CHAPTER 2 : REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

"online networking: the advantage of Facebook to conduct business in cmis sto rosario senior high
school "

Introductory Paragraph:
For our study is all about Facebook and Facebook page has many potential benefits for your business. While some of these
benefits are similar to having a website, a number are unique to Facebook. Combined, the benefits listed below can lead to
increased sales and profits for your business.Facebook is a low-cost marketing strategy Marketing activities that would cost
thousands of dollars through other channels can be used on Facebook for a fraction of the cost. This makes it ideal for small to
medium businesses with a limited marketing budget. Larger businesses can also trial marketing concepts and themes through
Facebook before committing to bigger campaigns. Share basic information about your business Your Facebook page is a place
where you can publicise your business name, address and contact details, and briefly describe your products and services. You
can also talk about your staff, history, or any other aspect of your business that is likely to attract other Facebook users and
create interest in what you do. Share pictures and videos from your business As well as allowing you to post text, Facebook lets
you upload pictures and videos from your business. This can be a powerful way to communicate with customers and potential
customers, allowing them to see your product or service without having to visit your premises. Facebook also allows users to
'tag' photos to indicate if a Facebook friend appears in them. This function can be used to promote your business. For example,
a tour operator could post a photo on their page of a group going whitewater rafting, then invite each participant to tag their
image in the photo. Each tagged image will show up as an update on the participant's Facebook account, where their friends
will see it too. This increases the level of interest in the picture, and your business. If you do decide to use tagging, be careful. It
can be a privacy issue, and some Facebook users are sensitive about being tagged in photographs. For this reason, it is better to
ask participants to do the tagging, rather than doing it on their behalf. Talk to existing and potential customer You can use
Facebook to 'talk' to existing and potential customers by posting and receiving messages. But don't use Facebook to
aggressively promote your products or services. You'll have much greater success if you share information related to your
business that is actually useful or interesting to other users. This increases your credibility and promotes your business by
building long-term relationships with other users. For example, a veterinarian could post tips for looking after pets, timing them
according to when particular health issues arise (e.g. ticks in summer). You should also listen as much as you talk. Paying
attention to what the market thinks about your business, your industry, a product or a marketing campaign can provide
valuable insights. Provide customer support Customers can post after-sales questions on your Facebook wall, and your staff can
answer them there. This is often more efficient than staff answering phone calls, and allows other customers to read common
questions and answers without having to approach you individually. Raise brand awareness and promote positive word-of-
mouth You can increase your business's profile on Facebook by encouraging existing and potential customers to click the 'Like'
button on your Facebook page. Once they like your page, your customers will receive your updates on their wall, where their
friends will also see them. This helps to build awareness of your business, and to associate your friends with your brand.
Customers can also post positive messages about your products or services, shared on their walls for all their friends to see.
Facebook can steer traffic to your website You can include a link to your website on your Facebook page. Indeed, many
businesses report that the greatest benefit of Facebook is the extra traffic that it steers to their site. Visitors who come to the
website can be exposed to stronger marketing messages and, often, the option of buying goods and services. Customers who
come to your website from Facebook are likely to be more receptive than the average visitor, because they already know
something about your business and were motivated to click the website link.Targeted advertising Facebook can analyse all the
information that millions of users enter into their profiles. As the owner of a business page, you can pay to use this information
to deliver targeted advertising to a specific group.
Foreign literature

1.) According to Huang, Chung-Kai; Lin, Chun-Yu; Villarreal, Daniel Steve Paper presented at the 2014
EUROCALL that Challenges and Opportunities for Business Communication are a Facebook Approach in
Groningen, The Netherlands, Aug 20-23, 2014 that Facebook is currently one of the most popular platforms
for online social networking among university students. The ever-growing prevalence of Facebook has led
business educators to explore what role social networking technology might play in business training and
professional development. Nonetheless, much is left to be learned about how Facebook is influencing
student learning in the area of business communication. This paper examined the effect on learners'
satisfaction of incorporating Facebook into business communication courses. A total of 147 undergraduate
students from a national university in Taiwan participated in this web-supported study. To analyze the
students' reflection quantitatively, a survey was employed. The findings showed that the incorporation of
Facebook into coursework effectively assisted students' learning of business communication. Facebook
worked as the social glue that connected students together in a learning community, provided opportunities
for sharing, and transformed students' learning attitudes towards their business presentation projects.
Students deepened their understanding of content knowledge learning not only from the class input but also
via peer feedback activities on Facebook. In addition to the benefits gained, care should be taken not to over-
privilege Facebook. Weighing the balance between social networking practice on Facebook and face-to-face
interaction in class, pedagogical suggestions and recommendations are addressed for future pedagogical use
and research direction.

2.) According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010, 61) define social media as “a group of Internet based
applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and allow the creation
and exchange of user generated content.” Sinclaire and Vogus (2011, 294) cite O’Reilly’s (2005) definition:
“social media is a broad term that describes software tools that Create user generated content that can be
shared.” However, there are some basic features necessary for a website to meet the requirements as a
social network website: the site must contain user profiles, content, a method that permits users to connect
with each other and post comments on each other’s pages, and join virtual groups based on common
interests such as fashion or politics. (Gross & Acquisti, 2005; Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007; Lenhart &
Madden, 2007; Winder, 2007; Boyd & Ellison, 2007 as cited in Cox 2010). The phrase social networking sites’
is often used interchangeably with social media. However, social media is different because it allows
participants to unite by generating personal information profiles and inviting friends and colleagues to have
access to those profiles (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010, 63). Thus, social media is the environment in which social
networking takes place and has altered the way in which consumers gather information and make buying
decisions.

3.) Facebook practices for business communication among fashion retailers

Tomás Escobar-Rodríguez, Rocío Bonsón-Fernández

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 2017

Purpose

The present study examines relationship building of major players in fashion retailing through social
media. Using the theories of word-of-mouth marketing and brand community as theoretical
frameworks, this paper analyses the impact of social media marketing in creating brand community. To
that end, the use of the popular networking site Facebook was studied. The purpose of this paper is to
analyze the extent and main purposes of the usage of this communication channel and to examine
companies’ activity on their Facebook pages as well as to observe their audiences and the effect in their
audiences’ engagement. Additionally, this paper analyses the main type of content and the most
commonly used type of media.

Design/methodology/approach

Research was based on a content analysis performed on 2,326 Facebook posts; a sample of 46
international leading companies in the fashion industry was analyzed in the time period between March
1 and May 31, 2015.

Findings

Facebook audience is positively related to retailer’s size. However, audiences in this sector are not
related to the level of activity of the retailers’ Facebook pages. Audience engagement and participation
in fashion retailer’s Facebook sites is higher in small retailers. The main content of the Facebook pages
of top fashion retailers is marketing, photo albums and videos being the most popular drivers of this
means.

Originality/value

No previous research analyzed fashion retailers use of Facebook sites. This study examines the variables
size and engagement of fashion retailers’ audience on Facebook according to retailers’ size and activity
on their corporate profiles.

4.) Optimal ways for companies to use Facebook as a marketing channel

Linnea Hansson, Anton Wrangmo, Klaus Solberg Søilen

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 2013

Purpose

– Social media has increased as a marketing channel, and Facebook is the biggest social media company
globally. Facebook contains both positive and negative information about companies; therefore, it is
important for companies to manage their Facebook page to best serve their own interests. Although
most users are familiar with business and marketing activities on Facebook, they use it primarily for fun
and personal purposes. The most effective methods for companies to use Facebook have not been clear.
The personal nature of Facebook presents unique challenges for companies by raising ethical and social
responsibility issues that are important to users. The purpose of this paper is to discover how companies
can optimize their use of Facebook as a marketing channel.

Design/methodology/approach

–A survey was conducted. The respondents were 158 users of Facebook in Sweden; complete answers
were provided by all respondents. In a series of specific questions and comments, the respondents were
asked to describe an optimal marketing solution on Facebook for companies. They rated different
functions, which were illustrated with pictures, to help in the cognitive process and to avoid
misunderstandings.

Findings

–Most users who have an opinion on the issue accept marketing on Facebook, but only in the right
amount. There are basically two groups: those who think that companies have no place on Facebook
and those who want companies to be active on Facebook. The latter group emphasizes the importance
of meaningful posts without unsolicited sales messages, and would prefer to search for the companies
themselves rather than being bombarded by company messages. By far, status updates and
pictures/images were found to be the most important functions to respondents.

Research limitations/implications

–The sample consisted of only Swedish users. Another limitation was that, since many Facebook users
do not normally think about the implications of being exposed to marketing on Facebook, they have
difficulty taking a position on many issues related to the service.

Practical implications

–The results give companies a clear idea of how to effectively use Facebook in their marketing efforts.

Originality/value
–A large number of companies are currently asking themselves, “How can we use Facebook in an
optimal way?” The results in this study answer this question and lead directly to saving time and
resources for these companies.

5.) Kaplan (2012) finds that sustainable growth of social media has been possible due to the wide spread
awareness and availability of high speed internet and the reach and popularity of hand held mobile
devices among the consumers. Internet and social media has provided enormous opportunities for
people around the world to create, share and disseminate contents, search for information on a wide
range of subjects and to keep up to date with the latest development in the business world (Öztamura &
Karakadılarb, 2014). Many organizations have recognized importance social media plays in business
development and have started exploring the unique qualities of the web and have promptly shifted their
marketing strategies to ecommerce. Today the web and social media has become a place of prominence
for products and services promotion and also to attract their target audience (Öztamura & Karakadılarb,
2014). The ever increasing popularity of social media has seen many organizations increasing their
visibility and presence on multiple platforms of social media (Michaelidou et al., 2011). Around 26% of
consumers from the US suggest that they are willing to accept social networking advertisements that are
based on their profile information provided in their personal profiles on the net (Neilsen, 2012).

LOCAL LITERATURE

1.) According to james ford in zambales that Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms in the
world. Your business' presence will help you gain exposure to potential customers. By posting links to your
website, you can help increase online visits. Facebook advertising allows you to target specific demographics,
based on location, age, gender and interests. Your audience of Facebook 'likes' can be a great starting point
to gather sales leads. You can use competitions and giveaways to gather email address to build your
marketing lists. Facebook allows two-way communication between businesses and their customers. You can
use the messaging service to deal directly with your customers. Reviews and comments can be a great way to
gather customer feedback and find areas for improvement. Use data from your page's 'Facebook Insights' to
understand what content works best and plan for the future. Facebook is the dominant platform used and it
can provide small businesses with a virtually cost free and easy way to reach customers. Businesses reported
immediate results from using Facebook; customers arrived in store after seeing Facebook posts. Participants
felt there were minimal risks involved and none had experienced negative feedback or inappropriate posts.
Most felt that using Facebook increased their competitive advantage due to their enhanced online profile.
Despite some effort to engage customers, business to consumer transfer of information is the primary
function of the Facebook pages studied. Page owners report limited training for and analysis of their
Facebook activities. This indicates a need for further research in the small business context, focused on
approaches to boosting customer interaction, to realize the full potential of Facebook engagement. Facebook
is the perfect spot for marketers to put to use their skills and bring their companies or brands into the spot
light. This platform rates high in my books as a marketer, due to its ability to reach a large audience of people
at one time, as well as become an intimate part of Facebook user’s persona. For example, if I were to like a
certain company’s page, I would be self-proclaiming myself as an endorser of the company, what it stands for
and what it sells. Additionally, I would be promoting it to my friends—as my ’liking’ of the company will show
up on my friends news feeds, acting as a means of recommendation to them. Social media has increased as a
marketing channel, and Facebook is the biggest social media company globally. Facebook contains both
positive and negative information about companies; therefore, it is important for companies to manage their
Facebook page to best serve their own interests. Although most users are familiar with business and
marketing activities on Facebook, they use it primarily for fun and personal purposes. Facebook pages are
transforming how organizations and business market themselves and communicate with their audiences.
Especially, small businesses are increasingly trying to adopt social media tools to market themselves and gain
competitive advantage. Facebook marketing is the most popular method for online marketing today. You will
hardly find any business now without a Facebook presence. The main advantage of Facebook marketing is its
vast audience.

2.) According to harold in Philippines that the Facebook, also there are currently over one billion daily active
users on average. The number of businesses using Facebook is growing rapidly around the world, even in our
country. From large conglomerates to small businesses, most are on Facebook. Both large and small
companies are promoting their products on Facebook. Facebook has become an addiction. It has introduced
a new viral culture. When a person meets another, they now say “Are you on Facebook?” rather than “Can I
have your number?” According to Facebook statistics, there are currently over one billion daily active users
on average. Digital marketers are shocked by the fact that Facebook now has more users per month than
Google. Marketers also now realize that apart from social networking, Facebook can offer unique marketing
opportunities for businesses. Facebook offers a free marketing tool that almost any businesses can use. A
Facebook page allows a businesses to introduce themselves by telling what they do. Business owners share
images, posts, offerings, etc. to keep viewers engaged. This is a great platform to personally interact with
customers. Any news regarding your business, such as new products or services, can be posted here so that
prospective customers can view it. Facebook pages are a great way to achieve quality leads for products or
services. Facebook marketing is becoming an increasingly important tool for companies to influence
consumer decision-making. However, there is currently little empirical knowledge about the extent of
influence of Facebook marketing on the decision-making process of consumers.

3.) How millennials are engaging and building relationships with organizations on Facebook

Tina McCorkindale, Marcia W DiStaso, Hilary Fussell Sisco

The Journal of Social Media in Society 2 (1), 2013

More than half of Facebook’s 900 million active users in the US consist of the Millennial generation (ages
13 to 29). With more organizations taking advantage of the site’s reach, determining how organizations
are interacting with Millennials on Facebook is important. This study used qualitative focus groups and a
quantitative survey to examine how Millennials preferred to interact and engage with organizations on
Facebook. Results found participants were not opposed to interacting with organizations on Facebook,
but were very specific in terms of how, with who, and why they wanted to engage. While Millennials did
want updates and other information depending on the type of organization or group, they also wanted
discounts or other benefits. Millennials identified reasons why they would actively terminate the
relationship with an organization.

4.) The Facebook guide to small business marketing

Ramon Ray

John Wiley & Sons, 2013

The guide for marketing a small business on Facebook The number one social networking site offers the
opportunity to reach more than 350 million registered users with your advertising message. Owners of
small and local businesses will benefit from these tips and best practices provided by Facebook insiders.
Learn new ways to attract customers, create a business profile, and take advantage of Facebook’s many
marketing features. With more than 350 million registered users, Facebook opens a worldwide forum
for small businesses that were once dependent on local traffic alone This guide to small business
marketing on Facebook, is packed with information from Facebook’s staff Guides you through creating a
profile for your business, taking advantage of Facebook’s unique marketing features, following best
practices, and getting the best return on your investment Packed with insider tips and creative
marketing ideas If you have a small or local business, you can’t go wrong with the marketing advice in
The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing.
5.) Facebook Marketing

Abu Naser Ahmed Ishtiaque, Sumaiya Minnat, SEO Freelance, DOHS Mohakhali

IUBAT Review, 25

Facebook marketing is the most popular method for online marketing today. You will hardly find any
business now without a Facebook presence. The main advantage of Facebook marketing is its vast
audience. According to Facebook, there are currently over one billion daily active users on average. The
number of businesses using Facebook is growing rapidly around the world, even in our country. From
large conglomerates to small businesses, most are on Facebook. Both large and small companies are
promoting their products on Facebook. In Bangladesh, like most of the world, Facebook marketing has
created opportunities for women entrepreneurs who can now sell different products from their home.
Many fashion boutiques have flourished over the last few years solely depending on Facebook for their
marketing efforts. Even though the number of Facebook “likes” seems to be related to the popularity of
the brand, research shows that the key performance indicator is the Facebook Engagement Factor (FEF),
ie, the number of people interacting with the page. This research paper contains survey results and in-
depth analysis of 50 fashion boutiques in Bangladesh that use Facebook for marketing their products,
the majority of which are run by women. They use paid advertisement, word of mouth, and frequent
posts as tools to promote their page. The Facebook Engagement Factor, not the number of likes, is the
determinant of how well the page is doing. Small business owners who market their products through
Facebook pages thus have to concentrate more on increasing FEF than the number of likes of their page
in order to be success.

FOREIGN STUDIES

1.) Boris Loukanov (Marketo, 2010,p.5) has defined social media as “the production, consumption and
exchange of information through online social interactions and platforms.” Kaplan and Haenlein (2010, p. 61)
in their article Users of the world Unite has defined social media as “a group of Internet based applications
that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and allow the creation and exchange
of User Generated Content.” Similarly in sales context with the customers as a key figure for social media
usage, Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapp (2012, p. 308) in their article a review of social media and
implications for the sales Process has defined social media as “the technological component of the
communication, transaction and relationship building functions of a business which leverages the network of
customers and prospects to promote value co-creation”. Social media has also been defined as an internet
based applications that is built on the technological foundations of Web 2.0 which is fundamentally a
platform where the content is constantly produced and developed by various participants continuously and
in a collaborative manner (Laroche et al., 2012)

2.) According to Katona and Sarvary (2014), social media has been defined as the way in which people
interact to create, share, and / or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. In
comparison with the traditional media, social media has very high level of efficiency and this has prompted
many organizations to get in to the social media platform to be able to take part in the successful online
environment (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The term social media came in to relevance only from around 2005
and earlier a more popular term “blog” was widely used for social networking activities. A study by Kaplan &
Haenlein (2010) finds that the access and availability of high speed internet in developed and developing
countries further paved the way for the growing popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook,
LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram etc which has added to the growing popularity of social media. Another study by
Yanga & Kentb (2014) shows that social media and the visibility is intrinsically intertwined and the very idea
of organizations and people to be engaged on this platform is for better visibility. Yanga & Kentb (2014)
further states that the visibility on social media can be termed as the public presence of an organization or
individual which has an influence on the organizational perceptions on trust, buying preferences and in times
of crisis. The visibility on the social media platforms indicate how frequently the social media users discuss
about an organization or issues related to it. Those organizations with a strong media or brand presence on
the social media platforms are more on the mind of individuals and public in general which can lead to higher
levels of organizational visibility, brand presence, organizational trust and product loyalty which can lead to
increased business. Yanga & Kentb (2014) argues that the common public assumption is that social media are
inherently influential and the organizations should be using them to their benefits. Having a strong presence
in social media can greatly assist sales people as this platform engages both the sales people and their
customers and develop social capital which can act as an impetus for customers to interact, engage and form
relationships with the sales people (Agnihotri et al., 2012). Furthermore, Yanga & Kentb (2014) observes that
an assortment of platforms can be utilized from the social media to create a discussion through blog posts OR
to start a debate to get customer feedback OR sharing success stories on Facebook in order to demonstrate
value propositions. Quintessentially, social media is the product of various internet based applications
comprises of text, pictures, videos and networks built on the technological foundations of Web 2.0 (Berthon
et al., 2012).

3.) A Research Note on Facebook-based questionnaire survey for academic research in business studies

J Kim-Keung Ho

European academic research 2 (7), 9243-9257, 2014

The subject of online survey has been discussed in both the academic community and the business
community, especially by survey tool vendors. This paper examines a specific type of online survey, ie,
Facebook-based questionnaire survey for academic research, based on the writer’s recent experience in
this form of research exercise. The findings from these exercises largely agree with the evaluation
viewpoints from the academic community in general. Nevertheless, this paper also points out that the
contemporary technological platform and tools for conducting online survey via social network sites,
such as Facebook are more user-friendly, more widely available and more powerful than ten years ago.
The paper also serves to inform university students, mainly on business studies, who are interested in
doing online survey research on how to do so, especially as an agile research approach. In this sense,
this paper has pedagogical value, other than academic value.

4.) Small business use of Facebook for marketing: the case of a family owned mediterranean restaurant

M Laeeq Khan, Jan Boehmer

Proceedings of the 78th Annual Association for Business Communication International Conference, New
Orleans, LA, USA, 23-26, 2013

Facebook pages are transforming how organizations and business market themselves and communicate
with their audiences. Especially, small businesses are increasingly trying to adopt social media tools to
market themselves and gain competitive advantage. The present case study introduces a social capital
perspective on social media use for small businesses’ in reaching out to their customers. A social media
platform such as Facebook can be a vital element of the overall marketing strategy and be especially
valuable for building customer relationships. Potential avenues to build social capital in a small business
setting are illustrated, using the case of a family-owned Mediterranean restaurant. Implications for small
businesses and future research on this topic are discussed.

5.) Awareness and use of social media in advertising: The case of Facebook among residents of Port
Harcourt, Nigeria

Endwell Onyinye Nyekwere, Jude Terna Kur, Ogedi Nyekwere

African Research Review 7 (4), 174-194, 2013

In recent times, advertisers are chasing their customers online to relate with them on a more personal
basis, introducing new products to them and attending to their complaints online. The same way,
consumers are going online to make purchases. Social media collaborative, interactive and user-
generated characteristics have endeared ordinary users, advertisers and consumers to communicate
their shared interest with each other on social platforms. This study examined social media sites,
particularly Facebook, to ascertain how users in Port Harcourt, Rivers State perceive their adoption as
advertising media, if consumers patronise products advertised on them and how they make buying
decisions on these social platforms. The survey research design was used to elicit information from a
sample of 300 users in Port Harcourt Metropolis, which formed the study population. The findings
showed that social media are good media for advertising, despite the challenges inherent in their use. It
was also revealed that consumers patronise products/services advertised on social media predominantly
based on recommendations/referrals from trusted sources-their friends, and that their need for such
products necessitated their patronage. It is recommended that social media users should take
advantage of the marketing opportunities present on social platforms and see them beyond mere social
networking sites that help them stay in touch with friends and family members.

LOCAL STUDIES

1.) According to Paniagua & Sapena (Paniagua & Sapena, 2014, p.2) “financial performance indicators
generally include sales level and growth, profitability, and stock price, whereas operational performance
focuses on share position, new product introduction, product quality, operating efficiency, and customer
satisfaction. Corporate social performance (CSP) depends largely on the firm’s ability to establish honest
relations with society, with special attention to reputation and brand”. Consider the argument of Paniagua &
Sapena (2014) that the impact of social media is rampant in organizational performance when it comes to
social capital, revealed customer preferences, social marketing and corporate social networking. Many
organizations have now started to build and maintain social media public pages since they have realized the
importance of Web 2.0 applications and the very idea is to improve the organizational social network
salience, enhance the consumers interest in the organization as well as to build relationships with the online
community (Parveen et al., 2015) and this has paved the way for social media growth as an important
strategic tool among the organizations. Another distinctive characteristics of social media from the traditional
media is that it can be both web based as well as mobile technologies hence it is important for organizations
to consider using social media due to its wide and rapid acceptance among the consumers (Moua et al.,
2013). The wider acceptance and higher efficiency of social media in comparison with the traditional
communication channels have encouraged organizations to make sure that they are on platforms like
facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Instagram, LinkedIn etc to be successful and make the organizations perform
better (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). While examining an employee’s social relationship, social media usage and
the job environment, it has been ascertained that there is a positive impact of social media in the task
performance of the employee (Parveen et al., 2015).

2.) Geehan (2010) expresses his observation on social media and how it can assist organizations around the
world, that the challenges and positive approaches of social media in B2B is different from B2C organizations.
Similarly (Jussila et al., 2014) observes that the challenges and approaches could appear to be similar
internally for both B2B and B2C sectors but there are significant differences when it comes to the external
use in B2B due to the special characteristics of B2B markets and products which will require particular
attention and studies. Once again (Jussila et al., 2014) argues that even though social media was started as a
non- commercial public applilcation like Faceboob and blogs, it has gained popularity among the business
world as well and has been contributing positively ever since and as a concept social media is still evolving
and has its novelty which has driven a lot of consumers in to it. Authors like (Wiersema, 2013) believes that
B2B marketing is undergoing a tremendous transformation due to the growing pressure from both the
customers and competitors and in order to stay ahead of competition B2B marketers are engaging novelty
ideas to reach a wider audience and social media is assisting them greatly in this domain.

3.) Facebook as international eMarketing strategy of Taiwan hotels

Yu-Lun Hsu

International journal of hospitality management 31 (3), 972-980, 2012

Taiwan hotels need to focus on international eMarketing because these cater to international travelers,
especially with leisure travelers expected to increase in the coming years. Facebook offers a wide range
of opportunities for the international eMarketing of hotels. Investigation of the current use of Facebook,
as an international eMarketing tool, by six large hotels in Taiwan showed presence in Facebook and use
of basic features. However, the use of different Facebook features varied. While the hotels were able to
connect with international leisure travelers via Facebook for the communication of marketing messages,
the reach is limited to Chinese-speaking users using Chinese as the primary language, even for hotel
pages accessible through English accounts. Language use also limited interaction in spreading the
message virally to the wider international leisure travelers. Employing options to accommodate English
and even other languages by selecting from available language support options can enhance
international eMarketing via Facebook of hotels.
4.) Small business use of Facebook for marketing: the case of a family owned mediterranean restaurant

M Laeeq Khan, Jan Boehmer

Proceedings of the 78th Annual Association for Business Communication International Conference, New
Orleans, LA, USA, 23-26, 2013

Facebook pages are transforming how organizations and business market themselves and communicate
with their audiences. Especially, small businesses are increasingly trying to adopt social media tools to
market themselves and gain competitive advantage. The present case study introduces a social capital
perspective on social media use for small businesses’ in reaching out to their customers. A social media
platform such as Facebook can be a vital element of the overall marketing strategy and be especially
valuable for building customer relationships. Potential avenues to build social capital in a small business
setting are illustrated, using the case of a family-owned Mediterranean restaurant. Implications for small
businesses and future research on this topic are discussed.

5.) Livingston (2016) argues that the organizations across the world will immensely benefit by the clever
application of social media which has in turn assisted the firms to expand their reach to new prospects
within the respective industries, geographic regions as well as new target markets. Other benefits social
media has brought to the table includes a platform to demonstrate the

organization’s corporate governance and culture and all these put together can add value to the
business’s reputation in the respective circles. Livingston (2016) further states that, unlike in the past
the popularity of digital marketing has helped to increase touch points with existing clients and lead
generation for further business opportunities.This study has identified that, on reviewing some of the
authoritative works of distinguished authors, great social media marketing goes beyond the big names
like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube as there are other equally important platforms like
LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Quora, Whats App. etc that can provide the required visibility to an
organization and the important aspect is to get the right mix of social networking platforms that are
significant to the organization.
SYNTHESIS

-The review of various works by prominent authors like (Boyer, 2014), (Kaplan, 2012), (Kaplan & Haenlein,
2010) and (Grabner, 2015) have shed light on the concept of social media and how it has become an integral
part of the common public in general and consumers in particular. Other key figures like (Jussila et al., 2014),
(Berthon et al., 2012) and (Laroche et al., 2012) through their studies have shown the extent of influence
social media has on the consumer choices on a day to day basis. In the opinion of (Dilhan Öztamura, 2014)
that the emergence of internet and the availability of faster net connections have paved the way for the rise
of Web 2.0 which has contributed positively for social media to lay its foundations strongly among the
masses. Social media or Web 2.0 has become a powerful medium for finding the key consumer influencers as
well as engaging them constantly so that they become brand ambassadors of various products and services
of the business entities. Miller & Lammas (2010) reiterate that to create an online viral WOM (word of
mouth) campaigns, it is fundamental to establish TRUST which can overcome the consumer reluctance in the
long run.Key authors like Dilhan Öztamura (2014) states that one of the salient features of social media which
differentiate it with the traditional media is its distinctive advantage of ‘trust building between organizations
and their customers and this has never been seen earlier with the traditional medias like newspaper,
catalogues, radio and television. The importance and relevance of social media is here to stay, and as an
online platform which has been growing leaps and bounds, it can be safely stated that the influence it wields
on consumers and organizations will only grow in stature. Through critically reviewing the literature the
researcher gets an insight in to relevant previous research and the emerging trends and it also helps the
researcher to refine the research questions and the objectives (Saunders et al., 2012). In the next chapter
methodology researcher will consider the most appropriate research philosophy and research strategy to
critically investigate The key aim and objectives of this research.

With the evolution of the Internet and the internet-of-things (IoT), it drives a new mechanism for acquisition
of products and services through social networking platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook. Across the
world, there were 21.6 billion users of the social media, and it is expected to grow. Previous research showed
that social media is the most popular platform for sharing their user's activity. Social media can be described
as a variety of new sources of online interaction that are created, initiated, circulated and used by
consumers' intent on educating each other about products, brands, services, personalities and online buying
(Blackshaw & Nazzaro, 2004). Therefore, one of the major expansions in the e-commerce industry lately is
social media shopping or social commerce that is expected to grow from time to time. Social commerce is no
longer media hype, but it becomes an established practice that continues to grow and evolve (Wang and
Zhang, 2012). In social commerce, it involves business activities such as marketing, buys and sell, and
application of its technologies to support online interactions and user contributions (Liang and Turban, 2011).
Social media users connection at the end will lead to product discovery, market aggregation, product
information sharing, and online shopping decision. A variety of goods could be acquired online easily
including tickets, clothing items, home accessories, electronic gadgets, foods, and much more. online
shopping activities over the Internet have been part of the lifestyle due to the benefits offered by online
services (Wu and Wang, 2005).