Books and journals Case studies Expert Briefings Open Access
Advanced search

The network ROI: Concept, metrics, and measurement of social media returns (a Facebook experiment)

Gohar Khan (School of Management and Marketing, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand)
Manar Mohaisen (Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois, USA)
Matthias Trier (Paderborn University, Paderborn, Germany) (Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark)

Internet Research

ISSN: 1066-2243

Publication date: 13 November 2019

Abstract

Purpose

Leveraging social action theory, social network theory and the notion of network externality, the purpose of this paper is to model two different return on investment (ROI) measures: the networked ROI which captures the network effect originating from a social media investment, and the discrete ROI which focuses social media discrete returns from individual users.

Design/methodology/approach

A field experiment was set up over a period of three months to test the effects of two variants of an advertisement campaign (a social vs a discrete ad) on the modeled networked and discrete ROIs.

Findings

The authors find that emphasizing discrete user actions leads to lower network gains, but higher monetary returns while the social action emphasis produces higher network gains, but lower monetary returns. The study further suggests that social action focus is preferable for brand promotion and engagement, whereas the discrete action focus is suitable for boosting sales and website traffic.

Practical implications

Several potential implications for social media researchers and marketers are also discussed.

Originality/value

The authors for the first time showed that that the social media returns are derived not only from individual actions taken by the user (e.g. likes and shares) but also from users’ social interdependencies and the additional exposure that results from network effects.

Keywords

  • Return on investment (ROI)
  • Social media ROI
  • Networked ROI
  • Discrete ROI
  • Social action theory
  • A field experiment

Citation

Khan, G., Mohaisen, M. and Trier, M. (2019), "The network ROI: Concept, metrics, and measurement of social media returns (a Facebook experiment)", Internet Research, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 631-652. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-07-2018-0346

Download as .RIS

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

Please note you do not have access to teaching notes

You may be able to access teaching notes by logging in via Shibboleth, Open Athens or with your Emerald account.
Login
If you think you should have access to this content, click the button to contact our support team.
Contact us

To read the full version of this content please select one of the options below

You may be able to access this content by logging in via Shibboleth, Open Athens or with your Emerald account.
Login
To rent this content from Deepdyve, please click the button.
Rent from Deepdyve
If you think you should have access to this content, click the button to contact our support team.
Contact us
Emerald Publishing
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
© 2021 Emerald Publishing Limited

Services

  • Authors Opens in new window
  • Editors Opens in new window
  • Librarians Opens in new window
  • Researchers Opens in new window
  • Reviewers Opens in new window

About

  • About Emerald Opens in new window
  • Working for Emerald Opens in new window
  • Contact us Opens in new window
  • Publication sitemap

Policies and information

  • Privacy notice
  • Site policies
  • Modern Slavery Act Opens in new window
  • Chair of Trustees governance statement Opens in new window
  • COVID-19 policy Opens in new window
Manage cookies

We’re listening — tell us what you think

  • Something didn’t work…

    Report bugs here

  • All feedback is valuable

    Please share your general feedback

  • Member of Emerald Engage?

    You can join in the discussion by joining the community or logging in here.
    You can also find out more about Emerald Engage.

Join us on our journey

  • Platform update page

    Visit emeraldpublishing.com/platformupdate to discover the latest news and updates

  • Questions & More Information

    Answers to the most commonly asked questions here