Increasing Power of Consumers in the Digital Business Environment
Question:
Discuss about the Analysis of the Social Media Effects for Economic Practices.
The organizations were unable to connect with their respective consumers before the advent of social media in the business environment. The consumers were also not able to share their opinions regarding particular products with the organizations before the usage of social media. The consumers of the various organizations therefore did not have much importance in the old business environment. However, after the advent of social media and other digital processes of communication the power of consumers have increased to high levels. The consumers of the organizations belonging to different sectors are now able to provide their opinions in the various situations (Kim and Johnson, 2016). The levels of the satisfaction or the dissatisfaction of consumers are easily detected by the organization with the help of social media.
As discussed by, Hollebeek, Glynn and Brodie, (2014), the entry of social media in the business arena has become a great opportunity for the various customers of the organizations as they are now able to provide their opinions and suggestions for the products and services that are offered by the organizations. The brands have also got the opportunity of understanding their customers in a better manner and design their services accordingly. The communication levels of the brands and the consumers have also increased and further led to effective functioning of the business. The brands which have a strong customer base can further benefit from the direct communication with the consumers.
Social media offers a public platform for the buyers so that they able to voice the opinions that they have regarding the brands in an open area which is heard by people who are a part of the same platform. The consumers can build the strength of the opinions that are provided by them with the help of other people who are a part of the sane forum. This helps them in reaching the organizations which have provided them with the service or product. This can further urge the brands to bring the necessary changes in their products so that the consumers are satisfied. The famous social media platforms that are able to provide opportunities to the consumers are, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ (Ashley and Tuten, 2015). The consumers are able to form groups of people who have opinions that are similar to them and take actions against the wrong means of the company or the poor quality of the products. The modern consumers therefore have huge power to raise their voices against the wrong steps that are taken by the organizations. The brands have also realised the power of the social media and have been able to create relationships with the consumers. The consumers are also able to get the optimum levels of information that they require about the various services and products. The production process and the information related to the products are shared with the consumers so that they are able to take well-informed decisions (Hajli and Sims, 2015).
Better Understanding of Customers for Brands
According to, Tiago and Veríssimo, (2014), the advent of social media has caused huge shift in the relationship between the consumers and the organizations. The social media has taken the control and power from the hands of various large organizations and the power has been put in the hands of the consumers. The CEOs and the executives of the companies have understood the situation and have engaged their operations with the various social media platforms so that they can connect directly with the consumers. The use of social media has let the organizations offer various services and products according to the likes of the consumers. The companies are however keen on getting the opinions of the consumers regarding the products that are offering. The business organizations are trying to connect with the consumers which are making the feel more connected. The consumers now feel like they are a part of the organizations and the various organizational processes (Ioan?s and Stoica, 2014). They also feel as if they have been able to provide their valuable inputs for the improvement of the brand. The interaction levels of the consumers on social media have increased. The consumers also promote their favourite products on the various social media platforms much more than before. The review that were given by the consumers become major assets for the future development of the organizations. The consumers always need to feel valuable for the organizations which helps them in staying two steps ahead from the others in the market. Social has been effective in changing the marketing related games of the organizations and they need to take necessary steps for making good use of the power that is provided by this medium (Holt, 2016).
The entire power is slowly shifting in the hands of the consumers and they have started taking the drivers’ seat in the various organizational processes. The individual consumers do not have the power to fight against the large organizations. However, the social media is able to provide collective power to the consumers so that they are able to provide their insights. The usage of social media has been successful in empowering the consumers so that they are able to judge the positive and the negative effects about the services and the products. The levels of complaints that are made by consumers on the social media platforms have also risen in the recent times. The consumers have become much more demanding than before and this become a major challenge for the customer service professionals of the organizations (Erkan and Evans, 2016). The consumers are now taking the help of social media to connect with the brands in a rapid manner. This has further increased the levels of complaints that are made by consumers about the services that are availed by them. The platforms like Facebook and Twitter have become the best vehicles for the customers to escalate their issues with the companies. The convenient, cheap and public nature of the social media has been the major reason for the increase of complaints that are raised by these platforms. The consumers are however also providing their valuable feedback to the organizations with the help of various social media platforms. The brands are provided with huge opportunities to increase the visibility of the products in the market (Habibi, Laroche and Richard, 2014).
Strength of Opinions Amplified with Social Media
The online campaigns that are held against the brands have the ability to destroy their image to such extents where it becomes impossible for them to bring back their names. The power is now completely in the hands of the consumers to make or break the names of the brands. The organizations which have their operations in the public domain thereby need to understand the effects of negative publicity on the names of their brands. The organizations therefore need to formulate effective strategies to combat this situation and protect the names of their brands. Social media has the ability to bring out the worst and the best in the people or the consumers (Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch, 2017). The consumers can use their power to damage the reputation of the organizations or they improve the reputation with the help of positive and helpful feedback. The consumers have the power to bring discipline in the operations of the business organizations with the help of social media. The organizations are sometimes compelled to change their policies to improve the operations.
The use of social media is expected to become much more sophisticated in the future and this will further provide much more advantages to the consumers. They will be able to use the social media to formulate groups and define the various objectives that are set to be achieved by them. This will exert pressure on the consumers regarding the changes that they need to make in their operations to satisfy their demands (Zhu and Chen, 2015). The consumers thereby have a huge opportunity to make significant differences in the various organizational processes and the products that are offered by them. The suggestions and the reviews that are provided by consumers on the social media are important for the improvement and the future performance of the organizations. The consumers are able to control the various organizational processes and they can use the suggestions for their improvement. They are also providing solutions to the organizations regarding the issues that they are facing in their operations in the market. The real power has therefore moved from the organizations to the consumers and they have received the upper hand in the market. They hold the power to make or break the organizations within a short span of time (Kumar et al., 2016).
Conclusion
The analysis in the essay has depicted that the power of the consumers has increased after the entry of social media in the market. The consumers are now able to improve the operations of the organizations by providing them with suggestions. The reviews provided by consumers have the power to increase the reputation of the company and the bad reviews can tarnish their image in the industry as well. The social media has therefore provided the power to consumers so that they are able to change the organizations and its processes. The power of customers has increased to high levels after social media has come into play.
References
Ashley, C. and Tuten, T., 2015. Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), pp.15-27.
Erkan, I. and Evans, C., 2016. The influence of eWOM in social media on consumers’ purchase intentions: An extended approach to information adoption. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, pp.47-55.
Felix, R., Rauschnabel, P.A. and Hinsch, C., 2017. Elements of strategic social media marketing: A holistic framework. Journal of Business Research, 70, pp.118-126.
Habibi, M.R., Laroche, M. and Richard, M.O., 2014. The roles of brand community and community engagement in building brand trust on social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 37, pp.152-161.
Hajli, N. and Sims, J., 2015. Social commerce: The transfer of power from sellers to buyers. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 94, pp.350-358.
Hollebeek, L.D., Glynn, M.S. and Brodie, R.J., 2014. Consumer brand engagement in social media: Conceptualization, scale development and validation. Journal of interactive marketing, 28(2), pp.149-165.
Holt, D., 2016. Branding in the age of social media. Harvard business review, 94(3), pp.40-50.
Ioan?s, E. and Stoica, I., 2014. Social media and its impact on consumers behavior. International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, 4(2), pp.295-303.
Kim, A.J. and Johnson, K.K., 2016. Power of consumers using social media: Examining the influences of brand-related user-generated content on Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 58, pp.98-108.
Kumar, A., Bezawada, R., Rishika, R., Janakiraman, R. and Kannan, P.K., 2016. From social to sale: The effects of firm-generated content in social media on customer behavior. Journal of Marketing, 80(1), pp.7-25.
Tiago, M.T.P.M.B. and Veríssimo, J.M.C., 2014. Digital marketing and social media: Why bother?. Business Horizons, 57(6), pp.703-708.
Zhu, Y.Q. and Chen, H.G., 2015. Social media and human need satisfaction: Implications for social media marketing. Business horizons, 58(3), pp.335-345.
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