Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that social media is a hybrid element of the promotion mix because in a traditional sense it enables companies to talk to their customers, while in a nontra-ditional sense it enable customers to talk directly to one another.
About: This article is published in Business Horizons.The article was published on 2009-07-01. It has received 3492 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Social media & Integrated marketing communications.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: Social media brings a new dimension to health care as it offers a medium to be used by the public, patients, and health professionals to communicate about health issues with the possibility of potentially improving health outcomes.
Abstract: Background: There is currently a lack of information about the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals from primary research Objective: To review the current published literature to identify the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals, and identify current gaps in the literature to provide recommendations for future health communication research Methods: This paper is a review using a systematic approach A systematic search of the literature was conducted using nine electronic databases and manual searches to locate peer-reviewed studies published between January 2002 and February 2012 Results: The search identified 98 original research studies that included the uses, benefits, and/or limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals The methodological quality of the studies assessed using the Downs and Black instrument was low; this was mainly due to the fact that the vast majority of the studies in this review included limited methodologies and was mainly exploratory and descriptive in nature Seven main uses of social media for health communication were identified, including focusing on increasing interactions with others, and facilitating, sharing, and obtaining health messages The six key overarching benefits were identified as (1) increased interactions with others, (2) more available, shared, and tailored information, (3) increased accessibility and widening access to health information, (4) peer/social/emotional support, (5) public health surveillance, and (6) potential to influence health policy Twelve limitations were identified, primarily consisting of quality concerns and lack of reliability, confidentiality, and privacy Conclusions: Social media brings a new dimension to health care as it offers a medium to be used by the public, patients, and health professionals to communicate about health issues with the possibility of potentially improving health outcomes Social media is a powerful tool, which offers collaboration between users and is a social interaction mechanism for a range of individuals Although there are several benefits to the use of social media for health communication, the information exchanged needs to be monitored for quality and reliability, and the users’ confidentiality and privacy need to be maintained Eight gaps in the literature and key recommendations for future health communication research were provided Examples of these recommendations include the need to determine the relative effectiveness of different types of social media for health communication using randomized control trials and to explore potential mechanisms for monitoring and enhancing the quality and reliability of health communication using social media Further robust and comprehensive evaluation and review, using a range of methodologies, are required to establish whether social media improves health communication practice both in the short and long terms
1,693 citations
Cites background from "Social media: The new hybrid elemen..."
...Similarly, Mangold and Faulds [22] highlighted that social media is changing the relationship between producers and consumers of a message....
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual model that identifies tie strength, homophily, trust, normative and informational interpersonal influence as an important antecedent to eWOM behavior in SNSs was developed and tested.
Abstract: As more and more marketers incorporate social media as an integral part of the promotional mix, rigorous investigation of the determinants that impact consumers’ engagement in eWOM via social networks is becoming critical. Given the social and communal characteristics of social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, MySpace and Friendster, this study examines how social relationship factors relate to eWOM transmitted via online social websites. Specifically, a conceptual model that identifies tie strength, homophily, trust, normative and informational interpersonal influence as an important antecedent to eWOM behaviour in SNSs was developed and tested. The results confirm that tie strength, trust, normative and informational influence are positively associated with users’ overall eWOM behaviour, whereas a negative relationship was found with regard to homophily. This study suggests that product-focused eWOM in SNSs is a unique phenomenon with important social implications. The implications for research...
1,693 citations
Cites background from "Social media: The new hybrid elemen..."
...In recent years, social media have become a new hybrid component of integrated marketing communications (IMC) that allow organisations to establish strong relationships with their consumers (Mangold & Faulds 2009)....
[...]
...Young college students are said to be a demanding consumer population that facilitates the acceptance of social media in an era of consumer control (Mangold & Faulds 2009)....
[...]
...As Mangold and Faulds (2009) suggested, consumers perceive social media as a more reliable source of information about brands than marketer-generated content communicated via the traditional promotional mix comprising advertising, sales promotion and public relations (p. 360)....
[...]
...First, this study echoes Mangold and Faulds’ (2009) argument that social media play a hybrid role in IMC, as they enable companies to produce a unified consumer-centric advertising message to connect with their customers (characteristics of traditional IMC), while in a non-traditional sense, they…...
[...]
...…a variety of online information-sharing formats including social networking sites (SNSs) (e.g. Facebook, MySpace and Friendster), creativity works-sharing sites (e.g. YouTube and Flickr), collaborative websites (e.g. Wikipedia) and microblogging sites (e.g. Twitter) (Mangold & Faulds 2009)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, the authors employed a content analysis of the creative strategies present in the social media content shared by a sample of top brands to reveal which social media channels were being used, which creative strategies/appeals are being used and how these channels and strategies relate to consumer engagement in branded social media.
Abstract: This study employed a content analysis of the creative strategies present in the social media content shared by a sample of top brands. The results reveal which social media channels are being used, which creative strategies/appeals are being used, and how these channels and strategies relate to consumer engagement in branded social media. Past research has suggested that brands should focus on maintaining a social presence across social channels with content that is fresh and frequent and includes incentives for consumer participation (Ling et al., 2004). This study confirmed the importance of frequent updates and incentives for participation. In addition, several creative strategies were associated with customer engagement, specifically experiential, image, and exclusivity messages. Despite the value of these creative approaches, most branded social content can be categorized as functional.
933 citations
Cites background from "Social media: The new hybrid elemen..."
...In addition to the interactive aspect, social media has an interpersonal aspect, so normative and informational influences may work for, or against, the brand, depending on consumer engagement (Mangold & Faulds, 2009)....
[...]
TL;DR: It is shown that brand trust has a full mediating role in converting value creation practices into brand loyalty and that such communities could enhance brand loyalty through brand use and impression management practices.
778 citations
TL;DR: An in-depth case study which applies text mining to analyze unstructured text content on Facebook and Twitter sites of the three largest pizza chains: Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza and Papa John's Pizza reveals the value of social media competitive analysis and the power of text mining as an effective technique to extract business value from the vast amount of available social media data.
745 citations
Cites background from "Social media: The new hybrid elemen..."
...As social media tools enable customers to chat with one another, the content, timing, and frequency of the conversations among social media users are outside managers’ direct control (Mangold & Faulds, 2009)....
[...]
References
More filters
Book•
01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: In this paper, Bernoff and Li explain how to turn the threat of consumers rating products in public forums with which they have no experience or influence, and how to transform this threat into an opportunity.
Abstract: Corporate executives struggle to harness the power of social technologies. Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube are where customers discuss products and companies, write their own news, and find their own deals but how do you integrate these activities into your broader marketing efforts? It's an unstoppable groundswell that affects every industry yet it's still utterly foreign to most companies running things now. When consumers you've never met are rating your company's products in public forums with which you have no experience or influence, your company is vulnerable. In "Groundswell", Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li explain how to turn this threat into an opportunity. In this updated and expanded edition of "Groundswell", featuring an all new introduction and chapters on Twitter and social media integration, you'll learn to: Evaluate new social technologies as they emerge; Determine how different groups of consumers are participating in social technology arenas; Apply a four-step process for formulating your future strategy; and, Build social technologies into your business. "Groundswell" is required reading for executives seeking to protect and strengthen their company's public image.
724 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, a game theoretic model where two products are differentiated in their value to the consumer is developed, and the consumers read messages online that help them decide on the identity of the superior product, and they find a unique equilibrium where online word of mouth is persuasive despite the promotional chat activity by competing firms.
Abstract: Chat rooms, recommendation sites, and customer review sections allow consumers to overcome geographic boundaries and to communicate based on mutual interests. However, marketers also have incentives to supply promotional chat or reviews in order to influence the consumers’ evaluation of their products. Moreover, firms can disguise their promotion as consumer recommendations due to the anonymity afforded by online communities. We explore this new setting where advertising and word of mouth become perfect substitutes since they appear indistinguishable to the consumer. Specifically, we investigate whether here word of mouth remains credible and whether firms choose to devote more resources promoting their inferior or superior products.We develop a game theoretic model where two products are differentiated in their value to the consumer. Unlike the firms, the consumers are uncertain about the products’ quality. The consumers read messages online that help them decide on the identity of the superior product. We find a unique equilibrium where online word of mouth is persuasive despite the promotional chat activity by competing firms. In this equilibrium, firms spend more resources promoting inferior products, in striking contrast to existing advertising literature. In addition, we discuss consumer welfare implications and how other marketing strategies may interact with promotional chat.
534 citations
"Social media: The new hybrid elemen..." refers background in this paper
...The flow of information outside the boundaries of the paradigm has generally been confined to face-toface,word-of-mouthcommunications among individual consumers, which has had minimal impact on the dynamics of the marketplace due to its limited dissemination (Mayzlin, 2006)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a content-analytic study that provides insight into word-of-mouth communication content and the catalysts by which it is stimulated, and identify three content categories and ten catalyst categories.
Abstract: Word‐of‐mouth communication (WOM) is a dominant force in the marketplace for services. However, the current body of research provides little insight into the nature of WOM in the service marketplace. Reports the results of a content‐analytic study that provides insight into WOM’s content and the catalysts by which it is stimulated. The goal was to capture a series of “grounded events” from which broader patterns could be discerned. These grounded events were actual incidents of WOM as described by the recipients of a communication. Three content categories and ten catalyst categories are identified. Implications for managers are addressed.
499 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a game theoretic model was developed in which two products are differentiated in their value to the consumer, and the consumers read messages online that help them decide on the identity of the superior product.
Abstract: Chat rooms, recommendation sites, and customer review sections allow consumers to overcome geographic boundaries and to communicate based on mutual interests. However, marketers also have incentives to supply promotional chat or reviews in order to influence the consumers' evaluation of their products. Moreover, firms can disguise their promotion as consumer recommendations due to the anonymity afforded by online communities. We explore this new setting where advertising and word of mouth become perfect substitutes because they appear indistinguishable to the consumer. Specifically, we investigate here whether word of mouth remains credible and whether firms choose to devote more resources promoting their inferior or superior products.
We develop a game theoretic model in which two products are differentiated in their value to the consumer. Unlike the firms, the consumers are uncertain about the products' quality. The consumers read messages online that help them decide on the identity of the superior product. We find a unique equilibrium where online word of mouth is persuasive despite the promotional chat activity by competing firms. In this equilibrium, firms spend more resources promoting inferior products, in striking contrast to existing advertising literature. In addition, we discuss consumer welfare implications and how other marketing strategies might interact with promotional chat.
475 citations
Book•
01 Jul 2007
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the effects of viral messages containing the six primary emotions (surprise, joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust) on recipients' emotional responses to viral marketing campaigns and subsequent forwarding behavior.
Abstract: In this article, we identify that successful viral marketing campaigns trigger an emotional response in recipients. Working under this premise, we examine the effects of viral messages containing the six primary emotions (surprise, joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust) on recipients' emotional responses to viral marketing campaigns and subsequent forwarding behavior. According to our findings, in order to be effective, viral messages need to contain the element of surprise. By itself, however, surprise is not enough to guarantee message success; therefore, it must be combined with other emotions. The effectiveness of the viral message is also moderated by gender, with disgust-based and fear-based campaigns being more likely to be forwarded by male recipients than female recipients. To ensure forwarding behavior, the message must capture the imagination of the recipient, as well as be clearly targeted. Moreover, achieving fit between a campaign and the featured emotions is important, as this ensures an increased chance of forwarding. In addition to relaying these and other findings, we share and discuss the managerial implications of using different emotions in viral marketing campaigns. Finally, culture is recognized as an influencer.
378 citations