The rise of Facebook-based communication in the energy sector

In the case of public utilities, the development of stakeholder communication through Facebook is not focused in the existing body of literature. Yet, it is especially these developments that are essential for scholars and practitioners as they highlight the way stakeholder communication in the energy sector will change. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this lack of research by investigating developments in the ways German and Austrian public utilities use Facebook to communicate. Responding to the research objectives, two empirical studies were conducted. In 2014 as well as 2015 an online survey was sent to 850 German and 30 Austrian utilities. The results highlight the rising importance of Facebook in the energy sector. The share of public utilities using Facebook is constantly increasing. Additionally, during the twelve months investigated, the interactivity and frequency of Facebook-based communication rose. Utilities are progressively willing to invest more personnel and monetary resources to administer their accounts. As the numbers of fans increase, users seem to value the information provided by utilities on Facebook.