Author(s) Information

Ashley HaFollow

Department - Author 1

Communication Studies Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BA in Communication Studies

Date

6-2015

Primary Advisor

Julia K. Woolley

Abstract/Summary

Social media marketing has become the newest form of advertising for companies. The mobile-social platform, Instagram, has become an important tool for marketing. About two-thirds of big companies are already using Instagram to their advantage. There are no set guidelines on how companies should be advertising themselves on Instagram but there are patterns. The purpose of the study is to find out which Instagram marketing technique out of the three I’ve chosen can be the most successful when trying to achieve more followers, have a wider brand recognition, and increase sales. The marketing techniques I’ve chosen are Instagram posts showing celebrity endorsements, customers wearing a company’s product, and hosting Instagram contests where a consumer will post an Instagram for a chance to win a giveaway. When analyzing and interpreting results from three questionnaires conducted among college students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, it revealed that this sample group is not likely to follow an Instagram account after seeing a celebrity endorsement post. More findings are presented under the measures section and theoretical and practical implications, limitations and future research can be found under discussion.

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Marketing Commons

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