Title: Business value of social media adoption: a comparison between the US and Taiwan

Authors: Chia-Ching Chou; Chieh Lee; Zhuang Qian; Xinyuan Tao; Winston T. Lin

Addresses: Department of Management, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, USA ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan 32003, Taiwan ' Project and Supply Chain Management, Pennsylvania State Scranton, Dunmore, PA 18512, USA ' Martin Tuchman School of Management, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA ' Department of Operations Management and Strategy, University at Buffalo – State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA

Abstract: With the growing number of social media users, companies are engaging in social media adoption to take advantage of, and cope with this trend. Previous studies have identified the business value of social media adoption, but few have discussed the influence of social media with detailed usage measurements in a cross-country setting. Using two sets of panel data collected from the US and Taiwan, this study employs regression analysis with clearly defined measurements of social media usage to empirically test the business value of social media platforms. We find that companies do benefit from social media adoption, and that the frequent usage of social media accounts improves firm performance. However, judicious selection of the appropriate social media platform is crucial for companies in different countries.

Keywords: traditional media; social media; Facebook; culture difference; interactive communication; US; Taiwan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMDM.2022.119579

International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 2022 Vol.21 No.1, pp.51 - 70

Received: 08 Dec 2020
Accepted: 08 Feb 2021
Published online: 09 Dec 2021 *

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