Evaluating Social Media Marketing: Social Proof and Online Buyer Behaviour (Routledge Studies in Marketing)

This book is an innovative attempt to identify and analyse the processes related to social influence in online buying behaviour, with special attention given to the phenomenon of social proof, which is the basis of social media, recommendation marketing, and word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing. It empirically verifies the factors which influence the effectiveness of social proof, and identifies relevant impact factors. Opening with a literature review of this concept from the perspective of social psychology, sociology, and marketing, this interdisciplinary approach to the issue allows for an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of the effective use of social proof in contemporary online marketing. Following this, in the context of theoretical considerations, the author analyses the social role and significance of social proof in the buying behaviours of online consumers. The second half of the book presents the results of the author’s quantitative and qualitative research into the effectiveness of social proof. The quantitative research verifies the hypotheses concerning the social role and significance of social proof in buying decisions and identifies the level of confidence in the opinions expressed by other web users. The qualitative research focuses on the empirical verification of the effectiveness of social proof mechanisms. Additionally, attention is given to sensitivity to social proof, i.e. the factors that increase the effectiveness of such messages, from both the sender’s and the recipient’s perspective, as well as the forms and channels of communication. Written for scholars and researchers interested in the debate on the transparency of activities carried out by companies in the area of online marketing, the book’s detailed analysis of influence utilizing both quantitative and qualitative studies may be of interest to a wider group of academics including economists, psychologists and sociologists. "This book is an innovative attempt to identify and analyse the processes related to social influence in online buying behaviour, with special attention given to the phenomenon of social proof, which is the basis of social media, recommendation marketing and word of mouth (WOM) marketing. It empirically verifies the factors which influence the effectiveness of social proof, as well as identifying relevant impact factors. Opening with a literature review of this concept from the perspective of social psychology, sociology and marketing, this interdisciplinary approach to the issue allows for an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of the effective use of social proof in contemporary online marketing. Following this, in the context of theoretical considerations, the author analyses the social role and significance of social proof in the buying behaviours of online consumers. The second half of the book presents the results of the author's quantitative and qualitative research of the effectiveness of social proof. The quantitative research verifies the hypotheses concerning the social role and significance of social proof in buying decisions and identifies the level of confidence in the opinions expressed by other web users. The qualitative research focuses on the empirical verification of the effectiveness of social proof mechanisms. Additionally, attention is given to sensitivity to social proof, i.e., the factors that increase the effectiveness of such messages, both from the sender's and recipient's perspective, as well as the forms and channels of communication. Written for scholars and researchers interested in the debate on the transparency of activities carried out by companies in the area of online marketing, the book's detailed analysis of influence utilising both quantitative and qualitative studies may be of interest to a wider group of academics including economists, psychologists and sociologists"-- Provided by publisher. This book is an innovative attempt to identify and analyse the processes related to social influence in online buying behaviour, with special attention given to the phenomenon of social proof, which is the basis of social media, recommendation marketing and word of mouth (WOM) marketing. MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of figures 8 List of tables 10 Preface 12 Acknowledgements 14 1 Introduction 16 PART I: The phenomenon of social impact in online marketing 20 2 Theoretical framework – online marketing: between persuasion and manipulation 22 3 The structure of functions, forms, and organization of selected strategies of marketing communication and employed tools in the virtual environment 45 4 Social influence and its manifestation in the hypermedia computer environment: reasons, definition, models, and characteristics 66 5 Social proof as a key factor in social commerce 98 PART II: Social proof in marketing: effectiveness and impact awareness 114 6 Research model, objectives, and hypotheses 116 7 Confidence in social proof and its impact on buying decisions 127 8 Characteristics of indicators of social proof based on experimental research 151 9 Discussion of findings in a global context 178 10 Summary 185 Index 188 Theoretical,Framework;,Social,Influence;,Experimental,Research;,Global,Context;,Hypotheses Theoretical Framework,Social Influence,Experimental Research,Global Context,Hypotheses