The modern world is technologically driven, and social network sites have since become avenues for businesspeople to extend their marketing crusades to an array of clients. Chi (2011, 46) characterizes social media marketing as a “link between clients and brands while giving not only a personal channel but also currency for client social interaction and user-centered networking.” The approaches and the tools for communicating with clients have been different ever since the discovery of social media; in that case business venture must have positive conformity towards social media, which solely lies on their business plan especially for those enterprises striving to acquire a competitive advantage. The focus of this literature review is to evaluate the existing pieces of literature that are retailer development-focused. The literature review will take the form of concept definition, exploring whether its adoption has influenced consumer behaviours. It will discuss three major themes not limited to Consumer Motives and Attitudes, Virtual Brand Communities, Viral Advertising as well as identified gaps.
Concept definition
When considering the social web as a marketing approach, the entrepreneurs must have a clear picture of what it encompass. However, understanding social media may pose a greater challenge before first characterizing Web 2.0, which illustrates a new avenue that the end user employs in the World Wide Web, with an alteration of content under the view of every operator in a collaborative and sharing fashion (Kaplan et al. 2010). There has been a progression of Web 2.0 for ordinary information recovery to interoperability, collaboration, and interactivity (Campbell et al. 2011).
According to Kaplan et al. (2010, 61), social media is “a bunch of internet applications, which depend on the technological and ideological foundation of Web 2.0, and permit the exchange and the creation of user-generated content.” Moreover, Sinclaire et al. (2011, 294) characterize social media as a comprehensive term, which defines software tools that develop user-generated content with a shared goal. Nonetheless, there are basic features, which are essential for a website to suit the characterization of a social media. The site must have content, user profile, an approach that allows users to not only connect to one another but also write comments to their recipients’ pages, and be part of virtual gatherings based on similar interests like politics and fashion (2011, 293).
The use of the expression social networking sites can interchange with the social web. Nevertheless, social media is unique since it authorizes interested parties to unite through creating profiles with their personal information and invite not only friends but also colleagues to access their profiles (Kaplan et al. 2010, 63). Consequently, social media promotes social networking and has since changed the manner in which clients make and gather their buying choices.
Consumers’ Sentiment in Marketing is a variable, which examiners have to consider as they study consumers’ perception in the social web. CSM has a definition of an impression that refers to the desires, which clients have for not only the act of marketing but also the marketplace (Mady, 2011). The perception of an individual in a marketplace has a role to play in their willingness and desire to adopt and consequently consume marketed products and services (Mady 2011). For any business venture to come up with an excellent marketing crusade on the social media, technologically open-minded clients have to be in play (Mady, 2011).
Another theory in social marketing attributes is the Innovation Adoption Process that is a tool capable of providing a rationale for the acceptability of innovation by the end users. Consumer technology readiness is the propensity of people to adopt the employment of new technologies for achieving goals both at work and at home (Mady, 2011, 195). People in business have to note that Consumer technology readiness is vital in marketing on social media networks. They should make sure that their target market uses social media, are familiar with it, and perceive it positively for the marketing venture to be rewarding. Evaluation of technology readiness can examine marketing through interactive advertisement suits the target market of the retailer. The Innovation Adoption Process is a different tool, which offers information on the acceptance of consumers when it comes to innovation. The IAP is the advancement through which a person goes through the innovative-decision procedure (Mady, 2011).
The process consists of five steps; knowledge of the innovation, establishing an attitude to the innovation, decide on whether to reject or embrace the innovation, the innovation’s implementation, and the decision’s confirmation (Mady 2011). IAP’s knowledge can aid marketers in a social media marketing venture, which is rewarding. Presently, it serves a purpose of informing the consumers of the companies they need to trust and the goods that they sell. Retailers and marketers employ these sites as means to reach out to the consumers and provide a new pathway to their outlets. “Technology connected advancements such as innovative mobile gadgets, online social networks, great search engines, and peer-to-peer communication enables marketers to reach their clients through new avenues (Shankar et al. 2011, 30).
There is an emergence of a new concept called shopper marketing, which has a creation of new touch points for connections between the clients and the business enterprises. Shopper marketing is not only the planning but also the execution of every marketing activity, which influence a client long the whole path of buying, from the point of shopping motivation to acquiring, consumption, rebuying, and referral (Shankar et al. 2011, 29).
The perceived fit is a vital variable to consider as retailers when it comes to shopper marketing; it is the number of similarity between the available goods associated with the brand and the extension product category (Cha, 2009). The better the perception of shoppers on social network sites as easy and useful, the more the shoppers will buy items from social media networks (Cha, 2009). There exists diversity when it comes to consumers on social media. Therefore providing these shopping services on these platforms can lead to the growth of a business venture. The broad range of clients using social media gives hope of reaching every target market (Cha, 2009). Shankar et al. (2011) point out that shopper marketing can work with clients to advertise goods, create clear messages, identify promoters and assist in connecting the outlet activities, therefore showing the significance of social web in an enterprise’s marketing plan.
History of Social Media
The embracing of the World Wide Web took a long time to be part of people’s lives. The internet became a household name in the 1990s when America online and dial-up modems were the go-to gears for both individuals who were in dire need of being techno-savvy (Edosomwan et al., 2011, Ellison et al., 2007, Hollander et al.2016). The very first social media that everyone can attest was the Six Degrees founded by Andrew Weinreich in the fifth month of 1996 but launched a year later. The website lasted for four years; from 1997-2001 (Fuchs,2017, Kavada,2015, Tuten &Solomon 2017). Six degrees permitted users to develop profiles as well as create a list of friends and the affiliated school in a single platform. Moreover, it permitted those who did not have user accounts to confirm friendship and created interaction this way. Even though the website constituted millions of active members, there was severe network limitation and access and was thus a reserve of the elites. It would take some couple of years before the World Wide Web could entirely incorporate full social network.
The internet then moved from six degrees to the era of instant messaging and blogging. Even though blogging does not appear like social media, per se, the term suits because individuals were able to converse with a blog instantly just like the readers. The word “Blog” is a form of the term “Weblog” that Jorn Barger coined; an early blogger who doubled up as an editor of a site called “Robot Wisdom” (Edosomwan et al.,2011, Ellison et al., 2007, Hollander et al.2016). From this point, ICQ came into being and gaining fame in the 21st century. After that, America online and AOL’s instant messenger were prominent social media platforms. The social media platforms were solely used for interacting since E-commerce had little influence. At the time, individuals only cared for, instant messaging, snoop at other people profiles and going through their friend list especially for Six Degrees (Fuchs, 2017, Kavada,2015, Tuten &Solomon 2017).
In the dawn of the new millennium, close to 100 million individuals had access to the internet and engaged socially online- refer appendix (Oostervink, 2016, Mao, 2014). Even though at the time people felt like it was a queer hobby, still many individuals started using chat rooms to make friends, to date and discuss subjects, which intrigued them. However, the huge boom of social media was still brewing at the time (Fuchs,2017, Kavada,2015, Tuten &Solomon 2017).
Even though most of the people may not beware, in the early 2000s, Myspace was the popular website to put up a profile and find friends. It was the original website in social media profiling giving inspiration to sites like Facebook. Still, at this point, there was very little going on regarding marketing other than MySpace marketing itself (Van Dijck & Poell, 2015, Hudson et al., 2015, Moreno-Munoz et al., 2016).
However, with the small user base that MySpace had compared to Twitter and Facebook, there are artists who used the platform to promote their music, for instance, Colbie Caillat (Habibi et al. 2016, Ashley& Tuten 2015, Leung et al. 2015). Moreover, another website, which was one of the pioneers of social media sites, such as LinkedIn, which still functions presently and it is gear towards professional who would like to work with each other came into being (Habibi et al. 2016, Ashley& Tuten 2015, Leung et al. 2015). Most of the sites that we have today are like LinkedIn in the sense that their purpose is stated or have a unique feature that enhanced its popularity. When MySpace focused on the overall social media website, LinkedIn was and is still a professional site where experts connected with each other and socialized with one another (Oostervink, 2016, Mao, 2014).
At this point in the history of social media, there was already some marketing going on unknowingly. Let us take a case of LinkedIn; professionals from the different field were interacting as early as 2003 on a social media platform. The site did not only market the professionals but also the firms that they had their placement (Van Dijck & Poell, 2015, Hudson et al., 2015, Moreno-Munoz et al., 2016). In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, which became the biggest social media of all platforms to date (See appendix 1). Facebook has some bragging rights because it has over a billion users. Nonetheless, back then, Facebook was a student platform; Zuckerberg had targeted his fellow Harvard students (Habibi et al. 2016, Ashley& Tuten 2015, Leung et al. 2015). After seeing prospects in the project, he later launched it to the whole world. Then closely followed by Twitter, which had its inception in 2006 (Oostervink, 2016, Mao, 2014); the popularity of SMS or short text messaging inspired by Biz Stone, Noah Glass, Jack Dorsey, and Evans Williams followed suit. Today it enjoys over 500 million users (See appendix 1).
By 2010, there were dozens of websites giving the same social media services. Flickr came earlier for this pack, and it is still one of the best photo sharing sites, however others like Instagram and Photo bucket, with Instagram famous for including business cards amongst other media. The multiple interfaces give clients easy access to the expert or the firm that has his desired goods. The websites included; Tumblr, Foursquare, Spotify, Pinterest and many others. There are very many things that took the right angle in this dawn; the social web was not only widely employed but also evolved to be widespread in the corporate world (Habibi et al. 2016, Ashley& Tuten 2015, Leung et al. 2015).
Sites began listing their social web addresses, enterprises would include Twitter and Facebook addresses on their TV ads, and different tools were created to incorporate social web on sites. Word press plugins, for instance, would permit users to incorporate links to their social websites and include their latest post on their websites (Van Dijck & Poell, 2015, Hudson et al., 2015, Moreno-Munoz et al., 2016). The icons of social media were all over the domain, and it was rare to see brands and enterprises without them. Moreover, social media became one of the ways that the site owners and the internet marketers would heighten their sites’ visibility.
Virtual Brand Community
The virtual Brand Community constitute an aggregation of consumers taking place with the aid of the web due to their interest in a certain product line. Generally, VBC comprises of sites of an integrated creation of brand meaning to enhance consumption efforts. Casaló, Carlos & Guinalíu. (2008) survey deduced that when a single member of the VBC has developed trust in a particular product they are part of, the amount of participation in such a VBC will be enhanced and thus creating more loyalty and increased consumption of the brand. The research concludes that trust occupies the center in VBC sustainability. Another study by Cha (2009) holds a similar opinion on the viability of VBC including security as the primary challenge that can negatively affect the views of consumers towards their activity in the social network sites and in the long run impairs the trust that users accord to trusting VBC websites.
An opportunity to socialize and mingle with different people forms a substantial part of consumer experiences. Other study findings note that there are new forms of interactions that come up within the VBCs citing examples such as Electronic Consumer to Consumer Interactions (eCCI) which comprise the social interactions of end users of electronic services. As a consequence of eCCI, the capacity to influence is transferred from the company to the brand loyalists influencing their colleagues in their decision to consume one product at the expense of the rest. Mink and Georgi (2012) established electronic consumer to consumer interaction quality. They noted that for a successful eCCIq, seven factors have to be put into consideration: security, content, hedonic, convenience, quality, as well as social. An example of an effective electronic consumer to consumer interaction quality is when one of the consumers post a question of the best product color fit with the question receiving ultimate feedback.
Other VBC research attributes stronger and more willing end users of a product to the concept of social identity and group norms. The culture, as well as the nature of a social media gathering, has greater influence in the manner in which the group members redefine and attach meaning to some of the products as well as brands. A study by Zeng, Dou, and Huang (2009) found that people belonging to the same social group were more probable to accept social communities’ advertising. A Facebook group, for example, which shares tastes for certain luxury goods are more willing to adopt high-end products ads.
User Generated Content
Even though the media provides the interactive interface, individuals form greater influencers to the adoption as well as the use of such platforms. User generated content, in the same breath, is a formidable asset for marketers since it assists in the brand definition. It illustrates all the possible ways in which individuals utilize social media that describes the various media content forms that are available to the public but created by the fellow consumers.
Moreover, the amount of an individual’s social capital is dependant upon the size of the web of connections that is at the discretion of the user to mobilize. An individual’s relationship helps in brand development that imposes the brand into a customer’s social interaction avenues through social networking. Contextualizing Bourdieu’s theory into the contemporary world, the social currency also refers to the entirety of potential and actual resources that a brand commands as a consequence of its continued presence in social communities and networks. That is to say that social currency emanates from its interactions between consumers normally beyond a firm’s control.
Consumer Generated Content connotes user-centered approach that isolates specific instances where brand creation is the role of the consumer targeting message with the purpose of persuading, informing or reminding others (Habibi, Laroche & Richard, 2016 p292; McCorkle. & Payan, 2017 p120).
Sarican, Berthon, and Pehlivan (2011) adopted grounded theory in evaluating the effectiveness of Consumer Generated Advertising with Company generated Advertising through the use of Apple company. The research found that the company generated advertising stirred some positive public experiences but consumer generated advertisement was above board as they used their local dialects and created new concept surrounding the brand that helps inculcate the brand into their day to day activities.
Consumer attitudes and motives
In the face of the current technological outpour, marketers should be conscious of the major factors that influence the motives as well as the attitudes of the consumers since there is a consistent uprising where brand contents are created by consumers, a phenomenon that was previously undertaken by the responsive firms. Research conducted by Chu (2011) assessed a relationship between a Facebook brand and group participation, responses to adverts, members’ attitudes, psychological factors of self-disclosure. The study deduced that members of a Facebook group are more willing to disclose their personal information than those who are none members of any social group. The research further found that users belonging to a particular Facebook group posses a favourable attitude towards advertising and its ultimate incorporation in their social spheres. Based on the research findings, Chu (2011) foresees the availability of a link between consumers’ involvement in a group and their adoption of an ad in such social site.
The identified Gaps in Social media marketing
The employment of social media in work environments is no longer the same. Social web conventionally was a domain of expert’s social media administrators. However, there is decentralization in the activities on social media due to the easy use of social web management innovations (Keegan & Rowley 2017, McCorkle & Payan 2017, Iankova et al. 2017). Since then marketers have been making use of social media in many unfamiliar ways.
For the marketers, the wonderful creation of new domains and features is also a variable in the skills gap. In 2016, snap chats had an association with the teen, and presently it has the new way of engaging business clients. As more domains involve more complicated features, the loyal users will find it hard keeping up. Moreover, only 5% of marketers try out new platforms (Keegan & Rowley 2017, McCorkle & Payan, 2017 Iankova et al. 2017).
Even though social media marketing turns out to be a properly researched topic, its study has only been undertaken through theoretical as well as experimental research approaches. There is scanty information on the benefits that the retailers can reeve from it. In going through the multiple literature searchers, it is evident that majority of studies focus on the description of what constitutes social marketing alongside factors affecting human behaviors in the social networking perspective. The researchers should advance in their discourses to provide a more intensive understanding of sustained benefits that retailers can receive on promoting their products online. There is also need for formalized studies to move beyond the predicted outcomes to pile knowledge of the practical implications of social marketing.
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Appendices
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
