Skip to main content

Social Media and Innovation: Opportunities and Challenges for Organizations

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Organizational Innovation in the Digital Age

Abstract

Innovation plays a significant role in helping organizations differentiate themselves in the marketplace by establishing a competitive advantage. While digital platforms, specifically social media, offer a variety of new possibilities throughout organizations, research on the nexus of social media and business has focused mostly on those applications of social media that increase sales and profitability. One issue that has not been adequately studied is the potential of social media to promote innovation. Therefore, this study aimed to provide an overview of how organizations can integrate social media in their innovation processes and address the related challenges and opportunities. The analysis contributes to the academic literature and helps practitioners by providing an overview of social media sources and available data collection and analysis tools and by exploring the various ways in which social media can support innovation. Finally, five main recommendations are offered for how best to integrate social media into the innovation process.

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

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Araujo, T., & Neijens, P. (2012). Friend me: Which factors influence top global brands participation in social network sites. Internet Research, 22(5), 626–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asur, S., & Huberman, B. A. (2010). Predicting the future with social media. In 2010 IEEE/WIC/ACM international conference on web intelligence and intelligent agent technology. Vol. 1, pp. 492–499. IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, R. S. J. D. (2010). Data mining for education. International Encyclopedia of Education, 7(3), 112–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balahur, A. (2013, June). Sentiment analysis in social media texts. In Proceedings of the 4th workshop on computational approaches to subjectivity, sentiment and social media analysis (pp. 120–128).

    Google Scholar 

  • Baregheh, A., Rowley, J., & Sambrook, S. (2009). Towards a multidisciplinary definition of innovation. Management decision.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayus, B. L. (2013). Crowdsourcing new product ideas over time: An analysis of the Dell IdeaStorm community. Management Science, 59(1), 226–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhimani, H., Mention, A. L., & Barlatier, P. J. (2019). Social media and innovation: A systematic literature review and future research directions. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 144, 251–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowler, G. M., Jr. (2010). Netnography: A method specifically designed to study cultures and communities online. The Qualitative Report, 15(5), 1270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S., Kozinets, R. V., & Sherry, J. F., Jr. (2003). Teaching old brands new tricks: Retro branding and the revival of brand meaning. Journal of Marketing, 67(3), 19–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bughin, J., Hung Byers, A., & Chui, M. (2011). How social technologies are extending the organization. In McKinsey Quarterly, retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/how_social_technologies_are_extending_the_organization

  • Carrasco-Hernández, A., & Jiménez-Jiménez, D. (2013). Can family firms innovate? Sharing internal knowledge from a social capital perspective. Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 11(1), 30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatti, M. A., Klamma, R., & Jarke, M. (2007). The Web 2.0 driven SECI model based learning process. In Proceedings of the 7th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, Niigata.

    Google Scholar 

  • Choi, N., Huang, K. Y., Palmer, A., & Horowitz, L. (2014). Web 2.0 use and knowledge transfer: how socialmedia technologies can lead to organizational innovation. The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 12(3), 174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daft, R. L. (1978). A dual-core model of organizational innovation. Academy of Management Journal, 21(2), 193-210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denyer, D., Parry, E., & Flowers, P. (2011). “Social”, “Open” and “Participative”? Exploring personal experiences and organisational effects of Enterprise 2. 0 use. Long Range Planning, 44, 375–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiMicco, J. M., Millen, D. R., & Geyer, W. (2008). Motivations for social networking at work. In Proceedings of the ACM conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW’08), ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (pp. 711–720). San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, N. B., Lampe, C., & Steinfield, C. (2010). With a little help from my friends: How social network sites affect social capital processes. In Papacharissi, Z. (Ed.) A networked self: Identity, community, and culture on social network sites. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Empathica. (n.d.). White paper: What is the opportunity for “SoLoMo” (Social.Local.Mobile.) to Improve the Costumer Experience?

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagerberg, J. (2004). Innovation: A guide to the literature. Georgia Institute of Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fichman, R. G., & Kemerer, C. F. (1997) The assimilation of software process innovations: An organizational learning perspective. Management Science, 43(10), 1345–1363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghermandi, A., & Sinclair, M. (2019). Passive crowdsourcing of social media in environmental research: A systematic map. Global Environmental Change, 55, 36–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gnanapriya, S., Suganya, R., Devi, G. S., & Kumar, M. S. (2010). Data mining concepts and techniques. Data Mining and Knowledge Engineering, 2(9), 256–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gopalakrishnan, S., & Damanpour, F. (1997). A review of innovation research in economics, sociology and technology management. Omega, 25(1), 15–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Han, J., Pei, J., & Kamber, M. (2011). Data mining: Concepts and techniques. Elsevier.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Hossain, M., & Islam, K. Z. (2015a). Generating ideas on online platforms: A case study of “My Starbucks Idea.” Arab Economic and Business Journal, 10(2), 102–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hossain, M., & Islam, K. Z. (2015b). Ideation through online open innovation platform: Dell IdeaStorm. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 6(3), 611–624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huffpost Business. (2009). “United Breaks Guitars”: Did it Really Cost the Airline $180 Million? Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/united-breaks-guitars-did_n_244357 on September 19, 2021

  • Jansen, B. J., Zhang, M., Sobel, K., & Chowdury, A. (2009). Twitter power: Tweets as electronic word of mouth. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 60(11), 2169–2188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarrahi, M. H., & Sawyer, S. (2013). Social technologies, informal knowledge practices, and the enterprise. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 23(1–2), 110–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johannessen, J. A., Olsen, B., & Lumpkin, G. T. (2001). Innovation as newness: what is new, how new, and new to whom?. European Journal of innovation management.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, K. B. (2018). Understanding innovation. Business Horizons, 61(3), 453–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, S. J., & Rosenberg, N. (2010). An overview of innovation. In Studies on science and the innovation process: Selected works of Nathan Rosenberg (pp. 173–203).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V. (2002). The field behind the screen: Using netnography for marketing research in online communities. Journal of marketing research, 39(1), 61–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V. (2010). Netnography: Doing ethnographic research online. Sage publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V., Scaraboto, D., & Parmentier, M. A. (2018). Evolving netnography: How brand auto-netnography, a netnographic sensibility, and more-than-human netnography can transform your research. Journal of Marketing Management, 34(3-4), 231–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V. (2015). Netnography: Redefined. Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, H., Choi, K., Yoo, D., Suh, Y., He, G., & Lee, S. (2013). The More the Worse? Mining Valuable Ideas with Sentiment Analysis for Idea Recommendation. In PACIS (p. 30).

    Google Scholar 

  • Livescault, J. (n.d). My Starbucks Idea: an Open Innovation Case-Study. Braineet. Retrieved from https://www.braineet.com/blog/my-starbucks-idea-case-study on September 19, 2021.

  • McGee, P. and Diaz, V. (2007) Wikis and podcasts and blogs! Oh, my! What is a faculty member supposed to do?. EDUCAUSE Review, 42(5), 28–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, M. R., Teevan, J., & Panovich, K. (2010, May). A comparison of information seeking using search engines and social networks. In Fourth International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mount, M., & García, M. (2014). Social media: A tool for open innovation. California Management Review, 56(4), 124–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muninger, M. I., Hammedi, W., & Mahr, D. (2019). The value of social media for innovation: A capability perspective. Journal of Business Research, 95, 116–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neely, A., & Hii, J. (1998). Innovation and business performance: A literature review (p. 65). University of Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neri, F., Aliprandi, C., Capeci, F., Cuadros, M., & By, T. (2012, August). Sentiment analysis on social media. In 2012 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (pp. 919–926). IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2005). The measurement of scientific and technological activities. In Proposed Guidelines for Collecting an Interpreting Technological Innovation Data (p. 30).

    Google Scholar 

  • Omar, A. S., Rashid, W. E. W., & Majid, A. A. (2014). Motivations using social networking sites on quality work life. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 130, 524–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patino, A., Pitta, D. A., & Quinones, R. (2012). Social media’s emerging importance in market research. Journal of Consumer Marketing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patroni, J., von Briel, F., & Recker, J. (2020). Unpacking the social media–driven innovation capability: How consumer conversations turn into organizational innovations. Information & Management, pp. 103267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piller, F. T., Vossen, A., & Ihl, C. (2012). From social media to social product development: the impact of social media on co-creation of innovation. Die Unternehmung, 65(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Poynter, R. (2010). The handbook of online and social media research: Tools and techniques for market researchers. John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramadani, V., & Gerguri, S. (2011). Innovations: Principles and strategies. Strategic Change, 20(3–4), 101–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Razmerita, L., Kirchner, K., & Nabeth, T. (2014). Social media in organizations: Leveraging personal and collective knowledge processes. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 24(1), 74–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, D. L., & Piller, F. T. (2016). Finding the right role for social media in innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 57(3), 41–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowley, J., Kupiec‐Teahan, B., & Leeming, E. (2007). Customer community and co‐creation: A case study. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simula, H., Töllinen, A., & Karjaluoto, H. (2013). Crowdsourcing in the social media era: A case study of industrial marketers. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 7(2).

    Google Scholar 

  • Skeels, M. M., & Grudin, J. (2009). When social networks cross boundaries: A case study of workplace use of Facebook and LinkedIn. In Proceedings of the ACM 2009 international conference on supporting group work (GROUP '09), ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work (pp. 95–104), Sanibel Island.

    Google Scholar 

  • Standing, C., & Kiniti, S. (2011). How can organizations use wikis for innovation? Technovation, 31(7), 287–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treviño, T., & Garelli, J. L. P. (2019). Understanding digital moms: motivations to interact with brands on social networking sites. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treviño, T., & Castaño, R. (2013). How should managers respond? Exploring the effects of different responses to negative online reviews. International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 3(3), 237–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treviño, T., Morton, F., & Zapata-Cantu, L. (2021). Managing digital workplace communications to maximise knowledge transfer: A collaborator’s perspective. International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, 12(2), 114–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsimonis, G., & Dimitriadis, S. (2014). Brand strategies in social media. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whiting, A., & Williams, D. (2013). Why people use social media: a uses and gratifications approach. Qualitative market research: an international journal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xun, J., & Reynolds, J. (2010). Applying netnography to market research: The case of the online forum. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 18(1), 17–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapata-Cantú, L., Treviño, T., Morton, F., & Monterrubio, E. L. (2016). Digital technologies as media to transfer knowledge in IT firms. In Product innovation through knowledge management and social media strategies (pp. 204–217). IGI Global.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zapata-Cantú, L., Treviño, T., Morton, F., Pineda, J.L. (2018). Exploring the Uses and Gratifications of Digital Tools as Knowledge Transfer Media in Organisations. In Management and Technological Challenges in the Digital Age (pp. 88–106). CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, H., Rao, H., & Feng, J. (2018). Product innovation based on online review data mining: A case study of Huawei phones. Electronic Commerce Research, 18(1), 3–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Teresa Treviño Benavides .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Benavides, T.T. (2022). Social Media and Innovation: Opportunities and Challenges for Organizations. In: Machado, C., Davim, J.P. (eds) Organizational Innovation in the Digital Age. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98183-9_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98183-9_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-98182-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-98183-9

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics