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Mobile instant messaging apps as an opportunity for a conversational approach to marketing: a segmentation study

Letizia Lo Presti (Department of Law and Economics, University of Rome Unitelma Sapienza (RM) Rome Italy)
Giulio Maggiore (Department of Law and Economics, University of Rome Unitelma Sapienza (RM) Rome Italy)
Vittoria Marino (Department of Law, Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods, University of Sannio of Benevento Benevento, Campania, Italy)
Riccardo Resciniti (Department of Law, Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods, University of Sannio Benevento, Benevento, Italy)

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

ISSN: 0885-8624

Article publication date: 11 October 2021

Issue publication date: 23 May 2022

1466

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand how firms may be segmented with respect to their attitudes towards the use of mobile instant messaging (MIM) apps (e.g. WhatsApp, Messenger, WeChat, etc). in their marketing practices to identify the main approaches to the use of MIM in business. Moreover, this paper identifies the key factors which can motivate or hinder the adoption of these digital platforms.

Design/methodology/approach

Firms are segmented on the basis of their attitudes (perceived usefulness and perceived effectiveness of performance) towards the use of MIM apps in the business. Categories for size, age of the firm and the organization’s predisposition towards MIMs are explored using data from 311 firms and latent class analysis. Threats, triggers and their real usage are also identified to describe the different approaches towards the application of MIM apps in marketing practices.

Findings

Four clusters are identified – lukewarm, cold, believer and unaffected – along with significant covariates such as the importance of conversation with the client, the use of MIMs in the business, the threats and triggers that can foresee adherence. The results help to understand how to approach the client using social messenger applications. MIM apps can be used for strategic marketing and not only for operative marketing.

Originality/value

This paper offers a more nuanced understanding of how firms engage through MIM apps by focusing on the firms’ attitudes towards MIM apps. It extends the knowledge on the firms’ reactions to these disruptive technologies and profiles the firms according to their social innovation attitudes, something that has not yet been investigated in the extant marketing literature.

Keywords

Citation

Lo Presti, L., Maggiore, G., Marino, V. and Resciniti, R. (2022), "Mobile instant messaging apps as an opportunity for a conversational approach to marketing: a segmentation study", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 37 No. 7, pp. 1432-1448. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-02-2020-0121

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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