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1 – 10 of over 12000Ha Nguyen and Prasina Parameswaran
The goal of this study is to explore how content creators engage in critical data literacies on TikTok, a social media site that encourages the creation and dissemination of…
Abstract
Purpose
The goal of this study is to explore how content creators engage in critical data literacies on TikTok, a social media site that encourages the creation and dissemination of user-created, short-form videos. Critical data literacies encompass the ability to reason with, critique, control, and repurpose data for creative uses. Existing work on critical data literacies on social media has focused on understanding of personal data, critique of data use, and strategies to protect privacy. This work focuses on how TikTok content creators repurpose data to construct their own narratives.
Design/methodology/approach
Through hashtag search, the authors created a corpus of 410 TikTok videos focused on discussing environmental and climate action, and qualitatively coded the videos for data literacies practices and video features (audio, footage, background images) that may support these practices.
Findings
Content creators engaged in multiple practices to attach meanings to data and situate environmental and climate action discourse in lived experiences. While there were instances of no data practices, we found cases where creators compiled different data sources, situated data in personal and local contexts, and positioned their experiences as data points to supplement or counter other statistics. Creators further leveraged the platform’s technical features, particularly the ability to add original audio and background images, to add narratives to the collective discourse.
Originality/value
This study presents a unique focus on examining critical data literacies on social media. Findings highlight how content creators repurpose data and integrate personal experiences. They illustrate platform features to support data practices and inform the design of learning environments.
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The concept of positioning is fundamental to how a company approaches and succeeds in a market. Despite a growing body of literature on positioning, existing research has focused…
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of positioning is fundamental to how a company approaches and succeeds in a market. Despite a growing body of literature on positioning, existing research has focused mainly on larger companies and brands. This paper aims to apply the concept of positioning to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) companies to explore how SME entrepreneurs understand and approach the positioning of their company, and what differences exist compared to large companies and brands.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative research approach, this study is based on focus groups involving 13 SME entrepreneurs. The data were analyzed using a qualitative structuring content analysis, which resulted in a newly developed and empirically based typology of SME positioning strategies.
Findings
The results indicate that SME entrepreneurs view positioning as highly relevant but differ from larger companies in terms of market and brand orientation. Building on the interviews, an empirical matrix of four positioning strategies was developed which SME entrepreneurs typically use: specialization, differentiation, conviction and opposition.
Practical implications
Based on the developed positioning typology, this study proposes a two-step approach for SME entrepreneurs: gaining clarity on the basic positioning dimensions and exploring four strategic fields of action.
Originality/value
Overall, the findings contribute to a better understanding of SME entrepreneurs' positioning strategies as important building blocks for market and brand success. The new positioning typology provides a conceptual contribution for further research in the marketing/entrepreneurship interface.
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Natasja Van Buggenhout, Wendy Van den Broeck, Ine Van Zeeland and Jo Pierson
Media users daily exchange personal data for “free” personalised media. Is this a fair trade, or user “exploitation”? Do personalisation benefits outweigh privacy risks?
Abstract
Purpose
Media users daily exchange personal data for “free” personalised media. Is this a fair trade, or user “exploitation”? Do personalisation benefits outweigh privacy risks?
Design/methodology/approach
This study surveyed experts in three consecutive online rounds (e-Delphi). The authors explored personal data processing value for media, personalisation relevance, benefits and risks for users. The authors scrutinised the value-exchange between media and users and determined whether media communicate transparently, or use “dark patterns” to obtain more personal data.
Findings
Communication to users must be clear, correct and concise (prevent user deception). Experts disagree on “payment” with personal data for “free” personalised media. This study discerned obstacles and solutions to substantially balance the interests of media and users (fair value exchange). Personal data processing must be transparent, profitable to media and users. Media can agree “sector-wide” on personalisation transparency. Fair, secure and transparent information disclosure to media is possible through shared responsibility and effort.
Originality/value
This study’s innovative contribution is threefold: Firstly, focus on professional stakeholders’ opinion in the value network. Secondly, recommendations to clearly communicate personalised media value, benefits and risks to users. This allows media to create codes of conduct that increase user trust. Thirdly, expanding literature explaining how media realise personal data value, deal with stakeholder interests and position themselves in the data processing debate. This research improves understanding of personal data value, processing benefits and potential risks in a regional context and European regulatory framework.
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Jeffrey A. Stone, Kimberly J. Flanders, Pedro Robles and Salih Hakan Can
This study aims to investigate how a sample of US municipalities use social media for strategic communication, focusing on efforts to effectively measure and evaluate that…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how a sample of US municipalities use social media for strategic communication, focusing on efforts to effectively measure and evaluate that communication. Research questions focus on measurement and evaluation practices, as well as the motivations and impacts associated with these practices.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses a qualitative approach. Interviews were conducted with 12 municipal government personnel responsible for social media communication. The self-selected participants represent 10 states and all US Census regions. Data was content analyzed and categorized according to four research questions, with emergent themes described.
Findings
The results show a diverse set of approaches and motivations, with surface-level measurement and evaluation methods. Initial efforts at more ad hoc use of social media are moving toward more deliberate strategies, but limited resources inhibit progress for some municipalities.
Originality/value
Few studies exist which explore how US municipalities formally measure and evaluate their social media activities as part of their overall strategic communication efforts. This study adds to the existing literature by providing insight into the measurement and evaluation practices that municipalities use to assess their social media communication. The study also provides a basis for larger and deeper investigations of municipal strategic communication practices related to measurement and evaluation.
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Tiao Hu, Michael Cottingham, Deborah Shapiro and Don Lee
This phenomenological study aims to explore how media promote and should promote wheelchair rugby.
Abstract
Purpose
This phenomenological study aims to explore how media promote and should promote wheelchair rugby.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 athletes at National Wheelchair Rugby Championship. In using a reflective thematical analysis approach, three themes were identified – media coverage: the promise of an unknown quantity; the battle of inspiration and athleticism; and leverage marketing and promote the “wow”.
Findings
Lacking fair representation from media resulting in the perception and reception gap between the general public and spectators was identified and explained by most of the athletes. Besides urging increased coverage with a shifting focus on athleticism, the important role of marketing was highlighted.
Originality/value
In short, the “wow” factor of the sport is its aggressiveness which can be its bestselling feature and used by stakeholders for maximum impact when marketing wheelchair rugby.
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Anni Rahimah, Huu Phuc Dang, Tessa Tien Nguyen, Julian Ming-Sung Cheng and Andriani Kusumawati
The purpose of this study is to investigate how negative emotions toward brands, especially brand hate, impact anti-brand consumption behavior, including brand avoidance and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how negative emotions toward brands, especially brand hate, impact anti-brand consumption behavior, including brand avoidance and further brand switching, through the intervening mediators of negative word-of-mouth (nWOM) and protest behavior as well as within contingencies.
Design/methodology/approach
Existing scales are adapted, and the field study is conducted in Malang, Indonesia. Based on purposive sampling, 275 respondents in three different malls complete a questionnaire related to Sari Roti, a national brand suffering from a boycott. In all, 250 qualified questionnaires are eventually used for data analysis using partial least square.
Findings
This research supports the effect of brand hate on nWOM, which then influences protest behavior, subsequently driving consumers to avoid a particular brand and opt for an alternative. nWOM was also found to have a direct effect on brand avoidance. For moderating effects, brand social responsibility and social media usage were found to negatively and positively affect the brand hate–nWOM relationship, respectively.
Originality/value
The limited extant literature only addresses a simple direct–effect relationship between negative emotions and anti-brand consequences. Drawing on the positioning lens and the dis-identification view, this research provides deep insight through theorizing a sequential, four-stage framework regarding the effect of brand hate on brand avoidance and brand switching. This framework is also explored under contingencies, further advancing an understanding of this dynamic subject matter.
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Celliane Ferraz Pazetto, Thiago Tomaz Luiz and Ilse Maria Beuren
This study analyzes, from the perspective of social exchange theory, the influence of empowering leadership on contextual performance mediated by perceived organizational support…
Abstract
Purpose
This study analyzes, from the perspective of social exchange theory, the influence of empowering leadership on contextual performance mediated by perceived organizational support (POS) and affective organizational commitment (AOC).
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was carried out with 182 employees of the Best Companies to Work in Brazil. Data analysis was performed by structural equation modeling (SEM) and by fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).
Findings
Results demonstrate that empowering leadership directly influences higher contextual performance and indirectly through the mediation of AOC, but not through POS. Serial mediation confirms that the model's variables self-promote each other to ultimately foster higher performance. Furthermore, all solutions to obtain high contextual performance include empowering leadership in the dimension of trust in the high performance of employees.
Research limitations/implications
The statistical support for the serial mediation indicates that empowering leadership promotes POS, which influences AOC that finally promotes the employee's contextual performance. However, this study's model does not include employees' task performance; our results add to the contextual performance literature.
Practical implications
The study highlights the role of the empowering leadership style in the organizational context, an aspect that deserves attention from the managers and organizations due to its effect on employee performance.
Originality/value
The study adds a new framework to the literature, which can be used by organizations to promote contextual performance. The variables, which include contextual and individual factors, foster the employee's contextual performance in a joint and self-promoting way. Contextual performance exceeds the manager's technical attributions; it covers psychological and discretionary behaviors.
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Rickard Andersson, Mats Heide and Charlotte Simonsson
This article aims to (1) increase the knowledge of how coworkers experience voicing the organization on external social media and (2) deepen and nuance the knowledge of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to (1) increase the knowledge of how coworkers experience voicing the organization on external social media and (2) deepen and nuance the knowledge of the sources of voice control involved in such communication processes. The study helps understand coworker voicing on social media as situated identity expressions through which coworkers negotiate and contest the organizational identity, thereby co-constituting a polyphonic organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws upon a constitutive perspective on communication and a communication-centered perspective on identity and organizational identification to investigate the voicing of organizational members of the Swedish Police Force on social media. The article is based on a qualitative study where interviews with police officers and communication professionals at the Swedish Police Authority constitute the main empirical material. A content analysis of selected social media accounts provided important background information to the interviews and enriched the understanding of coworker voice.
Findings
This analysis shows that coworkers voice the organization differently. Furthermore, the study of how coworkers experience this voicing indicates that these variations in how coworkers voice the organization depend on how strongly they identify or disidentify with organizational identity and image expressions voiced by significant others. Based on the analysis, this study presents four voice positions highlighting coworkers' varying degrees of identification/disidentification when voicing their organization on social media and reflecting upon their experiences of voicing. Furthermore, the analysis also demonstrates four sources of voice control: (1) management, (2) colleagues, (3) significant non-members and (4) the status and position of the coworker's voice. These four sources of voice control influence coworkers' voices on social media.
Practical implications
This study also contributes with practical implications, for example that the traditional idea of monophonic organizations must be revised and also embrace a polyphonic, bottom-up approach to strengthening internal trust and organizational identity. This comes naturally with the price of less control and predictability by management but with the benefits of increased coworker engagement and pride.
Originality/value
This study contributes new knowledge and a nuanced understanding of coworker voice on social media and the sources of control that influence coworkers' voices.
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Emanuela Conti, Furio Camillo and Tonino Pencarelli
The purpose of the paper is to present an empirical study that examines the impact of digitalization on informative, strategic and operational marketing activities in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to present an empirical study that examines the impact of digitalization on informative, strategic and operational marketing activities in manufacturing companies from the entrepreneurial perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
A research project was carried out in 205 Italian manufacturing companies by using the questionnaire method. An exploratory research study was conducted with hierarchical cluster analysis.
Findings
The analysis shows the existence of seven clusters of manufacturing companies that differ by the impact of digitalization on marketing activities from the entrepreneurial perspective. Two clusters have a high positive impact of digitalization, primarily on informative and strategic marketing activities. Two clusters are characterized by a low positive impact of digitalization and three clusters perform an intermediate level of digitalization. Furthermore, these groups of clusters differ in terms of the influence of digitalization on customer value.
Research limitations/implications
The small size of the sample and the geographic origin of the companies imply limited generalizability; further research on the topic is thus recommended.
Practical implications
The study suggests that companies should digitalize many key marketing activities to increase marketing effectiveness and customer value. To achieve high levels of digitalization and thus increase their competitiveness, manufacturing companies should consider the importance of relevant technologies and skills.
Originality/value
By focussing on the impact of digitalization on informative, strategic and operational marketing, which has not yet been empirically investigated, the present study reveals many new elements concerning the marketing process in the digital era from the entrepreneur's point of view.
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This paper aims to take stock of current knowledge on chief executive officers (CEOs) speaking out on societal issues and to position the phenomenon with and against the relevant…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to take stock of current knowledge on chief executive officers (CEOs) speaking out on societal issues and to position the phenomenon with and against the relevant literature on CEO communication. Ultimately, the paper seeks to arrive at a better conceptual understanding of CEO advocates and activists from a communication science perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is conceptual and considers findings from the literature on personalization, reputation, issues and topic management.
Findings
The paper reflects media, receptive and strategic implications for CEO advocates and activists and derives four workable propositions. It lays the foundation for treating CEO advocacy and activism as a form of strategic topic management that harnesses personalization to address a new set of stakeholder demands.
Practical implications
The insights gained from this paper may help researchers and practitioners understand when CEOs should speak up, what to communicate and how. The human element behind this kind of communication echoes new expectations, demands and values from stakeholders, shareholders and society at large.
Social implications
Understanding the specific interdependencies between personalization, reputation, issues and topic management underlying CEO advocacy and activism can help to improve a CEO's relationship with stakeholders and guide the public discourse to actively bring about positive societal change.
Originality/value
The paper fills a gap by providing an understanding of advocate and activist CEOs from a communication science perspective. The insights from this paper can be used as a starting point for further research on this subject.
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