Social Media Marketing
Introduction The term social media can be defined as “Many online tools that allow people with similar interests to share information, learn from others, or network in an open process. The information found on these sites is commonly referred to as ‘user-generated content’, which means anyone is able to post with minimal restrictions or oversight.” Background Social Media is a relatively new form of marketing that just about every business today is at least aware of, if not already utilizing it in some form or another. The global fixation with social media, or social networking as it’s often referred to, can be easily compared to the hysteria of the Internet revolution in the 1990’s. As reported by Mangold and Faults (2009), this marketing medium differentiates from the traditional communication channels in terms of reach, frequency and immediacy, with the most obvious difference being user-generated content. Consumer Choice and Motivation A research study conduc...