تاثیر رسانه های اجتماعی بر عملکرد شرکت The effect of social media on firm performance

1. Introduction In the last two decades, internet innovations have played an important role in business performances (Kim, Li, & Brymer, 2016). Web 2.0 applications provide the opportunity to transfer internet capability to the social environment where individuals are able to interact online by using social media (Sigala & Chalkiti, 2014). Social media is an effective cyberspace for accessing reliable and update information (Sigala, 2012). The popularity and enormous use of social media facilitates the online learning and the sharing information (Hur, Kim, Karatepe, & Lee, 2017). Social media allows the users, without any need to physical presence, to communicate and generate content (Zhang, Guo, Hu, & Liu, 2017). Moreover, social media has been seen as an effective billboard for a firm’s commercial goals and better business performance (Rapp, Beitelspacher, Grewal, & Hughes, 2013). Most firms are using social media to increase business brand image and brand awareness (Nisar & Whitehead, 2016; Pentina, Gammoh, Zhang, & Mallin, 2013). Furthermore, the social media influence company branding strategies which leads to eWOM (electronic word of mouth) (Barreda, Bilgihan, Nusair, & Okumus, 2015). Therefore, eWOM attracts consumers and enhances their purchasing intention (Xie et al., 2016). By using social media, customers have access to different sources of shared information from other customers in regard to their experiences and recommendations. This influences their purchasing decisions (Chen, Fay, & Wang, 2011). Therefore, the important role of social media in developing relationship and trust with customers, suppliers and potential partners is a significant consideration for firms (Rapp et al., 2013). A firm’s involvement in social media offers values for their business including enhanced brand value (Gensler, Volckner, Liu-Thompkins, € & Wiertz, 2013; Hudson, Huang, Roth, & Madden, 2016; Nisar & Whitehead, 2016); sales growth (Kumar, Bhaskaran, Mirchandani, & Shah, 2013); ecommerce and social commerce (Hajli, 2014); customer trust and Stickiness (Zhang et al., 2017); innovation and new product development (Palacios-Marques, Merig o, & Soto-Acosta, 2015; Roberts & Candi, 2014); knowledge sharing (Munar & Jacobsen, 2014); CRM, customer relationship management, (Rosman & Stuhura, 2013), eWOM (Ladhari & Michaud, 2015). Although previous studies have showed interest in social media values for organizations, there are very limited empirical studies on finding the influence of using social media on the performance of SMEs in the hospitality industry. W. G. Kim, Lim, and Brymer (2015), argue that researchers should try to focus on the identification of derivers and moderators that produce impact on business performance rather than focusing on social media principles.