Social Networking and e-CRM:'Revolution' or 'e-business as usual'?

The line between 'social networking' and 'professional networking' has blurred considerably, as large firms begin to take advantage of relatively easy access to an international network of customers via social networking sites (SNSs). The evolution of SNSs (such as Facebook) has resulted in a new channel for marketing communications, and recent advances have led to the development of'customer-relationship oriented SNSs' by the world's largest firms. Despite the time, money, and technologies many large firms have dedicated to electronic customer-relationship management (e-CRM)via SNSs, however, results have often been below expectations. Undertaking a longitudinal content analysis of nine of Australia's largest firm's Facebook pages, this paper seeks to gauge the extent to which the espoused 'SNS advantages' are utilised by large firms, and the extent to which these advantagesprovide valid bases for effective e-CRM. This study revealed that only two of the six potential SNS advantages (i.e. 'interaction' and 'transparency') were effectively utilised by the sample of firms over the study period.In order to increase the effectiveness of SNSs for building and maintain effective e-CRM by large firms, this paper recommends three main strategies: Enabling trialogue, designing tailored e-CRM strategies for SNSs, and creating enthusiasm in user communities

Investigating the use, adoption and diffusion of Online Social Network adoption (Facebook vs Twitter), within the Older Adult Population (50+) in Hertfordshire UK.

This study aims to Identify, understand, examine & explain the adoption, use & diffusion of Online Social Network\u27s (OSNs); namely, Facebook vs Twitter within the older population of UK using a quantitative approach, a combination of hard copy and online questionnaires. This study used a random and non-random sampling, there were 266 completed replies obtained and analysed using structural equation modelling. This analysis revealed that older adults do not use OSNs for entertainment purposes, but more for effective purposes such as, communication or obtaining news information. It also explains how it provides contributions for academia, policy makers and industrial sectors and offers a conclusion to this paper

Factors that Impact Customers’ Loyalty to Social Commerce Websites

Social commerce (s-commerce) has become rapidly appeared as relatively new area of investigation for both researchers and practitioners. However, there has been little research in the area of customer loyalty to s-commerce websites. The aim of this study is to develop a framework to identify factors affecting customers’ loyalty to s-commerce websites. A web-based survey was used to collect data which were analysed using the partial least squares based on structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). This study found that satisfaction; trust and social presence have significant influence on loyalty to s-commerce website and found that reputation, satisfaction, word-of-mouth, and social presence positively contribute to explaining the variance in trust. In contrast, communication and online shopping experience didn’t contribute to explain the variance in trust. The findings of this study contribute to the development of businesses strategies of how to retain their customers which will result in higher profits

Friends with benefits : can firms benefit from consumers’ sense of community in brand Facebook pages?

PURPOSE : This two-country comparative study’s purpose is to investigate antecedents to, and the consequences of a sense of belonging to a firm’s Facebook community. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : The model was grounded in the theory of sense of community and tested through structural equation modelling. Consumer panels were used via online surveys. FINDINGS : Of the three antecedents hypothesised to influence an individual’s sense of belonging, enjoyment is a very strong predictor in both countries; while the credibility of posts was also a significant predictor for Australia, but not for South Africa. The findings also show no direct relationship between a sense of belonging and continuing behaviour. However, for both countries, there is a strong relationship between a sense of belonging and the involvement with firm offerings in Facebook; and that involvement is significant for the intention to continue engaging with firms through this social media environment. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS : The findings support the framing of the study, in the sense of community theory and enhance researchers’ understanding of the role of a sense of belonging in moving visitors from simply clicking “like” to a deeper sense of engagement with the firm’s social media community and the flow-on effect to managerial relevant outcomes. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : The model is developed from the theory of sense of belonging, thus providing a fresh perspective to this research context. Additionally, there is limited research into the psycho-social antecedents and the outcomes of consumers’ sense of belonging to a firm’s Facebook community.http://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/ebrhj2020Marketing Managemen

Critical Incidents in Customer-Firm Relationships

abstract: When consumers find that something critically out of the ordinary has occurred, they direct attention to evaluate such a critical incident more closely. The results of this evaluation may put consumers on a switching path or it might lead them to engage in unfavorable behaviors from the perspective of the organization, such as engaging in negative word-or-mouth online. The negative consequences of some product (goods or services) failures go beyond simple product attribute defects, leading customers to terminate the relationship with the organization. This dissertation, which is composed of three essays, investigates how consumers engage in negative word-of-mouth on social media channels in response to their various product failures and explores an important relationship event of betrayal, which can be triggered by certain product failures. It investigates how betrayal is perceived by customers and influences a range of their behaviors across business-to-consumer and business-to-business contexts.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Business Administration 201

Corporate twitter channels: The impact of engagement and informedness on corporate reputation

__Abstract__ This article examines firm communication on a corporate Twitter channel and its effects on corporate reputation. We identify the importance of user engagement and informedness in explaining corporate reputation, and examine three design factors that likely affect user engagement in a corporate Twitter channel. We conduct an exploratory 2 × 2 × 2 experiment among Twitter users to collect data. We find that the depth of the relationship among users, the level of corporate involvement, and the purpose of the channel interactively influence user engagement. Our findings suggest that deeper relationships among users of a corporate Twitter channel lead to higher user engagement when the level of corporate involvement with the channel is high and when the channel has a specific purpose, but not when the level of corporate involvement is high and the channel has a generic purpose. Surprisingly, when the channel has a generic purpose, a high degree of corporate involvement actually decreases user engagement. This finding implies that, under certain circumstances, a lower degree of corporate involvement in a social media channel may be more desirable. We also find that channel credibility positively influences user informedness. This is the first study that examines the dynamics of communication through a corporate Twitter channel. It contributes to the previous research related to social media by identifying engagement and informedness as two major factors that influence firms’ reputation. Our research can help marketing and social media managers to decide on channel design aspects such as whether to require users to register with an identity or to allow anonymous participation, whether to allocate dedicated employees to respond to user requests, and whether to set up different channels for different purposes

Corporate Twitter Channels: The Impact of Engagement and Informedness on Corporate Reputation

We examine communication via a corporate Twitter channel and its effects on corporate reputation. We identify the importance of user engagement and informedness in explaining corporate reputation and examine three design factors that likely affect user engagement in a corporate Twitter channel. We conduct an exploratory 2 x 2 x 2 experiment among Twitter users to collect data. We find that the depth of the relationship among users, the level of corporate involvement, and the purpose of the channel interactively influence user engagement. Our findings suggest that deeper relationships among users of a corporate Twitter channel lead to higher user engagement when the level of corporate involvement with the channel is high and when the channel has a specific purpose, but not when the level of corporate involvement is high and the channel has a generic purpose. Surprisingly, when the channel has a generic purpose, a high degree of corporate involvement actually decreases user engagement. This finding implies that, under certain circumstances, a lower degree of corporate involvement in a social media channel may be more desirable. We also find that channel credibility positively influences user informedness. This is the first study that examines the dynamics of communication through a corporate Twitter channel. It contributes to the previous research related to social media by identifying engagement and informedness as two major factors that influence firms' reputation. Our research can help marketing and social media managers to decide on channel design aspects, such as whether to require users to register with an identity or to allow anonymous participation, whether to allocate dedicated employees to respond to user requests, and whether to set up different channels for different purposes

Corporate Twitter Channels: The Impact of Engagement and Informedness on Corporate Reputation

We examine communication via a corporate Twitter channel and its effects on corporate reputation. We identify the importance of user engagement and informedness in explaining corporate reputation and examine three design factors that likely affect user engagement in a corporate Twitter channel. We conduct an exploratory 2 x 2 x 2 experiment among Twitter users to collect data. We find that the depth of the relationship among users, the level of corporate involvement, and the purpose of the channel interactively influence user engagement. Our findings suggest that deeper relationships among users of a corporate Twitter channel lead to higher user engagement when the level of corporate involvement with the channel is high and when the channel has a specific purpose, but not when the level of corporate involvement is high and the channel has a generic purpose. Surprisingly, when the channel has a generic purpose, a high degree of corporate involvement actually decreases user engagement. This finding implies that, under certain circumstances, a lower degree of corporate involvement in a social media channel may be more desirable. We also find that channel credibility positively influences user informedness. This is the first study that examines the dynamics of communication through a corporate Twitter channel. It contributes to the previous research related to social media by identifying engagement and informedness as two major factors that influence firms' reputation. Our research can help marketing and social media managers to decide on channel design aspects, such as whether to require users to register with an identity or to allow anonymous participation, whether to allocate dedicated employees to respond to user requests, and whether to set up different channels for different purposes

Virtual Social Interaction – An online Model to Improve Retention Rates in Voluntary Professional Associations.

Membership in professional associations are meant to provide a sense of recognition and belonging among its members. Membership to voluntary professional associations (VPAs) takes this a step further by providing a passion for a cause. However, these motivations can diminish over time and can eventually disappear. This is especially true in non-licensing professions like Project Management or IT (Information Technology) implementation. Certifications like PMP, CISA and CISM although, good to have, are not legally mandatory maintain to practice as in accounting where a CFA or CPA is mandatory. This paper combines the Social Identity Theory and the communication ecology theory to propose a model that could provide an incentive for members to continue their membership with the association. We argue that by leveraging the social media, VPAs can continue to provide value to its members. While making significant theoretical contributions, this paper is also relevant to a practitioner

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse