Case Study at Crumbl
Author: Preston Starkey | Majors: Management and Computer Science
My name is Preston Starkey, and I am in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. I am double majoring in computer science and management, and I am minoring in mathematics. My mentor is Nicole Cox, who is a part of the marketing department in the Walton College of Business. I conducted my research during the Spring 2022 semester. I graduated in the Spring 2022 semester, and I am moving to Austin, TX to work as a software engineer for Charles Schwab.
With the thesis requirement looming over my head, I did not have any topic that seemed interesting enough to study. In the Spring 2021 semester, I took the Introduction to Honors Thesis course offered by Jason Adams and Katie Pope. In this course, students were tasked with exploring their interests beyond the classroom and attempting to turn them into an honors thesis topic. Immediately, I knew that one of my biggest interests is pop culture and social media. As I have gotten older, pop culture and social media have become more ingrained into my daily activities, for better or for worse. I wanted to study how social media has shifted marketing strategies over the past decade. Many companies are now utilizing platforms such as Instagram and YouTube to advertise their products. They are also creating partnerships with Social Media Influencers (influencers, for short) to promote their products using sponsored posts to the influencer’s audience. Finally, the introduction of TikTok has skyrocketed many companies’ revenue through advertisements on the popular platform. Crumbl Cookies, a gourmet cookie shop based in Logan, Utah grew substantially as “Crumbl Cookie Reviews” went viral on TikTok. Crumbl Cookies grew from only 100 stores in July 2020 to now over 400 with an expected total of 600-700 stores by the end of 2022. With this information, I wanted to see how these increased marketing efforts on social media have affected the purchasing behavior of active social media users.
In the Fall 2021 semester, I enrolled in Nicole Cox’s Marketing Research course as one of my chosen electives. After the first week, I knew that she would be the perfect advisor for my research. Although I was a management student, my research focused on marketing concepts. Not only was she extremely knowledgeable about marketing research including questionnaire construction and data analysis, but she also was very excited when I approached her about this topic. She is not an active social media user, so we were able to have very insightful discussions that utilized our respective strengths to conduct this research.
For my research, I conducted a survey on Qualtrics that was sent to University of Arkansas students that focused on five main blocks: Screening, TikTok, Instagram, Influencers, Income, and Demographics. After I closed my survey, Mrs. Cox and I performed data analysis together to see if there were any significant differences between groups on social media usage and the number of products posted. From our analysis, we found that there were statistical differences between those who follow influencers and those who do not, between those who have posted on TikTok and those who have not, and between males and females on how many products purchased, the factors that might influence them to purchase a product, and the likeliness to purchase a product promoted by an influencer.
Selecting this topic was the best decision I could have made because I am not ashamed to say that I am passionate about social media. Within the older generation, there is a stigma around social media and how it is detrimental. However, it has revolutionized how we connect, express our thoughts and emotions, and purchase products. Social media is still a new tool for marketing, so research must continue to allow the maximum profit possible for brands. I am extremely grateful for the grant for believing in my work and allowing me to have a part in researching a historic marketing shift.