Professional Documents
Culture Documents
GIEDRIUS IVANAUSKAS
2009
Purpose – The evaluation of Social Media as affective marketing communications tool and
channel. The identification of consumer‟s profile of Social Media in the UK.
Findings – The general UK consumer profiles were identified. The hypotheses were proven that
social media can be a valuable tool and channel for marketing communications.
Research limitations/implications – The research was designed to test only the users of social
media properties. Even though, it gathered the needed data to help marketers in their search for
suitable tools when marketing in social media environment.
Originality/value – The conducted study added the knowledge to the indicated information gap
in academic literature regarding the social media usage for marketing campaigns from the
consumer perspective. It defined the main social media tools and tested the consumer perceptions
about the possible practices.
Keywords – Social media, Web 2.0, Social Media Marketing, Marketing Communications,
Consumer behavior.
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2
Content ............................................................................................................................................ 3
4.1.2 Where and How are they using Social Media Properties? ..................................... 51
2.3 The influence of Social Media on the UK consumers and “Traditional” media............ 60
Appendixes ................................................................................................................................... 77
Figure 2.1. Internet Users Growth in the World between 200 and 2008.
Figure 2.2Changing distribution of the message.
Figure 2.3. Micro Interactions
Figure 2.4. Clustered overview of Web 2.0 applications
Figure 2.5. Types of Bloggers
Figure 2.6. Content posted on social network
Figure 2.7. Extrinsic value.
Figure 2.8 Most visited websites
Figure 2.9. The closed loop of needs.
Figure 2.10 Uncontroled marketing stimuli – Web 2.0.
Figure 2.11 The new drivers of value.
Figure 2.12. Participation model of a Web 2.0 service
Figure 3.1. The activities list of the project
Figure 4.1 The sex of the social media users in the UK
Figure 4.2 The age groups of the social media users in the UK
Figure 4.3 The social media users by income.
Figure 4.4 Most popular Social media properties in the UK
Figure 4.5 Where are you using social media properties?
Figure 4.6 Time spent on SMP (a week) in the UK
Figure 4.7 Time spent on SMP (a week) in the US
Figure 4.8 Technographic profile of Web 2.0 Citizens in the UK
Figure 4.10 The SMP used by “Creators”.
Figure 4.11 The SMP used by “Joiners”.
Figure 4.12 The content preferred by “Joiners”.
Figure 4.13 The obstacles to interact on SMP (“Joiners”).
Figure 4.14 The content preferred by “Spectators”.
Figure 4.15 The reasons for engagements “Spectators” vs “Joiners”.
Figure 4.16 The reasons for engagements “Spectators” vs “Joiners”.
Figure 4.17 The reasons for engagements “Collectors” vs “Critics”.
Figure 4.18 The reasons for engagements “Collectors” vs “Critics”.
Figure 4.19 The SMP used by “Collectors”.
Technological development has been seen as one of the main factors effecting company‟s
processes and profitability in the last century. The birth of the Internet and its success in
changing our society has been largely researched in various subjects and defined in various
terms. But as year‟s passes by the Internet evolves and creates new rules for companies
interacting and doing business with their costumers and partners. The new applications and
services are being developed and offered in order to catch up with changing information society
define new concepts of doing business. In the last few years the terms of Web 2.0 and Social
Media has emerged as the definitions for second generation of web based services and
communities that emphasize online collaboration, networking and user created content
(Eikelman et al, 2008). According to Strategy Analytics report (2007), Social media users will
exceed 1 billion by 2012. The enormous growth of Social networks (MySpace, Facebook, BeBo)
Blogs, Wikis and consumers‟ participation in these platforms forces companies to reevaluate
their business strategies. The recent investments by leading companies like Microsoft (240
millions in Facebook) and Google (900 millions in MySpace) in social networks gives a clear
signal that company‟s presence in dialogue with consumer gains a new meaning in terms of
communication strategy. Nevertheless, there is a clear shortage of academic literature which
defines the Social media environment and Web 2.0 applications. Moreover, it is not clear what
applications and how they should be used by the company in order to make these
communications more valuable. Finally this subject is not enough researched in different
environments. The most of the rare academic literature and professional insights are dedicated to
US market and there are no findings presented how consumers perceive company‟s initiatives to
influence their private space on the net in the UK. Therefore, this research project will
summarize Social Media and Web 2.0 definitions; will evaluate the influence of different types
of Web 2.0 applications on the consumer in terms of communication interactivity; and will
analyze the general patterns of the consumer‟s perception about the differences between Social
Media and Traditional Media in the UK market.
According to Constantinides and Fountain (2008) in order to enable Social Media Properties
(SMP) to integrate into corporate commercial strategy, these areas must be researched in greater
depth: the effects of Web 2.0 applications on consumer behavior, differences between exiting
Web 2.0 applications effectiveness and their relationship with traditional mediums. As this study
concentrates particularly on the marketing communication strategies the two main aims are
identified below, followed by the objectives of the research:
Aim 1 - To determine the Social Media environment and indentify the UK consumer profile:
Aim 2 - To evaluate the SMP effectiveness as marketing communication tool and channel:
Hypothesis 1 - The interactions through Web 2.0 applications generate different outcomes for
the company.
H0 : There is significant relationship between Social Media Properties used and the
actions taken after the interaction.
H1 : There is no significant relationship between Social Media Properties used and the
actions taken after the interaction
Hypothesis 2 - Different Web 2.0 applications can serve different marketing communication
goals.
H0 : There is a significant relationship between the Social Media Properties used and
communications wanted by the consumer.
H1 : There is no significant relationship between the Social Media Properties used and
communications wanted by the consumer.
H0 : There is a significant relationship between the Social Media Properties and attitudes
changed by the company and by the consumer.
Hypothesis 5 – The consumer wants the company to start the conversation if he/she likes Social
media platforms as a marketing medium
Chapter 2 presents the literature review. It is divided into three main themes: 1) Changing media
landscape; 2) Social Media and Web 2.0 tools 3) Web 2.0 citizens. Each of the themes
summarises the findings in the literature review and defines the background for the quantitative
research.
Chapter 3 outlines the research methodology, applied techniques and procedures undertaken. It
also explains how the research was planned and implemented. The thorough description of
research design is also presented in this chapter.
Chapter 4 outlines the main data gathered in the research and summarizes result. Accordingly to
the research aims, the whole chapter is divided into three main sub-chapters that analyze data
according to every aim.
Chapter 5 indicates the findings that were linked to the insights gained in Chapter 2, and final
conclusions. It ties together what has been learned according to the set study aim and the main
research question. The limitations and implications of the study are also presented in this chapter.
The last century was a gold age for the media development. The new technologies as Telephone,
Radio and Television have changed people‟s lives forever. The new ways of communications
have been successfully adopted and become a norm. The last decade of the century brought the
new innovative technology – Internet. As predicted by Newman (1991) Internet:
Altered the meaning of geographic distance.
Allowed forms of communication that was previously separate to overlap and interconnect.
Grieco and Holmes (1999) (citied in Combe et al, 2003) identifies three powerful features of
Internet:
1. Disintermediation or the removal of brokers by allowing direct communication across spatial and
sociometric distance;
According to Hermeking (2006) The global spread of modern technology, including information
and communication technology (ICT), is commonly regarded both as an indicator of the
postmodern era of globalization and as the very precondition for that era of intensive worldwide
interactions of people and exchanges of goods, services, information, and capital. Hoffman
(Hoffman et al., 1995) argues that the popularity of the WWW as a commercial medium (in
contrast to other networks on the Internet) is due to its ability to facilitate global sharing of
information and resources, and its potential to provide an efficient channel for advertising,
marketing, and even direct distribution of certain goods and information services.
Figure 2.1. Internet Users Growth in the World between 200 and 2008.
According to Linda Peters (1998), the “Web” presents a fundamentally different environment –
both as a medium and as a market – from traditional communication channels perspective. It
According to Liu & Shrum (2002) emergence of new media (Internet), brought new models of
interactivity: user-to-user and user–to-message. Contemplating about user-to-user interactivity Ha
and James (1998) suggested that “the more communication in a computer-mediated environment
resembles interpersonal communication, the more interactive the communication is‖. Steuer (1992)
defined users-to-message interaction as follows: ―the extent to which users can participate in
modifying the form and content of a mediated environment in real time‖. Lee (2005) summarized
the main components of online interactivity (Table 1).
2. Social presence - or perceived personalness, the feeling that communication exchanges are sociable, warm,
personal, sensitive and active.
3. Control of contact - Early research into the willingness of consumers to utilize technology in shopping
behavior concludes that the ability to control the pace and presentation of product information has the
strongest influence on willingness to engage in computer-mediated marketing activity (Carson et al., 1996).
4. Content – The content can be customised either by users or by senders. Where users are able to control the
content, or presentation, of the message it is said to be interactive.
Andrew L. Shapiro (1999) argues that the emergence of new, digital technologies signals ia a
potentially radical shift of who is in control of information, experience and resources. One of the
key features of the new electronic communication media is the ability of consumers to control
both contact and content (Peters, 1998). Sohn and Lackenby (2002) suggest that individual‟s
participation in social communication processes is the crucial factor for increasing the perceived
interactivity of the Internet (citied in Stafford and Ronald, 2005). Moreover, according to
According to Gatarski and Lundkvist (1998) when communication, in the meaning of sharing
information, meets interactivity, it creates not simple massages but forms two-way
conversations. These conversations can be applied in production as implementation of mutual
ideas (consumer‟s and producers‟) in order to create new enjoyable products or services.
The real power of people can be noticed in the new revolutionized media channel – social media.
According to Mayfield (2008) social media is best understood as a group of new kinds of online
media, which share most or all of the following characteristics:
Participation & Engagement: social media encourages contributions and feedback from everyone who is
interested. It blurs the line between media and audience.
Openness: most social media services are open to feedback and participation. They encourage voting,
comments and the sharing of information. There are rarely any barriers to accessing and making use of
content – password-protected content is frowned on.
Conversation: whereas traditional media is about „broadcast‟ (content transmitted or distributed to an
audience) social media is better seen as a two-way conversation.
Community: social media allows communities to form quickly and communicate effectively. Communities
share common interests, such as a love of photography, a political issue or a favourite TV show.
Connectedness: Most kinds of social media thrive on their connectedness, making use of links to other
sites, resources and people.
Haven (2008) suggests that social media key elements are not entirely new as features of sharing,
connecting, opining, broadcasting and creating has been long in our lives, but there are several
characteristics of new technologies and behaviors that set them apart from the past:
Reach — Historically, audiences for the common person have been limited: a tribe, family, friends,
neighbors, or the local community. Today's technologies provide scale and enable anyone to reach a global
audience.
Accessibility — The means of production for most media used to lie in the hands of enterprises with
unlimited resources (financial or human). Today's technologies for media creation are available to anyone
at little or no cost.
Usability — The means of production typically required specialized skills and training, both technically
and creatively. Today's technologies simplify those processes, or in some cases reinvent them, so anyone
can create and operate the means of production.
Transparency — People, especially Americans, historically kept personal information to themselves and
had a general distrust of authority (enterprises, government, etc.). Today, people are willing to share
anything about themselves (interests, location, family situations, health condition, etc.) in a public venue,
and today's technologies make that both possible and purposeful.
Recency — When people did have the means of production and distribution in the past (albeit limited), the
time lag between communications was typically long (days, weeks, or even months). It was a limitation of
the technology or system in which it operated. Today's technologies enable instantaneous responses and
dialog where only the participant determines the delay in response.
Another major change from the marketing perspective is the shift from persuasion to influence.
Past decades marketing practitioners were using the communication mix in order to “attack”
consumers with pervasive messages to make them buy goods and services offered, but in the age
where 25 percent of search results on Google for the world‟s 20 largest brands links to
consumer-generated content (Nielsen Buzz Metrics, 2007), to do this is too late, not practical or
impossible, as the messages are already floating out there. According to Mitchell (2008) this
process is facilitated by the change of information flows from “top down” (B2C) to “bottom up”
(C2B) what redefines marketing environment as marketers do not own the message anymore
(Figure 2.2, Apendix 2.2). Armano (2008) suggests that people can be divided in different
grouping according their “strength” as the massagers (Apedix 2.3)
The User Generated Content (UGC) can become influential message of the consumer to the
consumer (C2C) about the company and therefore should be carefully monitored. In fact, the
content is the new message in social media channels. According to Eikelmann (Eikelmann et al,
2008) the best marketers can do in this environment is to try to engage with the consumers
through social media in order influence these messages. Drury (2008) suggests that instead of
sending simple messages, marketers should provide the content which would be relevant for
consumers and would generate conversations among them. Therefore, influence will become a
standard measurement in Marketing 2.0 (Dowdell, 2008). As blogger and social media strategist
Douma (2008) put it: “The age of persuasion is over. Welcome to the age of influence.”
Marketers are forced to look for alternative communication strategies to market in the social
media environment, because advertising clutter, growing advertising literacy and changing
consumer behaviour drives down the return on investment (Biegel, 2008; Constantinides and
Fountain, 2008). These strategies have to consider the increasing fragmentation in the markets
Micro strategies are more valuable in fragmented media environment, as they generate more
precise consumer insight and as a result are better targeted. According to Godin (2008)
unconventional marketing principals are effective because it considers the needs and wants of the
people and listens to them. Therefore it aims to build a more in-depth and lasting customer
relationship based on loyalty and trust (Masterson, 2007).
Viral and Word of Mouth marketing principals are the essentials in social media. This medium
provides a platform for Web 2.0 applications and tools, which works as enablers in order to
increase reach and speed of the messages. According to Lockhorn (2007) word of mouth
campaigns can take off very quietly through niche communities and can be powerfully
persuasive, or conversely result in an astonishing backlash. It should be closely monitored by
marketers as various researches (RazorFish, 2008; Internet Consumption Report, 2008) shows
Social media and Web 2.0 are two terms which are often used interchangeably in the marketing
literature, even though they are not entirely the same. From the marketing perspective, the Web
2.0 should be perceived as the new tools for the marketing communication mix and facilitator
and enabler of social media. The Web 2.0 term was introduced by Tim O‟Reilly in 2004, it has
originated from talks about social software and the communities surrounding these applications.
According Tim O‟Reilly (Tim O‟Reilly, 2007) “the companies that survived the dotcom boom
had something in common;” these companies realized that the “Web” is much more useful for
delivering service than being used just as a platform for “packaged” products (i.e. software).
Constantinides and Fountain (2008) defined Web 2.0 as follows:
―Web 2.0 is a collection of open-source, interactive and user-controlled online applications expanding the
experiences, knowledge and market power of the users as participants in business and social processes. Web 2.0
applications support the creation of informal users ‘ networks facilitating the flow of ideas and knowledge by
allowing the efficient generation, dissemination, sharing and editing / refining of informational content .”
Hoegg (Hoegg et al, 2005) suggests that Web 2.0 is “the philosophy of mutually maximizing
collective intelligence and added value for each participant by formalized and dynamic
information sharing and creation‖.
Both definitions share similar concepts of maximizing the collective intelligence, self-regulating
community, network effect, transparency of the information creation and sharing process, but the
key element in these terms is the user. From technological perspective, there are not many
changes in the Web 2.0 compared to Web 1.0 applications; the real value is created by people
not only using this social software but participating in the creation process of it (by creating
and editing the new content or even in some cases modifying the application itself). According to
As Web 2.0 applications are still in the development stage, the grouping of them varies
according to the purpose and field of the research. Hoegg (Hoegg et al, 2005) groups web 2.0
applications according the services they provide (Figure 2.4).
Constantinides and Fountain (2008) classifies them into 5 broad types according their nature:
1. “Blogs: Short for Web logs: online journals, the most known and fastest-growing category of Web 2.0
applications. Blogs are often combined with Podcasts, that is, digital audio or video that can be streamed
or downloaded to portable devices. Examples: http://gizmodo.com, http://www.boingboing.net,
http://www. huffingtonpost.com
Tim O‟Reilly (2005) argues that “Web 2.0 doesn't have a hard boundary, but rather, a
gravitational core which could be visualized as a set of principles and practices that tie together
a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all of those principles, at a varying
distance from that core” (Appendix 2.4). Therefore it is difficult to classify the Web 2.0 into the
precise groupings, because the applications are interrelated and most of the time a few Web 2.0
features works on one platform. The mixture of Web 2.0 applications working under one site are
known as “Mash-ups”. According to Mayfield (2008) ―this combination of two or more pieces of
content (or software, or websites) is one of the phenomena in social media that make it at once
so exciting, fast-moving and sometimes bewildering‖. But even more important feature of Web
2.0 applications is the adaptability in the different platforms. Social applications are becoming
more and more popular on mobile devices (Phones, iPods (via podcasts)). In fact, according to
BBC News (2008) one of the reasons the Internet usage on the mobile devices is increasing -
Web 2.0 applications. According to Drury (2008) social media applications has an ability to
bring “Head” (Professional) and “Tail” (UGC) content together in all the formats (audio, video ,
text). As more and more professionally edited websites incorporates social media content some
companies (i.e. Joost) are trying to apply Web 2.0 principals (live participation) for even bigger
media platforms as TV. These applications are being tested in the Internet TV and in the near
future have a good chance to redefine TV experience completely. All theses changes open new
opportunities for integrated marketing campaigns, where marketers are enabled to reach larger
audiences of consumers at all their touch points with mediated world at one-stop shop.
Web Logs (commonly knows as Blogs), according to Tredinnick (2006), are arguably the
“oldest” Web 2.0 applications and have been in the web space since mid 1990‟s. Constantinides
and Fountain (2008) states that it is the most know and fastest-growing category of Web 2.0
applications. According to McCann report (2008), 184 million people World Wide have started a
blog and 346 million read blogs, which means that 77% of active Internet users read blogs.
Furthermore, 17.8 m have read a blog and around 4.3 m have created their own blog in the UK
(McCann, 2008). The most recent Technorati research (2008) confirms this phenomenon as they
tracked blogs in 81 languages from 66 countries around the world, it suggest that blogging have
made a major influence on media ecosystem as bloggers are collectively creating almost one
million posts every day and have representation in all top-10 web site lists across all key
categories.
In general a “Blog” is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of
commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video where entries are
commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order and has permalinks (Daily Blog Tips, 2008),
but Pomerantz and Stutzman (2006) argues that for every blog author and consumer, the precise
understanding of a blog‟s use is different, therefore it is difficult to define its true meaning.
Dearstyne (2005) summarized the definitions and blogging opportunities provided by major
companies:
―Microsoft defines blogs as frequently updated personal web journals that can dramatically help both
small and large companies communicate their product messages. They increase people's ability to share
ideas and information exponentiallv, and on a worldwide scale.
Accenture says blogs are an interactive website that allows the owner to publish ideas and information.
Users can read and evaluate material and add new content, creating a conversation that spans lime zones
and continents.
According to Technorati report (2008), as Blogosphere grows in size and influence the lines
between what is a blog and what is a mainstream media site become less clear as larger blogs are
taking the characteristics of mainstream sites and mainstream sites are incorporating styles and
formats from the Blogosphere (95% of the top 100 US newspapers have reporter blogs), but it is
clear that amazing growth of blogs and blogging open new opportunities for marketers. Huang
(Huang al., 2007) suggests that one of the biggest opportunities provided for marketers by blogs,
that there is no longer a scarcity of media, but an even more fractural media space. Hardly
reachable segments of the market become easy to reach and target with the help of social media
and blogging. They open doors to untapped markets which could be quite profitable for the
companies if approached correctly. The responsiveness of the medium (blogs) is another key
benefit for the marketers. Blogging provides great opportunities for the companies to converse
Even more exiting opportunities for marketing professionals derive from external
communications via blogs, as blogs can help the organization to develop and maintain stronger
relationships and brand loyalty with its customers, generate consumer insights. Li and Bernoff
(2008) go even further; they suggest that blogging can increase ROI on the Advertising, PR,
Customer Support and Research value. According to Maltoni (2008) blogs provide a real
opportunity for marketers to speak with their customers and not to “shout” at them as it is often
the case in mainstream media. It is clearly important to join on-line conversation with the
customers, as these conversations are developed with or without company interference anyway,
as four in five bloggers post brand or product reviews, with 37% posting them frequently
(Technorati Blogosphere report, 2008). The companies have to learn the lesson of Dell and
1. Be aware. Corporate managers should find and monitor influential blogs related to their companies and
industries.
2. Engage. Establish relationships with independent bloggers when possible.
3. Respond quickly and appropriately.
The internet guru Seth Godin (2004) remarked that good blogs work when they are based on:
candor, urgency, timeliness, pithiness, controversy and utility. Armano (2008) groups these
features to 4 C‟s of blogging (Appendix 2.5). Furthermore, Huang (Huang al., 2007) identified
the main techniques how to manage brand communications according to various blogging
motivations.
At the moment amongst the marketers there is ongoing discussion about importance of another
form of blogging – micro blogging. Twitter, Plurk and other companies provide the technology
Social networks
The amazing recent growth of social networking sites is one of the main phenomenon‟s driving
social web. According to McCann report (2008) there are estimated 272 m users world-wide,
from whom over 10 millions are using social networks in the UK. As there is no single definition
for this phenomenon Stroud (2007) summarized the available definitions from various
organizations researching this field:
McKinsey - Social networking refers to systems that allow members of a specific site to learn about other members‘
skills, talents, knowledge or preferences.
Pew/Internet - A social networking site is an online location where a user can create a profile and build a personal
network that connects him or her to other users.
Wikipedia - A social network service focuses on the building and verification of online social networks for
communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and
activities of others. It provides various ways for users to interact - chat, messaging, email, video, file sharing,
blogging and discussion groups.
It becomes quite feasible as some of the platforms opens up to the third parties developers in
order to keep the users on the one site.
Work with and use the functionality of the large generic sites (Facebook, MySpace and etc.)
Create company or brand-specific sites.
Provide content to generic sites.
Imbed social networking functionality with the company‘ s existing online presence.
Advertise on the generic sites.
Even though, Stroud (2007) suggests that the final alternative is to do nothing which may be the
most appropriate strategy, but should only be used following a careful evaluation of the
alternatives.
There are general tools offered by social networks to make every encounter more interactive.
According to Razorfish report (2008) the best and most successful sites from Flickr to Facebook
to Nike all provide the similar tools within the sites to support their members‟ abilities to connect
with one another and engage with each other directly by providing a continuum of ways to
interact:
Even though, social networking is mostly considered among B2C companies, it could be a
valuable tool to create strong bonds with other stakeholders as business partners and employees.
But those skeptical about social networking‘s value to business argue that ―networking‖ can
easily turn into ―not-working‖ and damage the relationships between the parts (MessageLabs,
2007). Moreover, the companies have to be careful since social networks can also be a source of
damaging publicity (Economist, 2008b), but it is another reason for the organization to have the
presence in social networks as it gives a chance to influence such activities.
Websites organizing and sharing particular types of content are called content communities.
These communities most of the time has all social networking features, but are developed to
share a particular type of content (Constantinides and Fountain, 2008):
According to McCann (2008) these sites are one of the most visited sites on the Internet
attracting millions of user all around the world (estimated 394m world wide). From 15m active
users within the UK, 8.7m shared the photo and 5,7m uploaded the video. The content
communities as other Web 2.0 applications and services are highly depending on the size of
the supporting community and is a classic example of network effect. According to
Pew/Internet report (2008) one of the factors that plays a big role in the growth of video site
usage is that there are more videos on sites like YouTube now than there were a year ago.
According to Hoegg (Hoegg et al, 2005) the intrinsic value of Web 2.0 communities itself is very
limited, but the content or the value generated through the supporting community can be
internalized and represents the value of the community itself as the quality of the content
improves and the service gains more relevance when more users participate, what attracts even
more users (Figure 2.7).
Even though, the content communities attract large volumes of users, marketers have been
struggling to find the needed tools to monetize these networks. Viral marketing concepts has
been successfully adopted on this type of Web 2.0 applications, but the examples of success like
“Lonelygirl15” or Barack Obama (Yes We Can video) are rare exceptions rather than a general
practice. According to Razorfish (2008) advertising can be a road to riches for some content
communities, but in general it is not a very powerful tool and community builders are going to
have to find other ways to get a return out of their social investment.
According to Constantinides and Fountain (2008) content aggregators are the applications
allowing users to fully customize the web content they wish to access and are based on Real
Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary (RSS) technologies (http://uk.my.yahoo.com/,
http://www.google.com/ig, http://www.netvibes.com/). McCann report (2008) suggests that RSS
(Really Simple Syndication) is a key technology in social media as it connects users to content
and moves content into a variety of platforms. Consumers prefer using multiple destinations, and
then aggregating media and services, via simple tools like RSS, into a highly personalized view
of their digital world (Razorfish, 2008). The applications or websites based on these technologies
had a major effect on social web development. It may seem like a trivial piece of functionality
Widgets and applications had a huge influence on social web growth too. According to Razorfish
report (2008) widgets provide the purest glimpse into the new, improved networked future where
people will select, personalize, share and consume Web services wherever and whenever they
choose. McCann (2008) suggests that widgets and applications should be used to create a
genuine consumer benefit and drive engagement.
With 4,7m users in the UK (McCann, 2008) content aggregators and widgets still lack the
needed awareness about their functionality and possible opportunities provided by them. Even
though, marketers have to monitor carefully the user‟s activity in these applications in order to
generate knowledge of how to use them in the best possible manor for marketing purposes.
The sites for exchanging ideas and information usually around special interests are another
growing phenomenon on the internet (Constantinides and Fountain, 2008). Comparison, review,
ranking and other opinion spreading sites are infused by Web 2.0 technologies and are
experiencing the re-birth.
The editorial reviews of Web 1.0 era are changed by user generated reviews in Web 2.0.
According to Razorfish, 2008 the large majority of consumers (61%) rely on user reviews for
product information and research, with a much smaller group (15%) preferring editorial reviews.
The sites like www.ebay.com , www.amazon.com would have never reached such highs if not
the successful development of consumer review/feedback strategies and technologies. The Web
2.0 brought a greater transparency to these sites generating a bigger interest for content
contributors (recognition need) and the trust amongst the consumers.
―As powerful as it is technology is just enabler and it‘s the technology in the hands of almost
always connected people that make it so powerful‖
(Blume, 1996; citied in Li and Bernoff, 2008)
A decade ago Raaij (1998) identified that social and technological developments will create new
options and possibilities for consumers and will bring some real changes for marketing
managers. For the past 18 years the active discussions have taken place in marketing literature
analyzing the relationship of postmodern marketing, semantic web, interactivity, tribes and
changing consumer behavior (Raaij, 1998; Flart et al, 1995; Cova 1997; Constantinedes, 2004;
Simmons, 2008), but only today the discussed thoughts embrace their real meaning. The mass
acceptance of the Web as social medium is the biggest recent change in internet behavior which
allows the postmodern marketing concepts to flourish (Razorfish, 2008). These changes in
postmodern marketing era are mostly driven by the new consumers. Digital natives, Millennials,
Generation Y it just a few names often met in marketing literature, describing the new generation
of tech-savvy, success driven, self-confident, independent but community-minded people
(Deloitte, 2005). According to Tapscott (2008,) that it is the first global generation ever which is
smarter, quicker and more tolerant of diversity than their predecessors. Millennials never
experienced life without computers and are just a click away from the world any minute. The
reverse accumulation of knowledge is typical for them - the younger they are, the more they
know (Deloitte, 2005). Tapscott (2008) identifies eight norms that define Net Geners:
They value freedom and choice in everything they do.
They love to customise and personalise.
They scrutinise everything.
They demand integrity and openness, including when deciding what to buy and where to work.
They want entertainment and play in their work and education, as well as their social life.
They love to collaborate.
They expect everything to happen fast.
They expect constant innovation.
Even though, they are not the only ones affecting the marketing environment. So called “digital
immigrants” (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008) or fast adapters of the technology arguably might have
even bigger influence on the on going changes in marketing as they are aware about the changing
situation and they have a power, knowledge and resources to influence this phenomenon. As
both of these consumer groups are very important for marketers they could be grouped under one
term of - Web 2.0 Citizens.
Web 2.0 Citizens worries marketers as their consumption patterns and the perception of the value
are evolving and the old marketing models are not working on them. Wipperman (Trendbureo,
2008) argues that the Maslow‘s pyramid of needs is changed with the closed loop (a feedback
loop) where in the process that is never completed self-actualization remains the individual‘s
basic motivation and is increasingly coming to the means of self-optimization (Figure 2.9).
The changing needs affects buying behavior what makes it difficult for marketers to target the
consumer, especially when the new consumer takes the initiative for transactions, at the place
and time they want, what has considerable consequences for the distribution of goods and
services (Raaij, 1998). Easily satisfied psychological and safety needs moves the postmodern
consumer onto the search for social and self-actualizing experiences. The consumption becomes
a way for individuals to creatively appropriate and construct self-images that allow them to
become more desirable or likeable in various social contexts (Dawes and Brown, 2000;
Goulding, 2003). Constantinides and Fountain (2008) argues that in social web era consumer
preferences and decisions are based on new inputs provided by parties beyond the control of
online marketers: peer reviews, referrals, blogs, tagging, social networks, online forums and
other forms of user-generated content uncontrollable by the marketers. These content creating
people are keen in building online communities, in order to satisfy their social, self-esteem and
self-actualization needs. According to Kim (2000) (cited in Bowman and Willis, 2003) the
hierarchy of needs differ between offline and online communities (Figure 2.10)
In the post-modernity period which encourages a move away from individualism towards a
search for more social bonds, these communities tend to reorganize themselves into neo-tribes,
networks of people gathering homogeneously together for social interaction, often around
consumption and brands (Simmons, 2008). From the marketers perspective it is very important
to consider tribal relationships as it may be a powerful tool in building loyalty and trust among
the consumers. Even though neo-tribes and brand communities are two different concepts they
share very similar features and often are very related to each other. According to Cova and Cova
(2002) the main differences are that the brand communities are explicitly commercial whereas
tribes are not, furthermore, brand communities are concerned about relationship between brand
and consumer, whereas tribes – relationship between consumers. Muniz and O‟Guinn (2001)
(citied in Ouwersloot and Odekerken-Schroeder, 2008) describes a brand community as a
specialized, non-geographically bound community that is based on a structured set of social
relations among admirers of a brand. Mairinger (2008) suggests that:
The brand community is not just formed around a brand; it creates the brand.
The brand community is not just formed around a product; it is part of the product.
Communication process
"Creators" - Publish a blog/website; upload created videos/music; write articles or stories and post them;
"Critics" - Post ratings/reviews; comment on blogs and forums; contribute to articles or wikis;
"Collectors" - Use RSS feeds, add tags to web pages or photos;
"Joiners" - Maintain a profile/ an account on social media site (Social network, Content community);
"Spectators" - Read blogs or customer reviews, watch video or listen to audio (podcasts);
―Inactives‖ – None of these activities.
It is important to understand how social technologies are being adopted by the company‟s
costumers as according to consumer‟s profile the social strategy could be adopted (Li and
Bernoff, 2008). Especially, marketers should be concerned about “Creators” as they are most
likely to be the trend setters / brand evangelists (opinion leaders). Hoegg (Hoegg et al., 2006)
summarized the participation model of a Web 2.0 (Figure 12).
There are two general types of the research approaches: scientific and ethnographic. According
to Maylor and Blackmon (2005) the scientific (or objective) approach is more concerned with
understanding the general patterns of people‟s, organisations‟ and social systems‟ behaviour as
an opposite to ethnographic (subjective) approach which is analyzing practises more than
theories in greater depth and more at individual level. Moreover, the scientific studies are based
on deductive logic and focused on testing theories and then arriving to the new knowledge rather
than creating the knowledge in the process of the research (inductive).
This research can be considered as a theory-led scientific study, since the main objective of this
research is to verify a set of theories that describe “what” is changing in the marketing
communications environment and analyze consumer‟s behavior according to these hypotheses.
It could be viewed as knowledge verifying study and an extension of similar researches done in
the USA market. Even though it is considered to be scientific research there are some
appearances of ethnographic inductive logic. Maylor and Blackmon (2005) suggests that some
times when there is scarcity of data it may be an acceptable to use two research approaches in
one study. Sometimes it may not be possible to develop any hypothesis at all, if it is being
investigated for the first time as there are no previous data is available (Bhojanna, 2007).
Therefore in this study, because the research subject is relatively new, the literature review was
dedicated not to generate hypothesis, but to build-up the theory itself and to prove that in
changing media landscape there are new marketing communication tools and channels requiring
greater consideration and that chosen hypothesis are valid. Furthermore, the findings in the
literature review were adopted in data analysis.
The main reason why the scientific paradigm for this study has been chosen is its cooperation
with quantitative methods of the research. The quantitative research strategies are used to count
The success of the quantitative study is based on the validity of the data and statistical
significance of the results that could be generalized. Therefore, appropriate data had to be
collected and processed. According to Maylor and Blackmon (2005) a suitable way to verify the
research hypotheses and capture opinions, behaviors, attitudes and facts is doing a survey. In a
result, according to sample size and time frame the self-administrated online questionnaire
method was chosen for conducting the survey. In the short time frame it is considered to be one
of the best tool‟s to gather large amounts of valid data.
In order to guarantee successful implementation of the research project the Gantt‟s Chart was
drawn to identify the main tasks and the time frame (days) assigned for them (Graph 1).
Prime literature
review
Writing
Malhotra and Birks (2003), states that an appropriate data collection method contributes to the
successfulness of research project. There are two types of data: primary data collected in the
process of the study by the researcher; and secondary data – which have been already collected
and analyzed by others (Ghauri et al, 1991). Both sources of data should be used to achieve
efficiency and effective research objective. The secondary data provides an ability to save time
and money, therefore it has to be analyzes first before the collection of the new material. The
In order to answer the main research question and to test the hypothesis proposed in the
introduction the primary data was collected through the web survey (self-administrated
questionnaire were used). It enabled researcher to apply statistical analysis methods for the
study.
According Easterby-Smith (1991) within the short time frame and limited resources a self-
administrated questionnaire is the most appropriate method to collect data for research. Maylor
and Blackmon (2005) suggest that in order to gather appropriate data with a questionnaire, the
design and planning are the vital parts. In order to produce a reliable questionnaire and minimize
biases in the research, the designer has to consider three areas main issues: the wording of the
questions, the appropriate categorization of variables and the general appearance of the
questionnaire (Sekaran, 2003; Appnedix 3.1). Therefore the wording of the questionnaire was
constructed considering the similar consumer surveys in the US market (Cone, 2008, Technorati,
2008, Razorfish, 2008, Forecaster, 2008). The simple commonly used expressions and terms
were used in order not to confuse respondents. The general appearance of the questionnaire was
selected from pre-designed themes for thesis type surveys suggested by the web portal providing
the surveying services (Surveygizmo.com)
According to Maylor and Blackmon (2005) the choice of the sample and correct sampling
methods are one of the key factors in gathering valid and measurable data for the research.
Malholtra (2003) suggests the five steps for sampling design:
define the target population,
determine the sampling frame,
select the sampling frame,
determine the sample size
execute the sampling process.
The target population was chosen considering the objectives of this research. As a result, only
the people who have ever used Social Media properties were considered as possible respondents.
Moreover, due to limited data about the total number of social media users in the UK, and short
time frame and the budget, only the Londoners were considered for the research. The biggest
social networking website Facebook.com which represents almost all Web 2.0 features in one
In order to conduct reliable and valid research the Pilot study has to be performed before the
actual research. According to Malhotra and Birks (2003) the completion of the pilot study will
lead to the identification of problems that are likely to arise with the questionnaire. Moreover,
Veal (1997) suggests that the purpose of pilot survey is to check the following problems:
1. Questionnaire wording
2. Questionnaire sequencing
3. Questionnaire layout
4. Familiarity with respondents
5. Test fieldwork
6. Train and test fieldworks
7. Estimate response rate
8. Estimate interview e.g. Time
9. Test analysis procedure
As the questionnaire is a highly structured data collection tools, limiting the powers of the
researcher, the design of questionnaire should include three characteristics (Bhojanna, 2007):
1. Validity: validity is the most critical criterion and indicates the degree to which an
of as utility.
measure.
ANOVA analysis was used as the main tools to test hypothesis. According to Maylor and
Blackmon (2005) this type of analysis guarantees the reliability and practicality. 5 % of
reliability coefficient was used to test the data for single and two factor analyses. The P and F
values were used as the main determinants of the significance of the data.
As mentioned earlier, the survey was conducted on social networking site Facebook.com. After
completion of the pilot study it was decided to run the survey for 3 weeks period, due to
considered possibility that some of the respondents might not be checking their accounts or
messages very often. According to the suggested response rate (40%) by the pilot survey, 400
messages with the survey link were sent to random members of London Network with the intent
to receive 101 filled surveys. The random selection was facilitated by Facebook as there is a
feature allowing to see and contact randomly sorted members of your network
(Settings>Account settings > Netwroks>London). 101 responses have been received, from which
48 males and 53 females.
In order to achieve the “Aim 1” and create a general consumer profile of SMP in the UK, the
answers to the questionnaire were analyzed. The first question was designed in order to find out
the dominating sex on the UK social media properties. As it seen in the Figure 4.1 the sex
distribution among users is very similar, but female users outweigh the males in the UK.
As shown in the Figure 4.2 the respondents from 25 - 34 age group where most keen in
participating in the survey followed by 15 -24 year olds. It is possible to make an assumption that
theses two groups are the main users of SMP, even though it can not be stated for certain as the
Giedrius Figure
Ivanauskas © Social
4.2 The age Media
groups of the social media –
Citizens http://www.smcitizens.com/
users in the UK
results might be affected by the survey distribution method.
According to the survey results the majority people using social media properties are on the
middle income or less, as most of them falls into the £10 000 – 25 000 group or under (Figure
4.3). Even though 20 % percents of respondents, have claimed about receiving £25 000 – 45 000
a year, what means that there are a few different segments in the market.
The most popular type of social media property amongst UK users is “Content communities”
(30%). Not so far behind goes “Social Networking” (26%) and “Blogs” (22%). According to the
survey results “Micro Blogs” still have not found its users, with just 6 % of all respondents using
it. Surprisingly, “Opinion networks” are not very popular among UK users (5%) as on another
The research results complement the McCann (2008) findings. Even though, McCann report
(2008) stated that blogs and blogging are the main sites used by almost all Internet users within
the UK, according to this research it might not be necessarily true. But as the subject of the
research and determinations differ, the outcomes of the research might be different as well.
4.1.2 Where and How are they using Social Media Properties?
It possible to make an assumption that social media has spread into the main daily routines as
97% of all respondents are using it “At home” and 44 % using it “At work”. 15% of all
respondents are using these applications or sites “On the go”, what means that social media gains
popularity on different platforms. Another interesting fact is that according to survey results 38%
of people using SMP “On the go” use social networks on these platforms (mobile phones, iPods),
what partly confirms previous statement made in the literature review (Web 2.0 applications has
an influence on the development of other platforms).
The research results suggests that people using SMP in the UK are spending slightly more time
compare to US users, as 33 % are spending 1–3 hours a week and 32 % are spending 4-6 hours a
week (compare to 34.87 % and 20.76 % in the US). Even more surprising is that almost 10% of
Most of Web 2.0 citizens consider themselves as “Joiners” (42%), from what the assumption can
be made that social media is still quite new trend for most of the people in the UK market.
Nevertheless, surprisingly almost 17% from all respondents state that they have crated the
content on SMP what means that there are quite a few very active users in the UK.
According to the research results in general consumers prefers UGC (27%) rather than company
provided content (15%), but most of them see no difference (31%) between them or wants a
mixture of both (27%) (Appendix 4.2). Friends‟ recommendations (42%) have the biggest
influence on the decision to interact with the company (Appendix 4.3). Furthermore, 76% of all
respondents indentify the relevance of the content and frequency (46%) as the main reasons to
stay engaged with the company (Appendix 4.4). Moreover, the 73% of the respondents‟ states
that personal satisfaction (52%) and personal development are the important reasons to stay
engaged in the conversation (Appendix 4.5). According to survey, the interactions in social
media with the company generate new interactions and recommendations (Appendix 4.6). The
results suggest, that the shortage of time and privacy concerns is the biggest obstacles to interact
with the company (Appendix 4.7). Nevertheless, all these features still differ among various
consumer groups.
Creators
As was mentioned in the literature review the “Creators” group should be in the biggest interest
of marketers as they are most likely to spread the word of mouth (wom). According to the
research results 72% of “Creators” prefers to interact with user generated, but 22% prefers a
mixed content (Compny and UGC). Also, marketers have to take in to the account that 50% of
the “Creators” are likely to make a first step towards interaction with the company, as another
40% will wait for the company‟s initiative. Moreover, 58% percent from all “Creators” would
recommend the company to their peers, what partly confirms the earlier statement about the
wom.
Spectators
Similarly to “Joiners”, the “Spectators” are most likely to be found on content communities
(29%) and social networking (33%) sites. 17% of “Spectators” enjoys interacting with
blogosphere and quite surprisingly 17% are active users of opinion networks, from what the
assumption can be drawn that “Spectators” are keen into the research process. (i.e. researching
the product reviews).
As can be seen from the Figure 4.14 there is even smaller difference in terms of content
distributor for the “Spectators” (42% states – No difference). Nevertheless, the UGC and a
mixture of the distributors are quite favorable by them. Moreover, recommendations have a
major impact on them, as 67% state that they would try to interact with the company if their
friends would recommend doing so (21% Myself, 12% Company). In order to keep the
“Spectators” engaged the company has to consider the factors mentioned in the Figure 4.15, as
can be seen the “Spectators” are more likely to consider all factors equally rather than “Joiners”.
Interestingly, the favorite SMP amongst “Critics” are blogs (40%) and content aggregators
(30%), followed by micro blogs (20%). Critics are heavy users (40% states, that using SMP 20
hours or more) and assumptions can be made that “Critics” are likely to interact more than other
groups from technographic ladder, except “Creators”.
Collectors
Similarly to “Critics”, the “Collectors” likes to interact with company provided content (29%) or
see no difference (71%) with which type of content to interact with (no other responses!). As
found in the literature review, that the content is the new message, therefore, in order to
successfully interact/communicate with “Collectors” marketers has to consider the reasons why
are they using SMP (Figure 4.18) and provide suitable content accordingly.
The “Collectors” are using content communities (29%) and content aggregators (29%) as their
bridge to social media world. Therefore, marketers considering opportunity to approach the
“Collectors” should actively participate on these platforms.
In order to answer the “Aim 2” of the research and to evaluate the influence of Web 2.0
applications 6 hypothesis were tested. The “Hypothesis 1” was intended to demonstrate that the
interactions through Web 2.0 applications generate positive outcomes for the company. The
usage of Social Media Porperties (Q5) was compared with the consumer actions after the
interaction with the company (Q15).
H0 : There is significant relationship between Social Media Properties used and the actions taken after the
interaction.
H1 : There is no significant relationship between Social Media Properties used and the actions taken after
the interaction
The single factor ANOVA analysis results showed (Appendix 4.8) that there is a significant
relationship between the answers (even though quite small as p value is close to 0,05). As a
result the second (H1) hypothesis was deducted and the assumption was made that there is a
relationship between different SMP used and the positive outcomes after interaction, but it is
quite small. Even though, as F>F crit (7.807202 > 2.71089), there is a very strong relationship
In order to demonstrate that different Web 2.0 applications serve different marketing
communication goals, “Hypotesis 2” was tested:
H0 : There is a significant relationship between the Social Media Properties (Q5) used and
communications wanted by the consumer (Q13).
H1 : There is no significant relationship between the Social Media Properties used and communications
wanted by the consumer.
The two factor ANOVA analysis results showed that there is a very strong relationship between
the data, as p value is much smaller than 0.05 (Appendix 4.9). Therefore, the hypothesis (H1)
was deducted and the assumptions was made that different SMP should be considered for
different communication goals, more precisely - content communities, blogs and social
networks should be considered for Advertising and PR purpose. Surprisingly, content
communities could be considered for “selling” as well (Appendix 4.9.1).
In order to verify if there is a relationship between the influence on the consumer attitudes and
Web 2.0 applications, the “Hypotesis 3” was tested:
H0 : There is a significant relationship between the Social Media Properties and attitudes changed by the
company and by the consumer.
H1 : There is no significant relationship between the Social Media Properties and attitudes changed by the
company and by the consumer.
SMP (Q5) and the respondents who selected the “strongly agree” and “agree” answers in
changing attitudes question (Q17) were correlated and according to ANOVA analysis results,
there is a very strong relationship (p= 0,000000012< 0.05) between the changed attitudes and
Web 2.0 applications (Appendix 4.10). As a result, the hypothesis (H1) was deducted and the
assumption was made that with any social media property used respondents ―agree‖ or
―strongly agree‖ that such kinds of communications are likely to change their attitudes towards
company irrespectively from who distributes the message (company or users). As F > F crit, it
has to be considered that the results were very affected by the most popular social media as they
mostly “agreed” or “strongly agreed” with these propositions.
The two groups (users and friends) of initiators of conversation through Web 2.0 applications
(Q10) were correlated with respondents who “agree” or “strongly agree” that messages received
through SMP triggers the positive word of mouth (Q17). Not surprisingly, there is a very strong
relationship (p=0,00000000019<0,05) between correlated data (Appendix 4.11). As a result, the
hypothesis (H1) was deducted and the assumption was made that respondents who approach
company on SMP by them selves or especially by friends‘ recommendations are very likely to
spread word of mouth about the company.
The “Hypothesis 5” was designed to verify if there is a difference for the consumer who makes a
first step in terms of media channel.
H0 : There is a significant relationship between the initiators of interaction and media channel preferred
by the consumer.
H1 : There is no significant relationship between the initiators of interaction and media channel chosen by
the consumer.
In order to test “Hypothesis 6” and to find out if there is a relationship between technographics
(“Creator”, “Joiner” and etc.) of the consumer and the channel which he/she consumes, the data
from Q7 (technographics) and Q18 (media channel preferred) was correlated:
H1 : There is a significant relationship between the technographics of the consumer and the preferred
media channel chosen.
A strong relationship (p=0,00000038<0,05) was found between correlated data (Appendix 4.13).
As a result, the hypothesis (H1) was deducted and the assumption was made that there is a
strong relationship between the type of the consumer (i.e ―Creator‖) and media channel chosen.
Surprisingly, the “Spectators” has a various distribution amongst the channels and chooses Radio
as one of the favorite channels for marketing to them (Appendix 4.13.1).
In the literature review the social media environment was analyzed and the main changes were
indentified. It was noticed that the interactivity is much more personal in social media and is
based on human to human interaction. Moreover, it was indentified that social media is changing
the communication processes as the power shifts from company to the consumer and the
meaning of the message itself is changing (content becomes the message). The various Web 2.0
properties were grouped and defined. The research found that social media environment
comprises the features of medium and tool and is suitable for marketing to postmodern
consumer.
The research had identified the general consumer profile within the UK market. According to
technographic typology, 5 groups of Web 2.0 Citizens were analysed and the main differences
between them were identified. It was noticed that, that social media in the UK penetrates into all
aspects of daily life, but the consumption patterns slightly differs from the consumers in other
countries (US) and it differs amongst the 5 technographic consumer groups as well. Moreover, it
was identified that in general consumers prefers UGC rather than company provided content, but
most of them see no difference between them or wants a mixture of both. The relevance of the
content is the single most important factor among all the consumers in the UK. According to the
research results, the personal satisfaction or self-actualizing needs are driving the consumption
and that the biggest influencers of Web 2.0 citizens are their friends, who are most likely to
affect their behaviours and “push” to the interactions. It was found that most of the consumers
are afraid of losing time and privacy when participating in conversations within social media
environment, but these communications push towards closer relationship with the company and
are likely to outgrow into the monetary relationships. The main features, according
technographic typology, of the UK consumers are summarized in the Table 4.1.
Finding 2: The influence of SMP on the consumers and comparison with traditional media
In order to evaluate the influence of Social media as a medium for marketing communication
campaigns 6 Hypothesis were tested. According to the results, the main findings can be
summarized. The gathered data suggests that there is a relationship between SMP used and the
positive outcomes after interaction. Therefore, it could be concluded that interactions through
SMP could result in positive outcomes for the company. The interaction through Social
networks, Content communities and Blogs are most likely to cause grater relationships with the
company and build trust. Moreover, the result suggest that different SMP have to be used in
order to achieve different marketing communication goals, with a common trend that Content
communities, Blogs and Social Networks can be considered for Advertising and PR purpose
(other trends can be checked in the Appendix 4.9.1). Surpassingly, according to gather data,
irrespectively from the message distributor consumers agree that the messages delivered through
social media are likely to change their attitudes towards company or its products. As a result, it
can be concluded that SMP could be a valuable channel in changing consumer‟s attitudes
towards the company. Moreover, it is important for them to approach the company by
themselves or recommendations in order to spread positive word of mouth about the company. In
any case, the assumption can be made that communications through SMP triggers the positive
The evolving media landscape and changing consumer behavior presents new challenges for
marketing practitioners. The growth of social media properties forces marketers to consider new
tools in approaching the postmodern consumers. As summarized in the findings, these tools vary
depending from the consumers‟ group, media channel and SMP itself. It is clear that this
media/marketing channel is here to stay, but as it is still developing and changing therefore the
constant monitoring of SMP tools is required by marketing professionals and academics.
This research achieved its main goals and showed that the consumers welcome company‟s
initiatives to communicate through Social media and that the Web 2.0 applications can be used
successfully as the new tools in marketing communication mix. Even though, as this research
just tested the theory that that social media is effective marketing tool and channel, the further,
possibly qualitative, research is needed in order to understand the effectiveness of every tool on
the consumer‟s behavior.
The main limitation of the research is considered to be the research setting. As the research was
undertaken in only one of the social media properties‟ (Facebook.com) it might have affected the
results. Mostly, it might have affected who answered the survey as the researcher send links from
his personal profile on the social network. Furthermore, the research was undertaken only among
The implication of this research should mostly concern marketing professionals as the data
gathered provides interesting insights about the Social media environment in the UK.
Nevertheless, it gives an opportunity for other academic researchers to adapt or verify the
presented theories in different marketing backgrounds.
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for information‖, Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, Vol. 9, No.
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Warhammer case‖, International Marketing Review, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 313-29.
Fang, E., Palmatier, R., W. and Evans, K., R. (2007), ―Influence of customer participation on
creating and sharing of new product value‖, Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 36, pp 322-
336.
Ferguson, R. (2008), ―Word of mouth and viral marketing: taking the temperature of the hottest
trends in marketing‖, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 25/3, pp 179–182.
Bughin, J. (2008) ―The rise of enterprise 2.0‖, Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing
Practice, Vol. 9, pp 251 – 259.
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intentions in mobile commerce‖, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Vol. 6, No.3, pp
165-180.
Mason, R., B. (2008), ―Word of mouth as a promotional tool for turbulent markets‖, Journal of
Marketing Communications, Vol. 14:3, pp 207 – 224.
Mitchell, A. and Henderson, I. (2005) ―The Next big thing?‖, Journal of Direct, Data and
Digital Marketing Practice, Vol. 7, pp 8 – 17.
Appendixes