Revised Introduction

Introduction

Studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of advertising strategies. Advertising is the most important aspect of connecting business and consumer. A recent development in how consumers spend their time is social media. As a means of communication, social media has become a platform for advertising. This is ‘peer’ advertising done by users of social media which integrates advertising social media. Research exists on the effectiveness of traditional advertising but not peer advertising. The question then is how effective is peer advertising in comparison to traditional advertising. This comparison is made by considering the efficiency of advertising.

            To compare different traditional advertising and peer advertising, consider the purpose of advertising. From a study conducted by Booth, the impact of advertising is to “act as a brandbuilding tool and/or a reminder” (Booth). To show a large number of advertisements to create a brand or remind consumers of the company. The important idea for analyzing the effectiveness of peer advertising is whether peer advertising can meet these expectations. Additionally, traditional advertisement must reach those interested in a product. The concept associated with this is that, “the key to successful marketing can be summed up by the STP strategy—that is, segmentation, targeting, and positioning” (Cornell). Targeting is the best way to efficiently advertise. Traditional advertising follows this, but users of social media don’t follow the same logic. Therefore, the question is how does peer advertising meet a target.

Report Introduction and Method

Introduction

Title : Social Media and Peer Advertising

The current generation of young adults in America almost all use social media in order to communicate and connect with friends, family, and the world. These days, it's harder than ever to find someone without some kind of online footprint, a trend resulting from the integration of technology into our daily lives from a young age. The use of social media and technology has changed how we reach one another, how we communicate, and how the world reaches us. So, with all of this change going on, businesses have to be looking for a way to use social media to their advantage. While we have all seen and been annoyed by traditional advertisements online for different companies, businesses have started to reach their target market in a new way through social media. Through social media, people can share pictures, ideas, and thoughts with one another and companies are always present in the products behind these moments. Through peer exposure in this way, companies were given a taste of the power of social media. The right person with the right logo can boost sales of a product even before it hits the shelves. This power lead to companies coming up with new ways to amplify their presence in social media interaction, whether it's asking consumers to post a picture emphasizing a brand, use a corporate hashtag, or to re-post an official corporate advertisement. Many studies have been done with regards to the effects of advertisements online and how likely they are to result in an increase in revenue, but there are still questions about the effectiveness of social media for advertising and how much additional power it gives to a corporate advertising scheme.

Methods

Participants: Over 20 current University of Iowa students participated in a survey taken online over Survey Monkey.

Procedure / Questions: On Survey Monkey, participating students answered these questions -

1. Do you use some sort of social media regularly?
2. Do you use an ad-blocking software?
3. How often do you check social media throughout the day?
4. On social media, how often do you see brand or company names in posts made by contacts on social media?
5. Do you feel that these posts result in you purchasing something made by a company?
6. Do you feel that seeing a company or brand name through social media exposure serves as a reminder or the motivation to buy a product?

Survey Link

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9TCGRDK

Survey Questions

1) Do you use some sort of social media regularly?

2) How often do you check social media throughout the day?

3) On social media, how often do you see brands or company names in posts made by contacts on social media?

4) Do you feel that these posts motivate you to purchase something made by a company?

5) Do you feel that most often seeing a company name servers as a reminder or motivation to buy a product?

Research Questions and Reading Comparison

Questions
1) What is the main purpose of student use of social media and what is the impact of this use on the effectiveness of advertisements? Breaking down the use of social media to connect with peers, keep up with news / events, or for entertainment purposes. Comparing these priorities to how students react to advertisements that are primarily, funny, informative, serious, or involve advertising based on celebrity appearance or a peer connection.
2) While using social media, how to students react to certain types of media and how do they react to ads that follow a similar pattern? Are students more likely to create or spread funny posts, serious posts, etc.? How does the likelihood of a student to be involved with certain types of media impact how they react to advertisements that follow a similar pattern?

In order to gather information to help answer these questions, I would ask students questions designed to help inform me about how they would react to each different focus of social media. This would be done through asking them directly if they are more likely to spread something they consider funny, serious, informative, etc.. To help understand how these preferences impact the effectiveness of advertisements, I would ask them how they would classify the last advertisement they remember seeing on social media and how they reacted to that advertisement. In addition, I would ask about the last effective and ineffective advertisement they can remember from social media. These questions could be posed in a mixture of multiple choice and short answer format. Multiple choice would allow me to narrow down the use of social media by students and how they prioritize different aspects of social media while short answer would help gather information about reactions to different advertisements.

Comparison
Although both articles cover economics and bagels, and do so in an academic nature intended to inform the reader, they cover to different subjects entirely in their actual content. The reading from Freakonomics covers how a bagel company can be used to examine the moral fiber of corporations and the association of this knowledge with white collar crime. The paper by Levitt by contrast analyzes profit maximizing choices that are made by firms based on the example of the same bagel and donut company. Although the papers have different focuses, they use the same data and they both set out to inform the reader about a larger issue that can be distilled into a pure form and related to concrete examples given by the simple bagel business that Feldman started.
In terms of organization, the paper by Levitt follows the IMRaD structure more closely, while the reading from freakonomics is less formally structured. Levitt uses a clearly labelled abstract, introduction, and gives models and examples of data and how it relates to the issue he is exploring. In contrast, the freakonomics reading does all of the same things, except providing literal charts analyzing the data. Both readings offered an abstract or point, provided a background, and then used data from the bagel business Feldman ran in order to relate an abstract or general idea to concepts and proofs provided by a real world business.

Big Stuff, Small Stuff Analysis

Through reading Big Stuff, Small Stuff, I learned that there are many key differences between an IMRaD report and the typical argument based research paper that I have written in the past. One of the first differences is the tone of an IMRaD paper, which is more formal. Another key difference is the type of research and analysis that you do for an IMRaD paper as opposed to a typical argument based research paper. I've never had to write a formal report over information that I've gathered myself, although I have had experience in drawing conclusions from polls and personal research in the past. The structure of an IMRaD report is also very different from a typical argument based paper because you are analyzing raw information and creating a source similar to what a student may have previously used to write their own argument based research paper. This different purpose in writing an IMRaD report means that a different structure is the best way to effectively communicate the ideas behind the report. The structure itself means that the writer needs to include an abstract, introduction, methodology statement, and also graphs and other assessments of data in order to thoroughly prove a point. The use of multiple ways to communicate information in one report is something that is entirely new to my experience with writing reports and in addition to the different structuring sets this assignment apart from previous work that I have done.

Speech Outline

Alexander Masada Corey

RHET:1030:0055

Speech Outline

Introduction

Hook - Did you know that the University of Iowa has over 31,000 students currently attending classes, and that of those 31,000 students, over 5,000 were admitted as Freshmen this semester?

Thesis - The University of Iowa uses Ethos and Pathos in advertisements used to attract students. The University incorporates Ethos and Pathos to distinguish itself by presenting the stories of credited alumni used to both inspire students and build faith in the success story of previous students at Iowa and through simple and inclusive slogans.

Overview - I will focus on how the University brands itself through online and print advertisements and how these ads fit into the application of Ethos and Pathos through the aspects mentioned above. Overall advantage of the advertising scheme at the University is building credibility in the success of alumni and connecting students to that success through slogans and other inclusive branding devices. University differentiates itself by citing the success of Alumni and incorporating hopeful students into that success, introduces the idea of a Hawkeye Network and recognition.

Body

Transition – Idea of the good work ethic associated with the Midwest, example of how employers (PWC, CLA) have mentioned this to one of my classes. The idea spread through a history of respected alumni and success associated with attendance of schools like Iowa.

Alumni success / placement

1.      Topic Sentence / Focus : The University of Iowa places a strong emphasis on the success of Alumni and uses Alumni success stories to help build trust with students through advertisements.

2.      Example : (Ad 1, Alumni meet) Many chances to meet Alumni are offered through the University of Iowa and are advertised regularly to current students. These opportunities to meet successful alumni are also communicated to prospective students who have relevant areas of interest.

3.      Synthesis : The opportunities to meet alumni offered by the University of Iowa are valuable for students and help to inspire confidence in the applicability of programs of study through the University. Being able to talk to someone who has completed a path similar to the path you plan to take at Iowa and seeing where they are helps to make the goals you hope to meet more tangible and manageable. The ability to have a real conversation with someone who can explain and expand on answers to questions you ask is invaluable and builds confidence in an idea in a way no other experience can.

Slogans

1.      Topic Sentence / Focus : The University of Iowa applies the credibility it builds with students through Alumni success stories to the students themselves through the use of slogans intended to help students feel a personal connection with Alumni success.

2.      Example : “Iowa will change you, you will change the world” and “It’s great to be a Hawkeye” quote slides showing two slogans that are meant to connect students to the history of success and also the network of Hawkeye Alumni.

3.      Synthesis : This slogan (addressing audience, quote 1) is intended to help make you feel included in the success associated with the University of Iowa. The idea that Iowa will change you and that you will then change the world connects attendance at the University of Iowa with success in a broad field of future careers. This statement is reinforced by the previously mentioned trust in the University of Iowa built through examples of alumni success. This second slogan (addressing audience, quote 2) reinforces the connection of students to the diverse alumni network that is a result of attending Iowa. The slogan is intended to form a mutual feeling of Hawkeye pride between alumni of the University of Iowa which can be a valuable advantage in the competitive workforce.

Differentiation from the crowd

1.      Topic Sentence / Focus: The University of Iowa uses stories of Alumni success and inclusive slogans in order to form a brand that stands out from others schools through a history of placement and achievement.

2.      Example : Advertising of certain schools at the University are emphasized. For example, the University prioritizes advertisement of the college of business which consistently ranks as a top school in the nation and was recently ranked #1 best for your money and #2 best in finance, worldwide, according to Financial Times.

3.      Synthesis : The University makes sure to differentiate itself through the emphasis of areas of study where Hawkeyes excel. This helps draw more students from across the country and around the world into the programs offered at Iowa. An example of the powerful draw of the college of business is the high numbers of foreign and out of state students that attend classes at Tippie. The fact that Iowa can draw out of state students to the college of business in spite of higher tuition rates is a great example of the success of advertising by the University.

Conclusion

Summary - The University of Iowa is an institution that connects itself to students through stories of success, a focus on creating a network, and distinction by helping students see that they can perform to meet examples of achievement that they see in others.

Thesis restated - The appeals of Ethos and Pathos in University of Iowa advertisements help to draw in potential students by building credibility with success stories, creating a feeling of purpose and acceptance through slogans, and distinguishing the University by showcasing achievement.

Ad Sources

1.      http://itsnt774.iowa.uiowa.edu/be-remarkable-archive/portfolio/print-ads/pdf/ConnectionsNIACC.pdf

2.      http://www.engineering.uiowa.edu/sites/default/files/styles/page_image/public/field/feature-image/Iowa%20Will%20Change%20you_697x312_0.jpg?itok=MBYYUUJX

3.      http://asist.admissions.uiowa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/MSd-10-05-4297-TS-101.jpg