Annamaria Tuan

Social Media Marketing and Relationship Marketing: revolution or evolution? A first step analysis

Purpose of the study . By relying on the value creation perspective from a knowledge economy viewpoint, the aim of the paper is to analyze if the introduction of Social Media may be considered as an evolution or as a revolution of Relationship Marketing. This paper represents the first step of a longer path aimed at analyzing the evolution of the connections between Relationship Marketing (RM) and Public Relations (PR)in light of the introduction of Social Media, considered as tools of co-production and co-creation of value for firms. Methodology . A wide range of online databases were searched by means of keywords in order to analyze both academic and professional literature. Afterwards we used the snowball method in order to identify related references. Results . identification and description, according to an economic-managerial perspective, of the constitutive elements of a theoretical framework which allows us to analyze the relationship between RM and Social Media Marketing. Practical implications . Definition of the operational elements concerning the distinction between RM and Social Media Marketing so that the decision maker of firms may identify the innovative elements of Social Media within the marketing strategies and policies, in particular with regard to operational tools (ICT and managerial). Limits of the research . Since this is the first phase of a larger research, the study mainly deals with the analysis of RM literature by highlighting only the main contributions in the field of Public Relations. Originality . Identification of specific operational relationships between Social Media Marketing and RM by relying on the knowledge economy perspective of Italian strategic-managerial matrix. Identification of specific research questions which economic-managerial research has to answer in order to “solve” the relation between RM and PR in the context of Social Media.

How online reviewers and actual customers evaluate their shopping experiences. Evidence from an international retail chain

Online reviews represent an important source of information for consumers and, on the other hand, an important contribution for corporate management. Consumers increasingly rely on other consumers’ reviews to make purchase decisions both offline and online. From a corporate perspective, reviews can be used to modify and adapt offerings, services, and to improve communication effectiveness. In this paper we are going to analyze online consumer reviews related to stores from an international retailer. Employing a qualitative and quantitative analysis, we have analyzed 80.910 online store reviews in Italy from April 1st, 2016 to March 31st, 2017. Then, in order to validate online reviews data, we conducted around 800 interviews with consumers at the shops and an online survey on 700 consumers: we want to measure the percentage of online reviewers on total customers and the differences between evaluations from reviewers and non-reviewers. We believe that this validation is necessary for accurate interpretation and further employment of online review data.

Engaging consumers on social media: empirical evidence from the communications analysis of a CSR oriented company

The purpose of this paper is to show how corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication on social media is actually implemented and managed in business practice by a coffee company in Italy with a proved track record in CSR related activities. Consistent with the explorative aim of the study, this paper employs a case study approach and it adopts a sensemaking-sensegiving framework. An analysis was carried out of the communication on social media by interviewing three key respondents and employing a content analysis technique in order to study the communication on Facebook and Twitter. Results show that even if a company is CSR oriented, communication on social media does not focus on social and environmental issues. The result is confirmed by the interviews which underline how difficult it is to create engagement and to create a two-way dialogue with stakeholders about CSR issues on social media. The paper ends by suggesting several recommendations for further CSR communication implementation of the company analysed and for business practice in general.