Culture and Social Media: Changing Service Expectations

Technology has dramatically changed consumer expectations, especially with regard to customer service. Information technology has created an innovative way for people to communicate and interact with both each other and organizations. In particular, social networking websites have become a popular virtual meeting place for consumers to converge and share information. Social media allows consumers to voluntarily post personal information, upload photographs, send and receive messages, join groups, and blog at will. Consumers are increasingly turning to computer-mediated communication to mine the information they need for decision making. Consumers now have the means to communicate their opinions about products and companies to other consumers, “like themselves,” at a critical point in the sales cycle, i.e., at the beginning. Retailers have a lot to gain by utilizing and harnessing the power of social media to enhance their overall marketing strategy. In fact, the incorporation of social media into corporate business models is now the rule, rather than the exception. Social media enables organizations to provide better customer service and turn loyal customers into their advocates. This conceptual paper puts forth a research model using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Venkatesh and Bala’s technology acceptance model 3 to examine the influence that culture and service quality exert on the usage of social media and the influence of the latter on consumer buying behavior.