Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Decoding the employee influencer on social media: applying Taylor’s six segment message strategy wheel

Decoding the employee influencer on social media: applying Taylor’s six segment message strategy... The paper aims to examine how employees influence their employer’s brand by applying Taylor’s (1999) six segment message strategy wheel in an employee influencer context.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses a content analysis of employees’ public social media posts – including captions and images – to analyze the message strategies employees use to promote their employers.FindingsWhile ego and social were popular message strategies in both the images and captions, the findings evidence the varying message strategies employees use in text-based versus image-based messages. Four “imagined audiences” of employee influencers are identified: current customers, prospective customers, current employees and prospective employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe research provides insight into how employees act as influencers in building their employer brand on social media.Practical implicationsA unique measurement tool is developed that can be used by companies and future researchers to decode employees’ online communications.Originality/valueThis research contributes to theory and practice in the following important ways. First, the research provides a modernization of an existing framework from an offline setting to an applied industry context in an online setting. Second, this research focuses on a subtype of social media influencer, the employee influencer, which is an underdeveloped area of research. Third, a unique measurement tool to analyze text-based and image-based social media data is developed that can be used by companies and future researchers to decode employees’ online communications. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png European Journal of Marketing Emerald Publishing

Decoding the employee influencer on social media: applying Taylor’s six segment message strategy wheel

Download PDF
31 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/decoding-the-employee-influencer-on-social-media-applying-taylor-s-six-q7jf0h8plY
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
0309-0566
eISSN
0309-0566
DOI
10.1108/ejm-06-2021-0418
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The paper aims to examine how employees influence their employer’s brand by applying Taylor’s (1999) six segment message strategy wheel in an employee influencer context.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses a content analysis of employees’ public social media posts – including captions and images – to analyze the message strategies employees use to promote their employers.FindingsWhile ego and social were popular message strategies in both the images and captions, the findings evidence the varying message strategies employees use in text-based versus image-based messages. Four “imagined audiences” of employee influencers are identified: current customers, prospective customers, current employees and prospective employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe research provides insight into how employees act as influencers in building their employer brand on social media.Practical implicationsA unique measurement tool is developed that can be used by companies and future researchers to decode employees’ online communications.Originality/valueThis research contributes to theory and practice in the following important ways. First, the research provides a modernization of an existing framework from an offline setting to an applied industry context in an online setting. Second, this research focuses on a subtype of social media influencer, the employee influencer, which is an underdeveloped area of research. Third, a unique measurement tool to analyze text-based and image-based social media data is developed that can be used by companies and future researchers to decode employees’ online communications.

Journal

European Journal of Marketing – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jan 4, 2023

Keywords: Employer brand; Internal branding; Employee influencers; Message strategy; Social media influencers; Imagined audience

References

  • Communication strategies in cosmetic surgery websites: an application of Taylor’s Six-Segment message strategy wheel
    Ahn, H.-Y.; Wu, L.; Taylor, R.E.
  • The employer brand
    Ambler, T.; Barrow, S.
  • Employee motivation to co-create value (EMCCV): construction and validation of scale
    Amin, M.; Shamim, A.; Ghazali, Z.; Khan, I.
  • Analyzing social media data: a mixed-methods framework combining computational and qualitative text analysis
    Andreotta, M.; Nugroho, R.; Hurlstone, M.J.; Boschetti, F.; Farrell, S.; Walker, I.; Paris, C.
  • Conceptualizing and researching employer branding
    Backhaus, K.; Tikoo, S.
  • The workout
  • Social network sites as networked publics: affordances, dynamics, and implications
    boyd, d.; Papacharissi, Z.
  • Case studies in organizational research
    Buchanan, D.A.; Symon, G.; Cassell, C.
  • The presentation of self in the online world’: Goffman and the study of online identities
    Bullingham, L.; Vasconcelos, A.C.
  • The sources and accuracy of job applicants’ beliefs about organizational culture
    Cable, D.M.; Aiman-Smith, L.; Mulvey, P.W.; Edwards, J.R.
  • Review essay: communication and culture
    Carey, J.W.
  • #bodypositivity: a content analysis of body positive accounts on Instagram
    Cohen, R.; Irwin, L.; Newton-John, T.; Slater, A.
  • The relationship between early recruitment-related activities and the application decisions of new labor-market entrants: a brand equity approach to recruitment
    Collins, C.J.; Stevens, C.K.
  • Voicing job satisfaction and dissatisfaction through twitter: employees’ use of cyberspace, new technology
    Conway, E.; Rosati, P.; Monks, K.; Lynn, T.
  • The influence of social media influencers: understanding online vaping communities and parasocial interaction through the lens of Taylor’s six-segment strategy wheel
    Daniel, E.S.; Crawford Jackson, E.C.; Westerman, D.K.
  • Corporate responsibility: the communication challenge
    Dawkins, J.
  • Communicating services brands’ values internally and externally
    de Chernatony, L.; Cottam, S.; Segal-Horn, S.
  • Who’s my audience again? Understanding audience management strategies for designing privacy management technologies
    De Wolf, R.; Pierson, J.
  • Objectifying fitness: a content and thematic analysis of #fitspiration images on social media
    Deighton-Smith, N.; Bell; , B.; , T.
  • Journalists’ use of social media to infer public opinion: the citizens’ perspective
    Dubois, E.; Gruzd, A.; Jacobson, J.
  • Imaginary travellers: identity conceptualisations of the audience among travel journalists
    Duffy, A.; Mangharam, S.
  • You never really know who’s looking’: imagined surveillance across social media platforms
    Duffy, B.E.; Chan, N.K.
  • Classifying the narrated #selfie: genre typing human-branding activity
    Eagar, T.; Dann, S.
  • Participant perceptions of Twitter research ethics
    Fiesler, C.; Proferes, N.
  • Customer brand co-creation behavior: conceptualization and empirical validation
    France, C.; Grace, D.; Merrilees, B.; Miller, D.
  • Who are the social media influencers? A study of public perceptions of personality
    Freberg, K.; Graham, K.; McGaughey, K.; Freberg, L.A.
  • Creative strategies in viral advertising: an application of Taylor’s six-segment message strategy wheel
    Golan, G.J.; Zaidner, L.
  • Attitudes toward the ethics of research using social media: a systematic review
    Golder, S.; Ahmed, S.; Norman, G.; Booth, A.
  • Social media privacy in Canada
    Gruzd, A.; Jacobson, J.; Mai, P.; Dubois, D.
  • Forms of employee negative word-of-mouth: a study of front-line workers
    Harris, L.C.; Ogbonna, E.
  • Face [book] management: self-presentation of political views on social media
    Hayes, R.A.; Smock, A.; Carr, C.T.
  • Silences of ethical practice: dilemmas for researchers using social media
    Henderson, M.; Johnson, N.F.; Auld, G.
  • The presentation of self in the age of social media: distinguishing performances and exhibitions online
    Hogan, B.
  • The gift of co-creation: what motivates customers to participate
    Ind, N.; Coates, N.; Lerman, K.
  • Learning organizational environment and extra-role behaviors: the mediating role of employee engagement
    Islam, T.; Tariq, J.
  • Does reputable employee behaviour in social networks affect customers’ trust and word of mouth? An experimental study
    Ivens, S.; Schaarschmidt, M.
  • You are a brand: social media managers’ personal branding and ‘the future audience’
    Jacobson, J.
  • Ethics of using social media data in research: users’ views
    Jacobson, J.; Gorea, I.; Sloan, L.; Quan-Haase, A.
  • Social media marketing: who is watching the watchers?
    Jacobson, J.; Gruzd, A.; Hernandez-García, Á.
  • Pup-ularity contest: the advertising practices of popular animal influencers on instagram
    Jacobson, J.; Hodson, J.; Mittelman, R.
  • The imagined audience and privacy concern on Facebook: differences between producers and consumers
    Jung, Y.; Rader, E.
  • How symmetrical employee communication leads to employee engagement and positive employee communication behaviors
    Kang, M.; Sung, M.
  • Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media
    Kaplan, A.M.; Haenlein, M.
  • Staff word-of-mouth (SWOM) and retail employee recruitment
    Keeling, K.A.; McGoldrick, P.J.; Sadhu, H.
  • Strategic thinking about employee communication behavior (ECB) in public relations: testing the models of megaphoning and scouting effects in Korea
    Kim, J.-N.; Rhee, Y.
  • Like, comment, and share on Facebook: how each behavior differs from the other
    Kim, C.; Yang, S.-U.
  • The imagined audience for and perceived quality of news comments: exploring the perceptions of commenters on news sites and on Facebook
    Kim, J.; Lewis, S.C.; Watson, B.R.
  • Strategies for the super bowl of advertising: an analysis of how the web is integrated into campaigns
    Kim, J.; McMillan, S.J.; Hwang, J.-S.
  • Leveraging employees as spokespeople in your HR strategy: how company-related employee posts on social media can help firms to attract new talent
    Korzynski, P.; Mazurek, G.; Haenlein, M.
  • Competitive strategies for new product marketing over the life cycle
    Kotler, P.
  • Changes in advertising strategies during an economic crisis: an application of Taylor’s six-segment message strategy wheel
    Lee, T.; Chung, R.E.; , W.; David; Taylor
  • Employees as information influencers of organization’s CSR practices: the impacts of employee words on public perceptions of CSR
    Lee, Y.; Tao, W.
  • Public relations and zones of engagement: employees’ lived experiences and the fundamental nature of employee engagement
    Lemon, L.L.; Palenchar, M.J.
  • Online influencer marketing
    Leung, F.F.; Flora, F.G.; Robert, W.P.
  • Knock, knock. Who’s there? The imagined audience
    Litt, E.
  • The imagined audience on social network sites
    Litt, E.; Hargittai, E.
  • I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience
    Marwick, A.E.; boyd, d.
  • Interrater reliability: the kappa statistic
    McHugh, M.L.
  • Examining the effects of internal social media usage on employee engagement
    Men, L.R.; O’Neil, J.; Ewing, M.
  • The role of staff engagement in facilitating staff-led value co-creation
    Merrilees, B.; Miller, D.; Yakimova, R.
  • Ethical issues in using twitter for population-level depression monitoring: a qualitative study
    Mikal, J.; Hurst, S.; Conway, M.
  • Employee choice of voice: a new workplace dynamic
    Miles, S.J.; Muuka, G.N.
  • Employee voice: untapped resource or social media time bomb?
    Miles, S.J.; Mangold, W.G.
  • Place and role of employer brand in the structure of corporate brand
    Mokina, S.
  • Brand-specific leadership: turning employees into brand champions
    Morhart, F.; Herzog, W.; Tomczak, T.
  • Employee voice and silence
    Morrison, E.W.
  • The imagined audience on Facebook: analysis of Estonian teen sketches about typical Facebook users
    Murumaa, M.; Siibak, A.
  • Why the wellness business is booming (and how to succeed in the industry)
    Nelson, S.
  • The writer’s audience is always a fiction
    Ong, W.J.
  • Performing for one’s imagined audience: social steganography and other privacy strategies of Estonian teens on networked publics
    Oolo, E.; Siibak, A.
  • The web of influencers. A marketing-audience classification of (potential) social media influencers
    Ouvrein, G.; Pabian, S.; Giles, D.; Hudders, L.; De Backer, C.
  • Wellbeing: the next disrupted industry by tech
    Pasqualini, M.
  • Co-creating brands: diagnosing and designing the relationship experience
    Payne, A.; Storbacka, K.; Frow, P.; Knox, S.
  • Navigating the rising tide of uncertainty; 23rd annual global CEO survey
  • Employer brand trust and affect: Linking brand personality to employer brand attractiveness
    Rampl, V.L.; Kenning, P.
  • What factors influence knowledge sharing in organizations? A social dilemma perspective of social media communication
    Razmerita, L.; Kirchner, K.; Nielsen, P.
  • Keeping it raw on the ‘gram: authenticity, relatability and digital intimacy in fitness cultures on Instagram
    Reade, J.
  • In the end, you can only slag people off for so long’: employee cynicism through work blogging
    Richards, J.; Kosmala, K.
  • Heterotopian selfies: how social media destabilizes brand assemblages
    Rokka, J.; Canniford, R.
  • Employee voice: an antecedent to organisational engagement?
    Ruck, K.; Welch, M.; Menara, B.
  • Navigating imagined audiences: motivations for participating in the online public sphere
    Semaan, B.; Faucett, H.; Robertson, S.; Maruyama, M.; Douglas, S.
  • Can sample size in qualitative research be determined a priori?
    Sim, J.; Saunders, B.; Waterfield, J.; Kingstone, T.
  • Employees as influencers: measuring employee brand equity in a social media age
    Smith, D.; Jacobson, J.; Rudkowski, J.
  • What’s at stake? An analysis of employee social media engagement and the influence of power and social stake
    Smith, B.G.; Stumberger, N.; Guild, J.; Dugan, A.
  • The effect of employer brand dimensions on job satisfaction: gender as a moderator
    Tanwar, K.; Prasad, A.
  • A six-segment message strategy wheel
    Taylor, R.E.
  • An insurance agent’s marketing know-how: branding vs. call-to-action ads
    Thacker, J.R.
  • Internal communicators’ understanding of the definition and importance of employee advocacy
    Thelen, P.D.
  • Employer branding: a brand equity-based literature review and research agenda
    Theurer, C.P.; Tumasjan, A.; Welpe, I.M.; Lievens, F.
  • Strong is the new skinny’: a content analysis of #fitspiration images on Instagram
    Tiggemann, M.; Zaccardo, M.
  • Recruitment-related information sources and organizational attractiveness: can something be done about negative publicity?
    Van Hoye, G.; Lievens, F.
  • Investigating web-based recruitment sources: employee testimonials vs word-of-mouse
    Van Hoye, G.; Lievens, F.
  • Employees work-related social-media use: his master’s voice
    van Zoonen, W.; van der Meer, T.; Verhoeven, J.W.M.
  • Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing
    Vargo, S.L.; Lusch, R.F.
  • The consumer mind: how to tailor ad strategies
    Vaughn, R.
  • How advertising works: a planning model revisited
    Vaughn, R.
  • Scholars in an increasingly open and digital world: imagined audiences and their impact on scholars’ online participation
    Veletsianos, G.; Shaw, A.
  • Balancing audience and privacy tensions on social network sites: strategies of highly engaged users
    Vitak, J.; Blasiola, S.; Patil, S.; Litt, E.
  • Does the employee–customer satisfaction link hold for all employee groups?
    Wangenheim, F.V.; Evanschitzky, H.; Wunderlich, M.
  • An exploration of the drivers of employee motivation to facilitate value co-creation
    Waseem, D.; Biggemann, S.; Garry, T.
  • Employer branding: strategic implications for staff recruitment
    Wilden, R.; Gudergan, S.; Lings, I.
  • New times for employee voice?
    Wilkinson, A.; Fay, C.
  • Towards an ethical framework for publishing twitter data in social research: taking into account users’ views, online context and algorithmic estimation
    Williams, M.L.; Burnap, P.; Sloan, L.
  • Building better employer brands through employee social media competence and online social capital
    Yoganathan, V.; Osburg, V.-S.; Bartikowski, B.