Social Capital: The Importance Of Social Media

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2. THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL IN BRANDING
Social capital is a relatively modern theory, introduced by Pierre Bourdieu in 1985 (Glenane- Antoniadis et al. 2003) that can provide a useful additional framework, supplementing traditional concepts of marketing, improving the effectiveness of social media marketing. Its popularity has quickly grown over time and it has been applied in various disciplines, including economics, political science and organizational theory. Notwithstanding its popularity, especially with the rise of SNSs and social media, there is still no consensus in defining or operationalizing social capital (Ellison et al. 2007). As Adler & Kwon, (2002) pointed out, social capital can be applied in a number of different fields, …show more content…

The expansion of internet, social media and SNSs, radically alters the relationship between brands and consumers, leaving out many of the traditional marketing strategies and structures outdated. Consumers have the capability of connecting with a bigger number of brands, as new technologies in social media and SNSs, give them the opportunity and the abilities to handle with a bigger number of relationships (ties) compared to the past (Kaplan and Haenlin, 2010), many times without the knowledge or control of manufacturers or …show more content…

Park et al. (2009) conducted a factor analysis in order to reveal the main motivations of individuals for participating in groups within Facebook and identified the following: socializing, entertainment, self status seeking, and information that are relevant with the formation of social capital within a network. Ellison et al (2007, 2010) has examined the relationship between the usage of Facebook, and the formation and maintenance of social capital in college students. Their results indicated that social information-seeking behaviors contribute to perceptions of social capital, highlighting the importance of the identity of the members of a group working as a “lubricant” facilitating information seeking and

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