StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Impact on Information Availability to Business - Use of Social Media - Case Study Example

Cite this document
Summary
This paper "Impact on Information Availability to Business - Use of Social Media" focuses on the fact that the case deals with an incident of a musician named Dave Caroll who was travelling from Canada to Nebraska with his musical band. Dave observed that his guitar was not properly taken care of. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.6% of users find it useful
Impact on Information Availability to Business - Use of Social Media
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Impact on Information Availability to Business - Use of Social Media"

? ITM501 MoD 3 Case the internet as social media Introduction The case deals with an incident of a musician d Dave Caroll who wastravelling from Canada to Nebraska with his musical band. Dave observed that his guitar and other instruments were not properly taken care of by the baggage department. Dave complained about this incident to the airline authority, but no steps were taken by the authority. Dave posted this incident on YouTube. It was a case of service failure where the guitar and baggage were damaged due to the mishandling flaws. The authority did not react proactively, and so Dave had to raise his voice by spreading word of mouth via a social network. Social network is a very useful tool for advertisement in our era. Social media is a virtual network where people can view, create and share different information. For marketers, social media is the most convenient way to reach maximum number of customers at the same time. As people can share their ideas and opinions via social media, the company has an opportunity to get feedback from social media. Social media is different from other traditional media in terms of reach, frequency, performance, immediacy. With the change in lifestyle, social media has gained popularity among individuals, especially among the young, as it is very fast. In our case it will be discussed how far social media is able to provide business with new information. Impact on information availability to business: use of social media The case of Dave Carroll and the incident with his musical instrument, a guitar, during his flight from Toronto to Nebraska with the United Airline brings to our attention the effectiveness of social media in providing useful and new information related to the business houses. The United Airlines, being a Fortune 25 company, did not take heed of the concerns of the young musician, Dave Carroll. The United Airlines ignored his claim that his guitar was damaged and devalued by the United Airlines personnel during the journey as a result of mishandling of his guitar and baggage. In order to make his point and gain support against the airline giant, the slender musician used the social media on the Internet to make a viral response with the support of billions in the community (Al-Deen &  Hendricks, 2011). The social media on the Internet uses its unique features of connectivity as well as immediacy to reach out to millions of members in the community very easily through videos, public messages, etc. Social media has a rippling effect in terms of spreading the message across the communities and making new and useful information available to the companies (Sigala, Christou, & Gretzel, 2012). In this case, the preparation of the video by the musician, which cost hardly $200 helped him to send the message of his dissatisfaction with the customer service provided by the United Airlines (Harvard Business School, 2010). The information spread like a virus, and it easily reached the top of the management of the United Airlines. This information is of extremely high value to the United Airlines as it is publicly available and, along with it, the image and goodwill of the company is affected. Thus the availability of the information in social media creates an impression in the minds of the customers and impacts the interest levels of the consumers to access the services of the company (Kerpen, 2011). In this case, the availability of the information from Dave Carroll and the entire description of the event of breaking of his guitar were displayed by the musician on YouTube. This information reached very easily the management, and this helped the top management to limit the risk of loss of goodwill and the loss of revenues due to reduction in the customer base. There are, however, various other alternatives where the information on the operations, customer service and customer grievance is readily available to the business. This helps the companies to assess the value of brand image in the market and the acceptability of its services among the customers. Various posts on Facebook and Twitter are of extremely high value as they provide information on the customer’s experience of the services offered by the company (Tjoa, Quirchmayr, You, & Xu, 2011). These platforms of social media also allow the members or the Internet user to share the experiences with each other and provide feedback to important queries as part of resolution. Thus the new and useful information spreads like a ripple and reaches the target stakeholders, which forces them to take necessary action to respond to such posts or take steps to sustain the value of business. It is true that availability and the use of social media can provide different and new key information to the businesses. Social media is widely used throughout the globe. In US, several leading organizations can avail useful business information as they are able to link with the target customers through the real time interaction (Weinberg, 2009). Moreover, people can avail significant information about an organization’s business operation strategy. On the other hand, the organizations can get instant and quick feedback from the customers through the review of customers (Funk, 2012). The total number of social media users is expected to grow dramatically in near future. The popularity of several social media sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook is increasing slowly and gradually throughout the globe. Many organizations use social media as an effective promotional tool. Social media advertising can help the organization to target both national and international customers. It is quite clear from the case study that Dave Carroll’s posting his experience about the inadequate customer service of the United Airlines helped the organization in several ways (Wankel, 2010). This post helped the organization to review the whole organization structure and business operation process. Airlines are considered as service providing industries. Effective customer service is the major growth driver of these organizations. This particular incident affected the organization’s brand image in the global marketplace. This negative customer feedback helped the organization to identify the issues and challenges associated with the business process (Tatnall, 2005). It is an indirect and cost-effective feedback process through which the organization can improve the quality of products and services. However, feedback from a customer about a particular product or a service can make aware of the problem thousands of people within a second. It can benefit both the organization and the competitors of that organization (Zarrella, 2010). This online feedback process through social media networks can give a chance to an organization to improve the quality and competence of the specific products and services. On the other hand, this feedback can help the competitors to undertake several aggressive strategies against the flaws (Castells, 2002). It will provide effective and potential advantages to the competitors within the specific industry. Several leading organizations around the globe are trying to capitalize on the potential opportunities that have developed due to technological revolution and globalization. These organizations are trying to implement advanced technology in their business processes to reduce cost. Social media promotional and marketing strategy is the consequence of global technological business development (Stair & Reynolds, 2011). Moreover, several global business firms can identify own strengths and weakness and external opportunities and threats through the feedbacks that is posted on social media sites about the product or service (Mandiberg, 2012). Conclusion The specific incident had a strong effect on the consumer’s mind as soon as it was disclosed on YouTube. The popularity of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter is increasing at a rapid speed as more and more people have started communicating via social media (Bozarth, 2010). The authenticity of social media is increasing also as social media sites are increasing their safety technical tools. Comparing with advertisement and other promotional tactics, social media has become a more popular and reliable tool because not only the marketers but also the customers themselves are sharing their views in social media. When selling a product, the most reliable tool for marketing is word of mouth communication. It has become a standard rule for most of the customers to go through the user review before buying any product. The negative word of mouth communication spreads ten times more rapidly than a positive word of mouth communication (Evas, 2010). The case deals with the ignorance of service recovery. The posting of complaints on YouTube hampers the brand image of the United Airlines. But the positive part is that the company could learn many things from the incident. The company could identify the problem through the customer feedback and get an opportunity to recover from the problem in future. In the same way, the competitor companies also get an opportunity for strong reaction. References Al-Deen, H. N. S. and  Hendricks, J. A. (2011). Social Media: Usage and Impact. USA: Lexington Books. Bozarth, J. (2010). Social Media for Trainers: Techniques for Enhancing and Extending Learning. UK: Wiley.com. Castells, M. (2002). The Internet Galaxy. New York: Oxford University Press. Evas, L. (2010). Social Media Marketing: Strategies for Engaging in Facebook. Levans: Que publishing. Harvard Business School. (2010). United Breaks Guitars. Retrieved from: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6492.html?wknews=112910. Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks). USA: Cengage Learning. Mandiberg, M. (2012). The social Media Reader. New York: New York University Press. McGraw Hill Professional. Sigala, M., Christou, E., & Gretzel, U. (2012). Social Media in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality: Theory, Practice and Cases. UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Stair, R., & Reynolds, G. (2011). Principles of Information Systems. Stamford: Cengage. Tatnall, A. (2005). Web Portals. London: Idea Group Inc. Tjoa, A. M., Quirchmayr, G., You, I. and Xu, L. (2011). Availability, Reliability and Security. UK: Wiley. Wankel, C. (2010). Cutting Edge Social Media Approaches to Business Education. New York: IAP. Weinberg, T. (2009). The Community Rules. New York: O’Reilly. Zarrella, D. (2010). The social Media Marketing Book. Canada: O’Reilly Media. Funk, T. (2012). Advanced Social Media Marketing: How to Lead, Launch, and Manage a Successful Social Media Program. New York: Apress. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“ITM501 MoD 3 Case the internet as social media Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/business/1484519-itm501-mod-3-case-the-internet-as-social-media
(ITM501 MoD 3 Case the Internet As Social Media Essay)
https://studentshare.org/business/1484519-itm501-mod-3-case-the-internet-as-social-media.
“ITM501 MoD 3 Case the Internet As Social Media Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/business/1484519-itm501-mod-3-case-the-internet-as-social-media.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Impact on Information Availability to Business - Use of Social Media

Social Media on the Internet

This literature review "Social Media on the Internet" discusses how the availability and use of social media on the internet really provide businesses with new and different useful information.... There has been raging debate on whether the availability and use of social media on the internet is useful to businesses in regard to providing them with new and different useful information.... This paper will discuss how the availability and use of social media on the internet really provide businesses with new and different useful information....
7 Pages (1750 words) Literature review

How does social media impacts on people's relationship and daily life

A wide research will be undertaken to acquire many documents that fit in the research criteria of social media.... Videos will also be collected in addition to books that concentrate on the issue of social media.... Proposed research questions for this study1) Who are the most users of social media?... I also expect to assess the positives of social media since there has to be some useful aspects that social media has brought to the modern world....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Social Media Analysis and Customer Behaviour

The internet has provided a platform for… As a result the markets have evolved and become smarter with the use of social media tools. ... Social media is used to connect people to information as well as each other online, the use of social sites have influenced marketing trends in a major way.... n this paper we shall examine the influence of social networks on the decision of a buyer.... Traditional methods of advertising through the use of mass media have become highly ineffective as the consumers are eager to seek more information directly from the company....
12 Pages (3000 words) Research Proposal

Effects of Social Media

The use of social media is not restricted to certain people; it This work goes to point out the relevant effects that are associated with social media.... This is one of the important attributes of social media.... his research paper aims at evaluating the issues related to social media in general.... Scholars have carried out research on the matter, and it is evident that there are advantages as well as disadvantages associated with social media....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Challenges and Opportunities for Organisations Using Social Media

This coursework "Challenges and Opportunities for Organisations Using Social Media" critically assesses the role of social media in altering the status quo.... The nature of social media interaction is investigated, as well as the challenges and opportunities for organizations.... Over the past decade, the onset of social media, also referred to as new media, has ushered in a new era in information technology.... The role of social media in altering the status quo is critically assessed in the sections that follow....
13 Pages (3250 words) Coursework

Impacts of Electronic Media in the Economic Development

Through the use of electronic media, many people are more informed on matters to do with the economic development that is done through many adverts and programs offered by the boot media (Fiksel, 2011).... Businesses need more customer relationships and this can be effectively realized through the use of electronic media such as the internet.... The use of electronic media in advertising seeks to explore new and effective advertising mechanisms to drive business services and the opportunity for expansion....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Assessment of The Value of Social Media for Tourism

10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

The Value of Social Media as an Information Source for Intelligence Exploitation

… The paper "The Value of social media as an Information Source for Intelligence Exploitation " is a great example of a term paper on media.... The paper "The Value of social media as an Information Source for Intelligence Exploitation " is a great example of a term paper on media.... This essay discusses the role of social media as an information source for intelligence exploitation ... But these days a new trend has appeared that is known as social media....
13 Pages (3250 words) Term Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us