Management: Genuine, fake or does it matter? Exploring engagement behaviour for self-presentation
Published: 17 January 2022
9 February. Dr Matthew Alexander, University of Strathclyde
Dr Matthew Alexander, University of Strathclyde
'Genuine, fake or does it matter? Exploring engagement behaviour for self-presentation'
Wednesday 9 February, 1pm - 2.15pm
Zoom online seminar
Abstract
Customer engagement (CE) research is enjoying rapid growth in the business domain. CE is evolving from an extension of loyalty to a complex networked phenomenon underpinning customer/brand relationship, influencing how firms execute their marketing strategy and affecting the way value is co-created in service ecosystems. However, although engagement is viewed as a key marketing concept, research addressing its outcomes has produced mixed results. Existing research is based on two key assumptions. Firstly, engagement emerges from pre-existing relationships between customers and brands; secondly, engagement is associated with a genuinely held disposition towards a focal object manifesting in voluntary contributions broadly seen as beneficial. We explore engagement in social media, a key context associated with networks, connectedness, ubiquity and ability to influence a range of actors. However, literature on social media indicates a prevalence of activity motivated by a desire for self-presentation as opposed to more genuine motivations. Crucially a need to present the self in a certain way may result in content lacking veracity or, to a greater or lesser extent, faked. Adopting a ‘theories-in-use’ perspective our paper explores the role of self-presentation in motivating engagement behaviour.
Through a series of focused conversations with social media users focused on Facebook profiles we identify three alternative forms of engagement with differing levels of disposition and relationship with the focal object. In addition, we identify four drivers of engagement for self-presentation which diverge from existing literature. We followed this up with interviews with managers to further inform the results. Here we discover that, for organisations, our results trigger responses around brand awareness, trust and control. Our research has significant implications for engagement researchers who may fall into a trap of assuming that all engagement is genuine and offer two main contributions. Firstly, we question the approaches used to measure engagement, specifically the failure to account for engagement dispositions. Secondly, we critique the predominant view that places engagement within predictable purchase relationships.
Biography
Dr Matthew Alexander is a Reader in the Department of Marketing at the University of Strathclyde where he has been based since 2009. His research interests are focused on the opportunities and challenges associated with an increasingly knowledgeable and proactive customer base. A key focus is research on engagement, a concept which captures the blurring of boundaries between firms and customers, aggregating the multiple ways customer behaviours beyond transactions influence firms and shape markets. Matthew's research is award winning and includes one of the most cited papers in Marketing in recent years. He has published widely in a range of Marketing, Service and Tourism journals including Journal of Service Research, Journal of Business Research, Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management, European Journal of Marketing and Journal of Service Management.
Matthew's research has a strong practical focus, exemplified in projects with ScotRail and work on Ancestral Tourism in Scotland. Current projects include exploring the role of engagement in food waste reduction and community rewilding initiatives. He is currently acting as Associate Dean of Postgraduate Research at the University of Strathclyde leading and enhancing postgraduate research programmes within Strathclyde Business School, building upon their reputation as an international centre of excellence for postgraduate research, while also supporting an expansion of postgraduate provision across the School. He is also chair of the SERVSIG2022 conference which will take place at Strathclyde from 16-18 June 2022
For further information please contact business-events@glasgow.ac.uk
First published: 17 January 2022
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