Research Questions

 3 Potential Research Questions:

1. How does user-generated content on platforms like Instagram and TikTok influence brand perception? 

2. How does social media marketing affect the growth of small businesses and startups? 

3. What are the positive impacts of AI-driven marketing on social media?

Responses-

Response 1- Cameron: 

1. 'I believe they have the highest influence because they are highly used and easily accessible. All you have to do is be on the platform to be able to reach the intended audience you want."

2. "They help marketing because of how easily accessible they are. The amount of people that the business can be shared through through social media shows an advantage for businesses. When someone sees something online they can share the link, or screenshot the profile to expand the network of the business. This creates growth and exposure for said business."

3. "The positive impacts are that they are informative, inspiring, and can provide a better understanding of all sorts of things. They will quickly hit what the user is desiring to see and spread the products that way."

Response 2- Genevieve: 

1. "It influences what people can see and shows specifically what they want to see. If someone uses a search engine or speaks of a certain product near their phone, they are more likely to receive an ad for said product." 

2. "Social media is a great marketing tool as it expands views beyond local reach. This is extremely helpful and gets small businesses the kick they need to grow and prosper." 

3. "There are a great deal of positive impacts of AI on social media. For example, outreach! So important for people starting businesses or entering the world of influencing. This shows that people WILL see what they want to see and it is all thanks to AI. This also aids the recruitment process with jobs- again like influencing and brand ambassadors. So important for what we see and how we perceive our wants and needs."

Response 3- Lily: 

1. "I think that it makes it easier for people to find brands but also leads to more interpretations of them. You can find brands that create a platform based on morals like vegan, environmentally friendly, women-owned, or things of that sort which then allows users to buy from companies with a message they want to support. It also makes brands feel more personable, the owner or employees who are truly passionate about their business or the company they work for can express that in a more meaningful and controlled way through personal videos and information they feel is important for their brand."

2. "I see a lot of videos of people asking “watch this video” or such and such many times to help start my small business and it provides feed for the entrepreneurs themselves by receiving live feedback and support of the people they wish to service."

3. "I think that the only positive AI-driven marketing is on the side of the company. It allows them to also control the perspective of the people they’re targeting but also make things look better and more aesthetically  pleasing to boost sales and support."

Reflection-

When thinking about my research questions I knew I wanted to include the idea of businesses and the effect social media may have on them. I also knew I wanted to add the idea of AI when it comes to social media knowing that AI is now implicated in platforms. For my first research question, I wanted to get after the idea of what seeing information on social media platforms about certain brands, or businesses means to people and when they see them. I also wanted the question to tie into the relevance of brands being on social media. For my second question, I wanted to explore starting businesses using social media. Does social media have an effect like people think, or are there more steps needed to make a business profitable and successful? And lastly, my third question is to explore the positives of AI involvement in social media. Negatives are always what people go to, but what are the positives of having AI on social media, and how they will affect businesses? I sent the following questions to my roommate, Genevieve, my hometown friend, Cameron, and my little sister, Lily. Each girl is between the ages of 18-20, and was told to answer the questions based on what they believe to be true about businesses on social media. Based on the answers to the questions, I am still undecided on which one I would choose to be my final research question, but the one that sticks out the closest is my last question.