Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B sales

Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B sales
Raj Agnihotri a,⁎, Rebecca Dingus b
, Michael Y. Hu c
, Michael T. Krush d
a The University of Texas at Arlington, 701 West Street, Arlington, TX 76019, United States
b Central Michigan University, 100 Smith Hall, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, United States
c Kent State University, 475 Terrace Drive, Kent, OH 44242, United States
d North Dakota State University, 316 Richard H. Barry Hall, 811 2nd Avenue, North, Fargo, ND 58108, United States
a b s t r a c ta r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 20 July 2013
Received in revised form 7 August 2014
Accepted 24 September 2014
Available online xxxx
Keywords:
Sales management
Salesperson social media use
Information communication
Customer satisfaction
Social media have changed how buyers and sellers interact, and increased involvement through social media may
yield positive results for sales organizations if salespeople utilize it in facilitating their behaviors. Through the per-
spective of value creation, we test the mediating effects of salesperson information communication behaviors be-
tween social media use and customer satisfaction. Using salesperson-reported data, within a B2B context, we
empirically test a model using structural equation modeling. Salesperson's use of social media is found to impact
information communication behaviors, which enhance salesperson responsiveness and customer satisfaction.
Also, salesperson responsiveness is found to have a positive relationship with customer satisfaction. Findings sug-
gest that social media plays an important role in communicating information to customers, but as an antecedent
enhancing salesperson behaviors to increase customer satisfaction rather than a direct factor. This encourages
managers to carefully assess goals related to social media use of their sales force.
© 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.
1. Introduction
Social media is changing our world. Through the advent of
smartphones and social media, accessibility of information is higher
than it ever has been before. Customers are frequently asked to “like”
companies on Facebook, to “follow” companies on Twitter, or to “con-
nect” via LinkedIn. As a result, customers are becoming better connected
to companies, more knowledgeable about product selections, and more
powerful in buyer-seller relationships.
In broad terms, incorporating the use of social media in customer in-
teractions is a logical progression for firms to expand communication
with their customers (Avlonitis & Panagopoulos, 2010). For instance,
trade-media encourage the use of social media (e.g. Wirthman, 2013)
for firms, suggesting that social media is important for business as it
aids in generating business exposure, increasing traffic, and providing
marketplace insight (Stelzner, 2012).
From a sales force perspective, Andzulis, Panagopoulos, and Rapp
(2012) assert that social media should be an integral part of a firm's rep-
ertoire, as it allows salespeople to engage customers and build social cap-
ital that would “encourage customers to interact, engage, and establish
relationships with them” (Agnihotri, Kothandaraman, Kashyap, & Singh,
2012, p. 341). For instance, blog posts can be positioned to create discus-
sion or debate as a means of listening to customers. Value propositions
can be demonstrated through success stories shared on Facebook.
Networks on LinkedIn can be used to build awareness and gain referrals
(Andzulis et al., 2012). In sum, active use of social media can help sales-
people in their communication with customers (Agnihotri et al., 2012).
As such, we suggest two key downstream effects of social media with-
in the sales domain. First, social media provides a means to communicate
to customers in a manner that may plausibly enable greater salesperson
responsiveness. For instance, when consumer complaints are lodged on
a social networking site, 58% of consumers want a response; yet only
22% report receiving a response (Right Now Technologies, 2010).
Hence, social media may provide one means to enable the salesperson
to communicate in a more responsive manner.
Second, social media may have implications on customer satisfaction.
In general, with increased interactions and contact with firms, power is
shifting from seller to buyer (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004). An increase
in buyer-seller collaboration and co-creation of knowledge and value
(Greenberg, 2010) has placed buyers on a more equal footing with sellers.
As such customers may hold higher expectation for these interactions
and engagements, such that firms and customer contact employees
must adapt (Hibbert, Winklhofer, & Temerak, 2012) or risk alienating
or losing their customer base. For instance, a Harris Interactive report
found that 82% of consumers have discontinued dealing with a company
as a result of a negative experience (Right Now Technologies, 2010).
Hence, social media may provide a means to better enable positive expe-
riences that meet the expectations of the customer base.
Therefore, this paper considers the importance of social media in a
business-to-business (B2B) sales context. To build our theoretical foun-
dation, we consider what is already known about social media interac-
tions in a business-to-consumer (B2C) context and expand upon this
Industrial Marketing Management xxx (2015) xxx–xxx
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: [phone].
E-mail addresses: [e-mail] (R. Agnihotri),
[e-mail] (R. Dingus), [e-mail] (M.Y. Hu),
[e-mail] (M.T. Krush).
IMM-07259; No of Pages 9
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.09.003
0019-8501/© 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Industrial Marketing Management
Please cite this article as: Agnihotri, R., et al., Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B sales, Industrial Marketing Management
(2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.09.003

in the B2B realm. Broadly, we ask whether social media positively im-
pacts customer satisfaction within the B2B domain. Many papers call
for research in this area (e.g., Trainor, 2012; Agnihotri et al., 2012;
Andzulis et al., 2012), but our examination of the literature did not
yield research in this area.
To consider the effects of social media on customer satisfaction, we
consider the sales relationship more holistically. The work of Agnihotri
et al. (2012) provides a framework for salesperson social media use, in-
vestigating how social media helps salespeople to maximize customer
value. Further, the literature notes that social media encompasses an
array of technology; and the use of technology often enables information
communication between the buyer and seller within the sales relation-
ship (Agnihotri, Rapp, & Trainor, 2009). Extending this research stream,
this article bridges the gap to better understand the links from
salespeople's social media as a means to express communication that en-
ables responsiveness and customer satisfaction, as perceived by
salespeople.
Hence, our research fulfills a specific research gap. To date, academic
research has yet to explore how customer satisfaction is affected by the
implementation of social media in B2B sales relationships. Further, we
have little understanding of the factors and the pathway which provide
a successful route for social media to deliver customer satisfaction. As
such, this paper's research objective is to build upon the information
communication literature and recent scholarly advances in the area of so-
cial media use within industrial selling, to develop and empirically test a
model relating salespeople's social media use to customer satisfaction. To
foreshadow the results, we find that salespeople using social media tech-
nology can enhance customer satisfaction; however, it is essential that
salespeople use social media as a means to effectively communicate in-
formation. This communication enables greater responsiveness and satis-
faction. The findings of this paper provide a springboard for additional
research, and the practical implications are many.
2. Theoretical background
2.1. Information communication between buyer and seller
To develop our conceptual model, we align with the literature on in-
formation communication within sales and business relationships with
the literature on sales technology. The first link in our conceptual model
relates information communication with customer satisfaction and in-
formation communication to salesperson responsiveness.
The literature surrounding relationship marketing emphasizes the
significance of communication between buyer and seller to solidify the
relationship within the exchange process (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). Com-
munication, as posited by relational marketing scholars, can be described
as the “information shared between exchange partners” (Palmatier,
Dant, Grewal, & Evans, 2006, p. 138). Specifically, in the industrial selling
context, researchers have highlighted the importance of information
communication by the salesperson as a key contributor to customers'
positive experiences. For example, Ahearne, Jelinek, and Jones (2007)
consider information communication as one of the behaviors that sales-
people can use to improve customer satisfaction and trust, even after a
purchase has been made. Similarly, Agnihotri et al. (2009) argue that
during the sales process, “information communication can provide not
only a ground for a winning proposition but also customer satisfaction”
(p. 481).
Jones, Brown, Zoltners, and Weitz (2005) acknowledge the heighten-
ing expectations of buyers. Buyers have an increasingly higher level of ex-
pectations for the salesperson to be alert and sensitive to the customers'
needs. Salespeople have a need to focus on providing vital information in
a quick and responsive manner, as industrial customers are often com-
pelled to make competent business decisions in a swift manner.
Customers utilize their market relationships (Anderson & Dubinsky,
2004) in a similar manner as salespersons to enable “an effective and ef-
ficient means of obtaining information” (Crosby, Evans, & Coles, 1990,
p. 77). The salesperson's level of information communication can pro-
vide the customer with a responsive source of knowledge that is often
required when purchasing a complex product or solution. Salespeople
providing this information may be able to yield greater response timeli-
ness and improve customer satisfaction. Hence, we suggest that a strong
basis exists to theoretically link information communication to both
customer satisfaction and to responsiveness.
2.2. Information technology
In a parallel stream that considers the influence of technology on in-
formation communication, marketing scholars argue that salespeople
should be aware of the emerging technology tools that can enable the
exchange process to become more efficient and effective (Marshall,
Moncrief, Rudd, & Lee, 2012; Rodriguez, Peterson, & Krishnan, 2012).
The literature (e.g., Hunter & Perreault, 2007) has supported the use of
sales technology within a sales force as it enhances the information
communication process.
In terms of technology pertinent to the sales field, extant research ac-
knowledges the evolution of customer relationship management (CRM)
and its shift to include social media as a way to increase relationships
with the term social CRM. Social CRM incorporates the use of the latest
technology (here, social media) as a way of going beyond the traditional
role of technology, such that it also raises customer involvement
(Trainor, 2012).
For our paper, we utilize the salesperson's use of social media as the
precursor to information technology. The use of social media as defined
by Agnihotri et al. (2012) is described as “any social interaction-
enhancing technology that can be deployed by sales professionals to
generate content (e.g., blogs, microblogs, wikis) and develop networks
(e.g., social networks, online communities)” (p. 334). Aligning our de-
scription with the sales technology literature, in a broad sense, “sales-
person social media use” can be defined as a salesperson's utilization
and integration of social media technology to perform his or her job
(Ahearne, Jelinek, & Rapp, 2005; Rapp, Agnihotri, & Forbes, 2008). In
this sense, social media operates as a technology that the sales force
can use to build networks and better communicate information.
Social media introduces a ‘new avenue’ for two-way communication
and creates ‘possibilities’ for more positive interactions between buyers
and sellers if used properly. By extending sales interactions in a way
that welcomes two-way communication, non-selling activities and re-
lationship components such as prospecting and after-sales follow-ups
are encouraged through the use of social media. This makes it easier
for potential customers to ask questions or express needs while also
making it more natural for salespeople to uncover additional selling op-
portunities, track customer activity, and communicate success stories
(Andzulis et al., 2012).
The literature also highlights the importance of the link between the
salesperson's use of social media and information communication. The
literature has argued that the use of technology within the sales force
“represents only a necessary, but not sufficient, criterion for perfor-
mance” and “it is important to note that the mediating role of the man-
ner of use is equally vital” (Sundaram, Schwarz, Jones, & Chin, 2007,
p. 104). For instance, Hunter and Perreault (2007) posit that sharing
market knowledge will mediate the impact of sales technology and per-
formance outcomes. Conclusively, one must be mindful of salesperson
behaviors and other goals of social media interactions when examining
customer satisfaction.
Information communication is one of the key behaviors that must be
maintained in order for customers to be satisfied. Jones et al. (2005) ac-
knowledge this issue of heightening expectations of buyers, growing
amounts of information that salespeople have, and the difficulty that
salespeople may experience when trying to focus on providing vital in-
formation. Salespeople providing this information can extend relation-
ships and improve customer satisfaction. Customers have a high level
2 R. Agnihotri et al. / Industrial Marketing Management xxx (2015) xxx–xxx
Please cite this article as: Agnihotri, R., et al., Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B sales, Industrial Marketing Management
(2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.09.003

of expectation for responses, so we expect response timeliness to be es-
sential when securing customer satisfaction.
3. Model development
In this article we build on the existing work regarding salespeople's
social media use, with consideration of information communication, to
identify the impact on salesperson-perceived value (i.e., customer satis-
faction) and customer-perceived value (i.e, salesperson responsive-
ness). We focus specifically on (1) the influence of salesperson's social
media usage on salesperson information communication, (2) the medi-
ating role of information communication between social media use and
customer satisfaction, and (3) the impact that salesperson responsive-
ness has on customer satisfaction.
The proposed model, shown in Fig. 1, provides a set of hypothesized
relationships. Specifically, the model proposes that a salesperson's use
of social media will have a positive effect on information communica-
tion, which will, in turn, lead to improved customer satisfaction with
the salesperson. Also, we propose that information communication
will be positively related to responsiveness, which impacts customer
satisfaction. In the following sections, hypotheses are developed to por-
tray the suggested relationships among constructs.
3.1. Social media use and information communication
Our first hypothesis posits a relationship between the use of social
media and information communication. Agnihotri et al. (2009) demon-
strate that using sales technology has a positive effect on information
communication ability. Information communication is a critical behavior
where “salespeople provide customers with product-relevant informa-
tion in a timely, clear and concise manner and tailor their presentations
to fit customers' needs” (p. 478).
Similarly, Ahearne et al. (2007) define information communication
as “regularly relaying product information to the customer in a clear
and concise manner,” emphasizing that this communication must con-
tinue through the entire sales process (p. 605). As the newest type of
communication used in sales relationships, social media extends the
ability to which salespeople can serve their buyers. Andzulis et al.
(2012) provide a comprehensive listing of social media's potential
roles in the sales process. To name a few, companies can gather knowl-
edge through field-specific LinkedIn groups, establish credibility by
building the brand across networks, present information through videos
posted to a YouTube channel, or use Facebook pages to drive clients to
sales channels.
The communication between salespeople and their customers re-
mains a vital aspect of buyer-seller relationships (Dwyer, Schurr, & Oh,
1987). Over the years, however, increased use of technology has changed
how information is shared. As both sides of sales relationships—buyers
and sellers alike—are filled by younger generations, the impact, expecta-
tion, and use of social media is becoming much more prominent
(Marshall et al., 2012).
One of the most important aspects of the sales process is a
salesperson's ability to effectively communicate information. Even if
salespeople have the correct and necessary knowledge, customers will
not be satisfied with their interaction if the information is not commu-
nicated accurately or clearly. With a wide variety of communication op-
tions and constant availability, social media offers great possibilities for
salespeople to enhance their overall information communication with
customers. We expect that, if salespeople integrate the use of social
media into their work routine, the convenience of this medium provides
an environment where salespeople will value information exchange
with their buyers. Given this, we expect that a salesperson's use of social
media will be beneficial to communications.
Hypothesis 1. A salesperson's use of social media will positively influ-
ence information communication.
3.2 Customer satisfaction
Despite the acceptance of social media as a business topic and the
long history of research on customer satisfaction, a relationship linking
salesperson social media use and customer satisfaction has not yet been
empirically tested in the literature. Our model hypothesizes that
Fig. 1. Conceptual model.
3R. Agnihotri et al. / Industrial Marketing Management xxx (2015) xxx–xxx
Please cite this article as: Agnihotri, R., et al., Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B sales, Industrial Marketing Management
(2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.09.003