Abstract
The fast development of technologies shapes the way companies address and understand their customers’ needs, including the more and more pressing call for sustainability. If, by now, many organizations use the advantages of social media in their marketing strategies, newer technologies, such as Internet of things (IoT) wearables, are not fully used to their whole potential. Thus, we conducted two research studies—a qualitative one in the form of a focus group where eight different companies’ representatives took part, followed by a quantitative one in the form of an online questionnaire, where 84 (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) SMEs and Large Enterprises answered. The main purpose of our research was to investigate companies’ attitudes and practices about using social media and IoT wearable technologies in developing organizational marketing strategies. The results indicate that, though there are some differences in the perception and use of social media and IoT wearables for developing marketing strategies, these differences are not marked between SMEs and Large Enterprises, but rather between micro enterprises and other companies with higher numbers of employees. Additionally, there are some differences noticed between companies operating in regional, national, or international markets.
Highlights
The manner in which companies are currently marketing products and services to clients is constantly being remodeled by new technologies and, at the same time, by the increasing need of society for overall sustainability
The findings of this paper, as a result of the two research studies, lead to the conclusion that both social media and Internet of things (IoT) wearables are technologies taken into consideration when gathering relevant data about their target segment
By conducting the second quantitative research, in answer to our set objectives, we found differences between the actual use of social media and IoT wearables for building marketing strategies in general, and differences associated with the size (SMEs and Large Enterprises) and target market of the company
Summary
The manner in which companies are currently marketing products and services to clients is constantly being remodeled by new technologies and, at the same time, by the increasing need of society for overall sustainability. Implementing new technologies often results in lowering the costs, reducing the risks of possible litigations and bad publicity, making the companies more economically sustainable in the long run. The possibility of using relevant information about users’ behavior, through the means of fashionable, wearable IoT devices and their dedicated apps, for shaping future marketing strategies may encourage companies to look toward implementing such technologies. Because data retrieved through both social media and IoT technologies can influence decision making throughout organizations, it is important that companies are aware of their advantages and limitations when being used in marketing strategies. The objective of this paper is to investigate social media, as compared to the newer technologies—IoT wearables, regarding their likely impact and potential to help companies with relevant data for their marketing strategies, as well as to assess their effect on SMEs when compared to large companies. Our choice for analyzing this theme, which is likely to shape the practice and discipline of marketing for several years, is motivated by the lack of research in this area on companies, especially on SMEs, activating on the Romanian market
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
