Don’t “Like” That! The Threats of Social Media Advertising

Amanda O’Shaughnessy

G/T Independent Research

Reservoir High School Dr. Francis Fleming-Milici

University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity

Overview

• Advertising terms and tactics

• Primary research project

• Advertising’s link to obesity

• Possible solutions

3

Advertising

“The act or practice of calling public attention to one's product, service, need, etc., especially by paid announcements.”

Social Media

As of 2012:

• 95% of teens are online

• 94% on Facebook

• 26% on Twitter

• 11% on Instagram

• 1% have no accounts

5

Company AccountsSome have millions of followers

Post follower submitted content, sales, and contests

Follow to:

•See what is “cool”

•Keep up with products

•Learn about sales

Social Media Tactics

• Post seemingly random and pointless images/slogans/ideas on social media

• Respond to followers

• Collect data

General Posts

• Caption not specific to their brand

• Connection is still made

• Use of a popular hashtag

• Potentially humorous

Product Promotion

• Showcase product

• Teen/young adult in image

• Bright colors

• Promoting free food

• Everything is mobile

– Easier decision to make

– Impulse actions

Reposts

• Focus on product by a fellow consumer

• Seems more personal • Do you want to take

a picture and tag a company?

• Would this company repost your photo?

Contests

• Monetary prizes or recognition

• Engaging for consumers

• Use of hashtags to spread beyond followers

• Need to go to restaurant to participate

Responding

• Responding to your comments encourages more commenting

• Companies see what is liked or disliked about products

• Positive experience

12

Social Media Advertising Part 2 “…We’ve developed mechanisms where we can quite accurately predict things like your

• political preference, • your personality score, • gender, • sexual orientation,

along with things like how much you trust the people you know and how strong those relationships are. We can do all of this really well.”

• religion, • age, • intelligence,

Data Collection

• Liking, following, retweeting, reblogging, commenting…

14

Data Collection

• Companies keep this data

• Learn about you and what you like

• Friends/followers actions can describe you

Targeted Marketing•Different techniques used for different venues

•They know who wants what, and where they are

•Specific ads for demographics

Pros and Cons

• Helps user find products

• Facilitates search process

• Introduce you to something you may like

17

• Can be annoying • Some think it is

a violation of privacy

Data Profiling

• Find out your demographics

• Predict products you might want

• Very personal

• Store information for future use

• Is legal

Primary Research

• How do teenagers perceive social media advertising?

• I conducted a 2 part interview

– Part 1: open ended questions

– Part 2: looking at social media examples

• 11 high school students

Advertising• Definitions from interviewees:

➢ “a tactic that companies use to get people to buy their products”

➢ “putting information about a service or product out in order to generate interest in the public”

Every Post is an Ad?

• In my interviews, participants thought 14% of posts were not ads

• Positive brand association

• Sharing

Avoidance• Teens avoid traditional

advertisements

• Not the case with social media

• Annoyance leads

to avoidance

• Were definitely

annoyed by posts only

16% of the time

Absolutely Not

Probably Not

Maybe

Definitely

What do you think?

• Most participants were fine with data collection for targeted marketing

• Some participants were unaware, surprised, or disturbed by depth of data collection

• 10 of 11 thought data profiling was wrong, creepy, or even illegal

Data Collection as Advertising

• Collection is advertising

• No participant included it in definition

Effects of this AdvertisingTeens are unaware

of effects

Unhealthy habits are

formed now

Ads change nutritional perceptions

Obesity Statistics

• 21% of teens in US are obese

• Many causes—one is advertising

CFBAI

• Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative

• Restricts ads for children under 12

• Does not cover social media

COPPA

• Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

• Minimizes privacy violations of children under 13

Protections for Teens?

• Teens are “fair game” for all types of marketing

• Social media ads are hit teens the hardest

• Do teens need to be protected?

Your Data

• Who is in control of your data?

• Who should be in control?

Possible Solutions

• Media literacy programs in schools

• Consumers get control back

• A teen-covering CFBAI or COPPA

Works Cited• http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/opinion/2346645/why-small-business-should-care-about-native-advertising • http://www.ted.com/talks/

jennifer_golbeck_the_curly_fry_conundrum_why_social_media_likes_say_more_than_you_might_think/transcript?language=en • http://www.centerfordigitaldemocracy.org/path-purchase-and-how-digital-marketers-use-it-unfairly-target-you • http://latestnewslink.com/2014/07/childrens-tv-unhealthy-food-worry/ • http://www.bariatric-surgery-source.com/child-obesity-statistics.html • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-magid/unintended-consequences-o_1_b_1741703.html • http://janrain.com/blog/control-data/ • http://articles3.com/en/articles/good-news-now-you-can-learn-how-to-interview-right/ • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservoir_High_School • http://johnfwagner.net/2571/targeted-social-media-advertising/ • http://minimediaguy.org/2007/09/11/j-schools-should-teach-media-literacy-plus/ • http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/advertising • http://www.corporate-eye.com/main/targeted-marketing • http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/

https://socwork.wisc.edu/using-social-media-social-work-student • http://galleryhip.com/advertising-png.html