Retailer use of a professional social media network: Insights from franchising |
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| Institution: | 1. DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W. Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S-4M4;2. Graduate School of Management (IGR-IAE), University of Rennes 1, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM UMR CNRS 6211), 11 rue Jean Macé-CS70803, 35708 Rennes Cedex 7, France;1. Queensland University of Technology, Vlerick Business School, 2 George Street, P Block Level 8, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia;2. Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street, P Block Level 8, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia;3. Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Parklands Drive, Southport, QLD 4215, Australia;4. Woolworths Ltd., 1 Woolworths Way, Bella Vista, NSW 2153, Australia;5. Vlerick Business School, KU Leuven, Vlamingenstraat 83, 3000 Leuven, Belgium;1. Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Department of Marketing, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0236, USA;2. Yonsei University, School of Business, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749, South Korea;3. Duksung Women’s University, Department of Business Administration, Seoul, South Korea;4. Independent Researcher, Redmond, WA 98052, USA;5. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC 20036, USA;6. Bilkent University, Faculty of Business Administration, Bilkent, 06800 Ankara, Turkey;1. Kedge Business School, 680 cours de la libération, 33405 Talence, France;2. Holder of the Business in a Connected World Chair Kedge Business School, 680 cours de la libération, 33405 Talence, France;1. KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Division of Banking and Finance, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden;2. KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Division of Building and Real Estate Economics, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden;1. IUT de Colmar (University of « Haute-Alsace »), Research fellow at the Beta UMR 7522, Professional contact: 34 rue du Grillenbreit BP 50568, 68008 Colmar cedex, France;2. EM Strasbourg Business School (Strasbourg University), Professional contact: 61, avenue de la Forêt-Noire, 67085 Strasbourg Cedex, France |
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| Abstract: | The adoption and use of a professional social media network by franchise chains is the focus of this paper. We draw on resource-based theory, institutional economic theories of incentives and externalities and multidisciplinary literatures on franchising, innovation adoption and interorganizational communication to link (i) franchisor characteristics and partnering strategies to the adoption and use of a professional social media network and (ii) the extent of use of this network by a franchisor to the number of followers of its network page. Hypotheses are empirically assessed using data on 500 US franchise chains from Entrepreneur’s Annual Franchise 500 for 2011, content analysis of LinkedIn pages for 317 franchise chains in 2011 and number of followers in 2015. One key finding is that franchisor adoption of LinkedIn is positively influenced by franchise chain size, franchising fees and franchisor marketing communications and negatively affected by franchise concept complexity. A second important finding is that, among franchisors who adopt LinkedIn, the extent of use of LinkedIn is positively impacted by franchise chain size, franchising fees and negatively affected by franchise chain age. A third notable finding is that the number of followers of a franchisor’s LinkedIn page in the short term is positively impacted by the extent of information about franchise chain and recruitment. A fourth key finding is that the number of followers in the longer term (2015) is positively impacted by whether the franchisor had a presence on LinkedIn in 2011 and, for these franchisors, by the number of followers in 2011. |
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| Keywords: | Franchising Business marketing Organizational Innovation Adoption Partnering strategies Marketing communications Retailing Social media |
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