Journalism and Mass Communications, College of
Date of this Version
Fall 10-12-2015
Citation
Nash, S. (2015). Life Beyond the Like: Uses & Gratifications of Sharing Business Facebook Page Content (Masters thesis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln).
Abstract
One of the main reasons businesses create a Facebook Page is to solidify relationships with existing customers who are Facebook users and to leverage those relationships to gain new customers. Many studies have asked Facebook users to articulate the gratifications they receive when “liking” a business Facebook Page. These studies help explain what gratifications users gain by connecting to businesses via Facebook. To expand on these findings, the current pilot study applied the uses and gratifications theory to identify Facebook users’ motivations to “share” business Facebook content within their own personal network. Understanding users’ reasons for “sharing” will help businesses better engage and encourage “friends” to spread messages; this act of sharing pushes brand messages outside the business’s immediate network where new potential brand “friends” and potential message sharers reside. The results of the pilot study suggested that users “share” business Facebook content in order to gratify the primary needs of diversion, information, and personal identity. The need for relationships, however, was such a strong driver it functioned within these gratifications rather than independently when “sharing” business Facebook content.
Adviser: Ming Wang
Included in
Advertising and Promotion Management Commons, Arts Management Commons, Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Business and Corporate Communications Commons, Communication Technology and New Media Commons, E-Commerce Commons, Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons, Marketing Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Other Business Commons, Other Communication Commons, Public Relations and Advertising Commons, Publishing Commons, Sales and Merchandising Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, Social Media Commons, Strategic Management Policy Commons
Comments
A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts, Major: Journalism and Mass Communications, Under the Supervision of Professor Ming Wang. Lincoln, Nebraska: August, 2015
Copyright (c) 2015 Sara M. Nash