Exploration of the Concept of Social Media in Marketing
Internet or technology advances in contemporary times has emerged as an important tool in the business world. Globalized organizations have been emphasizing on establishing communication base with consumers as well as other stakeholders through various digital means such as companies’ official websites, brand endorsements along with search promotions. In recent times, there has been witnessed a significant rise in adopting social media for diverse business purposes (Wang, Pauleen and Zhang 2016). The proliferation of social media as established a whole new era for business enterprises and brands further obligating them to seek improved interactive methods of reaching and engaging customers. Social media is thus being recognized as a highly expanding marketing channel which efficiently reaches more than two thirds of all internet consumers and further provides incomparable opportunities for brand as well as reputation building (Schivinski and Dabrowski 2016). Although social media opens new areas and profits for brand management, one of the persistent challenges is the complexities of evaluating or measuring the impact of social media marketing activities based on core brand success measures (Hanaysha 2016). Recent McKinsey reports reveal that social media advantages from consumer utilization, which includes a growth of around 20% in reducing time to market, and approximately 15% of increases in revenue generation along with an average rise of 20% in increasing the number of achievable innovations (McKinsey and Company 2015).
Social media fundamentally intends to provide business organizations with significant opportunities to successfully reach its consumer base in their social associations and further create establish interpersonal associations with them. Godey et al. (2016) observed the prominent transitions brought by social media to the way brand content is formed, allocated and further been implemented by efficiently shifting the reinforcement to alter brand recognition from marketers to consumers’ digital connections as well as content. Furthermore the critical role of social media has also been focused on in the process of brand’s achievements (Broekemier, Chau and Seshadri 2015). However Keinänen holds the opinion that concept of social media fundamentally aims to signify the definite performance of social networking platforms for marketing purposes. Tiago and Veríssimo (2014) have drawn significance of other scholars who suggested a categorization dependent on diverse appliance forms which can further be implemented as important social media marketing tools. These tools however intend to provide as well as endorse wide ranging social media services. However, Broekemier, Chau and Seshadri (2015) are of the opinion that rapidly emerging marketing channels of interaction, social media can effectively be internalized into promotional mix activities of an organization. Furthermore, certain media activity data has been utilized from a micro-lending marketplace website in order to demonstrate that regardless to forms of publicity and digital community messages, earned media tend to influence revenue growth and have diverse attributes of impact. Several studies exposed the importance of social media in luxury sector specifically for enhancing brand prominence and recognition (Park and Kim 2014). Kumar et al. (2016) mentioned instances of renowned fashion brands such as Burberry and Louis Vuitton who have been efficiently using social media platforms in order to post their latest fashion products and ideas on several social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (Hanaysha 2016). Furthermore, it has also been noted that prominent luxury brand Burberry has recently introduced e-commerce site for its consumers based in China by providing all day assistance via online chat methods (Coursaris, van Osch and Balogh 2016). Thus drawing significance to such broad areas of opportunities social media marketing networks have been identified as a highly effective tool for endorsing blogs that is digital personal write-ups on Web 2.0 application and other social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Twitter (Wang, Pauleen and Zhang 2016).
Brand Equity and Purchaser Response in Marketing
Ideas concerning brand equity has been undergoing diverse array of debates. Studies reveal that brand equity is typically established on the basis of strong associations existing between consumer and brand (Tiago and Veríssimo 2014). This agreement however has been revealed in various branding investigations conducted in the perspective of consumer-brand associations over the past decades. Godey et al. (2016) revealed that the emergence of the conceptualization of brand equity led to rise of critical shifts to the ideas related to brand concept. Furthermore, Park and Kim (2014) identified that brand equity model serves a decisive role in providing association between brand responsiveness and brand recognition. However, on the other hand Park and Kim (2014) reveal that connection associated to brand-self concepts and recognition are identified as highly crucial indicators of brand connection. Furthermore, brand attachment concepts envisaging diverse range of brand equity oriented behaviours such as recommendation as well as offering first-rate price is regarded as conditional on the type of objectives, which customers desire to attain through brand associations, and the types of marketing performance, which facilitate consumers to attain these objectives. Rahmadini and Halim (2018) on the other hand hold the opinion that purchasers exhibit their individualistic attributes into brand when the specific brand itself can efficiently characterize their consumer base. Studies show that regardless to the ongoing disagreements related to the significance of brand equity, most of the theorists have approved to the intensity brand equity offers to the enhanced brand preference (Wang, Pauleen and Zhang 2016). Brand equity, which is established in the arena of social networking, which social media marketing performances create, has constructive association to prospective service purchase. Tiago and Veríssimo (2014) are of the perspective that brand relationship quality essentially demonstrates the intensity as well as strength of the association between brand and its customer. However it has been conceptualized that brand association quality comprises an intensified and comprehensive understanding in comparison to the analysis of the behavioural intention of the brand (Kumar et al. 2016). There can be identified a broad range of notions to efficiently sustain this association of buyers with the brand.
‘Word of mouth’ (WOM) is regarded as an indispensable process of distributing information from an individual to the other. Such a procedure aims to serve a critical role in the process of consumer decision making (Coursaris, van Osch and Balogh 2016). As ‘word of mouth’ serves a vital role in consumer behaviour as well as conduct formation it intrinsically internalizes customer behaviour in sharing the brand value and prominence, suggestion or relative response towards the business or its products or services to other consumers. In the view of Godey et al. (2016), social media is recognised as essential tools for WOM communication as customer tends to produce as well as increase brand related responsiveness to their close associates or other acquaintances without any critical confines. However the implementation of WOM can capably be explored on social media from three vital perspectives such as opinion seeking, opinion sharing as well as opinion producing (Barreda et al. 2015). It has been observed that customers exhibiting greater degree of opinion seeking behaviour have a propensity to seek for understanding and suggestions from other purchases while making any buying decision. Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott (2017) on the other hand reveals reliable outcome related to the value of interpersonal communication and WOM specifically in determining market preferences. Sloan et al. (2015) further states that satisfaction or contentment level of customers does not necessarily make them loyal towards the brand and further involved in WOM process to recommend the specific brand to other consumers.
Role of Word of Mouth Communication (WOM) on Brand Preference
Characteristics concerning Negative Word Of Mouth Communication (NWOM) have also been revealed to several researches which state that the propagation of negative word of mouth that is negative or unfavourable recommendation with peers on social media that comprises a novel form of Electronic Word Of Mouth Communication (e-WOM) (Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott 2017). Furthermore distribution of negative word of mouth information is perceived as a social action where by consumers tend to share feedback as well as experiences with other network associates through messages, posts and discussions. All the WOM communication process performed on social networking sites corresponds to interpersonal word-of-mouth as well as e-WOM (Coursaris, van Osch and Balogh 2016). It reveals distinctive divergences specifically in regards to social threats and ambiguity, confidentiality as well as special freedom. Furthermore previous studies have evaluated NWOM communication process based on digital feedback platforms and blogs. However it is significant to note that as WOM attain a substantial level of network associates on social media platform a comprehensive exploration of the significant factors related to NWOM communication using social media may facilitate supervisors on decision makers in efficiently developing efficient webcare strategies.
Brand preference typically denotes that with the abundance of diverse competing brands on the market, customers exhibit a propensity to prefer a specific brand fundamentally on the basis of their level of awareness and inclination towards the brand (Hanaysha 2016). The concept of brand preference is typically being evaluated by measuring the level of fondness towards certain brands form a range of selection of products. Author Paniagua and Sapena (2014) are of the perspective that reviews the level of behavioural persuasion related to social media communication on brand equity as well as on the approach which purchasers exhibit towards specific brands. It has been revealed that as wide range of customers are gradually exhibiting more biasness towards social media platforms in order to conduct their knowledge searches and further to create their buying decisions more concrete, modern businesses are relying hugely on social media domains (Wang, Pauleen and Zhang 2016). Substantial research has found that advertising and marketing on social media create a significant positive impact on buyers’ preferences as well as brand leadership. Social media advertising serves one of the fundamental determinants which stimulate brand preferences (Tiago and Veríssimo 2014). It has been observed that purchase typically show greater degree of inclination to buy from brands which promotion their goods and services through the emerging social media platforms which comprise wide range of users. Such a constructive impact for the reveals that consumers exhibit a propensity to create affirmative outlooks towards the marketing efforts of social media and that can be regarded as an interesting and innovative tool for product promoting in comparison to customary marketing (Coursaris, van Osch and Balogh 2016). Thus, Barreda et al. (2015) have stated that it is essential for managers engaged in hospitality sector to increasingly internalize social media marketing into their branding strategies to facilitate the communication process with consumers and efficiently share information regarding the products and gather knowledge about customer needs and expectations. As proficiently execution of these strategies wood facilitate business enterprises to build enhanced areas of avenues in order to established their competitive advantages and attain leadership position in target markets (Kumar et al. 2016).
However at this juncture, Paniagua and Sapena (2014) emphasis on revealed preferences channel has been taken into consideration. The revealed preference channel signifies the degree to which social media platform reflects the likings, biasness and choices of consumers towards specific brands. However interaction, sharing of knowledge along with the existence of resources is conveyed through financial competencies through the revealed preference channel (Alhaddad 2015). Social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter enables prospective consumers to efficiently exhibit their choices or preferences which rationalize the observed actions and strategies of any business. However further studies assess that Revealed Preferences Channel create significant impact on the financial performance of business to a great extent. Market share prices which are regarded as vital financial indicators rely greatly on the markets awareness as well as expectations on the business (Bernritter, Verlegh and Smit 2016). The Revealed Preferences Channel show implications on significant areas of strategic management as well as recently introduced product introduction. By efficiently measuring these channel organisations evaluate the target market true customer preferences and their level of inclination towards the brands and further anticipate the demand for those products and services. However this channel is considered to be immensely relevant for stakeholders as well as investment portfolio managers as it tends to create a direct influence on market share price and value (Barreda et al. 2015). As a result the revealed preferences channel based on social media is regarded to be immensely reflexive whereby management actions and investments have a restricted impact on customers’ choices.
To efficiently conduct the present research a variety of literary articles reports and newspaper journals have been critically assessed and examined in order to comprehend the background of the problem. However it is significant to note here that this has led to the identification of the literature gap. it has been observed that majority of the previous research studies revolved around the conceptualization of role of social networking sites on brand enhancement and business growth. Although these research studies efficiently enlightened the overall evaluation of the impact of social networking sites on brand recognition, they have been incompetent to emphasize exclusively on the strategies to execute in order to measure the level of degree of biasness and likings of consumers on specific brands. However the literatures which have been reviewed have shed light on the communication processes through which consumers share the knowledge and awareness as well as preferences to their peers or associates which is known as the word of mouth communication.
Product advertising and marketing have a significant constructive impact on customers’ preferences and fondness and brand leadership. It has been observed that social media advertising solved one of the fundamental determinants in marketing which stimulate the level of brand preference. Studies have revealed that purchases typically exhibit greater degree of inclination towards businesses which advertise their products as well as services on the platform of social media. However the affirmative impact for the explorers that stakeholders investors as well as consumers tend to develop positive outlooks towards the marketing approach of social media and the promotion and advertising through social networking sites as immensely innovative informative and highly interactive in comparison to the traditional forms of marketing. It has further been revealed that as user-generated social networking sites can to possess a positive as well as constructive influence on brand recognition and equity, social media thus is considered to be one of the critical tools to accomplish demands of stakeholders and customers and further enhance the wealth of the business.
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