Firearms, brass knuckles… and Instagram: Intended and unintended influence of social media advertising

Valerie K. Jones and Ming (Bryan) Wang
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Valerie K. Jones: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
Ming (Bryan) Wang: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA

Journal of Brand Strategy, 2020, vol. 9, issue 2, 171-189

Abstract: Understanding the influence of social media advertising is critical to brands today. This study explores how Instagram advertising from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), largely featuring confiscated weapons, influences attitudes towards the brand and, unintentionally, towards gun control. A between-groups online experiment found that brand attitudes were not influenced, but light crime show viewers and video game players exposed to TSA’s Instagram content showed higher support for gun control than heavy violent crime show viewers and video game players. This research provides practical insight into how a government agency brand communicates with the public subject to its services. It also has theoretical implications, extending priming and desensitisation literature in exploring the relationship between violent social media images, prior exposure to violent media and gun control attitudes and, ultimately, suggesting that brand social media content can unintentionally influence attitudes towards social issues.

Keywords: social media; Instagram; branding; social issues; gun control; priming; desensitisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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