Digital Marketing Communication from the Perspective of Individual Consumers: A Cross-Country Comparison

Abstract

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

Digital Marketing Communication in Developing Countries

“…In the following table we present the results of the Spearman correlation. In her study, Bartosik-Purgat (2019), utilizing the Spearman Correlation, analysed the digital marketing or social media usage by consumers in their communications with companies in certain countries of Europe, Asia and the United States. Her results showed few differences among these countries in relation to the use of social media for interpersonal and marketing communication purposes.…”

Psychological Traits and Intention to Use E-Commerce among Rural Micro-Entrepreneurs in Malaysia

“…In spite of all these, current changes in the global entrepreneurial ecosystem as a result of rapid technological changes have had a greater impact on the larger SMEs' activities, affecting rural micro-enterprises the most [9,10]. Moreover, a combination of financial constraints and low skills further exacerbate the impacts of rapid technological changes for micro-SMEs as the fierce competition is now fueled by a new digital business environment in which technology plays an increasingly important role in every single business activity [11]. Nonetheless, SMEs of all sizes need to ride the new technological wave in order to remain relevant in the market.…”

“…Nonetheless, SMEs of all sizes need to ride the new technological wave in order to remain relevant in the market. Explaining the importance of the role of technology to SMEs, the results of a study conducted by [11] on four countries, namely Poland, the USA, Turkey, and China, found that social media was the main medium of communication between customers and companies, SMEs in this context. Never before has the role of technology in business proven to be so compelling than in the recent context when most retail economic activities were 'taken over' by technology, in particular, during the COVID-19 pandemic where human movements were severely restricted [12].…”

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