In: A Digital Janus - Looking Forward, Looking Back. Dennis Moser, Susan Dun, 2014, (Eds.): Inter-Disciplinary Press
Media companies currently face competitive market environments characterised by immense structura... more Media companies currently face competitive market environments characterised by immense structural changes driven by new technologies, convergence and audiences increasingly selecting new media channels that provide their desired information at the preferred time and place over traditional media channels. On social media platforms prosumers converse about companies, their brands, products and services and also expect to engage in direct dialogues with content producers. Even without these transformations the branding of media products and services is challenging due to their specific properties as experience and credence goods. Reputation is vital as audiences seek reliable information from other users. Hence, ‘building and positioning a brand will become a key skill in the future.’1 Social Network Sites (SNSs), and most notably Facebook, have changed the setting and conditions in which media companies may present their brands and how they communicate with audiences of different ages. In the light of the structural changes in the media and with regard to the importance of brands in the fragmented media business, this chapter investigates how media companies can translate their brand(s) into social network environments. It addresses how they conduct brand management in SNS and how they perceive potentials and challenges in terms of building and maintaining strong media brands in these environments. Based on in-depth interviews with managers of German media companies responsible for maintaining profiles on SNS for their newspapers, magazines, radio or television stations, the chapter evaluates the activities of media companies on SNSs and their implications for media brand management. The results show that it is the online editors and the journalists who create and maintain social network profiles for the media brands rather than the marketing departments, indicating that a strategic implementation of SNS for media branding is still in its early stages.
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(JOMBS) receives an increasing number of submissions every week. Given the
growing interest in the study of media business, whether from the angle of economics,
management, strategy, organisation studies, marketing, consumer behaviour, innovation
and entrepreneurship or other contributing disciplines, this editorial aims to clarify
how we look at the field and wish to move the journal forward. In particular, we want
to address a few questions that we believe are central for those who wish to publish
their research with us and thereby contribute to the academic discussion. This article
gives a more elaborate explanation to the aims and scope of JOMBS.
zu einer Konnektivität zwischen Nutzern dieser Plattformen kommt. Hierzu wird zunächst ein neues mehrdimensionales Modell vorgestellt. Dieses unterscheidet zwischen einer indirekten und einer direkten Konnektivität. Zudem berücksichtigt das Modell, dass Konnektivität sowohl über geografische als auch über kulturelle Grenzen hinweg stattfinden kann. Den beiden Dimensionen einer direkten und einer indirekten Konnektivität werden jeweils zwei Konnektivitätsmerkmale zugeordnet. So drückt sich eine indirekte Konnektivität durch eine grenzüberschreitende Verbreitung von sozialen Netzwerkplattformen sowie eine grenzüberschreitende Standardisierung von sozialen Netzwerkplattformen aus. Eine direkte
Konnektivität zeigt sich dagegen durch grenzüberschreitende Kontaktlisten der Nutzer und eine grenzüberschreitende Verbreitung von Onlinemedieninhalten in den durch die direkte
Vernetzung von Nutzern entstandenen Kommunikationsräumen. Der empirische Teil dieses
Beitrags enthält eine Onlinebefragung deutscher, estnischer und russisch-estnischer Nutzer (n = 1.464). Die Ergebnisse zeigen unterschiedliche Ausprägungen der Konnektivität für die Dimensionen direkt und indirekt sowie hinsichtlich der Frage, ob Konnektivität ein über geografische oder kulturelle Grenzen stattfindender Prozess verstanden wird. Die Ergebnisse sind dabei nicht nur von der jeweiligen Untersuchungsgruppe abhängig, sondern auch vom Alter der Nutzer und davon, ob diese Facebook oder eine andere Plattform nutzen.
(JOMBS) receives an increasing number of submissions every week. Given the
growing interest in the study of media business, whether from the angle of economics,
management, strategy, organisation studies, marketing, consumer behaviour, innovation
and entrepreneurship or other contributing disciplines, this editorial aims to clarify
how we look at the field and wish to move the journal forward. In particular, we want
to address a few questions that we believe are central for those who wish to publish
their research with us and thereby contribute to the academic discussion. This article
gives a more elaborate explanation to the aims and scope of JOMBS.
zu einer Konnektivität zwischen Nutzern dieser Plattformen kommt. Hierzu wird zunächst ein neues mehrdimensionales Modell vorgestellt. Dieses unterscheidet zwischen einer indirekten und einer direkten Konnektivität. Zudem berücksichtigt das Modell, dass Konnektivität sowohl über geografische als auch über kulturelle Grenzen hinweg stattfinden kann. Den beiden Dimensionen einer direkten und einer indirekten Konnektivität werden jeweils zwei Konnektivitätsmerkmale zugeordnet. So drückt sich eine indirekte Konnektivität durch eine grenzüberschreitende Verbreitung von sozialen Netzwerkplattformen sowie eine grenzüberschreitende Standardisierung von sozialen Netzwerkplattformen aus. Eine direkte
Konnektivität zeigt sich dagegen durch grenzüberschreitende Kontaktlisten der Nutzer und eine grenzüberschreitende Verbreitung von Onlinemedieninhalten in den durch die direkte
Vernetzung von Nutzern entstandenen Kommunikationsräumen. Der empirische Teil dieses
Beitrags enthält eine Onlinebefragung deutscher, estnischer und russisch-estnischer Nutzer (n = 1.464). Die Ergebnisse zeigen unterschiedliche Ausprägungen der Konnektivität für die Dimensionen direkt und indirekt sowie hinsichtlich der Frage, ob Konnektivität ein über geografische oder kulturelle Grenzen stattfindender Prozess verstanden wird. Die Ergebnisse sind dabei nicht nur von der jeweiligen Untersuchungsgruppe abhängig, sondern auch vom Alter der Nutzer und davon, ob diese Facebook oder eine andere Plattform nutzen.
1
, outnumber domestic networks in terms of membership numbers in many countries. This article reports on focus group interviews with Estonian, Russian-Estonian, and German SNS users whose aim it was to investigate their desire for cultural or geographic proximity in SNSs, as well as the attraction of network effects of large international SNSs. Based on a new model of proximity in SNSs, the interviews suggested that users self-create proximity in SNSs more than they desire it from what the SNSs offer to them. The interviews also suggested that the extent to which users self-create or desire cultural and geographic proximity differs across cultural groups, as the Russian-Estonian SNS users indicated the greatest need for cultural proximity, but a comparatively small need for geographic proximity. Fur-thermore, the interviews suggested that users are attracted to SNSs with a large inter-national membership base, as it reassures them that no change of network is required if they ever wished to connect with people from different cultures or countries. Large international SNSs attract users with network effects, and it lies in the nature of SNSs that they allow users to self-create as much proximity as they wish.
Free access: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/CcNgDq8jeyjx4Zfwtw7s/full"
Theoretical background According to Shih (2011) the most important requirements for a successful branding via SNS are authenticity, transparency, engagement and real-time exposure. Hence, the present study looks at these four factors in order to detect the extent of sophistication of the SNS communication by television stations. But how do size aspects determine the level of sophistication of SNS communication? Regarding the market size, there are two possible, but contradictory answers to this depending on whether one applies a resource view or a diversity view. If one considers the limited financial and personal resources available in small markets as highlighted by Puppis (2009) and Lowe et al. (2011), companies in small markets are not able to invest much into the elaboration of their communication activities. This leads to the assumption of a positive relationship between the market size and the sophistication of SNS communication (Proposition 1.1). On the other hand, larger markets have the capacity to produce more television programs than smaller markets (Lowe et al. 2011) resulting in an overall higher program diversity (Yan and Park, 2006). Contrastingly, in small markets, where diversity is low and content is interchangeable, companies need to differentiate themselves from each other through communication activities (Kiefer, 2005). The diversity perspective, therefore, suggests a negative relationship between the size of a market and the effort broadcasting stations put into their activities in SNS (Proposition 1.2).
As with the influence of the market size, we can follow two contradictory lines of arguments regarding the firm’s size. On one hand, according to the resource view, larger and financially better-situated media firms are able to invest more in their communication activities (Proposition 2.1). The incentive view, which highlights the importance of possible benefits and rewards (Frisch 1993), suggests, on the other hand, that bigger companies see less of a need to invest in SNS communications than smaller companies in less comfortable market positions. Thus, the incentive view, leads to following proposition: The larger a media company’s market share is, the less sophisticated is its SNS communication (Proposition 2.2).
Methodology In order to extract the influence of the market and the firm size on the sophistication of SNS-communication our explorative, comparative case-studies analysis follows a method of difference design (Rohlfing, 2009), in which the measures for the dependent variable as well one of the independent variables show distinct measures, while the rest of the independent variables have comparable values (Mill, 1843/ 1974). Four countries of different population size (UK, Germany, Austria and Estonia) were selected in which the SNS communication by twelve television stations was analyzed. The analysis was conducted through a content analysis. Based on the key success factors for SNS communication proposed by Shih (2011) the case television stations’ activities on Facebook in May 2012 were analyzed by two coders following a determined codebook (intercoder reliability of 0.81 (Holsti)).
Results The results of the study indicate, that both the size of the market as well as the size of the firm influence how sophisticated the SNS communication of television stations is. Yet, different from what has been argued from the resources argument, our results suggest the diversity and incentive argumentation. Accordingly, it is not the small resources of small markets and small companies that have a negative effect on the extent of SNS communication, but it is the small program diversity in small markets and the much needed possible rewards of a successful SNS communication that serve as incentives for small companies, which lead to a more sophisticated SNS communication in small markets and by small companies. Having studied the television stations’ activities over a period of one month, we see several implications that follow from our research. These regard both the managerial as well as the theoretical perspective and lead to suggestions for future research.
This study combines qualitative and quantitative research methods. In a first step, focus group interviews with SNS users in Germany and Estonia were conducted. In Estonia, this included both a group with Estonians as well as with the Russian-speaking minority in Estonia. Through these interviews, possible behaviors, experiences and opinions in terms of SNS choice and usage were identified. Based on these interviews, large-scale online surveys with SNS users were conducted in Germany and Estonia. The samples were representative for the internet population in these countries in terms of age, gender, language, and place of living.
Both the focus group interviews and the online surveys made obvious cross-cultural differences in terms of SNS choice and usage. However, in all three cultural groups, the tendency to switch from a local or domestic SNS, such as StudiVZ or rate, to a more international one, mainly Facebook, was detected. This tendency, however, was far less obvious among the Russian Estonians than among the other groups. Whereas the choice of SNS was seen to decreasingly reflect a demand for cultural proximity, the personal networks within the SNS were seen to reflect a great demand for cultural proximity. Such a demand is expressed through a low degree of interconnectivity across cultural groups through such SNS and through the fact that media content that users recommend to each other through such SNS by and large is local and domestic.
The study makes obvious cross-cultural differences in SNS choice and usage, and it highlights the role of network externalities as determinants of SNS choices that make large, international SNS very attractive to users, despite the expressed need for cultural proximity.
It presents the results of focus group interviews as well as online surveys with these three groups. The interviews and surveys made obvious differences in the following areas: 1) The choice of SNS, 2) the choice of language, 3) the composition of the contact list in terms of the relation between numbers of contacts from the own culture and from other cultures, 4) the practice of “following” certain media outlets through SNS or announcing on SNS to “like” certain media outlets, 5) the practice of forwarding and recommending media to contacts via SNS.
The presentation uses the term “cultural proximity” that originates from the global media studies (Straubhaar, 1991), and it presents a new model that lays out the specific role of cultural proximity in the preferences for as well as behavior in SNS. Since the interviews and surveys also included questions regarding possible changes of choice and usage of SNS over time, different dynamics in the three youth groups in terms of SNS are discussed.
Such stages of changing conditions that foreign companies find in emerging media markets could be observed almost anywhere, starting from the 1980s, when many media markets around the world underwent deregulation and privatization processes. In China, similar processes can be observed. Although the Chinese media market is highly restricted and foreign media companies are virtually prohibited from investing in most Chinese media industries, foreign media companies have tried to find grey areas in which rules and legislation are not as crystal clear for entering and operating in the market. Over the years, these companies have faced changing challenges due to the emerging media industry in China.
The aim of this presentation is to shed light on the changing challenges foreign media companies face in China. The presentation will present the results of a research project in which the strategies of some of the largest western media companies in the Chinese market were analyzed and both western and Chinese company managers were asked to give insights into the conditions that the western companies find in China. The presentation will present the results of this project by assigning these conditions to the Vertical Barrier Chain that serves as a new interdisciplinary framework for helping to structure legal, political, economic and cultural market forces which may present barriers to a successful strategy in a foreign market. The presentation will show how these barriers in China have changed over time and how they are likely to change in the future, and it will argue that in emerging media markets such as China, foreign media companies face growing challenges to be successful with local audiences. Furthermore, it will show to what extent and how these challenges that western media companies encounter in China are perceived differently by Chinese and western company managers.