social media strategies for online shopping cart research paper

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• v.8(9); 2022 Sep

Evaluating the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during COVID-19 pandemic: A Bangladeshi consumers’ perspectives ☆

Md rukon miah.

a Department of Marketing, Comilla University, Cumilla, Bangladesh

Afzal Hossain

b Department of Business Administration, Trust University, Barishal, Bangladesh

Rony Shikder

Meher neger, associated data.

Data will be made available on request.

Background of the study

Nowadays, the business pattern is changing globally. The business organization is influenced customers to purchase their necessary goods and services from online businesses. The online-based business takes promotional activities through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

The aim of the research was to investigate the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of Bangladeshi consumers.

Research methods

Quantitative type research was applied and the study used descriptive research design. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect 350 data points from Bangladeshi consumers using an online purposive sampling method. A partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to evaluate the data and test the hypotheses.

PLS-SEM analysis method demonstrated that celebrity endorsement, promotional tools, and online reviews had a positive significant impact on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in the perspective of Bangladesh.

The research paper provides practical guidelines for online-based business organizations on how to effectively use social media platforms for business target advertising and promotional activities. The customers are also motivated to purchase through social media because of positive online reviews and trustworthy celebrity endorsements.

Online shopping; Social media, Bangladeshi consumers, COVID-19 pandemic, PLS-SEM.

1. Introduction

With the expansion and spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), also known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, a new public health crisis is threatening the world (SARS-CoV-2). In December 2019, the virus was revealed in bats and conveyed to humans via anonymous intermediary species in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. To date (05/03/2020), there have been roughly 96,000 recorded cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) and 3300 recognized deaths. The disease is spread through inhalation or contact with polluted droplets, with a 2 to 14-day incubation period. Fever, cough, sore throat, dyspnea, weariness, and malaise are common symptoms. Most people have a minor case of the common symptoms. Most people have a minor case of the condition. However, certain people (typically the elderly and those with comorbidities) may develop complications ( Singhal, 2020 ). The global proliferation of coronavirus has had a number of negative effects on human health ( Jajodia et al., 2020 ; Rajendran et al., 2020 ). Most enterprises have been adversely impacted by COVID-19, and as a consequence, they have been compelled to implement multiple measures to limit the proliferation of the coronavirus while also harming their organizational performance and effectiveness ( Bartik et al., 2020 ; Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020 ; Sohrabi et al., 2020 ). To contain the spread, people should exercise social detachment, self-isolation, and reduce travel, which also led to a significant decrease in institutional and business output ( Nicola et al., 2020 ). The global COVID-19 epidemic has severely affected societies and economies around the world and has hit various sectors of society in various ways. This unprecedented situation has far-reaching consequences for consumers’ daily lives and has dramatically changed how businesses operate and how consumers behave ( Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020 ; Yuen et al., 2020 ). The current situation, after the first wave and the beginning of the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Europe, has forced many consumers to reconsider their established shopping and shopping habits or even learn new ones ( Sheth, 2020 ). Nowadays, social media is playing a significant role in the online marketing environment for buying products from online stores rather than traditional themed stores with the help of an internet connection. In the current situation, social media is a relatively new trend. The most popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google contribute to the majority of activities such as messaging, chatting, gambling, and blogging. Consumers typically participate actively on social media and spend long hours on Facebook and Twitter, creating content and sharing it. Companies that are aware of these issues are moving towards various activities to attract customers, increase their level of awareness and make the most of the opportunities offered through social media. Accordingly, firms conduct strategic campaigns that overlap with customer structures and brand values to increase the level of social brand recognition. Digital and social media marketing allows companies to accomplish their marketing aims at relatively low cost ( Ajina, 2019 ; Yadav, 2016 ).

Individuals and families who buy a company's goods for personal consumption are denoted as consumers ( Kotler, 2004 ). Consumer behavior refers to the actions that consumers participate in when buying, consuming, and disposing of products and services. Consumer behavior is the study of how people shop, what they shop for, when they shop, and why they shop. When a customer needs to make a purchase, they will go through the steps of acknowledgement, information search, evaluation, purchase, and feedback ( Blackwell et al., 2006 ). Finally, the customer will select a product or brand to consume from a variety of options available in the market. These factors, on the other hand, have an impact on consumer purchasing behavior. When it comes to consumer buying choice behavior, it's critical to identify the many sorts of consumers who have different buying decision behaviors based on their level of involvement and capacity to discern significant differences between brands. The term “buying participation” is defined by Hawkins and Mothersbaugh (2010) as the level of interest a buyer has in purchasing a product or service. Retail managers and marketers must keep records of shifts in consumer buying behavior and attitudes in order to identify which strategies they should implement ( Verma and Gustafsson, 2020 ). Pantano et al. (2020) argue that customers have re-examined their buying habits even while recognizing advantages from previously unknown services. On the one hand, social media is a rich source of information about a company's consumer views; on the other hand, it promotes social interaction among consumers, which results in increased trust and, thus, changes in customer preferences' purchasing behavior ( Hajli, 2014 ).

Online shopping behavior involves the process of purchasing goods and services through the internet ( Sun et al., 2019 ). After collecting product information, the consumer selects an item according to its requirements and transaction criteria for the selected product, evaluates the product along with other available options, and gains post-press experience ( Kotler, 2000 ). Online shopping behavior is related to the psychological state of the customer buying online ( Li and Zhang, 2002 ). Social networking sites have been widely used by people for their professional and personal use in the era of global communication. According to E-marketer (2013) , companies for various marketing activities such as marketing research, branding, customer relationship management, sales promotion, and service and service delivery have gradually adopted various studies as well as social networking sites that ensure the positive effects of social development in marketing strategy media.

The World Wide Web has persuaded people around the world to make small changes in their behavior and attitudes. Because of these blessings, online shopping has emerged, which affects the lives of ordinary citizens. Online shopping has started in Bangladesh, but consumers are still not very accustomed to shopping online. Customers are becoming familiar with the internet and its benefits. Online shopping is becoming popular and a priority among a group of customers to get better quality offers related to information, benefits, and cost choice. Like other young Asians, Bangladeshi youth are experimenting with new ways of shopping that have led to the rise and popularity of online shopping in Bangladesh.

Nowadays, customers' purchasing patterns are changing globally, and they are purchasing goods and services through online shopping. Customers were heavily influenced by social media to shop online. During COVID-19, customers didn't go to shopping malls frequently because of lockdown, isolation, and fear of being affected by the coronavirus ( Eger et al., 2021 ). Business organizations can motivate customers to purchase through online shopping via social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Marketers have a great advantage on social media because they can influence or create awareness about goods and services and motivate them to purchase via online shopping. Business organizations can use social media platforms to influence their existing and potential customers to purchase their necessary goods and services through online shopping or online business platforms ( Chaturvedi and Gupta, 2014 ). Customers have been influenced by organizations via live streaming, celebrity endorsements, online reviews of customers, and promotional tools like target advertising ( Geng et al., 2020 ; Schouten et al., 2020 ). During the corona pandemic, the marketers took home delivery services to the customers ( Wang et al., 2021 ). Good online reviews have influenced potential customers to purchase through online shopping ( Mo et al., 2015 ). Online shopping behavior will benefit both customers and marketers ( Berman, 2012 ). Nowadays, in our society, some customers are so busy that they don't have the available time to purchase their necessary products or services. That's why they are not able to go to the market practically within a short time. They prefer to order any kind of commodity or service via online shopping. At present, customers want a relaxed environment on social media for shopping. Marketers provide target advertising via social media like Facebook, Twitter, and so on ( Luo et al., 2019 ). Thus, social media marketing tools are more useful than other marketing communication mixes. Word of mouth from celebrities and positive customer reviews encourages other customers to shop online.

This study was conducted on social media due to several factors that influence buying behavior. Purchasing online remittances has become an interesting and new topic for researchers around the world. People's buying patterns are changing. Online social media is a tool that has only recently developed and developed rapidly in the last few years, and it might have the problem of a lack of studies in all countries since it is at an early stage in the field of social commerce ( Huang and Benyoucef, 2015 ; Hossain et al., 2019 ). There are a lot of social media users in Bangladesh and they prefer to shop online, but there is still a lack of research on the trend of social media impact when buying a product online. Thus, by doing this research, marketers can focus on the areas that have the most impact on their online buying behavior. The purpose of the study is to understand the buying behavior of online shoppers.

After reviewing most of the related literature on social media that influences online shopping, it is clear that most researchers tried to assess the influence of social media (live streaming, celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews) on buying behavior, purchase intention, purchase decision, customer satisfaction, and online shopping behavior from the perspectives of customers all over the world, but this research has been tried to focus on investigating the influence of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspectives of Bangladesh, which remained an unexplored field. This research provides an insight on the influence of live streaming, celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic of citizenship customers' level in eminent Bangladeshi purchasers' and sellers' experiences, which will help policy makers and stakeholders formulate better digital marketing strategies in Bangladesh, as well as the research field in the perspectives of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The broad objective of the research was to investigate the influence of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of Bangladeshi consumers. Specific objectives are: to assess the behavior pattern of consumers towards online platforms; to explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on buying behavior; and to study the effect of live streaming, celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews on the online shopping behavior of consumers during the coronavirus pandemic in the context of Bangladesh.

The theory behind the study and the terminology and propositions that will be used to achieve the research objective will be explained. Furthermore, the interrelated association of dependent and independent variables will also be deliberated upon following past studies. The key research questions of the study are stated as follows: Is there any significant relationship between live streaming and online shopping behavior?; How is celebrity endorsement relevant to online shopping behavior?; How are promotional tools relevant to online shopping behavior?; and what are the relationships between online reviews and online shopping behavior?

The research paper is allocated into several sections. Initially, the literature review is provided based on a past study. Secondly, the conceptual model and hypotheses developed have been demonstrated. Thirdly, research methodologies that are applied to the current research are described. Fourthly, the paper is presented with the results and interpretations. Fifthly, the discussions, conclusion, and implications sections incorporate the consequences of the present research and its linkups with the previous studies. At the end of the segment, the shortcomings and potential directions of the research are stated.

2. Literature review

2.1. theoretical background, 2.1.1. social influential theory.

According to Kelman (1958) , SIT (Social Influential Theory) is defined as individuals' beliefs, attitudes, and consequent activities or manners that are impacted on other people over three procedures: compliance, identification, and internalization. Persuasion is expected to happen when people receive influence and accept the persuaded conduct to increase rewards and evade punishments. Hence, satisfaction resulting from compliance is because of the social effect of acquiescent influence. Identification might be said to occur when individuals embrace persuasion with the purpose of making or sustaining a preferred and useful connection to other people or a group. Internalization is expected to happen when individuals receive influence and later observe that the gratified of the persuaded performance is pleasing in which the content designates the attitudes as well as actions of others. Influencers perform their functions as a third party who can meaningfully form the company's purchasers' opinions, choices, and actions. Any person can be an influencer by influencing customers to purchase goods and services within a community ( Gillin, 2007 ). Information transferred from one person to another person influences customers through word of mouth. Celebrity people's behavior influences customers through talking about the company ( Sernovitz et al., 2012 ).

2.1.2. Information processing theory

How people collect, illustrate, and use information to make decisions is the main concept of Human Information Processing Theory ( Newell and Simon, 1958 ; Norman, 1968 ; Reitman, 1965 ). Information process theory conceptualizes how individuals take care of ecological occasions, encode data to be learned, relate it to what they know, store new information in their memory, and retrieve it depending on the situation ( Shuell, 1986 ), cited in Schunk (2012) . Researchers have shown that buyers' decisions are formed by the manner in which humans' process information ( Huber and Seiser, 2001 ). In this study, online shopping behavior also depends on the buyer's decision. Information is one of the most important things that influences the consumer's purchasing pattern. When consumers gather or collect information from online reviews and celebrity endorsements, they will be motivated to purchase the products or services.

2.1.3. Social exchange theory

SET was developed initially to investigate human behavior ( Homans, 1958 ) and was later applied to comprehend hierarchical behavior ( Blau, 1964 ; Emerson, 1962 ). The Social Exchange Theory states that individuals and organizations are assisted to maximize their rewards and limit their expenses ( Salam et al., 1998 ). Individuals regularly anticipate proportional advantages, like individual warmth, trust, appreciation, and monetary return, at the point when they act as indicated by social norms. Accordingly, relational cooperation from a money-saving perspective is an exchange where actors obtain benefits. From a cost-benefit perspective, they communicate individually, which aids in exchange where the actor gains an opportunity ( Blau, 1964 ). In the present day, SET has been adopted in social networking research. So, this theory is suitable for this study because it depends on online shopping behavior. Based on psychology, SET accepts the fundamental ideas of modern economics as a foundation for analyzing human behavior and connections in order to determine the complexity of social structures. At the time of promoting, companies require a cost to get a customer's attractions in order to retain the customer. Hence, if the research is used promotional tools more, such as advertising, personal selling, and sales promotion, as a result, it's possible to get customer attention whenever they are motivated or influenced, at which time they will purchase goods and services online. Promotional tools and live streaming are both related to human behavior and easily affect online shopping behavior.

2.2. Live streaming

The coronavirus pandemic calamity knocked out the world and affected all sides of our lives, including customers' preferences, habits, and shopping behaviors. During the corona pandemic times, e-shops were stimulated on social media ( Ali et al., 2021 ). Day by day, live streaming has been popular. Numerous merchants on social commerce display places have embraced it because of its ability to increase their company's sales performance. Live streaming shopping is a new form of social commerce that has already been developed and implemented by social commerce merchants ( Adoeng et al., 2019 ; Taobangdan and Taobao, 2019 ). The live presentation helps a businessman influence the online customer to purchase products. Live streaming has transformed the out-of-date social business model in different ways. In outdated online shopping, customers can only know about goods and services via text and pictures. Otherwise, live streaming allows online sellers to show real-time videos of the products and also let customers know about the product's overall features and quality ( Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2018 ). In traditional social commerce, shoppers could only ask about product-related topics, but in modern times, consumers can ask the question via screen and streamers can give the answer in real-time ( Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2018 ). Live streaming shopping creates a real-time stream between sellers and buyers. Online shoppers can watch the live presentations of products that influence customers to purchase that product. Customers' any confusion about products can be reduced through visual presentations of products ( Chen et al., 2017 ; Kim and Park, 2013 ; Zhou et al., 2018 ). The increasing popularity of visual presentations highly influences customers to buy the products ( Yu et al., 2018 ). While customers' engagement with live presentations of products is positively impacted on customer minds about products, it is also a stimulus to shop for those products ( Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2018 ). Despite the fact that buyer commitment has been identified as a significant antecedent persuading purchaser buying in online spending ( Prentice et al., 2019 ), only a few studies have measured the previous circumstances and outcomes of purchaser assignation according to live streaming shop. Live streaming broadcasting makes use of one or more pieces of equipment that can instantly show images and sounds to other locations, allowing users to observe their existence ( Chen and Lin, 2018 ). Live streaming shopping is a new social media form with a high HCI that raises customer awareness of products. Preceding live-streaming lessons have chiefly concentrated on video games and e-sports ( Cheung and Huang, 2011 ; Sjoblom and Hamari, 2017 ). Many customers increase their capacity to buy through live streaming shopping by gaining new perspectives and asking pertinent questions ( Lu et al., 2018 ). Live streaming can show images as well as sounds from one place to a different place instantly ( Chen and Lin, 2018 ). Live streaming purchasing is an extremely noticeable form of merchandise demonstration through online videos. When customers make purchase decisions, they need clear information about products and also want to see the products visibly through the live presentation. It gives the clients an intellect of engagement. Besides, the richness of live streaming spending makes it stress-free to fascinate buyers. Consequently, consumers observe immersion ( Yim et al., 2017 ). Besides, live presentations can communicate complete videos to consumers, as well as the sellers can show how to use the merchandise through live streaming, which permits the product to be visualized ( Li, 2019 ; Javadi et al., 2012 ). In live presentations, sellers and customers interact with each other through live streaming, and customers watch the seller's voice, movement, and product features. So, customers know that the sellers are real people because of the live presentation via social media. Live streaming allows companies to broadcast their products' different items via live presentations. Furthermore, live presentations can prompt captivation, which can lead to a logic of immersion ( Shin, 2017 ). Online shopping and e-commerce have developed an innovative and lucrative business model. Here, buyers and sellers are both connected with live presentations, with buyers asking product-related questions to sellers and also watching the product and product features ( Attfield et al., 2011 ). Visual presentation shopping is being subjected to extraordinary growth. On the other hand, interest in the live-stream market is in its embryonic stage. Different celebrities talk about products and motivate them through live presentations ( Ma, 2021 ). Day by day, with the increase of online shopping, many companies provide live help or visual presentations through test chatting, instant messaging, and live product presentations. Businesses and customers can conduct real-time human-to-human communications for e-commerce Web sites ( Qiu and Benbasat, 2005 ). E-retailers are taking on innovative arithmetic advertising tactics to deliver more accurate information to their consumers. In real-time business, live video streaming allows sellers and consumers to interact ( Zhang et al., 2019 ). Nowadays, consumers have become familiar with visual presentations and product features online and have finally purchased those products that they like. Consumers are motivated to purchase products through live presentations ( Yin, 2020 ).

2.3. Celebrity endorsement

There are many social media platforms, for instance, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. Day by day, social media continues to rise speedily in popularity. Celebrity people are using different social media platforms and distributing different information about products to customers. The celebrity of Instagram is influencing consumers' online purchasing behaviors ( Gupta et al., 2020 ). Through social media, online information sharing in the communal sphere has not only promoted the customers' buying choices. Celebrity people provide information about goods and services to actual and potential customers ( Lee et al., 2008 ; Ashfaq and Ali, 2017 ). Along with the diverse investigators, the practice of celebrity endorsements supports in structure the products' identification as well as generates optimistic insolence ( Petty et al., 1983 ), improves the prospect of buying ( Friedman and Friedman, 1979 ), nurtures trademark trustworthiness, and completely influences positive word of mouth ( Bush et al., 2004 ). Celebrity endorsements have a significant impact on consumers' purchase decisions ( Ohanian, 1990 ). In the same way, Instagram celebrity has a momentous impact on consumers' online shopping behaviors ( Kutthakaphan and Chokesamritpol, 2013 ). Most celebrities have a more positive impact on consumers' minds about the products than less credible celebrities. Credible celebrity people influence consumers' online shopping behavior ( Aziz et al., 2013 ). Celebrity people created a brand different from another one because consumers can easily select their preferred products. Through social media advertisements ( Meng et al., 2020 ). celebrity endorsements have an effect on customers' buying behavior. Celebrity images might have an effect on positive and negative consumer attitudes. A celebrity's usefulness depends on their trustworthiness and credibility in an online advertisement. A celebrity's good image can have a positive effect on product acceptance ( Ibok, 2013 ). A celebrity can easily motivate consumers towards purchasing products because people believe infamous people. Through social media, a famous personality created awareness about products with customers. They can positively influence customers' opinions of the brand ( Rai and Sharma, 2013 ). Celebrity endorsement is one kind of promotional activity that attracts customers to specific products. Different companies use different celebrities to promote the awareness of their products to customers, and customers might be motivated to purchase those products. Customers purchased products based on the credibility of celebrities ( Khatri, 2006 ). The influence of superstars' post-legitimacy, observational learning, sentimentality polarization, and impulse purchasing propensity reins in the dormant state-trait theory. Security is influencing consumers' online shopping behavior through social media ( Zafar et al., 2021a ). Normally, followers consider that celebrity posts are authentic; that's why they easily influence consumers to make online purchases ( Wilcox and Stephen, 2013 ). On social media, celebrities share their opinions and advertisements that highly stimulate potential buyers to purchase products ( Chung and Cho, 2017 ; Xiang et al., 2016 ). Celebrity advertisements have so many advantages and disadvantages. Celebrity advertisements can be used to achieve a company's competitive advantage ( Han and Yazdanifard, 2015 ). With regard to a celebrity's values, occupation, ethnicity, and other characteristics, the customer ought to never be curious about why this star is certifying the merchandise ( Meng et al., 2021 ; Gan and Wang, 2015 ). Generally, the research should be focused on celebrities' groups or pages where customers are replaying or commenting on celebrities' posts as well as their peers' social communication. Some celebrities have a large number of followers; they maintain an online community. Business organizations give priority to social media celebrities in their marketing strategy to motivate online shopping behavior ( Pemberton, 2017 ). Consumers follow the celebrity's posts and pursue their lifestyle, with clothing, makeup, fashion, the destination of holidays, even restaurant choice. Organizations try to use such celebrities for effective social media marketing promotions ( Hennig-Thurau et al., 2013 ; Kumar and Mirchandani, 2013 ). Celebrity followers always enquire for recommendations from business organizations. Celebrities' any business-related posts that stimulate consumers' online purchasing behavior ( Wilcox and Stephen, 2013 ).

2.4. Promotional tools

Technological changes are occurring in eye flashes and values are changing over time. Customers' buying habits change rapidly, and the fortunes of different companies vary. Online marketing has been seen as a new form of marketing and has given companies new opportunities to do business. According to Dehkordi et al. (2012) , e-commerce and e-marketing show that internet marketing is easier than conventional marketing ( Dehkordi et al., 2012 ). Leena Jeenefa noted that there are several notable relationships between purchasing behavior and the effects of media advertising ( Jenefa, 2017 ). Reza Jalilvand and Samiei (2012) evaluates how advertisers use social media to make their products popular. The reason for the promotional price promotion is that the consumer does not have the rational mindset to think about whether it is worth buying more at that moment, and this also increases online purchasing behavior ( Agyeman-Darbu, 2017 ). Some social media stated that if consumers buy two, they will get one free, and this also leads to the consumer having a strong positive feeling. Ibok (2013) found that young people feel more comfortable when choosing and buying products online than in physical shopping options. Social media helps them save time and effort examining product information. Privacy, trust, and protection play an important role in social media networking sites. Online advertising businesses use electronic marketing tools to create marketing strategies, advertising theories, and customer buying behavior due to potential market segmentation. According to Eyre et al. (2020) , online advertising includes contextual ads on examining banner ads, rich media ads, social network advertising, online classified advertising, and marketing email like spam. Advertising is defined as the definition of any personal meaning related to product ideas and information in the media to create a brand image ( Kotler and Amstrong, 2010 ). For many years, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines were the only means and channels of advertising, but nowadays, online advertising is becoming the main driving force in many advertising initiatives and efforts ( Kotler and Amstrong, 2010 ). Content is one of the most important features of e-advertisement. It delivers written information regarding particular products or services to online users. Customers are rapidly adopting online shopping day by day due to a busy lifestyle. Undoubtedly, as a developing country, Bangladesh has a lot of potential customers for online businesses. Bangladesh is one of the countries that uses social media the most. It is important to know what causes online buying behavior on social media.

2.5. Online reviews

Purchase intention can be used to measure the possibility of a consumer buying a certain product. When deciding to buy a product, most customers are influenced by comments and ratings from online reviews, and they take a positive or negative view of the product. Social media enabled through mobile devices can be accessed everywhere, instead of not only increasing access to information but also allowing people to create content and strengthen their voices around the world ( Labrecque et al., 2013 ). Social media is playing a crucial role in sharing opinions and product knowledge with consumers and, as a result, having an impact on other consumers ( Lim et al., 2016 ). According to Zhang et al. (2019) , the availability of online reviews plays an important role in online shopping behavior compared to other things. The availability of online reviews refers to the large number of online reviews that are sufficiently available online for the consumer's decision-making process ( Zhang and Zhu, 2010 ). Social media users have realized that a good number of online reviews point to online shopping behavior among customers. Good online shops create an opportunity to search for any product ( Zhang and Zhu, 2010 ). Furthermore, the availability of online reviews makes online shopping appreciate the quality and motivates the customer to try it for the first time ( Cui et al., 2010 ). A good number of customer reviews will have a positive impact on other users on social media, and it can be effective for the online shopping industry to increase sales volume through social media reviews ( Geetha et al., 2018 ). In addition, many researchers have found that a large number of online reviews can influence a potential customer when they choose a product through social media. Significantly, if consumers respond positively to a good number on social media sites, they are more likely to choose their favorite product than cheap ones ( Geng et al., 2020 ). For example, the availability of online reviews on social media should create an opportunity to try a new product, and potential customers may be the priority in their selection criteria ( Geetha et al., 2018 ). Numerous empirical studies across different industries have already investigated the influence of the number of review attributes from a variety of perspectives. For example, the number of reviews ( Dellarocas et al., 2007 ; Ghose and Ipeirotis, 2010 ), the response to negative reviews for online product management ( Kim et al., 2015 ), the positive online product reviews ( Ye et al., 2009 ), and the overall valence of a set of reviews of a product ( Spark & Browning, 2011 ). Consumers consider the internet as a tool to obtain information as a part of the decision-making process before purchasing products. The number of online reviews needs to have a positive impact on potential customers of unfamiliar products ( Zhang and Zhu, 2010 ). As a result, the brand availability of online-spread products increases because customers share their experiences on social media pages. A product review site assesses consumers on their own and how they feel about product quality, service systems, and their overall environment. For this reason, the behavioral motive of the customer should change when they decide to choose a product from the review site ( Gan and Wang, 2015 ). An online review is similar to a traditional face-to-face communication messenger. It is considered a new form of recommendation ( Helm et al., 2010 ). Zhang and Zhu (2010) indicate that the reviews' perceptual information and reasoning power are an important determinant of customer behavioral will, although the source is not credible. So online review materials still play an important role in consumer decision-making because good reviews from one customer can lead to another customer purchasing the product. Additionally, many prior studies have examined whether the availability of online reviews has a significant influence on consumers' product selection when they search for other reviews on social media ( Zhang et al., 2019 ; Cui et al., 2010 ). It has also been noted that the availability of online reviews has been verified as an effective tool for conducting research questions on consumer product selection ( Zhang et al., 2019 ).

2.6. Online shopping behavior

Businesses turned to alternatives and took up online marketing because of COVID-19 pandemic. Online marketing is a significant method for streamlining business processes, reducing managerial costs and turnaround time, maintaining social distance, staying at home, protecting against viruses, and illuminating associations with customers and business partners ( Hossain, et al., 2022 ; Hossain and Khan, 2018 ). At present, online shopping is becoming more popular all over the world, especially for retailers and customers. Online shopping creates opportunities for both online retailers and customers ( Kuester and Sabine, 2012 ; Hossain et al., 2018b ). Customer research has shown that customer assessments dispatched online and the allotment of information or particular views have become enormously influential means of communication. Online reviews have taken over business organizations through social media (Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram) ( Doh and Hwang, 2009 ; Lee et al., 2011a ; Jalilvand and Samiei, 2012 ; Huete-Alcocer, 2017 ). Different types of online reviews have improved the customers' internet shopping performance. Satisfied customers are giving online reviews through social media that influence other consumers' online shopping ( Fu et al., 2020 ). Nowadays, several customers are purchasing social media. Many business organizations have opted to take advantage of opportunities obtainable through social media networks to gain more consumers ( Kaplan and Haenlein, 2014 ). Live streaming stimuli motivate consumer cognitive states that influence consumer online shopping behavior ( Xu et al., 2020 ). The business organization has promoted social media advertising to attract online shoppers to purchase products online ( Mumtaz et al., 2011 ). Targeted advertising by businesses on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and so on). Business organizations know about customers' choices, preferences, and information through social media. They are doing e-advertising based on customers' preferable products and are influencing customers to purchase those products. An organization is able to run different advertising for different categories of customers, and an organization can set their target price ( Iyer et al., 2005 ). Companies can transfer information about products through online advertising. Consumers can visually watch their preferred products via advertising. Entrepreneurs use celebrity endorsements to promote their company's products, and it is increasing consumer purchase intentions. Consumers purchase products online and the created appeal of a statement by a celebrity might influence a customer's product image ( Wang et al., 2013 ).

This research has been prepared during COVID-19. In the research has applied three types of theories, such as social influence theory, information processing theory, and social exchange theory. In previous research, researchers have used online reviews as well as celebrity endorsements as factors under both social influence theory and information processing theory. For the first time at COVID-19, the research has applied these factors under the social influence theory and information processing theory, which have never been used before. The research paper has used social exchange theory. This theory identifies that promotional tools influence customers to buy their necessary goods and services through online shopping. The previous researchers didn't show social media impacts on online shopping behavior during COVID-19. The research has applied those factors during the COVID-19 time period, which made research paper unique from previous research. During COVID-19, The research was used technical tools that had never been applied to that type of theory before. The research paper has analyzed by SmartPLS version 3.0 and used a structural equation model..

3. Conceptual model and hypotheses development

According to Zhang et al. (2019) , by reducing psychological distance and perceived uncertainty, a live streaming strategy can improve a customer's online purchase intention. Chandrruangphen et al. (2022) find out vendors to concentrate on significant live streaming attributes to develop trust with their clients and increase their customers' intentions to watch and buy. The literature and researcher findings suggest that offering live presentations enables sellers to introduce items in a novel way, which might improve customers' moods and sentiments towards the product. So, customers should feel more confidence in the seller and his/her items because of live streaming. Thus, it is expected that:

Hypothesis 1 (H1) : Live streaming has a significant impact on online shopping behavior.

Park and Lin (2020) develop and test an integrative model of online celebrity endorsement by exploring compatibility impacts on customers. Meng et al. (2021) find that the feelings of audiences towards online celebrities can influence a buyer's willingness to buy products suggested by the online superstar. The literature and researcher findings suggest that celebrity endorsements represent attractiveness, believability, and celebrity-product compatibility, which have positive effects on a buyer's attitude towards products and brands as well as purchase intention. As a result, celebrity endorsement may increase users' desire to purchase any product. Therefore, it is expected that:

Hypothesis 2 (H2) : Celebrity endorsement has a positive influence on online shopping behavior.

Ashraf et al. (2014) found that sales promotion played a more significant role in the development of consumer buying behavior. Yahya et al. (2019) and Shamout (2016) revealed in their study that coupons, discounts, free delivery, and other promotional tools have a positive impact on consumer buying decisions. The literature and researcher findings suggest that sales promotion has a huge impact on consumer buying behavior, such as purchase time, product brand, product quantity, brand switching, and so on. Again, sales promotion can be used by marketers to create a long-term customer relationship, which can help them increase their sales. Based on the previous discussion, it is expected that promotional tools will have a positive relationship with purchase intention ( Siddique and Hossain, 2018 ). Thus, it is expected that:

Hypothesis 3 (H3) : Promotional tools have a positive influence on online shopping behavior.

According to Nuseir (2019) and Ventre and Kolbe (2020) , organizations should seek to increase customers' sharing of their positive online opinions in order to improve attachment and encourage online shopping. When the reviews contain detailed information about the product, consumers deem online reviews to be more credible ( Jimenez and Mendoza, 2013 ). The literature and researcher findings suggest that consumer opinion and peer reviews are among the top factors to consider for online shopping behavior. Thus, online sentimental reviews grab more attention from consumers and affect them positively when purchasing products. Therefore, it is expected that:

: Online reviews have a significant impact on online shopping behavior.

In this study, four independent variables (live streaming celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews) and one dependent variable (online shopping behavior) have been recognized. Based on the previous literature and discussions, the conceptual framework ( Figure 1 ).

Research model.

4. Research methods

4.1. research design.

The research design was applied when the collection of data and analysis of data processed by combining them were used in the research ( Jahoda et al., 1951 ). This study is based on the quantitative survey method, with data collected using a structural questionnaire. To test the hypothesis, the study was conducted based on an online convenience and judgmental sampling survey. This study applied a descriptive study and collected respondents' attitudes and behaviors about social media's impact on online shopping behavior.

4.2. Methods of research data collection

The study collected data from respondents in written form. The study confirmed that informed consent was obtained from all participants for our research paper. The research paper applied primary and secondary data to prepare the study and make it more presentable. Primary data was collected via a survey and developed questionnaire. Business market research might use a questionnaire technique to collect consumer and customer opinions ( Wang and Feng, 2012 ). Online surveys are used to learn about the impact of social media on internet shopping behavior. Primary data was collected from respondents by developing a Google form and sharing that form with other respondents via Facebook, WhatsApp, e-mail, and so on. In particular, the questionnaire was developed for those people who connected with social media like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, WhatsApp, and so on.

This research paper also used secondary data that was collected from different articles, books, and newspapers. The research was collected secondary data by penetrating electronic databases, including Research Gate, Google Scholars, and Emerald Insight. The research was collected secondary data by searching top journals like the Journal of Marketing Analytics, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Consumer Research, and so on.

4.3. Method of sampling

4.3.1. sampling unit.

People who have the equivalent attitudes and behavior in the direction of an entire group of people ( Sekaran and Bougie, 2016 ). These people use social media and their age is above 15 years old. They are considered the population of this study. So, the population is unfamiliar with this research paper. For this research paper, there is no earmarked sampling unit among the total population. In this study, the population is considered students, managerial-level people, businessmen, and teachers.

4.3.2. Sampling technique

Respondents for this study were chosen using an online purposive sampling technique and non-probability sampling methods. This research data was collected during the corona pandemic. The researcher collected data by distributing the questionnaire through Google Form Link and sharing this link with different convenient people. Non-probability sampling has been used because it is less time-consuming and less costly to prepare a sampling frame. Among the numerous ways of non-probability sampling, purposive sampling technique has been used because they are cheerfully available, generate a relatively low cost, and are convenient.

4.3.3. Sample size

The purposive sampling method is applied to collect (N = 350) respondents' opinions through a developed questionnaire. The sample (N = 350) was collected from the Dhaka, Sylhet, Khulna, and Chattogram divisions among eight divisions of Bangladesh.

4.4. Measurement scale of dependent and independent variable

The study used the Likert Scale (5 ratings). The Likert Scale is used for individual responses and measures the dependent variable and independent variable about the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the coronavirus pandemic. The Likert Scale has five stages, and each statement in the form was measured by 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree.

4.4.1. Measurement instruments

As illustrated in Table 1 , the study used four constructs of social media to examine online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Live streaming factors include social sharing, hedonic consumption, cognitive assimilation, and impulsive consumption. The celebrity endorsement factor includes the number of shares, authenticity, positive sentiments, and recognizable celebrity. Promotional tools factor includes price discount, sales promotion, buy one get one, surroundings influence. Online review factors include the reviewer's reputation, the review's reliability, good customer rating, and argument quality.

Table 1

Origin of constructs and measured variables.

4.5. Data analysis

The smartPLS software version 3.0 was applied to examine the data collected via questionnaire. The conceptual model of the study was verified using structural equation modeling (SEM). For sample distribution, percentile measures and frequency distribution were primarily used in this study. The study's descriptive statistics were tested using mean as well as standard deviation measures. Collinearity statistics were used to test for multicollinearity among the independent variables. Besides, the reliability of the data or scale items was ascertained using Cronbach's alpha coefficients and composite reliability (CR). Discriminant validity was also used to test the Fornell-Larcker Criterion and the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio (HTMT) among the independent and dependent variables.

4.6. Quality of data assurance

Enumerators and overseers were knowledgeable about this research objective, scale, data collection technique, and questionnaire. On a daily basis, the data collected is appropriately administered by superintendents and the data comprehensiveness and reliability are tested before the data is input to SmartPLS version 3.0 for more treatment as well as analysis.

5. Results and interpretations

5.1. descriptive analysis.

The study used mean and standard deviation scores to explore all of the aspects. The constructs were ranked in accordance with their enumerated mean standards. As shown in Table 2 , online reviews had the highest mean score (M = 4.1164), while celebrity endorsements had the lowest mean score (M = 3.4829). Most of the factors produced medium mean scores. Therefore, the factor mean scores recommend that among all perspectives, there be no higher variation.

Table 2

Descriptive statistics analysis.

5.2. Multicollinearity test

The study used a multicollinearity test to measure the independent variables that were highly correlated among themselves. The estimated path coefficients were affected by the predictor constructs of collinearity. Tolerance values below 0.10 and variance inflation facet values above 5 specify the existence of inter predictor constructs' collinearity ( Hair et al., 2019 ). As illustrated in Table 3 , all tolerance and VIF values have an acceptable range in collinearity statistics. So, it was recommended that multicollinearity wouldn't affect the independent variable's capability to take to mean the outcome variable.

Table 3

Multicollinearity test.

5.3. Measurement model analysis (outer model)

Hair et al. (2019) define "the measurement model as a constituent of a theoretical path model that holds the pointers and their associations with the factors; also called the outer model in PLS-SEM." In this study, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is applied to square in the event the variables are loaded on their relevant constructs ( Hair et al., 2019 ). In this study, SmartPLS software version 3.0 was applied to conduct structural equation modelling ( Ringle et al., 2015 ).

5.3.1. Unidimensionality

In the present constructs, the unidimensionality component designates that every measurement item has a satisfactory equal factor loading according to the corresponding latent construct. Hair et al. (2019) claim that each factor has a measurement variable with a least factor loading of 0.70. According to Table 4 , online reviews (OR1) and online shopping behavior (OSB6) have factor loadings of 0.674 and 0.663, respectively. However, OR1 and OSB6 factor loading values are close to 0.70. So, the research can be recommended that the unidimensionality measurement model has been recognized.

Table 4

Measurement model summary.

5.3.2. Construct reliability tests

The researcher used Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability (CR) to test the internal consistency. The recommended values of composite reliability (CR) and Cronbach's alpha are equal to or greater than 0.70, which is considered satisfactory to good for research ( Hair et al., 2019 ). As illustrated in Table 4 , all of the CR and Cronbach's alpha values have a satisfactory level. So, the researcher recommended that the constructs be reliable for further research.

5.3.3. Convergent validity tests

The average variance extracted (AVE) is 0.50 or greater than 0.50, assuring the convergent validity of the latent constructs ( Hair et al., 2019 ). As illustrated in Table 4 , all the average variance extracted (AVE) values are greater than 0.50 in this study because of the appropriateness of the constructs for further research.

5.3.4. Discriminant validity tests

Discriminant validity implies that each construct is empirically distinct from the other cross-loading that exists among the latent constructs. The correlation coefficients and square root of average variance extracted (AVE) among the constructs are associated to create discriminant validity ( Hair et al., 2019 ). According to Table 5 , the diagonal numbers are higher than the inter-construct resemblances presented off-diagonally. However, the discriminant's legitimacy is gained for the research constructs.

Table 5

Discriminant validity: Fornell-Larcker Criterion.

5.4. Measurement model analysis (Inner model)

The study measurement model recommended that all the measurement models be valid, then analyze the structural model relationship ( Hair et al., 2019 ). The researcher makes an assessment which one accepts and rejects via significant and insignificant relationships that can be identified by structural model analysis. Besides, the researchers used a bootstrapping procedure with a subsample of 500 to assess the size of the path coefficients ( Ringle et al., 2015 ).

Figure 2. Structural model.

The structural model analysis includes the paths, path coefficients, t values, p values, and path coefficient results. A two-tailed t-test with a level of significance of 5% was used to test the hypotheses that had been developed. The coefficients are statistically significant if the measured t-value is greater than the critical value of 1.96. According to Table 6 and Figure 2 , the path coefficients of three latent constructs, including celebrity endorsement, promotional tools, and online reviews, had a positive and significant association with online shopping behavior at p < 0.05. Here, the researchers mention that hypotheses H2, H3, and H4 are accepted. However, hypothesis H1 has no significant and positive relationship with online shopping behavior. Accordingly, H1 live streaming was rejected. According to Table 6 and Figure 2 , the celebrity endorsement perspective's highest path coefficient (β2 = 0.452) specifies that if celebrity endorsement were to grow by one standard deviation unit, online shopping behavior could increase by 0.452 standard deviation units if all other independent perspectives continued constant.

Table 6

Structural model estimates.

Note: p∗< 0.05, based on the two-tailed test; t = 1.96.

6. Discussions

In the Bangladeshi setting, the research aimed at understanding the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been found that most researchers explored the influence of social media on purchase intention, behavioral intention, satisfaction, purchase decision, and loyalty ( Hossain et al., 2020 ; Gupta et al., 2020 ; Fu et al., 2020 ; Zhou et al., 2018 ; Jenefa, 2017 ). However, there was less focus and thus fewer studies into the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of Bangladeshi consumers.

According to the findings of the above analysis, three social media factors out of four had a significant and positive impact on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of Bangladeshi consumers. Besides, the rest of the factors of social media have no significant positive relationship with the online shopping behavior of consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The celebrity endorsement factor (β2 = 0.452, t = 10.233), promotional tools factor (β3 = 0.215, t = 3.809), and online reviews factor (β4 = 0.207, t = 4.901) are significantly and positively related to the online shopping behavior of Bangladeshi consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic at p < 0.05.

From the above findings, the study found that those three independent variables, like celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews, have a significant positive relationship with the dependent variable, online shopping behavior. Based on the analysis, the researcher found that the independent variable live streaming has no significant positive relationship with the dependent variable online shopping behavior. Here, the live streaming was not supported at a significant value of 0.380, which is higher than the p value of 0.05. The study recommended that live streaming has no significant positive relationship with online shopping behavior. Based on the research, celebrity endorsement's significant value was notated at 0.000, which is lower than the p-value of 0.05. This indicates that celebrity endorsement has a significant positive relationship with consumers' online shopping behavior. Xiang et al. (2016) ; Zafar et al., 2021a ; and Ahmed et al. (2015) , also supported that celebrity endorsement has a positive impact on consumers' online shopping behavior. Based on the analysis, the researchers found that promotional tools have a positive connection with consumers' online shopping behavior. Here, the significant value of 0.00 is lower than the p-value of 0.05. Based on the study, online reviews were significant at a significant value of 0.00, which is smaller than the p-value of 0.05. This suggests that online reviews have a significant positive relationship with customers' online shopping behavior. According to Zhang and Zhu (2010) ; Fu et al. (2020) , also supported that online reviews have a strong relationship with customers' online shopping behavior.

7. Conclusion and implications

During the COVID-19 pandemic, customers are purchasing their necessary products through an online platform. Customers are learning about new products being launched in the market through social media. Customers are safely purchasing their products through online shopping behavior during the corona pandemic. The study has been conducted with the objective of exploring the impact of social media on online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of Bangladeshi consumers. Different aspects of social media are important tools to guide consumers' online shopping behavior during the coronavirus pandemic in Bangladesh. This research studies the influence of live streaming, celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews on consumers’ online shopping behavior during the coronavirus pandemic in the context of Bangladesh. The results of the research has revealed that celebrity endorsement, promotional tools, and online reviews had a positive significant impact on online shopping behavior in the perspectives of Bangladesh. In contrast, live streaming had no significant positive relationship with the online shopping behavior of consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research paper provides practical guidelines for online-based business organizations on how to effectively use social media platforms for business target advertising and promotional activities. Customers are also motivated to purchase through social media because of positive online reviews and trustworthy celebrity endorsements.

7.1. Theoretical implications

Day by day, people are becoming more accustomed to online shopping during the corona pandemic. Most people have connected with social media like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, WhatsApp, and so on. Social media has a positive impact on online shopping behavior. Customers are watching different advertisements via social media, and they are motivating consumers to shop online. The study has proven that celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online shopping have a significant positive impact on online shopping behavior. In the meantime, with the development of social media, the influences on online shopping are increasing. During the coronavirus pandemic, social media-based marketing has also attracted the attention of enterprises. However, there has recently been little research studying the relationship between social media and online shopping behavior. To compensate for the gap, this research has been based on the impact of social media on online shopping behavior. Live streaming has no significant relationship with online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, celebrity endorsement has a significant positive connection with online shopping behavior. Besides, promotional tools and online reviews have a positive impact on online shopping behavior during the corona pandemic. Business organizations are highly focused on social media-based promotional activities. Consumers have adjusted their online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.

7.2. Practical implications

Introducing celebrity endorsements, promotional tools, and online reviews of social media constructs have a positive connection with online shopping behavior during a COVID-19 pandemic. The research paper yields several practical suggestions for social commerce sellers and e-commerce-based organizations. First, the research results illustrated that celebrity endorsements have a positive relationship with customers' online shopping behavior, which includes attractive celebrities, celebrities, and recognizable celebrities. Hence, social commerce sellers who have not until now accepted celebrity endorsements for promotion should adopt celebrity endorsements that help increase the consumer's online shopping behavior. When famous or attractive celebrities talk about products and live streaming products, then customers are stimulated to purchase those products through the online market. Celebrity endorsers should have clear knowledge about product features before motivating them to purchase those products via online shopping.

Second, the research results showed that promotional tools constructed by social media have a significant positive connection with online shopping behavior. E-commerce sellers should promote promotional activities to increase the sales volume of online shopping. Besides, they should have used re-targeting advertising via social media to enhance online shopping behavior.

Third, the study also found that online reviews have a significant positive relationship with online shopping behavior during the corona pandemic. Potential customers' positive reviews or good ratings influence potential customers’ online shopping behavior. To connect with current and potential customers, e-commerce business sellers should have Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Instagram accounts, and so on. The social media seller requests that customers give reviews about their product features, price, and quality via social media. Actual customers' positive reviews are highly motivated by other actual and potential customers' purchases through an online business.

8. Limitations and future research

In the study, the main objective was to investigate the major influencing factors that impact consumers' online shopping behavior during COVID-19 outbreaks. The research paper has several limitations. For instance, in the literature, there are several antecedents of the impact of social media on online shopping behavior, but in this study, the researchers only used four antecedents, like live streaming, celebrity endorsement, promotional tools, and online reviews. Future research should add more antecedents in their research paper with four antecedents. Second, this study used an online purposive sampling technique to investigate the impact of social media on consumers' online shopping behavior. The research will be recommended that for future research, they should use experimental methods to measure customers’ online buying behavior through social media. Third, due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreaks, data was collected from respondents through an online survey using a self-administered questionnaire. For that reason, in some cases, it was not possible to know more properly about the respondents. Field-level surveys and face-to-face interview methods should be used to collect data for further research to address the problem of false information and data. Fourth, current research is based on quantitative information but may differ in results when applying qualitative information. Future research should apply a combination of quantitative and qualitative data analysis.

Declarations

Author contribution statement.

Md Rukon Miah: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Afzal Hossain: Conceived and designed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper; and Corrected proof.

Rony Shikder: Performed the experiments; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Tama Saha: Performed the experiments; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Meher Neger, PhD: Conceived and designed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Overall Supervision of the Study.

Funding statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability statement

Declaration of interest’s statement.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

☆ This article is a part of the "Business and Economics COVID-19 Special Issue.

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Social Media Adoption, Usage And Impact In Business-To-Business (B2B) Context: A State-Of-The-Art Literature Review

• Open access
• Published: 02 February 2021
• Volume 25 , pages 971–993, ( 2023 )

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• Yogesh K. Dwivedi 1 ,
• Elvira Ismagilova 2 ,
• Nripendra P. Rana 2 &
• Ramakrishnan Raman 3  

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Social media plays an important part in the digital transformation of businesses. This research provides a comprehensive analysis of the use of social media by business-to-business (B2B) companies. The current study focuses on the number of aspects of social media such as the effect of social media, social media tools, social media use, adoption of social media use and its barriers, social media strategies, and measuring the effectiveness of use of social media. This research provides a valuable synthesis of the relevant literature on social media in B2B context by analysing, performing weight analysis and discussing the key findings from existing research on social media. The findings of this study can be used as an informative framework on social media for both, academic and practitioners.

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1 Introduction

The Internet has changed social communications and social behaviour, which lead to the development of new forms of communication channels and platforms (Ismagilova et al. 2017 ). Social media plays an important part in the digital transformation of businesses (Kunsman 2018 ). Digital transformation refers to the globally accelerated process of technical adaptation by companies and communities as a result of digitalisation (Sivarajah et al. 2019 ; Westerman et al. 2014 ). Web is developed from a tool used to provide passive information into the collaborative web, which allows and encourages active user engagement and contribution. If before social networks were used to provide the information about a company or brand, nowadays businesses use social media in their marketing aims and strategies to improve consumers’ involvement, relationship with customers and get useful consumers’ insights (Alalwan et al. 2017 ). Business-to-consumer (B2C) companies widely use social media as part of their digital transformation and enjoy its benefits such as an increase in sales, brand awareness, and customer engagement to name a few (Barreda et al. 2015 ; Chatterjee and Kar 2020 ; Harrigan et al. 2020 ; Kamboj et al. 2018 ; Kapoor et al. 2018 ).

From a marketing and sales research perspective, social media is defined as “the technological component of the communication, transaction and relationship building functions of a business which leverages the network of customers and prospects to promote value co-creation” (Andzulis et al. 2012 p.308). Industrial buyers use social media for their purchase as they compare products, research the market and build relationships with salesperson (Itani et al. 2017 ). Social media changed the way how buyers and sellers interact (Agnihotri et al. 2016 ) by enabling open and broad communications and cooperation between them (Rossmann and Stei 2015 ). Social media is an important facilitator of relationships between a company and customers (Agnihotri et al. 2012 ; Tedeschi 2006 ). Customers are more connected to companies, which make them more knowledgable about product selection and more powerful in buyer-seller relationships (Agnihotri et al. 2016 ). Social media also helps companies to increase business exposure, traffic and providing marketplace insight (Agnihotri et al. 2016 ; Stelzner 2011 ). As a result, the use of social media supports business decision processes and helps to improve companies’ performance (Rossmann and Stei 2015 ).

Due to digitalisation customers are becoming more informed and rely less on traditional selling initiatives (Ancillai et al. 2019 ). Buyers are relying more on digital resources and their buying process more often involves the use of social media. For example, in the research B2B buyer survey, 82% of buyers stated that social media content has a significant impact on the purchase decision (Ancillai et al. 2019 ; Minsky and Quesenberry 2016 ). As a result, these changes in consumer behaviour place high pressure on B2B salespeople and traditional sales companies (Ancillai et al. 2019 ). By using evidence from major B2B companies and consultancy report some studies claim that social media can be applied in sales to establish effective dialogues with buyers (Ancillai et al. 2019 ; Kovac 2016 ; McKinsey and Company 2015 ).

Now, business-to-business (B2B) companies started using social media as part of their digital transformation. 83% of B2B companies use social media, which makes it the most common marketing tactic (Pulizzi and Handley 2017 ; Sobal 2017 ). More than 70% of B2B companies use at least one of the “big 4” social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Additionally, 50% of the companies stated that social media has improved their marketing optimization and customer experience, while 25% stated that their revenue went up (Gregorio 2017 ; Sobal 2017 ). Even though B2B companies are benefitting from social media used by marketers, it is argued that research on that area is still in the embryonic stage and future research is needed (Salo 2017 ; Siamagka et al. 2015 ; Juntunen et al. 2020 ; Iannacci et al. 2020 ). There is a limited understanding of how B2B companies need to change to embrace recent technological innovations and how it can lead to business and societal transformation (Chen et al. 2012 ; Loebbecke and Picot 2015 ; Pappas et al. 2018 ).

The topic of social media in the context of B2B companies has started attracting attention from both academics and practitioners. This is evidenced by the growing number of research output within academic journals and conference proceedings. Some studies provided a comprehensive literature review on social media use by B2B companies (Pascucci et al. 2018 ; Salo 2017 ), but focused only on adoption of social media by B2B or social media influence, without providing the whole picture of the use of social media by B2B companies. Thus, this study aims to close this gap in the literature by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the use of social media by B2B companies and discuss its role in the digital transformation of B2B companies. The findings of this study can provide an informative framework for research on social media in the context of B2B companies for academics and practitioners.

The remaining sections of the study are organised as follows. Section 2 offers a brief overview of the methods used to identify relevant studies to be included in this review. Section 3 synthesises the studies identified in the previous section and provides a detailed overview. Section 4 presents weight analysis and its findings. Next section discusses the key aspects of the research, highlights any limitations within existing studies and explores the potential directions for future research. Finally, the paper is concluded in Section 6 .

2 Literature Search Method

The approach utilised in this study aligns with the recommendations in Webster and Watson ( 2002 ). This study used a keyword search-based approach for identifying relevant articles (Dwivedi et al. 2019b ; Ismagilova et al. 2020a ; Ismagilova et al. 2019 ; Jeyaraj and Dwivedi 2020 ; Williams et al. 2015 ). Keywords such as “Advertising” OR “Marketing” OR “Sales” AND TITLE (“Social Media” OR “Web 2.0” OR “Facebook” OR “LinkedIn” OR “Instagram” OR “Twitter” OR “Snapchat” OR “Pinterest” OR “WhatsApp” OR “Social Networking Sites”) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (“B2B” OR “B to B” OR “Business to Business” OR “Business 2 Business”) were searched via the Scopus database. Scopus database was chosen to ensure the inclusion of only high quality studies. Use of online databases for conducting a systematic literature review became an emerging culture used by a number of information systems research studies (Dwivedi et al. 2019a ; Gupta et al. 2019 ; Ismagilova et al. 2020b ; Muhammad et al. 2018 ; Rana et al. 2019 ). The search resulted in 80 articles. All studies were processed by the authors in order to ensure relevance and that the research offered a contribution to the social media in the context B2B discussion. The search and review resulted in 70 articles and conference papers that formed the literature review for this study. The selected studies appeared in 33 separate journals and conference proceedings, including journals such as Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing and Journal of Business Research.

3 Literature Synthesis

The studies on social media research in the context of B2B companies were divided into the following themes: effect of social media, adoption of social media, social media strategies, social media use, measuring the effectiveness of use of social media, and social media tools (see Table 1 ). The following subsections provide an overview of each theme.

3.1 Effect of Social Media

Some studies focus on the effect of social media for B2B companies, which include customer satisfaction, value creation, intention to buy and sales, building relationships with customers, brand awareness, knowledge creation, perceived corporate credibility, acquiring of new customers, salesperson performance, employee brand engagement, and sustainability (Table 2 ).

3.1.1 Customer Satisfaction

Some studies investigated how the use of social media affected customer satisfaction (Agnihotri et al. 2016 ; Ancillai et al. 2019 ; Rossmann and Stei 2015 ). For example, Agnihotri et al. ( 2016 ) investigated how the implementation of social media by B2B salesperson affects consumer satisfaction. Salesperson’s social media use is defined as a “salesperson’s utilization and integration of social media technology to perform his or her job” (Agnihotri et al. 2016 , p.2). The study used data from 111 sales professionals involved in B2B industrial selling to test the proposed hypotheses. It was found that a salesperson’s use of social media will have a positive effect on information communication, which will, in turn, lead to improved customer satisfaction with the salesperson. Also, it was investigated that information communication will be positively related to responsiveness, which impacts customer satisfaction.

Another study by Rossmann and Stei ( 2015 ) looked at the antecedents of social media use, social media use by B2B companies and their effect on customers. By using data from 362 chief information officers of B2B companies the study found the following. Social media usage of sales representative has a positive impact on customer satisfaction. Age has a negative effect on content generation. It seems that older salespeople use social media in passive ways or interacting with the customer rather than creating their own content. It was found that the quality of corporate social media strategy has a positive impact on social media usage in terms of the consumption of information, content generation, and active interaction with customers. Also, the expertise of a salesperson in the area of social media has a positive impact on social media usage.

3.1.2 Value Creation

Research in B2B found that social media can create value for customers and salesperson (Agnihotri et al. 2012 ; Agnihotri et al. 2017 ). Agnihotri et al. ( 2012 ) proposed a theoretical framework to explain the mechanisms through which salespeople’s use of social media operates to create value and propose a strategic approach to social media use to achieve competitive goals. The study draws on the existing literature on relationship marketing, task–technology fit theory, and sales service behavior to sketch a social media strategy for business-to-business sales organizations with relational selling objectives. The proposed framework describes how social media tools can help salespeople perform service behaviors (information sharing, customer service, and trust-building) leading to value creation.

Some researchers investigated the role of the salesperson in the value creation process after closing the sale. By employing salesperson-customer data within a business-to-business context, Agnihotri et al. ( 2017 ) analysed the direct effects of sales-based CRM technology on the post-sale service behaviors: diligence, information communication, inducements, empathy, and sportsmanship. Additionally, the study examines the interactive effects of sales-based CRM technology and social media on these behaviors. The results indicate that sales-based CRM technology has a positive influence on salesperson service behaviors and that salespeople using CRM technology in conjunction with social media are more likely to exhibit higher levels of SSBs than their counterparts with low social media technology use. Data were collected from 162 salespeople from India. SmartPLS was used to analyse the data.

3.1.3 Intention to Buy and Sales

Another group of studies investigated the effect of social media on the level of sales and consumer purchase intention (Ancillai et al. 2019 ; Itani et al. 2017 ; Salo 2017 ; Hsiao et al. 2020 ; Mahrous 2013 ). For example, Itani et al. ( 2017 ) used the theory of reasoned actions to develop a model that tests the factors affecting the use of social media by salesperson and its impact. By collecting data from 120 salespersons from different industries and using SmartPLS to analyse the data, it was found that attitude towards social media usefulness did not affect the use of social media. It was found that social media use positively affects competitive intelligence collection, adaptive selling behaviour, which in turn influenced sales performance. Another study by Ancillai et al. ( 2019 ) used in-depth interviews with social selling professionals. The findings suggest that the use of social media improves not only the level of sales but also affects relationship and customer performance (trust, customer satisfaction, customer referrals); and organisational performance (organisational selling performance and brand performance).

It was investigated that social media has a positive effect on the intention to purchase (Hsiao et al. 2020 ; Mahrous 2013 ). For instance, Mahrous ( 2013 ) by reviewing the literature on B2B and B2C companies concluded that social media has a significant influence on consumer buying behaviour.

3.1.4 Customer Relationships

Another group of studies focused on the effect of social media on customer relationships (Bhattacharjya and Ellison 2015 ; Gáti et al. 2018 ; Gruner and Power 2018 ; Hollebeek 2019 ; Iankova et al. 2018 ; Jussila et al. 2011 ; Kho 2008 ; Niedermeier et al. 2016 ; Ogilvie et al. 2018 ). For example, Bhattacharjya and Ellison ( 2015 ) investigated the way companies build relationships with customers by using responsive customer relationship management. The study analysed customer relationship management activities from Twitter account of a Canadian company Shopify (B2B service provider). The company uses Twitter to engage with small business customers, develops and consumers. Jussila et al. ( 2011 ), by reviewing the literature, found that social media leads to increased customer focus and understanding, increased level of customer service and decreased time-to-market.

Gáti et al. ( 2018 ) focused their research efforts on social media use in customer relationship performance, particularly in customer relations. The study investigated the adoption and impact of social media by salespeople of B2B companies. By using data of 112 salespeople from several industries the study found that the intensity of technology use positively affects attitude towards social media, which positively affects social media use. Intensive technology use in turn positively affects customer relationship performance (customer retention). PLS-SEM was applied for analysis.

Another study by Gruner and Power ( 2018 ) investigated the effectiveness of the use of multiple social media platforms in communications with customers. By using data from 208 large Australian organisations, the paper explores how companies’ investment in one form of social media impacts activity on another form of social media. A regression analysis was performed to analyse the data. It was found that widespread activities on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube have a negative effect on a company’s marketing activity on Facebook. Thus, having it is more effective for the company to focus on a specific social media platform in forming successful inter-organisational relationships with customers.

Hollebeek ( 2019 ) proposed an integrative S-D logic/resource-based view (RBV) model of customer engagement. The proposed model considers business customer actors and resources in driving business customer resource integration, business customer resource integration effectiveness and business customer resource integration efficiency, which are antecedents of business customer engagement. Business customer engagement, in turn, results in business customer co-creation and relationship productivity.

Niedermeier et al. ( 2016 ) investigated the use of social media among salespeople in the pharmaceutical industry in China. Also, the study investigated the impact of social media on building culturally specific Guanxi relationships-it involves the exchange of factors to build trust and connection for business purpose. By using in-depth interviews with 3 sales managers and a survey of 42 pharmaceutical sales representatives that study found that WeChat is the most common social media platform used by businesses. Also, it was found to be an important tool in building Guanxi. Future studies should focus on other industries and other types of cultural features in doing business.

Ogilvie et al. ( 2018 ) investigated the effect of social media technologies on customer relationship performance and objective sales performance by using two empirical studies conducted in the United States. The first study used 375 salespeople from 1200 B2B companies. The second study used 181 respondents from the energy solution company. It was found that social media significantly affects salesperson product information communication, diligence, product knowledge and adaptability, which in turn affect customer relationship performance. It was also found that the use of social media technologies without training on technology will not lead to good results. Thus, the results propose that companies should allocate the resources required for the proper implementation of social media strategies. Future research should examine how the personality traits of a salesperson can moderate the implementation of social media technologies.

While most of the studies focused on a single country, Iankova et al. ( 2018 ) investigated the perceived effectiveness of social media by different types of businesses in two countries. By using 449 respondents from the US and the UK businesses, it was found that social media is potentially less important, at the present time, for managing ongoing relationships in B2B organizations than for B2C, Mixed or B2B2C organizations. All types of businesses ascribe similar importance to social media for acquisition-related activities. Also it was found that B2B organizations see social media as a less effective communication channel, and to have less potential as a channel for the business.

3.1.5 Brand Awareness

Some researchers argued that social media can influence brand awareness (Ancillai et al. 2019 ; Hsiao et al. 2020 ). For instance, Hsiao et al. ( 2020 ) investigated the effect of social media in the fashion industry. By collecting 1395 posts from lookbook.nu and employing regression analysis it was found that the inclusion of national brand and private fashion brands in the post increased the level of popularity which leads to purchasing interest and brand awareness.

3.1.6 Knowledge Creation

Multiple types of collaborative web tools can help and significantly increase the collaboration and the use of the distributed knowledge inside and outside of the company (McAfee 2006 ). Kärkkäinen et al. ( 2011 ) by analysing previous literature on social media proposed that social media use has a positive effect on sharing and creation of customer information and knowledge in the case of B2B companies.

3.1.7 Corporate Credibility

Another study by Kho ( 2008 ) states the advantages of using social media by B2B companies, which include faster and more personalised communications between customer and vendor, which can improve corporate credibility and strengthen the relationships. Thanks to social media companies can provide more detailed information about their products and services. Kho ( 2008 ) also mentions that customer forums and blog comments in the B2B environment should be carefully monitored in order to make sure that inappropriate discussions are taken offline and negative eWOM communications should be addressed in a timely manner.

3.1.8 Acquiring New Customers

Meire et al. ( 2017 ) investigated the impact of social media on acquiring B2B customers. By using commercially purchased prospecting data, website data and Facebook data from beverage companies the study conducted an experiment and found that social media us an effective tool in acquiring B2B customers. Future work might assess the added value of social media pages for profitability prediction instead of prospect conversion. When a longer timeframe becomes available (e.g., after one year), the profitability of the converted prospects can be assessed.

3.1.9 Salesperson Performance

Moncrief et al. ( 2015 ) investigated the impact of social media technologies on the role of salesperson position. It was found that social media affects sales management functions (supervision, selection, training, compensation, and deployment) and salesperson performance (role, skill, and motivation). Another study by Rodriguez et al. ( 2012 ) examines the effect of social media on B2B sales performance by using social capital theory and collecting data from 1699 B2B salespeople from over 25 different industries. By employing SEM AMOS, the study found that social media usage has a positive significant relationship with selling companies’ ability to create opportunities and manage relationships. The study also found that social media usage has a positive and significant relationship with sales performance (based on relational measurers of sales that focus on behaviours that strengthen the relationship between buyers and sellers), but not with outcome-based sales performance (reflected by quota achievement, growth in average billing size, and overall revenue gain).

3.1.10 Employee Brand Management

The study by Pitt et al. ( 2018 ) focuses on employee engagement with B2B companies on social media. By using results from Glassdoor (2315 five-star and 1983 one-star reviews for the highest-ranked firms, and 1013 five star and 1025 one-star reviews for lowest ranked firms) on employee brand engagement on social media, two key drivers of employee brand engagement by using the content analysis tool DICTION were identified-optimism and commonality. Individuals working in top-ranked companies expressed a higher level of optimism and commonality in comparison with individuals working in low-ranked companies. As a result, a 2 × 2 matrix was constructed which can help managers to choose strategies in order to increase and improve employee brand engagement. Another study by Pitt et al. ( 2017 ) focused on employee engagement of B2B companies on social media. By using a conceptual framework based on a theory of word choice and verbal tone and 6300 reviews collected from Glassdoor and analysed using DICTION. The study found that employees of highly ranked B2B companies are more positive about their employer brand and talk more optimistically about these brands. For low ranked B2B companies it was found that employees express a greater level of activity, certainty, and realism. Also, it was found that they used more aggressive language.

3.1.11 Sustainability

Sustainability refers to the strategy that helps a business “to meet its current requirements without compromising its ability to meet future needs” (World Commission Report on Environment and Development 1987 , p 41). Two studies out of 70 focused on the role of social media for B2B sustainability (Sivarajah et al. 2019 ; Kasper et al. 2015 ). For example, Sivarajah et al. ( 2019 ) argued that big data and social media within a participatory web environment to enable B2B organisations to become profitable and remain sustainable through strategic operations and marketing related business activities.

Another study by Kasper et al. ( 2015 ) proposed the Social Media Matrix which helps companies to decide which social media activities to execute based on their corporate and communication goals. The matrix includes three parts. The first part is focusing on social media goals and task areas, which were identified and matched. The second part consists of five types of social media activities (content, interaction/dialog, listening and analysing, application and networking). The third part provides a structure to assess the suitability of each activity type on each social media platform for each goal. The matrix was successfully tested by assessing the German B2B sector by using expert interviews with practitioners.

Based on the reviewed studies, it can be seen that if used appropriately social media have positive effect on B2B companies before and after sales, such as customer satisfaction, value creation, intention to buy and sales, customer relationships, brand awareness, knowledge creation, corporate credibility, acquiring new customers, salesperson performance, employee brand management, and sustainability. However, limited research is done on the negative effect of social media on b2b companies.

3.2 Adoption of Social Media

Some scholars investigated factors affecting the adoption of social media by B2B companies (Buratti et al. 2018 ; Gáti et al. 2018 ; Gazal et al. 2016 ; Itani et al. 2017 ; Kumar and Möller 2018 ; Lacka and Chong 2016 ). For instance, Lacka and Chong ( 2016 ) investigated factors affecting the adoption of social media by B2B companies from different industries in China. The study collected the data from 181 respondents and used the technology acceptance model with Nielsen’s model of attributes of system acceptability as a theoretical framework. By using SEM AMOS for analysis the study found that perceived usability, perceived usefulness, and perceived utility positively affect adoption and use of social media by B2B marketing professionals. The usefulness is subject to the assessment of whether social media sites are suitable means through which marketing activities can be conducted. The ability to use social media sites for B2B marketing purposes, in turn, is due to those sites learnability and memorability attributes.

Another study by Müller et al. ( 2018 ) investigated factors affecting the usage of social media. By using survey data from 100 Polish and 39 German sensor suppliers, it was found that buying frequency, the function of a buyer, the industry sector and the country does not affect the usage of social media in the context of sensor technology from Poland and Germany. The study used correlation analysis and ANOVA.

Lashgari et al. ( 2018 ) studied the adoption and use of social media by using face-to-face interviews with key managers of four multinational corporations and observations from companies’ websites and social media platforms. It was found that that the elements essential in forming the B2B firm’s social media adoption strategies are content (depth and diversity), corresponding social media platform, the structure of social media channels, the role of moderators, information accessibility approaches (public vs. gated-content), and online communities. These elements are customized to the goals and target group the firm sets to pursue. Similarly, integration of social media into other promotional channels can fall under an ad-hoc or continuous approach depending on the scope and the breadth of the communication plan, derived from the goal.

Similar to Lashgari et al. ( 2018 ), Shaltoni ( 2017 ) used data from managers. The study applied technology organisational environmental framework and diffusion of innovations to investigate factors affecting the adoption of social media by B2B companies. By using data from marketing managers or business owners of 480 SMEs, the study found that perceived relative advance, perceive compatibility, organizational innovativeness, competitor pressure, and customer pressure influence the adoption of social media by B2B companies. The findings also suggest that many decision-makers in B2B companies think that Internet marketing is not beneficial, as it is not compatible with the nature of B2B markets.

Buratti et al. ( 2018 ) investigated the adoption of social media by tanker shipping companies and ocean carriers. By using data from 60 companies the following was found. LinkedIn is the most used tool, with a 93.3% adoption rate. Firm size emerges as a predictor of Twitter’s adoption: big companies unveil a higher attitude to use it. Finally, the country of origin is not a strong influential factor in the adoption rate. Nonetheless, Asian firms clearly show a lower attitude to join SM tools such as Facebook (70%) and LinkedIn (86.7%), probably also due to governmental web restrictions imposed in China. External dimensions such as the core business, the firm size, the geographic area of origin, etc., seem to affect network wideness. Firm size, also, discriminates the capacity of firms to build relational networks. Bigger firms create networks larger than small firms do. Looking at geographical dimensions, Asian firms confirm to be far less active on SM respect to European and North American firms. Finally, the study analyzed the format of the contents disclosed by sample firms, observing quite limited use of photos and videos: in the sample industries, informational contents seem more appropriate for activating a dialogue with stakeholders and communication still appears formulated in a very traditional manner. Preliminary findings suggest that companies operating in conservative B2B services pursue different strategic approaches toward SMM and develop ad hoc communication tactics. Nonetheless, to be successful in managing SM tools, a high degree of commitment and a clear vision concerning the role of SM within communication and marketing strategy is necessary.

Gazal et al. ( 2016 ) investigated the adoption and measuring of the effectiveness of social media in the context of the US forest industry by using organisational-level adoption framework and TAM. By using data from 166 companies and performing regression analysis, the following results were received. Years in business, new sales revenue, product type, amount of available information on a company website, perceived importance of e-commerce and perceived ease of use of social media significantly affected social media use. Also, it was found that companies’ strategies and internal resources and capabilities and influence a company’s decision to adopt social media. Also, it was found that 94 of respondents do not measure the ROI from social media use. The reason is that the use of social media in marketing is relatively new and companies do not possess the knowledge of measuring ROI from the use of social media. Companies mostly use quantitative metrics (number of site visits, number of social network friends, number of comments and profile views) and qualitative metrics (growth of relationships with the key audience, audience participation, moving from monologue to dialogue with consumers. Facebook was found to be the most effective social media platform reported by the US forest industry.

The study by Kumar and Möller ( 2018 ) investigated the role of social media for B2B companies in their recruitment practices. By using data from international B2B company with headquarter in Helsinki, Finland comprised of 139 respondents it was found that brand familiarity encourages them to adopt social media platforms for a job search; however, the effect of the persuasiveness of recruitment messages on users’ adoption of social media platforms for their job search behavior is negative. The study used correlation analysis and descriptive analysis to analyse the data.

Nunan et al. ( 2018 ) identified areas for future research such as patterns of social media adoption, the role of social media platforms within the sales process, B2B consumer engagement and social media, modeling the ROI of social media, and the risks of social media within B2B sales relationships.

The study by Pascucci et al. ( 2018 ) conducted a systematic literature review on antecedents affecting the adoption and use of social media by B2B companies. By reviewing 29 studies published in academic journal and conferences from 2001 to 2017, the study identified external (pressure from customers, competitors, availability of external information about social media) and internal factors (personal characteristics -managers age, individual commitment, perceptions of social media-perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived utility), which can affect adoption of social media.

The study by Siamagka et al. ( 2015 ) aims to investigate factors affecting the adoption of social media by B2B organisations. The conceptual model was based on the technology acceptance model and the resource-based theory. AMOS software and Structural equation modelling were employed to test the proposed hypotheses. By using a sample of 105 UK companies, the study found that perceived usefulness of social media is influenced by image, perceived ease of use and perceived barriers. Also, it was found that social media adoption is significantly determined by organisational innovativeness and perceived usefulness. Additionally, the study tested the moderating role of organisational innovativeness and found that it does not affect the adoption of social media by B2B organisations. The study also identified that perceived barriers to SNS (uncertainty about how to use SNS to achieve objectives, employee’s lack of knowledge about SNS, high cost of investment needed to adopt the technology) have a negative impact on perceived usefulness of social media by B2B organisations. The study also used nine in-depth interviews with B2B senior managers and social media specialists about adoption of social media by B2B. It was found that perceived pressure from stakeholders influences B2B organisations’ adoption intention of social media. Future research should test it by using quantitative methods.

While most of the studies focused on the antecedents of social media adoption by B2B companies, Michaelidou et al. ( 2011 ) investigated the usage, perceived barriers and measuring the effectiveness of social media. By using data from 92 SMEs the study found that over a quarter of B2B SMEs in the UK are currently using SNS to achieve brand objectives, the most popular of which is to attract new customers. The barriers that prevent SMEs from using social media to support their brands were lack of staff familiarity and technical skills. Innovativeness of a company determined the adoption of social media. It was found that most of the companies do not evaluate the effectiveness of their SNS in supporting their brand. The most popular measures were the number of users joining the groups/discussion and the number of comments made. The findings showed that the size of the company does not influence the usage of social media for small and medium-sized companies. Future research should investigate the usage of social media in large companies and determine if the size can have and influence on the use. The benefits of using social media include increasing awareness and communicating the brand online. B2B companies can employ social media to create customer value in the form of interacting with customers, as well as building and fostering customer relationships. Future research should investigate the reasons why most of the users do not assess the effectiveness of their SNS. Future research should also investigate how the attitude towards technology can influence the adoption of social media.

Based on the reviewed studies it can be seen that the main factors affecting the adoption of social media by B2B companies are perceived usability, technical skills of employees, pressure from stakeholders, perceived usefulness and innovativeness.

3.3 Social Media Strategies

Another group of studies investigated types of strategies B2B companies apply (Cawsey and Rowley 2016 ; Huotari et al. 2015 ; Kasper et al. 2015 ; McShane et al. 2019 ; Mudambi et al. 2019 ; Swani et al. 2013 ; Swani et al. 2014 ; Swani et al. 2017 ; Watt 2010 ). For example, Cawsey and Rowley ( 2016 ) focused on the social media strategies of B2B companies. By conducting semi-structured interviews with marketing professionals from France, Ireland, the UK and the USA it was found that enhancing brand image, extending brand awareness and facilitating customer engagement were considered the most common social media objective. The study proposed the B2B social media strategy framework, which includes six components of a social media strategy: 1) monitoring and listening 2) empowering and engaging employees 3) creating compelling content 4) stimulating eWOM 5) evaluating and selecting channels 6) enhancing brand presence through integrating social media.

Chirumalla et al. ( 2018 ) focused on the social media engagement strategies of manufacturing companies. By using semi-structured interviews (36), observations (4), focus group meetings (6), and documentation, the study developed the process of social media adoption through a three-phase engagement strategy which includes coordination, cooperation, and co-production.

McShane et al. ( 2019 ) proposed social media strategies to influence online users’ engagement with B2B companies. Taking into consideration fluency lens the study analysed Twitter feeds of top 50 social B2B brands to examine the influence of hashtags, text difficulty embedded media and message timing on user engagement, which was evaluated in terms of likes and retweets. It was found that hashtags and text difficulty are connected to lower levels of engagement while embedded media such as images and videos improve the level of engagement.

Swani et al. ( 2014 ) investigate the use of Twitter by B2B and B2C companies and predict factors that influence message strategies. The study conducted a longitudinal content analysis by collecting 7000 tweets from Fortune 500 companies. It was found that B2B and B2C companies used different message appeals, cues, links and hashtags. B2B companies tend to use more emotional than functional appeals. It was found that B2B and B2C companies do not use hard-sell message strategies.

Another study by Swani et al. ( 2013 ) aimed to investigate message strategies that can help in promoting eWOM activity for B2B companies. By applying content analysis and hierarchical linear modeling the study analysed 1143 wall post messages from 193 fortune 500 Facebook accounts. The study found that B2B account posts will be more effective if they include corporate brand names and avoid hard sell or explicitly commercial statement. Also, companies should use emotional sentiment in Facebook posts.

Huotari et al. ( 2015 ) aimed to investigate how B2B marketers can influence content creation in social media. By conducting four face-to-face interviews with B2B marketers, it was found that a B2B company can influence content creation in social media directly by adding new content, participating in a discussion and removing content through corporate user accounts and controlling employees social media behaviour. Also, it can influence it indirectly by training employees to create desired content and perfuming marketing activities that influence other users to create content that is favorable for the company.

Most of the studies investigated the strategies and content of social media communications of B2B companies. However, the limited number of studies investigated the importance of CEO engagement on social media in the company’s strategies. Mudambi et al. ( 2019 ) emphasise the importance of the CEO of B2B companies to be present and active on social media. The study discusses the advantages of social media presence for the CEO and how it will benefit the company. For example, one of the benefits for the CEO can be perceived as being more trustworthy and effective than non-social CEOs, which will benefit the company in increased customer trust. Mudambi et al. ( 2019 ) also discussed the platforms the CEO should use and posting frequencies depending on the content of the post.

From the above review of the studies, it can be seen that B2B companies social media strategies include enhancing brand image, extending brand awareness and facilitating customer engagement. Companies use various message strategies, such as using emotional appeal, use of brand names, and use of hashtags. Majority of the companies avoid hard sell or explicitly commercial statement.

3.4 Social Media Use

Studies investigated the way how companies used social media and factors affecting the use of social media by B2B (Andersson et al. 2013 ; Bernard 2016 ; Bolat et al. 2016 ; Denktaş-Şakar and Sürücü 2018 ; Dyck 2010 ; Guesalaga 2016 ; Habibi et al. 2015 ). For example, Vasudevan and Kumar ( 2018 ) investigated how B2B companies use social media by analysing 325 brand posts of Canon India, Epson India, and HP India on Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter. By employing content analysis the study found that most of the posts had a combination of text and message. More than 50% of the posts were about product or brand-centric. The study argued that likes proved to be an unreliable measure of engagement, while shares were considered a more reliable metric. The reason was that likes had high spikes when brand posts were boosted during promotional activities.

Andersson and Wikström ( 2017 ) used case studies of three B2B companies to investigate reasons for using social media. It was found that companies use social media to enhance customer relationships, support sales and build their brands. Also, social media is used as a recruiting tool, a seeking tool, and a product information and service tool.

Bell and Shirzad ( 2013 ) aimed to conduct social media use analysis in the context of pharmaceutical companies. The study analysed 54,365 tweets from the top five pharmaceutical companies. The study analysed the popular time slots, the average number of positive and negative tweets and its content by using Nvivo9.

Bernard ( 2016 ) aims to examine how chief marketing officers use social media. By using case studies from IBM experience with social media it was found that B2B CMO’s are not ready to make use of social media. It was proposed that social media can be used for after-sales service, getting sales leads, engaging with key influencers, building the company’s reputation and enhancing the industry status of key individuals. B2B firms need to exploit the capabilities of processing massive amounts of data to get the most from social media.

Bolat et al. ( 2016 ) explore how companies apply mobile social media. By employing a grounded theory approach to analyse interviews from 26 B2B company representatives from UK advertising and marketing sector companies. It was found that companies use social media for branding, sensing market, managing relationships, and developing content.

Denktaş-Şakar and Sürücü ( 2018 ) investigated how social media usage influence stakeholder engagement focusing on the corporate Facebook page of 30 3PLs companies. In total 1532 Facebook posts were analysed. It was found that the number of followers, post sharing frequency, negatively affect stakeholder engagement. It was found that content including photos facilitates more stakeholder engagement (likes, comment, share) in comparison with other forms. Vivid posts and special day celebration posts strengthen relationships with stakeholders.

Dyck ( 2010 ) discussed the advantages of using social media for the device industry. Social media can be used for product innovation and development, to build a team and collaborate globally. Also, there is an opportunity to connect with all of the stakeholders needed in order to deliver the device to the market. Additionally, it provides to receive feedback from customers (doctors, hospitals) in real-time.

The study by Guesalaga ( 2016 ) draws on interactional psychology theory to propose and test a model of usage of social media in sales, analysing individual, organizational, and customer-related factors. It was found that organizational competence and commitment to social media are key determinants of social media usage in sales, as well as individual commitment. Customer engagement with social media also predicts social media usage in sales, both directly and (mostly) through the individual and organizational factors analysed, especially organizational competence and commitment. Finally, the study found evidence of synergistic effects between individual competence and commitment, which is not found at the organizational level. The data obtained by surveying 220 sales executives in the United States were analysed using regression analysis.

Habibi et al. ( 2015 ) proposed a conceptual model for the implementation of social media by B2B companies. Based on existing B2B marketing, social media and organisational orientational literature the study proposed that four components of electronic market orientation (philosophical, initiation, implementation and adoption) address different implementation issues faced in implementing social media.

Katona and Sarvary ( 2014 ) presented a case of using social media by Maersk-the largest container shipping company in the world. The case provided details on the program launch and the integration strategy which focused on integrating the largest independent social media operation into the company’s broader marketing efforts.

Moore et al. ( 2013 ) provided insights into the understanding of the use of social media by salespersons. 395 salespeople in B2B and B2C markets, utilization of relationship-oriented social media applications are presented and examined. Overall, findings show that B2B practitioners tend to use media targeted at professionals whereas their B2C counterparts tend to utilize more sites targeted to the general public for engaging in one-on-one dialogue with their customers. Moreover, B2B professionals tend to use relationship-oriented social media technologies more than B2C professionals for the purpose of prospecting, handling objections, and after-sale follow-up.

Moore et al. ( 2015 ) investigated the use of social media between B2B and B2C salespeople. By using survey data from 395 sales professionals from different industries they found that B2B sales managers use social selling tools significantly more frequently than B2C managers and B2C sales representatives while conducting sales presentations. Also, it was found that B2B managers used social selling tools significantly more frequently than all sales representatives while closing sales.

Müller et al. ( 2013 ) investigated social media use in the German automotive market. By using online analysis of 10 most popular car manufacturers online social networks and surveys of six manufacturers, 42 car dealers, 199 buyers the study found that social media communication relations are widely established between manufacturers and (prospective) buyers and only partially established between car dealers and prospective buyers. In contrast to that, on the B2B side, social media communication is rarely used. Social Online Networks (SONs) are the most popular social media channels employed by businesses. Manufacturers and car dealers focus their social media engagement, especially on Facebook. From the perspective of prospective buyers, however, forums are the most important source of information.

Sułkowski and Kaczorowska-Spychalska ( 2016 ) investigated the adoption of social media by companies in the Polish textile-clothing industry. By interviewing seven companies representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises the study found that companies started implementing social media activities in their marketing activities.

Vukanovic ( 2013 ) by reviewing previous literature on social media outlined advantages of using social media for B2B companies, which include: increase customer loyalty and trust, building and improving corporate reputation, facilitating open communications, improvement in customer engagement to name a few.

Keinänen and Kuivalainen ( 2015 ) investigated factors affecting the use of social media by B2B customers by conducting an online survey among 82 key customer accounts of an information technology service company. Partial least squares path modelling was used to analysed the proposed hypotheses. It was found that social media private use, colleague support for using SM, age, job position affected the use of social media by B2B customers. The study also found that corporate culture, gender, easiness to use, and perception of usability did not affect the use of social media by B2B customers.

By using interviews and survey social media research found that mostly B2B companies use social media to enhance customer relationships, support sales, build their brands, sense market, manage relationships, and develop content. Additionally, some companies use it social media as a recruitment tool. The main difference between B2B and B2C was that B2B sales managers use social selling tools significantly more frequently than B2C managers.

3.5 Measuring the Effectiveness of Social Media

It is important for a business to be able to measure the effectiveness of social media by calculating return on investment (ROI). ROI is the relationship between profit and the investment that generate that profit. Some studies focused on the ways B2B companies can measure ROI and the challenges they face (Gazal et al. 2016 ; Michaelidou et al. 2011 ; Vasudevan and Kumar 2018 ). For example, Gazal et al. ( 2016 ) investigated the adoption and measuring of the effectiveness of social media in the context of the US forest industry by using organisational-level adoption framework and TAM. By using data from 166 companies it was found that 94% of respondents do not measure the ROI from social media use. The reason is that the use of social media in marketing is relatively new and companies do not possess the knowledge of measuring ROI from the use of social media. Companies mostly use quantitative metrics (number of site visits, number of social network friends, number of comments and profile views) and qualitative metrics (growth of relationships with the key audience, audience participation, moving from monologue to dialogue with consumers).

Another study by Michaelidou et al. ( 2011 ) found that most of the companies do not evaluate the effectiveness of their SNS in supporting their brand. The most popular measures were the number of users joining the groups/discussion and the number of comments made.

Vasudevan and Kumar ( 2018 ) investigated how B2B companies use social media and measure ROI from social media by analysing 325 brand posts of Canon India, Epson India, and HP India on Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter. By employing content analysis the study found that most of the post has a combination of text and message. More than 50% of the posts were about product or brand-centric. The study argued that likes proved to be an unreliable measure of engagement, while shares were considered a more reliable metric. The reason was that likes had high spikes when brand posts were boosted during promotional activities. Future research should conduct longitudinal studies.

By reviewing the above studies, it can be concluded that companies still struggle to find ways of measuring ROI and applying correct metrics. By gaining knowledge in how to measure ROI from social media activities, B2B companies will be able to produce valuable insights leading to better marketing strategies (Lal et al. 2020 ).

3.6 Social Media Tools

Some studies proposed tools that could be employed by companies to advance their use of social media. For example, Mehmet and Clarke ( 2016 ) proposed a social semiotic multimodal (SSMM) framework that improved the analysis of social media communications. This framework employs multimodal extensions to systemic functional linguistics enabling it to be applying to analysing non-language as well as language constituents of social media messages. Furthermore, the framework also utilises expansion theory to identify, categorise and analyse various marketing communication resources associated with marketing messages and also to reveal how conversations are chained together to form extended online marketing conversations. This semantic approach is exemplified using a Fairtrade Australia B2B case study demonstrating how marketing conversations can be mapped and analysed. The framework emphasises the importance of acknowledging the impact of all stakeholders, particularly messages that may distract or confuse the original purpose of the conversation.

Yang et al. ( 2012 ) proposed the temporal analysis technique to identify user relationships on social media platforms. The experiment was conducted by using data from Digg.com . The results showed that the proposed techniques achieved substantially higher recall but not very good at precision. This technique will help companies to identify their future consumers based on their user relationships.

Based on the literature review, it can be seen that B2B companies can benefit by using the discussed tools. However, it is important to consider that employee should have some technical skills and knowledge to use these tools successfully. As a result, companies will need to invest some resources in staff training.

4 Weight Analysis

Weight analysis enables scrutiny of the predictive power of independent variables in studied relationships and the degree of effectiveness of the relationships (Jeyaraj et al. 2006 ; Rana et al. 2015 ; Ismagilova et al. 2020a ). The results of weight analysis are depicted in Table 3 providing information about an independent variable, dependent variable, number of significant relationships, number of non-significant relationships, the total number of relationships and weight. To perform weight analysis, the number of significant relationships was divided by the total number of analysed relationships between the independent variable and the dependent variable (Jeyaraj et al. 2006 ; Rana et al. 2015 ). For example, the weight for the relationship between attitude towards social media and social media is calculated by dividing ‘1’ (the number of significant relationships) by ‘2’ (the total number of relationships) which equals 0.5.

A predictor is defined as well-utilised if it was examined five or more times, otherwise, it is defined as experimental. It can be seen from Table 3 that all relationships were examined less than five times. Thus all studied predictors are experimental. The predictor is defined as promising when it has been examined less than five times by existing studies but has a weight equal to ‘1’ (Jeyaraj et al. 2006 ). From the predictors affecting the adoption of social media, it can be seen that two are promising, technical skills of employees and pressure from stakeholders. Social media usage is a promising predictor for acquiring new customers, sales, stakeholder engagement and customer satisfaction. Perceived ease of use and age of salesperson are promising predictors of social media usage. Even though this relationship was found to be significant every time it was examined, it is suggested that this variable, which can also be referred to as experimental, will need to be further tested in order to qualify as the best predictor. Another predictor, average rating of product/service, was examined less than five times with a weight equal to 0.75, thus it is considered as an experimental predictor.

Figure 1 shows the diagrammatic representation of the factors affecting different relationships in B2B social media with their corresponding weights, based on the results of weight analysis. The findings suggest that promising predictors should be included in further empirical studies to determine their overall performance.

Diagrammatic representation of results of weight analysis. Note: experimental predictors

It can be seen from Fig. 1 that social media usage is affected by internal (e.g. attitude towards social media, technical skills of employees) and external factors (e.g. pressure from stakeholders) of the company. Also, the figure depicts the effect of social media on the business (e.g. sales) and society (e.g. customer satisfaction).

5 Discussion

In reviewing the publications gathered for this paper, the following themes were identified. Some studies investigated the effect of social media use by B2B companies. By using mostly survey to collect the data from salespeople and managers, the studies found that social media has a positive effect on number of outcomes important for the business such as customer satisfaction, value creation, intention to buy and sales, customer relationships, brand awareness, knowledge creation, corporate credibility, acquiring new customers, salespersons performance, employee brand management, and sustainability. Most of the outcomes are similar to the research on social media in the context of B2C companies. However, some of the outcomes are unique for B2B context (e.g. employee brand management, company credibility). Just recently, studies started investigating the impact of the use of social media on sustainability.

Another group of studies looked at the adoption of social media by B2B companies (Buratti et al. 2018 ; Gáti et al. 2018 ; Gazal et al. 2016 ; Itani et al. 2017 ; Kumar and Möller 2018 ). The studies investigated it mostly from the perspectives of salespersons and identify some of the key factors which affect the adoption, such as innovativeness, technical skills of employees, pressure from stakeholders, perceived usefulness, and perceived usability. As these factors are derived mostly from surveys conducted with salespersons findings can be different for other individuals working in the organisation. This it is important to conduct studies that will examine factors affecting the adoption of social media across the entire organisation, in different departments. Using social media as part of the digital transformation is much bigger than sales and marketing, it encompasses the entire company. Additionally, most of the studies were cross-sectional, which limits the understanding of the adoption of social media by B2B over time depending on the outcomes and environment (e.g. competitors using social media).

Some studies looked at social media strategies of B2B companies (Cawsey and Rowley 2016 ; Huotari et al. 2015 ; Kasper et al. 2015 ; McShane et al. 2019 ; Mudambi et al. 2019 ). By employing interviews with companies’ managers and analysing its social media platforms (e.g. Twitter) it was found that most of the companies follow the following strategies: 1) monitoring and listening 2) empowering and engaging employees 3) creating compelling content 4) stimulating eWOM 5) evaluating and selecting channels 6) enhancing brand presence through integrating social media (Cawsey and Rowley 2016 ). Some studies investigated the difference between social media strategies of B2B and B2C companies. For example, a study by Swani et al. ( 2017 ) focused on effective social media strategies. By applying psychological motivation theory the study examined the key differences in B2B and B2C social media message strategies in terms of branding, message appeals, selling, and information search. The study used Facebook posts on brand pages of 280 Fortune companies. In total, 1467 posts were analysed. By using Bayesian models, the results showed that the inclusion of corporate brand names, functional and emotional appeals and information search cues increases the popularity of B2B messages in comparison with B2C messages. Also, it was found that readers of B2B content show a higher message liking rate and lower message commenting rate in comparison with readers of B2C messages.

The next group of studies looked at social media use by B2B companies (Andersson et al. 2013 ; Bernard 2016 ; Bolat et al. 2016 ; Denktaş-Şakar and Sürücü 2018 ; Dyck 2010 ; Guesalaga 2016 ; Habibi et al. 2015 ). B2B companies use social media for enhancing and managing customer relationships (Andersson and Wikström 2017 ; Bolat et al. ( 2016 ); branding (Andersson and Wikström 2017 ; Bolat et al. 2016 ), sensing market (Bolat et al. 2016 ) and co-production (Chirumalla et al. 2018 ). Additionally, it was mentioned that some of the B2B companies use social media as a recruiting tool, and tool which helps to collaborate globally (Andersson and Wikström 2017 ; Dyck 2010 ).

It is important for companies to not only use social media to achieve positive business outcomes but also it is important to measure their achievements. As a result, some of the studies focused on the measuring effectiveness of social media (Gazal et al. 2016 ; Michaelidou et al. 2011 ; Vasudevan and Kumar 2018 ). Surprisingly, it was found that not so many companies measure ROI from social media (Gazal et al. 2016 ; Michaelidou et al. 2011 ). The ones who do it mostly use quantitative metrics (number of site visits, number of social network friends, number of comments and profile views) and qualitative metrics (growth of relationships with key audience, audience participation, moving from monologue to dialogue with consumers) (Gazal et al. 2016 ). Some future studies should investigate how ROI influences the strategy of B2B companies over period of time.

The last group of studies focused on social media tools used by B2B companies (Keinänen and Kuivalainen 2015 ; Mehmet and Clarke 2016 ; Yang et al. 2012 ). By using number of social media tools (Social Semiotic Multimodal) companies are able to improve their analysis of social media communications and identify their future consumers based on their user relationships. Studies investigating barriers and factors adoption of various social media tools by B2B companies are needed.

After reviewing studies on b2B social media, weight analysis was performed. Based on the results of weight analysis the conceptual model for future studies was proposed (Fig.  2 ). It is important to note that a limited number of studies focused and empirically tested factors affecting the adoption, use, and effect of social media. As a result, identified factors were considered as experimental (examined less than five times). It is too early to label these experimental predictors as worst or best, thus their further investigation is encouraged.

Social media impact on digital transformation and sustainable societies

Additionally, our review of the literature on B2B social media identified dominant research methods used by scholars. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used by most of these studies. Closer analysis of 70 publications reviewed in this study revealed the multiple techniques applied for gathering data. Quantitative methods used in the studies mostly used surveys (see Table 4 ).

The data was mostly gathered from salespersons, managers and data from social media platforms (e.g. Twitter, Facebook). Just a limited number of studies employed consumer reported data (see Table 5 ).

On the other hand, publications using qualitative methods mainly used interviews and web scraping for the collection of the required data. To analyse the data studies used a variety of techniques including SEM, regression analysis and content analysis being one of the most used (see Table 6 ).

5.1 Digital Transformation and Sustainability Model

Based on the conducted literature review and adapting the model by Pappas et al. ( 2018 ) Fig. 2 presents the digital transformation and sustainability model in the context of B2B companies, which conceptualise the social media ecosystems, and the factors that need to collaborate to enable the use of social media towards the achievement of digital transformation and the creation of sustainable societies. The model comprises of social media stakeholders, the use of social media by B2B companies, and effect of social media on business and society.

5.1.1 Social Media Stakeholders

Building on the discussion and model provided by Pappas et al. ( 2018 ), this paper posits that the social media ecosystem comprises of the data stakeholders (company, society), who engage on social media (posting, reading, using information from social media). The use of social media by different stakeholders will lead to different effects affecting companies, customers and society. This is an iterative process based on which the stakeholders use their experience to constantly improve and evolve their use of social media, which has impacts on both, business and society. The successful implementation of this process is key to digital transformation and the creation of sustainable societies. Most of the current studies (Andersson et al. 2013 ; Bernard 2016 ; Bolat et al. 2016 ; Denktaş-Şakar and Sürücü 2018 ; Dyck 2010 ; Guesalaga 2016 ) focus mostly on the company as a stakeholder. However, more research is needed on other types of stakeholders (e.g. society).

5.1.2 Use of Social Media by B2B Companies

Social media affects not only ways how companies connect with their clients, but it is also changing their business models, the way how the value is delivered and profit is made. To successfully implement and use social media, B2B companies need to consider various social media tools, antecedents/barriers of its adoption, identify suitable social media strategies which are in line with the company’s overall strategy, and measure effectiveness of the use of social media. There are various factors that affect the use of social media by B2B companies. The study found that social media usage is influenced by perceived ease of use, adoption of social media, attitude towards social media and age of salesperson.

The majority of the studies focus on the management of the marketing department. However, digital transformation is much bigger than just marketing as it encompasses the entire organisation. As a result, future studies should look like the entire organisation and investigate barriers and factors affecting the use of social media.

It is crucial for companies to design content which will be noticed on social media by their potential, actual and former customers. Social media content should be interesting and offer some beneficial information, rather than just focus on services the company provides. Companies could use fresh views on relevant industry news, provide information how they are contributing to society and environment, include humour in their posts, share information about the team, make it more personal. It is also useful to use images, infographics, and video content.

It is also important for companies to measure digital marketing actions. More studies are needed on how to isolate the impact of specific media marketing actions to demonstrate their impact on the desired business outcomes (Salo 2017 ). Thus, future studies can consider how particular social media channels (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn) in a campaign of a new product/ service influence brand awareness and sales level. Also, a limited number of studies discussed the way B2B companies can measure ROI. Future research should investigate how companies can measure intangible ROI, such as eWOM, brand awareness, and customer engagement (Kumar and Mirchandani 2012 ). Also, future research should investigate the reasons why most of the users do not assess the effectiveness of their SNS. Furthermore, most of the studies focused on likes, shares, and comments to evaluate social media engagement. Future research should focus on other types of measures. More research needs considering the impact of legislation on the use of social media by companies. Recent B2B studies did not consider recent legislation (General Data Protection Regulation 2018 ) in the context B2B (Sivarajah et al. 2019 ).

5.1.3 Effect of Social Media on Business and Society

Social media plays an important part in the company’s decision-making process. Social media can bring positive changes into company, which will result in improving customer satisfaction, value creation, increase in sales, building relationships with customers, knowledge creation, improve the perception of corporate credibility, acquisition of new customers, and improve employment brand engagement. Using information collected from social media can help companies to have a set of reliable attributes that comprise social, economic and environmental aspects in their decision-making process (Tseng 2017 ). Additionally, by using social media B2B companies can provide information to other stakeholders on their sustainability activities. By using data from social media companies will be able to provide products and services which are demanded by society. It will improve the quality of life and result in less waste. Additionally, social media can be considered as a tool that helps managers to integrate business practices with sustainability (Sivarajah et al. 2019 ). As a result, social media use by B2B companies can lead to business and societal changes.

A limited number of studies investigated the effect of social media on word of mouth communications in the B2B context. Future research should investigate the differences and similarities between B2C and B2B eWOM communications. Also, studies should investigate how these types of communications can be improved and ways to deal with negative eWOM. It is important for companies to respond to comments on social media. Additionally, future research should investigate its perceived helpfulness by customers.

Majority of studies (Agnihotri et al. 2016 ; Ancillai et al. 2019 ; Rossmann and Stei 2015 ; Agnihotri et al. 2012 ; Agnihotri et al. 2017 ; Itani et al. 2017 ; Salo 2017 ; Bhattacharjya and Ellison 2015 ; Gáti et al. 2018 ; Gruner and Power 2018 ; Hollebeek 2019 ) investigated positive effect of social media such consumer satisfaction, consumer engagement, and brand awareness. However, it will be interesting to consider the dark side of social media use such as an excessive number of requests on social media to salespeople (Agnihotri et al. 2016 ), which can result in the reduction of the responsiveness; spread of misinformation which can damage the reputation of the company.

Studies were performed in China (Lacka and Chong 2016 ; Niedermeier et al. 2016 ), the USA (Guesalaga 2016 ; Iankova et al. 2018 ; Ogilvie et al. 2018 ), India (Agnihotri et al. 2017 ; Vasudevan and Kumar 2018 ), the UK (Bolat et al. 2016 ; Iankova et al. 2018 ; Michaelidou et al. 2011 ). It is strongly advised that future studies conduct research in other countries as findings can be different due to the culture and social media adoption rates. Future studies should pay particular attention to other emerging markets (such as Russia, Brazil, and South Africa) as they suffer from the slow adoption rate of social media marketing. Some companies in these countries still rely more on traditional media for advertising of their products and services, as they are more trusted in comparison with social media channels (Olotewo 2016 ). The majority of studies investigate the effect of social media in B2B or B2C context. Future studies should pay attention to other contexts (e.g. B2B2B, B2B2C). Another limitation of the current research on B2B companies is that most of the studies on social media in the context of B2B focus on the effect of social media use only on business outcomes. It is important for future research to focus on societal outcomes.

Lastly, most of the studies on social media in the context of B2B companies use a cross-sectional approach to collect the data. Future research can use the longitudinal approach in order to advance understanding of social media use and its impact over time.

5.2 Research Propositions

Based on the social media research in the context of B2B companies and the discussion above the following is proposed, which could serve as a foundation for future empirical work.

Social media is a powerful tool to deliver information to customers. However, social media can be used to get consumer and market insights (Kazienko et al. 2013 ). A number of studies highlighted how information obtained from a number of social media platforms could be used for various marketing purposes, such as understanding the needs and preferences of consumers, marketing potential for new products/services, and current market trends (Agnihotri et al. 2016 ; Constantinides et al. 2008 ). It is advised that future research employs a longitudinal approach to study the impact of social media use on understanding customers. Therefore, the following proposition can be formulated:

Proposition 1

Social media usage of B2B companies has a positive influence on understanding its customers.

By using social media companies can examiner valuable information on competitors. It can help to understand competitors’ habits and strategies, which can lead to the competitive advantage and help strategic planning (Dey et al. 2011 ; Eid et al. 2019 ; Teo and Choo 2001 ). It is advised that future research employs a longitudinal approach to study the impact of social media use on understanding its competitors. As a result, using social media to understand customers and competitors can create business value (Mikalef et al. 2020a ) for key stakeholders and lead to positive changes in the business and societies. The above discussion leads to the following proposition:

Proposition 2

Social media usage of B2B companies has a positive influence on understanding its competitors.

Proposition 3

Culture influences the adoption and use of social media by B2B companies.

Usage of social media can result in some positive marketing outcomes such as building new customer relationships, increasing brand awareness, and level of sales to name a few (Agnihotri et al. 2016 ; Ancillai et al. 2019 ; Dwivedi et al. 2020 ; Rossmann and Stei 2015 ). However, when social media is not used appropriately it can lead to negative consequences. If a company does not have enough resources to implement social media tools the burden usually comes on a salesperson. A high number of customer inquiries, the pressure to engage with customers on social media, and monitor communications happening on various social media platforms can result in the increased workload of a salesperson putting extra pressure (Agnihotri et al. 2016 ). As a result, a salesperson might not have enough time to engage with all the customers online promptly or engage in reactive and proactive web care. As a result, customer satisfaction can be affected as well as company reputation. To investigate the negative impact of social media research could apply novel methods for data collection and analysis such as fsQCA (Pappas et al. 2020 ), or implying eye-tracking (Mikalef et al. 2020b ). This leads to the following proposition:

Proposition 4

Inappropriate use of social media by B2B companies has a negative effect on a) customer satisfaction and b) company reputation.

According to Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework environmental context significantly affects a company’s use of innovations (Abed 2020 ; Oliveira and Martins 2011 ). Environment refers to the factors which affect companies from outside, including competitors and customers. Adopting innovation can help companies to change the rules of the competition and reach a competitive advantage (Porter and Millar 1985 ). In a competitive environment, companies have a tendency to adopt an innovation. AlSharji et al. ( 2018 ) argued that the adoption of innovation can be extended to social media use by companies. A study by AlSharji et al. ( 2018 ) by using data from 1700 SMEs operating in the United Arab Emirates found that competitive pressure significantly affects the use of social media by SMEs. It can be explained by the fact that companies could feel pressure when other companies in the industry start adopting a particular technology and as a result adopt it to remain competitive (Kuan and Chau 2001 ). Based on the above discussion, the following proposition can be formulated:

Proposition 5

Competitive pressure positively affects the adoption of social media by B2B companies.

Companies might feel that they are forced to adopt and use IT innovations because their customers would expect them to do so. Meeting customers’ expectations could result in adoption of new technologies by B2B companies. Some research studies investigated the impact of customer pressure on companies (AlSharji et al. 2018 ; Maduku et al. 2016 ). For example, a study by Maduku et al. ( 2016 ) found that customer pressure has a positive effect on SMEs adoption of mobile marketing in the context of South Africa. Future research could implement longitudinal approach to investigate how environment affects adoption of social media by B2B companies. This leads to the formulation of the following proposition:

Proposition 6

Customer pressure positively affects the adoption of social media by B2B companies.

6 Conclusion

The aim of this research was to provide a comprehensive systematic review of the literature on social media in the context of B2B companies and propose the framework outlining the role of social media in the digital transformation of B2B companies. It was found that B2B companies use social media, but not all companies consider it as part of their marketing strategies. The studies on social media in the B2B context focused on the effect of social media, antecedents, and barriers of adoption of social media, social media strategies, social media use, and measuring the effectiveness of social media. Academics and practitioners can employ the current study as an informative framework for research on the use of social media by B2B companies. The summary of the key observations provided from this literature review is the following: [i] Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the most famous social media platforms used by B2B companies, [ii] Social media has a positive effect on customer satisfaction, acquisition of new customers, sales, stakeholder engagement, and customer relationships, [iii] In systematically reviewing 70 publications on social media in the context of B2B companies it was observed that most of the studies use online surveys and online content analysis, [iv] Companies still look for ways to evaluate the effectiveness of social media, [v] Innovativeness, pressure from stakeholders, perceived usefulness, and perceived usability have a significant positive effect on companies’ adoption to use social media, [vi] Lack of staff familiarity and technical skills are the main barriers that affect the adoption of social media by B2B, [vii] Social media has an impact not only on business but also on society, [viii] There is a dark side of social media: fake online reviews, an excessive number of requests on social media to salespeople, distribution of misinformation, negative eWOM, [ix] Use of social media by companies has a positive effect on sustainability, and [x] For successful digital transformation social media should change not only the way how companies integrate it into their marketing strategies but the way how companies deliver values to their customers and conduct their business. This research has a number of limitations. First, only publications from the Scopus database were included in literature analysis and synthesis. Second, this research did not use meta-analysis. To provide a broader picture of the research on social media in the B2B context and reconcile conflicting findings of the existing studies future research should conduct a meta-analysis (Ismagilova et al. 2020c ). It will advance knowledge of the social media domain.

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Dwivedi, Y.K., Ismagilova, E., Rana, N.P. et al. Social Media Adoption, Usage And Impact In Business-To-Business (B2B) Context: A State-Of-The-Art Literature Review. Inf Syst Front 25 , 971–993 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-021-10106-y

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