Share:


Small local banks in social media: converting social responsibility into consumer attention and economic outcomes

    Łukasz Kozłowski Affiliation
    ; Iwa Kuchciak   Affiliation

Abstract

This study investigates the thematic content of Facebook disclosures from small local banks (SLBs) in Poland, their impact on Facebook users’ attention, and the economic repercussions for SLBs’ growth and performance. Based on the specificity of SLBs and existing empirical evidence, it hypothesizes that disclosures on socially responsible issues increase customer attention and can be converted into economic outcomes. To verify the posed hypotheses, several data sources are employed, including a hand-collected dataset describing the specificity of Facebook activities from SLBs in Poland between 2010 and 2017, and a stepwise research strategy is implemented. First, models of SLBs’ Facebook disclosures are distinguished. Second, the kinds of social media activities that ensure SLBs’ popularity among Facebook users are determined. Third, the thematic content of SLBs’ Facebook disclosures is related to their growth or performance indicators. The collected evidence shows that SLBs, as expected, can garner attention if they concentrate their social media activities mainly on socially responsible or local issues. Moreover, socially responsible activities and economic outcomes are generally not opposed, but only a careful selection of specific social disclosures can effectively exploit social media to the economic advantage of SLBs.

Keyword : local banks, cooperative banks, social media, Facebook, corporate social responsibility, CSR, customer interest

How to Cite
Kozłowski, Łukasz, & Kuchciak, I. (2021). Small local banks in social media: converting social responsibility into consumer attention and economic outcomes. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 22(4), 958-987. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2021.14721
Published in Issue
Jun 18, 2021
Abstract Views
1314
PDF Downloads
870
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Adjei, M. T., Noble, S. M., & Noble, C. H. (2010). The influence of C2C communications in online brand communities on customer purchase behavior. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38, 634–653. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-009-0178-5

Ailawadi, K. L., Neslin, S. A., Luan, Y. J., & Taylor, G. A. (2014). Does retailer CSR enhance behavioral loyalty? A case for benefit segmentation. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 31(2), 156–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2013.09.003

Al Mubarak, Z., Hamed, A. B., & Al Mubarak, M. (2018). Impact of corporate social responsibility on bank’s corporate image. Social Responsibility Journal, 15(5), 710–722. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-01-2018-0015

Anderson, J. C., & Frankle, A. W. (1980). Voluntary social reporting: An iso-beta portfolio analysis. Accounting Review, 55, 467–479.

Appel, G., Grewal, L., Hadi, R., & Stephen, A. T. (2020). The future of social media in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48, 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-019-00695-1

Blundell, R.W., & Bond, S. R. (1998). Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models. Journal of Econometrics, 87(1), 115–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(98)00009-8

Bolton, B. J. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and bank performance. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2277912

Bolton, R. N. (2011). Customer engagement: Opportunities and challenges for organizations. Journal of Service Research, 14(3), 272–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670511414582

Bonsón, E., Torres, L., Rayo, S., & Flores, F. (2012). Local e-government 2.0: Social media and corporate transparency in municipalities. Government Information Quarterly, 29(2), 123–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2011.10.001

Cao, Y., Ajjan, H., Hong, P., & Le, T. (2018). Using social media for competitive business outcomes: An empirical study of companies in China. Journal of Advances in Management Research, 15(2), 211–235. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAMR-05-2017-0060

Carrasco, I. (2007). Corporate social responsibility, values, and cooperation. International Advances in Economic Research, 13, 454–460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11294-007-9110-2

Cawsey, T. & Rowley, J. (2016). Social media brand building strategies in B2B companies. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 34(6), 754–776. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-04-2015-0079

Chiang, C. H., & Tseng, K. C. (2017). The influence of fan pages on consumer purchase intention: Liking behavior as a moderator. Journal of Marketing Management, 5, 44–59.

Cochran, P. L., & Wood, R. A. (1984). Corporate social responsibility and financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 27(1), 42–56. https://doi.org/10.5465/255956

Cornelius, N., Todres, M., Janjuha-Jivraj, S., Woods, A., & Wallace, J. (2008). Corporate social responsibility and the social enterprise. Journal of Business Ethics, 81, 355–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9500-7

Courchane, M., Nickerson, D., & Sullivan, R. (2002). Investment in internet banking as a real option: Theory and tests. Journal of Multinational Financial Management, 12(4–5), 347–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1042-444X(02)00015-4

Creyer, E. H. (1997). The influence of firm behavior on purchase intention: Do consumers really care about business ethics? Journal of Consumer Marketing, 14(6), 421–432. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363769710185999

Cvijikj, I. P., & Michahelles, F. (2011). A case study of the effects of moderator posts within a Facebook brand page. In A. Datta, S. Shulman, B. Zheng., S. D. Lin, A. Sun, & E. P. Lim (Eds.), Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 6984. Social informatics. SocInfo 2011 (pp. 161–170). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-24704-0_21

Dahnil, M. I., Marzuki, K. M., Langgat, J., & Fabeil, N. F. (2014). Factors influencing SMEs adoption of social media marketing. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 148, 119–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.025

Davis, K. (1973). The case for and against business assumption of social responsibilities. Academy of Management Journal, 16(2), 312–322. https://doi.org/10.5465/255331

van Doorn, J., Onrust, M., Verhoef, P.C., & Bügel, M. (2017). The impact of corporate social responsibility on customer attitudes and retention – the moderating role of brand success indicators. Marketing Letters, 28, 607–619. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-017-9433-6

Drumwright, M. E. (1994). Socially responsible organizational buying: Environmental concern as a noneconomic buying criterion. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299405800301

Du, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2010). Maximizing business returns to corporate social responsibility (CSR): The role of CSR communication. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 8–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00276.x

Durkin, M., McGowan, P., & Murray, L. (2014). Perspectives on the potential for social media to improve communication in small business-bank relationships. Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 15(4), 251–264. https://doi.org/10.5367/ijei.2014.0163

Durkin, M., Mulholland, G., & McCartan, A. (2015). A socio-technical perspective on social media adoption: a case from retail banking. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 33(7), 944–962. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-01-2015-0014

Edelman, D. (2010). Branding in the digital age: you’re spending your money in all the wrong places. Harvard Business Review, 88, 62–69.

European Association of Co-operative Banks. (2020, October). Co-operative banks’ engagement to green and sustainable finance. http://www.eacb.coop/en/news/green-and-sustainable-finance/new-studyco-operative-banks-rsquo-engagement-to-green-and-sustainable-finance.html

Farshid, M., Plangger, K., & Nel, D. (2011). The social media faces of major global financial service brands. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 16, 220–229. https://doi.org/10.1057/fsm.2011.19

Filip, D., Jackowicz, K., & Kozłowski, Ł. (2017). Influence of internet and social media presence on small, local bank’s market power. Baltic Journal of Economics, 17(2), 190–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2017.1376856

Fombrun, C. (2005). Building corporate reputation through CSR initiatives: evolving standards. Corporate Reputation Review, 8, 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.crr.1540235

Gallaugher, J., & Ransbotham, S. (2010). Social media and customer dialog management at Starbucks. MIS Quarterly Executive, 9, 197–212.

Giagnocavo, C., Gerez, S., & Sforzi, J. (2012). Cooperative bank strategies for social-economic problem solving: Supporting social enterprise and local development. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 83(3), 281–315. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8292.2012.00464.x

Gong, T. (2018). Customer brand engagement behavior in online brand communities. Journal of Services Marketing, 32(3), 286–299. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-08-2016-0293

Guesalaga, R. (2016). The use of social media in sales: Individual and organizational antecedents, and the role of customer engagement in social media. Industrial Marketing Management, 54, 71–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.12.002

Guillamón, A. M., Ríos, B., Gesuele, C., & Metallo, C. (2016). Factors influencing social media use in local governments: The case of Italy and Spain María-Dolores. Government Information Quarterly, 33(3), 460–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2016.06.005

Hirigoyen, G., & Poulain-Rehm, T. (2015). Relationships between Corporate Social Responsibility and financial performance: What is the Causality? Journal of Business & Management, 4(1), 18–43.

Hsu, L. & Lawrence, B. (2016). The role of social media and brand equity during a product recall crisis: A shareholder value perspective. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 33(1), 59–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2015.04.004

Jackowicz, K., Kozłowski, Ł., Kuchciak, I., & Marcinkowska, M. (2020). Local banks in social media. Determinants and consequences. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 33(1), 3356–3384. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2020.1773892

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

Kaufman, L., & Rousseeuw, P. (1990). Finding groups in data: An introduction to cluster analysis. John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470316801

Kemp, S. (2021). Digital 2021: Poland. Datareportal. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-poland

Kim, S., Koh, Y., Cha, J., & Lee, S. (2015a). Effects of social media on firm value for U.S. restaurant companies. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 49, 40–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2015.05.006

Kim, G., Lim, H., & Brymer, R. A. (2015b). The effectiveness of managing social media on hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 44, 165–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2014.10.014

Laroche, M., Habibi, M. R., & Richard, M. O. (2013). To be or not to be in social media: how brand loyalty is affected by social media? International Journal of Information Management, 33(1), 76–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2012.07.003

Laroche, M., Habibi, M. R., Richard, M. O., & Sankaranarayanan, R. (2012). The effects of social media based brand communities on brand community markers, value creation practices, brand trust and brand loyalty. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(5), 1755–1767. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.04.016

Larsson, A., & Viitaoja, Y. (2017). Building customer loyalty in digital banking: A study of bank staff’s perspectives on the challenges of digital CRM and loyalty. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 35(6), 858–877. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-08-2016-0112

Lev-On, A., & Steinfeld, N. (2015). Local engagement online: Municipal Facebook pages as hubs of interaction. Government Information Quarterly, 32(3), 299–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2015.05.007

Lichtenstein, D. R., Drumwright, M. E., & Braing, B. M. (2004). The effect of corporate social responsibility on customer donations to corporate-supported nonprofits. Journal of Marketing, 68(4), 16–32. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.68.4.16.42726

Lii, Y., & Lee, M. (2012). Doing right leads to doing well: When the type of CSR and reputation interact to affect consumer evaluations of the firm. Journal of Business Ethics, 105, 69–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0948-0

Lin, W. L., Law, S. H., Ho, J. A., & Sambasivan, M. (2019). The causality direction of the corporate social responsibility – Corporate financial performance Nexus: Application of Panel Vector Autoregression approach. The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, 48, 401–418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.najef.2019.03.004

Lipsman, A., Mudd, G., Rich, M., & Bruich, S. (2012). The power of “like”: How brands reach (and influence) fans through social-media marketing. Journal of Advertising Research, 52, 40–52. https://doi.org/10.2501/JAR-52-1-040-052

Lombart, C., & Louis, D. (2014). A study of the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility and price image on retailer personality and consumers’ reactions-satisfaction, trust and loyalty to the retailer. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(4), 630–642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2013.11.009

Lys, T., Naughton, J. P., & Wang, C. (2015). Signaling through corporate accountability reporting. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 60(1), 56–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2015.03.001

Mangold, W. G., & Faulds, D. J. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52(4), 357–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.03.002

Marin, L., & Salvador, R. (2007). “I Need You Too!” Corporate identity attractiveness for consumers and the role of social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 71, 245–260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9137-y

Mercadé-Melé, P., Molinillo, S., Fernández-Morales, A., & Porcu, L. (2018). CSR activities and consumer loyalty: The effect of the type of publicizing medium. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 19(3), 431–455. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2018.5203

Michaelidou, N., Siamagka, N. T., & Christodoulides, G. (2011). Usage, barriers and measurement of social media marketing: An exploratory investigation of small and medium B2B brands. Industrial Marketing Management, 40(7), 1153–1159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2011.09.009

Mohr, L. A., & Webb, D. J. (2005). The effects of corporate social responsibility and price on consumer responses. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39(1), 121–147. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2005.00006.x

Naeem, M. (2020). The role of social media to generate social proof as engaged society for stockpiling behaviour of customers during Covid-19 pandemic. Qualitative Market Research (ahead-of-print). https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-04-2020-0050

Nowacka, A. (2016). Postrzeganie społecznej odpowiedzialności biznesu w bankach spółdzielczych przez ich klientów. Ekonomia Społeczna, 2, 60–70. https://doi.org/10.15678/ES.2016.2.05

Öberseder, M., Schlegelmilch, B., & Murphy, P. E. (2013). CSR practices and consumer perceptions. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1839–1851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.02.005

Ordenes, F. V., Grewal, D., Ludwig, S., De Ruyter, K., Mahr, D., & Wetzels, M. (2019). Cutting through content clutter: How speech and image acts drive consumer sharing of social media brand messages. Journal of Consumer Research, 45(5), 988–1012. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucy032

Orlitzky, M., Schmidt, F. L., & Rynes, S. L. (2003). Corporate social and financial performance: A meta-analysis. Organization Studies, 24(3), 403–441. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840603024003910

Ozdora-Aksaka, E., & Atakan-Duman, S. (2015). The online presence of Turkish banks: Communicating the softer side of corporate identity. Public Relations Review, 41(1), 119–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.10.004

Paniagua, J., & Sapena, J. (2014). Business performance and social media: Love or hate? Business Horizons, 57(6), 719–728. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2014.07.005

Pérez, A., & Del Bosque, I. R. (2015). Customer responses to the CSR of banking companies. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 24(5), 481–493. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-12-2014-0759

Plangger, K. (2012). The power of popularity: How the size of a virtual community adds to firm value. Journal of Public Affairs, 12(2), 145–153. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1416

Polish Financial Supervision Authority. (2019). Informacja o sytuacji banków spółdzielczych i zrzeszających w 2018 roku [Information about the situation of cooperative banks and their affiliating entities in 2018]. https://www.knf.gov.pl/knf/pl/komponenty/img/Informacja_o_sytuacji_bankow_spoldzielczych_2018_65698.pdf

Polychronidoua, P., Ioannidoua, E., Kipourosa, A., Tsourgiannisb, L., & Simet, G. F. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility in Greek banking sector – an empirical research. Procedia Economics and Finance, 9, 193–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(14)00020-3

Ponte, E. B., Carvajal-Trujillo, E., & Escobar-Rodríguez, T. (2015). Influence of trust and perceived value on the intention to purchase travel online: Integrating the effects of assurance on trust antecedents. Tourism Management, 47, 286–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.10.009

Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2006). The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review, 84, 78–92.

Pozza, I. D. (2014). Multichannel management gets “social”. European Journal of Marketing, 48(7–8), 1274–1295. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-10-2012-0598

Preston, L. E., & O’Bannon, D. P. (1997). The corporate social–financial performance relationship: A typology and analysis. Business and Society, 36(4), 419–429. https://doi.org/10.1177/000765039703600406

Rimkunienė, D., & Zinkeviciute, V. (2014). Social media in communication of temporary organisations: Role, needs, strategic perspective. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 15(5), 899–914. https://doi.org/10.3846/16111699.2014.938360

Ruostesaari, L., & Troberg, E. (2016). Differences in social responsibility toward youth – A case study based comparison of cooperatives and corporations. Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management, 4(1), 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcom.2016.03.001

Salehzadeh, R., Khazaei Pool, J. K., & Najafabadi, A. H. J. (2018). Exploring the relationship between corporate social responsibility, brand image and brand equity in Iranian banking industry. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 9(2), 106–118. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIABR-11-2014-0041

Sheth, J. (2020). Impact of Covid-19 on consumer behavior: Will the old habits return or die? Journal of Business Research, 117, 280–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.059

Sen, S., & Bhattacharya, C. B. (2001). Does doing good always lead to doing better? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(2), 225–243. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.38.2.225.18838

Sen, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Korschun, D. (2006). The role of corporate social responsibility in strengthening multiple stakeholder relationships: A field experiment. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 34, 158–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070305284978

Servaes, H., & Tamayo, A. (2013). The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm value: the role of customer awareness? Management Science, 59(5), 1045–1061. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1120.1630

Siamagka, N.-T., Christodoulides, G., Michaelidou, N., & Valvi, A. (2015). Determinants of social media adoption by B2B organizations. Industrial Marketing Management, 51, 89–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.05.005

Silver, L., & Vegholm, F. (2009). The dyadic bank-SME relationship. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 16(4), 615–627. https://doi.org/10.1108/14626000911000956

Siueia, T. T., Wang, J., & Deladem, T. G. (2019). Corporate Social Responsibility and financial performance: A comparative study in the Sub-Saharan Africa banking sector. Journal of Cleaner Production, 226, 658–668. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.027

Swani, K., & Milne, G. R. (2017). Evaluating Facebook brand content popularity for service versus goods offerings. Journal of Business Research, 79, 123–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.06.003

Swani, K., Milne, G., & Brown, B. P. (2013). Spreading the word through likes on Facebook: Evaluating the message strategy effectiveness of Fortune 500 companies. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 7(4), 269–294. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-05-2013-0026

Tang, C., Mehl, M. R., Eastlick, M. A., He, W., & Card, N. A. (2016). A longitudinal exploration of the relations between electronic word-of-mouth indicators and firms’ profitability: Findings from the banking industry. International Journal of Information Management, 36(6), 1124–1132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2016.03.015

Thong, J. Y. L., & Yap, C. S. (1995). CEO characteristics, organizational characteristics and information technology adoption in small businesses. Omega the International Journal of Management Science, 23(4), 429–442. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-0483(95)00017-I

Tsimonis, G., & Dimitriadis, S. (2014). Brand strategies in social media. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 32(3), 328–344. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-04-2013-0056

Uzunoğlu, E., Türkel, S., & Akyar, B. Y. (2017). Engaging consumers through corporate social responsibility messages on social media: An experimental study. Public Relations Review, 43(5), 989–997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2017.03.013

Waddock, S. A., & Graves, S. B. (1997). The corporate social performance-financial performance link. Strategic Management Journal, 18(4), 303–319. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199704)18:4<303::AID-SMJ869>3.0.CO;2-G

Wamba, S. F., & Carter, L. (2014). Social media tools adoption and use by SMEs: An empirical study. Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 26(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.4018/joeuc.2014040101

We Are Social. (2020). Digital 2020. October Stathot Report. https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/10/social-media-users-pass-the-4-billion-mark-as-global-adoption-soars

Welch, E. W., Hinnant, C. C., & Moon, M. J. (2005). Linking citizen satisfaction with e-government and trust in government. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 15(3), 371–391. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mui021

Wigley, S. (2008). Gauging consumers’ responses to CSR activities: Does increased awareness make cents? Public Relations Review, 34(3), 306–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2008.03.034

Wilberding, K., & Wells, G. (2019). Facebook’s timeline: 15 Years in. The Wall Street Journal, February 6. https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebooks-timeline-15-years-in-11549276201

Wong, A., Ho, S., Olusanya, O., Antonini, M. V., & Lyness, D. (2020). The use of social media and online communications in times of pandemic COVID-19. Journal of the Intensive Care Society, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1177/1751143720966280

Wu, M. W., & Shen, C. H. (2013). Corporate social responsibility in the banking industry: Motives and financial performance. Journal of Banking & Finance, 37(9), 3529–3547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2013.04.023

Yusof, J. M., Manan, H. A., Karim, N. A., & Kassim, N. A. M (2015). Customer’s loyalty effects of CSR initiatives. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 170, 109–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.020