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University of Amsterdam
Faculty of Economics and Business
Analysis of online communication between fictional profiles and their followers through social media: An investigation of movie and TV series characters’ profiles on Facebook
Master Thesis
Author: Ioannis-Georgios Ispikoudis (10826904)
Master of Science in Business Administration: Marketing University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics and Business
31 August 2015
2 Statement of Originality
This document is written by Student Ioannis-Georgios Ispikoudis, who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document. I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it. The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to study the types of online communication methods among fictional profiles based on movie and TV series characters on social media and their followers, along with the influence of these types on the concept of parasocial interaction. Parasocial interaction is a one-sided, interpersonal relationship between two parts, in which one part knows a lot about the other, but the second one does not know about the first. It has been cultivated mainly through television and recently through social media platforms. This paper includes an exploratory research through a qualitative analysis on five Facebook fictional profiles in order to show the content of comments made by fans and clarify the distinction among the different categories of the social media marketing typology found, suggested by an earlier research. There is also a quantitative analysis measuring the level of parasocial interaction between the fictional characters and their followers through studying the content of the followers’ comments along with the different types of social media posts used by the fictional profiles. The paper suggests that the use of specific social media marketing types by a fictional character can lead to higher levels of parasocial interaction with its followers resulting in greater levels of fandom, while others can strengthen the likeability of the celebrity portraying the character or even lead to more positive reception of the movie or TV series that the character is part of. Therefore, marketers in the creative industries can use certain types of social media posts depending on the outcomes they want to achieve and the online behaviors they want to evoke from their followers.
3 Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Hsin-Hsuan Meg Lee for her patient guidance, insightful feedback and helpful advice she has provided me throughout my whole time as her student.
I would also like to thank my dear friends Eleni Foulidou and Susann Krüger for being my studying partners and supporting me in difficult times.
Finally, I would like to express a special thanks to my family and my friends for their continuous encouragement and moral support throughout the whole year of my studies.
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Table of Contents
1) INTRODUCTION ... 6
2) LITERATURE REVIEW ... 11
Social Media ... 11
Film Production Companies and TV Series Networks in Social Media ... 13
Parasocial Interaction ... 17
Parasocial Interaction Through Social Media... 19
Social Media Marketing Typology ... 20
Identifying the Gap ... 23
3) DATA AND METHOD ... 24
Research Design ... 24 Platform ... 24 Sample ... 25 Independent Variables ... 26 Dependent Variables ... 27 Control Variables ... 28 4) RESULTS ... 29 Qualitative Results ... 31 Quantitative Results ... 43 5) DISCUSSION ... 53 Managerial Implications ... 59
Limitations & Suggestions for Future Researches ... 61
6) CONCLUSIONS ... 63
REFERENCES ... 65
APPENDICES ... 71
Appendix 1: Social Media Marketing Typology ... 71
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List of Tables
Table 1: Overview of Fictional Profiles……….…………...……30
Table 2: Definitions & Examples of Social Media Typology……….…….32
Table 3: Comments Examples per Social Media Typology and per Fictional Character………..39
Table 4: Overview of Content of Commentsper profile……….………...…42
Table 5: Frequencies of Social Media Typology………..………..43
Table 6: Social Media Typology per Fictional Character………..……44
Table 7: Descriptive Statistics on Percentage of Character Comments per Social Media Typology………..………….…46
Table 8: Univariate Analysis of Variance - Tests of Between-Subjects Effects for the Percentage of Character Comments……….………47
Table 9: Descriptive Statistics on Percentage of Actor or Actress Comments per Social Media Typology………..……….…48
Table 10: Univariate Analysis of Variance - Tests of Between-Subjects Effects for the Percentage of Actor or Actress Comments……….….50
Table 11: Descriptive Statistics on Percentage of Movie or TV Series Comments per Social Media Typology………...….51
Table 12: Univariate Analysis of Variance - Tests of Between-Subjects Effects for the Percentage of Movie or TV Series Comments……….…….52
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1) INTRODUCTION
The astonishing growth of social media has redefined the virtual media world, changing the way online networks receive and spread information (Kaplan & Haelein, 2010). Social media platforms connect billions of users throughout the world on a daily basis. At the same time, companies can create profiles which can be followed by online users, post status updates, share photos and videos and communicate with their customers in an interactive way. Examples of social media platforms that are popular among consumers are: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+, and Pinterest (Milanovic, 2015). The most significant achievement of social media networks is that they have renovated completely the way of communication between companies and consumers (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004), transforming their relationships through enhanced available information with widespread access to it as well as strengthened communication skills (Kuruk, 2007), on an experiential and psychological level (Pine & Gilmore, 2011).
Film production companies and TV Series networks have a vivid presence in social media networks, taking advantage of the great opportunities presented. With declining theater attendance and DVD and blue ray sales (Fritz, 2014), it is essential for them to incorporate social media in their marketing strategies, refocusing their efforts to secure larger profit margins. Although there is a growing trend in marketing films and series through social media, there are no extensive studies on the variety of ways that movie studios and TV series networks promote their films and series through social media marketing strategies, some of which involve grasping unconventional marketing methods in order to create buzz, spread
7 electronic word of mouth, reach target audiences and boost popularity series. One of the most innovative methods to achieve these results and at the same time one of the most rising trends among movie studios and TV series networks is creating fictional profiles based on their popular characters. Companies benefit from higher brand recognition and increased brand loyalty by their existed fans, while achieving higher conversion rates, positive electronic word-of-mouth and peer recommendations (DeMers, 2014; De Bruyn & Lilien, 2004).
These fictional profiles interact with their followers through parasocial interaction, which is a one-sided, interpersonal relationship between two parts, in which one part knows a lot about the other, but the second one does not know about the first. This innovative way of interaction has revolutionized the relationships between companies and online users, offering to both great advantages. Parasocial relationships are important to social media users as they gain substantial value from this relationship (Sanderson, 2009). They are quite popular within social media platforms, due to the fact that there is an increased feeling of “knowing” the characters as well as a perception of honor without having any probability of rejection (Bennett et al., 2014). Additionally, users can experience a strong association with the fictional characters that they follow, while expressing feelings of affection, love and loyalty towards them (Cole & Leets, 1999). At the same time, users experience the sense that their favorite movie and TV characters are real, bringing their fandom behaviors to a whole new level. They have the chance to get insightful information about their favorite characters, learn more about their fictional personalities and their imaginative backgrounds as well as interact with
8 them through writing comments. Having the unique opportunity to follow each and every update of these fictional profiles, fans get the feeling that they have become “friends” with these characters. They can like, comment or share a post, experiencing an unprecedented fandom level of extreme personal pleasure. In the literature, parasocial interaction has been extensively researched in an offline context but there has been little research in the field of online communication. Studying parasocial interaction through social media is important as it allows scholars to examine the role online figures have on individuals via newly studied communication media (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). In particular, there has been no research on the parasocial relationships between fictional characters in social media networks and their online followers.
As a vast majority of online users use at least one form of social media in their everyday lives, film production companies and TV series networks need to find solutions to stand out from their competitors in order to create a positive parasocial relationship with their followers that will influence favorably their online behavior. In order to achieve this, they must find innovative ways of sending messages through social media platforms. An extensive research by Coursaris et al. (2013) suggested a comprehensive and at the same time generalizable typology of social media marketing messages, divided into seven categories: Brand Awareness, Corporate Social Responsibility, Customer Service, Engagement, Product Awareness, Promotional and Seasonal (Coursaris et al., 2013). These categories include 23 further subcategories, providing a complete typology for social media marketing and corporate communication strategies (Coursaris et al., 2013). The paper by Coursaris
9 et al. (2013) offers rich ground for further research that could benefit managers and marketers into formulating their social media marketing strategies.
Currently, there has been no research studying the online interaction between fictional profiles and their followers, while applying these types of social media marketing strategies. Additionally, the impact of parasocial interaction through the online communication of fictional profiles and their followers has not been the center of any research yet and could provide useful insights in which types of social media marketing strategies could be more effective to reach a higher or lower level of parasocial interaction with online users. Specifically, this paper will focus on the online communication of fictional characters based on films and TV series with their followers through Facebook, while using methods of the seven categories of the social media marketing typology elaborated by Coursaris et al. (2013). To address this gap in the literature, an exploratory research was made in order to answer the following question:
How can fictional profiles based on movies and TV series communicate through social
media in order to influence parasocial interaction with their followers?
The research includes a qualitative analysis on five Facebook fictional profiles showing examples of the different types of social media messages found along with examples of comments per type of the social media marketing typology and per profile. There is also a quantitative analysis measuring the level of parasocial interaction between the fictional characters and their followers through studying the content of the fans’ comments for unique posts along with the different types of social media posts used by these fictional profiles.
10 This study will benefit marketers by providing them an insight on what are the most successful types of social media marketing strategies made by fictional profiles, in order to achieve beneficial interactions with online users. Marketers in the field of the creative industries will be able to understand what social media messages should be shared if they want to achieve great fandom on the fictional character itself, thus strengthening and expanding their fan-base. It will also be concluded which are the ideal types of social media messages in case they want to advertise the relevant film or TV series, through succeeding in getting comments by fans targeted on the film or TV series that the character is part of, creating in this way electronic word-of-mouth and free advertising in online communities or even improving theater performances and DVD and blue ray sales. Furthermore, they will know what types of posts will arouse followers’ interest on the celebrities portraying the character, increasing in this way followers’ likeability on the respective actor or actress and building a strong positive bond of linkage between the celebrity and the character (Spry et al. 2011).
In the following sections, the paper consists of a literature review investigating and providing a summary of earlier studies made on social media, film production companies and TV series networks in social media, parasocial interaction, parasocial interaction through social media and the types of the social media marketing typology by Coursaris et al. (2013). The literature review is followed by the research methodology, explaining in full detail the way that the study was conducted and the nature of the data. The next chapter presents the results of the data analysis, followed by the discussion section, where all the results are interpreted. The paper
11 concludes with managerial implications along with limitations of the study and suggestions for future researches.
2) LITERATURE REVIEW
Social MediaWorldwide, companies are continuously re-evaluating their resources and unique features in order to adapt to the constantly changing needs of consumers, who are becoming increasingly used to new technological forms of interaction with business companies. The rapid development of new digital media during the first decade of the twenty-first century has brought about the transformation of marketing strategies and the creation of innovative marketing tools, such as social media. Social media are a group of sites, platforms and applications which enable the creation, sharing and exchange of user-generated content (Kaplan & Haelein, 2010). They integrate social interaction and technology, allowing brands to connect with consumers on a more familiar and intimate level of communication. Out of the dozens social media platforms that exist, brands should choose the right medium based on the target group and the message to be communicated (Kaplan & Heanlein, 2010). Examples of social media platforms that are popular among consumers are: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+, and Pinterest (Milanovic, 2015). The unique characteristics and innovative traits of social media as well their great popularity have revolutionized marketing strategies’ implementation, such as advertising and promotion (Hanna et al., 2011). Social media platforms give the chance to companies to engage with potential customers
12 and create interactive relationships of great importance with them, providing a two-way communication (Mersey et al., 2010). Interaction and communication between brands and users can create a favorable or less suitable image for other users who read the information posted. In social media, consumers perceive in a different way the degree of interactivity with the target brand, depending on the conveyed message (Shin, 2008).
The most significant achievement of social media is that they renovated completely the way how consumers and companies communicate (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004. 94 percent of marketing executives who responded to a survey in 2010 concerning future investments in social media, expected to spend more on social media strategies over the next decade (Busby et al., 2010). The existence of internet and digital communities has resulted in the transformation of consumers and companies’ relationships with the enhanced available information, the widespread access to it as well as ameliorated social networking and strengthened communication skills (Kuruk, 2007). Consequently, social networks can be defined as sites that link millions of users from all over the world with similar interests, opinions and hobbies. The benefits of the use of social media include the fact that companies can create the perception of having personalized posts on an individual context, which add great value to the consumer’s view on the brand along the process on a functional, experiential and psychological level (Pine & Gilmore, 2011). This distinguishing approach enhances actively the consumer’s experience of the interaction with the brand, establishing an emotional connection and ultimately the integration of the brand as part of their lifestyle (Pine & Gilmore, 2011). The key factor for the creation
13 and development of relationships with consumers across the various social media platforms is succeeding in triggering responsive reactions from consumers through entertaining and engaging communication. This has been greatly being achieved by companies from the creative industries, and in particular by film production companies and TV series networks.
Film Production Companies and TV Series Networks in Social Media The presence of film production companies and TV series companies in social media is essential for their marketing strategies. Without the proper marketing strategy, a movie or a TV series with great direction, acting, plot, characters, sets, visual and sound effects may fail to attract an audience, thus struggling to make back its initial budget invested. With DVD and blue ray sales declining (Fritz, 2014) film production companies aim to make back their money and have a profit during theatrical runs, while TV series networks aim to achieve higher viewing rates. However, attendance at the cinemas at 2014 was down to its lowest in eighteen years, therefore many studios are trying to cut back on budgets (“Domestic Movie”, 2015). Likewise, since the advent of the internet, the new generations spend fewer hours watching TV series than the previous ones used to (“Are Young People”, 2015). Therefore, movie studios and TV companies need to re-focus their efforts to secure large profit margins. By determining the most effective methods to increase theater attendance and viewing ratings up to the point of making efficient profits, film production companies and TV series networks will be able to achieve more successes and minimize the risk of losing money on a potential project, keeping their position in business and the entertainment industry well alive. Over the last years, there is a
14 steady increase in use of social media platforms among the key demographic of teenagers and young adult moviegoers and TV viewers (Lenhart et al., 2010; Packaged Facts, 2010). The growing popularity of social media has created direct channels to potential customers that were not previously available to marketers of movie studios and TV networks. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have increased the spread of information to lightning speeds (Catone, 2009). Taking advantage of social media platforms to their fullest extent during marketing campaigns allows movie studios and TV series networks to create a multi-dimensional and interactive discussion with potential viewers. This differs from the traditional one-way marketing of printed material, posters and billboards. Nevertheless, encouraging discussion and users’ opinions on the Internet can sometimes have even a negative effect on the publicity of the film or TV series promoted when the there is a controversial topic or an opposing view by users on a specific post (Hartman et al., 2011). As reviews and opinions can be transferred worldwide at an instance, positive electronic word-of-mouth can replace expensive large-scale marketing strategies while achieving excellent results (Fiegen et al., 2011). There is a variety in the ways with which companies can promote movies and TV series through social media websites. Some examples include creating a Facebook or Twitter account for the movie or TV series and posting updates such as news about the shootings, behind-the-scenes videos, directors’ or actors’ interviews and info about the release dates and opening night events. A movie studio or TV network can also make a Facebook profile for one of its film or series character, encouraging fans to “Like” their page and share it with their friends. Furthermore, they can have a Twitter profile urging users to retweet their messages, in other words, reposting the
15 message to their own social network contacts (Lin & Peña, 2011). Additionally, YouTube or Facebook can be used as a platform to promote not only trailers, but also to create a video blog channel including all the official promo videos for the particular movie or series. Although there is a growing trend in marketing films and series through social media, there is little research measuring the effectiveness and the efficacy of social media marketing on movies and TV series. Multiple films attempt over the last years to make use of both traditional marketing and social media marketing methods, which render it difficult to discriminate them. Building a successful marketing strategy for movies and series through social media platforms is not achieved only by uploading a video on YouTube or having a Facebook or Twitter page for the film or series. These means alone are not enough to ensure success and popularity. Marketing through social media should not be a conservative relationship between companies and viewers like the traditional marketing strategies. Movie studios and TV networks that promote viewers’ online participation and involvement in social media marketing campaigns reform in a revolutionary approach the way films and series are marketed on internet (Elliott, 2011). By building a strong relationship with online users through social media websites, companies can end up creating an audience that has the feeling of partial ownership of the movie or series and thus supporting for its success through electronic word-of-mouth and peer recommendations (Elliott, 2011).
The decrease in ticket sales on theater performances due to the increase on ticket prices and the economic crisis of the last years (Berglund, 2012), along with the decrease on viewers’ ratings on watching TV and rising illegal downloads through the
16 internet, render it necessary for movie production companies and TV networks to find new innovative ways of promoting their films and series to their potential audiences and their existing fans (Lodderhose, 2014). Presently, there have been no extensive studies on the ways that movie companies and TV networks promote their films and series through social media marketing strategies. Furthermore, a random examination of Facebook reveals that many new films and series grasp non-conventional marketing methods in order to create buzz, spread word of mouth, reach target audiences and boost popularity. One great opportunity in using social media websites is to access the younger demographic (Patterson, 2015). The key to this marketing strategy is to understand that this group of moviegoers is open to being involved in the movie or TV series. If they feel a sense of personal interaction over its success, they are more likely to promote it to friends (Elliott, 2011).
One of the most innovative methods and at the same time rising trends that movie and TV companies use in order to achieve such a personal interaction with online users is creating fictional profiles for their characters in social media networks. In this way, companies benefit from boosted brand recognition, increased brand loyalty and brand authority, more opportunities to convert fans as well as higher conversion rates (DeMers, 2014). Furthermore, having a fictional profile offers companies increased inbound traffic to their sites, decreased marketing costs, better search engine rankings and richer followers’ experiences (DeMers, 2014). Word-of-mouth recommendation and electronic word-of-mouth are also some of the most important benefits of having a fictional profile. Peer referrals and recommendations aren’t just happening through one-on-one personal interactions, but also online, in a
17 social network, where multiple people can give their feedback and share posts. With the advancement of the Internet and the advent of social media, electronic word-of-mouth and peer-to-peer communication has become a significant online trend (De Bruyn & Lilien 2004). E-communication gives people the opportunity to state their opinions and share information with one another (Hennig-Thurau et al. 2004) For motion picture companies and TV networks that have an active fictional profile based on a character with an engaged fan base, this form of word-of-mouth is a huge advantage and the perfect opportunity to expand on new fans (Ryan Pinkham, 2014), while parasocially interacting with their followers.
Parasocial Interaction
By following fictional profiles based on television or movie characters, users experience parasocial interaction.. Parasocial interaction, also referred as parasocial relationship, is a term used by social scientists to describe a one-sided, interpersonal relationship between two parts, in which one part knows a lot about the other, but the second one does not know about the first. The term of parasocial interaction was firstly introduced by sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl (1956), who described it as the interaction that takes place in a communicative relationship between two parts (Horton & Wohl 1956). The core of parasocial relationships is based on relational maintenance, which concerns identifying healthful and constructive arrangements of interpersonal growth and precluding problems in a relationship (Eyal & Dailey, 2012). Well-being among relationships is also facilitated by creating a complimentary interpersonal communication atmosphere. Just as relational maintenance is significant in maintaining a relationship with real life family
18 members and friends, it also arises in parasocial interactions through social media networks, as they increase the comfort with which users can communicate their feelings. (Bennett, 2014). The most common forms of these relationships are one-sided relations between celebrities and online users or fans (Ashe et al., 2001).
One of the first projects that comes close to the concept of parasocial interaction in digital culture can be found in Nass and Moon’s research (Nass & Moon 2000), whose work concerns the way users of digital platforms attribute digital entities with human-like characteristics (Kavli, 2012). Klimmt, Hartmann, Schramm and Vorderer (2003) assumed that parasocial interaction develops via frequent exposure to the characters on screen and concluded that online users interact in a psychological way with these profiles (Klimmt et al., 2003), in the same way that a television persona and the audience share a relationship and maintain their connection through time, while they grow a parasocial interaction by having a common history. Individuals with parasocial relationships often express appreciation towards their favorite personas for helping them to get through tough times (Rubin et al., 1985). Additionally, some users perceive the personas as helping to significantly shape their own identity (Sanderson, 2009). There is also support that parasocial relationships provide substantial value to the followers that engage in them, and with new social media techniques, these relationships are a viable way to expand individuals’ social networks. (Sanderson,2009). The social network is expanded by parasocial relationships in a way that cancels any chance of rejection and gives people the ability to model and identify with persons and fictional characters of their own choice who naturally evoke an understanding response. For some, the lopsided
19 nature of the relationship is a relief from the tense of real-life complementary relationships (Bennett et al., 2014). Since the advent of the social media networks, parasocial relationships are being developed online resembling a similarity to direct face-to-face relationships.
Parasocial Interaction Through Social Media
During the past decades, the majority of parasocial relationships occurred mainly with television personas (Rubin et al., 1985). Nowadays, these relationships can also appear through the internet between persons and their personal favorite bloggers, gamers, online users, social media users, celebrities and fictional characters in social media networks. The nature and emotional closeness of parasocial relationships have also cultivated through the social media. Parasocial relationships are important to social media users and in many ways advantageous as there is support that the user gains from the relationship (Sanderson, 2009). Celebrities as well television and movie-based fictional profiles openly share their activities through multiple social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, giving users the opportunity to have an insight in special photos and videos (Bennett et al., 2014). Parasocial relationships are quite popular within these online communities, due to the fact that there is an increased feeling of “knowing” the persona followed. Users might also perceive parasocial relationships as receiving an important honor without having any probability of rejection (Bennett et al., 2014).
In addition, the social media platforms offer 24-hour access to online users, which may lead to escalated parasocial relationships. Parasocial interactions still remain one-sided, but at the same time they have transformed into more bilateral online
20 environments, giving users the opportunity to follow online personas, either real or fictional, increasing the intimacy and power of the parasocial relationship. In spite of the one-sided nature of parasocial interactions in social media, there are various similarities among these interactions and more conventional social interactions. Studies have shown that parasocial relationships are spontaneous, provide company, and are affected by social appeal (Cole & Leets, 1999). Moreover, users can experience a strong association with the social media persona while expressing feelings of affection, love, gratefulness, craving, inspiration, and loyalty towards them (Cole & Leets, 1999). Fans have the perception of direct access to a famous fictional persona, first-person pictures of their fictional lives, particular information, fan-based trivia and opinionated statements.
Currently, little to no research has been done on studying parasocial interaction within the context of online communication. Studying parasocial interaction through social media is important for the field of interpersonal communication because it allows scholars to examine the role online figures have on individuals via newly studied communication media (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). Specifically, there has been no study concerning the parasocial relationships between fictional profiles in social media networks and their followers.
Social Media Marketing Typology
Movie studios and TV companies need to find solutions in order to stand out from all their competitors so that to create a parasocial relationship with their audiences and influence positively their online behavior. Since a vast majority of online users use at least one form of social media in their everyday lives, strengthening a company’s
21 presence on social networks in order to mirror its mission and the inner philosophy of the company, not only helps users develop brand recognition, but also creates a sense of connection, which fosters brand loyalty (DeMers, 2013). Companies realize they can use social media for positive gains. However, in order to achieve this, they must engage in new activities and an innovative way of sending messages outward. One of the challenges that organizations face when trying to effectively and efficiently develop a strategy for a social media network is the lack of knowledge on getting more personalized with their interactions with the customers (DeMers, 2013). This involves placing a personified and familiar tone to all messages and content sent through social media. In order to achieve this, motion picture companies and tv networks must engage with their fans in an intimate way through specific social media marketing strategies. Companies aim to positively affect customers’ behavior by understanding and classifying brand strategies and categories of Social Media marketing messages in order to effectively implement these online tools in a marketing context.
An extensive study by Coursaris et al. examined thoroughly the variety of strategies and messages’ types on Social Media networks in practice for proposing an extensive, comprehensive and at the same time generalizable typology for studying Social Media marketing messages and informing ensuing corporate communication strategies (Coursaris et al., 2013). Based on the authors’ research, there are seven messaging categories of social media marketing posts that companies can take advantage of: Brand Awareness, Corporate Social Responsibility, Customer Service, Engagement, Product Awareness, Promotional and Seasonal (Coursaris et al., 2013).
22 These categories were developed encompassing a total of 23 subcategories across these seven umbrella types, which are mentioned below:
1) Brand Awareness: Promotions, Heritage, Operation 2) Corporate Social Responsibility: Awareness, Fundraisers
3) Customer Service: Openings, Outages, PSA
4) Engagement: Assistance, Community, Like, Photos / Videos, Polls, Questions, Appreciation, Directional
5) Product Awareness: Name Brands, House Brands
6) Promotional: Deal, Chance
7) Seasonal: Holiday, Season, Event:
A complete overview of the definitions of each of the 7 categories and their 23 subcategories can be seen on Appendix 1.
The typology provided by Coursaris et al. (2013) provides a comprehensive platform for all the social media marketing messages. Although it is a critical step towards strengthening our understanding on the variety of ways in which companies and brands can use Social Media as a medium of communication and interaction with their followers, this field remains under-researched and offers rich ground for further research that will probably benefit companies and marketers into shaping their social media marketing strategies.
23 Identifying the Gap
An investigation of the literature shows that there has been little research measuring the effectiveness and the efficacy of social media marketing on movies and TV series. Additionally, the literature has paid no attention to the concept of applying social media marketing strategies in order to interact with online users through fictional personas on social media networks. Previous studies have not investigated how parasocial interaction can be achieved through such fictional characters’ profiles in social media platforms. This study will help in understanding how fictional profiles based on fictional characters by motion picture companies and TV series can practice their social media presence through parasocial interaction with online followers, while using methods of the seven categories of the social media marketing typology proposed by Coursaris et al. (2013), whose research provides ground for deeper investigation. As a review of the existing literature show a gap in knowledge concerning the parasocial interaction between movie and TV-based fictional profiles on social media and online users through the types of social media marketing strategies, the current study aims to answer the following research question:
How can fictional profiles based on movies and TV series communicate through social
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3) DATA AND METHOD
Research Design
The focus of this research is to study which are the types of the marketing strategies through social media messages elaborated by Coursaris et al. (2013) that influence positively the parasocial interaction of motion picture and TV brands with their followers. In other words, this study will point out which are the types of posts that have the greatest chance to attract comments by fans on the fictional character itself, leading in this way to an influential parasocial interaction among the character and their followers. It will also conclude on which are the types of posts that evoke more comments on the movie or TV series of which the fictional character is part. The research includes a qualitative analysis with examples of the different social media types of messages along with examples of comments per type of social media typology and per profile. It also includes a quantitative analysis on SPSS through data of qualitative nature, specifically data based on the content of comments for unique posts made by different fictional profiles. All data were crawled manually and were further analyzed based on the categories of the social media typology elaborated earlier. All posts were investigated separately and all comments by online users were examined uniquely. ANCOVAS were also performed on SPSS in order to control some variables that could affect the results.
Platform
For this research, Facebook was selected due to its vast popularity. Facebook is the most widely used social media network. After ten years of operation, it is estimated
25 that there are around 968 million daily active users on average and 1.49 billion monthly active users, as calculated in June 30, 2015 (Stats, 2015). After creating an individual account to the site, users have their own unique personalized profile. They can add other users as "friends", send messages to each other, post status updates, share photos, videos and receive notifications when there is an update concerning their interaction with other users and Facebook pages. Additionally, companies can create their own pages which help them be easily discovered by users and communicate with them in an interactive way. They can post texts, photos and videos and share them with their followers, meaning that users can “like” companies’ pages, which is an act of following its news’ updates and its photos’ and videos’ posting. Movie companies and television networks have taken advantage of the great marketing possibilities presented by Facebook and over the last years they have been creating unique profiles for their fictional characters, with hundreds of thousands of online users following them (“Analyzed Pages”, 2015)
Sample
In order to find out the most successful marketing strategy types of posts that can influence positively the interaction of fictional movie and TV-based profiles with their followers, five different profiles of fictional characters were studied. The number five was chosen in order to be indicative of the most popular types of fictional characters with the most millions of online users as followers: one character based on a comedy series, one character based on a fantasy series, one character based on a comedy cartoon series, one character based on a superhero film with action and funny elements and one character based on a superhero film with action
26 and serious elements (“Analyzed Pages”, 2015). The two superheroes that were chosen are property of the two leading companies in the field of superheroes comic books, Marvel and DC Comics (Arnott, 2010). Studying five profiles based on characters with different traits and origin will help in reaching concrete conclusions on diverse levels of users’ likings and various aspects of the social media research context.
A total number of 100 posts were studied along with 20.098 comments. These numbers are in accordance with Gordon Bowen’s criteria for sample selection and data analysis on social media analysis for generating concrete outcomes (Bowen, 2014). Specifically, a number of 20 posts before May 15th were studied for each of the five profiles.
Independent Variables
In order to answer the research question and based on the previous work by Coursaris et al. (2013), the seven types of marketing strategies through social media and their 23 subcategories were selected as the independent variables of the research. Through studying a total of 100 posts on five different fictional profiles, it was found that only three out of the seven categories were used, with six subcategories out of the 23 total ones. Specifically, the three categories and their respective subcategories which were used as the final six independent variables of the research are: brand awareness (operation, heritage, promotion), engagement (photo/videos, questions), product awareness (name brands). These six subcategories were compared with one another through SPSS in order to find out which typology subcategories offer the greatest chance for the fictional profile to be
27 commented more about its representing persona itself than the film or TV show that is a part of or the actor or actress portraying the relevant character. In other words, it was found out which typologies offer the higher or lower levels parasocial interaction between fictional profiles and their followers.
Dependent Variables
The dependent variable of the research was parasocial interaction, measured by the content of the comments, which was divided into three categories in the context of the research:
1) percentage of comments about the fictional character in relation to another content of comments, with users interacting in a parasocial way and replying on a personal level to the fictional persona, as if it was real,
2) percentage of comments about the actor or actress interpreting the fictional character, with users stating their opinion about the real person portraying the character while experiencing parasocial interaction with the celebrity,
3) percentage of comments about the movie or TV series of which the character is part, with users writing their views about the film or TV series in general or sharing their opinion about a specific scene.
It must be noted that there was also a small percentage of other comments not belonging to any of the previously mentioned categories, which include a) neutral comments (comments related specifically to a post, e.g. comments about a topic raised by the post or comments about an object depicted in a post), b) tagging friends (when a user tags another friend so that to get notified and check the post),
28 c) spamming (when someone posts an irrelevant link to the post that has nothing to do with the character, the relevant actor or actress and the respective film or TV series). This percentage was not included in the SPSS analysis as it is not an aspect of parasocial interaction based on the definitions elaborated earlier. For an analytical overview of the content of comments per all the 100 posts, see Appendix 2.
The nature of the comments per post was also noted and divided into five categories (positive, negative, neutral, tagging friends, spamming), but was not used in the context of this current research, as there have been already previous studies analyzing it. For an analytical overview of the nature of comments per all the 100 posts, see Appendix 2.
Control Variables
It was noted that the number of fans was greatly different per fictional profiles. This, along with other factors, could lead to an impact on the comments’ analysis per post. Therefore, ANCOVAS were calculated on the quantitative section of the study through SPSS, while controlling the factors that could influence the content and the number of the comments. These control variables utilized in the ANCOVAS include: 1) the number of total likes, meaning the number of followers, per fictional profile on Facebook until the day that the data were extracted (22 May 2015), 2) the number of total days of each fictional profile being online until the day that the data were extracted, 3) the number of total days per each one of the 100 posts being online until the day that the data were extracted. The research tests if there is a difference in the way users parasocially interact with fictional profiles based on the
29 different types of social media messages used, while controlling these three variables.
4) RESULTS
The results of the study were analyzed through two separate sections:
Firstly, there is a qualitative analysis on the comments of the fictional profiles’ followers, including illustrative examples of each of the six types of posts found along with examples of comments made by users. This approach was adopted in order to show how the process of coding was done and make clear the six types of marketing strategies used by fictional personas. Also, the three different categories of the content of comments made by users are shown: comments about the fictional character, comments about the actor or actress portraying the character and comments about the film or TV series of the character.
Secondly, there is a quantitative analysis studying the content of the comments per Social Media typology for the three different categories elaborated above.
To begin with, an overview of the five fictional profiles studied on Facebook is presented. Table 1 illustrates a detailed overview of the profiles including whether they are part of a film or TV Series and their respective genre, the number of their followers, the day that the profile was created, the mean daily frequency of posts and the average number of comments, likes and shares per post.
30
Table 1: Overview of Fictional Profiles
*Calculated for 20 posts per profile (www.facebook.com), 22 May 2015
Fictional Character
Film / TV Series
Genre Followers Profile creation Mean daily frequency of posts* Average Comments per Post* Average Likes per Post* Average Shares per Post* Sheldon Cooper
TV Series Comedy 12.753.303 25 May 2008 2.86 123,50 23.318,90 223,35
Daenerys Targaryen
TV Series Fantasy 533.547 30 July 2012 4 79,85 3.941,35 379,85
Eric Cartman TV Series (Cartoon)
Comedy 4.710.915 7 April 2010 1,43 121,2 3.785,35 112
Tony Stark Film Action 425.095 3 September 2008
1,11 19,60 429,15 22,65
Batman Film Action 12.521.886 7 December 2007
31 It is shown that Batman has the most fans and at the same time the highest average of comments by followers pes post, while Sheldon Cooper has the highest daily average of posts. It is noted that the number of fans is greatly different per fictional profiles.
Qualitative Results
Table 2 shows the six categories of social media typology that were found in the dataset along with a brief definition in regards to fictional characters’ posts. It also presents two illustrative examples per typology in order to give a concrete perception of each typology found and make the distinction among them clear.
32
Table 2: Definitions & Examples of Social Media Typology
Typology Definition Posts Examples
Brand Awareness - Operation (1) Posts that provide a look or info on behind-the-scenes, backstage and production processes of a film or series.
Example 1
Profile: Tony Stark
Post: You won't believe how much detail goes into this!
Example 2 Profile: Batman
Post: Take a closer look at the Batmobile from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice courtesy of Licensing Expo 2015
33 Brand Awareness - Heritage (2) Posts that give an insight to trivia, spotlights
and significant moments of a character’s history or past.
Example 1
Profile: Tony Stark
Post: I may be biased, but #9 may be the greatest quote of all time.
Example 2
Profile: Eric Cartman
34 Brand Awareness - Promotion (3) Posts that take advantage of the use of the
celebrity portraying a character.
Example 1
Profile: Daenerys Targaryen Post:
Example 2
Profile: Sheldon Cooper
35 Engagement - Photos/Videos (4) Posts that prompt users to check a specific
photo or video concerning the character.
Example 1 Profile: Batman
Post: Watch the official teaser trailer for Batman v Superman:
Dawn of Justice
Example 2
Profile: Sheldon Cooper Post: Sheldon!
36 Engagement - Questions (5) Posts that request users to answer specific
questions through writing in the comments’ session under the post.
Example 1
Profile: Tony Stark
Post: Ok, it's time for people to choose sides! Cap-sicle or Me?
Example 2
Profile: Eric Cartman
Post: It’s the BRO DOWN Championship! Who should be crowned 2015’s Fan Favorite: Cartman or Randy?? VOTE HERE:
37 Product Awareness - Name Brands (6) Posts that promote products related to the
character which are not explicitly produced by the company owning the character.
Example 1
Profile: Daenerys Targaryen Post: Buy it HERE:
Example 2 Profile: Batman
38 In order to start answering the research question on how can fictional characters communicate through social media so as to influence parasocial interaction with their followers, a qualitative analysis was conducted. The purpose was to examine the content of the online users’ comments on fictional movie and TV characters’ posts. Table 3 shows an example of each of the 6 social media message types found, followed by representative examples of the comments on this specific post, to make clear the categorization of comments among those made about the character, about the actor or actress and about the film or TV Series, respectively. It also gives a solid perspective of the parasocial interaction between fictional characters and their followers. Other comments, such as neutral, tagging and spamming were not included as they were outside of the context of studying parasocial interaction. All 5 profiles are included in Table 3 in order to show general examples of comments per profile as well. As six categories of social media marketing messages were found, Batman’s profile was chosen for a second time, as it was the fictional profile with the most followers and comments.
39
Table 3: Comments Examples per Social Media Typology and per Fictional Character
Typology Posts Examples Comments Examples
Brand Awareness - Operation (1)
Profile: Batman
Post: Take a closer look at the Batmobile from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice courtesy of Licensing Expo 2015
1) Character
Example 1: Great car Batman!
Example 2: The Batmobile looks awesome.. Can you give me a ride? 2) Actor
Example 1: Affleck will be a better Batman than Kilmer & Clooney.
Example 2: I disagree with Ben Affleck as Batman.. But now it’s done.. Fine! I still watch because I love Batman.. But Christian Bale is the perfect Batman for me.
3) Movie
Example 1: Can’t wait for this film!!! One year is way too much… Example 2: This movie is going to be so epic!!
Brand Awareness - Heritage (2)
Profile: Eric Cartman
Post: "Ma'am... Do you recognize any of these boys?"
1) Character
Example 1: Cartman! Let's take Willzyx to the moon! It would be
SOOOO funny to see him dancing on the moon!!!!!
Example 2: Cartman looking awesome as always lol 2) Actor
No comments were made about the actor providing the voice-over of the character.
3) TV Series
Example 1: The funniest scene in South Park history.
Example 2: I had to watch that one again I honestly think it's the
40 Brand Awareness -
Promotion (3)
Profile: Sheldon Cooper
Post: 10 Questions for Actor Jim Parsons.
1) Character
Example 1: How in the world do you keep a straight face? You are
hilarious.. Love you Sheldon!
Example 2: Sheldon, you are the funniest guy ever. Hands down. 2) Actor
Example 1: Jim is the reason I still watch this show. Example 2: What an amazing actor!
3) TV Series
Example 1: The Big Bang signed on for another 2 or 3 seasons from
what I read! How cool!
Example 2: I love this show!
Engagement - Photos / Videos (4)
Profile: Batman
Post: Watch the official teaser trailer for Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice
1) Character
Example 1: Batman you are back! Stronger and more exciting! Example 2: Come on Batman! Destroy him! You are the best
superhero!!
2) Actor
Example 1: I think Ben is going to be the best Batman given to us yet. Example 2: I'm sorry but, I just can't see Ben Affleck as BATMAN.
Guess I'll just have to watch this movie when it comes out and see how he does. See if he PROVES me wrong.
3) Movie
Example 1: Release date March 24, 2016... Can't wait. Example 2: Gonna be EPIC!!!
41 Engagement -
Questions (5)
Profile: Tony Stark
Post: Ok, it's time for people to choose sides! Cap-sicle or Me?
1) Character
Example 1: You Stark, you!
Example 2: Cap or Stark? I can't choose. I like you both for very
different reasons!
2) Actor
Example 1: Stark all the way! Robert nails it!!
Example 2: I don't know about all that, I'm team Robert Downey Jr.
so whatever character he happens to play.
3) Movie
Example 1: BOTH! Just saw the movie.. EPIC!!! Example 2: Age of Ultron was so much fun!
Product Awareness - Name Brands (6)
Profile: Daenerys Targaryen Post: Buy it HERE:
1) Character
Example 1: You were such a nice couple…..
Example 2: Forget about Khal & give Jorah a chance already! 2) Actress
Example 1: That’s me in the sun Emily! Example 2: So sweet..!! I love you Emily!! 3) TV Series
Example 1: Great t-shirt for a great series.
Example 2: I pray George won’t kill another favorite character.. but in
42 Table 4 shows an overview of the content of comments per profile. It was developed using cross tabulation on SPSS. For a full overview of the content of comments per all the 100 posts examined, see Appendix 2.
Table 4: Overview of Content of Comments per Profile Fictional
Character
Content of comments (%) TOTAL Character Actor / Actress Movie / TV Series Other Sheldon Cooper Count % of Total 1.022 41.38% 793 32.11% 260 10.53% 395 15.99% 2.470 100% Daenerys Targaryen Count % of Total 857 53.66% 93 5.82% 150 9.39% 497 31.12% 1.597 100%
Eric Cartman Count % of Total 1.419 58.54% 0 0% 381 15.72% 624 25.74% 2.424 100%
Tony Stark Count % of Total 198 50.51% 57 14.54% 55 14.03% 82 20.92% 392 100% Batman Count % of Total 4.971 37.62% 2.620 19.83% 2.940 22.25% 2.684 20.31% 13.215 100%
It is shown that the large majority of comments per all profiles were referring to the fictional character. It can be seen that Eric Cartman had the biggest percentage of comments about the fictional character (58,54%) compared to comments with another content, while Batman had the lowest percentage of comments about the character (37,62%), the biggest percentage of comments about the movie (22,25%)
43 and the second biggest of comments about the actor (19,83%). Sheldon Cooper received the highest percentage of comments about the actor (32,11%).
Quantitative Results
Following the qualitative analysis, a quantitative analysis is presented, in order to dive further into answering the research question. Frequencies for the six types of social media posts found were performed on SPSS and are presented in Table 5.
Table 5: Frequencies of Social Media Typology
Typology Frequency Percent (%) Cumulative Percent
Brand Awareness – Operation
7 7,0 7,0
Brand Awareness – Heritage
9 9,0 16,0
Brand Awareness – Promotion
9 9,0 25,0
Engagement – Photos/Videos
63 63,0 88,0
Engagement – Questions
3 3,0 91,0
Product Awareness – Name Brands
9 9,0 100,0
TOTAL 100 100,0
It can be seen that Engagement was the category used the most, on average in two out of three posts (66%). “Photos / Videos” was by far the most popular type used in total (63%), while “Questions” was the type used the least in total (3%). “Heritage”, “Promotion” and “Name Brands” had all the same frequencies (9%).
Table 6 presents the overall types of social media messages used amongst the five fictional profiles, showing in which profiles’ posts and in how many they were used. For its development, SPSS cross tabulation was used.
44
Table 6: Social Media Typology per Fictional Character Fictional
Character
Brand Awareness Engagement Product Brands Operations Heritage Promotion Photos /
Videos Questions Name Brands Sheldon Cooper Count % of Total 0 0% 2 10% 2 10% 16 80% 0 0% 0 0% Daenerys Targaryen Count % of Total 2 10% 1 5% 4 20% 11 55% 0 0% 2 10% Eric Cartman Count
% of Total 0 0% 1 5% 0 0% 17 85% 2 10% 0 0% Tony Stark Count
% of Total 3 15% 5 25% 3 15% 6 30% 1 5% 2 10% Batman Count % of Total 2 10% 0 0% 0 0% 13 65% 0 0% 5 25% Parasocial interaction
Parasocial interaction was measured by the percentages of comments about the fictional character, about the actor or actress interpreting the fictional character and about the movie or TV series of which the character is part, respectively. Other comments not belonging to any of the previously mentioned categories were measured as a percentage per profile but were not studied in the context of this survey. Since parasocial interaction was expressed and measured differently depending on the content of comments used, each of the three different categories of content of comments were examined and analyzed separately. Firstly, descriptive statistics for each category are presented. Secondly, each category was analyzed
45 using an ANCOVA analysis to see if the use of specific types of social media messages influences parasocial interaction while controlling certain variables. In order to perform the ANCOVA analysis, the typology of social media messages was determined as the fix factor and the percentages of character comments, actor or actress comments and movie or series comments were put as the dependent variables. The control variables of the analysis were the number of total likes per fictional profile until the day that the data were extracted (22 May 2015), the number of total days per profile being online on Facebook until the day that the data were extracted and the number of total days per each of the 100 posts being online until the day that the data were extracted.
ANCOVA Analysis of Covariance of Social Media Typology on Percentage of Character Comments
Table 7 presents descriptive statistics for the percentage of character comments per type of social media messages used for all the 100 Facebook posts and the 20.098 comments studied.
46 The mean of the percentage of character comments under the influence of each typology used was calculated. It can be seen that posts using the type “Engagement – Questions” has the highest percentage of comments about the character (M = 70,40%), followed by “Product Awareness – Name Brands” (M = 55,32%). The lowest percentage of character comments was noted in the category “Brand Awareness – Promotion” (M = 30,19%). The overall character comments have an average mean M = 49,14% which is very high, considering that there are only three categories of content of comments. Therefore, one out of two comments on average concerns the character itself. In other words, half of the total comments can be interpreted as a phenomenon of parasocial interaction between the fictional character and their followers.
Table 7: Descriptive Statistics on Percentage of Character Comments per Social Media Typology
Dependent Variable: Percentage of Character Comments
Typology Mean Std. Deviation N
Brand Awareness – Operation
43,64 14,53 7
Brand Awareness – Heritage
45,01 24,07 9
Brand Awareness – Promotion
30,19 12,95 9
Engagement – Photos/Videos
51,15 14,18 63
Engagement – Questions
70,40 13,12 3
Product Awareness – Name Brands
55,32 14,57 9
47 In order to test whether there is a significant difference in the percentage of character comments, explained as a high level of parasocial interaction between the followers and the character, when other variables that might have a significant effect are controlled, an ANCOVA analysis was executed and its results are presented in Table 8.
Table 8: Univariate Analysis of Variance - Tests of Between-Subjects Effects for the Percentage of Character Comments
Dependent Variable: Percentage of Character Comments Source
Type III Sum
of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Corrected Model 6635,691a 8 829,461 3,649 ,001 Intercept 12527,508 1 12527,508 55,118 ,000 ControlNumberofTotalLikesPage 314,919 1 314,919 1,386 ,242 ControlDaysOnlineWholePage 91,787 1 91,787 ,404 ,527 ControlDaysOnlinePosts 171,184 1 171,184 ,753 ,388 Typology 4712,068 5 942,414 4,146 ,002* Error 20682,772 91 227,283 Total 268819,943 100 Corrected Total 27318,463 99
a. R Squared = ,243 (Adjusted R Squared = ,176) Statistical significance *p<,05
Table 8 shows that there is a significant difference between the typologies used per Facebook post on the percentage of the character comments written by the followers of the character, after controlling the number of the total likes of the
48 Facebook page of the character, the number of days of the page being online as well the number of each of the 100 posts being online until the day that the data were extracted, (F (5, 91) = 4,146, p = ,002 < ,05). It can also be concluded that none of the control variables present a statistical significance among the typologies used on the percentage of character comments. (Number of total likes per Facebook profile: F(1, 91) = 1,386, p = ,242 > ,05 ; Number of total days of the page being online: F(1, 91) = 0,404, p = ,527 > ,05 ; Number of total days per post being online: F(1, 91) = 0,753, p = ,388 > ,05)
ANCOVA Analysis of Covariance of Social Media Typology on Percentage of Actor or Actress Comments
Similarly as before, Table 9 presents descriptive statistics for the percentage of actor or actress comments per type of social media messages found for all the 100 Facebook posts and 20.098 comments examined.
Table 9: Descriptive Statistics on Percentage of Actor or Actress Comments per Social Media Typology
Dependent Variable: Percentage of Actor or Actress Comments
Typology Mean Std. Deviation N
Brand Awareness – Operation 10,52 8,18 7
Brand Awareness – Heritage 22,99 30,84 9
Brand Awareness – Promotion 22,16 17,16 9
Engagement – Photos/Videos 8,11 12,72 63
Engagement – Questions ,00 ,00 3
Product Awareness – Name Brands 2,30 2,74 9
49 It is shown that posts under the use of “Brand Awareness – Heritage” (M = 22,99%) and “Brand Awareness – Promotion” (M = 22,16%) have the highest mean average percentages of comments about the actor or actress depicted on the post. It is noted that none of the comments concerning the category “Engagement – Questions” were referring to the actor or actress (M = 0%), since users posted their answers mentioning their opinion only on the character in question, while posts using “Product Awareness – Name Brands” have a very low percentage of relevant comments (M = 2,3%). The overall average percentage of comments based on the actor or actress portraying a character is low (Mean = 10,11%), which means that fans do not state their opinions on the real celebrities on a regular basis.
An ANCOVA analysis was executed and is presented in Table 10 in order to examine if there is a significant difference in the percentage of actor or actress comments, explained as a level of parasocial interaction between the followers and the actor or actress, under the influence of the three control variables.
50
Table 10: Univariate Analysis of Variance - Tests of Between-Subjects Effects for the Percentage of Actor or Actress Comments
Dependent Variable: Percentage of Actor or Actress Comments Source
Type III Sum
of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Corrected Model 7898,822a 8 987,353 5,454 ,000 Intercept 145,035 1 145,035 ,801 ,373 ControlNumberofTotallikesPage 1413,842 1 1413,842 7,810 ,006* ControlDaysOnlineWholePage 281,268 1 281,268 1,554 ,216 ControlDaysOnlinePosts 348,425 1 348,425 1,925 ,169 Typology 3645,090 5 729,018 4,027 ,002* Error 16473,017 91 181,022 Total 34610,041 100 Corrected Total 24371,839 99
a. R Squared = ,324 (Adjusted R Squared = ,265) Statistical significance *p<,05
According to Table 10, there is a significant difference in the percentage of actor or actress comments between the different typologies when controlling the number of total likes per Facebook page, the number of total days of the profile being online and the total days of each post being online until the day that the data were extracted (F (5, 91 = 4,027), p = ,002 < ,05). The control variable of number of total likes per Facebook page was statistically significant, ( F(1, 91) = 7,810, p = ,006 < ,05), while the control variables of number of total days of each Facebook page being online (F(1, 91) = 1,554, p = ,216 > ,05) and the number of each post being online (F(1, 91) = 1,925, p = ,169 > ,05) were not statistically significant.
