Batting Outside the Field

This study examines the relationship between cognitive awareness and perceived knowledge of sports fans’ social media engagement behaviors. Data were collected through an online survey of 236 adults from India who identified as Indian Premier League (IPL) fans. The findings of the study suggest that perceived knowledge and cognitive awareness of sports are precursors to social media engagement behaviors of sports fans. Further, sports fandom mediates links between perceived knowledge and cognitive awareness with social media engagement. The findings hold special significance for contemporary COVID scenarios because physical engagement is being substituted by digital engagement.

At the Digital Margins? A Theoretical Examination of Social Media Engagement Using Intersectional Feminism

This article applies an intersectional feminist lens to social media engagement with European politics. Disproportionately targeted at already marginalised people, the problem of online abuse/harassment has come to increasing public awareness. At the same time, movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo have demonstrated the value of social media in facilitating global grassroots activism that challenges dominant structures of power. While the literature on social media engagement with European politics has offered important insights into the extent to which social media facilitates democratic participation, it has not to date sufficiently accounted for patterns of intersectional activism and online inequalities. Using Nancy Fraser’s feminist critique of Habermas’ public sphere theory and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality, this article explores patterns of gender and racial inequalities in the digital public space. By analysing both the role of racist and misogynistic online abuse targeted at women, nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant people in public life, as well as the opportunities for marginalised groups to mobilise transnationally through subaltern counter-publics, I argue that social media engagement is inextricably linked with offline inequalities. To fully understand the impact of social media on European democracy, we need to pay attention to gendered and racialised dynamics of power within the digital public sphere that have unequal consequences for democratic participation. This will involve expanding our methodological repertoire and employing tools underpinned by a critical feminist epistemology.

Social Media Strategies for Marketing in University Libraries: Undergraduate User Attitudes and Motivation for Engagement

<p>Social media has dramatically revolutionised the way people communicate and interact in the 21st century. The benefits of these tools are manifested in the increasing uptake worldwide by individuals, groups and organisations for knowledge exchange and marketing purposes. The academic/university library is no exception to this. As librarians seek to understand the ever-changing information needs of their customers, they must consider alternative means of interaction which social media offers. However, despite the attractiveness of social media outlets, university libraries cannot yet claim to have understood fully how to utilise them for marketing purposes effectively. Although studies on social media have received extensive attention in academic literature, little research has been conducted in the specific area of social media engagement. With many librarians bemoaning the lack of engagement from users on social media owing to negative attitudes, it is relevant to explore factors that affect sustainable social media engagement. This is a perspective that has been underexplored, particularly through the application of a strong theoretical base anchored on persuasion and attitude change. Underpinned by the theoretical foundations of the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Strategic Social Media Marketing Framework, this study explores the factors that affect social media engagement of undergraduate student users with the university library. Employing a mixed-method approach, the study utilised semi-structured interviews, a questionnaire and content analysis to gather data from six university libraries in Nigeria that was used to examine the social media engagement phenomenon. The interview results revealed that participating libraries failed to plan the adoption and management of social media carefully. Evidently, among the participating libraries, only a few commenced with a defined purpose, which often is neither management-driven nor guided by policy. These purposes were focused on promoting library resources and services and getting traffic to the library website. Results of analysed social media data confirmed this, revealing that posts were made infrequently, lacked creativity, and generated a low engagement rate. The result of a multiple regression revealed that argument feature (post content, language, and type) is a significant influencer in the predictions of factors that motivate undergraduate students to engage with the library on social media, while an ANOVA test indicated that course offerings influence students’ attitude to the library and how they perceive the library on social media. The implications of these results are discussed, informing the theoretical and practical contribution. A principal theoretical contribution is a framework titled Sustainable Library Social Media Marketing Management that explains high-level social media management in the library. The study provides a blueprint for practising librarians with insights on managerial factors and considerations for user engagement as well as ideas for the purposeful planning of social media marketing activities.</p>

Social Media Strategies for Marketing in University Libraries: Undergraduate User Attitudes and Motivation for Engagement

<p>Social media has dramatically revolutionised the way people communicate and interact in the 21st century. The benefits of these tools are manifested in the increasing uptake worldwide by individuals, groups and organisations for knowledge exchange and marketing purposes. The academic/university library is no exception to this. As librarians seek to understand the ever-changing information needs of their customers, they must consider alternative means of interaction which social media offers. However, despite the attractiveness of social media outlets, university libraries cannot yet claim to have understood fully how to utilise them for marketing purposes effectively. Although studies on social media have received extensive attention in academic literature, little research has been conducted in the specific area of social media engagement. With many librarians bemoaning the lack of engagement from users on social media owing to negative attitudes, it is relevant to explore factors that affect sustainable social media engagement. This is a perspective that has been underexplored, particularly through the application of a strong theoretical base anchored on persuasion and attitude change. Underpinned by the theoretical foundations of the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Strategic Social Media Marketing Framework, this study explores the factors that affect social media engagement of undergraduate student users with the university library. Employing a mixed-method approach, the study utilised semi-structured interviews, a questionnaire and content analysis to gather data from six university libraries in Nigeria that was used to examine the social media engagement phenomenon. The interview results revealed that participating libraries failed to plan the adoption and management of social media carefully. Evidently, among the participating libraries, only a few commenced with a defined purpose, which often is neither management-driven nor guided by policy. These purposes were focused on promoting library resources and services and getting traffic to the library website. Results of analysed social media data confirmed this, revealing that posts were made infrequently, lacked creativity, and generated a low engagement rate. The result of a multiple regression revealed that argument feature (post content, language, and type) is a significant influencer in the predictions of factors that motivate undergraduate students to engage with the library on social media, while an ANOVA test indicated that course offerings influence students’ attitude to the library and how they perceive the library on social media. The implications of these results are discussed, informing the theoretical and practical contribution. A principal theoretical contribution is a framework titled Sustainable Library Social Media Marketing Management that explains high-level social media management in the library. The study provides a blueprint for practising librarians with insights on managerial factors and considerations for user engagement as well as ideas for the purposeful planning of social media marketing activities.</p>

STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF CSR AND SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT ON TOURIST DESTINATION BRAND LOYALTY IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT NATURE-BASED TOURISM

This study aims to investigate the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and social media engagement on destination brand loyalty. These concepts are not fully understood, especially in the context of sustainable development of nature-based tourism, which makes managing the negative impact on the environment more challenging. The study developed a parsimonious model to investigate the interrelationship between CSR and destination loyalty by incorporating social media engagement as a mediating variable to study the impact mechanism of tourists’ CSR activities on tourists’ destination brand loyalty in a nature-based tourism context. The data used was collected from 240 inbound and outbound tourists that visited a well-known marine park site in Malaysia. In addition, a Partial Least Square (PLS) based structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was utilized to analyse the data. The result showed that CSR and social media engagement had an influence over destination brand loyalty. These results suggest some practical implications for destination operators designing CSR activities as a strategic technique for ensuring sustainable success.

Social media engagement and the determinants of behavioural intentions of university online programme selection: the moderating role of mindfulness

PurposeThis study aims to explore the effect of social media engagement on the determinants of behavioural intention. Specifically, the authors empirically research the three behavioural intention determinants, namely, attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control (PBC), and confirm their effect on students' intention to enrol on a university online programme.Design/methodology/approachA conclusive research analysis is followed, and a moderation analysis is conducted to test the hypotheses of the model. Empirical evidence from 201 students in the UK higher education is used and a structural equation modelling approach is followed.FindingsThe findings suggest a significant effect of social media engagement on attitude, subjective norms and PBC. The latter three are confirmed as determinants of the intention to enrol on a university online programme. Mindfulness is found to positively moderate the effect of the three determinants on behavioural intention.Originality/valueThis study advances knowledge pertaining to the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) by highlighting the effect of social media engagement on the determinants of the intention to enrol on a university online programme. Additionally, the moderating role of mindfulness is also tested with regards to its effect on the relationship between behavioural intentions and its determinants.