THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

INTERNATIONAL FACULTY

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT

The Effect of Social Media Marketing

on the Publishing Industry in Bulgaria.
Perceptions of readers, marketers,
publishers and authors

Plamena Krumova

October 2017
 THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
INTERNATIONAL FACULTY

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT

The Effect of Social Media Marketing

on the Publishing Industry in Bulgaria.
Perceptions of readers, marketers,
publishers and authors
This report is submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Arts by

Plamena Krasimirova Krumova

October 2017

Supervisor

Alexandros Charalampidis
 The Effect of Social Media Marketing on the
Publishing Industry in Bulgaria. Perceptions of
readers, marketers, publishers and authors

Plamena Krumova

Abstract

The number of people using social media actively is growing every year,
making social networks more and more important for brands’ marketing
strategies. This is especially true when examining the publishing industry due to
the tendency of individuals acquiring book identities online, participating into
book groups and communities on social media.

This paper aims to explore the extent to which marketers, publishers, authors
and book bloggers in Bulgaria, understand and utilize social media marketing.
Moreover, its goal is to research the perceived power that influencers on
social media in the Bulgarian publishing industry have. Also, to gather and
analyze data on the reading and purchasing habits and behaviors of the
Bulgarian readers who are active on social media.

In order to accomplish those objectives mixed methods approach and

methodological triangulation, combining quantitative and qualitative
methods were used. Firstly, a quantitative study was done by conducting a
self-administered online questionnaire. Secondly, a qualitative study was
implemented through in-depth interviews.

Key findings of the study suggest that although Bulgarian professionals in the
publishing industry understand the importance of social media marketing,
they often have difficulties implementing it. Furthermore, the results suggest
that posts about books on social media influence the reading and purchasing
habits of the participants in the study.

However, there is a difference in the perception of the professionals and that

of the readers regarding the influence power that different factors have on
social media.

Key words: social media marketing, social media use in Bulgaria, social media
marketing in the publishing industry, perceived power of influence, influencers
on social media, trust on social media, relationship marketing.
 Declaration

All sentencesб passages and ideas quoted in this thesis from other people’s
work have been specifically acknowledged by clear cross-referencing to
author, work and page(s). I understand that failure to do this, amounts to
plagiarism and will be considered grounds for failure in this thesis and the
degree examination as a whole.

PLAMENA KRASIMIROVA KRUMOVA

Signed:

Date:

31.10.2017.
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to all the tutors that I had the pleasure to
meet while in the International Faculty of the University of Sheffield.
I would also like to thank all of the people who agreed to take part in this
study, it would not have been possible without you.

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 Table of Contents
1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 1
1.1. The Publishing Industry in Bulgaria ........................................................................... 1
1.2. Benefits of the current study and Previous studies on this topic ......................... 3
1.3. Research Questions and Objectives ...................................................................... 4
1.3.1. First Objective – To Research the Perceptions of the senior marketers,
managers and publishers in Bulgaria............................................................................. 4
1.3.2. Second Objective – Research the Power Influencers on Social Media In
the Publishing Industry in Bulgaria have ........................................................................ 5
1.3.3. Third Objective- Gather and Analyze Data Regarding the Bulgarian
Readers who use Social Media ...................................................................................... 7
2 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 9
2.1 Social Media Marketing Effects............................................................................... 9
2.2 Building loyalty with Relationship Marketing ....................................................... 11
2.3 Marketing for the new generations ...................................................................... 14
2.4 Influence and Expression of Identity through Social Media .............................. 18
2.4.1 Online Identity and Self-expression ............................................................... 18
2.4.2 Influencers on Social Media ........................................................................... 22
2.5 Book Marketing in the Digital Age ........................................................................ 25
2.5.1 Branding Readers ............................................................................................ 25
2.5.2 Tactics for Marketing Books in the Digital Age: The role of publishers,
authors, and marketers .................................................................................................. 27
2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 33
3. Methodology............................................................................................................................. 35
3.1. Research Approach ............................................................................................... 35
3.2. Research Questions ................................................................................................ 37
3.3. Sample ...................................................................................................................... 41
3.3.1. Quantitative Sample Group ........................................................................... 42
3.3.2. Qualitative Sample Group.............................................................................. 42
3.4. Data Collection ....................................................................................................... 44
3.5. Questionnaire design .............................................................................................. 45
3.6. Data Analysis............................................................................................................ 47
3.6.1. Quantitative Data Analysis ............................................................................. 48
3.6.2. Qualitative Data Analysis................................................................................ 48
4 Data Analysis and Findings .................................................................................................... 49

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 4.1 Qualitative Survey Results ...................................................................................... 49
4.1.1 Use of Social Media Marketing ...................................................................... 50
4.1.2 Perception of Success of Social Media Marketing compared to
Traditional Marketing ..................................................................................................... 52
4.1.3 Difficulties with Social Media Marketing ....................................................... 53
4.1.4 Measuring and Effectiveness of Social Media Marketing .......................... 53
4.1.5 Communication with Target Audience via Social Media Marketing....... 54
4.1.6 Perception of Influence of Social Media Marketing. Target Audience
Age Differences .............................................................................................................. 57
4.1.7 Future of Marketing for the Publishing Industry ............................................ 60
4.2 Quantitative Survey ................................................................................................ 60
4.2.1 Demographics.................................................................................................. 60
4.2.2 Use of Social Media ......................................................................................... 62
4.2.3 Reading Preferences, Habits, and Book Purchasing Behavior .................. 64
4.2.4 Influence different factors had over the respondents ............................... 67
4.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 75
5. Discussion and Conclusion .................................................................................................... 78
5.1. Limitations of the research ..................................................................................... 80
5.2. Suggestions for Future Research ........................................................................... 81
6 References ................................................................................................................................. 83
7. Appendices ................................................................................................................................. 1
a. Appendix A – Questionnaire for self-administered survey .................................. A-1
b. Appendix B – Questions for Interviews .................................................................... B-1
c. Appendix C – Relations between books purchased yearly and the extent to
which the participants were affected by the listed features. ................................... C-1
d. Appendix D – Submission Form ............................................................................... D-1

Table of Tables

Table 1: Social media presence of the leading publishing houses in Bulgaria. .............. 2
Table 2: Preferred Communication Channels by Generation ........................................ 15
Table 3: Interviewees and their position. ............................................................................ 43
Table 4: Demographics of the participants in the study. ................................................. 61

iii
Table 5: Relation between the age of the respondents and the approximate number
of books they purchase yearly. ........................................................................................... 65
Table лп Relation between the preferred book type and the respondents’ ageг ....... 66
Table 7: Influence of different factors over the respondents. ......................................... 68
Table 8: Extent to which respondents are affected by book bloggers on social media.
69
Table 9: Extent to which the respondents are affected by the author. ....................... 69
Table 10: Extent to which the respondents are affected by bookstores. ...................... 70
Table 11: Extent to which the respondents are affected by recommendations from
friends and relatives............................................................................................................... 70
Table 12: Link between the gander of the responders and the perceived power of
influence. ................................................................................................................................ 72
Table 13: Relation between the age of the respondents and the extent to which they
trust book bloggers and publishing houses on social media. ......................................... 74
Table 14: Extent to which respondents believe recommendations coming from book
groups on social media. ....................................................................................................... 74

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Art by Charlie Bowater, depicting Sarah J. Maas' characters. (Society6,

2017) ........................................................................................................................................ 31
Figure 2: Art by Charlie Bowater, depicting Sarah J. Maas' characters on a pillow.
(Society6, 2017) ...................................................................................................................... 32
Figure 3: A Candle smelling as the fictional character Rhysand - part of Maas’ series
“A шourt of thorns and roses” made by the brand In The Wick Of Time (In The Wick of
Time, 2017) .............................................................................................................................. 32
Figure 4: A шandle smelling as the fictional space “шelaena’s apartment” a part of
Maas’ series “Throne of Glass” made by the brand In The Wick Of Time (In The
Wick of Time, 2017) ................................................................................................................ 32
Figure 5: Ravenclaw tie from the Harry Potter Shop ( Harry Potter, 2017) ..................... 33
Figure 6: Educational Degree of the participants. ............................................................ 61
Figure 7: Number of participants active on each social media. .................................... 62
Figure 8: Percentage of respondents following bloggers, publishing houses,
bookstores and authors on social media. .......................................................................... 63
Figure 9: Percentage of respondents who are members of book groups on social
media. ..................................................................................................................................... 64
Figure 10: Reading and Purchasing behavior of the respondents. ................................ 67

iv
1 Introduction
шarlson and Lee (зежк) define social media as “online platforms that
facilitate global collaboration and sharing among users” (pгне)г These
platforms provide a tool for brands to reach potential and existing
customers, also to communicate, build relationships, establish trust and
promote products to them. The authors suggest that one of the
positives of social media is its potential to develop and integrate
relationship marketing. The theme about using social media marketing
to develop relationships between brands and consumers will be
reviewed more fully later in this paper.

1.1. The Publishing Industry in Bulgaria

Recent data from the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria (2017)

shows growth in the use of social media networks and in the general
use of the Internet. According to their research 58.1% of the
population between 16 and 74 years of age are using the Internet
daily or at least once a week. In a more detailed view of the data it is
clear that this percentage is much higher in the younger generations –
for example: 87.2% of the people between 16 – 24 years of age use
Internet daily; 82.5% for the people between 25 and 34 years of age,
and 74.9% for the age group 35-44. Furthermore, 75.4% of the people
using Internet are active on social media. Although those figures show
consumers are generally active on social media, the topic of social
media marketing in Bulgaria is still vaguely explored, in comparison to
traditional marketing. This is evident, especially when looking at the
publishing industry in Bulgaria – with most of the big publishing houses
not maintaining a solid presence in the social media.

The social media presence of some of the biggest publishing houses

and the most popular book blogger in Bulgaria will be documented in
the following table. The data has been collected from the official
channels of the publishing houses as of 10.04.2017.
1
Publishing Followers on Followers Followers on Subscribers to Members of Public
House Official on Official Official Official or Private Groups
(PH) Facebook Page Instagram Twitter YouTube Administered by
Account Account Channel the PH on
Facebook
Hermes 29 619 - 18 17 -

Janet45 15 502 240 430 80 1882

SoftPress 6 528 1 048 162 17 -
ICU 1 943 - 37 22 -
DejaBook 5 987 - 130 - -
Egmont 48 888 4 619 1 324 1 803 -
Egmont “teen” –
9 710
Iztok-Zapad 7 589 - 98 3 -
Ciela Several pages 1 879 140 4 -
with a varying
number of
followers
Bard 19 129 - - 18 -
Colibri 47 747 1 077 280 132 -
Hristo 21 495 1 131 912 3 51 495
Blajev
“Knigolandi
a”
Table 1: Social media presence of the leading publishing houses in Bulgaria.

The most important notes that can be made are - Facebook is the
most advanced (in terms of followership) social media. Furthermore,
some of the publishing houses have established more than one
Facebook accounts. For example, Egmont has a Facebook page
focused on its шhildren and Young Adult literature (“Egmont Teen”)
and Ciela has several Facebook pages for each of its bookstores (their
followership varied but was lower compared to the other PH). It has to
be mentioned that the highest number of users were part of the
Facebook group “ ? “ (In translationп “What are you
reading?”) Which is established and moderated by Hristo чlajev – a
Bulgarian book blogger and publisher. In relation to this the influence

2
of the social media on users will be discussed later on in the Literature
Review chapter.

A turn from traditional marketing to digital, and more specifically,

social media marketing, can be justified also by the fact that
Generation Y(The Millennials) is the first to spend more time on the
Internet compared to watching television (Carlson and Lee, 2015).
Thus, is has become even more important to utilize properly the
medium.

Social media marketing has changed the relationship between the

brand and the consumer and the publishing industry is no different -
Jamie Chriswell and Nick Canty (2014) write that social media
marketing has shifted the focus of that relationship from sales to
“mutually beneficial conversation and debate” (pг ики)г The authors
add that social media provides publishers the means to build the trust
of their readers first handedly. Furthermore, the new digital
environment gives power to publishers to expand their brands and
build stronger relationships with consumers.

1.2. Benefits of the current study and Previous studies on

this topic

Having in mind all of this it is believed that the current research: “The
Effect of Social Media Marketing on the Publishing Industry in Bulgaria.
Perceptions of readers, marketers, publishers and authors.” could
benefit the publishing industry in Bulgaria by giving more insight of the
effect that social media marketing has on readers. Furthermore, the
study would provide valuable information regarding the perceptions
of the power that book bloggers and influencers have on social
media for the publishing industry. Last but not least, the research
would benefit the industry by gathering and analyzing the key tactics
which marketers for the publishing industry in Bulgaria use, and what

3
they consider as most difficult when promoting their books through
social media marketing.

Previous studies on the effect of social media marketing on the

publishing industry in Bulgaria have not been discovered. Therefore,
the current study has even higher importance because it could bring
more understanding and knowledge of the subject that was not
available before.

1.3. Research Questions and Objectives

The aim of “The Effect of Social Media Marketing on the Publishing

Industry in Bulgaria. Perceptions of readers, marketers, publishers and
authors.” is to obtain knowledge and deeper understanding of the
general use of social media marketing for the purposes of the
publishing industry in Bulgaria; its effects according to the perceptions
of the consumers on the one hand, and on the other hand – its effects,
drawbacks and advantages according to the managers and
marketers working in the publishing industry, publishers, book bloggers
and authors.

1.3.1. First Objective – To Research the Perceptions of the

senior marketers, managers and publishers in
Bulgaria

In 2010 there was little doubt about the increasing role of digital
marketing (Lamberton and Stephen, 2016) with 66% of the senior
management being “very interested” in digital marketingг Moreoverб
in 2013 78% of the marketers said that cross-channel campaigns were
important for them. However, 35% of them also declared that those
kinds of campaigns were their biggest challenge.

A study by Bianchi and Andrews (2015) examines how marketers

perceive and engage with social media networks and their tools and

4
technologiesг The authors’ findings point that although practitioners
believe social media can help with creating/maintaining customer
engagement and building band image, they also perceive it as
“uncontrollable”г For exampleб participant in their study consider
YouTube as important but they find it difficult to “integrate into their
communication strategy” (pг зккк)г

From those findings, it can be concluded that although social media

marketing is generally considered important by marketers and
managers it is rarely used to its fullest. Therefore, one of the objectives
of the current research is to collect data and gain deeper knowledge
about the understanding of social media marketing that publishers,
marketing seniors in the publishing industry in Bulgaria have. To
achieve this aim interviews with bloggers, authors, and publishers will
be conducted. Apart from their general opinion on the use and
effects of social media marketing, during the interview the
interviewees will be asked about their experience with social media
marketing with a focus on used tactics.

1.3.2. Second Objective – Research the Power Influencers

on Social Media In the Publishing Industry in Bulgaria
have

Fader and Winer (2012) write that the growth of social networks has
resulted in more user-generated content (UGC). Referring to the
publishing industry UGC can be book reviews, descriptions of books,
blogs, consumer generated advertising, and other materials such as:
photos, videos, and art. Fader and Winer (2012) suggest that the
internet enables consumers to take control of marketing.

Goldenberg, Oestreicher-Singer, and Reichman (2012) conducted

seven YouTube experiments to research the role of consumers in the
user generated content space and more importantly – the user’s role

5
as influencers and “curators” in the digital spaceг Their research
showed that although people can use algorithm-driven tools to search
for and find videos it is still widely popular to search for content using
their own social networks. An example for such practice is also
Pinterest, where users can search for specifically themed images using
their networks’ boardsг On the same topicб when talking about the
publishing industry, GoodReads.com should be mentioned as it
provides people with similar possibilities. Users on GoodReads.com can
browse through their friend’s book listsб read their reviewб compare
their book lists to their ownб and engage with them with a “Like” or
“шomment”г

When talking about users being influenced by the people they follow
on social media one should mention one of the fastest growing
networks (Djafarova, Rushworth, 2017) with 400 million active users
every month (Statista, 2016) and expected to reach $2.81bn from
advertising in 2017 (Vizard, 2015) – Instagram. Jin and Phua (2014)
suggest that the perceived social influence is increasing with the
increase of the followers on social media. With Instagram accounts
having more than 103M followers (Forbes, 2016) at the end of 2016,
there are endless opportunities for endorsement and influencing. A
recent research from Djafarova and Rushworth (зежм) “examines the
effects of Instagram upon consumers, with a specific focus on the
increasing relevance of celebrity endorsers and their influence on
female users within the 18–ие age groups”(pг1-2), suggests that
Instagram users consider bloggers and celebrities to be the most
influential. What is more the participants in the survey said that they
would generally not post negative comments/reviews on Instagram in
order to maintain a positive environment; also all but one of the
participants stated that they had made a purchase because a
celebrity whom they trusted had recommended it on Instagram. All of

6
the participants considered celebrities as a trustworthy source on
information online.

Therefore, the second objective of the current paper is to conduct

interviews with book bloggers who are active on social media in
Bulgaria and with authors who use social media to advertise, promote
and market in general their books in order to research their perceived
power and influence on social media.

1.3.3. Third Objective- Gather and Analyze Data

Regarding the Bulgarian Readers who use Social
Media

A survey among readers active on social media was conducted in

order to obtain a view on the perspective of the consumers and
gather information about their opinion on social media marketing
for the publishing industry. The survey also aimed to determine to
what extend the users are influenced by their social media
networks. The survey gave more insight into the presumed influence
that book bloggers, authors, and publishing houses have according
to readers in the social media.

The self-administered survey included questions connected with

being part of book groups on social media and the perceived
influence of those groups over purchasing decisions. In this regard
an objective of the current study is to explore the participation in
online groups as part of social identity, and self-expression and to
give more insight to what power and influence those groups have
over the reading choices of the users active on social media in
Bulgaria.

Therefore, the third objective of the study can be described as

gathering and analysis of data on the reading and purchasing
habits, and the behavior of Bulgarian readers on social media. Also

7
it explored their opinion on the influence power that book
bloggers, publishers, authors, and book groups have on social
media.

8
2 Literature Review
Berthon et al. (2012) define social media as a series of hardware and
software innovations that enable Internet users to create content,
interact and cooperate online. Social media has brought many
changes to the digital environment, one of which is the shift of the role
of online users – “from passive consumers of information to active
participant in creating and sharing information” (Wang & Kimб зежмб pг
17). Social media has also changed the relationship between online
consumers and brands, it has allowed users to communicate directly
with businesses, to share their opinions, and has empowered them to
actively participate in creating products and services ( Prahalad and
Ramaswamy, 2004).

2.1 Social Media Marketing Effects

In the second quarter of 2017 Facebook had 2 billion monthly active
users (Statista, 2017) staying ahead of other social media platforms
with almost 1 billion active users. However, even with approximately
30% of the world population active on Facebook there are still many
question marks when it comes to marketing in the digital environment.

In her book “How to Measure Social Media” Nг Kelly (зежз) gives a

guide to social media marketing strategy, measuring ROI, as well as
brand awareness, lead generation, customer service and referrals. In
her research Kelly suggests different approaches of using social media
marketing to achieve sales and business objectives. Martens (2016)
writes that the advance of technology has enabled publishers to
gather valuable information on consumer taste and preferences. Even
for markets such as young adults, which are traditionally difficult to
predict, social media and website analytics contribute significantly for
their understating. A representative of a big US publishing house,
interviewed by Martens (2016) shares that website and social media
analytics gives the publisher information regarding: who the readers
are, their interests, what is most popular, what the users respond the

9
most to, if they engage actively with the content by liking, posting,
sharing, or inactively by clicking on links and spending time on the site
(p.72). These insights can help the publisher and the marketer to
develop further their strategy, to build stronger relationships with their
customers and prospects, and in developing new products.

Alan Mutter (2011) argues that especially in the media industry, the
size of the audience is not as important as its engagement and loyalty.
Mutter writes that one should focus in the following metrics if one
wants to execute an engagement-focused incentive plan: time spent
on the site, contrary to number of unique visitors; increasing ad rates.

Sponder (2012) explores the value of followers, fans and friends on

social media, while measuring their influence. He gives practical
examples of collecting and understanding social media data and
using the collected information to improve further the digital
marketing strategy.

Stephen and Galak (2012) write that earned social media has a
stronger long-term positive impact on sales when compared to
traditional earned media, even though the latter is usually reaching
more people.

The results of a study conducted by Bruhn, Schoenmueller and

Schäferб (2012) highlight the importance of social medias on brand
equity and brand image. The researchers suggest that social media
communication, created by a brand has a significant impact on
functional brand image, whereas user-generated content influences
hedonic brand image.

Malcolm Gladwell (2002) researches the factors which help a product

to go “viral” and identifies three rules: the law of the few, the stickiness
factor and the power of context. Gladwell points out that in order for

10
a product to go “viral” it must be used by socially skilled individualsб be
memorable, and to be placed in the correct environment.

To sum up, social media is considered as an excellent tool for

achieving business objectives, for building brand image and loyal
followership, as well as for engaging with consumers. Despite the vast
academic research in the field of social media marketing, according
to Lamberton and Stephen (2016) brands still do not know how to
transform the data they have collected from customer observation in
social media into “actionable insights” (pгжлж)г Furthermoreб this paper
aims to give more insight into the influence that social media has over
consumer behavior; how social media could be used to build loyalty
with relationship marketing; what are the specifics when marketing for
the younger generation.

2.2 Building loyalty with Relationship Marketing

Over the last decades the central philosophy of marketing theory has
drastically changed from transactional to relationship marketing
(Bolton, 2016). Zinedin and Philipson point out that the success of
transactional marketing is measured with the revenue and the sales
(2007), while Hyun and Perdue (2017) state that the success of
relationship marketing (RM) is measured by four areas of customer
relationship dimensions: (1) customer acquisition, (2) customer
retention, (3) relationship expansion, (4) defection.

The Social Exchange Theory developed by Homans (1958) has laid the
grounds for RMг It looks towards the consumers’ social behavior and its
correlation with economic activities. According to the author the two
sides of the social exchange can trade not only for physical goods but
also for things such as love, approval, affection (Yoganathana,
Jebarajakirthyb, Thaichon 2015). Yoo et al. write that the brand and its
products can be positively influenced by a good relationship between
the two sides of the exchange by increasing their value and utility.

11
Furthermore, Lawler (2001) argues that a good and pleasurable
relationship between a customer and a company, its employees or
services, can lead to an increase of brand loyalty.

This idea is backed by Radionova (2016), according to whom the

purpose behind relationship marketing is to establish loyalty in the
customers based on their satisfaction. Therefore customer loyalty is a
vital part of relationship marketing (Radionova, 2016), moreover
customer loyalty is linked with customer satisfaction (Dumitrescua,
Ţichindeleanbб Vinereanб зежи)г It is also suggested that another aim of
the relationship marketing is to create long-term relationships in which
all of the involved parties achieve their objectives (Spekman and
Carraway, 2006; Zineldin and Philipson, 2007; Alrubaiee and Al-Nazer,
2010). Hur et al. (2010) argues that the main goal of relationship
marketing is to enhance customer equity. Yoganathana,
Jebarajakirthyb, Thaichon (2015) suggest that as customer equity has
a strategic role in the marketing strategy of a brand, it can be used to
create “sustainable competitive advantage”(pг ж4)г

Furthermore, relationship marketing is observed to have six dimensions:

Trust, Bonding, Communication, Shared Values, Empathy and
Reciprocity, out of which the most important is found to be Trust
(Yoganathana, Jebarajakirthyb, Thaichon, 2015). However, due to the
differences between traditional and digital marketing it is suggested
that a special approach, strategy and communication are used when
developing and implementing an online marketing plan (Kotler, 2014).

Radionova (2016) summarizes three approaches used to enhance

customer satisfaction and accordingly – customer loyalty in the digital
environment:

- Professional approach – on the Internet the customer cannot

touch and experience the product in person, therefore the
pictures used to present the product should be in the highest

12
 possible quality. However, to avoid creating wrong expectations
- there should not be a difference between the pictures and the
actual look of the product.
- Interaction with consumers – this approach deals with all
communication with customers and prospects. It stresses on the
importance of feedback and dealing fast with negative reviews
online in order to increase trust and satisfaction (McCole,
Ramsey, Williams, 2010).
- Stimulation – Doing promotional activities through online
channels could motivate users to make a purchase (Sewell,
чrownб зеез)г The customers’ experience with the brand can be
positively influenced by small personal touches such as “Thank
you” cardsб holiday or birthday greetingsб or a small giftг The
latter could lead to the consumer sharing his positive
experience on the internet, using his social channels, and
creating positive word of mouth.
By using these approaches of relationship marketing companies can
improve the long-term relationship with their customers and prospects
and increase the online and offline sales (Radionova, 2016).

This has led to the development of a customer relationship

management (CRM) systems in order to increase the customer
satisfaction and improve customer’s experience with the brand
(Trainor et al., 2014). Trainor (2012) suggests that although valid, the
traditional understanding of CRM should be reconsidered because of
the rapid growth of social media popularity in both business and
consumer marketsг Thereforeб a definition of social шRM is givenп “the
integration of traditional customer-facing activities, including
processes, systems, and technologies with emergent social media
applications to engage customers in collaborative conversations and
enhance customer relationships” (Trainorб зежзб pг изж)г A recent
research by Wang & Kim (2017) suggests that social CRM has a

13
significant capability when brands combine social media with their
other marketing strategies in order to improve customer engagement
and company performance. Moreover, the study found that social
media usage acts as a balancer between social media social CRM
capabilities and company performance.

Criswell and Canty (2014) write about the change social media has
brought into the relationship between published and consumerп “This
connection need no longer be dominated by sales, but by mutually
beneficial conversation and debate. It allows publishers the platform
from which to build the trust of their readers directly, and tailor their
output to specific readerships.” (p. 353). The authors also suggest that
this new relation between company and consumer allows publishers
to develop their brands.

2.3 Marketing for the new generations

In their article: 'A Thematic Exploration of Digital, Social Media, and
Mobile Marketing: Research Evolution from 2000 to 2015 and an
Agenda for Future Inquiry” Lamberton and Stephen (2016) describe
the period 2011-зж4 as “The Age of Social Media”(pг жко) during which
people were increasingly more active on social media (Instagram,
Pinterest, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter) without limiting to only one
platform. Furthermore, the authors argue that users and markets
interfered by constantly re-shaping each other. The authors suggest
that during this period it became clear that social media allowed any
user to “act both as advertiser/promoter and consumer”(pгжко) at any
given time for any brandг Moreoverб in the ‘Age of Social Media”
consumers are no longer only contributing to word of mouth streams
but amplifying or undermining its effects.

McKinsey & Company (2013) researches how US consumers who are

under 35 years old are changing the marketing environment. Due to
the globalization it can be assumed that similar behaviors occur in

14
many countries (Jayaram, Manrai, 2015). According to McKinsey &
Company (2013) the consumers under 35 years of age are more likely
to:

1. Own smart phones, tablets, and gaming consoles.

2. Adopt VOIP, video chat, social media, mobile apps, on-
demand video, and Over the Top (OTT) video (internet video on
TV).
3. Pay for premium digital content and purchase apps.
4. Spend over three times the number of minutes on their mobile
devices, especially for browsing the web, using social networks,
VOIP, or video chat.
5. Displace e-mail with social networks, particularly Facebook.
6. Show stronger affiliation to certain brands.
Furthermore, a DMG Consulting research cited by Eisenfeld and Fluss
(2009) explores and summarizes the preferred communication
channels by cultural generation:

Cultural Generation Birth Years Communication Preferences

Matures Prior to 1945 Landline phone

Baby Boomers 1946-1964 Landline phone, IVR, Web self-

service, cell phone, email
Generation X 1965-1976 Cell phone, email, IVR, Web
self-service
Generation Y 1977-1994 Smartphone, text message,
chat, instant message
Generation Z 1995-present iPhone, text message, chat,
instant message, YouTube, My
Space, wireless, hyperlinked
Table 2: Preferred Communication Channels by Generation

15
Furthermore, Jothi, Neelamalar and Prasad (2011) write that the
millennials want to be engaged in a new way, the authors add that
traditional marketing tactics are not enough. Therefore, it can be
reasonably assumed that in order to communicate fully with its
younger customers and prospects (Generations Y and Z) brands
should adopt social media networks and create a sustained presence
there. Moreover, according the Curren and Lennon (2013) social
networks are increasing their popularity among older groups as well.
They expect that social media will not remain the domain solely for
the younger generations.

Furthermore, Hodson (2016) analyses a marketing study by Yahoo!

шoncluding that Generation X (ик to к4 years old) are “America’s
Most Influential Generation” (pгл)г The author adds that Generation X
consumers usually research online before making a purchase, what is
more - by 2018 it is expected that 88% of them will own a smartphone.
According to Hodson, although Baby Boomers and Millennials
represent the current and future, marketing energy should also be
directed at Generation X, otherwise marketers would miss out
potential.

Martens (2016) suggests that for young adults “the Internet is a natural
extension of their social sphere” (pг ми)г They access it using different
platforms and almost all things in their lives have a digital equivalent –
media, products, games, friends, homework, and grades. However,
when it comes to young adults reading preferences, researches show
that young adults prefer physical books, instead of e-books; a possible
explanation is that the physical book allows them to dive into the
world without having any sort of technology as a distraction (Martens,
2012).

16
The term “prosumer” first used by the futurologist Alvin Toffler in жоне
(Toffler, 1980), and defined in detail by Kotler in 1986 (Kotler, 1986) is
becoming more and more popular in the last decade. The term is
defined as the process in which the consumer becomes a producer,
the combination of both words results in “prosumer” and accordingly
“prosumption”г Wolny (зежл) suggests that the modern online
consumer is not being passively exposed to a marketing offer; rather
he/she is interacting with it and often is a part of its creation.
Furthermore, Wolny (2016) defines the characteristics whish are usually
connected with the behavior of a prosumer online:

 Passive or active use of the opinion of other Internet users

 Expressing opinion and views on the Internet
 Giving suggestions online for improving a service or a product
 Decide how electronic services should look like
 Giving suggestions online for new e-services
Research has showed that the usage of e-services by prosumers results
in their improvement and further development, moreover it leads to
an increase in the number of customers (Wolny, 2016). According to
Wolny (2016) the future trend is that consumers will increasingly take
part in the participation, designing and individualization of e-services.
The author concludes that customers want to feel “awarded and
exceptional” (pгжкж)г

Therefore, the current study aims to discover if there are any

differences between the perceptions of social media influence in
regards to the interviewee’s ageг Moreoverб the questionnaires
directed towards publishers include the question: “Do you think there’s
a difference in responses to your marketing efforts on social media
based on readers’ age?” aiming to collect more information on their
point of view regarding age difference and response to marketing
campaigns on social media.

17
2.4 Influence and Expression of Identity through Social
Media

2.4.1 Online Identity and Self-expression

In order to understand better the online consumer behavior a deeper
reading into identity formation, and self-expression online, and the
influence that those have on the users’ behavior had been doneг
According to Tajfel’s Social identity theory (жонз) individuals define
themselves by:

1. Personal aspect – character, traits, abilities.

2. Social aspect or social identification – connected to the
individual’s perception of belonging in a group (Ashforth &
Mael, 1989).
Tajfel’s theory suggests that there are three steps in order for an
individual to identify himself with a group: (1) cognitive – his/her
awareness of the membership, the individual goes through a self-
categorization process which may result in multiple social identities
and group memberships; (2) evaluative – the members of the group
determine its value and perceived influence; (3) affective – this refers
to the emotional side of the identification, and its power for the group
members.

The growth in popularity of social networks has resulted in a shift in

consumer behavior (Lin & Lu, 2011). According to a study by Hadad
(2015) 61% of teens stated that they check their social media
accounts frequently in order to see if their posts are getting new likes.
Furthermore, it has been discovered that members of online
communities who have a strong sense of social identity are more likely
to participate in online communities (Lee, Kim, and Kim 2011). Wang
(2016) writes that the networking aspects of social media satisfy the
need consumers have for maintaining their social identity. Moreover,
researches have been done in order to determine how online first
impressions differ from those made “offline”г For exampleб a study by
18
Seidman and Miller (2013) found out that when creating a first
impression based on a Facebook profile people focus on the
descriptive informationб contained in the “About me” section a
significantly longer time.

Another study by Walace, Buil, and De Chernatony (2012) explores the

relation between social networks, consumer brand advocacy, and
self-expressive brand. The study showed that users are more inclined to
“like” brands which help them to express themselvesг This finding can
be easily related to the marketing in the publishing industry as people
often tend to express and understand themselves better through book
characters (Hancock, 1993).

Vries et alг (зежм) research studies about what motivates users’

activities on social media. The authors came to the conclusion that
the activities differentiate significantly and show that there are many
different motivations for engaging in social media activities, such as:
entertainment, social interaction, information and self-expression.
Furthermore, Sun, Rau, & Ma (2014) have investigated the so called
“lurking activities” online and found out that the motivation for them
was: environmental influence, personal preference, individual-group
relationship, and security considerations.

Furthermore, a recent study by Wang (2017) discovered that after a

member of an online social network has identified with it, he/she is
more likely to continue using the website and engage in purchase
behavior. The findings suggest that social identity can be a powerful
drive for both use and purchase behavior. Moreover, the author writes
that social media users tend to identify with social network platforms
and the online groups in which they are members.

Another interesting case on online identity and influence by social

media has been presented by Zhu (2014) – he writes that the smoking
behavior of young adults has been influenced by pro-smoking

19
information on social media. Moreover, it has been reported that
future smoking tendencies among young adults have been predicted
by being exposed to smoking on social media (Depue, Southwell,
Betzner, and Walsh 2015). Yoo, Yang and Cho (2016) suggest that
social media has become a channel used by college students to
share their opinion on smoking and thereforeб college students’
perceptions on smoking can be influenced by posts that they see on
social media. The authors research concluded that expressing and
being exposed to pro-smoking publications on social media has a
significant connection with smoking attitudes and intentions; whereas
antismoking messages did not influence much those who were
exposed to them.

Another connection between the online and offline identity and the
use of a product is pointed out by Lindgren et al. (2013) – according to
them, especially for college students, a drinking identity can
significantly predict alcohol use. Also, according to Back et al. (2010)
profiles in social media are an accurate reflection of actual
personalities, traits, and behaviors. Bond et al. (2012) suggest that
being exposed by content created and shared by others can
positively influence the individual’s attitude, beliefs, and behavior. A
study conducted by Huang et al. (2014) discovered that being
exposed to drinking on Facebook led to an increase in drinking
behavior. However, a large-scale study by Westgate et al. (2014) has
presented counter evidence – it found that there is a significant
connection between a user’s own postings of alcohol usage and
drinking behaviorб but an insignificant relation between the user’s
exposure to alcohol-related content and drinking habits. Westgate
and Holliday (2015) suggest that alcohol content on social media may
influence drinking behavior by changing the perceived social norms.

The clinical psychologist Marion Underwood commented the

relationship that teenagers in the USA have with social media: "I think

20
they're addicted to the peer connection and affirmation they're able
to get via social media. To know what each other are doing, where
they stand, to know how many people like what they posted, to know
how many people followed them today and unfollowed them ... that I
think is highly addictiveг(…) This is an age group that has a lot of
anxiety about how they fit in, what they rank, what their peer-status is.
There is fear in putting yourself out there on social media and they
hope for lots of likes and comments and affirmations but there is
always the chance that someone could say something mean" (Hadad
2015).

There are different opinions on the topic of self-esteem and social

media. On the one hand, it is suggested that the usage of social
media increases the stress levels (Hadad 2015), on the other hand, a
study on Facebook by Gonzalez and Hancock (2011) discovered that
the consumers’ self-esteem has been positively affected by using
social networks and by getting positive feedback online. It is
suggested that higher self-esteem can lead to decrease in the
individual’s self-control, which may lead to an increase in the impulse
purchases and excessive spending ( Khan & Dhar, 2006; Wilcox &
Stephen, 2013).

Many researchers have suggested that consumers with low self-

esteem are more likely to be influenced by the opinions of others, also
they are looking for social acceptance and approval, and on the
other hand highly confident people are more capable of developing
counterarguments (Kropp, Lavack, & Silvera, 2005; Rhodes & Wood,
1992; Bither & Wright, 1973).

The trends and findings described above are used by marketers on

the social networks, often by relying on endorsers. Therefore, the
influence and power or endorsers on social media will be discussed.

21
2.4.2 Influencers on Social Media
A recent study by Djafarova and Rushworth (2016) has researched the
impact that Instagram has on source credibility, consumer buying
intention and social identification with different type of celebrities,
paying the most attention to non-traditional types of celebrities (those
who became famous through online media)г Instagram’s importance
has been rapidly growing, its monthly active users in April 2017 have
been reported to be 700 million (Statista 2017) with 100 million more
from the number in December 2016. The importance of the network
has been connected with the celebrity accounts there – the second
most followed profile is that of a celebrity – Selena Gomez, with 124.36
million people following her in 2017 (Statista, 2017). Furthermore,
according to Jin & Phua (2014) consumers tend to perceive
individuals with a huge number of followers as more attractive, and
trustworthy. The Source Credibility Theory (Ohanian, 1990) is
connected with how the consumer perceives the source of the
received information based on: attractiveness, trustworthiness, and
knowledge on the area of the endorsed product. Having in mind
those two things, it can be concluded that the more followers that an
account has, the higher his/her source credibility is. What is more,
celebrity endorsements are perceived as credible sources when
generating Positive Electronic Word Of Mouth (Spry, Pappu, &
Cornwell, 2011).

Djafarova and Rushworth (2017) point out that brands use celebrity
endorsers in order to add value to themselves, to their products or
services. Furthermore, according to Elberse & Verleun (2012) the
credibility of the endorser positively affects the credibility of the brand.
This can be developed by the proposition that users will associate
brands with celebrities which will result in adding credibility,
attractiveness, and trustworthiness to the brand (Spry et al., 2011).

22
The influence that an individual has on social media is strongly related
with the number of his followers. Jin & Phua (2014) write that the
perceived social influence increases with the increase of the followers
one has. A big number of followers allow an individual to share his
message with more people at the same time. Furthermore,
Thoumrungroje (2014) argues that followers and members of online
groups consider opinions based on social connection on social media
as very important.

Thoumrungroje (2014) suggests that, depending on their interests, all

consumers are, to a certain extent, influenced by reviews on
Instagram. What is more, the author writes that an individual who is
part of one’s circle online is perceived as an effective source of
information. Thus the eWOM is created easier and spread through
people with similar interest. In their study on Instagram Djafarova and
Rushworth (2017) state that all of the users that they interviewed stated
that they consider celebrities to be a trustworthy source of information.
They specify that the most trustworthy according to the consumer
were the opinions of “lower-scale “Instafamous” and blogger-type
celebrities” (pгк)г Wiley (зеж4) argues that online bloggers are much
more influential when reviewing a product, compared to traditional
celebrities, because they are perceived as more authentic and
accessible.

Also, it is suggested that users’ self-esteem is increased when buying a

product which was endorsed by a celebrity, this is due to their desire
to seek approval by others (Djafarova and Rushworth 2017).

The current study aims to gather information on the influence that

book bloggers, authors, publishing houses, and bookstores have on
readers in Bulgaria. Its goal is to also to determine to what extend
publishers consider book bloggers to be influential. In order to do so
the following questions are included in the self-administered survey:

23
 1. On a scale from 1 to 7 (where 1 is “not at all” and 7 is
“completely”) rate how much you trust ________ on social
media.

- Book bloggers;
- Authors;
- Publishing houses;
- Bookstores.
With its rapid increase in users and the development of many niched
microblogs Instagram is one of the most important social networks for
marketersг The reader’s community is using the term “bookstagram” or
“bookgram” to describe an Instagram account which is concentrated
on sharing photos and reviews of books (А б зежм). These so
called bookstagram profiles are becoming more and more influential
by growing their followership. Some of the most popular Instagram
accounts featuring books are: epicreads with 462K followers,
lifeandliterature with 128K followers, and foldedpagesdistillery with
113K followers (Instagram, 2017). A perhaps interesting trend is that
brands organize contests for brand endorsers on Instragram, often
using the term “rep search” coming from “representative search” and
creating a specific hashtag for the event (Cutting for Business, 2015).
Users apply by using the hashtag. When the winner is chosen he/she
receives a free product from the brand in exchange of the terms that
the brand has set in the “rep search”г

This trend is also using young adult’s desire for autonomyг According to
Martens (2016) brands are flattering consumers when they provide
them with space to express their opinion and views, and target them
specifically.

The Bulgarian Instagram scene is not so different. Although the

“bookstagram” accounts do not have as much followers compared
to those of other countries, they are still present and collaborating with

24
brands. An example of such is the book blogger papermoon.garden
with жбек4 followersр on her profile she has written “Rep for чOPS” so
that her followers would know that she is endorsing the brand
(Instagram, 2017).

Thus, celebrities and bloggers on social media can not only connect
with users and link with them in online groups and communities, but
also develop an image for users to identify with. Using their perceived
social power they can endorse products, services, and brands
influencing the behavior of their followers. However, no research of the
influence power of bloggers, and celebrities endorsing books on social
media has been discovered, especially for the Bulgarian market.

2.5 Book Marketing in the Digital Age

2.5.1 Branding Readers

Nowadays, in the age of social media (Lamberton and Stephen, 2016)
the marketing for the publishing industry has changed. Social media
has allowed publishers, marketers, and authors to assume new roles
and to build stronger relationships with their readers. In her book
“Publishersб Readersб and Digital Engagement” Marleen Martens
(2016) aims to research and give more light onto the change that
technology has brought to book marketing, especially for young
adults. The current study will pay special attention to Martens research
because it was found to be of significant value to the theme. Martens
examines the teen market, it has already been mentioned
beforehand why this market is important for the current study.

Martens traces the main tools of marketing for the publishing industry,
pointing out the significance that gatekeepers (such as parents,
librarians, and teachers), and adverts in magazines used to have over
the reading choices of young adults. Martens also states that the
major tactics used to reach the consumers used to be:

25
 1. Visually appealing covers which attract the attention of teens.
Yampbell (зежк) calls this “grabability” (pг и4о)б referring to the
consumers desire to literally “grab” the bookг
2. Establishing a strategic relationship with gatekeepers – this tactic
is especially used by small publishing houses which cannot
afford to invest into social media marketing. (Martens 2016)
3. In-store placement of books – the store can predispose teens to
book by placing them in special displays (Rosen, 2002). Martens
gives an example of a tactic used by B&N in 2011 after the
success of Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” – the bookstore created
a special section called ‘Teen Paranormal Romance’ (pгк4)
which included books similar by genre and cover.
Social media has allowed marketers to use teens to market to their
peersг Alissa Quart explores this trend in her book “чrandedп the чuying
and Selling of Teenagers” (зееи)г шompanies have reportedly been
hiring teens to perform teen-to-teen peer marketing since the 2000th,
when Teen People Magazine has employed 9000 teenagers to point
out the new trends in fashion, test products, take surveys, and market
new products to other teenagers (Quart, 2003).

Branding in the publishing industry is primary connected to the story of

the book and licensed merchandise, a good example for this is the
“Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling – the world of the wizard boy can
now be visited in two thematic parks (Marthens, 2016). Excellent
examples for books which became brands are “Harry Potter” and
“Twilight”г

The transition between transactional to relationship marketing has

already been discussed in detail, however branding has also changed
from “product identity to branded relationships” (pгкл) between the
consumers and the people who create and market the products.
Marthens (2016) argues that those relationships are strongly
connected to the performance of readers online while they engage in

26
peer-to-peer marketing or with the content created by the marketers.
Furthermore, those processes result in the creation of a new type of
reader – the branded reader. According to Hearn (2008) the
consumers in their role of fans of the literary product, thus –branded
readers are urged by marketers to acquire identities online. Hearn
therefore connects this type of branding to social identity. Martens
(2016) develops this theory by adding that the importance of branded
books is significantly increasing mainly because of the possibility of
creating branded readers who would purchase more products
related to the seriesг шontributing to this thesis is Wolny’s (зежл) view on
e-consumers – according to him online users want to know that their
needs are observed and satisfiedб want to feel “awarded and
exceptional” (pг жкж)б thus the levels of prosumption will increase in the
future.

It can be concluded, that branded readers are actively participating

and influencing the creation of services and products online by
expressing their opinion. This process leads to turning branded readers
into branded prosumers.

2.5.2 Tactics for Marketing Books in the Digital Age: The role
of publishers, authors, and marketers
Martens (2016) suggests that publishers are aiming to build direct
relationships with readers and to “create and exploit a venue for
affective peer-to-peer marketing” (pгле)г Some of their tactics in
achieving these two goals are:

1. Create websites where readers can set up an account, sign up

for newsletters, take online surveys, quizzes. A good example for
this is the website Pottermore.com (Pottermore, 2017) where the
user can actively interact with the Harry Potter community, read
unpublished stories by J.K. Rowling, take a quiz to determine

27
 his/her “patronus”б magic wand or houseб and can shop booksб
art, and licensed merchandize.
2. Organize competitions, games, and giveaways. Martens
describes a tactic used by publishers when a small drawing can
be won by a user if he/she likes/shares/comments on a post. This
tactic is used to create eWOM and also to increase the
followership across different social media platforms. It can also
positively affect the image of the brand.
3. Give readers the opportunity to apply for trend-spotters,
reviewers.
4. Build affective relationships with readers by giving them the
space to express their own opinion, and actively urging them to
share their viewsг This way branded readers feel “empowered
by being actively involved with the books they love” (Martens,
2016 p. 60).
5. Cross-promotions – Martens (2016) writes that authors can cross-
promote each other using their own social media channels. In
this way they can increase their exposure and customer
awareness, and benefit from the recommendation. Nowadays,
publishing houses organize book tours with a couple of authors;
during the tour the authors would use their social media to
promote the others and share information from the events. By
doing so they “blurred physical and virtual presences” (pг ло)г
6. Create social media profiles for book characters – publishers
and marketers develop social media account for book
characters in order to build affectionate relationships with
readersг As the most difficult parts are pointed out “the ability to
stay in a character’s voice” and working during non-working
hours, due to the necessity of the book characters also being
active during the evening and on weekends (p.67).
However, a study by Criswell and Canty (2014) shows that social
media marketing for the publishing industry is not a successful decision
28
for any book. The authors point out that social media platform are
most effective when there is already a developed community around,
this allows publishers to engage with readers. Criswell and Canty’s
study suggests that even when social media marketing is successful its
impact is still limited by the size of the targeted audience. Furthermore,
the authors came to the conclusion that social media is not an
effective marketing tool for book when used on its own. However, the
authors admit that social media networks provide aп “creative
platform for publishers to exploit as they wish and once established, a
title’s social media presence can be used as a platform to exploit any
future social activity that may occur. Therefore, though it may not
always return a commercial benefit, social media marketing is
valuable nonethelessг” (шriswell & шantyб зеж4б pг имк)г

Although publishers are the most active in terms of marketing efforts,

authors are also using social media to market their books, turning them
into brands, and establishing relationships with their readers and
prospects (Martens 2016). Moreover, according to Martens (2016)
since 2011 authors have become more and more engaged into the
marketing efforts of publishers, and have become valuable
contributors to the marketing campaigns.

A good example of this is the author Sarah J. Maas and her two series
– “Throne of Glass” and “A шourt of Thorns and Roses”г Maas uses
several social media to promote her books; she has 190K followers on
Instagram, using the platform to effectively announce news about her
books, share art, book cover releases, and dates about book tours
(Instagram 2017). Maas has a page on Facebook with 40 000 likes
(Facebook 2017), a Twitter account with 99.2K followers, and a
Pinterest profile with 51K followers. What is more interesting is that apart
from her personal accounts around Maas’ brands there are tens of
official and fan-made accounts for her books and characters from the
books. An official Throne of Glass Facebook page has a 74 523 likes

29
(Facebook 2017), and a fan-made Instagram account called
“courtofmaas“ has recently reached зеK followersг There are also
closed Facebook groups for both of her series reaching up to 14K
group members. As a result of the branding of her books there are
currently hundreds of fans contributing to the community by writing
fanfiction, creating fan-art, and purchasing merchandize (from
candles, coloring books, and mugs to pillows).

The branded readers can dip in the world created by Maas by

purchasing candles which smell of characters and places described in
the book, this way consumers can physically feel and be a part of a
fictional world.

However, some authors argue that aggressive marketing campaigns

around books can have negative effect on the literature front. In 2000,
even before the release of the first Harry Potter movie, Dan
Wasserman created a satirical cartoon, depicting two children
walking a street where everything prompted them to buy products
related to Harry Potterр They were urged to purchase “Wizard Fries”
and to visit the “Harry Potter Theme Park” (Nelб зеек)г This satirical
comic is now not only reality but reality is exceeding it by much. Philip
Nel (2005) discusses the results of the aggressive use of marketing for
the publishing industry. According to Nel huge marketing campaigns
such as the one around Harry Potter result in negligence of the literary
value and achievements of the books. Furthermore, Nel also argues
that the production of such diversified merchandise around Harry
Potter encourages “consumption for its own sake” (pг зим) and leaves
one with the notion that the book industry’s goals have shifted from
publishing high quality books to developing marketable products. A
quick examination of the HarryPotterShop.com (Harry Potter Shop,
2017) shows that consumers can buy a huge range of products – from
books and moviesб to clothingб toysб home décorб and wandsг Users
have the option to shop by character, by school, or by house

30
(Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff). This is an excellent
example of how branded readers are targeted successfully by using
the fact that they identify with book characters, places, features.

Figure 1:Art by Charlie Bowater, depicting Sarah J. Maas' characters.

(Society6, 2017)

31
 Figure 2:Art by Charlie Bowater, depicting Sarah J. Maas'
characters on a pillow. (Society6, 2017)

Figure 4:A Candle smelling as the fictional space

“шelaena’s apartment” a part of Maas’ series
“Throne of Glass” made by the brand In The Wick
Of Time (In The Wick of Time, 2017)
Figure 3 A Candle smelling as the fictional
character Rhysand - part of Maas’ series
“A шourt of thorns and roses” made by
the brand In The Wick Of Time (In The Wick
of Time, 2017)

32
 Martens (2016) defines authors such as
Sarah Jг Maas as “hybrid” writers (pглз) who
alternate between self-publishing and
traditional publishing, and who put
emphasis on self-branding. Furthermore,
Martens argues that the digital
environment requires authors to be present
Figure 5: Ravenclaw tie from
the Harry Potter Shop ( Harry and active on social media, she adds that
Potter, 2017)
compared to a few years ago marketing
has become a much more DIY (do-it-yourself) effort which successfully
compliments traditional marketing by increasing consumer awareness
on different media platforms. The actions of those writers result in
author-reader relationships which create free peer-to-peer marketing,
content related to the book, and spread eWOM (Martens, 2016).

2.6 Conclusion
In conclusion, people tend to identify with their traits, behavior, and
abilitiesб as well as with being members of a groupг “Offline” and
online identities more often do not differ from one another, and
associating with a certain identity can result in a change of behavior
and usage. Moreover, although there are different opinions on the
matter of how social media influences self-esteem, authors on both
sides agree that social media has a significant influence on the
individual self-esteem and perception. These trends and findings are
used by marketers on the social networks, often by relying on
endorsers.

Therefore, using relationship marketing, endorsers, social identity

theory, digital marketing, and peer-to-peer marketing, a new type of
“branded readers” were identifiedг The branded readers create social
identities based on the book series (Martens, 2016) and positively
influence the brand by purchasing more books, merchandise,
clothing, and by creating own content (such as fanfiction, fanart, and

33
fan profiles of book characters) which helps to further spread the
eWOMг This thesis is complimented by Wolny’s (зежл) view on e-
consumers –users want to know that their needs are observed and
satisfiedб want to feel “awarded and exceptional” (pг жкж)г It can be
concluded, that branded readers are actively participating and
influencing the creation of services and products online by expressing
their opinion. This process leads to turning branded readers into
branded prosumers.

In recent years marketers, publishers, and authors have used the

Internet, social media platforms, and the desire of users to build social
identities based on books to develop books as brands and
consequently to define and target a new type of reader – branded
reader. The social networks present an environment where publishers
can build a community around their brand or book brand and
stimulate users to do peer-to-peer marketing for free. These
communities benefit the brands also by creating eWOM and enriching
the world of the book by fan-made art, merchandise, and fanfiction.
Authors are more and more involved with social media, successfully
using it to communicate with their readers, and promote their books,
while marketers assume the roles of book characters in order to
maintain their social media accounts. The result is a change in the
roles of publishers, authors, marketers, and readers. Martens (2016)
suggests that they are all part of “a collaborative community of
participation where marketers are also authors, teens are authors and
marketers, and authors are creators and marketers” (pгмк)г

34
 3. Methodology

The purpose of this study was to research the effect that social media
marketing has on the publishing industry in Bulgaria. This study explored
the effect from two sides. Firstly, the matter is going to be researched
by looking deeper into the perceptions of the Bulgarian readers who
are active on social media. Secondly, interviews with publishers,
marketers, authors, and book bloggers were conducted in order to
determine their perception of the effect that social media marketing
has on the publishing industry in Bulgaria. It is considered that
examining the matter from all of these angles and the use of
triangulation presented a fuller picture, and brought valuable
information. The author of the study was not able to find literature
about previous research done regarding this, thus the current study
creates the possibility of building a concept and reaching conclusions
which were not possible until now.

3.1. Research Approach

The term methodology is defined as “the general logic and theoretical

perspective” (чogdan & чiklenб зеемб pгик) and it is generally
considered that three research methodologies exist: quantitative,
qualitative, and mixed-methods (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011).
Long (2014) writes that when conducting a quantitative research,
researchers tend to use “measurementб experiment and statistical
analysis” (pг4зн)б whereas the qualitative methodology suggests
answering the research questions through observation, interviews, and
content analysis. The author adds that the mixed methods are in the
middle of the other two.

The research methodology and approach for this study have been
chosen to properly fit the research aims and objectives, namely:

35
 - to research the use of social media marketing for the purposes
of the publishing industry in Bulgaria;
- to research the perceptions of the social media users in Bulgaria
towards the social media marketing efforts of publishing houses,
authors and bloggers on the social media;
- To define and explore the perceptions of managers, marketers,
publishers, book bloggers, and authors in regards to social
media marketing in Bulgaria.

In order to complete these objectives it has been decided that the

mixed methodology is adopted. It has been chosen in order to
provide more flexibility, depth of understanding and a generally
broader perspective into the research questions (Long, 2014).
Furthermore, the mixed method is combining qualitative and
quantitative methods and using both of them to draw suggestions and
conclusions. Namely, the quantitative method was used to research
the views of the social media users towards the social media
marketing of books. Whereas, qualitative method was used to
research the attitudes of the publishers, authors, bloggers towards the
social media marketing of books. Furthermore, the author made
comparisons between the opinions that the readers expressed in the
questionnaire, and those, shared in the interviews by publishers,
marketers, authors, and bloggers. It was considered that quantitative
method is appropriate for researching the opinion of the users in order
to get a general idea of what is more common among different type
of consumers. On the other hand, the qualitative method, and more
specifically, in depth interviews were considered to be better when it
comes to exploring the views of the professionals in the field, because
they presented the author with a more detailed view to the exact
situation.

The use of several research methods (qualitative and quantitative) to

cross-check the received data is defined as methodological

36
triangulation (Denzinб жомнр O’Donoghue and Punchб зееи)г When
using methodological triangulation it is suggested that one of the used
methods has to be able to sustain the study by itself (Morse, 1991). It
had been decided that it is appropriate to use methodological
triangulation for the current study as it is a combination between two
research methods which can contribute one another. Furthermore,
the primary method chosen for the study is the qualitative.

3.2. Research Questions

According to Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2006) research questions are

similar to the research problem, however they have a slightly different
role, which is to provide a framework, focus and direction to the
research. Having in mind the findings of the literature review, the
following research questions were identified:

Q1: To Research the Perceptions of the senior marketers, managers

and publishers in Bulgaria

The current study aims to gather information regarding whether

publishers and marketing managers in the publishing industry in
Bulgaria use social media marketing, and in what way. Moreover, it
aims to discover their perceptions on how successful social media
marketing is, especially when compared to traditional marketing. Also,
the study aims to discover what is their perception on the influence
that social media has over readers, and if the age of the consumers
influences their engagement with social media marketing, according
to the publishers and marketers.

Following a trend, described in the literature review, concerning the

general difficulties that professionals have with social media, the study
also seeks to find out what aspects of social media are the most
challenging for marketers and publishers, and what their opinion is on
the future of social media marketing for the publishing industry.

37
Q2: To Research the Power of Influencers on Social Media in the
Publishing Industry in Bulgaria

As it was thoroughly discussed in the literature review, it is generally

considered that social media opinion leaders have a huge influence
on their followers. Thus, the current study aims to discover what
influence book bloggers, authors, and publishers have over users
according to themselves (the users). Therefore, the following questions
were included in the self-administered survey:

 To what extent from 1 to 7 (where 1 is “doesn’t affect me at all”

and 7 is “affects me very much”) do you consider to be
affected by publications about books that you see on social
media?
 Have you purchased a book after seeing it or reading about it
on social media?
 Are you more interested in a book if someone you follow on
social media posts about it?
 To what extent on a scale of 1 to 7 (where 1 is “doesn’t affect
me at all” and 7 is “affects me very much”) does:
o the author of the book
o recommendation by a friend or a relative
o recommendation by someone you follow on social media
o recommendation by a book blogger
o recommendation by a book store affects
o an advertisement
o the book being part of a promotion
o the cover of the book
o reading an interview/article about the book or its author

affect your decision to purchase a book?

Furthermore, the influence that being part of online communities,

namely book groups, has over the reading choices of users was
38
researched. Especially, the matter of trust was researched when it
comes to recommendations coming from book groups on social
media. The degree of trust was also researched regarding
recommendation by: bloggers, publishers, authors, bookstores. The
aim of the author was to determine who the strongest influencer is
when it comes to the purchasing decisions of consumers in Bulgaria;
and who do users trust the most regarding book recommendations.

The results of those questions were later compared to the opinion of

publishers and marketers regarding the influencers on social media in
order to discover if there are differences between the expectations
and perceptions of readers and those of marketers and publishers.

Q3: To Gather and Analyze Data Regarding the Readers who use

Social Media.

Another aim of this research was to collect information regarding the

reading habits of the participants, such as: how many book do they
purchase yearly; which social media networks do they use, and how
often; do they follow authors/book bloggers/publishing
houses/bookstores on social media; where do they read book reviews,
etc. This information was important in order to enable the author of the
study to research the possible connections between the reading
habits of the participants and their perception of influence on social
media.

Furthermore, the relations between the answers of different questions

were explored. Kothari (2004) writes that when a researcher has the
data on two variablesб it is said that s/he has a “bivariate population”б
while if the data is on more than two variables the population is
multivariate. What is more, Kothari suggests that researchers often
desire to know the relation of two and/or more variables to one
another. For example, for the current study the relation between the
ages of the participants and if they have purchased a book after
39
seeing/ reading about it on social media, is of interest. Although there
are a few methods that can be used to discover the relationship
between variablesб “no method can tell us for certain that a
correlation is indicative of causal relationshipг “(Kothariб зее4б pгжин)г
Kothari suggests that in order to determine if a causal relationship is
present the following questions should be answered:

1. Is there a correlation between two or more variables? To what

degree?
2. Does there exist a “cause and effect relationship” between the
variables? If yes, to what degree and in which direction?

In case the researched variables are in nominal form, Kothari suggests

that a cross tabulation approach is used to determine relationship
between them. After the variables are classified into different
categories, they are searched for interactions between them, those
interactions can be symmetrical, reciprocal or asymmetrical (Kothari,
2004). In case the two variables vary together there is a symmetrical
relationship present; when two variables mutually influence or
strengthen each other the relationship between them is reciprocal;
lastly, asymmetrical relationship exists when the independent variable
is responsible for the dependent variable (Kothari, 2004 ).

One of the objectives of this research was to test the relationship

between:

(1) Influence of opinion leaders, and on how many social networks

the user was active
(2) Influence of opinion leaders, and number of books purchased
yearly
(3) Influence of opinion leaders, and the importance of the physical
body/cover of the book

40
It is considered that the exploration of those and other relationships, as
well as the general purchasing and reading habits of the participants
of the study has provided valuable information to the businesses and
researches in the field, as no previous academic research has been
found on the subject.

3.3. Sample

Kothari (2004) defines seven points to be taken under consideration,

while designing a sampling design:

1. Type of universe – the researcher should determine if the

universe is infinite or finite.
2. Sampling unit – can be geographical, construction, social or
individual.
3. Source list – in case of finite universe, the source list should
contain the names of all “items of a universe” (pг кн)г
4. Size of sample – “the number of items to be selected from the
universe to constitute a sample” (pг кн)г Kothari writes that the
researcher should aim towards “optimum” sample sizeб which is
an efficient, representative, reliable, and flexible sample. When
deciding on the size of the sample one should keep in mind
what the size of the population is.
5. Parameters of interest – when creating sample designs the
researcher should consider the parameters of the population
which will be of interest in the analysis.
6. Budgetary constraint
7. Sampling procedure – different types of sampling designs exist,
based on the representation basis and the element selection
technique.

There are two sampling designs on the representation basis:

probability sampling and non-probability sampling (Kothari, 2004).
Probability sampling is defined with random selection, while non-
41
probability with “non-random” samplingг In non-probability sampling
the researcher deliberately selects all items of the sample. Probability
sampling or “random sampling” is known for the equal chance of
inclusion in the sample that every item has. Kothari (2004) writes that
probability sampling is considered the best technique of selecting a
representative sample because the errors of estimation or the
significance of results can be measured. Teddlie and Yu (2007) write
that one of the benefits of the mixed method is that it allows the
researcher to express creativity by combining the sampling methods
which best relate to the research questions. For this particular study, it
was decided that a probability sampling will be used in the
quantitative method, and non-probability sampling in the qualitative
sampling.

Two samples will be defined and chosen for this research – one of the
qualitative and one for the quantitative part.

3.3.1. Quantitative Sample Group

First, the quantitative sample will be described. The type of universe for
it is considered to be infinite as there is not an exact documented list
of people in Bulgaria using social media; furthermore the number of
users is constantly changing. The sampling unit chosen is geographical
– Bulgaria. Moreover, the target population of this research will consist
of Bulgarian citizens, between 18 and 74 years of age, who are active
on social media, and read fiction or non-fiction literature, regardless of
their gender, education, or employment. For this sample a probability
sampling approach is chosen. The quantitative sample groups is so
broad in order to be able to capture a wide specter of individuals and
show generalized results.

3.3.2. Qualitative Sample Group

42
Second, the participants in the qualitative survey will be chosen from
the finite universe of publishers, book bloggers and authors in Bulgaria,
therefore a non-random sampling will be used. The interviewees will
be selected by the researcher because the judgmental sampling
method is found to be suitable for the qualitative research (Marshall,
1996; Saunders et al, 2009).

All of the interviewees should possess knowledge and experience in

the researched field. It was decided that in order to collect opinions
and views from different players in the field and examine more angles
– interviews with publishers, book bloggers, authors, and bookshops will
be collected.

Interviewee № Position

Interviewee №1 Sales director in one of the biggest publishing

houses in Bulgaria
Interviewee №2 Owner of a boutique publishing house in
Bulgaria
Interviewee №3 Advertising and PR in a Bulgarian publishing
house
Interviewee №4 Self-published writer
Interviewee №5 Book blogger and founder of Bulgarian online
media about culture
Interviewee №6 Publisher and Editor in a small publishing house
in Bulgaria. The publishing house is associated
with a large bookstore chain.
Interviewee №7 Marketing, PR & Sales Director at one of the
biggest publishing houses in Bulgaria
Table 3: Interviewees and their position.

A recent survey by the National Statistical Institute in Bulgaria (2017)

found out that 58.1% of the population between 16 and 74 years of

43
age use Internet daily or at least once a week. Out of them, 75.4% are
active on social media. This means that approximately 2 million
Bulgarians are active on social media on a weekly basis. Having those
figures in mind it is considered that a sample size between 100 to 150
for the quantitative survey, and a sample size between 5 and 10 for
the qualitative are sufficient.

3.4. Data Collection

Quantitative data was collected through online based self-

administered questionnaires, distributed using email and social media
platforms such as Facebook. It was chosen that Google forms are
used to host the questionnaire because of its user friendly interfaceб it’s
popularity in Bulgaria, and because it enables the researcher to
download the data in a suitable for later analysis format.

Furthermore, considering the specifics of the population of the survey,

Facebook groups for readers in Bulgaria were used in order to obtain
a higher quality data. It was considered that collecting data online
was suitable for this survey as its sample should consist of people who
are active on social media. Furthermore, it offers more flexibility, saves
time and can create a snowball effect. When conducting online
surveys the snowballing method, in which the initial participant of the
survey sends it to another one, and so on, is considered to be
particularly convenient (Teddlie and Yu, 2007; Marshall, 1996).

However, there are some ethical issues which might occur when the
snowball effect is present. In order to reduce the risk, the questionnaire
started with a note to the participants about the aim of the research,
their rights, a consent form and more information about how the data
will be processed and used. Phillips et al. (2013) write that although it is
not guaranteed that the participants in the survey will answer
objectivelyб when the survey is “developedб administeredб and

44
analyzed appropriately” (pгжк) the information gathered with a self-
administered survey can be reliable.

The data for the qualitative survey was collected through interviews
conducted by the author of the study with managers, marketers,
publishers working in the publishing industry and with authors who are
using social media to promote their books. Although the interviewer
had a specific set of questions, during the conversation additional
ones may arise (Phillips et al., 2013). A more limited number of
questions will be asked as there are some time limitations. The
interview questions are listed in the Appendix B.

3.5. Questionnaire design

The questionnaire should be properly designed in order to achieve a

high response rate. Holbrook et al. (2006) advise that the questions are
kept as short as possible. Also, Lietz (2010) suggests that active, rather
than passive voice is used, and the complexity of the grammatical
structure is kept as low as possible. Furthermore, the author
recommends avoiding the so-called “double-barreled” (pгзки)
questions in order to avoid confusion and incorrect data. Authors
(Weems et al. 2002; Foddy, 1993) agree that negatively worded
questions or statements should also be avoided due to the higher time
respondents need to process and answer them.

The self-administered questionnaire was thematically divided in three

parts. The first part included general questions about the use of social
media, reading and book purchasing habits as well as information on
whether the participants follow authors/publishing houses/book
bloggers/bookstores on social media. This part aims to provide
valuable information on how active readers and social media users
the participants in the study are. Furthermore, the data from this part

45
was used to compare, contrast and divide the answers of the
participants into several groups, which would make the analysis easier.
For example, to determine the extent to which the participants trusted
book bloggers on social media they were divided into two groups –
those who answered that they followed book bloggers, and those
who gave a negative answer to that question.

The second part of the questionnaire was concentrated on the effect

of social media marketing. It included Likert seven-point scale
questions regarding the rate of trust and influence that book bloggers/
authors/ publishing houses/ bookstores/ friends and relatives/
advertisements/ promotions/ book covers have on the purchasing
and reading choices of the participants. The reasoning behind asking
about the extent of trust is that trust is considered the most important
element of relationship marketing. It also included two questions
directly researching if the consumer has purchased a book after being
exposed to it on social media. Furthermore, the relation of the
participants towards book groups on social media was explored. Also,
the consumers had to answer a question on their reason/s for following
publishers and writers on social media. The goal of the second part of
the questionnaire was to give a more precise idea of the perceived
power of influence that book bloggers, publishers, authors, and book
groups have on social media, according to the participants in the
study.

The last part of the questionnaire consisted of questions about the

demographics of the participants. More specifically, their gender,
age, educational degree, country of residence and employment
were asked. Those questions also allowed the author to further divide
into groups the participants and test whether gender, age, and
education played any role in the reading, purchasing and trust
preferences of the participants.

46
The Summated Scale or Likert-type Scale was used to design the
questions which concerned the trust, influence, and affect that
different factors have on the participants. The summated scales use a
number of statements which express a favorable and unfavorable
attitude towards the given object (Kothari, 2004). In this study a scale
with seven points is used. Each of those points has a score, by
responding to the question, the participants indicate the degree of
trust or influence that the object has on him/her (Kothari, 2004). For
example, the most trusted is given the highest score of 7, while the
least trusted is given the score of 1. A scale value is given to all of the
seven responses, resulting in a total score for each responded, which
would enable the researcher to measure the respondent’s
favorableness toward the given point of view (Kothari, 2004).

To sum up, in total, there were 43 questions in the self-administered

questionnaire, not including the consent form:

- 9 Yes/No questions;
- 14 Multiple choice questions;
- 17 Likert Seven-point scale questions;
- Three Open ended questions.

The full questionnaire is attached in the Appendix A.

3.6. Data Analysis

Sandelowski (2000) suggests that when using the mixed method, by

combining qualitative and quantitative methods, it is best to analyze
each data individually, using the technique best suited for that type of
research. Thus, the collected quantitative data from the self-
administered questionnaires due to its specifics was analyzed using
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Whereas, the
qualitative data gathered from the interviews was transcribed and

47
translated by the author, and later analyzed for any key findings
concerning the research objectives, using narrative analysis.

3.6.1. Quantitative Data Analysis

After the data was downloaded from Google Forms it was transferred
for further analysis in SPSS using descriptive statistics and statistical test.
Kleinbaum et alг (зеен) defines descriptive statistics as aп “…single
numerical measure computed from the set of data that is designed to
describe particular aspect or characteristic of the data set” (pг жк)г
Moreover, an analysis of variance – ANOVA was used to test if the
difference between two or more means is significant (Mertler and
Vannatta, 2002). Also cross tab was used when testing two nominal
variables, and Chi square to determine if the difference is statistically
significant. Furthermore, to test the relationships between two
variables Correlation Analysis was used. One way ANOVA and
Independent T-test were used to determine the means for the Likert-
scale questions.

3.6.2. Qualitative Data Analysis

The data collected, using the qualitative method, was classified and
categorized in different areas in accordance with the research
questions and objectives. Furthermore, content and thematic method
analysis was used. According to Smith and Firth (2011) the content
and thematic method helps the researcher to create themes and
provide insights in the researched matter via description and
interpretation of the opinions and views of the participants.

48
4 Data Analysis and Findings
The following chapter discusses the findings of the study in detail,
presented as per the research objectives of the study. Also, a summary
of the results is presented as well as a comparison between the
findings and the theoretical frameworks discussed in the literature
review. Furthermore, the significance, usability and transferability of
the results were assessed.

The study used mixed methods by combining qualitative and

quantitative methods. The quantitative survey was done using a self-
administered questionnaire, distributed online. One hundred and fifty
responses were collected. The purpose of the questionnaires was to
collect information on the views of the Bulgarian readers who are
active on social media regarding their reading and book purchasing
habits, as well as their attitude towards influencers on social media.

4.1 Qualitative Survey Results

The qualitative research was done by conducting seven interviews
with professionals from the publishing industry in Bulgaria. They were
handpicked by the author of the study in order to have a general
view of the different participants in the market – publishers, marketers,
authors, owners, and bloggers. All of the interviewees have
professional experience in the publishing sphere. Among the
publishers, interviewees were chosen from publishing houses with
different sizes – two were from big publishing houses, one from medium
sized, and two from small/boutique publishing houses. This was done
so that comparison between the social media strategies used
between small and big publishing houses can be made.

The aim of the qualitative research was to gather information about

the views of the interviewees toward the use of social media
marketing for the publishing industry in Bulgaria, as well as their opinion
on the amount of influence social media has over the Bulgarian

49
readers. As mentioned in the previous chapters, the review of the
literature showed that although marketers and managers consider
social media marketing to be important, they rarely succeed in using it
to its fullest. Thus, the qualitative survey was directly linked with the first
research objective, namely – to collect data and gain deeper
knowledge about the understanding of social media marketing that
publishers, marketing seniors in the Bulgarian publishing industry have.

4.1.1 Use of Social Media Marketing

All of the interviewees use social media marketing in their
communication strategy. They described social media marketing as:
powerful (Interviewees 7, 1), effective (7), perspective (1), pointed out
as a benefit that it is free of charge (Interviewees 5, 4). Interviewee 4
shared that as a self-published author social media give him freedom
to communicate with his target audience without the need of a
middle-man, plus makes it easier for him to create a word-of-mouth
effect. Most of the interviewees (7, 2, 6, 3) specifically mentioned that
social media is “the place to be” because the readers are thereг

“Our publishing house has its own page in many of them (social
networks), where our faithful readers regularly follow the information
we share.”

(Interviewee №6)

“The book conversations today are happening in the social media,

the rest of the media is ignoring books as an uninteresting theme.”

(Interviewee №3)

As for the most commonly used tactics the following summary can be
made:

- High quality pictures (Interviewees 5, 4, 3, 7, 1);

- Paid Advertising (Interviewees 5, 3, 7, 1);

50
 - Online groups and communities (Interviewees 5, 3, 1, 2);

- News stories (Interviewees 1, 2, 5, 7);

- Games (Interviewees 3, 7) ;

- Events (Interviewees 1, 7);

- Personal attitude (Interviewees 2, 6);

- Opinion leaders (Interviewee 4).

Although at a later moment all of the publishers admitted to working

with bloggers none of them described this as a social media
marketing tactic in the beginning. This can be interpreted as a poor
understanding of social media marketing and a lack of a general
strategy which includes endorsers. While some of the interviewees
describes paid advertising as the most successful social media tactic
(Interviewees №3, 5, 7):

“Competition for book reviews in the country is enormous and even

channels with thousands of followers are not as effective as choosing
the audience yourself and paying to reach it.”

(Interviewee №5)

Others shared a rather negative attitude towards it (Interviewees №1,

4) and stated that they prefer organic post and try to achieve word-
of-mouth effect by producing quality content.

“Our view is that advertisement makes the posts look intrusive, makes
them less attractive and creates a certain resistance in a part of our
target audience.”

(Interviewee №1)

51
4.1.2 Perception of Success of Social Media Marketing
compared to Traditional Marketing
When it comes to how successful social media marketing is, when
compared with traditional marketing, almost all of the participants
(Interviewees №2, 4, 5, 6, 7) stated that in their opinion and experience
social media marketing is more successful than traditional marketing.
Only two Interviewees (№1, 3) stated that their marketing strategy is a
combination of social media marketing and traditional marketing and
therefore they do not separate them when measuring the success of a
campaign.

The participants in the survey were also asked whether they had a
clear division in their social media marketing and traditional marketing
strategies. All of the participants who answered this question stated
that they realize the necessity of traditional marketing, mainly because
there are consumers who do not use social media. However,
Interviewee №2 did not have a clear division between social media
marketing and traditional marketing due to lack of budget.
Interviewees №4, 7, and 6 state that they had a clear division
between social media and traditional marketing. While, Interviewees
№1 and 3 shared that they run both together, so that social media
and traditional marketing can help and complement each other.

To conclude the arch of social media versus traditional marketing,

interviewees were asked if they could rely solely on social media
marketing. Most of them stated that they could rely solely on social
media marketing (Interviewees №2, 4, 5, 6), and the rest (Interviewees
№1, 3, 7) said that they could not. The trend that has shaped here is
that marketers working for bigger publishing houses think they could
not rely solely on social media, while those working in a smaller
publishing house think they could. This could be easily connected with
the budget differences and the size and specifics of the targeted
audience. Another valuable input mentioned by Interviewees №1, 3,

52
4, 7, 6 is that it highly depends on the target audience of the
publishing house. If it consists of younger people then social media
marketing is sufficient. On the other hand, if the audience is older,
then traditional marketing should be used. Interviewees №1 and 2
mentioned that in their observations in recent years more older people
are joining the social networks.

4.1.3 Difficulties with Social Media Marketing

Although the participants were in managerial positions and have
experience in the industry almost all of them admitted to having
difficulties when doing social media marketing. Interviewees №2 and 1
even suggested that most of their marketing initiatives are based on
instinct gathered in their years of experience. The described difficulties
were:

- Keeping up with the constant updates in the algorithms,

functions (Interviewees №2, 3);

- Paid advertising (Interviewees №2, 4);

- Conversion between social media page and website/purchase

(Interviewees №1, 7).

Other difficulties that were mention were: remarketing (1), choosing

the most optimal mechanism for influence (2), building trust (4), and
fighting the competition (4), especially when it comes to differences in
the budget size. Interviewees 5 and 6 reported to have no difficulties
when conducting social media marketing.

4.1.4 Measuring and Effectiveness of Social Media

Marketing
All of the interviewees stated that they find Facebook to be the most
effective means of online communication with their target audience,
with two of them (Interviewee №5, 3) mentioning that Instagram is
becoming more popular recently. When it comes to noticing an

53
increase in the sales after a social media campaign Interviewees №2,
3, 4, 6, 7 stated that they have measured such an increase, while
Interviewee 1 shared that they do not measure the effect of their
social media campaigns. The suggestion that social media marketing
is the most successful when an already established community exists
(Criswell and Canty, 2014) is also made by Interviewee №2:

“My most successful campaigns (…) are a compilation of short stories

with more than 20 authors – this means that there is a bigger audience
which may be interested. I think this was the reason for their success,
which was later increased by the character and qualities of the books.
After we used paid advertisement with both of the books, we had a 10
times increase of sales through the website. We used the same
strategy with other books, which have the same literary value, but only
had one author, (…), the effect was almost none.”

(Interviewee №2)

4.1.5 Communication with Target Audience via Social

Media Marketing
As discussed in the review of the literature, nowadays marketing has
shifted towards building relationships rather than achieving
transactions. The results from the survey showed that this trend has not
bypassed the Bulgarian publishing industry. Both marketers from big
and small publishing houses pointed out the importance of
developing meaningful relationships with their readers. However, both
of the researched boutique publishing houses specifically focused on
building relationships with their customers:

“(…) is a boutique publishing house which by its design counts on the

direct connection with its readers. In time even people who were
strangers online, became close friends with whom we share common
values. (…)There are tens of cases when our readers have come
across our books by accident but in time have developed a strong

54
relationship in a different level – they are our subscribers now, and in
many cases even personal friends. I think, many big publishing houses
cannot afford such type of communication, it is not possible for them –
it is an option only for a boutique, small publishing house with
uncommercial books with strong human messages. “

(Interviewee №2)

“We rely entirely on personal attitude. Our publishing house is small, so

we can talk about the books we choose first-person. We often tell our
personal stories with them - how we liked and chose them.”

(Interviewee №6)

Furthermore, Interviewee №6 shared that in their view social networks

bring them closer to their readers and that they have noted that their
readers appreciate the most when they express their personal opinion
and attitude towards books. Interviewee №2 supported this statement
by saying that:

“My way is more personal, I like telling the audience about books and
authors that I like, and the way I feel about them. It is important to me
that I do not praise the book too much, but rather tell about it in an
honest way, share what fascinates me in literature – and usually it is
the same as the books that I publish.”

While bigger publishing houses also mentioned that social media allow
them an “almost instant communication” (Interviewee №3) with their
readers they did not stress so much on building relationships.
Furthermore, Interviewee №3 pointed out “creating communities with
common interests” (on Facebook) as one of the publishing house
main strategies in its social media strategy. Interviewee №1 also
reported that supporting a few Facebook groups is an important part
of their strategy.

55
In the literature review the trend of publishers, marketers, and authors
to assume new roles in order to build stronger relationships with their
readers (Martens, 2016) were discussed. An analysis of the interviews
showed that this trend can be observed in the Bulgarian market as
well. Interviewee №6 shares that they often create video reviews for
their new books in order to engage with their target audience, thus
taking the role of reviewers, bloggers, and journalists. Another example
is Interviewee №4 who is a self-published author and has taken the role
of a marketer in order to promote his books alone. Interviewees №1
shared that the employees of their publishing house would often be
guests in TV and radio programs, as well as take part and organize civil
initiatives – this leads to them being viewed as “creators or useful
content, opinion leaders, and people with independent and bold
positions”г

Apart from the communication between publisher and consumer,

another vital relationship was mentioned in all the interviews – that
between publisher and blogger. All of the interviewed publishers
shared that building healthy, mutually beneficial relationships with
bloggers is important for them. What is more, publishers share that their
relations with bloggers are not based on any financial stimuli, but
rather the publishers provide free books without any obligation on the
side of the blogger to actually write a review or publishing something
about the book. Moreover, Interviewee №3 shares that in the case
that a blogger receives money from another publishing house to write
reviews for their books, they would seize working with him due to the
possible harm that a connection with him can bring to their brand. This
statement leads to the conclusion that the marketer realizes the link
between the credibility of the brand and the credibility of the
endorsers that it works with (Elberse & Verleun, 2012), and thus the
damage that a dishonest endorser can cause.

56
“…we try to have a healthy relationship with bloggers based on
friendships. Book bloggers are an important part of our friends circle.”

(Interviewee №1)

From the self-published author point of view relationships with bloggers

are also vital, they are seen as a way of non-direct communication
with the readers, therefore it is important that the relationship stays
personal and honest.

“It is very important for me how the blogger will write about my book –
I want it to be sincere, natural and completely voluntary.”

(Interviewee №4)

4.1.6 Perception of Influence of Social Media Marketing.

Target Audience Age Differences
As examined in the literature review self-identification, participation in
online communities and groups, and opinion leaders tend to have a
strong influence over the reading and purchasing decisions of
consumers. Furthermore, the effect of the target audiences’ age was
debated. It was pointed out that marketers should use different types
of media when communicating with younger prospects as compared
to with older. This study aimed to research the perception of the
interviewees toward those matters.

The results showed that all but one of the interviewees consider that
readers are influenced by social media marketing. Furthermore,
publishers and marketers realize the importance of opinion leaders
and communities online. The role of Facebook groups was specifically
pointed out by the interviewees. Interviewee №5 shared that
according to him, in Bulgaria there are many well developed groups
where thousands of readers are gathered together, which makes it
the best place to promote a book.

57
“I think that the mass reader is greatly influenced, I would say to the
extreme, by social networks marketing. Certain books that would
otherwise be dusting on bookstore shelves sell thousands of copies
(…). Nowadays, the brand of the publishing house, the cover (of the
book), and most of all, which of the opinion leaders praises a certain
title, sell more than anything else.”

(Interviewee №5)

“(…) readers are mostly influenced by Facebook groups and mutual

recommendations.”

(Interviewee №1)

“… чulgarian consumers are affected by publications on social media

to a huge degree. There are some very successful marketing models,
for example the Facebook group „Какво ете ?“ , which gathers
together many readers and has turned into a powerful tool for
influence.

(Interviewee №2)

Furthermore, Interviewee №2 shares that according to them not

having a Facebook page or a Goodreads article for your book would
leave you on the side.

However, Interviewees №6 and №4 share a view that although

consumers are generally affected the amount of influence depends
highly on the individual.

“It depends on readers. There are those who are completely

influenced by what they see. There are also readers who believe in
their taste and do not succumb to the opinions and advertising
campaigns they see online.”

(Interviewee №6)

58
Although most of the interviewees pointed out Facebook groups and
communities as one of the most successful ways of influencing the
consumers in the social networks, only Interviewee №4 connected
online communities with self-identification, and reading as an
expression of self and an acquisition of social status.

“Reading is a kind of subculture on social networks; many people

identify themselves with reading and with the books that they read.
Reading to some extent has become an attribute, even something to
brag about. Book groups on Facebook made reading popular -
making it an expression of status. Sometimes it's not even the book
itself, you may not have read it, but you want to communicate, so you
post something about it to get in, and be accepted into the
community.”

(Interviewee №4)

The review of the literature led to the conclusion that brands should
adopt social media marketing in order to fully communicate and
connect with their younger target audiences. Thus, when it comes to
how age determines marketing strategy all of the interviewees shared
that they have noticed differences connected with the age of their
target audience. Interviewee №4 states that people perceive and use
social networks differently in correspondence to their age. Interviewee
№6 shares that the younger readers are more active on social media
making the communication with them easier. Furthermore,
Interviewee №5 comments that younger readers have a better
understanding of how to communicate online while older consumers
are often “illiterate” of how they should behave in the social networksг
Interviewees №2 and 3 also share that the differences in the attitude
towards social media based on age has made them use different
methods of communication in order to reach the older readers.

59
“Each book is a strongly specific product with different target
audience. For some books social media is enough for communication
but others need to be presented using traditional media in order to
reach their target audience. (…) The influence depends on the
publishing house and its main audience. Publishing houses for teen
and young adult literature find their audience mainly online, so the
way that they communicate with it on the social media is extremely
important.”

(Interviewee №3)

4.1.7 Future of Marketing for the Publishing Industry

Most of the interviewees (№2, 4, 5, 6, 7) share that in their opinion the
future of the marketing for the publishing industry is online in social
media and other digital channels. Interviewee 1 shares his opinion that
the field for future development in Bulgaria is huge, mainly due to the
lack of specific knowledge in the field. Furthermore, he points out the
lack of scientific research on the topic and the lack of professional
literature in Bulgarian and in the Bulgarian market as a whole.

4.2 Quantitative Survey

4.2.1 Demographics
There were 150 respondents who took part in this study, the answers of
149 of them will be analyzed as they completed all of the questions in
the research. Out of those 149, 77.9% (116) were women, and 21.5%
(32) were men. 64.4% of them are between 18 and 35 years of age. 51
of them or almost 1/3 were between 18 and 25 years of age. 59.1% of
the respondents had a Master’s degree or higherб зогк% of them had
a Bachelor Degree and 11.4% had Secondary education. 89.9% were
living in Bulgaria in the moment when they took the survey, while 8.7%
were living in a country part of the EU (excluding Bulgaria), and 1.3%
were living in a different country.
60
 In order for the data to be easier for analysis some variables from open
ended questions like “age” were transformed into groupsг The answers
for age were separated into four groups: (1) From 18 to 25 years of
age, (2) From 26 to 35, (3) From 36 to 56, and (4) From 57 to 80. These
groups will be used in the later analysis in order to receive a more
clear perspective. The Cross Tab test was used to present the relation
between the age and gender of the respondents.

Gender
Rather
Age Female Male not say
Total
18 - 25 38 12 1 51
26 - 35 37 8 0 45
36 - 56 38 11 0 49
57 - 80 3 1 0 4
Total 116 32 1 149

Table 4: Demographics of the participants in the study.

Education
Primary
Education
0%
Secondary
Education
11%

Bachelor
Degree Master's
29.5% Degree or
higher
59.1%

Figure 6: Educational Degree of the participants.

61
4.2.2 Use of Social Media
When the respondents were asked to participate in the survey it was
specifically requested that only individuals who are active on social
media do. Therefore it should be presumed that all participants are to
some degree active on social media.

When they were asked how often they used social media, 48.3% of the
respondents answered “Throughout the whole day”б and 4м%
answered “A couple of times a day”б иг4% said “Several times a
week”г Therefore it can be presumed that окги% of the respondents
are active on the social media on a daily basis. The participants of the
survey were also asked on which social media they were active; they
could select more than one answer. As predicted Facebook was the
most popular (95,3%), followed by YouTube (59.7%), and Instagram
(38.9%). Goodreads.com the book related social media was the fourth
with 33.6% of the participants active there.
160
142
140

120

100 89

80
58
60 50

40
21
16 14
20

0
On which Social Media are you active

Facebook YouTube Instagram Goodreads Twitter Snapchat Tumblr

Figure 7: Number of participants active on each social media.

The respondents were also asked if they followed any book bloggers,
authors, publishing houses and bookstores on social media.

62
 Respondents following:
Yes No
73,20%
66,40%
60,40%
50,30% 49,70%

39,60%
33,60%
26,80%

Book Bloggers Bulgarian Publishing Bookstores Book Authors

Houses
Figure 8: Percentage of respondents following bloggers, publishing houses, bookstores and
authors on social media.

As it can be seen from the graph, according to the participants in the

study, the most followed on social media, are book authors with 73%,
bookstores with 66,4%, and publishing houses with 60,4%. Only half of
the respondents state that they follow book bloggers on social media.
Moreover, participants were asked of the reasons why they followed
publishers and authors on social media, more than one answer was
possible. The most of the participants (75,2%) said that they followed
publishers and authors in order to “keep up to date with the latest
books”б the second most popular answerб chosen by half of the
participants was “to get book recommendations”б 4зби% answered
that they do it to “show appreciation for a favorite author”б жнбн%
answered that they “want to be part of a community”б and жиб4%
answered that they wanted to “participate in promotions”б only жжб4%
answered that they are showing appreciation for a favorite brand.

Also, participants were asked if they were a part of a book group on

social media. Only 32,2% of them stated that they were not, while
ккбм% answered “Yes”б and жзбж% answered “Yesб in more than one”г

63
Thus, 101 of the 149 or 67,8% of the participants were part of a book
group on social media.

Are you a part of a book group on social

media?
Yes, in more
than one
12%

No
32% Yes
56%

Figure 9: Percentage of respondents who are members of book groups on social media.

4.2.3 Reading Preferences, Habits, and Book Purchasing

Behavior
Respondents were asked approximately how many book they
purchased yearly. As it was an open ended question, the answers
were divided in six groups so that the later analysis was easier. The
answers were grouped as follows: (1) from 1 to 10 books purchased
yearly; (2) from 11 to 15 books; (3) from 16 to 20 books; (4) from 21 to
30 books; (5) from 31 to 50 books; (6) from 51 to 99 books; (7) from 100
to 150 books. 62 of the respondents answered that they purchase
between 1 and 10 books yearly. Approximately the same amount of
respondents (between 18 and 24) fit in groups 2, 3, 4, and 5. Only 7
respondents answered that they purchase between 51 and 150 books
yearly, however that group of respondents could be particularly
interesting because of the large quantities of books that it purchases.

64
Furthermore, a CrossTab test was run to check the relation between
the age of the respondents and the approximate number of books
they purchase yearly.

Relation between the age of the respondents and the approximate

number of books they purchase yearly
Books purchased yearly
1-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-99 100-150 Tot
al
Age
18-25 27 5 10 4 4 0 1 51
26-35 16 7 8 6 6 1 1 45
36-56 19 6 5 9 5 2 2 48
57-80 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 4
Total 62 18 24 20 17 3 4 148
Table 5: Relation between the age of the respondents and the approximate number of books they purchase
yearly.

Participants were also asked what literature they purchased more

often. 113 (76,8%) of them said that they buy fiction more often, while
34 (24,2%) chose nonfiction. It was also researched whether the
respondents buy books online – мкбз% of them answered with “Yes”б
while з4бн% with “No”г Participants were also asked if they read e-
books; 71,8% of them answered with “Yes”б while знбз% with “No”г
Furthermore, One-way ANOVA test was used to determine the relation
between the respondents’ age and their preferences when it comes
to traditional, electronic and audio books. 81,2% answered that they
preferred traditional books, 16,1% - e-books, and only 2,7% said that
they prefer audio books. In the review of the literature the topic was
discussed, citing research which stated that younger readers preferred
traditional books as opposed to e-books, probably because they
allow them to explore the book world without any technological
distractions (Martens, 2012). The results of the current study support this

65
thesis. As it can be seen from the table below, the respondents who
were in age group (1) mostly chose traditional books, both age groups
(2) and (3) have a higher number of answers for e-books.

Preferred type of Age Total

Book 18-25 26-35 36-56 57-80
Audio Books 2 1 1 0 4
E-books 5 12 6 1 24
Traditional 44 32 42 3 121
books
Total 51 45 49 4 149
Table 6п Relation between the preferred book type and the respondents’ ageг

When asked if they have purchased a book after seeing it or reading

about it on social media 128 (85,9%) of the respondents answered with
“Yes”. Almost half of the respondents (49%) admit that they are more
interested in a book if someone that they follow on social media post
about it, only 22,1% answered that they were not more interested,
while 28,9% could not say how this affected them. Participants were
also asked if they take part in book related giveaways or other
promotions on social mediaб the majority (4к%) answered “No”б
followed by “sometimes” (знбо%)б “whenever I like the reward” (жлбн%)б
and lastly only об4% answered with “yes”г

The following chard gives more insight on the reading and purchasing
behavior of the participants in the study.

66
 Reading and Purchasing Behavior
Yes No

85,90% 81,90% 85,90%

75,20% 71,80%

24,80% 28,20%
14,10% 18,10% 14,10%

Do you purchase Do you read e-books Do you Do you buy books in Have you purchased
books online? ? read/watch/listen languages other a book after being
book reviews? than Bulgarian? exposed to in on
social media?

Figure 10: Reading and Purchasing behavior of the respondents.

4.2.4 Influence different factors had over the respondents

The second research objective of this study was to find out the amount
of perceived influence different factors had over the respondents’
interest toward a book, their purchasing behavior, as well as how
much do they trust the different players in the publishing industry.

The respondents were asked a series of questions in order to determine

the degree to which certain things affect their decision to purchase a
book. Likert scale questions were used, following the pattern:

“To what extent on a scale of 1 to 7 (where 1 is “it does not affect me

at all” and 7 is “it affects me very much”) does:

 the author of the book;

 recommendation by a friend or a relative;

 recommendation by someone you follow on social media;

 recommendation by a book store;

 recommendation by a book blogger;

 advertisement;

67
  being part of a promotion;

 reading an interview/article about it;

affects your decision to purchase a book?”

The results from the survey show that the respondents have rated that
they are affected the highest by the author of the book with a mean
of 5,35, followed closely by recommendation by a friend or relative with
a mean of 5,33. Participants have rated highly also the extent to which
they are affected by interviews and articles – 4,82; and getting a
recommendation from someone they follow on social media with a
mean of 4,21. The results from the other questions can be seen in the
table below.

Factor of Influence Mean

The author of the book 5,35

Recommendation by a friend or a relative 5,33
Recommendation by someone you follow on social media 4,21
Recommendation by a book store 3,56
Advertisement 3,34
Being part of a promotion 3,86
Reading an interview/article about it 4,82
The cover of the book 3,97
Recommendation by a book blogger 3,70
Table 7: Influence of different factors over the respondents.

Participants have rated advertisements more than two points below

the highest rated factors, and below the middle of the scale. If 3,5 is
the middleб then the result of иби4 is more likely to mean “not affected”
than “affected”г

68
It can be observed that recommendation coming from book bloggers
were also rated low, slightly above the middle, with a mean of 3,70.
However, having in mind that only approximately 50% of the
respondents followed book bloggers on social media an Independent
T- test was run in order to analyze the mean of respondents who follow
book bloggers separately from those who do not.

Number of
Follow bloggers participants Mean
(N)
Affected by Yes 75 4,33
recommendation by No 74 3,05
bloggers
(Rated from 1 to 7)
Table 8: Extent to which respondents are affected by book bloggers on social media.

As it can be seen from the table respondents who answered that they
follow book bloggers on social media have rated the
recommendation coming from them with a mean of 4,33, which is
much higher than the total mean of all the participants in the study.
The same test was run also to examine the relation between
respondent’s following an author or a book store and how they rate
the influence authors and stores have on their purchasing decisions. In
both cases the results show that individuals who follow an author or a
book store on social media tend to be more influenced by them when
making a purchasing decision.

Follow author N Mean Table 9: Extent to which

the respondents are
Affected by the Yes 109 5,40 affected by the author.

author No 40 5,15

69
 Follow book store N Mean Table 10: Extent to which
the respondents are
affected by bookstores.
Recommendation Yes 99 3,61
from book store No 50 3,48

Then One-way ANOVA test was used to examine how the age of the
respondents affected their answers. The results showed that age group
2 (between 26 and 35 years of age) had a higher mean in the
influence of all of the tested factors, apart from the book being part of
a promotion, where age group 1(18-25) has a higher mean, and apart
from the influence that reading an interview/article has, where age
group 4 (57-80) has a mean of 5,50. An example can be seen in the
table below, showing one of the tested factors – how
recommendations from a friend or a relative influence the purchasing
decision. As it can be seen age group 2 had a much higher mean
(5,69), compared to the total mean, and to that of the other groups.
The tables showing the relation between the age of the respondents
and all the tested factors can be found in the appendix.

Recommendation from a friend or relative vs. age

Age of the respondents N Mean

18-25 51 5,18
26-35 45 5,69
36-56 49 5,24
57-80 4 4,25
Total 149 5,33

Table 11: Extent to which the respondents are affected by

recommendations from friends and relatives.

70
Another criterion which was used to examine the influence that those
factors have on the respondents purchasing decisions was their
gender. The findings of the survey show that all of the factors, apart
from the importance of the physical body of the book, tend to have a
higher influence over women, when compared to men. When the
factors were examined in more detail, it was observed that according
to the men, participating in the research, advertisement has no effect
(with a mean of 2,97) over their purchasing decision.

Respondent’s gender N Mean

Affected by recommendation by someone they follow Men 32 3,78

on social media Women 116 4,35
Total 148 4,23
Affected by recommendation by book store Men 32 3,47
Women 116 3,61
Total 148 3,58
Affected by recommendation by book blogger Men 32 3,22
Women 116 3,85
Total 148 3,72
Affected by advertisement Men 32 2,97
Women 116 3,46
Total 148 3,35
Affected by promotions Men 32 3,81
Women 116 3,90
Total 148 3,88
Affected by the cover of the book Men 32 3,72
Women 116 4,04
Total 148 3,97
Affected by reading an interview/article Men 32 4,63
Women 116 4,88

71
 Total 148 4,82
The extent to which they believe recommendations Men 32 3,31
from book groups
Women 116 3,94
Total 148 3,80
The importance of the physical body of the book Men 32 5,34
Women 116 5,28
Total 148 5,30
The extent to which they trust book bloggers Men 32 3,66
Women 116 4,04
Total 148 3,96
The extent to which they are affected by the author Men 32 5,09
Women 116 5,39
Total 148 5,32
Affected by recommendation by friend or relative Men 32 5,13
Women 116 5,41
Total 148 5,35
The importance of Goodreads ratings for them Men 32 3,63
Women 116 3,67
Total 148 3,66
Table 12: Link between the gander of the responders and the perceived power of influence.

Furthermore, One-way ANOVA was used to test what influence had

the education of the respondents over the affect that certain things
have on their purchasing decisions and preferences. The results
showed that respondents who hold a Master’s or a higher degree
tend to trust and be affected less by book bloggers, promotions the
cover of the book, the publishing house, and the rating in
Goodreads.com, publications in the social media, and by
recommendations from people who they follow on social media,
when compared to those with чachelor’s degreeг On the other handб
respondents with Master’s on higher degree were more affected by
recommendations coming from friends and relatives,
recommendations from book stores and advertisements, as opposed
to respondents who had чachelor’s degreeг The table with the full
information could be found in the appendix.
72
The participants were also asked to rate the extent of which they
consider to be affected by publications they see on social media.
Again Likert scale question was used starting from 1 – “not affected at
all” to м – “Very much affected”г One-way ANOVA tests showed that
men consider to be less affected by publication in the social media
(with a mean of 3,69), while women tend to be more affected (mean
of 4,26).

Finally, to determine the extent to which respondents trust book

bloggers/ publishing houses /recommendations coming from boog
groups on social media they were asked to rate it starting from 1 –
“not (trust) at all” to м – “completely (trust)”г

The findings of the research show that the respondents tend to trust
book bloggers (mean of 3,94) slightly more than they trust publishing
houses (3,77). However, both of the variables show a comparatively
low mean, which points in the direction that the respondents do not
tend to trust publishing houses and book bloggers much. When tested
with One-way ANOVA, the age of the respondents proves to make a
difference when it comes to the extent of trust they have in bloggers
and publishing houses. While younger participants (between 18-25
years old) trust book bloggers more (mean of 4, 24), older participants
(between 57-80 years old) trust publishing houses more (mean of 4).

Trust book bloggers vs. Age of the respondents

Age N Mean

73
 18-25 51 4,24
26-35 45 3,87
36-56 49 3,71
57-80 4 3,75
Total 149 3,94
Trust publishing houses vs. Age of the respondents.

Age Number Mean

18-25 51 3,86
26-35 45 3,73
36-56 49 3,67
57-80 4 4,00
Total 149 3,77
Table 13: Relation between the age of the respondents and the extent to which they trust
book bloggers and publishing houses on social media.

Furthermore, the extent to which participants trusted

recommendations coming from book groups was tested using
Independent T-test. Participants who were part of a book group
tended to trust recommendations coming from book groups slightly
more, with a mean of 3,88, while participants who were not part of
such a group contributed to a mean of 3,60.

As it can be seen from the table below, most of the participants in the
study were part of a book group, yet the results show that
recommendations from book groups have a low perceived power of
influence.

Part of a book group on social N Mean

media
Believe recommendations Yes 101 3,88
coming from book groups on No 48 3,60
social media.
Table 14: Extent to which respondents believe recommendations coming from book groups
on social media.

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4.3 Conclusion
In conclusion, the qualitative data pointed out that all of the
interviewees used social media marketing and considered it to be a
powerful and effective tool to reach their target audience. However,
most of them also experienced difficulties, and two of the interviewees
admitted that their decisions were often based on intuition rather than
on marketing strategy and research. Although, paid advertising was
mentioned as one of the most used and important tactics, it was also
described as a source of difficulties.

According to the interviewees, the most effective and commonly

used tactics in the social media marketing in the Bulgarian publishing
industry were: high quality pictures; paid advertising, but not
aggressive; online groups and communities; news stories. Although
only one of the interviewees mentioned partnering with book bloggers
as a commonly used tactic, later all of the interviewees stated that
they were working with book bloggers. However, the results from the
online questionnaire pointed in a different direction. Participants
answered that they were affected the most by: the author of the
book, recommendations by a friend or a relative; interviews and
articles; someone they followed on social media. To the contrary, they
were least affected by: advertisements, recommendations by book
stores, and recommendations by book bloggers.

In order to have a better idea of the perceived power of influence

that the participants in the self-administered survey had, they were
divided into groups of participants who followed book bloggers,
authors and book stores, and who participated in online book
communities, and participants who did not. The results showed that
those who gave a positive answer to the first question tend to also
give a higher score in the second question. For example, the
participants who answered that they followed book bloggers, rated
75
their trust as 4,33 (out of 7), while the general mean was almost a
whole point lower.

Even though, generally participants did not rate high the influence
different factors have over their purchasing decision and reading
habits, almost 50% of them answered that they were more interested
in a book if someone they follow on social media posts about it. Only
29% of the respondents answered that they were not affected by it.

Furthermore, the analysis of the interviews showed that all of the

interviewees consider social media marketing to be more successful
when compared to traditional marketing. What is more, the majority of
the interviewees stated that they could rely solely on social media
marketing. Facebook was selected as the most effective when
communicating with the customers, and Instagram was pointed as
becoming more and more important. These views were backed by
the results from the quantitative research. 95% of the participants
answered that they were active on Facebook, and almost 40%
answered that they used Instagram. 60% of the participants said that
they used YouTube, however, only one of the interviewees mentioned
using YouTube as an important part of their marketing strategy.

Moreover, the interviewees recognize the establishing of relationships

with their target audience as an important phase of their marketing
strategy. The smaller publishing houses are especially focused on it.

When it comes to book communities online almost all of the

interviewees acknowledge their importance for the publishing industry.
However, only the author connected online communities with self-
identification and acquisition of social status, and reading as an
expression of self. The results from the self-administered questionnaire
show that almost 68% of the participants are a part of a book group
on social media. However, the participants answered that they are
generally not affected by recommendations from book groups.

76
Lastly, all of the interviewees had noticed differences in the
communication based on their customers’ ageг This was confirmed by
the quantitative research’s results where the answers differentiated a
lot based on the age of the participants.

77
 5. Discussion and Conclusion

Social media networks have been globally recognized as a tool which

can be successfully sued by brands to reach their customers and
prospects. This is definitely true for the Bulgarian market as 75,4% of the
people who use internet daily are active on social media. Globally,
Facebook is the top used social network with more than two billion
monthly users (Statista, 2017). An analysis of the social media presence
of the publishing houses in Bulgaria showed that this trend is kept – the
most developed social network in terms of followership is Facebook.

In terms of marketing strategy, the social networks provide a great tool

for developing and implementing relationship marketing. Numerous
researches suggest that traits, behaviors, abilities, and group
memberships shape the individual’s identityг Moreoverб online and
offline identities can be used by marketers to change the users’
behavior and usage.

Furthermore, users who create social identities based on book series

and positively influence brands by buying merchandize and
contributing to the online and offline communities were defined as
branded readers. The concept of branded readers can be
complimented by the growing numbers of online prosumption,
resulting in the transformation of branded readers into branded
prosumers. Also, researchers have identified a change in the roles in
the Publishing Industry – marketers are turning into authors, authors into
marketers, and consumers (by using peer-to-peer marketing and
creating own content) into marketers and authors.

In order to answer the research objectives laid earlier, the study: “The
Effect of Social Media Marketing on the Publishing Industry in Bulgaria.
Perceptions of readers, marketers, publishers and authors.” a mixed
methodology was adapted, combining qualitative and quantitative
methods. Seven interviews with marketing professionals, publishers,
78
authors, and book bloggers were conducted so that a deeper
knowledge into their understanding of social media marketing was
acquired. Furthermore, a self-administered questionnaire among
Bulgarian readers who are active on social media was conducted in
order to research the perceived power of influencers on social media,
and to collect and analyze data on the participants’ reading and
purchasing habits and preferences. 150 participants took part in the
online survey.

The results of the study provided valuable information in the area of

research and managed to answer the research questions in a
satisfactory manner. Namely, the study provided data and insight on
the way marketers, publishers, authors and book bloggers in Bulgaria
perceived and used social media marketing. The results indicated that
although, all of the interviews acknowledged the importance of social
media marketing, not all of them had a clear understanding of social
networks and precisely how they can be used to reach and influence
effectively consumers. The role and importance of social media was
also supported by the results from the self-administered survey,
especially by the fact that 50% of the respondents admitted they are
more interested in a book if they see a post about it on social media,
and only 29% consider that they are not affected by post about books
on social media.

Furthermore, the interviewees suggested that their marketing efforts

were focused on building mutually beneficial relationships with their
target audiences. Also it was discovered that the interviewees used
different tactics when communicating with their target audiences
based on their age. The results of the self-administered questionnaire
indeed showed differences in the perceptions of the participants,
based on their age.

79
Another objective of the study was to research the perceived power
that publishing industry influencers had on social networks in Bulgaria.
The interviewees pointed out the significance that book groups and
communities on Facebook have, however, the results from the
questionnaire showed that participants do not consider to be
significantly affected by recommendations coming from book groups.

Although, interviewees selected paid advertising as the most used

and effective tool of social media marketing, the participants in the
online survey rated it was one of the least influential. According to the
self-administered questionnaire participants – book authors, news
stories and interviews, recommendations by friends, relatives, and
someone they followed on social media have the biggest influence
over their purchasing decisions.

Moreover, the results showed that book bloggers do not have a high
perceived power of influence among the participants in the survey.
However, their influence is higher among the younger audience, and
among the users who answered that they follow book bloggers online.

The results from the qualitative and quantitative research uncovered

not only the perceptions of the interviewees towards social media
marketing but also presented the reader with an insight into the
perception of the power of influencers that the readers in Bulgaria
have, as well as how they rate influencers in terms of trust. The results
showed that they were some differences between the opinion of the
interviewees and that of the participants in the study.

5.1. Limitations of the research

The limitations of this research were mainly connected with the lack of
scientific data on the use of social media marketing for the publishing
industry. Those limitations were even bigger when addressing the

80
Bulgarian market as the author did not succeed in finding any
previous studies and literature on the topic.

5.2. Suggestions for Future Research

Considering that there is no previously done research on the topic, the

study provides valuable information which can be of use for the
marketers and publishers in Bulgaria. Moreover, the study opens room
for future research which can build on it. Some of them are:

 Development of readers’ book identities and their transition to

branded readers – as it was outlined by this study, readers tend
to create identities based on books, also a new type of reader
was defined – the branded reader. Thus, it is suggested that a
future research focused on how readers who have created a
book identity become branded readers is conducted.
 The role of book bloggers in building branded readers and book
identities – as this study pointed out book bloggers are an
important part of the readers’ community of social networksг
Therefore, it is suggested that a more detailed research into their
roles in forming and influencing branded readers online is
explored.
 The role of book groups and communities in forming and
changing reading and purchasing preferences of social media
users in Bulgaria – the current study outlined the importance of
book groups for the publishing industry in Bulgaria, mainly due to
the high number of readers who are active and participate in
those groups. However, the current study also pointed out that
readers do not seem to put much trust in recommendations
coming from book groups. Thus, it is suggested that the exact
way that book groups influence readers is examined, and the
role of social media book groups is determined.

81
 The transformation of branded readers into branded prosumers,
and how they influence the brand and the literary product.
 Differences in the perception and reaction to traditional and
social media marketing of consumers in the publishing industry in
Bulgaria – although the interviewees commented on their
opinion on the differences in perception of traditional and social
media marketing, there is yet to determine what is the attitude
of the readers towards those two approaches.

82
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7. Appendices
a. Appendix A – Questionnaire for self-administered survey

1. On which social media are you active? (Question with multiple possible
answers)

- Facebook
- Instagram
- Twitter
- YouTube
- Snapchat
- Tumblr
- Goodreads
2. How often do you use social media?

- Throughout the whole day

- A couple of times a day
- Several times a week
- Less than several times a week
- I don’t use social media
3. Approximately how many books do you buy yearly?

.....

4. What literature do you buy more often:

- Fiction
- Nonfiction?
5. Do you follow book bloggers on social media?

-Yes
- No
6. Do you follow any Bulgarian publishing houses on social media?

- Yes
- No
7. Do you follow any foreign publishing houses on social media?

- Yes
- No
8. Do you follow any bookstores on social media?

- Yes
- No
9. Do you follow any book authors on social media?
А-1
 - Yes
- No
10. On a scale from ж to м (where ж is “not at all” and м is “completely”)
rate how much you trust book bloggers on social media.

11. On a scale from ж to м (where ж is “not at all” and м is “completely”)

rate how much you trust publishing houses on social media.

12. On a scale from ж to м (where ж is “not satisfied at all” and м is “very

satisfied”) rate how satisfied you are by the presence of Bulgarian
publishing houses on social media.

13. On a scale from ж to м (where ж is “not satisfied at all” and м is “very

satisfied”) rate how satisfied you are by the presence of foreign
publishing houses on social media.

14. Have you purchased a book after seeing it or reading about it on social
media?

- Yes
- No

А-2
15. Are you more interested in a book if someone you follow on social
media posts about it?

- Yes
- No

16. To what extent from ж to м (where ж is “not affected at all” and м “very
much affected”) do you consider to be affected by publications about
books that you see on social media?

17. Please mark all the reasons why you follow publishers/authors on social
media:
(Question with multiple possible answers)

- I want to be part of a community

- To get book recommendations
- Keeping up to date with the latest books
- Showing appreciation for a favorite author
- Following a favorite brand
- To participate in promotions
- Other
- I don’t follow authors/publishers on social media
18. Do you read/watch/listen to book reviews?

- Yes
- No
19. If you do read/watch book reviews, on what occasion do you do it?
(Question with multiple possible answers)

- Before I purchase a book

- After I purchase a book
- It’s not related to whether I’m buying a book or not
- When I’m looking for ideas for something to read
- Other
20. Where do you read/watch book reviews (multiple answers)?
(Question with multiple possible answers)

- Traditional media (TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines)

- Online media

А-3
 - YouTube
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Goodreads
- Personal blogs
- Other
- I don’t read/watch reviews
21. To what extent on a scale of ж to м (where ж is “doesn’t affect me at all”
and м is “affects me very much”) each of those things affects your
decision to purchase a book?

The author 123 4567

Recommendation by a friend or relative 123 4567
Recommendation by someone you follow on social 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
media
Recommendation by a book blogger 123 4567
Recommendation by a book store 123 4567
Advertisement 123 4567
Part of a promotion 123 4567
Spontaneous decision 123 4567
The cover of the book 123 4567
Read an interview/article 123 4567
Other 123 4567

22. On a scale of ж to м (where ж is “not important at all” and м is “very

important”) rate the importance of the physical body of the book for
you.

23. Do you buy books online?

- Yes
- No
24. Do you usually read e-books?

- Yes
- No
25. Which do you usually prefer?

- e-books
А-4
 - traditional books?
26. Do you take part in book related giveaways or other promotions on
social media?

- Yes
- No
- Sometimes
- Whenever I like the reward
27. Are you a part of a book group on social media?

- Yes
- Yes, in more than one
- No
28. Rate on a scale from ж to м (where ж is “not at all” and м is
“completely”) the extent to which you believe recommendations
coming from book groups on social media?

29. On a scale from ж to м (where ж is “not important at all” and м is “very

important”) rate the importance of book ratings on goodreads.com for
you?

30. Do you buy books in languages other than Bulgarian?

- Yes
- No
31. Age

……

32. Gender

- Female
- Male
33. Educational degree

А-5
 - Primary education
- Secondary education
- чachelor’s degree
- Master’s degree or higher
34. In which country do you currently live?

- Bulgaria
- A country part of the EU
- USA
- Other
35. Employment

- Unemployed
- Employed
- Student
- Self-employed
- Student & employed/self-employed
- Other

А-6
 b. Appendix B – Questions for Interviews

1. Do you use social media networks to promote books? Why?

2. What tactics do you use to promote books on social media?

3. Which of them do you find to be the most successful?

4. Do you consider social media marketing to be less, more or equally

successful when compared to traditional marketing when it comes to the
publishing industry?

5. Would you or have you commissioned a blogger to write a review or

post on social media about a book that you are selling/publishing?

6. Do you generally consider that readers are affected by social media

marketing in the publishing industry?

7. How would you describe the attitude of users towards your brand’s
social media presence?

8. Do you have a clear division between your traditional marketing

strategy and your digital marketing strategy?

9. Which social media do you find most effective when communicating

your brand’s messages and promotions?

10. Do you think you can rely solely on social media marketing? Why or why
not?

11. To what extent do you think the perception of Bulgarian consumers

regarding certain books authors or publishing houses is affected by
publications on social media?

12. According to you is social media marketing important for the publishing
industry in Bulgaria?

13. What aspects of social media marketing do you find difficult? In what
way?

B-1
14. How do you think the future of social media marketing for the publishing
industry in Bulgaria looks like?

15. Do you use social media to target a specific group of readers? Do you
think there’s a difference in responses to your marketing efforts on social
media based on readers’ age?

16. Have you registered an increase in the number of sales after a social
media campaign? Would you share your experience regarding the
campaign?

B-2
 c. Appendix C – Relations between books purchased yearly and
the extent to which the participants were affected by the listed
features.

In order to make analysis easier the answers to the questionп “Approximately

how many books do you buy yearly?” were divided into seven groups as
follows:

1) From 1 to 10 books
2) From 11 to 15 books
3) From 16 to 20 books
4) From 21 to 30 books
5) From 31 to 50 books
6) From 51 to 99 books
7) From 100 to 150 books.

Feature N Mean 95% Confidence Interval

for Mean
Lower Upper
Bound Bound
Affected by 1,00 62 4,18 3,80 4,55
publications on 2,00 18 3,89 2,91 4,87
social media 3,00 24 4,46 3,86 5,06
4,00 20 3,70 2,95 4,45
5,00 17 4,18 3,54 4,81
6,00 3 4,33 2,90 5,77
7,00 4 4,00 ,56 7,44
Total 148 4,12 3,87 4,37
Affected by 1,00 62 4,24 3,93 4,55
recommendations 2,00 18 3,83 2,85 4,82
by someone you 3,00 24 4,42 3,86 4,97
follow on social 4,00 20 4,45 3,61 5,29
media 5,00 17 3,94 3,30 4,58
6,00 3 5,00 2,52 7,48

C-1
 7,00 4 3,50 ,19 6,81
Total 148 4,21 3,97 4,44
Affected by 1,00 62 3,69 3,29 4,10
recommendations 2,00 18 3,28 2,45 4,11
from book stores 3,00 24 3,71 3,08 4,34
4,00 20 3,30 2,54 4,06
5,00 17 3,41 2,84 3,99
6,00 3 5,00 2,52 7,48
7,00 4 2,75 ,03 5,47
Total 148 3,56 3,31 3,81
Affected by 1,00 62 3,69 3,33 4,06
recommendations 2,00 18 3,22 2,25 4,20
by book blogger 3,00 24 4,17 3,63 4,70
4,00 20 3,75 2,98 4,52
5,00 17 3,53 2,69 4,36
6,00 3 4,33 2,90 5,77
7,00 4 3,25 -,03 6,53
Total 148 3,70 3,45 3,95
Affected by 1,00 62 3,32 2,95 3,69
advertisement 2,00 18 3,39 2,60 4,17
3,00 24 3,33 2,78 3,89
4,00 20 3,10 2,28 3,92
5,00 17 3,47 2,89 4,05
6,00 3 3,33 ,46 6,20
7,00 4 3,25 -,03 6,53
Total 148 3,32 3,08 3,55
Affected by 1,00 62 3,81 3,35 4,26
promotion 2,00 18 3,78 2,92 4,64
3,00 24 3,79 3,18 4,40
4,00 20 3,85 3,07 4,63

C-2
 5,00 17 4,12 3,25 4,99
6,00 3 4,67 -,50 9,84
7,00 4 3,50 ,19 6,81
Total 148 3,85 3,58 4,13
Affected by the 1,00 62 3,87 3,45 4,29
cover of the book 2,00 18 4,44 3,62 5,27
3,00 24 3,38 2,58 4,17
4,00 20 3,85 2,97 4,73
5,00 17 4,41 3,60 5,23
6,00 3 4,33 2,90 5,77
7,00 4 5,25 2,86 7,64
Total 148 3,97 3,69 4,24
Affected by 1,00 62 4,85 4,52 5,19
interviews/articles 2,00 18 4,89 4,04 5,74
3,00 24 4,46 3,80 5,12
4,00 20 5,15 4,45 5,85
5,00 17 4,71 3,98 5,43
6,00 3 5,67 2,80 8,54
7,00 4 4,50 2,45 6,55
Total 148 4,82 4,59 5,06
To what extent do 1,00 62 3,90 3,62 4,19
you believe 2,00 18 3,94 3,25 4,64
recommendations 3,00 24 3,79 3,33 4,26
from book groups 4,00 20 3,60 3,02 4,18
5,00 17 3,47 2,92 4,02
6,00 3 4,33 2,90 5,77
7,00 4 3,25 ,86 5,64
Total 148 3,79 3,60 3,98
The importance 1,00 62 5,18 4,75 5,60
of the physical 2,00 18 5,67 5,05 6,28

C-3
body of the book 3,00 24 5,04 4,44 5,65
4,00 20 5,10 4,30 5,90
5,00 17 5,94 5,44 6,44
6,00 3 5,67 1,87 9,46
7,00 4 6,00 3,75 8,25
Total 148 5,32 5,08 5,57
To what extent do 1,00 62 4,15 3,85 4,44
you trust book 2,00 18 3,39 2,66 4,12
bloggers 3,00 24 4,29 3,87 4,71
4,00 20 3,75 3,11 4,39
5,00 17 3,59 3,01 4,16
6,00 3 4,33 2,90 5,77
7,00 4 3,50 ,74 6,26
Total 148 3,95 3,75 4,15
To what extent do 1,00 62 3,89 3,57 4,20
you trust 2,00 18 3,61 2,85 4,38
publishing houses 3,00 24 4,00 3,53 4,47
4,00 20 3,60 2,93 4,27
5,00 17 3,29 2,73 3,86
6,00 3 3,67 2,23 5,10
7,00 4 4,25 ,72 7,78
Total 148 3,77 3,56 3,98
Satisfied by the 1,00 62 3,92 3,59 4,25
presence of 2,00 18 3,94 3,32 4,57
Bulgarian 3,00 24 3,29 2,80 3,78
Publishing Houses 4,00 20 4,00 3,37 4,63
5,00 17 3,82 3,33 4,31
6,00 3 4,67 ,87 8,46
7,00 4 4,25 2,73 5,77
Total 148 3,84 3,64 4,05

C-4
Satisfied by the 1,00 62 4,34 4,00 4,67
presence of 2,00 18 4,50 3,81 5,19
foreign publishing 3,00 24 4,13 3,50 4,75
houses. 4,00 20 4,30 3,65 4,95
5,00 17 4,12 3,68 4,56
6,00 3 3,67 ,80 6,54
7,00 4 5,00 3,16 6,84
Total 148 4,30 4,09 4,51
Affected by the 1,00 62 5,34 5,03 5,65
author of the book 2,00 18 5,44 4,66 6,23
3,00 24 5,17 4,48 5,86
4,00 20 5,30 4,48 6,12
5,00 17 5,41 4,96 5,86
6,00 3 6,67 5,23 8,10
7,00 4 5,25 2,53 7,97
Total 148 5,35 5,13 5,58
Affected by 1,00 62 5,45 5,13 5,77
recommendation 2,00 18 5,78 5,08 6,47
friend relative 3,00 24 5,17 4,56 5,77
4,00 20 5,50 4,85 6,15
5,00 17 5,12 4,61 5,63
6,00 3 4,67 ,87 8,46
7,00 4 3,25 1,73 4,77
Total 148 5,34 5,12 5,55
What is the 1,00 62 3,63 3,19 4,07
importance of 2,00 18 3,28 2,43 4,13
Goodreads ratings 3,00 24 3,96 3,23 4,69
for you 4,00 20 4,20 3,46 4,94
5,00 17 3,06 2,22 3,90
6,00 3 4,00 -3,45 11,45

C-5
7,00 4 3,00 1,16 4,84
Total 148 3,64 3,36 3,92

C-6
 d. Appendix D – Submission Form

DISSERTATION SUBMISSION FORM

STUDENT’S NAME PLAMENA KRUMOVA

DISSERTATION SUPERVISOR’S ALEXANDROS CHARALAMPIDIS

NAME
TITLE OF THE DISSERTATION The Effect of Social Media
Marketing on the Publishing
Industry in Bulgaria. Perceptions
of readers, marketers,
publishers and authors.

STUDENT’S SIGNATURE

DISSERTATION
COORDINATOR’S SIGNATURE

SUBMISSION DATE

COMMENTS

D-1