SOCIAL MEDIA AS A SUBJECT OF DISCUSSION: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

The corporate world is undergoing a dynamic situation. The landscape of work is changing continuously. Therefore, the organizations are becoming more agile and flexible in their strategies to communicate as well as to retain the customers. Since the introduction of these social media sites and virtual communities, the organizations are aggressively shifting to these platforms to connect with these virtual communities in order to strengthen brands and cultivate strong relations with the customers. The efforts and activities of brands and the organizations on social media are a subject of constant discussion. Some of the researchers believe that social media offers a distinct chance for firms to strengthen their client relationships whereas others think the opposite. Our purpose is to demonstrate how the brand communities that are based on these platforms impact the components of a customer-oriented approach, using the perspective of the brand communities’ formation along with the brand loyalty and brand trust. A survey-based study was conducted with 152 respondents.