What Drives Social Media Marketing in B2B Organizations? An Examination of Antecedents

ABSTRACT:
Purpose: Social media marketing has expanded drastically over the years; despite that,B2B organizations have been unable to use, adapt, and utilize social media marketing, in comparison toB2C (Business to Consumer) organizations. The study intends to examine the antecedents of social media marketing in Business to Business organizations.
Methodology:The hypotheses were tested through a survey conducted with 375 employees, belonging to 16 different B2B industries in Pakistan. Reliability analysis, convergent validity, discriminate validity, regression analysis, and mediation tests were carried out to measure the reliability of the measures and examine the proposed hypotheses.
Findings: Findings supported the research model and proposed hypotheses. Results suggested a significant influence of learnability, memorability, perceived barriers, perceived usability, and perceived usefulness on actual use in B2B organizations. Findings also confirm the mediating roles of perceived usability and usefulness in the framework.
Practical Implications:Usage and adoption of social media marketing in B2B organizations can be improved if they invest in training programs that facilitate learning and memorability of social media tools. Perceived barriers can be eliminated if companies can reassure employees of the relevance and efficiency of social media marketing in their business environment.
KEYWORDS: B2B, Business to Business, Industrial Marketing, Social media,TAM