Graduation Year

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Granting Department

Mass Communications

Major Professor

Kelly P. Werder

Keywords

culture, dialogic loop, Facebook, Forbes, global, relationship management

Abstract

Because of technological advances and the blurring of boundaries, the world is becoming a global community. Global communications have made it essential for multinational corporations to develop and maintain a consistent worldwide identity and brand image. It is no longer possible to classify people into simple and stable segments of customers; the world is evolving and so is the population. The purpose of this research is to bridge the gap between the academic and professional world of international public relations by expanding the stream of literature and incorporating a global aspect. Within the last few years, social media has seen a dramatic increase of users around the world. Companies realize the importance of becoming a part of this generational trend, yet they do not understand the reasoning behind it, and, thus, do not develop a strategy for using social media to build relationships. Using content analysis, this study expanded on the stream of relationship management theory and social media literature by adding a global element. Results suggest that global companies are beginning to utilize the dialogic principles of information dissemination, disclosure, and interactivity/involvement. Additionally, strategizing Facebook post messages to have a customer focus (i.e., asking questions, posting multimedia, providing company information) will yield greater feedback and interaction.

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