University of Sussex
Browse
Qiu, Jingqi.pdf (2.67 MB)

The role of social media in driving FLE performance and customer relationship: an internal marketing perspective

Download (2.67 MB)
thesis
posted on 2023-06-10, 05:34 authored by Jingqi Qiu
The Internal Marketing (IM) discourse has long remain fragmented and is at the verge of becoming further outdated. This is due to the lack of relevance of IM work to recent technological advancements and its use in firm interactions internally (with employees) and externally (with customers). This thesis aims to review the current state of IM discourse as well as explore its value in relation to the use of social media in the workplace. Through the theoretical lens of IM this thesis explores how organisations can effectively manage frontline employees’ (FLEs) use of social media in their communications, and attempts to build relationships, with customers. Furthermore, it aims to show how FLEs social media use, both externally with their customers and simultaneously internally with their colleagues, impacts FLEs performance. This thesis addresses these issues using a three-paper approach. Paper 1 delivers a systematic review of the IM discourse, by analysing 349 published articles, concluding that IM has entered a period of ennui due to the limitations of existing theoretical lenses. It also develops an integrated framework of six IM dimensions and advances a research agenda in light of recent theoretical and market developments. Papers 2 and 3 investigate two of these emerging avenues for future research (i.e. the role of technology-mediated communication and leadership in organisations’ IM capabilities). For papers 2 and 3, empirical evidence was collected from 388 paired responses (i.e., employee self-reported and supervisor-rated surveys) through a survey-based approach within financial service firms in a Chinese context. Paper 2 investigates the role of leadership, in the form of supervisors, in employees’ social media communications and their effect on sales performance. FLEs’ adoption of social media is driven their supervisor’s social media capabilities, enhanced by supervisor enabled empowerment and supervisor-FLE relationships. Paper 2 demonstrates whilst social media communication is effective in increasing sales performance it may also have a dark side leading to employee information overload. Paper 2 updates the underpinning mechanism of IM effects through applying Media Synchronicity Theory showing the effects are contingent on the communication modes of social media (synchronous or asynchronous). Paper 3 investigates the consequences of employees’ social media relationship-building efforts with both their customers and their co-workers. Applying Social Capital Theory as the explanatory mechanism, the results show that through both employee-customer and employee-colleague social media interactions, FLEs directly and indirectly acquire customer needs; enhance both organisational identification and customer identification, leading to greater customer service performance. Furthermore, customer, and not organisational, identification encourages FLEs to break organisational rules for the benefit of customers. This thesis makes some important theoretical contributions. First, this thesis updates IM theory by suggesting the investigation of internal marketing through new theoretical lenses (i.e., Media Synchronicity Theory, Social Capital Theory). Second, social media is demonstrated as a technological tool of IM communication and relationship-building both externally with customers and internally with colleagues. Third, this thesis empirically confirms two new theoretical mechanisms through which social media enhances employee sales and customer service performance but also acknowledges limitations such as information overload and customer deviance that can occur. Fourth, it expands Media Synchronicity Theory by showing that its interplay between different social media communication modes, and in-person communication that affect outcomes. Finally, it contributes to Social Capital Theory by demonstrating the distinct effect of internal and external social capital in one theoretical framework presented in Paper 3.

History

File Version

  • Published version

Pages

267.0

Department affiliated with

  • Management Theses

Qualification level

  • doctoral

Qualification name

  • phd

Language

  • eng

Institution

University of Sussex

Full text available

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2022-12-08

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Theses)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC