Driving Consumer Engagement in Social Media: Influencing Electronic Word of Mouth

Summarizing the extant research on marketing communications, social media and word of mouth, this book clarifies terms often incorrectly and interchangeably used by scholars and marketers and provides principles of effective marketing communications in social media for different brand types and in different geographic markets.

Conversations among consumers on social media now have an unprecedented ability to shape attitudes toward people, products, services, brands and to influence buying decisions. Consequently, the digital era brings to the fore the importance of interpersonal relations and the power of personal recommendations. This book is the first to empirically investigate how the form and appeal of marketing communications in social networks influence electronic word of mouth, including an examination of brand type and geographic market. The author focuses on motivations and reveals why people exchange opinions about brands, products and services in the digital environment. The book summarizes the existing research on marketing communications, social media and word of mouth, provides a cutting-edge knowledge based on the analysis of the actual behavior of consumers and rules of effective marketing communications in social media.

This research-based book is written for scholars and researchers within the fields of marketing and communication. It may also be of interest to a wider audience interested in understanding how to use social media to influence electronic word of mouth.

Anna Bianchi, PhD, is an experienced marketing professional. For over 13 years she has been developing and implementing marketing communication strategies of global brands working in both a marketing department and an advertising agency in Poland, Italy and the U.S. As an international expert in digital and social media marketing, as well as the marketing communications of luxury brands, she led some of the award-winning projects. Her academic research and publications are focused on social media and word of mouth. She is a business consultant and trainer holding lectures on innovative marketing communications for both university students and marketing professionals.