This study explores the use of social media in higher education with a particular focus on the role of cultural and socioeconomic differences. The dataset, built on surveyed respondents from China, Poland, Spain, Turkey and United States, was analysed using quantitative techniques that allowed us to test various hypotheses. Findings show that the use of social media for educational purposes is determined by socio-demographic variables (gender, age, education level) that returned different social media users' profiles across countries. Overall, the results indicate that social media is a useful tool of communication between teachers and students but that national cultural differences must be taken into account in the design of subjects and teaching materials used by teachers in the digital environment. From another point of view, the results related with the cultural differences and the socioeconomic determinants may give insight to the marketers in the promotion of education related products such as books, language schools, degree and certificate programs in social media.

A B S T R A C T Objective:The main objective of this article is to identify social media (SM) usage in communication between individual consumers and producers in different countries. The considerations in the article are focused on consumers' perspective. Research Design & Methods:The article takes a deductive approach and the aim is to answer two research questions: For what purpose do consumers communicate with companies via SM? Does the frequency of using the most popular SM in the researched countries influence the range of using them in marketing communication? Three research techniques were used in the exploratory empirical study: FGI (pilot study), PAPI and CAWI (main study). The analysis is based on both literature studies and empirical data, collected in several countries (China, Poland, Turkey, the United States). Findings: Results of the exploratory study showed that consumers from the researched countries communicate via SM with producers for different purposes. Some of them look for discounts and information about a product or brand, whilst others also take into account adverts presented by companies on SM, as well as information about company events. Implications & Recommendations: As a result, the findings can be utilised by numerous different groups of stakeholders (such as companies and institutions), in particular companies using SM for marketing communication in foreign markets. The results showed the way of using social media by consumers and that is why they can be advice for producers how to use them in the communication with their customers. Contribution & Value Added: The content of the article is significant, up to date, and original due to the fact that it focuses on current marketing communication issues. Article type:research article

The main objective of the paper is to identify the interdependencies between a type of a product (durable products) and the nature of information on social networking sites (SNSs) that affects the making of purchase decisions. An attempt has been made to answer the research question: to what extent types of products are of influence when using relevant information on SNSs and when making purchase decisions (pre-purchasing stage). The literary studies are complemented with empirical research done in three countries: China, Poland and the United States. The results confirm the importance of SNSs and the information obtained from them in making purchase decisions. In relation to the categories of products the strongest correlations were observed in fashion, household goods and cosmetics. In the case of the type of information gained through SNSs that influence making purchase decisions advertisements placed on SNSs and information about new products are the most significant.

The development of new technologies combined with constantly increasing access to the Internet, facilitates the usage of social media in the business, including firms' operations in foreign markets. The main aim of the article is to identify the relationship between the degree of internationalization and social media usage within different forms of marketing communication in foreign markets. Data was gathered from individual interviews conducted among 334 companies that operate on the Polish market and which are active internationally in terms of marketing communication. Two key findings emerge from the research. First, the strongest correlation between the form of internationalization and the use of social media was obtained as far as advertising (as a form of marketing communication) is concerned. Second, the number of foreign markets a company operates is correlated with the use of social media in terms of all forms of marketing communication.

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