Search results

This paper aims to investigate the “posting” behavior of marketers on brands’ Facebook pages and whether these “posting” behaviors differ between local and global brands in Saudi Arabia.

The study randomly selected a total of 400 Facebook brand page posts from a matching sample of top 20 global and 20 local brands in Saudi Arabia using content analysis.

One of the notable findings show that global brands are more likely to post content that consists of prizes/giveaways, games/competitions and socializing than local brands, while local brands are more likely to post informative content than global brands. The findings also show that local brands are more likely to use content that includes Islamic messages, women in modest clothing, Arabic language and Saudi dialect than global brands.

This study is limited to 20 global and 20 local brands. More product categories are needed.

The findings of this study have implications for marketers in regards to what types of communication content is more likely to be posted on brands’ Facebook fan pages in Saudi Arabia – especially for those global brands that are interested in having a localized brand Facebook fan page for Saudi Arabia.

The first study to compare Facebook strategies used by global brands and local brands in the same market.

This study aims to examine the difference between personalized and non-personalized recommendations in influencing YouTube users’ video choices. In addition, whether men and women have a significant difference in using recommendations was compared and the predictors of recommendation video use frequency were explored.

A survey of 524 Saudi Arabia college students was conducted using computer-assisted self-administered interviews to collect their video recommendation sources and how likely they follow the recommendation from different sources.

Video links posted on social media used by the digital natives were found as the most effective form of recommendation shows that social approval is important in influencing trials. Recommendations can succeed in both personalized and non-personalized ways. Personalized recommendations as in YouTube recommended videos are almost the same as friends and family’s non-personalized posting of video links on social media in convincing people to watch the videos. Contrary to expectations, Saudi men college students are more likely to use recommendations than women students.

The use of a non-probability sample is a major limitation and self-reported frequency may result in over- or under-estimation of video use.

Marketers will realize that they may not need the personalized recommendation from the large site. They can use social media recommendations by the consumers’ friends and family. E-mail is the worst platform for a recommendation.

Recommendation is a credible source and can overcome the avoidance of advertising. Its influence on consumers will be increasing in years to come with the algorithmic recommendation and social media use.

This is the first study to compare the influence of different online recommendation sources and compare personalized and non-personalized recommendations. As recommendation is growing more and more important with algorithm development online, the study results have high reference values to marketers in Islamic countries and beyond.