Advertising, Vulnerable Populations, and Demographic Targeting
in Colleges and Universities
Our project focuses on advertising, targeting, and social identity. We will be looking at how institutions use advertising to target certain populations and how consumer vulnerability relates to the effectiveness of these advertising campaigns. This theoretical framework examination will be accompanied by a case study portion of our project. Specifically, we will be examining how colleges target and advertise to students in efforts to obtain a certain demographic. We will be observing college advertising through websites, pamphlets, television, and representatives, alongside interviewing college students themselves about their experiences with college advertising.