Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) On Social Networking Sites and Its Effect On Brand Reputation Management.

Nottingham University Business School
MSc Programmes MSC MARKETING
[DISSERTATION]
[Electronic Word Of Mouth (eWOM) On Social Networking Sites and Its Effect on Brand Reputation Management.]
[ADITYA TIBREWALA]
Student ID: [4145050]
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Literature Review .................................................................................................................................... 5 Social Media Product Recommendations and eWOM Traditional word-of-mouth vs. Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) marketing Definitions Methodology........................................................................................................................................... 9 Selecting a Research Method Selecting a Data Collection Method Sampling Procedure Results ................................................................................................................................................... 14 Understanding and Usage Brand Content Brand News and Information Analysis ................................................................................................................................................. 18 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................ 22 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 26 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 27 References ............................................................................................................................................ 83
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Electronic Word Of Mouth (eWOM) On Social Networking Sites and Its Effect on Brand Reputation Management.
Introduction
Communication is one such freedom that every individual enjoys. Every human being is free to have an opinion and is equally free to voice it. The need to voice ones opinion to a larger set of people is undying. Every day people want to reach out more persons around the world and this gives rise to rapid communication evolution. Fire signals, Morse code, telegrams, telephones and today the internet; are all forms of communication that man has evolved over time to reach out to a larger set of people. Within the internet, the social media space is a subset that has evolved recently that has changed the way we look at the internet. Its a space where people are free to connect and reach out to a large variety of people with ease and communicate and voice their opinions even easier. And where people are, there brands want to be present. Social media is the space where every large company wants to make its presence felt. If people are giving their opinions and speaking out their mind, they must also be speaking about companies, brands, products and services that surround their daily lives. If people are so closely knit together, any negative opinion can spread extremely fast and if half the world thinks badly about a brand overnight, it can be disastrous for any company. Hence, for companies, the aim is to create brand communities on the social media space where the company can effectively interact and share information with customers and be available to look into negative information spreading. Any brand would not want unauthorised information doing the rounds of the internet which may not be true and cause misunderstandings amongst its customers. Inaccurate or negative information on a public domain has the potential to damage the brand to a large extent. Well established and extremely reputed brands have faced large losses and lost consumer goodwill due to this quick information sharing amongst consumers. Take for example Comcast, an American Internet Service provider who did little to address consumer complaints for slow and inconsistent internet. One of their customers, who had a 12,000+ Twitter following, criticised Comcast on the micro-blogging website which hugely damaged Comcasts reputation (Social Media Today, 2008).
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Hence the rapid dissemination of information to a large audience can be damaging for a company, especially if that information is not to the liking of the company. However, social media, if monitored and used properly, can hold a host of benefits for the brand and the company. Take Dell Computers for example, which actively scans the entire social media space looking for conversations that concern or talk about the company. If any consumer is found providing inaccurate information, the company calmly offers a rectification; if any consumer voices disappointment or a problem in their product, Dell runs into action and volunteers to solve it (Mashable, 2009; Brand Autopsy, 2007). In spite of the uncontrollable user generated information going on the internet, Dell has learnt to tactfully manage and control it and make a profit out of it. Due to these very concerns and development, brands and companies have had to rethink their marketing strategy to incorporate social media and how to manage this unique space. It cannot be ignored but needs to become a part of the company and its culture. This research question aims to measure the various ways in which product recommendations on social media has affected the marketing strategy of a brand or a company. The aim is to bring out the paradigm shift that this new channel of communication has brought about, the changes a company must undertake to incorporate it and what lies ahead for any brand. In order to fulfil this, the paper would research on the consumer side and the brand side. On the consumer front, various users of social networking sites would be interviewed and an in-depth understanding of consumer activity with respect to brands would be understood. An extensive knowledge of the objectives a consumer thinks would be achieved by posting brand-related content on the internet along with motives and intentions would be deeply understood. On the brand side, the paper would understand from various brand managers on the understanding that they hold with respect to consumers posting content on social networking websites. The research aims to find a connection or disconnection between consumer motive and the brand managers understanding and recommend solutions if necessary.
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Literature Review
Social Media The internet is a unique network that virtually binds together almost every human being on the planet. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) explain that the internet was initially conceived as a platform to network and share information amongst users in a fast and efficient manner. Over time, the internet evolved into a network much larger and far more complicated than it initially was. The advent of the electronic mail, also known as e-mail, revolutionised the way in which marketers could communicate with their potential audience. Phelps et. al. (2004) have indicated that although the e-mail helped marketers initially in reaching out to a more selective audience, the overuse of marketer originated emails have led to consumers ignoring such messages and hence trusting only e-mails sent from known sources. Hence, the idea to trust peers and known persons over unknown sources started growing more and more rapidly. Trusting the information sent by known people over unknown came to be known as Viral Marketing or Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) (Phelps, et. al., 2004). However, Modzelewski (2000) argue that viral marketing and electronic word of mouth are two different concepts although eventually people will start associating both of them as one. According to him, viral marketing is when the originator has a vested interest in bringing more people to buy a certain product or service or join a particular network. On the other hand, eWOM deals with consumers spreading the word of a particular product or service they have enjoyed using to other people on the internet. The originator has no interest if more people indulge in the recommendation and usually people are simply voicing their opinion. The freedom to freely communicate amongst users was deteriorating with more and more one-way content emerging on the internet which lacked heavy user interaction. The advent of social networking websites such as Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, YouTube etc. have revolutionised the internet sphere taking the virtual network back to its roots. Owing to its uniqueness and complexity, Mangold and Faulds (2009) have termed the social media space as a hybrid element of the marketing mix (p. 359). They state that the media richness, the multiple objectives it is able to reach has made it an essential tool for companies to use and invest in. Social media is a space not only for brand-customer interaction but also for customer-brand interaction as well as customer-customer interaction. The latter can be with existing and potential customers and forms the crux which makes this platform unique (Mangold and Faulds, 2009; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010; Asur and Huberman, 2010). Although this platform at first glance does seem more intimidating to brands since they lose control over the content that goes on these platforms, if correctly harnessed, it can prove to be a massive opportunity for everyone equally (Asur and
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Huberman, 2010). Clearly, social media does seem to be the new space for marketers to develop and look into and this paper intends to identify how. Product Recommendations and eWOM Research on product recommendations in the internet space is not a new avenue for research. Multiple authors in the past have looked into the influence of products recommended by peers and other online purchasers and its subsequent influence on the final purchase decision. Senecal and Nantel (2004) have researched into the influence of online recommendations and its subsequent effect on the final purchase decision of the consumer. Their findings have indicated that consumers are indeed influenced by recommender systems on the internet. So much so, these recommender systems were found to be more trustworthy than human experts from the particular field (Senecal and Nantel, 2004; Gruen, et. al., 2005). The depth and degree of influence of impersonal information providing personalised information for internet purchase decisions was being tested. Gruen et. al. (2005) explored how customer knowledge base when shared to other customers in a common forum, can influence the purchase decision of a larger set of people. Electronic word of mouth platforms were found to be a reliable source of information for customers, a finding consistent with Bickart and Schindlers (2001) findings. An interesting finding by Gruen et. al. (2005) was with regards to the loyalty aspect that a customer attaches when recommending a certain product. Consumers are either found to be loyal to a certain brand and hence heavily recommend the brand of their choice or are under the impression that regular recommendations of a particular brand would make them eligible for loyalty bonuses by the company. Either ways, product recommendations by users was found to be highly influential on a consumers final purchase decision. A similar research conducted by Bickart and Schindler (2001) has shown almost similar results. A research was conducted wherein a group of consumers were asked to derive information of a certain product from internet-based resources whereas another group of consumers were asked to obtain information from non-internet based sources (Company information, advertisements etc.). The researchers concluded that consumers who have obtained the information from internet based sources have shown a greater interest in the product itself than the consumers who obtained their information from non-internet based resources. The general consensus on internet-based product recommendations has been the reliance of consumers on other consumers choices, reviews or opinions over information given by company sources or non-internet based sources. Past research has indicated that consumers prefer gathering information from other consumers and not from company sources since they find the opinions of consumers far more reliable over company claims. This opinion is shared in spite of the threat of
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inaccurate information given by other users which might lead to faulty purchases. This research aims at examining how a customers reliance on other customers opinions has forced a brand to rethink its strategy in disseminating information on the internet. The constant threat of inaccurate information spreading across the internet can be hugely damaging to a brand and customers will still hold the company responsible over the user who recommended it (Kaplan, 2010). Subramani and Rajagopalan (2003) introduce a framework which takes into account the network externalities and the role of the influencer to determine the nature of the influence that a specific website or technology holds. This framework proves to be useful for any brand or organisation who can accordingly adapt their model if they are found to lie in a specific quadrant that they did not intend to be in. The kind of influence discussed by the authors was classified as normative influence or informative influence which plays a pivotal role for an e-commerce organisation if it wishes to correctly place their product to have the desired kind of influence. The drawback of this framework was that it failed to take into account feedback or non-influential recommendations that a particular user may do. Every influence made by a user may not be done with the motive to appeal to the opposite user but could also be left behind for any future users that may have use of that information. The compliance or non-compliance of the recommendation is a complex mixture of the grid within the matrix that a brand falls under, the nature of the product and the website. The classification of the influence as normative and informational is much in accordance with the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) developed by Petty and Capiocco (1986). The ELM model introduces two routes or methods to evoke attitudinal change (p. 262). The two routes as described by the author are the central route, akin to the informational influence and the peripheral route, similar to the normative influence. Traditional Word-of-Mouth (WOM) vs. Electronic Word -of-Mouth (eWOM) marketing Word of mouth marketing is not a relatively new aspect of marketing and has been around for a sufficient amount of time. WOM marketing relies on consumers to spread the word about products and services to friends and peers. Since this form of marketing completely relies upon the consumer, the experience of the product or service that a consumer has must be exceptional for the consumer to actively tell others about it. With the advent of the internet, this form of marketing has gained tremendous attention and has been touted as one of the most promising and affective form of marketing (Trusov, et. al., 2009). Within eWOM, social networking websites are the most effective form of internet media when it comes to word of mouth marketing (Dellarocas, 2003). Social networking websites are a more
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superior form of word of mouth communication primarily for two reasons. Firstly, on a social networking website, users are connected with a web of people between whom communication can occur in a faster and more structured manner. It is easier to tell people about a new purchase on such a website than anywhere else. Secondly, the people that a user is connected to are friends and family or people that a user is acquainted with. Hence receiving opinions or thoughts about a certain product or service from known persons is given more credit over opinions and reviews received by strangers. These two key features separate traditional word of mouth media from internet-based word of mouth communication. In the traditional form, communication is slow and usually occurs on a oneto-one basis. The slow diffusion of information spreads slower and becomes obsolete before it can reach a substantial audience (Bickart and Schindler, 2001). eWOM manages to successfully address these two issues and hence makes word of mouth marketing more affective and competent. Definitions The term social networking website and its variations have been used in this text to refer to websites which fulfil the definition of Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) where they define social media as, a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Examples of social networking websites are as follows but not restricted to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, Google+ etc. This definition also includes any website which allows user comments which might influence the purchase decision of another consumer. Example, user comments on Amazon, EBay etc. The term brand content or brand related content and its variations have been used in this text to refer to any mention of any brand, company, product, service or on some occasions even celebrities on any social networking website. If any user mentions anything good or bad about any purchase experience or any casual statement about a particular brand would come under this definition.
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Methodology
Selecting a Research Method The process of extracting market-related information can come from two sources, either via the quantitative approach or the qualitative approach. The quantitative approach, as the name suggests, quantifies the research in terms of numbers and gives an output accordingly. The quantitative approach is used when one begins a theory or hypothesis and tests for confirmation or disconfirmation of that hypothesis (Newman and Benz, 1998). Qualitative research, on the other hand, entails the use and study of a variety of empirical data such as case studies, personal experience, introspection, life stories, interviews etc., which describes the experiences and problems of individuals in their daily lives (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). Accordingly, qualitative researchers employ a wide range of interpretative techniques for a better understanding of the problem at hand. As mentioned earlier, this research is concerned with evaluating the reasons why consumers post brand-related messages on the internet and other social networking sites and to understand from brand managers on the prevailing strategy that companies employ to manage the reputation of their brands on these places. Keeping in mind this objective, a qualitative research method was adopted to further understand and analyse consumer experiences and perceptions. A choice existed between conducting a quantitative research and a qualitative one over which the qualitative research method was selected. This selection was done due to the nature of qualitative research which fulfils the objective of this paper. According to Merriam (2009) qualitative researchers are aimed at understanding peoples experiences and their interpretation of these experiences. They want to understand social construct and how people interpret changes and activities that constantly occur around them. Stake (2010) describes research as a complex science which has a measurable and an immeasurable side to it. The measurable form is known as quantitative research which deals with objects that are linear and can be quantified in numerical terms. The immeasurable form is known as qualitative research which studies human perceptions and understanding which cannot be quantified or given any numerical value since it is subjective from person to person. Hence to understand the perceptions and beliefs of every individual which is hard to quantify, a qualitative form of research method was used for this paper. Selecting a Data Collection Method Within the qualitative form of research method, in-depth interviews were selected as a means of data collection. The research question was centred on personal beliefs and experiences and hence this form of data collection was found to be most suited. The researcher had the option of selecting
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other forms of data collection of which focus groups was seriously considered. However, this form of technique for data collection was ruled out since the research question is centred on every individuals experiences which might not have come out in a focus group. In focus groups the researcher discusses about an idea with a group of people and gauges their responses and makes necessary field notes (Kvale, 1996). This form of data collection was termed as unsuited for the particular research since every individuals personal experiences on social networking sites would be different and hence further in-depth probing would not be possible. Hence, in order to gain a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour, depth interviews was selected as the most appropriate method for collecting data for this research. Sampling A non-probability sampling technique was adopted by the researcher. This conclusion was derived after defining the characteristics and knowledge an individual must hold in order to become a part of the sample size. This research is concerned with researching on the experiences and understanding of two sides and analysing their reactions against each other. The two sides, as defined earlier, is the consumer side and the corporate side which includes brand managers. The sampling technique used for both sides were same although the requirements a respondent must hold in order to be a part of the sample size were different for users and for managers. For users, the requirements, in order of importance, are as follows: Knowledge of social networking websites was extremely important. The research question is centred around consumers brand related activity on social networking websites. Simple knowledge of such websites and their functioning is not adequate if the user does not have any experiences to share. Hence awareness and regular activity on any popular social networking sites is required. Popular social networking sites are more important than the ones that are not popular. This study aims at researching the consequences of users posting brand related content on social networking sites. Brands would not be present on websites where user activity is low since interaction is less and the chances of information going viral are also less. The more users a website has, the more popular it is and it is on these websites that brand reputation is more sensitive due to close user connections with increased chances of information spreading. Hence, even though a user interacts about brands on a social networking site which is not popular, his/her activity would not affect brand reputation. People aged between 18-25 years were the most frequent users of social networking sites. According to Social Media Today (2010) Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are the three largest social networking sites today in terms of user and user activity. As per demographic figures of these three
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websites over the past 4 years, it has been revealed that users within the age bracket of 18-25 have been most popular on each of these websites (Inside Facebook, 2010; Social Media Today, 2009; ZD Net, 2006). Hence, with people of this age group being the most frequent users of social networking sites, it became the preferred age of respondents. However, people outside this age bracket were not ignored if they fulfilled all of the other criterias. For brand managers, the criteria, in order of importance, are as follows: The brand or organisation or company that the brand manager operates in should be actively present on social networking websites. If the brand in question does not operate in this area, the brand manager may not be able to give his experiences of the brands activities on social networking websites. The brand manager might have adequate knowledge about social networking sites and brand reputation management on this platform but yet may not qualify if the brand or company he/she works for does not use this platform on a regular basis. Understanding the strategy a particular brand is putting into place is vital. Knowledge of the brands operation on social networking sites is necessary. Even if the brand is present on the platform but the manager is not actively involved in its day-to-day functioning, he/she would not be able to provide information of the brands strategy on social networking sites to manage its brand reputation. A convenience sampling method was employed since it allows the researcher to reach out to people as per the researchers convenience (Lohr, 2009). Since a large number of respondents who fulfilled the sampling criteria were easily available, it became the preferred choice. However, this method was used only to select respondents who are users and for managers a different technique was used. A judgemental or purposive sampling technique was utilised which allows the researcher to hand-pick respondents due to a unique knowledge or understanding that they hold (Lohr, 2009). Social Media Marketing being a specialised field within the area of internet marketing, there exists limited number of people with adequate knowledge who would be willing to come forward for the interview and hence this method had to be applied. The sample size for the interview was not fixed with interviews coming to an end after information being obtained was repetitive and does not add any extra value or understanding to what was already obtained by the researcher in previous interviews.
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Procedure A total of nineteen respondents were interviewed of which seventeen were users and two were brand managers. The respondents for user experiences mostly comprised of post-graduate university students although there were respondents from elsewhere. Interviews were held in closed comfortable environments and were free of any externalities. The researcher made sure that external factors such as non-respondents probing participants, distractive elements or a noisy environment were absent whilst the interview was being conducted. All interviews were voice recorded and later transcribed. Each respondent was first asked basic preliminary questions which ascertained that the respondent fulfils the criteria to give the interview. The respondents understanding of social networking sites was understood along with their frequency of visiting these platforms was noted. Respondents were read out a list of social networking websites which they had to rank from 1-5 where one meant that the respondents were unaware of the existence of such a website or are aware of its existence but do not use it at all or use it extremely sparingly. Hence, a rank of 1 defines none or negligible usage. Rank 5 defines maximum or extremely frequent usage of a particular website. Ranks in between are of varying degree, starting from 1 and going up to 5. These questions were aimed at understanding what kind of social networking websites respondents most frequently visited. Some social networking websites are structured in a manner due to which brands and companys can create their presence on them and hence is more brand-friendly compared to other websites which do not have any special features by which brands can create a presence on those websites. Further questions probed into the participants activity on social networking websites with respect to brands and services. The interview was centred around understanding each participants brand related activity on social networking websites along with their motives, objectives, psychology etc. Further questions were built up as per the respondents reply and the nature of their networking experience. The final part of the interview dealt with respondents following brands on social networking websites. Many popular websites such as Facebook and Twitter have tremendous brand presence where users can follow brands and get regular updates on the brand. This is also used as a medium of obtaining feedback from customers on their opinions of the brands products and services which can then undergo modification to suit the customer demands. Interviews with brand managers took place over video conferencing on the internet since managers were from various parts of the world. Interviews with these managers were held after ensuring there are no externalities that might hamper the interview and the manager is not facing any time
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constraint. Initial preliminary information was collected about the manager after which a more detailed discussion ensued. Managers were asked about their brand and its presence on social networking websites. Further questions were related to the brand managers understanding of users on social networking sites and steps the brand takes to effectively manage the brands presence on these platforms. The questions were centred around the brand manager and the general understanding within the company on the brands presence and objectives on the social media space. When the researcher found that additional interviews are giving repetitive information with no value addition, interviews were not conducted anymore.
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Results
The data thus collected from the interviews were transcribed and coded. Preliminary questions were based upon gaining an understanding of what the respondents understood by the term social networking website and why participants visit these websites. For defining the term social networking website, 15 participants have described it to be a form of communication between friends and family. They defined it as a platform where they can connect with old friends and stay in touch with new ones from all over the world. 4 participants have also described it as a method of gaining information about developments from around the world, both personal and impersonal to their friends life. 4 participants described it as a form of entertainment where one can play games and kill time. 3 participants described it as a marketing platform that is fast gaining momentum. 2 participants described it as a way to meet new people and 1 person described it as a means to reach out to the youth. When asked why the participants access these websites, 8 respondents have mentioned that their reason for using these websites was same as above meaning that their understanding and reason for usage is the same. 11 respondents responded with answers different than the previous question. 10 respondents mention that their need to be on social networking websites is to connect and reach out to long lost friends and communicate with friends and family. 3 have defined it as a platform for them to obtain news and information and 1 person mentioned that it is a form of entertainment for them. Hence, for the seventeen respondents, for most of them social networking websites is a way for them to connect with people they have lost contact with and maintain relations and communication with friends and family. Many have also mentioned it to good method to stay in touch with people world over on a regular basis. Gaining information and news comes after communication and connection followed by entertainment. Not many people see it as a form of entertainment where they can play games and kill time. The next question pertaining to frequency of usage, threw up results on users most and least favourite social networking website. Table 1 presents the output for this question. Website Facebook Twitter Orkut Google+ Net Score 84 39 31 29 Mean 4.9 2.3 1.8 1.7 Mode 5 1 1 1
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YouTube Flickr Blog MySpace LinkedIn StumbleUpon Digg Del.ico.us Hi5 Tagged Friendster Others
70 28 36 22 38 19 17 17 23 19 18 21
4.1 1.6 2.1 1.3 1.6 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.2
5 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
(Table 1: Visitor Frequency on various social networking websites) Facebook was the most frequently visited social networking sites by the respondents. 16 out of 17 respondents have rated Facebook as 5 on the scale of frequency of usage. YouTube comes a close second behind Facebook as the second most visited social networking website followed in third place by Twitter. These findings were only partly compliant with other research results. According to SEOmoz (2009) Facebook is the most popular social networking website for marketers to reach out to their target audiences followed by Twitter. When respondents were asked about their experiences about giving a feedback about any brand, company, product or service on any social networking website, 8 responded positive, 8 responded negative and 1 person said that they might have and cant be too sure. As interviews progressed, it was noticed that respondents understanding of feedback or opinion on social networking website were not clear, with many giving incorrect or irrelevant answers. With continued explanation and probing results were a bit different. Respondents were asked if they had criticised or praised any brand in the past and replies were different than their previous answers for the feedback question. 5 respondents did not require further probing due to the nature of their answer to the previous question. 6 respondents replied that they have never said anything about any brand on any social networking website ever, 4 replied that they have after saying no for the question where they were asked if they had posted their feedback about brands on social networking websites. 2 respondents were not sure and said that they might have done it sometime in the past. This part of the interview was related to deeper questioning dependant on the respondents previous answers. If they have replied positive towards posting any brand related content on any
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social networking website, the exact situation (which brand, which website) was asked along with the reasoning behind it. Respondents were asked what they thought the outcome of such a post would be and what they wished to achieve with that post. If respondents replied negative for posting any brand related content on social networking websites, they were questioned deeper on why they would not want to post any such content on any such social networking website. For respondents that replied positive for posting brand related content on social networking website, 6 respondents attributed the reason behind doing so was to tell people on their social network about their experience with that particular product or service and if they should try it or not. These respondents wanted to influence the purchase decision of people on their network so that they dont make the same mistakes as them or have a good experience where the respondent has enjoyed too. 2 respondents have mentioned that the reason for posting such content is simply to speak their minds out at the moment and there was no particular objective that they thought their post would achieve. 1 respondent has said that when it comes to charity and non-profit organisations they would want to create awareness and spread the word as far as possible. 1 respondent also claimed that due to closer connectivity, it easy for them to tell people about their thoughts about the product compared to word-of-mouth media. 1 respondent has said that a companys presence on a social networking site is an additional method to voice complaints and get rectification from the company and hence that respondent uses social networking sites for this reason. For respondents who replied negative to having posted brand related content on social networking websites, 4 respondents were of the opinion that their experiences with a certain product or service did not matter to people around them and those people would purchase what they think is best no matter what experience other people had. 2 respondents claimed they didnt have the time or did not think it was worth the effort to post such content online. 2 respondents said that if someone asked for an opinion they would give but would not actively go and post messages to all their friends. 1 respondent said that they would prefer keeping their opinion to themselves and did not see it necessary to inform other of their experience. 1 respondent mentioned that they have never posted any brand content in the past but would not mind doing so in the future when the appropriate situation arises. 1 respondent felt it was irrelevant to post such content on the internet and did not feel the need to give it so much importance. 1 respondent had no particular reason for not posting such content and 1 respondent mentioned that they prefer using offline media and did not feel comfortable telling everyone in their network about their experience.
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For the final question set of the interview, respondents were asked if they were aware of what Facebook Pages are and if they are aware about brands being present on social networking websites. All of the 17 respondents replied positive to them knowing what Facebook Pages is and that brands are available on social networking websites to follow and to gain regular updates. When asked if the respondents follow any such brands, 14 respondents replied positive to them following brands, companies, TV shows or celebrities on various social networking websites. 3 respondents replied that they dont follow any commercial organisations or celebrities on social networking websites in spite of being aware of their presence. However, of all the respondents that replied positive to following some particular brand or company, each had their own varying usage of this feature. All of the 14 respondents responded saying that they follow these brands to gain the latest information about their happenings, information, new products and offers. All of the respondents replied negative when asked if they have or would want to communicate with the company via their online social media presence. All the respondents unanimously mentioned that they simply want news and information from the company and are not interested in giving anything back to them.
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Analysis
In order to analyse and review the data set and the findings, a thematic analysis approach was used. Thematic analysis, according to Boyatzis (1998) is a method of encoding qualitative information by identifying themes. A theme, as defined by Boyatzis is a patter found in the information that at minimum describes and organises the possible observations and at maximum interprets aspects of the phenomenon (p. 4). According to Boyatzis (1998) a theme can be derived from any one of the following three methods, (a) theory driven, (b) prior data or (c) inductive. For this research method the inductive or data driven technique has been utilised. This technique entails using the raw data or information to draw out themes (Boyatzis, 1998). Data which is similar or common to other questions are grouped together to form one theme. Thus the themes identified through the data set thus obtained are: Understanding and usage: This data gives us information of consumers understanding of social networking websites and usage. It may so happen that people might perceive social networking websites to be different than what they actually use it to be and vice versa. This theme also gives us information on users usage of social networking websites. General user understanding for the term social networking website has been a platform for communicating to people from all over. Those people can be friends or family, old long lost ones and new ones they just met yesterday. Social networking websites were built around the purpose of bringing the world together into a smaller place and making connectivity and communication faster and easier (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Hence it is no surprise that users look at social networking websites as a tool to communicate and keep in touch with people. With connectivity comes information dissemination and hence a lot of users have attributed news and information to be one of the reasons why they would want to visit social networking websites. When one gets connected to people from world over, latest news and developments spread rapidly and quickly and hence becomes the most convenient and easiest form of gaining knowledge of current events. Social networking websites are also seen as a popular form of entertainment and killing time. Facebook, the worlds most popular social networking website had released data indicating that their largest gaming application, Farmville had more users alone than its largest rival, Twitter (Mashable, 2009). Twitter, on the other hand is focussed towards providing only communication
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services and not offering anything beyond that. This leads to the question whether Facebook is more popular because of its entertainment features as can be seen by the Farmville statistics? The data set has clearly shown that communication is still the prime reason why users visit these websites in spite of so many new additional features and options offered to users. Twitter is a standing example that no additional services are needed and peoples sole concern on any social networking website is to communicate with peers. Frequency usage statistics has also revealed that Facebook tops the charts for frequency of usage followed by YouTube. These findings contradict SEOMoz (2009) which suggests that Facebook is the most popular social networking website followed by Twitter and not YouTube unlike this research. Yet, it must be kept in mind that results of this research are only suggestive and not decisive in arriving to this conclusion. Respondents in this research came from similar ethical, cultural and educational background and hence these findings might only pertain to this class of people. Brand content: This theme pertains to users posting brand related content on social networking websites. Some users would like to spread the word about their purchase experiences and others would not. Some have a reason to do and some dont. Most of the respondents showed that they were unsure if they had ever posted any brand related content on any social networking website. After extensive probing and explanations, most of the respondents either replied positive or said that they might have had posted such content in the past. With extensive communication occurring between users on a single website, brand related communication is bound to happen amongst users. With close networks and easy communication, extremely negative or positive brand messages fast gain attention and can rapidly become viral (Leskovec et. al., 2008). Heavily viral conversations can positively or negatively affect the brands online reputation which can subsequently have an adverse effect on sales (Ha, 2004). Disgruntled consumers were found to have posted brand related content on the internet majorly to let people on their network know of their experience. This holds true even for positive brand experiences. Informing and creating awareness according to the respondents would let people around them know which products to be avoided and which not. This has emerged as the leading reason for posting brand related content on social networking websites amongst the participants. One of the major aims of creating brand confidence and brand trust is to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and thereby increasing business performance and efficiency. If a brands trust is lost on social networking websites where content can become quickly viral, it can have adverse
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effects on not only sales but also the companys overall brand image and confidence. Hence a brands close monitoring on social networking sites is a much required necessity which is displayed by the high number of respondents asserting that creating awareness amongst their social network is one of the prime reasons for writing about their purchases online. Respondents that replied negative to posting brand related content on the internet responded that the reason they do not wish to do so was majorly because they felt their opinion would not have any effect on anyone. Facebook currently boasts of having over 750 million users on its social networking website which, if it were a country, would make it the third largest country in the world behind China and India (Facebook, 2011). With the massive user base and population, user newsfeeds are usually subject to cluttering with extra information. This makes users posts and conversations prone to being missed or skipped due to the information overload that users might experience. This overload might lead to respondents developing an opinion that their thoughts and opinions dont really matter and people may not be interested in them. One respondent who was asked why they think their opinion would not matter to others has said that there have been times where people never responded back to the respondents content on a particular social networking website which gave the respondent the perception that people are not interested in knowing about their purchase experience. This experience might not be conclusive but indicative of why consumers would not want to willingly come forward and post messages about their purchase experience. Brand news and information: Apart from simply posting information about purchase experiences, the social media space also provides the facility for users to gain information and news updates from their favourite brands. Some users may actively indulge in it while others may prefer to stay away from it. With the high amounts of user traffic and communication occurring on one single website, brands were attracted to be a part of Facebook to advertise to this mass audience and to control their brand reputation on social networking websites. This slowly and steadily led to brands themselves creating profiles on social networking websites and monitoring conversations and authenticating information. Although all respondents were aware that they could gain brand related information on various social networking sites, not all respondents indulged in it. The ones who did not follow any brands on any social networking website have attributed it due to various reasons. The respondents have claimed that they are not brand conscious and are not inclined towards receiving brand related messages on a regular basis. For them, social networking websites is personal and should remain personal by not getting cluttered with promotional messages from brands. Other respondents have called brand messages as garbage and do not want such messages to clutter their news feed.
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Respondents that have replied positive for following brands actively on social networking websites have attributed this to gaining the latest updates and news information about the brand. Unlike brand managers strategy, all of the respondents replied negative to commenting or communicating back with the brand and followed these brands only to gain information from them and did not wish to give any back. Although brands do want their followers to actively communicate and respond to their messages and communication attempts, all of the 17 respondents replied that they would not want to do any such thing and simply extracting the available information is their sole objective of following these brands. Celebrities and television series were seen as the most popular brands that the respondents were following. The news and information that the respondents were receiving was perceived to be more interesting than regular brand content. Within brand content, users were interested in knowing about sales and offers. Respondents have mostly responded by saying that they follow these brands to gain the latest information on sales, discounts and deals that the company is offering.
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Recommendations
Recommendation source: Appendix 2.2 Interview with brand managers When we observe the first theme of the research, it can be seen that respondents need for being on social networking websites is to socialise. Unlike brand managers who want to develop the social media space as a new form of customer service communication, users are still using and visualising this platform as a means to communicate with family and friends and not brands and companies. Brands are attempting to create the space for a platform for wholesome communication whereas users are still focused on socialising with people and not with brands. In light of this information, it is recommended that brands focus on the right communication strategy with their target audience and create communication that would motivate user replies and feedback. Simple brand focussed messages would not garner any comments from users and in order to get into the communication loop the communication content needs to be on the same level and thinking of the target audience. This can be achieved by closely examining the demographics of the followers along with the targeted demographics. If there is a variation in the targeted and the actual followers, there can be two visible possibilities behind it. Either the brand image is not appealing to the actual followers or the social media communication strategy is flawed. If it is the former, brand managers need to rethink their overall strategy and try to correctly reach out to their targeted audience. If it is the latter, the social media communication style and language need to be altered so as to correctly reach out to the audience the brand is targeted to. Social networking website demographics can become a helpful and efficient tool to inform brand managers of their target audiences details. People who may not be willing to reveal their true personal details in manual surveys, may be less apprehensive on social networking websites to reveal data such as likes, dislikes, true age etc. This makes the demographics data on social networking websites more authentic and more detailed. This way brands can actually find out exactly what kind of people with what form of likes and dislikes are communicating with the brand. If the majority of users have an interest in a particular form of music, future products and services offered by the brand can be designed in the manner to be more appealing to these people who comprise the majority of the brands usage. This not only improves brand loyalty but can also improve interactions and brand image within this segment of people. The study collected data primarily from British university post-graduate students from South Asian descent, although there were respondents from other ethical backgrounds and age groups. Due to
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the common background of respondents, this study may be biased towards people of similar upbringing. The fact that these students have placed YouTube as the second most popular social networking website after Facebook is contrary to general statistics which has placed Twitter as the worlds second most popular social networking website. This finding reveals and important piece of data that social networking website usage is heavily dependent on the prevailing popularity within friend circles and age groups. Any brand wishing to target this set of users who is actively using Twitter to try and reach out to it target audience is probably doing a big mistake because its target audience is not frequent and active on Twitter and hence the brand strategy has failed overall. Brands need to have a clear understanding of its target audience and learning about the social networking websites that are popular for its targeted segment. Being on a social networking website which is not popular for the companies target audience would be a waste of time and effort and at the same time reaching out to an audience that the company is not trying to sell to. Apart from wasted resources, the brand would be connecting to the wrong set of customers which might bring down the brand image and at the same time losing confidence in the actual target set since the company is unable to reach out to them. The second theme of the research which focuses on brand content relates to finding out if people post brand related messages or not and why. Most respondents have responded positive to having posted brand related content sometime in the past but it was observed that this has come only after extensive probing and questioning by the researcher after which many respondents have said that they might have done so some time in the past. Respondents were not entirely confident of their recollection of posting brand related content and may not have indulged in it actively. Out of those respondents who have been posting brand related content regularly have been doing so to create awareness amongst friends and family about their brand experiences. A positive feedback given on a social networking website is much appreciated by brand managers where as negative feedback is something they are afraid of. Many consumers are sceptical about posting brand related content on social networking websites with many being of the opinion that their messages does not matter either to the brand or people around them. Brands need to motivate people more to put up positive feedback about their company and at the same time building confidence amongst users that there are people listening and reading their content. This does have a flipside that users might also post negative comments and hence brands need to be careful to devise an intelligent strategy where only the positive ones get posted and become viral on social networking sites with the negative messages not receiving too much attention. That said, the negative messages cannot be left by themselves and not get brand
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attention. Brands need to attend to all kinds of messages posted by users regarding their product but the positive ones need to be spread on made viral whereas the negative messages need to isolated from the rest of the audience. The user expressing an unhappy experience needs to be resolved and turned into a consumer who would now speak positive about the brand. The company needs to attend to the consumers problem and ensure that further negative information spreading does not occur via this user by actively resolving the users issue. By doing this the company too realises the flaws that its products and services are holding and may use this information to rectify its own product and improve customer loyalty and relations. A resolved customer would might also be delighted with the service received and may now speak highly of the brand with whom they were speaking negative just yesterday. Hence motivating consumers to come forward and post any thoughts they have about the brand is vital for the company to progress. However these messages to need to get the focus of the company and the people around them so that the user posting it may now feel that the brand is indeed listening. The feedback may be good or bad and each needs to be resolved in its own specific manner. The third and final theme of this research deals with information and news that brands send out on social networking websites. Brands are faced with false and malicious information spreading around such websites which might harm and damage the company. People gain false hopes and impressions from the brand. In order to curb such incorrect information, brands have found it necessary to be present on social networking websites and posting information themselves rather than risking incorrect user generated content doing the rounds of the website. Users can receive updates from these brands if they like and this leads to online brand communities (Muniz and OGuinn, 2001). Respondents for this research have unanimously replied that they are aware of brands being present on social networking websites and a majority of them have stated that they do follow some brands. However, respondents have said that the sole reason they follow these brands is because they have ease of information access and can know about multiple brands on one platform. However, the respondents are not in favour of giving their opinions about the brands messages back to the brand themselves and are only concerned with extracting information and not giving anything back. Respondents who do not follow brands on social networking websites have claimed to do so primarily because they are not brand conscious or fond of any specific company and its products or services. They dont want to see brand related content and offers clutter their newsfeed and want to keep it as personal as possible. For such reasons, if a brand realises that its messages are being classified as garbage or unnecessary news and information, a modification of its content would be
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needed where people would feel more connected or entertained by the messages. It should not feel like unwanted promotional messages filling their newsfeed but informative, helpful and friendly messages that they would not mind receiving and reading on a regular basis. Brands need to identify social networking websites that their target audience is actively present on and needs to give out information on those platforms. On selected websites, their content would be valued and they might get good user feedback. If brands desire heavy user feedback for their message postings, the messages need to be made more interactive and appealing to the users. Bland and one-way marketing messages might not possibly motivate users to reply to brands and start healthy discussions.
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Conclusion
Social media is a space where brands and consumers alike have tremendous opportunity to communicate and exchange. Brands can exploit this space for their benefit and generate valuable consumer interaction which can be effectively harnessed towards low cost and accurate market research information. Being on this space can do equal harm as good to a company. In which direction a companys social media strategy would swing will be dependent on the way it manages its presence on social networking websites. Incorrect or poor management of social media space can lead to heavy negative brand reputation which can spiral out of control and have devastating effects for a brands reputation. Consumers are having more and more faith in recommendations from users and friends and less in brand communication messages and claims. Hence brands need to ensure a negative viral message does not harm the brand reputation. Blocking or avoiding negative accusations on the internet can be even more harmful. Converting a negative into a positive can generate goodwill and can work in the brands favour in the long run. Brand strategist need to understand the potential of their product or service on the social media arena and learn to harvest it. Timing and good strategy is essential if a company wants to succeed and use the space in the most effective manner. Hence brand managers need to learn this potential and understand how to manage brand strategy with this target in mind. Providing suitable funds and other resources along with an investment of time can yield many positive results. It is all about harnessing this space properly and effectively which is fitting to the brands strategy and objective. If a brand wishes to generate sales it must adapt a certain strategy which is more fitting towards these targets compared to a brand that wishes to create positive brand identity. Hence, social media is an effective, efficient and low cost public communication platform that companies can use to create positive brand awareness, identity and valuable public communication.
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Appendix
1.1 Interview questionnaire for users
PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Date of Birth:
Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? Q4. Out of the following list of social networking websites, please rate your frequency of usage from 1-5, 1 being do not use and 5 being highly frequent. 1. Facebook 2. Twitter 3. Orkut 4. Google + 5. YouTube 6. Flickr 7. Blog (Blogspot, Wordpress etc.) 8. My Space 9. LinkedIn 10. StumbleUpon 11. Digg 12. Del.icio.us 13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Others
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Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? Q6. Have you ever praised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? Q7. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? Q8. Can you elaborate on the exact nature of the instance? [Question to be asked if respondent replies YES to Q5-Q7] Q9. What objective did you wish to achieve by posting your thoughts about a brand on the internet? [Question to be asked if respondent replies YES to any question in Q5-Q7] Q10. Why would you not want to post your thoughts about a brand on the internet? [Question to be asked if respondent replies NO to any question in Q5-Q7] Q11. Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages? Q12. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? Q13. Why do you do so? Q14. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? Q15. Why not? [If reply to Q14 is NO] Q16. What is the nature of these conversations? [If reply to Q14 is YES]
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2.1 Transcribed interview recordings of users
PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Gaurav Sharma Date of Birth: 15th August, 1988
Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes I am aware of what social networking websites are
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. My understanding of these websites is to connect to people, chatting with friends, getting close to people from around the world. You can chat with people, be together, and meet old friends and families.
Q3. Do you use any social networking websites? A2. Yes I do
Q4. Out of the following list of social networking websites, please rate your frequency of usage from 1-5, 1 being do not use and 5 being highly frequent. 1. Facebook 2. Twitter 3. Orkut 4. Google + 5. YouTube 6. Flickr 7. Blog (Blogspot, Wordpress etc.) 8. My Space 5 2 1 1 3 1 1 1
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9. LinkedIn 10. StumbleUpon 11. Digg 12. Del.icio.us 13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Others
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 None
Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. No
Q6. Have you ever praised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website? and/or internet website? A6. No
Q7. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A7. Might have
Q8. Why would you not want to post your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A8. I dont feel like, I think it doesnt make a difference to anyone about what my experience was.
Q9. Why do you think your experience to other people may not count?
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A9. I do remember posting such content some back but there were no responses from my friends and I thought that maybe they are not interested in knowing what my experience was
Q10. Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages? A10. Yes, I am aware.
Q10. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? A10. Yes but not actively, dont read any updates.
Q11. Why do you do so? A11. I feel associated with the brand but I dont want to know on a daily basis on what they are doing and not doing.
Q12. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A12. No, I dont
Q13. Why not? A13. I usually dont read their updates so the question of communicating with them doesnt really arise
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Vandit Agarwal Date of Birth: 29th July, 1989
Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes
Q2. What is your understanding of such a website? It keeps people connected like people away from home away from your city or away from your country.
Q3. Do you use any social networking websites? A3. Yes
Q4. Out of the following list of social networking websites, please rate your frequency of usage from 1-5, 1 being do not use and 5 being highly frequent. 1. Facebook 2. Twitter 3. Orkut 4. Google+ 5. Youtube 6. Flickr 7. Blogs 8. MySpace 9. LinkedIn 5 1 2 2 4 1 1 1 1
10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 1 1
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13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other
2 1 1 None
Q6. Have you ever praised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A6. Might have spoken somewhere, sometime.
Q7. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A7. No
Q8. Why would you not want to post your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A8. If someone asks me I will tell them but otherwise I dont actively post anything. Dont have the time and I dont see it making any sense.
Q9. Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages? A9. Yes I am aware of such a thing.
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Q10. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? A10. No, I dont follow any brands or companies.
Q11. Why not? A11. It clutters my newsfeed and besides I dont know want to know what any brand is doing.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Tanvi Kamdar Date of Birth: 25th June, 1988
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. Nice way to grab the youths attention. Not just youths but everyones attention and is also a very good marketing tool. It is a good medium to connect to people too.
Q3. Do you use any social networking websites? A3. Yes I am on Facebook
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1 1 1 none
Q6. Have you ever praised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A6. Yes I do put my views about some service or product depending upon my experience if it is a good one or a bad one.
Q7. Can you elaborate on the exact nature of the instance? A7. No cannot recall anything as of now
Q8. What objective did you wish to achieve by posting your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A8. To know what others are thinking about it and to let other people know what I am thinking about it and if I like something i want my friends to see it and why I like it and if they want to go for it. If I dont like it I dont want them to use it.
Q9 Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages? A9. Yea
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Q10. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? A10. Yes
Q11. Why do you do so? A11. To learn about sales, offers, getting information
Q12. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A12. No
Q13. Why not? A13. Its far too much effort and why give the brand so much importance?
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Nikita Tiwari Date of Birth: 14th August, 1986
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. More of fun and a way to pass time and also to gain information.
Q3. Do you use any social networking websites? A3. To stay in touch with friends you have lost touch with a long time ago.
10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 13. Hi5 1 1 1
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14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other
1 1 none
Q6. Have you ever praised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A5. No never done it
Q7. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A7. No, dont think so either
Q8. Why would you not want to post your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A8. Doesnt matter to companies or to friends what i think, everyone does what they think is best for them
Q9. Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages? A9. Yes
Q10. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website?
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A10. Yes I do
Q11. Why do you do so? A11. Giving a lot of updates about the stuff they have. I follow a lot of clothing brands so I get updates on sales and offers of what is in and what not.
Q12. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A12. No its only about taking information and not giving.
Q13. Why not? A13. Just, I dont feel like commenting back, it doesnt really matter to them.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Hiten Udhwani Date of Birth: 8th February, 1990
Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes Im aware of such websites
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. Its a social utility program where it encourages you to meet new people and make friends
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. Just to keep in touch with friends from all over the world. After a while you have no source of communication between them and hence these websites offer a good media of communication
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1 1 1 ibibo (1)
Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. Facebook about the Mac Book Pro, telling a friend my review because he wanted to buy one. It wasnt a general one but a specific one according to his usage and if he should purchase it or not.
Q6. Have you ever praised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A6. Yes, brand being an apple.
Q7. Can you elaborate on the exact nature of the instance? A7. When I first purchased the Mac Book Pro I also bought the iTouch at the same time. What I was really fascinated about was that i could control my laptop through my iTouch which is known as an iRemote. I dont have to go to my computer to play a movie, click play it plays click fast forward it fast forwards. Its like a wireless remote control for my laptop and you control the resolution and the camera, doesnt lag or hang.
Q8. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A8. Criticised it because its probably not the best thing I bought. It was a camera, either a canon or a Casio cant remember. It was hardly a 4MP camera but it was sleek and had a very small display and thats why I didnt like it. It had good effects but I didnt like the screen size.
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Q9. Did you post this on Facebook? A9. No on hi5, once upon a time when I was in Canada.
Q10. What objective did you wish to achieve by posting your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A10. I didnt want everyone else to make the same mistake that I made and hence I tried to make them avoid making bad purchases in the first place. With Apple I was encouraging people to buy apple as compared to windows or Vaio although they might be cheaper but its a better thing to use and cheaper in the long run.
Q11. Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages? A11. Yeah, like groups and stuff.
Q12. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? A12. When it comes to communities I follow TV series like How I Met Your Mother, True Blood, Entourage etc. I follow them to find out if any new episodes have come out.
Q13. Why do you do so? A13. To find out when the new episode releases.
Q14. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A14. Personally, no, no one is interested in my feedback. Its just for me.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Siddharth Shah Date of Birth: 4th September, 1987
Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes, definitely.
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. A place where you can communicate with a lot of people
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. For the same reason, to communicate
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1 1 none
Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. None
Q6. Have you ever praised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A6. None
Q7. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A7. Nope
Q8. Why would you not want to post your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A8. I dont believe my opinion on any of these websites would make a very big difference
Q9. Tomorrow if you experience a product and your experience is bad, dont you want to inform other people of your poor experience and tell them not to buy it? A9. I might, but then again its my personal opinion and if I have had a bad experience somebody else might have a good one. So might as well not post it.
Q10. What about telling the brand that your product is not good so please change it?
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A10. No I dont believe in that. I believe that these companies keep developing their own product. They already know everything you dont need to tell them what to do or what not. They keep looking for competition they see something happening they will go ahead and try to better their product. So my opinion to them might not matter.
Q11. Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages? A11. Yes I am aware
Q12. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? A12. No, not really
Q13. Why not? A13. Social networks are supposed to be personal, not filled with brand related garbage.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Shilpa Dash Date of Birth: 25th February, 1991
Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yeah
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. Basically I see it as a good medium to connect with people with whom you cannot connect through the telephone or meet. It has also developed as a good platform for marketing because a lot of events and discussions are being started on Facebook.
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. So that I can connect with people who are not close to me or staying close to me or who are in faraway places so that I can connect with them easily.
10. StumbleUpon 3
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11. Digg 12. Delicious 13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other
1 1 1 1 1 none
Q6. Have you ever praised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A6. No
Q7. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A7. Dont think so, no.
Q8. Why would you not want to post your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A8. Why give it so much importance.
Q9. Shouldnt you tell people not to go somewhere or buy a certain product because its bad? A9. If someone asks me I might tell them what I think about it but I would not actively go and write about it.
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Q11. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? A11. Yes
Q12. Why do you do so? A12. Twitter I follow celebs because they post interesting stuff. On Facebook I do follow some brands because they post a lot of information on the happenings within the company and new launches, sales etc. so if you like a brand you can remain informed about it by following them on Facebook.
Q13. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A13. No, just read what they put up.
Q14. Why not? A14. Just, I dont think it makes any difference. I rather keep my opinions to myself
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Sanchi Tibrewala Date of Birth: 22nd May, 1990
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. Its a place where you go online, meet friends, meet new people, chat, play games etc.
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. To catch up with people whom I have lost touch with and to know what is happening with my friends and their daily lives without actually having to meet them.
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3 1 2 none
Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. Yes
Q6. Can you elaborate on the exact nature of the instance? A6. Upon clothes on Facebook, I dont remember entirely.
Q7. Was it positive or negative? A7. I think positive.
Q8. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A9. No, I guess not.
Q9. In future if you ever encounter a bad experience would you want to give your feedback on any website? A9. Not particularly
Q10. Why would you not want to post your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A10. I am not sure, there is no reason.
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Q11. Wouldnt you want others to know that you had a bad experience and make sure that they dont have something similar? A11. Yes but that usually happens through some other medium, maybe offline.
Q12. Why not online? A12. I dont want to post it online if I have an issue I will go to the store and rectify it I wouldnt want to post it online.
Q13. . Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages? A13. Yes
Q14. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? A14. Yes but I probably check on them very rarely
Q15. Why do you do so? A15. To know about the latest trends and to know what is in and what is not in.
Q16. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A16. It is more about taking information and not too much about giving back.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Mala Tibrewala Date of Birth: 9th May, 1967
Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yeah
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. Be able to catch up with all the conversation with friends and to know about the latest of what is happening worldwide. It has made the world a small place.
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. For probably the same reasons
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Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. Might have done
Q6. Have you ever praised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A6. I might not have given it on the internet but verbally offline.
Q7. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A7. Could have, dont really remember
Q8. Why not on the internet? A8. It is too much to type and communicate.
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A10. No
Q11. Why not? A11. Im not too much into brands
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Dalia Nassar Date of Birth: 20th July, 1988
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. Nowadays it is a tool for a good communication system. If you dont have a proper use of it, it can be time consuming for no use otherwise it can be very useful to connect with old friends. Just last week i met a friend with whom i have lost touch long ago
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. To keep my social network and to keep contact with everyone around the world. To learn about new things and interesting news
10. StumbleUpon 1
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11. Digg 12. Delicious 13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other
1 1 1 1 1 none
Q6. Have you ever praised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A6. No
Q7. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A7. No
Q8. Why would you not want to post your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A8. I prefer keeping it to myself
Q9. Dont you want to tell your friends about your experiences? A9. No not online
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Q10. Why not online? A10. Cause I dont want everyone to know about it
Q11. Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages? A11. Yes I do follow some celebrities.
Q12. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? A12. Some newspapers perhaps
Q13. Why do you do so? A13. To keep updates and because I like them. To stay updated about what is happening around the world.
Q14. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A14. No I just get info from them.
Q15. Why not? A15. Not sure, I just dont feel like replying to them.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Mohit Gupta Date of Birth: 4th November, 1988
Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes, definitely
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. A good way to stay in touch with friends and maintain contact with people.
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. For the same reason and to share information I would want to share with friends
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1 1 none
Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. Yes, I have
Q6. Can you elaborate on the exact nature of the instance? A6. Whenever I try something new if I liked it a lot I might spoken about it.
Q7. Have you ever criticised any product/service/brand/company on any social networking website and/or internet website? A7. Dont think so, no. If something very bad then I might have else not.
Q8. Why would you not want to post your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A8. If its something negative then its probably just to vent out anger. For charities ii try to create awareness and tell my friends about it.
Q9. Is it also about telling your friends not to buy a certain product? A9. No
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Q11. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? A11. Yes TV shows, not sure about companies
Q12. Why do you do so? A12. They keep me informed on what they are doing and what is new
Q13. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A13. Only taking information, I dont give back
Q14. Why not? A14. I dont think the brand wants to speak to me.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Harsha Rupani Date of Birth: 2nd February, 1988
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. As a general understanding its a viral form of media which is fast spreading. A good platform to exchange information right from something basic to something more advanced.
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. I access it to get in touch with people around me and a nice platform to interact with everyone around me.
10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 1
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12. Delicious 13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other
1 2 1 1 foursquare (3)
Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. Yes on twitter. It was mainly during the IPl
Q6. Can you elaborate on the exact nature of the instance? A6. The IPL is all about the ticketing and with the entire craze that is going on. We had booked tickets online and we complained online to the authorities about our problem with the ticket.
Q7. What objective did you wish to achieve by posting your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A7. All my journalist friends are on twitter. It was the only informal way I could talk to them.
Q8. So you want to create awareness about your problem? A8. Yes cause most of my target people are on twitter.
Q9. Do you want to tell people about your bad experiences and hence dont do it this way? A9. Yes and general awareness.
Q10. Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages?
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A10. Yes like Blackberry and Apple.
Q13. Why do you do so? A13. It is easier to gain info rather than opening the newspaper and gain info. It is frequently updated and more convenient.
Q14. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A14. No I dont, I only like to read what they send out
Q15. If a brand posts a new product, would you want to tell them you like/didnt like it? A15. No
Q15. Why not? A15. Twitter is simply a tool I use to communicate to people. I have no particular reason, never given it a thought.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Salma Shahtit Date of Birth: 29th October, 1989
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. One that connects people from all over the world together
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. To connect to old friends, family and for entertainment.
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Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. On twitter.
Q6. Can you elaborate on the exact nature of the instance? A6. Back in Jordan I had once purchased a product from a telecommunication company with which I was facing some problems. I kept telling them on twitter that I was facing a problem which they were not fixing.
Q7. What objective did you wish to achieve by posting your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A7. To let the company know that I have been trying to contact them and nobody is responding to my problem and to let others know their product is not good and sharing my experience.
Q8. Do you think companies would improve if a lot of people would start spreading the word like this? A8. Yes
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A10. Yes
Q11. Why do you do so? A11. Some of my friends ask me because they promote them and others because Im interested in their products.
Q12. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A12. Only take rarely given back.
Q13. What if a company launches a new product and you dont like it would you want to tell them? A13. Maybe I will tweet but not directly tell them.
Q14. Why not? A14. Only if I am extremely loyal and care about the product a lot I would else I wont.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Guillaume Avranche Date of Birth: 9th November, 1988
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. A social network is a mean to interact with other people in a fast way and to meet new people.
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. It is very easy to chat and convenient to get info from others
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1 1 Dailymotion (3)
Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. Yes
Q6. Can you elaborate on the exact nature of the instance? A6. My thoughts about the situation like my interview with a company
Q7. Have you ever bought a product and liked/not liked it and went on Facebook and gave your opinion about it? A7. No I dont think so, apart from Zara.
Q8. Was it good or bad? A8. Zara is amazing, good of course
Q9. What was it about? A9. I dont remember but Im sure I did it once
Q10. What objective did you wish to achieve by posting your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A10. Just because I felt like I wanted to say it because I was amazed.
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Q11. Did you want to create awareness with your friends about Zara or were you just speaking your mind out? A11. A bit of both maybe, a bit of second more than the first.
Q13. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website? A13. Maybe new movies, Zara and all fashion brands and magazine
Q14. Why do you do so? A14. Because I just want to get informed of what is happening and what is new etc.
Q15. So you follow Zara, if Zara launches a new shirt, which you did not like, would you give your opinion on the shirt? A15. No I wouldnt. Im commenting when Im in the store not online
Q15. So you wont give your opinion? A15. No, if I like it I would keep it to myself
Q16. Would you want to complain to a brand on social networks? Q16. I think I would first want to call them directly rather going online and posting about it
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Sharjeel Farooq Date of Birth: 28th May, 1988
Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes I am
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. Social networking websites is a place where your friends family and relatives can be together and they can share their views, photographs, comments etc.
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. I use it for those relatives and those people that are there if they are not going to be there i have no point being present on those websites.
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1 1 3 1 none
Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. Yes on Facebook I might have given it randomly. On Facebook I had once filled a survey where they said that if I fill some forms I can win an iPhone and I gave it, twice.
Q6. If you buy a product and not liked it, would you come on Facebook and give your thoughts about it? A6. Oh, yes I might have done it multiple times. Restaurants, many times I have gone and given my opinion. Many brands claim they are on sale but are actually not.
Q7. Are they mostly positive or negative? A7. Most are positive because that is what people like to write about.
Q8. What objective did you wish to achieve by posting your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A8. Its about sharing it, and telling people that you had a good time so why not share it?
Q9. Is it about creating awareness amongst people or simply speaking your mind out? A9. Its about showing people how much Im enjoying
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Q10. So its not about telling people that I had a good or bad experience and hence you should try or not try this product? A10. No I want other people to try it out and say no rather than me telling not to try something which they might enjoy. But I will like to tell them what my experience was but not tell them not to try it because of that.
Q11. Are you aware of brands being present on social networking websites such as on Facebook Pages? A11. Yes I am
Q12. Do you follow any brands or products on Facebook? A12. Celebrities, yes, mostly Pakistani journalists and politicians.
Q13. What about any brands? A13. Yes some brands like Burberry and House of Fraser
Q14. Why do you do so? A14. To stay updated about new products or sales.
Q15. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A15. Im too lazy to give back its all about taking.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Saad Aamir Date of Birth: 5th February, 1989
Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes.
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. Its a place where people can network together and meet new people. You can network with a variety of people and share information.
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. Yes pretty much that is also why i use these websites, to connect to friends, colleagues and family.
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1 1 1 2 none
Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. Yes I probably have.
Q6. Can you elaborate on the exact nature of the instance? A6. When I had once gone to a restaurant, it was a new one I had gone with my friends and we had a good experience so I posted it on Facebook.
Q7.What objective did you wish to achieve by posting your thoughts about a brand on the internet? A7. I think basically its because through these sites I can tell a lot more people about my experiences and if I enjoyed something I want others to experience it for themselves too.
Q8. Is it all about speaking your mind out or also about creating awareness? A8. I think more about letting them know about my experiences and hence you should either try or not try it out.
Q9. Do you follow any brands on Facebook? A9. Some celebrities but no products.
Q10. Why do you do so?
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A10. I just find some of their things interesting.
Q11. Some people simply want to show that I follow them but some are genuinely interested in them, where do you stand? A11. I guess a bit of both but more on getting news.
Q12. Do you give back? A12. No cause they wont care.
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PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Sweta Thakker Date of Birth: 9th April, 1988
Q2. What is your understanding of social networking websites? A2. A place where people can communicate and stay in touch. Connect with people you have lost touch with along with that being a form on entertainment.
Q3. Why do you use any social networking websites? A3. To keep in touch with people you have lost contact with it and communicate with friends.
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1 1 1 none
Q5. Have you posted any feedback of any product/service/brand/company on any social networking Website and/or internet website? A5. Not on any of these
Q6. For example if you buy a new phone or go to a restaurant and you liked or did not like the experience, would you post your opinion on the internet? A6. I had bought a new Sony phone so I liked the page and that was probably the only interaction I had with the brand. It was a way to get info and latest updates about the phone.
Q7. Thank you, but my question was slightly different. If for example your experience was bad would you go to any of these sites and tell friends not to buy it? A7. Yes I would do that but I havent done it yet.
Q8. Have you ever posted such content in the past on any of these websites on any brands? A8. No cant recollect
Q9. You had mentioned that you wont mind posting your opinion although you havent, why would you do that? A9. Because now everybody is on the internet and its easy to spread the word around.
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Q10. So if your criticising a brand on Facebook, are you speaking your mind out, do you want to create an awareness with your friends or are you trying to downgrade the companys image? A10. Speak my mind out
Q11. Are you also trying to indicate to your friends that you have had a good/bad experience and hence they should try/not try a product? A11. Yes
Q12. Like Sony, do you follow any other brands on any of these websites? A12. Yes there are couple of TV shows and some celebrities that I follow.
Q13. Why do you do so? A13. To stay in touch with latest updates, if I missed out an episode on a TV show I can catch up with reruns.
Q14. Do you also communicate with the brand on a social networking website by giving them your opinion on a particular product or service or having general discussions? A14. No, wont make a difference. Random people add you and privacy is hurt.
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2.2 Interview transcriptions of brand managers
PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Sanjay Mehta Designation: Joint CEO Organisation/Company: Social Wavelength Pvt. Ltd.
Q1. What are brands doing on social networking websites, why are they there to begin with? A1. Every brand has its own reasons, the most common one coming from the marketing side. Traditional ways of reaching their consumer have not been so attractive because it is not delivering. Advertisement is not working because people are tired of ads everywhere. While the need to connect to consumers still exists, the new means to do that is through social media. The consumer is spending a lot of time there. Marketing is the biggest motivators but apart from that brands want to know what consumers are talking about with respect to the brand and the company. Then there is online reputation management. Brands want to create a positive impression by putting information themselves out to brands on various platforms rather than allowing some unauthorised person to do that.
Q2. What is more important for the brand, the marketing aspect or the reputation management? A2. Both are equally important and for each brand they need to figure out where the big challenge lies. For brands which have a heavy direct consumer contact, where there is a heavy service aspect attached to it for example restaurants or hospitals where consumers would go back and talk about it online, need to have more concern more about their online reputation than anything else. Services are talked about much more than a physical product. There is an ideal thought that you would recommend a brand to listen first before you take action. However, in reality it depends upon who is signing the social media cheques. If it is the marketing guy then he would be motivated to go out and do marketing efforts, if it is a PR person then they would want to manage their reputation first etc.
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Q3. Are brands sceptical about the power of consumer complaints on the internet? How can a few consumers complaining online on such a massive platform affect us? A3. Its changing when there are examples where brands get hurt and hence other brands learn from these instances and realise that consumer opinions on the internet are fast gaining importance. Its like taking insurance against something which your not sure will happen or not. Some brands get hurt and then learn from their mistakes whereas others proactively decide to take good measure against disaster.
Q4. What do brands do to protect their reputation online? A4. The brands listen to conversation and try to gauge consumer perception. They see what is being written about them is it good or bad are there too many complaints etc. If there is a problem then they want to respond back. Either you respond back on a one on one manner where a particular consumers complaint is managed or you send out a general message for the entire crowd on a blog or a public broadcast message. There is also an SEO angle, where if internet searches results throw up a lot of incorrect or negative results; it can damage the brands reputation. Hence they want to wipe out the negative ones by tackling them one by one and leave the positive ones to help build reputation.
Q5. Tomorrow if a consumer posts a negative feedback about a brand, then the brand can come forward and rectify it and help the consumer in some way but some consumers dont want the rectification and simply want to devalue the brands image because of a bad experience. A5. What I believe is that anything that is showing up on social media is a reflection of what is happening on ground. Consumers will not simply come and crib about a product for no reason, something would have happened due to which people are not happy. There might be the extreme cases where someone is doing simply out of hatred. If the volume of complaints increases, you need to look at influencers rather than everybody. It might not be practical to track and solve every problem posted on the internet and hence as a brand you need to focus on those conversations which according to you can become viral quickly and has the potential to do damage to the brand. If a lot of people are saying the same thing consistently everywhere, then that is the indication that something is wrong and it needs to be rectified.
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Q6. Has the social media space gained importance over traditional marketing? A6. No absolutely not. There is a lot of time that people spend on social media but there are markets and categories that the target market may not be spending enough time on social networking websites. For brands whose target market regularly accesses Facebook, Twitter etc., there focus may be on social media but this space cannot function by itself and still needs the support of traditional marketing. Social media has gained importance but normal marketing efforts are still here to stay. There is a trust factor built into social media where if a consumer says a good thing about a product or brand to another person it is of more value than a companys own advertisements.
Q7. Do you think there are certain brands that dont need to be on social media and are present simply to be a part of the bandwagon? A7. Its possible, this sort of thing always happens when a new innovation is unleashed and not just companies but even people start buying a certain product even if they dont need it. The platform creates a lot of hype and buzz and there will be a certain percentage of brands that dont need to be on social media today but they might need to be there in future. In time, almost everybody, no matter what business or company will find the need to be present on these websites. Today some brands may be there due to the hype but right now they undergo the learning curve and can know a thing or two about social media and accordingly to devise a future strategy.
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References
Asur, S. and Huberman, B.A. (2010) Predicting the Future with Social Media Bickart, B. and Schindler, R.M. (2001) Internet Forums as Influential Sources of Consumer Information, Journal of Interactive Marketing, vol. 15(3), pp. 31-40 Brand Autopsy (2007) Dell and Social Media, Available at
http://www.brandautopsy.com/2007/09/dell-and-social.html, [Accessed on 22 July 2011] Boyatizis, R.E. (1998) Transforming qualitative information: thematic analysis and code development, London: SAGE Dellarocas, C. (2003) The Digitization of Word of Mouth: Promise and Challenges of Online Feedback Mechanisms, Journal of Management Science, vol. 49(10), pp. 1407-1424 Denzin, K.N. and Lincoln, Y.S. (2005). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd Edition), London: SAGE Facebook (2005) Facebook Statistics, Available at
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics, [Accessed on 7th September, 2011] Gruen, T.W., Osmonbekov, T. and Czaplewski, A.J. (2005) eWOM: The Impact of Customer-toCustomer Knowledge Know-how Exchange on Customer Loyalty and Value, Journal of Business Research, vol. 59, pp. 449-456 Ha, H. (2004) Factors Influencing Consumer Perceptions of Brand Trust Online, Journal of Product and Brand Management, vol. 13(5), pp. 329-342 Inside Facebook (2010) Whose Using Facebook Around the World? The Demographics of Facebooks Top 15 Country Markets, Available at http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/06/08/whos-usingfacebook-around-the-world-the-demographics-of-facebooks-top-15-country-markets/, [Accessed on 2nd September, 2011] Kaplan, A.M. and Haenlein, M. (2010) Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunites of Social Media, Business Horizons, vol. 53, pp. 59-68 Kvale, S. (1996) Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing, London SAGE Lohr, S. L. (2009) Sampling: Design and Analysis, Sengage Learning
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Leskovec, J., Adamic, L.A. and Huberman, B.A. (2008) The Dynamics of Viral Marketing, ACM, New York, pp. 1-46 Mangold, G.W. and Faulds, D.J. (2009) Social Media: The New Hybrid Element of the Promotion Mix, Business Horizons, vol. 52, pp.357-365 Mashable (2009) Facebook Slams Twitter: Farmville is Bigger than you, Available at http://mashable.com/2009/12/02/farmville-bigger-than-twitter/, [Accessed on 7th September, 2011] Mashable (2009) Presenting: 10 of the Smartest Big Brands on Social Media, Available at http://mashable.com/2009/02/06/social-media-smartest-brands/, [Accessed on 22 July 2011] Merriam, S.B. (2009) Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation, John Wiley and Sons, San Francisco Modzelewski, F.M. (2000) Finding a Cure for Viral Marketing, Available at
http://www.dmnews.com/finding-a-cure-for-viral-marketing-ills/article/68355/, [Accessed on 3 August 2011] Muniz, A.M. Jr. and OGuinn, T.C. (2001) Brand Communities, Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 27, pp. 412-432 Newman, I. and Benz, C.R. (1998). Qualitative-Quantitative Research Methodology, SUI Press, Illinois. Petty, R.E. and Capiocco, J.T. (1986) Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change, Public Opinion Quaterly, vol. 52, pp. 262-275 Phelps, J.E., Lewis, R., Mobilio, L., Perry, D. and Raman, N. (2004) Viral Marketing or Electronic Word of Mouth Advertising: Examining Consumer Responses and Motivations to Pass Along Email, Journal of Advertising Research, pp. 333-348 Senecal, S. and Nantel, J. (2004) The Influence of Online Product Recommendations on Consumers Online Choices. Journal of Retailing, vol. 80, pp. 159-169 SEOMoz (2009) Social Media Marketing Guide, Available at http://www.seomoz.org/article/socialmedia-marketing-tactics, [Accessed on 6th September, 2011] Social Media Today (2008) Social Media Disasters (Or Not Having a Social Media Strategy Can Hurt), Available at http://socialmediatoday.com/index.php?q=SMC/37982, [Accessed on 22 July 2011]
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Twitter
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http://www.zdnet.com/blog/itfacts/age-demographics-of-myspace-visitors/11967, [Accessed on 2nd September, 2011]
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Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) On Social Networking Sites and Its Effect On Brand Reputation Management.

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Nottingham University Business School

MSc Programmes MSC MARKETING

Student ID: [4145050]

1.1 Interview questionnaire for users

PERSONAL DETAILS: Name: Date of Birth:

2.1 Transcribed interview recordings of users

Q3. Do you use any social networking websites? A2. Yes I do

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes

Q3. Do you use any social networking websites? A3. Yes

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 1 1

13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 1 1

13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 13. Hi5 1 1 1

14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

Q10. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website?

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 1 1

13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 13. Hi5 1 1 2

14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yeah

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 1 1

13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

Q7. Was it positive or negative? A7. I think positive.

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yeah

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 1 1

13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

Q10. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website?

Q11. Why not? A11. Im not too much into brands

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 13. Hi5 1 1 2

14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 1

A10. Yes like Blackberry and Apple.

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 13. Hi5 1 1 1

14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

Q10. Do you follow any brands on any social networking website?

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 13. Hi5 1 1 1

14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

Q8. Was it good or bad? A8. Zara is amazing, good of course

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes I am

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 1

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes.

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 1

Q10. Why do you do so?

A10. I just find some of their things interesting.

Q12. Do you give back? A12. No cause they wont care.

Q1. Are you aware of social networking websites? A1. Yes

10. StumbleUpon 1 11. Digg 12. Delicious 1 1

13. Hi5 14. Tagged 15. Friendster 16. Other

2.2 Interview transcriptions of brand managers

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/itfacts/age-demographics-of-myspace-visitors/11967, [Accessed on 2nd September, 2011]

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