Week 1 - Social What?

If social media is a continuum what are its characteristics? What is and what is not social media, and how does it relate to other terms like web 2.0, eMarketing, or word of mouth marketing?   What are some of the examples of social media used for marketing and how does their use differ?

When referring to social media as a continuum; it has been suggested that ‘social’ would be on one side of the continuum and ‘media’ on the other. Characteristics of social media include conversation, information, sharing of knowledge, opinions, friendships and relationships, along with social and professional network connections. Some popular forms of social media are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogs, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Wikis. Emails and Word Of Mouth are not classified as social media.

Web 2.0 and eMarketing relate to social media as this involves a product, person, service or idea being marketed and placed online and having the ability or potential to reach a large audience. Word of mouth can be both positive and negative and requires an individual to express their opinion or views on a product/service to another individual, which may or may not encourage them to become a consumer.

Read Chialdini (Chapter 7 Scarcity) and share your opinion on parental control for Social Media. Is it a good idea? Will it work?

Parental control for young children and potentially even teenagers is a good idea. The internet as a whole can be dangerous especially when it comes to social media as children may become a victim of cyber-bullying, give out too much information, not fully understand privacy settings,  or not even be aware of who they are speaking to with the continual rise of fake accounts. However I believe it would only work if there is trust between parent and children and also ongoing open communication.

How can reactance theory be used to advantage by marketers? Can you think of a few real life examples?

The Reactance theory refers to when an individual feels forced towards one option, this will usually influence them to go the other way and perhaps through a direct competitor. This can be used as an advantage by marketers; as a competitor may be extensively over-marketing their product to the given market so much that the consumer feels influenced or compelled to go to through a different option.