Forest Products Industry in a Digital Age: Factors Affecting Social Media Adoption

Abstract

Abstract The use of social media as a marketing tool has increased significantly in recent years. However, limited information is available regarding social media use in the US forest products industry or social media adoption at the organizational level, especially within the business-to-business context. This study presents part two of a two-part series of articles that look at the forest products industry in the digital age. A mail survey was conducted in 2013 to examine factors affecting the use of social media in the US forest products industry. This article also looks at the perception of forest products companies regarding social media effectiveness and identifies challenges faced by the forest products companies regarding social media use. Results show that close to 58 percent of respondents currently use some form of social media. The most common social media tool implemented was Facebook. Respondents' adoption of social media was influenced by company age, net sales revenue, product type, Web site content, perceived importance of e-commerce, and perceived ease of use of social media as a marketing tool. About 94 percent of the respondents thought that social media was an effective tool for marketing. Although no major concerns were expressed regarding the use of social media, there was some concern about generating the return on investment to cover the costs associated with social media use. The information collected from this study can be used in assisting the forest products industry in understanding the world of social media marketing and developing an effective social media marketing strategy.