Corvinus University of Budapest

Corvinus Business School

International Study Programs

Youtuber personal branding

Analysis of content elements used for Youtuber branding

in the light of the Elaboration Likelihood Model

Vivien Sujbert

BA in Business and Management

2017

Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Ákos Varga

Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1

1. Theoretical Background ............................................................................................. 3

1.1 The concept of branding .......................................................................................... 3

1.2 The role of marketing and the marketing strategy ................................................... 4

1.3 The elements of a marketing mix ............................................................................ 4

1.4 The extended role and history of advertising........................................................... 5

1.4.1 Advertising from the early stages to the development of new technologies . 6

1.4.2 The Internet and the emergence of Social media ............................................ 6

1.5 Youtube, the video sharing social media website.................................................... 8

1.6 Youtubers, a powerful group of social media influencers ....................................... 9

1.7 Personal branding .................................................................................................. 10

1.7.1 Techniques for personal branding and persuasion ....................................... 11

1.8 Theoretical framework: The Elaboration Likelihood Model ................................. 12

2. Methodology ............................................................................................................... 14

2.1 Independent analysis of the selected Youtube channels ........................................ 14

2.2 Combined interpretation ........................................................................................ 18

3. Analysis of the practical problem ............................................................................ 18

3.1 Independent analysis of the selected Youtube channels ........................................ 20

3.1.1 Claudia Sulewski ......................................................................................... 20

3.1.2 Meghan Rienks ............................................................................................ 24

3.1.3 Jenn Im ......................................................................................................... 27

3.2 Combined interpretation ........................................................................................ 31

4. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 34

4.1 Discussion of findings ........................................................................................... 34

4.1 Limitations and Implications ................................................................................. 36

References ...................................................................................................................... 37

Appendices ..................................................................................................................... 43

Appendix A: Methodology ......................................................................................... 43

Appendix B: Claudia Sulewski ................................................................................... 45

Appendix C: Meghan Rienks ...................................................................................... 48

Appendix D: Jenn Im .................................................................................................. 51

List of Tables

Table 1: Advertisement types on Youtube 9

Table 2: Content analysis: content elements 16

Table 3: Determining content element frequency 16

Table 4: Content analysis: routes to persuasion 17

Table 5: Content elements and the associated psychological explanations 19

Table 6: Claudia Sulewski's analyzed content 20

Table 7: Content analysis of the content elements regarding Claudia Sulewski's 21

channel

Table 8: Content element categorization process in terms of Claudia Sulewski’s 22

channel

Table 9: Meghan Rienk's analyzed content 24

Table 10: Content analysis of the content elements regarding Meghan Rienks's 25

channel

Table 11: Content element categorization process in terms of Meghan Rienks’s 26

channel

Table 12: Jenn Im's analyzed content 28

Table 13: Content analysis of the content elements regarding Jenn Im’s channel 28

Table 14: Content element categorization process in terms of Jenn Im’s channel 30

Table 15: Content element frequency on all of the channels combined 31

Table 16: Content analysis of the routes to persuasion for the three channels 32

combined

Table 17: Categorization of each element based on the route to persuasion they use 33

Table 18: Factors of the content element analysis 43

Table 19: Elements of the persuasive route content analysis 44

Table 20: Videos analyzed on Claudia Sulewski's channel I. 45

Table 21: Videos analyzed on Claudia Sulewski's channel II. 46

Table 22: Content analysis of routes to persuasion regarding Claudia Sulewski's 47

Table 23: Videos analyzed on Meghan Rienk's channel I. 48

Table 24: Videos analyzed on Meghan Rienk's channel II. 49

Table 25: Content analysis of routes to persuasion regarding Meghan Rienks's 50

channel

Table 26: Videos analyzed on Jenn Im’s channel I. 51

Table 27: Videos analyzed on Jenn Im’s channel II. 52

Table 28: Videos analyzed on Jenn Im’s channel III. 53

Table 29: Content analysis of routes to persuasion regarding Jenn Im’s channel 54

List of Figures

Figure 1: Subdimensions of brand building blocks 3

Figure 2: The 7 Ps 5

Figure 3: The Elaboration Likelihood Model 13

Figure 4: Categorization of the content elements based on the route to persuasion 18

Figure 5: Results of content element categorization based on the route to persuasion 23

in terms of Claudia Sulewski’s channel

Figure 6: Results of content element categorization based on the route to persuasion 27

in terms of Meghan Rienks’s channel

Figure 7: Results of content element categorization based on the route to persuasion 30

in terms of Jenn Im’s channel

Figure 8: Route categorization matrix 33

Abbreviations

C2C – Customer-to-Customer

ELM – Elaboration Likelihood Model

IMC – Integrated Marketing Communications

U&G – Uses and Gratifications

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Ákos Varga, for

the patient guidance, advice, encouragement and support he has provided throughout the

preparation of this thesis work. I have been very lucky to have a supervisor supporting

me in discovering the topic I was so interested in, and who gave me so much confidence

with his positive outlook.

I would like to express my gratitude to my godmother, Dr. Mónika Sujbert as well,

who offered a handful of suggestions from the viewpoint of a Professor of Psychology.

Completing this work would have been much more difficult without the kind

support and help of one of my best friends, Ione Barton, who reviewed the thesis work

and provided very helpful feedback.

I also would like to thank my family for listening, offering me advice, and

supporting me through this entire process. I especially am grateful for the assistance of

Benedek Zsargó, who followed closely the entire writing process and offered a handful

of his helpful suggestions.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank Mr. Tamás Halm for the professional

advice he provided us during his thesis consultation session.

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Introduction

The practice of personal branding is as old as human society and has already existed in

the age of old civilizations, in which rulers often used self-promotion as personal

branding, in order to gain popularity and recognition (Starcevic, 2015). Since then,

personal branding has been taken up by an increasing number of leaders or celebrities in

various industries such as entertainment, politics or business (Shepherd, 2005). Shepherd

(2005) argues that today, personal branding is a rapidly growing business. Several

personal branding advocates note that the process of personal branding mirrors the

product or corporate branding process (Labrecque, Markos, and Milne, 2011; Shepherd,

2005). The rise of social media created a new way of personal branding: people can brand

themselves through sharing their self-created content on their personalized profiles

(Labrecque, Markos, and Milne, 2011). Several famous social networking sites exist on

which people can follow each other, such as Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram or

the famous video sharing site, Youtube. However, Abdallah (2015) argues that on these

platforms, corporate brands are most often overshadowed by individual social media

influencers, who possess unique means of influencing the audience. As a result of this

trend, more attention is paid on them and experts are longing to decode the elements of a

successful personal brand on social media platforms (Abdallah, 2015).

This thesis work tested which persuasion techniques are most widely utilized by

Youtubers and whether these comply with the Elaboration Likelihood Model to

Persuasion, introduced by Cacioppo and Petty (1984). The findings of the thesis work

show that the peripheral route to persuasion, connected to subjective decision making

processes is more frequently used, contrasting Cacioppo and Petty’s argument, based on

which the central route should be more popular, due to its higher rate of effectiveness

(Cacioppo and Petty, 1984).

To attain an extended understanding of personal branding processes on Youtube,

the research aimed to answer the following research questions:

Which video content elements are the most widely utilized by successful

Youtubers?

Which theories in psychology might explain the effectiveness of these

tools?

Do the content elements comply with the Elaboration Likelihood Model of

Persuasion?

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This paper aimed to understand the possibilities of Youtuber personal branding

within the context of marketing and branding processes. It has put Youtube video content

elements in the focus of the analysis, which could be defined as tools positioned in

Youtube videos with the goal of attracting the audience.

As a first step, the study identified several content elements forming a core part of

a Youtuber’s branding process. Then, on the example of three beauty gurus (Claudia

Sulewski, Meghan Rienks and Jenn Im) it provided a general overview of how

consistently and on what rate these content elements have been utilized. The next part

concluded which of these content elements have been the most frequently used and

provided a psychological explanation for their effectiveness. Lastly, it tested which route

to persuasion the content elements could be connected to. Based on the findings, the final

goal was to conclude which route to persuasion is the most widely utilized by these

content creators and to discover whether these patterns comply with the Elaboration

Likelihood Model (Cacioppo and Petty, 1984). These steps were first conducted on the

three channels separately to indicate the peculiarities of each. Then, as a last step, the

study combined their results to arrive to a generalized conclusion.

Section 1 begins by providing a theoretical framework for the role of personal

branding within the marketing environment. It firstly describes the role of branding and

continues by illustrating the importance of marketing activities. Then, it explains the brief

history of advertising, one of the most important elements of the marketing mix. In

accordance with the newest forms of advertising, the role of the Internet and social media

channels is presented. Finally, it arrives to the main focus of the thesis work: Youtuber

personal branding. As a last step, it presents the theoretical framework of the study: The

Elaboration Likelihood Model.

Section 2 outlines the analysis methodology. After briefly introducing the research

method used for the purpose of the analysis, the exact steps of the analysis process are

being illustrated.

Then, Section 3 discusses the findings in detail, based on the structure presented

in the methodology section.

Lastly, Section 4 provides a conclusion and possible implications of the results.

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1. Theoretical Background

1.1 The concept of branding

Brands and branding in general form a core part of business activities as they represent

one of the most valuable intangible assets that firms have (Farhana, 2012). Everything

from physical goods, retailers and distributors, online products and services, people and

organizations, arts, sports and entertainment, geographic locations to ideas and causes

can be branded (Keller, 2013). The American Marketing Association defines brand as “a

name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the

goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those

of competition” (Ama.org, n.d.).

Keller (2013) identified 4 blocks of building a brand: brand identification,

establishing brand meaning, managing brand responses and maintaining brand

relationships. Figure 1 identifies the subdimensions of brand building blocks.

However, creating a powerful brand is not enough for companies to achieve and

maintain success. Keller (2013) further highlighted the importance of how firms integrate

Feelings

Warmth

Fun Excitement

Security

Social Approval Self-Respect

Judgments

Quality Credibility

Consideration

Superiority

Resonance

Loyalty

Attachment

Community

Engagement

Imagery

User Profiles

Purchase and Usage

Situations Personality and Values

History, Heritage and

Experiences

Salience

Category Identification, Needs Satisfied

Performance

Primary Characteristics and

Secondary Features

Product Reliability, Durability and Serviceability

Service Effectiveness,

Efficiency, and Empathy Style and Design

Price

Figure 1: Subdimensions of brand building blocks

Adapted from Keller, K. L. (2013). Strategic brand management : Building, measuring, and managing brand

equity (4.ed)(p.108). Harlow: Pearson.

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brand into their marketing activities. The following sections provide a brief overview of

marketing in general, as well as a description of the most significant marketing activities.

1.2 The role of marketing and the marketing strategy

According to Bauer, Kenesei and Berács (2014), marketing is a corporate activity, which

analyses the market with the aim of satisfying the needs of customers, defines products

and services to be sold, familiarizes them with customers, sets prices, organizes sales and

influences customers.

Kotler and Armstrong (2012) argued that marketing strategy has four elements.

The first is segmentation, which divides the market into groups of buyers, whose

behaviors, needs and characteristics are different. One segment consists of consumers

responding in a very similar way to a given advertisement. For instance, two demographic

market segments for a company selling deodorants are women and men. Then, through

the process of market targeting, companies decide which segments they wish to enter

sustainably (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). By way of illustration, the niche contemporary

women's wear brand, Nanushka is solely targeting women (Görbe, 2015). The third

element is positioning, the process through which a company sets a clear and distinctive

place relative to other competing products in the minds of target customers. For this

however, the fourth element is essential: the company has to differentiate its market

offering so that it actually creates value to customers (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012).

1.3 The elements of a marketing mix

After the strategy has been determined, the company can move on to design the actual

marketing mix. The marketing mix is the different combinations of corporate marketing

tools used in various market conditions (Bauer et al., 2014). Kotler and Armstrong (2012)

defined it as the combination of marketing tools used by the firm with the aim of

achieving a desired response in the target market. McCarthy and Perreault (1984) grouped

these tools based on their different focus areas and introduced the 4P model, which

consists of the Product, the Price, the Place and the Promotion. According to Kotler

(2008), a product can be anything that satisfies a want or need: a physical good, a service,

a person, an event, an organization, or even an idea. He defined price as “the cost that the

target market associates with adopting the desired behavior” (Kotler, 2008, p. 227). He

described place as where the customers receive the services or acquire the tangible goods;

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Promotion

Special offers, Advertisements,

Promotions, Direct

marketing, Competitions, Joint

ventures

PriceSkimming pricing,

Penetration pricing,

Value based pricing, Cost plus pricing, Loss

leader pricing, Cost

leadership pricing

Physical evidenceInterface, Artefacts,

Facilities

ProcessStandardization,

Service delivery

PeopleEmployees,

Organization culture,

Customer service,

Customer

relationship

management

Product

Design, Technology, Perceived utility,

Perceived convenience,

Perceived quality, Packaging, Accessories,

Warranties

PlaceDistribution

channels, Web based

channel, Peer to peer, Multi-channel

and promotion as the persuasive communications motivating the customers to take action

(Kotler, 2008).

Since 1940, there have been several attempts to expand the scope of marketing

mix by exploring more ‘P’s (Goi, 2009). Booms and Bitner (1981) proposed 3 additional

‘P’s to the traditional marketing mix, expanding it to the scope of services as well. These

3 new ‘P’s include people, who are involved in the trade of the product or service,

physical evidence, which is the physical representation of the service, and process,

referring to the activities performed to deliver the service (Rafiq and Ahmed, 1995).

Figure 2 provides a detailed illustration of the 7 Ps.

1.4 The extended role and history of advertising

Advertising, possibly the most tangible and visible element of promotion to customers

has long interested marketers. It has always had its many interesting forms, depending on

how developed the technology was at any given point in history. It is essential to

understand how its various means evolved and how it managed to influence people in

Figure 2: The 7 Ps

Adapted from Kar, K. (2014). 7 Ps of Services Marketing. Tech Talk. Retrieved 8 September 2017 from https://tech-

talk.org/2014/09/26/7-ps-of-services-marketing-mi/

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different eras, to fully understand how extensive effect it has on people’s lives (Starcevic,

2015).

1.4.1 Advertising from the early stages to the development of new

technologies

According to Starcevic (2015), branding and advertising have already existed in ancient

societies. She argued that even though the words ‘brand’, ‘advertising’ or ‘promotion’

have not been used in the ancient times, they already existed as activities. She described

how Africa’s old civilizations used techniques like pottery marking or outdoor

advertising, military propaganda and even self-promotion as personal branding. She also

reported that the old Roman civilizations used papyrus for the creation of informative

newspapers, officially authorized travelling salesmen, used political propaganda on

public events and even had the origins of corporate branding in the form of factory stamps

(Starcevic, 2015).

Sampson (1875) argued that with the invention of printing, newsletters and

newspapers became popular. As reported by Tungate (2013), the next crucial step in the

history of advertising was the invention of radio. He noted that the sales of radio sets rose

from US $60 million in 1922 to US $850 million by the end of the decade which enabled

the rapid spread of radio advertisements (Tungate, 2013). Furthermore, he suggested that

these commercials now reached a wider audience, ensured a higher degree of interactivity

and made commercials much more enjoyable with the use of sounds. Based on his

findings, the invention of televisions later enabled advertisements to include visuals,

making the audience much more enthusiastic. From 1949 to 1952, total US advertising

spent on television rose from $12 million to $158 million (Tungate, 2013).

1.4.2 The Internet and the emergence of Social media

McQuail (2015) defined the Internet as “the key new medium” for communication (pp.

51–52). Funk (2008) reported that the introduction of the World Wide Web by Tim

Berners-Lee has meant a huge shift in advertising processes. In his book, he explained

how this invention laid the foundation of interlinked documents, revolutionizing

communication and commerce practices for both individuals and businesses (Funk,

2008). T. Stephen (2015) carried out a detailed investigation into the role of digital media

in consumer behavior and has found that in 2015, 87% of American adults have used the

Internet, with a constantly increasing number of hours spent online. According to his

study, marketers respond to this trend by focusing more on their digital marketing

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channels, which in fact is likely to result in a steadily growing advertising spending on

digital channels (T. Stephen, 2015). Among all, McQuail (2015) emphasized the

interactivity of the Internet, as well as its community-forming potentials arising from

enabling many-to-many conversations.

O’Brien (2011) also highlighted the significance of interactive communities,

whereas Law, Lau and Wong (2003) reported that the digital era has transformed

customers from passive receivers into an active group. This enabled a new phenomenon,

the user-generated content to emerge. Daugherty, Eastin, and Bright (2008) defined it as

“media content created or produced by the general public rather than by paid professionals

and primarily distributed on the internet” (Daugherty, Eastin, and Bright, 2008, p. 16).

O’Brien (2011) saw the spread of user-generated content as a fundamental explanation

for the expansion of social media sites. Csordás and Gáti (2014) also argued that by 2015,

there has been a notable shift in marketing, mainly due to the birth of social media

advertising. As a result of this change, they suggested that the traditional one-way

communication flow of marketing messages has to be replaced by a two-way

communication in marketing strategies. They argued that in this manner, users get

involved in the marketing process and they get the chance to create, reshape or even

criticize any content of the firm (Csordás and Gáti, 2014). Holt (2016) attempted to

highlight this shift by introducing the term ‘crowdcultures’. He defined them as “digital

crowds serving as very effective and prolific innovators of culture” (Holt, 2016, para. 3).

According to his article ‘Branding in the Age of Social Media’, companies can no longer

diffuse cultural innovations into the mass market due to the high level of

interconnectedness of cultures arising from the development of social media. He argued

that crowdcultures, which consist of people interested or most often even fond of a niche

topic, possess an increased power as they are able to communicate collectively, for

instance in the form of likes or comments. As a result, he stated that in the online sphere,

they are pushing forward their ideas, products, habits and thoughts and thus have the

ability to make something trendy in just a few seconds (Holt, 2016). By way of

illustration, Fidget Spinners, the latest toy craze among youngsters have been around for

years, but their popularity suddenly exploded this spring, after several Youtube videos

came out of people spinning them on their noses, foreheads and shoes (Pisani, 2017).

Based on all this, social media, which include channels for participating in a variety of

activities, is set to become a vital factor in today’s business environment.

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Ashley and Tuten (2015) carried out an in-depth study focusing on social media

marketing and concluded that brands may utilize it in several ways. Either as an integrated

part in one of their marketing campaigns, as an ongoing corporate communications

channel, or as a series of smaller campaigns directly designed for digital purposes.

Furthermore, they pointed out that it may serve as a channel for various marketing

activities such as customer service, buyer research, sales promotion delivery channel, paid

advertising channel or branding (Ashley and Tuten, 2015).

All this explains why the attention brands are paying to social media marketing is

rapidly growing. Mangold and Faulds (2009) highlighted the need for incorporating social

media into integrated marketing communications (IMC) strategies. Boone and Kurtz

(2007) argued that IMC is a strategy controlling various elements of the promotional mix

to ensure that it offers a unified customer-focused message. Mangold and Faulds (2009)

also realized the above mentioned shift in the marketing communication flow. However,

they argued that managers still can and should shape the customer-to-customer

conversations with the use of social media (Mangold and Faulds, 2009). In fact, it is not

only them who assumed the importance of an integrated social media strategy, the

majority of the most successful brands already employed this approach to marketing.

Considering some of the world’s biggest brands from different industries, namely Apple,

Coca Cola, Disney, McDonalds, General Electric, IKEA, Zara and JP Morgan, the fact

that all of them except for the last two are present on all of the most popular social media

platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube, Snapchat and LinkedIn) provides a

meaningful proof of this trend (Forbes, 2017).

1.5 Youtube, the video sharing social media website

The social media platform Youtube serves as the main focus of this research paper among

all the other social media channels. According to the latest data published by Google,

Youtube gets in total 2 billion views a day, with people spending on average 15 minutes

on the website. They also noted that the first advertising concepts were launched in 2006,

including the ideas of Participatory Video Ads and Brand Channels (Google, n.d.). In just

one year, the Youtube Partner Program was introduced, which served as a foundation of

Youtuber branding (Google, n.d.). This program lets creators monetize their content on

Youtube, through which they can earn money from advertisements served on their videos

and from subscribers watching their content. Table 1 illustrates the advertisement types

offered by the platform.

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Table 1: Advertisement types on Youtube

Advertisement Type Format

Display ads An advertisement placed to the right of the video

and above the video suggestions list.

Overlay ads Overlay advertisements appearing on the lower

portion of the video.

Skippable video ads Advertisements before, during or after the main

video, which can be skipped after 5 seconds.

Non-skippable video ads and bumper ads

Up to 30 (non-skippable) or 6 (bumper ads)

seconds long advertisements before, during or

after the main video, which must be watched

before the video can be viewed. Sponsored cards

Small cards placed in the corners of the video

displaying content related to the video topic.

Adapted from Google. (2017a). YouTube advertising formats. Google Support. Retrieved 16 September 2017, from

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2467968?hl=en

In addition to this, Youtubers may include paid product placements and

endorsements in their videos. Paid product placements are content including a third

party’s brand, product or message created in exchange for compensation. Endorsements

are pieces of content created for an advertiser, containing a message that consumers are

likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, or experiences of the content creator

(Google, 2017b) .

1.6 Youtubers, a powerful group of social media influencers

Youtube’s platform does not only offer the above listed rich means of advertising, but

also serves as an excellent room for practicing the above highlighted two-way

communication flow as it offers a platform for several ‘crowdcultures’ created around

social media influencers (Holt, 2016). As the effectiveness of word of mouth and

customer-to-customer (C2C) communication is expanding, more attention is paid to

social media influencers since they are able to communicate any pre-designed message

in a way that it remains within the rules of C2C marketing (Abdallah, 2015).

The increased power of Youtubers has a handful of possible explanations. Firstly,

consumers find information from other consumers much more reliable and authentic,

even independent from the company (Markos-Kujbus, 2016). Secondly, their virtual

communities are built around popular opinion leaders who maintain close and personal

interactions with the audience, through the use of comments, likes, interactive videos or

even by involving their viewers in the active creation of content (Nagy, Kemény, Simon,

and Kiss, 2015). Brand relationships are given much attention in the literature,

highlighting the importance of a quality relationship between brands and consumers

(Fournier, 1998). Youtubers have mastered this and as a result, the relationships they can

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offer is something much richer than that of a corporate brand. This in fact results in a

higher degree of engagement and explains why users are keener on watching videos of

Youtubers than contents uploaded by companies. A third possible reason might be the

fact that users can identify themselves with real personalities much easier than with

corporate brands. People by human nature are more interested in things which they can

relate themselves to, and watching the videos of a Youtuber with whom they share some

similar thoughts or characteristics is a good example on this (DeMers, 2015).

1.7 Personal branding

Becoming a Youtube influencer however first requires an image that appeals to people

and serves as a base for creating a powerful community. It is essential for them to build

up a viable brand, however their case requires a different approach to branding. In their

situation, the individual is counted as a brand, and their brand image is the beliefs and

knowledge their customers have about the brand (Shaker and Hafiz, 2014).

The concept of personal branding is not unique, its topic was introduced by Tom

Peters, in 1997, when he stated that “we are CEOs of our own companies” (Peters, 1997,

para. 5). Various self-improvement books, consultancies, articles, researches, self-help

courses and websites appeared, attempting to provide a framework for the personal

branding process (Shepherd, 2005). Although the importance of having a personal brand

is well recognized, a widely accepted framework for its process has not yet been created

(Tarnovskaya, 2017). Several experts, such as Schawbel (2012) argued however that the

process of personal branding is akin to that of a product. A handful of studies attempted

to provide a guide for personal branding, all of which identified mostly similar steps.

Labrecque, Markos and Milne (2011) identified brand identity creation, brand

positioning and brand image assessment as a core part of the personal branding process.

They argued that a set of values has to be determined that represents the character of an

online persona (brand identity creation), a consistent image has to be maintained through

the continuous control and filtering of information posted online (brand positioning) and

brand goals have to be compared with others’ assessment (brand image assessment)

(Labrecque, Markos and Milne, 2011). Shaker and Hafiz (2014) identified similar

components. They emphasized the need for creating a personal brand identity, which is

composed of a set of associations of what the brand stands for. Then, according to their

study, this identity has to be embodied through text and image. Furthermore, they also

highlighted the need for personal brand image and its positioning strategy. Lastly, they

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noted the importance of impression management, which they defined as a controlling

behavior with to maintain a desired image (Shaker and Hafiz, 2014). Tarnovskaya (2017)

identified three main steps of personal branding: establishing the brand, communicating

the brand and developing relationships. She illustrated these components in terms of a

Youtuber and argued that the first step is to create a clear brand profile, consisting of

one’s personality, the published topics and the environment. She even emphasized the

need for these factors to be consistent with one another. Then, to communicate the brand,

she highlighted the importance of staying visible on multiple social media accounts. As a

last step, she considered maintaining close relations with the audience (Tarnovskaya,

2017).

Beyond the above mentioned studies dealing with the process of personal

branding, there is no real consensus in the literature regarding the methods social media

influencers are using to attract and persuade masses (Tarnovskaya, 2017). However,

several experts and studies attempted to point out elements which might have a significant

role in terms of a branded social content, a lot of which argue their relevance with their

psychological effect (Labrecque, Markos and Milne, 2011. The following section gives a

brief overview of these theories.

1.7.1 Techniques for personal branding and persuasion

Several experts suggested that personal branding entails identifying and promoting a

person’s strengths and unique values to the target audience (Labrecque, Markos and

Milne, 2011). The Prototype Theory introduced by Forgács (2007) might serve as an

explanation for the importance of this concept. The theory states that due to mental

schemes in our minds, ‘prototypical’ personalities have a greater impression on us than

those who cannot be easily categorized (Forgács, 2007). The same rule might apply to

social media content: the more categorized (for example by being consistent with the

published topics) it is, the greater impression it has on the audience.

Sheehan and Morrison (2009) emphasized the importance of customer

engagement. They defined customer engagement as “a consumer relationship that

recognizes that people are inherently social and look to create and maintain relations not

only with other people, but also with brands” (Sheehan and Morrison, 2009, p. 41). They

argued that the brand needs to become a part of the consumer’s own identity, which can

easily be achieved through engagement.

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Charles Duhigg (2012) emphasized the need for habit formation to successfully

commit customers to a certain product or a brand. He stated that any product or service

can become successful, even without creating value or benefit, if the act of its

consumption becomes habitual (Duhigg, 2012).

Jahn and Kunz (2012) pointed out that the type of information delivered by the

media also acts as a robust motivator in consumer participation. Katz, Blumbler and

Gurevitch (1973) reported that people use media with the aim of satisfying various needs.

Their theory, called the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theory suggests that these needs

can be classified into three categories. The content-oriented need refers to the interest in

the information delivered by the media, the relationship-oriented need comes from the

wish to have social interaction with others, and the self-oriented need is based on

particular needs of the given individual (Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch, 1973). Thus, if a

given media content includes helpful information or satisfies social needs, it is very likely

that the audience will be keener on consuming it.

These theories provided a basis for this study in understanding the psychological

background behind the effectiveness of different content elements used by Youtubers.

The analysis section will build on the above mentioned concepts with the aim of

connecting a psychological concept to the effectiveness of each analyzed content element.

1.8 Theoretical framework: The Elaboration Likelihood Model

The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) created by Cacioppo and Petty (1984) serves

as a theoretical framework for this research paper. It provides a scheme for understanding

processes which determine the effectiveness of persuasive communications. The model

differentiates two types of persuasion: the central route and the peripheral route

(Cacioppo and Petty, 1984).

They argued that the first type of persuasion, connected to the central route is the

one resulting from someone’s thoughtful consideration of the arguments of the message.

Moreover, according to the model, it has two prerequisites: the listener needs both

motivation and ability to think about the message and its topic. They described that the

second type of persuasion, connected to the peripheral route, occurs in cases when not the

strength of the arguments are determinant factors in the decision making. For instance,

they noted that someone may agree with a message because the source is an expert, or is

charming. Their study also highlighted that the peripheral route also occurs in cases when

the listener believes something to be true just because he or she is faced with a lot of

13

arguments. Thus, they concluded that this route occurs when the listener is unable or

unwilling to consider the message.

A key assumption of ELM is that if someone’s attitude change is due to a central

route to persuasion, its effects will differ from those changed through the peripheral route.

Cacioppo and Petty argued that those attitude changes which result from considering

issue-relevant arguments through the central route can be identified by a higher temporal

persistence, greater behavior predictability, and greater resistance to counter persuasion

than attitude changes resulting from persuading someone through the peripheral route

(Cacioppo and Petty, 1984). Figure 3 below illustrates the model.

Figure 3: The Elaboration Likelihood Model

Yes

Yes (Favorable) Yes (Unfavorable)

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

No

Attitude is relatively enduring, resistant and predictive of

behavior.

CENTRAL POSITIVE

ATTITUDE CHANGE

RETAIN OR

REGAIN INITIAL

ATTITUDE NATURE OF COGNITIVE PROCESSING:

(initial attitude, argument quality, etc.)

FAVORABLE

THOUGHTS

PREDOMINATE

UNFAVORABLE

THOUGHTS

PREDOMINATE

NEITHER OR

NEUTRAL

PREDOMINATE

PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION

PERIPHERAL ATTITUDE SHIFT

Attitude is relatively temporary, susceptible and unpredictive of behavior.

PERIPHERAL CUE PRESENT?

Positive/negative affect; attractive; expert sources; number of arguments; etc.

MOTIVATED TO PROCESS?

Personal relevance: need for cognition; personal responsibility, etc.

ABILITY TO PROCESS?

Distraction; repetition; prior knowledge; message

comprehensibility; etc.

COGNITIVE STRUCTURE CHANGE:

Are new cognitions adopted and stored in memory? Are

different responses made salient than previously?

CENTRAL NEGATIVE

ATTITUDE CHANGE

Adapted from Cacioppo, J. T., & Petty, R. E. (1984). The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion. Advances

in Consumer Research, 11(1), p.126

14

The analysis conducted in this study was based on the above mentioned theoretical

findings. The model developed by Cacioppo and Petty serves as a fundamental base in

understanding how Youtubers can achieve a desired effect with their communications,

how they can make attitude change last longer, how they can have a greater influence on

behavior, and how they are able to remain more resistant to change. Based on the model,

one might assume that persuaders focus on using tools connected to the central route of

persuasion, in order to achieve longer persistence of the behavior change (Cacioppo and

Petty, 1984).

After discovering which content elements Youtubers are using to attract viewers,

the research intends to identify which route to persuasion these content elements can be

connected to. Based on the findings, the final goal is to conclude which route to

persuasion is the most widely utilized by these content creators to state whether their

patterns comply with the Elaboration Likelihood Model.

2. Methodology

To address the research questions, a research method applicable to qualitative data,

content analysis was utilized to gain information on the main elements of a Youtuber’s

personal brand. This research methodology has already appeared in the study of mass

communications in the 1950s (White and Marsh, 2006). Krippendorff and Kállai (1995)

argued that the method can be used in various empirical fields such as psychology,

history, anthropology, literature or linguistics. Content analysis has been proven by

several social media studies (Ashley and Tuten, 2015; Paek, Kim, and Hove, 2010) in the

past as well. According to Krippendorff and Kállai (1995), content analysis is a research

method that helps to repeatedly draw conclusions from data regarding their context. They

noted the method’s non-intervening nature as an indisputable advantage, meaning that its

process does not influence the analyzed subject by any means. Furthermore, it is able to

process symbolic forms and large amounts of data (Krippendorff and Kállai, 1995).

2.1 Independent analysis of the selected Youtube channels

The first, preliminary step of the content analysis process is preparation. Three

well-known Youtubers were selected and their channels were used as samples for the

analysis. The videos (n = 25) which were uploaded on these three channels within the

timeframe of the observation (between February 19th and April 16th) served as units of

the analysis. To make the comparison as relevant as possible, the Youtubers were selected

15

from the same channel category. Claudia Sulewski, Meghan Rienks and Jenn Im (leading

her channel called ‘clothesencounters’) are all ‘beauty gurus’ from the United States,

having a lifestyle-oriented Youtube channel. The reason for the content choice was the

rich variety of advertising possibilities offered by these lifestyle-related topics.

This research paper aimed to analyze the content elements these Youtubers have

been using from two different aspects, based on which the analysis process can be divided

into two separate parts. The analysis of content elements aimed to identify which of them

have been the most frequently used, as well as to provide a possible psychological

explanation for their effectiveness. Then, the analysis of the routes to persuasion

identified which route to persuasion has been the most popular among the successful

Youtuber campaigns, so that it could conclude whether the results complied with the ELM

framework.

Based on the knowledge attained from literature and reviewed in Section 1.7.1,

categories of content elements have been generated through the process of open coding

(a technique through which notes and headings are written down while processing the

analyzable content). Table 18 in Appendix A identifies the content elements measured in

the analysis and the definitions used to identify the presence or absence of a given

element.

Then, further analysis steps have been carried out for each channel separately with

the aim of highlighting their peculiarities in content element utilization. This part of the

analysis included giving a total content score to each video on a given channel, based on

how many of the previously identified content elements could be found in them. Table 18

in Appendix A illustrates the scoring system used for the content analysis process. Each

video uploaded within the time period of the observation (n = 25) have been analyzed.

The presence of any previously identified content element was worth one point for each

video, whereas the lack of it resulted in zero points. The final goal was to obtain a total

content score for each video uploaded to a given channel, as well as for the channel as a

whole. The results of this process provided viable data to determine how consistently and

at what rate the given Youtuber utilized content elements in her videos. The following

table illustrates how the content score for each video has been calculated.

16

Table 2: Content analysis: content elements

Video number 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Content

element score

Title focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 ∑=6 (100%)

Video description 1 1 1 1 0 1 ∑=5 (83%)

Thumbnail focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 ∑=6 (100%)

Share of competency 1 0 1 1 0 0 ∑=3 (50%)

Emotional appeal 1 1 0 0 1 0 ∑=3 (50%)

Duration consistency 1 0 0 1 1 0 ∑=3 (50%)

Topic consistency 0 0 1 1 0 0 ∑=2 (33%)

Seasonality 0 1 0 0 0 0 ∑=1 (17%)

Collaboration 0 1 0 0 0 0 ∑=1 (17%)

Uploading consistency 1 1 1 1 0 0 ∑=4 (67%)

Special event relatedness 0 1 0 1 0 0 ∑=2 (33%)

Invitation to subscribe 1 1 0 0 0 0 ∑=2 (33%)

Comment reaction 0 1 1 1 1 0 ∑=4 (67%)

Total content score ∑=8 ∑=10 ∑=7 ∑=9 ∑=5 ∑=3 ∑=42

(Own editing)

After determining the total content score for each channel, the study continued by

selecting the most frequently used content elements in terms of each, with the goal of

discovering their relative utilization frequency. As seen in the last column of Table 2, this

was done by calculating the content element score for each of the analyzed elements by

adding up the scores assigned to them in each video. To determine their usage frequency,

each content element score was divided by the total number of videos of the given

channel, so that the utilization rates could be compared in percentages. Any content

element occurring in more than 50% of the videos have been identified as frequently used.

Table 3 below illustrates the calculation process.

Table 3: Determining content element frequency

Content element: Video description

Content element score: 5

Total number of videos uploaded: 6

Usage frequency in percentages: 5 out of 6 83%

Frequency: Frequent (Own editing)

The next phase connected each content element noted as frequent to a

psychological theory reviewed in Section 1.7.1 so that the effectiveness of each could be

explained by a viable concept.

The second part of the analysis process aimed to conclude which route to

persuasion has been the most widely used in Youtuber campaigns. For this purpose, this

part included measuring how often each video utilized the central and the peripheral route

17

to persuasion. Two scores have been assigned to each content element in every video, a

central route score (C) and a peripheral route score (P). The central route score indicates

the use of central route to persuasion, if the content element targeted the viewer’s

thoughtful consideration by communicating a fact or a piece of information (Cacioppo

and Petty, 1984). The peripheral score indicates the use of peripheral route to persuasion,

if it aimed to catch the audience’s attention through their subconscious thinking with cues

such as emotions or curiosity triggering elements (Cacioppo and Petty, 1984). Depending

on which route to persuasion the given content element used, a score for both routes have

been assigned. Table 19 in Appendix A summarizes the factors based on which the

elements have been scored.

After assigning both a central route and a peripheral route score to each content

element in each video, a total persuasive score was given for every video, as well as for

the channel as a whole. Table 4 illustrates this step.

Table 4: Content analysis: routes to persuasion

Video number 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Total score

for the route

Route C P C P C P C P C P C P C P

Title focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ∑=6 ∑=6 Video description 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 ∑=5 ∑=5

Thumbnail focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ∑=6 ∑=6 Share of competency 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 ∑=3 ∑=0

Emotional appeal 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ∑=0 ∑=3

Duration consistency 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 ∑=0 ∑=3 Topic consistency 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 ∑=0 ∑=2

Seasonality 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ∑=0 ∑=1 Collaboration 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ∑=1 ∑=1

Uploading

consistency

0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 ∑=0 ∑=4

Special event

relatedness

0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 ∑=2 ∑=2

Invitation to

subscribe

0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ∑=0 ∑=2

Comment reaction 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 ∑=2 ∑=4

Total score 4 7 5 10 5 6 6 8 2 5 3 3 ∑=25 ∑=39

Total persuasive

score ∑=11 ∑=15 ∑=11 ∑=14 ∑=7 ∑=6 ∑=64

(Own editing)

After looking at the utilization frequency of the central and peripheral route by

comparing the sum of the two scores for each channel, the study considered a different

perspective. Each content element was categorized based on which route to persuasion

(central, peripheral, both or none) they used. Figure 4 illustrates the basis of the

categorization process. Lastly, the research identified how many times a given element

was put to each category and determined to which route it can mostly be related to.

18

Figure 4: Categorization of the content elements based on the route to persuasion

Rather peripheral

Content elements using the peripheral route to

persuasion predominantly.

Both

Content elements using the two routes to

persuasion predominantly together.

None

Content elements predominantly not using any of

the routes to persuasion.

Rather central

Content elements using the central route to

persuasion predominantly.

(Own editing)

2.2 Combined interpretation

The final phase aimed to generalize the findings and to interpret them with respect

to the three channels combined. This part of the analysis identified the most frequently

utilized content elements, as well as the most predominant route to persuasion in terms of

the combination of the analyzed channels. Firstly, the content element scores assigned to

each channel have been added up so that a combined score can be given to each element.

To determine their utilization frequency, this score was divided with the total number of

videos analyzed on the three channels (n = 25). Similarly, as during the channels’ separate

analysis, any content element occurring in more than 50% of the videos has been

identified as frequently used. The next step was to determine the most predominant route

to persuasion in terms of the three channels combined. This involved adding up the

central, the peripheral and the total persuasive scores assigned to each channel, to provide

three scores representing the analyzed content as a whole. By calculating both routes’

proportion of the total persuasive score, the study concluded which route to persuasion

was the most predominantly used by the three content creators. Finally, a route

categorization matrix was created for the three channels combined, to identify which

route to persuasion each content element could be mostly connected to.

This provided a full picture of the findings and enabled the study to determine

whether the results complied with the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the framework of

this research paper described in Section 1.8.

The next part of the research paper demonstrates the findings of the analysis

process in detail.

3. Analysis of the practical problem

This part aims to illustrate the findings by describing the results of each analyzed Youtube

channel separately. Before presenting the analysis results, this section begins by

19

explaining which psychological theories were found to be significant in terms of each

content element, as was one of the main purposes of this paper was to draw attention to

the possible psychological explanation for their effectiveness. Based on the literature

material reviewed in Section 1.7.1, the study identified which social psychology theories

might serve as a possible reasoning for the power of each. Table 5 presents these findings.

Table 5: Content elements and the associated psychological explanations

Content strategy Psychological explanation

Title focus U&G theory Video description U&G theory

Thumbnail focus U&G theory Share of competency U&G theory: Content orientation

Emotional appeal U&G theory: Relationship

orientation Duration consistency Habit formation

Topic consistency Prototype theory Seasonality Habit formation

Collaboration U&G theory

Uploading consistency Habit formation Special event relatedness U&G theory

Invitation to subscribe Customer engagement Comment reaction Customer engagement

(Own editing)

The Uses and Gratifications theory introduced by Katz et al. (1973) serves as a

viable explanation for the effectiveness of many content elements. Title focus, video

description, thumbnail focus, collaboration and special event relatedness all have both a

content- and a relationship-oriented element, which were discussed in detail in Section

1.7.1. Emotional appeal can also be related to this theory, but only to the relationship-

oriented need, as appealing to one’s emotions does not have any informative intent.

Similarly, share of competency does not target the audience’s need for social

relationships, it solely provides new information (Katz et al., 1973).

The theory of habit formation described by Charles Duhigg (2012) makes a

compelling argument to the effectiveness of the elements duration consistency,

seasonality and uploading consistency, as all of them trigger a habitual consumption of

the content.

Topic consistency is the only element that could be related to Forgács’s Prototype

theory. Being consistent with the topic choice most likely results in an easier

categorization of the channel, which thus might contribute to a higher number of viewers

(Forgács, 2007).

Lastly, the research identified two content elements related to the theory of

customer engagement: invitation to subscribe and comment reaction. Both elements

20

motivate customers to interact, which is very likely to result in a higher viewer

engagement (Sheehan and Morrison, 2009).

This concludes all the findings related to the psychological relations of the

analyzed content elements. Section 3.1 continues by explaining the analysis results of

each channel independently and then, Section 3.2 provides a brief overview in terms of

these results combined.

3.1 Independent analysis of the selected Youtube channels

3.1.1 Claudia Sulewski

Claudia Sulewski is a 21-year-old beauty guru from Chicago, who started her main

Youtube channel ‘Claudia Sulewski’ in 2009. One year later, she also introduced a

secondary vlog channel, where she shares days of her everyday life. That channel,

however, is beyond the focus of this study. In total, she uploaded 428 videos on her main

channel, which has a total of 1.9 million subscribers and the total number of views her

channel achieved is 124 million as of September, 2017 (Socialblade.com, 2017a). She

uploads approximately 3-4 videos per month and her topic choice is mostly beauty, health,

lifestyle or fashion related. Table 6 lists all the videos by date and title which were

uploaded within the research timeframe and thus have been analyzed on Claudia

Sulewski’s channel.

Table 6: Claudia Sulewski's analyzed content

Number Date Title

1. 02.13 COOKING WITH A 1000 DEGREE KNIFE!!

2. 02.19 SLUMBER SERIES: 21st Birthday Edition! ft. Drumaq 3. 02.25 My Everyday Skincare Routine! 2017

4. 03.03 Get Ready With Me: Before I Fall | Claudia Sulewski 5. 03.14 Moving Out & Commute Season 2!! Twitter Q&A

6. 04.09 THE COMMUTE SEASON 2: Behind the Scenes!! Links to the respective videos can be found in Appendix B. (Own editing)

During the two-month long timeframe of the analysis, there have been 6 new

videos uploaded on this channel, with an average video duration of 5:26 minutes. In

comparison to the other two Youtubers, she not only had the least videos but also the

shortest average duration. Tables 20-21 in Appendix B summarize all the data gathered

regarding her videos.

The total content score attributed to the 6 newly uploaded videos on Claudia

Sulewski’s channel was 42, being the lowest among the three analyzed channels. One

21

might assume that this low score is a result of having only a few videos (in compared to

the other two channels where this amount was 8 and 11). However, after looking at the

numbers in detail, this assumption can be confirmed to be wrong. Table 7 illustrates how

the content score has been calculated for each video, as well as for the whole channel. In

the last column, the frequency of each content element is highlighted.

Table 7: Content analysis of the content elements regarding Claudia Sulewski's

channel

Video number 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Content

element score Title focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 Video description 1 1 1 1 0 1 5

Thumbnail focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 Share of competency 1 0 1 1 0 0 3

Emotional appeal 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 Duration consistency 1 0 0 1 1 0 3

Topic consistency 0 0 1 1 0 0 2

Seasonality 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 Collaboration 0 1 0 0 0 0 1

Uploading consistency 1 1 1 1 0 0 4 Special event relatedness 0 1 0 1 0 0 2

Invitation to subscribe 1 1 0 0 0 0 2

Comment reaction 0 1 1 1 1 0 4

Total content score 8 10 7 9 5 3 42

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

The lowest content score assigned to a video in the analysis can be connected to

Claudia Sulewski’s channel, with a score of 3 (marked with green). The highest content

score assigned to her videos was 10 (marked with blue), indicating that the variance in

the content element usages was especially high in terms of this channel. Based on the

above illustrated data, the study concluded that this channel had the weakest content

element utilization technique.

When looking at the usage frequency of different content elements, the study has

found that title focus and thumbnail focus have been present in 100% of the videos. 83%

of the videos had a video description, 67% of them have been consistently uploaded

and included comment reaction from the Youtuber. Thus, in terms of Claudia Sulewski’s

channel, the study concluded that these five content elements were the most frequently

utilized.

Regarding the psychological theories connected to these elements, the study

concluded that the 3 most frequently used content strategies (title focus, thumbnail focus

and video description) could all be connected to the U&G theory. The other two, namely

22

uploading consistency and comment reaction are linked to the theories of habit

formation and customer engagement, respectively.

The second part of the analysis process was related to the ELM’s routes to

persuasion. The total persuasive score calculated in terms of Claudia Sulewski’s channel

was 64, out of which 25 can be assigned to the central and 39 to the peripheral route to

persuasion (Cacioppo and Petty, 1984). Table 22 in Appendix B summarizes these

findings. These numbers indicate that the peripheral route to persuasion was more

predominant on Claudia Sulewski’s channel, by making up 61% of the total persuasive

score. The results do not confirm the suggestions stated in the ELM theory, based on

which the central route to persuasion should be used more often, so that a predictable and

more persistent behavior change can be attained. The findings reinforce the importance

of the peripheral route to persuasion over the central one in terms of this Youtube channel.

The study has found it essential to consider the results from another perspective.

Instead of simply summing up how many times each route has been used altogether, a

different conclusion can be drawn by categorizing each content element in every video

based on which route to persuasion (central, peripheral or both) they use. With the matrix

introduced in the methodology section (Figure 4), we are able make the categorization.

The most significant differences between the three analyzed channels could be seen after

the categorization process illustrated in Table 8 below.

Table 8: Content element categorization process in terms of Claudia Sulewski’s channel

Content element Central Peripheral Both None Used (times) Main route Title focus - - 6 - 6 Both

Video description - - 5 - 5 Both

Thumbnail focus - - 6 - 6 Both Share of competency 3 - - - 3 Central

Emotional appeal - 3 - - 3 Peripheral Duration consistency - 3 - - 3 Peripheral

Topic consistency - 2 - - 2 Peripheral

Seasonality - 1 - - 1 Peripheral Collaboration - - 1 - 1 Both

Uploading consistency - 4 - - 4 Peripheral Special event

relatedness

- - 2 - 2 Both

Invitation to subscribe - 2 - - 2 Peripheral

Comment reaction - 2 2 - 4 Peripheral/

Both

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

As follows from the figure shown above, the research concluded that 50% of the

content elements could be identified by using the peripheral route, 42% by using both

routes and only 8% (1 element, namely share of competency) could be connected to the

central route.

23

Special event

relatedness

Yet it is important to mention that the categorization of some of the content

elements was predetermined due to their nature. Share of competency could only be

connected to the central route, as sharing new information is always an objective appeal.

The same applies to emotional appeal, duration consistency, topic consistency,

seasonality, uploading consistency, and invitation to subscribe as they all can solely target

the peripheral route to persuasion. Collaboration and special event relatedness also belong

to this group, but these content elements were always put in the ‘both’ category, as

including another famous person in the video or creating a topic around a special event

may both serve as an objective (if the viewer is really interested in the person/event), as

well as a subjective cue (if the person decides to watch it just because it seems

special/professional/exciting) to watch the content. Thus, content elements with a fixed

category were marked with a lighter background on the matrix below. The findings are

summarized on Figure 5.

Figure 5: Results of content element categorization based on the route to persuasion in

terms of Claudia Sulewski’s channel

Peripheral

50%

Both

42%

None

0%

Central

8%

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

The fact that comment reaction can be associated with the peripheral route just as

much as with targeting both routes is noticeable peculiarity in terms of this channel. This

fact gives rise to the suggestion that Claudia Sulewski does not necessarily focus on

giving informative comments (which would then be connected to the central route), but

rather takes the opportunity to connect with her audience so that they can more easily

relate to her.

Video description

Collaboration

Comment

reaction

Title focus

Duration

consistency

Seasonality Topic

consistency

Uploading consistency

Invitation to subscribe

Emotional appeal

Share of

competency

Thumbnail focus Comment reaction

24

The results of the categorization prove again the peripheral route to persuasion

to be more frequently utilized on Claudia Sulewski’s channel. Coupled with the low

percentage assigned to the central route, these findings provide compelling evidence that

reduced emphasis was put on the central route to persuasion.

3.1.2 Meghan Rienks

Meghan Rienks, the 24-year-old Youtuber was born in San Fransisco. She created her

main channel ‘Meghan Rienks’ in 2010, since when she has reached 2.4 million

subscribers and a total of 195 million views on her 630 videos, as of September 2017

(Socialblade.com, 2017b). Since 2013, she is leading a secondary vlog channel as well,

where the content is more personal, but that channel is out of the scope of this research.

She has on average 3-4 video uploads per month and her topic range covers beauty-,

health-, lifestyle- and fashion-related content, most of which are humorous or even

sarcastic. Table 9 shows all the videos by date and title which were uploaded within the

research timeframe and thus have been analyzed on Meghan Rienk’s channel.

Table 9: Meghan Rienk's analyzed content

Number Date Title

1. 02.13 TRYING INSTAGRAM MAKEUP 2. 02.14 BOYFRIEND TAG | Meghan Rienks {2017}

3. 02.27 EXPOSING YOUTUBE FRIEND DRAMA? | SAY IT OR WEAR IT! 4. 03.03 MY FAVORITE THINGS

5. 03.13 BOYFRIEND DOES MY VOICEOVER | Meghan Rienks

6. 03.22 WHEN YOU SHOULD LOSE YOUR VIRGINITY | Meghan Rienks 7. 04.01 HOW I CLEARED MY ACNE: SKINCARE ROUTINE FOR ACCUTANE

8. 04.12 TESTING SHARK TANK PRODUCTS | feat. Beauty Break Links to the respective videos can be found in Appendix C. (Own editing)

During the two-month long timeframe of the analysis, there have been 8 new

videos uploaded on this channel, with an average video duration of 7:08 minutes. These

numbers are in between those of the other two Youtubers. Tables 23-24 in Appendix C

summarize all the data gathered regarding the videos.

The total content score assigned to the 8 newly uploaded videos on Meghan

Rienks’s channel was 57. This score does not indicate a more frequent utilization of

content elements as the number of videos uploaded on this channel was also higher than

on the previous one. Table 10 illustrates how the content score has been calculated for

each video, as well as for the channel as a whole. In the last column, the frequency of

each content element is highlighted.

25

Table 10: Content analysis of the content elements regarding Meghan Rienks's channel

Video number 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Content element

score Title focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 Video description 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8

Thumbnail focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8

Share of competency 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 5 Emotional appeal 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 6

Duration consistency 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 Topic consistency 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2

Seasonality 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 Collaboration 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

Uploading consistency 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3

Special event relatedness 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Invitation to subscribe 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 5

Comment reaction 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 5

Total score 8 8 5 9 7 7 7 6 57

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

The lowest content score assigned to a video on this channel was 5 (marked with

green) and the highest was 9 (marked with blue). These numbers indicate that Meghan

Rienks neither had the most outstanding content element utilization technique, nor had

she the least prominent one. The variance in the video content scores was not significant

either, meaning that she more or less utilized the same content element amount throughout

her uploads. These data provide compelling evidence to suggest that the content element

focus on this channel was consistent, but not the most remarkable among the other two.

When looking at the usage frequency of different content elements, the study has

found that the content elements of title focus, video description and thumbnail focus

have been present in 100% of the videos. 75% of the videos included the content element

of emotional appeal, whereas 63% of them shared a competency and included

invitation to subscribe, as well as comment reaction from the Youtuber. Thus, in terms

of Meghan Rienks’s channel, the study concluded that these seven content elements were

the most frequently utilized.

As far as the psychological theories associated with the content elements, the

above illustrated findings show that the most regularly used elements could be connected

to the theories of U&G and customer engagement. Title focus, video description,

thumbnail focus, share of competency and emotional appeal all are related to the Users

and Gratifications theory, based on which the theory suggests that Meghan Rienks

emphasizes appealing to the viewers’ information-, and relationship-oriented needs.

However, she also puts emphasis on engaging her viewers, by inviting them to subscribe

and reacting to their comments.

26

The total persuasive score calculated in terms of Meghan Rienks’s channel was

80, out of which 28 could be assigned to the central and 52 to the peripheral route to

persuasion (Cacioppo and Petty, 1984). Table 25 in Appendix C summarizes these results.

The findings indicate that the peripheral route to persuasion was even more predominant

on Meghan Rienks’s channel than on the previous one, as its score makes up 65% of the

total persuasive score. This again proves the ELM suggestions relating to the central route

to be wrong, as the data indicates again that the peripheral route to persuasion is preferred

over the central one.

The categorization process of the content elements is illustrated in Table 11 below.

Table 11: Content element categorization process in terms of Meghan Rienks’s channel

Content element Central Peripheral Both None Used (times) Main route

Title focus - - 8 - 8 Both Video description - 5 3 - 8 Peripheral

Thumbnail focus - - 8 - 8 Both Share of competency 5 - - - 5 Central

Emotional appeal - 6

6

- - 6 Peripheral

Duration consistency - 4

4

- - 4 Peripheral Topic consistency - 2 - - 2 Peripheral

Seasonality - 1

1

- - 1 Peripheral Collaboration - - 1

1

- 1 Both

Uploading consistency - 3 - - 3 Peripheral Special event relatedness - - 1 - 1 Both

Invitation to subscribe - 5 - - 5 Peripheral

Comment reaction - 2 3 - 5 Both

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

The results show that 54% of the content elements could be identified by using

the peripheral route, 38% by using both routes and only 8% (1 element, namely share of

competency) could be connected to the central route.

Something peculiar to this channel is the video description being most often

associated with the peripheral route to persuasion. The explanation behind this anomaly

can be derived from Meghan Rienks’s humor-, and sarcasm-focused content. She prefers

amusement over facts and clarity, and as a result, 5 out of her 8 newly uploaded videos

had a solely entertaining description which did not provide any sense of information

regarding the content. The findings are summarized on Figure 6 below.

27

Figure 6: Results of content element categorization based on the route to persuasion in

terms of Meghan Rienks’s channel

Peripheral

54% Both

38%

None

0%

Central

8%

(Own editing, , based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

The above discussed results suggest a preference of the peripheral route to

persuasion over the central route, thus in terms of Meghan Rienks’s channel the research

concluded that the role of the peripheral route is more predominant.

3.1.3 Jenn Im

Jenn Im is a 27-year-old beauty guru from Los Angeles, who started Youtube in 2010.

Since then, she has uploaded 509 videos on her channel ‘clothesencounters’, acquired 2

million subscribers and reached 197 million views in total, as of September 2017

(Socialblade.com, 2017c). The core topic of her channel is fashion, but she also has a

handful of beauty-, health- and lifestyle-related videos. She does not have a separate

channel for vlogs, instead, she uploads this kind of content on her main channel as well.

Among the three Youtubers this study has selected, she is the most consistent with her

uploading scheme: she uploads on average 2 videos every week, meaning around 7 to 10

videos per month. That is to say, the unit size was the greatest in terms of this channel.

Table 12 lists all the videos by date and title which were uploaded within the research

timeframe and thus have been analyzed on Jenn Im’s channel.

Video description

Special event

relatedness

Collaboration

Comment

reaction Thumbnail focus

Title focus

Duration

consistency

Seasonality Topic

consistency

Uploading

consistency

Invitation to

subscribe Emotional appeal

Share of competency

28

Table 12: Jenn Im's analyzed content

Number Date Title

1. 02.19 What Would Jenn Wear #12 2. 02.23 How I Became More Confident

3. 02.26 February Monthly Vlog | JENNBRUARY

4. 03.01 February Favorites 2017 5. 03.05 Hot Cheetos Quesadillas Taste Test with Sophia Chang

6. 03.13 Spring Thrift Haul | clothesencounters 7. 03.19 How To Pose For Photos | 10 Easy Poses For Instagram

8. 03.26 Jenn Goes To Austin | clothesencounters

9. 03.31 March Favorites 2017 10. 04.04 March Monthly Vlog | clothesencounters

11. 04.09 Jet Set Jenn | Festival Beauty Kit + Lookbook

Links to the respective videos can be found in the Appendix. (Own editing)

During the two-month long timeframe of the analysis, there have been 11 new

videos uploaded on this channel, with an average video duration of 7:19 minutes, meaning

that Jenn Im not only had the longest videos but also the most frequent uploading scheme.

Tables 26-28 in Appendix D summarize all the data gathered regarding her videos.

The total content score assigned to the 11 newly uploaded videos on Jenn Im’s

channel was 92. This high score is a result of the combination of uploading more videos

within the timeframe and using content elements more frequently. Table 13 shows how

the content score has been calculated for each video, as well as for the whole channel. In

the last column, the frequency of each element is highlighted.

Table 13: Content analysis of the content elements regarding Jenn Im’s channel

Video number 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Content

element

score

Title focus 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 8

Video description 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 Thumbnail focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11

Share of competency 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 8 Emotional appeal 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3

Duration consistency 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 7 Topic consistency 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 6

Seasonality 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 4

Collaboration 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Uploading consistency 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 10

Special event relatedness 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Invitation to subscribe 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11

Comment reaction 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11

Total content score 9 9 7 11 8 7 9 6 11 6 9 92

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

As seen on the illustration, the lowest content score her videos got was 6 (marked

with green), which is still the highest among the three Youtubers’ weakest content scores.

29

The highest content score assigned to her videos was 11 (marked with blue), which is the

highest in the analysis. These data show that Jenn Im used content elements the most

often and prove that the highest total content score her channel got was not solely a result

of the high number of videos she had. Thus, the study concluded that this channel had the

best content element utilization rates, as most of the videos have been filled with a handful

of content elements and the variance in the video content scores was relatively low.

When looking at the usage frequency of different content elements, the study has

found that the content elements of video description, thumbnail focus, invitation to

subscribe and comment reaction have been present in 100% of the videos. 91% of the

videos have been consistently uploaded, whereas 73% of them included title focus and

shared a competency. Last, but not least, duration consistency has also been significant,

it appeared in 64% of the videos. Thus, in terms of Jenn Im’s channel, the study concluded

that these 8 content elements were the most frequently utilized.

The psychological theories associated with Jenn Im’s most regularly used content

elements are the theories of U&G, habit formation and customer engagement.

However, in contrast to the previous two channels, the role of customer engagement was

much more critical, as the content elements associated with it (invitation to subscribe and

comment reaction) were utilized in all of the videos. Moreover, another significant

difference is the fact that she regularly used content elements targeting habit formation.

Despite the fact that the other two channels put less emphasis on this, habit formation had

an increased role on Jenn Im’s channel.

The total persuasive score calculated in terms of this channel was 150, out of

which 59 could be assigned to the central and 91 to the peripheral route to persuasion

(Cacioppo and Petty, 1984). Table 29 in Appendix D summarizes these findings. The

conclusion derived from this data is again the fact that the peripheral route to persuasion

was significantly more predominant on this channel as well, as it made up 61% of the

total persuasive score. This again disproves the ELM’s suggestion relating to the

importance of the central route to persuasion.

The content element categorization process is illustrated in Table 14 below.

30

Special event relatedness

Table 14: Content element categorization process in terms of Jenn Im’s channel

Content element Central Peripheral Both None Used (times) Main route

Title focus - 2 7 - 9 Both Video description - - 11 - 11 Both

Thumbnail focus 5 1 5 - 11 Central/

Both Share of competency 8 - - - 8 Central

Emotional appeal - 3 - - 3 Peripheral Duration consistency - 8 - - 8 Peripheral

Topic consistency - 5 - - 5 Peripheral

Seasonality - 4 - - 4 Peripheral Collaboration - - 11 - 11 Both

Uploading consistency - 10 - - 10 Peripheral Special event relatedness - - 1 - 1 Both

Invitation to subscribe - 11 - - 11 Peripheral Comment reaction - - 11 - 11 Both

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

The results obtained indicate that 46% of the content elements could be identified

by using the peripheral route, 42% by using both routes and only 12% (share of

competency always, thumbnail focus partially) could be connected to the central route.

The findings are summarized on Figure 7 below.

Figure 7: Results of content element categorization based on the route to persuasion in

terms of Jenn Im’s channel

Peripheral

46%

Both

42%

None

0%

Central

12%

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

The data shows that in contrast to the first two channels, this channel employed the

central route to persuasion not only in terms of share of competency, but also with regard

to thumbnail focus. This shows that Jenn Im often considered an informative thumbnail

to be more effective than one appealing to the viewer’s emotions.

Video description

Collaboration

Thumbnail focus

Title focus

Duration consistency

Seasonality Topic consistency

Uploading

consistency

Invitation to

subscribe Emotional appeal

Share of

competency

Comment reaction Thumbnail focus

31

However, in the majority of the cases content elements could be connected to the

peripheral route, thus, in terms of Jenn Im’s channel, the peripheral route to persuasion

was proved to be the most frequently utilized.

3.2 Combined interpretation

All in all, this research paper has analyzed 25 videos from the three selected channels

altogether.

The total content score calculated by combining the scores of the three channels

equals 191. Table 15 indicates how frequently different content elements have been

utilized on the three channels as a whole. The most frequent elements are highlighted with

red color.

Table 15: Content element frequency on all of the channels combined

Content element Frequency videos Frequency in videos (%)

Title focus 22 88% Video description 24 96%

Thumbnail focus 25 100%

Share of competency 16 64% Emotional appeal 12 48%

Duration consistency 14 56% Topic consistency 10 40%

Seasonality 6 24% Collaboration 3 12%

Uploading consistency 17 68%

Special event relatedness 4 16% Invitation to subscribe 18 72%

Comment reaction 20 80%

Total content score 191

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

These results show that thumbnail focus has been the most popular among the

content elements, as it was utilized in all of the videos. Video description has been almost

as popular, being present in terms of 96% of the videos. The third most frequently used

element has been title focus, being present in 88% of the content. Comment reaction

and invitation to subscribe have also been widely utilized, in 80% and 72% of the videos

respectively. With a lower rate, but still above the limit, uploading consistency (68%),

share of competency (64%) and duration consistency (56%) have also been proven to

be frequent content elements.

All in all, with regards to the psychological theories associated with the elements,

U&G theory turned out to be the most predominantly used among all, as video

description, title focus and share of competency all can be connected to this concept.

32

However, the ideas of customer engagement and habit formation also remain to be

relevant, as the remaining, regularly used content elements can be connected to those.

This however also implies that Forgács’s prototype theory was not among the most

significant psychological concepts related to the analyzed content elements.

The utilization patterns of the routes to persuasion have also been analyzed in

terms of the three channels combined. The total persuasive score calculated in terms of

the channels was 293, out of which 112 could be assigned to the central and 181 to the

peripheral route to persuasion (Cacioppo and Petty, 1984). Table 16 summarizes these

findings.

Table 16: Content analysis of the routes to persuasion for the three channels combined

Content element Central Peripheral

Title focus 21 23 Video description 19 23

Thumbnail focus 23 20 Share of competency 16 0

Emotional appeal 0 12

Duration consistency 0 15 Topic consistency 0 10

Seasonality 0 6 Collaboration 13 13

Uploading consistency 0 17 Special event relatedness 4 4

Invitation to subscribe 0 18

Comment reaction 16 20

Total route score of the three channels 112 (38%) 181 (62%)

Total persuasive score of the three channels 293 (100%)

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

This in fact shows that the peripheral route to persuasion is much more frequently

used by the content creators, as it makes up 62% of the total persuasive score. The

peripheral route being the most frequent in terms of all the channels separately and

combined, also provides indisputable evidence to reject the suggestion of ELM, based on

which the central route should always be more predominant. The findings imply that this

assumption may not hold in terms of Youtube channels and that on this platform, the

peripheral route to persuasion might offer a more viable tool for inducing attitude change.

As shown in Table 17 below, the research summarized the results of the

categorization process as well.

33

Special event

relatedness

Table 17: Categorization of each element based on the route to persuasion they use

Content element Central Peripheral Both None Used (times) Main route

Title focus 0 2 21 2 23 Both Video description 0 4 19 2 23 Both

Thumbnail focus 5 1 19 0 25 Both Share of competency 16 0 0 9 16 Central

Emotional appeal 0 12 0 13 12 Peripheral

Duration consistency 0 15 0 10 15 Peripheral Topic consistency 0 9 0 16 9 Peripheral

Seasonality 0 6 0 19 6 Peripheral Collaboration 0 0 13 12 13 Both

Uploading consistency 0 17 0 8 17 Peripheral

Special event relatedness 0 0 4 21 4 Both Invitation to subscribe 0 18 0 7 18 Peripheral

Comment reaction 0 4 16 5 20 Both (Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

All things considered, the study identified 6 elements by using both routes, another

six by using the peripheral route and only one could be assigned to the central route. The

overall measurement results are summarized on Figure 8 below.

Figure 8: Route categorization matrix

Peripheral

46%

Both

46%

None

0%

Central

8%

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

It is important to note that none of the content elements were identified by using

none of the routes. Such a case would have implied for instance a video description

neither including informative content, nor having an emotional essence. This peculiarity

however never occurred in terms of any of the analyzed content elements.

The figures prove the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Persuasion introduced in

Section 1.8 to be false in the case of content element utilization on Youtube. Although

Video description

Collaboration

Comment reaction

Title focus

Duration

consistency

Seasonality Topic consistency

Uploading

consistency

Invitation to subscribe

Emotional appeal

Share of

competency

Thumbnail focus

34

the framework suggested a more frequent usage of the central route to persuasion, as it

would result in a more predictable and persistent behavior change, this was proven to be

inaccurate in terms of each channel separately and combined as well. The research

determined that tools connected to the peripheral, or to the mix of the two routes are

considerably prevalent.

4. Conclusion

4.1 Discussion of findings

The thesis work began by highlighting the role of personal branding within the marketing

environment. It identified the concept of social media influencers and crowdcultures,

which served as two fundamental notions in understanding the increased role of

Youtubers.

According to Shepherd (2005) personal branding is a rapidly growing business.

As a result of the emergence of social media, more attention is paid on social media

influencers as they possess unique means of influencing the audience (Abdallah, 2015).

Several experts attempted to discover the source of power they maintain (Labrecque,

Markos and Milne, 2011; Markos-Kujbus, 2016; Nagy, Kemény, Simon, and Kiss, 2015;

Fournier, 1998). They considered several factors such as the belief of Youtubers being

independent from companies (Markos-Kujbus, 2016), the personal interactions and

quality relationships they cherish with their audience (Fournier, 1998) or that they are

highly relatable (DeMers, 2015).

However, several independent studies in psychology can be connected to the

increased influence of social media stars as well. The Prototype Theory introduced by

Forgács (2007), the concept of customer engagement discovered by Sheehan and

Morrison (2009), the power of habit formation argued by Charles Duhigg (2012), the

Uses and Gratifications theory explained by Jahn and Kunz (2012) or the model forming

the theoretical background of this thesis work, The Elaboration Likelihood Model

established by Cacioppo and Petty (1984).

This thesis work addressed three research questions to understand the Youtuber

personal branding process. First, which video content elements are the most widely used

by successful Youtubers? Second, which theories in behavioral psychology might explain

the effectiveness of these tools? Third, do these patterns comply with the Elaboration

Likelihood Model of Persuasion?

35

The Youtube channels featured in this study were all lifestyle-oriented, focusing

on topics such as beauty, health, lifestyle or fashion. To successfully answer the research

questions, the paper analyzed the Youtube channels of Claudia Sulewski, Meghan Rienks

and Jenn Im separately, as well as combined.

The individual assessments identified important peculiarities in terms of each

channel. As regards content element utilization, Claudia Sulewski’s channel has been

identified as having the least, and Jenn Im’s channel as having the most successful content

element utilization patterns, based on the amount and consistency of elements they have

used.

The summarized findings illustrated that the content elements of thumbnail

focus, video description and title focus have been the most frequently utilized, followed

by the still significant comment reaction, invitation to subscribe, uploading

consistency, share of competency and duration consistency.

With regards to the psychological theories associated with the elements, U&G

theory turned out to be the most predominantly used among all, however, the concepts

of customer engagement and habit formation also were proven to be important.

The analysis of routes to persuasion revealed significant differences between the

persuasion techniques of the three Youtubers. In terms of the categorization process of

Claudia Sulewski’s channel, the element of comment reaction could be assigned to the

‘peripheral’, as well as to the ‘both’ category at the same time. This highlighted that she

may emphasize connecting to her audience through her comments, rather than just purely

giving informative answers. The exception found on Meghan Rienks’s channel arouse

from her humor-, and sarcasm-focused content: her video descriptions have mostly been

entertaining, instead of being descriptive. Lastly, on Jenn Im’s channel, the study has

found that thumbnail focus often targeted the central route to persuasion, in contrast to

the other channels. This showed that Jenn Im regularly preferred an informative

thumbnail over one that appeals to the viewer’s emotions.

The most remarkable result to emerge from the data is that the peripheral route to

persuasion was more predominantly used in terms of all of the channels. The evidence

from this points towards the idea that the suggestion stated in the Elaboration Likelihood

Model regarding the effectiveness of central route to persuasion may not comply with

Youtube videos. The research determined that tools connected to the peripheral, or to the

mix of the two routes are considerably prevalent and thus the rule presented in the ELM

framework cannot be proven to be right in terms of this social media platform.

36

4.1 Limitations and Implications

Several sources of possible error have to be considered in terms of the analysis.

First and foremost, we must emphasize the limitations arising from the sample

size. The research only focused on three beauty channels on Youtube, thus we cannot

generalize its findings on Youtube’s platform as a whole. We have to keep in mind that

our sample size consisted of only three content creators, thus our results may have turned

out to be different, if the analysis involved the content of more Youtubers. The sample

size of three channels and the unit size of n = 25 videos is not sufficient to state that the

above recognized patterns comply with those of other beauty channels’. Moreover, the

topic of Youtube channels vary greatly and what might be true to a beauty-related content,

may not work on a vlogging or a gaming channel. Thus, the findings not only may not

hold in terms of other non-analyzed beauty channels, but their relevance regarding

channels with other topics is also questionable.

Another limitation the research has is due to the limited timeframe of the

observation. The final results and conclusions may have been different if the timeframe

was extended or if the observation process was done in different months of the year.

Moreover, since the present study has only investigated the relative utilization

frequency of content elements and ELM’s routes to persuasion, the fact that some of the

elements and the peripheral route have been more regularly used does not necessarily

imply that their effectiveness is superior. The identified utilization patterns might also be

incidental, without any prior thoughtful consideration of their effects. Future studies on

the current topic are therefore required in order to verify not only the usage frequency,

but also the effectiveness of the identified content elements and route to persuasion.

This study provides considerable insight to the branding tools utilized by

successful Youtubers with the aim of reaching out to the widest audience possible. An

implication of the findings is the possibility that more attention should be paid on cues

targeting the peripheral route to persuasion. The present findings might help future

Youtube content oriented studies to originate ideas from the aforementioned, most

frequently utilized content elements and route to persuasion.

37

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Tungate, M. (2013). Adland : a global history of advertising (2.ed). London ;

Philadelphia, PA : Kogan Page.

White, M., & Marsh, E. (2006). Content Analysis: A Flexible Methodology. Library

Trends, 55(1), 22–45.

43

Appendices Appendix A: Methodology

Table 18: Factors of the content element analysis

Denomination Measure Scoring

Title focus

If the title includes any content whose main purpose is to attract attention

and encourage visitors to click on a link, a brand name or is written with

capital letters.

1 if either of the conditions appear, 0 if none.

Video description If there is any description about the topic in the description box. 1 if yes, 0 if not (even if there is a description

unrelated to the video topic.

Thumbnail focus If the thumbnail is colorful or includes explicit content (content that is

clearly expressed, containing provocative words or images).

1 if either of the conditions appear, 0 if none.

Share of competency If the Youtuber shares any personal competency with the audience.

(Tutorials, life advice, DIY, etc.) 1 if yes, 0 if not.

Emotional appeal If the video has emotional elements, appeals to one’s emotions. 1 if yes, 0 if not.

Duration consistency

If the length of the analyzed video has a length not more or less by 2

minutes of the average length of the given Youtuber’s videos. 1 if the length fits the condition, 0 if it doesn’t.

Topic consistency If the topic of the video is closely related to the theme (the main topic on

which all or the majority of the videos are based) of the channel. 1 if yes, 0 if not.

Seasonality If the video is seasonal (regularly appearing) on the channel, for example

a Video Series. 1 if yes, 0 if not.

Collaboration If the Youtuber collaborates with another Youtuber to create the video. 1 if yes, 0 if not.

Uploading consistency If the time period between the last video and uploading date of the given

video does not exceed 1 week. 1 if it does not exceed 1 week, 0 if it does..

Special event relatedness If the topic of the video is related to a special event, such as Easter,

Valentine’s day, or a Festival. 1 if yes, 0 if not.

Invitation to subscribe

If the Youtuber invites the audience to subscribe in the form of asking

them in the video, by putting an annotation (a clickable area at the end of

the video which displays a text message) in the end of the video or in the

description box.

1 if either of the possibilities appear, 0 if none.

Comment reaction If the Youtuber reacts to at least 1 comment in the comment section.

1 if yes, 0 if not.

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube )

44

Table 19: Elements of the persuasive route content analysis

Denomination Central score Peripheral score Total score

Title focus 1 point if the title is informative or relates to sharing

new information in the video.

1 point if the title attempts to catch curiosity or

includes emotions. C

entral sco

re + P

eriph

eral score

Video description 1 point if the description includes information

regarding the video.

1 point if the description attempts to catch curiosity

or includes emotions.

Thumbnail focus 1 point if the thumbnail includes information

regarding the video.

1 point if the thumbnail attempts to catch curiosity or

includes emotions.

Share of competency 1 point if present, as sharing any kind of competency

is a central route to persuasion.

Always 0 point, as any kind of competency is a

central route to persuasion.

Emotional appeal Always 0 point, as emotional appeal targets the

peripheral route to persuasion.

1 point if present, as emotional content targets the

peripheral route to persuasion.

Duration consistency Always 0 point, being consistent with the duration

targets the peripheral route to persuasion.

1 point if present, being consistent with the duration

targets the peripheral route to persuasion.

Topic consistency Always 0 point, as being consistent with the topic

choice is always a peripheral route to persuasion.

1 point if present, being consistent with the topic

choice targets the peripheral route to persuasion.

Seasonality Always 0 point, as offering seasonal content is

always a peripheral route to persuasion.

1 point if present, as offering seasonal content is

always a peripheral route to persuasion.

Collaboration

1 point if present, because collaborating with others may affect both the central (because if the audience

knows with whom they collaborate, it is more likely that they will be interested) and the peripheral (because

collaboration may provoke excitement in the audience) route to persuasion.

Uploading consistency Always 0 point, as being consistent with the

uploading is always a peripheral route to persuasion.

1 point if present, as being consistent with the

uploading is always a peripheral route to persuasion.

Special event

relatedness

1 point if present, because uploading content that is related to a special event may affect both the central (if

the person really is interested in the event) and the peripheral (if the person would not be interested,but

watches the video anyway, because it’s related to a special event) route to persuasion.

Invitation to subscribe

Always 0 point, as engaging the audience through

inviting them to subscribe is always a peripheral

route to persuasion.

1 point if present, as engaging the audience through

inviting them to subscribe is always a peripheral

route to persuasion.

Comment reaction 1 point if the comment answer includes any piece of

information.

1 point if the comment answer is a tool for

engagement.

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube )

45

Appendix B: Claudia Sulewski

Table 20: Videos analyzed on Claudia Sulewski's channel I.

Date 02.13 02.19 02.25

Title COOKING WITH A 1000 DEGREE KNIFE!! SLUMBER SERIES: 21st Birthday Edition! ft.

Drumaq My Everyday Skincare Routine! 2017

Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQpXwkHPNyQ&t=1

s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iatCaRFsuM

g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFTD-

opXs2Y

Video

description

Today I tried cooking with a 1000 degree knife.. it was

terrifying.

Today's Slumber Series celebrates being 21,

eating cake & sharing ridiculous memories!

THUMBS UP!!

Today I talk about what skincare products I use

everyday! Shop here!

http://bit.ly/ClaudiaTTDO This video is

sponsored by Clinique. Available at Clinique

counters nationwide, Sephora, and

Sephora.com. Links: link to subscribe, social media links Links: social media links Links: link to the sponsor's website, social

media links, list of products mentioned

Thumbnail

Video duration 5:46 21:00 8:10

Topic range Lifestyle - Challenge Lifestyle Beauty

Topic Doing an interesting experiment. - challenge A series created by her talking about lifestyle

issues Skincare routine

Uploading day Monday Sunday Saturday

Scheduled video No No No

Collaboration No Yes (the whole series is a collaboration) No

Related to a

special event No No No

Does she invite

to subscribe? Yes, in the info box with link. Yes, in the info box with link. No

Answering

comments No Yes Yes

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

46

Table 21: Videos analyzed on Claudia Sulewski's channel II.

Date 03.03 03.14 04.09

Title Get Ready With Me: Before I Fall | Claudia Sulewski Moving Out & Commute Season 2!! Twitter Q&A THE COMMUTE SEASON 2: Behind the

Scenes!!

Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBMu-6BrQC4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58di0BYIP3Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc16eq2qv0

8

Video

description

Get ready with me fore the Before I Fall Red Carpet

Premiere! Thanks to Awesomeness Films for

sponsoring this video! Get your tickets:

http://beforeifalltix.com

-

After 3 crazy, amazing, exhausting weeks we

FINALLY WRAPPED COMMUTE SEASON

2!! THUMBS UP IF YOU'RE READY.

Links: social media links Links: social media links Links: social media links

Thumbnail

Video duration 4:17 6:37 13:11

Topic range Beauty, Vlog Lifestyle Lifestyle, Vlog, Behind the scenes

Topic Get ready with me, vlog at the event. Q&A Behind the scenes of her series.

Uploading day Friday Tuesday Sunday

Scheduled

video

No No No

Collaboration No No No

Related to a

special event Related to Before I Fall Red Carpet Premiere. No No

Does she invite

to subscribe? No No No

Answering

comments Yes Yes No

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

47

Table 22: Content analysis of routes to persuasion regarding Claudia Sulewski's channel

Video number 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Total score for the

route

Route C P C P C P C P C P C P Central Peripheral

Title focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 6 Video description 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - 1 1 5 5

Thumbnail focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 6 Share of competency 1 0 - - 1 0 1 0 - - - - 3 0

Emotional appeal 0 1 0 1 - - - - 0 1 - - 0 3 Duration consistency 0 1 - - - - 0 1 0 1 - - 0 3

Topic consistency - - - - 0 1 0 1 - - - - 0 2

Seasonality - - 0 1 - - - - - - - - 0 1 Collaboration - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - 1 1

Uploading consistency 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 - - - - 0 4 Special event relatedness - - 1 1 - - 1 1 - - - - 2 2

Invitation to subscribe 0 1 0 1 - - - - - - - - 0 2

Comment reaction - - 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 - - 2 4

Total score 4 7 5 10 5 6 6 8 2 5 3 3 25 39

Total persuasive score 11 15 11 14 7 6 64 (Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

48

Appendix C: Meghan Rienks

Table 23: Videos analyzed on Meghan Rienk's channel I.

Date 02.13 02.14 02.27 03.03

Title TRYING INSTAGRAM MAKEUP BOYFRIEND TAG 💖 | Meghan

Rienks {2017}

EXPOSING YOUTUBE FRIEND

DRAMA? | SAY IT OR WEAR IT! MY FAVORITE THINGS

Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=73bfXzfmpFg&t=1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=07QWwwkSurQ&t=371s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=K0VQgovpXBM&t=4s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=FFuikbRC8fI

Video description

crushing my dreams of being the

next mannymua

big shoutout to this kid for

subjecting himself to the internet

& for loving me despite how batshit

crazy I am.

He da real MVP

da james to my lily

da neil to my david

da zoe to my alfie

da raquel to my corrine

gross too many feelings

now thats one dirty video

WOAH HELLO MY

FAVORITES! v excite that CND™

Vinylux™ nail polish is now at cvs

& walgreens so we can all have

pretty handz without human

interaction ;) big thank you to

@CNDWorld #adP.S...... an

unfathomable amount of coffee and

cold medication went into the

production of this video..... just so

you know.

Links: links to own videos, social

media links, products listed with

links

Links: links to own videos, social

media links

Links: links to own videos, social

media links

Links: links to own videos,

products listed with links

Thumbnail

Video duration 6:28 9:19 6:55 9:59

Topic range Beauty Lifestyle - Tag Lifestyle - Tag Lifestyle

Topic Makeup tutorial, funny. Boyfriend tag, love. Truth or dare tag, funny. Favorites video.

Uploading day Monday Tuesday Monday Friday

Scheduled video No No No Yes.

Collaboration No No No No

Related to a special

event No Yes, Valentines day. No No

Does she invite to

subscribe? No

Yes, she asks for it in the video and

with an annotation in the end of the

video.

No Yes, with an annotation in the end

of the video.

Answering

comments No Yes No Yes

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

49

Table 24: Videos analyzed on Meghan Rienk's channel II.

Date 03.13 03.22 04.01 04.12

Title BOYFRIEND DOES MY

VOICEOVER | 💖 Meghan Rienks

WHEN YOU SHOULD LOSE

YOUR VIRGINITY | Meghan

Rienks

HOW I CLEARED MY ACNE:

SKINCARE ROUTINE FOR

ACCUTANE

TESTING SHARK TANK

PRODUCTS | feat. Beauty Break

Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=QsxVTdprhPQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=Q4hx94-nXiA&feature=push-u-

sub&attr_tag=CKyK4UjE9JzAEIQ

Y-6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=QdPqjin-aYk&t=0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=p1aVEOKj5gw

Video description

i think we have a booty guru on our

hands

CALL ME BEEP ME IF U WANNA

REACH ME

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

310- 694-0976

i'm so STOKED to be finally

announcing this! I've been working on

and planning it for legit YEARS so

it's about damn time!

i thought i'd answer some questions

about it here, so i'll be updating this

FAQ section as i read the comments!

♡ FAQ ABOUT THE 'DON'T

BLAME ME' PODCAST ♡

ugh this video makes me happy

______________________________

ps incase you're a fake adult like me

& don't know how to find a

dermatologist - i used

https://www.zocdoc.com/

(THIS IS LEGIT NOT SPONSORED

AT ALL I JUST LIKE IT I SWEAR

GUYS OKAY LETS BE REAL IF

THIS WAS SPONSORED I

WOULDN'T HAVE SAID FUCK SO

MANY TIMES OKAY!??!?)

now imagine if we were actually on

drugz

i literally dont know what to even

write here because this video is a

bigger mess than the 4th of july party

i threw my senior year of high school

which is saying A LOT bc i had a

sunburn and just went topless and

counted the sunburn as the red, my

jean shorts as the blue and my

personalize solo cup as the 'white'.

have you changed ur opinion of me?

probably not- we already all know

how rachet i am. Links: social media links, products

listed with links -

Links: links to own videos, social

media links

Links: links to own videos, social

media links

Thumbnail

Video duration 5:12 18:27 12:31 8:37

Topic range Lifestyle - Tag Lifestyle - Advice Lifestyle, Beauty Lifestyle

Topic Boyfriend does my voiceover,

funny.

‘Doctor Meghan’ series, giving

advice to questions asked by

viewers.

Announces an upcoming podcast

she is starting now.

Story regarding how she cleared her

acne. Testing funny products.

Uploading day Monday Wednesday Saturday Wednesday

Scheduled video No No No No

Collaboration No No No No

Related to a special

event No No No No

Does she invite to

subscribe?

Yes, with an annotation in the end

of the video.

Yes, with an annotation in the end

of the video.

Yes, with an annotation in the end

of the video. No

Answering

comments Yes Yes No No

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

50

Table 25: Content analysis of routes to persuasion regarding Meghan Rienks's channel

Video number 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Total score for the

route

Route C P C P C P C P C P C P C P C P Central Peripheral

Title focus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 8 Video description 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 3 8

Thumbnail focus 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 8 Share of competency 1 0 - - - - 1 0 - - 1 0 1 0 1 0 5 0

Emotional appeal - - 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 - - 0 6 Duration consistency 0 1 - - 0 1 - - 0 1 - - - - 0 1 0 4

Topic consistency 0 1 - - - - - - - - - - 0 1 - - 0 2

Seasonality - - - - - - 0 1 - - - - - - - - 0 1 Collaboration - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 1

Uploading consistency 0 1 0 1 - - 0 1 - - - - - - - - 0 3 Special event relatedness - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1

Invitation to subscribe - - 0 1 - - 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 - - 0 5

Comment reaction 0 1 1 1 - - 1 1 0 1 1 1 - - - - 3 5

Total score 3 7 4 8 1 5 5 8 2 7 5 6 4 6 4 5 28 52

Total persuasive score 10 12 6 13 9 11 10 9 80 (Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

51

Appendix D: Jenn Im

Table 26: Videos analyzed on Jenn Im’s channel I.

Date 02.19 02.23 02.26 03.01

Title What Would Jenn Wear #12 How I Became More Confident February Monthly Vlog |

JENNBRUARY February Favorites 2017

Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=TdrkfzYiD1M&t=0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=w4gPu5Tv0ts&t=377s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=UWSdGxxtJMU&t=3s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=dU-jFU30tfQ

Video description

Ever had trouble on deciding what

to wear? I gotchu! What Would

Jenn Wear is a segment where you

tweet me your fashion dilemmas

and I answer them. In this new

episode, I show you how to style

fishnets to finding inspiration in an

art piece!

Confidence is something that came

gradually for me. In this video, I sit

down and have a candid talk about

how I became more comfortable

and happy with myself.

Ohhhh snap! Another Sunday.

Another vlog. I didn’t expect to

document so much of February, but

I surprised myself. In this video,

Steph gives me her very belated

(but incredible) birthday gift, Ben

and I picnic for Valentine’s Day,

Sophia tints my brows and a whole

lot moar!

Holy smokes! Where did February

go?! Well let’s rewind and chat

about some of my favorites from

last month.

-

Links: social media links, products

she is wearing listed with links -

Links: social media links, products

mentioned listed with links

Thumbnail

Video duration 6:17 7:19 24:28 7:20

Topic range Fashion Lifestyle - Advice Lifestyle - Vlog Beauty

Topic Giving advice on what to wear for

special occasions or on how to style

particular clothes.

Giving 5 tips to become confident

based on her own experience. Monthly vlog. February favorites.

Uploading day Sunday Thursday Sunday Wednesday

Scheduled video No No Yes, February vlog. Yes, February favorites.

Collaboration No No No No

Is it related to a

special event? No No No No

Does she invite to

subscribe? Yes, in the info box with link. Yes, in the info box with link.

Yes, with an annotation in the end

of the video and with a link in the

info box.

Yes, with an annotation in the end

of the video.

Answering

comments Yes Yes Yes Yes

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

52

Table 27: Videos analyzed on Jenn Im’s channel II.

Date 03.05 03.13 03.19 03.26

Title Hot Cheetos Quesadillas Taste Test

with Sophia Chang

Spring Thrift Haul |

clothesencounters

How To Pose For Photos | 10 Easy

Poses For Instagram

Jenn Goes To Austin |

clothesencounters

Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=OfMqxhlSzE0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=dA3egTBbjTM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=dRji6CpS7iQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=_GumH9nP2GU

Video description

Hot Cheetos and I have had a long

history together. I couldn't even tell

you how many bags I've consumed

in my lifetime. I'm switching it up

this time though. In this video,

Sophia and I taste test a fire-y

recipe by adding three different

types of Hot Cheeto dusts in our

quesadillas. Are they delicious?

Watch to find out.

Spring is so close I can almost

smell it! A few days ago I decided

to pop into my local Goodwill to

what I could find. Luckily the thrift

bone is still in me and I racked up

quite a number of things.

Say cheeeese! Posing for photos

can feel super awkward especially

if you don’t know where to get

started. In this video, I share with

you my ten go to poses that you can

easily apply today!

A few weeks ago I had the

opportunity to go to SXSW and I

had such an amazing time there.

This video is sponsored by ‘The

Beguiled,’ directed by Sofia

Coppola, in theaters June 23. For

more, check out

http://www.thebeguiledmovie.com

#ad

Links: link to subscribe, social

media links

Links: social media links, products

she is wearing listed with links

Links: social media links, products

she is wearing listed Links: social media links

Thumbnail

Video duration 9:45 6:24 6:25 7:03

Topic range Lifestyle - Cooking Fashion Lifestyle, Fashion Lifestyle - Vlog

Topic Cooking together, eating. Fashion haul. How to pose on photos? Vlog about SXSW (film, interactive

media festival).

Uploading day Sunday Monday Sunday Saturday

Scheduled video No. No No No

Collaboration Yes, with Sophia Chang. No No No

Related to a special

event No. No No

Yes, related to SXSW festival,

Austin.

Does she invite to

subscribe? Yes

Yes, with an annotation in the end

of the video.

Yes, with an annotation in the end

of the video.

Yes, with an annotation in the end

of the video.

Answering

comments Yes Yes Yes Yes

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

53

Table 28: Videos analyzed on Jenn Im’s channel III.

Date 03.31 04.04 04.09

Title March Favorites 2017 March Monthly Vlog | clothesencounters Jet Set Jenn | Festival Beauty Kit + Lookbook

Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQX34hc3Bt

U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqBY_Kfugog&t=

7s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjDRzahgr

TI

Video description

Well we just marched on through March, huh?

Here I am giving you a run down on some of my

must haves from this month.

Man oh man. March was an absolute doozy. It was a

lotta werk werk werk werk werk, but I did get a good

chunk of time to spend with friends and loved ones.

Music festival season is officially here! I've

partnered with Revolve to curate the ultimate

festival and travel beauty kit. I've also whipped

up five outfits that you can rock to the desert.

Links: social media links, products she is wearing

listed with links, products mentioned listed with

links

Links: social media links Links: social media links, products she is

wearing listed, links to sponsored products

Thumbnail

Video duration 8:13 13:55 8:01

Topic range Beauty Lifestyle-Vlog Beauty, Fashion

Topic Sharing her favorite products used in March. Monthly vlog Festival beauty tips.

Uploading day Friday Tuesday Saturday

Scheduled video Yes, March favorites. Yes, March monthly vlog. No

Collaboration No No No

Related to a

special event No No No

Does she invite to

subscribe? Yes, with an annotation in the end of the video.

Yes, with an annotation in the end of the video and

with a link in the info box.

Yes, with an annotation in the end of the video

and with a link in the info box.

Answering

comments Yes Yes Yes

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)

54

Table 29: Content analysis of routes to persuasion regarding Jenn Im’s channel

Video number 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Total score for the

route

Route C P C P C P C P C P C P C P C P C P C P C P Central Peripheral

Title focus 1 1 1 1 - - 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 - - 1 1 7 9

Video description 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 11

Thumbnail focus 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 10 6 Share of competency 1 0 1 0 - - 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 - - 1 0 - - 1 8 0 Emotional appeal - - 0 1 - - 0 1 - - - - - - - - 0 1 - - - - 0 3 Duration consistency 0 1 0 1 - - 0 1 - - 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 - - 0 1 0 8 Topic consistency 0 1 0 0 - - 0 1 - - 0 1 0 1 - - 0 1 - - 0 1 0 6 Seasonality - - - - 0 1 0 1 - - - - - - - - 0 1 0 1 - - 0 4 Collaboration 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 11 Uploading

consistency 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 - - 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 10

Special event

relatedness - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1 - - - - - - 1 1

Invitation to

subscribe 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 11

Comment reaction 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 11 Total score 6 9 6 9 4 6 6 11 6 7 5 7 6 9 5 8 6 10 4 6 5 9 59 91

Total persuasive

score 15 15 10 17 13 12 15 13 16 10 14 150

(Own editing, based on analysis data retrieved from Youtube)