Using Social Media for Business Communication: A Symbolic Interaction Perspective

Renee Rui Chen; Robert M. Davison; Carol Xiaojuan Ou

Using Social Media for Business Communication: A Symbolic Interaction Perspective

Renee Rui Chen, Robert M. Davison, Carol Xiaojuan Ou

Department of Information Systems

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

99 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

It is important to understand the symbolic meaning of social media perceived by users in a particular communication context, as it may completely deviate from designers' original intentions. In the exploratory case study of Moon Struck hotel in China, we investigate how customers interpret this hotel's use of WeChat (the most dominant instant messaging tool in China) for business communication and how customers respond to the messages received from WeChat in this context. Leveraging the symbolic interaction perspective, we report that customers' interpretations towards the symbolic meaning of WeChat vary across personal and business communication contexts, and subsequently affect customers' usage behaviour of WeChat. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 12 selected followers of the hotel's WeChat account, as well as company executives at this hotel, we identify the key findings and discuss the theoretical implications and practical recommendations.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 27th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS2016)
Place of Publication	Wollongong
Publisher	University of Wollongong Faculty of Business
ISBN (Print)	9781741282672
Publication status	Published - Dec 2016
Event	The 27th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACSIS 2016) - University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia Duration: 5 Dec 2016 → 7 Dec 2016 https://business.uow.edu.au/acis-2016/index.html http://ro.uow.edu.au/acis2016/

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the Australasian Conference on Information Systems, ACIS

Conference

Conference	The 27th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACSIS 2016)
Place	Australia
City	Wollongong
Period	5/12/16 → 7/12/16
Internet address	https://business.uow.edu.au/acis-2016/index.html http://ro.uow.edu.au/acis2016/

Research Keywords

Symbolic meaning of technology
Social media
Business communication
Symbolic interaction perspective
China

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC 3.0 AU. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au/

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https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2016/27/

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Chen, R. R., Davison, R. M., & Ou, C. X. (2016). Using Social Media for Business Communication: A Symbolic Interaction Perspective. In Proceedings of the 27th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS2016) (Proceedings of the Australasian Conference on Information Systems, ACIS). University of Wollongong Faculty of Business. https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2016/27/

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title = "Using Social Media for Business Communication: A Symbolic Interaction Perspective",

abstract = "It is important to understand the symbolic meaning of social media perceived by users in a particular communication context, as it may completely deviate from designers' original intentions. In the exploratory case study of Moon Struck hotel in China, we investigate how customers interpret this hotel's use of WeChat (the most dominant instant messaging tool in China) for business communication and how customers respond to the messages received from WeChat in this context. Leveraging the symbolic interaction perspective, we report that customers' interpretations towards the symbolic meaning of WeChat vary across personal and business communication contexts, and subsequently affect customers' usage behaviour of WeChat. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 12 selected followers of the hotel's WeChat account, as well as company executives at this hotel, we identify the key findings and discuss the theoretical implications and practical recommendations.",

keywords = "Symbolic meaning of technology, Social media, Business communication, Symbolic interaction perspective, China",

author = "Chen, {Renee Rui} and Davison, {Robert M.} and Ou, {Carol Xiaojuan}",

year = "2016",

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isbn = "9781741282672",

series = "Proceedings of the Australasian Conference on Information Systems, ACIS",

publisher = "University of Wollongong Faculty of Business",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 27th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS2016)",

note = "The 27th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACSIS 2016) ; Conference date: 05-12-2016 Through 07-12-2016",

url = "https://business.uow.edu.au/acis-2016/index.html, http://ro.uow.edu.au/acis2016/",

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Chen, RR , Davison, RM & Ou, CX 2016, Using Social Media for Business Communication: A Symbolic Interaction Perspective. in Proceedings of the 27th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS2016). Proceedings of the Australasian Conference on Information Systems, ACIS, University of Wollongong Faculty of Business, Wollongong, The 27th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACSIS 2016), Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, 5/12/16. <https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2016/27/>

Using Social Media for Business Communication: A Symbolic Interaction Perspective. / Chen, Renee Rui ; Davison, Robert M.; Ou, Carol Xiaojuan.
Proceedings of the 27th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS2016). Wollongong: University of Wollongong Faculty of Business, 2016. (Proceedings of the Australasian Conference on Information Systems, ACIS).

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

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T2 - The 27th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACSIS 2016)

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AU - Davison, Robert M.

AU - Ou, Carol Xiaojuan

PY - 2016/12

Y1 - 2016/12

N2 - It is important to understand the symbolic meaning of social media perceived by users in a particular communication context, as it may completely deviate from designers' original intentions. In the exploratory case study of Moon Struck hotel in China, we investigate how customers interpret this hotel's use of WeChat (the most dominant instant messaging tool in China) for business communication and how customers respond to the messages received from WeChat in this context. Leveraging the symbolic interaction perspective, we report that customers' interpretations towards the symbolic meaning of WeChat vary across personal and business communication contexts, and subsequently affect customers' usage behaviour of WeChat. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 12 selected followers of the hotel's WeChat account, as well as company executives at this hotel, we identify the key findings and discuss the theoretical implications and practical recommendations.

AB - It is important to understand the symbolic meaning of social media perceived by users in a particular communication context, as it may completely deviate from designers' original intentions. In the exploratory case study of Moon Struck hotel in China, we investigate how customers interpret this hotel's use of WeChat (the most dominant instant messaging tool in China) for business communication and how customers respond to the messages received from WeChat in this context. Leveraging the symbolic interaction perspective, we report that customers' interpretations towards the symbolic meaning of WeChat vary across personal and business communication contexts, and subsequently affect customers' usage behaviour of WeChat. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 12 selected followers of the hotel's WeChat account, as well as company executives at this hotel, we identify the key findings and discuss the theoretical implications and practical recommendations.

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Using Social Media for Business Communication: A Symbolic Interaction Perspective

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Research Keywords

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