PhD Dissertation Defense, Jing Niu, Marketing

Congratulations to Dr Jing Niu, Marketing, who successfully defended her doctoral dissertation at HEC Paris on August 30, 2023. 

Specialization: Marketing 

Topic: An investigation of marketing communication facilitated by social media platforms

Supervisors: Professor Peter Ebbes & Professor Kristine De Valck, HEC Paris, France

Jury Members:
• Peter EBBES, Professor, HEC Paris, France
• Kristine DE VALCK, Professor, HEC Paris, France
• Francesca SOTGIU, Professor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Frank GERMANN, Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, US
• Cathy YANG, Associate Professor, HEC Paris, France
• Gerrit VAN BRUGGEN, Professor, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Netherlands

Abstract:
Marketing through social media platforms has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, and companies are using a variety of strategies to engage with consumers. This dissertation aims to contribute to the understanding of social media marketing by examining the drivers and outcomes of online community participation, influencers' content creation strategies, and the effectiveness of micro- versus macro-influencers in social media marketing campaigns. The first study is a meta-analysis of 76 articles that summarizes twenty years of research on online community participation. The study identifies five types of drivers for participation and various benefits to stakeholders. The study also highlights differences in the strength of effects across different community types, ownership structures, participation types, and methodological factors. The second study investigates influencers' content creation strategies and proposes that influencers utilize multiple strategies based on their personas. The empirical approach employs quantified content data of more than 2500 sponsored Instagram posts to conduct a latent cluster analysis. The study documents distinct content creation strategies influencers used in practice and provides evidence that influencers' strategy choices are not related to their follower sizes and experience levels. The third study analyzes the effectiveness of micro influencers and macro-influencers in social media marketing campaigns. The preliminary findings suggest that influencers' content creation strategies moderate the relationship between their follower size and campaign effectiveness. The study provides novel insights that aid marketers in influencer assessment and social media campaign implementation. Overall, the dissertation contributes to the literature on marketing through social media platforms by providing insights into online community participation, influencers' content creation strategies, and the effectiveness of micro- versus macro-influencers in social media marketing campaigns. These insights can aid marketers in making informed decisions when selecting and assessing influencers and implementing social media marketing campaigns.
 
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