Spreading the word through likes on Facebook: Evaluating the message strategy effectiveness of Fortune 500 companies

Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing

Volumn 7, Issue 4, 2013, Pages 269-294

  Swani, Kunal ^a   Milne, George ^a   Brown, Brian P ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS   (United States)

^b VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

B2B marketing; Facebook; Marketing communications; Services marketing; Social media advertising

Indexed keywords

EID: 84888994037     PISSN: 20407122     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/JRIM-05-2013-0026     Document Type: Article

References (91)

1. Aaker, D.A. (2004), "Leveraging the corporate brand" in California Management Review, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 6-18.
2. Abernethy, A.M., Butler, D.D. (1993), "Promoting customer contact people: a key difference in service and product advertising" in Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 4-12.
3. Abrantes, J.L., Seabra, C., Lages, C.R., Jayawardhena, C. (2013), "Drivers of in-group and out-of-group electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM)", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 47, No. 7.
4. Adobe Online Marketing Suite Best Practice Guide (2011), "Best practices for measuring and optimizing the business impact of the Facebook Like button", available at: www.omniture.com/offer/1230 (accessed May 1, 2013).
5. Ahn, S.J., Bailenson, J.N. (2011), "Self-endorsing versus other-endorsing in virtual environments" in Journal of Advertising, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 93-106.
6. Albers-Miller, N.D., Stafford, M.R. (1999), "An international analysis of emotional and rational appeals in services vs goods advertising" in Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 42-57.
7. Bansal, H.S., Voyer, P.A. (2000), "Word-of-mouth processes within a services purchase decision context" in Journal of Service Research, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 166-177.
8. Barnes, N.G. (2010), "The Fortune 500 and social media: a longitudinal study of blogging, Twitter and Facebook usage by America's largest companies", available at: www.umassd.edu/cmr (accessed April 14, 2011).
9. Berger, J. (2013), Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.
10. Berger, J., Milkman, K.L. (2012), "What makes online content viral?" in Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 192-205.
11. Brown, B.P., Bellenger, D.N., Johnston, W.J. (2007), "The implications of business-to-business and consumer market differences for B2B branding strategy" in Journal of Business Market Management, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 209-230.
12. Brown, B.P., Zablah, A.R., Bellenger, D., Donthu, N. (2011a), "What factors influence buying center brand sensitivity" in Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 508-520.
13. Brown, B.P., Zablah, A.R., Bellenger, D., Johnston, W.J. (2011b), "When do B2B brands influence the decision-making of organizational buyers? An examination of the relationship between purchase risk and brand sensitivity" in International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 194-204.
14. Brown, J.J., Reingen, P.H. (1987), "Social ties and word-of-mouth referral behavior" in Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 14, pp. 350-362.
15. Brown, S., Kozinets, R.V., Sherry, J.F. (2003), "Teaching old brands new tricks: retro branding and the revival of brand meaning" in Journal of Marketing, Vol. 67, pp. 19-33.
16. Burt, S.L., Sparks, L. (2002), "Corporate branding, retailing, and retail internationalization" in Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 5, Nos 2/3, pp. 194-212.
17. Chen, Y., Fay, S., Wang, Q. (2011), "The role of marketing in social media: how online consumer reviews evolve" in Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 85-94.
18. Chevalier, J.A., Mayzlin, D. (2006), "The effect of word of mouth on sales: online book reviews" in Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 43, pp. 45-354.
19. Chiu, H.-C., Hseih, Y.-C., Kao, Y.-H., Lee, M. (2007), "The determinants of e-mail receivers' disseminating behaviors on the internet" in Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 47, pp. 524-534.
20. Chompon (2011), "What is the value of a social action in online commerce?", available at: www.chompon.com/publishers (accessed May 1, 2013).
21. De Matos, C.A., Rossi, C.A.V. (2008), "Word-of-mouth communications in marketing: a meta-analytic review of the antecedents and moderators" in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 578-596.
22. De Vries, L., Gensler, S., Leeflang, P.S.H. (2012), "Popularity of brand posts on brand fan pages: an investigation of the effects of social media marketing" in Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 83-91.
23. Dwyer, P. (2007), "Measuring the value of electronic word of mouth and its impact in consumer communities" in Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 21, pp. 63-79.
24. Emarketer (2012), "The ripple effect of following brands", available at: www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1009177&ecid=a6506033675d47f881651943c21c5ed4 (accessed May 1, 2013).
25. Facebook (2011a), "Like button", available at: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/ (accessed May 1, 2013).
26. Facebook (2011b), "Like button: best practices", available at: https://developers.facebook.com/attachment/LikeButtonBestPractices_v1.pdf (accessed May 1, 2013).
27. Facebook (2013), "Success stories", available at: www.facebook.com/FacebookStudio/app_397409610271055 (accessed September 30, 2013).
28. Fang, C.H., Lin, T.M., Liu, F., Lin, Y.H. (2011), "Product type and word of mouth: a dyadic perspective" in Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. 5, Nos 2/3, pp. 189-202.
29. Feng, J., Papatla, P. (2011), "Advertising: stimulant or suppressant of online word of mouth?" in Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 75-84.
30. Firestone, S.H. (1983), "Why advertising a service is different" in Berry, L.L., Shostack, G.L., Gregory, D. and Upah, G.D. (Eds.), Emerging Perspectives on Services Marketing, American Marketing Association, Chicago, IL, pp. 86-89.
31. Gelb, B.D., Sundharam, S. (2002), "Adapting to 'word of mouse'" in Business Horizons, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 21-25.
32. Gilliland, D.I., Johnston, W.J. (1997), "Toward a model of business-to-business marketing communications effects" in Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 15-29.
33. Godes, D., Mayzlin, D. (2009), "Firm-created word-of-mouth communication: evidence from a field test" in Marketing Science, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 721-739.
34. Goldberg, M.E., Gorn, G.J. (1987), "Happy and sad TV programs: how they affect reactions to commercials" in Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 14, pp. 387-403.
35. Goldenberg, J., Han, S., Lehmann, D., Hong, J. (2009), "The role of hubs in the adoption processes" in Journal of Marketing, Vol. 73, No. 2, pp. 1-13.
36. Granovetter, M.S. (1973), "The strength of weak ties" in American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 78, No. 6, pp. 1360-1380.
37. Hansen, F. (1976), "Psychological theories of consumer choice" in Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 117-142.
38. Hennig-Thurau, T., Gwinner, K.P., Walsh, G., Gremler, D.D. (2004), "Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: what motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the internet?" in Journal Interactive Marketing, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 38-52.
39. Hofacker, C. (2012), "On research methods in interactive marketing" in Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 1-3.
40. Homburg, C., Klarmann, M., Schmitt, J. (2010), "Brand awareness in business markets: when is it related to firm performance?" in International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 201-212.
41. Jansen, B.J., Zhang, M., Sobel, K., Chowdury, A. (2009), "Twitter power: tweets as electronic word of mouth" in Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 60, No. 11, pp. 2169-2188.
42. Jensen, M.B., Jepsen, A.L. (2007), "Low attention advertising processing in B2B markets" in Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 342-348.
43. Kotler, P., Pfoertsch, W. (2006), B2B Brand Management, Springer, Berlin.
44. Kozinets, R.V., de Valck, K., Wojnicki, A.C., Wilner, S.J.S. (2010), "Networked narratives: understanding word-of-mouth marketing in online communities" in Journal of Marketing, Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 71-89.
45. Kuhn, K.-A.L., Alpert, F., Pope, N.K.L. (2008), "An application of Keller's brand equity model in a B2B context" in Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 40-58.
46. Kumar, V., Mirchandani, R. (2012), "Winning with data: social media-increasing the ROI of social media marketing" in MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 55-61.
47. Lemke, F., Clark, M., Wilson, H. (2011), "Customer experience quality: an exploration in business and consumer contexts using repertory grid technique" in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 39, No. 6, pp. 846-869.
48. Libai, B., Bolton, R., Bügel, M., De Ruyter, K., Götz, O., Risselada, H., Stephen, A. (2010), "Customer to customer interactions: broadening the scope of word of mouth research" in Journal of Service Research, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 267-282.
49. Lindgreen, A., Dobele, A., Vanhamme, J. (2013), "Word-of-mouth and viral marketing referrals: what do we know? And what should we know?" in European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 47, No. 7, pp. 1-12.
50. Lohtia, R., Donthu, N., Hershberger, E. (2003), "The impact of content and design elements on banner advertising click-through rates" in Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 410-418.
51. Lohtia, R., Johnston, W.J., Aab, L. (1995), "Business-to-business advertising: what are the dimensions of an effective print ad?" in Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 24, No. 5, pp. 369-378.
52. López, M., Sicilia, M. (2013), "How WOM marketing contributes to new product adoption: testing competitive communication strategies", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 47, No. 7.
53. Lovett, M., Peres, R., Shachar, R. (2013), "On brands and word-of-mouth" in Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 427-444.
54. Lynch, J., de Chernatony, L. (2004), "The power of emotion: brand communication in business-to-business markets" in Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 11, No. 5, pp. 403-419.
55. McAlexander, J.H., Schouten, J., Koenig, H.F. (2002), "Building brand community" in Journal of Marketing, Vol. 66, pp. 38-54.
56. McDonald, M.H.B., de Chernatony, L. (2001), "Corporate marketing and service brands - moving beyond the fast-moving consumer goods model" in European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 35, Nos 3-5, pp. 335-352.
57. Martin, W.C., Lueg, J.E. (2011), "Modeling word-of-mouth usage" in Journal of Business Research, Vol. 66, No. 7, pp. 801-808.
58. Michaelidou, N., Siamagka, N.T., Christodoulides, G. (2011), "Usage, barriers and measurement of social media marketing: an exploratory investigation of small and medium B2B brands" in Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 40, No. 7, pp. 1153-1159.
59. Michell, P., King, J., Reast, J. (2001), "Brand values related to industrial products" in Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 415-425.
60. Minett, S. (2002), B2B Marketing: A Radically Different Approach for Business-to-Business Marketers, Pearson, London.
61. Moorman (2012), "The CMO", available at http://cmosurvey.org/files/2012/08/The_CMO_Survey_Highlights_and_Insights_August-2012-Final.pdf (accessed June 18, 2013).
62. Mortimer, K. (2008), "Identifying the components of effective service advertisements" in Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 104-113.
63. MSI (2012), 2010-2012 Research Priorities, available at www.msi.org/research/index.cfm?id=271#RP5 (accessed June 18, 2013).
64. Mudambi, S.M., Doyle, P., Wong, V. (1997), "An exploration of branding in industrial markets" in Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 26, No. 5, pp. 525-533.
65. Muniz, A.M. Jr, O'Guinn, T.C. (2001), "Brand community" in Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 412-432.
66. Neuendorf, K. (2002), The Content Analysis Guidebook, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
67. Page, T.J., Thorson, E., Heide, M. (1990), "The memory impact of commercials varying in emotional appeal and product involvement" in Agres, S.J., Edell, J.A. and Dubitsky, T.M. (Eds.), Emotion in Advertising, Quorum Books, New York, NY, pp. 255-268.
68. Phelps, J.E., Lewis, R., Mobilio, L., Perry, D., Raman, N. (2004), "Viral marketing or electronic word-of-mouth advertising: examining consumer responses and motivations to pass along email" in Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 44, pp. 333-348.
69. Rapp, A., Beitelspacher, L.S., Grewal, D., Hughes, D.E. (2013), "Understanding social media effects across seller, retailer, and consumer interactions" in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 547-566.
70. Raudenbush, S.W., Bryk, A. (2002), Hierarchical Linear Models, 2nd ed., Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
71. Rust, R.T., Cooil, B. (1994), "Reliability measures for qualitative data: theory and implications" in Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 31, pp. 1-14.
72. Schultz, D., Peltier, J. (2013), "Social media's slippery slope: challenges, opportunities and future research directions" in Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 86-99.
73. Shipley, D., Howard, P. (1993), "Brand-naming industrial products" in Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 59-66.
74. Spekman, R.E., Dotson, E. (2009), "Using social media in the B2B context", Harvard Business Review, July 27.
75. Stafford, M.R. (1996), "Tangibility in services advertising: an investigation of verbal versus visual cues" in Journal of Advertising, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 13-28.
76. Stafford, M.R., Day, E. (1995), "Retail services advertising: the effects of appeal, medium, and service" in Journal of Advertising, Vol. 24, pp. 57-71.
77. Stephen, A.T., Galak, J. (2009), "The complementary roles of traditional and social media in driving marketing performance" in Insead Working Papers Collection, Vol. 52, pp. 1-38.
78. Sweeney, J.C., Soutar, G.N., Mazzarol, T. (2012), "Word of mouth: measuring the power of individual messages" in European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 46, Nos 1/2, pp. 237-257.
79. Tripp, C. (1997), "Services advertising: an overview and summary of research, 1980-1995" in Journal of Advertising, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 21-39.
80. Trusov, M., Bucklin, R.E., Pauwels, K.H. (2009), "Effects of word-of-mouth versus traditional marketing: findings from an internet social networking site" in Journal of Marketing, Vol. 73, No. 5, pp. 90-102.
81. Turley, L.W., Kelley, S. (1997), "A comparison of advertising content: business to business versus consumer services" in Journal of Advertising, Vol. 26, pp. 39-48.
82. Unwin, S. (1975), "Customized communications - a concept for service advertising" in Advertising Quarterly, Vol. 44, pp. 28-30.
83. Vaughan, R. (1980), "How advertising works: a planning model" in Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 20, pp. 27-33.
84. Webster, F. Jr, Keller, K.L. (2004), "A roadmap for branding in industrial markets" in Brand Management, Vol. 11, pp. 388-402.
85. Weinberg, B.D., Davis, L. (2005), "Exploring the WOW in online auction feedback" in Journal of Business Research, Vol. 58, No. 11, pp. 1609-1621.
86. Young, R.F. (1981), "The advertising of consumer services and the hierarchy of effects" in Donnelly, J.H. and George, W.R. (Eds.), Marketing of Services, American Marketing Association, Chicago, IL, pp. 96-199.
87. Zablah, A.R., Brown, B.P., Donthu, N. (2010), "The relative importance of brands in modified rebuy situations" in International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 248-260.
88. Zaglia, M.E. (2013), "Brand communities embedded in social networks" in Journal of Business Research, Vol. 66, pp. 216-223.
89. Zeithaml, V.A., Parasuraman, A., Berry, L.L. (1985), "Problems and strategies in services marketing" in Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, pp. 33-46.
90. Zhu, F., Zhang, X. (2010), "Impact of online consumer reviews on sales: the moderating role of product and consumer characteristics" in Journal of Marketing, Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 133-148.
91. Smith, A.N., Fischer, E., Yongjian, C. (2012), "How does brand-related user-generated content differ across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter?" in Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 102-113.