The Power Of Consumers On Social Media: Shifting The Balance

The shift of power to consumers on social media

Extent to which social media is giving power to consumers to take actions againts companies?

Powers are shifting more in consumers hand due to social media. Few years back individual use to have very little power to take steps against any organisation. The traditional methods have collapsed and it is shifted to it remove the imbalance communication between the customers and corporation. Social media is not only used for communication purpose but it has provided many ways to customers to take proper actions against any mistake. It has provided power to consumers to resist brands on the social media platform for their faults. Additionally it has given a chance to consumers to be an adaptive observer and take proper actions. 

This has helped in building trust as the brand interactivity depends on the trust. There are various cases where power was used by consumers to stand for their right; recently in Swedish case customers took a stand by using Facebook as a platform. The goal was to bring back the old ako which was made possible by just posting a single picture, the power of single picture lead to reintroducing the brand in the market (Parveen,  Jaafar and Ainin, 2015). This was just achieved by the power of consumers. They have given right to customers to show their reaction for the wrong thing so that brand owners take action accordingly.

Consumers now a days control the information and the content with the help of social media, on the other hand organisations are losing control over their content. Consumers have active participation with all the activities and can take appropriate actions when required (Rodriguez, Peterson and Ajjan, 2015). Consumers have the wrong powers as well they can destroy brands name by getting engaged in anti-branding activities. Another example where power of consumers was used for anti-branding is the website exploring the McDonalds cruelty, thus consumers have the right to spread the awareness about the content that is irreverent or harmful (Schivinski and Dabrowski, 2016).

It is the fact that social media is constantly developing with new posts and blogs coming up very day. It has provided numerous ways to communicate with each other. Social media has powerful pace to control and observe everything that is happening.  This is created pressure among business as they need to think wisely before creating any investment. Social media have given right to consumers to aggressively influence the responsibility. Social media is a way to share the ideas and is alos a way to give punishment to the irresponsible organisations (Moro,  Rita and Vala, 2016). Like consumers protested against the Greenpeace-led Facebook to support deforestation in Malaysia and from that date people have followed more protest pages (Montalvo, 2016).

Building trust through consumer interactivity

It can be stated that Social media is no longer a marketing channel but is a channel that provide customer experience. It is very difficult to build the brand culture by keeping customers in mind as they extremely focus that the voice is delivered correctly.  Most of the success of the company depends upon the customer satisfaction and social media have provided a way to customers to provide response against any urgent situation (Ngai, Tao and Moon, 2015).  According to the research it was twitter and Facebook are continuously observed by consumers thus any cheap comments can be a concern for the company as user have the power to take immediate actions.

In today’s era, everyone spends majority of the time on social media. It has become a platform for consumer to raise their voice against any issue or any company. It has been serving as a bridge between the organisations and the issue of consumers (Paniagua and Sapena, 2014). It has provided the ability to make the difference in the world as consumers can talk online, they can discuss regarding any issue by making changes. Social media have given extra control to consumers by allowing them to fix their problem by raising their voice. The companies often respond to social issues faster as it is visible to everyone (Lange,et. al, 2016).

The control over consumers has become beneficial for companies as they can use suggestions or feedback given by customers to update their services. Companies are listening to consumers and are coming up with the solution. Social media allows consumer powers to be used in an efficient way. Social media is not biased to any group, as normally only powerful people gets the chance to speak in general public but social media have given the right to everyone along with powerful people.  Especially, youth are active on social media thus this platform can be used as a place where any issue could be raised, discussed or debated. Social networking provides young people with many opportunities on how they can successfully function in a community or at a public space (Li  Stacks, 2015). If any misconception is seen then they can file the online petition and raise their voice so that particular actions could be undertaken.

Social media is a giant platform where everyone can speak and raise their perception regarding the issue. It has given the power to user to recovery back to companies if there is any issue so that companies could improve their product. Social media is a channel where consumers can raise their voice for justice or it can be seen as a new form of communication by engaging the real issues. If consumers face any issue regarding payments they can ask for return on investment. It also indulges the audience to take the step for their right and facing the challenges by raising the voice. Additionally, social media helps in removing the risks as it provides security to the consumers that their query would be resolved (Wamba and Carter, 2016). The power in the hand of consumers is very beneficial as they can share their experience and provide interactive customer feedback for encouraging organisation to serve better.

The risks and power of anti-branding by consumers

Social media helps consumers to make appropriate decisions, amazon is an example where customers raise their issue regarding any product or they can appreciate the services. These reviews help in sharing information and gaining knowledge about other’s experience. Social media has helped in building trust among employees and vendors. Apart from that more that 89% people use social media, thus this platform can be used to connect people for any location and have a strong discussion regarding the issue so that conclusion could be figured out. During crises social media is the only way to commutate and raise their voice. Most importantly now days with the increase in online shopping the consumers have the right to speak if they get any wrong product, they can ask for their refund (Kumar, et. al, 2016). The powers are more in consumers hand and this is good as it provides justice to every user. Additionally a network like twitter can be used by a user to give their opinion against ay constructive or destructive approach. Most importantly social media can be used as a valuable aid for solving crimes (Hofacker,et. al, 2018).

Social media plays the role of political influence as it is a powerful source to influence the audience and listen to on-going debates by being a part for making decisions. It is the best way to connect people from vast distances and take steps for public support.  Social media have transformed the marketing industry by proving the ability to brands by personally engage the customers (Chang, Yu and Lu, 2015). Additionally, it has given the right to consumers to respond to the brand by making comments whenever there is an issue. The use of social media is slowly becoming standard practice.

It can be concluded that social media has given  power to consumers  to take actions againts companies. They have provided many ways to user to take steps for their jusitice and file online petitions for any mis behaviour. Consumer power on internet and digital media environment has presented a framework to describe the sources of consumer demand and information (Alwagait,  Shahzad and Alim, 2015). They help in shaping the social media platform by effectiveness and ability to speak for their right. Social media have given the chance to everyone to speak up and raise their issue (Agnihotri, et. al, 2016). It is a large platform which covers wide audience in making decisions. It is very helpful for consumers to ask their query and look for appositive outcome. In today’s time everyone is available on online sites thus it is a right way for users to speak up their issues and look for the solution. It is beneficial for the companies to work on the feedback provided by the users (Hajli, 2014).

References

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