Social media communication strategies. Issue 5 (8th August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Floreddu, Paola Barbara; Cabiddu, Francesca
• Editors: Baron, Steve; Mahr, Dominik
• Is Part Of: Journal of services marketing. Volume 30:Issue 5(2016)
• Publication Date: 2016-08-08
• Subjects: Service industries -- Periodicals; Customer services -- Periodicals; 658.802
• DOI: 10.1108/JSM-01-2015-0036
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0887-6045

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: While a great amount of literature has focused on the relationship between communication strategies and corporate reputation there is not systematic research on the different kinds of social media communication strategies. Based on the corporate reputation and social media literature, this paper contributes to this gap in the research in two main ways. First (1) identifying which social media communication strategy is more effective with contrasting levels of reputations; (2) analyzing the differences between high-reputation and low-reputation companies with respect to their ability to use corporate communication. Design/methodology/approach: We employ a longitudinal explorative multiple-case study and a theoretical sampling. The research setting is the Italian insurance context. We focus our analysis on one medium, Facebook, because is the most exploited in the context of the Italian insurance sector. Findings: We identify six complementary social media communication strategies: Egocentric, Conversational, Selective, Openness, Secretive, and Supportive. Our results reveal also distinct ways in which high, medium and low reputation companies' utilize the six complementary strategies of communications. Research limitations/implications: The study is based on a single industry and on one single geographical market, and care should thus be taken in generalizing the findings to other contexts. Therefore, emerges the opportunity to broaden our research to other similar service sector, such as banking, in order to assess and generalize the results obtained. In addition, a possible direction of research, especially from a methodological standpoint, should investigate companies from different countries. Such a comparative study would examine in depth whether and to what extent the institutional framework may impact on communication strategies implemented by companies. This study only analyzed one social media (Facebook), hence we cannot draw firm conclusions about what may constitute a successful social media communication strategy. Practical implications: Managers can learn from this study how to combine the six communication strategies to have an effective impact on the corporate reputation. They can also learn how the number of interactions and the time taken to respond to questions from customers improve the corporate reputation and provide communication that is more effective. Originality/value: This research extends the previous literature on corporate reputation and corporate communication showing the relationship between them in a social media context and providing different strategies of managing this combination.