Contribution of Marketing Capability to Social Media Business Performance

Abstract

This research examines the contribution of marketing capabilities to the social media business performance of Thai firms. The outside-in and inside-out capabilities of Day (1994)’s marketing capabilities framework are used to develop five aspects of marketing capabilities related to social media business, including (1) market-sensing capability, (2) customer-linking capability, (3) channel-bonding capability, (4) technology development capability, (5) and employee development capability. Questionnaire data were collected from 364 entrepreneurs who sold products via social media channels. The results from the partial least squares structural equation modeling show that when all five aspects of marketing capabilities are analyzed separately, all of them significantly account for social media business performance. However, when all five aspects of marketing capabilities are analyzed together, only technology development capabilities and employee development capabilities turn out to the most influential factors accounting for social media business performance.