101 research outputs found
Digital methods for ethnography: analytical concepts for ethnographers exploring social media environments
The aim of this article is to introduce some analytical concepts suitable for ethnographers dealing with social media environments. As a result of the growth of social media, the Internet structure has become a very complex, fluid, and fragmented space. Within this space, it is not always possible to consider the 'classical' online community as the privileged field site for the ethnographer, in which s/he immerses him/herself. Differently, taking inspiration from some methodological principles of the Digital Methods paradigm, I suggest that the main task for the ethnographer moving across social media environments should not be exclusively that of identifying an online community to delve into but of mapping the practices through which Internet users and digital devices structure social formations around a focal object (e.g., a brand). In order to support the ethnographer in the mapping of social formations within social media environments, I propose five analytical concepts: community, public, crowd, self-presentation as a tool, and user as a device
Assessing the Societal Impact of Research: The Relational Engagement Approach
Marketing and policy researchers aiming to increase the societal impact of their scholarship should engage directly with relevant stakeholders. For maximum societal effect, this engagement needs to occur both within the research process and throughout the complex process of knowledge transfer. The authors propose that a relational engagement approach to research impact complements and builds on traditional approaches. Traditional approaches to impact employ bibliometric measures and focus on the creation and use of journal articles by scholarly audiences, an important but incomplete part of the academic process. The authors recommend expanding the strategies and measures of impact to include process assessments for specific stakeholders across the entire course of impact, from the creation, awareness, and use of knowledge to societal impact. This relational engagement approach involves the cocreation of research with audiences beyond academia. The authors hope to begin a dialogue on the strategies researchers can use to increase the potential societal benefits of their research
The stigma turbine:A theoretical framework for conceptualizing and contextualizing marketplace stigma
Stigmas, or discredited personal attributes, emanate from social perceptions of physical characteristics, aspects of character, and âtribalâ associations (e.g., race; Goffman 1963). Extant research emphasizes the perspective of the stigma target, with some scholars exploring how social institutions shape stigma. Yet the ways stakeholders within the socio-commercial sphere create, perpetuate, or resist stigma remain overlooked. We introduce and define marketplace stigma as the labeling, stereotyping, and devaluation by and of commercial stakeholders (consumers, companies and their employees, stockholders, institutions) and their offerings (products, services, experiences). We offer the Stigma Turbine (ST) as a unifying conceptual framework that locates marketplace stigma within the broader sociocultural context, and illuminates its relationship to forces that exacerbate or blunt stigma. In unpacking the ST, we reveal the critical role market stakeholders can play in (de)stigmatization, explore implications for marketing practice and public policy, and offer a research agenda to further our understanding of marketplace stigma and stakeholder welfare
Social Brand Engagement: A New Idea
If âconsumer brand engagementâ is what happens in isolation, in a consumerâs own individual mind and thoughts, then âsocial brand engagementâ is the diametrical opposite of this. Social brand engagement is a social act full of culture, meaning, language, and values. With social brand engagement, relationships widen from person-brand to person-person-brand.
This can take different forms. While some consumers remain passive, others act more or less creatively in favor of or against brands. Some marketers are happy with the forms of evangelizing in which consumers simply spread brand messages. But the most authentic and believable form of endorsement, and therefore the optimal state, is marked by the creative expression and use of the brand. Here, people play positively and socially with the brand. They view it as a valued and valuable cultural resource and such social brand engagement has meaningful social, creative and productive outcomes.
In successful social brand engagement, both consumers and producers play active roles, but one party has to take the lead. Companies have historically had major problems letting consumers take over some of their former responsibilities. For successful authentication to happen, however, putting consumers in the driverâs seat is sometimesâbut certainly not alwaysânecessary
Creating Sustainable Digital Experiences
Is the social media hype about being cool or about making money? For Adam Froman, the answer is easy: Marketers need to be very clear about how social media activity supports overall business strategy. Only if the digital experience fi ts into the whole customer journey will consumers become engaged and add value to the company ⊠and only then will the social brand become cool
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