Social media–based customer service and firm reputation

Yujuan Guo, Di Fan, Xiao Zhang

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigates the effects of using social media for customer service on firms' reputation building. In addition, this study explores the role of absorptive capacity, ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9,000 implementation and periodic training for management and employees in the relationship between social media–based customer service and firm reputation. Design/methodology/approach: This study sampled 115 US-listed firms and collected secondary data from five databases as follows: Factiva, Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies (WMAC), Standard & Poor's COMPUSTAT, American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and Thomson Reuters’ Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). This study developed a panel dataset of these 115 firms from 2007 to 2016 and conducted dynamic panel data analyses to examine the hypotheses. Findings: This study finds that a higher number of social media channels used for customer service is associated with a higher reputation score for a firm. In addition, the positive relationship is reinforced when a firm has a high absorptive capacity level, an ISO 9000 quality management system and offers periodic training for management and employees. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between social media–based customer service and firm reputation. This study also explores the boundary factors in terms of firm absorptive capacity, ISO 9000 quality management systems and training for management and employees.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)575-601
Number of pages27
JournalInternational Journal of Operations and Production Management
Volume40
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 May 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Customer service
  • Reputation
  • Social media

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Decision Sciences
  • Strategy and Management
  • Management of Technology and Innovation

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