Abstract:
Social media platforms are considered efficient communication channels for firms and customers and they have the potential to influence firms’ bottom lines and brand image. Firms continue to invest in their fan pages on social media platforms to improve their social media presence. Social media is an increasingly important communication channel between companies and customers, and airlines are no exception. Social media also has the potential to influence the brand image of firms. There is little research to guide firms’ social media strategies. The number of fan page followers and the level of the followers’ engagement in fan pages are considered the main social media management challenges. To address these challenges, it is critical to understand the dynamic environment of fan pages, users’ and firms’ motivations, and actions/strategies along with technology enablers. Studying users’ behaviours in this environment is considered a primary step for social media analysis. Understanding users’ needs to be engaged on fan pages is necessary for the long-term success of fan pages. Firms’ social media activities as the main driver of fan page interactions is another aspect that is investigated in this research. To advance the knowledge of the nature of social media interactions, the first phase of this research scrutinises user and firm actions and reactions. After investigating the nature of interactions, this research focus is on how firms’ fan page strategies affect user engagement on social media platforms. Therefore, in the second phase of this research, an explanatory model is designed to examine the content and timing strategy on fan pages and their impact on user engagement. In the third and final phase, this research addresses social media and non-social media factors to attract more users to follow a firm’s social media fan page. All the aforementioned phases’ objectives are to highlight the factors in the interplay between users and firms in the context of a technologically enabled environment. In this research I plan to understand how a firm’s role (active and passive) relates to user attraction and engagement in fan pages. In a multi-publication thesis, this research contributes to the body of social media literature by introducing new variables for measurement. Furthermore, I incorporate new analysis methods to help firms manage their social media presence (Aral et al. 2013). To create a better understanding of the success of popular fan pages, this research analyses Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram data that is collected from the fan pages of 36 international airlines. This research incorporates various theories from different disciplines such as information systems, marketing, psychology and sociology. The main role of theory in this research is to explore and explain the main elements of human and firm interaction in a social media environment. The first practical contribution of this research is that firms should consider the tastes of users in social media content, and pay attention to the sentiments and topics of user-generated content to be successful compared to their competitors. The second practical contribution of this research is that by following users’ reactions to different types of content, firms can plan to increase user engagement in their fan pages. Finally, the third practical contribution of this research is that firms can attract more non-followers to follow the firm’s social media environment by creating catchy content that generates a buzz among followers.