Publication Type

Book Chapter

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

1-2022

Abstract

Increasingly, consumers are seeking immediate and personalized communication with businesses (Facebook, 2018) and organizations are expected to engage customers in a two-way dialogue. Engagement encapsulates “high relevance of brands to consumers and the development of an emotional connection between consumers and brands” (Rappaport, 2007, p. 138). Online engagement connotes commitment to a relationship, “personified by the website or other computer-mediated entities designed to communicate brand value” (Mollen & Wilson, 2010, p. 923). To engage consumers, businesses are turning to social media influencers (SMIs), who have their own social networks online (Khamis et al., 2016). Growing concerns over privacy and control over online communications have led to the rise of dark social media (Madden, 2012) that facilitate communication in private channels such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. This chapter attempts to: (1) understand the role of dark social in marketing communication; (2) find out how peer-to-peer communication can enhance engagement; and (3) fill the gap in current literature by developing a dark social influencer engagement framework to help organizations engage audiences and build positive relationships before crisis.

Discipline

Business and Corporate Communications | Social Media

Research Areas

Corporate Communication

Publication

Social media and crisis communication

Editor

Y. Jin & L. Austin

First Page

193

Last Page

208

ISBN

9780367489007

Publisher

Routledge

City or Country

London

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1080/10.4324/9781003043409-21

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