Is there more to it than posting a status update?

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contents and the experiences with the consumers from the beginning. Organizations might turn the new situation from a threat to a possibility by participating, instead of avoiding, in the online communication. Many organizations may think they do not need a social media presence if they, for example, do not have an online store. That is, however, outdated as people go to social media to look for information on every kind of product or service, not only for the things they can buy online. Ignoring social media will not make it disappear (Smith & Wollan, 2011, 11). Nevertheless, having an online presence requires real commitment to the building of the customer experience and relationships. Organizations may think it is easy and free of charge to create, for example, a page on a social networking site, but what they do not recognize is the amount of work it takes to actively create content and truly be present. Using social media applications in an organization requires investments in knowledgeable and skilled employees and applications in order to deliver the promises of good quality (Bourdeaux, 2011 b, 17). Investing a lot of time, effort and money to social media may still be risky, as the technology available changes and develops all the time, and people move from one social media application to another. This is why it is important to know which services the customers or target audience are using (Roytman & Hughes, 2011, 206) and to be agile in the decision making. Constantinides and Fountain (2008) note a large-scale concern that has to do with how social media and its utilization is affecting the present culture. Having all possible knowledge at hand, any time of the day, and the possibility to share experiences about everything can contribute to public frustration, where people have difficulties in separating reality form fiction or advertisements. (Constantinides & Fountain, 2008). Yet, the amount of knowledge around people is not simply a phenomena caused by the social media, but gobalization and sophistication of technology in general. Media literacy is something that is alredy being taught in schools. It helps people to understand who is trying to say what, and to whom despite all the media noice. People are getting used to dividing credible sources from less credible and being critical about what they read or hear. (see YLE, Yleisradio Oy, 2011). Finally, the abuse of intellectual property rights is of concern in social media, when people share things like videos, music, picures or quotes, without thinking about the copyright issues (Constantinides & Fountain, 2008). Here it is perhaps good to remember, that in social media 51
approximately 30 percent of the users share 90 percent of the links (Safron, 2010), consequently, not everyone shares everything. 3.5.3 Benefits of social media Despite the concerns an organization may have about social media, many companies are already making significant benefits with social media (Murugesan, 2007). It is simply a matter of trying out new ways of thinking and then acting on those. For succeeding in any environment, however, an organization needs to recognize the touch points with the customers and make those as personalized and pleasent as possible. Social media gives all the tools for reaching individuals in a way that has not been possible earlier. The younger the audience, the more they are used to social media applications and organizations being present there (see Official Statistics of Finland (OSF) 2. 2010; Facinelli, 2009). But not all customers can be reached through the same applications even online, though, different people use different services (e.g. Leppäniemi, 2011) and an organization needs to consider which services to offer in which surroundings. They need to consider who is ”on the other end” receiving the messages and how will it affect their thinking. Perhaps the most significant change that social media has brought is already seen in the spallation of the service offerings. Customers now expect more individual service, and a ”one-size-fits-all” model needs to be reconcidered. Further, the same information does not need to be repeated in every channel or message. The messages in social media can have other content than, for example, a printed brochure. (see Smith & Wollan, 2011, 7; Sadowski, 2011, 145). Recognising the effect of social media in consumer decision making process is important for organizations to realize. Identifying the sources of customer value and the motives behind customers’ desire to connect with an organization in an online environment (Constantinides & Fountain, 2008) are vital for success in creating a relationship with the customers online. A mere connection between a customer and an organization in social media will not heighten customer loyalty (Heller Baird, 2011). If an organization manages to offer people real value through social media, such as discounts or extra information on the service provider, they will most likely turn the passive “followers” into active participants. Organizations have vast amoutns of people “liking” of “following” them in social media. If they could activate even a small part of them into a real relationship and communication, they would have an incredible straight access to their most valuable stakeholder group; their customers. The possibilities for future utlization of this group can only be speculated at this point, bu surely surveys and other 52
Page 1 and 2: Is there more to it than posting a
Page 3 and 4: Tiivistelmä Tämä tutkimus osalli
Page 5 and 6: 5 FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH ........
Page 7 and 8: 1 INTRODUCTION “Winning and keepi
Page 9 and 10: museums, are expected to outperform
Page 11 and 12: 1.1 Research questions and structur
Page 13 and 14: & Levy (1969) defined it, it is jus
Page 15 and 16: profit, and governmental. Each of t
Page 17 and 18: and the consumer of a service are t
Page 19 and 20: 3 THEORY: RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CUS
Page 21 and 22: 3.2.1 A mindset for customer relati
Page 23 and 24: depends on the customer and industr
Page 25 and 26: to understand in service organizati
Page 27 and 28: fact that a service is created at t
Page 29 and 30: RM, however, is not a new phenomeno
Page 31 and 32: step to creating a relationship. Wi
Page 33 and 34: 25). When the clientele of an organ
Page 35 and 36: all problems, for example, also in
Page 37 and 38: Traditionally customers have seen t
Page 39 and 40: entire process of co-creation of va
Page 41 and 42: messages received by the customers
Page 43 and 44: confused with the technology behind
Page 45 and 46: engage with the organization in soc
Page 47 and 48: media in an organization, and thus
Page 49 and 50: 3.5.1 Social media applications Soc
Page 51: & Leighton 2011). Kozinets et al. (
Page 55 and 56: developed for the function of filte
Page 57 and 58: important, what will it give to the
Page 59 and 60: 4 METHODOLOGY In order to find out
Page 61 and 62: interviews, instead of unstructured
Page 63 and 64: The methods used for data collectio
Page 65 and 66: with regard to the number of organi
Page 67 and 68: collections, the museums spent 2,8
Page 69 and 70: using the internet, but also they a
Page 71 and 72: Registered as a user in a social ne
Page 73 and 74: does what, at least almost on case
Page 75 and 76: wise to consider the style of writi
Page 77 and 78: there is or how to behave, or what
Page 79 and 80: Even though a few museums seemed to
Page 81 and 82: …There, in the online world a mus
Page 83 and 84: sized museum had, not only customer
Page 85 and 86: We don’t know whether people from
Page 87 and 88: Yes, you could day the experience i
Page 89 and 90: inquired on whether different conte
Page 91 and 92: 6 DISCUSSION In this chapter the fi
Page 93 and 94: Another concern the museums pointed
Page 95 and 96: utilization, would be clear to them
Page 97 and 98: 7 CONCLUSIONS In this chapter a dis
Page 99 and 100: that even when people do arrive int
Page 101 and 102: large-scale interactions with exter
Page 103 and 104:
8 REFERENCES Alasuutari, P. Laadull
Page 105 and 106:
Conway Tony & Debra Leighton. ”Co
Page 107 and 108:
Grönroos Christian. ”Service Qua
Page 109 and 110:
McDaniel Clay. ”3 Key Metrics To
Page 111 and 112:
Passebois Juliette & Philippe Aurie
Page 113 and 114:
Sorav Jain. ”40 Most Popular Soci
Page 115 and 116:
APPENDIX 1: List of Finnish art mus
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