This document summarizes research on perceptions of advertising on social media and its implications for word-of-mouth advocacy. It finds that social media users are more receptive to ads that provide entertainment, interactively engage users, or satisfy their information needs. Specifically, ads that foster participation and conversation tend to create more positive brand perceptions. The uses and gratifications theory, which posits that people use media to fulfill personal and social needs, helps explain why. Ads seen as invasive or distracting from users' goals tend to be viewed negatively.

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Synthesis Paper: Perceptions Surrounding Advertising on Social Media and its
implications in Word of Mouth Advocacy
By Lindsay Simons
CMM 590 Mediated Communication Fall 2014

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Overview
A social network is “a type of web site model where individual members become
part of a broader virtual community” (Chung & Austria, 2010). Social media has greatly
expanded our ability to communicate and interact with each other through online
networks. Marketers have targeted this mediated communication because of its
widespread popularity and exponential growth of members. Its asynchronous nature
allows companies to send advertising messages that can be read at the users convenience,
giving users the power to seek information quickly and efficiently. Not only “has new
media demonstrably altered how often people communicate online, but it has also
enlarged the pool of individuals they communicate with, and led to new ways for
behaviors to be influenced” (Hill & Moran, 2011). As a result, marketers have the
potential to disseminate information about new brands and promotions across social
networks. Therefore, the main focus of this paper is to examine the research surrounding
people’s perceptions of social media in relation to ad strategy, with a focus on word of
mouth advocacy. An analysis of the research shows that the uses and gratification theory
combined with social media connections and interactivity, positively or negatively
influence users motivation to engage in word of mouth advertising.
Word of Mouth Advertising Campaigns
Focusing on the social consumers, rather than social media itself, will make
advertising more successful for companies that want to use social media for brand
promotion. The uses and gratifications, interactive features and social connectivity of
social media give users more power to provide feedback and manipulate information
about certain brands. Many studies have shown that consumers place great value on “user

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generated messages such as peer recommendations on social media” (Chung & Austria,
2011). Social media analysts have coined this term as tell-a-friend or “word of mouth
advocacy,” to describe the effective nature of social network users sharing and spreading
information about a brand over social media. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing
strategy because ads that motivate users to comment or share brand information on social
media has the potential to reach many consumers in a network.
Interactivity
Nancy Baym quotes Laura Gurak when she describes social media as a
communication technology that allows users to “talk back. You can talk back to the big
companies or you can talk back to individual citizens” (Baym, 2010, p.7). This is known
as interactivity, and it is an important feature of social media that enhances marketing
value. The word interactive, in itself, indicates the people are influencing each other.
Over social media networks, users are able to be more active in voicing their opinions
(Hill & Moran, 2011).
The social construction theory indicates that knowledge is constructed through
social interaction and therefore allows us to co-create an online world that has it’s own
meaning, norms and rules (Ballard-Reisch et al., 2011). Social media users have the
control to alter and participate in this world. A study done on the acceptance of
advertising in social networks showed that these socially constructed norms predict
acceptance and attitudes towards a brand (Van Noort et al., 2012). Ballard-Reisch et al.
(2011) explain that social media demands non-stop interaction for communication to
persist, and allows people to craft many responses. Often the choices on social media are
dependent on previous experiences (Ballard-Reisch et al., 2011). Applied to word of

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mouth advertising, this simply can mean that users who have positive attitudes toward a
brand from past experience are more likely to share or comment on that brand in the
future. In the same way, users may not even engage or read certain advertisements on
social media because they have negative attitudes about a brand. People interact with ads
based on previous attitudes, mood and the ads perceived credibility (Taylor et al., 2011).
Vernuccio (2014) presented studies that showed increased interactivity and
participation with online brands leads to more positive attitudes and source credibility. In
Chung & Austria’s research conducted Ramapo University, almost all participants
reported that they had interacted with a company brand on social media usually through
an opinion on a post or blog. When marketers foster participation and conversational
interactivity with consumers, the consumers have more of a say in the brand and become
a part of its image. Word of mouth gives the consumer more power because they become
key players in the message and distribution of a brand over social media (Vernuccio,
2014). As mentioned earlier, peer recommendations and online post sharing of an ad
foster consumer participation in word of mouth campaigns. The majority of college
students agreed that they enjoy how social media allows them to have a presence and
give feedback on company brand information (Chung & Austira, 2010). Therefore, ads
that create a conversational buzz on social media will attract more user participation and
create positive perceptions of a brand.
Uses and Gratifications Theory
The uses and gratifications theory has been very pervasive through much of the
research on social media marketing. This theory “assumes active, purposeful engagement
in media by audience members” (Ballard-Reisch et al., 2011, p.67). In other words,

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individuals make choices about how to utilize media to satisfy their needs. These
gratifications, or needs, can be personal or social. Personal gratifications include
information seeking, entertainment or relaxation needs, while social gratifications deal
with personal relationship needs (Ballard-Reisch et al., 2011). It takes a psychological
perspective in examining what needs motivate people to engage in certain online media.
This is very useful for marketing strategy because learning more about how people use
social media will help advertisers ascertain how to successfully reach consumers.
Chung & Austria (2010) conducted research at the Ramapo College of New
Jersey examining the effects of social media marketing in online shopping. They created
a research model based on the uses and gratifications theory that evaluated
variables of entertainment, interaction and information. They explain social media
entertainment as the level of amusement the web provides. Research shows that
something as simple as an entertaining web banner, or enjoying site navigation creates
more positive brand attitude. Social media interaction gratification deals with things such
as keeping up with friends and satisfying our need for connection with other people.
Social networks enhance users social needs and interpersonal relationships by giving
people a medium to discuss issues with others. Lastly, information gratification explains
users motivation to seek out information and how the content and ease of access
influences their choices. They conducted interviews to analyze how people use social
media in relationship to online shopping. They found that consumers said they would
rather browse on their own then be bombarded with promotional messages. The amount
of information and access to it over social media needs to be handled delicately, because
users get overwhelmed and frustrated. Marketers need to focus on key information such

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as “concise language, clear visual cues and bullet points, and a conversational level in
text” as ways to help information-seekers get what they need and create a positive brand
perception (Powers et al., 2012). Moreover, users perceive advertisements to be invasive
when they intrude or distract from their goals and gratification needs. Social media use is
often very goal oriented and word of mouth advertisements that deter their tasks will be
perceived negatively (Taylor et al., 2011). User information gratification is important for
advertisers targeting online word of mouth because ads that are more concise and
memorable are more likely to be remembered and spread. Specifically, “when social
network advertising delivered content or impressions that provided entertainment or
informational value or offered social value, consumers appeared more likely to respond
favorably” (Taylor et al. 2011). When users share an ad, it stimulates thought and results
in comment feedback and dialogue. In word of mouth campaigns, sharing advertisements
within interested groups can bring them closer together and gratify social and information
needs. In turn, this can lead to positive cognition about the brand that elicited the
information (Taylor et al. 2011). The research conducted by Chung and Austria (2010)
found that attitudes toward social media marketing messages are strongly correlated with
media interaction and information gratifications, however not much was found on
entertainment value (Chung & Austria, 2010).
In order to get users to share their information, marketers need to create an
incentive so that they are motivated to do so. Advertising is, “increasingly developed
with sharing as an objective: will consumers feel motivated to post a commercial on their
Facebook page or forward a YouTube link via e-mail to their friends and family? Sex
appeal, surprise, entertainment, and humor are some of the tools that are being employed

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to motivate that sharing (Keller & Fay, 2012).” Generally, people will share when
gratifications such entertainment are part of the advertising campaign. However,
consumers mostly share information based on how it gratifies their need to construct a
social identity. For example, a video that gives new insight into a controversial issue
gives the person incentive to post it because they will come across as intelligent on social
media. Consistent with the domestication theory, which explains how social media has
become an extension of our selves in everyday life, one study found that people felt that
social media was more a part of their identity than a means to escape reality. Everything a
user posts allows him or her to create an online impression that gratifies a social identity
need (Chung & Austria, 2010). Ballard-Reisch et al. describe this as social networking
“impression formation and management.” People are concerned with how they are
perceived by others in their network and they post things that contribute to their desired
image. They can manage and control these impressions through all of the features of
social media, such as “liking” or posting photos and status’s (Bryant et al., 2011). People
can essentially create an idealized self, and marketers can use this social desirability to
their advantage. By creating ads that users will want to post because it sheds them in a
positive light, they will be able to diffuse brand promotions across social networks
through word of mouth. This is one of the most effective ways to use word of mouth for
marketing due to the simple fact that people perceive the posts of others to be less of an
advertising scam, and generally more authentic. In addition, studies done on self-
congruity found that when a person’s self identity is reflected in the way the brand is
presented, “the likelihood that users will reference themselves in and derive meaning
from brand presentations increases” (Taylor & Fay, 2011, p. 263). In other words,

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product or user images that are congruent with a users identity create positive attitudes
about the brand and greater purchase intention. For example, an active clothing brand that
advertises staying healthy and happy will be congruent with people’s identity in the
fitness community, and therefore will be more likely to be shared.
Social connections
It is important to note that the type of connections we have on social media
influence the effectiveness of word of mouth campaigns. A strategy for marketers using
word of mouth advocacy is to target brand advocates in a social network to share the
content with their friends or followers. People value the opinions of established social
voices and are much more likely to engage with advertising material if it is coming from
someone they trust. Keller and Fay (2012) emphasize conversational techniques in word
of mouth advertising, researchers said “the sale is not generally going to happen because
of mere ad exposure. Instead, advertisers should be targeting two key types of people: the
consumer influencers, people who are interested in information and very engaged in
spreading information through their social networks; and current customers and
advocates of the brand who are ready to be rallied to the cause” (Keller & Fay, 2012, p
3). For example, choosing a brand advocate on social media who has a highly dense
network of influence to promote information will be the most effective.
This leads to Ballard-Reisch et al.’s (2011) discussion of the strong and weak ties
theory. They say the strength of a social network tie depends on the amount of time,
emotional intensity, intimacy and reciprocity of a relationship. The strength of these
variables correlates with the strength of the tie. Strong ties on social media have a level of
trust and similarity because they share many of the same network connections while

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weak ties don’t require a time investment and can be formed faster (Ballard-Reisch,
2011). The more similar people are in attitude, behavior and demographics, the stronger
their connection (Van Noort et al. 2012). Van Noort et al. (2012) conducted a study that
examined how tie strength impacted the persuasiveness of viral word of mouth
campaigns. The study used the social network of a student to create the campaign that
would spread by asking members to share it. Users within this student’s social network
received a campaign ad with a message in their inbox that told them to click a link for the
site. The link led to a virtual campaign game and once users played they were asked to
respond to a survey. The receivers of the message were asked to describe their
relationship to the sender. An analysis of the evidence showed that people who receive a
marketing campaign from a strong tie have more positive attitudes toward the brand. It
means that people are more open to explore messages from strong ties in their social
networks than weak ones. This is largely due to the fact that messages from strong ties
are perceived as more credible. Credibility is a part of persuasion and studies show that
perceived persuasive intent impacts the message. “If a message is not perceived as
persuasive, it receives more attention, is perceived as more credible, and has a stronger
effect on affective responses (Van Noort et al., 2012).”
Conclusions & Critique
Applied to uses and gratifications, interactivity and social connections, word of
mouth “has proven to be highly credible and linked to sales; advertising has been proven
to help spark conversation” (Keller & Fay, 2012). Ads that inspire conversation and
interactivity will attract more users and create positive perceptions of a brand. It seems

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that for users to engage in word of mouth on social media the ad must come from a
credible or strong source in their network and gratify identity, social and informational
needs. Ads that satisfy or contradict needs will be viewed positively or negatively
accordingly. Credibility and authenticity are important for the perception of the receivers
of ads on social media, while social identity is important for users as the sharers of
information. Not only is it useful to know for advertisers, but also for us as people in the
online world of social networking. If we want to communicate something we have to
realize the effect our tie strength will have on the message and realize their response will
be shaped by social desirability.
Corporations should start using what is called “open source branding,” which
deals with interactivity and the “crucial role of interaction with (and among) stakeholders
in the co-building of the brand and emphasizes the need to research effective
communication strategies for achieving this kind of engagement” (Vernuccio, 2014)
Social media was created for interpersonal interaction and its popularity has shifted more
power to users because they are now able to provide public feedback. In this sense social
media has remedied the problem of corporations having too much power, because some
of it has now been given back to the consumer. With word of mouth, people have the
power to construct, manipulate and share a brand message over their social network.
Much more research still needs to be done on word of mouth advertising on social
media. However, the research presented by Chung and Austria (2010) was useful because
it found that “information, communication, and socializing are main gratifications when
using the Internet.” It’s uses and gratifications model was able to measure and collect
empirical date on social media interaction, information and entertainment as variables in

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college student’s online shopping perceptions. However, college students of this
generation are extremely technology-oriented and familiar with social media. Social
media advertising will be most effective if it can reach all levels of online network users.
The sample does not take in to account all of the age groups on social networking sites.
Another weakness of the study is that their results did not support the evidence that
entertainment was a significant gratification in online shopping ads. They reasoned that
this could be because “social media is no longer an entertainment; rather, it is a common
practice in daily life.” I think that social media has become part of our lives in the sense
that we have so many uses for it. However, I do not think it loses its entertainment value
because of the endless amount of navigation, browsing and stimulation it provides. Their
results and conclusions about entertainment gratification are not consistent with the large
body of research that indicates entertainment is positively related to attitudes about
advertising (Chung & Austria, 2010).
The research done on social connections in word of mouth campaigns was
influential because it expanded information on this topic. This study was the “first to
investigate whether the persuasiveness of the viral marketing campaign on SNS can be
explained by the strength of the connection between the sender and the receiver” (Van
Noort et al., 2012). It extended the literature to include the importance of social networks
connections rather than just message content in advertising. The weakness of this study is
that the ad campaign that was messaged to social network users did not include the option
of commenting. This means that there is no room for users to comment negatively or
positively to an ad. In word of mouth campaigns, there is the possibility that people will
respond negatively “in online communities or pass along (negative) comments with the

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forwarded SNS campaign.” The campaign was limited because it does not address the
impact of positive and negative comments in the perception of an ad. The research in this
article looked primarily at user perceptions on social media and I think future research on
marketing on social media in general should look at whether positive brand perceptions
actually lead to purchase intentions. It is important to look at whether perceptions and
attitudes actually lead to behavior.

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