Discuss About The Trust Virtual Communities Effect Consumers?
Social commerce or social Electronic Commerce is a category under the E-Commerce section of business, which involves the use of social media platform that can help to promote and raise the popularity of online stores and websites. Communication in the form of social interaction is used in order to assist the customer chose their product and inform the customers about the detailed feature or review of a product.
It is important to mention in the contacts that the term social E-Commerce has been developed by Yahoo in 2005, when online shopping was first introduced among the consumer market. With the introduction of various social media platforms, the concept of social E-Commerce started to become popular among the customers. Promotional activities of the products by spreading detailed information and review are done with the help of social media platform or in other words through social media marketing. Hence, it can be said that social media platforms are used as a source of carrying out various promotional activities that is aimed to reach out to the target group of customers.
The major opportunity that is associated with the concept of social e-commerce is the fact that it can help the company to directly engage with the audience customers and try to understand their social buying behaviour. With the rising popularity of e-commerce business, the concept of social commerce is also increasing among the target groups of customers. One of the major advantages of using the social media marketing as a form of social E-Commerce is due to the fact that, the companies are able to save their expenditure that is spent on traditional form of marketing activities. Moreover with the rise of popularity of digital technology, social E-Commerce or social media marketing is believed to be one of the effective ways that the social media can used to understand the social buying behaviour of the target customer groups. On the other hand, there are certain drawbacks of application of social commerce or social media marketing is due to the fact that it can be used by various users to spread false or fake information about a company’s product with the help of negative reviews. This can thereby hampered the reputation of the company.
The purpose of this project is to discuss about the opportunities and problems associated with the application of social e-commerce in all forms of business. With the growing popularity of social media platforms, this is used by all scales of business as one of the most effective ways to communicate with the customers and thereby have the ability to deliver the promotional messages. The current project is about the literature review that is related to discuss the opportunities that are associated with the use of social Electronic Commerce.
The analysis that will be done in the current project is important the current context due to the fact that it can help to highlight upon the ways that can be adopted by the companies to decide upon their social media marketing policies. It can also help to formulate ways that can be adopted by the companies to prevent the misuse of the social media networks. The objectives of the current project can be classified as follows.
The use of social media network is essential for all business organisations due to the fact that it can help them to raise their popularity among the target customer groups. In this context, the scope of the current project includes critical analysis of the opportunities that are associated with the use of social media network social e-commerce. There are many forms of business, which are only dependent upon the online websites. These forms of business use the social media as one of the primary modes of promotion that can help them to deal with the consequences of the social e-commerce. Social media network can be used as one of the effective ways to deal with the effects of the marketing promotions.
The scope of the Project includes all the major advantages that are associated with the use of social media marketing in ecommerce business. All the relevant terms related to social e-commerce has been discussed in details within the literature review. The project will consider all relevant journal articles that are related to the use of social media network in e-commerce business. For conducting the literature review all Peer reviewed articles are being chosen, which were published on or after 2010.
In the research work of Liang and Turban (2011), it was mentioned about the fact that social media commerce is effective in context of the current days due to the fact that most of the e-commerce business is entirely dependent upon the degree of usage. The social economy Commerce market is at the nascent stage, which includes all types of online and social purchasing system. Mobile applications are used for this purpose, which are linked to social media applications and websites. There is a quiet significant difference between the concepts of social media marketing the form of social commerce and social shopping. In case of social commerce, the different types of online vendors collaborate with each other to sell different types of products. On the other hand, in case of social shopping, online virtual groups are being formed for providing detail information related to the products. It is possible for the customers to get on types of detailed information and product review with the help of various social media platforms and discussion forums (Hays et al., 2013).
As the digital form of Technology flourishing in the 21st century, it has provided opportunities for ecommerce business to capture the share of the market. It is essential in this context that all the companies understand the importance of social media marketing and take special efforts to have proper social media marketing policies. The social commerce or social Electronic Commerce is a major sub-section under the domain of social media marketing. It is important to understand the concept related to social media marketing, which can help to properly define the concept of social e-commerce. Lee and Lee, (2012), have added in the context that the social e-commerce forms of Promotional campaign is dependent upon the concept of word of mouth that includes making the choice of buying a product from the opinions and advice provided by other users. Community interaction is highly involved in the case of social media websites, which is needed to deal with the process of decision making purpose.
The rising popularity of various social media platforms which includes Facebook Instagram YouTube and MySpace has provided the business opportunity of developing new marketing strategies. Li et al., (2013), have mentioned about the use of the technology that includes 2.0 social media technology. This improve level of Technology can be used by all business entrepreneurs to easily communicate with the stakeholders and market consumers.
It is important to mention that the use of social media is one of the effective techniques that are used for all types of e Commerce website in order to improve upon their market reputation. The major opportunity that exist due to the use of social e-commerce is directly associated with the benefits of digital marketing. One of the major branding strategies that can be accomplished with the help of social media platforms is with the help of online communities. Through the social media platforms, it is possible for the companies to properly assess the need and demand of the market and that of the target customer groups (Chiemeke & Evwiekpaefe, 2011). It is also possible for the companies to directly interact with the customers. For example with the help of Facebook, which is one of the most popular social media platforms, it is possible for the company directly chat and interact with different customers. The platform of messenger used for this purpose, where the customers can provide the feedback and also the issues that are faced by them. Dong-Hun (2010), has added in the context that with the help of direct interaction with target customers, it is possible for the companies to improve upon their brand reputation and brand value among the target customers. The direct interaction with the audience can also help them to understand the issues faced by consumer while using any particular product. The level of brand awareness can also be increased with the help of the direct conversation that are being carried on between the customers and company executives. The branding opportunity can also be improved due to the fact that social media platforms can help in the matter of authority and engagement, which can help the company, understand their existing demand of a product within the market. The social channels can also be popularized due to the fact that it can be easily accessible by all categories of people with having the access of internet connectivity. With the use of the social media channels it is possible for the companies to emotionally connect with target group of audience. This can provide the opportunity to realise the importance of buying psychology and decision making process, which have direct implication on the volume of sales.
Kim et al., (2015), have mentioned about the fact that social Electronic Commerce can be used as one of the effective techniques to measure the efficiency level of e commerce business marketing. The value for return on investment on branding strategies can be measured effectively with the help of efforts related to social media usage. The branding strategies with the help of social media can also help the company managers to predict the future trends and also future growth. This can help reputed brands in the E commerce department to implement proper adaptive techniques for dealing with adverse and unfavourable situation in the market. Strong social media marketing campaigns can help in the process of incorporating strong brand values among the target customer groups. Stronger level of brand management is possible due to the fact that company officials get the opportunity to directly interact with target audience and thereby have the chance of modifying the business strategies in accordance with the reputed brand value.
He et al., (2013), have suggested about the research Framework that can be implicated by The E-Commerce brand in order to carry out their marketing strategies and thereby able to implement proper branding strategy. There are mainly 6 elements that can be used by all business organisations in order to improve upon their E-Commerce business section. The networking that is involved with the application of social media is the primary elements, which is enable due to the fact that in the current day, large number of population dependent upon the use of social media in order to connect with various people all around the globe. This opportunity of the social networking process can be used by the e business owners to implement up on their marketing policies. There are also different blogging website, where people can get detailed information and review about the features related to the use of certain category of products. It is important in the context that there are Separate social network initiated by the ecommerce website, which are categorised according to the type of the products that are being sold. For example there are different kinds of bloggers, who regularly provide reviews related to electronic gadgets that are released in the market. These reviews are published in the social networking media that is essential in the cases related to the use of the social media websites and the relevant marketing strategies (Afrasiabi Rad & Benyoucef, 2011).
The message that is being delivered to the public with the help of social media marketing is another important element of the research framework. It is essential for the E-Commerce companies to ensure that proper and optimised level of message are being published in the social media websites, which will be easily understood by all section of people, thereby improving accounting the brand popularity. The department of customer relationship management can help to improve upon the customer service that is being provided by the companies after the sales of the products. Social media marketing policies are also made depending upon the marketing themes that can be implemented to improve upon the brand value. It is important for the companies to recruit proper employees in the customer care department, who will have the ability to directly interact with the customers and also resolve the issues. The social media channels can also be used as a source of recruitment of employees within the company. There are special dedicated social media platforms like the LinkedIn, which are meant for the recruiters that can enable them who directly interact with the interested candidates. Hence, the E-Commerce companies and get the opportunity to able to connect to larger group of interested candidate and thereby improve upon the walking capability.
It is important for the E-Commerce business firms to implement proper research methods before applying the social E-Commerce marketing strategies. Kim, et al., (2013), has mentioned that it is essential to analyse upon the strengths and weaknesses that varies depending upon the various level of consumer market.
There is also the element of motivational theories that are implied by the e-commerce business firms, which can help the market researchers to use upon the marketing theory and ensure that maximum number of customers is being attracted.
In spite of several opportunities and advantages that are associated with the application of social ecommerce marketing theories, which is done with the help of popular social media platforms, there are certain drawbacks and disadvantages associated with its implication in practice. The major limitations as mentioned by Liang et al., (2011), is due to the fact that the use of e-commerce form of business along with social E-Commerce form of marketing is entirely dependent upon the high level of digital infrastructure. This means with the help of social media marketing policies, it is not possible for the E-Commerce business firms to reach out to the audience, where there is no internet connectivity. Hence The E-Commerce business activities are limited to the urban places, where people are habituated with the use of digital technology and Smartphone applications. Huang and Benyoucef (2013), have also highlighted about the issues related to security concerns which is related to the use of social media marketing. This is more relevant in the context of the modern day due to the fact that there are opportunities for many people to misuse the social media platform and also make negative implication. As social media platforms are used by the e-commerce companies to provide detailed information related to the product description, the information can be misused by Rival companies by implementing unethical business practices.
There is also the risk involved due to the fact that social media platforms can be misused to provide false or fake information related to product description. This fake information can easily reach out to a larger group of audience, thereby compromising up on the brand reputation. According to the statistics provided by Hughes and Beukes, (2012), nearly 50% of the social media users are not comfortable with excessive use of the social media due to the fact that their personal information can be misused by any public. There is also possibility that The E-Commerce business firms can provide false information about the features associated with any particular product, which can mislead the audience. The false attractive images that are provided in the social media platforms often develop the habit of consumer impulsive behaviour. This in turn can lead to the tendency of irrational buying behaviour among the customers, which ultimately enforces them to buy unnecessary products thereby causing wastage of money.
The messages that are spread with the help of social media platforms as a part of marketing strategy can result in the process of attracting unwanted customers, which can comprise up on the level of brand reputation. There is also one of the major challenges that are associated with the process of networking issues. Poor level of Internet connectivity can compromise upon the Marketing strategies that are implemented by The E-Commerce business firms. It will also not be possible for the customers to easily connect with company executives, which is believed to be the major opportunity and advantage of social Electronic Commerce.
The existing literatures related to the analysis of social E-Commerce have explained the opportunity that is associated with the application of social media marketing strategies. It has also highlighted upon the research strategies that can be implemented by the business firms to deal with the challenges of brand marketing. Nevertheless, the major gap of the existing literature is due to the fact that even though it was able to highlight upon the limitations of social e-commerce, it has not given special focus upon suggesting strategies that can help to overcome the drawbacks associated with the use of the social commerce. It has also not highlighted up on the level of technological infrastructure that is needed for business firms to help them to properly implement the social media marketing strategies.
Conclusion
On the concluding note it can be said that with the rising popularity of digital Gadgets and social media platforms, the social Electronic Commerce can be one of the effective techniques to reach out to the target group of audience. It also provides the opportunity to the business firms to easily communicate with larger group of audience and thereby enable them to resolve the issues. It is important for The E-Commerce business firms to use effective research framework that can help to ensure maximum benefit are being obtained from the respective marketing strategies.
Nevertheless it is important for the business firms to take special care of the issues associated with use of social Electronic Commerce, with include security issues and the fact that social media platforms can be used as a source of spreading fake information about a brand in the market. The future research work need to focus upon suggesting strategies to overcome the existing drawbacks and issues associated with the application of social Electronic Commerce.
Reference
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