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A Cross-cultural Comparison of Micro-blogging Sites: Sina Weibo vs. Twitter
Bela Florenthal, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Marketing
Cotsakos College of BusinessWilliam Paterson University
Wayne, NJPhone: (973) 720-3679
E-mail: [email protected](Contact Person)
Mike Chen-Ho Chao, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Marketing
Cotsakos College of BusinessWilliam Paterson University
1600 Valley Road, Room 3053Wayne, NJ 07470
Phone: (973) 720-3746E-mail: [email protected]
A Cross-cultural Comparison of Micro-blogging Sites: Sina Weibo vs. Twitter
Abstract
Micro-blogging platforms are emerging as marketing tools that multinational companies increasingly utilize to establish and promote their brands. The question is whether they use these platforms strategically, localizing the content and the structure for their target population. This study uses case study content analysis to begin answering this question. Social media updates posted by Starbucks over a one-month period on Twitter in the U.S. and on Sina Weibo in China were analyzed using three existing validated frameworks. The results indicate that Starbucks somewhat localizes its posts to its Chinese consumers, in terms of content, symbols, values, and offerings. However, it underutilizes its Sina Weibo page compared to its Twitter page. This paper goes on to suggest micro-blogging strategies for multinational companies in the Managerial Implications section and concludes with a discussion on the direction of future research for scholars in this field.
Keywords: Twitter, Sina, Weibo, Culture, Micro-blogging
Introduction
Social media has matured into a viable and valuable tool of communication
(Krzmarzick 2013), mainly because it increasingly targets larger sets of audiences in the
market. According to the Pew Internet and American Life research project, 69% of adults
in the United States were using social networks as of August 2012. To be more specific,
two-thirds of them self-report using Facebook, 20% are on LinkedIn, and 16% are on
Twitter (Krzmarzick 2013). More importantly, the usage of social networks can be
witnessed among almost every age group and is steadily growing (The Pew Internet and
American Life Research Project August 2012).
Across the Pacific Ocean, a similar phenomenon can be observed in China. China
has the largest online population in the world (Riegner 2008). According to the China
Internet Network Information Center (CINIC), 210 million people in China—or half of
the country’s Internet users—were registered users of at least one social network site
(SNS) in June 2010. These users have a very different profile compared to users in the
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U.S.: Chinese SNS users are relatively young, wealthy, and well educated, which makes
Chinese SNSs an essential communication medium for marketers (Tsai and Men 2012).
Another significant difference between China and the U.S. with regard to SNSs is that
although some American SNSs like Facebook have attracted a loyal group of overseas
users, Internet users in China can only register for the “Chinese version” of SNSs (e.g.,
Renren is the Chinese equivalent of Facebook and Weibo of Twitter) due to the ban on
foreign SNSs by the Chinese government (Tsai and Men 2012).
Social media networks create opportunities for companies to communicate with
their customers in a new, more interactive and engaging way (Mergel 2013). According
to Marketing Weekly News (March 16th, 2013), for example, Nautica signed a sponsorship
deal with PGA Tour player Cameron Tringale, who, in addition to wearing the brand’s
apparel, will be showcased on Nautica’s website and its social media channels—
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. In China, celebrity figures such as the founder of
Google China, Kai-fu Lee, regularly tweets; he even promoted his book entitled Weibo
Changes Everything on Sina Weibo in 2011 (Collett 2012). With social media
fundamentally changing the ways companies communicate with and sell to their
customers, learning to capitalize on these changes has become an enormous challenge for
today’s marketers (Fernandez 2012).
To help marketers develop successful SNS strategies, existing thriving social
media practices of global companies should be systematically analyzed. With 77% of the
Global Fortune 100 Companies registered as users and a user base of more than 100
million individuals, Twitter provides marketers with access to a very loyal group of
customers (Malhotra et al. 2012). The same is true for Weibo, with an estimated 300
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million registered users in China (Nooruddin and Zhang 2012). Thus, Twitter and Weibo
dominate the micro-blogging space in the U.S. and China, respectively.
Only recently have researchers begun to analyze micro-bogging strategies
focusing on Twitter. They have primarily examined the frequency of tweets, retweets,
and hashtags (Jansen et al. 2009, Rybalko and Seltzer 2010, Lovejoy et al. 2012). A
handful of studies have investigated and classified the content of tweets and retweets
(Jansen et al. 2009, Lovejoy and Saxton 2012) while even fewer have compared
companies’ tweets and retweets across countries (Burton and Soboleva 2011). None so
far have systematically analyzed and compared how different micro-blogging sites are
being strategically used by the same company. The present study attempts to fill this gap,
answering the following research questions: how do marketers use micro-blogging sites
such as Twitter in the U.S. and Weibo in China to interact with consumers? Do global
companies utilize the two platforms differently? Does culture affect the content and
appearance of a company’s micro-blogging updates? More specifically, how localized is
their communication on leading country-specific micro-blogging sites?
Companies with a Web presence are struggling to choose between two
alternatives when it comes to reaching their international online consumers: some
businesses develop standardized, global websites, whereas others localize their sites
according to the cross-cultural differences among their online consumers (Simon 2001,
Luna et al. 2002, Singh and Pereira 2005). Research by Singh and Pereira (2005) and Cyr
and Trevor-Smith (2004) demonstrate that to sell successfully to online global
consumers, a firm must move beyond globalization to localize its website, both
linguistically and culturally. A recent cross-national study by Singh et al. (2006) also
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provides empirical evidence that cultural adaptations of Web content significantly
increase consumers’ purchase intentions and lead to favorable attitudes toward the site.
Most of the existing research has focused on assessing the customization of
company-owned websites targeting specific cultures. Recently, a scant number of studies
have started to examine the adaptation of social content to local network sites such as
Renren (Tsai and Men 2012). However, no evidence exists on whether and how
multinational companies utilize culturally different micro-blogging platforms like Weibo.
Therefore, the current study contributes to an emerging stream of research that
compares the communication strategies of global companies across country-specific
social networks. Using the exploratory case study approach, this study analyzes and
compares the content and structure of Starbucks’ social media updates across two micro-
blogging platforms: the U.S.-based Twitter and China’s Sina Weibo. The two platforms
were selected because they are both leading micro-blogging sites with registered users of
over 145 million on Twitter and 250 million on Weibo (Zhang and Pentina 2012).
Starbucks was selected as a case study for its strong and successful global presence on
social network sites (Jansen et al. 2009).
Theoretical Background
SNSs and Micro-blogging Sites
The first social network site, SixDegrees.com, was launched in 1997. Since then,
numerous networking and blogging sites have populated the Internet (Boyd and Ellison
2008). The leading SNSs in the U.S.—Facebook and Twitter—were established in 2004
and 2006, respectively, and each positioned itself differently (Boyd and Ellison 2008).
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Differences between Twitter and Facebook are summarized in Table 1 based on three
main categories: (1) authenticity/credibility, (2) visibility and accessibility, and (3)
interactivity.
(Insert Table 1 about here)
While Facebook has been perceived as mainly a networking site focused on
fostering existing relationships, Twitter has been recognized as a micro-blogging site,
concentrating mainly on broadcasting information (Boyd and Ellison 2008, Greer and
Ferguson 2011). Twitter users, compared with Facebook users, are more inclined to share
and acquire information such as news, give and receive recommendations, post links to
external websites, and connect to people outside of their social network (Zhang and
Pentina 2012). This distinction can explain why more adults tend to use Twitter while
more teenagers and college students use Facebook (Greer and Ferguson 2011).
As a “status update service”, Twitter differs from Facebook by limiting users to
post short messages of 140 characters that may be of a personal or business nature (Greer
and Ferguson 2011). Individual users post messages about their day-to-day lives, turning
their accounts into digital mini-diaries, while businesses post product- and brand-related
messages that promote and strengthen their positioning (Greer and Ferguson 2011).
Although many individuals have a Twitter account in the U.S., only a few are active
tweeters and have more than 100 followers (Heil and Piskorski 2009, Greer and Ferguson
2011). Mostly used to receive and distribute information, the power of Twitter lies in its
simplicity, frequency of updates, and functionality to display links to websites that
provide more detailed information (Greer and Ferguson 2011).
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Since Twitter was established in 2006, companies have been gradually using it for
various purposes. Twitter allows companies to build long-lasting relationships with their
stakeholders, strengthen their brand image, and tailor brand promotions to maximize
profits (Jansen et al. 2009, Rybalko and Seltzer 2010, Burton and Soboleva 2011).
Twitter is considered as a powerful tool to disseminate information (e.g., Electronic
Word Of Mouth - eWOM) and therefore can be better utilized by companies to promote
their products and brands as well as to respond quickly to customer dissatisfaction
(Burton and Soboleva 2011).
A study on Fortune 500 companies indicated that dialogue-oriented companies
put more effort into engaging their target audience so these targeted customers will be
more likely to remain as loyal followers of the brand (Rybalko and Seltzer 2010).
Starbucks is an example of how a company can successfully engage its followers. Jansen
et al. (2009) reported that about 13% of Starbucks’ followers posted positive comments
on its Twitter account, and close to 15% responded to posts about their favorite
beverages, promotions, surveys, and other sponsored events. Through the communication
tools that Twitter provides, companies can build long-term relationships with their target
population and engage and motivate followers to read and respond to their tweets.
Social Media in China
Global companies like Starbucks that are targeting the local population in China
cannot use U.S.-based social networks (e.g., Facebook and Twitter). They need to tap
into emerging local substitutes such as Renren, Weibo, and Kaixin (Tsai and Men 2012,
Zhang and Pentina 2012) on which registered Chinese users are very active. According to
a recent McKinsey Quarterly report (Chiu 2012), China has the largest number of Internet
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users—513 million users compared to 245 million users in the U.S., with social media
users reaching 300 million. Most Chinese users have multiple social media accounts,
which they frequently access on mobile devices, and they spend 40% of their time on
them (Chiu 2012; Zhang and Pentina 2012).
Multinational corporations increasingly target the Chinese SNS population
because it is considered relatively well educated, young, and wealthy (Tsai and Men
2012). Chinese young adults admit that they have more online than offline friends (Zhang
and Pentina 2012). Through their social media platforms, Chinese individuals are more
prone to follow recommendations of friends and family members than their U.S.
counterparts (Chiu 2012).
Micro-blogging has become extremely popular in China, with usage being close
to 35% between 2010 and 2011 (Zhang and Pentina 2012). Two micro-blogging
platforms akin to Twitter exist in China—Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo—and about
250 million Chinese users have at least one micro-blogging profile page (Chiu 2012;
Zhang and Pentina 2012). Although Twitter is considered the dominant micro-blogging
platform worldwide, with close to 145 million users, Sina Weibo with 100 million users
has established itself as the largest China-based micro-blogging site.
When utilizing micro-blogging, global companies should recognize that Weibo
sites are more complex and advanced than Twitter (Chiu 2012). For example, though the
posts on Sina Weibo are also limited to 140 characters, the messages are longer than
those on Twitter as each Chinese character represents one word (Zhang and Pentina
2012). Sina Weibo is also a more interactive platform than Twitter, as it offers more than
1,600 applications to users (e.g., voting, radio, etc.), it rewards tweeting and retweeting
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activities with medals, and allows rich media file sharing (Zhang and Pentina 2012). Sina
Weibo had these multimedia capabilities 18 months before Twitter did (Chiu 2012).
Being a media rich platform, Sina Weibo combines the characteristics of Twitter
and Facebook (Zhang and Pentina 2012). Its users not only share and receive
information, engage in professional development, and promote their visibility much like
Twitter users, they also use it to fulfill their social, self-expression, and entertainment
needs akin to Facebook users. Therefore, global corporations might be utilizing these
platforms differently to maximize the impact of their communication on their followers.
Research Questions
Classification of Company-generated Messages on Twitter and Weibo
When global companies register on local social networks such as Renren
(equivalent to Facebook) and Weibo (equivalent to Twitter), do they customize their
messages? Tsai and Men (2012) who analyzed the Renren profile pages of various
multinational companies concluded that they did customize their messages primarily with
respect to cultural values. Corporate Renren pages were found to communicate more
collectivist and high-power distance values than their Facebook counterparts.
Does this mean multinational corporations also customize messages for the local
target population on micro-blogging platforms? To answer this question, the global usage
of Twitter has been investigated in terms of message structure (e.g., external links and
hashtags), content (e.g., type of information), and audience (e.g., number of followers).
As Sina Weibo dominates the Chinese market, this study aims to assess to what extent the
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structure, content, and audience of Twitter and Sina Weibo sites vary for a single
multinational company.
One goal of micro-blogging is to increase the number of followers. Organizations
that tweet frequently (at least once a day) are considered active and usually attract more
followers (Rybalko and Seltzer 2010; Lovejoy et al. 2012). In a study of the top 100 non-
for-profit organizations, Lovejoy et al. (2012) found that on average organizations tweet
about twice a day.
Globally, however, companies have been found to be inconsistent with their
tweeting practices, which may affect the number of followers they acquire and keep. In a
study that compared companies’ tweets in two countries—the United States and Australia
—Domino’s U.S. had tweeted close to 4,000 messages since registering its Twitter page
in April 2009, while Domino’s Australia had tweeted fewer than 1,000 messages since its
registration in January 2009 (Burton and Soboleva 2011). Will global companies display
the same inconsistency across Twitter and Weibo as well?
Q1: Do companies tweet at the same frequency on their Twitter and Weibo profile pages?
As the number of tweets and followers can vary substantially across micro-
blogging sites, the number of followers per tweet can serve as an estimate of tweeting
efficiency (Burton and Soboleva 2011). When comparing the tweeting strategies of
several companies across Australia and the United States, Burton and Soboleva (2011)
revealed that Microsoft’s communication was more efficient in the United States than in
Australia. Though the frequency of tweets was roughly the same (885 in the U.S.; 889 in
Australia), the number of followers varied considerably. In the United States, their
followers exceeded 80,000, while in Australia they were fewer than 900. Will similar
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results be seen in cases where a single company uses two micro-blogging platforms,
Twitter and Weibo?
Q2: Do companies use tweets efficiently on their Twitter and Weibo profile pages?
Following behavior, i.e., companies reciprocally following their followers, is
another way to interact with the target population (Thoring 2011). When a company
follows its followers, those individuals’ tweets appear in the company’s Twitter feed and
are visible to their other followers (Jansen et al. 2009; Lovejoy et al. 2012). Companies
strategically tend to follow their followers in order to appear interested in what they
tweet, to increase their number of followers, and to increase their opportunities to retweet
or respond to individual tweets (Thoring 2011; Lovejoy et al. 2012). Global companies
using more than one micro-blogging platform may practice different following behaviors
in different target countries. When comparing Weibo to Twitter, should a company
follow more individuals in a collectivist country like China than in an individualistic
country like the United States?
Q3: Do companies exhibit the same following behavior on their Twitter and Weibo profile pages?
When following individuals, companies can retweet (RT@[username]) or reply
(@[username]) to individual tweets, creating a two-way communication with those they
follow. They can also reply to those that follow them. Retweets and replies are public and
can be seen by companies’ followers and by those whom the company follows.
Companies that are more responsive to their followers and are more attentive to whom
they follow will use more retweets and replies (Jansen et al. 2009; Lovejoy et al. 2012),
increasing the tweets’ level of interactivity (Burton and Soboleva 2011).
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Without a strategic plan for tweeting, companies can be inconsistent with posting
retweets and replies in different countries. Microsoft, for instance, posted significantly
more retweets and fewer replies in the United States (35% and 3%, respectively) than in
Australia (4% and 77.5%, respectively) between December 2009 and May 2010 (Burton
and Soboleva 2011). Can such inconsistency be observed when companies use country-
specific micro-blogging platforms such as Twitter in the U.S. and Weibo in China?
Q4: Are companies consistent in posting public messages (retweets and replies) on their Twitter and Weibo profile pages?
Hashtags and hyperlinks are interactive communication tools that are used in
tweets to increase information sharing and searchability (Burton and Soboleva 2011).
Hyperlinks redirect followers to a different website either to view pictures (e.g.,
Twitpic.com) or access more detailed information about a topic that interests them (e.g.,
electronic newspaper articles). Hashtags (“#[keyword]”) are used to spark a discussion
around a topic and make it more searchable. Topics (a word or a phrase) preceded by a
hashtag are created by companies or individuals and used repeatedly by their followers
(Lovejoy et al. 2012). Sixty eight percent of sampled non-for-profit organizations used
hyperlinks in their tweets and 30% included hashtags (Lovejoy et al. 2012). Hyperlinks
are very popular among Fortune 500 companies as they are used in most (96%) of their
tweets (Rybalko and Seltzer 2010).
Some companies are inconsistent across countries when using hashtags and
hyperlinks on their Twitter profile pages (Burton and Soboleva 2011). When sampled, it
was seen that Microsoft included hashtags in more than 22% of its American tweets and
in less than 3% of its Australian tweets. Similar inconsistency was observed in its
usage of hyperlinks—Microsoft included hyperlinks in 90% of its American tweets and
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in less than 40% of its Australian tweets. If companies are not consistent when using
hashtags and hyperlinks across countries on the same micro-blogging platform, will they
be consistent when they use different micro-blogging platforms in different countries? As
hashtags ignite interactivity and discussions, will companies use them more on Weibo, a
micro-blogging site belonging to a collectivist culture, than on Twitter, a micro-blogging
site belonging to an individualistic culture?
Q5: Are companies consistent across their Twitter and Weibo profile pages with respect to adding hashtags and hyperlinks to messages?
A majority of studies has focused on how Twitter’s characteristics determine a
company’s level of engagement with its customers. Only recently has the content of
tweets become the focus of micro-blogging analysis, with researchers introducing
classification schemes (Jansen et al. 2009; Lovejoy and Saxton 2012). Lovejoy and
Saxton (2012) developed a taxonomy that organizes Twitter messages into three broad
categories: information, community, and action (see Table 2 for a summary of the
taxonomy).
[Insert Table 2 about here]
One-way broadcasting messages of events and facts that interest followers are
classified as information tweets. Community tweets are considered more interactive as
they express acknowledgement and recognition and therefore spark dialogues with
followers. The third category consists of action-encouraging tweets that ask followers to
‘do something’ like buy a product, participate in an event, donate money/time, or lobby
for a cause. To validate the taxonomy, Lovejoy and Saxton (2012) examined close to
2,500 tweets from the top 100 non-for-profit organizations and found that more than half
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(59%) were information-related tweets, about a quarter (26%) were community-based
messages, and the smallest fraction (16%) were action-based.
A different classification of tweets was done by Jansen et al. (2009) who analyzed
for-profit companies in various industries and distinguished among comment, sentiment,
information-providing, and information-seeking tweets. They found that information-
providing messages account only for about 18% of the tweets in their sample (N=2,700).
Thus, it seems that some organizations (e.g., non-for-profit) post more information-
related tweets than others (e.g., for-profit).
Will culture impact the type of messages posted on a local micro-blogging site?
When company pages on Facebook and Renren were compared, cultural differences were
identified in the content and the presentation of the information (Tsai and Men 2012).
Renren was found to feature more community-related messages compared to Facebook.
Will the messages of global companies be differently distributed on Sina Weibo than on
Twitter in terms of information, community, and action?
Q6: Do companies post different types of content in terms of information, community, and action on their Sina Weibo profile page than on their Twitter profile page?
Barber and Badre (1998) argued that the Web is not culturally neutral but rather is
filled with cultural markers that identify sites as unique to their local cultures. If Web
users encounter culturally incongruent languages, signs and symbols, or content, they are
more likely to feel cognitive stress caused by a sense of losing control over the
interaction, resulting in their loss of focus (Luna et al. 2002). In contrast, when Web users
encounter culturally congruent websites, they feel less anxious and find it easier to
interact with these sites (Barber and Badre 1998). Hence, users in a specific country
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prefer websites that have been customized to their needs in terms of features (e.g.,
navigation, security, and shopping tools) and content (e.g., product information; Fink and
Laupase 2000; Simon 2001; Luna et al. 2002; Tsikriktsis 2002).
Singh, Zhao, and Hu (2005), who examined websites in China, India, Japan, and
the United States, found that cultural values were embedded in local websites. They
further showed that German, Chinese, and Indian consumers considered the websites of
U.S. multinational companies more effective when adapted to their local cultures. Singh
and Pereira (2005) provided a comprehensive framework to measure the cultural
customization of multinational websites. As presented in Table 3, the framework
measures content customization, which relates to culture-specific values, products, and
services promoted online. It also examines the adaptation of the webpage structure (e.g.,
design) and layout (e.g., colors, symbols, and aesthetics).
(Insert Table 3 about here)
The framework adopted cultural values proposed by Hofstede (1980) and Hall
(1976) to analyze the customized content of websites. It uncovers whether cultural values
such as individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, power distance, uncertainty
avoidance, and high/low context orientations, are reflected on multinational companies’
websites. Scoring high (vs. low) on these cultural values will increase (vs. decrease)
websites’ congruency with the expectations of their targeted local population.
A cultural customization framework has been employed to assess the level of
adaptation of multinational websites targeting diverse national groups and subgroups
(Singh et al. 2009; Chao et al. 2012). For example, most websites (75%) targeting the
Hispanic subculture in the United States were found not to be customized to this group’s
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preferences (Singh et al. 2009). The same result was found in a study that compared
Chinese websites with their American counterparts (Chao et al. 2012)—only a small
percentage of Chinese websites were customized with respect to Chinese cultural values
(15%), symbols (13%), colors, and other aesthetic elements (20%). Only a miniscule
fraction (3%) of local products or services was promoted on Chinese websites. Evidently,
global companies are reluctant to fully customize webpages to the specific needs of local
cultures.
The low customization rate pertains to traditional, international webpages of
global companies, but how successful are global companies in customizing their social
media posts across cultures? Will they tailor the communication content and layout on
different micro-blogging platforms such as Weibo and Twitter to meet the specific needs
of local cultures?
Q7: Do companies customize the content and layout of posts on their Weibo profile page?
Methodology
To determine whether marketers’ SNS strategies are consistent across micro-
blogging platforms targeted at different cultural groups, a case-based method was used.
The content of the tweets and weibos of multinational companies was analyzed and
compared. Consistent with prior studies on social network sites, content analysis is a
pertinent method for exploring the new phenomenon of micro-blogging as a
marketing/communication tool (Jansen et al. 2009; Tsai and Men 2012; Zhang and
Pentina 2012). For example, Tsai and Men (2012) analyzed the content of 43 corporate
profile pages on Renren (21 of them were for American Fortune 500 companies) and 43
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on Facebook (all of them were for American Fortune 500 companies) to investigate
whether corporate social network sites in China and the U.S. reflected their respective
cultural values.
Sampling
Starbucks was chosen as the target company for our case study because of its
established marketing success with social media. According to Orin Smith, CEO of
Starbucks, “we changed the way people live their lives, what they do when they get up in
the morning, how they reward themselves, and where they meet” (Thompson & Arsel
2004, p. 631). Starbucks’ model of “café cool” has been successfully exported to Canada,
China, Japan, Taiwan, Britain, and much of continental Europe (Holmes 2002). It has
become a suitable case for studying cross-cultural topics such as “glocalization”
(Thompson and Arsel 2004). Jansen et al. (2009) also conducted a case study on
Starbucks’ multiple Twitter accounts, analyzing the tweets posted by the company and its
followers. They chose Starbucks because this company “has products and services
closely related with everyday life (i.e., coffee and pastries) and has active Twitter
accounts” (Jansen et al. 2009, p. 2,175).
This study sampled tweets on the Starbucks Coffee Twitter profile page
(@Starbucks) and “weibos” on Starbucks China’s profile page on Sina Weibo. A total of
26 tweets and 171 weibos posted by Starbucks between December 1st and December
31st, 2012, were analyzed. For the purpose of analyzing these two platforms consistently,
tweets and weibos posted by followers and others were not included in the sample. The
duration of our investigation was one month, which is consistent with prior studies such
as Lovejoy and Saxton (2012). We also followed Lovejoy and Saxton (2012) by
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examining “organizational” tweets and weibos only. A full list of these tweets and weibos
can be provided upon request.
Coding Scheme and Procedure
All coding categories for this study were adopted from previous research
(Lovejoy et al. 2012; Lovejoy and Saxton 2012; Chao et al. 2012). First, Lovejoy et al.’s
(2012) method was adopted to investigate the following basic characteristics of Starbucks
Coffee’s profile page on Twitter (@Starbucks) and Starbucks China’s page on Sina
Weibo: following (i.e., how many followers or friends do they have?), tweets/weibos
(i.e., how many tweets and weibos were posted between December 1st and December
31st, 2012?), hyperlinks (i.e., how many hyperlinks to external information were included
in these tweets and weibos?), public messages (i.e., how many tweets and weibos started
with the “@” symbol?), retweets/reweibos (i.e., how many tweets and weibos shared
other users’ tweets and weibos?), and hashtags (i.e., how many tweets and weibos had
hashtags?).
Some terms might need to be further explained here according to Twitter/Weibo
terminology: (a) if one user follows another, he/she is considered a “follower”, and if
both users follow each other they are considered “friends”; (b) public messages include
the “@” symbol followed by an account name, resulting in those messages appearing on
both the message generator’s page and the mentioned account’s page; (c) the “#” symbol,
called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet or weibo. Clicking on a
hashtagged word in any message displays all tweets and weibos marked with that
keyword.
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Lovejoy and Saxton’s (2012) micro-blogging categorization scheme (see Table 2)
was then adopted. This scheme was developed with help from prior individual-level
social media coding schemes, blog classification studies (e.g., Macias et al. 2009), and
the new media and stakeholder engagement literature (Lovejoy and Saxton 2012). Two
bi-lingual coders individually categorized each tweet and weibo based on Lovejoy and
Saxton’s (2012) taxonomy. When discrepancy in code assignments occurred between the
two coders, they resolved their disagreements through discussion. Only tweets and
weibos posted by Starbucks were analyzed.
Finally, the “cultural customization” scheme presented in Chao et al. (2012; see
Table 3) was implemented. The purpose was to detect whether Starbucks’ micro-
blogging marketing strategies for Sina Weibo were culturally adapted to Chinese
consumers. The same two bi-lingual coders examined weibos posted by Starbucks. To be
more specific, the two coders checked whether the colors used in each weibo were
appropriate to Chinese culture. For example, in China, red is considered a lucky color
that expresses joy, prosperity, luck, and happiness. Therefore, the use of red or a carefully
selected shade of red (e.g., burgundy) could indicate the adaptation of weibo’s visual
imagery to Chinese followers (Chao et al. 2012). With regard to symbols, it has been
documented that Chinese culture is based on the Confucian values of balance and
harmony, the Yin and Yang (Chao et al. 2012). For example, Frito-Lay discovered that in
Chinese culture, certain flavors and colors were associated with the Yin and Yang forces.
As a result, during the summer season, the company changed its product packaging to
pastel colors to emphasize the presence of Yin (Hawkins et al. 2007). The use of imagery
portraying nature and harmony on Sina Weibo should also represent adaptation strategy
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to be more in tune with Chinese culture. The two coders paid special attention to the
usage of symbols, colors, and imagery by Starbucks on its Sina Weibo page.
(Insert Table 3 about here)
Numbers carry symbolic meaning in Chinese culture (Chao et al. 2012). For
example, marketers have recognized that when they price services in China, they should
use combinations ending in 98 or 88 to imply the road to prosperity, and avoid the use of
four and seven, which relate to death. The two coders checked whether any of the weibos
mentioned these symbolic numbers. Weibos were also analyzed in terms of the extent to
which Starbucks offers services/products that are unique to China. The two coders
checked whether any of the weibos introduced China-specific products or services such
as a series of Chinese Zodiac cups. According to Hofstede’s (1980) established typology
of cultural values, China is considered a collectivist society, with a high level of power
distance and masculinity. Weibos should thus reflect these values (e.g., through family
pictures).
Results
Guided by Lovejoy, Waters, and Saxton (2012), descriptive statistics about
Starbucks’ tweets on Twitter and weibos on Sina Weibo are provided in Table 4. Lovejoy
and Saxton’s (2012) scheme was followed with 96% inter-coder agreement and a Cohen
kappa score of .92. The results can be found in Table 5. Lastly, Chao et al.’s (2012)
cultural customization scheme was followed with 93% inter-coder agreement and a
Cohen kappa score of .87. Please see Table 6 for details. Based on the results in Tables 4,
5, and 6, the research questions of the current study can be answered.
20
(Insert Tables 4, 5, and 6 about here)
The first two research questions refer to the consistency across Starbucks’ Twitter
and Sina Weibo accounts in terms of frequency of posts (Q1) and efficiency of posts (i.e.,
number of followers per post—Q2). Between December 1st and 31st, 2012, Starbucks
posted six times more messages on Sina Weibo than on Twitter. During the same period
of time, their number of followers on Twitter was five times more than that on Sina
Weibo. Thus, Starbucks exhibited inconsistency across the two micro-blogging platforms
in its frequency of posts (Q1). As the number of followers varied significantly across the
two platforms, Starbucks was more efficient on Twitter than on Sina Weibo (Q2).
Twitter’s efficiency was around 127,831 (3,323,596/26) and Sina Weibo’s was around
3,572 (610,885/171). As a result, Starbucks’ efficiency of posts in the United States was
more than 35 times higher than in China.
The third research question was whether companies practice the same following
behavior on the Chinese micro-blogging site Sina Weibo as on the American Twitter.
Starbucks followed 79,665 Twitter accounts and 707 Sina Weibo accounts, which
indicates that the following behavior of Starbucks is inconsistent across the two
platforms. Although China is considered more collectivist, substantially fewer followers
and followings have been recorded on Starbucks’ Sina Weibo compared to its Twitter
page.
Public messages when retweeted increase a company’s interactivity and
promotional power. A company and its followers can retweet and reply to each other’s
tweets. How consistently are the micro-blogging pages of the same company targeting
21
different countries in terms of frequency of retweets and replies (Q4)? Starbucks had
almost six times more reweibos (142,047) than retweets (24,133) during the month of
December, 2012. However, on Sina Weibo, Starbucks had five times fewer followers and
112 times fewer followings compared to its Twitter page.
Research question number five inquired about the consistency in using hashtags
and hyperlinks across the two platforms. Starbucks was found somewhat consistent in
embedding hashtags (68% on Twitter; 81% on Sina Weibo) and inconsistent in including
hyperlinks in messages (25% on Twitter; 119% on Sina Weibo).
A content analysis of posts on Starbucks’ Twitter and Sina Weibo pages revealed
some cultural adaptation (Q6). Thirty-four percent of weibos compared to 14% of tweets
were categorized as community-based posts. This might imply that Starbucks tailored
more community-based messages for the collectivist nature of the Chinese population
than for the individualistic nature of the U.S. population. All community-based messages
were responses either to public replies (8.3%) or to solicitations (25.5%), which refers to
the dialogue aspect of this category. This category might be strongly associated with
frequency of retweets/reweibos. Contrary to Twitter, Sina Weibo rewards its users for
reweibos, which may explain the significant disparity between Twitter and Sina Weibo in
terms of community-based and pubic posts.
The last research question is whether Starbucks customizes the content of weibos
for its Chinese consumers. Based on our investigation, about 42% of weibos were
categorized as product- and service-related posts that appear to be very or somewhat
Western or non-Chinese; about a quarter of the posts referred to products and services
that somewhat catered to Chinese consumers. Products and services that were unique or
22
were specially adapted to the Chinese users exceeded 30%. In terms of colors and
aesthetics, close to 22% of weibos were categorized as very adapted, and close to 50%
were identified as somewhat adapted to the Chinese consumers. Weibos’ graphics and
images that looked somewhat Chinese accounted for 48%, and those that looked Chinese
accounted for about 16%. Cultural values, such as collectivism, high power distance, and
masculinity were mentioned more than three times in less than 10% of weibos.
Conclusions
By comparing Starbucks’ tweets on Twitter in the U.S. and weibos on Sina Weibo
in China, inconsistencies in its communication strategy across platforms emerge. For
example, more consumers followed Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) on Twitter than
Starbucks China on Sina Weibo, resulting in a higher efficiency of posts on Twitter than
on Sina Weibo. On the other hand, the number of Chinese consumers’ reweibos was
significantly higher than American consumers’ retweets.
The same is true for Starbucks’ following behavior that is substantially less on its
Sina Weibo page than on its Twitter page. Following others, especially those who follow
you, increases exposure of public messages, which leads to greater interaction with the
target population (Lovejoy et al. 2012). Consequently, Starbucks should exhibit a more
robust following behavior on its Sina Weibo profile page because Chinese consumers
engage in more message reposting than American consumers. Increasing the number of
users followed on Starbucks’ Sina Weibo page can enhance the effectiveness of this
communication tool in China.
23
Starbucks consistently embedded hashtags in its posts across the two platforms
(68% on Weibo; 81% on Twitter) but was inconsistent with regard to hyperlinks (25% on
Twitter; 119% on Weibo). Many companies discover the power of hashtags and
hyperlinks when significant events influencing large communities occur (e.g., Boston
bombing, Hurricane Sandy). Media companies, for instance, leverage hashtags and
hyperlinks as part of their social TV strategy, helping viewers discover other posts related
to the TV shows and access additional information about the actors. Therefore, Starbucks
should find ways to further utilize hashtags and hyperlinks (especially in China) to its
advantage since it positions itself as a community-oriented company.
A categorization of messages into informational, community-based, and action-
based reveals that Starbucks to some degrees tailors its Weibo content so as to make it
more community-based for Chinese consumers. Chinese culture is group-oriented
(Hofstede 1980) and community-based weibos would be more accepted and reposted by
Chinese consumers. On the other hand, our findings based on the scheme of Chao et al.
(2012) clearly indicate that Starbucks can further culturally customize its micro-blogging
strategies for the Chinese market.
Managerial Implications
According to Chao et al. (2012), it seems that most companies believe localization
of their webpages implies translation. This myopic view of equating localization with
translation could be explained by companies’ lack of sensitivity to other socio-cultural
variables (Chao et al. 2012). These observations and arguments are supported in the
micro-blogging sites analyzed in the present study. Localization of micro-blogging
communication strategies can occur on various levels, from frequency of posts, number
24
of followers and followings, and number of hashtags and hyperlinks to topics, values,
colors, symbols, and images. Starbucks demonstrated neither a standardized nor a
localized communication strategy across the two micro-blogging platforms analyzed. To
leverage these two different micro-blogging platforms, companies need to identify their
unique characteristics (e.g., multimedia capabilities) as well as their similarities (e.g., 140
characters per message). For example, as Sina Weibo rewards its users for reposts of
messages, companies should strive to increase the frequency of their posts, the number of
followings and followers, and the number of hashtags on this site.
Other studies also indicate that companies do not approach micro-blogging sites
strategically, creating anomalies in how they are managed (Burton and Soboleva 2011;
Lovejoy et al. 2012). As a result, many opportunities to capitalize on these
communication tools are lost. Though the success of some companies localizing content
for their target population on various social media networks has been documented (Tsai
and Men 2012), our study indicates that Starbucks did not take full advantage of
localizing its Sina Weibo profile page.
We proposed several methods to assess the successful localization of micro-
blogging communication. Multinational companies who strive to attract local audiences
to their micro-blogging sites should pay more attention to the local preferences of content
(e.g., information, community-, or action-based); put more emphasis on communicating
cultural values; and provide more familiar layouts in terms of symbols, images, and
colors. In this study, reliable and validated frameworks were introduced to help global
business assess their communication strategies across micro-blogging platforms.
Moreover, the study provides insights into criteria for assessing Chinese weibos’ level of
25
localization. According to a survey of multinational executives, China is one of the most
difficult markets to localize (Petro et al. 2007).
Limitations
As an exploratory, case-based, and content-analysis investigation, this study has
its limitations, which could be addressed by future research. First, future studies need to
test these frameworks in not only other countries but also in other industries. To calibrate
the cultural customization framework, micro-blogging strategies of local Chinese
companies should also be analyzed in the future and serve as a benchmark to compare the
findings of the present study.
This study adopted a collection of frameworks to compare communication
strategies across micro-blogging platforms. A future theoretical contribution could be
made by introducing and testing a nomological network based on the concepts presented
in this study. Also, it might be useful to conduct a survey that measures the overall
satisfaction of users of localized micro-blogging sites.
In conclusion, the assessment of global e-business micro-blogging strategies can
help companies measure the effectiveness of their localized communication efforts on
social network platforms. A micro-blogging assessment framework can assist companies
in developing measureable goals and milestones, leading to greater efficiency in their
global SNS strategy. Such assessment will provide companies with useful information on
not only how they are performing but also how their global efforts compare with their
competitors.
26
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Table 1Key Distinctions between Facebook and Twitter
Characteristics Facebook TwitterAuthenticity/credibility: Public and semi-public profile creation and management
One profile and account per person
Emphasis on creation of “authentic” profiles, which accurately represent individuals
Can create multiple profiles and accounts
No emphasis on authentic profiles, though important “authentic” profiles (e.g., celebrities and brands) are flagged
Visibility and accessibility : Creation and display of connections within the network
One type of connection called ‘friends’
Have to ask permission to connect
Most likely to search and connect with people they have/had a relationship with offline
Two types of connections: ‘following’ and ‘followers’
Does not need approval to follow network users
Most likely to browse and connect with ‘interesting’ people (celebrities, opinion leaders, organizations, and brands)
Interactivity:Interaction with established connections (view, navigate, comment, blog)
Interaction occurs through messages posted on individuals’ “walls” and comments on friends’ walls
Messages are not limited in length
Rich media display opportunities
Main motive: socialize Opt out from unwanted feeds
but still be friends Feel lower control over the
management of social contexts
Two-way communication tool
Interaction occurs by tweeting short messages on individuals’ profile pages and re-tweeting or replying to other users’ messages
Message size of each tweet is limited to 140 characters
Restricted media display opportunities
Main motive: share information
Unfollow twitter accounts Feel more control over the
management of social contexts
One-way communication tool
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Table 2Lovejoy and Saxton (2012) Taxonomy
Main Category/Description Subcategory/ DescriptionInformation:One-way interaction tweets that broadcast information that interest followers (e.g., activities, event highlights, facts, and reports).
Community:Social networking capability that fosters interactivity and dialogue.
Giving recognition and thanks:Tweets that acknowledge and thank donors and other supporters for their contributions. Related to community-building dimension.
Acknowledgement of current and local events:Tweets that acknowledge noteworthy events (e.g., holiday greetings, sport events). Related to community-building dimension.
Responding to public messages:Tweets with the “@” symbol when organizations reply to individuals. Related to dialogue dimension.
Response solicitation:Tweets that encourage a conversational response from followers (e.g., polls, surveys, contests, direct questions, and requests to retweet). Related to dialogue dimension.
Action:Outcome-oriented messages asking followers to ‘do something’ for the organization (e.g., donate money, buy products, attend events, and engage in advocacy campaigns).
Promote an event:Tweets that promote events to followers by providing specific information about events, including dates, times, prices.
Donation appeal:Tweets that either directly asked for a donation or asked followers to support companies that donate a percentage of their sales.
Selling a Product:Tweets that encourage followers to buy products.
Call for volunteers and employees:Tweets that ask followers to volunteer or apply for a position.Lobbying and advocacy:Tweets that “directly ask followers to perform a lobbying- or advocacy-related activity” (p. 346).
Join another site or vote for organization:Tweets “asking followers to join another social media site or vote for the organization on another site” (p. 346).
Learn how to help:Tweets with “indirect requests for a donation or other form of support” (p. 347).
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Table 3Cultural Customization Framework
Adopted from Singh et al. (2009) and Chao et al. (2012)
Category Description
Cultural Values: power distance; individualism vs. collectivism; masculinity; uncertainty avoidance
Based on Hofstede’s (1980) typology
Promotion of products and services Degree to which there are unique products/services promoted to the national culture or subculture
Graphics and images Presence of pictures related to national culture or subculture and the use of cultural symbols
Color and aesthetics Degree to which the Web site uses colors and other aesthetic elements that reflect the influence of national culture or subculture
Table 4Descriptive Statistics of Sina Weibo vs. Twitter
Categories Sina Weibo TwitterTotal posts since the account was opened
3,328 13,828
Followers 610,885 3,323,596
Followings 707 79,665
Posts during 12/1/12 – 31/1/12
171 26
Posts per day during 12/1/12 – 31/1/12
6 1
Retweets/Reweibos 142,047 24,133
Hyperlinks 43 31
Hashtags 117 21
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Table 5Category-based Frequency of Weibos and Tweets
Category Subcategory
Weibos’Freq. (%)
Tweets’ Freq. (%)
TotalFreq.(%)
Information 85(29.3)
20(34.5)
105(30.2)
Community 98(33.8)
8(13.8)
106(30.5)
Giving recognition and thanks 0(0.0)
2(3.4)
2(0.6)
Acknowledgement of current and local events
0(0.0)
1(1.7)
1(0.3)
Responding to public messages 24(8.3)
3(5.3)
27(7.8)
Response solicitation 74(25.5)
2(3.4)
76(21.8)
Action 107(36.9)
30(51.7)
137(39.4)
Promoting an event 50(17.3)
16(27.6)
66(19.0)
Donation appeal 0(0.0)
0(0.0)
0(0.0)
Selling a product 56(19.3)
12(20.7)
68(19.5)
Calling for volunteers and employees
0(0.0)
1(1.7)
1(0.3)
Lobbying and advocacy 0(0.0)
0(0.0)
0(0.0)
Joining another site or voting for the organization
1(0.3)
0(0.0)
1(0.3)
Learning how to help 0(0.0)
1(1.7)
1(0.3)
Total 290(100.0)
58 (100.0)
348(100.0)
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Table 6Frequency of Culturally Customized Weibos and Tweets
Category Scale Measurement Scale Frequency %Products & Services
1 Products and services appear very Western or non-Chinese
26 15.2
2 Products and services appear somewhat Western or non-Chinese
46 26.9
3 Products and services appear somewhat catered to Chinese consumers
44 25.7
4 Products and services are unique to Chinese consumers
47 27.5
5 A whole range or unique products and services specially adapted for the Chinese market
6 3.5
Colors & Aesthetics1 Colors and aesthetics look very Western or non-
Chinese15 8.8
2 Colors and aesthetics look somewhat Western or non-Chinese
34 19.9
3 Colors and aesthetics look somewhat Chinese 83 48.5
4 Colors and aesthetics look Chinese 36 21.1
5 Colors and aesthetics closely adapted to Chinese culture
1 0.6
Graphics & Images1 Graphics look very Western or non-Chinese 17 9.9
2 Graphics look somewhat Western or non-Chinese 42 24.6
3 Graphics and images look somewhat Chinese 82 48.0
4 Graphics and images look Chinese 25 14.6
5 Graphics very closely adapted to Chinese culture 3 1.8
Chinese Culture Value: Collectivism, High Power Distance, and Masculinity1 Lack of any Chinese cultural values 88 51.5
2 One-two instances of cultural values seen 66 38.6
3 Three-four instances of cultural values seen 12 7.0
4 More than five instances of cultural values seen 1 0.6
5 Most cultural values seen 2 1.2
34