Case study: the strategic relevance of
Social Media for artists in the music
industry.
How can music artists strategically use social media in order to
differentiate their business model?
Nina van Diest
Master Business Administration
Management and entrepreneurship in the creative industries
University of Amsterdam (UvA)
Student Number: 11134402
Email: ninavandiest@hotmail.com
Supervisor: Matthijs Leendertse
Datum: 24/6/16
Statement of Originality
This document is written by Student Nina van Diest who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.
I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.
The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.
Abstract
By performing a thematic analysis based on a theoretical framework, this research examined how artists can strategically use social media in order to differentiate their business model Artists need to respond to recent shifts in competitive forces in the music industry to increase their competitive advantage and to create a durable strategic position. In order to examine the strategic use of social media for artists in order to differentiate their business model, this research examined the social media use of ten successful cases. This was executed by a thematic analyses concerning specific posts that were shared on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, based on a theoretical framework.
Exclusive offers seemed not to be the standard among artists. Exclusive offers were only used by Justin Bieber, where he included geographical boundaries in order to make the product exclusive to a particular audience. Unique posts were used by 4 out of the 10 cases, mostly by expressing a
preference for the presidential candidate Hilary Clinton. Rewards were used to emphasize the action that the artists stimulates. By promoting a specific product and adding a reward, the artists adds possible gain for the consumer and in this way emphasizes the stimulation for action. Recognition was significantly used on Twitter, where all of the posts were directed towards giving thanks. Beyonce and Selena Gomez inserted a tradition by uploading a photo and thanking fans after each night, and consequently were the cases that use recognition the most. Emotions were shown mostly by sharing funny photos, quotes or pictures that were categorized as being humorous. Clearly overlapping with the category of authenticity, emotions were shown with the intention to communicate humor, mostly in relation to pets or friends. Authenticity is among the highest used categories in the sharing activities of artists. Authenticity was shown by included friends, family or colleagues in a message or picture that show a sneak peak of the artists personal life. By allowing the consumer to gain information about their personal life, the artists is perceived to be more genuine and approachable.
Looking at the total number of posts, promotion was used most often. Therefore, artists use social media with the main intention of promoting products, performances or products of partners. Most of the artists did this by naming their new single, or updating their consumers about current activities. Co-creation was mostly used by explicitly telling the consumer to buy a certain product. This direct way of promotion was used only by promoting specific products tied to the artists such as albums, merchandise or music videos. The single vs. multi channel was used only on Twitter by referring to Instagram. This possibly could mean that Twitter lacks in design of photo sharing.
Although extensive research about affordance for the different platforms needs to be conducted, it is clear that Facebook is used most often for promotion purposes, where Instagram is preferred for privately related content and recognition is shared mostly on Twitter. The continuity of sharing behavior is in line among the different platforms. This means that artists prefer to integrate different platforms and use them in approximately the same pace. Beyonce significantly differed from the continuity trend by only sharing nine posts on Twitter in a time span of 4 years making her non-active on Twitter.
keywords: Music industry, musicians, artists, social media, strategic positioning, differentiation strategy, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
Preface
I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the people that have helped me in any way during this intensive and interesting period.
My gratitude towards Matthijs Leendertse who as my supervisor, helped and advised me throughout this project. His comforting abilities have supported me to experience the project in the most fruitful way, as well as his much appreciated comments and expertise which made the subject come to life. My mum, who cooked endless dinners, guided me through stressful situations and sought for
interesting articles and interviews that could help me in any way. Your efforts made the experience of this projects much more relaxed.
Leon, thank you for sometimes forcing me to take a break and have fun which is not a difficult task when you are around. Stijn, thank you for the interesting conversations that we had, your way of thinking inspires and enriches me. Last but not least I would like to thank my brother Tim, thank you for endlessly offering your help and reading trough my project for continuous improvements.
Nina van Diest 24/6/16 , Amsterdam.
Table of contents
1. Introduction
8
2. Literature review
10
2.1 Social media and the music industry 10
2.2 Online strategic positioning 11
2.2.1 Differentiation strategy 12
2.3 Business model canvas 12
2.4 Business model canvas on social media 13
2.4.1 Value propositions 13
2.4.1.1 Exclusivity and Uniqueness 14
2.4.1.2 Rewards and recognition 14
2.4.1.3 Emotions 15
2.4.1.4 Authenticity 15
2.4.1.5 Promotion 15
2.4.2 Consumer relationships 16
2.4.2.1 Co-promotion and co-creation 16
2.4.2.2 Engagement 16
2.4.3 Channels 17
2.4.3.1 Affordances 17
2.4.3.2 Continuity 18
2.4.3.3 Single vs. multi channel 18
2.5 Conceptual framework 18
3. Methodology
19
3.1 Research design 19
3.2 Social media platforms 20
3.3 Case selection 20 3.4 Operationalization 23 3.5 Data analysis 25
4. Results
25
4.1 Value propositions 25 4.1.1 Exclusiveness 25 4.1.2 Uniqueness 27 4.1.3 Rewards 28 4.1.4 Recognition 30 4.1.5 Emotions 324.1.6 Authenticity 33 4.1.7 Promotion 35 4.2 Customer relationships 37 4.2.1 Co-creation 37 4.2.2 Co-promotion 39 4.3 Channels 40 4.3.1 Affordances 40
4.3.2 Single vs. multi channel 41
5. Conclusion and discussion
42
5.1 Significant findings 42
5.2 Theoretical implication 44
5.3 Limitations and discussion 44
6. Bibliography
45
7. Appendixes
51
7.1 Appendix 1 - Business model canvas 51
7.2 Appendix 2 - Data case 1 - Justin Bieber 51
7.3 Appendix 3 - Data case 2 - Taylor Swift 57
7.4 Appendix 4 - Data case 3 - Rihanna 63
7.5 Appendix 5 - Data case 4 - Katy Perry 68
7.6 Appendix 6 - Data case 5 - Selena Gomez 74
7.7 Appendix 7 - Data case 6 - Shakira 79
7.8 Appendix 8 - Data case 7 - Beyonce 84
7.9 Appendix 9 - Data case 8 - Ariana Grande 89
7.10 Appendix 10 - Data case 9 - Lady Gaga 94
Figures
Figure 1 - Conceptual Framework
Figure 2 - Overview amount of followers per case
Figure 3 - Operationalization of value propositions criteria Figure 4 - Operationalization of customer relationships criteria Figure 5 - Operationalization of channels criteria
Figure 6 - Data set time span of content
Figure 7 - Data set shared content per category
Figure 8 - Exclusivity post by Justin Bieber on Twitter - post 25 Figure 9 - Exclusivity post by Justin Bieber on Facebook - post 25 Figure 10 - Uniqueness post by Katy Perry on Instagram - post 14 Figure 11 - Uniqueness post by Lady Gaga on Twitter - post 17 Figure 12 - Uniqueness post by Justin Bieber on Instagram - post 12 Figure 13 - Uniqueness post by Lady Gaga on Twitter - post 9 Figure 14 - Rewards post by Katy Perry on Instagram - post 14 Figure 15 - Rewards post by Katy Perry on Facebook - post 23 Figure 16 - Rewards post by Ariana Grande on Facebook - post 4 Figure 17 - Recognition post by Justin Bieber on Twitter - post 18 Figure 18 - Recognition post by Beyonce on Facebook - post 2 Figure 19 - Recognition post by Selena Gomez on Instagram - post 3 Figure 20 - Emotions post by Taylor Swift on Instagram - post 3 Figure 21 - Emotions post by Lady Gaga on Instagram - post 3
Figure 22 - Authenticity post shared by Justin Bieber on Instagram - post 18 Figure 23 - Authenticity post shared by Taylor Swift on Facebook - post 14 Figure 24 - Authenticity post shared by Lady Gaga on Instagram - post 12 Figure 25 - Authenticity post shared by Ariana Grande on Facebook - post 10 Figure 26 - Authenticity post shared by Ariana Grande on Twitter - post 15 Figure 27 - Promotion post shared by Rihanna on Facebook - post 3
Figure 28 - Promotion post shared by Justin Bieber on Instagram - post 13 & 24 Figure 29 - Promotion post shared by Shakira on Facebook - post 6
Figure 30 - Promotion post shared by Jennifer Lopez on Instagram - post 25 Figure 31 - Co-creation post shared by Rihanna on Facebook - post 5 Figure 32 - Co-creation post shared by Shakira on Facebook - post 5 Figure 33 - Co-creation post shared by Beyonce on Twitter - post 6 Figure 34 - Co-promotion post shared by Rihanna on Facebook - post 17 Figure 35 - Co-promotion post shared by Shakira on Facebook - post 22 Figure 36 - Data set for content categorized per platform
Figure 37 - Single vs. multi channel post shared by Justin Bieber - post 15 Figure 38 - Single vs. multi channel post shared by Lady Gaga - post 15
1. Introduction
Over the past decades, the rapid development of the internet has profoundly impacted every aspect of organizational and social activities. Many organizations have adjusted and adopted their strategy towards digitization to successfully gain market share and create operational efficiency. The music industry has been a front running concerning the pace of digitization and the impact that it has had. The digital revolution continues to have a strong effect on every stage from the creation to the promotion of music, and thereby influences the constraints of the whole industry. (Katz, 2010, p:169) Due to the digitization and the influences that it has, the role that musical artists have in their own control shifted and changed. Due to the opportunities and limitless reach of the internet, the
traditional legal model no longer stands as strong as it did when it was first enacted (Vasquez, 2014). The distribution of music became much more accessible and therefore music consumption increased as well as the variety of music that is available to the mass public (Langenkamp, 2014). Due to the digitization, consumers exert much more control and therefore successful artists feel a pressure or keeping up with the constantly changing trends and demands (Langenkamp, 2014). According to Reynolds (2014), this change increased the connection between artists and consumers which is traceable to the devotion of fans instead of the previous indication: registered sales (Reynolds, 2014). Since the production and distribution process of music can be performed by anyone, the success is measured at the end of the value chain, namely the consumers. An artists that consequently and precisely deals with their consumers, is likely to be picked over others and therefore more successful. With the digitalization several new mediums have been established which have interesting influences and new possibilities for interaction between content creations and recipients. While past media lifted music stars to heights where the consumers could not reach or interact with the artists, social media has positively affected the connectivity between artists and consumer. With increasing interaction among artists and fans, the artists influence and the continuous large role that consumers play, the strategy that artists exert towards their fans is according to Baym, (2012) key to their survival. Social media provide the means of accessibility that has never before been achievable (Marwick & Boyd, 2010). The direct real-time communication that artists choose to share and direct to their fans is more impactful than media such as gossip magazines because it perceivably comes straight from the
celebrity. Therefore, their success stems in large part form the audience connections, earned through wireless and effective social media efforts where the perceived personality of music artists is essential in the engagement process of consumers.
Social media comprise both the conduits and the content disseminated through interaction between individuals and organizations (Kietzman, 2011; Hermkens, 2012; McCarthy, 2009; Silvestre, 2011). However, it is overwhelmingly the product of consumers. Web 2.0 technologies transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). Social media is the product of internet based applications that build on the technological foundations of web 2.0.
Social media platforms are a qualitatively different type of product than text, pictures and videos. There is a shift from the individual to the collective, as social networks leverage the power of relationships and the collective wisdom of many. Social media comprises an array of channels through which interaction between individuals and entities, is facilitated and disseminated. Typically, social media are highly accessible and scalable (Brogan, 2010; Zerella, 2010). These social media support the
democratization of knowledge and information and transform individuals from mere content
consumers into content producers. Kaplan & Haenlein (2010;p61) describe social media as ‘a group of internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0, that allow the creation and exchange of use generated content. As Hanna et al, (2011) argued, the real power of the social media ecosystem is that ‘we are all connected.’
Previous academic research has mainly focused on the adaption towards the digitation in the music industry (Zhu et al., 2003; Tschmuck, 2012; Moreau & Francois, 2013), the concept of social media (Mangold et. al., 2009; Asur et. a., 2012: Hoffmann & Mare, 2010), and the differences and similarities of online and offline strategies (Stokes, 2015; Hollsensen, 2015).
Chen et. al., (2011) has examined on how online reviews evolve and the importance of them and in addition, Lin & Ly (2011) studied the behavior of students on social networking sites like Facebook. There are a relatively small number of academic studies on marketing and the digitation of the music industry. Vaquero and Cohn (2004) looked at the evolution of business models in the music industry, from traditional to renegade to new legitimate digital business models. They recommend that record labels need to have a more service orientated marketing and costumer relationship orientation. There are only a few academic research studies that look at the combination of social networks and the music industry. Julian (2012) investigated the opportunities social media holds to increase consumer loyalty, and Salo et al., (2013) researches consumer motives for using social media. This research investigates the perspective of the artists in their battle to differentiate themselves
‘’How can artists strategically use social media in order to differentiate their business model?’’
The research question will be examined based on the components: Value propositions, Customer relations and Channels as part of the Business model canvas by Osterwalder (2010). The following sub-research questions are formulated:• How can artists create value to their consumer on social media?
• How can artists improve the relationships with their customers on social media? • How can artists create value through innovating their channels?
2. Literature review
2.1 Social media and the music industry
Digitalization is a general term for the increased use and development of technologies, Social Media and its use is a consequence of digitalization. ‘’Social media platforms employ mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms via which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss and modify user-generated content’’ (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010;p61).
According to Hansen et al., (2011) social media technologies have engendered radically new ways of interacting. Harris (2009) notes that there are literally hundreds of different social media platforms and Anderson and Wolff (2010) highlight the importance of mobile devices for these platforms. According to Khan & Khan (2012) social media is the most cost effective and easy to use platform to
communicate and share information about brands, businesses, new products and services, events and anything else that goes through our minds (Khan & Khan, 2012). Social media consumes a major part of our time, and Mangold and Faulds (2009) argue that social media has a major influence on various aspects of consumer behavior (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).
This new media driven by user-generated content is starting to displace traditional media in terms of the way consumers learn about products and services, and even how they consume them. Along with the digitalization in the music industry, social media is increasingly used for sharing information about music albums and songs. Due to the digitalization and as a consequence the increased popularity and importance of social media, users are increasingly discovering music through social media and
consuming digital versions of songs and albums (Dewan & Ramaprasad, 2014; p104).
Zhu et al. (2003) studied the questioned importance of the role of record labels and the control that they exerted on the industry. The future of traditional business model have been studied by Erhart (2016:p5), where he looks into the integration of the internet into the sales of the industry and in particular freemium business models. The control that is exerted to the industry is questioned. Whereas previous research mainly focused on the negative impact of digitalization and how these developments were key in surviving, recent research investigates the advantages and opportunities that come along with these developments.
According to Reynolds (2014) technological advancements in the music industry have uprooted the traditional top-down business models and provided musicians with more power and control over their product and greater opportunity to achieve success. In addition, due to the nature of social media, artist have the capability to reach millions of people at the same time to promote their products with very low budgets (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2011: p254).
Dewan & Ramaprasad (2009) studied the causal relationship between blog buzz and music sales, especially focusing on word of mouth (WOM) that has a major influence on consumer purchase decisions in particularly in case of new products for which awareness needs to be created and product information must be distributed to the consumer side (Engel et. al., 1969; p5, Katz & Lazarsfeld 1955: Mahajan et. al., 1984; p1391). Especially in experience goods like music, WOM has been tagged as the most crucial element of long-term success where social media can be of great support at minimal cost (De Vany & Walls,1999: p291-296, Tirunillai).
With the rise of the social media era comes a new medium that has interesting effects for the star system and new possibilities for interaction between content creators and recipients. Social media has positively affected the connectivity between artist and listener (Shapero, 2015). A continuously increasing number of people can tweet at a music star through a single click on a mobile device, providing means of accessibility that has never before been achievable (Marwick & Boyd, 2011: p140).
2.2 Online strategic positioning
The traditional position of an artists in the music industry has been affected by technological developments and the opportunities of social media. The power dynamic among artists, record companies, retailers and customers has shifted, where customers are in lead (Elberse et al., 2009). According to Leyshon et al. (2005), the internet has changed the shape of the industry where the traditional business model no longer stands (Leyshon et al., 2005;p179).
Traditional strategies need to be reconsidered in order to gain a strategic position in this digitized industry. For example, the internet has lowered distribution costs, which entails a higher threat of entry and stronger competition (Porter, 2001). This threat and other shifts in competitive forces have consequences for the strategic position of artists in the music industry. According to Porter, (1996) companies need to adapt a deliberate strategy in order to deliver superior value to their customers. Strategic positioning is a process of defining and maintaining a distinctive place in a market relative to a companies competitor (Zineldin & Bedenlow, 2001). According to Hooley (2001), strategic positioning is an important long-term process that asks companies to develop an overall competitive advantage in a marketplace and to identify its place in the environment in relation to their competencies (Hooley, 2010). Creating a competitive advantage is in line with the competitive forces established by Porter (2001). Porter (2001) mentions that the strength of buyers, the strength of suppliers and the
emergence of substitute products in combination with the higher threat of entry and stronger rivalry among competitors can influence the strategic position of a company. Since digitization increase the threat of entry and increased competition, artists have the ability to utilize their strategic position through social media in order to differentiate themselves. The opportunities of social media make it possible to share an artists competencies and max communicate in order to deliver superior value and differentiate in relation to other artists.
A dynamic strategy is needed in order to defend themselves and maintain their market share (Karagiannopoulos et al., 2005;p72). According to the increase threat of entry (Porter, 2001) and therefore an increasingly competitive market, artists need to make sure that they elaborate better on new needs and find ways to serve existing needs. Porter (2001) claims that the companies need to be able to detach themselves from traditional strategies in order to sustain over new entrants that take that opportunity (Porter, 2001)
The internet tends to diminish the profitability of an industry by leveling business practices and reducing the ability to gain operational advantage. It is therefore that Porter (2001) argues that companies should build on proven principles that can be used and exploited on social media in order to differentiate. According to Hemley (2013) marketers should focus on objectives that explicitly recognize the value of operating in the social media environment. Most companies feel pressure to emphasize traditional objectives such as direct sales, direct cost reductions or increases in market share from social media. Ultimately, outcomes like these are the bottom line for any social media strategy. Cornelian (2011) states that social media ‘’create new ways of reaching and engaging with stakeholders.’’ he adds that the development of new media ‘’provides and organization with the opportunity to engage in conversations and to tell and elaborate its story or key message to stakeholders or the general public’’. Hemley (2013) defines online strategic positioning as the art of exposing what you known to be true about your customer and translating this into messages that seek to customers on a personal level. He adds by stating that companies should ‘’ share content through all online resources’’.
A company’s relative position within its industry matters for performance. Strategic positioning reflects choices a company makes about the kind of value it will create and how that value will be created differently than rivals.
According to Trout (1969) positioning is not what you do to a product, it is what you do in the mind of the prospect. Positioning is the technique in which marketers try to create an image or identity for a product, brand, or company in the perception of the target market. The most important factor about positioning is how buyers see the product which is expressed relative to the position of competitors. Trout adds to that by saying that a positioning strategy usually origins from a companies sustainable competitive advantage which might include product features, benefits or solutions.
2.2.1 Differentiation strategy
As Trout (1969) mentions the importance of the perceived image for a companies position.
Differentiation incorporates the communication of your unique attributes that set you apart from the competitors. As part of a differentiation strategy, these point of differences should be explicit in order to attract consumers. Differentiation is a way of seeking competitiveness on consumer markets where cost-based competition has been replaced by values or experiences (Cowen, 2000) and where product cycles are short. Differentiation is coming up with a product that satisfies similar consumer demands as incumbent products by almost full substitution (Burke 1996). Coming up with original, differentiated product in this way is what we see in for example the entertainment industries like film or games. Products with new stories, designs or functionalities replace older versions, before product cycles turn again and new differentiated films of games capture the demand (Lorenzen, 2007).
A well-designed differentiation strategy investigates the mind of the consumer, highly values the consumer relationships and aims to communicate the differences and competitive advantages to their consumers (Gillin, 2008).The most important aspect of the differentiation aspect is how a consumer views or sees your product, and for the company to be able to communicate the differences. The strategy is depending on the strategic consumer and defining the range of competitors (Voropajeva, 2012)
One of the often appearing issues of differentiation is when it is only a part of an organization. Some companies tend to sell wide range of products to many consumer segments at the channel. That brings difficulties when applying focus strategy for particular goods because other aspects may not fit with the target group’s preferences, perception and needs.
Normally a company does not differentiate only one product or service. More often differentiation consists of the combination of products and services. The uniqueness of the provided service or product can be derived from different activities, including product performance, marketing, technology, location and experienced employees (Grant, 2005; p287).
2.3 Business model canvas
Business models describe how companies can create, deliver and sustain value, which can be seen as the translation of strategic concepts (Ostwalder & Pigneur, 2010). Business modeling is a way to experiment and test your hypothesis for creating and capturing value. When managers consciously operate with deep understanding of how the entire business system works, they can make better decisions and gain critical feedback on whether or not the intended approach is working. According to Teece (2010;p191) a business model reflects management’s hypothesis about what customers want, how they want it and what they will pay and how an enterprise can organize to best meet customer needs and get paid well for doing so.
When a company decides its strategic position within a specific industry, and which form it will take in order to gain competitive advantage, it is important to concretize this in a business model.
According to Seddon and Lewis (2003) a firms strategy is the representation of a how to cope with the real competitive environment and a business model is a blueprint of how the firm works to fulfill customer needs. In other words, since a business model is an abstracted and simplified view of the firm’s strategy (Seddon & Lewis, 2003:p 35). Business models only represent the core logic for creating value and not the strategic implementation of it (Margretta, 2002; Seddon & Lewis, 2003;p11).
Osterwalder & Pigneur (2010) developed the business model canvas which can be, and is often used as a template for designing business models. On the basis of the nine building blocks, the business model canvas explains how a company is going to segment its market, create value propositions, use distribution channels, improve customer relationships, make money, deploy key resources, determine its key activities, collaborate with key partners and define its cost structure. The business model canvas as apposed to the traditional intricate business plan, helps organizations conduct structured, tangible and strategic conversations around new businesses or existing ones.
The segments of the business model that are applicable in this research concern the segments that create value for the customer. Therefore value propositions, customer relations, and channel segments are investigated. An overview of the business model can be found in appendix 1.
2.4 Business model canvas on social media
The important elements of the business model canvas (BMC) for artists as seen in relation to a differentiation strategy are value propositions, customer relationships and channels. These elements are chosen since they particularly address how artists can create value for the consumers through their social media use (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010).
The value creation towards consumers is vital in relation to their differentiation strategy, which makes these business model elements useful research units (Amitt & Zott, 2001). The potential value for a consumer relates to the element; value propositions. Value propositions cause the customers perceived value and is therefore the core of a differentiation strategy (Kaplan & Norton, 2004). Customer relationships, as Osterwalder & Pigneur mention: ‘’deeply influence the overall customer experience’’ (Osterwalder & PIgneur, 2004) and is therefore vital to the differentiation strategy. As mentioned earlier, differentiation strategy can only be successful once the consumer interpreted the differences indicated. Channels is the last element which investigates the web-based channels used for communication and therefore include the social media that function as a channel between artists and customer (Qualman, 2009). In addition, the channel element transfers the potential value to a
customer and is therefore at core of the communication process in the differentiation strategy (Drell, 2012).
2.4.1 Value propositions
Creating value for a (potential) customer is of vital importance for any business to achieve success. Adding value is essential for a successful strategy and is highly important for gaining competitive advantages (Amitt & Zott, 2001). It is therefore not surprising that value propositions is the center of the business model canvas. The value proposition is designed to serve customers. It describes what value the offering creates for the consumer and how this value satisfies the needs of the consumer (Johnson et. al., 2008). When implementing a value proposition it is necessary to have understanding of your customer and their specific needs (Anderson et. al., 2006). According to Porter and Kramer (2006) in order to deliver value to the (potential) customer, it is important that the value offered is perceived to be unique (Porter & Kramer, 2006).
2.4.1.1 Exclusivity and Uniqueness
Artists have the ability to deliberately choose a different set of activities to deliver a ‘unique mix of value’ (Porter, 1996:64). By choosing a unique mix of content that is shared through social media, their activities seem more distinct which is in line with the differentiation strategy that they aim to pursue. As Harvey (2001) argues, scarcity, exclusivity and uniqueness are the main ways through which value can be added for cultural producers (Harvey, 2001).
Exclusivity can be of assistance in attracting the attention of consumers, since they love to feel special (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Exclusivity includes the appeal of limited offerings. When the artists is able to deliberately attract quality clients with a more desirable outcome, instead of aiming to attract the mass market, it has a positive effect on the perceived presence of exclusivity. Exclusivity makes people curious and encourages them to act out of the fear of missing out(Pemberton, 2014). It makes people curious and taps into the principle of scarcity, which is introduced by Rober Cialdini’s key psychological triggers. Customer value what is short in supply and want something they cannot have (Pemberton, 2014). Restricted access is a big part of exclusivity. If everyone could access a particular service or product, owing it would lose a lot of its appeal. According to Pemberton (2014) there are several things to emphasize natural exclusivity in order to increase the appeal of consumers. The first option of exclusivity offering is limiting the number of clients who get a certain service or product. Publicly displaying how many spots remain gets people itching to buy the product or service even more because they do not want to miss out. The second option is to limit service or products only to clients who meet the requirements. Geographical restrictions fall under this category where the company can deliberately express the preference for a specific type or organ of consumer. Time limits include a special offer that only stands for a limit time. According to Pemberton (2014) the
appearance of exclusivity makes some services and products more exclusive by not promotion them as bluntly as other products or services. The perception of exclusivity in any case creates value for the consumer. They want to get something they cannot and therefore are attracted to exclusiveness and perceive it as an added value.
In order to deliver value to the consumer that has the aim to differentiate, the strategy of expressing something unique can be of great value. By being unique, one is often also different. According to Laja, (2015) uniqueness is the sum of expression why a consumer should buy from you and not from the competition, sometimes achieved through extraordinary communications. When something is offered that is out of the ordinary and gives rise to a debate and therefore is unique compared to the
competition, this can be seen as a value proposition(Laja, 2015). Although communicating uniqueness can include a risk of being to explicit or radical and therefore losing customers who disagree or do not want to identify themselves with the artists. Chen et. al. (2015) argues that when the consumers agree with the explicit opinion, or like the particular unique communications will exponentially
increase their loyalty. In addition, Hracs et. al. (2011) argues that the way consumers connect to artists and the products has the potential to inscribe meaning and ability to differentiate the consumers and therefore enhance the value of cultural products (Hracs et. al., 2011).
2.4.1.2 Rewards and recognition
One of the goals for artists to use social media is to establish a strong and tight relationship with their consumers to increase loyalty (Gillin, 2008). Kerne (2011) argues that recognition and rewarding consumers functions as a main tool for inspiring word-of-mouth and thereby building a relationship with the consumer. The consumer relationship start with the value proposition through which the consumer will highly value the social activities and therefore be more loyal (Faust et al., 2014). As Faust (2014) argues, a competitive market, brands must set themselves apart to build real relationships. It is about distilling smart customer-centric data to deliver a customer experience that not only rewards them, but will eventually transform them into brand ambassadors (Faust, 2014).
Ultimately, the power to influence loyalty comes from connecting the dots across a variety of data sources and interactions, where the focus is on social interactions. A logical step would be to
recognize and rewards customers in order to create value for them, make them feel special, which will benefit consumer relations.
When an artists consciously invests in offering rewards and recognition, in terms of replying to messages, personal responses or offering a price, this has great advantages for the artists (Buttle, 2009). When consumers are recognized or rewarded in the correct way, they become more involved with you (Gillin, 2008). Which means that the consumers are more strongly connected to the artists, show more loyalty and will therefore be more supportive (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).
2.4.1.3 Emotions
Consumers like to talk about subjects that are close at heart (GIllin, 2008). Emotional branding leverages consumer passion and can forge affective bonds between consumers and the artists (Thompson et. al., 2006; Roberts, 2004). When focusing on the consumer relationship and achieving the most fruitful relationships by offering the right value to the consumer, emotional connections can add to make the relationship more personal and powerful, by leveraging feelings of community (Atkin, 2004). As Adamson et.al., (2006) argues, all emotions shown towards consumers might have a positive effect on consumer relationship. However, two emotions; Empathy and humor are key in achieving an advantage concerning consumer relationships achieved through value offering (Adamson et. al., 2006). Although most people believe that the choices they make result from a rational analysis of alternatives. In reality, emotions greatly influence and according to Murray (2013) even determine our decisions. According to Tabaka (2015) the goals of empathy marketing is to establish an emotional connection with the brand and embed the message in the mind of the consumer. Neuroscientific studies show that humans are hard wired for empathy and consumer behavior is determined by the emotional stimuli that a marketing message delivers (Tabaka, 2015). Simpson (2015) argues that humor is a fine art. Where there is a thin line between comedy genius and cringe-inducement can be a dangerous one to tread. Levitt (2013) states that consumers like to be entertained and like to get a sense that the brand in questions seems like someone that they can approach easily (Levitt, 2013).
2.4.1.4 Authenticity
It is key for an artist to consider if online activities are in sync with their overall strategy and the values of their audience. What does a brand want to express, how to they express it and how it is perceived by the consumers (Faust & Householder, 2009). Genuine content sharing is highly connected with authenticity. If an artists is not perceived as being genuine, it does not differentiate themselves and not likely to be picked over competitors. In addition, Gillin (2008) argues that the artists’ communication need to be insightful, relevant or humorous in order to be deemed authentic.
Authenticity is an essential way for brands to attempt to not sound corporate in their marketing efforts, or at least stay true to their essence. According to Ambramovich (2013) the key point in being perceived as authentic is the mix between being professional and being personal (Ambramovich, 2013), thereby expressing oneself as being approachable, whereby the audience feels as if they could be friends with a relatively ‘normal’ person.
2.4.1.5 Promotion
Since social media incorporates mass communication in real-time, it is seen as a great tool for promotion. Although social media use ultimately directs to promotion through any activity, explicit promotion is also often used (Gillin, 2008). As mentioned above, the 21st century is witnessing an explosion of internet-based messages transmitted through these media. They have become a major factor in influencing various aspects of consumer behavior inducing awareness, information, acquisition,
opinions, attitudes, purchase behavior and post-purchase communication (Kotler & Keller, 2007). Due to the lack of extensive research about incorporating direct promotion into a social media strategy, Mangold & Faulds (2009) states that many managers lack a full appreciation for social media’s role in the brands promotional efforts. The aims of promotions are product awareness, persuade people to purchase the product or to remind people that the product exists (Kotler & Keller, 2007). Not surprisingly, social media is a great tool to express these promotion purposes. However, by over-promoting products, especially on social media, consumers loose the sense of sincerity and therefore might have a negative effect on consumer relations. It is therefore that Kotler & Keller (2007) advice to carefully analyze the risks of using (direct) promotion on social media. On the other side, social media is an easy tool to use for promotion by having the advantages of mass communication at low cost. It is therefore not surprising that a lot of brands use direct communication in their social media strategy. As Thackeray et. al. (2008) states it is crucial to find an ideal mix specialized towards a specific target audience in order to optimize consumer relations in combination with promotion without losing sight of consumer perception (Thackeray et. al., 2008).
2.4.2 Consumer relationships
Consumer relationships are core of any success for a brand. The building block of the business model canvas (BMC) describe the way the customers are connected to a brand. The aim of this relationship is to sell more products or services by improving customer loyalty and finding and introducing new costumers. According to Osterwalder & Pigneur (2010;p28) customers relationships are defined as the ‘types of relationships a company establishes with specific costumers segments ‘ (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010;28).
2.4.2.1 Co-promotion and co-creation
Through the usage of co-creation, artists go beyond standard customer relationships (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2009) and get closer to their audience, giving them a feeling of being a part of the brand which makes them feel and act as they are more involved. Logically, a higher consumer involvement has a positive effect on consumer loyalty, and therefore advantages for the artist (Buttle, 2009). Co-creation is a management initiative, or form of economic strategy, that brings different parties together in order to jointly produce a mutually called outcome (Ramawamy, 2000). In 2000, Prahalad and Ramawamy introduced four building blocks that are required in order to introduce co-creation. Dialogue, access, risk and transparency define the interaction between customer, allowing the customer to access the data, monitoring the risk between customer and firm and the accessibility of information among the businesses (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2000). One of the issues why co-creation has grown in popularity as suggested by O’hern & Rindfleish (2010) is the customer empowerment. Meaning that consumers are seeking a more active role beyond consumption and therefore are involved with active involvement besides their buying behavior.
Co-promotion s the marketing practice that allows two or more companies to combine their forces to promote a product (Kalb, 1988). Through co-promotion, a collaborative strategy, the consumer attraction is increased and due to the opportunities of the Internet, consumers are often seen as the co-party to create co-promotion with (Carter. 2007). Co-promotion is seen as a non-competitive strategy which has an impact on a relative short period in time (Scott, 2008). Where co-creation focusses more on the stimulation of action, co-promotion highlights the interaction between parties (Scott, 2008).
2.4.2.2 Engagement
Engaging with the consumer helps to stand out in the music industry (Vaccaro & Cohn, 2004). They stress that engagement can be implemented through customization and customer relationship management. One way to respond to ‘the demand of uniqueness’ (Hracs et. al., 2011;p11) is to
customize the offer on social media through personalized messages and answers. Hracs et. al., (2011) argues that engagement is traceable to the devotion of customers, where engagement can be stimulated mainly by recognizing the importance of the consumer.
Engagement on social media translates into the stimulation of activeness. As mentioned before, engagement relates to co-creation and co-promotion since the advantages of two-way
communication are activated, the messages directed towards fans without calling to action or direct promotion add value as well. As Wells (2014) argues, engagement is all about communication well enough that the audience pays attention. Besides including co-promotion and co-creation into social media posts, the attention of consumers which increases engagement can be traced by looking at naming consumers in general, since they are directly spoken to and therefore activated (Wells, 2014). 2.4.3 Channels
The channel element of the business model canvas investigates the role that channels play in a
business to reach the brands target audience (Osterwalder & Pigneur). Osterwalder & Pigneur define the Channel element as; ‘ how a company communicates with and reaches its customer segment to deliver a value proposition (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010;p26). In this segment, the way of
communication, sales strategy and distribution must be adjusted to create a good customer awareness about the proposed value (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010).
2.4.3.1 Affordances
In Gibson’s (1986) formulation, people do not interact with an object prior to or without perceiving what the object is good for (Gibson, 1986). As he suggests, the physical features of an object exist apart from the people who use them, but those features are infused with meaning ‘’relative to the posture and behavior of the ‘thing’ being considered’’ (Gibson, 1986;p127-128)
Scholars who study the relationship between new technologies and social practices have found great utility in the affordance concept because it helps to explain why people using the same technology may engage in similar or disparate communication and work practices. Since Gibson’s formulation of the notion of affordance, some scholars have used the concept to explore the ways in which new technologies can be better designed (Gaver, 1991), while other have used it to explore the dynamics of technologically occasioned social change (Orlikowski & Barley, 2001; Zamutto et. al., 2007).
Affordances are not exclusively properties of people or of artifacts, they are constituted in relationships between people and the materiality of the things with which they come in contact. Barley (2008) and Leonardi (2011) argued that the affordances of one technology are often the same or similar across diverse organizations because the material features of the technology place limits on the kinds of interpretations people can form of it and the uses to which it can be put.
Focusing on affordances that arise as individuals begin to use features of a new technology helps explain consistency of effects within and across organizations while avoiding deterministic images of technologically induced organizational change. Treem & Leonardi (2012) argue that definition social media by describing what kinds of behaviors they typically afford across various channels is one way to indicate their particularities and features and focus on the communicative outcomes. Moreover,
defining social media by enumerating its affordances may allow for a nuanced understanding of when, why and how social media platforms are used in practice. Treem & Leonardi (2012) argues that in combination; visibility, persistence, edibility, and association are four affordances that help to characterize what is new and consequential about a specific social media platform used for communication processes.
2.4.3.2 Continuity
Social media usage has content sharing at its core where approachability is one of the main advantage for artists. Tyler & Kent (1998) studied how organizations build relationships through the internet with two-way dialogic communication channels. They argue that frequently updates and the generation of new content to engage consumers, and encourage them to return (Tyler & Kent, 1998). Hallahna (2008) review the study of Tyler & Kent (1998) and noted that continuity of content illustrates how willing a particular brand is to invest resources in building relationships and making an effort to communicate. By showing effort, consumers show higher engagement and commitment to a brand (Hallahna, 2008). The term social often implies that exchanges between people are crucial. In many cases however, sociality is about the objects that mediate these ties between people (Engestrom, 2005); the reasons why they meet online and associate with each other. Continuity refers to the perceived presence of a brand in eyes of the consumer.
Social media marketers face the dilemma of finding the perfect balance between connecting with followers without driving them away with too much content. Bakers (2011) studied three months worth of Facebook content from major brands and found that top brands share an average of one post per day. He argued that posting once per week would cause consumers to lose connection, whereas twice a day was crossing the line in terms of being perceived as annoying (Bakers, 2011). Additional research by Track Social in 2012 argued that there is indeed a drop in response per post beyond the one-post-per-day mark and suggested that five till 10 posts per week is optimal.
On Twitter the engagement decreases after the third tweet, which means that Bakers (2011) argued that three tweets per day is optimal in terms of consumer engagement (Baker, 2011).
2.4.3.3 Single vs. multi channel
Choosing the right platform for any given purpose depends on the target group to be reached and the message that is intended to be communicated. According to Kaplan & Heinlein (2010) it is vital to ensure that the social media activities of brands are aligned with each other. Using different contact channels can be a worthwhile and effective strategy, but one goal of communication is the resolution of ambiguity and reduction of uncertainty. Meaning that nothing is more confusing for the consumer than contradicting messages across different channels (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The use of different social media platforms is an important aspect concerning a social media strategy. There are only a few studies that incorporate the overlapping content on multi channel use, as well as the use re-directing towards another platform.
2.5 Conceptual framework
This research posits social media as a platform for two-way communication between artists and consumers. The digitization in the music industry lowered the barriers of entry, which resulted in an increased variety and quantity in the music industry. As the conceptual model illustrates, the central elements of the business model canvas are used in order to examine best practices concerning social media use among successful artists.
As illustrated in the literature review, social media offers a lot of opportunities for artists, where high online recognition and optimal engagement among consumers is vital for achieving success. To be able to reach high engagement among consumers, artists must capture, create and deliver value. To be able for artists to successfully differentiate themselves on social media, the social media usage must focus on how the consumer perceives the activities. The artists social media usage is investigated by including the building blocks; value propositions, customer relations and channels of the business model canvas by Osterwalder & PIgneur (2010). These building blocks are focused on the consumer and therefore vital in this research.
Figure 1 - Conceptual model
3. Methodology
This research investigates how artists can strategically use social media in order to differentiate their business model. The three building blocks; value propositions, customer relations and channels of the business model canvas by Osterwalder & Pigneur (2010) are used to investigate the value for consumers.
3.1 Research design
Qualitative research enables a rich and balanced overview that can provide profound insights in how artist can differentiate on social media (Berg, 2004). This research takes a qualitative approach because this allows a focus on multiple subjective realties rather than one objective truth (Lee & Al
Hawamdeh, 2002). In addition, a qualitative approach is more flexible and open to finding new elements that can strengthen the strategic use of social media by artists which can provide more insights which can contribute to existing literature (Bryman, 2012).
This research is based on a thematic analysis based on the theoretical framework in combination with multiple comparative case studies. Coding is done based on theoretical constructs. A multiple case study approach allows the analysis of best practices, without losing sight of the context in which their
social media usage takes place (Baxter & Jack, 2008). Thematic analysis is considered the most
appropriate for any study that seeks to discover using interpretations. It provides a systematic element to data analysis. It allows the researcher to associate an analysis of the frequency and exact usage of a particular theme. Thematic analysis gives an opportunity to understand the potential of any issue more widely (Marks & Yardley, 2004).
The analysis aims to find differentiation patterns in the artists’ social media usage. Meaning that reoccurring themes are used in a certain way to incorporate differentiation. This analysis is both inductive and deductive. Specific case observation linked to broader patterns and reoccurring techniques while related to patterns are used in the case to exemplify the practice. Evidence and observations from the cases are presented to clarify the analysis patterns and be transparent. The two main techniques that are used in this research are replication and pattern matching. Replication observes a case for a particular pattern and then compares that pattern to other cases (Yin, 1994). When similar patters are found in multiple cases or predicable reasons for the lack of patters, replication is achieved. Pattern-matching is used in the data analysis and conclusion linking the case findings to the literature to see whether the patterns match (Yin, 1994). The case patterns are observed using the elements of the business model canvas explained in the literature review. The main sources of data is the content shard on social media. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are observed by looking at the last 25 posts per case per platform. Both pattern-matching and replication (Yin, 1994) help to confirm the validity of the research.
3.2 Social media platforms
The platforms that are selected for this research are; Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. These three platforms are widely known and very popular. Twitter is originally a micro-blogging platform, Facebook a networking platform and Instagram a picture-sharing platform. However, due to the rapid
technological advancements all kinds of content can be shared on all three of the platforms. Instagram is slightly different by having the need of including a picture in the users posts. Youtube is also popular and a widely used social media platform, but excluded in this research based on the fact that the platform contains only video content, which is more difficult to interpreted and therefore categorize. Snapchat is a rapidly growing and very popular social media platform, but due to the restrictions of a one-time view only, and the difficulties of retrieving the content that is shared this platform is
excluded. The advantages of including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, is that they explicitly indicate a validation of a specific profile. This means that the artists’ profile is verified and therefore a bias of including content that is not shared by the artists is excluded.
3.3 Case selection
The case selection is based on best practices. Meaning that highly recognized artists on social media are analyzed. The social media usage of the ten cases illustrated below contain rich information. The selection of the cases depends on the amount of information the cases bear and to what extent the cases are indicative in order to answer the research questions (Eisenhardt, 1989). Ten cases are selected, which exceeds the number of cases advised by Eisenhardt (1989). However, this number is expected to replicate or extend the emergent theory and in addition, keeps the spectrum broad enough to ensure that different usages of social media are included without having to limit the depth of analysis per case. The ten cases are selected based on their recognition online, which is measured by looking at the number of followers that the artists hold on a particular social media platform. Since this research analysis highly recognized artist online that can function as best practices for other artists, the success of their content sharing activities need to be measured on that basis of they popularity. Several lists appear online where the number of followers serve as an indicator of highly
recognized artists on social media platforms. The key in selecting these cases is that they have to be highly recognized by consumers, to be able to include them as best practices.
Therefore, the cases are scored based on their number of followers on three social media platforms, as seen in figure 2. The limitations for each case to be able to be included are as follows:
a) Having a certified account on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. b) Minimum of 25 million likes on the artist’s Facebook page.
c) Minimum of 15 million followers on the artists Instagram account. d) Minimum of 14 million followers on the artists Twitter account. e) Selling music to an international market.
f) Using the English language to communicate through their accounts. g) Having at least 1 post on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Figure 2 - Overview amount of followers per case
Case 1- Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber is a Canadian pop-star who was discovered via YouTube. His debut album, My World went platinum. Within months after sharing his singing video’s on YouTube, Justin was an internet sensation. He holds the record for creating the most powerful viral message ever recorded, and is argued to be the first artists to make it big after being discovered on social media. As Green
(2015;p34) argues, Justin Bieber owed his career to social media and the entertainer remains active on a variety of online networking sites, using social media to connect to his global fans. His music video baby became the most-viewed video on youTube by the summer of 2010.
Case 2 - Taylor Swift
Taylor swift is a ten-time Grammy winner, the youngest recipient in history of the music industry’s highest honor, the Grammy awards for Album of the year and she is the only female in the history of the grammy’s to win album of the year, twice. Her large scale charitable contributions are one thing, but it’s in the small gestures, the notes of compassion she post on the Instagram are an example. She is awkwardly honest and powerfully empathetic.
Case 3 - Rihanna
Case selection overview Retrieved on 9/5/16
likes on Facebook Followers on Twitter Followers on Instagram Presence on all 3 platforms Justin Bieber 77,0 million 81,3 million 67,5 million Yes Taylor Swift 74,8 million 77,0 million 76,6 million Yes Rihanna 82,0 million 60,5 million 38,2 million Yes Katy Perry 71,6 million 88.,4 million 47,4 million Yes Selena Gomez 60,4 million 43.,4 million 78,3 million Yes Shakira 104,5 million 30.,0 million 19,2 million Yes Beyonce 64,5 million 14,4 million 70,3 million Yes Ariana grande 29,7 million 38.,6 million 71,3 million Yes Lady Gaga 6,7 million 59,0 million 16,6 million Yes Jennifer Lopez 45,5 million 35,5 million 43,8 million Yes
Rihanna is a Barbadian recording artist, actress and fashion designer. She started her music career in 2009. She has released seven studio albums and three dvd’s. Additionally, Rihanna has become a dominating figure on social media and internet streaming, ranking number one on Forbers’ 2012 list of Social celebrities. Until 2013, she had the most liked Facebook page, with over 72 million followers. Case 4 - Katy Perry
Pop music singing sensation Katy Perry has become known for her over-the-top fashions, quirky stage props and catchy songs like: ‘I kissed a girl’’. In February 2015 she was the most followed user on Twitter, making her even more popular than the President of the United States. Besides playing the main act in the widely known Super Bowl half time show, she is widely known for her girly outfits and catchy songs.
Case 5 - Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez may have started her career as an actress starring in a Disney Channel series at the age of 15, but she soon showed that her musical talents were perhaps even stronger as the pilled up hit singles and chart topping albums. The vanity fair magazine argued that Gomez’s limited posting, non-flashy content, loyal fans she’s engaged since childhood were all behind her follower count. Case 6 - Shakira
Shakira is the most successful singer of Latin-America, winning 2 Grammy’s and 7 Latin Grammy awards. The trendsetter is known for calling to action to her fans. Here big fan base that recently increased at an impressive rate. Shakira is among the artists that used social media in a successful way, gaining new fans at an amazing rate.
Case 7 - Beyonce
Beyonce Knowles is a multi-platinum, Grammy award winning recording artists who’s acclaimed for her thrilling vocals, video’s and live shows. Last year, her 5th solo studio album unexpectedly resealed the morning of December 13th without any prior promotion. Beyonce decided not to follow the typical industry’s marketing plan of slowly reselling singes. Instead, she posted a 10 seconds video of her album on Instagram with the caption: ‘Surprise!’
Case 8 - Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande is an American singer and actress. She began her career in the Broadway musical 13. Her music career began with the soundtrack music from victorious. In less than 3 years Ariana Grande has established herself as a pop queen, where many refer to her as the ‘new’ Mariah Carey.
Case 9 - Lady Gaga
Lady gaga is known for doing a lot of weird things, she wore a dress made out of meat, showed up at an award show inside an egg and sport horns on her face and shoulders. However, she also has been the first person to top 10 million fans on Facebook and Twitter. Unlike many record labels and artists, Lady Gaga has embraced the digital revolution. Lady Gaga is known for her constant interaction with and appreciation for her ‘’little monsters’’, crude language and exciting updates about album, single and video releases.
Case 10 - Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez, also known as J.Lo is an American actress and musician who began appearing in films in the late 1980’s and quickly became on of the hugest-paid South American actresses in the history of Hollywood. She later found crossover success in the music industry with a series of pop albums. She recently released her new single and video ‘’I ain’t your mama’’, The popularity of the multi-talented Lopez reached new heights in early 20011, when her album debuted at number 1 on the pop charts.
3.4 Operationalization
The cases that are illustrated in the case selection section will be analyzed based on the business model elements that are constructed in the literature review. The operationalization tables that have been stablished is a starting point in order to categorized the posts shared by the cases, which enables the comparison of the cases on the same level. This section will illustrate how the business model elements are operationalized. This system of action incorporates the social media activities and precise posts of successful artists. To incorporate consistency concerning the analyzation on each case, the exact content of each case on each platform was retrieved on 30/5/16, in GMT +2. The exact content overview can be found in the appendix, together with the general perception of the case as well as the categorization table. The post labelled as number one is the most recent post. If the content consists of a video, the general perception is taken into account in combination with the caption that might be given to the post.
Figure 3 - Operationalization of Value propositions criteria.
Value propositions
Exclusiveness Measured by whether the artists offers any kind of experience and/or product exclusive to a particular audience. Is the audience re-directed towards an action that offers exclusive deals (Laure & Gadatsch, 2010).
Uniqueness Measured by the level to which the content holds a unique touch. Meaning that the content includes a particular topic/photo that gives food for discussion,
disagreement or argument, a political statement or sharing an explicit opinion about a (social) matter (Lynn & Snyder, 2002).
Rewards Measured by the presence of contests and whether there is a prime or reward to gain by the consumer.
Regognition Measured by whether the artists’ shared content mentions the (group of or
individual) fans. (Hvass & Munar, 2010). The word fans does not necessarily need to be used, but the posts must be directed towards the audience.
Emotions Measured by the presence of either empathy or humor. When the content communications go beyond basic artist information to a broader context of fun or problems. Which is measured by looking at content showing the artist cares about a problem (Issa, 2011) or supports a charity/good cause. Humor is measured by looking at jokes, cartoons, comedy or funny quotes or videos. (Martin, 2003).
Authenticity ratio Measured by the ratio between non-business and business purpose content. It is stated that when an artists shares content which is non-business relation the artists is perceived to be more authentic (Crofts, 2005), and likable. Authentic ratio measures the mix between work vs private related content that is shared by the artist.
Authenticity Content Measured by whether the artists shows that they are approachable, as if they
could be a good friend and showing that they are ‘normal’. This includes naming/ showing,congratulating a colleague or another (famous) individual, family or friends, or content that has no purpose but is just a genuine post such as updating a profile picture.
Promotion Measured by whether the artist uses the social media platform for communication with the intention of promotion towards fans. Does the artist promote their work on the social media platform including the posts that not explicitly mention a particular product/service but only create awareness, such as sharing a photo of the artist being on stage without any additional message, or explicitly promoting a new product or service. The posts that inform, create awareness and directly promote are included.
Figure 4 - Operationalization of Customer relationships criteria.
Figure 5 - Operationalization of Channels criteria.
Figure 6 - Data set time span of content
Customer relationships
Co-Creation Measured by looking at the stimulation of consumer action. (Cargo & Lusch, 2004), calling to action and involving the consumer, stimulating the consumer to perform a particular action. Involves all direct stimulation of action.
Co-Promotion Measured by whether the artists involves the consumer without directly stimulating to buy. Involving the consumer relates to the stimulation of interaction. Measured by whether the artist asks a consumer for a particular response. (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010)Measured by whether stimulation of interaction is included.
Engagement Measured by categorizing the ratio between non-fan related posts and fan-related posts. Engagement measures the overall ratio of the specific posts described in the value proposition category recognition.
Channels
Affordances Analyzed by the use of the ratio’s in category authenticity, engagement and continuity. Measured by comparing the use of different platforms in combination with the different categories used.
Continuitiy Measured by the average time span of particular content sharing activities and the number of posts. This is measured by looking at the time span of the 25 posts shared. Indicated in figure 6.
Single vs Multi channel Measured by whether the different social media platforms are integrated or linked.This is measured by looking whether the the shared content refers to another platform.
Time span of content Retrieved on 30/5/16
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Justin Bieber 1/5/16 (30 days) 18/5/16 (13 days) 1 week (7 days) Taylor Swift 30/3/16 (62 days) 4/4/16 (57 days) 6 weeks (42 days) Rihanna 4/5/16 (27 days) 31/3/16 (61 days) 3 weeks (21 days) Katy Perry 18/11/15 (195 days) 25/4/16 (36 days) 19 weeks (133 days) Selena Gomez 28/4/16 (33 days) 11/4/16 (52 days) 3 weeks (21 days) Shakira 11/4/16 (49 days) 22/5/16 (9 days) 9 weeks (63 days) Beyonce 21/4/16 (40 days) 5/4/12 (1246) 8 weeks (56 days) Ariana grande 12/5/16 (26 days) 24/5/16 (7 days) 1 week (7 days) Lady Gaga 6/5/16 (32 days) 5/5/16 (26 days) 2 weeks (14 days) Jennifer Lopez 16/5/16 (22 days) 27/5/16 (4 days) 3 weeks (21 days)
