Presentation to PhD students at the London School of Economics, on 30 April 2013. Part of the module "Information Systems PhD Seminar Series and Workshops". Based on the paper: Customer Service 140 Characters at a time: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0267257X.2013.777355#.UX7n7aWLqgE

1. The
role
of
social
media
in
customer
rela2onship
management
Dr Ana Isabel Canhoto
Senior Lecturer in Marketing & Director MSc Marketing
Oxford Brookes University
www.anacanhoto.com
Twitter: @canhoto
©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013

2. Who
I
am,
What
I
do…
Marke2ng
Informa2on
Systems
Customer
profiling
Dark
side
Customer
data
Customer
Management
2©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013

3. 3©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
0267257x.2013.777355.fp.png_v03 525×889 pixels

4. The
age
of
the
social
customer
4©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013

5. 5©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
The
age
of
the
social
customer

6. 6©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
The
age
of
the
social
customer

7. 7©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
The
age
of
the
social
customer

8. 8©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Strategic
use
of
SM
plaGorms
by
customers
to
influence
outcomes
Users
view
SM
plaGorms
as
private
areas
where
they
can
interact
with
friends
Firms
should
enter
online
dialogues
with
customers
New
set
of
expecta2ons
require
new
mind
sets
and
approaches
to
customer
management
The
age
of
the
social
customer

9. 9©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Social
network
Support
Social
Capital
Theore2cal
lens

10. 10©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Table 1 Forms of social networks
Criterion Dimension Selected references
Hierarchy Horizontal vs. Vertical (Putnam 2000, Adler and Kwon 2002)
Membership Informal vs. Formal (Wellman, Carrington et al. 1988,
Fukuyama 1999)
Ties Strong vs. Weak (Granovetter 1973, Wellman, Carrington
et al. 1988)
Similarity Bonding vs. Bridging (Putnam 2000, McPherson, Smith-Lovin
et al. 2001)
• Social
network
Theore2cal
lens

11. 11©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
• Support
Theore2cal
lens

12. 12©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Theore2cal
lens
• Lack
of
empirical
research
on:
– The
role
of
online
technology
in
crea2ng
social
capital
– How
Internet
interacts
with
other
forms
of
communica2on
– The
type
of
SNs
that
emerge
in
online
environments
– What
support
SN
users
obtain
from
interac2ng
online

13. 13©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Social
Network
Support
Theore2cal
lens

14. Research
ques2ons
• What
types
of
online
rela2onships
are
most
valued
by
social
media
users?
• What
support
do
social
network
users
perceive
they
derive
from
interac2ng
with
organisa2ons
online?
14©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013

15. Research
approach
• Social
capital
is
a
subjec2ve
process
(Ibarra,
Kilduff
et
al.
2005):
focus
on
the
(posi2ve)
experiences
of
individuals
• Focus
on
specific
ac2vity
to
deepen
the
understanding
of
the
social
2es
(Williams
and
Durrance
2008):
customer
feedback
• Data
collected
via
SM
plaGorms
• Snowball
sampling
15©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013

16. Data
collec2on
16©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
• Source
of
valid
responses:

17. Data
collec2on
17©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Access
to
users
in
dispersed
geographic
loca2ons
Wri]en
responses
–
no
need
for
recording
and
transcrip2on
Can
offer
neither
confiden2ality
nor
anonymity
Limited
levels
of
interac2vity
Answers:
short
and
using
abbrevia2ons
and
emo2cons

18. 18©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
U2li2es
Telecoms
Sport
equip
&
prod
Retail
Restaurant
Media
IT-­‐serv
IT-­‐hard
Insurance
Hotel
Food
&
drink
Automo2ve
Airline
Men2ons
per
industry
sector:
Data
collec2on

19. 19©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Data
collec2on

20. Data
analysis
• Manual
• Deduc2ve
categorisa2on
• Emerging
dimensions
• Inves2gate
frequency
20©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Dimensions
Structural
Elements
Social Capital
Online social
network
relationships
Hierarchy
Membership
Ties
Similarity
Support
available to social
media users from
interacting with
organisations
online
Informational
Emotional
Tangible
Social

21. 21©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
www.anacanhoto.com
Membership
Formal
Informal
• Mirrors
findings
from
the
literature
regarding
offline
interac2ons
with
firms
(e.g.,
Kumar
and
Worm
2003).
• The
characteris2cs
of
the
nodes
(and
associated
behavioural
expecta2ons)
determine
the
pa]ern
of
interac2ons,
not
the
technology.
Findings:
type
of
interac2on

22. 22©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
www.anacanhoto.com
Membership
Characteris2cs
Formal
Informal
Reliability
• Not
men2oned
in
the
SC
literature
• Related
to
concept
of
‘expecta2ons’
(e.g.,
Batjargal
2003).
• Determines
percep2ons
of
quality
in
Internet
based
interac2ons
with
firms
(e.g.,
Liao
and
Cheung
2008)
Findings:
type
of
interac2on

23. 23©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
www.anacanhoto.com
Membership
Characteris2cs
Hierarchy
Formal
Informal
Reliability
Ver2cal
Horizontal
• Preferences
influenced
by
personal
characteris2cs,
cultural
factors
rela2ng
to
trust,
pre-­‐exis2ng
rela2onships,
etc…
Findings:
type
of
interac2on

24. 24©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
www.anacanhoto.com
Membership
Characteris2cs
Hierarchy
Personalisa2on
Formal
Informal
Reliability
Ver2cal
Horizontal
High
Low
• Not
men2oned
in
literature
• Permission
marke2ng
(e.g.,
Pe]y
2000)
Findings:
type
of
interac2on

25. 25©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Criteria
Dimension
-­‐
Descrip0on
%
Membership
Formal
-­‐
Firms
approach
social
media
interac2on
in
a
structured
way
33
Informal
-­‐
Interac2ons
don’t
follow
set
rules
3
Characteris2cs
Reliability
-­‐
Certainty
of
being
able
to
access
the
organisa2on,
the
assurance
of
gekng
a
response,
or
the
consistency
in
service
levels
expected
30
Hierarchy
Ver2cal
–
Interac2ng
with
an
authorised,
empowered
representa2ve
of
the
organisa2on
12
Horizontal
–
Dealing
with
another
human
being,
not
a
corpora2on
12
Personalisa2on
High
–
Direct
interac2ons
that
reveal
knowledge
of
the
customers
and
their
circumstances
9
Low
–
Effec2ve
interac2ons
that
do
not
feel
too
personal
1
Findings:
type
of
interac2on

26. 26©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Tangible
Informa2on
Emo2onal
Effec2ve
Social
• Benefits
focused
on
users’
needs
• Some
appreciated
access
to
product
trials
and
showed
readiness
to
provide
feedback
to
the
organisa2on
• Support
is
not
restricted
to
B2C
exchanges
• Visibility
of
interac2ons
increases
social
capital
within
the
network
(Wellman
and
Gulia
1999)
Findings:
support

27. 27©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Tangible
Informa2on
Emo2onal
Effec2ve
Social
• Role
of
emo2on
on
consumer
behaviour
and
customer
experience
documented
in
the
literature
• Posi2ve
eWoM
influenced
by
iden2fica2on
with,
and
commitment
to,
the
organisa2on
(Brown,
Barry
et
al.
2005)
Findings:
support

28. 28©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Tangible
Informa2on
Emo2onal
Effec2ve
Social
• Not
men2oned
in
literature
• Concept
of
‘ability’
(Adler
and
Kwon
2002):
nodes’
competencies
magnify
the
resources
available
to
the
network
Findings:
support

29. 29©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Tangible
Informa2on
Emo2onal
Effec2ve
Social
Role
of
social
bonding
in
commitment
and
long
term
rela2onships
(Baron,
Conway
et
al.
2010)
Findings:
support

30. 30©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013
Criteria
Dimension
-­‐
Descrip0on
%
Tangible
High
–
Problems
solved,
financial
benefits
obtained
and
access
to
perks
27
Informa2on
High
–
B2C,
C2B
and
C2C
exchanges
24
Emo2onal
High
–
Feeling
listened
to,
cared
for,
a
focus
on
long
term
rela2onships,
able
to
express
oneself,
etc.
24
Effec2ve
High
–
Speed
with
which
users
can
access
support,
rela2ve
superiority
of
social
media
over
alterna2ve
channels
and
ability
to
avoid
future
problems
15
Social
High
–
Engagement
with
the
organisa2on,
other
users
and
the
community,
and
feeling
part
of
a
group
10
Findings:
support

31. Conclusions
• What
types
of
online
rela2onships
are
most
valued
by
social
media
users?
• Customers
expect
firms
to
interact
with
them
and
to
offer
support
across
an
array
of
plaGorms,
even
those
not
tradi2onally
thought
of
as
a
business
channel,
for
example
Facebook
• Integra2on
with
other
channels
of
communica2on
• Differen2ated
approaches
31©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013

32. Conclusions
• What
support
do
social
network
users
perceive
they
derive
from
interac2ng
with
organisa2ons
online?
• The
effec2ve
channel
to
interact
with
the
firm
• Huge
poten2al
in
customer
service
and
CRM
• Requires
investment
in
processes,
HR
and
informa2on
through
the
value
chain
(Clark
and
Baker
2004)
• Possible
perverse
incen2ves
and
counter-­‐
produc2ve
behaviours
(Schrage
2011)
32©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013

33. Conclusions
• Empirical
inves2ga2on
of
the
effect
of
the
Internet
on
social
capital,
as
per
Wellman
and
Gulia
(1999)
• As
far
as
SM
is
concerned,
Internet
technology
amplifies
social
capital
• It
amplifies
the
tangible,
informa2onal,
emo2onal
and
social
support
available
to
members
of
online
social
networks
33©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013

34. Conclusions
• Empirical
evidence
for
the
type
of
social
networks
that
emerge
in
the
online
environment,
as
per
Lee
(2009)
• Specifically
considers
the
interplay
between
individuals
and
firms,
as
per
Ibarra
and
colleagues
(2005)
34©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013

35. The
role
of
social
media
in
customer
rela2onship
management
Dr Ana Isabel Canhoto
Senior Lecturer in Marketing & Director MSc Marketing
Oxford Brookes University
www.anacanhoto.com
Twitter: @canhoto
©
Ana
Isabel
Canhoto
2013