The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the contemporary role of mobile phones in value co-creation through social media marketing. How mobile phones, in particular, smartphones with the help of numerous social media generate value co-creation, is the key objective of this study. A random sampling method was used to conduct a survey in different universities in China to identify the role of mobile phones in value co-creation. Findings from primary data collection indicated that mobile phones play a vital role in value co-creation because of the extensive use of social media. If value co-creation through social media marketing develops with the help of producers, suppliers and other intermediaries with the necessary technology and trust, the society, as well as customers, may enjoy a unique way of shopping. Future studies with mixed methodology and respondents who use different social media as a tool to generate value co-creation may shed light on the undiscovered phenomenon of social media marketing in the context of the mobile phone.
TopBackground Of The Study
Mobile phone or mobile devices are part and parcel of our life and people are getting used to operating smartphones due to its attractive features and multidimensional usage (Almunawar et al., 2018). Such a strong reciprocal relationship with a device and a human being has not been observed before. For example: if we compare other devices such as computers, television, radio or any other devices, undoubtedly, mobile phone is the device used most among people now a day and this use has a strong connection with a various social media platform. Based on geographical location, the type of social media may differ, nonetheless, the ultimate result is the strong inseparable connection between smartphones and social media. Based on the contemporary scenario, the author (s) attempted to discover the role of mobile devices in value co-creation with the help of social networking.
Figure 1. Twitter Social Media Users Statistics
TopMost literature on social media marketing to date focused on reputed companies, multinational organizations, various case studies of reputed brands, etc. In comparison, very little has been discovered about value co-creation through social media marketing or entrepreneurial activities (Khajeheian, 2013). Consumers attitude toward social media marketing has been discovered recently (Shareef et al., 2019) which indicate the strong focus of companies toward social media advertising in order to reach the customer in a more effective way. Social media marketing has proven as a well-structured content which may flexibly broaden the horizon of a company and its customer base (Prasad & Saigal, 2019). Recent research also talks about innovation in social media marketing (Pacauskas, Rajala, Westerlund, & Mäntymäki, 2018). Although this innovative marketing activities are well defined and analyzed, the unique way to conduct innovation marketing is still under the shadow. The mobile phone may be an option which can be used to conduct innovation marketing in generating value co-creation. In order to expose business activities, social commerce is discussed as an advanced tool for marketing (Schaupp & Bélanger, 2019). Also, a reciprocal attempt at social and mobile media can boost marketing communication activities (Yang, Kang, & Wang, 2019). Kasemsap (2019) investigated that with the benefit of social media, marketers can be in touch with innumerable potential customers than ever before but selecting or choosing the proper media could be the most challenging tool for strategic marketing mix activities.