Facebook Pages and Benefits to Brands

By Elizabeth E. Bushelow
Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications
2012, Vol. 3 No. 2 | pg. 3/4 |

V. Results

Among a total of 104 individuals who completed the online survey, 84% (87 respondents) were female, and 16% (17 respondents) were male. Also 94% of the participants were between the ages of 18 and 22, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1

When asked how many fan pages they like on Facebook, the largest number of 24 respondents (23%) indicated they like either 3-5 pages or 21 pages or more, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Number of fan pages respondents like on Facebook

Figure 1

Participants were then asked about what types of Facebook fan pages they like and were given the opportunity to select all that applied. Books/movies were most liked, followed by celebrities, fashion brands and others, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Types of fan pages that respondents like on Facebook.

Figure 2

Some brand fan pages that multiple respondents like include Lilly Pulitzer, Tory Burch, YoZone Frozen Yogurt, Buffalo Wild Wings, Disney, TOMS, Barnes and Noble, Habitat for Humanity, Best Buddies, JCrew, Kate Spade, and Starbucks.

When asked how often they visit the pages they like, one participant (1%) stated that they visit the pages multiple times a day, 8 participants (8%) visit a couple of times a week, 6 participants (6%) visit once a week, 16 participants (15%) visit every couple of weeks, 25 participants (24%) visit monthly, and 28 respondents (27%) never visit the pages. Table 2 indicates how much time the respondents spend on a fan page when they visit.

Table 2

Respondents were asked to indicate how they interact with Facebook fan pages. Options given were to "watch videos," "view photos," "write on the page's wall," "comment (on posts, photos, videos)," "participate in contests or sweepstakes," and "I do not interact with fan pages." The responses are displayed in Figure 3.

Figure 3. How survey participants interact with fan page features.

Figure 3

Respondents were then asked how often they interact with the features on fan pages that they like. The responses are displayed in Figure 4.

Figure 4. How often participants interact with fan page features.

Figure 4

Participants were asked to rate the extent to which they agree with three statements regarding brand loyalty, connection to fan pages they "like" and purchase intention on a scale of one to five, with one being strongly disagree and five being strongly agree. Brand loyalty was defined for participants as a preference of one brand over all others and will only purchase other alternative brands as a last resort.

When asked to rate how they feel about the statement, "I consider myself a brand loyal user to brands I 'like' on Facebook," on a scale of one being strongly disagree to five being strongly agree, 26% of respondents strongly disagreed, 27% disagreed, 20% were neutral, 22% agreed, and 5% strongly agreed.

Participants were then asked to rate the level of their agreement with the statement, "I feel connectedto the fan pages that I 'like. '" The result was that 27% strongly disagreed, 25% disagreed, 30% remained neutral, 16% agreed, only 2% strongly agreed.

Participants were also asked to rate the level of their agreement with the statement, "Being a member of a Facebook fan page makes me more likely to purchase that brand," on a scale of one to five, with one being strongly disagree and five being strongly agree. Among the participants, 26% said they strongly disagree, 28% disagree, 20% remained neutral, 22% agreed, 4% strongly agreed. The distribution of responses to the three statements can be seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5. The distribution of responses to the three statements.

Figure 5

Survey participants were asked how likely they were to purchase a product or service promoted by a Facebook fan page that they like on a scale of one to five, with one being never and five being very likely. The percentage of respondents and their answers are displayed in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Likeliness of purchasing a product or service promoted by a fan page respondent's like.

Figure 6

Eighteen (18%) respondents said they would "never" purchase the product or service promoted by a Facebook fan page that they like, followed by "not likely" by 21% of respondents; "ambivalent" by 37% "likely" by 21%, and "very likely" by 3%.

Finally, participants were asked to select all responses that indicated their motivation behind likinga brand's Facebook fan page. The options were "sweepstakes or contest," "monetary (coupon or free offer) games/entertainment," "to post positive or negative comments," "to interact with other brand users," "just love the brand/brand loyal user," or "other." Just love the brand/brand loyal user was chosen by the largest number of respondents, followed by sweepstakes or contest, monetary rewards, etc. as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Motivations behind liking a brand's Facebook fan page.

Figure 7

Suggested Reading from Inquiries Journal

As the world becomes more technologically advanced, the demand for two-way communication between brand and consumer has become stronger. This study tried to develop a relationship between the rise in new media and luxury brands by content analyzing Chanel, Dior, and Burberry’s YouTube channels that aims to categorize their... MORE»
Advertisement
The Internet is a necessity in Americans’ lives and something that many access often throughout the day. Over 80% of students use one or more social networks and more than half log in at least once a day (Peluchette, 2008). The Internet “allows people to separate their ideas from their physical presence” (Keats... MORE»
It is estimated that in North America, alone, there are currently 251 million people who use the internet (Miniwats Marketing Group, 2009).  Individuals utilize the internet for many reasons, including information, social connections, and entertainment (Shaw & Gant, 2002).  Although presently, there is a host of research... MORE»
Twitter. Facebook. Digg. MySpace. LinkedIn. The list of social media tools could probably run on for paragraphs, and today’s technology changes so rapidly that many industries, including corporations and news media... MORE»
Submit to Inquiries Journal, Get a Decision in 10-Days

Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines.

Representing the work of students from hundreds of institutions around the globe, Inquiries Journal's large database of academic articles is completely free. Learn more | Blog | Submit

Follow IJ

Latest in Business & Communications

2021, Vol. 13 No. 09
This research lies at the nexus of political communication theory relating to emotional affect and political processing and the burgeoning field of sentiment analysis. News coverage can affect opinion both through the information it provides and... Read Article »
2021, Vol. 13 No. 06
This research study explores factors that present barriers to reporting workplace incidents and contribute to cultures of non-report. The research purpose was to explore human, workplace/organizational, and external factors identified by industrial... Read Article »
2016, Vol. 8 No. 11
In its beta release, Google Glass was positioned as a groundbreaking technology - a glimpse into a future that has long been promised in science fiction. It was met with media fanfare and consumer interest, despite costing more than most PCs on... Read Article »
2016, Vol. 7 No. 1
Predicting the future of the news industry begins with understanding the history of newspapers and the current news delivery landscape. Because the Internet has brought fundamental shifts to news distribution, successful organizations of the future... Read Article »
2016, Vol. 7 No. 1
Instagram allows users to share a snapshot of their lives with a mass audience in a matter of seconds. This capability and power has not gone unnoticed by celebrities, who are highly aware of the impact their social media accounts have on fans and... Read Article »
2016, Vol. 7 No. 1
Since its development, YouTube, the world's third most popular online destination, has transformed from a video-sharing site into a job opportunity for content creators in both new and mainstream media. Based on content analysis, the study examined... Read Article »
2016, Vol. 7 No. 1
Today, more than 15 million Americans practice yoga, making the ancient Indian discipline synonymous with the Western society's culture of wellness. As a way to market themselves, practitioners and instructors of yoga have utilized Instagram &ndash... Read Article »

What are you looking for?

FROM OUR BLOG

What is the Secret to Success?
How to Use Regression Analysis Effectively
5 Tips for Publishing Your First Academic Article