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Magazines and Social Media Platforms: Strategies for Enhancing User Engagement and Implications for Publishers

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Abstract

Using theoretical perspective of uses and gratification and big five personality traits, the current research examines magazine readers' social media behavior by exploring users' preferred social media platforms for connecting with magazines and specific genres and motivations behind doing so. In addition, we also examine engagement strategies that are most likely to attract more readers and retain the interest of current users. Finally, we explore the relationship between accessing magazines via social media platforms and various personality types. To answer the above questions, we employ two studies utilizing focus group discussions and survey method. The findings indicate that most people expect magazines to have a presence on major social media platforms, and people indicate varying motivations for accessing magazines' social sites, including an opportunity to get relevant product recommendations and targeted messaging. In addition, users suggest various engagement and content management strategies that may help publishers optimize their social media presence. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.
Magazines and Social Media
Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 1
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
Magazines and Social Media Platforms:
Strategies for Enhancing User Engagement and Implications for Publishers
Parul Jain, Ohio University
jainp1@ohio.edu
Zulfia Zaher, Ohio University
zz330410@ohio.edu
Enakshi Roy, Ohio University
er344909@ohio.edu
Abstract
Using theoretical perspective of uses and gratification and big five personality traits, the current
research examines magazine readers’ social media behavior by exploring users’ preferred social media
platforms for connecting with magazines and specific genres and motivations behind doing so. In
addition, we also examine engagement strategies that are most likely to attract more readers and
retain the interest of current users. Finally, we explore the relationship between accessing magazines
via social media platforms and various personality types. To answer the above questions, we employ
two studies utilizing focus group discussions and survey method. The findings indicate that most
people expect magazines to have a presence on major social media platforms, and people indicate
varying motivations for accessing magazines’ social sites, including an opportunity to get relevant
product recommendations and targeted messaging. In addition, users suggest various engagement
and content management strategies that may help publishers optimize their social media presence.
Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.
Keywords:
magazines; circulation; new media; social media; engagement; magazine readership; focus
groups; audience survey
Parul Jain, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.
Her research explores media effects and processes in the context of traditional and social media, persuasion,
and health communication.
Zulfia Zaher is a doctoral candidate in the School of Media Art and Studies at Ohio University.
Enakshi Roy is a doctoral candidate in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.
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Introduction
The overall circulation of magazines in the United States has been falling consistently since
2008.1 To maintain and expand the reader base, many print magazines are expanding into the digital
realm. According to one report, there has been a 300% increase in the social media activity
undertaken by magazine publishers.2 This trend of shifting toward the digital is only going to grow,
given 65% of U.S. adults and 90% of young adults regularly use some social media platform.3
Despite a shift toward the digital, many magazines still struggle to retain reader base and
create a loyal, engaged community of online readers. To understand the social strategies that may
help magazines enhance user interest and expand their reader base, publishers first need to know the
kind of readers who are more likely to access magazines’ social media platforms, their personality
type, relevant psychographic variables, and motivations that drive these individuals to connect with a
magazine’s social media platforms. Kristoffer Boyle and Mary Zuegner4 call for further research to
examine what strategies may benefit magazines as they struggle with their circulation numbers and
try to entice users into the digital realm.
This study seeks to fill the gap in the literature by examining the abovementioned issues.
Specifically, using the theoretical perspective of uses and gratifications5 and big five personality
traits,6 we conducted two studies. Study 1 utilized focus groups to understand the primary
motivations that drive people to connect with magazines on social media platforms and engagement
strategies expected from the magazine publishers. Study 2 employed survey method to understand
the relationship between personality type and intentions to connect with magazines on social media.
Information regarding the kind of individuals who are more likely to access magazines’ social media
platforms, motivations for accessing, and strategies that would garner the most engagement from the
key stakeholders can aid magazine publishers in developing effective social marketing and digital
engagement strategies. The knowledge of the effective strategies may help the magazines by driving
more traffic to magazine websites and by enhancing the user base and creating customer loyalties. An
increase in website traffic could potentially lead to higher advertising and associated e-commerce
revenues and may be of use to the industry as a whole as magazine publishers struggle to find
solutions to dipping readership and decreasing market share.7
Literature Review
Social Media and Magazines
Ellison and Boyd8 define social media sites as “a networked communication platform in
which participants 1) have uniquely identifiable profiles that consist of user-supplied content,
content provided by other users, and/or system level data; 2) can publicly articulate connections that
can be viewed and traversed by others; and (3) can consume, produce, and/or can interact with
streams of user generated content provided by their connections on the site”.9 Social media strategies
are now treated as an integral part of integrated marketing communications (IMC) and help in
organizations’ promotional efforts by facilitating interaction between the organization and its
customers and among the customers themselves.10 Therefore, most stakeholders expect organizations
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to have some presence on social media platforms, and a lack of it is considered unacceptable and
non-normative in this day and age.
Magazines have also caught on to changing times, and despite declining circulation of print
magazines, online circulation of digital editions is on the rise.11 Research by Ritter Communications
indicates that most publishers see value in being present on social media but do not have the
knowledge of how to do it optimally.12 Based on audience research, this study examines and
proposes engagement strategies that publishers could implement to optimize their social media
channels ,which may have significant implications for magazine publishers.
Previous research indicates that magazines continue to serve people’s needs for information
on diverse issues, including health, fashion, parenting, automobile, business, and politics, among
others. Research also indicates that although print circulation numbers of magazines are
plummeting, the magazines saw a 300% increase in activity on their social media platforms in 2015,
more than the growth of the social media platforms themselves.13 This information suggests that
although absolute numbers of print magazine circulation are down, people may access magazines via
alternate means, such as various social media networks. Thus, magazine publishers may have the
opportunity to provide targeted content that can enhance engagement from the readers and may also
drive website traffic and associated ad revenue. Indeed, Magazine Media Factbook14 indicated that
2016 could see a further rise in magazines’ social media activity, and publishers should devise
strategies to engage their audience efficiently and consistently.
Although social media activity on a particular publication’s channel could contribute to
spreading positive buzz about it, enhanced interaction on these platforms also implies giving up
some degree of control in the hands of the users.15 In other words, given the nature of social media
platforms, an audience that engages with magazines can critique the content put forth by the
magazine, create new content on that magazine’s social pages, interact with fellow readers, and
express both positive and negative emotions online. This may pose a challenge for the publisher, who
may lose some level of control over the content given the possibility of the content going viral and
creating reputational risks for the organization. However, the same characteristics of social media
platforms and their affordances also provide an enriching environment that leads to a diversity of
content and fostering of new ideas. For example, because of the manner of communication
exchange on social media networks, various organizations, including publishing houses, could use
information exchange on these platforms to their advantage by monitoring and listening to the
activity, which may enhance their understanding of consumers’ needs and preferences.
A thorough knowledge of consumer interests, motivations, and needs could help in creating
and delivering content that is expected, is of utility, and is of utmost interest to readers.
Furthermore, an individual’s social media presence on a publisher’s digital platform also implies an
interested user given the proactive initiation of the relationship undertaken by the individual by
clicking the “Like” or “Follow” button on the magazine’s social media pages. This interest could
result in brand loyalty and an overall positive sentiment for the publication. Although some research
suggests that social media presence could help magazines with their readership rates,16 scholarly
research on which genre of magazines is most likely to be followed online and where users are most
likely to follow these magazines is still scant. Therefore, the first research question we propose is:
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RQ1: What genre of magazines is most likely to be followed online and on what social media
platforms?
Social Media Engagement
Social media engagement could be defined as “consumer’s positively valenced brand-related
cognitive, emotional, and behavioral activity during or related to focal consumer/brand
interactions”.17 Sashi (2012) defines engagement as “intimate long-term relationship with
customers”.18 Any user interaction with media could also be considered engagement.19 As these
definitions demonstrate, the basic concept of social media engagement remains the same and
involves some activity with the relevant online community either in the shape of behavioral-,
thought-, or feeling-related outcomes that may be manifested in the form of online conversation,
content sharing, or content creation, among other responses. However, the process of engagement
and the outcomes associated with that process may differ depending on the context in which it is
being considered. For example, in the context of journalism, online engagement is often viewed as a
collaborative activity between a journalist and the core audience or user base, which may result in co-
creation of news.20 In the context of some business entities, politics, activism movements, and non-
profit organizations, engagement could be considered an act of listening to provide better customer
service and increase audience participation, involvement, and commitment.21
Individuals can engage with content on social media platforms in two ways. They can either
be involved casually, for a short amount of time, without engaging in deep cognitive thought
processes, or they can be invested more deeply, usually for a longer term, and by processing content
in a more thorough manner.22 An example of a less engaged customer would be one who merely
provides simple feedback, such as “liking” an image on a social media platform, while a more
engaged customer would be one who “actively engages in co-creation,” such as producing content
for the brand.23 Both long-term and short-term engagement have implications for the organization.
However, a more enduring long-term relationship can generate stronger connections, a wider user
base and brand advocates, user-generated content, and ultimately, a loyal user base willing to spread
positive word of mouth about the brand.24
In terms of journalists, a study by Bullard25 found that most journalists engaged with users in
a casual manner rather than interacting with them in a more meaningful and engaging way. The
authors state that a deeper engagement between journalists and users on social networking sites could
help further basic principles of journalism, building stronger community ties and helping facilitate
free speech and the democratic process, in general.26 Furthermore, a study by Meyer and Carey27
suggests that journalists could influence the level of user participation and engagement in online
news forums by creating a sense of virtual community. The engagement takes place when journalists
assume the role of active moderators in these forums along with the capability to provide anonymous
comments.
Previous research indicates that in order to develop a loyal readership base, magazines have to
diversify on social media and devise strategies that will enhance user engagement.28 However, few
studies identify what those engagement strategies should look like, specifically for magazines. In this
study, we conceptualize engagement based on Khan29 and define any interaction with a magazine’s
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social media content as engagement. This interaction could be purely behavioral (e.g., content
sharing), emotional (e.g., liking of the content), or cognitive (e.g., content consumption) or a mix of
any of the above, such as behavioral and cognitive (e.g., commenting on the content). Magazines are
in a unique position in that they can elicit both casual engagement (such as liking of some content),
especially via posting visual content, and more thought-provoking engagement (such as eliciting user
reactions to a piece of content) via posting both visual and textual content.
Furthermore, although magazine readers who consume and interact with online content
could be considered content users, they could also be, from a business standpoint, considered
customers. Therefore, in this study, we do not make a distinction between a magazine user and
customer given the reciprocal nature of the relationship and interchangeable use of the two terms in
our description. As evidenced by prior research, deep engagement may result in stronger brand
loyalty,30 which, in terms of magazines, could mean a more influential reader and subscriber base.
Furthermore, according to Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)31 attitudes formed via elaborated,
thoughtful processing could result in stronger attitudes that are more resistant to change, leading to
more devoted, lifetime readers. Therefore, it would be beneficial to publishers to use strategies that
are most likely to garner high levels of engagement. However, due to the lack of relevant information
regarding ways to enhance engagement among magazines, we ask:
RQ2: What engagement strategies are preferred by readers of various magazines on
magazines’ social media platforms?
Social Media Motivations
The need for social connection is one of the primary motivations reported for using
Facebook.32 Perhaps users on social platforms of various magazines want to connect with others like
them either to garner advice on topics such as fashion or parenting or just to observe trends prevalent
among other similar individuals. Indeed, research by Malthouse et al.33 suggests that information
seeking, ego enhancement, and entertainment motivations behind magazine readership cut across all
genres of magazines. However, this research did not explore how such motivations might translate to
following the social media platforms of various magazines.34 In other words, despite having
information regarding why people may read magazines in general, research is lacking on motivations
that drive people to follow the social media platforms of these publications.
A theoretical perspective that may explain why people follow social media platforms of
magazines is uses and gratifications theory, which posits individuals as active media users who choose
certain media to gratify particular needs.35 In other words, the theory predicts that reasons for using
particular media would predict media use behavior.36 For example, a recent study explored six
different motivations, such as affection and attention seeking, behind photo-sharing behavior on
social networking sites.37 Another study found that interpersonal and information-seeking
motivations are two of the primary reasons behind Internet use in general.38 Yet another study found
interpersonal reasons, including feelings of support, as primary motivations for using Facebook and
MySpace.39
Knowledge of the motivations for why people may connect with social media platforms of
particular magazines could predict future behavior regarding access, including accessing a magazine’s
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website and partaking in digital content. This information could help editors know why their
magazines’ digital platforms are being utilized, which could help publishers tailor platforms with
content that is most expected by users, resulting in an enhanced positive experience for the user.
Lastly, although previous research examines content on magazines’ Twitter pages40 and the overall
strategy for social media use by magazines,41 little is known about why individuals access these
particular channels. Therefore, we propose our next research question:
RQ3: What motivations predict engagement with magazine’s social media platforms?
Social Media Personality Type
The Big Five personality traits typology provides an effective way to understand human
behavior and suggests that, in general, personality can be divided into five personality descriptors,
namely: extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.42
The research suggests that these categories should be considered as broad abstractions regarding
human behavior that might subsume more specific characteristics and behavioral traits. For example,
the dimension of extraversion is characterized by traits such as talkativeness and excitability. The
broad dimension of agreeableness would include traits such as kindness and being affectionate.
Neuroticism is usually characterized by traits such as anxiousness and moodiness. People considered
high on conscientiousness may have more specific traits such as being more thorough and
thoughtful. Openness-to-experience suggests more specific traits such as being imaginative and
having a variety of interests.43
The previous research demonstrates that Big Five personality traits influence how people use
social media.44 For example, individuals high on extraversion and openness were more likely to and
those high in neuroticism were less likely to use social media.45 The effect of personality type is also
dependent upon age and gender of the user such that openness to experience was moderated by the
age of the user and neuroticism was moderated by the gender in determining social media use.46
Furthermore, specific social media use was linked to personality type in a study by Hughes et al.47
The authors found that Facebook use was linked to extraverted individuals who were also high in
neuroticism, and Twitter use was linked to individuals high in extraversion and openness but low in
conscientiousness.48 Together, these findings suggest that personality traits could have an influence
on following magazines on social media. For example, individuals high in extraversion may be more
likely to engage with content on magazines’ social media channels than those high in neuroticism, as
previous research has established a link between extroversion and social media use.49 However, due
to the lack of any conclusive evidence linking personality type to magazine readership, such
relationships remain a speculation, at best. Therefore, to understand how personality type is related
to the usage of magazine’s social media platforms, we propose:
RQ4a: How is personality trait linked to following magazines in general on social media?
RQ4b: How is personality trait linked to following different genres of magazines on social
media?
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General Methodology
As mentioned above, we conducted two studies to understand the relationship between
connecting with various magazines on their social media platforms, motivations behind it, and
personality type. Study 1 employed qualitative focus group methodology and study 2 utilized
quantitative surveys. The institution’s board for conducting responsible research approved the study
before data collection was initiated for both study 1 and 2.
Study 1 Method
We employed focus groups in study 1 to understand why people access magazines on social
media platforms and their expectations regarding the content from publishers on magazines’ social
media pages. We applied a qualitative method to explore the phenomena because focus groups allow
researchers to delve deeper into the issues regarding which not much preexisting information can be
found.50 Focus groups should be employed in exploratory research as they provide a chance for
participants to voice their opinions in their own words, in a relatively relaxed manner.51 In addition,
inherent flexibility in focus group design allows for the possibility of probing the relevant or
confusing topics further.52
Related research has also employed focus group methodology. For example, a study that
examined how pregnant women engaged in social comparison with pregnant celebrities featured in
celebrity magazines used focus group discussions to understand the issue in depth.53 Another study
utilized focus groups with teenage girls as a sample to examine whether they perceived a fit between
women’s magazines and their teenage spin-offs.54 Hinnant and Hendrickson55 explored readers’
reactions to celebrity health news using focus group discussions. Yet another study examined
attitudes of Japanese and American women toward magazine images and how the critical evaluations
of the two groups differed by culture.56 These examples illustrate that focus groups are a suitable
method to understand questions of a more exploratory nature and provide us confidence in
employing this method in the current study.
Participants and Procedure
The data for study 1 was collected through four semi-structured focus group discussions.
The focus groups, which lasted a little more than half an hour on average, were conducted in a
conference-style room between the months of November 2015 to February 2016. We decided to
stop data collection after the fourth focus group as no new information was revealed and preliminary
informal review of focus group notes indicated data saturation. The central questions that focus
groups explored were: 1) the kind of magazines that participants followed on various social media
platforms; 2) motivations behind connecting with magazines on various social media sites, and 3)
expectations regarding content on magazines’ social pages.
The participants for the focus group discussions were students enrolled in various
communication courses at a large Midwestern university. Participants received extra credit in
exchange for their participation. Of the 27 participants, most were females (n = 24) and seniors
(n=20).
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Data Analysis
All the discussions were audio-recorded with the consent of the participants. Later, one of
the researchers transcribed the audio recordings verbatim. All participant identifiers were removed
and replaced by a number. The study employed thematic analysis to analyze the focus group
discussions because the procedure reflects how research participants construct meaning about their
lived experiences and helps in making sense of seemingly unrelated materials, especially with
qualitative data.57 Such a procedure helps to categorize the data for extracting meanings.
Two of the three authors carefully read and open coded each of the four focus group
transcripts individually. The coding procedures illuminated different aspects of using magazines on
social media platforms. Next, the two researchers organized the codes into categories and found the
emerging themes. To increase the internal validity of the data, the two researchers reviewed the
transcripts together one more time and re-examined each other’s codes to agree on the final themes.
The study employed several steps to enhance internal validity, such as triangulation by asking
the same questions in different ways, probing, and asking follow-up questions to explore topics in
detail. In addition, we also conducted member checks. The focus group discussion facilitator, at the
end of each session, summarized and presented the most important points to the participants to
check for accuracy and agreement.
Study 1 Results
Genre and Platforms
The first research question explored the genre of magazines that participants in the research
were most likely to connect with on various social media platforms. In general, all the participants
used at least three social media platforms. These platforms, when ordered by the frequency of their
use, were: Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Snapchat, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.
Most participants believed that magazines should have a presence on social media if they
want to catch up with the new generation. One participant said:
It is important for every company to have social media presence regardless of what it
is. I believe all magazines definitely should put their contents online if they want to
catch up with the new generation.
Fashion, celebrity, lifestyle (including health and fitness), and travel are the most popular
genres of magazines that the participants connected with through social media platforms. Magazines
whose social media platforms were repeatedly mentioned by the participants in a positive light were:
National Geographic, Cosmopolitan, People, Vogue, Seventeen, Glamour, Rolling Stone, Time, Esquire,
Women’s Health, and Architectural Digest. The participants indicated that they followed these
magazines because of the high visual content they use on their social media platforms. For example,
the social media account of National Geographic magazine was mentioned a couple of times
especially in the context of images. One participant said:
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I follow National Geographic photos and food-related magazines. They are more
visual, and the quality is much better online.
In general, most participants followed magazines on Twitter and Instagram. Specifically, participants
preferred Instagram to follow magazines because of its striking visual content and its popularity
among youth. Furthermore, participants felt it was easy to share visual content on Instagram because
the majority of their friends used it, too. As one participant stated:
I follow National Geographic because I love traveling. This magazine has good
photos, and you would never feel bored going through them. There are no facts and
figures, and (they) teach you, at least, one thing every day. Instagram is the best social
medium to follow National Geographic because the qualities of pictures are awesome.
They have super long captions, so if someone is interested to know more about the
pictures, they can get the necessary information in the caption.
Twitter was also a popular medium to follow magazines because of the way information was
presented in a quick and succinct manner. A participant stated:
I read Rolling Stone on Twitter. The stories are shorter, easy to read, and less content
and more visual stuff. We can skip unwanted stuff easily. Sometimes reviewing the
headlines would be enough.
Although Facebook was mentioned as one of the platforms used by these groups of participants,
primary motivations for use were to connect with family members who were more active on
Facebook. Still, few participants did report using Facebook for connecting with magazines.
Engagement Strategies
The second research question explored readers’ expectations from publishers, which could
lead to enhanced engagement on magazines’ social media platforms. Our findings suggest that the
strategies that draw readers to follow a magazine on social media are user-friendliness and choice.
Specifically, participants suggested that providing options such as searching for content,
downloading and storing articles, and saving links for later enhances user-friendliness. The choice to
click (or ignore) and scroll through the articles was also mentioned. These features are especially
significant for the participants, as they identify themselves as the generation of “Instagramification”
and the “skim generation.” A participant said:
I think our generation wants to skim everything and not really sit down and read
everything; that is probably why the print version went out of style.
Another participant remarked:
Even if they make it skimmable, we would still skim. We skim the skim. This is what
our generation is known for.
Another engagement strategy that emerged from the data was the ability to choose between
shorter or longer versions of the articles. Although most participants preferred less textual content
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and suggested that they preferred the shorter versions of articles, the ability to choose to have more
details was important to some participants. The dialectic tension was apparent. On the one hand,
participants explicitly stated that they liked blurbs because they stand out; are easier to read; increase
the ability to skim the article; and, with an image, caption, and a headline, often provide adequate
information on an issue. On the other hand, participants stated that they liked the inclusion of links
because that gave them a choice to delve deeper into the issue if they so desired. The following quote
by a participant further illustrates this finding:
We want content but less wordy, if it makes sense [succinct]. For example, if I see a
feature on Jennifer Lawrence, I don’t want to read four pages about her. I just want
to know what is cool about it. Instead of reading a long article, I want to see the same
thing in a shorter content. I want to consume what’s going on in the industry, but at
the same time, I don’t want to spend too much time absorbing that information.
However, a few participants acknowledged the importance of longer articles. They said they
would read longer articles on two conditions. One participant highlighted that short stories can be
found anywhere, but it is rare to find detailed and investigative articles. For example:
If I find a story about how a concussion permanently injured this football player, I
would definitely read. What I want is a human-interest piece that you cannot find in
any other magazine that is not Sports Illustrated. Because you can find news about
anything, but having a reporter spending a couple of months digging into a
fascinating story would be something unique to an individual platform.
Further, social media posts that have BuzzFeed-style listicles were more popular among
participants. As one participant stated:
Cosmo always has things like 15 ways to food [sic] or 15 ways that study matters,
things like that, and you know that they are telling you, at least, one good thing out
of this list that you can totally follow and learn something from it. I like those types
of list, for example, 30 reasons why the bachelors are this and that. Even if it seems
stupid, I like to read those lists because something positive comes out of it.
One of the other strategies that seemed to draw engagement from readers was the use of
multimedia, especially videos. A few participants suggested that magazines should incorporate videos
as part of their content to attract more readers, as “this can be a change in the presence of magazines
on social media.” One of the participants explicitly stated that she is likely to click on posts that carry
short videos.
I watch a lot of food-related videos and contents. For example, the 30-second videos
that show a recipe. It will teach you how to do cool things. They are very easy, and I
can actually make those. They do it in 30 seconds, but obviously, that takes much
longer if we make it.
Another striking finding of the research was the ability for people to engage in mutual
interaction. Magazines on social media provide a participatory sphere where readers can not only
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interact with the content but also engage with other readers interested in the magazine and with
magazine publishers. The participants particularly liked this feature because it provides them with a
choice to engage in interaction. The participants suggested that they engaged with magazine content
on social media in different ways including liking, commenting, re-tweeting, sharing, ranking stories,
favoriting, and saving it for future use, among others. A few participants said this option provided
them with a “voice” to share their opinions about the magazine. A participant mentioned:
Magazines on social media provide us with an opportunity to read other people’s
comments and know what they think about the articles we like. Also, we can share it
with friends, re-tweet, or comment about it.
Motivations to Engage with Magazines on Social Media Platforms
The third research question explored primary motivations that drive people to connect with
social media platforms of various magazines. One of the main motivations for engaging with a
magazine on social media was the accessibility of magazines across multiple social media platforms
and various devices. Participants stated that unlike print magazines that they would most likely
browse at a grocery store, airport, or beauty salon, they could go through magazine articles on social
media anytime and anywhere. For example, a participant stated:
I usually like to read stuff in bed. I like to read magazines on my phone because I do
not have to turn the light and bother my roommate or anyone or sit down. I can go
through everything just lying in bed.
Another key motivation to follow magazines on social media was the availability of free
content. Most of the participants said they no longer subscribe to paper magazines. However, social
media provide them with free access to magazine articles. One participant said:
I don’t tend to pay $3.99 for a magazine. If something catches my attention, I go
online and look for that topic and the person.
Another participant noted:
A lot of time when I have had a magazine, there is only a select few articles that I
actually care to read or interest me. So, it is just a lot easier to look for it online and
be able to scroll through relevant things. It doesn’t make any sense paying for
something (when) more than half of the stuff (is) not relevant to you.
The participants felt that the magazine content they receive through social media is more
targeted and tailored. If they like or share something, they subsequently see similar content in their
social media feed. One participant noted:
I like that characteristic of social media because they are tailored for a niche audience.
Another participant remarked:
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Yesterday, I was looking at DSW shoes, and I noticed their ads were popping up on
my Facebook page. I think it is cool that social media tailors what your interests are.
Summary of Study 1 Findings
In general, focus group findings indicate that most people expect a magazine to have a social
media presence, at least on the most popular platforms. Ease of use, availability of content in various
forms including videos and visuals, ability to choose between a long or a short version of an article,
and the chance to communicate with others interested in similar content seemed to drive the
engagement. BuzzFeed style listicles and articles with visuals were very popular. Primary motivations
for connecting with magazines on social platforms were the availability of free content, convenience
of access, and a chance to get targeted and tailored messaging.
Study 2 Method
Study 2 employed a survey design to understand whether personality type of an individual
indicated the preference for a particular genre of magazine. In addition, we also examined whether a
link existed between personality type and following the magazine on social media platforms. Having
access to such information could help publishers further tailor content and target to individual users
more effectively.
Participants
The survey was hosted on survey design website www.qualtrics.com, and participants were
provided extra credit in exchange for completing the survey. Of the 134 participants, the majority
were females (n = 98, 77%), Caucasian (n = 112, 88%), and, on average, were 20 years old
(SD=2.42).
Measures
Intensity to use various SNS
. We measured SNS usage, primarily with respect to Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, with the 6-item scale developed by Ellison, Steinfield, and
Lampe58 using a 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) scale. A sample item is, “____ is part of my
everyday activity”. Six items were repeated for each of the abovementioned social media platforms.
Participants were most likely to use Instagram (α = .95; M = 5.29, SD = 1.70), followed by Twitter
(α = .97; M = 5.00, SD = 2.00), followed by Facebook (α = .91; M = 4.17, SD = 1.64). The social
media platform that was least likely to be used by this audience was Pinterest (α = .96; M = 2.89, SD
= 1.92).
Personality type.
We used the 44-item measure developed by John and Srivastava59 for
assessing personality type. A 7-point scale, 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), asked participants
to respond to statements such as “I see myself as someone who is talkative” or “can be moody.” Of
the five personality types, extraversion (α = .87; M = 4.86, SD = 1.04) and neuroticism (α = .83; M =
3.86, SD = .99) were measured with 8 items each. Agreeableness (α = .83; M = 5.37, SD = .84) and
conscientiousness (α = .80; M = 5.03, SD = .83) were measured with 9 items each. Openness was
measured with 10 items (α = .80; M = 5.10, SD = .80).
Magazines and Social Media
Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 13
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
Magazine use behavior
. Two questions were asked to assess participants’ social media
behavior related to magazine use. Participants were asked to indicate whether they followed any
magazines on social media platforms. In addition, participants indicated their frequency of following
different genres of magazines on a 7-point scale, 1 (never) to 7 (always). A total of 72% of the
participants reported following magazines on social media.
Study 2 Results
Research question 1, asking the genre of magazines that was most followed on social media
platforms, was explored again in study 2 using quantitative measures. Results indicate that
participants were most likely to follow fashion (M = 4.10, SD = 2.63) and celebrity (M = 3.59, SD =
2.25) magazines on social media platforms. Participants were least likely to follow news magazines
(M = 1.02, SD = .19) and family magazines (M = 1.51, SD = 1.16) on social media platforms (Table
1).
Research question 4a asked how personality traits were linked to following magazines (in
general) on social media and 4b asked how personality traits were linked to following specific genres
of magazines on social media. To test RQ4a, an independent sample t-test was conducted to
compare whether following magazines on social media differed based on the personality type of an
individual. Only level of agreeableness significantly differed between people who followed magazines
on social media (M = 5.28, SD = .86) and those who did not (M = 5.60, SD = .75), t(132)= 1.98, p
= .05. No other significant relationships were found.
Table 1: Genre of magazines by their frequency on a 7-point, 1 (never) to 7 (always) scale
Genre
M
SD
Fashion
4.10
2.63
Celebrity
3.59
2.25
Health and Fitness
3.04
2.01
Travel
2.95
1.92
General interest women
2.70
2
Home décor
2.34
1.70
Science and technology
2.18
1.54
General interest men
2.18
1.54
Family and parenting
1.51
1.16
Magazines and Social Media
Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 14
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
News
1.03
.19
M = mean, SD = standard deviation
To test RQ4b, which asked whether a relationship exists between personality type and
following different genres of magazines on social media, we ran multiple linear regression with the
intensity of use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest; participant age; and gender added as
control variables. Personality type extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and
neuroticism were added as independent variables, and different genres of magazines were added as
dependent variables. The only magazine genres impacted by the personality type in the current
research were general interest men’s magazines and travel magazines. Specifically, for general interest
men’s magazine, the results revealed that the model was significant, F(11, 113)= 2.54, p<.01. , R2 =
.20. Agreeableness personality type negatively predicted b = -.24(.18), t(113) =-2.43 , p <.05;
neuroticism b = .19(.16), t(113) =1.91, p =.05 and openness b = .17(.17), t(113) =1.92, p =.05
positively predicted following general interest men’s magazines on social media. Openness
personality type also predicted connecting with travel related magazines b = .23(.23), t(113) =
2.36, p <.05.
In addition, gender significantly predicted connecting with the following genres of
magazines: general interest men’s and women’s, fashion, celebrity and gossip, and health and fitness.
Specifically, being male predicted an interest in connecting with general interest men’s magazines b =
-.24(.42), t(113) =-2.15, p <.05, whereas being female predicted an interest in connecting with
general interest women’s, b = .38(.54), t(113) = 3.44, p <.01, fashion b = .31(.67), t(113) = 2.93 , p
<.01, health and fitness, b = .29(.53), t(113) = 2.60 , p <.05, and celebrity and gossip b = .22(.58),
t(112) = 2.07, p <.05 magazines.
The intensity of use of Instagram predicted following the fashion magazines, b = .19(.15),
t(113) = 1.97, p =.05. The intensity of use of Pinterest predicted connecting with fashion, b =
.19(.12), t(113) =2.05 , p <.05, fitness, b = .25(.10), t(113) = 2.45, p <.05, home décor magazines,
b = .23(.09), t(111) = 2.30 , p <.05. and celebrity and gossip magazines, b = .24(.11), t(112) = 2.60
, p <.05. Twitter use intensity predicted following of general interest women’s magazines, b =
.20(.09), t(113) = 2.22 , p <.05. No other significant relationships were found. Next we discuss the
implications of these findings.
Summary of Study 2 Findings
Results of the survey indicated that participants were most likely to follow fashion magazines
and least likely to follow news magazines on various social media platforms. Personality type
agreeableness was related to following magazines on social media, in general. Specifically, the
agreeableness trait was negatively related to, and the traits of openness and neuroticism were
positively related to, following general interest men’s magazines on social media. In addition,
personality type openness was also related to following travel-related magazines on social media.
Magazines and Social Media
Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 15
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
Participant gender also had an influence on intentions to connect with magazines on social media as
did the intensity of use of various social media platforms.
Discussion
This research comprises two studies to understand primary motivations behind accessing
various magazines on different social media platforms, main engagement strategies preferred by
readers, and how various personality types influence connecting with magazines on their social media
platforms. This study used mixed methods, focus group discussions and survey, and the theoretical
perspectives of uses and gratification in the realm of social media and Big Five personality traits.60
Many interesting findings emerged that potentially have important implications for magazine
publishers for attracting readers and enhancing their user base.
Results from both the focus group discussions and the survey suggest that people are most
likely to follow fashion, celebrity, health and fitness, and travel magazines on various social media
platforms. These findings are in line with the Magazine Publication Association Report (MPA) for
2015,61 which found that National Geographic and Vogue were among the top five most-
followed/liked magazine brands on social media. Our findings were, however, not in line with the
MPA report (2015) in terms of where people were most likely to follow these magazines. The focus
group participants in our study stated Instagram and Twitter as places where they are most likely to
connect with magazines, whereas the MPA report suggests Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus as
the leading platforms of choice for people to connect with various publications.62 In fact, not a single
person in our study mentioned Google Plus. This discrepancy in findings could be a consequence of
the convenience sample employed in our study and a relatively small sample size, potential
limitations of our research. However, a recent Pew poll suggests Instagram as one of the fastest-
growing platforms among 18- to 24-year-olds.63 Given the average age of our participant, around 20
years, the findings are hardly surprising. Furthermore, demographics of our population, young,
college-going females, may also have contributed to the findings suggesting a preference for fashion,
fitness, and celebrity genre magazines. Therefore, future research should repeat our study with a
more diverse and larger sample, employing random sampling strategies for increased confidence in
the reliability of our findings.
One finding that stood out from our survey was that the intensity of Pinterest use predicted
intentions to connect with fashion-related, health-fitness, home décor, and celebrity-gossip
magazines on social media platforms. This finding may be important given the overall intensity of
Pinterest use was relatively small in our sample (M=3.10, SD = 2.0). However, the findings suggest
that those users who do use Pinterest are likely to connect with a particular genre of magazines on
social media platforms. Indeed, Pinterest use has been associated with a “novel form of scrapbooking
and collage” for users with aspirational ideas, such as wedding planning and undertaking home
improvement projects.64 Similarly, though not surprising given the preponderance of Instagram users
in our sample, the survey results indicate that intensity of Instagram use predicted connecting with
fashion magazines on social media platforms. Indeed, participants in the focus groups also indicated
that they used Instagram to keep up with the latest fitness and fashion trends.
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Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 16
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
Our findings suggest that the participants gratify different needs (such as home décor and
fashion) utilizing specific platforms that are more likely to cater to those needs. This finding has
implications for publishers in that they should not only be concerned about the platforms where
most people congregate but also target and push content that is geared toward motivational use of
specific platforms. For example, Vogue, a magazine focused on fashion, would most benefit from
targeting users on Pinterest and Instagram as opposed to, say, Facebook, given our findings that
most people prefer fashion based content in the form of visuals that is more likely to be accessed on
Pinterest and Instagram.
In addition, our findings have implications for enhancing advertising effectiveness and
delivering targeted messages to the readers. In fact, one of the participants in the focus group
mentioned the possibility of personalized product recommendations as one of the advantages of
connecting with various magazines’ social media platforms. Indeed, the research suggests that
personal and social experience motivations are related to advertising engagement.65 These researchers
explored their questions regarding advertising engagement in the context of print magazines, and
given the social connectedness of social media platforms, one would expect the advertising
engagement effect to magnify when magazines are accessed via social platforms, something future
research should explore further. Instagram launched its shopping feature in fall 2016, and magazines
can benefit from forming collaborations between retailers and their readers such that magazine
followers (e.g., on Instagram) could click the latest trends and shop right from a magazine’s social
media page. This sort of advertising model could have a tremendous impact on revenue for the
magazines and justify the time and money spent on engaging users via social media platforms.
Moreover, our participants mentioned the ease of sharing ideas, including fashion looks and
workouts, on social media platforms. A regular monitoring and listening program can provide
publishers with information they can use to create targeted messages to further enhance reader
engagement and promote products, thereby generating revenue via native advertising strategies. This
could be especially attractive to advertisers in various magazines because previous research suggests
that the social nature of social media platforms influences parasocial interaction that predicts impulse
buying on social commerce platforms.66
Another striking finding of our study was the relationship between openness personality type
and a preference for following magazines related to travel on various social media platforms.
Although we did not find many other interesting relationships that were significant, this trend
suggests that repeating the study with a larger sample may yield important findings that could be of
use in the tailoring of content by personality type. For example, if monitoring software suggests
someone interested in travel and the outdoors, perhaps publishers can push more relevant and
tailored content that may enhance stronger engagement and, in turn, lead to more loyal readers and
eventually brand advocates and influencers.67 This would not only result in a positive affect among
users but may also attract more individuals with similar interests, thereby enhancing the reader base.
We also found that personality trait agreeableness was negatively related to following general
interest men’s magazines on social media, whereas those high in neuroticism and openness were
more likely to connect with publications on social media platforms. This finding should be explored
further as it has important implications for content generation and advertisers. For example, perhaps
Magazines and Social Media
Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 17
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
individuals high in agreeableness are more likely to use their face-to-face interpersonal network than
relying on magazines for advice compared to those high in neuroticism. Alternatively, those high in
neuroticism may be more likely to analyze online content and thus may be more likely to follow the
social platforms of various magazines to keep up with the latest information. Similarly, openness
personality type could also indicate a general curiosity to engage with the content and may explain
why it predicted engagement with general interest men’s magazines. Of course, this is a speculation
that invites further research.
A preference for succinct visual content was another important finding from our research.
National Geographic was repeatedly mentioned in various focus groups, and people preferred it for its
compelling visual content. With the growing popularity of Instagram and a diminishing attention
span of individuals,68 visual content provides a perfect way to reach people who may otherwise
ignore textual content. Therefore, in order to garner greater engagement, publishers should strive
toward generating targeted information that has useful and engaging visual content.
Our results also suggest that most of the participants access the magazines through their
mobile phones. To increase subscription and click rates, the content has to be made mobile-friendly.
This finding is extremely important as it concurs with other surveys, such as one done by Pew
Research Center in 2015, which indicates that for some of the best-selling magazines, such as Time,
Rolling Stone, Wired, The Atlantic and The New Yorker, the online traffic via mobile phones far
outnumbered the online traffic via desktops.69 Given that 64 percent of American adults own a
smartphone of some kind,70 magazines need to go where the audience is.
Strengths and Limitations
Our research is not without limitations. The focus group method and convenience sampling
limit the generalizability of the finding to a larger population. At the same time, focus groups
provide an in-depth look at the issues about which not much information exists and help in
generating enough data to provide some initial, useful insights on the topic. Furthermore, our
sample, though convenience based, consists of avid magazine readers and active social media users.
Young, college-aged women are active on social media platforms and are avid consumers of content
related to fitness, fashion, and celebrity news. Therefore, while the majority of the sample for both
the focus group discussions and survey research limits our ability to make larger claims in terms of
the effectiveness of the study, given the target audience of magazines focused on fashion, fitness, and
celebrity news, our study provides some useful information. Therefore, despite employing a non-
probability based sample that was relatively limited in size, the sample was purposive in nature in
that they could provide experiential and informational insights that could benefit the industry.
Lastly, to the best of our knowledge, we have not found recent research utilizing Big Five
personality traits with magazine readership and how that emerges in the social media landscape.
Given that past research has found a relationship between preference for advertising type with
personality type,71 it would be logical to extend this into the social media landscape and see how the
relationship unfolds in the context of magazine advertising on social media. Moreover, creating
content that matches with different personality types would lead to stronger user interest and more
brand loyalty. Our findings indicate that readers prefer targeted messaging and tailored product
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Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 18
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
recommendations on social platforms. Magazines could use such information as it may help in
generating ad revenue via enhanced product sales and support the magazine industry in staying
afloat. Of course, replicating the study with a more diverse sample would be immensely beneficial to
the publishers and provide more useful information in terms of message targeting and enhancing
engagement.
Conclusion
The current research examined user motivations for garnering enhanced following and
engagement on magazine’s social media platforms. In addition, we also examined the relationship
between personality type and social media use in the context of magazines. Findings from the focus
groups and survey have important practical and theoretical implications for magazine publishers.
Magazine readers expect publishers to maintain an engaging and relevant social media presence.
Therefore, in order to build readership and keep current readers interested, magazine publishers need
to understand audience expectations, monitor their social platforms, and evolve with the users as
they venture out to newer social media platforms.
Magazines and Social Media
Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 19
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
Notes
1 Katerina E. Matsa and Elisa Shearer, News Magazines: Fact Sheet (Pew Research Center,
2015).""
2 Magazine Media Factbook 2015 (MPA-The Association for Magazine Media, 2015).""
3"Andrew Perrin, Social Media Usage: 2005-2015 (Pew Research Center, 2015).
4"Kristoffer Boyle and Mary C. Zuegner, “Magatweets: A Content Analysis of Magazines' use
of Twitter,” Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 14, no. 2 (2013).
5"Jay G. Blumler and Elihu Katz., The Uses of Mass Communications: Current Perspectives on
Gratifications Research (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1974; Elihu Katz, Jay G. Blumler and
Michael Gurevitch, “Uses and Gratifications Research,” Public Opinion Quarterly 37, no. 4 (1973):
509.
6"Paul T. Costa and Robert R. McCrae, 5.
7""Elizabeth Hendrickson, “Learning to Share: Millennials, Magazines and Mobile,” Journal
of Magazine and New Media Research 14, no. 2 (2013): 1-7.
8"Nicole B. Ellison and Danah Boyd, “Sociality Through Social Network Sites,” in The
Oxford Handbook of Internet Studies (New York, Oxford: 2013), 151-172.
9"Ibid., 158.
10"W. Glynn Mangold and David J. Faulds, “Social Media: The New Hybrid Element of the
Promotion Mix,” Business Horizons 52, no. 4 (2009): 357-365.
11"Boyle and Zuegner
12"Ritter’s Communications, Magazines and Social Media, infographic, May 2015,
http://www.rittersprinting.com/magazines-social-media-inforgraphic.
13"Magazine Media Factbook 2015.
14"Ibid.
15"Mangold and Faulds; Hugh J. Martin, “The Economics of Word of Mouth: Designing
Effective Social Media Marketing for Magazines,” Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 14,
no. 2 (2013): 1-12.
16"Magazine Media Factbook 2015.
17"Linda D. Hollebeek, Mark S. Glynn and Roderick J. Brodie, “Consumer Brand
Engagement in Social Media: Conceptualization, Scale Development and Validation,” Journal of
Interactive Marketing 28, no. 2 (2014): 149.
"
Magazines and Social Media
Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 20
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
"
18"C. M. Sashi, “Customer Engagement, Buyer-Seller Relationships, and Social Media,”
Management Decision 50, no. 2 (2012): 254.
19"M. Laeeq Khan, “Social Media Engagement: What Motivates User Participation and
Consumption on YouTube?” Computers in Human Behavior 66 (2017): 236-247.
20"Joy Mayer, “A Culture of Audience Engagement in the News Industry” (PhD diss.,
University of Missouri-Columbia, 2011).
21"Ibid.
22"Edward C. Malthouse, Michael Haenlein, Bernd Skiera, Egbert Wege and Michael Zhang,
“Managing Customer Relationships in the Social Media Era: Introducing the Social CRM house,”
Journal of Interactive Marketing 27, no. 4 (2013): 270-280; Sashi, “Customer Engagement, Buyer-
Seller Relationships, and Social Media,” 254.
23"Malthouse, Haenlein, Skiera, Wege, and Zhang; Mangold and Faulds.
24"Malthouse, Haenlein, Skiera, Wege, and Zhang.
25"Sue B. Bullard, “Editors Use Social Media Mostly to Post Story Links,” Newspaper Research
Journal 36, no. 2 (2015): 170–183.
26"Ibid.; Seth C. Lewis, Avery E. Holton, and Mark Coddington, “Reciprocal Journalism: A
Concept of Mutual Exchange between Journalists and Audiences,” Journalism Practice 8, no. 2
(2014): 229-241.
27"Hans K. Meyer and Michael C. Carey, “In Moderation: Examining How Journalists'
Attitudes Toward Online Comments Affect the Creation of Community,” Journalism Practice 8, no.
2 (2014): 213-228.
28"Magazine Media Factbook 2015.
29"Khan.
30"Malthouse, Haenlein, Skiera, Wege, and Zhang.
31"Richard E. Petty and John T. Cacioppo, “The Elaboration Likelihood Model of
Persuasion,” in Communication and Persuasion, (New York: Springer, 1986), 1-24.
32"Saleem Alhabash, Hyojung Park, Anastasia Kononova, Yi-hsuan Chiang, and Kevin Wise,
“Exploring the Motivations of Facebook use in Taiwan,” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social
Networking 15, no. 6 (2012): 304-311.
33"Malthouse, Haenlein, Skiera, Wege, and Zhang.
34"Edward C. Malthouse, Bobby J. Calder, and Wayne P. Eadie, “Conceptualizing and
measuring magazine reader experiences” (presentation, Worldwide Readership Symposium,
Magazines and Social Media
Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 21
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
"
Cambridge, MA, 2003), 285–306.
35"Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch, “Uses and Gratifications research,” 509.
36"Alhabash, Park, Kononova, Chiang, and Wise.
37"Aqdas Malik, Amandeep Dhir, and Marko Nieminen, “Uses and Gratifications of digital
photo sharing on Facebook,” Telematics & Informatics 33, no. 1 (2016): 129-138.
38"Zizi Papacharissi and Alan M. Rubin, “Predictors of Internet use,” Journal of Broadcasting
& Electronic Media 44, no. 2 (2000): 175-196.
39"Mark A. Urista, Qingwen Dong, and Kenneth D. Day, “Explaining Why Young Adults
use MySpace and Facebook through Uses and Gratifications Theory,” Human Communication 12,
no. 2 (2009): 215- 229.
40"Boyle and Zuegner.
41"Hendrickson.
42"Lewis R. Goldberg, “An Alternative ‘Description of Personality’: The Big-Five Factor
Structure,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 59, no. 6 (1990): 1216-1229.
43Deepa Tanksale, “Big Five Personality Traits: Are They Really Important for the Subjective
Well,Being of Indians?” International Journal of Psychology 50, no. 1 (2015): 64-69.
44"David J. Hughes, Moss Rowe, Mark Batey, and Andrew Lee, “A Tale of two Sites: Twitter
vs. Facebook and the Personality Predictors of Social Media Usage,” Computers in Human Behavior
28, no. 2 (2012): 561-569; Teresa Correa, Amber W. Hinsley, and Homero Gil de Zuniga, “Who
Interacts on the Web?: The Intersection of Users’ Personality and Social Media Use,” Computers in
Human Behavior 26, no. 2 (2010): 247-253.
45"Correa, Hinsley, and de Zuniga.
46"Ibid.
47"Hughes, Rowe, Batey, and Lee.
48"Ibid.
49"Correa, Hinsley, and de Zuniga.
50"David W. Stewart, Prem N. Shamdasani, and Dennis W. Rook, Focus Groups: Theory and
Practice (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007).
51"David W. Stewart and Prem N. Shamdasani, “Analyzing Focus Group Data,” in Focus
Groups: Theory and Practice (Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1990).
52"Stewart, Shamdasani, and Rook, “Focus groups: Theory and practice.”
Magazines and Social Media
Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 22
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
"
53"K. Megan Hopper and Jennifer S. Aubrey, “Bodies after Babies: The Impact of Depictions
of Recently Post-Partum Celebrities on Non-Pregnant Women’s Body Image,” Sex Roles 74, no. 1-2
(2016): 24-34.
54"Amy Sindik and Marianne Barrett, “Reading up to Women’s Magazines: The Perceived
Fit of Teenage Spin-Offs,” Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 12, no. 1 (2010).
55"Amanda Hinnant and Elizabeth M. Hendrickson, “Negotiating Normalcy in Celebrity
Health Behavior: A Focus Group Analysis,” Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 15, no. 2
(2014).
56"Anna R. Herrman, Kikuko Omori, Jenna McNallie, and Mike Allen, “Evidence of
Analytic Versus Holistic Thinking in Viewing Magazine Images: Preliminary Findings,” Qualitative
Research Reports in Communication 14, no.1 (2013): 53-61.
57"Greg Guest, Kathleen M. MacQueen, and Emily E. Namey, “Validity and Reliability
(Credibility and Dependability) in Qualitative Research and Data Analysis,” in Applied Thematic
Analysis (London: Sage Publications, 2012), 79-106; Jerry Floersch, Jeffrey L. Longhofer, Derrick
Kranke, and Lisa Townsend, “Integrating Thematic Grounded Theory and Narrative Analysis: A
Case Study of Adolescent Psychotropic Treatment,” Qualitative Social Work 9, no. 3 (2010): 407-
425.
58"Nicole B. Ellison, Charles Steinfield, and Cliff Lampe, “The Benefits of Facebook
“Friends:” Social Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites,” Journal of
Computer"Mediated Communication 12, no. 4 (2007): 1143-1168.
59"Oliver P. John and Sanjay Srivastava, “The Big Five Trait Taxonomy: History,
Measurement, and Theoretical Perspectives,” in Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research, 2nd
ed., Eds. Oliver P. John, Richard W. Robins, and Lawrence A. Pervin (New York: Guilford Press,
1999), 102–138.
60"Malik, Dhir, and Nieminen, “Uses and Gratifications of Digital Photo Sharing on
Facebook,” 129-138; Alhabash, Park, Kononova, Chiang, and Wise; Urista, Dong, and Day,
“Explaining why young adults use MySpace and Facebook through Uses and Gratifications Theory,”
215-229; Papacharissi and Rubin; Costa and McCrae, 5.
61"Magazine Media Factbook 2015.
62"Ibid.
63"Maeve Duggan, Nicole B. Ellison, Cliff Lampe, Amanda Lenhart, and Mary Madden,
Social Media Update 2014 (Pew Research Center, 2014).
64 Barbara J. Phillips, Jessica Miller, and Edward F. McQuarrie. "Dreaming Out Loud on
Pinterest: New Forms of Indirect Persuasion." International Journal of Advertising 33, no. 4 (2014):
633-655.
Magazines and Social Media
Journal of Magazine & New Media Research 23
Vol. 17, No. 2 • Winter 2017
"
65"Jooyoung Kim, Jungwon Lee, Samsup Jo, Jaemin Jung, and Jaewon Kang, “Magazine
Reading Experience and Advertising Engagement A Uses and Gratifications Perspective,” Journalism
& Mass Communication Quarterly, (2015).
66"Li Xiang, Xiabing Zheng, Matthew K. O. Lee, and Dingtao Zhao, “Exploring consumers’
Impulse Buying Behavior on Social Commerce Platforms: The Role of Parasocial
Interaction,” International Journal of Information Management 36, no. 3 (2016): 333-347
67"Malthouse, Haenlein, Skiera, Wege, and Zhang.
68"Teju Cole, “Serious Play,” The New York Times Magazine, December 9, 2015,
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/magazine/serious-play.html?_r=.
69"News Magazines: Online Traffic for News Magazine Websites (Pew Research Center, 2015).
70"Smith, U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015.
71"Susan D. Myers, Sandipan Sen, and Aliosha Alexandrov, “The Moderating Effect of
Personality Traits on Attitudes Toward Advertisements: A Contingency Framework,” Management
& Marketing 5, no. 3 (2010): 3.
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... Researchers emphasize that before media outlets enter the social media market, they should develop effective audience engagement strategies to encourage readers to use magazine-related social media (Magazine Media Factbook 2015). Media outlets must first identify their target audience; their personality type, relevant psychographic variables and motivations, to determine what will encourage social media engagement (Jain et al., 2017). Media outlets should try to understand audience expectations, monitor their social platforms, and adapt to changing reader preferences (Jain et al., 2017). ...
... Media outlets must first identify their target audience; their personality type, relevant psychographic variables and motivations, to determine what will encourage social media engagement (Jain et al., 2017). Media outlets should try to understand audience expectations, monitor their social platforms, and adapt to changing reader preferences (Jain et al., 2017). ...
... Research reveals that readers now expect magazines to have a social media presence (Jain et al., 2017). Twitter and Instagram users engaging with online publications were found most likely to follow the accounts of magazines focused on fashion, celebrity gossip, health and fitness, and travel, for whom young female students were identified as the main participant demographic (Jain et al., 2017). ...
... Foulger M. (2014), in his study, has emphasized the use of hash tags and tagging to improve consumer visibility. Jain P et al. (2017), in their study, have proved that these days are due to these social networks, and through their friends and relatives who are in social networks, the users get influenced by their relatives which enables the companies to build a good relationship with consumers. Ubeda et al. (2013) have made observation on influencer marketing where consumers or the general public can design the logos or ideas of companies. ...
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The purpose of this study is to focus on the background research of social media marketing in different circumstances and also to do advanced research on social media marketing. The study reveals the current status of social media marketing. Secondary data from books, reputed journals, conference proceedings, websites, magazines, and newspapers was collected. Nowadays, as a marketer one should be able to understand consumers' minds and try to replicate that in the contents as a part of the advertisement. E-Word of mouth means users talking about products amongst themselves can also become a source of advertisement provided it is replicated properly by consumers to their friends. Hence, the research gap identified was related to the effectiveness of social media tactics on the buying behavior of Gen Z Customers. So, the paper type is review-based research analysis.
... This study examined the consumer behaviour and satisfaction of women's magazine readers in South Africa through the lens of the uses and gratification theory. Although various research studies (Chan and Fang, 2007;Filak, 2015;Jain, 2017;Kim et al., 2015) have been conducted on this topic none of these studies followed an audience centred approach to understand the behaviour, interests and satisfactions of women's magazine readers in emerging African markets. ...
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Social media has become a bridge to maintain a personal relationship between a brand and its followers. With over 455 billion users and 4 billion posts per day, Social media is a platform that has become an essential tool of marketing for a small, medium or large type of business. Due to the rapidly changing preferences of social media users, it's very difficult to keep adapting the right strategy for a perfect social media platform. The purpose of the case study is to compare the strategies used by businesses in Instagram, Facebook, and snap chat. The study will also evaluate and compare major social media platforms. The study will also provide insights on how these three social media platforms can be a base for marketing at an advanced level. This study provides insights into digital marketing strategies for three different social media platforms.
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Do you want to study influencers? Opinions and comments on a set of posts? Look at collections of photos or videos on Instagram? Qualitative Research Using Social Media guides the reader in what different kinds of qualitative research can be applied to social media data. It introduces students, as well as those who are new to the field, to developing and carrying out concrete research projects. The book takes the reader through the stages of choosing data, formulating a research question, and choosing and applying method(s). Written in a clear and accessible manner with current social media examples throughout, the book provides a step-by-step overview of a range of qualitative methods. These are presented in clear ways to show how to analyze many different types of social media content, including language and visual content such as memes, gifs, photographs, and film clips. Methods examined include critical discourse analysis, content analysis, multimodal analysis, ethnography, and focus groups. Most importantly, the chapters and examples show how to ask the kinds of questions that are relevant for us at this present point in our societies, where social media is highly integrated into how we live. Social media is used for political communication, social activism, as well as commercial activities and mundane everyday things, and it can transform how all these are accomplished and even what they mean. Drawing on examples from Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, Weibo, and others, this book will be suitable for undergraduate students studying social media research courses in media and communications, as well as other humanities such as linguistics and social science-based degrees.
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The present study investigated the notion that the scrutiny of post-partum celebrity bodies by gossip media reinforces the message to all women that their bodies are vulnerable to close, critical scrutiny and that their value is contingent upon their appearance (e.g., Gentile 2011). Using objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997) and the media priming framework (Roskos-Ewoldsen and Roskos-Ewoldsen 2009), the present study examined the impact of depictions of post-partum celebrities on never-pregnant young women. College women (N = 127) were randomly assigned to view full-body images and accompanying photo captions depicting recently post-partum celebrities, headshot-only images and captions depicting the same recently post-partum celebrities, or control images and captions featuring home d,cor and travel destinations. Results revealed that assignment to both the full-body and headshot conditions resulted in higher state self-objectification compared to the control condition. However, those in the headshot condition reported higher body surveillance scores than those in the full-body condition. Results are discussed in light of objectification theory.