ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how social media storms are merely symptoms of a changing world in which the Internet development is causing a profound change in global business behavior and consumer behavior. This presents new challenges to managers and marketers, which calls for rethinking strategic marketing management at a general level. “Rethinking” refers to the change of sensemaking from custom and routine thinking towards a more reflective behavior, based on active choice, where understanding digital consumers are paramount. The first challenge we describe is dropping one’s traditional marketing and crisis management tools when facing a social media storm. The second challenge is to understand the social media runaway train. The third challenge is managing crises triggered by consumer anger. The final challenge is managing individual and organization frames.
After this chapter, you will:
Understand why social media storms should be seen in the context of a changing market and consumer behavior;
Be able to pose critical questions that can help you scrutinize the underlying assumptions of marketing management and to rethink corporate practices;
Know what the main challenges of social media storms in a business management context are.
