Social Networking Practices and Interactions - Essay Example

 Table of Contents Summary 3 Introduction……………………. 4 Social networking 5 Virtual Personality 6 Personal interests 6 Social networking and consumerism 8 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….........10 References………………………...……………………………………………………………..11 Summary Social media has emerged as the desired platform on which firms can engage consumers in an interactive manner to understand their preferences and needs in order to come up with products and services that satisfy those specifications. Many organisations are now opting into social media to woo the large number of users that are perceived to be trendy and ready to discover new products and services. However, social sites have a contrast with the real lives that people lead (Ryan and Jones, 2012). The likes and interests often posted on social sites are only meant to give people social status but are different from the reality; thus firms will be targeting virtual people who will eventually not consume the products. People fall in various social classes, and the way in which one person lives is not the manner in which the next person will live. But in social media due to the imminent influence people always strive to fit in certain social classes just to stay in touch with the current trends in the world. For instance if a new fashion line of designer clothes is released and someone posts a photo wearing that clothe his/her followers will always be influenced by purchasing the same cloth to be at bar with the current trend. Introduction Social media is emerging to be essential in business as it is perceived to be the marketing platform that takes heed of the needs of consumers. The 21st century is characterised by massive technological advancements that have led to the emergence of new methods in which people interact (Lohse, Bellman & Johnson, 2000). Previously people were limited to telephone calls or at least sending emails and thus was a preserve of a few individuals with internet connection. Today, virtually every locality inhabited by people has internet signal and thus people are accessing the World Wide Web from anywhere. With technological improvement in mobile gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, iPads and even microcomputers, many people have gained access to the internet connection. This has revolutionised the modern era as information processing, and dissemination has become almost instant (Lohse, Bellman & Johnson, 2000). Online presence in social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp have been soaring by each day now running into hundreds of million subscribers, thus creating a new niche of consumers for businesses with an online presence. Social Networking Social networking is a phenomenal trend in the modern world that has been incorporated into the lives of people making it a complementary to some; literary some people will die as they cannot do without social media (Kiang, Raghu & Shang, 2000). The trend is more prevalent in the younger generation that is techno-savvy and up-to-date with the current trends in the world (Greenberg and Kates, 2014). To bloggers, social networking and Internet marketing is a career, as they spend all their days’ online posting advertisements and products to reach certain segments of markets (Wind and Mahajan, 2001). Virtual Personality Typically, prior to joining any social site one is required to sign up by filling certain personal information that will form your online personality. The exercise also requires one to upload a photo though this is optional. In the profile section, one is supposed to indicate all the relevant personal information that he/she deems important to influence how people perceive him/her online. Research that was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania indicated that sixty percent of the people online behave differently than they do physically. Most of the people tend to cheat in their personal information by adding certain information that will enhance their online personality (Gillespie and Hennessey, 2011). The study also indicated in social sites especially Twitter the ideas that people pass or the beliefs they hold online are directly contrary to reality. For instance, if someone posts a picture of a particular activity or product people will review it with negativity unlike when it is presented in real life. In essence, social media gives people some confidence to hold extreme positions on controversial matters that they do not hold in reality. Goel et al. (2010) argues that, a considerable number of online active users or those that tend to be more social in social media are very timid and unsocial in reality, thus creating a social disjoint between the actual personality of people and their online virtual character. For instance, it is assumed that there is a stand for virtual personality when a person alludes to be in in a certain holiday resort during a particular vocational period. These fantasies tend to influence the actual being of that particular person to visiting the desired resort in real life (Fagerstrøm & Ghinea, 2010). For that reason, the social impersonation the assumed influences the manner in which he/she consumes goods and services in real life. In essence, virtual personality makes life easier and more fun as people try to bridge the gap between their normal and virtual personality by consuming goods and services that made their virtual personality a fairy tale. It is prudent to note that consumerism bridges the social gap existing between the two personalities. In other words, it is the element that strives to make social media virtual tales a reality by inducing consumers into consuming certain products to receive the experience they desire to make reality their social life solutions (Darley, Blankson & Luethge, 2010). Personal Interests Depending on the personal interests and preferences that people update on their profiles, social sites refine this information in such a way they meet persons with the same interests or with organisations offering services or products they are interested to create a social network with them media (Wood and Solomon, 2009). For instance if person X indicates that he loves hip-hop music and like traveling, he will probably find the likes of Lil Wayne, TI, Jay-Z, etc. as suggested pages that he finds interesting since those are the notable celebrities that perform that genre of music. Further, other pages containing news and articles related to hip-hop music will pop for X to like them so that he can receive updates on current trends. Because of this, the consumer will download of the products with emergency of any new hit song. Social Networking and Consumerism The dimension of digital marketing is shifting to evolve around social media. Business organisations have realised that social media is the only and sure platform to promote their products with a personal appeal to the clients. The advertisements are fashioned in a manner that is customized to fit the interest of the consumers, thus making it more appealing and thus increases the chances of the customers purchasing the products. In the past, internet marketing existed but it failed to provide specialised advertisements that touched on the individual needs of the people (Liang & Mackey, 2011). With social media platforms, personal information that is contained in the profile of each’s account is used to decide which products meets the interests of particular persons; hence enabling businesses to determine how to customise products to make them appealing to the consumers. In so doing, persons will often find adverts of only the products or services that are of their interest running on their timelines. This adverts do not pop up or appear on their timelines by default but it is through information refining and analysis that have been conducted to determine the taste and preferences of such consumers before the product ads are directed to their timelines (Bolotaeva & Cata, 2010). The social network theory elaborates the general phenomena of the modern day social networking practices that have influenced today’s operations. According to the theory, social networking is an interconnection of nodes and ties. In this case, Nodes are the individual actors in the environment and ties are the relationships that bind them. The ties between different Nodes can vary depending on the characteristics of individual nodes, thus the ties between node A and B will not be the same with the ties between node B and C. Conversely, the theory explains the different manner that various people interact, thus contributing to the kind of relationship that is built between them. The whole idea here is the extensive ties that exist within the larger network. The various nodes that are interconnected will assist firms that have made an online presence to gather information, collude with other market stakeholders in setting marketing strategies targeting specific classes of social media uses. The effect of social media on consumerism is primarily founded on analysing the virtual behaviour of clients and coming up with the relevant mechanisms to enhance the consumption of goods and services (Tarascio and Tarascio, 2009). For instance, Facebook has a check in button where a person will enter the geographical location or business premises that he/she last visited for example; XY was at JF Kennedy International airport, it will go on to specify the kind of flight that the person will fly i.e. Etihad Airlines, Emirates or the American Airlines. Such posts will attract a lot of attention in the social arena through comments and post that will be discussing the topic. Some friends will want to know the reason XY is travelling and what experience he/she received, why he chose the airline among many other aspects. The overall reaction is that though the post is not what is happening in reality, it will boost the virtual personality of that individual while inducing him/her into purchasing those goods in reality to experience the services. On the other hand, the online community or network of XY will also be influenced to try the same products in reality to have an experience that they can share with friends online. In a nutshell, the virtual personality will have influenced the consumer patterns of various individuals promoting the use of certain products that would not have not appealed to them through normal advertisements (Ahmadu Bello University, 2006). People fall into various social classes, and the way in which one person lives is not the manner in which the next person will live. But in social media due to the imminent influence, people always strive to fit in certain social classes just to stay in touch with the current trends in the world (Bolotaeva & Cata, 2010). For instance, if a new fashion line of designer clothes is released and someone posts a photo wearing that clothe his/her followers will always be influenced by purchasing the item without any form of promotion have been run. For this reason, it is evident that social media has a high correlation to peer influence and thus, because of the high peer influence, people will tend to buy products they do not want to fit into a given social class or to resemble or belong to a given group of fans. Celebrities especially movie stars and famous singers wear certain clothes in their movies or music videos. In their pages on social media, they will post photos of these clothes with designer perfumes or even brand of alcohol. Since most of these people serve as role models to a considerable population in social media, they tend to emulate them by purchasing the similar products. For instance, you will find a fashion trend by American artists prevalent among Kenyan or Nigerian youth because social media influence (Kabani, 2012). Conversely, a negative review by one influential person can also change the manner in which other people perceive a particular product or service. For example if someone commanding a considerable number of followers on Twitter makes a negative tweet concerning a particular product and the tweet trends among his/her followers, the followers will make repeated negative remarks including those who have never consumed the product. In the long run, the image of the product will dwindle, thus preventing prospective consumers from purchasing it (Bolotaeva & Cata, 2010). Most enterprises are running their customer support services in social sites to maintain an interactive bond between them and the consumers. Since most consumers are online most of the time, they will be able to ask questions regarding the products and thus be more influenced by purchasing them because they know in case of anything they will contact the customer support service that is readily available. However, having an online presence does not solve it all because the manner in which these businesses interact with the consumers determines how they perceive them and thus luring them into buying. Organisations that run advertisements on social media platforms attract more purchases compared to those depending on mainstream advertisements (Ahmadu Bello University, 2006). Social media users are classified into active or dormant. Active users are those who spend a considerable amount of their time in social sites, thus have a lot of links in the social circle. They are up to date with every new unfolding happenings in the world concerning new products and services. Due to their scope of knowledge and links in social media, they are selective in terms of goods and services they consume (Bolotaeva & Cata, 2010). They have a distinguished taste and references and tend to be innovators as they are among the first to consume new products. Alternatively, the perceived users make a technical online presence maybe to check on some concrete things. Dormant users do not have a considerable knowledge of major unfolding in the world; they rely upon advertisement for information. They do not have a particular sense of taste since their consumption trends are influenced by that of innovators (Gil-Or, 2010). However, social networking at times negatively affects the consumption patterns of customers due to perceived behaviours that are purported in these platforms. It is prudent to note that social media comes with both advantages and disadvantages in equal measures. Corporate organizations may spend substantial amounts of capital in social media campaigns for their products but end up losing in the market. Platforms like Twitter offers insight criticism of products and this negatively influence the consumption patterns, thus reducing the sales of the particular products. Therefore, organizations should train their marketing teams on the best practices to apply when utilizing social networking as a marketing plat form to ensure they leverage from its advantages. Conclusion Digital marketing has become the ultimate way in which business organisation can reach their potential customers. Social media platforms have revolutionised the system by providing an interactive environment in which businesses understand consumer behaviour thus customising the products fit those specifications to ensure their needs are fully satisfied. These platforms have integrated the lives of people into virtual reality in which people can refine the information to appeal to clients through promotional activities customised to particular people. Therefore, business should institute elaborate measures and aggressive virtual teams to enable them increase their online presence in social media platforms such as Facebook and Tweeter to help them penetrate into different social classes of online users to create awareness of their products. Businesses should also create their pages on social media platforms, which carry their products and services to enable them create awareness of the existence of the products of different classes of online users. Organizations should conduct a feasibility study on the impact of social media marketing before they indulge in the practice to ensure the benefits that comes with the implementation of the marketing operation surpasses the risks. Consumer sensitization campaigns should be conducted to educate the customers on the manner in which social media can influence their consumption patterns and thus should clarify issues with products from the relevant organization but not rely on social media rumour that are misleading at times. Ultimately, organizations should train their marketing teams on the best practices to apply when utilizing social networking as a marketing plat form to ensure they leverage from its advantages. Bibliography Ahmadu Bello University, 2006. ABU journal of marketing management. Zaria, Nigeria, Dept. of Business Administration, Ahmadu Bello University. Bolotaeva, V., & Cata, T., 2010. Marketing opportunities with social networks. Journal of Internet Social Networking and Virtual Communities, 2010, 1-8. Darley, W. K., Blankson, C., & Luethge, D. J., 2010. Toward an integrated framework for online consumer behavior and decision making process: A review. Psychology & marketing, 27(2), 94-116. Fagerstrøm, A., & Ghinea, G., 2010. Web 2.0’s marketing impact on low-involvement consumers. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 10(2), 67-71. Gillespie, K., & Hennessey, H. D., 2011. Global marketing. Australia, South-Western Cengage Learning. Gil-Or, O., 2010. Building consumer demand by using viral marketing tactics within an online social network. Advances in Management. Goel, S., Hofman, J. M., Lahaie, S., Pennock, D. M., & Watts, D. J., 2010. Predicting consumer behavior with Web search. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(41), 17486-17490. Greenberg, E., & Kates, A., 2014. Strategic digital marketing: how to apply an integrated marketing and ROI framework for your business. Available at: http://www.contentreserve.com/TitleInfo.asp?ID={83DBDD76-05AA-4D8A-80FB-138094EE5724}&Format=50. [Accessed on 2 February, 2015]. Kabani, S. H., 2012. The Zen of social media marketing: an easier way to build credibility, generate buzz, and increase revenue. Dallas, TX, Benbella Books. Kiang, M. Y., Raghu, T. S., & Shang, K. H. M., 2000. Marketing on the Internet—who can benefit from an online marketing approach?. Decision Support Systems, 27(4), 383-393. Liang, B. A., & Mackey, T., 2011. Direct-to-consumer advertising with interactive internet media: global regulation and public health issues. JAMA, 305(8), 824-825. Lohse, G. L., Bellman, S., & Johnson, E. J., 2000. Consumer buying behavior on the Internet: Findings from panel data. Journal of interactive Marketing, 14(1), 15-29. Noel, H., 2009. Consumer behaviour. Lausanne, Switzerland, AVA Academia. Ryan, D., & Jones, C., 2012. Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation. Philadelphia, PA, Kogan Page. Tarascio, L. S., & Tarascio, V. J., 2009. Journal of marketing: cumulative index, volumes 1-52 (1936-1987). Greenwich, Conn, Published for the American Marketing Association by Jai Press. Wind, Y., & Mahajan, V., 2001. Digital marketing global strategies from the world are leading experts. New York, J. Wiley. Available at: http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=117489. [Accessed 2 February 2015]. Wood, N. T., & Solomon, M. R., 2009. Virtual social identity and consumer behaviour. Armonk, N.Y., M.E. Sharpe. Available at: http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=34112. [Accessed on 2 February 2015]. Read More