Search results

The paper explores consumers' responsiveness to marketing communication about various services and products in three different media. Communication value is seen as an element of service value and is measured as consumer responsiveness to marketing communication.

The empirical data is based on interviews with consumers concerning their perceptions of the relevance and acceptance of marketing communication of 15 different services/products in three media, traditional direct mail, e‐mail and SMS. The consumers have responded to scenarios of marketing communication.

Findings showed differences in consumer responsiveness to different services and physical products. The overall responsiveness was relatively low for the offerings in all media. A division into responsiveness groups demonstrates that there are also consumers that are positive to communication. The share of positive consumers varies considerably over offerings.

The present study did not account for some important aspects in marketing communication. Firstly, the communication was not considered as part of a firm's integrated marketing communication. The creative element was omitted even if it in practice is important in planned marketing communication. Moreover, the respondents have evaluated scenarios based on their general attitudes toward the communication. The consumer's relationship to the company/brand/offering was excluded. However, despite these limitations it shows that it is necessary to consider that products and services may have different responsiveness patterns.

The emergence of digital media has increased the number of ways to interact with consumers. The variation in the responsiveness to products and services for different media indicates that it is important to have an understanding of how the media adds and subtracts value. The analysis points to the need for companies to measure the responsiveness of consumers in order to understand and enhance consumer perceived value of the communication as a part of the service.

The paper contributes to service marketing research by introducing the communication value and responsiveness conceptualisations that have an interest both for academic research and practitioners. This includes a new perspective on the role of communication on one hand and on the empirical findings of differences in digital interactive media on the other hand.

Modern conflicts are increasingly battles over images and ideas, as protagonists seek to shape audiences’ views by managing the information available through the media. The stake are high: influencing public opinion in a desired direction can have tangible pay‐offs in economic and military terms and even – in the case of the Israel‐Palestine war – in territory. Against this background, the media war can be even more important than the shooting war. While each side in the Israel‐Palestine conflict alleges media bias in favour of the other, a theoretical perspective, the hostile media effect, illuminates seeming contradictions highlighted by these competing claims. While the Israelis are better resourced for public relations purposes than the Palestinians, a vigorous domestic critique of Israeli PR efforts illustrates the limits of PR and emphasises the fluid, “wicked” nature of problems that often face communication managers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of journalists, food regulators and the food industry representatives on the impact of social media on communication about food risk. The authors identify how journalists/media actors use social media in identifying and creating news stories arguing that food regulators need to maintain a social media presence to ensure that accurate information about food safety is disseminated via social media.

Data were collected through 105 semi-structured interviews.

While food regulators and representatives of the food industry identify advantages of social media including two-way communication and speed of transmission of information, they maintain concerns about information provided via social media fearing the potential for loss of control of the information and sensationalism. There is evidence, however, that media actors use social media to identify food stories, to find sources, gauge public opinion and to provide a human interest angle.

While there are commonalities between the three groups, concerns with social media reflect professional roles. Food regulators need to be aware of how media actors use social media and maintain a social media presence. Further, they need to monitor other sources to maintain consumer trust.

This paper adds to public debate through comparing the perspectives of the three groups of respondents each that have their own agendas which impact how they interact with and use social media.

The study explores the decision-making logics driving the usage of social media among internationalising small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and how it supports entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. The author draws on qualitative data from four internationalising firms all of which had adopted social media. The findings show that causal decision-making logic is the main element driving the initial usage of social media (i.e. pre-adoption). Concerning ongoing usage, the author found evidence of both causal and effectual logic; the choice being dependent on the firm’s resources. The findings also show that both drivers of social media users have a paramount role in entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

This paper aims to examine tweet posts regarding Typhoon Washi to contend the usefulness of social media and big data as an aid of post-disaster management. Through topic modelling and content analysis, this study examines the priorities of the victims expressed in Twitter and how the priorities changed over a year.

Social media, particularly Twitter, was where the data gathered. Using big data technology, the gathered data were processed and analysed according to the objectives of the study. Topic modelling was used in clustering words from different topics. Clustered words were then used for content analysis in determining the needs of the victims. Word frequency count was also used in determining what words were repeatedly used during the course period. To validate the gathered data online, government documents were requested and concerned government agencies were also interviewed.

Findings of this study argue that housing and relief goods have been the top priorities of the victims. Victims are seeking relief goods, especially when they are in evacuation centres. Also, the lack of legal basis hinders government officials from integrating social media information unto policymaking.

This study only reports Twitter posts containing keywords either, Sendong, SendongPH, Washi or TyphoonWashi. The keywords were determined based on the words that trended after Typhoon Washi struck.

For social media and big data to be adoptable and efficacious, supporting and facilitating conditions are necessary. Structural, technical and financial support, as well as legal framework, should be in place. Maintaining and sustaining positive attitude towards it should be taken care of.

Although many studies have been conducted on the usefulness of social media in times of disaster, many of these focused on the use of social media as medium that can efficiently spread information, and little has been done on how the government can use both social media and big data in collecting and analysing the needs of the victims. This study fills those gaps in social big data literature.

The massive proliferation of social media has become extremely popular among information users. They have greatly influenced the way users access and use information in all aspects of their lives, thus becoming a global phenomenon for constant debates. The various social media sites have created an information explosion with access to information becoming more liberalized than ever before. To avert an ethical crisis, there is an urgent need for libraries to reorient their goals, objectives, strategies and policies to identify these ethical loopholes and seal them for the benefit of their users, before it is too late. This paper seeks to address these issues.

The paper uses critical appraisal of social media to establish the role of the librarian and the future of social media in libraries.

While social media ethical concerns with access to information cannot be wished way, preliminary investigation shows that little has been researched on the topic in Kenya.

This paper therefore critically looks at the opportunities provided by social media, major potential risks and the mechanisms for their management in terms of policy formulation, role of the librarian and the future of social media in libraries.

The authors argue that privacy is integral to the well-being of consumers and an essential component in not only corporate social responsibility (CSR) but what they term uniquely as social media responsibility (SMR). A conceptual framework is proposed that delineates the privacy issues companies should pay attention to in artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled social media environments.

The authors review literature on privacy issues in social media and AI in the academic and practitioner literatures. Based on the review, arguments focus on the need for an SMR framework, proposing responsible use of consumer data that is attentive to consumers' privacy concerns.

Implications from the framework are a path forward for social media companies to treat consumer data more fairly in this new environment. The framework has implications for companies to reduce potential harms to consumers and consider addressing their power and responsibility. With social media and AI transforming consumer behavior so profoundly, there are a variety of short- and long-term social implications.

Since AI tools are becoming integral to social media company activities, this research addresses the changing responsibilities social media companies have in securing consumers' data and enabling consumers the agency to protect their privacy effectively. The authors propose an SMR framework based on CSR research and AI tools employed by social media companies.

The insidious proliferation of online misinformation represents a significant societal problem. With a wealth of research dedicated to the topic, it is still unclear what determines fake news sharing. This paper comparatively examines fake and accurate news sharing in a novel experimental setting that manipulates news about terrorism.

The authors follow an extended version of the uses-and-gratification framework for news sharing, complemented by variables commonly employed in fake news rebuttal studies.

Logistic regression and classification trees revealed worry about the topic, media literacy, information-seeking and conservatism as significant predictors of willingness to share news online. No significant association was found for general analytical thinking, journalism skepticism, conspiracy ideation, uses-and-gratification motives or pass-time coping strategies.

The current results broaden and expand the literature examining beliefs in and sharing of misinformation, highlighting the role of media literacy in protecting the public against the spread of fake news.

This is, to the authors’ knowledge, the first study to integrate a breadth of theoretically and empirically driven predictors of fake news sharing within a single experimental framework.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-12-2022-0693

The use of social media information for personnel decisions in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) could have greater effects on employees in targeted firms of M&As. Negative information from social media can facilitate employee departures especially during reorganization efforts. Managers should be aware that personnel decisions using information gained from social media could have legal ramifications. As such, appropriate policies concerning social media should be in place to guide organizational decision making. Although social media has been a part of society and business, research on its influences on human resources, employment decisions, and organizational behaviors has been limited. As such, this paper reviewed the current literature on social media and suggested ways to advance studies in the field.

This study aims to investigate the role of negative media coverage of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in deterring tax avoidance. Inspired by media agenda-setting theory and legitimacy theory, this study hypothesises that an increase in ESG negative media coverage should cause a reputational drawback, leading companies to reduce tax avoidance to regain their legitimacy. Hence, this study examines a novel channel that links ESG and taxation.

This study uses panel regression analysis to examine the relationship between negative media coverage of ESG issues and tax avoidance among the largest European entities. This study considers different measures of tax avoidance and negative media coverage.

The results show that negative media coverage of ESG issues is negatively associated with tax avoidance, suggesting that media can act as an external monitor for corporate taxation.

The findings have implications for policymakers and regulators, which should consider tax transparency when dealing with ESG disclosure requirements. Tax disclosure should be integrated into ESG reporting.

The study has social implications related to the media, which act as watchdogs for firms’ irresponsible practices. According to this study’s findings, increased media pressure has the power to induce a better alignment between declared ESG policies and tax strategies.

This study contributes to the literature on the mechanisms that discourage tax avoidance and the literature on the relationship between ESG and taxation by shedding light on the role of media coverage.