Facebook Marketing Intelligence

Facebook marketing is becoming an increasingly important tool for companies to influence consumer decision-making. However, there is currently little empirical knowledge about the extent of influence of Facebook marketing on the decision-making process of consumers. This study contributes to these gaps in the literature and investigates the influence of Facebook marketing activities on the decision-making process of consumers. The theory revealed four Facebook marketing activities that affected the first two phases of the decision-making process. These Facebook marketing activities were advertisements, recommend/share, likes and reviews. Whether they actually had an impact has been tested with the help of survey among 112 respondents. The results of the regression analysis showed that all four Facebook marketing activities had a positive influence on the decision-making process

The Effects of Social Media in the Hotel Sector: A report for WinHotels

Social media usage is expanding in all age groups and across all socio-economic groups. This means it has become the focus of much attention from businesses looking to use it as a way to increase awareness of their products or services. The purpose of this report is to look at how social media is affecting the hotel business and whether Win Hotels should be using social media as a marketing tool. It offers the opportunity to engage with hotel guests before during and after a stay. This engagement provides the hotel with a chance to gain insights into the needs and wants of guests at each stage. Using this information to highlight where improvements could be made to offer better service and showcase the hotel’s willingness to listen and respond to guests. The advantages of using social media are clear: it has the potential to reach large audiences and could generate large amounts of traffic to the WinHotels website. The downsides of a mishandled campaign are the speed and ease with which damage to a brand can happen. This report looks at how social media could benefit WinHotels and where it could fit into its marketing activities. It will also suggest steps that should be taken in order to set expectations and provide recommendations on how to model a campaign incorporating the use of social media

Competitive analysis of social media data in the banking industry

Recently, most companies interact more with their customers through the social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. This has made large amount of textual data freely available on the internet for competitive intelligence analysis, which is helping reposition more and more companies for better profit. In order to carry out competitive intelligence, financial institutions need to take note of and analyse their competitor’s social media sites. This paper, therefore, aims to help the banking industry in Nigeria understand how to perform a social media competitive analysis and transform social media data into knowledge, which will form the foundation for decision-making and internet marketing of such institutions. The study describes an in-depth case study which applies text mining to analyse unstructured text content on Facebook and Twitter sites of the five largest and leading financial institutions (banks) in Nigeria: Zenith Bank, First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Access Bank and GTBank. Analysing the social media content of these institutions will increase their competitive advantage and also lead to more profit for the banking institutions in question. The results obtained from this research showed that text mining is able to reveal uncommon and non-trivial trend for competitive advantage from social media data, and also provide specific recommendations to help banks maximise their competitive edge

"The impact of online advertisements on the stages of taking a decision to purchase computers for university youth in Hebron "

هدفت الدراسة إلى التعرف على درجة تأثير الاعلانات عبر الانترنت على مراحل اتخاذ قرار شراء الحواسيب عند الشباب الجامعي في محافظة الخليل، اتبعت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي التحليلي، واستخدمت الاستبانة كأداة لجمع المعلومات من عينة الدراسة المكونة من (410) من طلبة الجامعات في محافظة الخليل. أشارت النتائج إلى وجود تأثير مرتفع للإعلان عبر الانترنت على مراحل اتخاذ قرار شراء الحواسيب. وتبين عدم وجود فروق دالة إحصائياً في تأثير الاعلانات عبر الانترنت على مراحل اتخاذ قرار شراء الحواسيب تعزى لمتغيري الجنس والسنة الدراسية، بينما تبين وجود فروق وفق متغير الجامعة ولصالح طلبة القدس المفتوحة والخليل. وخرجت الدراسة بعدة توصيات منها:( توجه الشركات والمستوردين والمحال التجارية نحو الإعلان عبر الانترنت لما فيها تقليل التكاليف وفعالية في إيصال المعلومة للمستهلك).The study aimed to identify the degree of the impact of online advertisements on the stages of taking a decision to purchase computers among university youth in Hebron. The study followed the descriptive analytical approach, and the questionnaire was used as a tool to collect information from the study sample consisting of (410) University students in Hebron. The results indicated that there is a high impact of online advertising on the decision-making stages of purchasing computers. It also showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the impact of online advertisements on the stages of taking the decision to buy computers due to variables: gender, academic year, while statistically significant differences were found according university and in favor of Q.O.U and Hebron University. The study came out with several recommendations: (Directing companies, importers, and commercial stores towards advertising via the Internet, as it reduces costs and effectively delivers information to the consumer)

Discovering Spam On Twitter

Twitter generates the majority of its revenue from advertising. Third parties pay to have their products advertised on Twitter through: tweets, accounts and trends. However, spammers can use Sybil accounts (fake accounts) [21] to advertise and avoid paying for it. Sybil accounts are highly active on Twitter performing advertising campaigns to serve their clients [5]. They aggressively try to reach a large audience to maximize their influence. These accounts have similar behavior if controlled by the same master. Most of their spam tweets include a shortened URL to trick users into clicking on it. Also, since they share resources with each other, they tend to tweet similar trending topics to attract a larger audience. However, some Sybil accounts do not spam aggressively to avoid being detected [22], rendering it difficult for traditional spam detectors to be effective in detecting low spamming Sybil accounts. In this paper, I investigate additional criteria to measure the similarity between accounts on Twitter. I propose an algorithm to define the correlation among accounts by investigating their tweeting habits and content. Given known labeled accounts by spam detectors, this approach can detect hidden accounts that are closely related to labeled accounts but are not detected by traditional spam detection approaches

Social media marketing in the hospitality industry: The role of benefits in increasing brand community participation and the impact of participation on consumer trust and commitment toward hotel and restaurant brands

Online community is an effective tool for building the relationship with consumers. Many hospitality firms (i.e., hotels and restaurants) have utilized online communities a new marketing channel to reach their consumers. Previous studies have identified four participation benefits (functional, social, psychological, and hedonic) in the member participation of community activities. In addition to these four factors, this study also added monetary benefit as a predictor of member participation. Demographic factors (i.e., age and biological gender) were proposed to influence the relationships between benefits and community participation. As results of member participation in online communities, trust and commitment toward hotel or restaurant brands have been considered as important factors that enhance consumer relationships with hospitality brands. The purpose of this study was to investigate benefit factors of member participation and the relationships between community participation, brand trust, and brand commitment in hotel and restaurant online communities. The present study investigated the conceptual model in two contexts, including hotel and restaurant Facebook fan pages. The data on the hotel Facebook fan pages were collected from both the panel of an online research company and the alumni of Iowa State University; whereas the data on the restaurant Facebook fan pages were only collected from the alumni of Iowa State University. After conducting confirmatory factor analysis, the present study identified four benefit factors (functional, hedonic, monetary, and social-psychological benefits) as the predictors of member participation in hotel and restaurant Facebook fan pages. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the conceptual model. Based on the results of SEM, hotel and restaurant studies showed different results. The results of the hotel study indicated that three benefit factors (functional, hedonic, and social-psychological benefits) positively influenced members\u27 community participation; member participation positively influenced their trust toward a hotel brand. Biological gender had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between functional benefits and community participation in the hotel study. The results of the restaurant study indicated that two benefit factors (hedonic and social-psychological benefits) positively influenced members\u27 community participation; member participation positively influenced their trust and commitment toward a restaurant brand; members\u27 brand trust also positively influenced their commitment toward the restaurant brand. The findings of this study provide significant insights for the researchers and marketers. From the theoretical perspective, this is the first empirical research that investigated consumer benefits and responses (i.e., community participation, brand trust, and brand commitment) in online communities managed by hospitality firms. Thus, the study contributes to the understanding of consumer behavior in social media. From the practical perspective, the study suggests some strategies to effectively design hotel and restaurant Facebook fan pages, which can strengthen the relationships with current consumers and attract potential consumers

Redes sociales horizontales y su impacto en el ámbito empresarial y social

[ES]“En la era digital, lo más prudente es atreverse” (Shimon Peres, ex primer ministro de Israel). El mundo actual: inmediato, complejo y altamente tecnológico obliga a las empresas, organizaciones e instituciones a adaptarse a las nuevas reglas del juego. Las nuevas herramientas, aplicaciones e infraestructuras tecnológicas no son más que un medio que ha modificado nuestra forma de actuar y relacionarnos. Los usuarios han roto una barrera y se han sumergido en internet y en redes sociales cambiando su forma de comportarse en estos entornos online. Con tan solo un clic acceden a millones y millones de datos que les convierte en individuos con mucho poder, colocándoles en una posición privilegiada. Esta situación ha obligado a las organizaciones “atreverse”, a vencer sus miedos y entrar en este nuevo mundo digital y con él, a participar en las redes sociales. Este nuevo cambio de visión debe ser comprendido, si lo que pretenden es incentivar y potenciar las oportunidades que ofrece el mundo digital. Entender cómo los usuarios reaccionan ante diferentes estímulos o saber qué variables determinan que unos u otros usuarios estén dispuestos a comportarse de una u otra forma en estas plataformas sociales, se convierte en una necesidad. Esta necesidad está siendo cada vez mayor para multitud de organizaciones que encuentran en las redes sociales un nuevo canal de comunicación, promoción y difusión ideal para sus acciones. Esta tesis doctoral quiere dar respuesta a éstas y otras incógnitas a través de una profunda y rigurosa investigación acerca de diversos comportamientos en tres ámbitos (comercial, social y de difusión de la ciencia y la tecnología) en estas plataformas virtuales

Challenges When Communicating Customer Value of an Online Language Learning Tool: Case Online Marketing for Penetrating Spain

The existing online market is filled day after day with new companies that try to address even bigger customer base. The ease of addressing customers enabled by technology makes many of these companies try to apply the same strategies and procedures value despite of online products and markets being different from each other. To some extent, in the online language learning industry same applies, however, the usability and utility factor of online learning tools influences a lot in the success of these tools. Furthermore, cultural factors do also influence, enabling some challenges that other online products and solutions may not face. The objective of this report is to identify important challenges present when communicating customer value of an online language learning tool to a specific market, Spain, and to gain an understanding of the specific characteristics that online language learning tools show as to apply them by using online marketing for penetrating this market. To understand the implication and impact of these challenges, an extensive and exhaustive literature review has been conducted in order to provide a simple, clear and ordered structure to the different and widespread literature concerning interrelated topics and similar concepts. Furthermore, a case study research, conducted in collaboration with a Finnish online learning language tool provider, is presented and discussed in this thesis. The final outcome of this thesis shows how online language learning do share some similarities with online solutions specially when it comes to customer value and purchasing behavior; however they also present their own specific and important differences. Besides, this outcome also brings up the importance of the software in online language learning which in many occasions goes completely unattended. Furthermore, the thesis provides a simple but explanatory way of successfully addressing the initial stage of customer value communication while conducting online marketing for an online language learning tool to a specific market, the rise of awareness. Finally, this thesis also addresses some considerations and limitations faced during the case study research and some factors that should be looked into in future research

The Effect of Using Social Media Marketing on Customer Engagement in the Public Sector: The Case of the Zakat Fund

Social Media Sites (SMSs) are affecting a wide cross-section of marketing activities, including research, strategy formulation, advertising, promotions and sales. It is proposed that Social Media Sites (SMSs) are not only an addition to the modern marketer\u27s toolkit, but mark an endemic and ecological change. The purpose of this research is to investigate what antecedents determine a user\u27s engagement with an account on a social media sites (SMSs). Through their use, the social media have facilitated various business opportunities as well as providing the public sector with platforms through which organizations can engage current and future customers. Still, the huge gap of practical knowledge about the role of SMSs in the public sector should not be forgotten. A key issue is this area is the focus on the user\u27s; however, beyond this, the dissertation probed below the surface to see how such virtual engagement is conceptualized and what factors facilitate and support customer materialization. In the same context, this research assesses the effectiveness of using Social Media Marketing (SMM) as a tool in the public sector and attempts to shed light on it by examining the different user needs that SMSs satisfy, together with the important implications and outcomes for public sector bodies hoping to become involved in SMM. Consequently, it proposes a framework to serve the building of theory for understanding Customer Materialization on SMSs. The research model was based on the premise that SMSs are likely to symbolically engage users in the social media when public sector organizations pay close attention to three key areas: Adoption, Implications and Outcomes. This research is notable for proposing an integrated framework which considers different aspects of social science: the media, technology, and marketing. The Uses and Gratifications theory (U&G Theory), the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the Customer Engagement Cycle are used as instruments in this research. With their aid, a questionnaire was developed to target Zakat Fund followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The questionnaire was hosted online, and then, a web link was posted to the Zakat Fund Accounts on the SMSs. E-mails were also sent to more than 2,000 users. The participants eventually totalled 733. The dissertation results supported its objectives and clarified four critical arguments by achieving: 1) a better understanding was reached of SMSs users\u27 behaviour and the psychological gratifications they derive from adopting SMSs; 2) those relationships were revalidated in the context of SMSs with hypotheses that focused on the relations between Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Perceived Usefulness (PU), attitude to Behavioral Intentions (BI) ; 3) the user\u27s journey via SMSs toward Behavioral Intentions (BI) could be speeded up (accelerated) or slowed down (decelerate) by one of two factors: Trust and Virtual Engagement; 4) the engaged user has the full intention to move from the virtual world to the real world. This research introduced a new concept, Customer Materialization . Moreover, this research contributes to the practical knowledge in the area of the social media and marketing through them, and has important practical solutions for increasing the effectiveness of marketing strategy overall and for the public sector on Social Media Sites (SMSs) in particular. Finally, this study has its own limitations and recognizing them should help refine future investigation efforts. Future researchers will also need to focus on integrating other SMSs and different contexts