Geassocieerde Faculteit Toegepaste Taalkunde From conversation to conversion An explorative study on the adoption of social media and the application of sentiment analysis in Flemish media and web shops Lana Eeckhout Scriptie voorgedragen tot het bekomen van de graad van Master in de meertalige communicatie Masterproefbegeleider: Mevr. Orphée De Clercq Academiejaar 2012-2013 Geassocieerde Faculteit Toegepaste Taalkunde From conversation to conversion An explorative study on the adoption of social media and the application of sentiment analysis in Flemish media and web shops Lana Eeckhout Scriptie voorgedragen tot het bekomen van de graad van Master in de meertalige communicatie Masterproefbegeleider: Mevr. Orphée De Clercq Academiejaar 2012-2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank the Faculty of Applied Linguistics Ghent for granting me the opportunity of writing a thesis on a renewing field in language technology. I am also grateful for the academic guidance I have received in the past years which has helped me to successfully complete this master’s thesis. I thank An Kluft and Kattoo Hillewaere for the effort they put in providing me with a number of contact persons. I am obliged to Jens Bastien for his guidance in structuring this dissertation, and to Joachim De Beule and Thierry Meerschaert, who were eager to respond to my questions concerning the intricate field of sentiment analysis. Also, I would like to thank the participants in my survey for their time and effort. I would like to extend my gratitude to Prof. dr. Bernard De Clerck, my linguistic supervisor. His constructive suggestions have been very much appreciated. Finally, I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my supervisor, Ms Orphée De Clercq. Were it not for her guidance, encouragement and persistent help, the completion of this study would simply not have been possible. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of tables and figures ............................................................................................................................... 5 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 6 2 Literature study ....................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Sentiment analysis in general ................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 Two major tasks..................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Problems and challenges ................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Social media .................................................................................................................................. 14 2.2.1 Traditional Web 2.0 applications ................................................................................. 15 2.2.2 Social networks and Micro-blogging sites ................................................................ 16 2.3 Approaches to SA ........................................................................................................................ 17 2.3.1 Machine Learning ............................................................................................................... 18 2.3.2 Semantic Orientation ........................................................................................................ 25 2.4 SA on social media platforms ................................................................................................. 27 2.4.1 Problems and challenges ................................................................................................. 29 3 Tools ......................................................................................................................................................... 30 3.1 Sentiment miners ........................................................................................................................ 31 3.1.1 Concepts of Engagor .......................................................................................................... 32 3.1.2 SA approach .......................................................................................................................... 33 3.1.3 Strengths and weaknesses .............................................................................................. 35 3.2 APIs ................................................................................................................................................... 35 3.2.1 Concepts of OpenAmplify ................................................................................................ 36 3.2.2 SA approach .......................................................................................................................... 37 3.2.3 Strengths and weaknesses .............................................................................................. 38 3.3 Hybrid tools ................................................................................................................................... 39 3.3.1 Concepts of Sentiment 140 ............................................................................................. 39 3.3.2 SA approach .......................................................................................................................... 40 3.3.3 Strengths and weaknesses .............................................................................................. 41 3.3.4 SocialMention ...................................................................................................................... 42 3.3.5 Facebook Insights............................................................................................................... 44 4 Market study .......................................................................................................................................... 46 4.1 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 48 4.1.1 The Target market ............................................................................................................. 48 4 4.1.2 Data collection ..................................................................................................................... 51 5 Discussion ............................................................................................................................................... 52 5.1 Social media .................................................................................................................................. 52 5.1.1 Adoption of social networks .......................................................................................... 52 5.1.2 Management ......................................................................................................................... 54 5.1.3 Evaluation of advantages ................................................................................................ 56 5.2 Digital strategy ............................................................................................................................. 59 5.3 Sentiment analysis ...................................................................................................................... 62 5.3.1 Acquaintance with the concept ..................................................................................... 64 5.3.2 Application of tools ............................................................................................................ 64 5.3.3 Expectations ......................................................................................................................... 65 6 Discussion and Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 67 6.1 Resume of the results ................................................................................................................ 67 6.2 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................... 69 7 References .............................................................................................................................................. 71 7.1 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 71 7.2 List of informants ........................................................................................................................ 74 8 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................. 75 8.1 Overview of tools ........................................................................................................................ 75 8.2 Overview of respondents ......................................................................................................... 76 8.3 Example of surveys .................................................................................................................... 77 8.3.1 Survey A ................................................................................................................................