Question

Topic: Student Questions

Dissertation Topic - Social Media

Posted by Jenny on 9/15/2011 at 7:26 AM ET 250 Points
Hey all,

I was looking for some opinion on my chosen dissertation topic. Basically I wanted to include branding and social media (as these are my key fields of interest) So was thinking something along the lines of:

What consumers want from their social relationship with a brand?

or

How has social media changed the relationship between brand & consumer?

I would be very interested in hearing your expert opinion on what question you feel is more viable, and ultimately what one (with a lot of work) could achieve the best mark, and would be interesting to read.

Any help would be greatly appreciated :) Thanks Jen x
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 9/15/2011 at 10:38 AM Accepted
    I found this fantastic article, it has hundreds of dissertation topic ideas, https://www.ivoryresearch.com/media-dissertation-topics.php
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 9/17/2011 at 1:08 PM Accepted
    What do YOU think most people are looking for when it comes to their social relationships with brands?

    How do YOU think social media has changed the relationship between brands and consumers (if it's done this at all)?

    What thinking, reading, research, and opinions have you reviewed to come up with these questions?

    95 percent of the students that come to this forum with a question about their thesis tell us that they're going to write about social media. IT'S BEEN DONE TO DEATH1

    For a moment, put yourself in the shoes of the assessors that have got to rad through these publications. If every student these they read is about social media their attention spans are going to be short, which means your grade will plummet because you're making no effort to BE DIFFERENT.

    Marketing's role is to increase revenue. Marketing that stands out helps to make those revenue generating message stand out al the more, thereby improving the chance of an increase in revenue.

    Here, I don't blame you for your lack of insight. However, I DO blame the halfwits TEACHING you because they are the ones who are supposed to be preparing you to go out into the world and to be of USE to employers so that those employers can then improve their marketing. The sooner marketing educators get their heads out of their backsides and start preparing students for the real world of marketing, the sooner the role of marketing will improve and the sooner revenues for the companies that students wind up working for will increase.

    That said, the daughter of a friend of mine graduated in May from Fordham University where she'd studied Business Communication. Of her class the number of graduates that have gained employment is ... 16 percent.

    Your teachers are setting you up to fail. How do you stop helping them do this? You set out to help yourself.


  • Posted by Jenny on 9/19/2011 at 8:50 AM Author
    Thanks for your reply..

    Echoing your response – I myself have noticed from reading previous dissertations, and even from articles on marketing week, and so on, that there is a great focus on social media at the moment. Not to exaggerate, it’s hard to escape.

    My personal reasoning behind my ideas was that at the moment in undergraduate teaching - there is a great focus on traditional marketing, and not nearly enough on new forms of media such as the social media development, and having looked at the (grim) job market - social media is where the jobs seem to be. So I thought by choosing this as my topic it would develop me into a career within this area (with focus on branding).
    However, in the same breathe I certainly don’t want to be seen to be following the crowd or to have chosen the easy topic. Having taken on board your thoughts I have starting looking at further reading. Some other topics which screamed out at me are;
    - Mobile Marketing: examining the impact of trust, privacy, and consumers attitudes on intention to purchase.
    - What do consumers want from mobile marketing?
    - Investigate consumers buying motives when purchasing from Groupon.
    - How is digital customer behaviour changing brand management?

    Obviously I’m only at the very beginning of my research but I feel experienced input into my topic, at this early stage, would be of most help.

    Thanks Jen
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 9/21/2011 at 6:59 PM Member
    New forms of media are NOT the point here, Jen.

    New forms of media never are the point. To think otherwise is warped thinking based on shiny object syndrome. The next new bauble is NOT the answer and never has been, hence your tutors focus on traditional methods of delivery.

    Why is new media not the point?

    Because REGARDLESS of the way a message is
    delivered people's essential needs, wants, dreams, desires, fantasies, and hopes DO NOT CHANGE.

    We ALL need food, shelter, heating, cooling, security, love, affection. We all need to be wanted, liked, admired, fulfilled and so on and we all need a purpose, a reason, and a place, a space, or a role of some kind in which we fit it in one way or another.

    What do people want from mobile marketing? Nothing. No one likes to be sold to or marketed at. So, get around this by meeting the need and by exceeding the expectation. Sounds super-dooper easy but SO many people SCREW THIS UP and with it, they kill their sales.

    Investigate buying motives (Groupon). People want to pay the least amount possible for the best deal.

    How is digital customer behavior changing brand management? It's leading to more engagement via CONVERSATION rather than the message being a one way street (from the brand to the consumer).
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