Disadvantages and Advantages of Using Social Networks in Business

Question: Discuss Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Social Networks in Business? Answer: Introducation: Literature review can be understood as the study of various articles, journals, studies, research papers and other secondary data analysis in order to collect data on the subject and reach to the conclusion after an analysis of the same. Literature review helps in collecting the data which has been already collected and used by others but it helps in supporting the motive of the research and helps in meeting the objectives of the research. The scope of Literature review is wide as it is based on the topic Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Social Networks in Business. Social media is used widely by many businesses in the present time and a lot of literature is to be referred in order to study about the topic. Social networks are the part of daily routine of our lives and the business as well. As per Hanafizadeh, et. al. (2012), Social networks are becoming increasingly important in the businesses of today. The growing importance of internet in the businesses has shown that businesses could advertise and promote their products and services through social networking sites, forums, content communities, etc. Social networks make businesses capable of making interactions with the people and social groups in order to make people connect with their business. It helps in building public relations and makes business popular among the mass population. According to Baruah (2012), in the midst of the revolution of social media, the businesses are using social media websites for developing their social networks. They share knowledge and information with the masses through social media networks. It is because the ways of taking and communicating are changing with the time. The author conducts a study in which the importance of social media as a tool is evaluated. The author shares that social networks in business have several advantages like it shares the ideas of the business and it also bridges the communication gap and distances between business and target consumers. Building social networks are also cost effective for the businesses because it popularizes the business and lowers the costs of advertising or promotion. In the words of Parveen (2012), Social networking is a growing phenomenon and it develops continuous communication with the public. The businesses investing in social networks results in better performance, more sales and better network of business. The author further added that there are certain disadvantages too with the advantages of social networks in Business. It is investigated that effective networks in business improves revenue generation and effectiveness in the practices of business. It improves the communication, relationships with the customers and also improves the image of the business. The disadvantages of using social networks include wastage of time, lack in the control on feedbacks from public about the business. The feedbacks could be negative (Keller, 2009). As per Australian Government (2015), by using social networks in the business, the business could easily carry away the customers and create a huge number of potential customers for the business which could lead to good profits. There are different pros as well as cons of using social networks in the business. Where on one hand, social networks can reduce marketing costs, increase customer footfall, greater access to new markets and the brand awareness. On the other hand, it may not be suitable for every business. It needs proper planning and time for setting up the networks. Establishing social networks needs daily monitoring in order to evaluate the real progress of the same. So, risks are involved with the establishment of social networks. According to Ioan?s Stoica (2014), in recent years social networking in businesses has gain a huge importance. Social networking can be done through social media which changed the way of communication between the consumers and the marketers. Good networking with the customers motivates them to buy the products and services of the business. The author further add up that social networking revolutionise the marketing practices of advertising and marketing of the business. It also influences the behaviour of consumer for business and its offerings. It provides opportunity to the businesses to engage and interact with the customers so that they can become the loyal customers of the business. But involvement in social networking can pose both the negative or positive impact on the business. The customers may provide negative reviews about the brand which is not under the control of the business. The message conveyed by the company during the process of social networking may be taken diff erently by different users. Even a small mistake conducted by the business could lead to severe effect on the consumers. It may also impact the buying intent of the potential as well as existing consumers. While making social interactions with the public at large, the companies have to take care of the cultural aspects (Tretenhahn, 2011). According to Abedniya Mahmouei (2010), Social networking through internet has created a buzz over the years. Social media sites, which are the most used tool for developing social networks among businesses and between business and consumers, helps in minimising the disparities between the cultures, nationalities anddifferent boundaries. The marketers believe that the more business will be in touch with the customers, more will beits popularity and success. The study by the author concluded that social networking sites contribute in making the activities of the business viral. It makes users believe in the potential of business and increase the productivityand performance of the business. This reduces the barriers which hamper the number of consumers to make an entry and also develops the marketingand communication strategies of the business (Trusov, Bodapati Bucklin, 2010). According to Jagongo Kinyua (2013), the business environment keeps on changing on the continuous basis. There are lot many changes which may benefit or harm the business. Social networking is sharing the business content and ideas with others. It involves communication and interaction which should include creativity, innovation, technology and knowledge to make it interesting. Social networking not only allows businesses to gain an access to the available resources but also increases the worth of the team. It increases and enhances the relationship of business with the suppliers and customers and build up strategic partnerships for the betterment of the business. In 21st century, the business has to adjust and cope up with many changes to be active in the competitive business environment. For this, the business has to be excellent in the social networks. It makes the business accessible to more customers and helps in fulfilling their expectations. It improves the presence of busines s in the market and also gets access to more opportunities. It can boost sales of the business and performance in the industry (Molina?Morales Martnez?Fernndez, 2010). In contrast to the positive views of the use of social networking in business, several authors have also reflected the disadvantages of the same. As per Hajli (2014), social networking also involves some flaws which harm the business. It can give away to negative feedback from the customers which can hamper the image of the company. It takes a lot of effort to maintain the presence of business socially and in front of public because it is the method which could create a long term or long lasting relationships with the customers. The platforms used for building social networks like social media websites may refer or target only a specific generation of people like young age group. The customers above the age of 50- 60 are low in presence on these sites which creates a trouble for the businesses to make their presence and communicate to the older age group. According to Neti (2011), Social media is ever changing. The business has to put in lot of efforts to be updated with the current features and technology of social media to effectively set up networks with the business. The company requires to present new content every now and then to meet the very changing needs of people. It is not necessary that social networking through social media websites is beneficial for every business. No doubt, social media places instant interaction with the customers but it can also lead to bad publicity of the business which is not in control of the business once it is public. Sometimes, it poses a great amount of loss to the business which is very hard to recover. In the words of Paquette (2013), the organisations have to be aware about the attitudes and behaviour of the consumers. It depends on the users attitudes that how they perceive the networking efforts of the brand. The companies have to focus on the user centralised content because the user wo uld like to read or listen what is concerned with them. So it is very important to engage the customers with the brand and the content which they use for social networking. Social networking would influence the purchasing intention of the customers and also provides a chance to the consumers to participate and engage in the business activities (Siricharoen, 2012). Social networking can be done through various modern as well as traditional channels. The traditional channels can be networking with people and potential customers at events and shops. The people used to meet at events and interaction was done in order to keep good relationships with them. It helped in the creation of long term loyal and satisfied customers and also resulted in increase in sales (Van der Bank, 2015). This method of networking is out-dated as it does not have so much of impact on the popularity of business. Evolution of social media has changed the way businesses could market themselves. Internet has opened many gates for the businesses to establish good connection and interaction with the customers so that they can get popular and can get along with as many customers as possible. Internet helps the businesses in establishing networks through emails, online marketing campaigns and social media websites like Facebook, twitter, Linked In, you tube and many more. These websites have millions of users and the numbers are increasing with the passage of time. There are over 3 million of social media users of social media which gives a great opportunity to business to establish to good social network for the future success of the business (Copp, 2016). The sources which are considered are latest and no out-dated information or data has been referred. This is done to include only valid and latest information which makes sense to the topic of the literature review. The quality of the research papers which are referred is good and it supports the topic. The research is valid as all the sources which are been referred are genuine and are referenced properly at the end of the paper. The names of authors and the year to which the source belong have been mentioned. The details and data is authentic and proper links are been provided to check to the reliability of the same. The sources are relevant to the topic Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Social Networks in Business and effective analyses has been made of the sources which are been referred. The research gap is a limitation which is in the existing researches and need to be corrected in the present research. When the research questions are not answered, the gap remains in the research. The contribution is made by referring various articles and research papers and comparing the views of different authors so that the gap of research can be bridged well. It can be concluded from the above research and study that Social networking is like a boon for the businesses because it provides many opportunities for the business in the present competitive world. It provides a competitive edge to the business by interacting with potential customers and developing good relationships with them. The literature has been developed by referring many scholarly articles and research papers completed by different authors who talk about the advantages and disadvantages of social networking in business. All the authors have different views on the topic and these are discussed to reach to the conclusion after the analysis of their views References Abedniya, A Mahmouei, S S (2010). The Impact of Social Networking Websites to Facilitate the Effectiveness of Viral Marketing. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications. Vol. 1, No.6. Australian Government (2015). Pros and cons of using social media for business. Retrieved from: https://www.business.gov.au/info/run/advertising-and-online/pros-and-cons-of-social-media. Baruah, T D (2012). Effectiveness of Social Media as a tool of communication and its potential for technology enabled connections: A micro-level study. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications. Volume 2, Issue 5. Copp, E (2016). 10 Benefits of Social Media for Business. Hootsuite. Retrieved from https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-for-business/. Hajli, M N (2014). A study of the impact of social media on consumers. International Journal of Market Research. Vol. 56 Issue 3. Hanafizadeh, P, Ravasan, A Z, Navabi, A Mehrabioun, M (2012). A Literature Review on the Business Impacts of Social Network Sites. International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking. 4(1), 46-60. Ioan?s, E Stoica, I (2014). Social Media and its Impact on Consumers Behavior. International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories. Vol. 4, No. 2. Jagongo, A Kinyua, C (2013). The Social Media and Entrepreneurship Growth. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. Vol. 3 No. 10. Keller, K. L. (2009). Building strong brands in a modern marketing communications environment. Journal of marketing communications. 15(2-3), 139-155. Molina?Morales, F X Martnez?Fernndez, M T (2010). Social networks: effects of social capital on firm innovation. Journal of Small Business Management. 48(2), 258-279. Neti, S (2011). Social media and its role in Marketing. International Journal of Enterprise Computing and Business Systems, Vol 1. Issue 2. Paquette, H (2013). Social Media as a Marketing Tool: A Literature Review. Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design. Parveen, F (2012). Impact of Social Media Usage On Organizations. Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems. Siricharoen, W V (2012). Social Media, How does it Work for Business?. Social Media, How does it Work for Business?. Vol. 3, No. 4. Tretenhahn, S (2011). Discuss the advantage and disadvantage of using social networking tools and concepts in the meeting industry. AIM Group International. Trusov, M, Bodapati, A V, Bucklin, R E (2010). Determining influential users in internet social networks. Journal of Marketing Research. 47(4), 643-658. Van der Bank, C M (2015). 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