Company Social Networks Research Articles

USE OF SMM-TECHNOLOGIES IN THE FIELD OF HOTEL AND RESTAURANT BUSINESS

Advertising on social networks is a popular, affordable and relatively inexpensive means of promoting a hotel or restaurant. After gaining popularity on the company's social network page, there is no need to invest resources and funds in it. Such a page does not have to be run by a professional PR manager - it can be managed by any employee of the company, and in mini-hotels the owner himself. The article analyzes ways to use the capabilities of social networks and forms of work with their audience. It is determined that the advantages of SMM (Social Media Marketing) include: reaching a wide audience, several times lower than the cost of advertising in search engines, increasing the number of customers by increasing the number of visits to the company's website. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have been found to be the main social networks used to promote hotel and restaurant businesses. It has been found that social activity on Instagram is ten times higher than social activity on other popular social networks. The choice of a particular network to achieve maximum effectiveness of the advertising message depends on the characteristics of the target audience (gender, age, place of residence, interests, etc.). Facebook and Twitter, not Instagram, are best for advertising the hotel's business forum. The main forms of work with hotel or restaurant clients on social networks are competitions (which include photo reports, voting with likes and comments, receiving feedback, which helps to activate the audience) and publishing posts (which involves constant updating of information, support for two-way communication). publishing news, posting links to a website or blog, using hashtags, publishing photos and videos from the daily life of the company and events). Among the ways to use the capabilities of social networks - holding contests using selfies, geolocation functions and interactive interaction with the company's website.

Lost trust and dissolved guanxi circles: A case study of a collective resignation event at Tianyuan Tea Company

The mainstream explanation for employee turnover is either cause–effect factor analysis or interaction analysis. The former is effective in identifying causal relations between factors and the latter in revealing the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. Combining the benefits of both methods, this study applies guanxi circle theory to studying employee turnover. It places various turnover factors under the framework of interpersonal interactions and uses the social network structure as an analytic point from which to examine the dynamic evolution of trust within the organization. The study finds that in the case of the Tianyuan Tea Company, the collective resignation was largely caused by the collapse of trust within the guanxi circles that informally operated within the company social network centered on the management authority who had the power of hiring, firing, and promotion. Five conclusions are proposed: (a) the formal hierarchical structure of power can either coincide with or be separate from the informal guanxi circles – when the two are in accordance, resignations rarely happen, while discordance between the two is often an indicator of potential resignations; (b) organizational changes are most likely to cause guanxi circles outsiders to resign; (c) members of the inner guanxi circle in the organization do not resign because of discordant relationships with lower level managers, but rather, they get relocated with promotion; (d) the collapse of ‘bridges’ between guanxi circles can cause collective resignations; (e) those who survive organizational shakeups are members of the inner guanxi circle in the organization and the ‘bridges’ of guanxi circles. This study contributes to the research on employee turnover by introducing a new perspective of guanxi circle theory as well as drawing attention to the important function of the ‘bridge’ in coordinating between circles, and by offering theoretical understanding and practical guidance for social governance.

Company social networks: customer communities or supplementary services?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the antecedents and consequences of loyalty to consumer networks hosted by companies in the scope of social networking sites (SNS). These company social networks (CSNs) have traditionally been studied as online brand communities but more research is needed to understand their role for host companies.Design/methodology/approachThis study identifies CSN performance dimensions (host reputation, informativeness, communication self-expressiveness, rewarding activity and consumption support) and analyzes how they influence attitudes and behavioral intentions toward CSNs (identification with the community, satisfaction and loyalty) and toward the host company (satisfaction and loyalty). A conceptual model is tested through a survey administered to members of a large grocery retailer CSN on Facebook.FindingsResults show that all six identified performance dimensions significantly impact CSN loyalty. However, while self-expressiveness, communication and rewarding activity (which are closely related to social and hedonic value) are predictors of loyalty to the CSN, through the mediation of identification with the community, they neither indirectly (through the mediation of identification) nor directly impact satisfaction with the host. Conversely, informativeness, communication and host reputation are good predictors of loyalty to the CSN, through mediation of satisfaction with the CSN, and also exert an indirect positive influence on satisfaction with the host. Finally, consumption support positively influences loyalty to the CSN through the mediation of identification with the community and directly positively influences satisfaction with the host company.Originality/valueThese results reveal the dichotomous nature of CSNs, as communities of people with shared interests and supplementary services created by companies to add value to their core offering. While perceptions regarding the community facet are independent from attitude toward the host, perceptions regarding supplementary service are significant predictors of satisfaction with the host. These results offer implications for future research and management of companies’ social media presence.

Transforming followers into fans: a study of Chinese users of the WeChat Official Account

PurposeDrawing upon the social cognitive and customer engagement theories, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how individuals’ simple follow, purely aiming for information but with little contribution, could affect fans behavior and make them engage in company social network (CSN). The study identifies the impact of personal motivators (follower participation motivation), environmental antecedents (perception of information quality) and individual behavior (fan engagement behavior and stickiness) on CSNs and examines the interaction relationship between the follower participation motivation and perception of information quality.Design/methodology/approachData collected from 392 valid questionnaires from WeChat Official Account users were analyzed by structural equation modeling.FindingsPersonal factor such as follower participation motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic motivator) was found to be significant predictor of fan engagement behavior. Environmental factor (perception of information quality: perceived usefulness as well as perceived entertainment) was a significant factor in determining followers’ proclivity to engage in CNSs. One significant interaction effect was found: the effect of perceived entertainment on fan engagement behavior was manifested to a greater extent when followers’ participation aimed for intrinsic motivator. The second interaction effect, between the extrinsic motivator and perceived usefulness, was also found to be statistically significant.Originality/valueThis study enriches and extends the studies on the theories of customer engagement and social cognitive theory. It applies the above theories to CSNs and advances CSNs research by taking into consideration both personal and environmental factors (follower participation motivation and perception of information quality), and the interaction effects of the two on individual behavior.

Effects of customers' psychological characteristics on their engagement behavior in company social networks

Drawing upon customer engagement and value cocreation theories, in the context of company social networks, we examined the influence mechanism of the 3 important psychological characteristics of need for cognition, self-congruity, and psychological ownership, on customer engagement behavior in terms of human interactivity, information sharing, and word-of-mouth referral. We also explored whether or not these 3 behaviors then influenced value cocreation and stickiness. Data from WeChat official account users were analyzed using SmartPLS 2.0 and structural equation modeling. Results showed that self-congruity and psychological ownership significantly influenced the 3 dimensions of customer engagement behavior, which further influenced value cocreation and stickiness. The effects of need for cognition on human interactivity and information sharing were also significant, but the influence of need for cognition on word-of-mouth referral was nonsignificant.

Influence of customer engagement with company social networks on stickiness: Mediating effect of customer value creation

Company social networks have become an important means for the socialized marketing of a company, forming a new challenge to companies on how to attract customers. Based on such theories as customer engagement, value co-creation, and relationship marketing, this paper presents a model of the influence of customer engagement on stickiness. Data collected from 260 valid questionnaires from Sina’s enterprise microblog users were analyzed by structural equation modeling. Empirical results show that customer engagement has a direct and positive influence on customer stickiness as well as an indirect influence through customer value creation. This study enriches previous researches on existing theories of customer engagement, value co-creation, and stickiness, and gives practical guidance for companies to encourage customer engagement and enhance the stickiness of company social networks.

기업의 관계적 성과로서 기업소셜네트워크 이용자의 자발행동에 관한 연구

Company Social Networks (CSN) has emerged as a commonly used marketing channel. One of the most important advantages in CSN is the user's voluntary behavior as a relational performance. We classified level of voluntary behavior, as 'consumption', 'active participation', and 'creative contribution' to comprehend different relational performance of CSN. Moreover, we proposed research model to compare positive attitude and negative attitude. This study aims to investigate 'the process of user's voluntary behavior in CSN' which is causal relationship between benefits of CSN, user's attitude and voluntary behavior. Empirical results with 175 valid questionnaire data revealed that CSN benefit factors played a significant role in trust and distrust. Based on these effects, trust and distrust have different influences as level of voluntary behavior, just as proposed. For practitioners, it is crucial finding that users are more active behavior based on strong trust.

ACCELERATING HIGH INVOLVEMENT: THE ROLE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN ENABLING EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION IN INNOVATION

The experience of implementing employee involvement in innovation can be viewed as a bounded opportunity. Whilst long-term strategic benefits could flow from organising participation across the workforce, creating structures that sustain such a culture is highly complex. In effect the "transaction costs" of high involvement innovation limit its implementation. However a number of technological and social developments (such as innovation platforms and company social networks) offer new options in this space which may change this. In particular the "reach" and "richness" trade-off could be changed to permit higher levels of participation in larger-scale projects. Much depends on the ways in which implementation of systems deploying these new approaches is undertaken and the development of appropriate behavioural routines to support them. This paper explores a number of cases within German enterprises and reports early experience along this learning curve.

Understanding participation in company social networks

Purpose– This article seeks to contribute to a better understanding of company social networks (CSNs), which constitute people connected to a company or brand through a social networking site. To this end, the research addresses both participation goals and CSN attributes that drive participation in CSNs.Design/methodology/approach– With a grounded theory approach, this research begins with an exploratory study of the page maintained by a large retailer for six months, followed by a qualitative study featuring in-depth individual interviews and focus groups with 26 members of the CSN.Findings– The results highlight differences between CSNs and other types of online communities (OCs). Members rely on the company to help them achieve their goals; few count on their CSN peers, with whom they maintain weak ties. Unlike in brand communities (BCs), most members are not enthusiasts but instead engage in a pragmatic relationship with the brand.Practical implications– CSNs can create value for both the host company and its members; active management is necessary to unlock that potential. The implications for CSN management include strategies to foster participation and increase value for companies and members.Originality/value– Although the previous research has studied OCs, specific research on CSNs is scarce. This study characterizes CSNs and provides details regarding participation factors in this new context, as well as relevant implications for CSN management and service research.