Profiles of social networking sites users in the Netherlands

Online social networking has become a reality and integral part of the daily personal, social and business life. The extraordinary increase of the user numbers of Social Networking Sites (SNS) and the rampant creation of online communities presents businesses with many challenges and opportunities. From the commercial perspective, the SNS are an interesting and promising field: online social networks are important sources of market intelligence and also offer interesting options for co-operation, networking and marketing. For SMEs especially the Social Networking Sites represent a simple and low cost solution for listening the customer’s voice, reaching potential customers and creating extensive business networks. This paper presents the results of a national survey mapping the demographic, social and behavioral characteristics of the Dutch users of SNS. The study identifies four different user profiles and proposes a segmentation framework as basis for better understanding the nature and behavior of the participants in online communities. The findings present new insights to marketing strategists eager to use the communication potential of such communities; the findings are also interesting for businesses willing to explore the potential of online networking as a low cost yet very efficient alternative to physical, traditional networking

Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), and Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) : Gender Gap and Inter-Country Context

Expanding and maintaining the number of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) is directly related to sustainable economic, social, and individual development. However, SMEs are vulnerable to competition. Thus, this study focusses on the analysis of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as an antecedent of integrated marketing communications' (IMC) successful implementation directed at improving SMEs' performance, with additional focus on the institutional inter-country context. Considering the role of owner-managers in SMEs, analysis of the gender gap is also applied. The data from 315 managers' surveys (in Spain and Belarus) is analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results show a positive relationship between EO, IMC, and performance among SMEs in both markets. However, these connections are significantly stronger in the case of male, rather than female managers in a developed market (Spain). There is no gender gap in an emerging market (Belarus). Moreover, and conversely, in a developing market, the EO-IMC-performance relations are more intensive when the manager is female. Further implementations are provided for practitioners and government organizations with a focus on the gender gap and inter-country differences

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing

The world of electronic marketing is continuously evolving. Marketing theories and practices must adapt to these new technological and social scenarios. IJEMR addresses this evolution by analysing new theories and practices as they emerge with particular focus on electronic retailing. Current technological and quantitative approaches to e-marketing, treating consumer relations as a database problem, are insufficient for a deeper understanding of the implications of this evolution. IJEMR fills this gap, fostering new cutting-edge approaches to e-marketing, e-consumers and e-tailing

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing

The world of electronic marketing is continuously evolving. Marketing theories and practices must adapt to these new technological and social scenarios. IJEMR addresses this evolution by analysing new theories and practices as they emerge with particular focus on electronic retailing. Current technological and quantitative approaches to e-marketing, treating consumer relations as a database problem, are insufficient for a deeper understanding of the implications of this evolution. IJEMR fills this gap, fostering new cutting-edge approaches to e-marketing, e-consumers and e-tailing

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing

The world of electronic marketing is continuously evolving. Marketing theories and practices must adapt to these new technological and social scenarios. IJEMR addresses this evolution by analysing new theories and practices as they emerge with particular focus on electronic retailing. Current technological and quantitative approaches to e-marketing, treating consumer relations as a database problem, are insufficient for a deeper understanding of the implications of this evolution. IJEMR fills this gap, fostering new cutting-edge approaches to e-marketing, e-consumers and e-tailing

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing

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