El resumen ejecutivo destaca la importancia de entender la diversidad y los mercados objetivos en la publicidad en redes sociales para personalizar las interacciones de marca, especialmente durante la temporada navideña. La investigación se centra en cómo las empresas pueden mejorar su marketing en redes sociales para aumentar la participación del consumidor y construir lealtad a la marca, enfatizando la necesidad de estrategias adaptadas a las conductas de compra de los millennials. A través de un enfoque de investigación cualitativa y cuantitativa, se busca identificar oportunidades para involucrar a los consumidores en las plataformas de redes sociales durante esta crítica época de compras.

1. Executive Summary
Understanding diversity and target markets in social media marketing allows businesses to
personalize brand interactions. In order for businesses to increase consumer involvement with social
media, companies should present target consumers with products or services that are better suited to
personality-driven purchasing behaviors. During the holiday season, the increase in advertisements on
social media increases the challenge to break through the noise: to appeal and remain engaged with
potential consumers. Users on social media may connect with brands to look for special offers or deals
(Garibian). Business-to-consumer experiences can be formed through social media because of direct
communication channels. The holiday season is a time of increased adverti sing and marketing efforts
put forth by businesses. The study explores opportunities to further consumer involvement with social
media during the holiday season. The following research objectives will demonstrate ways to promote
efficiency in social media marketing:
- Identify the visibility of social media marketing during the holiday season;
- Investigate consumers’ desired level of involvement through social media;
- Compare involvement of consumers on social media to business activities;
- And generate social media market strategies to further engage consumers in the holiday
season.
Social media marketing strategies do not effectively foster brand loyalty with consumers during
the holiday season. Because Millennial consumers surpassed Baby Boomers and Generation X in
population size, it is important that businesses have a deeper understanding of Millennials’ behavior in
the marketplace, as well as how social media impacts their purchasing decisions (Petro). This is amplified
during the holiday season, a critical time for revenue generation and brand building. Consumers’
willingness to be introduced new brands reflects the preferred activities on the social media platform.
From the focus group, JUAN expressed, “When you like a Page on Facebook, it tells you similar pages. I
like that feature because you can explore.” From the survey, people who endorsed Facebook above
other social media platforms ranked their most preferred activities as follows: connecting with brands,
sharing videos, researching products, and discovering special offers. Through this study, data like these
suggest that marketers should consider social media marketing approaches to create brand interactions.
With the most wonderful time of the year in mind, every day is a holiday.
Thank you for your partnership throughout the research process,
Nic Icaza nicaza@luc.edu
Louis Jaime ljaime@luc.edu
Iris Wen iwen@luc.edu
Advisor: Stacy Neier sneier@luc.edu

2. Background
Identify Objectives and Research Question
With businesses becoming increasingly global, social media marketing has become an
indispensable and cost efficient tool for product branding, obtaining a representational consumer
profile, increasing brand exposure, and directly interacting with the target market. Current social media
marketing strategies are not as effective as they might be to accurately target consumers, generate
attention-grabbing advertisements, establish brand loyalty, differentiate their brand, and provide a
consumer experience to increase leisure in the consumer’s life. In order to generate insights that
improve current business-to-consumer social media marketing strategies, cultivate innovation, and
exceed revenue goals, an opportunity was found to collect data with the intention to discover
opportunities that further consumer involvement with social media during the holiday season.
Framing the research question around the holiday season, the busiest shopping time of the year,
would result in significant data findings for businesses. Additionally, by providing businesses with
consumer profile insights, social media trends, and the likes and dislikes of business -to-consumer social
media interactions, this research lends support to more effectively spend advertising budgets (Vranica).
The increase in communication between family and friends during the holiday season could be of value
to businesses; the approach of word-of-mouth marketing could be a greater asset when paired with
positive outcomes like offering transparency, building a sphere of influence, creating brand exposure,
and providing open conversations (Debono).
In order to evoke valuable insights for business-to-consumer activity, the following research
objectives were proposed: identify the visibility of social media marketing during the holiday season;
investigate consumer’s desired level of involvement through social media; compare involvement of
consumers on social media to business activities; and generate social media market strategies to further
engage consumers in the holiday season. The research objectives were selected to reliably address the
research question: What opportunities are there to further consumer involvement with social media
during the holiday season? Results could potentially lend insights to social medi a users’ habits and
desires, allow for companies to more efficiently target consumers during the holiday season, and create
a more engaging experience - with lifetime value - between consumers and brands. The research
objectives were structured with the intent to search for potential areas of development through the
integration of consumer content and brand interactions.
Literature Search
Consumers exposed to a brand’s social media platform show greater brand loyalty: “Of
consumers participating in social media, those exposed to a brand’s social media spend 20 percent more
time online compared to those exposed to only social media relevant to a brand’s category” (Copeland).
According to Aaker (1991), brand loyalty leads to reduced costs and new customers. Al so, brand loyalty
has shown a distinctive resistance to its customers and competitors’ strategies. Finally, customer loyalty
can be attributed to positive word-of-mouth (Dick). Active social networkers are twelve percent more
likely to shop online than the average internet user (Nielsen). Greater search engine optimization can
reflect companies’ interest in increasing their social media marketing. However, significant growth for
marketers is still to be gained considering the top three advantages: increasing exposure, traffic, and

3. building new business partnerships (Stelzner). Further, women are more likely than men to be users of
social media, and urban-living users show higher activity than rural internet users (Duggan). Duggan’s
insight demonstrates potential areas of growth in a market segment that has a strong internet presence.
What is unknown, however, is the impact such trends show on marketing interactions, specifically,
timed during the holiday season.
Social media platforms are saturated with photos, videos, personal blogs, and check-ins. As a
result, marketers are assumed to gain more insight on the day-to-day activity of consumers. From a
2012 survey administered by Domo and Column Five Media, 684,478 pieces of content are shared
through Facebook, 100,000 Tweets sent per minute, and 48 hours of video content are uploaded to
YouTube per minute (Tepper). During the holiday season, 54 percent of consumers used social media to
look for sales and discounts, also, researched gift ideas. Further, sharing and commenting on stores and
sales were ranked second and third to the usage of social media, respectively (“Usage of Social Media
for Holiday Shopping in 2012”). Since communication is an encompassing part of all social media
platforms, the usage of social media for gift ideas showed a surprising 41 percent of social media users
shared product reviews with friends online (“Usage of Social Media for Holiday Shopping in 2012”).
Data Collection and Design Process
The design process began with the problem formulation in order to distinguish the need for
applicable methods to involve social media into consumers’ involvement during the holiday season. The
holiday season was specified to last from Black Friday through the first two weeks of January. An
exploratory, qualitative research design included seeking secondary data from news articles, databases,
and reports to supplement the primary data. A focus group moderator guide and in-depth interview
guide were also constructed based on findings from the secondary data. Semi-structured observations
were included to collect additional qualitative data. Lastly, descriptive research consisted of a
quantitative, cross-sectional survey. The survey was constructed through Qualtrics.
The sampling frame most representative of the target population was determined to be
consumers who use social media during the holiday season. The sample frame focused on urban
environment consumers. In particular, demographics varied in income, educational background, ethnic
background, household compositions, and gender. The sample plan is a non-probability, convenience
sample where participants are readily accessible and willing to contribute.
Managerial Implications
The value in social media is assessed through the organization’s ability to foster consumer
relationships. Social media users connect through their habits and desires, and social media marketing
can promote brand visibility and increase engagement. During the holiday season, social media
consumption can provide brand awareness and convey brand identity. This includes brand innovations,
lead generation, and business-to-consumer communication. Associations existing between consumer
involvement with social media and consumption patterns appear through the research, thus allowing
organizations to better define their target audience for social media activity during holiday season. This
allows the most engaged consumers to contribute to brand innovation.

4. The research shares insights with companies to improve current social media platforms
and customize new channels. Branding the company through social media deepens relationships
between businesses and consumers.
Solution
Data Collection Instruments
Qualtrics Survey
The survey was designed to seek quantitative, primary data. Qualtrics, an online survey
tool, allowing the survey to be distributed through Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and e -mail.
Word-of-mouth was also used to encourage participation. The survey was administered the weekend
before Thanksgiving 2013 through the second weekend of January 2014. Prior to administering the
surveys, the questions were determined to cover only variables relevant to the research question and
research objectives. Questions were written and assessed for phrasing and logic (Lloyd). In particular,
common question errors, such as double barreled, non-exhaustive, and nonspecific questions were
addressed to ensure transparency and produce “clean” data. The ‘test survey’ feature within Qualtrics
was also used to verify that the questions were free of error before distribution. Thus, pre -testing was
achieved to ensure a quality study.
Qualtrics’ built-in interactive capabilities supported the respondents’ participation by decreasing
survey fatigue and allowing for a “gamified” experience. Survey blocking was used to create sections
corresponding to each of the four research objectives. Within the survey block, the funnel approach was
implemented to begin with broad questions and drill down to more narrow questions. This reduced the
likelihood of participants being intimidated by specific questions early into the questionnaire. To further
reduce unwanted bailout, the survey was structured to incorporate a variety of question types, so
participants did not encounter unnecessary repetition. Within the survey, twenty-six questions were
asked including 19 nominal, 2 ordinal, 2 interval, and 2 ratio questions. The questionnaire strategically
includes fewer ordinal and ratio type questions. Because ratio questions allow for free responses, the
results provided may generate less accurate data since the responses are open ended. Ordinal questions
also provide less accurate data because they require that survey respondents rank data, but fail to
consider the degree to which one choice is preferred over another. Nominal and interval questions
provide the cleanest, most reliable results. Additionally, nominal questions were emphasized the most
for the sake of the areas of interest within the research.
Focus Group Moderator Guide
After the 2013 holiday season ended, six individuals were recruited for the focus group. Two
female and four male informants interacted with a moderator. The focus group moderator guide
opened a discussion regarding the research objectives amongst specific individuals who fit within the
sampling frame, while provoking discussion of topics that were inadequately covered through the
Qualtrics survey. Three main question types exist within the focus group moderator guide: engagement,
exploration, and exit. Engagement questions were used to solicit general insights from participants while
exploration questions investigated more specific consumer perceptions. The exit question asked for

5. additional input that informants may have and closes the discussion. The moderator guide borrowed not
only the drill down approach from the survey, but the organization of questions within the
corresponding research objectives. Each question was open-ended, which allowed the informants to
respond according to their own volition.
In-depth Interview Guide
The in-depth interview guide was written to further collect insights on potential areas of interest
relevant to the research objectives that were not addressed through the questionnaire or focus group.
The in-depth interviews emphasized findings related to memorable advertising and promotions, brand
awareness, and how the holiday season shapes social media activity. The overall goal of the IDIs was to
promote greater flexibility in responses and allow data to emerge as informants responded. Individual
respondents, therefore, were provided with an open environment to speak. The guide was also
designed with interviewing across different platforms in mind. IDIs were carried out through Skype, over
the phone, and in person.
Semi- Structured Observations
Semi-structured observational data for brands seen on social media was also collected. This data
was collected periodically throughout the days of Black Friday (November 29, 2013), Cyber Monday
(December 2, 2013), and Christmas Eve (December 24, 2013). The observational setting was any
environment with internet accessibility and included, but was not limited to, social media platforms of
Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Instagram. The context of the observations were not l imited
to what kind of interactions occurred on social media sites; what companies were doing to draw
consumers’ attention and awareness; how consumers’ interact with each and with brands; and how
consumers’ reach their social media on these holiday shopping days. Since the interactions happened on
the web, the physical settings observed included how activities in-stores reflect online (possibly shown
through a picture or video); what kind of products people were attracted to; who was going out to find
the promotions in-store; what activity online would make someone think that the social media user is
shopping online or in-stores; and what type of promotions were occurring in online interactions.
In terms of social or interpersonal settings, data collection also addressed how brands and
consumers interacted on multiple platforms; whether different platforms had different advertisements,
possibly stimulating different responses; how people participated in these holiday shopping events; and
how people made it visible to the social media networks they are active on. Lastly, observations were
made from online environment. This included layouts on the web; color schemes; trends or hashtags;
alternative branding approaches to fit the holiday season; and any online attributes that could have
garnered attention from the consumer. The semi-structured observations will be made three times on
the three dates proposed.
Sampling and Data Collection
Sampling Frame
The sampling frame for the data collection includes families, couples, and individuals over the
age of eighteen based near an urban environment. The target population included people who used
social media during the holiday season. Because the survey was distributed through the researchers’

6. social media sites, email, and word-of-mouth, not all population elements had a fair chance to
participate in the research. The primary data collection began Saturday, November 23, 2013, and
concluded Sunday, January 19, 2014. The holiday season addressed in the research question is identified
to run from the weekend prior to Thanksgiving through the second week of the new year. Given that
time frame, the survey was distributed first and was closed Monday, January 18, 2014. The focus group
and in-depth interviews were conducted Sunday January 19, 2014. The quality of the data collection is
reflected in the non-biased questions and the goal of reducing participant bailout.
Quality
The data collection was based on willing participants who were active on social media. There
was no incentive offered to participants, therefore reducing ulterior motives to participate. By
distributing a survey, conducting a focus group, and administering in-depth interviews, the research
group collected primary data through diverse methods which more accurately represented the larger
population. By doing so, a checks and balance type correspondence was initiated in the data analysis: a
funnel approach was used to generate questions. The survey was the initial source in generating
questions; based on the data patterns observed in the study, the design of the focus group was
constructed; furthermore, the in-depth interview guide questions were based on specifications made
from gaps in the focus group. During the research process, secondary sources were used to support the
data. Qualtrics data was migrated into SPSS, the raw data was coded, and the software was used to
aggregate results. The coding of raw Qualtrics output data through office edits involved assigning
numeric values to text responses and commanding SPSS to replace “pindots” or system-missing with
complete data by recoding missing variables into new values. Through Qualtrics, survey protection was
enabled by preventing ballot box stuffing. Separate sources of distribution were used to collect survey
responses, providing a variety of participants and opening the survey to broader geographic inclusion. A
focus group moderator guide was created to encourage questions and keep the participant s’ input in
line with the research questions. An in-depth interview guide was produced for flexibility to reach
greater insights on the consumer. From the survey, a majority of the questions were written as nominal
and ordinal questions; these categorical question types produce more reliable data.
Underrepresented Populations
Underrepresented populations include consumers that do not use social media. The research
design is also limited in that all social media platforms were not included in the survey design.
Measuring social media platforms that overlap (for example, users connecting their Instagram to their
Twitter and Facebook) also has limitations as some users may not consider themselves active on a
certain social media site but still post through a separate platform. The demographic under the age of
eighteen is also not represented in this study, although they are part of the greater population using
social media. Consumers over the age of 35 were less represented in the study; therefore, this study can
be generalized to ages 18 to 34. Finally, the survey also showed lack of high-income participants and
participants in rural settings. Therefore, the findings are most conclusive for young urban adults earning
a mid-range income. Such limitations, however, were expected due to the non-probability, convenience
sample design which best suited the research question and objectives.

7. “Ethical Dilemmas”
Ethical dilemmas faced in the research include the objectivity of the research, selective
audience, and the rapid changes made in social media. The objectivity of the research is limited because
the changing pace of social media and its discrepancies in the use of social media. The insights gained
through the primary data can be subjective to the participant who may view him or herself as a user on
social media, whereas a brand trying to gain awareness could view the user as a possible customer. The
personal insights and usage of social media of the researchers may congest the study and misrepresent
the possibilities outside the data. Because the majority of the data collected through the survey was
through social media, the participants themselves may hold themselves bias to their usage and activity
on social media. These biases could cause the individual a greater interest in the matter, thus self-motivation
may affect the data and its possible skewness toward those who view social media positively.
With the majority of social media users on the most visited platforms, Facebook and Twitter, the limited
insights may be only appropriate to address commonly visited platforms (Brenner).
Conclusion
Identify the visibility of social media marketing during the holiday season
With the average attention span decreasing from 12 seconds in 2000, to 8 seconds in 2013,
traditional marketing approaches have diminished in effectiveness (Weinreich)(Nahai).These emerging
societal changes, along with a difference in consumer identity from previous generations to Millennials,
have created additional hurdles for social media marketing during the holiday season (Nahai). Over the
last 8 years, social media usage among U.S. adults has increased by 800 percent (Olenski). Statistics
suggest that in 2013, 72 percent of U.S. adults were using social media, a movement that increases the
importance of successful with social media marketing for raising brand awareness, influencing the
purchasing behavior of consumers, and building business-to-consumer relationships (Olenski).
When determining if businesses are successfully targeting and conveying the values of their
brand to consumers during the holiday season through social media, the data indicated that only 49.3
percent of people have been led to make a gift purchase by social media. Of the 49.3 percent, 56
percent identified as female, 24 percent identified as male and 20 percent prefered not to report their
gender. Additionally, of these consumers, 53 percent said that they are between 18 to 34 years of age,
comprising a representation of 28.7 percent of the United States population (United States of America).
The questionnaire identifies the time periods that male and female consumers used social media
throughout the holiday season. The crosstabulation of “What is your gend er?” and “During which time
frame, throughout the holiday season, do you use social media the most?” exposed a preference from
6:00 P.M. to 12:00 A.M. for both genders. For females, 68.1 percent of the sample size stated that it was
the time period they used social media the most, while only 41.5 percent of the male sample size stated
similarly.
During the focus group, insightful qualitative data was generated by participants when asked,
“What has been the most effective way for a brand to communicate with you through social media?”
and, “Which platform was it on?” Of the six participants, Facebook and Pinterest were mentioned the
most. Focus group participants stated that effective ways businesses have communicated with them in

8. the past were through direct marketing, discounts and deals, free products for liking a business profile,
having been tagged in a promotional photo by a business, and through a user-friendly product
presentation on the business’s profile. Contrary to the focus group, question 4 of the questionnaire,
“Which of the following ways will you use social media during the holiday season?” generated findings
that indicated 70.4 percent of people would not use social media during the holiday season to discover
special offers, and 83.6 percent would not use social media to connect with brands. These quantitative
and qualitative findings present valuable insights for businesses and suggests that by initiating contact
with discounts or free products, social media users will perceive value in the brand.
When consumers were asked “Please rank the following social media platforms in order of
visitionation,” 48 percent of the sample size indicated Facebook as the most visited platform. Of the 48
percent, 54.8 percent stated that using social media during the holidays has led them to make a gift
purchase. From ranking platforms by order of visitation, survey participants showed that 85.7 percent of
consumers who listed Pinterest as their second most visited platform, confirmed that using social media
during the holidays led them to make a gift purchase. In connection, 73.7 percent of Instagram users
who ranked the social media platform second, and 81.3 percent of users who ranked it third stated, that
using social media during the holidays also led them to make a gift purchase. This suggests that visual
social media channels have a powerful medium for influencing the purchasing behavior of consumer
activity and a fostering environment for brand awareness during the holiday season.
To generate qualitative data on how consumers are able to recall business-to-consumer
activities, the focus group moderator asked participants to “Describe an ad seen on social media" and
"What makes you remember this ad?” Although participants eventually shared insights for the
aforementioned questions, observations of non-verbal cues suggested that participants encountered
difficulty when asked to recall a social media advertisement; informants did not respond immediately,
but paused to think about their response. Therefore, an additional question strategically probed to
include holiday advertisements beyond social media. Even with the addition of the probe, Steven simply
responded, “I can’t” when asked “Tell me about some advertisements you remember from the holiday
season.” Blaine’s response was followed by laughter. This indicates that consumers are not spending
enough time for the ads to make an impression on them. Consumer recall is no better at the holiday
season than it is at any other time during the year. These qualitative findings, coupled with with
statistical findings, indicate a four second decline in the average attention span suggesting social media
marketing strategies fail to retain the attention of consumers (Weinreich).
Investigate consumer’s desired level of involvement through social media
Through asking questions rooted in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, specific motivators can be
associated with varying consumer behaviors. Such questions probed for data regarding how consumers
are driven to fulfill their needs. Survey respondents were asked to indicate how important “Excitement”
and “Self-fulfillment,” among other motivators, are in their daily lives. Fifty-four percent of respondents
expressed that self-fulfillment was either important or very important in their daily lives. A cross-tab
extending from these questions shows that 43.3 percent of those who have the most followers on
Facebook find self-fulfillment very important in their daily lives, but only 33 percent find excitement very
important. Conversely, 16.7 percent of participants who indicate that they have the most followers on

9. Twitter than other social media sites find self-fulfillment very important, while 50 percent find
excitement very important. This could reflect the nature of the specific platforms, with Facebook
satisfying a role as a personal extension of the user and Twitter providing quick, low-involvement
connectivity. “Excitement” may also be associated with the number of social media accounts a user
engages on; 55.3 percent of these respondents indicated having 5 or more social networking profiles.
Fifty-one percent of survey takers who used social media to generate gift ideas during the
holidays used Facebook to participate in gift idea research. Similarly, 56.8 percent and 35.0 percent used
Pinterest and Twitter, respectively, to complete gift idea research. Cross-tabs further revealed varying
desired levels of social media involvement across different devices. Eighty-one percent of primary tablet
users connected with family during the holidays, yet only 72.7 percent connected with friends.
Conversely, smartphone and computer users were more likely to connect with friends via social media
during the holidays than with family. Seventy-seven percent of smartphone users and 67.7 percent of
computer users connected with family during the holidays via social media; and 84.2 percent of
smartphone users and 83.9 percent of computer users connected with friends. Thirty -six percent who
prefer to access social media through their tablets also connected with brands during the 2013 holiday
season, compared to just 17.1 percent for smartphone users and 9.7 percent through computers.
Primary data generated from Qualtrics also points to consumer desires to find savings through
social media interactions. Thirty-six percent of respondents who used smartphones the most to connect
with their profiles, also sought special offers during the holidays. Although survey data indicates that 58
percent of consumers who used social media to generate gift ideas during the season did not research
products, they did find special offers through social media. The data reflects the “dealer -chic” trend, in
which the ubiquity of connected devices along with consumer price consciousness has led to an
insurgence of thrifty consumers who seek to maximize their consumption, finding the best goods and
services at the best prices (“12 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2012”).
From a 2013 Statista report on social media marketing in the U.S., consumers were asked to
respond to a series of questions relating to brand interactions and different applications of social media
platforms. When asked which method was preferred for communicating with a business about its goods
and services, only 14 percent preferred social media versus 56 percent through e-mail. Forty-one
percent of respondents wish to receive information and advertisements for companies and retailers
through Facebook, compared to 18 percent through Twitter. When responding to the uses of social
media for holiday gift ideas, 41 percent said they used reviews, followed by 19 percent indicating they
use wish-lists on sites like Amazon.com; only 11 percent discussed items on social media with friends,
and 9 percent looked at the gift recipient’s page (Forte).
The previously mentioned findings were further corroborated by in-depth interview responses.
During an in-depth interview, Karen mentioned a lack of personal evangelism for different brands and
products with which she is connected through social media. “Although I like quite a few brands on
Facebook, I don’t usually tell my friends to ‘like’ these pages or to buy the products. I’m sure some do
that on their own,” she said of online word-of-mouth influences. “Sometimes friends will ‘share’ a
coupon or page that I can use or look at before buyi ng a product,” she also added, affirming the notion
of “dealer-chic” consumers, and further acknowledging that ‘prosumers’ actively spread branded
messages.

10. Compare involvement of consumers on social media to business activities
In the past ten years, there has been a consistent growth in e-commerce; in 2013, retail e-commerce
sales during the holiday months of November and December totalled $46.55 billion, an
increase of over $4 billion dollars to the previous year (comScore). In the survey, participants between
the ages of 26 to 34 show the most interest in using social media to create a holiday wish list. The
growing social media users between the ages of 35 to 54 show interest in using social media to sharing
holiday offers. More shoppers are hoping to join the e-commerce growth. Some incentives that are
influential to a consumer’s decision to buy gifts online includes free shipping, discounted items
compared to in-store prices, avoiding crowds, and ease to use website (“2011 US Holiday Shopping
Survey”). Since half of all social media users under the age of 35 follow their friends’ business
recommendations, business-to-consumer activities on social media can have a significant impact on
word-of-mouth marketing practiced online (Baur). “There about 131 million U.S. Facebook users
between the ages of 18-64,” which is a large audience that marketers can captivate (Griffith).
The top three primary benefits of social media have been increased awareness to the
organization, products, or services among target customers; increased traffic to website; and more
favorable perceptions of our organization, products, or services (Harvard Business Review Analytic
Services). While brands are learning how to engage on social media, 95.7 percent of participants
between the ages of 18 and 25 use social to communicate with friends (this was the top reason to use
social media within this age group). In the 35 to 54 age group, 41.7 percent use social media to discover
special offers; this was a higher percent than other age groups. The relationship between the business
activity and the consumer on social media can be connected through targeting customers through
strategic marketing plans. Some businesses are hesitant to join the social media network, at the same
time others have quickly made new marketing positions and moved spending to include social media
marketing to their brand. Of 2,100 companies surveyed in Harvard Business Review Analytic Services,
The New Conversation: Taking Social Media from Talk to Action, 58 percent of companies currently using
social media likely engage on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (Harvard Business Review Analytic
Services). Of the companies that believe they are “getting there” with their social media strategy, 69
percent admit to a learning curve but predict the use of social media will increase (Harvard Business
Review Analytic Services). In the survey, participants were asked to write in the top three mobile
applications used. The results for the most written in appl ications were all social media sites: Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter. The elicit response reflected a primacy effect which the survey takers used free-recall
to fill-in his or her answers. The answers likely reflected the latest application used. The results of
the survey show the interest in social media and its active use of users.
During semi-structured observations in the 2013 holiday season, an exponential increase in
Twitter activity was revealed, specifically on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Through observations
made of brands that the researchers follow, companies are using diverse methods to engage customers.
Through observations made on Twitter, #BlackFriday was trending beginning Thanksgiving Day.
Hashtagging was the most common by Big Box retailers and category killers: for example, #BestBuy,
#Walmart, and #Target. These retailers appeared multiple times and had a consistent appearance on the
newsfeed on Facebook and Twitter on Black Friday. Many pictures showed long lines for the steep deals
for the holiday shoppers. Brand marketers are aware of social media’s uses to drive brand awareness
rather than direct sales (Cohen). The use of social media extends the reach of connecting with the target

11. audience, paid social media advertising is growing cause to the interest in marketing budgets
(Rueter). #CyberMonday was linked to brands’ deals displayed on Facebook and Twitter. The responses
on Twitter to tweets with deals attached with #CyberMonday.
According to IBM, on Cyber Monday alone, sales grew by 20.6 percent from 2012; specifically,
mobile sales lead 17 percent of total online sales: this has been increasing 55.4 percent annually (The
Wall Street Journal). From the primary data collected from the Qualtrics survey, 49.3 percent have had
social media lead to a gift purchase during the holiday season. Half the participants access social media
through their smartphone, followed by 20.4 percent through a computer, and 7.2 percent through a
tablet (22.4 percent did not respond). From insights brought by IBM, smartphones draw high online
traffic in comparison to tablets which draw more sales (The Wall Street Journal). Primary data suggested
that social media users who use a tablet to access their accounts have a higher purchasing rate than
smartphone users. Businesses have increased interest in online shopping and their social media efforts.
The 2013 holiday season showed a significant increase in online shopping, and the reflection in
advertising spending was evident. U.S. online advertising spending jumped from $17.03 billion in 2012
to $20.07 billion in 2013 as reported by Interactive Advertising Bureau (Rueter). The majority of tweets
posted with a picture or video were observed were posted through a smartphone. Deals posted on
company Twitters were also retweeted through a mobile device on the dates observed. Cyber Monday
photos were comprised of screenshots from smartphones or tablets. Geographically the posts were
from all over the United States with the greatest frequency of pictures coming 5th Avenue in New York
City and Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
Word Cloud:
“Task: Please use your social media platforms and think of your role as a consumer through
these sites. This role can be defined by behaviors and activities associated with how you engage
on these platforms. Please pull out any brands, products, and activities used through the holiday
season. The words should portray what you want or need from social media sites. This can
include interactions with brands, desires for social media uses, and personalization of your
online consumer identity.”
Through the focus group activity, a word cloud was produced. The words generated were
Anthropologie, Starbucks, “Like,” connection, entertainment, know-it-all, no-all-caps, customization,
breaking-news, creative, coffee, on-sale, and uniqueness. The participants in the focus group came up
with the words from the task mentioned above.
Word Cloud

12. Generate social media market strategies to further engage consumers in the holiday season
During the holiday season, 36.4 percent of survey respondents who are most active on
Facebook indicated that Facebook led them to making a gift purchase. With 23 percent of Facebook
users checking their account five or more times each day, it is no surprise Facebook has the highest
engagement level and takes the most time and attention from the user (Honigman) (Adler). Similarly, 44
percent of respondents who indicated that Pinterest was their top social media site during the holiday
season were led to make a purchase from the site. While Pinterest is heavily used by women, Pinterest
users spend the most on the social media platform over any other platform users’ time (Wallace).
Pinterest users on average spend one hour and seventeen minutes on the site for each visit (Bennett).
Pinterest allows virtual pinboards: favorite products, product suggestions, and sharing pins. Retailers can
post new items instantly: it offers businesses a low-cost, practical approach to reach customers visually
(Capitol Media Solutions). Sixty percent of those under the age of 30 prefer to share information using
Facebook (Hart). In an overview by Capitol Media Solutions, “Facebook advertising can be targeted by
age, interests, geographic region, and lots of other factors.” Facebook also allows advertisements to be

13. shared if a friend likes the product or service (Capitol Media Solutions). Social media allows messages to
virally spread. The personalization of social media can offer potential customers recommendations,
spread promotions, and share events to the target customer. In ways, search engine optimization (SEO)
takes place in the suggestions on social media platforms like Facebook and Pinterest. SEOs can increase
the chances of a brand being discovered or connected to the appropriate consumer (Capitol Media
Solutions).
Of the surveyed participants, 67.1 percent do not use social media to generate holiday gift ideas.
78.9 percent also indicated that they do not research products during the holiday season through social
media. While 62.5 percent of respondents acknowledged that they share photos through social media
during the season, 84.9 percent don’t share videos. Instagram and Pinterest are a visual platform for
social media. Instagram allows users to upload photos and videos. Pinterest’s high traffic-driving power
has an astounding 10 million unique visitors each month (Constine). A consumer’s interest in multiple
platforms may stem from their reason for engagement. Specifically to brands they follow, Pinterest
users show interest in learning about products and services, keeping up with brand activities, and
following for promotions (Garibian); Instagram users on the other hand follow brands to keep up with
brand-related activities, learn more about products and services, and make purchases (Garibian).
Twitter users keep up with brand activities and provide feedback, while Facebook users tend to follow
brands participate in sweepstakes and promotions or complain about a product or service (Garibian).
Possible implications from this finding could indicate that marketing communications be channeled
through social media platforms where photo sharing is prevalent, as opposed to video sharing
platforms. Despite the fact the photos can be shared on all social media channels, the special interest in
a photo platform separates Pinterest and Instagram users to Twitter and Facebook users. However,
platforms have shown engagement growth through multi-device accessibility (Adler).
From the survey, 33.3 percent of survey respondents who selected Twitter as their favorite
social media platform during the holidays are most active from 9:00 P.M. to 12:00 A.M. Advertising on
Twitter can be done by targeting specific users or by paying to keep a tweet or trend at the top of the
newsfeed (Capitol Media Solutions). On Twitter, only 23 percent of all tweets generate a reply (Wallace).
The best time to tweet is said to be noon and 6 P.M. because it has been studied that the largest activity
is at those times. Noon is said to be the best time to share things on Facebook (Zarrella). According to
business-to-consumer engagement happens on both the weekday and the weekends on Twitter;
however, on Facebook, marketers have 30 percent change to better engage on the weekend (Baer).
“Facebook attracts roughly seven times the engagement that Twitter does, when looking at both
smartphone and PC usage, in per-user terms” (Adler). Facebook is also the most preferred social media
platform in the researcher’s survey: 42.5 percent of respondents of the survey who say Facebook is
their most preferred social media platform during the season are most active from 6:00 P.M. to 9:00
P.M. and 30.1 percent use the site most from 9:00 P.M. to 12:00 A.M.
A relevant trend for 2014 that facilitates further engaging consumers is presented by
Trendwatching and is known as “crowdshaping.” Crowdshaping employs user generated data from
within the digital space to shape and personalize experiences, both online and in-person, based on the
aggregation of preferences and behaviors of individual consumers (“Crowd Shaped”). The focus group
activity led to the generation of the words “personalization,” “customization,” and “uniqueness,” which
all point to user awareness of brands and industries to produce more rich and engaging experiences,

14. shaped to the individual consumer. These consumers are not only aware of these capabilities, but also
seek deeper implementation of them within the context of the holiday season. Karen revealed during
the in-depth interview that during the holidays, she uses Pinterest most frequently to generate “unique”
gift ideas and holiday activities. “I may also see what my friends’ ‘likes’ and ‘pins’ are to get inspiration
for what they might want as a gift.” Crowdshaping is rooted in bridging multiple reference points to
create this “unique” user experience; providing consumers with this enriched experience both on - and
offline can function as means of deepening engagement through social media, particularly during the
holiday season when consumption is at its peak.
Conclusion to Analysis
The primary data reflects consumer engagement trends on social media, how businesses
improve brand identity, and increase awareness through social media. The holiday season leads in sales
revenue which reflects businesses’ year-round effort to plan, promote, and establish a position in the
marketplace. In the survey, visibility of social media marketing was present to the majority of
participants; however, activity on social media did not reflect interactions made through the marketing
efforts: 70.4 percent of people on social media, during the holiday season, are not looking to discover
special offers. Nearly 84 percent are not attempting to connect with brands. Data findings suggest that
visual social media channels are influential with purchasing behavior. Participants that selected
Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram as the platform most frequently visited, stated that using social
media during the holiday season led to a gift purchase. Consumers’ desired level of involvement was
evident when switching between social media platforms. Over half of the consumers who used social
media to generate gift ideas during the holiday season did not use social media to research products.
Despite the fact, these participants did use social media to find special offers.
By comparing personal importance of self-fulfillment and excitement, respondents showed how
different platforms can generate varying types of involvement. The difference in Facebook, being
accessible as a personal extension, and Twitter, being a low-involvement means of connectivity, is an
example of how consumers want to be involved through the platforms they have the most followers.
Consumers were found to have preferences when it came to receiving information and advertisements
for companies and retailers: 41 percent preferred Facebook over the 18 percent that preferred Twitter.
While some businesses are converting to social media marketing at a slower rate than others, those who
are leaders must learn to effectively reach target customers.
While the top three responses for mobile applications were all social media platforms
(Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), it can be concluded that consumers actively check the accounts and
recall due to the primacy effect. By focusing business efforts on specific consumers, brands can define
their social media activity during the holiday months. To generate social media market strategies that
further engage consumers during the holiday season, personalization, customization, and uniqueness
were terms informants in the focus group used to depict the wants or needs desired from social media
sites. This shows that consumers seek implementation of exclusiveness within the context of the holiday
season. Companies associate social media platforms as a tool to increase consumer-to-business
engagement.

15. Limitations and Sources of Error
Sources of error that arose through the research methodology, specifically within the survey
distribution, would include possible variations in the choice of digital surveys as an alternative to
physical pen-and-paper surveys. Qualtrics allowed the questionnaire to be optimized for online formats,
using skip logic, gamification, and interactive question types which translated poorly on pen-and-paper.
On the other hand, online surveys are known for lower response rates than pen-and-paper surveys.
Although the total reach of possible sample frame survey cases is unknown, a sample of 152 completed
surveys is sufficient to detect and report patterns in the data set.
Regarding focus group and in-depth interview recruitment, limitations ranged from time
constraints, arranging a location that would accommodate all participants, and privacy concerns due to
recorded responses. These factors caused unwillingness to participate in the study among potential
candidates. However, identities of informants are protected through use of pseudonyms.

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