Week 2 - Chapter 1 Introduction to Social Commerce

Review Questions

1. Define social computing and the Social Web.

Social computing is an area of computer science that is concerned with the intersection of
social behaviour and computational systems.
❖ Facilitates social interaction via software and technology
❖ Collaborative and interactive aspect of online behaviour
❖ Performed with a set of social media tools (social software) that includes blogs,
wikis, social network services and social marketplaces.
 Social web is a set of social relations that link people through the World Wide Web.
❖ Social relations include activities such as online shopping, research, exchange of
ideas and information, learning, gaming, dating and more.
❖ Encompasses how websites and software are designed and developed to support
and foster social interactions.

2. List the major properties of the Social Web.

❖ Allows connection with others

➢ Users can be “friends” or “follow” others that they are interested in
➢ Can view others’ profile
❖ Gathers user-generated content
➢ Build profiles - name, date of birth, education, address
➢ Users can share content about themselves or about others
❖ Can upload real-time content
➢ Content includes text, images, videos, audios or a combination of 2 or more
➢ Keep the profile contemporary / up to date with latest updates
❖ Enable conversations and interactions
➢ Encourage the formation of online communities, exchange of information
➢ Includes community building features such as forums, pages and groups
➢ Includes communication features such as chat box, comment
➢ Includes reaction features such as like, share, emojis
 3. Explain why many consider the Social Web/media as a revolution.

❖ Social web/media has significantly changed our lifestyle in a short period of time
➢ Communication method
➢ Collaboration method
➢ Ways we receive information ---> global village
➢ Ways we make purchase
➢ Payment method
➢ Healthcare and public health
➢ How issues were brought up - social issues, climate change, human rights
❖ Almost everyone in the world is involved
 4. Define Web 2.0 and describe its major properties. [Slide 16]

Web 2.0 is the second stage of Internet development, especially by the change from static
web pages to dynamic or user-generated content and the growth of social media.

❖ Interactivity - interaction which can be respond between users and other users.
❖ Content-sharing - meant for sharing purposes which can be sharing of blog posts across
social media platforms.
❖ Enhance creativity by allowing customers to suggest ways to improve.
❖ Collaboration through collecting consumers suggestions and ideas for improving
business.
❖ Community-based input is carried out by a group of people with similar interest and
form their own community.
❖ Dynamic web pages that change according to time like e-commerce sites discounts and
promotions.
❖ Real-time updates that allow users to receive the latest information which can be the
news, weather, and etc.
❖ User generated content allows users to create and post their own content such as
images, videos, text, and audio on their social media accounts.

5. Define social media, social networks, and social networking.

Social media can be defined as online text, image, audio, and video content created by
people using Web 2.0 platforms and tools (includes applications of social media -
Instagram app) for social interactions and conversations, mainly to share opinions,
experiences, insights, and perceptions.

Social network is a structure that describes relationships and flows of information and
activities among the participants in a community (network of people). Can be both online
and offline - friends in the same school

Social networking refers to the execution of any social media activity which can be
exchanging information, private or public, through various forms of network technology,
such as the Internet, cellphones, and other devices and services, using social media tools,
apps, or networks.
6. Define social commerce. [slide 19]

❖ Social commerce is an electronic commerce via social media such as Facebook,

Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
❖ It is a subset of e-commerce that supports social interaction (sharing of ads and posts),
and user contributions to assist online buying, selling, transferring or exchanging
products or services.
➢ Buyers use social network to search for information
➢ Sellers use social network to market their products

7. List some major origins of social commerce. [slide 20,21]

❖ E-commerce
❖ E-marketing
❖ Web 2.0
❖ Social media/ social networks
❖ Support theories : sociology, social behavior
 8. List the major building blocks of social commerce. [slide 22,23]

❖ Social Media Marketing

❖ Enterprise 2.0 or Social Commerce
❖ Technology and Support
❖ Management and Organization
❖ Other Applications
 9. Discuss five benefits of social commerce to consumers and five to retailers.

Benefits to customers
1. Easy to get recommendations
❖ The results will more confidence and trust
❖ Helping customers decide about purchasing products and services
❖ Eg: Twitter, Social Media discussion groups, product review sites

2. Large savings
❖ Special deals or better prices
❖ Eg: Discount coupon, rebates, price comparison

3. Increase trust by closer relationship

❖ Can see others that have bought the same product
❖ Eg: positive ratings and reviews

4. Purchases can be matched with specific needs

❖ Increase satisfaction
❖ reduce product selection decision time
❖ Eg: Netflix given recommendation to customers
 5. Easy to use the social commerce technology
❖ Social commerce fits the mobile device lifestyle well
❖ Everyone are mobile user and spend most of their time with mobile device

Benefits to retailer
1. Consumers can provide feedback
❖ on market communication strategy and on product/service design.
❖ two-way communication between brands and customers
❖ able to interact with it by liking, commenting, tagging their friends, or sharing it
among their circles.

2. Free WOM marketing

❖ Customers can easily share and recommend if they are happy with the products.
❖ This helps to gain more popularity and gain more customers with free of cost.

3. Increased website traffic

❖ which lead to the increasing of revenue and sales
❖ More traffic means more brand awareness and more exposure to their website.
❖ It also allows to expand business and business profits, hire more employees,
increase the offerings (products or services), open new locations etc.

4. Increased sales when social influence methods are used.

❖ social media can convince shoppers to spend more.
 ❖ all the social proof around the brand and its products can greatly influence the
purchase decisions of your customers.
❖ Think reviews, testimonials, general discussions, pictures, and more.

5. Reach global audience

❖ no geographical boundaries
❖ Eg: Facebook alone has over 2 billion users worldwide, and the platform is also
available in 101 languages.

10. Define social media marketing.

● the use of social networking and social media as marketing communication and other
marketing tools.
● facilitates social commerce, increases brand exposure, repairs brand reputation damages in
social media, and fosters long-term customers relationships, among other things.
 11. Describe Enterprise 2.0. [Slide 24]

❖ Enterprise 2.0 is a social software platform that helps employees, customers and business
partners to share, collaborate, innovate, and communicate.
❖ A new set of technologies, models and methods used to develop and deliver business
software.
❖ The use of social software platforms within companies, or between companies and their
partners or customers.
❖ Use a combination of social software and collaborative technologies like blogs, social
media, social networking and wikis.
➔ E.g. My Starbucks Idea site (to solicit ideas on how to improve their business operations)
12. List some limitations of social commerce. [Slide 29]

1. Security and liability exposures

❖ Hackers and criminals are subject to social engineering attacks
❖ Lack of control for the brand image
2. Doubts about ability to govern effectively
❖ User-generated content exhibits a diverse content quality
3. Poor systems integration
❖ Issues may include:
(a) adding collaborative technologies and tools
(b) integrating e-commerce data and applications with social networks
(c) connecting to third party social media modules
(d) using third-party system development platforms
4. Doubts about ROI/value
❖ Difficult to justify the need to get involved in a social commerce project
5. Poor organizational technology adoption
❖ Technological issues relate to the deployment of social networking including:
integration, systems development, software and vendor selection