Critical analysis of blogging in public relations

Keeping up with the latest technology and understanding the consequences for everyday life and professional
practices is difficult for practitioners and academicians. At what point does an innovation become an everyday business practice, such as the Internet or wireless telephones? How do professionals know when understanding a new technology will be a prerequisite for success? One of the latest innovations currently having an impact on public relations is the blog. Both practitioners and academics are struggling to understand the value and consequences of blogs. This article tries to clarify the current strengths and weaknesses of the blog in both professional and academic contexts, analyzes current claims about blogging in public relations, and provides suggestions for understanding and studying blogs.
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Source: Micheal Kent

Public Relations and Technology: practitioner perspectives

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Source: Melissa Johnson

Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix

The emergence of Internet-based social media has made it possible for one person to communicate with hundreds or even thousands of other people about products and the companies that provide them. Thus, the impact of consumer-toconsumer communications has been greatly magnified in the marketplace. This article argues that social media is a hybrid element of the promotion mix because in a traditional sense it enables companies to talk to their customers, while in a nontraditional sense it enables customers to talk directly to one another. The content, timing, and frequency of the social media-based conversations occurring between
consumers are outside managers’ direct control. This stands in contrast to the traditional integrated marketing communications paradigm whereby a high degree of control is present. Therefore, managers must learn to shape consumer discussions in a manner that is consistent with the organization’s mission and performance goals. Methods by which this can be accomplished are delineated herein. They include providing consumers with networking platforms, and using blogs, social media tools, and promotional tools to engage customers.

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Source: W. Glynn Mangold,  David J. Faulds

How To Save Your Brand In The Face Of Crisis

In 2009 and 2010 Toyota was the target of much adverse media attention after a series of accidents due to sudden acceleration incidents and brake faults that led to deaths and injuries. The Toyota brand's reputation took a battering.Toyota management had a choice: Be resigned to this fate or use communication strategies to recover from the crisis.


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MIT Sloan Management Review, Gita V. Johar, Matthias M. Birk and Sabine A. Einwiller,

Crisis Communication and Social Media

The rapid evolution of new media often results in the practice of public relations getting ahead of research.  The practice of crisis communication is ahead of research in terms of social media.  If you look at training seminars and webinars for crisis communication, social media is emerging as a “hot” topic.  A basic definition of social media is the use of technology to facilitate interaction and the sharing of information.  There is a need to elaborate and build greater knowledge about crisis communications and new media with an emphasis on social media.  So this section was developed to begin compiling information on the topic.


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Source: W. Timothy Coombs

Relationships between Blogs as eWOM and Interactivity, Perceived Interactivity, and Parasocial Interaction

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of a political candidate's blog-a form of eWOM (electronic Word-of-Mouth)-on attitudes toward the website, attitudes toward the political candidate, and intentions to vote. The results showed that interactivity in the form of a blog significantly influenced attitude toward the website, but not attitudes toward the candidate or voting intention. However, perceived interactivity influenced all three dependent variables, but did not interact with interactivity, suggesting that these are two separate constructs. The effects were mediated by parasocial interaction.


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Source: Journal of Interactive Advertising: Kjerstin S. Thorson, Shelly Rodgers

Word of Mouth Research: Principles and Applications

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Source: Dee Allshop, Bryce Bassett, James A. Hoskins

The Cost of Reading Privacy Policies

Companies collect personally identifiable information that website visitors are not always comfortable sharing. One proposed remedy is to use economics rather than legislation to address privacy risks by creating a market place for privacy where website visitors would choose to accept or reject offers for small payments in exchange for loss of privacy. The notion of micropayments for privacy has not been realized in practice, perhaps because advertisers might be willing to pay a penny per name and IP address, yet few people would sell their contact information for only a penny.


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Source: Aleecia M. McDonald and Lorrie Faith Cranor,  A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society

Social networking sites and our lives

OVERVIEW

Questions have been raised about the social impact of widespread use of social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. Do these technologies isolate people and truncate their relationships? Or are there benefits associated with being connected to others in this way? The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project decided to examine social networking sites in a survey that explored people’s overall social networks and how use of these technologies is related to trust, tolerance, social support, and community and political engagement. 

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Source:  Keith Hampton, Lauren Sessions Goulet, Lee Rainie, Kristen Purcell, Rew Research Center

Corporate blogging strategies of Fortune 500 companies

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Source: Sang Lee, Taewon Hwang, Hong-Hee Lee

Emerald Publications 

Online consumer communities and their value to new product developers

The internet has emerged as a truly global means of connecting individuals and organizations. Its nature allows continuous possibilities for transactions. In fact, consumers half a world away, across numerous time zones can engage in commerce with a few mouse clicks. It gives rise to some startling interactions. Now a consumer in Australia can order on Monday from a US-based server across the international date line on the previous day, Sunday. This illustrates one of the internet’s benefits: convenience. Users do not have to wait until normal business hours and that convenience enhances the internet’s commercial significance.

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Source: Dennis A. Pitta and Danielle Fowler

Building stronger brands through online communities

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Source: Sloan Management Review, William McGill 

What Drives Word of Mouth: A Multi-Disciplinary Perspective

The World Wide Web has the potential to change much about consumer behavior and consumer communication. Web-based chatting, the focus of this study, is one example. In this article, we  provide an illustrative description of various consumer chatting situations, examine the motivations underlying Web-based chatting, and discuss the ways in which chatters act as "nai've marketers" in  their attempt to attract chatting partners. Using information gathered through the  combined use of an Internet survey and a content analysis, we explore five research questions:  who chats, why  individuals chat, how  chatters communicate, what links exist between Web  chatting and other consumer behaviors, and which factors lead to a successful chatting experience? The findings provide some insight into how consumers market themselves in cyberspace  and the effectiveness of their "personal advertisements" in  attracting other chatters
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Source: George M. Zinkhan , Hyokjin Kwak, Michelle Morrison,  Cara Okleshen Peters

Promotional Chat on the Internet

Chat rooms, recommendation sites, and customer review sections allow consumers to overcome geographic boundaries and to communicate based on mutual interests. However, marketers also have incentives to supply promotional chat or reviews in order to influence the consumers’ evaluation of their products. Moreover, firms can disguise their promotion as consumer recommendations due to the anonymity afforded by online communities. We explore this new setting where advertising and word of mouth become perfect substitutes because they appear indistinguishable to the consumer. Specifically, we investigate here whether word of mouth remains credible and whether firms choose to devote more resources promoting their inferior or superior products. We develop a game theoretic model in which two products are differentiated in their value to the consumer. Unlike the firms, the consumers are uncertain about the products’ quality. The consumers read messages online that help them decide on the identity of the superior product. We find a unique equilibrium where online word of mouth is persuasive despite the promotional chat activity by competing firms. In this equilibrium, firms spend more resources promoting inferior products, in striking contrast to existing advertising literature. In addition, we discuss consumer welfare implications and how other marketing strategies might interact with promotional chat.
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Source: Dina Mayzlin

The Impacts of Online Word-of-mouth on Consumer’s Buying Intention on Apparel: An Empirical Study

Based on relative studies of home and abroad  and consumer’s tendency to brand and product, this essay has established a model that  the massage impressions of  online word-of-mouth and opinion leaders have influence  on consumer’s buying intention on Apparel, which is  proved by the questionnaires of network consumers. The  study has found out that the massage impression of online  word-of-mouth and leader’s comments have much  influence on consumer’s willingness of buying clothes; the  information of online word-of-mouth influences its  receiver’s attitude towards brand and consumer’s  willingness of buying clothes positively in the end. It  provides suggestions for costumes websites on how to make  an effective marketing strategy

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Source: Ji Xiaofen ,Zhang Yiling

Trust in online advice

Many people are now influenced by the information and advice they find on the Internet, much of it of dubious quality.  This paper describes two studies concerned with those factors capable of influencing people’s response to online advice.  The first study is a qualitative account of a group of house-hunters attempting to find worthwhile information online.  The second study describes a survey of over two and a half thousand people who had actively sought advice over the Internet.  A framework for understanding trust in online advice is proposed in which first impressions are distinguished from more detailed evaluations.  Good web design can influence the first process, but three key factors  – source credibility, personalisation and predictability  – are  shown to predict whether or not people actually follow the advice given.

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Sources: Pamela Briggs, Bryan Burford, Paula Lynch, Alexandra Trabak

Four smart ways to run online communities (Sloan Management Review)

Of the many ideas that have entered the business world  by the way of the Internet, few have proved more than "online community".


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Sources: Williams, R.L. and Cothrel, J,  Sloan Management Review

Building Customer Trust Online Tactics to Increase Conversion and Sales

Why Trust Matters to Your Bottom Line Trust. It’s a simple word, representing a fragile bond you build with your customers. As the success or failure of your onlinebusiness depends largely on trust, it’s critical to determine how shoppers perceive the trustworthiness of your website, your brand, the quality of information you provide and the products and services you offer.  Failure to address any gaps in trust will surely lead to unsatisfied customers, lower site conversions and lost sales. Building trust with shoppers starts with building a secure website and guaranteeing consumer privacy. But it must go beyond that. Today’s successful online merchants are pro-actively infusing trust enhancing elements throughout the entire shopping experience - everything from providing more accurate product descriptions and easily accessible customer service
contact information to redesigning the shopping cart and merchandising the site’s high level of security.
While overall consumer trust in conducting business online has been gradually eroding over the past several years, trust can be regained. But it will take the proper investment of time and resources to improve specific areas of customer trust that will directly impact your online business – in the form of higher site conversions as well as lasting customer satisfaction.

 Influencing Customer Trust and Increasing Sales

So how do consumers decide whether to shop on your site in the first place? The perceived security and quality of your site plays a big role, and research proves it. When asked to rank what governs their decisions to visit a site, the number one  consumer concern was the security of their personal information. A total of 88 percent of consumers surveyed by Consumer Reports WebWatch in 2005 said they wanted a guarantee that their personal information would be safe and secure.


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Source: http://www.marketingscoop.com

ELECTRONIC WORD-OF-MOUTH VIA CONSUMER-OPINION PLATFORMS: WHAT MOTIVATES CONSUMERS TO ARTICULATE THEMSELVES ON THE INTERNET?

Through Web-based consumer opinion platforms (e.g.,epinions.com), the Internet enables customers to share their opinions on, and experiences with, goods and services with a multitude of other consumers; that is, to engage in electronic word of-mouth (eWOM) communication. Drawing on findings from research on virtual communities and traditional word-of-mouth literature, a typology for motives of consumer online articulation is developed. Using an online sample of some 2,000 consumers, information on the structure and relevance of the motives of consumers’ online articulations is generated. The resulting analysis suggests that consumers’ desire for social interaction, desire for economic incentives, their concern for other consumers, and the potential to enhance their own self-worth are the primary factors leading to eWOM behavior. Further,
eWOM providers can be grouped based on what motivates their behavior, suggesting that firms may need to develop different strategies for encouraging eWOM behavior among their users.

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Source: THORSTEN HENNIG-THURAU,  KEVIN P. GWINNE,  GIANFRANCO WALSH, DWAYNE D. GREMLE