Business social media analytics: Characterization and conceptual framework

Abstract

A substantial portion of internet usage today involves social media applications. Aside from personal use, given the vast amount of content stored, and rapid diffusion of information, in social media, businesses have begun exploiting social media for competitive advantage. Its popularity has led to the recognition of Social Media Analytics (SMA) as a distinct, albeit formative, sub-field within the Analytics field. Against this backdrop, we examine available characterizations of SMA that collectively identify various considerations of interest. However, their diversity suggests the need for adopting a concise, unifying SMA definition. We present a definition that subsumes salient aspects of existing characterizations and incorporates novel features of interest to Business SMA. Further, we examine available conceptual frameworks for Business SMA and advance a framework that comprehensively models the Business SMA phenomenon. We also conduct a survey of recently published SMA research in the premier, academic Management Information Systems journals and use some of the surveyed papers to validate our framework.