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1 – 10 of over 2000Tilo Halaszovich and Jacques Nel
The potential outcomes of social media-facilitated customer–brand relationships have prompted many firms to develop strategies that would enable them to connect with as many…
Abstract
Purpose
The potential outcomes of social media-facilitated customer–brand relationships have prompted many firms to develop strategies that would enable them to connect with as many customers as possible through social media. Nevertheless, the marketing value of these artificial connections is questionable. Therefore, this paper aims to identify determinants of customers’ intention to connect with a brand on social media (i.e. Facebook) in the absence of “pull-strategies”.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the concept of customer–brand engagement (CBE) is applied to the intentions to “Like” a brand’s Facebook fan page using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The results show that the three dimensions of CBE collectively explain about 50 per cent of the intentions to “Like” a brand’s Facebook fan page. Additionally, the results show that the influences of two of the CBE dimensions on the two “Like”-intentions are conditional effects of brand trust.
Originality/value
Because of the novelty of the CBE construct, further investigation of its application in a social media setting is lacking. To address this gap in the literature, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how CBE influences customers’ intention to “Like” a brand’s Facebook page.
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Xi Y. Leung and Lan Jiang
The purpose of this paper is to propose and test an extended theory of planned behavior model (TPB) to explain how following destination Facebook pages impacts travelers’ visit…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose and test an extended theory of planned behavior model (TPB) to explain how following destination Facebook pages impacts travelers’ visit intention.
Design/methodology/approach
The study asked 252 participants to follow a destination’s Facebook page for three months before they completed the survey. An integrative model combining theory of planned behavior, social influence theory and attitude toward the ad was proposed. Partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was used in testing the proposed model.
Findings
The findings indicated that the three social influences (compliance, identification and internalization) all significantly impacted visit intention both directly and mediated by subjective norm. Facebook page experience also significantly influenced visit intention mediated by perceived behavioral control. However, both attitude toward the destination and attitude toward messages were not significantly associated with visit intention.
Practical implications
The findings of this study revealed important practical implications for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) to leverage Facebook marketing. Specifically, DMOs should pay extra attention to the social influence of Facebook pages, especially identification, and also use Facebook pages to reduce perceived behavioral control of potential visitors.
Originality/value
This study was one of the first attempts to explore the factors influencing visit intention of destination Facebook fans based on an extended TPB model. The study also contributed to the literature of using PLS-SEM in predicting behavioral intention through a reflective-formative higher-order model.
研究目的
本论文旨在建立和验证一个扩展的计划行为模型, 用来解释旅游目的地Facebook如何影响游客旅游意图。
研究设计/方法/途径
252人参与本研究项目, 他们实际关注了一个旅游目的地Facebook三个月, 然后填写了问卷。本论文以计划行为模型、社会影响理论、以及广告认知理论等为基础, 建立一体化模型。本论文采用偏最小二乘回归结构方程模型(PLS-SEM)验证这个一体化模型。
研究结果
三种社会影响因素(从众、认同、内化)均对旅游意图有直接和间接的影响。Facebook体验也对于旅游意图, 通过知觉行为控制的中间调解作用, 有显著影响。然而, 目的地态度和信息的态度并未显著地与旅游意图有关。
研究实践意义
本论文结果对于旅游目的地管理机构(DMOs)如何使用Facebook营销有着实际启示作用。特别的是, DMOs应该更加关注Facebook的社会影响方面, 比如认同, 以及使用Facebook来减少潜在游客的知觉行为控制。
研究原创性/价值
本论文是首先几篇以TPB模型为基础, 探索目的地Facebook粉丝效应的旅游意图的文章。本论文还对于使用PLS-SEM技术通过反应性-形成性多阶模型来预测行为意图的文献有着理论贡献。
关键词
关键词:广告认知, 、目的地Facebook, 、社会影响理论, 、计划行为理论, 、旅游意图
纸张类型
研究论文
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Wimmala Pongpaew, Mark Speece and Leela Tiangsoongnern
Business use of social media is increasing rapidly as marketers aim to increase customer brand engagement (CBE) in brand communities to enhance the brand experience. However, use…
Abstract
Purpose
Business use of social media is increasing rapidly as marketers aim to increase customer brand engagement (CBE) in brand communities to enhance the brand experience. However, use of social media for marketing communications is not well understood. This study aims to examine manager and user views of CBE and effects of perceived social presence (PSP) on CBE in a corporate Facebook environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative in-depth interviews are conducted with 18 users of corporate Facebook – i.e. those who visit corporate Facebook regularly – and four marketing managers whose companies operate Facebook pages. The industry is smart-information technology devices, and the cultural context is Thailand.
Findings
Corporate Facebook sites with high SP functions foster customer engagement on cognitive, emotional and behavioral levels. PSP enhances product knowledge and encourages return page visits. Thus, CBE and PSP build brand trust and loyalty. However, managers may need to focus more on the nature of the brand community beyond the corporate Facebook page.
Practical implications
Companies that enrich their corporate Facebook with SP features can encourage CBE. Consumers feel more informed about the brand and therefore feel more positively about it, which enhances the brand experience and brand trust. This holds even for lurkers who do not behaviorally engage on the Facebook page much, but who are active in the broader brand community.
Originality/value
This paper studies the relationship between PSP and CBE in a corporate Facebook environment, providing insights into how PSP influences CBE, which can enhance the customer’s brand experience and contribute to brand perceptions.
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The purpose of this study is to explore how following a destination’s Facebook page changes fans’ visit intentions.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore how following a destination’s Facebook page changes fans’ visit intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study conducted two waves of data collection before and after following a Facebook page over a three-month period and collected 297 and 172 usable responses. The theory of planned behavior was adopted to build the evolution model. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model was used in testing the proposed evolution model and exploring the changes over time.
Findings
Fans’ visit intentions significantly improved after following a Facebook page with a strengthened impact of subjective norm on visit intention. The effect of attitude on visit intention showed significant decrease after following the Facebook page, making attitude less important in travelers’ decision-making processes.
Practical implications
This study proves that destinations’ Facebook pages are effective in terms of improving fans’ visit intentions. Therefore, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) should focus on increasing the number of their Facebook fans and pay most attention to the social influence of Facebook pages.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first attempts to prove the effectiveness of Facebook marketing using a longitudinal approach. The study also contributes to the literature of utilizing PLS-SEM in hospitality and tourism research through applying the procedure of analyzing longitudinal data.
研究目的
本论文旨在探索旅游目的地Facebook官网对吸引粉丝旅游的影响力。
研究设计/方法/途径
样本数据搜集历时三个月, 分别在游客粉丝一个旅游目的地Facebook官网前和三个月后进行问卷收集。样本数量分别为297份(粉丝前)和172份(粉丝后)。计划行为理论(TPB)作为本论文的理论基础以建立研究模型。PLS-SEM为数据分析方法来测试假设模型和探索因时间而产生的变化。
研究结果
游客的旅游意向明显加强了, 在粉丝旅游目的地Facebook之后, 显示为增强的主观规范对旅游意向的影响。游客态度对旅游意向的影响在粉丝Facebook官网后明显降低, 使得游客的态度对旅游决策的作用重要性降低。
研究实践意义
本论文结果显示旅游目的地Facebook官网对增加粉丝游客有效用。因此, DMO应该重视吸引更多Facebook粉丝, 以及尤其重视Facebook中的社会影响。
研究原创性/价值
本论文是极少数文章通过纵向研究方法来证明Facebook营销的效用性的研究。本论文还对酒店旅游研究文献采用PLS-SEM分析方法进行纵向研究有着理论贡献。
关键词 – 旅游目的地facebook官网, 纵向, 计划行为理论(TPB), 旅游倾向。
纸张类型 – 文献综述
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Hamid Khobzi and Babak Teimourpour
The purpose of this study is to assign polarity score to each post from Facebook fan pages, and then examine whether the Comments submitted by users on a post from fan page have a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to assign polarity score to each post from Facebook fan pages, and then examine whether the Comments submitted by users on a post from fan page have a significant relationship with the popularity of that post. Being aware of how to enhance the popularity of posts will help companies in terms of administrating their fan pages.
Design/methodology/approach
In the context of fan page and post popularity, the authors test significance of the relationship between Comments’ polarity and number of Likes and Comments of a post in different Facebook pages by regression method. The data are collected from different fan page posts in Facebook, and a sentiment analysis approach is proposed to accomplish this research.
Findings
Results show that the relation between users’ Comments and popularity of fan page posts is strongly significant. Outcomes of this research are useful for every company in terms of monitoring and managing their brand fan pages on social networking sites such as Facebook.
Originality/value
Investigation of factors influencing popularity of fan page posts in social media is almost a new area of study that dates back to recent years. The authors use a sentiment analysis approach to evaluate a new concept describing the relationship between users’ Comments and popularity of posts from Facebook fan pages. Moreover, a part of dataset is extracted from Facebook by a crawler which is an advantage to prior studies.
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Na Su, Dennis Reynolds and Bixuan Sun
This study aims to identify what type of post is most effective in drawing fans to like, comment on or share it, building on the premise that hotels can only benefit when “fans” …
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify what type of post is most effective in drawing fans to like, comment on or share it, building on the premise that hotels can only benefit when “fans” – customers who “like” them – engage in discussion and interaction on Facebook.
Design/methodology/approach
In the case of the Super 8 Hotels Facebook fan page, 14 underlying factors related to themes, media, characteristics and time are identified in a content analysis of its posts. Multilevel regression is employed in the study to test the effects of these 14 factors on the number of fans who like, comment on or share a post.
Findings
Posts about hotel products and attributes diminish the attractiveness to the hotel brand’s Facebook page. The posts that include award and discount information, expressed in a humorous way or end with requests to like tend to be liked more often by fans. Furthermore, posts ending with a question are likely to get more comments, but these questions have a negative influence on the number of likes the post receives. In addition, posts with pictures or involving environment concerns are more likely to be shared by fans.
Practical implications
The paper provides hotel practitioners with implementable communication tactics to increase their appeal to consumers on Facebook.
Originality/value
The study represents a new academic area of how to communicate using social media and concludes with practical strategies for hoteliers seeking to utilize Facebook as an effective marketing tool.
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Shing-Wan Chang and Shih-Heng Fan
The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of continuous brand-customer relationship via company-hosted social networking sites (SNSs). Factors that influence fans…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of continuous brand-customer relationship via company-hosted social networking sites (SNSs). Factors that influence fans to continue using fast-fashion brands’ Facebook fan pages and to maintain the brand-customer relationship are discussed first. Subsequently, the predictors of fans’ engagement and affective commitment to a fast-fashion brand are examined with the aim to explore the key elements that nurture the brand-customer relationship via brands’ SNSs.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research was conducted and the structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses on a sample of 202 fast-fashion Facebook fan page users in Taiwan.
Findings
The results demonstrate that engagement, affective commitment and continued intention to use are predominantly influenced by, in turn, social interaction tie, content value and affective commitment.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited because it investigated the fast-fashion fan page users in an Asian country, so the findings cannot be generalised to other contexts.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that fan page managers’ initiation and involvement in conversations, frequent responses, listening to fans’ opinions and improving fans’ experiential value may facilitate them to engage in the brand’s activities at a higher level.
Originality/value
The findings of this integrated model suggest managerial guidelines for brand managers in this industry regarding how to maintain the brand-customer relationship through social media strategy and how they contribute to theory building in continuance intention of SNSs.
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Carla Ruiz-Mafe, Jose Martí-Parreño and Silvia Sanz-Blas
With the rapid expansion of social networking sites, researchers and practitioners are challenged to understand drivers of customer loyalty in fan pages. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
With the rapid expansion of social networking sites, researchers and practitioners are challenged to understand drivers of customer loyalty in fan pages. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main drivers of Facebook fan page loyalty in order to promote the creation of affective links and long-term relationships with users.
Design/methodology/approach
The impact of trust, fan page content dependency, attitude and consumer beliefs on loyalty to fan pages was tested through structural equation modelling techniques. The sample consisted of 691 Spanish Facebook users.
Findings
Data analysis shows that attitude appears as a key variable in increasing loyalty to fan pages. The empirical study also found a significant positive influence of perceived usefulness, attitude, trust and dependency on loyalty in fan pages, and an indirect influence of perceived ease of use mediated by perceived usefulness and attitude.
Practical implications
This research enables managers to know what aspects to highlight in their communication strategies to increase fan page use and positive word-of-mouth. Research findings show managers that Facebook fan page content should provide valuable information, be fun and foster user interactions in order to improve user attitude and loyalty. Practical recommendations to reinforce consumer trust on Facebook fan pages are also provided.
Originality/value
There are still too few studies that analyse the effects of trust and fan page dependency on fan page users’ loyalty. This work aims to combine the influence of dependency on fan pages, trust, attitude and Technology Acceptance Model beliefs in order to construct an improved model for fan page loyalty formation.
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Silvia Sanz-Blas, Enrique Bigné and Daniela Buzova
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the following variables: brand fan page dependency; parasocial interaction; attitude towards brand fan pages in enhancing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the following variables: brand fan page dependency; parasocial interaction; attitude towards brand fan pages in enhancing users’ participation in Facebook as a mobile social network (m-WOM).
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical study was carried out by means of online interviews with structured questionnaires. To analyse the data, and estimate the hypothesised relationships in the theoretical model, the partial least squares equation modelling was used.
Findings
The results of the study indicate that accessing brands’ mobile Facebook fan pages can satisfy the needs of understanding, orientation and play. These needs, in turn, influence users’ attitude, as well as their active and passive participation. Besides, users’ active participation in brands’ fan pages is enhanced by the direct and positive influence of attitude and passive participation.
Practical implications
This research enables brands to know which aspects to highlight in their communication strategies in order to increase the user’s active participation and generate m-WOM. Brands need to post information which is not only relevant, but also entertaining and visually attractive. Furthermore, they should foster the user-brand interaction to achieve users’ engagement with the brand.
Originality/value
The contribution of the present research is threefold. First, it offers a new perspective in explaining eWOM participation in mobile settings based on social networks. Second, it is argued that dependency is a key driver in explaining m-WOM. Lastly, integrating parasocial integration in the authors’ model highlights the communication nature of the word-of-mouth process.
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Giannis Milolidakis, Demosthenes Akoumianakis and Chris Kimble
Data from social media (SM) has grown exponentially and created new opportunities for businesses to supplement their business intelligence (BI). However, there are many different…
Abstract
Purpose
Data from social media (SM) has grown exponentially and created new opportunities for businesses to supplement their business intelligence (BI). However, there are many different platforms all of which are in a constant state of evolution. The purpose of this paper is to describe a generic methodology for the gathering of data from SM and transforming it into valuable BI.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach taken is termed virtual excavation and builds on the similarities between the manipulation of technological artefacts virtual communities using various forms of SM and the excavation and analysis of physical artefacts found in archaeological settlements.
Findings
The paper reports on a case study using this technique that looks at the Facebook fan pages of three mobile telecommunications service providers in Greece. The paper identifies many of the standard BI indicators as well as demonstrating that additional information relating to cross-page use can be collected by looking at how users manipulate artefact such as the “like” button in Facebook.
Research limitations/implications
Although the methodology is widely applicable, the paper only reports on the analysis of one platform, Facebook, and is heavily reliant on visualization tools. Future work will examine different platforms and different tools for analysis.
Practical implications
The paper discusses some of the ways in which this approach could be used and suggests some areas in which it might be applied.
Originality/value
The approach of using virtual excavations to extract BI from virtual communities in online SM offers a systematic approach for dealing with a variety of information from a variety of different media that is not found in techniques based on information systems or management science.
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