HUAN CHEN (2018) " College-Aged Young Consumers’Perceptions of Social Media Marketing: The Story of Instagram"

From Digital Culture & Society

Contents 1 College-Aged Young Consumers’Perceptions of Social Media Marketing: The Story of Instagram 1.1 Context 1.2 Overview 1.3 Strength and Weakness 1.4 Conclusion

[edit] College-Aged Young Consumers’Perceptions of Social Media Marketing: The Story of Instagram

Article Title: HUAN CHEN. (2018). "College-Aged Young Consumers’Perceptions of Social Media Marketing: The Story of Instagram"

URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/10641734.2017.1372321

[edit] Context

In 2015, the social media and photo-sharing app Instagram reported 300 million monthly users and more than 80 billion photos. With a user-base that has only grown since then, Instagram is the pinnacle of social media and digital entertainment, and for that reason, it is the perfect online outlet for advertisers to connect and engage with consumers directly. Instagram is very unique in the fact that it is catered specifically to the mobile market. While Instagram posts can be viewed on a PC, content can only be created and shared through a mobile device. Instagram is also a very unique platform because all of the content posted must be either a photo or a video, making the content much more engaging than a single generic text post. This article studies the uniqueness of the platform’s content and experience as well as the types of marketing and advertising experiences that are favoured by the consumers of Instagram’s content.

[edit] Overview

For this study, the participants consisted of fifteen 18-23 year olds, with 9 being women and 6 being men. This demographic All of the participants were active Instagram users with 1-3 years of being on the platform. In order to collect data, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with the participants. There were two main sections to the questions asked in the study. The first section of questions dealt with participants’ experiences with Instagram. The second section dealt with participants’ reception towards Instagram marketing. The receptivity of many consumers towards marketing on Instagram depends heavily on the subtlety of the information in its presented form. Another important factor for the receptivity of Instagram ads is the social endorsement the advertising receives from a user’s social relationships. If a user has seen their friends endorsing a product or service on Instagram, their positive opinion of the object will increase and leads to a positive connection between the user and the object. According to the study, the presence of advertising inside of the Instagram app did not affect the participant’s decision to use or not use Instagram would change now or in the future. “Obvious” and “intentional” advertising was not liked by the participants, who much preferred subtle and indirect advertising. Participants preferred natural marketing that has a special and exclusive experiences that have a behind the scenes look on the brand such as “a backstage fashion show” or a “sneak peak of a feature of the iPhone”.

[edit] Strength and Weakness

The ideal target audience for Instagram was found to be young consumers between the ages of 18 and 29, who own a cell phone and had a ratio of more women users than men. It was stated that among this core audience, the people with the highest usage frequency were people aged 18-23. Because of this, it is clear that the researchers of this paper took this information into great consideration when writing this article and conducting their research as the ideal core group is perfectly reflected in their studies. One weakness of the article is the briefness in which they touched upon the subject of social advertising and celebrity endorsements. The article would be more satisfying if it studied the different ways in which social and celebrity marketing can be conducted and which method may be more efficient at communicating a marketing message.

[edit] Conclusion

Instagram is a truly unique content generating social media platform and has a great growing consumer base and these factors create the perfect environment for advertisers to reach their consumers in a new and unique way. Despite the great opportunity, advertisers must be aware of the way in which they chose to market on Instagram. The advertising must be fitting to the environment of the app and be subtle, yet, engaging enough to hold the attention of the new age of digital consumers