Social media marketing in the wellness industry

Abstract

Purpose – The advent of social media is dramatically changing the way marketing communication is conducted. This paper reports a study regarding the use of social media in the wellness industry. This industry is competitive and utterly dependent on creating mutually beneficial relationships with customers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of social media marketing in the wellness industry. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative methods have been used. In-depth interviews have been carried out with marketing communication professionals in seven leading Swedish spa-hotels. The data from the interviews were analysed utilising the constant comparative method from the grounded theory approach. Findings – Dimensions describing the activities, challenges and results of social media in the hotels have been defined. The findings are related to service quality theory, in particular the service dominant logic of marketing (SDL), and a comprehensive framework is proposed. Research limitations/implications – The findings should be useful for the scientific understanding of the effects of social media in marketing. The study is based entirely on qualitative data. Practical implications – The results of the study should be useful for managers trying to market their offers effectively through social media. Originality/value – The connections between social media and the SDL has not previously been studied in the wellness industry and such studies in other industries are rare.

Social media as a source of information about products and services in the light of cross-cultural research in China, Poland and United States / Media społecznościowe jako źródło informacji o produktach i usługach w świetle badań międzykulturowych w Chinach, Polsce i Stanach Zjednoczonych

“…However, the significance of SM in the research by S.O. Lagrosen and K. Grunde [2014] on using them by local customers in marketing activities, illustrated with an example of Swedish wellness establishments, is not unambiguous in this type of places. It can be related to the previous statements on the greater significance of social media in services offered in a large geographical distance; thus, the popularity of rating scores on booking.com or www.tripadvisor.com.…”

Social media marketing evaluation using social network comments as an indicator for identifying consumer purchasing decision effectiveness

“…[8][9][10] Only very limited research has explored the performance of social media marketing. 11 Companies only know the number of followers in their brand communities and how interactive the followers are by their comments.…”

“…8 In addition, companies see social media as a way to spread WOM. 9 Many studies also point out that consumer behaviour in purchasing decisions is highly prone to community recommendations. 6 It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of social media marketing, and it has not been done in any systematic way.…”

“…6 It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of social media marketing, and it has not been done in any systematic way. [8][9][10] Companies know the number of followers in their brand communities and how interactive the followers are with comments. Only very limited research has explored the performance of social media marketing -Yang et al 11 developed a measurement instrument for measuring blog service innovation in social media services using questionnaires for data collection.…”

Women in business and social media: Implications for female entrepreneurship in emerging countries

“…Finally, form the study literature review, it is important to underline that the adoption, use and implications of social networking tools depend on contingent factors that characterise the firm context (Jiang et al, 2014). Some of them are related to the business organisation (that is, its size and the sector in which firms operate), (Geho and Dangelo, 2012;Sood, 2012;Nakara et al, 2012;Durkin et al, 2013;Kwok and Yu, 2013;Lagrosen and Grundén, 2014;Leung et al, 2015). Others refer to the environment (that is, the geographical location and the cultural and socio-economic factors featuring the country in which the company operates) (Berthon et al, 2012).…”