Factors Influencing HEIs to Adopt Social Media as a Marketing Communication Tool

Authors

  • Muhammad Awais Mehmood Bahria Business School, Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan Author
  • Qaiser Janjua Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan Author
  • Muhammad Akram Assistant Professor, Bahria Business School, Bahria University, Pakistan Author
  • Syed Harris Laeeque Assistant Professor, Bahria Business School, Bahria University, Pakistan Author
  • Faisal Aftab Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, KSA Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52633/jms.v3i3.124

Keywords:

Social Media Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Outbound Marketing, Marketing Communications, Higher Education Marketing

Abstract

This research aims to identify the factors influencing Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) to adopt Social Media (SM) for marketing communication. The research was conducted through a qualitative study by interviewing SM managers of selected Pakistani HEIs. Data was analyzed using NVivo 11 to identify emerging themes. The findings revealed several internal and external factors encouraging HEIs to adopt SM marketing. Internal factors reflected the internal dynamics or beliefs within the HEIs that encouraged them to use SM for their marketing communication, whereas external factors were environmental changes, not in direct control of HEIs, but believed to contribute towards their decision to use SM. The internal factors included the belief of applicants, increased interest of senior management towards SM, perception of cost-effective promotional tool, induction of young staff, perception of SM as a modern communication tool and move towards paperless communication. The external factors included SM preference as a mode of communication, declining value of traditional marketing communication tools, E-Life inclination, presence of competitors & unofficial SM accounts of HEIs and their self-driven nature. This study draws focus towards the underlying intentions of HEIs for their SM presence and compares these motivations with other organizations. This has enabled filling in the gaps in the literature regarding the roots of SM marketing in the context of HEIs. From a practical perspective, the findings of this study will enable HEIs to compare their SM motives with other industries. A major difference found was the absence of motivation on the part of HEIs to use SM. This is in contradiction to other industries that put relationship building with customers as one of the primary motives to use SM.

Author Biographies

  • Muhammad Awais Mehmood, Bahria Business School, Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Assistant Professor, Bahria Business School, Bahria University, Pakistan

  • Qaiser Janjua, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Assistant Professor, Air University School of Management, Air University, Pakistan

  • Faisal Aftab, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, KSA

    Associate Professor, College of Business Administration, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, KSA.

References

Aaker, D. A., & McLoughlin, D. (2014). Strategic Market Management: Global Perspective. India: Willey India.

Aldahdouh, T. Z., Nokelainen, P., & Korhonen, V. (2020). Technology and Social Media usage in Higher Education: The influence of Individual Innovativeness. SAGE Open, 10(1), 2158244019899441.

Anderson, T. (2013). Managing brand reputation in the age of Twitter. Retrieved 12 6, 2019, from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jul/17/managing-brand-reputation-in-the-age-of-twitter

Ansari, J. A. N., & Khan, N. A. (2020). Exploring the role of social media in collaborative learning the new domain of learning. Smart Learning Environments, 7(1), 1-16.

Cheung, C. M., & Thadani., D. R. (2012). The impact of electronic word-of-mouth communication: A literature analysis and integrative model. Decision Support Systems, 54(1), 461-470.

Cheung, C. M., Lee, M. K., & Rabjohn, N. (2008). The impact of electronic word-of-mouth: The adoption of online opinions in online customer communities. Internet Research, 18(3), 229-247.

Dahnil, M. I., Marzuki, K. M., Langgat, J., & Fabeil, N. F. (2014). Factors Influencing SMEs Adoption of Social Media Marketing. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 148, 119 – 126.

Eagleman, A. N. (2013). Acceptance, motivations, and usage of social media as a marketing communications tool amongst employees of sport's national governing bodies. Sport Management Review, 16(4), 488-497.

Edelman, D. C. (2010). Branding in the Digital Age: You're Spending Your Money. Harvard Business Review, 88(12), 62-69.

El-Gohary, H. (2012). Factors affecting E-Marketing adoption and implementation in tourism firms: An empirical investigation of Egyptian small tourism organisations. Tourism Management, 33(5), 1256–1269.

Evans, D., & McKee, J. (2010). Social Media Marketing. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Eze, S. C., Chinedu-Eze, V. C., Okike, C. K., & Bello, A. O. (2020). Factors influencing the use of e-learning facilities by students in a private Higher Education Institution (HEI) in a developing economy. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 7(1), 1-15.

Fischer, E., & Reuber, A. R. (2011). Social interaction via new social media: (How) can interactions on Twitter affect effectual thinking and behaviour? Journal of Business Venturing, 1-18.

Fransen, M. L., Verlegh, P. W., Kirmani, A., & Smit, E. G. (2015). A typology of consumer strategies for resisting advertising, and a review of mechanisms for countering them. International Journal of Advertising, 34(1), 6-16.

Friedrich, R., Peterson, M., Koster, A., & Blum, S. (2010). The rise of Generation C Implications for the world of 2020. Cleveland: Booz and Company.

Hall, B., & Khan, B. (2003). Adoption of new technology. UC Berkeley Working Papers No. E03-330, 1-20. Berkeley, CA: the University of California Berkeley, Department of Economics.

Halligan, B., & Shah, D. (2010). Inbound Marketing: Get found using Google, social media, and blogs. New Jersey: John Willey & Sons.

Hanna, R., Rohm, A., & Crittenden, V. L. (2011). We’re all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem. Business Horizons, 54, 265—273.

Hansen, D., Shneiderman, B., & Smith, M. A. (2011). Analyzing social media networks with NodeXL: Insights from a connected world. Boston: Elsevier.

Haysa, S., Pageb, S. J., & Buhalisb, D. (2013). Social media as a destination marketing tool: its use by national tourism organisations. Current Issues in Tourism, 16(3), 211-239.

Ifinedo, P. (2011). Internet/e-business technologies acceptance in Canada’s SMEs: an exploratory investigation. Internet Research, 21(3), 255-281.

Jalilvand, M. R., & Samiei, N. (2012). The effect of electronic word of mouth on brand image and purchase intention. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 30 Iss 4, 460-476.

Keller. (2009). Building strong brands in a modern marketing communications environment. Journal of marketing communications, 15(2-3), 139-155.

Kietzmann, J. H., Hermkens, K., McCarthy, I. P., & Silvestre, B. S. (2011). Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business Horizons, Vol 54, 241-251.

Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Koshy, A., & Jha, M. (2009). Marketing Management: A South Asian perspective. Delhi: Pearson Education India.

Lagrosen, S. O., & Grunden, K. (2014). Social media marketing in the wellness industry. The TQM Journal, 253 - 260.

Lagrosen, S., & Josefsson, P. (2011). Social media marketing as an entrepreneurial learning process. International Journal of Technology Marketing 4, 6(4), 331-340.

Litvin, S. W., Goldsmith, R. E., & Pan, B. (2008). Electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management. Tourism Management, 29(3), 458-468.

Mangold, W. G., & Faulds, D. J. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotional mix. Business Horizons, 52, 357-365.

McCarthy, J., Rowley, J., Ashworth, C. J., & Pioch, E. (2014). Managing brand presence through social media: the case of UK football clubs. Internet Research, 181 - 204.

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. Industrial marketing management, 40(7), 1153-1159.

O’Flynn, A. (2010, Apr 14). Using social media to increase sales and brand awareness. Retrieved Nov 1, 2014, from Ezine Articles: http://ezinearticles.com/?Using-Social-Media-to-Increase-Sales-and-Brand-Awareness&id=4110467

Opreana, A., & Vinerean, S. (2015). A New Development in Online Marketing: Introducing Digital Inbound Marketing. Expert Journal of Marketing, 3(1), 29-34.

Paquette, H. (2013). Social Media as a Marketing Tool: A Literature Review. Rhode Island, USA.

Pankraz, D. (2010). Introducing generation C: The connected collective consumer. In Consumer 360 Indonesia Conference. Recuperado de http://consumer360. nielsen. com.

Pietkiewicz, I., & Smith, J. A. (2012). A practical guide to using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in qualitative research psychology. Czasopismo Psychologiczne, 18(2), 361-369.

Pradiptarini, C. (2011). Social Media Marketing: Measuring Its Effectiveness and Identifying the Target Market. Journal of Undergraduate Research, 14, 1-11.

Qureshi, U. (2016). Pakistan Facebook Users crosses the landmark of 25 Million users. Retrieved 11 17, 2016, from http://umairqureshi.com/pakistan-deepens-facebook-user-base-with-over-11-million-users/

Rosario, A. B., Sotgiu, F., Valck, K. D., & Bijmolt, T. H. (2016). The Effect of Electronic Word of Mouth on Sales: A Meta-Analytic Review of Platform, Product, and Metric Factors. Journal of Marketing Research, 53(3), 297-318.

Sabate, F., Berbegal-Mirabent, J., Cañabate, A., & Lebherz, P. R. (2014). Factors influencing the popularity of branded content in Facebook fan pages. European Management Journal, 32, 1001-1011.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud. (2013). Social Media for Higher Education. Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

Sashi, C. (2012). Customer engagement, buyer-seller relationships, and social media. Management Decision, 50(2), 253-272.

Tiago, M. T., & Verı´ssimo, J. M. (2014). Digital marketing and social media: Why bother? Business Horizons, 57 (6), 703-708.

Tsimonis, G., & Dimitriadis, S. (2014). Brand strategies in social media. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 328-344.

Verhoef, P., & Lemon, K. (2013). Successful Customer Value Management: Key Lessons and Emerging Trends. European Management Journal 31(1), 1-15.

Published

05-10-2021

How to Cite

Factors Influencing HEIs to Adopt Social Media as a Marketing Communication Tool. (2021). Journal of Marketing Strategies, 3(3), 132-154. https://doi.org/10.52633/jms.v3i3.124

Similar Articles

1-10 of 41

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.