The Use of Twitter: the Purposes of the Social Media and the Success of a Business - Research Paper Example

Introduction The phenomenon of social networks has changed the way in which individuals view their place within the world. If ten years ago one had said that the entire world was going to be interested in the moment to moment activities of all of their friends, most people would have squinched their brow and given a puzzled look. However, now with the creation of Twitter and other social networks, people are leaving a record of their lives, their small moments shared with the world. However, marketing is where a site like Twitter really finds power. In giving moment to moment updates on products, articles, and information relevant to a business, Twitter allows a product immediate access to those who follow them on the site. The more inventive or informative the site, the more marketing potential is available. Twitter is an immediate access line of communication for a business to promote its best moments. Kelsey refers to Twitter as a ‘micro blog’, a place where short concepts are given a wide audience. The key to Twitter is the tweets. The tweet is a communication that is limited to 140 characters and is delivered to those who follow the writer. Followers are those who subscribe to the person’s page, interested in what that page has to communicate to them (182). The method of receiving tweets is through the stream, a posting of all the tweets that one follows so that the receiver has a flow of information through which interests, which include both commercial and personal pages which are followed, can be viewed. One never needs to tweet to receive the stream, but the stream will come as pages are added to a persons list of followers. Communicating online is a way of publishing one’s thoughts to the world. Comm states that “the low cost of publishing online has had another effect: We aren’t being talked to by professional writers and publishers anymore; we are talking to each other” (2). The result is that available content; critiques, recommendations, and expose articles, as an example, can be written by those without a vested interest creating professional looking content from those who are not within the professional sphere of interest. According to Thomases as he quotes a blog called Telecrunch written by Brian Solis, “The new media economy will embrace a shift in content creation and revenue generation from a top-down model to a bottom-up groundswell” (69). Through Twitter and other publishing forms like it on the internet, the people have more than just their purses from which to voice their opinions and affect the future of the market experience of a business. Marketing on Twitter The global world has become a consumerist society, connected in ways it has never been connected before this time through the use of the internet. Twitter is a perfect example of how the socialization of the world has become part of a consumerist based society that reaches most people in most countries. Zaccai explains the consumerist society, specifically in regard to relative status, as an evolutionary extension of survival; the higher the status, the more likely it is to survive. As an extension, consumerism has become a resource from which identity is now formed, the consumption of specific goods creating a sense of identity as associations with others who consume those goods is established (49). Fashionably Marketing, a blog about marketing within the fashion world, is using its power on Twitter to appeal to support for the fashion world through links to articles. Articles are linked in which the return to spending is being heavily promoted. With titles such as “Luxury Spending Higher than in pre-Recession Days”, “I Longingly Wanted to be Her: The Stella McCartney iPad App Walkthrough”, and Project Artisan: Social Conscious Luxury, from Designers you can Trust”, the consumerist society is being actively attracted to the idea of either spending money, or in emulating idols through which spending helps to enhance that emulation (Fashionably Marketing). The articles and photos are a stream of information about how others create themselves through consumerist behavior, thus encouraging the reader, whether someone within the marketing world of fashion or an admirer of fashion, to believe that spending is ‘in’ again or that Stella McCartney’s use of an iPad means that you should have one too. Another means through which Twitter promotes consumerism is through use of the concepts that can be explored through exchange theory. Exchange theory can be divided into two different concepts. The first is through the traditional form of exchange of goods and services for financial remuneration, or the second theory in which there is a social exchange in which social value is the core of the exchange. Exchange becomes the transaction of values between two parties. In other words, the simple exchange suggests that if this is given to one person, then that person will give back what is of equal value (Maclaren 51). This then extends beyond the monetary value of the goods. As an example, if I give you a value of 300 for a handbag that has materials and construction costs that add up to no more than 20, then I have purchased the 280 worth of status. My purchase has become more socially relevant than just the value of materials and construction. This is promoted heavily within a consumerist society, the exchange of status, lifestyle, and identity having more value than the actual tangible costs of an item. Streams from sites like Fashionably Marketing and Marketing UK show their use of the consumerist society with aspects of exchange theory in the way in which they provide information to those within the field of marketing, promoting the use of both of these theories liberally. Using the Consumer Even as the consumerist society and exchange theory gave a great deal of power to branding, advertising, and marketing in general, some of that power has been taken back with the empowering of the consumer through the power of self-publishing on the internet. The consumer, who has no vested interest in the welfare of a company, can now promote his opinion through a publicly published piece of writing on the positive or negative aspects of a product. The marketing world is now also harnessing this power. An example of this from Marketing UK shows how they use Twitter to promote an article that is titled “How Should Brands Better Reach out to Bloggers?”, recognizing the use of the internet in which self publishers have gained power. The empowerment of the consumer has created an opportunity for smart marketing personnel to utilize their power in order to focus their energies towards marketing their products. An example of this is through the power of Twitter to move followers towards emulating those of status that they follow. As an example, according to a blog by Gordon MacMillan, Ford and Lexus are using those who are famously linked on Twitter as their resources for a marketing strategy. Toyota has hired an avid Twitter celebrity named Whitney Cummings to go around from city to city in order to interview other popular social network users in order to promote its new compact Lexus. The idea is that the followers of Whitney Cummings and all of those social network celebrities will follow her interview videos, then be attracted to buying the car. Through the use of the perception of status and association that this type of a campaign will succeed. One of the theories through which the promotion of a lifestyle through the marketing exposure that is created by Twitter works is expectancy theory. The build up of a particular concept through a strategy of marketing builds a certain expectancy within the consumer. The consumer believes that by virtue of having ownership of a product, a need within their life will be fulfilled. Often, that need is associated with status. As an example, a magazine such as Savoir Flair will promote a certain item as the ’it’ item, thus driving up sales of that item for the manufacturer and designer. A redirect to an article in their online magazine through Twitter provides the designer with their promotion and the magazine with readership, which then drives up their advertising dollars. Consumer Empowerment In the beginning, the social networks put a wrench into the power of the advertising world. The empowerment of the individual to voice on a global level any grievances or disturbance they felt about a company or a product created waves within a business that depended on the control of the release of information. While this control was always balanced by the professional media, it was now in jeopardy by the social media, the opinions of anyone who knew how to manipulate the technology available to the world. This can be associated with the functional theory of attitudes. When the consumer became empowered to affect the reputation and popularity of products, they became motivated to utilize that power to promote their own interests rather than those of a company. In the end, however, this has become more of a representation of the world’s opinions because in order to find others to follow, one must first follow what they wish to follow. The attitude that is adopted is the function that supports popularity in an area of interest. The power that can be wielded, however, can be created through the concept of the theory of judgment. In following the trends, one builds a framework in which to form an acceptable judgment. The interesting effect can be as the professional media reports on the actions of the social media, the consumer becomes more aware of the ways in which they can use their power. As in the example provided by WSJ (Wall Street Journal) Media and Marketing, an article which is titled “Phone Wielding Shoppers Strike Fear in Retailers” also then creates information from which more shoppers can use their phones with the use of app that can take down the retail information of an item and automatically search the web for a better price. This information can be used by a Twitter poster in order to spread the information, negating the success of a higher retail price at a store. That poster then is seen as a resource for information on pricing. Information begets information. As shown in a excerpt from WSJ Media, the list of articles they offer covers a wide range of topics. Through the use of Twitter, a follower can pluck out those articles that are relevant to the needs of the moment. When a follower has a particular goal, it takes close study of the tweets in order to successfully utilize the medium. Using Twitter has become a subject of study, commented, critiqued and studied as a viable social force. As shown by Brand Republic, there is a daily blog, called The Social-Media Daily, which has a series of articles that are designed to inform on the ways in which to best use the social media. Not only has the importance of the internet ways in which to communicate become important to advertisers, they are using its venues to discuss the ways in which to best use that value. Creating Popularity Creating a ‘buzz’ about an item has, however, become a bit easier. Who would have imagined that a handbag made of velour with glitzy, sugary tinged decorations at a high price would gain popularity? However, by getting their goods into the hands of celebrities, the designers at Juicy Couture operated without advertising for three years and gained a great deal of popularity through association with those celebrities (Ross and Holland 336). Now, that same type of celebrity association can be made through getting the attention of the right social media celebrity or critique. Virtual popularity can now create the kind of celebrity that was once created by the choices of the media, their attention creating the focus of the public. Through using the social media, focus on an individual can come regardless of outside media attention. Through the use of Twitter, a celebrity who has been made by the outside media can pull back some of that control over their own identity and present to other users the self that they wish for them to see and experience. While it is possible that some public figures use others to tweet for them, it is also common, with the ease of how tweets are created, for celebrities to enjoy their use of the service. As an example, Kanye West uses the service to comment on his life. Ironically, however, he has some tweets in their that promote different designer lines, his voice having the power to turn his followers towards consumer behavior in order to emulate his lifestyle. As an example, West , or someone representing himself as West, mentions prominently that he is very excited that about the new Versace shirts available, then he provides a link to their site. He states, I know it's waaaay after fashion week but I was just peeping this Versace shit and felt moved to tweet about it. The link he provides is to the runway show. This kind of associative advertising has a lot of power. Conclusion The use of Twitter has become a powerful force in advertising, both consumers and advertisers able to harness the power and create movement within marketing. Some aspects of the process can be seen through a sense of cognitive dissonance, the release of information becoming less controlled, and yet the control of information being used in such a way to create more communication in order to affect consumer behavior. The empowerment of the consumer has created a need for more ways in which marketing can utilize that power, the creation of that power leading to the control of it. The circular power that becomes the force that is advertising can seem contradictory to the purposes of the social media in efforts to control the market and promote the success of a business. The ways in which consumers behave can be understood through the ways in which Twitter both informs and provides an information outlet. Consumers are influenced by what is said, the information they receive helping to create a framework from which to make choices. Following those who choose to speak on Twitter will allow information to feed their needs for information with an immediacy that is not available through most media outlets. As shown through the concept of finding out about the app that creates price comparison shopping immediately through one’s phone, that information then is available instantly as it is tweeted, all a consumer’s contacts now having the knowledge of the best place to purchase a product. Twitter has become a place where information is both within and outside of the control of those who benefit most from that information. Using the example of Juicy Couture who utilized the association to celebrity in order to promote their goods at the turn of the century, now a quick search on Twitter pulls up a series of people who are interested in expressing their attraction to their brand. This is the power that Twitter provides. Anyone can be found for their interests, their critiques, or their commentary on a subject. More so, business can now contact those they wish to influence and provide information that is based upon their identity. Works Cited Brand Republic. Twitter. n.d. Web. December 2010. Brand Republic2. Twitter. n.d. Web. December 2010. Burns, Kelli S. Celeb 2.0: How Social Media Foster Our Fascination with Popular Culture. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger/ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print. Bustillo, Miguel and Ann Zimmerman. “Phone Wielding Shoppers Strike Fear in Retailers”. The Wall Street Journal. 15 December 2010. Web. 16 December 2010. Comm, Joel. Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time. London, N.J: Wiley, 2009. Print. Fashionably Marketing. Twitter. n. d. Web. December 2010. Kanye West. Twitter. n.d. Web. December 2010. Kelsey, Todd. Social Networking Spaces: From Facebook to Twitter and Everything in between : a Step-by-Step Introduction to Social Networks for Beginners and Everyone Else. New York: Apress, 2010. Print. Maclaran, Pauline. The Sage Handbook of Marketing Theory. Los Angeles, [Calif.: SAGE, 2009. Print. MacMillan, Gordon. “The Twitterati - Toyota and Ford Tap Young Social-Media Influencers”. The Wall. 15 November 2010. Web. 14 December 2010. Ross, Emily, and Angus Holland. 100 Great Businesses and the Minds Behind Them. Naperville, Ill: Sourcebooks, 2005. Print. Savoir Flair. Twitter. n.d. Web. December 2010. Thomases, Hollis. Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day. Indianapolis, Ind: Wiley Pub, 2010. Internet resource. WSJ Media and Marketing. Twitter. n.d. Web. December 2010. Zaccai, Edwin. Sustainable Consumption, ecology, and fair trade. London: Taylor and Francis, Inc, 2007. Print. Read More