I hate you but I liked you The pattern of engagement between an electric utility and its facebook fans: The case of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco)

• Main Author: Dorico, Kathleen Kristy D.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/4690
• Institution: De La Salle University

With consumers increasingly converging via the social media, Marketers have also made it an innovative tool for achieving some of their marketing objectives. Most companies are convinced by the immense capacity of social media to engage the customers. Electric utilities across the globe have also recognized the impact of social media in service delivery and communication. Understanding the actual engagement pattern of customers with a brand, like Meralco, is critical in making decisions to maximize the presence of a social media account to engage the customers. This research undertaking tried to look into the actual pattern of Facebook customer engagement in the case of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco). The purpose of this study is not only to test the hypotheses but also to create a deeper understanding of the motivation behind such pattern of engagement and how this online customer engagement influences satisfaction (i.e. complaints handling, customer communication and corporate image) in the context of a brand that elicits negative emotions. Employing a triangulation approach, the researchers integrated the results from the online survey, content analysis and focus group discussion for its final analysis. In terms of involvement, Meralco Facebook fans primary objective of liking the page was to get up-to-date information and the varying reasons for liking the page is not influenced by fans demographic profile. Furthermore, Meralco fans are positive of the potential of Facebook to build relationship because of its inherent interactive characteristics. While the presence of Meralco on Facebook was deemed risky, it was highly appreciated by the fans. Meralco became more authentic with its concern for the customers. On interaction, contents related to service outage have the most consistent strength of interaction across different industry context. The experience of Meralco with is Facebook fanpage showed that Facebook is a strong alternative channel during a natural disaster. The over-all sentiment of posts by Meralco Facebook fans is neutral regardless of month or industry context. Facebook has essentially did not turn into a venue for bashers to post negative comments. The statistical results of the online survey showed that there is no significant difference in terms of how the respondents evaluated Meralco for complaints handling, customer communication and corporate image. Females are more likely to share a post by Meralco than males. Furthermore, if we look into the association of the different demographic profile, the results show a weak association with age, sex and marital status and a moderately negative association with income. Although satisfaction is significantly different across varying strength of interaction, the direction of this difference is negative. An inversely weak association suggests that there is a slight potential for a strong interaction to determine less satisfaction. The propensity to share a Meralco post is different across varying strength of interaction. Statistical results show that fans with higher interaction with Meralco on Facebook have a strong inclination to share about a post from Meralco. Although most of the customers initially hated Meralco, liking the Meralco Facebook fanpage shows an existing value of the presence of Meralco on Facebook. More so, Meralco fans also value the presence of Meralco on Facebook for its convenience and accessibility. The experience with Meralco Facebook is a seamless transition from the habitual personal use of Facebook to getting information from Meralco and posting an inquiry to Meralco. Furthermore, Meralco Facebook fanpage has the most potential to build and grow existing relationship with its customers, particularly those who have already liked the fanpage. Liking the Meralco Facebook is the first of many possible chances for Meralco to grow the existing relationship. Facebook allows for continuous, uninterrupted communication which is essential to create a bond with its fans. To further this relationship, Meralco has to combine frequency, personalization and interactivity.