Adoption Of Social Media Tools Research Articles

Social media use for medicine information seeking behaviour among undergraduate students via the prism of the innovation decision process

Purpose: To assess the level of adoption of social media for medical information-seeking behaviour (MISB) among students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria based on the prism of Roger’s innovation-decision process theory.
 Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey of 429 students. Primary data were collected with a set of questionnaires comprising two main sections which sought to elicit information, first, on the adoption level of social media for medicine information employing a Likert-type scale with five alternative responses and weighting scores of 1 - 5, and second, on use of social media for MISB on a dichotomous (yes/no) scale. Collected data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics at 5 % level of significance.
 Results: The results show that adoption of social media tools for sourcing medicine information among the students was at a persuasion level (MWA 2.10) and correlates with the finding on the dichotomous scale that they were barely (28.7 %) using the tools.
 Conclusion: Social media for medicine information-seeking among students of OAU have not been effectively adopted and their use is infrequent. Furthermore, studies on the use of social media may be better assessed using the innovation-decision theory process model rather than a simple dichotomous scale.

Effects of WhatsApp Based Lessons on Undergraduates’ Writing Accuracy

Despite the building up of research on the adoption of social media tools in teaching and learning of English especially writing, the differential effects of WhatsApp blended lessons on undergraduates writing accuracy remain unclear. Thus, this study fills in the lacuna by examining how WhatsApp affects undergraduates’ overall writing accuracy. Using a quasi-experimental design, the findings of this mixed method study demonstrate the potentials of WhatsApp in improving students’ writing accuracy. The results were primarily attributed to the ability of WhatsApp to promote interactive and collaborative learning environment which is helpful in learning writing. Nonetheless, some challenges were reported, such as overcorrections and bombardment of text messages. Implications for writing pedagogy and future studies have been discussed.

Assessing the pre-conditions for the pedagogical use of digital tools in the Nigerian higher education sector

Currently, there is a burgeoning interest in digitalization as evidenced in extant literature. Nevertheless, the effect, based on teachers’ own perspectives, of the pedagogical use of digital technologies on learning outcomes in the higher education sector has been under-investigated. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the pre-conditions for the effective adoption of social media tools in the Nigerian higher education sector and to assess the impact of the adoption on specific learning outcomes. A multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methodology was proposed for study analysis, aided by views of experts with sufficient teaching experience in Nigerian business school programs. The results indicate that adequate budgetary allocations, technical competence, a sufficient level of privacy, and an effective government regulatory framework are the most important of the investigated pre-conditions. Additionally, the pedagogical use of social media in business school programs is more strongly associated with learning outcomes such as professionalism and strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, and social maturity. Hence, the article offers guidance to decision-makers in the higher education sector on how to actualize the successful adoption of social media for pedagogical use and build effective business strategies at various levels of the digitalization process.

Transformation of Adolescent Peer Relations in the Social Media Context: Part 1-A Theoretical Framework and Application to Dyadic Peer Relationships.

Investigators have long recognized that adolescents' peer experiences provide a crucial context for the acquisition of developmental competencies, as well as potential risks for a range of adjustment difficulties. However, recent years have seen an exponential increase in adolescents' adoption of social media tools, fundamentally reshaping the landscape of adolescent peer interactions. Although research has begun to examine social media use among adolescents, researchers have lacked a unifying framework for understanding the impact of social media on adolescents' peer experiences. This paper represents Part 1 of a two-part theoretical review, in which we offer a transformation framework to integrate interdisciplinary social media scholarship and guide future work on social media use and peer relations from a theory-driven perspective. We draw on prior conceptualizations of social media as a distinct interpersonal context and apply this understanding to adolescents' peer experiences, outlining features of social media with particular relevance to adolescent peer relations. We argue that social media transforms adolescent peer relationships in five key ways: by changing the frequency or immediacy of experiences, amplifying experiences and demands, altering the qualitative nature of interactions, facilitating new opportunities for compensatory behaviors, and creating entirely novel behaviors. We offer an illustration of the transformation framework applied to adolescents' dyadic friendship processes (i.e., experiences typically occurring between two individuals), reviewing existing evidence and offering theoretical implications. Overall, the transformation framework represents a departure from the prevailing approaches of prior peer relations work and a new model for understanding peer relations in the social media context.

Anti-social media: executive Twitter “engagement” and attitudes about media credibility

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to take the results of two studies to hypothesize about practice and recommend research/debate on business leaders’ use and perceptions of social media. Data were considered under the umbrella of current senior management practice, with the purpose to make suggestions for better practice, but primarily to theorize about the probable evolution of social media value and credibility for executives. Design/methodology/approach – The first study presents results from a qualitative content analysis of Fortune and Inc. 500 CEOs’ use of Twitter in terms of: activity and engagement; tweet subject matter; frequency of opinions expressed; and level of formality. The second considers the credibility of social media against traditional media and personal information sources within one quantitative survey. Findings – Senior executives using social media (Twitter) tend to engage in one-sided conversations in a two-way medium. Further, most CEOs appear to be using more formal language than general Twitter users. These factors, combined with the low credibility and value of social media by senior managers, may indicate the best future hope for social media credibility with executives will be neutral. Practical implications – In examining a combination of current literature and the data from these separate studies, the authors posit a number of underlying challenges in realizing the potential of the evolving social media environment that may deserve specific research. Originality/value – Discussion touches on implications for future adoption of social media tools by business leaders, as well as one-way vs two-way communication tendencies. This paper proposes a starting-point for theory development regarding this significant emerging area of communication.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AND CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT IN THE ITALIAN FASHION INDUSTRY: EVIDENCE OF AN EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

The aim of this paper is to understand which are the most effective social media strategies for gaining customer engagement for fashion companies.The study has been conducted using the empirical research methodology and the information has been collected with the use of an online survey distributed among companies belonging to the fashion industry. 42 questionnaires have been collected and therefore discussed.The analysis led to the definition of a list of strategies used by fashion companies on the adoption of social media tools. Subsequently, activities and the social tools able to improve customer engagement have been analysed. Finally, according to the size of the companies and to their positioning on the market, a descriptive analysis of the results have been carried out, comparing companies with similar characteristics. The research shows that companies of the same segment adopt the same approach to social media as well as a similar set of social media marketing strategies.The findings of this paper confirm the growing interest both from academics and practitioners for Social Media Marketing tools and they will suggest implications to fashion brands to manage their customer engagement and their social media activity.

Influence of the Adoption and Use of Social Media Tools on Absorptive Capacity in New Product Development

:In this article, we discuss how the adoption and use of social media tools influences new product development (NPD). Our aim is specifically to consider how an organization's absorptive capacity is influenced by using social media tools. Based on a two-phase data collection process comparing the situation before and after adoption of social media tools in three organizations, we conclude that the amount of accessible knowledge and the number of ideas increases as an organization's ability to find and access various sources of intra-organizational expertise increases, thus, increasing knowledge acquisition and assimilation. Consequently, we infer that organizational absorptive capacity rises and is linked to improvement in new product development.

Social Media Tools Adoption and Use by SMES

Despite the recent increase in the adoption and use of social media tools to support firm operations, very little empirical research focusing on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been conducted to-date. The aim of this study is to fill this knowledge gap by investigating SME adoption of social media tools. In particular, we assess the impact of organizational, manager and environmental characteristics on SME utilization of the Facebook Events Page. To test our proposed research model, we administered a survey to 453 SME managers. Results of a hierarchical logistic regression indicate that firm innovativeness, firm size, manager's age and industry sector all have a significant impact on social media adoption. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Determinants of Use of Social Media Tools in Retailing Sector

The adoption of Social Media as part of organizational processes has been explosive during the last years. While decisions related to the adoptions of such technologies seem to be taken under competitive pressure there is little known as to the management attitudes and perceptions in the use of these technologies. The purpose of this article is to study factors affecting the acceptance of Social Media as a business strategy by Spanish retailers. A model that explains the adoption of Social Media tools has been created, on the basis of a technology acceptance model by adding the perceived strategic value, generating an extended model useful for academics and practitioners. The results confirm the central role played by the perceived ease of use of Web 2.0 in the process of its adoption as a business tool.