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Building acquaintance brands via Snapchat for the college student market

Author

Listed:
  • Sashittal, Hemant C.
  • DeMar, Michael
  • Jassawalla, Avan R.

Abstract

College students are inseparable from their smartphones, and heavily engaged in Snapchat. This social media app allows low-consequence expression: messages disappear within 10seconds to 24hours of their receipt, depending on the content. Because college students seem strongly attracted to Snapchat, the implications for brand managers interested in reaching this target market deserve exploration. Four focus groups of self-described heavy users show that this media app allows college students to enter the virtual Snapchatverse and find a sweet spot of acquaintances. The sweet spot is associated with feelings of relatability, inclusion, and effortlessness and has the potential to produce empowering experiences. The verbal protocols of college students suggest that Snapchat is an ideal social media for developing acquaintance brands: brands that aim to make themselves part of an inclusive, feel-good experience or highly relatable acquaintances.

Suggested Citation

  • Sashittal, Hemant C. & DeMar, Michael & Jassawalla, Avan R., 2016. "Building acquaintance brands via Snapchat for the college student market," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 193-204.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:59:y:2016:i:2:p:193-204
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2015.11.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sashittal, Hemant C. & Hodis, Monica & Sriramachandramurthy, Rajendran, 2015. "Entifying your brand among Twitter-using millennials," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 325-333.
    2. Sashittal, Hemant C. & Sriramachandramurthy, Rajendran & Hodis, Monica, 2012. "Targeting college students on Facebook? How to stop wasting your money," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 55(5), pages 495-507.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nour El Houda Ben Amor & Mohamed Nabil Mzoughi, 2023. "Do Millennials’ Motives for Using Snapchat Influence the Effectiveness of Snap Ads?," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, July.
    2. Qin, Hong & Peak, Daniel Alan & Prybutok, Victor, 2021. "A virtual market in your pocket: How does mobile augmented reality (MAR) influence consumer decision making?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    3. Flecha-Ortíz, José & Santos-Corrada, María & Dones-González, Virgin & López-González, Evelyn & Vega, Alberto, 2021. "Millennials & Snapchat: Self-expression through its use and its influence on purchase motivation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 798-805.

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