The Impact of social media on Corporate Reputation Management Strategies in South Africa

Abstract

Initially, social media was perceived as a luxury rather than a necessary tool for companies whenit comes to reputation management. However, with South Africa's growing social media landscapereportedly reaching 25.8 million users by 2024 and the increasing demand for consumer attention,it has become crucial for organisations to find ways to effectively manage their reputations onsocial media. This is particularly evident with the recent surge of real-time interaction betweenconsumers and organisations on social media platforms, where the former freely express theirexperiences with brands and provide feedback on after-sales service.Guided by the literature reviewed in this study, the research report aims to investigate the impactof social media on corporate reputation management strategies in South Africa. It recognises thesignificance of corporate reputation in attracting and retaining customers, investors, andemployees. The advent of social media has brought about both new opportunities and challengesin reputation management. While social media platforms offer a powerful tool for creating desiredbrand images and reputations, they also pose potential threats to corporate reputation due to theiruncontrollable nature.To achieve the objective of the study, three organisations, namely Shoprite, Clicks, and TigerBrands, were selected as subjects for analysis. Data was collected from the social media platformX (formerly known as Twitter) to analyse the sentiment towards these organisations. .The key finding of this study is that social media has a significant impact on corporate reputation.The findings offer significant theoretical and practical contributions. Firstly, they demonstrate theefficacy of organisations leveraging the use of social media listening tools to manage consumerperception. Secondly, they highlight the value of investing in social media listening tools to informcorporate reputation management strategies. The study recommends that South Africanorganisations utilise social media listening tools to effectively manage the reputation of theirorganisations