Social Media in Business. Brand Awareness and Reputation. Examining Managerial Attitudes with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

      Аннотация: This study targeted firms' managers from the Architectural/Engineering business in Dubai. The purpose was to explore their attitudes towards social media if was used for brand awareness. In terms of risks and benefits, perceptions of business and marketing managers were surveyed, related and weighed in order to explain the attitude. The Technology Acceptance Model TAM was implemented to analyze the findings due to its fundamental determinants (Usefulness and Ease of use) that influence the attitude. The statistical model was calculated using a PLS method. Attitude of Dubai's architects was positive although influenced by fears of reputation risks, as the managers acknowledged the need to accommodate social media into their marketing and audience communication activities. However, success cannot be achieved without the appropriate usage and preparation. To orchestrate social media, managers need to develop an engagement policy by which staff is delegated to engage with the targeted audience.Listening to the feedback is essential, while analysis should be conducted in a way enables to improve the engagement policy. Eventually, to turn audience and clients into brand advocates.

Ключевые слова: architecture, PLS, social media, TAM, technology acceptance model, partial least square, ATTITUDE, audience, brand awareness, Reputation, Engaging