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Research Methodology Approach: Interview
Because this study aimed to describe participants' brand affinity, the research questions required a methodology that fosters discussion around preferences and experiences. Davis et. al. (2017) explained that using interview as a methodology provides many benefits to the researcher. They noted that interviews have a higher response rate than questionnaires, the researcher can ask probes and provide clarity to the participant in real-time, and the researcher can observe nonverbal clues as well as basic demographics when interviews are administered. The researchers also noted that the interview method allows for an understanding of participants’ “natural attitudes, life experiences, preferences, intentions, and behaviors” (p. 319). Interview grants the interviewer the opportunity to obtain unique and personalized responses from participants through the flexible nature of the methodology. The research questions of this study are inductive in nature, and answering these questions by using a structured interview guide allows for the collection of illuminating, raw data.
This study aimed to determine young adult Instagram users’ affinity for brands that use the Canva and snapshot aesthetics in their sponsored advertisements on Instagram. In order to effectively examine the preferences of this audience, a series of interviews were completed to gain descriptive and insightful answers.
Participants & Procedures
As this study explored participants’ experience with branded, sponsored advertisements on Instagram, it was necessary that participants actively use this social media platform. Additionally, this study sought to explore the perceptions of young adults specifically, so participants were required to be within the age range of 18 – 24 years old.
Figure 1: Gender of participants in the study
Figure 2: Responses to "Are you a college student?"
The researcher collected the sample for this study using nonrandom sampling, specifically the snowball sampling technique in which the researcher reached out to personal contacts through text messages and asked for referrals outside of the researcher’s personal network. Through this sampling, the researcher selected ten candidates who expressed interest in participating in the study. The researcher contacted interested participants and scheduled to interview within a three-week period. Prior to the interview, the researcher emailed participants the informed consent and the link to a survey to collect demographic information as seen in Figures 1-3. The researcher administered interviews via zoom for the purpose of convenience and the interviews were simultaneously recorded and transcribed using Open AI dictation.
Figure 3: Where participants attend college
The Research Instrument
The interview guide served as the framework for the research instrument. There were a total of five questions with several probes that sparked further discussion around the topics addressed. In order to answer both research questions comparing consumer brand affinity for brands that use the Canva aesthetic or the snapshot aesthetic in their sponsored advertisements on Instagram, the main portion of questions examined participants’ opinions on either aesthetics, individually and side-by-side. The guide opened with an introduction to the topic as well as an opening question regarding their daily Instagram usage. The second key question asked specifically about participants’ experience with sponsored ads on Instagram to gain knowledge of their familiarity with ads to begin with. Key questions three and four explored participants’ perceptions of the different aesthetics while question five examined a comparison between the two aesthetics. Complimentary to the interview questions was a slideshow presentation that presents visuals that correspond with the questions to provide further clarification on the topics.
To explore the findings to this study, navigate to the Key Findings tab
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