Running head: ADVERTISING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The Effectiveness of Advertising on Social Media

Jennifer Magruder, Kelly Eswine, Sonya Williams
COM 3435 Communication Research Methods
March 18, 2014

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Introduction
In todays society, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many other social media sites are an
important part of peoples lives (Curtis, 2013). Social media has become such a big trend in
peoples lives that now businesses are advertising more and more on these sites in order to
increase business. The advertising effectiveness is important to businesses using these sites,
because in order for businesses to increase consumers intake of its services and products,
businesses need to be able to determine if social media advertising is effective to its consumers.
Many studies have been conducted to measure the effectiveness of social media advertising. In
this research study, it will analyze the effectiveness of social media advertising on its consumers
through a focus group study.
The following study will discuss the effectiveness of social media advertising of active
members on social media. The research study shows that advertising on social media is
significant for businesses and the analysis will demonstrate the views of different peoples
opinions of the efficiency of advertising on social media network sites. The researchers will
compare and contrast previous studies over the subject, such as effective uses of advertisement
placement methods. The study then discusses the process by which the focus group was
conducted. The researchers will then provide the findings of the focus group study and discuss
any new or congruent findings that have been uncovered.
The analysis will compare and contrast the findings from this focus group study with
other studies that have been conducted on this topic. By analyzing the findings and deducting
any relevant findings from the previous studies, the research team will be able to conclude if
advertising on social media network sites is effective. Because of the mass increase in social

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media usage, businesses will need to know and understand what types of advertising is most
effective for their company to reach their desired audience.
Literature Review
History
Social media advertising has been around for 20 years now. In 1993, when the World
Wide Web became popular, is when the first advertisement was sold (Bourne, 2013). The ad was
sold by Global Network Navigator to a Silicon Valley law firm (Marketing Tech News, 2013).
With this ad, a market was born for businesses to advertise not only on television but on internet
everywhere. AT&T was the next big company to use online advertising to its advantage. In the
article written by Bourne in 2013, is a timeline from the first advertisement and how it has grown
since that day. From there, Yahoo and Google became very active in the advertising business,
which has worked for both companies. In another article written by a University of North
Carolina professor in 2013, Dr. Curtis created another timeline of the history of social media
advertising. The timeline begins in 1969 with the first Internet service provider, CompuServe.
From there, the timeline discusses the first email sent by Google and Apple introducing new
products. Then social media and its advertisements came to be (Curtis, 2013).
Effectiveness of Social Media
Business owners using social media who want to measure the effectiveness of
advertisements need to look at product placement. Swilley, Hill, and Hampton in 2013 examined
the effects on social media venues such as blogs, pins and customer reviews (Swilley, Hill, &
Hampton, 2013). The study focused on attitudes toward advertisements and where people go to
look when they decide to make that final purchase. The study found that many people rely on
reviews of others before making purchases. Advertisements on social media seem to draw

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certain people in but most people do not buy a product without reviewing it first. Many
advertisements work on the hopes of getting people to impulse buy which does work because it
is not as effective as it could be.
Businesses when examining social media advertisements then should look at the
effectiveness of the advertisement on the consumers mind. Sung and Cho in 2012 studied the
relationship between businesses with mobile advertisements and the consumers attitude change
over time. The purpose of their study was to see the instant and gradual effects of the different
ways the advertisements effected attitudes. The first experiment had 117 participants contacted
using mobile phones. It found three types of advertisements. These advertisements were text,
still pictures, and motion pictures that were related to three media types. The results of
experiment one established the motion pictures as being the most effective of the three types on
mobile advertisements on the consumers attitudes. The second experiment conducted focused
on the gradual effects. This experiment was conducted approximately four weeks after the first
experiment. The second experiment showed the opposite effect of the first. Attitudes decreased
towards motion pictures, but attitudes increased towards text and still pictures. In general, most
people connect better with motion picture because it captures attention of the consumer quicker
(Sung & Cho, 2012).
Role of Advertising
Gal-Or, Geylani, and Yildirim in 2012 investigated the role of advertising. The study
began with the choice advertisers make when deciding on where and when to publish an ad. The
study stated that advertisers evaluate the size and composition of readership of the different
outlets. This means the advertisers look at where people spend the most time and what social
media site is the most popular. The profile the advertisers find is important because they want to

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post ads to consumers who will receive the message the most. When a fee of some kind is added
into the consumers way, the study found that the result was dependent on the consumers view
of whether it was worth it to pay this fee (Gal-Or, Geylani & Yildrim, 2012). When revenue
relies on these subscription fees, divergence arises because people begin to switch what media
they rely on. So advertisers find it more beneficial to advertise on free media because more
people use these sites rather than pay for magazines. In contrast to that though, when people are
willing to pay fees, advertisers know which advertisements to place in those outlets because they
know the audience they are trying to reach.
Effectiveness of Advertisements
Geoffrey in 2012 examined the effectiveness of advertisements before videos such as
YouTube. Geoffrey examined the results that Google found regarding the skippable and nonskippable ads before videos (Geoffrrey, 2012). With most new media and its advertisements,
caution is necessary. TiVo was the first to introduce the ability to skip over ads causing
advertisers begin to worry that this function may decrease sales. Google found that this is not
true. YouTube in 2010 then allowed advertisements before videos but after five seconds, viewers
could skip to the video. Google found that the skippable advertisements may be as effective as
or more effective than ones consumers are forced to see. Once consumers see an ad over and
over whether they watch it or not it creates a sleeper effect. Eventually, consumers begin to
warm up to the product or service being offer. The article found the skippable ads to be just as
effective as other ads advertisers broadcast to consumers.
Business owners want to know if the advertisements on social media are successful.
When using social media as a marketing tool, the audience is large and easier to reach. A
business needs to know how the consumer feels from the advertisement and was it effective?

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Taylor, Lewin, and Strutton in 2011 examined if the advertisements work on social media. The
study focused on the consumers feelings about advertisements. The study was based on a
mathematical model with the consumer behaviors and social media usage and gratification
theory tested. The study found that most people reacted positively to advertising. Some viewed
the advertisements as entertaining and others as informational. The study also found that if a
company over advertises on social media sites that a consumer will abandon that company
because they have been overwhelmed with the advertisements (Taylor, Lewin & Strutton, 2011).
With advertising comes a goal of brand awareness. Brand awareness is an important
factor to think of when marketing. When a consumer has brand awareness that can lead to a
potential buyer to good or service being marketed. Another similar study conducted by LaPointe
in 2012 measured Facebooks impact on advertising. The study showed that Facebook users
developed brand awareness and loyalty that stimulated future purchases (LaPointe, 2012.)
Because of seeing the company or advertisement on social media, it has brought that company or
product to the consumers attention while they shopped.
How the Consumer Perceives Advertisements
Advertisements are made to send a message. Most companies sending out these
messages need to know how the advertisements are being translated to the consumer. Hadija,
Barnes and Hair in 2012 examined college students who use social media and how they perceive
advertisements online. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach by doing personal
in-depth interviews. The study was conducted with 20 college students who use social media.
The social media users were given a screenshot of an advertisement and the researchers
examined the users reactions and responses to the different types of advertisements. This
particular study showed how social media users did not hate the advertisements but simply did

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not notice them (Hadija, Barnes & Hair, 2012). The study concluded that brand recognition was
lower than one created through other media outlets. These conclusions from this study differed
from LaPointes study.
Measuring Effects of Social Media
It is important to understand the effects of social media advertising. For a business owner
it would be beneficial to measure the effects of social media marketing. What advertisements are
reaching the media and which ones are not? Wilcox and KyungOK in 2013 examined the social
media effects and used a Social Media Performance Model that can be used as a measurement
and performance evaluation. This tool allowed the researchers to successfully evaluate the
audiences response to social media. The study found most people use Twitter and Facebook
over other social media outlets to associate with brand awareness. The study also found the
businesses on Facebook that offered coupons had higher awareness and followers (Wilcox &
Kyung OK, 2013).
Psychological Effects of Social Media
Social media can have psychological effects on a user and the outlets of social media are
endless, which leads to all generations using it. Social media is a tool to express ideas, take
notes, and post feelings. In 2012, Paris and Robert Storm examined the effects of growing up
with social media. Facebook has over 900 million subscribers, providing an easy way to
communicate and send messages. The study conducted established that social media was
beneficial toward users being able to express feelings on a daily basis. It found that given the
ability to record your daily events, people engage more in taking pictures, writing, and getting
products advertised because of the activity levels on social media networks.

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Social media has allowed people to be more comfortable and open with seeing all types
of information on media outlets and can make people more willing to post personal information,
journals, and daily pictures on social media sites. Social media sites allow users to develop a
more independent structure (Kornias & Halalau, 2012). Being able to look up anything on the
Internet within seconds, ask for advice, how too searches and leading consumers to a different
way of communication. Consumer-to-consumer communication has become so important with
all these outlets forms of social media. It allows the consumer to talk with other consumers about
the product directly and a consumer can review all consumer comments, advertisements and talk
directly to the company. Advertising with social media is a great place with a huge number of
users to reach.
The purpose of this research study is to explore the relationship between consumers and
advertisements on social media networks. To look for differences in types of advertising on
websites based on subsequent research findings and identify the communication behaviors of
businesses advertisements on social media networks. The study will also identify how people
respond to the different types of advertisements and placement of ads on social media sites and
examine how effective advertising influences the consumer. How can advertisement placement
and types of advertisements effect the efficacy of business advertising on different social media
sites?
Methods
A known focus group study was conducted with three researchers mediating the interview
preformed. The researchers developed a discussion guide that evaluated the different levels of
effectiveness of advertising on social media networks. After contacting fifty different
participants that the researchers found relevant for the study, a location and presentation was set

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up for the focus group interview. The researchers then conducted the study with five participants
and once the study was completed, the researchers analyzed the information gathered.
Participants
In the study, the researchers contacted fifty known participants that would add diversity
to this study. The researchers contacted a group of people that ranged from 18-to-50 years old.
The participants also ranged in different levels of education, ethnicity and different occupations.
The researchers narrowed down the selections to five final participants. One of the participants
was a 20-year-old female student of Hispanic origin. The next participant was a 26-year-old
male that works for a financial management firm, also of Hispanic origin. The study also
included a Romanian male graduate student, 27, studying mathematics. The fourth participant
was a 42-year-old Caucasian female that works in a public relations firm and the last participant
was a 48-year-old, Caucasian male that works as a lawyer in Atlanta, Ga.
All of these participants ranged in ethnicity, age, and occupations, allowing the study to
show different belief systems and understandings. All participants have different levels of
interaction within social media networks, allowing the researchers to evaluate different
viewpoints of advertising on these sites. None of these participants were compensated but all
volunteered willingly for the study and none of the data sets were deleted in this study.
Sampling method
All of these participants were contacted by the researchers through email and were found
through connections at Kennesaw State University. A purposive sampling method was used to
choose individuals that met the criteria of the study. Each potential participant had to use at a
minimum of one social media network in order to participate in the study and had to sign an

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informed consent form to validate their understanding of the research study. The researchers
proceeded to choose five volunteers that would be relevant to the study.
Research Procedures
A focus group discussion was chosen for the method of research and was conducted by
three researchers. The research team consisted of one mediator that read all of the questions, one
that assisted the mediator in discussions, and a recorder that transcribe and analyzed the
discussion. The location chosen was a private study room at KSU that was equipped with a
smart board and smart table to allow interaction with the participants. The researchers prepared
the room with visuals on the smart board and laid all the necessary forms the participants needed
on the table. The researchers met with the five participants in the study room at Kennesaw State
University and had the participants sign confidentiality agreements and anonymity agreements
before continuing with interviewing the participants.
The group discussion was recorded for further analysis after the discussion was
completed. The findings were organized and categorized to help determine consistencies
between the participants. It went into detail for each question asked and the probing questions
asked to see consistencies and compare their opinions. The focus group discussion lasted one
hour and 42 minutes and ten questions were asked that included questions of definition, value,
and fact, and each had follow up probing questions. The discussion had a 10-minute
intermission that allowed the participants to discuss any new ideas on social media advertising.
This also allowed the researchers to seek any new questions that might need to be addressed.
After the discussion was completed, the researchers allowed the participants to give any other
additional information that they felt had value and then concluded the focus group study.
Variables

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The research study consisted of two main independent and dependent variables. The
independent variable is advertisement methods on social media networks and the dependent
variable is the effectiveness that the advertisements have on the consumers. The different
variables being measured are advertisement placement and different types of advertisements.
This allowed the researchers to evaluate what methods are effective and what can be changed to
increase the advertisements effectiveness.
Data Analysis
Once the focus group was concluded, the research team organized the notes and
translated the findings from the focus group. The researchers analyzed the results by comparing
how each answer to the question and probing questions corresponded to whether the participants
believed advertisements were either: effective, non-effective, did not notice the ad, or annoyance.
The researchers also compared which sites had the most effective advertising, how advertising
could be improved, and then analyzed the different types of advertisements on mobile, and
traditional social media networks. The researchers compared the value of ad placements on the
different sites and the difference between mobile advertising verses traditional advertising. The
analysts also differentiated the different types of advertisements on social media networks. Once
comparing many different factors, the researchers evaluated the effectiveness of advertising
between each site, advertising placement, and types of advertising to deduce which social media
network advertisement is most effective, what placement is most effective and the types of
advertising that are most effective.
Results
The findings allowed the researchers to analyze the different levels of effectiveness for
each variable being studied. The results concluded that for daily sales and deals, Twitter was the

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most effective site to use in order to reach the consumer. All of the participants concluded that
Facebooks advertisements were useful to give the consumers the idea to go buy a product, but
did not buy it by clicking on the ad. These two sites are the two most effective sites to reach the
consumer and persuades the consumer to want to buy products. All men from this study found
that advertisements can be repetitive and sometimes useless but can bring attention to new
products wanted. Pinterest is the most effective for women to find new products and they found
it to be the most effective platform for advertising new products to the female consumer.
The study concluded that men and women believe that advertisements could be improved
by interactive ads being included more often and that showing sales can give more incentive to
use the advertisements. People 30 and younger believe that advertisements are too common and
become background images, rather than stand out. The results concluded that traditional ads are
more effective than mobile ads. The study found that mobile ads are in your face said the 20year-old female student and mobile ads are annoying, said the 26-year-old male. Traditional
ads did not bother the consumer as often. The researchers concluded that four out of five
participants agreed that ads placed in a news feed can be disruptive and annoying but when
placed to the left, right or top of the screen it allowed the consumer to choose if they want to
look at ads or not. Men believe that ads placed to the right side of the screen are most effective
while women were drawn to ads with pictures anywhere on the screen.
Women and men both agree that for deals and sales, tweeting or creating a status is most
effective. For advertisements with pictures, Facebook and Pinterest were most effective. The
results showed that four out of five participants believe that ad placement is most important on
Facebook. Advertisements posted by the business or company on Twitter are most effective for
men and women of all ages, while ads posted and placed by the social media site were most

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effective on Facebook. Women were more likely to want to buy products seen on Pinterest and
often purchased items that were viewed on Pinterest. Men were more likely to buy products seen
on Facebook ads that are positioned to the right side of the news feeds but men would purchase
the products from the site rather than clicking on the ad.
Discussion
When discussing the findings of this research study many of them were congruent with
past research findings, but new discoveries also arouse in this study. The efficiency of a social
media sites advertisement placement is one of the most effective methods to reach consumers.
The studys findings were congruent with that of Swilley, Hill, and Hamptons 2013 study on the
attitudes toward advertisements and where people go to look when they decide to make final
purchases. Their research concluded that advertisements on social media draws people in but
many do not impulse buy items without reviewing the product first.
The analysis for the study found that people value advertisement placements on Facebook
and find it to be useful and help give ideas to potential buyers but consumers do not buy the
products through the ads. The findings corresponded with Gal-Or, Geylani, and Yildirims 2012
study, both studies concluded that social media sites that have the most popularity are the ideal
site to advertise on and this current study conducted found that Facebook is the most effective
way to reach the consumer. When comparing past findings to this research study, ad placement
would give the impression to be most effective on a popular site, such as Facebook, and
advertisements would be utilized best if placed on the edges of news feeds. Although ad
placement is a key component to advertisement effectiveness, the type of ad that businesses
choose to utilize can increase the effectiveness of the ad on the consumer.

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Different types of advertisements can affect the reaction of the consumer. The research
findings concluded that interactive ads can grab the users attention but can overwhelm the
consumer because of receptiveness of the ad. In the research findings of Taylor, Lewin, and
Strutton concluded that companies that over advertise on social media could be abandoned by the
consumer. No matter how entertaining the advertisement, consumers can still become
overwhelmed with information. The findings of this study agreed with Sung and Chos 2012
research findings, claiming that over a length of time, motion pictures were no longer as effective
as still pictures. The study found that still pictures on Facebook were not disruptive to the
consumer and allowed the consumers to evaluate which advertisements they wanted to see.
In addition to many past findings, this study added more evidence on beneficial ways to
advertise through Twitter. Prior studies only mentioned Facebook advertisements, while this
study introduced new social media forms that are just as effective as Facebook. Twitter was the
ideal media platform to reach consumers about daily deals and will be most effective for a
business if they choose to communicate deals and savings ads through tweets. Pinterest was also
included in the findings as a new way to increase brand recognition with consumers. Women
found this to be one of the most useful platforms to find new items that they wish to purchase.
LaPointe concluded that brand awareness and loyalty was established because of seeing the
company or advertisements on social media and this brought that company or product to the
consumers attention while they shopped.
The research study also found that the participants were very annoyed with mobile social
media advertisements. They believed that they were repetitive and unnecessary, creating an
abandonment of the certain apps that have too much advertising. The participants claimed that
advertising on traditional media sites is much more productive than mobile sites, and is less

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invasive than mobile advertising. Many mobile apps attempt to advertise but seem to be
counterproductive but future research studies might be able to analyze further to how to
effectively advertise through mobile devises.
Advertising takes news forms every year, new fades and trends allow advertising to
change and be manipulated in order to connect with consumers and create a desire to but their
products. The findings of this study have allowed businesses to know and understand what types
of advertising is most effective for their company to reach their desired audiences. The
relationship between advertisements and consumers on social media sites is dictated by the
popularity of the site and the type of advertisement. Businesses must narrow down whether they
are selling products or updating deals and by doing this they can decide which social media
platform is most applicable to their overall goal.
In order for a company to effectively advertise through social media, the company must
avoid overwhelming the consumers and create brand awareness to help generate a desire to buy
the product later on. Consumers find that advertisements can be interactive if they are only this
way for short periods and for long term success they should have still picture advertisements so
the consumer will not be disgruntled or overwhelmed. By effectively advertising to consumers,
a business will influence the consumer to see their ad and create desires to purchase the item at
another time.
Limitations in this study may be able to further investigate the new platforms discovered.
For future research studies, the researchers suggest narrowing down the study to one of the new
social media platforms discovered. By narrowing down a certain media site and studying which
type of advertisements would be most effective can allow for a richer and more in-depth study
that could provide information that is more specific. All of the participants were found through

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Kennesaw State University and in order to gain a better perspective, it would benefit future
researchers to enrich the focus group by increasing the sampling sizes. Future researchers can
also conduct multiple focus groups to improve reliability with in the study.
Social media usage has increased significantly, forcing companies to analyze the
efficiency of their marketing campaigns within social media sites. How can advertisement
placement and types of advertisements effect the efficacy of business advertising on different
social media sites? The placement of ads on traditional a social media site varies from site to
site. Social media advertising not only relies on placement but the type of add and which types
are most effective in certain places on the web screen. Companies can now cultivate this
information to market and advertise efficiently while using social media platforms. Allowing
them to advance their social media marketing methods with the findings of this research study.

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References
Bourne, J. (2013, September). Online advertising : A history from 1993 to the present day.
Marketing Tech. Retreived from
http://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2013/sep/11/online-advertising-history-1993present-day-infographic/.
Curtis, A. (2013). The brief history of social media. University of North Carolina. Retreived
from
http://www2.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/NewMedia/SocialMedia/SocialMediaHistory.html.
Gal-or, E., Geylani, T., & Yildirim, T. (2012). The impact of advertising on media bias. Journal
of Marketing Research (JMR), 49(1), 92-99. Doi:10.1509.
Geoffrey, P. (2012). What we know about social media. Journal of Advertising Research, 52(4),
389-390. Doi:10.2501.
Hadija, Z., Barnes, B. S., Hair, N. (2012). Why we ignore social networking advertising,
Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 15(1), 19-32.
Kornias, G., Halalau, R. (2012). Factors Influencing Users Attitude Toward Display Advertising
on Facebook.
LaPointe, P. (2012). Measuring Facebooks Impact on Marketing. Journal Of Advertising
Research, 52(3), 286-287. Doi: 10.2501/JAR-52-3-286-287.
Sung, J., & Cho, K. (2012). The influence of media type on attitude toward mobile
advertisements over time. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 15(1), 3136. Doi:10.1089.

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Swilley, E., Hill, P., & Hampton, A. (2013). Blog, pin and online review effects on advertising
attitudes and purchase intentions. Society for Marketing Advances Proceedings, 25174175.
Strom, P. (2012). Growing Up with Social Networks and Online Communities. Education
Digest, 78(1), 48-51.
Taylor, D. G., Lewin, J. E., & Strutton, D. (2011). Friends, Fans, and Followers: Do Ads Work on
Social Networks?. Journal of Advertising Research, 51(1), 258-275.
Wilcox, G. B., & KyungOK Kacy, K. (2013). Measurement of Social Media Effects: Social
Media Performance Model. American Academy Of Advertising Conference Proceedings,
65.

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Appendix A: Discussion Guide
Introduction
Hey everyone, thank you for being here today and I am Kelly. (Introduce your self school,
major, year). Today Jen and Sonya will be assisting us today. (Jen and Sonya introduce
yourself). Today we will be discussing your viewpoints and opinions about advertising about
advertising with in social media networks. Your confidentiality is assured and there is no right or
wrong answers, so let us begin.

So, to start off, everyone introduce yourselves and tell us about your favorite social media
network and why it is your favorite

Let me get a show of hands, how many here use social media networks.
o Probing: how many use more than +1 +2 +3 +4

When on social media sites, do you notice business advertisings?

o Opinion, useless, annoying, doesnt matter

How do you believe companies could improve Ads on Social Media Networks?

Are ads on specific sites more effective than on other sites if so, which sites are most
effective?
o Per site: What about daily deal status updates, advertisements in your newsfeed,
ads on the side of the web page

What are your viewpoints on the usage of businesses having social media pages?
o Deals, updates, coupons, hours, events?

Have any of you bought things through a social media Ad.

o What sites?

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Break---

Welcome back from the break. Did anyone think of any new topics or ideas about social
media advertising?

What are your opinions on advertising on social media apps? Through mobile devices?

Where on a web page do you often expect and look for ads?
o What places work best?
o Does placement matter from site to site?

Does anyone have anything they would like to Add?

Thank you guys for your time if you need to contact us our email is on our information
sheet?

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