Etapa de Transformación

Social media platforms allow e-SMEs to engage with consumers using interactive content in order to create brand trust and encourage community members to become active, loyal and advocating customers. The challenge for e-SME brands is determining which strategies their organisation should adopt in order to engage consumers to build brand trust in social media. Consumer engagement which builds brand trust can be determined by analysing a consumer's motivation to become engaged and develop a relationship with an e-SME. The main motivations a consumer may have for engaging include the financial, cognitive and social benefits received through interaction. Organisations can also benefit from such interaction and from a strategic perspective it is vital for e-SMEs to understand how they can promote the engagement that they have with consumers and enhance trust for the brand.

There is an argument that engagement strategies within social media platforms should be connected with the various stages that a consumer goes through when interacting with an e- SME but also the consumer e-SME brand trust stage that they are at. The strategies at each stage of social media engagement can then influence the level of trust associated with the brand. The proposed conceptual model of e-SME social media engagement to build trust therefore displays the elements of trust at each stage of engagement.

199 The netnography highlighted some of the potential benefits of consumer engagement for both the consumer and the e-SME for brand trust building in social media and the potential to apply the prosed model in practice. Brands are looking to facilitate consumer engagement using every available social media platform. Some e-SMEs brands such as SportsShoes and Kitbag provide financial incentives for joining community pages, others such as The Soccer Store hold competitions that require consumers to essentially advertise to those in their social network in exchange for entry (i.e. share this competition post to be entered into a draw). Although these methods are currently successful, in terms of the financial motivation stage of engagement, e-SME brands must continuously appreciate the changing nature of social media. Consequently engagement strategies need to be continuously reviewed and updated. Thus, it is crucial for e-SMEs to understand the role and importance of social networks for consumers, and how the content will support the existing marketing mix within the organisation. This research seeks to address this, by guiding e-SMEs on how to create campaigns that foster consumer engagement for non-customers and customers.

Social media enables consumers to participate in value adding by connecting and interacting not only with e-SME brands, but also with other customers as well as non-customers. A key challenge for organisations is to connect with current as well as potential customers and encourage their opinion and involvement in developing products and services that meet consumer needs. By involving consumers in the value creation process, the likelihood of satisfaction increases and further progression through the social media engagement cycle occurs. This strategy was exemplified by ProBikeKit and SportsShoes. The argument here is that by satisfying consumers, e-SMEs can develop strong emotional connections or develop lasting relationships with them. Continuous interaction between organisations and consumers utilising different social media platforms can also be enhance customer retention by creating affective and/or calculative commitment. Customers with strong emotional bonds can potentially become advocates for e-SMEs when interacting with other customers and noncustomers and play an integral part in the value adding process as co-creators of value. As the connection becomes more relational and the emotional bonds stronger, e-SMEs in turn become customer advocates who try to do what is best for their customers in order to sustain consumer trust in their brand.

5.12 Chapter Summary

This analysis is based on findings from the literature and netnography reviewing strategic social media engagement constructs which create initial and continual consumer trust. Understanding how e-SMEs engaged with consumers and how consumers responded to such communication, was achieved by reviewing the social media posts throughout the

200 netnography. This research has found that nine core themes are required for effective social media engagement strategies to develop initial and continual consumer trust.

Reviewing the analysis, the findings provide an important contribution to knowledge by arguing that social media consumer engagement is based on satisfying consumers by offering exceptional value which builds trust and commitment in long-term relationships. These findings argue that engaged consumers can become advocates and collaborate with e-SMEs in the value creation process which can effectively satisfy the needs of the e-SME and consumer. Social media consumer engagement entices customers due to the creation of emotional ties in relational exchanges with them. The interactive nature of social media encourages the relationship process with trust and commitment developed between the e- SME and consumer between sellers and buyers. The process of building customer engagement constitutes a sequential process, which the findings support. However, social media consideration must be given to ‘Awareness’ on the part of the e-SME and consumer. The issue of awareness concerns continuous review of consumer discussion on social media (needs, interests etc.), but also an awareness of how effective and engaging their content is on their social platforms. Financial motivation and providing value were found to key considerations for e-SMEs to encourage consumer commitment to remaining engaged with the SMBC. Building on from these stages, consistently providing knowledge led to consumer satisfaction, relationship building and eventually loyalty in the form of advocacy. As a result of this section of the research and the findings from Chapter Four, where the resulting trust themes from social media engagement were identified (Figure 4.19) , an adaptation of Sashi’s (2012) Engagement Cycle is presented with a specific focus on social media e-SME/consumer engagement in Figure 5.18.