Contemporary Word of Mouth – Conceptual Dilemmas

Word of mouth is one of the most important factors that affect customers when making purchas­es and making purchasing decisions. The growing number of its new forms and the increasing­ly complex nature, caused a lot of ambiguities and difficulties both in conducting research on this phenomenon and in the implementation of effective marketing activities. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to organize the most important concepts and concepts related to WOM communi­cation, based on current global research results. The chapter identifies and defines the most impor­tant concepts related to WOM, including traditional WOM, eWOM and sWOM. Furthermore, the main differences between them are identified. Finally, the necessary directions for further research in this area were indicated.

JEL: M31, M37, M210

Bauer Publisher – Traditional Publisher in the Digital World

“Word Management” by the Press Media in the Process of Seeking to Know and Present the Truth

The importance of the press in a democratic state is beyond doubt. This requires that freedom of press expression be guaranteed. However, this is not an absolute freedom and is subject to restric­tions. In particular, the journalist must remember that “The press is under an obligation to truly present the discussed phenomena” (Article 6 par. 1 of the Press Law). However, understanding this principle too literally may raise reasonable doubts. The result of a journalist’s cognitive conduct – even with the utmost care – may turn out to be untrue. It would therefore be unreasonable to hold a journalist accountable according to an absolute criterion of the veracity of the facts. It is therefore appropriate to consider the regulation referred to here as a directional standard, the performance of which should be assessed particularly carefully in the context of the implementation of the statuto­ry obligations imposed on the press (journalist).

JEL: K15

Friendship, a mutual and profound relationship, permeates history of human culture and occurs in all social situations, including professional and informal human activities. In organizations, it devel­ops through processes of communication and generates a communication culture of kindness and support. Organizational friendship enhances work engagement and satisfaction, as well as helps to promote individual ends. This article investigates the more vital significance of friendship in alter­native organizations. Such organizations, operating at the margins of the currently dominant profit-oriented business model, offer a plethora of insights of possible structures and practices. Our ethno­graphic qualitative research shows the implications of workplace friendship as organizing principle. It helps to make organizations more humane, and redressed the moral imbalance, so prevalent in contemporary organizing and management. This has important implications for any kind of com­munication, creating social awareness around important themes related to management and organ­izations. Patterns of friendship are meaningful for organizing and organizations and their most vi­tal significance concerns the area of social communication.

JEL: Z130

Risk Management Objectives in Polish Enterprises in the Media Sector Listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

Risk management is an extremely important domain of management, conditioning the develop­ment of enterprises and business continuity, as well as developing and maintaining a competitive position. The main purpose of this text is to identify and categorize the risk management objec­tives adopted in Polish enterprises in the media sector listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). The aim of empirical research was achieved through the use of triangulation of research meth­ods. The following methods were used in the research process: the method of analyzing the con­tent of source documents of the studied group of enterprises, the logic classification method and the comparative method. The main research findings indicate that: the overriding goal of risk man­agement in the surveyed companies formulating them in a hierarchical system is in most cases en­suring compliance with the applicable requirements of external and internal origin, and the specif­ic objectives (being components of the overarching goal) are mainly determined by the specificity of the media sector. The obtained research results refer to both the theory and practice of risk manage­ment among enterprises representing the media sector and may serve as a source of knowledge for the stakeholders of companies being listed entities, which constitutes the added value of this work.

JEL: D81, G32, L82.

The Challenges of Incorporating Social Media Marketing Within Integrated Marketing Communication

The paper aims to systematise the modifications within the concept of integrated marketing com­munication, resulting from the usage of social media in the companies’ communication practic­es. Based on the literature review, the current challenges of integrating social media into market­ing communication were identified. They were structured into three groups of tactical, strategic and ethical challenges. These challenges are related to both, the practical issues of marketing communi­cation through the evolving social media and the theoretical discussion on the conceptual frame­work of integrated marketing communication.

JEL: M37, M31

Public Perception of a TV Program as a Major Source of Competitive Advantage for Broadcasters

This paper’s is to present the importance of the level of public perception of TV program, with particular focus on television genres which contribute to creating the competitive advantage of the station. This study used primary and secondary sources. The original research involved a survey. The survey was conducted at the turn of 2018 and 2019 on a sample of 1249 adult Polish TV view­ers. The secondary sources included: telemetry audience measurement reports and reports pub­lished by the major TV broadcasters in Poland. The programming of Polish television broadcasters is increasingly market-oriented, both when it comes to commercial and public broadcasters. Films, TV serials, sports broadcasts, entertainment shows and news programs are the key formats which attract satisfying audiences and create competitive advantage. The findings have implications for both the TV stations creating the broadcasting schedules for subsequent seasons and for advertisers making decisions about allocating their media budgets.

JEL: D4, L1

The main purpose of this study is to explore the role of media as a vehicle for social memory in building social identity. The concept of social memory used by historians and others is to explore the connection between social identity and historical memory. In this research, the authors ex­plore the role of media in the formation of social memory. The first part of the article explores the term of social memory in the light of literature. In the second part, the authors discussed the role of media in the formation of social memory on the example of Air Commodore Władysław Turowicz, a Polish Pakistani Engineer who was known as “The Rocket-Missile Man of Pakistan”. The research­ers present the social memories of the Polish Godfather of Pakistan’s Space and Missile programs in the light of Pakistani electronic media. The authors have explored the role of Polish Engineer Władysław Turowicz in SUPARCO, his personal and professional life that has been widely discussed in Pakistani electronic media vs mere mention in Polish media. From the knowledge perspective, this research highlights some of the forgotten memories of Turowicz.

JEL: Z130

The subject of is study was the image of contemporary young people in Polish opinion magazines. The research problem was identified as the manner in which the opinion-forming press creates the im­age of the Z generation. Nearly 500 issues published by 10 weeklies in the period between 2015–2016 were analysed. As a result, knowledge was gained on how readers evaluate their message. Moreover, the question was answered as to which of the public, economic, and private spheres of young peo­ple’s lives the editors emphasize most distinctly, as well as which categories assigned to these spheres arouse most emotion among readers.

JEL: Z130, I290

Audience Development on the Internet. Netnography of the Activities of Polish Theatres During the Epidemic

Moving theatre operations to the Internet during the COVID-19 pandemic constituted a substan­tial organisational challenge, mostly due to the nature of theatrical events itself, which is based on the direct interaction between actors and the audience. Theatres were forced to swiftly implement various solutions in order to adapt and preserve their existing relationships with their public, and at best to establish new ones, but also to create new working conditions for artists and the rest of the staff. The article presents the results of the study on establishing the audience on the Internet by Polish theatres from March to August 2020. The study was carried out with the method of netnog­raphy. The aim of the study was not only to explore the strategies used but also to emphasise the is­sue of the digital maturity of cultural organisations, to signal an excess of culture that exists on-line, and to show various patterns of participation in culture in new conditions. Moreover, the study has shed some light on the most crucial research gaps that can become the basis for further scientific in­vestigation in the context of adjusting the ways in which cultural institutions operate to unexpected shifts in the external environment.

JEL: Z1

The Protection of Image in Media in the Time of a Pandemic

The authors examine the adequacy of Polish regulations on the protection of the image to the chal­lenges to prevent stigmatization of people who come into contact with COVID-19 and the special role of the media. In authors opinion there is a social responsibility of media to protect image, as a part of the human privacy. The aim of this study is emphasising the particular role of media to re­duce the risk of stigmatization and social exclusion. There are no publication on this subject what can mean also the lack of protection. The article fills the existing cognitive gap. The research prob­lem is presented by showing adequate law regulations, judgements and literature, using the formal – dogmatic method and also law-empiric one. The authors give some law recommendation to protect human image in media during pandemic times. Those clues could minimize the stigmatization and social exclusion of those who come into contact with COVID-19.

JEL: K390

Persuasion Techniques in TV Commercials of Discount Stores, Telecommunications Companies and Banks During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic affects the media market, including the advertising strategies of most companies. Brands have to revise their messages and adapt them to the changing needs of consum­ers. The aim of this article is to identify the linguistic and visual techniques of persuasion used in TV commercials during the “national quarantine.” To achieve the research goal, the advertising messag­es were analyzed both in terms of image and sound used in the commercial. In presented research the examined TV spots were transcribed and divided into consecutive shots. The way of using these techniques was discussed on the example of advertisements for three critical industries during the pandemic: discount stores (Biedronka, Carrefour, Lidl), telecommunication companies (T-Mobile, Plus) and banks (ING Bank Śląski, Millennium). The conducted analysis shows that brands changed the advertising production process (handheld shots, usage of video conferencing tools, ads filmed at home) and adjusted their strategies to consumer expectations (focusing on safety and belonging­ness needs).