Stakeholder engagement via social media: an analysis of third-party logistics companies

ABSTRACT

Social media helps firms establish a connection with their stakeholders by mitigating geographic and demographic barriers. Firms using social media can effectively engage in close relationships with their stakeholders. Firms must measure engagement levels to manage such fruitful relationships and develop social media strategies accordingly. Although studies have examined B2C industries’ levels of stakeholder engagement via social media, corresponding research on B2B industries has been limited. Thus, in this study, the relationship between global 3PLs and their stakeholders through social media is examined. The study is based on a content analysis of Facebook posts of 30 global 3PLs analyzed from 1 November 2017 to 31 January 2018. In this paper, original findings for 3PL firms’ social media usage are presented. The findings contribute to social media theory by showing that vivid posts and special day celebration posts strengthen relationships with stakeholders.

摘要

社交媒体通过减轻地理和人口方面的障碍，帮助企业与利益相关者建立联系。使用社交媒体的公司能够有效地与利益相关者建立密切的关系。企业必须衡量参与程度，以管理这种富有成效的关系，并制定相应的社会媒体战略。虽然现有的研究已经通过社会媒体调查了企业对客户(B2C)行业的利益相关者参与程度，但是相应的企业对企业(B2B)行业的研究却很有限。因此，本研究调查了全球第三方物流企业与其利益相关者通过社交媒体之间的关系。这项研究基于对2017年11月1日至2018年1月31日期间30个全球第三方物流企业的Facebook帖子的内容分析。本文介绍了第三方物流企业社交媒体使用的原始发现。这些发现通过展示生动的帖子和特殊日庆祝活动加强与利益相关者的关系，为社交媒体理论做出了贡献。

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• stakeholder marketing
• stakeholder engagement
• Facebook
• business-to-business services

关键词:

• 社会媒体
• 利益相关者营销;利益相关者参与
• Facebook;企业对企业服务

Acknowledgement

We are grateful to Gokcay Balci for his invaluable comments on our paper. We are also thankful to the editor and anonymous referees who helped a lot to improve the quality of our research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.