Increasing Student Organization Interest Through Targeted Messaging - Reciprocity and Communication
Channel: parody121
Date: 23/06/2023

In this research study, Eric Barker delves into effective communication strategies that educational institutions and researchers can employ to boost student organization participation. The study highlights the importance of utilizing the most effective communication channels to capture student interest.

Increasing Student Organization Interest Through Targeted Messaging: The Role of Reciprocity and Communication Channel

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Strategic Communications

Thesis Defense, Eric M. Barker
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
2023

Abstract: 
This research project studied which communication channels and techniques effectively increase students’ interest in getting involved with student organizations. Two hundred eighty-four undergraduate students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a public university in the northeast United States, responded to a survey about student organizations and effective communication techniques and channels for membership recruitment. 

An experimental variable explored the effectiveness of reciprocity—the social norm of responding to a positive action with another positive action—in message copy. The study did not find evidence that messages with elements incorporating reciprocity affected message persuasiveness. It did, however, find a motivational difference in the reason to join organizations—with participants ranking messages emphasizing résumé-building and social opportunities as the most persuasive. In order of frequency, students' primary communication channels to find out about the organizations they joined were friends, social media, student organization fairs, and faculty members. Emphasizing the importance of student involvement on retention, the study found students who were not members of student organizations were twice as likely as organization members to frequently consider leaving their university. 

Full text available at
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2848113857/FC1C74FE34924CADPQ/1
(C) 2023, Eric M. Barker