2. Introduction
The Internet and social media are crucial marketing hotspots for
entertainment media. Movies, books, TV shows, videogames, and music—consumers
love their entertainment, and the Internet is an enormous repository for
information about the latest and greatest products on the entertainment scene. A
considerable amount of this information travels through social media, either
injected into digital social communities by brands, publishers, and artists
themselves, or by consumers, who contribute opinions, reviews, and
recommendations to the people they know or are connected to.
The Internet and social media, then, provide a potentially powerful outlet
through which consumers may discuss, discover, share, and purchase
entertainment media. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram allow fans to follow their
favorite shows, authors, actors, movies, videogame series; Youtube is full of
consumer reviews and previews; sites such as Amazon, Steam, and the iTunes Store
provide a social shopping experience and a community of consumer/reviewers. But
to what extent does social media influence consumers when they’re sharing, or
searching or shopping, for entertainment products online or offline? What social
media channels cater most and best to consumers’ need to share and search for
information about movies, books, shows, and so on, and why are those channels the
best or preferred outlets?
The purpose of this study is to investigate how social media influences
consumers’ decisions when it comes to three “S’s” of entertainment media and the
Internet—searching, sharing, and shopping. This qualitative study was designed to
explore a number of phenomena, including consumers’ reasons for discussing
entertainment online, using social media to learn about entertainment products,
and interacting with other consumers as well as brands and products when
engaging with or shopping for entertainment they enjoy. The specific, guiding
question driving the search for answers to these questions is, “How, why, and to
what extent do social media users rely on peer review/recommendation when they
intend to engage with or purchase entertainment media such as books, movies,
videogames, music, and television?”
Background
Although, in terms of marketing history, the Internet and social media are
new platforms and tools for both consumers and brands, there are existing studies
that shine some light on the topic that this study in particular is interested in
exploring. To clarify, there are studies whose data circumvent the topic at hand, but
point to what appear to be meaningful and interpretable trends in social media
usage when it comes to consumers’ shopping habits. For instance, according to a
study done by Opinion Research Co., which suggests social media is not a “preferred
recommendation source”, still reports that 59% of people who responded to a survey
said they prefer to rely on word-of-mouth (WoM) recommendations from friends or
family before making a purchasing decision (Sullivan). It is important to mention
3. here that the study I’ve conducted considers social media a multifaceted source with
includes WoM source, and not merely a source through which brands / sellers are
implementing push marketing. Also, the study referred to by Sullivan was reported
on in 2010, and the author of this report expects that reliance upon social media
peer referrals has changed significantly in less than half a decade. For instance,
another, more recent study shows that “70% of consumers go to social media when
searching for more information on a product/service […] 49% make their decision
there […and] 60% prefer to share their own information about a product or service
with others” (Al-Dhuhli). Additionally, Al-Dhuhli et al. state that “the overall online
purchasing process has enabled 875 million consumers to boost the percentage of
other online shoppers to 40% in the recent two years due to the recommendations
posted in different SM [(social media)] about products. For instance, 41% of users
buy books, clothes, accessories and shoes (36%), videos, DVDs and games (24%),
airline tickets (24%) and electronic equipment (23%).” The Internet and social
media are clearly significant when it comes to purchasing particular goods, a large
portion of which are entertainment products. Even if social media is not yet a top,
preferred referral source, further research indicates that “consumers are 71% more
likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals” (Ewing) and 81% of US
respondents to a Market Force survey indicated that friends’ social media posts
directly influenced their purchase decision (Olenski).
Data Collection & Analysis
To achieve the end goals of this study, to understand more about how social
media and peer referrals play a role in entertainment consumption, a qualitative
approach—an online focus group—was designed to bring together interviewees to
discuss questions regarding their usage of social media when sharing, searching,
and shopping in regard to entertainment and entertainment products. The focus
group was hosted in an online video conference facilitated by Google Hangouts on
Air, a video conferencing application with which participants can connect and meet
inside a virtual conference room by way of personal computer / webcam /
microphone, tablet, or a smartphone and the Google HoA app.
The participants who attended the ~40 minute focus group session were
chosen from a list of potential participants who represent a variety of social media
users, ranging from “digital natives”, younger social media users who have grown
up with the Internet and social media, and “digital immigrants”, older social media
users who have made recent, more gradual, or less intense use of social media and
the Internet in their daily lives. I’ve listed the four participants that were able to
attend this focus group below, identified them by first initial only (to abide by the
study’s confidentiality agreement) and provided some basic demographic
information about each.
Participants:
“S”—Male, 25 years old, Ormond Beach/Daytona area (FL), IT Technician.
“T”—Female, ~23 years old, Pensacola area (FL), Graduate Student.
4. “G”—Male, 55 years old, Ocala area (FL), Field Service Representative/Tech.
“R”—Female, 55 years old, Ocala area (FL), Registered Dietitian (RD).
The focus group was conducted on Sunday, January 24, 2016, starting at
approximately 7:00 p.m. EST, and lasted a total of 39 minutes and 45 seconds,
concluding at about 7:40 p.m. EST. The session was held on Google Hangouts on Air
and moderated by the researcher/author of this report.
Following the conclusion of the focus group, a video recording of the interview
session was uploaded and saved privately to Youtube and downloaded in MP4
format. The recording was then used to produce a typed transcript, which followed
the moderator’s questions and the interviewees’ responses and discussion. This
transcript was then carefully reviewed and coded by the researcher/moderator, who
performed three simultaneous readings of the transcript while coding key words,
phrases, and ideas of interest which served as relevant qualitative data informing
the analysis stage of the study. As relevant, interesting, and insightful portions of
the transcript were identified, key words and concepts were specially marked, and
from these key terms and ideas, overarching and central themes emerged, which
were further separated out and then described both generally as well as in terms of
their subthemes.
Results & Interpretations
To summarize the findings of this research, it helps to first look at the major
themes which emerged during coding. Three clear axial codes (major ideas) emerged
from analysis of the focus group transcript—connection, trust, and gratification.
These themes break down into subthemes—specific words and phrases comprising
them. For example, “connection” breaks down into “sharing (info)” and “searching
(for info)”. “Trust” breaks down into a number of ideas, including, “expertise”,
“quantity (i.e. intensity and volume of agreement)”, “previews (availability of
detailed info)”, and “familiarity” (in regard to a referral, i.e. friends vs. strangers vs.
celebrities). Finally, “gratification” breaks down into categories like, “convenience”,
“facilitation”, and “the ‘cool’ factor”.
What these major themes and subthemes suggest is that social media is rich
in information but also uniquely rich in social experiences and technological
conveniences which serve to influence and encourage consumers’ decision making
when it comes to engaging with or purchasing entertainment. The main motivating
forces driving consumer action are centered on: 1) connection, or the ability to
interact and communicate with other consumers and advertisers (friends, family,
everyday strangers, celebrities) when searching for or sharing product information;
2) trust, or the reassurance that comes from a number of sources including
friend/family referrals (familiar sources), consumer referrals (especially when
consistent, high in volume, or supported with apparent expertise), and authoritative
referrals (especially when paired with open disclaimers or evident non-bias); 3)
gratification, or the general pleasure derived from the convenience (ease of access,
mobility) of social media as a sharing/shopping tool, the facilitation of
sharing/shopping by social media and search engines, and the “cool factor”, an
5. explanation that respondents tended to fall back on when unable to describe the
simple joy of using social media in any other way. Provided below are some excerpts
from the focus group from which some of these major themes and ideas were
derived:
Ex. 1—the “cool factor” (Participant “T” speaking):
“Well I use Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat I’d say the most. I used
to be like obsessed with Twitter and used Twitter all the time, but I
don’t use that as much anymore. But definitely for friends and family,
Facebook and Snapchat are really cool because Snapchat’s a cool way
[…] like even my mom got a Snapchat. [Laughs] We can […] it’s like
quick little messages and it makes everything more convenient and it’s
all kind of in one place, and you can choose to only look at family
members and friends that you really want to see and you kind of don’t
get all of that nonsense you do with Facebook. So that’s why I’m kind
of into, like, Snapchat and Instagram, and it’s all pictures and videos,
so that makes it more interesting, and that’s why I like those, and use
those to connect with my family and friends.
Ex. 2—trust and reviewer expertise (Participant “S” speaking):
“Um, well, it kind of depends, because I play a lot of games, enough to
know if someone’s giving a review, I can kind of read between the lines,
look at the video of the gameplay itself, and kind of figure out whether
or not they’re on the level or on point with what they’re talking about.
But for stuff like comics or movies and stuff, I’m a little more willing to
bank on people’s opinions as they talk about it.”
Ex. 3—connectedness (Participant “T” speaking):
“Right, exactly. And like, with ‘The Walking Dead’, they’re crazy good
at it. They post every waking moment, and they have that two-screen
experience thing, so it just gives you an even easier way to connect
with your friends through social media while you’re watching the
show. And all these shows now are doing hashtags, so that you can join
the conversation. It literally says that. And so if you use the
hashtag…like I use the hashtag tweeting about shows before, and
random people I don’t even know will reply to me or retweet me or
favorite it or whatever. It opens a conversation not only with your
6. friends but with other fans of the show that you may not have ever
spoken to, or even know existed.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, this study is helpful in providing insights as to how and why
consumers use social media to engage with or make purchase decisions regarding
entertainment media, and why social media consequently influences relevant
consumer decision making. Social media peer referrals often serve as valuable,
perceivably trustworthy and knowledgeable, sources of opinions and information,
especially if consumers rely upon those in their social networks whom they trust
already, others whose opinions they perceive as “expert”, and those sources who
provide full-disclosure and uphold non-bias. The connectedness and gratification
derived from the experience of using social media also appears to get consumers
more excited and enthusiastic about the entertainment they consume, and serves to
gratify a need for personal integration that is not often as intense or deep in offline
entertainment consumption. Despite the diversity among the respondents in this
focus group, observations concerning themes and motivations are surprisingly
consistent, and lend additional validity to conclusions drawn from analysis.
However, the number of respondents who participated in the group was less than
ideal. A group comprised of more individuals or larger subgroups, perhaps with
greater diversity in social media experience and usage or even greater demographic
variety, would likely prove more valuable for further data collection and deeper
analysis, thus further research is clearly required in developing this topic of study.
Regardless of the limitations of this study, what is important to take away, at
least for now, is that social media users apparently feel more involved with the
entertainment they consume when they can engage with it and shop for it in digital
social settings, and find it easier to share this excitement with friends, family, and
strangers, supporting the idea that social media networks and social shopping
encourage investing oneself more deeply and dynamically in entertainment
consumption. Overall, the results of this study seem to suggest the social media
influences consumers by deepening and intensifying the entertainment media
consumption and purchasing experience, and, as a result, encourage the use of
social media as a tool when 1) sharing information about and/or the enjoyment of
entertainment media and products with others, 2) shopping for entertainment
media (at various stages), and 3) discovering and connecting with entertainment
media and products they enjoy. These factors may prove valuable in understanding
what kinds of entertainment social media users engage with (and how and where)
online, as well as what online social tools influence their enthusiasm for consuming
7. and purchasing products. Brands ought to take notice of these motivators and seek
to position their products where social media users expect to find the most valuable
information about them, and where social media users go most frequently and
reliably in order to discuss and investigate them further before and during the
purchase decision process.
Appendix A
Interview Schedule/Guide
Questions, Follow-ups, Prompts:
1. Does everyone here use social media to some extent? What channels do you
use most often? On which ones are you most connected to friends / family on
(and why)?
2. Do you ever check out what brands, products, people, and other things your
friends and family in your social media networks are following? What do your
friends or family tend to follow, or review and recommend to others in their
social media networks?
3. What kinds of entertainment media do you enjoy most, and do you follow any
books, authors, film franchises, TV shows, videogames, or music/musicians on
social media? Do you ever share books/movies/shows/games with others
online? How often, and why? Who sees them?
4. When deciding what movie to go see, what show to start watching next, what
book to read, what game to play, or what music to listen to, how often do you
hear about it from a friend or family member first? Are there certain friends
or family whom you trust to recommend certain things? Who and why? How
do you normally talk to this person, i.e. in person, on the phone/text,
online/social media? How come? Are there any people you follow on social
media whom you don’t know personally, but whose opinions and reviews you
trust and regularly go to? Who and why?
5. When shopping online, do any websites you use have a built-in community of
some kind, either for reviewers or social networking? If so, how do those
influence your shopping decisions, or do they?
6. What do you like about being able to share entertainment with friends and
family on social media? Do you think social media makes discovering and
shopping for books, games, TV/movies, and music easier or more enjoyable?
How or why? Does social media make you feel more or less connected to
others who enjoy the same kinds of entertainment you enjoy? Why?
8. 7. (Follow-up) After the initial interview, if you didn't before, have you looked to
social media more for recommendations regarding entertainment? Whose
opinions do you look to most and why?
8. (Follow-up) After the initial interview, if you didn't before, have you begun to
share your own recommendations regarding entertainment with friends,
family, or others? Who did you make these recommendations to and through
what channels?
9. (Follow-up) During or following the interview, did you learn about any new
social networks that cater to your entertainment needs or preferences? If so,
what were they and how did you learn about them? Were any of your friends
and family already using these channels for similar reasons?
Appendix B
WEB LINK HERE
Focus Group Transcript (Coded)
“Mod” = Moderator
“S” = Participant 1, male, 25, Ormond Beach area
“T” = Participant 2, female, early 20s, Pensacola area
“R” = Participant 3, female, 55, Ocala area
“G” = Participant 4, male, 55, Ocala area
Coding Guide:
Underline = key words
Yellow = phrases or passages of interest
Green = emerging themes
Moderator Notes (Post-Coding):
Sub themes of connection = sharing and searching
Sub theme of trust = expertise, quantity, previews, familiarity (friends v. strangers
v. celebrities)
Sub theme of gratification = convenience, facilitation, “cool” factor
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Note: transcript begins with first question following statement of informed
consent.
9. Mod: “Does everybody here use social media to some extent? What channels do you
use most often and on which ones are you most connected to friends and family, and
why?”
S: “When you say ‘social media’ can you clarify whether that includes sites like, say,
uh, reddit? Like does that include […]”
Mod: “Oh yeah, sure.”
S: “[…] like networking type of stuff? Like Digg and stuff?”
Mod: “Yeah, so this can be, I mean, the obvious—Facebook, Youtube, Twitter,
Snapchat, Tumblr, reddit, uh[…]any kind of social community online. So, what
types of—“
S: “Okay. So it’s a broad catch-all then.”
Mod: “Yeah, it’s kind of a wide net, so which ones do you use and which ones do you
use to connect with friends and family the most, and why do you use those.”
T: “Well I use Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat I’d say the most. I used to be like
obsessed with Twitter and used Twitter all the time, but I don’t use that as much
anymore. But definitely for friends and family, Facebook and Snapchat are really
cool because Snapchat’s a cool way[…]like even my mom got a Snapchat. [Laughs]
We can[…] it’s like quick little messages and it makes everything more convenient
and it’s all kind of in one place, and you can choose to only look at family members
and friends that you really want to see and you kind of don’t get all of that nonsense
you do with Facebook. So that’s why I’m kind of into, like, Snapchat and Instagram,
and it’s all pictures and videos, so that makes it more interesting, and that’s why I
like those, and use those to connect with my family and friends.
Mod: “Okay, so it’s kind of[…]it’s very simple mediums. It’s kind of got an ease-of-
use factor. Um, does anybody[…]just jump in there and kind of[…]filtering[…]can
just kind of talk to friends or family and just kind of pick and choose who you want
to talk to. Does that encourage you to share more with them on those mediums?”
T: “Yeah, for sure. It makes it a lot easier because I know who’s going to see it, and I
can send Snapchat-specific little things or I can follow certain people. So it makes it
a lot easier to[…]and you can do it on the go from anywhere[…]”
Mod: “Yeah. So[…] mentioned—Oh yeah, go ahead.”
10. G: “Now I only[…]Basically, I only use Facebook. Uh, I might use Amazon
occasionally. Youtube, maybe occasionally. But usually just Facebook and probably
that would be it for me, unless I’m looking for some kind of, you know,
information—specific information. Youtube has some good videos, but that’s about
all I use.”
Mod: “[…]So that[…]”
R: “Yeah, I use[…]”
Mod: “[…]brings up a good question. So when you use[…]when you go to Facebook
versus Youtube, and you’re looking for information, is there a difference in the type
of information. Do those channels provide a certain type of information you look for?
Like, I know a lot of people use Youtube for tutorials and[…]”
G: “Yeah, Youtube would basically be mostly for technical directions, um[…]more
technical information, you know, videos on how to do things. How to take
something apart. How to put something back together, that type of thing, but for
mostly social stuff, it would just be Facebook.”
Mod: “Okay, so friends and family are gonna be more[…]”
G: “Yeah, friends and family[…]just to keep up with people from, you know, long
distance. It’s not something I have to go on and do daily. It’s just something I catch
up on maybe weekly and go see what’s happening. See if anything’s going on with
the old school friends or whatever.”
Mod: “Okay, so again, your use has been more of a kind of occasional kind of
‘keeping in touch with friends’[…]may not be so immediate. Um[…]brought up
reddit, and I’m interested to hear about[…]do you typically engage with people you
don’t know on reddit or do you have friends that are on reddit that you typically get
on and talk to there?”
S: “Mm, not really, no. What I do is like kind of just[…] I ‘lurk’ on a lot of places. I
kinda see what’s going on and[…]Interests that I have, particularly videogaming.
Like when I use reddit it’s more often to kind of[…] what are people talking about,
and what are people like, uh[…]Like what’s kind of the focus in various discussion
groups. Because they have a general gaming thread or forum I should say[…]
Mod: “Okay.”
S: “[…]which everyone just kind of posts stupid images of things that happen and,
‘oh, look at[…]Grand Theft Auto, it’s really funny. Watch this…’[…]”
11. Mod: [laughs] “Right.”
S: “And then there’s kind of more specialized discussion forums where they talk
about, okay[…] there’s news, like this game is coming out, there’s this rumor that’s
going around, and then there’s like a specialized discussion forum with people
talking about kind of more theoretical or practical concerns about the subject of
videogaming, where it’s like, ‘Oh, uh, the development of save points over time, from
like checkpoints to saving as an item mechanic to saving on the fly with quicksaves
and like, uh save states in emulators—that kind of stuff. So[…]”
Mod: “Okay.”
S: “Yeah, so I don’t[…]personally post, but I do read a lot in reddit, like that kind of
stuff.”
Mod: “That’s a good point that actually leads into the second question, which really
gets this topic going, uh, and I want to ask you guys whether you check out brands,
products[…]important people like celebrities, uh, or other things that your friends
and family in your social media networks are following. Do you look to your friends
and family to see what they’re looking at? Is that something that you kind of
consciously do when you’re on social media? And what types of things do your
friends and family tend to follow or review and recommend to others in their
networks?”
T: “Um, for me, with like[…]doing a research project on Snapchat and celebrities, so
I do follow celebrities, and I kind of talk a little about how[…]endorsements, like
how celebrities endorse brands and stuff, and whether[…]sometimes I’ll see those
brands and the posts that my friends share, like a celebrity or a specific brand and I
think, ‘okay, is this really[…]is this product really going to work or is this celebrity
just getting paid to post about it.’ But, um, I am definitely a huge follower of brands
and movies and TV shows on social media because it really connects you with it.
Like, that way, you feel more connected and it gives you a better view of it, I guess,
kind of behind-the-scenes. And then, I like with Facebook[…]you can see what your
friends like and what they recommend, and I’m always prone to buy something or
watch something that my friends or family have already recommended to me.”
Mod: “Yeah. So[…]you say that uh, especially in regard to people you don’t know
personally, um, you mentioned feeling that kind of connection to a brand or a person
that you normally couldn’t have outside of social media. Does even just that
connection itself, uh, does it feel like that establishes a little bit more trust in what
12. they might be promoting or supporting, or some kind of product that they might be
pushing.”
T: “Yeah, for sure, because if I check someone’s Snapchat story every day, I’m gonna
be more involved with their life and what’s going on. So you feel more prone to the
product and respecting the product whenever you feel this connection with them.
Even though you’re not really connected in real life. I don’t really know how to
explain it. It’s weird, but it gives you[…]
Mod: “Yeah, so this[…]”
T: “[…]to where you will trust their opinion.”
Mod: “Yeah. Are there, um[…]I know one of you brought up Amazon. Or I guess this
could apply to Youtube as well. But on Amazon, something that might be a little
similar is shopping sites like Amazon have reviewer communities, and they might
not be people you know personally, but you might have friends and family that use
Amazon to shop, and, you know, you may see what they’re shopping for and they
may have a wishlist or something. But in general, we really don’t know people who
leave reviews for products on sites like Amazon, so for those of you who don’t really
use social media that much but you do use shopping sites that have little
communities of reviewers, would you say that their recommendations for products
are more influential in things that you shop for, like[…]especially in regard to
entertainment, like movies, shows, DVDs, music, games. Do you trust the
recommendations of people that you don’t know, but you know are just everyday
people more than you would trust, say, a review in a magazine?”
S: “I think it kind of […]”
R: “The thing about using Amazon, which, I purchase things on Amazon, and if
there are a lot of reviews, because, again, sometimes you can see up to a thousand
or so reviews and feel a little better about the product if you see a lot of reviews. If I
see just a few reviews, sometimes I think, ‘well, is that just the person themselves
or the company’, you know, just putting in the reviews, or asking people to put the
reviews in. Uh, it’s also helpful sometimes[…]the person says, ‘I was given this
product for free in exchange for my review.’ Then they give the review[…]That’s
more helpful. You at least know they’ve given the product[…]in lieu of doing a
review[…]and then the positive and negatives seem to be more trustworthy.”
Mod: “Okay, so does…you know when you go and see that other people have gone
and said a review was helpful, even if you don’t know them, does that kind of help
13. give the review more credibility? And you suggested that the more people you see
standing behind this idea of whether a product is good or bad, uh[…]weighs in a
little bit more on your own decision, rather than if just a handful of people have
given their opinion[…]”
R: “Right.”
Mod: “[…]and, what were you going to say?”
S: “Me?”
Mod: “Yeah.”
S: “I was going to say yeah, for things like products, I do think having more reviews,
having more opinions, that kind of stuff weighing in helps. In my personal
experience, it’s not as helpful when I’m trying to find something for entertainment,
like, ‘is this a good show?’ And…or, ‘is this a good movie?’ Or is this good music. And
the popularity, I guess the visibility of the product isn’t as helpful in determining
whether it will be good because, I guess, when it comes to entertainment, taste is
more subjective, and harder to pin down than[…]just kind of a popular, universal
appeal going on. Like, uh, there’s all sorts of movies that have gone by that are
really big on the Internet. Like most recently I guess would be ‘The Revenant’, that
I just personally have no interest in. You know, two million people on the Internet
saying ‘The Revenant” is the greatest thing ever[…]”
T: “Because it is.”
[Group laughing]
S: [laughs] “[…]Oscar worthy performance or whatever, about him getting his face
clawed off or whatever, you know, is just[…]It’s not to say it’s a bad movie, but it
doesn’t convince me to go out and take a look. For immediate kind of stuff like that,
it’s more about what it actually is, rather than whether people are going, ‘Oh, this is
super popular’ or ‘this is good’.
Mod: “So I should ask, actually, to narrow this down, what type of entertainment do
you prefer the most, whether it’s movies or shows or games or books or
music[…]Out of all those, which one would you say you go to social media looking
for the most, and when you do go looking for information about a product in social
media channels, where would you go in regard to that specific kind of
entertainment you’re looking for?”
14. S: “Um, well, it kind of depends, because I play a lot of games, enough to know if
someone’s giving a review I can kind of read between the lines, look at the video of
the gameplay itself, and kind of figure out whether or not they’re on the level or on
point with what they’re talking about. But for stuff like comics or movies and stuff,
I’m a little more willing to bank on people’s opinions as they talk about it. So, there
might be something on reddit. There’s a subreddit, which is what they call the
forums for each topic that they have, on specific cartoons, or specific kinds of
movies, or just the catch-all[…]And, um, I’m willing to spend more time on there,
lurking and seeing what people say about certain things, and they’ll say, ‘Oh, it’s
really good, it’s about this…’ and ‘you come for the gigantic kaiju dinosaur and you
stay for the unexpected romance plot…with said kaiju.’”
R: [laughs]
S: “Okay, let’s[…]” [laughs]
Mod: “So based on what he’s saying, and particularly what he said about reading
between the lines in reviews in these specific channels, would you guys say that
there’s a certain type of language that you find on certain channels, because, you
know, certain channels might draw certain people with certain interests, and, uh, a
certain established expertise about, you know, a specific music or musical artist, or
movies or a certain genre[…]Would you say that lends some credibility to the
reviews and actually going to look for information about these types of
entertainment in social media? Like, do these different media channels have
different languages that you kind of, maybe consciously or unconsciously have
picked up on?”
T: “For me, I’m a huge film person, so I[…]there’s an app, and it’s a website, too, but
you can create an account that I guess is like a social media account. But, IMDB,
the international movie database[…]”
Mod: “Right, right.”
T: “I go to that for everything because I’m a huge movie person. It was my
undergrad minor. So, I like to read, like, the reviews from there[…]Some of them
are a little[…]not[…]like people just being on there, but a lot of them are, you can
tell, people taking their time to review the film and talk about the film, and I like to
go read all the behind-the-scenes stuff, and, because, I’m really, like I said, I’m a big
movie person. So, I don’t just look at the acting or the crazy scenes. I look at the
whole thing, which is why ‘The Revenant’ is so good, by the way, mister[…]”
15. S: [laughs] “I have no idea, okay?”
Mod: [laughs]
T: “Yeah, but I’m more likely to respect something I see on there, or something that
my film buddies post about. Like one of my friends always[…]he’s like, a huge…he’s
in film school, and he always posts reviews of movies he sees, so I like to go and
read his because he uses the movie language that I can understand and that I
like…”
Mod: “Right.”
T: “…and I know he knows what he’s talking about because of the language he’s
using…on Facebook, it’s like a little blog[…]So, I will be more likely to trust
someone’s opinion using the words that any film person would know, because
they’re not just looking at, ‘oh my God, that was such a good movie’, they’re looking
at the whole picture.”
Mod: “Yeah, of course. So that leads me to a little follow-up question. How about you
guys? Do you actually…do you share your opinions about entertainment products
that you use? Do you ever go and, you know, leave a little review on a movie you
just saw, hoping your friends will see it or in order to recommend it to somebody,
like somebody in your family who might like it? Or a game, maybe, to somebody
else?”
T: “I just posted about ‘The Revenant’ on Facebook…” [laughs]
S: [laughs]
T: “…because, seriously, I went in with all my nail polish on and I ripped it off
during the movie [laughs] and so that’s what I posted, and I said that because it
was such a good movie. I like movies that keep me on the edge of my seat, and I
know that a lot of my friends like the same thing, so I shared my opinion on it so my
friends can go and see it. And I’ll do that for movies here and there that I really,
really love.”
Mod: “So would you be more likely to do that on a more general site like…not a
niche site like IMDB, but[…]”
T: “Yeah[…]”
Mod: “[…]would you rather[…]”
16. T: “[…]Facebook and Twitter, mostly.”
Mod: “Does it go back to that whole ease-of-use…and you’re kind of connected to
more people on those sites, and it’s easier to contact a certain number of people.”
T: “Yeah, for sure. I already know that all of my friends are on there, so…well, I
used to use Tumblr a lot. I used to be obsessed with Tumblr, when like, ‘The Hunger
Games’ were really big a few years ago, and I would find people who would like ‘The
Hunger Games’ and we would talk about those movies and books. I used to love
Tumblr and used it for all the shows I watched, and so I’ve definitely been there—
where I posted online on a less common site, where you don’t really know anyone
but you find people who like the things you like to post about. So, that’s why I really
liked Tumblr, and I haven’t been on in forever, but, that, I’ve done that before.”
Mod: “Okay. I’m going to ask[…]Oh, I saw your mouth open.” [laughs]
T: “Me?”
R: [laughs[
Mod: “Oh, no, uh…(Participant ‘S’).”
S: [laughs] “Way to put me on the spot.”
Mod: [laughs] “I was trying my best to maintain confidentiality, but…”
T: [laughs]
Mod: “…this can get a little confusing.”
S: “Just cross[…]”
Mod: “You just looked like you were going to say something. Uh, otherwise, I was
just going to back up and ask a more broad question. When you guys talk to people
or share with people in any way about shows you watch or books you read or movies
you watch, would you say you’re more likely to talk to people you normally talk to in
person, or in texts or over the phone, or on social media? How do you divide it up?”
S: “When you say ‘in person’, are you talking face-to-face ‘in person’ or like direct
contact with a person, where you’re actively talking in an instant message window,
or like, in a Skype call or teamspeak server or whatever.”
Mod: “By ‘in person’, I’m talking more like, you’re actually in the room. I mean you
can see them with your own eyes, you can[…]they’re right there with you. So as far
17. as when you talk about movies that you like or any kind of entertainment that you
like, and you talk to other people about it, do you do it more often in person or do
you do it over a phone or do you do it in social media. How does it kind of break
down for each of you.”
R: “I would say I actually probably…I would say sixty to seventy percent would be
in person. Maybe another twenty-five to thirty percent might be by text. And the
least likely way would be…well, it may be by phone, too. That might be second, and
then third would be[…]
G: “Yeah most of the time, with me, too, ninety percent would probably be in person,
or on the phone. Maybe[…]ten percent in[…]very little on Facebook.”
Mod: “And would you say, um, would you say that that’s more a result of you’re not
in the habit of using social media or texting, or do you just prefer a certain type of
communication or you prefer a certain kind of interaction when you’re just talking
to someone every day about things that you like, and…”
G: “[…]hard time talking to them. To me, it’s more personal.”
R: “Yeah, I prefer the person-to-person socialization.”
Mod: “Right. And I do like…I have to say, despite my age and growing up with
social media and the Internet and everything, I do like interpersonal interactions
that actually happen in person, but I have to say that in my experience, if I’m going
to talk to somebody about a movie that I just saw, or a book that I’m reading, or a
game that I played that I really liked, and I want to talk to them, sometimes the
advantage of, say, using instant messaging, um, on a platform like Steam, which
supports social gaming, um, it’s easier to have a little chat window where I can send
somebody a link that takes them right to something I’m talking about, or I can show
them a review right there. Do you guys take advantage of[....]”
S: “I’m sorry, it cut out a little bit?”
[group audio overlapping]
Mod: “Sorry, I just got everybody at once.”
[group laughing]
R: “That would probably be more convenient like you said, (Moderator), but to me, I
think you lose a little of the personalization and the emotion that, you know, if
you’re sitting with someone and telling them about something and you’re using your
18. hands and gestures and your eyes…and so I think you lose something in social
media that you just don’t get[…]in person.”
Mod: “How about the rest of you guys? Do you…if you were going to talk about
something, would you prefer to be able to have something like Facebook or Twitter
or something to just instantly show somebody…you know, ‘Here, take a look for
yourself’?”
S: “It kind of depends for me, because if I just want to have an engaging
conversation I’ll do it in person, but if I’m trying to kind of get specific about it,
having Skype or Steam open, where I can send links and clips of Youtube videos
about whatever it is I’m talking about…can be really useful if I’m trying to express
my point. And since I do a lot of my, I guess, ‘off the clock’ socializing through
Skyping and Steam, I’m just kind of used to it, as far as just talking to other people.
And Skype is kind of this weird medium where you can talk to someone and send
links, send files, and, if you feel like it, chat. Like the voice over IP phone call.”
T: “Right. See, I guess for me, I like having the real, in-person conversation, but for
TV and movies, the people I would have those conversations with, some of them are
here with me in Pensacola, but my best friend, who I’ve always talked about movies
with, lives in Gainesville, and another one’s in Virginia, so I have to have those
conversations over Facebook, or wherever[…]text messaging. But, one of my good
friends here, we always get together and talk about our shows, but a lot of the time
I am going to do it over text just because you can send GIFs or pictures or
screenshots from your favorite part of the TV show or whatever just happened.”
Mod: “Okay, so there are some times, then, um, that it does provide a convenient
way to kind of stay in touch with your friends and family, as far as these things that
you’re all into.”
T: “Oh, absolutely. Social media makes it a million times easier…and now that
Twitter does GIFs, which is cool, you can send different little things, like…like clips
from the show…I watched this show, and the season finale was last week, and the
official Twitter account was posting GIFs, so I retweeted it and tagged my friends,
but also watched the show, and that opened a conversation for us via social media.”
Mod: “Okay, so it’s also a really good way to kind of prompt them, maybe, that
something is actually actively going on that you’re all into, like something you all
watch or have in common.”
19. T: “Right, exactly. And like, with ‘The Walking Dead’, they’re crazy good at it. They
post every waking moment, and they have that two-screen experience thing, so it
just gives you an even easier way to connect with your friends through social media
while you’re watching the show. And all these shows now are doing hashtags, so
that you can join the conversation. It literally says that. And so if you use the
hashtag…like I use the hashtag tweeting about shows before, and random people I
don’t even know will reply to me or retweet me or favorite it or whatever. It opens a
conversation not only with your friends but with other fans of the show that you
may not have ever spoken to, or even know existed.”
G: “Speaking of “The Walking Dead’[…]”
S: “[…]This[…]”
G: “I get what you’re saying. I watch ‘Fear of the Walking Dead’. They’re always
talking about hashtags. It’s pretty interesting to me, the fact that you get other
people you don’t know[…]I will agree, it is…that is pretty cool on ‘The Walking
Dead’ and ‘Talking Dead’.”
T: “Yeah, well ‘The Walking Dead’ does the ‘Talking Dead’ show right after it. It
makes it so much more convenient, and it’s awesome. And it’s cool because you can
take these little quizzes on social media with your friends and stuff as it’s
happening live.”
G: “That’s pretty cool. I haven’t tried that, but I’ve watched it and wondered how it
worked.”
Mod: “On that note, that actually makes me want to ask you guys in particular that
don’t use social media as much…when you see it integrating with shows that you
like, such as ‘The Walking Dead’, that’s a great example, do you ever see that
enough that you think, ‘Maybe I might try to get involved with that’? Does that
make you want to get involved with things you like that are connecting to social
media, even if you’re not already on social media?”
G: “Yeah, it’s like[…]piqued my interest[…]”
R: “Yeah, like when they have quizzes on ‘Talking Dead’, sometimes I’d like to get
on there and answer the quizzes and see if I could win.”
Mod: [laughs]
T: [laughs]
20. R: [laughing]
Mod: “So[…]going to move on to a final, important question. I wanted to ask you
guys, do you think that social media and the channels that you use, or the ones
you’ve had experience with, do you think that they make discovering and shopping
for new books or games or TV and movies or music…does it make it easier or more
enjoyable? And if so, how does it? What about it improves your experience trying to
find new entertainment? Does that kind of community that you go through to find
it, does that make you feel a little more connected with the experience of looking for
new entertainment.”
T: “Okay. So for me, and I think we’ve talked a little bit about this before, but I
really love ebooks. I always just…I’ll see one…well, what happens for me is that my
Facebook, since I’ve ‘liked’ authors, it’ll pop up books that I may be interested in,
and it just makes the experience so much better, because I find things that I maybe
would have never seen before, and you can connect with authors and stuff, and it
makes it…I don’t know, it makes it so much more exciting, I guess, because
everything is all in this one place, and Facebook ads will pop up for me, saying a
new book is out that I may be interested in and whatnot. So it ‘s really cool.”
Mod: “So that’s a really good point. Are there any specific sites that you guys have
had experience with, with other types of media…can you name some sites where
you can reliably…you just know that the site, if you go on there and put in
something you’re interested in, you know it’s going to find some stuff that you just
wouldn’t have known to look for. What exact sites do you think are really good for
that?”
G: “Amazon just comes to mind immediately.”
R: “Amazon, yeah.”
G: “There are other sites, if I can just think of them…”
T: “Yeah, Amazon. Like I said, Tumblr—Tumblr is another big one. Where I’ll
respect someone’s opinion because they’ve liked books that I’ve liked before. Um, I
don’t know…”
G: “Goodreads.”
R: “Yeah, Goodreads.”
T: “Yeah. It’s always good to see that it’s been on a bestseller[…]before you read the
book., but that doesn’t always matter. Um…”
21. G: “That’s true.”
T: “I…honestly, social media is big for me. Because even authors I follow will tweet
about other authors similar to them, or like, stuff like that.”
Mod: “That’s true. So yeah, so the more mainstream sites are pretty good at that. In
my experience, I use…well, we’ve covered movies and…oh, games. Getting back to
games, for example, and Steam—that’s a very special platform that’s very good at
sending recommendations. I know that they send me a lot of emails and things,
depending on what my[…]wishlist is, or there’s something on my wishlist that I just
haven’t looked at in a while, and they’ll send me a reminder saying, ‘Hey, this is on
sale’, which is one of the reasons why I like being connected to places where I tend
to buy entertainment media…and, since we’re running out of time, I’ve got just one
real quick question. Would you guys say that you prefer looking for entertainment
and shopping for entertainment online and social media, or do you prefer going to a
traditional store, or is it kind of a mix of both, and why?”
S: “Um, I think it kind of depends on what it is that you’re buying. I like to get
comics in the store because you can actually like open it up and look at it, and brush
through it and take a look. And…you can sort of do that with PDF previews and
stuff on the Internet, but the comic store will also tend to have more obscure stuff
than most online retailers and vendors would. Um, for stuff where it’s already
totally digital, or it’s become digital almost to the point where it doesn’t even matter
if[…]on a physical medium, like a lot of video nowadays…going online to look for it
is totally fine. Because it’s also kind of a pain to try to preview and look at it if it’s
just in a case, and you just have a couple of screenshots on the back, and a blurb
that you read, and the announcer guy’s voice is like, ‘In a world where you must
fight to survive’…”
T: [laughs]
Mod: “So the format is an important factor, whether it’s, generally speaking, a
physical format or something that can kind of be both. Like books, for example. You
can go to some place like Barnes & Noble and get a hardback, or you can just get an
ebook online if you wanted...”
S: “Yeah.”
T: “Right.”
Mod: “…Is there anything else that factors in that…”
22. T: “Well, what I like about books, and getting books through, like…well, I have an
iPhone, so the iBooks store…is that you can download a sample and read it on your
own time. You don’t have to sit in the Barnes & Noble and read part of the book to
see if you’re going to like it…”
Mod: “Right.”
T: “…You can see a book you like, download the sample, and then come back to it a
little bit later.”
S: “I think the key part is that you have to be able to, in some way, preview or take
a glance through what it is you’re thinking about…”
T: “For sure.”
S: “…And if you can’t do that, it’s…it becomes kind of like a ‘no-go’.”
Mod: “Okay, so the availability of detailed information about the product factors
into that too…”
T: “Yeah.”
Mod: “So sometimes that’s something you can do online, and sometimes that’s
something you can’t do.”
T: “Yes.”
G: “Yep. I think for me, probably…seventy-five percent of the time, I’d like to find it
online. There are a few things you just can’t find through social media or find
online. Or, if you can find it, you can’t get enough information about it. You can’t,
you know, like the previews you were talking about…But I would like to step and
say…the previous question about finding things online…I do use Facebook to find
out about old bands that play in various venues around, where…if it weren’t for the
social media, you would never know about it. If I couldn’t find it there, or if it wasn’t
announced by someone, say, within the state, I would never know about it, so, that
is a really good…it’s good to have Facebook for that, going back to the previous
question.”
T: “True.”
Mod: “That’s a good point. So social media kind of helps you find products, bands, or
people that you’re looking for that may kind of slide under everything that’s up on
23. top[…]all the really super popular stuff that’s getting all the advertisements, say,
on TV or on the radio. There’s that kind of undercurrent, I guess, that you can…”
G: “Yeah.”
Mod: “…tap into and get information about, that may go missed otherwise.”
G: “Yeah, absolutely.”
S: “I was going to say, yeah, because there are kind of ‘dumping grounds’, where you
can kind of just sift through information and take a look, that might not get
advertisement…or they might not advertise their contents, but if you’re looking, you
can definitely find something that may be of interest, or worthwhile. So social media
kind of helps in that regard. It allows smaller, independent, or just under-the-radar
groups or people and things to put their name out there, and kind of be discovered
or heard or seen.”
G: “Exactly.”
T: “True.”
Mod: “Yeah, and that’s a good point. I’m kind of surprised I didn’t think to ask a
question about that, but yeah, that brings to mind things like crowdfunding and,
you know, Kickstarter, and independent projects…musicians that might not be able
to fund themselves, and that produces a whole new spread of media that people can
become aware of, so that’s a very good point. We’ve run a little bit over time…unless
anybody has final thoughts or anything, we can conclude…”
S: “Um…”
T: “Hm…”
Mod: “No takers?” [laughs]
[Group laughing]
Mod: “Alright, I’m going to stop the broadcast here really quick…”
-End of session-
Reference
Al-Dhuhli, I. (2015). The Impact of Social Media on Consumer Buying
Behaviour. Retrieved:
24. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275347329_The_Impact_of_Social_
Media_on_Consumer_Buying_Behaviour
Ewing, M. (2012). 71% More Likely to Purchase Based on Social Media
Referrals. Retrieved: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30239/71-
More-Likely-to-Purchase-Based-on-Social-Media-Referrals-Infographic.aspx
Olenski, S. (2012). Are Brands Wielding More Influence In Social
Media Than We Thought? Retrieved:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2012/05/07/are-brands-wielding-
more-influence-in-social-media-than-we-thought/#24692c1d7748
Sullivan, L. (2010). Social Media Not Preferred Recommendation
Source. Retrieved: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/122854/
