Impact assessment of social media usage in B2B marketing: A review of the literature and a way forward

Nishant Kumar Tiwary, Rishi Kant Kumar, Shagun Sarraf, Prashant Kumar and Nripendra P. Rana

Journal of Business Research, 2021, vol. 131, issue C, 121-139

Abstract: Although various critical elements, such as media publicity, word of mouth, legislation, and environmental factors, are not under the control of a company, they play a significant role in influencing its brand image. Uncertainty over how different social networking sites can support brands is one of the crucial reasons for the delayed acceptance of social media (SM) in business-to-business (B2B) transactions. SM possesses immense potential in relation to gathering customer data and assisting B2B marketers. Therefore, this study reviewed SM usage in the B2B context, based on 294 selected articles. The methodology included bibliometric analysis to identify the impact of SM usage in the B2B domain and content analysis to perform a thematic assessment. Our analysis found that many B2B firms cannot leverage SM’s potential to its fullest compared to business-to-customer (B2C) firms. However, SM can help B2B marketers build their brand presence and trust globally, ultimately helping them find potential customers and build relationships with global supply chain providers.

Keywords: Business to business; B2B branding; Brand management; Industrial marketing; Innovation; Content marketing; Social media; Sales management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:131:y:2021:i:c:p:121-139

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.028

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