Evaluating social media marketing: social proof and online buyer behaviour

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

PART I THE PHENOMENON OF SOCIAL IMPACT IN ONLINE MARKETING.

CHAPTER 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK – ONLINE MARKETING: BETWEEN PERSUASSION AND MANIPULATION

CHAPTER 3. STRUCTURE OF FUNCTIONS, FORMS AND ORGANIZATION OF SELECTED STRATEGIES OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION AND EMPLOYED TOOLS IN THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT.

CHAPTER 4. SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND ITS MANIFESTATION IN THE HYPERMEDIA COMPUTER ENVIRONMENT: REASONS, DEFINITION, MODELS AND CHARACTERISTICS.

CHAPTER 5. SOCIAL PROOF AS A KEY FACTOR IN SOCIAL COMMERCE

PART II SOCIAL PROOF IN MARKETING: EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACT AWARENESS

CHAPTER 6. RESEARCH MODEL, SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESES

CHAPTER 7. CONFIDENCE IN SOCIAL PROOF AND ITS IMPACT ON BUYING DECISIONS

CHAPTER 8 CHARACTERISTICS OF INDICATORS OF SOCIAL PROOF BASED ON EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

CHAPTER 9. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS IN GLOBAL CONTEXT

SUMMARY

INDEX

Book Description
This book is an innovative attempt to identify and analyse the processes related to social influence in online buying behaviour, with special attention given to the phenomenon of social proof, which is the basis of social media, recommendation marketing, and word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing. It empirically verifies the factors which influence the effectiveness of social proof, and identifies relevant impact factors.

Opening with a literature review of this concept from the perspective of social psychology, sociology, and marketing, this interdisciplinary approach to the issue allows for an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of the effective use of social proof in contemporary online marketing. Following this, in the context of theoretical considerations, the author analyses the social role and significance of social proof in the buying behaviours of online consumers. The second half of the book presents the results of the author’s quantitative and qualitative research into the effectiveness of social proof. The quantitative research verifies the hypotheses concerning the social role and significance of social proof in buying decisions and identifies the level of confidence in the opinions expressed by other web users. The qualitative research focuses on the empirical verification of the effectiveness of social proof mechanisms. Additionally, attention is given to sensitivity to social proof, i.e. the factors that increase the effectiveness of such messages, from both the sender’s and the recipient’s perspective, as well as the forms and channels of communication.

Written for scholars and researchers interested in the debate on the transparency of activities carried out by companies in the area of online marketing, the book’s detailed analysis of influence utilizing both quantitative and qualitative studies may be of interest to a wider group of academics including economists, psychologists and sociologists.