research has been done on the effectiveness of ads on this generation (Joshi, 2013; K. T. Smith, 2011, 2012) and it has been found that social media is the most effective due to the importance of social media to this generation. The newness of social media, however, presents a problem. Because social media is relatively recent in the history of advertising, not much research has gone into understanding how it is utilized by marketers (Alameddine, 2013). Research has shown that social media is the most effective advertising tool for this generation, but it is unknown if one type of social media advertisement is better than the other. Any research that has been done on this topic is limited to nonexistent. This is best summed up by Razzouk (2018) when he noted that most marketers are really just trying to figure out how to best reach this generation, but realistically, they do not know how. This current study is important because it will be attempting to fill these gaps in research and hopefully give marketers more insight on how to effectively garner millennial interest.

This study will be looking at a case study, a focus group,

and quantitative data from an online questionnaire to answer several research questions.

The research questions are as follows: RQ 1: How important is social media to a millennial’s daily lifestyle?

RQ 2: How effective are social media marketing tactics to millennials?

RQ 3: How does social proof marketing compare to other social media marketing tactics they experience?

RQ 4: What type of social proof marketing is the most effective?

The first two question are confirmatory questions, to match the data of this study with that of other studies. Although the overall climate of marketing research to date suggesting that social media is essential to the millennial’s lifestyle, not many pieces of research asks millennials how they feel about social media. This study will focus on doing that. Next, other researches have also suggested that social media marketing is very effective to this generation, but this study will attempt to both quantify and qualify this effectiveness. The next two research questions will be analyzed through the testing of

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |25

two hypothesis. For the first question, it is hypothesized that social proof marketing will be the most effective in garnering interest amongst millennials via social media. This hypothesis is based on research that has found this type of marketing to be very useful (Amblee & Bui, 2011; Chu & Kim, 2011; Lee, 2011; Sebor, 2006). It is also hypothesized that wisdom of friends social proof marketing will be the most effective type because of research that states that friends are very influential in the consumerization of millennials (Halstead, 2006; George P. Moschis, 1976; Viswanathan & Jain, 2013).

This paper will be broken down into three studies

to look at these research question. The first two studies are qualitative. The first is a case study about the make-up brand Glossier and their social media marketing tactics. This will look at research questions four and five, specifically at the effectiveness of social proof marketing and its different types. Next, a focus group will be used to look at all the research questions and to get a qualitative idea of the answers to them. Finally, an online survey questionnaire will be employed to obtain quantitative data that assesses all the research questions and both hypotheses.

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One of the reasons why this paper hypothesizes that social proof marketing is the best kind of social media marketing is because there are many examples of its success on the web.

One outstanding example of said success is the brand Glossier. The following pages will examine this brand’s use of social proof marketing and the effect this type of marketing has had on the brand’s success.

Case Study

GLOSSIER

Overview.

The makeup company Glossier was started in 2014 by the former art student, model, TV personality and Vogue employee, Emily Weiss (Bruner, 2016; Larocca, 2018). From her time working in the beauty industry, she began to feel that a lot of companies were built on telling women that they were not good enough, and as a result, women were reluctant to talk openly about their beauty routines for fear that it would come off as vanity (Giacobbe, 2017). Weiss wanted to change that. Four years before Glossier, she started a blog called Into the Gloss (Bruner, 2016; Giacobbe, 2017; Larocca, 2018). The primary focus of her blog was talking about beauty routines candidly. The blog’s signature column was called Top Shelf. For this column, she interviewed celebrities like Kim Kardashian, models like Karlie Kloss, and beauty Bosses like Bobbie Brown, photographed their medicine cabinets, and asked them to reveal their everyday grooming habits (Hart, 2018; Larocca, 2018). She grew her blog following to over 1.5 million unique views per month (Giacobbe, 2017). After spending four years talking to women about what beauty products they used and why they enjoyed using those products, Weiss found

a common denominator of four products that women frequently recommended as staples of their skin routines. These were a moisturizer, a face mist, a skin tint, and a lip balm (Mlotek, 2016).

These were the four products with which she launched Glossier in October of 2014 (Larocca, 2018; Mlotek, 2016). Like her blog, Weiss built Glossier with her real women in mind. She wanted a company that would keep communication channels open with these women, monitoring any feedback received carefully so that they could make products women loved using (Loizos, 2018). She achieved this through a variety of methods. Most notable is Glossier’s Customer Feedback Loop. Glossier employees invite top customers to be a part of a group Slack channel where they exchange over 1,100 messages per week (Bruner, 2016). They also carefully read and respond to the messages received on Instagram from current or potential customers (Giacobbe, 2017). Using this model, the brand now has created 24 different products ranging in price from $12 to $35 (Giacobbe, 2017).

Over the past four years, the company has grown to a multimillion-dollar make

up empire worth about $34 million (Larocca, 2018; Pruett, 2018). Weiss credits most of her company’s growth to the use of social media marketing (Pruett, 2018). This, according to Avins (2016), is because many legacy makeup brands have a hard time connecting with their millennial audiences via social media but Weiss, being a millennial herself, can innately understand it.

Analysis.

The marketing of Glossier is dramatically different from the marketing of most other makeup companies. Glossier rejects the tropes of cosmetic advertising: the traditionally beautiful models with dramatic makeup choices and the message that consumers could be as beautiful as those models if they used the products advertised. In its place, Glossier advertises with images of real women, flaws and all, using their product (Avins, 2016). Their campaigns focus on marketing authenticity and belonging rather a constant strife to look like traditional concepts of beauty (Mandell, 2018). The chief way in which they achieve this message of belonging is through social proof. While models and celebrities can also provide their own version of social proof, but Glossier’s focus is on regular people (Avins, 2016). Weiss is noted as having the belief that every single customer can be an influencer for the brand, no matter who they are (Avins, 2016; Hart, 2018). This has had a huge impact on her business marketing model. The key players in most of the brand’s marketing tactics are consumers who share their experiences with other consumers (Larocca, 2018). The medium these consumers choose most often is a social media website. Because of this, Glossier’s marketing has become user-generated content created and shared by followers of the brand (Bruner, 2016; Hart, 2018). This content is most often posted to social media, with the brand tagged or named in a hashtag (Bruner, 2016). These tags are used to garner interests in potential customers, then over time exposure to Glossier influencers can turn hashtags into followers, followers into brand influencers, and influencers into a community (Pruett, 2018). The creation of a community establishes the sense of belonging that was mentioned before as the core of Glossier’s marketing tactics.

The brand strives to foster these connections. Their company’s socialization model is driven by a human aspect, their chief goal, creating a brand that makes consumers feel like their sitting down with a friend, sharing makeup tips (Long, 2017). While there are brands out there trying to be a friend to their consumers, Glossier wants to be each of their users closest friends (Larocca, 2018; Tiku, 2016). This is due to their belief that there is nothing more impactful than a recommendation of a friend (Wischhover, 2017).

Weiss credits 90% of her company’s revenue growth to this friendship and community they have created with her consumers (Pruett, 2018).

A more in-depth look at Glossier’s brand evangelist model finds that the brand reaches out to influencers with the intent to tap into wisdom of friends social proof or wisdom of crowds social proof. As explained before, wisdom of friends social proof is the idea that people are likely to use a product if their friends also use it, whereas wisdom of crowds social proof is the idea that people are likely to use the product if a large group of other individuals also choose to use it. According to Glossier, the number one way people find out about their brand and their products is through wisdom of friends social proof (Robey, 2016). Referrals from peers have proven to be so influential in gaining new, loyal customers for the brand that they have built an entire program around those customers that are engaged and sharing their love for Glossier with their friends (Robey, 2016).

These programs allow motivated brand evangelists to get commissions for those of their friends that become buyers (Larocca, 2018). These evangelists who are continually sharing their love for the brand then create an environment where their friends, through social proof, feel as if they need to try the product and also talk about their love for the product. This is very similar to the loyalty programs of door-to-door salespeople, but it has proven very effective in the social media sphere because of the many-to-many model of such websites. This model has also proven so useful in the creation of the wisdom of crowds social proof for Glossier. With multiple influencers sharing with their thousands of friends about Glossier, and with a fraction of those friends then sharing with their thousands of friends about Glossier, it’s easy to

Figure 3. A screenshot of the Glossier’s Instagram Page

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Figure 4. An example of Glossier’s Instagram advertisements.

create a buzz. It’s easy for consumers to start seeing Glossier everywhere, and this constant exposure to Glossier posts can cause users to believe that everyone is using it. When consumers begin to see a large group of people using the same product, they feel as if they should be using the product as well.

Glossier also uses celebrity and expert social proof as a part of their marketing tactics. One example of this is their marketing campaign for a blush they call Cloud Paint. To market Cloud Paint, they hired ten

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |33

of this include hashtags that consumers can use that provide an opportunity to get featured on Glossier’s Instagram page or to be interviewed by the Weiss’s blog (Hart, 2018) and FaceTime and live Facebook videos where employees can converse with consumers (Pruett, 2018). Other, more tradition outbound marketing campaigns include movie product placements and billboard and bus ads.

Results.

• Does not disclose exact revenue numbers (Loizos, 2018) • 34 Million dollar company as of January (Larocca, 2018) • Funding now at $86 million (Mandell, 2018) • Revenues are up 600% year over year (Giacobbe, 2017) • Had 60,000 names on a waitlist for its nineskin care makeup products in 2016 (Tiku, 2016) • Flagship has more sales per square foot than the average apple store (Giacobbe, 2017) • 70% of online sales due to peer-to-peer referrals (Giacobbe, 2017) • Has 1.1 Million Instagram followers • Has over 189,000 posts with #glossier

Conclusion.

makeup artists to use the blush on clients attending the Oscars and to post the results on social media using the hashtag #cloudpaint (Giacobbe, 2017).

The product resulted in 1,700 regrams in one week, and 6,368 images of cloud paint on Instagram within the month (Giacobbe, 2017). While most of Glossier’s marketing techniques included social proof, their success cannot wholly be attributed to that form of marketing. They have also used sponsored conversations on social media contests. A couple of examples

This paper hypothesizes that social proof marketing is the most effective type of social media marketing. Glossier is examined here to present a successful company ran by social proof marketing.

Their high revenue reports show just how useful this kind of marketing technique can be. This case study is especially valuable for the conversation about how to market to millennials because reporters have found that the marketing tactics of this brand are very effective with this generation (Avins, 2016; Bruner, 2016; Hart, 2018; Larocca, 2018). These same reporters have also noted that the majority of the brand’s consumers are millennials. With revenues so high, and the majority of these revenues coming from millennials, this brand exemplifies the incredible success marketers can have in reaching this generation through this type of marketing.

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This paper will also examine a small focus group of millennial marketing students, exploring what these students believe to be the best type of marketing technique for this generation. This focus group analysis looks at a series of questions. First, which social media sites do millennials use?

How often do millennials use said sites? How important is social media to the millennial lifestyle? How do millennials react to social media advertisements? Which type of social media advertisement is the most effective?

And finally, which type of social proof marketing is the most effective?

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |37

Focus Group

Perceptions of Social Media Method.

The Focus Group included 12 participants who were born between 1980 and 2000. All participants were volunteers recruited from the Topics in Social Media Marketing class at La Sierra University. A researcher visited the course during their scheduled meeting time, and all those who wanted to participate in the focus group signed an Informed consent. The focus group was conducted in the classroom during lecture time. A series of questions were derived from the overarching research questions. See Appendix B for a full list of questions asked of the focus group as well as notes the interviewer took on the responses.

Results.

Qualitative data analysis revealed overarching themes that answer each of the research questions.

Firstly, millennials use a wide variety of social media sites. Amongst the social media sites mentioned were Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest. Interestingly, most of the focus group members agreed that Facebook was not a social media site that millennials enjoyed using. One group member spoke up against the crowd, saying they do use Face-

book, but they were relatively alone in their beliefs. It is also interesting to note that Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter are the first sites that come to mind when social media is mentioned. YouTube and Pinterest were only mentioned after prompting by the interviewer. The individuals in this focus group spend a lot of time on social media. The sites where most individuals agreed that they spend the most time were Twitter and YouTube. Those who use YouTube estimated 4 – 5 hours daily. One individual admitted to staying up until 4 am in the morning watching videos on YouTube. Those who did not spend a long time on YouTube expressed that they used Twitter instead. They did not like YouTube because the duration of each video made them feel like they were wasting time. So, whereas they would be reluctant to watch a 20-minute YouTube video, they are likely to find themselves spending that time scrolling through Twitter. As stated before, most of the focus group members do not use Facebook, but the one individual who did note that they spent about an hour and a half to two hours on Facebook, daily. The group also agreed that like Facebook, the number of millennials using Snapchat was dwindling.

Our next research question was about the impor

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tance of social media to the daily life. The group agreed that social media was not something they felt they could live without. Given a time frame of 36 hours, everyone in the group said that they could detach themselves from social media for that period. It was also noted that individuals did not feel addicted to social media.

Instead, they thought that it was a modern convenience they use merely because it is available. Despite their insistence that they could live without social media, it is seemingly a large part of their routine. Almost everyone in the group agreed that social media was something they did as a reward after a day of hard work. Other individuals noted that they spent a little so much time on social media that it felt like they were using it to reward themselves for getting up in the mornings.

The next series of questions the researcher asked was concerning advertisements. Group members complained about having to see social media advertisement daily. It was pointed out that every fourth or fifth post on Instagram there was an ad. YouTube fans complained about the frequency of YouTube advertisements, noting that it was the site they experienced the most advertisements on. Most of the group said that they did not enjoy most forms of advertisements, though it was mentioned that some advertisements are occasionally are interesting and pull focus. They claimed it was rare to click links to advertisements on social media and even more unusual to buy a product through the links provided. Interestingly, they suggested that this lack of purchase was not because the ads were ineffective, but instead because of a lack of funds. Next, the researcher went on to talk about specific types of social media ads.

Group members claimed to see social media contests frequently, but only participated in these contests once every couple of months. For brand conversations such as hashtags or Instagram lives, these were used just under very particular conditions. For example, some individuals talk about using hashtags for niche communities, and others spoke about watching Instagram lives for close friends or celebrities. Group members stated that they were inclined to use brand utilities, mainly if they were “more fun” but it was rare that a brand utility led to the purchase of a product.

Social proof marketing gets mixed reactions. Some individuals will unfollow brand ambassadors, especially when they don’t feel like the product they are

promoting is cohesive with the individual’s brand. If the brand ambassador is promoting a product they would use, individuals are more receptive to it. They noted that expert brand influencers made them want to buy a product more. Celebrity brand influencers got mixed reviews. Promotions by celebrities for products that did not go with a personal brand was also seen as annoying.

If the celebrity advertises products that an individual could conceive themselves buying, then it was likely that they would go on to use it. Group members said that they would trust other users on social media giving brands good reviews, especially if it is apparent that they are not getting paid. As for wisdom of crowds, some individuals like larger brands no matter what, whereas others preferred the feeling of knowing about a good brand everyone else is oblivious to. This type of discrepancy in responses is also present for wisdom of friends social proof. Some individuals enjoy getting reviews from their friends because they can use their friends as guinea pigs, whereas others do not trust their friend’s taste. All in all, the group agreed that social proof is the most effective of all the marketing techniques. Of the Social proof techniques, respondents agreed that wisdom of friends social proof was the most effective, followed by expert social proof.

Conclusion.

This focus group of millennials brought to light, interesting facts about how this generation views social media and different types of advertisements. Social media is a huge part of the millennial lifestyle with some individuals spending upwards of four hours on just one website. Although this group did claim to be able to live without social media, they had integrated the use of social media into their everyday routines. They experienced many advertisements in their daily use of social media, and most were not happy about it. The only moments in which an individual could delight in an ad was when the ad seemed tailored to their specific interests.

In spite of the occasional interesting advertisement, the group agreed that social media advertisements would rarely lead to sales. It is agreed that despite the general ineffectiveness of most social media advertisements, wisdom of friends social proof and expert social proof are overall the most effective.

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For the online survey, several scales were developed aimed at answering the four research questions and testing the two hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that social proof marketing will be the most effective in garnering interest in millennials via social media. This hypothesis is based on research that found this type of marketing to be very useful (Amblee & Bui, 2011; Chu & Kim, 2011; Lee, 2011; Sebor, 2006) and was confirmed by the case study of Glossier that showed social proof marketing techniques as highly effective in selling their products to millennials and the focus group of millennials who mostly agreed that it was the type of marketing preferred. It is also hypothesized that wisdom of friends social proof marketing will be the most effective type because of research that states that friends are very influential in the consumerization of millennials (Halstead, 2006; George P. Moschis, 1976; Viswanathan & Jain, 2013). It was also proven useful in Glossier’s marketing campaign, and most of the focus group members agreed that it was the most effective of all other types of social proof marketing.

Online Survey

Method Participants .

This study included 634 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk service. Mechanical Turk is an online marketplace for individuals who need an on-demand workforce, (i.e., a large group of people to participate in a research study.) Each participant was paid $0.50 to participate in the short five minutes survey that will be described in the subsequent section. Sixty-five participants were removed from the sample before analyzing the data.

Several factors were examined to determine if a participant’s data was adequate to stay in the study. First, age was investigated. If a participant reported that they were above 38 years old, they were removed because they were too old for the millennial generation as defined by this study. Individuals who indicated that they were less than 18 years old were also excluded. Assumedly, because Amazon Mechanical Turk only uses workers over the age of 18, these ages were typos. With no way to verify this, however, we had to remove these data because they would also neglect to meet this study’s millennial requirement. One issue that was encountered due to the use of Mechanical Turk is that many of the individuals using the site had little care to completing the survey carefully. Instead, they ran through the study quickly to collect their payment. To screen for those participants, we looked at the section of the survey that asked for the amount of time, in hours, that an individual spent on social media per day and all participants who entered more than 24 hours were removed. One individual

did not have any social media accounts. Because this study focuses exclusively on social media marketing, their data were excluded from all analyses as well.

After all extraneous data was removed, there were 569 participants left in the study. This included 338 male participants, 228 female participants, and three nonbinary/ agender participants of varying ethnicities (see Figure 5 for a breakdown by ethnicity). As stated before, all participants were between the ages of 18 and 38 (M = 29.78; SD = 4.42).

All participants had at least one social media account; 514 had Facebook, 473 had YouTube, 355 had Instagram, 352 had Twitter, and only 223 had Snapchat (see Figure 6 for a breakdown of social media use by percentage). The average participant in this study spent the most time on YouTube (M = 3.78; SD = 4.40) and the least amount of time on Snapchat (M = .70; SD = 1.50) (see Figure 6 for a breakdown of social media use by time in hours and frequency of use). The social media sites focused on for these demographics are the top four social media sites that millennials use, as noted

by Pew Research Center (Pew Research Center, 2018). Finally, Figure 7 looks at a breakdown of social media use according to age, gender, ethnicity, and education level. The biggest discrepancies in use can be found on Instagram with 75% of females using Instagram compared to only 53% of males, on Snapchat with 50% of Latinos using Snapchat compared with the next highest level of use found in Caucasians at 40%.

GENDER 59% Males

40% Females

1% Agender

EDUCATION 14% High School or Less

28%

Some College or Tech School

44%

Completed College

ETHNICITY 67% Caucasian

10%

AfricanAmerican

8% Asian

18 - 38 y/o Participants were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk where they were paid $0.50 to participate in this study.

634 participants were recruited and after outliers were removed 569 remained

14%

Graduate or Post Grad Studies

8% Mixed Race

6% Latino

1% Native American Figure 5. Sample breakdown by demographics

Social Media Usage by Percentage

Social Media Usage by Hours

Social Media Usage by Frequency

2.5 hours spent on Facebook

Facebook: 66% Use Daily 13% Use Weekly 21% Use Less Often

3.8 hours spent on YouTube

YouTube 70% Use Daily 20% Use Weekly 10% Use Less Often

1.3 hours spent on Instagram

Instagram 41% Use Daily 17% Use Weekly 42% Use Less Often

1.3 hours spent on Twitter

Twitter 40% Use Daily 16% Use Weekly 44% Use Less Often

0.7 hours spent on Smapchat

Snapchat 25% Use Daily 12% Use Weekly 63% Use Less Often

Figure 6. Sample usage of social media broken down by each site

Facebook

YouTube 82% of Males

88% of Males

Insta

53%

94% of Females

84% of Females

88% of 18-28 y/o

83% of 18-28 y/o

61

92% of 29-38 y/o

83% of 29-38 y/o

64

95% | Grad/Post Grad Studies 92% | College Graduates 89% | Some College or Tech School 84% | High School or Less

74% | Grad/Post Grad Studies 81% | College Graduates 89% | Some College or Tech School 89% | High School or Less

92% | Caucasians 93% | AfricanAmericans 94% | Asians

85% | Caucasians 67% | AfricanAmericans 94% | Asians

61% | Caucasians

78% | Latino

88% | Latino

62% | Latino

86% | Mixed Race

79% | Mixed Race

67% | Mixed Race

67% | Grad/Post Grad Studies

64% | College Graduates 65% | Some College or Tech School 50% | High School or Less

71% | AfricanAmericans 62% | Asians

agram

% of Males 75% of Females

Twitter 63% of Males 60% of Females

1% of 18-28 y/o

61% of 18-28 y/o

4% of 29-38 y/o

63% of 29-38 y/o

t s

s r l s

e

59% | Grad/Post Grad Studies 64% | College Graduates 65%| Some College or Tech School 56% | High School or Less

Snapchat 36% of Males 44% of Females 50% of 18-28 y/o 32% of 29-38 y/o

38% | Grad/Post Grad Studies 37% | College Graduates 44% | Some College or Tech School 38% | High School or Less

62% | Caucasians

40% | Caucasians

50% | AfricanAmericans 65% | Asians

38% | AfricanAmericans 31% | Asians

69% | Latino

50% | Latino

72% | Mixed Race

35% | Mixed Race

Figure 7. Percentage of each demographic that uses each social media site

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Measures.

All measurement items for this study were created based on various other research on social media marketing and are aimed towards understanding millennial consumer behavior. Initially, 12 different scales of 2 or more measures each were created to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses. Table 2 provides the psychometric properties of these items. Because many of the scales were at least edited if not entirely created by the researcher, the reliability of each scale was computed. Due

to time constraints in the study, the alpha reliability tests were completed post hoc. Reliability was identified by Cronbach’s alpha with a minimum of .70 (Cronbach, 1970).

As seen in Table 2, many of these scales did not meet the cut off for reliability, so the dimensions were further examined, and new scaling was created. Table 3 shows the scales used to test each dimension that corresponds to a specific research question or hypothesis that is being tested.

TABLE 2. RELIABILITY STATISTICS FOR ORIGINAL CONSTRUCT MEASURES DIMENSION

SCALE ITEM

MEASUREMENT

SCALE

CRONBACH’S PREVIOUS ALPHA FOR SCALE ITEMS SCALE ARE BASED ON

Importance of social media

.894

Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson, 2013; Ross et al., 2009

.159

Vinerean et al., 2013

I feel out of touch when I haven’t logged on to social media in a while I would like it if everyone used social media to communicate

5-point Likert scale Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree

I would be disappointed if I could not use social media at all I get upset when I can’t log on to social media I prefer to communicate through social media Social media plays an important role in my social relationships I enjoy checking my social media account I don’t like social media

Perceived effectiveness of social media advertisements in general

How often have you experienced ads on your social media profile (including sponsored ads, social media contests, brand conversations, brand utilities, and brand ambassador ads)?

How often do you buy a product or service because of an online advertisement?

I often pay attention to advertisements on my social media feed

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often Last item measured on a 5-point Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree

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Perceived effectiveness of social media contests

Perceived Effectiveness of social media brand conversations

Perceived effectiveness of social media brand utility

Perceived effectiveness of social proof marketing

Perceived effectiveness of social proof marketing

Perceived effectiveness of expert social proof

How often do you participate in social media contests?

How often has participating in a social media contest lead to you purchasing the product or service the contest sponsored?

How often have you participated in social media brand conversations (such as using a hashtag, or joining a live video)?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

.799

Vinerean et al., 2013

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

.763

Vinerean et al., 2013

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

.852

Vinerean et al., 2013

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

.744

(Vinerean et al., 2013)

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

.744

Vinerean et al., 2013

.187

Vinerean et al., 2013

How often has participating in a social media brand conversation lead you to purchasing the product or service sponsored?

How often have you participated in brand utilities (such as brand sponsoring a snapchat filter or a brand sponsoring an Instagram page of user generated photos)?

How often has participating in a brand utility lead to you purchasing the product or service the utility was sponsored by?

How often have you promoted a brand on social media (with or without being paid to do so)?

How often do you buy a product or service because of an influencer/ ambassador advertisement (users being paid to advertise a product)?

How often have you promoted a brand on social media (with or without being paid to do so)?

How often do you buy a product or service because of an influencer/ ambassador advertisement (users being paid to advertise a product)?

How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of an expert?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

I often pay attention to posts by experts on a brand.

Second item measured on a 5-point Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree

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DIMENSION

SCALE ITEM

MEASUREMENT

SCALE

Perceived effectiveness of celebrity social proof

How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of a celebrity?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

I often pay attention to posts by celebrities on a brand.

Second item measured on a 5-point Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree

Perceived effectiveness of user social proof

How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of another user?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

I often pay attention to posts by other users on a brand.

Second item measured on a 5-point Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree

Perceived effectiveness of wisdom of crowds social proof

How often do you buy a product or service because a large group of people recommended it?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

I often pay attention to brands that have a large following.

Second item measured on a 5-point Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree

Perceived effectiveness of wisdom of friends social proof

How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of your friends?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

I often pay attention to brands that a large portion of my friends recommend.

Second item measured on a 5-point Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree

CRONBACH’S PREVIOUS ALPHA FOR SCALE ITEMS SCALE ARE BASED ON .250

Vinerean et al., 2013

.216

Vinerean et al., 2013

.184

Vinerean et al., 2013

.136

Vinerean et al., 2013

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TABLE 3. RELIABILITY STATISTICS FOR CORRECTED CONSTRUCT MEASURES DIMENSION

SCALE ITEM

MEASUREMENT

SCALE

CRONBACH’S PREVIOUS ALPHA FOR SCALE ITEMS SCALE ARE BASED ON

Importance of social media in general

.894

Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, & Johnson, 2013; Ross et al., 2009

I feel out of touch when I haven’t logged on to social media in a while I would like it if everyone used social media to communicate

5-point Likert scale Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree

I would be disappointed if I could not use social media at all I get upset when I can’t log on to social media I prefer to communicate through social media Social media plays an important role in my social relationships I enjoy checking my social media account I don’t like social media

Perceived effectiveness of social media advertisements in general

How often do you buy a product or service because of an online advertisement?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

N/A

Vinerean et al., 2013

Perceived effectiveness of sponsored advertisements

How often do you access a link on a sponsored advertisement (video or photo advertisements marked “sponsored”) on your social media feed?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

.788

Vinerean et al., 2013

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

.799

(Vinerean et al., 2013

How often do you buy a product from a sponsored advertisement on your social media feed?

Perceived effectiveness of social media contests

How often do you participate in social media contests?

How often has participating in a social media contest lead to you purchasing the product or service the contest sponsored?

54 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

Perceived effectiveness of social media brand conversations

How often have you participated in social media brand conversations (such as using a hashtag, or joining a live video)?

Perceived effectiveness of social media brand utility

How often have you participated in brand utilities (such as brand sponsoring a snapchat filter or a brand sponsoring an Instagram page of user generated photos)?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

.763

Vinerean et al., 2013

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

.852

Vinerean et al., 2013

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

.744

Vinerean et al., 2013

How often has participating in a social media brand conversation lead you to purchasing the product or service sponsored?

How often has participating in a brand utility lead to you purchasing the product or service the utility was sponsored by?

Perceived effectiveness of social proof marketing

How often have you promoted a brand on social media (with or without being paid to do so)?

Perceived effectiveness of expert social proof

How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of an expert?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

N/A

Vinerean et al., 2013

Perceived effectiveness of celebrity social proof

How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of a celebrity?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

N/A

Vinerean et al., 2013

Perceived effectiveness of user social proof

How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of another user?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

N/A

Vinerean et al., 2013

Perceived effectiveness of wisdom of crowds social proof

How often do you buy a product or service because a large group of people recommended it?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

N/A

Vinerean et al., 2013

How often do you buy a product or service because of an influencer/ ambassador advertisement (users being paid to advertise a product)?

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |55

Perceived effectiveness of wisdom of friends social proof

How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of your friends?

Never – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Very Often

N/A

Vinerean et al., 2013

All measurement items for this study were created based on various other research on social media marketing and are aimed towards understanding millennial consumer behavior.

The first research question inquires whether or not social media is important to this generation. This scale of importance was adapted from Jekins-Guarnieri and colleagues (2009). The next research question focuses on the effectiveness of social media marketing to millennials.

Initially, effectiveness was operationalized to mean a recollection of social media ads, paying attention to these ads and the buying of a product because of an advertisement.

This was heavily based on a scale created by Vinerean and colleagues (2013) where response to an ad was measured using the number of times a consumer “takes action” such as accessing a site or buying a product. A Cronbach’s Alpha test for reliability yielded less than .70, so the scale was revisited. To operationalize effectiveness within our analyses, the only action that was examined was the action of purchasing an ad. Seeing as the ultimate goal of marketing is to generate sales, it is assumed that the question about purchasing would be the most pertinent in determining if an ad was effective.

This measurement of an action response is also used in the scales for the last two research questions. To examine how social proof marketing compares to other marketing

tactics, this study looks at the response each type of marketing garners, specifically in participation and purchasing. Participation was chosen as the action to be studied at for the various kinds of social media marketing because, as stated before, these campaigns run on user-generated content, meaning users are invited to participate. The only type of social media marketing that does not encourage a user to participate is sponsored advertisements.

For these, action is measured as Vinerean and colleagues (2013) did in their original study: accessing a link and purchasing a product. Finally, in examining how each type of social proof marketing compares with the other, this study looks at response in the form of buying a product or service. Originally, the scale also included paying attention to each advertisement, but after a low-reliability score, purchasing was chosen as the sole scale item. This is because, as rationalized with an earlier scale, the effectiveness of an ad is distinguished by whether it can get people to buy the product. Each scale as it appears in the online questionnaire can be viewed in Appendix C.

Online Survey

Results

The first research question asks about the perceived importance of social media to a millennial’s daily life. With a maximum score of 40, the sample showed a relatively low perceived importance of social media (M = 14.27; SD = 5.97). Next, this study’s second research question asked about the perceived effectiveness of social media marketing tactics in general and a low overall sample mean (M = 2.09; SD = 1.0), which denotes a low overall perceived effectiveness social media marketing tactics in general, was found.

A three-way ANOVA was used to analyze this research question further. This looked at the effects of ethnicity, gender, and education level on the perceived effectiveness of social media marketing. Because the data is not normally distributed, some variable levels were aggregated so each level would have more participants. For ethnicity (skewness of 1.8, SE = .10; kurtosis of 1.96, SE = .20), the levels used were African American, Caucasian, and other; for gender (skewness of .48, SE = .10; kurtosis of -1.46, SE = .20), nonbinary participants were not included in the analyses due to their small sample size; and for education (skewness of -.24, SE = .10; kurtosis of -.68, SE = .20), the levels used were ‘did not complete college’ and ‘completed college.’ There were outliers in

the data, but after running the test with and without these outliers, no differences in results were found.

There was a statistically significant main effect of gender on the effectiveness of social media ads (F(1, 554) = 13.747, p < .001, partial η2 = .02). Figure 8 shoes a graph of this main effect. Males perceive social media to be more effective than females did (M = .26; SE = .09; 95% CI [.06, .46], p = .007). There was also a statistically significant main effect of ethnicity on the effectiveness of social media ads (F(2, 554) = 5.33, p = .005, partial η2 = .02). African participants perceived social media advertisements as more effective than Caucasian participants did (M = .534; SE = .139; 95% CI [.26, .81], p < .001). All other races, including Native American, Asian, Latino and mixed-race participants, found social media marketing more effective than Caucasian participants did (M = .29; SE = .06; 95% CI [-.19, .14], p = .004). African Americans did not perceive social media advertisements to be more effective than the other races (excluding Caucasians) did (M = -.29; SE = .10; 95% CI [-.48, -.092], p = .114). Figure 9 shows a graph of this main effect. Finally, there was also a statistically significant interaction effect of ethnicity and gender on the effectiveness of social media ads (F(2, 554) = 3.61, p = .028, partial η2 = .01). Figure

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |57

TABLE 4. RESULTS OF A THREE-WAY ANOVA TESTING ETHNICITY, GENDER, AND EDUCATION ON PERCEIVED EFFECTIVENESS OF AN AD VARIABLE

df

F SIGNIFICANCE

PARTIAL ETA SQUARED

Ethnicity

2

5.334

.005*

.019

Gender

1

13.747

< .001*

.024

Education

1

2.940

.087

.005

Ethnicity*Gender

2

3.614

.028*

.013

Ethnicity*Education

2

2.102

.123

.008

Gender*Education

1

.207

.649

.000

Ethnicity*Gender*Education

2

.192

.826

.001

Error

554

10 shows this interaction effect in graph form. There were no other education or interaction effects as seen in Table 3.

To test the third research question and the hypothesis that social proof marketing is the most effective type of social media marketing, a one-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted. Specifically, this test was used to assess whether there were statistically significant differences in the effect of each social media marketing tactic on the millennial generation. Different marketing tactics garnered statistically different effects (F(4, 2264) = 18.79, p < .001, partial Ρ2 = .03), with brand conversations (M = 3.87; SD = .08), sponsored links (M = 3.85; SD = 0.07) and social proof (M = 3.82; SD = .08) being viewed by this generation as the most effective type of marketing tactic while social media contests (M = 3.61; SD = .08) and brand utilities (M = 3.45; SD = .08) were seen less effective. Post hoc analysis with a Bonferroni adjustment revealed that Sponsored links had more of an effect on millennials than social media contests (M = .24; SE = .06; 95% CI [.06, .41]; p < .05) and brand utilities (M = .40; SE = .06; 95% CI [.23, .56];

p < .001) but was just as effective as brand conversations (M = -.02; SE = .06; 95% CI [-.19, .14]; p = 1.00) and social proof marketing (M = .03; SE = .06; 95% CI [-.15,.20]; p = 1.00). Social media contests had more of an effect on millennials than brand utilities (M = .20; SE = .06; 95% CI [.01, .31]; p < .05) but less of an effect than brand conversations (M = -.26; SE = .06; 95% CI [-.42, -.10]; p < .001) and social proof marketing (M = -.21; SE = .06; 95% CI [-.36, -.05]; p < .05).

Brand conversations had more of an effect than brand utilities (M = .42; SE = .06; 95% CI [.25, .58]; p < .001) but was just as effective as social proof (M = .05; SE = .06; 95% CI [-.12, .22]; p = 1.00). And finally, brand utility was not as effective as social proof marketing (M = -.37; SE = .06; 95% CI [-.53, -.20]; p < .001). See Figure 11 for a graphic representation of this effect.

A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was also used to determine whether there were statistically significant differences in the effect of each social proof marketing type on the millennial generation.

Different social proof tactics garnered statistically different effects (F(4, 2264) = 223.46, p < .001, partial Ρ2 = .28), with wisdom of friends social proof

58 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

(M = 3.03; SD = 1.01) seen as the most effective type of social proof for this generation, followed by wisdom of crowds (M = 2.77; SD = 1.05), then user social proof (M = 2.67; SD = .99), then expert social proof (M = 2.54; SD = 1.04) and finally celebrity social proof (M = 1.82; SD = 1.00) seen as the least effective type.

Post hoc analysis with a Bonferroni adjustment revealed that wisdom of friends social proof had more of an effect on millennials than expert social proof (M = .50; SE = .05; 95% CI [.36, .63]; p < .001), celebrity social proof (M = 1.22; SE = .05; 95% CI [1.08, 1.35]; p < .001), another user (M = .36; SE = .04; 95% CI [.25, .47]; p < .001), and wisdom of crowds social proof (M = 1.22; SE = .05; 95% CI [1.08, 1.35]; p < .001). Wisdom of crowds social proof had more of an effect on millennials than expert social proof (M = .23; SE = .04; 95% CI [.12, .35]; p < .001) and celebrity social proof (M = .95; SE = .05; 95% CI [.82, 1.09]; p < .001) but had relatively the same effect as user social proof (M = .10; SE = .04; 95% CI [-.01, .20]; p =.08). User social proof had more of an effect on millennials than expert social proof (M = .13; SE = .04; 95% CI [.02, .25]; p < .05), and celebrity social proof (M = .85; SE = .04; 95% CI [.73, .98]; p < .001). Expert social proof had more of an effect than celebrity social proof (M = .72; SE = .05; 95% CI [.59, .85]; p < .001). See Figure 12 for a graphic representation of this effect.

M = 2.20 95% CI [2.09, 2.30]

M = 1.93 95% CI [1.81, 2.06]

Male

Female Gender

Figure 8. The impact of gender on the effectiveness of a social media advertisement.

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |59

M = 2.50 95% CI [2.25, 2.75]

M = 2.25 95% CI [2.08, 2.42]

Average Perceived Effectiveness of Social Media Ads

M = 1.97; 95% CI [1.87, 2.07]

Caucasian

African-American

Other

Ethnicity Figure 9 . The impact of ethnicity on the effectiveness of a social media advertisement.

60 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

Average Perceived Effectiveness of Social Media Ads

M = 2.91 95% CI [2.55,

M = 2.03 95% CI [1.89, 2.17]

M = 1.89 95% CI [1.76, 2.01]

Caucasian

Af

Male

1 2.27]

Female

M = 2.35 95% CI [2.12, 2.57] M = 1.96 95% CI [1.63, 2.29]

frican-American Ethnicity

M = 2.09 95% CI [1.85, 2.33]

Other

Figure 10 . The interaction of ethnicity and gender as they impact the effectiveness of an ad campaign.

62 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

M = 3.87 95% CI [3.79, 4.17]

Co nv Br er an sa d tio ns

Sp o Li nso nk r s ed

So

ci al P

ro o

f

M = 3.61 95% CI [3.85, 3.48]

So c Co ial nt M es ed ts ia

Ut Bra ili nd tie s

M = 3.45 95% CI [3.75, 3.39]

M = 3.82 95% CI [368, 4.05]

M = 3.85 95% CI [3.77, 4.12]

Figure 11 . The perceived effectiveness of each social media marketing tactic.

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |63

M = 2.77 95% CI [2.71, 2.95]

M = 2.67 95% CI [2.58, 2.78]

M = 2.53 95% CI [2.42, 2.64]

So Ce ci leb al ri Pr ty oo f

e Pr rt S oo oc f ia l

Ex p

Us e Pr r So oo ci f al

M = 1.82 95% CI [1.82, 2.02]

W Cr isdo ow m ds of

W Fr isdo ie m nd o s f

Average Perceived Effectiveness of Social Media Ads

M = 3.04 95% CI [2.93, 3.14]

Figure 12 . The perceived effectiveness of each type of social proof.

66 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

Discussion

Interpretation of Results For this study, four research questions were examined. Firstly, the importance of social media to a millennial’s daily life was questioned. Then, the effectiveness of social media marketing in general, next, social proof marketing was compared to other social media marketing tactics, and finally, all types of social proof were examined to find the most effective. Time was spent looking at social proof marketing because it was hypothesized to be the most effective type of marketing. It was also hypothesized that wisdom of friends social proof was the most effective type of social proof marketing.

In looking at the perceived importance of social media to a millennial’s daily life, the overall score of the sample was low. Not only did online survey find this result numerically, but focus group participants also showed a general apathy regarding social media. They felt that they were not attached to social media at all. This was surprising because many studies noted social media as very important to this generation (Bolton et al., 2013; Bush et al., 2004; Hewlett et al., 2009; Kroeger & Abugideiri, 2017; Park & Gursoy, 2012). This could suggest that social media is not as important to this generation as previously indicated. Or perhaps, this generation incorrectly perceives that social media is not very important to their

lives. An experiment that does not involve a self-report scale may garner different results. If social media is not very important to this generation, however, it throws off the premise of this paper. Razzouk (2018) suggested that a critical aspect of marketing is advertising on the medium your consumers use, and this paper proposes that social media is this medium for millennials. While the demographic data shows that millennials are spending time on social media, results show that this might not be the most effective way of reaching out to this generation.

What this low importance score could suggest is that social media marketing is not a viable source for marketers trying to reach this generation because, in the future, something better could come along that could capture the generation’s interest and render social media marketing more ineffective. This is a possibility seeing as research has noted this generation as being notoriously fickle and disloyal (Bush et al., 2004; Farris et al., 2002; Megehee et al., 2003; Sebor, 2006; Wolburg & Pokrywczynski, 2001; Wood, 2004).

Not only is social media seemingly unimportant to a millennial’s life, but also the exploration of research question two shows that using it as a marketing tool is not very effective either. While the case study showed

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |67

Glossier’s enormous success and the focus group members claimed that some ads were effective and would lead to purchasing products from social media were they not college students, the online survey found that millennials did not perceive social media advertisements to be very effective. As stated before, effectiveness was operationalized to mean how often individuals chose to buy a product or service due to an online advertisement. The sample’s mean suggests that people seldom buy products due to these types of ads, therefore also suggesting a low overall effectiveness of this type of marketing. While this overall score is low, it is important to note that the perceived effectiveness of social media marketing was not compared to the effectiveness of other types of advertisements. Thus, this study does not negate the findings of past research; it only supplements these findings by suggesting that if social media is the most effective, other marketing tactics are not very effective at all. The low score could also tie back to the fact that millennials are seeing 23 million media messages by the time they are 21 (Sebor, 2006). They have become so accustomed to these frequent, intensive, personalized advertisements that it has been found that they tend to seek out quality marketing tactics instead (Bakewell & VincentWayne, 2003). It has even been noted that people see online ads to be intrusive, ineffective and informative (K. T. Smith, 2011). These findings, as well as the low overall perceived importance of social media to a millennial’s life, could suggest that more work has to be done on the part of marketers in figuring out a new, more effective way to reach this generation. As Razzouk (2018) stated, there is now room for something new to emerge in the place of social media because people are getting tired of it. This study further analyzes the overall perceived effectiveness of social media marketing by breaking down the effect by ethnicity, gender, and education. In looking at ethnicity, the data suggests that these types of advertisements are the most effective on African Americans, least effective on Caucasians. Data on gender shows that ads are more effective on males than females. Finally, an analysis of both these effects shows social media marketing as being most effective on African American males. This could suggest that social media marketing is an especially effective tactic if the consumer a marketer is trying to reach is an African American male.

Next, the study looked at how social proof marketing compares to other types of social media marketing tactics. It was hypothesized that social proof marketing would be the most effective type, but results of the online survey did not prove that to be true. Focus group participants mentioned that they thought it was the most effective, but the online survey found that millennials perceived it to be just as effective as brand conversations and sponsored links. Social media contests and brand utilities were seen as the least effective type of social media marketing. This suggests that if a marketer is trying to reach this generation, social proof can be just as useful as brand conversations and sponsored links.

While brand utilities and social media contests were perceived to be the least effective, they still had relatively high sample means, suggesting that millennials enjoy participating in these user-generated marketing tactics and that they are effective in creating sales. It is important to note the discrepancy between the high perceived effectiveness of each type of social media marketing and the low perceived effectiveness of social media marketing in general. This will be discussed further in the Limitations and Future Research Section. Finally, the study looked at which type of social proof tactic was perceived to be the most effective, finding, as hypothesized, that wisdom of friends was the most effective. Wisdom of crowds and user social proof were also seen as very effective suggesting that the types of social proof that showed peers being interested in particular products garnered better results than the type of social proof that showed individuals who were not very close in status to the buyers such as expert social proof or celebrity social proof. It was surprising that expert social proof and celebrity social proof were found to be the least effective of all types of social proof. This contradicts the findings of Mascarenhas & Higby (1993) who had discovered that media informative influences, such as expert social proof, was more influential than the normative, “everybody is doing it” type of media messages, such as wisdom of friends or wisdom of crowds social proof. Perhaps, this discrepancy in findings has to do with the 25-year difference between when Mascarenhas and Higby conducted their study and when this present study was conducted.

68 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

Discussion

Limitations and Future Research There were several limitations to this study. For the case study, actually speaking to representatives from the company rather than just looking at magazine and newspaper articles would have given a more in-depth look at social proof marketing. For the focus group portion of the study, there should have been more than one focus group that was analyzed in order to get a more comprehensive look at millennial responses.

Just looking at a group of college students in a small university in California means that the responses garnered are not representative of the population. For the online survey, the scales should have been created, tested, and modified before the research began. Had this been done, low-reliability scores would have been pinpointed earlier and scales could have been adjusted to get more precise results. Unfortunately, a lack of time and money made these pre-tests impossible. Further, during analyses, it was noted that some questions could have been worded for clearer understanding.

For example, the question that asks for hours per day spent on each social media site was phrased as such “In the past week, approximately how many hours per day have you spent on. . .” In reviewing the responses to this question, it was found that many participants

chose hours that were more than the 24 per day. This suggests that the “In the past week” phrase could have confused participants into thinking that the question was asking how many hours were spent on each social media site throughout the entire week. Also, as noted before, the effectiveness of each type of social media marketing was much higher than the effectiveness of social media marketing in general. This could suggest that a better scale could have been chosen to pinpoint the effectiveness of social media marketing in general.

Any researcher thinking of studying the effects presented in this paper should take the time to develop a good questionnaire before continuing the research.

Also, it is important to note that there was no way of assuring that all participants in the study were millennials. With participants taking the survey online, it would be easy for them to lie about their age. Further, with the study being aimed at a community that uses an online service to get paid, results could have been skewed. If an individual is so connected via the internet that they are using it to supplement their income, there is probably more of a chance that social media is more integrated into their lifestyle.

This study, although a good beginning exploration

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |69

into the theories of social proof marketing and other marketing tactics, raised a few questions for researchers in the future to explore. Firstly, this study could be more effectively done as a true experiment. For example, if a researcher has the funds, they could track the social media buying habits of a group of participants by getting permission to tap into their accounts and examine their behavior for a period of time. Research could look at how different types of marketing or social proof marketing compare across different platforms.

For example, is celebrity social proof more effective when it is implemented on Twitter? Or are brand conversations less useful on Facebook than Instagram?

These questions could help marketers to pinpoint fur-

ther the best way to target customers based on the type of advertisements that they would like to use. Finally, this study raises one crucial point for marketers and researchers alike to look into. There was a gap in advertising effectiveness found in this study. This suggests that there is this space for the next big thing to come to light that will provide even more effective types of advertisements for this generation. With this in mind, this study suggests that marketers and researchers be on the hunt to fulfill this generationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs for better marketing tactics.

https://www.umassd.edu/cmr/social-

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74 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |75

Appendix A

In-depth Interview with Professor Razzouk

Interviewer: Just a couple of ques-

CEO walks into my office and says “let’s

people or putting up billboards or post-

tions on social media and what it is

make something go viral” – they don’t

ers or having a conversation or what-

and why it is so important. The first

really know how it works or what it is.

ever else, it’s about us trying to under-

question is: in your own words, what

Most people in the business world and

stand our customers, design for them,

exactly is Social Media

the broader world think marketing is

target them, influence their behavior.

Razzouk: So, there is sort of the

just advertising.

The purpose of marketing as a

technical side of it then we can talk

I teach the social media market-

whole is sales. To reach that goal we

about the perception that people have,

ing class and I threw out the textbook

make relationships and communicate

and the perception marketers have

for it immediately and just redesigned

with customers and try to understand

about what social media is. So tech-

the class because it was presenting

them. But ultimately, the reason why a

nically speaking, Social media is the

social media as this ‘magic bullet so-

company would create a marketing de-

actual media that we are distributing

lution’ where, if your company has a

partment or hire a marketer is because

socially. I mean, the content itself that

Facebook page, you will just automati-

they want those results – they want

we are distributing. Often, we use ‘so-

cally get more customers. They don’t

more customers or their existing cus-

cial media’ to describe the platforms by

understand how it works, and that’s

tomers to spend more money. So, this

which that platform gets distributed.

even how it is being taught to college

is such a difficult question to navigate

So, people will say “Facebook is social

students now, where we are just walk-

because so many people are techni-

media” when actually it is the content

ing through “here is what Facebook is,

cally wrong, about the way that they

we are posting on Facebook – the vid-

here is what Instagram is, here is what

approach it. In the business world we

eos, the post the things. The issue from

Twitter is, and here is how to create an

now have inbound marketing – before,

the perspective of marketers is – If I’m

account.” And we forget – and this is

in ancient history, it was like “I’m sell-

working for a company and I am han-

where the psychology side comes in –

ing my food in the market place” and I

dling social media for the company, the

whether it’s social media or shouting at

am yelling at everyone as they walk by

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |77

about what we have to offer. We haven’t

just could never catch up, because they

one has an idea of how to target their

really come that far beyond that. We

had a different generation of market-

customers, and they believe they are

are approaching things in the same

ers with just a different mindset and

smart people, and they just sort of go

way. A lot of business use outbound

they didn’t adjust immediately, and

with it, without having a focus group.

marketing which is kind of like “let me

they never really caught up after that.

Whether you’re using social media or

throw my flyers to the wind and hope

So, on the business side, we have to pay

not, it always drills down to do you un-

I get maybe 10 – 15% of potential cus-

attention to what’s happening in terms

derstand who you are speaking to or

tomers to view that information and

of social media, but it is rooted in the

not. Just like an author writing a book

become my customers. Like a flyer on

basic behavior of human beings and

or a journalist writing a newspaper ar-

your car in the parking lot, billboards,

what influences people. Without social

ticle. Who’s going to read this thing and

what we consider spam, telemarket-

media, straight, face to face interac-

what do I want them to do as a result of

ing. Anything that is not targeted or

tion, people influence other people.

interacting with it.

is less targeted where it’s just I have a

My influencers could be friends, fam-

list of people or I’m going to stand in a

ily, pastors, teachers.

public sphere and just hope I get some people that way.

The short answer to the question is, we think we know but we don’t and

I work here at La Sierra in the

we’re still learning a lot, and some of

school of business and one thing we

the rules that use to apply they do not

Then this thing called the internet

want to know is who influences our

apply as much anymore. For example:

came along. Social media is a tool that

students, let’s make sure we are also

when you think about how we define

is used by consumers and a tool used

reaching those people in the content

generation. Baby boomers, genera-

by businesses to connect with you and

we are putting out there. So, it’s not

tion X, generation X was like a ten-year

also to get found by you. And that’s

just targeting high schoolers with our

block. How we are defining millennials,

what inbound marketing is. The reali-

information, its targeting their par-

that is a big block, and a lot of different

ty now with the internet is that you are

ents, their pastors, or the schools they

stuff happened during that time. Hon-

not waiting for me to send you some-

are at, so the more I understand who

estly, calling millennials, millennials is

thing in the mail for you to come shop

I’m targeting and who’s around them,

a marketing ploy. We are trying to tell

for what I have to sell, you know what

the more influence I can have. That’s

you that you are millennials, and that

you want and you’re going to pull out

what then leads to wording ads in a

this is what millennials think and do,

your phone and look it up, and if I do

specific way or setting up your website

because we have no idea what millen-

not exist in that space that you’re look-

in a certain way or Facebook page. The

nials want. We are trying to influence

ing in, whether it’s Facebook or Twit-

imagery, wording, or style that I am us-

you. We’re saying: “Be in this box here,

ter or the web (just a google search),

ing should align with the age group, the

so that we can more effectively reach

if I’m not showing up in that stuff, I

gender, the location of who I’m target-

you.” But there are big differences. I

basically don’t exist. You’re not going

ing and what they’re interests are. And,

was born in the eighties. People born

to know who I am, you’re not going

we can do these things online. So, if I

in 2000 do not think and act the same

to connect with me or shop with me.

create a Facebook ad, I can make all of

way that I do. You know? They weren’t

It’s pretty messy right now because

those choices about who I’m targeting.

the same age when some of these kinds

we’ve had this period of time since the

The average consumer, they might not

of world shaking events happen over

mid-nineties where companies like

know all of this, they might just be an-

the past few decades. Marketers have

Amazon started because of the emer-

noyed by all of these ads and things.

sort of a bad reputation for some of

gence of the internet and online shop-

The reality is that even though market-

these things. Like anyone else in differ-

ping. The people they hired and their

ing has been around for a long time,

ent fields, we try to take shortcuts, and

business model, everything was built

advertising has been around for a long

we’re not as smart as we think we are,

around that reality. Companies like

time in various forms, we still aren’t

and we need to spend more time on re-

Toys R Us, who just went bankrupt,

doing that great of a job. Because often

search.

part of it began in the mid-nineties

times these meetings are happening in

Something I’ve been thinking about

where they had troubles adjusting and

a board room somewhere where some-

in the past few weeks as a preparation

78 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

for my social media class this quarter,

something they said because people

do is like a 15% return on customers.

recently Facebook came out with the

kind of got sick of it and we’re kind

Now, inbound became more competi-

idea that now you can make your post

of in constant fear of that. You know

tive. As more companies caught on,

look more like a quote, and when you

we call it switching behavior. Why do

now all competitors were paying to

think about that, they are building on

people switch cable companies, phone

target those same people. Now we get

this desire that people have to be val-

companies, or stop using Facebook and

into ad wars where, when I first started

ued and to feel special, and it used to

start using something else? It could be

targeting people on social media, they

be that, you hear some amazing, in-

because they’re fed up with what they

were only seeing my product or my

spirational thing, and your quoting

consider spam, or it could be a lack of

service. But now your competitors are

it on your feed to tell all your friends

feeling a community or authenticity.

targeting those same individuals. Now

about it. Your quoting Martin Luther

Where it just seems like everything is

I have to outspend my competition for

King, your quoting Gandhi, but now

an ad or political, and they are tired of

people to see my stuff more often. So

people are literally saying, “this thing

that and just like want to see pictures.

then, we have to switch tactics again,

that I have to say is very significant and

Or, part of the reason Snapchat be-

and there is this constant shift occur-

quote worthy and it is of the same cali-

came popular is that the post just goes

ring. But inbound is always more effec-

ber as MLK, Gandhi and others. We are

away and it doesn’t have this feeling of

tive than outbound, in terms of what

totally feeding into the egos. It is sort

like you are hoarding social media.

you are going to spend on it. Because

of this desperate attempt to keep the

of the adjustments Facebook & others

activity level high among users. Face-

Interviewer: So, you talk a bit about

have made, because people got sick of

book, others, are trying out all these

how, people might get tired of seeing

seeing too many ads, if you’re not pay-

different things because they are in

all of these ads, so I’m wondering if

ing for your business, no one sees you

constant fear of this decline and this

you see any common ways in which

and you have to try and find new ways

rapid shift that occurs where – it’s like

marketers use social media or put

to get to people. They have a lot of in-

a trend, right – where people just rap-

out ads. Like is there any similarities

formation about who the users are, but

idly move from one thing to the other,

in the things that people see in their

marketers have not perfected how to

and they haven’t captured the younger

news feed.

do that. That’s why, they woke up one

audience as well. Instagram grew twice

Razzouk: There are some advan-

day and realized that we are having

as fast as Facebook did. Snapchat grew

tages now to using social media as a

trouble keeping up with people who

twice as fast as Instagram did. And it’s

tool. We know more about who we are

we are targeting. Let’s just try to have

all kind of happening with pre-teens,

targeting, and we can choose who we

more influence on them beyond just

and teens. That’s why we are trying to

are targeting better. If you put up a bill-

ads. That’s why we are doing things like

hit them with things like “You are a

board, the only level of targeting you are

saying, “You’re a millennial, you like

millennial, do this.” Realistically, we

is people who drive by this billboard.

avocados.” There’s still a lot of mistakes

are having troubles keeping up with

Then you don’t necessarily know how

being made. A good example of this is,

them, and doing what they want. Really

old they are, who they are, how much

think about all of the offensive ads that

it sorts of snaps back where Facebook

money they make a year. You pretty

are still coming out every single day.

& others have opened up a lot for busi-

much only know that maybe they are

Social media is a tool, not a stand-

nesses and ads, and people get sort of

commuters, they are on the road, and

alone magic bullet solution to get you

sick of that, they don’t want to see that

they have a car. If you know what you

more sales. People right now, they

as much so now, Facebook & others are

are doing, and you know who your cus-

want authenticity in every interaction

making these adjustments where it’s

tomers are or who you want them to

that they’re having because there has

not as easy for businesses to get their

be, you can get, basically, more results

been so much narcissism in what they

message into your news feed, unless

out of the same dollar through social

see every day. I forget the percentage

they are paying for it. You’re not going

media. When that first came about, it

but there are so many posts about peo-

to find like “oh here’s an interesting

was better than outbound marketing.

ple just talking about themselves. But

organization in your area and here’s

With outbound, the best you could

even those people get sick about see-

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |79

ing that from other people. Now people

with you as a customer, I want to con-

that place, instead of just “great, I’m on

don’t trust newsfeeds as much and

tinue strengthening and building the

the same level as all my competitors.”

they don’t enjoy that kind of ego-driven

relationship with you.

If you are fiercely loyal to my brand, it

content other people might be post-

For example, let’s go back to La

is going to be harder for my competi-

ing. There’s kind of this bubble. There’s

Sierra. From the first moment, say

tors to take you. So, if my competitors,

room for something to emerge – what-

you’re a high school student, I send a

they’re putting a bunch of ads in your

ever the next big social media platform

recruiter out to your school, the first

face on your news feed, you’re just im-

might be, or some other use of technol-

time you hear about La Sierra, we are

pervious to that now because it’s not

ogy is different. We are creating space

establishing rapport, we’re starting a

just about which ad was the best it’s “I

for that right now because people are

relationship. We’ve moved from being

associate myself with this brand over

getting tired of the way we have been

sort of strangers to acquaintances. It’s

here, I like them, I value them, I want

acting or reacting to other people on

the equivalent of a handshake. You still

my friends to buy from them too.” If I

social media. Kind of the newness of

wouldn’t trust that person with your

am a business, I want that to happen.

it has worn off and everyone and their

life, but you are aware of them now.

We are feeding into this desire

grandmother is on there.

Now I want to move you from acquain-

for relationships that humans have,

tances to kind of a friend of the busi-

right? It’s a sort of Bible mechanism

Interviewer: You talked a little bit

ness. And that comes from you buying

we have. We tend to get into groups

about “ego” and posting a quote, mak-

something from us or having some

and communicate with each other, and

ing it seem as important as something

kind of customer experience with us,

be productive together, and get work

that Gandhi said like a bunch of years

that we can build on. So of course, I

done. People just kind of crave that and

ago, and you also talked about devel-

want that to be a good experience, if

when things like America Online first

oping relationships in marketing. Can

you were satisfied, if you were happy

came out with instant messaging and

you connect those two for me?

with that, you plan to shop with us

chat rooms, people had 20 chat win-

Razzouk: On the business side,

again, and with all of the following, and

dows open and that’s how they talk to

businesses don’t feel a responsibility

your actions from there, I want to turn

all their friends, then Myspace then

to influence the way people interact

you from a friend of the organization

Facebook came along, where now it

with each other and encourage them

to a partner now. And if you’re at the

is more of a feed format, and it wasn’t

to be less egotistical or something like

partner level - and I don’t mean like

the instant back and forth. Now it was

that. It’s more like they notice that peo-

partner at a law firm or like we’re pay-

like I am a content creator assuming

ple are egotistical, and they decide to

ing you, it’s just a relationship sort of

people are interested in my life and

feed into that, use the fact that people

status – if we consider you at that kind

value what I have to say. I need to make

are egotistical. If I am a restaurant, use

of highest level now, now you’re in the

sure I share things about my life with

the fact that people like to post photos

best position to – you’re going to gener-

them. That little piece is what has led

of the plate of food they’re about to eat

ate referrals to us, you’re going to tell

to that thing I was talking about with

and to tell your friends about it. If I

your friends how great our brand is,

the quotes now. It’s like Facebook is

think you are going to do that, I am go-

you’re going to, if we post something,

telling you that everything you have

ing to try and make it easier, I’ll encour-

you are more likely to share that or

to say is significant and is important.

age you to do that, or I will put a poster

tell others about it. You’re like a brand

You should be allowed to put that in

on the wall right near to the tables

evangelist for us now. You like who we

bolder text and decorate it in some

that shows our social media accounts

are, and you’ve now attached, in terms

way, so more people can see it. It’s kind

or “tag us!” or “use this hashtag!” It’s

of your identity, you consider that re-

of like your treating individual users

more of a reaction to what we see con-

lationship a part of who you are now

are like they are businesses now too.

sumers doing. On social media or off,

as a customer. You are someone who

It’s like everyone on Facebook is a busi-

“relationship marketing” is a good tac-

loves Nike shoes, you are someone who

ness trying to get everyone to see what

tic for businesses to use. Social media

loves to eat at taco bell. That’s part of

you’re saying. Maybe I shouldn’t say

is one tool, but every interaction I have

who you are now. I want to get you to

everybody but, now that’s why, because

80 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

so much of that has been happening,

questions about how influential those

businesses have reacted, they believe

a bunch of people want to reject that.

things are, but there’s still the fact that

that as long as you have an account,

People are spending more time now to

you can post that, and they are taken

you’re good. So, they’re like “Oh let’s

like hide posts from this thing for the

advantage of the ability to target cer-

get on Facebook, and Instagram, and

next 30 days or forever. They are trying

tain groups of people. So, it’s just that

Twitter, and Pinterest, and everything.

to clean up their news feed. Almost like

if you are wanting to post propaganda

They were just expecting that if you

when people try to build the perfect

to trick people into posting something,

just exist on there, people will like you

playlist on iTunes or Spotify. You’re

you probably think that the people you

and just become your customers. Now

never quite there but you’re willing to

are targeting are gullible enough and if

we realize that you’ve got to be active

spend some time to maintain it, we are

you were thinking a certain way, and

on there and you’ve got to be respon-

treating our newsfeeds that way now

have the right inflammatory story or

sive. If you are only using it as an alter-

because we are fed up of the ads that

imagery, that gets people riled up and

native for press releases where it is just

we see. At the core, still this desire to

they’ll start to share it with all their

a one-way street, and you’re just going

have relationships and to be heard, and

friends that share the same political

to push content on there, now it is the

to be valued.

views and you’ll watch it sort of spread

equivalent of a billboard again. If you

A good example of the negative con-

because we have lost some societal

use social media platforms properly,

sequences of this: think about our el-

checks and balances about what’s real,

people are probably asking new ques-

ders. Grandparents. There was a time,

what’s authentic, and what’s credible

tions, or making comments about you

not too long ago, if you needed advice,

and it’s just there are credible things in

or talking about you in some way, you

you would look to people who were

your news feed, but there is also propa-

want to track that and interact with

older than you and they felt valued that

ganda there. It is up to me to figure out

that and monitor that. You don’t want

way. If you lived in a small village, you

if I believe it or not. Now it is about do

to get into fights with customers, that

would go to the village elder. We don’t

I want to believe it or not, do I like that

never goes well. If I am monitoring La

all live in villages right now, but that

view or not. And that’s why there is this

Sierra’s twitter account and some high

village was always sort of there. You felt

snapback to people who are wanting or

school student asks a question, even

that, if you were an elder, people should

needing or asking for some kind of so-

if I’m some social media intern and I

sort of listen to you because you’re wise

lution to that. So that’s why, if Facebook

am not the person to really answer the

and you have something to say. Now

doesn’t figure this out, they are going

question, I at least need to field that

with social media, young people aren’t

to go the way of Toys R Us to Amazon,

and connect the person to someone

asking or listening anymore, they are

whatever the next thing that comes out

who can answer the question because

getting information from their peers.

that says they are going to solve all this.

it is all kind of tied together because

And that’s where that feeling of loneli-

This makes it difficult to teach my

of the marketing process, but, to be

ness comes along – grandparents feel

class. And that’s why I threw out my

responsive, that means I need to be

like they are not having as much inter-

book because the stuff we are talking

checking the thing regularly too. So,

actions with their kids and grandkids,

about today, everything sort of changes

if I’m advising business owners and

and no one is really asking them for

and so that’s why I focus more on teach-

they’re asking, “should I be on twitter?”

their advice. That’s the impact on our

ing students to understand human be-

My answer is: It depends. If you are go-

society, in terms of where we get our

havior and what factors influence it

ing to be active and if you’re going to be

information, who do we trust, who’s

because a year from now it will be a dif-

keeping an eye on it and responding to

information do we value more than

ferent platform we’re using for it.

people, then yes. If you are just going to

others. That has sort of shifted, and

create an account, then when people go

because of that some groups have sort

Interviewer: So, we talked about

there, they see that your last post was

of taken advantage of that, and that’s

Facebook and how people have been

in 2012, they’re going to think that your

why, all the things we have heard about

using it. What are other social media

business is closed or maybe not really

in the news, how easy it is to post po-

sites that marketers are using now?

up too much. And this is part of why,

litical ads and turn it into evil. They’re

Razzouk: If you look at how most

in the fact of Facebook, they show you

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |81

how quick at responses the company

ing to ask them who we should target

to the use of generations. And does

is. Like they respond 67% of the time

and the reason that’s a trick is because

that make them more likely to interact

within an hour. They made that kind

how should I write the ad if I don’t know

with ads and such on social media or

of a thing out there which then drove

who I am targeting. So, we are going to

are they just as weary of social media

businesses to say, “okay we kind of have

go through that then go back and fix the

ads as everyone else.

this low ranking on this thing and that

ad. Marketers need to be experts in who

Razzouk: Just for the sake of argu-

makes us look bad, so we have to be

their customers are and who we want

ment, let’s just say that these genera-

more active.”

to target and compare that with who

tions are real. Each generation views

And also, the first thing that really

is actually our customers right now. If

Facebook differently in terms of what

matters is who your customer is. You

you think your product would be great

it’s for. And that’s why you see behavior

almost have to view social media space

for men between the ages of 45 and 60

kind of differing. It’s why people com-

as physical space. If you’re in the city

but then you find most of your sales are

plain, like “my mom keeps doing this

of Riverside, if I want to target people

coming from women between the ages

on Facebook.” There is this kind of gen-

that like organic, healthy, locally grown

of 35-40 you might want to adjust a little

erational gap because, yeah, for those

food, I want to figure out where is the

bit. Lucky you, you are selling a bunch

that didn’t grow up with it, the way

nearest farmers market, so I can con-

of stuff, but all your ads are targeting

they use it is kind of rooted in how they

nect with those people. Or if I am tar-

men. Imagine if you shift your ads to

wanted to interact sort of before that.

geting high schoolers, I want to go to a

people who are actually shopping from

Now we even have what is called “gen-

high school and get permission to have

you. You could take that even further.

eration z” which is the millennials too.

a conversation with them. In the physi-

You always want to understand, who

When I think about this generation

cal world, we can figure out where, lit-

am I first designing the product, or ser-

thing, basically I think the rules change

erally, our customers are. In terms of

vice, or experience for. And if I under-

with how we define these generations,

social media, not all of my customers

stand that person, I can also figure out

post internet. Things like World War 2

are using twitter or Facebook. When

the best way to influence their behav-

defined that generation. It affected ev-

I say, “where are they?” I mean which

ior, and word choice, and other things.

erybody, and everybody kind of knew

social media site are they on. And that’s

By studying social media users, we can

it was going on and was related to it in

where age groups really come in. If I’m

see, at least, how do people want to be

some way. We have had some big things

targeting retiring baby boomers for

perceived, how do they see themselves,

happen in the US over the past two de-

vacation packages, snapchat probably

what do they claim their identity is? Be-

cades here, but we move on faster and

won’t give me that kind of results right

cause everyone is kind of saying “This

we get influenced by things faster,

now. I know that some grandparents

is my brand. I like these three things, I

new and different things, and we form

are on snapchat, but that’s not going to

listen to this music, I click like on the

groups faster, and more often, and so,

be the best use of my money. I am going

posts related to these political views.”

if you think about how many different

to see more of them on Facebook. So, I

And if we can create a profile on, okay,

genres of music are they now because

need to know who they are. If I am sell-

the customer I’m targeting is this type

it is easily accessible. People are like

ing home products or women’s clothing

of person between these ages, or this

“Don’t identify me as that broad group,

– and there’s not just women on Pinter-

gender, they have this level of income,

because I am this.” Don’t defy me in

est – but I’m going better luck on there

they live in this city. Data wise, we have

a 30-year block of US residents, I am

or Etsy and those stuff.

access to a lot. It’s just that we still mis-

unique. I am this combination of things

use it sometimes, and we kind of miss

After the internet opened for main-

Today in class I will be doing a trick question, a little exercise kind of re-

the point of targeting people properly.

lated to this. We are going to make an

stream use, the number of things in the combination of what we define our-

ad in class today, put some money into

Interviewer: Being the technological

selves as, our identity, there is more

a Facebook ad, and first we are going

generation, being the college students

stuff in there because it is easier to ac-

to ask what the ad should say, then we

that started Facebook, how do you

cess everything out there. So, if you ask

are going to make the ad, then I am go-

think their social media use compares

someone, “How would you define your-

82 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

self,” even like political parties and

identity and then you present yourself

with matching with most of the things

stuff, more people are saying, “Oh I lean

that way. But the older generations,

that are kind of said about millennials.

this direction, but I wouldn’t really say

they had less options. Not everything

I’m a democrat or a republican I’m me.

was readily available to them, so they

And I think this way on this topic and

ended up kind of being put into more of

this way on that topic” and this is just

a box.

Interviewer: Any final points?

Razzouk: In the simplest form, for business, social media should be

a foreign idea to some of the older gen-

Whenever I’m creating an ad or

viewed as a tool for everyday users. We

erations where it’s just, you know who

making a marketing campaign or decid-

view it as a community. It is the world.

you are, and you’re only one of these

ing how to target high schoolers who

We view it as a real space that we want

two sides to this, and you like this thing

want to come to La Sierra, I’ve used

to participate and exist in and be of

or you don’t. Know we’re kind of wired

the Millennial term and viewed that as

value in. People feel left out otherwise,

differently, because of how connected

a productive or effective thing to use.

it’s not like, if you delete your Facebook

we are. And, I think we are a little more

Because when I look at that I’m just like

account, you’re not in danger of starv-

willing to change our views on things.

“Why is this thing a 30-year block of

ing to death but it’s that same drive

I think teens are more flexible in just a

people when the boomers weren’t that

that lead us to being together and grow

willingness to change their mind and

long, generation X was not that long.” I

crops together and everything, that

evolve on an issue. We see this happen-

believe, and I will have to do research

same drive leads people to be like “Oh,

ing in our political environment, teens

on this, but I believe millennials are the

I have got to join that thing because a

driving more political change and so

biggest block of time we have ever called

bunch of other people are on there too

forth than the older generations. Be-

a generation and I think that’s just lazy.

and I need that.” So, just understand-

cause there is always this view like “On

If we are doing this right based on re-

ing the craving our brain has for that,

principle I have to be consistent, I am

search, we are going to come up with

that’s what marketers are trying to tap

not allowed to compromise, I am not

thousands of different groups to put

into and sometimes we do a bad job of it

allowed to change my mind, I am not

that age group into and that’s just too

and sometimes we do too good of a job

allowed to be convinced. I just need to

much and it’s easier to say, “They’re all

at it and that’s what leads to people ad-

decide who I am and just be that and

just millennials because they grew up in

dicted to casual phone games and stuff

stick to that. For those people, they’re

a sort of internet age.” Do a focus group

because we know that with the right

fixing their newsfeeds, and they’re

and put people ranging from being born

combination of lights and sounds and

only seeing what they want to see, but I

in the 80s to the 2000s in a room and

short term pay offs, you can get some-

think the younger audience is project-

see if they agree on anything. So, if call-

one to play candy crush for 24 hours

ing that. Now there’s this kind of mis-

ing them a certain generation and say-

straight and we can make money that

alignment between what this younger

ing “everyone in that generation, for the

way. I view that as abuse for businesses

generation wants and what Facebook

most part thinks this way and acts this

where it’s like we understand the hu-

and twitter and others are providing.

way, then test it, be scientific about it,

man brain so well that we can get you

They want something else. That’s why

to see if it is an actual valid thing ver-

to do what we want and spend money.

they went so quickly over to snapchat.

sus just kind of a label that marketers

I don’t know if Teens love it as much

came up with.

Don’t just define what social media is. Point out that it’s messy and confus-

anymore, but everyone is kind of wait-

So, I don’t view millennials as some-

ing. According to the dictionary it is

ing. Something else is going to emerge

thing that social psychologists did re-

this, according to the business world

there. That’s why I don’t buy into de-

search on and said, “we’ve noticed in

it’s this, and according to the reality

fining generations post 1995 because

this block of people they are really well

measured, it seems to be this. Some-

I think it means something different

aligned with each other,” I don’t agree

times perception is what matters be-

to us now because it is like you have

with it. I could be wrong. The millen-

cause it is all driven by the users any

a choice. It’s no longer you are called

nial in me leads me to disagree, but I

way and you can’t go around correcting

something. You can be whatever you

don’t consider myself a millennial. I

them.

want, and you just decide kind of your

was born in ’84 but I don’t see myself

Appendix B

Focus Group Questions and Answer Notes

*Please note that these are just the in-

they are using apps on their phones,

• Snapchat: Is dying.

terviewer’s notes on the responses of the

they have smart phones, and they use

Sometimes people

group as a whole.

these phones. Basically, they are what

won’t look at it the whole

you would refer to as a power user.

day. And it de-

Interviewer: My first question is: to you

pends if you have a lot of

guys, who are the millennials and what

Interviewer: What are the social media

people to talk to.

do they have in common. Meaning,

sites, you are using.

• Twitter: 1 – 2 hours.

what have you seen on the internet or

Response:

Some people on Twit

just passed by as to who people say the

Instagram

ter more than anything else.

millennials are and what do people say

Snapchat

You get news

millennials have in common.

Twitter

Not Facebook

more than You-

off of twitter. On Twitter

Response: I look at millennials as

LinkedIn

Tube.

teenagers from high school. Sometimes

YouTube

• YouTube will make you

I don’t consider myself a millennial.

Pinterest

feel like you’re

Sometimes I feel older than what I think a millennial is.

When I hear reference to the millennials, I think they are referring to people that are in their 20s and 30s, people who

spending too much time on Interviewer: How much time per day

YouTube be-

do you spend on the following social

it tells you the time of the

media sites:

videos

Response:

cause

• YouTube tells you if it is

are very familiar with tech and whose

• Instagram: 1 – 2 hours or

like a 20-minute

lives are very integrated with tech, so

so 8 hours or

video, and I am not going to

they are using things like social media,

more for some power users

watch that

84 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

• But with twitter you can

which makes you want to pay for You-

just scroll

Tube Red but we’re poor college stu-

through it, see some news

dents.

• YouTube: I think I spend like 4 hours ev

Quarter of all ads feel like they are well targeted.

ery day. I spend hours at

Response: Never.

Interviewer: Do you think if you had money, theoretically?

Response: Would click on ads and buy it if they had the funds.

a time on YouTube. Some-

Interviewer: What social media sites

times I stay up until like 4

would you say you experience the most

Interviewer: What about social media

advertisements on?

contests? How often do you guys see

o’clock. 4 – 5 hours on

Response: YouTube. Every other

average,

like social media contests and stuff like

• Facebook: One person

video that you watch. And now, on lon-

came forward as

ger videos, there is like four or five. They

Response: All the time. For shoes.

using Facebook. Uses Face-

also always put the ads at the best part of

Participation happens once every

book for fami-

the video.

ly. Spend hour and a half to two hours

with

family every other day.

couple months. I go through phases where you will see a bunch of them then

Interviewer: Anyone actually enjoy ad-

be sad when you don’t win. It’s like wait

vertisements?

another couple of months then partici-

Response: I Enjoy them if they’re Interviewer: How important would you

that?

pate again.

more interesting.

say social media is to your daily life?

Interviewer: Have you ever partici-

Response: I feel like you could go 36

Interviewer: How often do you click

pated in a social media contest or seen

hours without social media. It’s not like

links on advertisements that you see on

one that led you to buying the product

your so obsessed that you can’t detach

social media?

later on?

yourself for 36 hours. You’d be fine.

If it’s there, I will get on it. But if I am

Response: Rare. It is usually by accident.

somewhere without access to it, I won’t get on it and it won’t matter.

into buying the product.

Interviewer: What about if you see an ad specifically tailored towards you?

Interviewer: Are these things that are a part of your daily routine.

Response: Yes. If a friend wins a contest it makes you interested in looking

Response: On Instagram, I feel like I click on ads the most, but I feel like it’s

Interviewer: What about social media conversations such as hashtags or Instagram lives?

Response: 2-3 hours on YouTube

mostly just out of curiosity. Either about

after classes. It’s like a reward. Reward

the business or something. Because I’m a

yourself after a long day and you binge

business student, I will be curious about

If they are nice I’m willing to hashtag

watch YouTube

Response: People who do not get that many likes use a lot of hashtags.

certain industries, so I will just look to

Tag the company in the photo

I reward myself just for getting up.

see what their website looks like. Rarely,

If it is like a niche thing, like riding

You get up and you spend some time on

they will actually put a product that I’m

a dirt bike, I will have a hashtag for the

YouTube.

interested in. Like a pair of Nike shoes

type of car or the dirt bike so that the

that are new. And It’s pretty great too, be-

community, like if it is a smaller commu-

cause it’s all in the app so you don’t have

nity will see it.

I spend the most time on social media at night, once you’re done with classes.

to get out of it. Whereas, if you’re on a Interviewer: How often do you experi-

browser and you click on an ad, it takes

ence advertisements on social media?

you to a whole other window or what-

Response: Every day. I actually look

ever.

on Instagram, it’s every fourth or fifth post.

Also experience ads on YouTube

People don’t really watch them but get the notifications for them.

People who watch an Instagram Lives watch close friends or celebrities depending on who they are.

Interviewer: Does anybody ever buy things from ads on social media?

Interviewer: Has using hashtags or

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |85

seeing someone using a hashtag for a

Interviewer: What about expert brand

specific brand, does that make you in-

influencers?

terested in buying that brand?

Response: You want to look into it. If someone posts a cool video about a motorcycle I will research it.

Interviewer: And brands with large fol-

Response: Yes, makes you want to

lowing?

Response: I Like larger brands.

buy the product more.

For tech things, I will watch vid-

Depends on if it is reliable

eos, sponsored or not, that will typi-

If it is reliable and no one knows

cally show what they like and do not like

about it, it’s even better because that’s

Interviewer: What about brand utili-

which makes you feel like it is something

a talking point that you can then share

ties?

you can actually use. Seeing posts like

with other people.

Response: Depends on how fun they are, If I will use them.

this leads you to want to purchase these

Most of them are pretty stupid most of the time.

Ones with an action = more fun.

Like clothing. You don’t want to wear the brand everyone is wearing, you want

things.

to be different. But something big like a Interviewer: What about celebrity

TV or a computer, you want it to be reli-

brand influencers?

able so you go for the big brand,

Response: Do follow celebrities. See Interviewer: Has snapchat filters, etc,

celebrities post these ads. And how you

Interviewer: What about brands that a

does that lead you to buying the prod-

react is how much you like the celebrity

lot of your friends follow?

uct?

and if it is something you can actually

Response: Yes because if some of

conceive buying or using. Like a makeup

your friends like a brand but no one

line that I can buy, but if you’re doing

owns it, you want to be the first to own it

something that I don’t have an interest

Yes, because they’re your friends and

Response: Not useful in leading to buying the product.

Interviewer: What about brand ambassadors/influencers? How do you react to seeing brand ambassadors?

Response: I unfollow sites that are trying to be for one thing then try to be

you can see it and you can use it.

in, I won’t want to buy it.

Sometimes celebrities advertise use-

Yes, because if something is not

less stuff that don’t really go with what

working, your friends will complain

their image is, they just want to make a

about it and use them as a Guinea pig.

No because friends aren’t as con-

quick buck.

an ambassador for something else.

Depends on how it is done. Some

scious about what they are sporting Interviewer:

Has

seeing

celebrity

YouTubers bring products into their vid-

brand influencers led you to purchas-

Interviewer: What kind of brand influ-

eos for like 20 to 30 seconds to talk about

ing the product?

encer is the most powerful?

Response:

it but it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s really an-

Response: Has done it for celebrities

noying and sometimes I don’t care. Like

endorsing products with their names

• Most people say friend

if the YouTuber is honest about it, telling

on it. Most people would say celebrities

social proof is the

that it helps to make more videos and it

have some sort of effect on whether or

most effective

is a product I enjoy and use. But if it is al-

not they purchase a product.

• Expert is seen as the

ways putting in a brand or something, it gets annoying.

If it is relevant to what you’re already

second most effec Interviewer: And other users as brand

tive

influencers?

• Consumers like start up

watching – like a car vlogger talking

Response: More likely to believe

about a car or something that’s relevant.

someone who are not getting paid. A

like to do research on them.

If they are just talking about some ran-

popular youtuber will say honestly that

• Brand Influencers most

dom thing that they are sponsoring, it’s

they are not getting paid or profit from

influential

just like “what? I don’t get it.”

it and that makes you more likely to be-

Dollar shave club has been doing a lot of ads of this nature.

lieve them.

Seeing other brand influencers affects willingness to buy

brands and they

Appendix C

Survey Questionnaire

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |87

THANK YOU for your willingness to take part in this survey. I am a psychology and marketing student and I am gathering information for my senior project on the effectiveness of social proof social media marketing on the millennial generation. Please note that this study is looking for individuals born between 1980 and 2000. If you fit these criteria and would like to participate, about five minutes of your time would be greatly appreciated. However, please not that participation is completely voluntary, and all your responses are completely anonymous. Please do not put your name or any identifying information anywhere on the questionnaire. If you understand and are willing to participate, please click next to continue on to the survey.

1. Which of the following social media sites do you have an account on? (Check all that Apply) □ Facebook

□ Snapchat

□ Instagram

□ Twitter

□ YouTube

2. In the past week, approximately how many minutes per day have you spent on: (Please put a “0” for any of the social media sites that you do not use) Facebook? _____ minutes

Snapchat? _____ minutes

Twitter? _____ minutes

YouTube? _____ minutes

Instagram? _____ minutes

3. How would you describe how often you browse the following social media sites?

Facebook □ Always Connected □ Several Times a Week □ Never

□ Several Times a Day □ Once a Week

□ Once a day □ Several Times a Month

Snapchat □ Always Connected □ Several Times a Week □ Never

□ Several Times a Day □ Once a Week

□ Once a day □ Several Times a Month

Instagram □ Always Connected □ Several Times a Week □ Never

□ Several Times a Day □ Once a Week

□ Once a day □ Several Times a Month

Twitter

□ Always Connected □ Several Times a Week □ Never

□ Several Times a Day □ Once a Week

□ Once a day □ Several Times a Month

YouTube □ Always Connected □ Several Times a Week □ Never

□ Several Times a Day □ Once a Week

□ Once a day □ Several Times a Month

88 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

4. Please select the number that corresponds with how well you agree with each of the statements below.

1 meaning Strongly Disagree, 5 meaning Strongly Agree.

Strongly

Disagree Facebook is a part of my everyday activities 1 2

3

Snapchat is a part of my everyday activities

1

2

3

4

Instagram is a part of my everyday activities

3

3

4

5

Twitter is a part of my everyday activities

1

2

3

4

5

YouTube is a part of my everyday activities

1

2

3

4

5

I feel out of touch when I haven’t logged on to social media in a while

1

2

3

4

5

I would like it if everyone used social media to communicate

1

2

3

4

5

I would be disappointed if I could not use social media at all

1

2

3

4

5

I get upset when I can’t log on to social media

1

2

3

4

5

I prefer to communicate through social media

1

2

3

4

5

Social media plays an important role in my social relationships

1

2

3

4

5

I enjoy checking my social media account(s)

1

2

3

4

5

I don’t like social media

2

3

4

5

1

1

Strongly Agree 4 5 5

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |89

Questions 1-17 will cover advertising on social media.

1. How often do you access a link on a sponsored advertisement (video or photo advertisements marked “sponsored”) on your social media feed? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

2. How often do you buy a product from a sponsored advertisement on your social media feed? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

□ Often

□ Very Often

3. How often do you participate in social media contests? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

4. How often has participating in a social media contest lead to you purchasing the product or service the contest sponsored? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

5. How often have you participated in social media brand conversations (such as using a hashtag, or joining a live video)? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

6. How often has participating in a social media brand conversation lead you to purchasing the product or service sponsored? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

7. How often have you participated in brand utility (such as brand sponsoring a snapchat filter or a brand sponsoring an Instagram page of user generated photos)? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

8. How often has participating in a brand utility lead to you purchasing the product or service the utility was sponsored by? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

9. How often have you promoted a brand on social media (with or without being paid to do so)? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

90 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

10. How often do you buy a product or service because of an influencer/ambassador advertisement (users being paid to advertise a product)? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

11. How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of an expert? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

12. How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of a celebrity? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

13. How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of another user? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

14. How often do you buy a product or service because a large group of people recommended it? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

15. How often do you buy a product or service because of the recommendation of your friends? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

16. How often have you experienced ads on your social media profile (including sponsored ads, social media contests, brand conversations, brand utilities, and brand ambassador ads)? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

17. How often do you buy a product or service because of an online advertisement? □ Never

□ Seldom

□ Sometimes

□ Often

□ Very Often

Social Media Marketing to the Millennial Generation |91

18. Please select the number that corresponds with how well you agree with each of the statements below.

1 is strongly disagree, 5 is strongly agree.

Strongly

Disagree I often pay attention to advertisements on 1 2 my social media feed

3

Strongly Agree 4 5

I often pay attention to posts by experts on a brand.

1

2

3

4

5

I often pay attention to posts by celebrities on a brand.

1

2

3

4

5

I often pay attention to posts by other users on a brand.

1

2

3

4

5

I often pay attention to brands that have a large following.

1

2

3

4

5

I often pay attention to brands that a large portion of my friends recommend.

1

2

3

4

5

92 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

Now just a few questions about yourself.

19. How old are you? _____ years 20. Gender: I identify as: □ Male

□ Female

□ _______________ (Please specify)

21. Ethnicity: I identify as: (select all that apply) □ Caucasian

□ Hispanic/Latino

□ Asian/Pacific Islander

□ Native American

□ African-American

□ Other (Please Specify): _______________ 22. Which is the highest level of education you have attained? □ Some elementary

□ Some college or technical school

□ Completed Elementary school

□ Completed college (4-year degree)

□ Some high school

□ Graduate studies or degree

□ Completed high school

□ Post graduate studies or advanced degree

94 | Honors Scholarship Project Volume II

Dear Reader, I spent a lot of time in the past few months working on volumes I & II of this portfolio. It has been a long journey of a lot of sleepless nights, designing and redesigning, writing and rewriting, but at the end of all of this I have found gratitude. I am enormously grateful that La Sierra Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Honors Program gave me a place where I could not only learn but also find creative ways to explore my interest.

I am excited to take all that I have learned in the past four years here at La Sierra and apply it to the real world! A special thank you to all my professors and friends that have guided me along the way.