Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


miami1322833440.pdf (1.26 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Have it Your Way: Audience and Brand Identity in User-Generated Advertising

Gerlock, Grant L.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1322833440

Abstract Details

2011, Master of Arts, Miami University, Communication Studies.
Digital media and Web 2.0 media properties have democratized the authorship of mass culture. At the same time sophisticated marketing strategies have harnessed the creative energy of users to contribute to tasks such as brand building. Through a critical analysis of user generated advertising, this thesis argues that users serve both a cultural and economic function. While users are empowered to create media and engage in social networks, their participation is also harnessed as the basis of the value of commercial web properties. Amateur web videos are analyzed in which users adopt the identity of the Burger King mascot. It is argued that the users’ performances serve their own cultural interests in manipulating mass images but also serve commercial interests in social branding. Future studies should further examine the socialization of users into participatory cultures and the blending of individuals and brands in digital identities.
David Sholle, PhD (Committee Chair)
Kathleen German, PhD (Committee Member)
Shira Chess, PhD (Committee Member)
84 p.
Mass Communications
ADVERTISING; USER-GENERATED; CONVERGENCE; WEB 2.0; IMMATERIAL LABOR; POLITICAL ECONOMY; CULTURAL STUDIES; BRAND; AUDIENCE; USERS; YOUTUBE; COMMODITY; PLEASURE; WORK; IDENTITY

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Gerlock, G. L. (2011). Have it Your Way: Audience and Brand Identity in User-Generated Advertising [Master's thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1322833440

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Gerlock, Grant. Have it Your Way: Audience and Brand Identity in User-Generated Advertising. 2011. Miami University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1322833440.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Gerlock, Grant. "Have it Your Way: Audience and Brand Identity in User-Generated Advertising." Master's thesis, Miami University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1322833440

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1322833440
1,115
© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.