The Functional Building Blocks of Emoji in Consumer Engagement

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-32
Author(s):  
Jing Ge

Firms are struggling with developing effective consumer engagement strategies on social media. Emoji have been identified as a potent tool for consumer engagement. Yet, their use in this context is not well understood. Treating emoji as digitally mediated visual signs, this study provides a framework of five functional building blocks of emoji in the consumer engagement domain (i.e., beatification, affection, information, participation, conversation), and offers emoji strategy recommendations (i.e., branding aesthetics, brand humanization, social listening, online community engagement). The proposed framework can advance visual semiotics theory by applying it in the context of social media, and also broaden emoji and consumer engagement literatures by providing conceptual support that addresses the symbolic significance of emoji in the complex and dynamic digital space. Utilised individually and together, these building blocks allow marketers to understand emoji as a new form of marketing semiotics, while also guiding them to enable and shape consumer engagement on social media.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Sponder Testa ◽  
Sonia Bakhshian ◽  
Rachel Eike

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore drivers of consumer engagement with sustainable fashion brands on Instagram to specifically answer the research question: what drives popularity of sustainable fashion among digital consumers?Design/methodology/approachTwenty-five global fashion retailers were identified and categorized as either (a) sustainable fashion brands (SFB), (b) sustainably aware mainstream brands (SAB) or (c) traditional fashion brands (TFB). Content analysis of the 25 retailer's Instagram posts over a three-week period was analyzed and categorized according to content theme. Data were analyzed for quantity of Likes and Comments (engagement) to identify engagement strategies with each of the brand groups.FindingsIt was found that different strategies may be taken regarding social media strategy for SFB, SAB or TFB. Consumers were engaged with unfamiliar content, for instance, sustainability to a consumer unfamiliar with the topic or how it applies to a specific brand. Digital consumers were looking for exciting and aesthetically pleasing posts. Specifically, all consumers were engaged with posts about Fashion and Lifestyle.Practical implicationsAs the result of this study, sustainable fashion best practices and social media strategies were presented for the three brand categories of fashion retailers.Originality/valueThis study analyzed a cross-section of global fashion brands and identified “best practices” for digital consumer engagement with sustainable messages through Instagram. The findings provide original value, specifically in the area of fashion marketing via social media to communicate brand identify to digital consumers for brand growth.


Author(s):  
Ewelina M. Swierad ◽  
Terry T.-K. Huang

This study examined the life-motivating values of residents in underserved minority communities to inform the development of community engagement strategies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the main research questions: (1) what were the values of research participants, and (2) what did they consider important in their lives? The participants included twenty-seven ethnically diverse individuals living in low-income neighborhoods in New York City (NYC). Thematic analysis was performed to identify common themes and patterns related to the values that participants considered important in their lives. Three broad themes were identified: (1) benevolence; (2) universalism, and (3) self-direction. Benevolence implies a sense of belonging as the central meaning in life; community engagement strategies focused on this value emphasize concern for the welfare of loved ones. Community engagement strategies focused on universalism emphasize social justice and concern for the environment and the world. Finally, community engagement strategies focused on self-direction seek to satisfy participants’ needs for control, autonomy, and mastery. This study introduces the Value-Based Framework for Community-Centered Research. It illustrates how value exploration is central to a community-centered approach to public health research and can be an important first step for designing studies that are better aligned with community needs and contexts. Such an approach can also help to co-create a “research identity” with community members and integrate their values into a project’s purpose, thereby increasing community ownership and engagement in the study.


2017 ◽  
pp. 79-112
Author(s):  
Paola Ramassa ◽  
Costanza Di Fabio

This paper aims at contributing to financial reporting literature by proposing a conceptual interpretative model to analyse the corporate use of social media for financial communication purposes. In this perspective, the FIRE model provides a framework to study social media shifting the focus on the distinctive features that might enhance web investor relations. The model highlights these features through four building blocks: (i) firm identity (F); (ii) information posting (I); (iii) reputation (R); and (iv) exchange and diffusion (E). They represent key aspects to explore corporate communication activities and might offer a framework to interpret to what degree corporate web financial reporting exploits the potential of social media. Accordingly, the paper proposes metrics based on this model aimed at capturing the interactivity of corporate communications via social media, with a particular focus on web financial reporting. It tries to show the potential of this model by illustrating an exploratory empirical analysis investigating to what extent companies use social media for financial reporting purposes and whether firms are taking advantage of Twitter distinctive features of interaction and diffusion.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey Lane

Chapter 2 explains that street life moves online through girls and boys and their relations to one another. This chapter shows how girls and boys use social media to manage their encounters and the value this holds for girls especially, but boys as well. The author uses several cases, including JayVon and Denelle, to illustrate the ways in which interaction moves between the physical street and the digital street. The chapter then examines the feedback effects between gender and the street code. The author finds that whereas turf lines bind boys to their home streets, girls become brokers for themselves and boys dependent upon their loyalty. This chapter argues that focus only on the physical side of neighborhood interaction has led to the false assumption that boys control the street. By considering physical and digital space together, the mobility and centrality of girls in neighborhood networks become sharply clear.


2021 ◽  
pp. 193896552199308
Author(s):  
Kathryn A. LaTour ◽  
Ana Brant

Most hospitality operators use social media in their communications as a means to communicate brand image and provide information to customers. Our focus is on a two-way exchange whereby a customer’s social posting is reacted to in real-time by the provider to enhance the customer’s current experience. Using social media in this way is new, and the provider needs to carefully balance privacy and personalization. We describe the process by which the Dorchester Collection Customer Experience (CX) Team approached its social listening program and share lessons to identify best practices for hospitality operators wanting to delight their customers through insights gained from social listening.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungwon Yoon ◽  
Sharon Wee ◽  
Vivian S. Y. Lee ◽  
Jing Lin ◽  
Julian Thumboo

Abstract Background Although existing studies have described patterns of social media use in healthcare, most are focused on health professionals in one discipline. Population health requires a multi-disciplinary approach to ensure diversity and to include diverse stakeholders. To date, what is known about using social media in population health is focused on its potential as a communication tool. This study aims to investigate patterns of use and perceived value of social media usage among stakeholders in population health practice, policy, or research. Methods We conducted a web-based survey of delegates attending the Singapore Population Health Conversations and Workshop. We designed a 24-item questionnaire to assess 1) social media use in terms of type of platform and frequency of use; 2) perceptions of social media relevance and impact on population health; and 3) top three areas in population health that would benefit from social media. We used descriptive and logistic regression analyses to assess the relationships between variables. Results Of the 308 survey respondents, 97.7% reported that they use social media in some form. Messaging (96.8%) was the most dominant activity when using social media. Challenges in implementing social media for population health were time investment by health care professionals (56.2%) and patient adoption (52.9%). The top three population health areas that would benefit most from using social media were the promotion of healthy behaviors (60.7%), community engagement (47.7%), and preventive care (40.6%). Older respondents (> = 40 years) were less likely to view social media as useful for the promotion of healthy behaviors (OR = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.19–0.60). Non-social/healthcare professionals were more likely to consider social media to be useful for community engagement (OR = 1.74; 95% CI: 1.10–2.76). For preventive care, older respondents (OR = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.32–0.82) and non-social/healthcare professionals were less likely to view social media as useful (OR = 0.61; 95% CI: 0.38–0.97). Conclusions Our findings suggest that it may be important to select the specific care areas that would benefit most from using social media. The time investment needed by population health professionals should be fully addressed in planning to maximize the application and potential value of social media.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110302
Author(s):  
Nor Hasliza Md Saad ◽  
Zulnaidi Yaacob

Social media is a new platform for CEOs to build their image and create a strong personal brand to represent themselves and their company. This research examines an outstanding Malaysian fashion icon and social media–savvy businesswoman with over a million followers on Instagram, Vivy Yusof, the youngest Malaysian e-commerce mogul and an example of a successful CEO who has used personal branding to build an empire in the fashion industry. The objectives of this research are to identify the type of messages Vivy Yusof communicates to her audience through her personal Instagram posts and to identify the ways Vivy Yusof’s audience engages with her posts on Instagram. Her Instagram post content is classified using the Honeycomb framework that comprises seven functional building blocks, namely, presence, relationships, reputation, groups, identity, conversations, and sharing. In this study, the content of Vivy Yusof’s Instagram posts is categorized by how she focuses on the various functional building blocks in her posts and the implications these blocks have on how her audience interacts with the posts. Her social media presence confirms the importance of CEO personal branding because of her role and influence on the masses evidenced by the willingness of her followers to interact (through likes and comments) and engage with her posts on any subject matter, relating either to her business or personal life. The study contributes to a growing body of literature on personal branding strategies by shedding light on the association between content strategies and engagement with social media content.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document