Impact of Social Media Marketing: The Impact of whats App ‎status update on a sporting event of the academic program

Social media marketing, including the use of Facebook , is becoming a prevalent part of the ýpromotional marketing mix by recreation and sport organizations.While use of Facebook as a ýmarketing tool is common , empirical evidence of itsuse is lacking. This study examined the ýeffectiveness of social media marketing on college students in a campus recreation setting. ýSpecifically, the effectiveness of Facebook status messages were assessed via a 2 × 2 repeated ýfactorial within withinsubjects design to determine their influence on awareness of, interest in, and ýintention to participate in a campus recreation special event. Participants were assigned to experimental (n = 27) or control (n = 25) groups . ANCOVAs revealed significant ýdifferences in awareness based on the treatment, but not in interest orintention. Findings suggest that ýsocial media marketing was effective in increasing awareness , and the study served as an empirical ýfoundation for future research .