SOCIAL MEDIA : -A study about the importance of Brand Awareness and Trust in Social Media

Abstract: Each year, the market place is becoming increasingly globalized and the role of the Internet has been crucial to this phenomenon. Marketers therefore are required to be current on the latest trends. The Internet can be used as a communication tool from the marketers and it is an ever changing medium. At first, most companies were only present through their website, whereas nowadays companies have a greater online presence through Social Media. This study aimed at finding out how Social Media presence can influence Brand Awareness and Trust in Business to Business (B2B) companies. It was based on a research model with two hypotheses. A survey was conducted among Swedish B2B companies within the Ljungby municipality. The survey resulted in 68 complete and usable responses, averaging a response rate of 65%. Using a linear regression, the results of hypotheses testing suggest that the usage of Social Media influences Trust; however it does not influence Brand Awareness. This indicates that companies that are concerned about the level of Trustworthiness within their company should have a Social Media presence, especially on Facebook since it was the most common among companies.