Prioritizing Decision Alternatives for Social Media Planning

Abstract

Purpose: Social media is paving the way to a new way of looking at markets. Consumers have now become a source of insight. The Indian Internet market is growing very fast and so is the use of social media. Therefore there is need to examine methods for social media selection problems. Methodology: The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been used to model a complex problem based on multiple non-parametric criteria in a hierarchical structure showing the relationships between goals, criteria, uncertainties and alternatives, where experience, insight and intuition can all be used in a logical manner to derive standardized ratio scale priorities or weights. Findings: Based on the criteria Facebook had the highest composite weight followed by Twitter and finally Youtube. This result agrees with the findings of research based on survey of organisations. Implications: The paper recommends use of AHP as a useful supplement to intuitive decision-making that is normally reserved for media selection problem solving. Originality: Most of the original work in this area is qualitative. This quantitative paper will help in designing innovative and effective social media platform selection strategies for greater social mobilization. AHP can be assessed in terms of the clarity gained, the ability to judge more thoroughly, the scope for adaptation and change, and legitimisation of decision-making.