Repeat Research and Comparison of Czech, Slovak and Swiss Product Innovation Oriented Firms' Communication in Social Media

Abstract

The objective of the research described in this article is a repeat analysis and comparison of social media communication channels used in Czech, Slovak and Swiss product innovation‑oriented companies, where the Swiss set of companies is used as a benchmark. The research is conducted using the same methodology as previous research described in Chlebovský (2015). The use of the same methodology allows comparison of the both research results and discussion on the development of social media use in marketing communication of production innovation‑oriented companies in selected countries. The primary research was carried out by scanning the social media use of the selected companies. European company database Amadeus, provided by Bureau van Dijk, was used for company selection in all three countries under the same search criteria. The set of companies researched covers the highest turnover product innovation‑oriented companies. Each particular sample set covered 100 companies from each country. The activity of the selected companies on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn were observed and particular metrics were scaled. Microsoft Excel was used for storing, statistical processing and graphic outputs of the research. The hypotheses formulated were statistically tested and the results confirmed. In order to confirm or reject normal data distribution, the Anderson‑Darling Normality Test was performed through all three sample sets. This test rejected normal data distribution for all three data sets. The non‑parametric Mann‑Whitney U test was then used to test the hypothesis. Evaluation of the results in comparison with previous research shows an increase in use of social media in communication of Czech and Slovak companies. Hypothesis tests show that Czech product innovation‑oriented companies are statistically equal in activity and success in communication through social media compared to the Swiss benchmark. Slovak companies are still behind the Swiss benchmark.