CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS This chapter presents (1) a summary of the study, (2) a summary of the findings, (3) discussions of Internet users behaviour towards companies public relations activities on social networking sites, (4) conclusion, and (5) recommendations for further research. 5.1 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY This section summarises objectives and methodology of the study of Internet users behaviour towards companies public relations activities on social networking sites. 5.1.1 Objectives of the Study This research comprises of three objectives including (1) to investigate the behaviour of Internet users towards companies public relations activities on social networking sites, (2) to examine the main reasons why Internet users pay attention to or ignore companies PR activities on social networking sites, and (3) to ascertain the factors that influence Internet users decision to actively receive companies PR activities on social networking sites. 5.1.2 Subjects, Materials, and Procedures The subjects of this study consisted of Thai Internet users. The subjects included both males and females of different ages and employment statuses. Due to time and resource constraints the selection of Internet users was done by using quota sampling with a total of 100 respondents, including 76 females and 24 males. An online questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument. It consisted of 15 closed-ended questions and one open-ended question. The online questionnaire was distributed through Facebook, Hi5 and Twitter to respondents using the snowball sampling technique between 10 December 2009 to 9 January 2010. 5.2 SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS The results of the study can be summarised as follows: 5.2.1 Most of the respondents (76%) were female Internet users, and 39% of the respondents were 28-32 years old. In addition, the majority of the Internet users

50 (76%) had a full-time job. It was also found that most of the respondents (82%) accessed the Internet several times a day. 5.2.2 The findings showed that Facebook had the largest number of the Internet users (40.61%), while most of the respondents were members of multiple social networking sites. The main reason why most of the Internet users (72%) were members of social networking sites was they would like to stay in touch with their friends. In addition, the majority of the respondents (52%) accessed social networking sites several times a day. 5.2.3 On one hand, it was also found that the majority of the Internet users (54%) were not receiving companies public relations activities on social networking sites. The main reason was because senders have updated or shared information too often. Offering relevant information was the most attractive factor encouraging this group of Internet users to receive companies PR activities on SNS. 5.2.4 On the other hand, fewer than half of the Internet users (46%) were actively receiving companies public relations activities on social networking sites. Relevant and useful information provided was the significant factor influencing this group of Internet users to stay loyal to companies PR activities on SNS. It was also found that companies in the telecommunications, mobile phone and computer business, as well as companies in the travel, hotel and airline business had the largest number of the Internet users (23.91% each) regularly receiving their PR activities on SNS. In addition, most of this group of Internet users (56.52%) was receiving the companies public relations activities via Facebook. 5.2.5 It was also found that the majority of male Internet users (87%) were receiving companies public relations activities on social networking sites, while most of female Internet users (62%) were not receiving them. 5.2.6 It was found that on average, reactions of the Internet users who were receiving companies PR activities on social networking sites, were more frequently than those who were not receiving them. In addition, PR news giving useful tips was the PR activity which received positive responses from most of Internet users, while only 17 % of Internet users had never followed/read PR news giving useful tips. However, the findings also showed that on average the Internet users often hide or delete companies information that introduces new products or services on SNS. Even

51 so, most Internet users (28.26%) who were receiving companies PR activities on social networking sites had always hidden or deleted this type of information received from companies on SNS. 5.2.7 The PR activities which were most frequently responded to by Internet users who were regularly receiving PR activities from companies on SNS included 1) Information about new products or services from companies on SNS, but in a negative way 2) Invitations from companies of which they were customers 3) PR news giving useful tips 4) Games/quizzes that had been recommended by friends 5) Special activities for fans or followers 5.2.8 It was also found that the Internet users who were not receiving companies PR activities on social networking sites had high frequency responses in the following activities: 1) Hiding or deleting information introducing new products or services from companies on SNS 2) Reading PR news giving useful tips 3) Playing games or quizzes created by companies on SNS because of friends suggestions or friends have played 4) Reading PR news which has no image or VDO attached 5) Accepting invitations to be a fan or follower of a company of which they were being customer 5.2.9 Suggestions from the respondents about companies PR activities on social networking sites can be described as follows: 5.2.9.1 A sender should clearly identify the target receivers before sending out PR activities on SNS, be honest and provide a link from social networking sites to their company s website. 5.2.9.2 Messages should be clear, concise, honest and beneficial to the receivers. 5.2.9.3 There should be some attractive factors to draw attention, such as attractive visuals and animations, creative designs, and discount coupons and special promotions without competition and game participation required.

52 5.2.9.4 Amount of information transmitted at one time and its frequency should be managed to avoid annoying receivers. 5.3 DISCUSSIONS This section provides a discussion on interesting implications for public relations activities on social networking sites which were drawn from the summary of the findings in this study. 5.3.1 Reasons for Being a Member of Social Networking Sites According to McQuail s study (as cited is Wilcox et al, 2003), people spend their time on mass media to survey what is happening in society, to entertain, to find support for their personal values, and to contact with friends and family According to the findings of the present study given in Table 5, the majority of the respondents said staying in touch with friends was the major reason that motivated them to use social networking sites. The study of Why We Twitter: Understanding Microblogging Usage and Communities supports this finding. Java Java, A., Finin, T., Song, X., & Tseng, B. (2007) found that people were using Twitter so as to share what they were doing. Contrarily, Wright and Hinson s Examining How Public Relations Practitioners Actually Are Using Social Media found that younger Internet users had more tendency of using social networking sites for obtaining news and information (Wright & Hinson, 2009). In addition, this present study also found that most of the respondents belonged to more than one social networking site. Many users have accounts on several different SNS. This is supported by the report given by Alex Patriquin of Compete.com in November 2007. It mentioned that there was high overlap between memberships of various SNS. As shown in Table 4 and 8, Facebook was the most used social networking site by the respondents to contact their friends and to regularly receive public relations activities from companies. Although Hi5 was the second most popular social networking site used for keeping in touch with friends, it was less likely to be used for public relations purposes. This is in line with Krongthong Kirdnark s thesis which was about A Behavior of Users on Online Community www.hi5.com. Krongthong Kirdnark stated that online users were more likely to use Hi5 because

53 they would like to keep in touch with close friends and old friends (กรองทอง เก ดนาค, 2551 น. 3). The finding of the present study shows that Hi5 was ranked almost last in social networking sites used by companies, while Twitter was ranked second in this category, and it was the third most favorite SNS used by the respondents. This confirmed the comment given by the Vice President of Thai e-commerce Association last year that was Facebook and Twitter were social networking sites with the most impact for companies. 5.3.2 Factors Attracting Internet Users to Pay Attention to Companies PR Activities on Social Networking Sites Referring to Table 6, most of the respondents said relevant and useful information provided was the most influential factor attracting them to pay attention to and receive companies PR activities on social networking sites. This is supported by the selectivity process of information suggested by Klapper (1960). It claimed that people tend to select received messages which are in accord with their interests and benefits, particularly in the selective exposure process. In this process, people are more likely to select messages that accord with their feeling and attitude. In addition, Friends suggestions was the second major reason to influence Internet users to pay attention to and receive companies PR activities on SNS. According to the study of Web 2.0 Social Behavior of Internet Users, it was revealed that peer pressure and word of mouth could motivate people to use SNS (Kittinger, 2007). It can be implied that friend has significant impact on the use of social networking sites. According to Table 10, it was learnt that there was a relationship between gender and the reception of companies public relations activities on social networking sites. Male respondents were more likely to receive them than female respondents. Contrarily, the study entitled Social Network Marketing, Engagement Marketing and Brands, the researcher, Chapman, found that more female respondents had become friends or fans of a brand than male respondents had. This is supported by Schiffman and Kanuk who explained that women were more likely to express their opinions and keep in touch with friend, rather than seek information from companies when compared to men. The main reason might be men were claimed to have a higher level of computer skills than women (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2004).

54 They also pointed out that one of the male segments is Bits and Bytes who always search for investments, discovery and software, using Internet because of technology and hobbies, while one of the female segments is Social Sally who always look for chat and personal web page in order to make friends (p. 59). As also shown in this study, the types of companies from which most of respondents were following or receiving public relations news/activities on SNS were in telecommunications, mobile phone and computer field, and in travel, hotel and airline business. They were more likely to match with men s interests and the mentioned male segment. 5.3.3 Factors Discouraging Internet Users to Pay Attention to Companies PR Activities on Social Networking Sites From Table 11, it was learnt that Internet users would ignore public relations activities from companies on SNS because there were too many updates or shared information too often. This is consistent with what Fill (1995, p. 296) stated in the facet of message transmission: that is, to transmit information either too often or too rare can cause a communication problem. In addition, Irrelevant information offered was ranked as the second reason discouraging Internet users to receive companies PR activities. According to Bock and Senne, they specified that offering useful and relevant information is one of key success factors in successful online activities (Bock & Senne, 1996, p. 69). 5.3.4 Reaction to Companies PR Activities on Social Networking Sites According to the results of the present study given in the Table 13-15, the most frequent response of Internet users was hiding or deleting information introducing new products or services from companies on SNS. According to the findings of the present study, most Internet users tended to pay attention to information that is useful and relevant to them. In addition, most Internet users said they have followed/read PR news giving useful tips. This is in line with the findings of Chapman s Social Network Marketing, Engagement Marketing and Brands research (2008). It was found that more than half of Facebook respondents would be quite likely to share a brand application or widget among their friends if they are useful, and the researcher also suggested that that companies should provide users with interesting content in order to boost responses.

55 Besides, most Internet users have given positive response to an invitation to be a fan or follower of a company on a SNS because they were its customer. Kelman s study (as cited in Fill, 1995, p. 28) pointed out that the source has impact on the receiver s belief and responses. Characteristics of the source can contribute to effectiveness of persuasive communication, particularly source attractiveness which is the receiver s perception that the source is attractive. This is because they are sharing some common ground, and it helps build a bond and maintain belief and behaviour of the receiver. In addition, Internet users were more likely to respond to playing games / quizzes created by companies on SNS because of friends suggestions/friends have played. According to Schiffman and Kanuk (2004), women and men differ in terms of Internet use, but both in men s and women s segments, there are entertainment segments. In the men's segment, there are the "Viking Gamers", those who love competition, winning, games, chat and software, while in the women's there is a segment of "Playful Pretenders" who enjoy role plays, love interactive chat and like playing games. Another reason that Internet users played games or quizzes was that they were suggested by friends or their friends who have played them before. Contrarily, Chapman s Social Network Marketing, Engagement Marketing and Brands study (2008) found that most respondents said they may or may not become a friend or fan of a brand if their friend became a friend of the brand. On the other hand, Kittinger s research (2007) which is about Web 2.0 Social Behavior of Internet Users showed that people tend to use SNS because of peer pressure and word of mouth. Lastly, most Internet users were more likely to read PR news which has no image or VDO attached, compared to PR news containing an interesting image or VDO. Grunig and Hunt (as cited in Wilcox et al, 2003, p. 169) pointed out that there are two types of audiences: active and passive. Active audiences actively search for information which provides more in-depth and analytical content, while passive audiences need visual and some attention-getting elements For this group of people, they mainly focus on content. This is also in line with the findings of the present study that relevant and useful information provided was the most influential factor attracting

56 them to pay attention to and receive companies PR activities on social networking sites. 5.4 CONCLUSIONS The following conclusions can be drawn from the discussion above. 5.4.1 Today, although there are a large number of people who are members of social networking sites, a variety of public relations activities on social networking sites has not received positive responses from the users. However, useful and relevant information is what most of SNS members are looking for from companies on social networking sites. 5.4.2 Facebook is likely to be the most popular social networking site in which its members use for purposes of staying in touch with friends and receiving companies public relations activities on SNS. Therefore, companies should consider having a presence on this social networking site. 5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the following recommendations are made for future research. 5.5.1 The subjects consisted of only 100 respondents, so the results cannot be assertively generalised to a large population of Internet users. Therefore, a larger amount of samples should be applied to further research. 5.5.2 Further studies should be concerned about ages in order to compare the similar and different behaviour of people at different age levels. 5.5.3 This research shows that members of social networking sites are likely to look for useful and relevant information. Hence, a need analysis research could be done in order to dig into what kind of message or information that the members are interested in. This will help businesses and PR firms build and retain their loyal members on SNS.