CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Social media is a channel of communication that has become one of the most prominent means of exchanging information between organizations and the public. Social media communication is an online platform promoting international collaborations and information sharing among different users of social media. This digital technology innovation is made possible by the emergence of network bandwidth which enables individuals to connect to the internet at the comfort of their locations and share valuable contents for personal and business development (Kietzmann et al, 2011).
In the work of Cheung et al. (2011), it was discussed that social media communication is the use of social networks online for the purpose of creating business value, self-discovery, creating value in entertainment, social development, as well as achieving interpersonal relationship with others. Social media comprises of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Website, Blog, Online Community, Email, and so on, and these channels offer various opportunities for people to share their activities with families, acquaintances, and friends using texts, videos, audios, and pictures. However, social media communication has contributed significantly to organizations in recent times. In the study of Smith and Taglino (2014), it was posited that companies that have integrated social media communication into their innovative system have recorded much progress compare to those companies that are reluctant to adopt the same. The significance of this theory is that investment in social media technology offers a lot of benefits to organizations in this contemporary society, and even though these investments come with different costs covering cost of implementing social media technology and cost of promotions, the benefits exceed the costs. Another notable contribution of social media communication is that it has helped to improve the system of running businesses in a digital way such that many businesses have now considered social media as the easiest and convenient means of reaching out to a large audience as against traditional media with limited reach.
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) argued that many companies are now operating on the social media because online community is the best place to showcase businesses due to the rising number of people using social media applications, and this is an area that companies can exploit in order to boost their customer base. But, Bibian (2018) believed that showcasing businesses on Facebook page or Instagram page is not enough, but should be able to first identify the reason for adopting social media, and then develop social media strategies in line with the goals and objectives of the organization.
1.2 Statement of Problems
Social media communication is considered an emerging field of research in recent years due to the fact that many practitioners and academics have seen it as a new way of promoting personal and business relationships beyond boundaries. Although these practitioners still perceive it with some fear because of its great influence on traditional media and the attitude of the users. In contrast, Holtz (2006) was of the opinion that social media communication has not eliminated or supplanted the traditional media, rather it has complemented it.
However, social media communication has raised a number of issues for firms. For instance, by engaging on social media, public opinion can easily be made on the company’s products and services without hesitation because customers are no longer satisfied with just receiving and dissecting messages without making their own contributions in form of feedback, and this contributions may come in negative form that could immediately hurt the company’s brand image leading to customers boycott (Bibian, 2018).
Another issue identified by Costea (2012) involves the use of creative contents on the social media platforms. He opine that, even though social media is very friendly and easy to use for companies, but high level of creativity is needed to develop contents that would attract customers because there are so many organizations promoting similar products and services with good contents online, hence only organizations that are able to distinguish their contents will secure the attention of these customers.
Cost of promotion across social media channels has also become a fundamental issue for companies. According to recent study, social media has become a toast to many marketing professionals, and 88% of global marketers have adopted social media for their promotions, leading to more than 60 million dollars as expenses on advertising annually (Bibian, 2018). Hence, the competitive nature of online advertising has made it imperative for organizations to prepare a handsome budget for promotions before their products and services can become visible to users online.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main objective is to determine the impact of social media communication on achieving organisational goals. Hence, the specific objectives are:
1 To examine the impact of Facebook communication on the goals of organisations.
2 To examine the impact of Instagram communication on the goals of organisations.
3 To ascertain the impact of twitter communication on the goals of organisations
1.4 Research Questions
In order to be able to ascertain the extent of the effect of social media communication as a tool for achieving organizational goals, the study will focus on proclaimed answers to the following questions.
1 To what extent does Facebook communication impacts on the goals of organisations?
2 Does Instagram communication has any impact on achieving the goals of organisations?
3 How does twitter communication affect the achievement of organizational goals?
1.5 Research Hypothesis
Hi: there is no significant relationship between Facebook communication and the goals of organisations.
H2: there is no significant relationship between Instagram communication and the goals of organisations.
H3: there is no significant relationship between twitter communication and the goals of organisations.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The focus of this research is on the effect of social media communication on achieving the goals of organisations. This dissertation has efficiently analyzed related theories in the field of social media communication, and the gap discovered in the literature was that, previous studies did not focus on social media as a communication tool, particularly in the developing countries like Nigeria, and this is the motivating factor for the researcher to focus on this aspect of the study.
This became necessary because some organizations in the developing countries that have implemented social media technology with annual budget for social media promotions have not been able to establish a relationship between their expenditure and the profit goal of their organizations. Secondly, other organizations are still reluctant to implement social media technology because of lack of statistical evidence to prove a significant relationship between social media communication and organizational goals.
Hence, the findings of this research will make significant contributions to knowledge in social media communication in Nigeria and other developing nations in the world, and the enormous contributions it will make to knowledge could be viewed from different perspectives. In the first instance, the genuine evidence through the data generated from the case organisation will determine the relationship between social media communication and profitability goal of organizations.
Secondly, this evidence can be cited by other researchers who have the intention of taking a leap in social media communication and organizational goals.
Additionally, social media practitioners and public relations experts can also benefit from the outcomes of this study because of its focus on social media communication and profit targets of organizations.
The private sector organizations and government will also benefit from it as it will help in formulating policies in communication strategy. The theoretical contributions will also benefit the students and researchers in the field of social media communication as they will find it edifying and valuable in their career endeavors.
The advice on future research needed on this topic will also help other researchers to use this study as a springboard to develop a research topic in other sectors.
1.7 Scope and Limitation of the Study
This study will cover the social media communication activities of the company, and it will involve the human resources, finance, engineering, logistics, procurement, and legal departments of the company. The period of activities will cover from 2014-2019. The essence of this period stems from the significant contributions that social media communication has made to organizational growth in the last five years.
However, this study will have certain limitations which include funding as well as limited time to obtain relevant data from the case study organization.
1.8 Definition of terms
Social media – Online social networks used for the purpose of creating business value, self- discovery, entertainment value, social development, as well as achieving interpersonal relationship with others.
In this study, social media comprises of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Website, and E-mail.
Organizational goal – The goal and objectives of the organization include profitability, marketing, business, market share, sales, and so on. In this study, organizational goal is considered the profitability of an organization.
Internet is a massive “network of networks”, a media infrastructure which connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network in which any computer can communicate with each other as long as they are both connected to internet.
Social Media- They are forms of electronic communication which facilitate interactive base on certain interests. Social media include web and mobile technology. Kaplan and Helen (2010) defined Social Media as a group of internet based application that allows the creation and exchange of user generated content. The use of internet to make information about yourself available to other people especially people you share an interest with to send messages to them.
Media - Are all those media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication. “They are messages communicated through a mass medium to a number of people.
Computer - A computer is a machine that receives or stores or process data quickly according to a stored program.
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