Skip to main content

Abstract

This case study examines a Web 2.0 exemplar — MySpace — as a marketing tool for an Australian company targeting youth, Go Workabout (GW). The leading global online social network MySpace has over 114 million members — mostly students and youth — who create personal profiles as well as join others’ networks as their friends. One success measure for this burgeoning marketing tool is friends in one’s profile. Three weeks after implementing a strategy to increase its friends, GW’s MySpace profile had 101 friends and 405 users viewed GW’s profile. Even though acquiring friends is a hard task, nearly 12% of users that viewed GW’s profile clicked on a banner directed to GW’s website. The paper illustrates difficulties and benefits of using MySpace as a marketing tool.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Alexa. (2007a). Global Top 500. Retrieved 23 August, 2007, from www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=global&lang=none

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexa. (2007b). Top Sites — By Country. Retrieved 23 August, 2007, from http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_500

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. (2007a). 60 Percent of Europeans Have Adopted Social Computing. Retrieved 4 August, 2007, from http://www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,1154,00.html

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. (2007b, 3 August). Consumers Continued an Upward Trend of Shopping for Hotels Online and Booking Electronically Resulting in Steady Growth for the Hotel Industry, According to TravelCLICK’s 2007 First Quarter eTRAK Results. Retrieved 3 September, 2007, from http://www.eyefortravel.com/index.asp?news=57068

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. (2007c). Does User Generated Content Represent the Missing Link in the Online Travel Buying Cycle? Travel Distribution News, Events and Analysis Retrieved 4 August 2007, 2007, from http://www.eyefortravel.com/print.asp?news=56856

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. (2007d, 10 August 2007). The Sky is the Limit for MySpace. The West Australian, p. http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=408000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. (2007e, 31 July 2007). Social Networking Goes Global. Retrieved 5 September 2007, from http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1555

    Google Scholar 

  • Barsky, E. (2006). Introducing Web 2.0: Weblogs and Podcasting for Health Librarians. Journal of Canadian Health Library Association, 27(2), 33–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barsky, E., & Purdon, M. (2006). Introducing Web 2.0: Social Networking and Social Bookmarking for Health Librarians. Journal of Canadian Health Library Association, 27(3), 65–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyd, D. (2006). Friends, Friendsters, and Top 8: Writing community into being on social network sites. First Monday, 11(12), http://www.firstmonday.org/ issues/issue11_12/boyd/index.html.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donath, J., & Boyd, D. (2004). Public Displays of Connection. BT Technology Journal, 22(4), 71–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer, P. (2007). Measuring the Value of Electronic Word of Mouth and Its Impact in Consumer Communities Journal of Interactive Marketing, 21(2), 63–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The Benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fumero, A. (2006, 11–13 April). EDUWEB 2.0: iCamp & N-Gen Educational Web. Paper presented at the International Conference on Web Information System & Technologies (WEBIST), Setubal, Portugal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guistini, D. (2006). How Web 2.0 Is Changing Medicine. British Medical Journal, 333, 1283–1284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansell, S. (2006, 23 April). For MySpace, Making Friends Was Easy. Big Profit Is Tougher. The New York Times. www.nvtimes.com/2006/04/23/business/ yourmoney/23myspace.html?ex=1187236800&en=745b0eff5603ab92&ei=5070

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, W., & Kalyanam, K. (2007). Internet Marketing and e-Commerce. Mason: Thompson South-Western.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeong, M., Oh, H., & Gregoire, M. (2003). Conceptualizing Web Site Quality and Its Consequences in the Lodging Industry. Hospitality Management, 22(2), 161–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, W. G., Lee, C., & Hiemstra, S. J. (2004). Effects of an Online Virtual Community on Customer Loyalty and Travel Product Purchases. Tourism Management, 25(2), 343–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, R. (2006, 11 September). CEO Guide to Technology. Business Week Retrieved 12 October, 2007, from www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/te20060908_974400.htm

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampel, J., & Bhalla, A. (2007). The Role of Status Seeking in Online Communities: Giving the Gift of Experience. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(2), http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue2/lampel.html.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenhart, A., & Madden, M. (2007). Teens, Privacy & Online Social Networks. Washington: Pew Internet & American Life Project.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, H.-F., & Lee, G.-G. (2006). Determinants of Success for Online Communities: An Empirical Study. Behaviour and Information Technology, 25(6), 479–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miura, A., & Yamashita, K. (2007). Psychological and Social Influences on Blog Writing: An Online Survey of Blog Authors in Japan. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), http://jeme.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/miura.html.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muniz, A. M. J., & O’Guinn, T. C. (2001). Brand Community. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(4), 412–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MySpace. (2007). About Us. Retrieved 6 August 2007, 2007, from http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=misc.aboutus

    Google Scholar 

  • MySpace. (2007b). Groups Home Retrieved 15 October, 2007, from http://groups.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=groups.categories

    Google Scholar 

  • Nambisan, S., & Baron, R. A. (2007). Interactions in Virtual Customer Environments: Implications for Product Support and Customer Relationship Management. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 21(2), 42–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, P., & Murphy, J. (2004). A Review of Research on Information Technology in the Hospitality Industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 23(5), 473–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, T. (2005). What Is Web 2.0. Retrieved 3 June, 2007, from http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

    Google Scholar 

  • Pan, B., MacLaurin, T., & Crotts, J. C. (2007). Travel Blogs and the Implications for Destination Marketing. Journal of Travel Research, 46, 35–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, D.-H., Lee, J., & Han, I. (2007). The Effect of On-Line Consumer Reviews on Consumer Purchasing Intention: The Moderating Role of Involvement. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 11(4), 125–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parks, M. R., & Floyd, K. (1996). Making Friends in Cyberspace. Journal of Communication, 46(1), 80–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perkel, D. (2006, 21 September). Copy and Paste Literacy: Literacy Practices in the Production of a MySpace Profile. Paper presented at the Informal Learning and Digital Media Conference, Denmark.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seabra, C., Abrantes, J. L., & Lages, L. F. (2007). The Impact of Using Non-Media Information Sources on the Future Use of Mass Media Information Sources: The Mediating Role of Expectation Fulfillment. Tourism Management, 28(6), 1541–1554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shields, M. (2007). User-Gen to Grow Into $4.3 Bil. Business. MediaWeek Retrieved 5 September, 2007, from http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003607070

    Google Scholar 

  • Skiba, D. J. (2006). Web 2.0: Next Great Thing of Just Marketing Hype? Nursing Education Perspectives, 27(4), 212–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockdale, R., & Borovicka, M. (2006). Developing an Online Business Community: A Travel Industry Case Study. Paper presented at the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS’06). IEEE Inc. http://csdl2.computer.org/persagen/DLAbsToc.jsp?resourcePath=/dl/proceedings/&toc= comp/proceedings/hicss/2007/2755/00/2755toc.xml&DOI=10.1109/HICSS.2007.251#a dditionalInfo

    Google Scholar 

  • Susskind, A. M., Bonn, M. A., & Dev, C. S. (2003). To Look or Book: An Examination of Consumers’ Apprehensiveness toward Internet Use. Journal of Travel Research, 41(3), 256–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thelwall, M., & Stuart, D. (2007). RUOK? Blogging Communication Technologies During Crises. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(2), http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue2/thelwall.html.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tjostheim, I., Tussyadiah, I. P., & Hoem, S. O. (2007). Combination of Information Sources in Travel Planning: A Cross-national Study In M. Sigala, L. Mich & J. Murphy (Eds). Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2007. Springer-Verlag Wien, Austria

    Google Scholar 

  • Tredinnick, L. (2006). Web 2.0 and Business. Business Information Review, 23(4), 228–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2004a). Modeling Participation in an Online Travel Community. Journal of Travel Research, 42(3), 261–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2004b). Towards Understanding Members’ General Participation In and Active Contribution to an Online Travel Community. Tourism Management, 25(6), 709–722.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2006). Identifying the Success Factors of Web-Based Marketing Strategy: An Investigation of Convention and Visitors Bureaus in the United States. Journal of Travel Research, 44(3), 239–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., Yu, Q., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2002). Defining the Virtual Tourist Community: Implications for Tourism Marketing. Tourism Management, 23(4), 407–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer-Verlag Wien

About this paper

Cite this paper

Carrera, P., Chiu, CY., Pratipwattanawong, P., Chienwattanasuk, S., Ahmad, S.F.S., Murphy, J. (2008). MySpace, My Friends, My Customers. In: O’Connor, P., Höpken, W., Gretzel, U. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2008. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-77280-5_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-77280-5_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-211-77279-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-211-77280-5

Publish with us

Policies and ethics