The Value of Social Media for Small Businesses

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludwig Christian Schaupp ◽  
France Bélanger

ABSTRACT Companies are implementing social media for marketing, advertising, employee recruitment, and overall communications with employees, clients, and partners. Small businesses are able to gain substantial value from social media but there are also many challenges. In this research, the Technology-Organization-Environment framework, the Resource-Based View theory, and interview data are combined to develop a model of social media usage and value for small businesses. Survey data from small businesses from a variety of industries and geographical locations are collected to validate the model. Results indicate that technology competence, pressure from clients, and characteristics of the mobile environment are significant antecedents of social media usage. The dimensions of social media value—perceived impact on internal operations, marketing, customer service, and sales—are also significant. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Anissa Hakim Purwantini ◽  
Friztina Anisa

Utilization of social media technology for business interests has been widely done both in largecompanies and MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise). Utilization of social media forMSMEs is very important to face the competition in this globalization era. This study empiricallyexamines the antecedents of social media usage and its impact on MSMEs performance basedon the Technology-Organization-Environment framework and Resource Based View theory. Thesurvey method by distributing questionnaires was conducted to MSMEs from various industriesin Magelang. Analysis with SEM-Partial Least Square indicates that customer pressure andmobile environment are significant factors affecting the use of social media. Furthermore, thedimensions of the impact on internal operations, sales, marketing and customer service aresignificant and make the value of social media usage for MSMEs. Technological competenceand competitive pressure does not affect the social media usage for MSMEs.Keywords: social media, SMEs, organization perspective, TOE, RBV


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shilpa Balan ◽  
Janhavi Rege

AbstractBackground: Information can now be rapidly exchanged due to social media. Due to its openness, Twitter has generated massive amounts of data. In this paper, we apply data mining and analytics to extract the usage patterns of social media by small businesses. Objectives: The aim of this paper is to describe with an example how data mining can be applied to social media. This paper further examines the impact of social media on small businesses. The Twitter posts related to small businesses are analyzed in detail. Methods/Approach: The patterns of social media usage by small businesses are observed using IBM Watson Analytics. In this paper, we particularly analyze tweets on Twitter for the hashtag #smallbusiness. Results: It is found that the number of females posting topics related to small business on Twitter is greater than the number of males. It is also found that the number of negative posts in Twitter is relatively low. Conclusions: Small firms are beginning to understand the importance of social media to realize their business goals. For future research, further analysis can be performed on the date and time the tweets were posted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Werner Krings

The thesis aims to explore and explain how Social Media impacts the B2B-Business Development process in a global software environment. Mixed-methods uncover the leading media platforms applied in the Business Development process cycle. The thesis produced a model, illustrating two dimensions of Social Media Business Usage, four critical Business Development process phases, and their impact on Performance mediated by Social Capital. To extend generalizability, future research may focus on testing the model for New Business Development exclusively. Significant contributions are classifying relevant Social Media platforms, distilling the process phases with the greatest impact on performance. The creation of new indices advances the performance discussion, and the typology of Business Developers capitalises on optimising the process sequence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 410-410
Author(s):  
Xin Yao Lin ◽  
Margie Lachman

Abstract Social media platforms allow people to connect and share content online (e.g., Facebook, Twitter). Although older adults are becoming more frequent users of social media, there continue to be mixed views on whether social media positively or negatively impacts well-being. Past studies have mainly focused on cross-sectional analyses for individual differences. However, both the time spent on social media and one’s affect can fluctuate on a daily basis. Thus, it is important to understand how the relationship between daily social media usage and affect varies within individuals from day to day. The current study adds to the literature by examining whether daily variations in time spent with social media are related to daily positive and negative affect and whether there are age differences in these relationships. The current study used an eight-day daily diary from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Refresher dataset for 782 participants (ages 25-75). Multilevel modeling results revealed that age moderated the relationship between daily time spent on social media and negative affect: for younger adults, on days when they spent more time on social media, they had more negative affect. For older adults, on days when they spent more time on social media, they had less negative affect. Surprisingly, daily time spent on social media was not related to daily positive affect, nor did this relationship differ by age. Implications for future research are discussed with a focus on how social media usage can contribute to daily well-being for adults of different ages.


Author(s):  
Sylvaine Castellano ◽  
Insaf Khelladi

New opportunities and challenges are emerging thanks to the growing Internet importance and social media usage. Although practitioners have already recognized the strategic dimension of e-reputation and the power of social media, academic research is still in its infancy when it comes to e-reputation determinants in a social networks context. A study was conducted in the sports setting to explore the impact of social networks on the sportspeople's e-reputation. Whereas the study emphasized (1) the influence of social networks' perception on the sportspeople's e-reputation, and the neutral roles of (2) the motives for following sportspeople online, and (3) the negative content on the Internet, additional insights are formulated on maintaining, restoring and managing e-reputation on social networks. Finally, future research directions are suggested on the role of image to control e-reputation.


Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flora Poecze ◽  
Christine Strauss

The introduction of the Web 2.0 era and the associated emergence of social media platforms opened an interdisciplinary research domain, wherein a growing number of studies are focusing on the interrelationship of social media usage and perceived individual social capital. The primary aim of the present study is to introduce the existing measurement techniques of social capital in this domain, explore trends, and offer promising directions and implications for future research. Applying the method of a scoping review, a set of 80 systematically identified scientific publications were analyzed, categorized, grouped and discussed. Focus was placed on the employed viewpoints and measurement techniques necessary to tap into the possible consistencies and/or heterogeneity in this domain in terms of operationalization. The results reveal that multiple views and measurement techniques are present in this research area, which might raise a challenge in future synthesis approaches, especially in the case of future meta-analytical contributions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-219
Author(s):  
Robert Kwame Dzogbenuku ◽  
George Kofi Amoako ◽  
Desmond K. Kumi

Purpose This study aims to determine the impact of social media usage on university student’s academic performance in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research method was used for the study. With the aid of a simple random sampling technique, quantitative data were obtained from 373 out of 400 respondents representing 93 per cent of volunteered participants. Data collected was analysed using structural equation modelling to establish the relationship among social media information, social media entertainment, social media innovation, social media knowledge generation and student performance. Findings The findings of this study indicate that social media information, social media innovation and social media entertainment all had a significant positive influence on social media knowledge generation, which has wide learning and knowledge management implications. Also, the study indicated that information computer technology knowledge moderates the relationship between social media and student performance. Research limitations/implications The sample taken was mainly cross-sectional in nature rendering the inference of causal relationships between the variables impossible. Future researchers should adopt a longitudinal research design to examine causality. Finally, the study was limited to only university students in Accra, Ghana. Future research can extend to a bigger student population and to other West African and African countries. Practical implications This paper will serve as a profitable source of information for managers and researchers who may embark on future research on social media and academic performance. The findings that social media information, innovation and entertainment can likewise enhance social media knowledge generation can help managers and university teachers to use the vehicle of innovation and entertainment to communicate knowledge. Social implications The findings of this study will help policymakers in education and other industries that engage the youth to realise the important factors that can make them get the best in the social media space. Originality/value Social media usage in academic performance is increasingly prevalent. However, little is known about how social media knowledge generation mediates between social media usage and academic performance and, furthermore, whether the information computer technology knowledge level of students moderates the relationship between social media knowledge generation and academic performance of university students in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Ghana. Theoretically, the findings of this study provide clear research evidence to guide various investigations that can be done on the relationships of the variables under social media usage, knowledge generation and university student performance, which advances the diffusion of new knowledge.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Khairil Anwar ◽  
Abdul Mujib

The predominance and use of social media for sacred and secular purposes have made it imperative to understand the role of social media in people’s religious motives and life. Therefore, grounded in gratification theory, the current study examines the impact of social media usage intensity, social media usage frequency, and religious appreciation in developing and strengthening different motives, i.e., ministering, spiritual enlightenment, religious information, relaxing entertainment, and well-being, among the followers of social media pages/accounts/sites for faith-based content. Following a quantitative research methodology, data were collected from the 562 followers of social media, i.e., Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in SmartPLS3 software. The results revealed that social media usage intensity and frequency positively influenced all five motives of individuals with a higher impact on individuals’ motive of gaining religious information followed by spiritual enlightenment and well-being. Likewise, religious appreciation positively impacted all five motives of individuals to assess the faith-based content on social media pages/accounts/sites. However, the intensity of the impact varied from well-being, relaxing entertainment, ministering, religious information to spiritual enlightenment from the highest to lowest level, respectively. Moreover, the unique concept, theoretical and practical implications, and future research insights of the study are major advances to literature in the field.


Author(s):  
Andrėja Juršė ◽  
Aistė Makackaitė ◽  
Gabija Jakutytė ◽  
Laura Kievišienė

The role of social media in today’s life is almost imperative. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram or Youtube are widely used all over the world. Above all, social media has become a global phenomenon, which has dramatically changed the concept of cross-cultural communication not only between individuals, but also brands and consumers. Varieties of social media platforms provide a new channel to acquire information through peer communication, thus influencing consumer purchase intention. Although diverse cultures have different cultural backgrounds, they affect the acceptance of social media usage. In order to broaden the understanding of this rapidly changing field, this paper provides a framework, based on Hofstede’s dimensions and Technology Acceptance model, for examining the intersection of cultural differences, social media usage and consumer behaviour to set the agenda for future research.


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