Content uploaded by Swaleha Peeroo
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Swaleha Peeroo on Nov 01, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
Customer engagement manifestations on Facebook
pages of Tesco and Walmart
Swaleha Peeroo
Department of Management
Université des Mascareignes
Mauritius
speeroo@udm.ac.mu
Martin Samy
Leeds Business School
Leeds Beckett University
United Kingdom
M.A.Samy@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Brian Jones
Leeds Business School
Leeds Beckett University
United Kingdom
b.t.jones@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Abstract— Social media have transformed the world in
which we live. Although several studies have uncovered forms
of customer engagement on social media, there is a scarcity of
academic research on customer engagement within the grocery
sector. This study therefore aims to address this gap in the
literature and shed light on the various ways customers engage
with grocery stores on Facebook. Netnography is used to gain
an understanding of the behaviour of customers on the
Facebook page of Tesco and Walmart. The findings of this
study reveal that cognitive, emotional and behavioural
customer engagement are manifested and that customers can
both create and destroy value for the firm. This study
contributes to knowledge by uncovering the various forms of
customer engagement on Facebook pages of Tesco and
Walmart.
Keywords — social media; customer engagement;
relationship marketing; grocery stores; Facebook.
I. INTRODUCTION
Technological advances are dramatically and substantially
transforming the retail industry [1] [2]. The Internet enables
the transfer of information and knowledge worldwide in real
time to customers [3] who use these technologies to enhance
their shopping experience [4] To improve the satisfaction
levels of customers, retailers are increasingly using social
media, mobile and Internet technologies to enrich their
shopping experience [4] The advent of social media is
revolutionising marketing practices [5] [6].
With social media, it is now feasible for businesses to
have ongoing dialogues and exchange of experiences by
actively listening and responding to queries of customers.
However, in practice businesses seem to be using social
media just as any other communication medium and they
are not directly interacting and are not seeking to obtain
highly engaged customers through social media. Therefore,
it is important for businesses to understand expectations of
customers who are interacting with them through social
media.
Following a call for research on understanding what
customers seek when interacting with businesses on social
media [7], this paper aims to provide knowledge as to why
and how customers engage with companies on social media,
more specifically on Facebook pages of grocery stores.
Furthermore, some researchers examined the motivations of
customers for interacting with apparel retailers on social
media and suggested that further research be carried out to
understand motivations of customers who connect with
retailers on social media in different retail sectors [8]. This
paper will therefore focus on the grocery sector to
understand motivations of customers for interacting with
grocery stores on Facebook by analysing responses of
customers to customer and company initiated messages.
The purpose of this study is to examine the various ways
customers engage with grocery stores. The paper is
organised as follows. First, the main concepts of social
media, customer engagement and relationship marketing are
presented. Second, we outline the netnography method,
followed by an analysis and discussion of the findings. We
then present the conclusion, limitations, and suggestions for
future research directions.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Social Media and Facebook
Social media usage is exploding and online platforms
have become vital tools for marketing [9]. Facebook is the
most widely adopted social media platform by brands and
companies [10]. These social media platforms have
converted the Internet from a platform for information to a
platform for influence [6]. Individuals leverage social
networks and blogs to create, recommend and share
information thus outspreading the reach of marketing
influence [6]. Garretson [11] notes that consumers in the
digital age increasingly use the Internet and social media
platforms to not only find information about products and
services, but also to engage the organisations they purchase
from, and connect with other customers who may provide
valuable insights. Businesses during the past two years have
flocked to social media websites to interact with their
customers [12]. These businesses of all sizes within most
sectors are attracted by the potential benefits of adopting
these social media platforms [13]. Yet, many managers are
still unsure of the opportunities and threats pertaining to
social networks and this may be due to the lack of
knowledge of their structure and operation [14].
Nevertheless managers have rushed in the social media
world out of fear of losing the social media battle [15].
Social media have radically transformed the world
communication systems [16]. Among all the social media
platforms, Facebook is by far the most popular site boasting
1.23 billion active monthly users [17]. Facebook has now
turned into the most popular social media platform
worldwide [18]. It is an online community where people can
communicate with family, friends, and colleagues around
the globe [19].
Unlike other social media platforms, Facebook actively
seeks to attract businesses to use Facebook as a marketing
tool by enabling users to access the network through
applications and also gaining access to corporate websites
through social plug-ins [18]. Dekay [20] has identified
several reasons to explain why businesses have rushed to set
up their Facebook page. Businesses have been attracted by
Facebook, which is a global and popular marketing and
recruiting channel that allows direct interaction with
customers and employees [20]. These data allow companies
to personalise the customer experience of visitors to their
pages [20]. Additionally Facebook allows companies to
create and develop applications (commonly known as ‘apps’)
which are used to connect their Facebook page to their
corporate website. This eases the ordering process and other
transactions [20].
B. Social Media Marketing
Social media have brought about significant and pervasive
changes to communication between companies,
communities, and individuals [21]. Yet, several authors
have noted that organisations are still unsure of how to tap
the full potential of social media [22-24]. Traditional
methods of management are not suited to deal with
consumers on social media who expect firms to listen to
them, engage and respond accordingly [21]. Similarly,
marketers should shift from traditional campaign thinking
and to focus more on relationship building [25].
Social media marketing has been defined as a social and
managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain
what they need and want through a set of Internet-based
applications that enable interaction, communication,
collaboration of user generated content (UGC) and hence,
sharing of information such as ideas, thoughts, content and
relationships [26]. Social networking sites such as Facebook
are increasingly being used by organisations to establish
their marketing network, since social media platforms
facilitate the establishment of communication and ongoing
real time conversations [27].
Marketers consider that product messages sent or
endorsed by friends are more believable and hence more
easily accepted by the network of friends [27]. This form of
electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has encouraged
companies to set up product pages on social networks and
urge customers to join these pages with the view of building
enduring long-term relationships [27]. When “liking” or “re-
tweeting” product related messages, these posts are
automatically sent to the user’s newsfeed and consequently
the other members i.e. friends or followers in the network
would become aware and this may influence them to engage
in relationships with that product. The active interactions of
a customer with an organisation, with potential customers
and with other customers, whether they are transactional or
non transactional in nature, is referred to as ‘Customer
Engagement’ [28].
C. Customer Engagement
Social media enable interaction with customers and hence
companies have the opportunity to engage with customers
[29]. Interestingly, Web 2.0 technologies and tools seem to
facilitate the co-creation of value by the company and the
customer [30]. Interactivity between customers and an
organisation is at the center of the engagement construct
[31]. The term customer brand engagement denotes the
“level of an individual customer’s motivational, brand-
related and context-dependent state of mind characterised by
specific levels of cognitive, emotional and behavioural
activity in direct brand interactions” [32]. In this definition
of customer engagement, there are the three dimensions
cited in the literature, namely the cognitive, emotional and
behavioural perspectives [31] , [33].
From a cognitive standpoint, engagement is a positive
state of mind that is represented by high commitment,
energy, and loyalty towards a firm [34], for e.g. the person's
level of concentration or engrossment in the brand [32].
From a behavioural viewpoint, engagement refers to actions
toward a firm that go beyond transactions [34], for e.g.
participation, vigour and interaction with the focal brand
[33]. From an emotional perspective, customer engagement
may be characterised by feelings of an individual towards a
brand [35], for e.g. a customer’s level of brand-related
inspiration and/or pride [32].
Unlike authors who have used multidimensional
perspectives, van Doorn et al. [36] focus only on the
behavioural dimension of customer engagement. According
to these scholars, customer engagement consists of
behaviours, which go beyond transactions. This definition
highlights that behavioural manifestations do not only mean
purchases, but also include other activities of the customer
such as word of mouth, customer co-creation and
complaining behaviour [37] recommendations, helping
other customers, blogging, writing reviews and even
engaging in legal actions [36].
Customer engagement also incorporates customer co-
creation [36]. Value co-creation is defined as the mutual
collaborative activities by stakeholders participating in
direct interactions aspiring to add to the value that
materializes for either one or both parties [38]. Customers
can participate in the invention of the offering, or the design
and production of related products. Hence, co-creation
happens when the customer contributes through
spontaneous, discretionary behaviours that personalise the
customer-to-brand experience [36].
In virtual communities, conversations occur on prices,
performance, quality and personal experiences with specific
brands [39]. These conversations in virtual communities
illustrate customer empowerment and value co-creation
[39]. Interventions of marketers are accepted in online
communities only if they contribute to the community [39].
Customers tend to react negatively when marketers have
commercially driven communications. This research reveals
that customer engagement increases satisfaction, loyalty,
empowerment, emotional bonding, connection, trust and
commitment.
Social media enable customers to connect and interact
with other customers and non-customers in their social
networks and influence them [40]. Customers with strong
emotional bonds can become advocates for sellers in peer-
to-peer interactions with other customers and non-customers
and play an important role in the value adding process as co-
creators of value.
However, when organisations fail to engage customers
they have to face the potential threat of customer
enragement [41], a situation where customers can easily
become value destroyers instead of value creators for
companies [42] [43]. The open-comment platform of
Facebook and the anonymity offered by the Internet produce
the ideal conditions for public outrage to be vented on
corporate walls [44]. Furthermore, social media have
empowered customers and the public by giving them a voice
and weakened the position of companies by rendering them
vulnerable to customer attacks, negative publicity and
corporate reputation damage [45]. Additionally, social
media users can generate huge waves of outrage within a
short period of time when reacting to questionable activity
or statement of an organisation [46]. They qualify such a
phenomenon as an online firestorm, which they define “as
the sudden discharge of large quantities of messages
containing negative WOM and complaint behavior against a
person, company, or group in social media networks” [46].
Similarly, these repetitive and systematic customer attacks
are referred to as shitstorm [45]. “A shitstorm denotes
emotional and often irrational criticisms carried out by
many consumers. Rational negative opinions usually form
the basis for shitstorms, which eventually grow through
irrational and assertive content added by other dissatisfied
users.” [45]. Likewise, customers tend to express strong
emotions on the Internet more readily and easily owing to
the anonymity offered via this medium of communication
[44].
III. METHODOLOGY
To gain an understanding of the types of customer
engagement occurring on the Facebook pages of grocery
stores, a netnographic study was undertaken. Netnography,
developed by Dr. Robert V. Kozinets in the late nineties, is
a participant-observation research used for data collection to
research online communities. It is an interpretive method
formulated specifically to investigate the consumer
behaviour of communities and cultures present on the
Internet [47]. Netnography provides insights into virtual
communities similar to the ways that anthropologists try to
understand the norms, cultures and practices of traditional
offline communities. Virtual communities consist of online
gatherings of customers expressing interest in similar
lifestyles, brands, products and services [47]. Similar to
ethnographic research, netnography tries to provide
understanding of a community and the interactions and
communications within the community [48].
The purpose of this netnographic research is to observe
the interactions between hypermarkets and supermarkets
with their customers within a Web 2.0 platform. In order to
undertake netnographic research, the researchers have
observed interactions on the official Facebook pages of
Tesco and Walmart. Facebook has been selected as it is the
social platform, which is the most widely used by
companies to interact with their customers. The researcher
has opted for a non-participation observation during the
netnographic research similar to studies carried out by other
researchers [48] ,[49].
To ensure a rigorous and reliable research approach, the
researchers have followed the five stages and procedures
recommended by Kozinets [47]. The five sequential steps
are (1) making entrée, (2) data collection and analysis, (3)
providing trustworthy interpretation, (4) research ethics, and
finally (5) member checks.
For the entrée, the researchers have selected Tesco and
Walmart, the leading supermarkets and hypermarkets in the
world based on the March 2013 Global Food Retail report.
Moreover, both Tesco and Walmart have set up their official
Facebook pages where the language used is mainly English.
Another reason why these two grocery stores have been
selected is that they both have adopted an international
strategy and are operating in several countries. The official
Facebook pages of Tesco and Walmart meet the criteria that
have been set by Kozinets [47] in that they are relevant to
the topic of the research. On both Facebook pages there are
high traffic of postings and a large number of discrete
posters. More detailed and rich data are available on both
Facebook pages. And finally the two Facebook pages meet
the last criteria by enabling companies to communicate to
customers, customers to communicate back to the company,
and also customers communicating to other customers.
Data has been collected for a one-month period during
which saturation of data was reached as recommended by
Kozinets [47]. During this one-month data collection period,
the researcher downloaded conversations occurring on the
official Facebook pages of Tesco and Walmart. The data
were analysed using the qualitative software NVivo 7.0.
Therefore the researcher used qualitative content analysis to
elicit themes from the datasets. Similar to previous research
in social media in other sectors [50] [51], the unit of
analysis consisted of the content of the Facebook pages of
Tesco and Walmart and the coding units were the individual
posts and comments by customers of these grocery stores.
The third step of netnography is to provide trustworthy
interpretation [47]. Research is deemed to be reasonable and
trustworthy when conventional procedures of netnography
are followed while collecting and analysing data [47]. There
has been triangulation of data to enhance credibility of the
study. Triangulation involved the use of a wide range of
customers who have posted comments [52]. Viewpoints and
experiences of customers could be verified against opinions
and beliefs of other customers, thus building a rich picture
of needs, attitudes and behaviours of the users under
scrutiny [53]. Additionally the researcher has achieved site
triangulation by the participation of customers from two
distinct organisations (Tesco and Walmart) in order to
reduce the effect on the research of particular local factors
peculiar to one grocery store. Findings may be perceived as
more credible when similar findings emerge from two or
more different sites [53].
In this study, the ethical procedure recommended by
Langer and Beckman [54]) has been adopted because the
comments posted by customers of Tesco and Walmart on
the official Facebook page are not password restricted and
are available to the public.
The researchers did not carry out member checks in their
study as they argued that it was unnecessary to present the
findings back to members of the community who
participated in the research when it was conducted entirely
unobtrusively.
IV. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Customers react to messages posted by companies in
various ways on Facebook pages of companies. Customer
behaviours such as liking, sharing and commenting on
social media pages are now used as measurements of
consumer engagement in social media [36] [55]. All three
dimensions of customer engagement have been observed on
the Facebook page of Tesco and Walmart.
A. Cognitive Engagement
From a cognitive standpoint, engagement is a positive
state of mind that is represented by high commitment,
energy, and loyalty towards a firm [34], for e.g. the person's
level of concentration or engrossment in the brand [32].
Cognitive engagement occurs at Tesco and Walmart,
whenever customers post comments in which they provide
information and help to other customers, or when they give
advice to other customers. Customers post comments on the
Facebook page of Tesco and Walmart when they want to
share some information to other members of the brand
community. For e.g. a happy customer posted a comment to
inform about the gift he got.
“Found a plane in my sons [sic] kinder surprise” .
This is consistent with findings of a previous study, which
observed that customers gain social benefits by sharing their
experiences with other customers on the social network,
which is essentially a social venue [56].
Another form of cognitive engagement is when customers
post comments about their loyalty towards the stores. A
customer of Walmart posted a comment in which she
expresses her loyalty to the store by mentioning that
Walmart is her favourite store:
“Walmart the best store in the whole world, everything
that I need is there, yeah [sic] because after looking in the
other stores website comparing prices at end Walmart is the
my favourite and I finished my day in Walmart.”
Prolonged customer engagement with a brand can result
in customer loyalty [57]. Additionally, customer loyalty is
triggered in several ways for e.g. through positive online
interactions with the brand and the community members, or
by actively defending the company when faced with negative
user generated content, or by getting good customer care
service after having experienced a bad service [28].
B. Emotional Engagement
From an emotional perspective, customer engagement
may be characterised by feelings of an individual towards a
brand [35]. In this study, four main emotions have been
identified: enthusiasm, humour, sarcasm and skepticism.
Enthusiasm mirrors an individual’s intrinsic level of
interest and excitement about the online brand community
while enjoyment indicates the level of pleasure and
happiness derived by the customer when interacting with the
virtual community and its members [57]. Enthusiasm is
linked to positive emotions felt by customers who post
enthusiastic comments when they are happy or excited.
Thus they convey in words their hedonic shopping value
[33]. For instance customers of Tesco have expressed
happiness and excitement for the game it launched for
Easter. The following posts reveal the positive emotions felt
by customers who were very happy and excited to have won
after participating in the egg hunt organised by Tesco:
“Thank you tesco [sic] for running the competition! I
won a hudl from egg #17! Very excited for it to arrive”
Customers use humour in their comments when they
find an event or a situation amusing or funny. Walmart
posted an advertisement for yoghurt with a picture showing
a lady putting the yoghurt in her bag and the copy of the
advertisement reads as
“Meet your new office buddy - delicious Chobani Greek
Yogurt (5.3 oz.). Now only $1 on Rollback.” (Walmart,
posted on 9 April 2014, Walmart, Facebook page).
In response to this advertisement, a customer posted the
following comment:
“SHE'S STEALING YOGURT! LITERALLY PUTTING
IT IN HER PURSE AND NOT IN THE GROCERY KART
[sic]”
These humorous comments posted by customers are
ways by which they engage with companies. This form of
customer engagement brings positive value to the online
community [28].
However there are times when customers express
negative emotions, hence damaging the image of the
company. Comments are labeled as sarcastic when irony is
used to mock or to convey contempt. Customers post such
comments to express their anger and/or disappointment
following an action of the company or an event that has
occurred. This form of emotion brings negative value and so
can potentially harm the relationship between the two
parties. This study reveals that sarcasm is the form of
emotional expression mostly used by customers both on
Tesco and Walmart Facebook pages. Following a company
post in which Tesco asked about the most exotic food that
customers had not tasted yet, several customers posted
sarcastic comments referring to the horsemeat scandal as
illustrated below:
“Was going to say horsemeat but then I remembered, I
had it last year in place of beef !!! [sic]” (TDW, posted on
7 April 2014, Tesco Facebook page).
These findings are consistent with another study which
showed that information broadcast by a third party through
social media exacerbates publics’ emotions such as disgust,
anger, and contempt when the reason for the crisis is
internal [58]. Furthermore, some customers seem to have
lost trust, which is one of the pillars of relationship
marketing Sarcastic comments may indicate that the
relationship between Tesco/Walmart and its customers have
been damaged.
Sceptic comments are those comments that incorporate
an element of doubt or lack of conviction about something.
Customers let companies know that they remain dubious or
have a feeling of incredulity about promises made by
companies. Sceptic comments are posted when customers
have lost trust in the company and this may damage or have
already damaged the relationship between the customer and
the company. At Walmart, customers post sceptical
comments whenever Walmart post comments, which they
consider to be dubious. For e.g. Walmart shared a link
praising the action of a Walmart employee. One customer
posted two comments to let the other members of the
community know that she has doubts about the truth of this
article.
“This is bogus!!!!” (WAB, posted on 23 April 2014,
Walmart Facebook page).
“This is the second article I've seen that a [sic]
employee of Walmart supposedly done something good. Like
I said before Bogus” (WAB, posted on 23 April 2014,
Walmart Facebook page).
When customers are emotionally engaged, the nature of
the relationship changes ([31]. Positive emotions associated
with enthusiasm and humour, tend to enhance the
relationship between the company and the customer, while
negative emotions associated with sarcasm and scepticism
may harm the relationship between the two parties.
C. Behavioural Engagement
From a behavioural viewpoint, engagement refers to
actions toward a firm that go beyond transactions [34], for
e.g. participation, vigour and interaction with the focal
brand [33]. This study reveals that customers engage with
the grocery stores by communicating back (C2B
communication) to seek for more information i.e. customer
query, for entertainment, to get additional incentives and to
participate by responding to posts of the stores.
Additionally, this study uncovers that customers
converse with other customers (C2C communication) on
Facebook, share advertisement, give advice to other
customers, get or provide feedback to other customers,
criticise other customers, help other customers, make
themselves or someone else known to other customers i.e.
reputation and also provide support and encouragement to
other customers. These forms of behavioural engagement
add value to the relationship. These types of customer
behaviour are consistent with findings of van Doorn et al.
[36] who categorise it as a form of behavioural customer
engagement, which incorporates customer co-creation.
Hence, co-creation happens when the customer contributes
through spontaneous, discretionary behaviours that
personalise the customer-to-brand experience [36].
Examples of customer engagement behaviours are when
customers suggest how to enhance the customer experience,
helping and training service providers, or simply helping
other customers to enjoy their customer experience [36]. For
e.g. a customer of Walmart posted a comment to advise
customers how to keep fresh strawberries for a longer period
of time:
“I found a better way for them to last longer, put them in
a bowl of water and a cup of vinegar and soak for 10 min.
and then rinse off and put in refrigerator. They stay fresh
LONGER AND THEY ARE CLEAN AND PESTICIDE
FREE!!! [sic]”
Furthermore, the researchers have identified five
positive actions resulting from comments posted by
customers which add value to the organisation: customer
referral, customer suggestions, customer defending the
company, customer defending employees of the company
and finally promotion by customer. Customers post positive
comments to recommend the brand or the company to their
friends. This type of customer behaviour is consistent with
findings of Sashi [40] who refer to these customers as
advocates. Advocacy is a form of consumer engagement,
which happens when consumers actively recommend
specific brands, and/or ways of using these brands [39].
Similarly, customer referral is a form of customer
engagement and is termed as endorsing [57]. Endorsing is a
form of behavioural customer engagement in which the
customer proactively recommends products and services to
the members of the online community ([57].
Customers at times make suggestions to the company
and these suggestions turn customers into co-creators of
value for the organisation [43]. These types of comments
are very valuable for any organisation as the customers are
readily informing the company about their needs and wants,
providing competitive intelligence for free, and tell
companies how to solve problems that they have
encountered.
Another form of behavioural customer engagement is
when customers defend the company or employees of the
company on the Facebook page. This is highly appealing for
the organisation as it shows high level of customer loyalty
[57]. In this study there are several occasions when the
company has posted on its official Facebook page and have
been criticised by its customers. Other customers who do
not agree with the latter have replied back to these
customers and defended the company. These findings are
consistent with researchers who argue that very often
customers respond to complaints before the companies do
by giving the company the benefit of the doubt [49]. For
example when Tesco posted a comment to gain insight into
the type of exotic food that its customers had not yet
consumed, several customers posted sarcastic comments
referring to the horsemeat scandal, which Tesco had
allegedly been selling in the past. A customer defended the
company by posting the following comment:
“Sick of hearing about horse meat comedy, I don't think
Tesco's would knowingly sell you anything that you did not
want... The supplier is at fault not Tesco
Analysis of data also shows that customers post
comments that are negative and unfavourable for the
company in five main instances: to complain, to criticise, to
provide information about competitors, to warn customers
against a product/service, and lastly to retaliate i.e. to inform
of actions they have taken or are about to take because of
their dissatisfaction. These forms of negative comments are
referred to as negative word of mouth [49]. Complaints are
the most common form of customer post containing an
unfavourable message in this study. Customers use the
Facebook page of the company to voice out their
dissatisfaction and discontent with the product or service of
the company. Customers post messages on the Facebook
pages of Tesco and Walmart to criticise actions taken by the
respective companies. When Walmart posted about its
initiative of empowering women in different parts of the
world, a customer posted a negative comment to inform
Walmart and the Facebook community that she does not
believe this company post, which she describes as hogwash
i.e. insincere speech or meaningless talk as Walmart does not
pay its employees decent wages
“What a bunch of hog wash [sic] !!!! Walmart you are
one of the hugest reasons the working poor stay poor!!!!
Shame on u [sic]!!! Pay living wages and give health
benefits and then you can make claims like this!!!!”
Such type of customer engagement activities may have
negative consequences for the organisation [36]. When
customers post negative reviews, the reputation of the
company may be damaged. Thus, co-destruction of value
arises during interactions between the company and its
customers where instead of creating value for both parties,
value is destroyed either for all parties or for one party [60].
V. CONCLUSION
The aim of this study was to analyse the various forms of
customer engagement by examining the reactions of
customers to company initiated messages on Facebook
pages of Tesco and Walmart. From the extant literature and
the findings of the study on the use of Facebook in the
hypermarket and supermarket sector, it is clear that
Facebook is influencing the way businesses are being
managed today. Within the hypermarket and supermarket
sector, co-creation in terms of new product development or
improving existing products are limited since these
businesses are merely selling products manufactured or
produced by suppliers. Nonetheless, this study has revealed
that customers do create value for the organisation by
interacting on the Facebook page of Tesco and Walmart,
thus adding to the literature on co-creation of value by
customers. Customers become co-creators of value when
they offer advice or help other customers within the
community, when they refer products or services to other
customers, when they make suggestions to the grocery
stores, when they defend the company and its employees.
The findings of this study provide considerable support to
customers destroying value for the grocery stores on their
Facebook pages. This study has revealed that customers
mainly use the Facebook pages of grocery stores to post
complaints and criticisms. Furthermore, they actively
recommend customers to boycott the grocery stores and to
patronise stores of competitors. Additionally, customers
provide information about products and services of
competitors, thus encouraging the other customers to shop
in other outlets. These actions of customers harm the
organisation as they destroy value [41] [42]. This study
therefore contributes to the body of literature in that it has
compiled various ways that customers can threaten and
harm grocery stores on Facebook.
The limitation of the study is linked to the nature of the
netnography method, which restricted the analysis to those
customers who have posted comments online, thus
neglecting other sources such as offline customer feedback.
Despite choosing two main grocery stores, the researcher
has not done a comparative analysis of the use of Facebook
within the two grocery stores as the aim of the study was to
gain an understanding of the types of customer engagement
occurring within the grocery sector on Facebook. For future
research. a comparative analysis of the use of Facebook by
grocery stores may be undertaken to analyse the social
media strategies adopted by these firms. An additional
avenue for future research could be to carry out research by
focusing on one grocery store operating in different
countries. This would help the identification of differences
and similarities between social media communication in
various country contexts. Furthermore, this will allow the
researcher to look at how communication is tailored to
specific locations i.e. the importance of place and culture.
REFERENCES
[1] S. Sands, E. Harper, and C. Ferraro, C., “Customer-to-non-customer
interactions: Extending the ‘social’ dimension of the store
environment”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 18,
2011, pp. 438–447.
[2] R. Varadarajan, R. Srinivasan, G.G Vadakkepatti, M. Yadav, P.A
Pavlou,., S. Krishnamurthy, and T. Krause, T., “Interactive
Technologies and Retailing Strategy: A Review, Conceptual
Framework and Future Research Directions”, Journal of Interactive
Marketing, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2o11, pp. 96–110.
[3] M. O’Hern, , and A. Rindfleisch, A., “Customer co-creation: a
typology and research agenda”, Review of Marketing Research, Vol.
6, 2009, pp. 84–106.
[4] S. Pookulangara, and. K. Koesler, “Cultural influence on consumers’
usage of social networks and its’ impact on online purchase
intentions” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol.18,
2011, pp. 348–354.
[5] C. Dubose, ‘The social media revolution’, Radiologic Technology,
Vol. 12, No 1, 2011, pp. 30-43.
[6] R. Hanna, A. Rohm, V.L., Crittenden, “We’re all connected: The
power of the social media ecosystem”, Business Horizons, Vol. 54,
2011, pp. 265—273.
[7] G. Tsimonis, and S. Dimitriadis, S., ‘Brand strategies in social
media’, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2014, pp.
328-344
[8] R. M . Alexander, J.K., Gentry, “Using social media to report
financial results”, Business Horizons, Vol. 57, 2014, pp. 161—167
[9] L.I. Labrecque, ‘Fostering Consumer–Brand Relationships in Social
Media Environments: The Role of Parasocial Interaction’, Journal of
Interactive Marketing, 2014, in press
[10] C. Ho, "Consumer behavior on Facebook", EuroMed Journal of
Business, Vol. 9, Iss 3, 2014, pp. 252 – 267.
[11] R. Garretson: Future tense: The global CMO. Retrieved September
29, 2010, from http://graphics.eiu. com/upload/Google%20Text.pdf
[12] S. Asur, ‘The Economics of Attention: Social Media and Businesses’,
Vikalpa: The Journal For Decision Makers, Vol. 37, No. 4, 2012, pp.
77- 85.
[13] G.V. Valerio Ureña, D. Herrera Murillo, N. Herrera Murillo, FJ
Martínez Garza, “Purposes of the communication between companies
and their Facebook followers”, Revista Latina de Comunicación
Social, 70, 2015, pp. 110 to 121.
http://www.revistalatinacs.org/070/paper/1037mx/07en.html DOI:
10.4185/RLCS-2015-1037en
[14] A. Kaplan A., M. Haenlein, “Users of the world, unite! The
challenges and opportunities of social media” Business Horizons
Vol.53, 2010 pp. 59-68
[15] Harvard Business School The New Conversation: Taking Social
Media From Talk to Action, Harvard Business Review Report, 2010
Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA, available at:
www.sas.com/resources/whitepaper/wp_23348.pdf (accessed
December 17,2012).
[16] D.E., Schultz, J., Peltier, ‘Social media’s slippery slope: challenges,
opportunities and future research directions’, Journal of Research in
Interactive Marketing, Vol. 7 No. 2, 2013, pp. 86-99.
[17] Facebook(2014).Newsroom–Keyfacts.http://newsroom.fb.com/Key-
Facts.
[18] H.G. Pereira, M.F Salgueiro,., I., Mateus, ‘Say yes to Faceook and get
your customers involved! Relationships in a world of social
networks’, Business Horizons, 2014,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2014.07.001
[19] E. Pöyry,., P. Parvinen, T. Malmivaara, T., ‘Can we get from liking to
buying? Behavioral differences in hedonic and utilitarian Facebook
usage’, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, Vol. 12,
2013, pp. 224–235
[20] S. H Dekay "How large companies react to negative Facebook
comments", Corporate Communications: An International Journal,
Vol. 17 Iss 3, 2012, pp. 289 – 299.
[21] J. Kietzmann, H. Hermkens, Kristopher & Mccarthy, Ian P. &
Silvestre, S. Bruno “Social Media? Get Serious! Understanding the
functional building blocks of social media”, Business Horizons, vol.
54, 2011, pp. 241-251.
[22] S. Fournier, S, J.Avery, ‘The uninvited brand’, Business Horizons,
Vol. 54, 2011, pp. 193-207.
[23] P. LaPointe, , 'Measuring Facebook's Impact on Marketing', Journal
Of Advertising Research, 52, 3, 2012, pp. 286-287.
[24] W.G Mangold,. D.J., Faulds,), ‘Social media: The new hybrid
element of the promotion mix’, Business Horizons, Vol. 52, 2009, pp.
357—365.
[25] J. Colliander, & M. Dahlén, 'Following the Fashionable Friend: The
Power of Social Media', Journal Of Advertising Research, Vol. 51,
Iss.1, 2011, pp. 313-320.
[26] N.L Chan,., B.D Guillet,., ‘Investigation of social media marketing:
How does the hotel industry in Hong Kong perform in marketing on
social media websites?’, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing,
Vol. 28, No. 4, 2011, pp. 345-368.
[27] K. S Coulter, A. Roggeveen, "Like it or not": Consumer responses to
word-of-mouth communication in on-line social networks",
Management Research Review, Vol. 35 Iss: 9, 2012 pp. 878 – 899.
[28] V. Kumar, L. Aksoy, B. Donkers, R. Venkatesan, T. Wiesel, and S.
Tillmanns, S., ‘Undervalued or Overvalued Customers: Capturing
Total Customer Engagement Value’, Journal of Service Research,
Vol. 13, No. 3, 2010, pp. 297-310.
[29] N. Woodcock, A. Green, M. Starkey, ‘Social CRM as a business
strategy’, Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy
Management, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2011, pp. 50–64.
[30] T.M. Harrison, and M. Barthel, ‘Wielding new media in Web 2.0:
exploring the history of engagement with the collaborative
construction of media products’, New Media Society, Vol. 11, No. 1-
2, 2009, pp. 155-178.
[31] R.J Brodie,. L.D., B., Juric, A, Ilic, , ‘Customer Engagement:
Conceptual Domain Hollebeek, , Fundamental Propositions, and
Implications for Research’ Journal of Service Research, Vol. 14,
No.3, 2011a, pp. 252-271.
[32] L. Hollebeek, , ‘Demystifying customer brand engagement: Exploring
the loyalty nexus’, Journal Of Marketing Management, Vol. 27. No.
7/8, 2011, pp. 785-807. p. 790
[33] L.D., Hollebeek, ‘The customer engagement/value interface: An
exploratory investigation’, Australasian Marketing Journal, Vol. 21
Issue 1,2013, p17-24.
[34] C. Porter, N. Donthu, W. MacElroy, D. Wydra ‘How to foster and
sustain engagement in virtual communities’, California Management
Review, Vol. 53, No. 4, 2011, pp. 80-110.
[35] S. Vivek, S. Beatty, & R. Morgan, 'Customer Engagement: Exploring
Customer Relationships Beyond Purchase',Journal Of Marketing
Theory & Practice, 20, 2, 2012, pp. 122-146
[36] J. van Doorn, K.N. Lemon, V.Mittal, S. Nass, D. PickP. Pirner, P.,
and P.C. Verhoef, ‘Customer Engagement Behavior: Theoretical
Foundations and Research Directions’, Journal of Service Research,
Vol. 13, No.3, 2010, pp. 253-266.
[37] T.H Bijmolt, . A., Leeflang, P.S. H., Block, F., Eisenbeiss, M.,
Hardie, B. G. S., Lemmens, A., and Saffert, P., ‘Analytics for
Customer Engagement’, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 13, No. 3,
2010, pp. 341-356.
[38] C. Grönroos,), “Creating a relationship dialogue: communication,
interaction and value”, The Marketing Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2012,
pp. 5-14.
[39] R.J., Brodie, A., Ilic, B. Juric, L. Hollebeek, ‘Consumer engagement
in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis’, Journal Of
Business Research, Vol. 66, Iss. 1, 2011b, pp. 105–114.
[40] CM. Sashi, (Customer engagement, buyer-seller relationships, and
social media", Management Decision, Vol. 50 Iss: 2, 2012, pp. 253 –
272.
[41] P.S.H., Leeflang, P.C., Verhoef, P., Dahlström, T Freundt,.,
‘Challenges and solutions for marketing in a digital era’, European
Management Journal, Vol. 32 (2014) 1–12.
[42] P. Verhoef, S., Beckers, & J. van Doorn, J.,), “Understand the Perils
of Co-Creation”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 91, No. 9, 2013, p.
28-2.
[43] P.C Verhoef, W.J., Reinartz, and M. Krafft, ‘Customer Engagement
as a New Perspective in Customer Management’, Journal of Service
Research, Vol.13, No.3, 2010, pp. 247-252.
[44] V.Champoux, J. Durgee, L. McGlynn, "Corporate Facebook pages:
when “fans” attack", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 33, Iss 2,
2012, pp. 22 – 30.
[45] I Schulze Horn., T.Taros, S. Dirkes, L. Huer, M. Rose M., R.
Tietmeyer, E. Constantinides, “Business Reputation and Social Media
- A Primer on Threats and Responses”, IDM Journal of Direct, Data
and Digital Marketing Practice, Vol. 16, no. 3, 2015,
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/dddmp/index.html. p. 4
[46] J. Pfeffer, T. Zorbach, & K. M., Carley, ‘Understanding online
firestorms: Negative word-of-mouth dynamics in social media
networks’, Journal of Marketing Communications, Vol. 20, Nos 1-2,
2014, pp. 117-128, DOI: 10.1080/13527266.2013.797778, p. 118.
[47] R.V Kozinets,., (2002), ‘The field behind the screen: using
netnography for marketing research in online communities’, Journal
of Marketing Research, Vol. 39, pp. 61–72.
[48] A. Rageh, TC Melewar, A. Woodside, “Using netnography research
method to revel the underlying dimensions of the customer/tourist ,
Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Vol. 16 No. 2,
2013,pp. 126-149
[49] J. Colliander, and A.H., Wien, ,“Trash talk rebuffed: consumers’
defense of companies criticized in online communities”, European
Journal of Marketing,Vol. 47, No. 10, 2013, pp. 1733-1757.
[50] H. Hsieh, & S. Shannon, ‘Three approaches to qualitative content
analysis’, Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 15, No. 9, 2005 pp.
1277–1288.
[51] C. Stavros, M.D Meng,., K. Westberg, F. Farrelly, ‘Understanding
fan motivation for interacting on social media’, Sport Management
Review, Vol. 17, 2014 pp. 455–469
[52] Y.S Lincoln,., and E.G Guba,.‘Naturalistic Inquiry’, Beverly Hills,
CA: Sage Publications, 1985.
[53] A.K Shenton,. ‘Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative
research projects’, Education for Information, Vol. 22, 2004, pp. 63–
75
[54] R. Langer, & S.C. Beckman, ‘Sensitive research topics: netnography
revisited’, Qualitative Market Research: an International Journal,
Vol. 8, No. 2, 2005 pp. 189-203.
[55] J. Gummerus, V. Liljander, E. Weman, M. Pihlström, ,"Customer
engagement in a Facebook brand community", Management Research
Review, Vol. 35 Iss: 9, 2012, pp. 857 – 877.
[56] H. Park, Y.K Kim, ‘The role of social network websites in the
consumer–brandrelationship’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services, Vol. 21, 2014, pp. 460–467
[57] L. Dessart, C.Veloutsou, A. Morgan-Thomas, "Consumer
engagement in online brand communities: A social media
perspective", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 24 Iss
1, 2015, pp. 1 – 33.
[58] Y.Jin, B. Fisher Liu, & L. L Austin,.. “Examining the role of social
media in effective crisis management: The effects of crisis origin,
information form, and source on publics’ crisis responses”,
Communication Research, Vol. 41, No.1, 2014, pp. 74–94.
[59] A. Palmer, & N. Koenig-Lewis, “An experiential social network-
based approach to direct marketing”, Direct Marketing: An
International Journal, Vol.3, 2009, pp. 162–176.
[60] L. Plé, R. Chumpitaz Cáceres, "Not always co-creation: introducing
interactional co-destruction of value in service dominant logic",
Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 24, Iss 6, 2010, pp. 430 - 437
