Communication Matters: A Study Of Opinion-Leader LinkedIn Post Characteristics and Social Engagement Ieva Innusa Student number: 11007591 Graduate School of Communication Submitted to: Dr. Pytrik Schafraad MASTER THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A DEGREE IN COMMUNICATION SCIENCE: CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM January 31, 2020 Abstract In a world in which digital technology is rapidly advancing, individuals, as well as organizations, are progressively using social media as an important competitive tool. The benefits of ‘word-of-mouth’ communication have shown that interpersonal communication can be particularly beneficial for organizations’ maximizing their outcomes. The influence of opinion-leaders or those individuals, like chief executives, that are well informed within the field, and are positioned at the strategic location of the network are likely to change opinions, decisions, and choices of people around them. This research aimed to explore what are opinion-leader post characteristics and to what extent do they relate to social engagement on LinkedIn. This paper reports on a study that investigated the effects of post length, mentioning the company, communication of personal information, and post sentiment. Using data from 101 chief executives, 1633 LinkedIn posts were analyzed. Results showed that the post length is a good and positive predictor for social engagement, and mentioning the company has no significant effect on social engagement. As for including personal information the findings did not reveal any significant relationship with social engagement; and lastly, after testing the relationship between four different types of sentiment – negative, neutral, positive, and mixes – only negative sentiment revealed a significant positive relationship with social engagement. In sum, the results suggest that the way opinion-leaders communicate on LinkedIn can predict social engagement, but to have a more understanding, more insight is needed to identify other communication characteristics. Introduction Influenced by changes in technology, over the past decade we have witnessed a monumental shift in business communication (Bonsón & Bednárová, 2013). In a world in which digital technology is rapidly advancing, individuals, as well as organizations, are increasingly using social media networks as an important tool for communication (Heath at al., 2013). Since stakeholder engagement is seen as a fundamental aspect of a business, the shift to a technology-based society has created new opportunities for companies to communicate more effectively and efficiently (Bonsón & Bednárová, 2013). Not only can social media be particularly beneficial for enabling organizations to actively engage with their key stakeholders (including their potential employees, shareholders, customers, competitors), but based on the literature on strategic engagement, social media affords the possibility for organizations and their leaders to communicate their messages to a much wider audience (Heath at al., 2013; Gill, 2015; Prince & Rogers, 2012). As such, depending on the purpose of communication, organizations and/or their representatives may use different forms of strategic engagement to maximize the outcome. Through “the process of developing and delivering an organization’s message by using narration about people, the organization, the past, visions for the future, social bonding and work itself to create a new point-of-view or reinforces an opinion or behavior,” corporate storytelling on social media networks can be a powerful public relations (PR) strategy, building stronger engagement within as well as outside the 1 organizations’ boarders (Gill 2015, p.665). While a message communicated via the official organization’s social media account can prove to be effective, it, however, may not be nearly as effective as communicated interpersonally (Araujo et al., 2017). Literature shows that interpersonal communication or ‘word-of-moth’ can be particularly effective if communicated by opinion-leaders – those individuals that, due to their unique position in the network and their expertise in the field, are respected within the community (Araujo et al., 2017). As such, because these individuals are recognized as authorities in the field, they would likely receive more public attention on social media, causing opinion-leaders to seen as influential figures (Efimova & Grudin, 2007). Ultimately, if communicated well ‘word-of-mouth’ can be a successful tool promoting business development as well as market expansion (Brooks, 1957). All in all, in a world in which the technology landscape is advancing rapidly, it has given opinion-leaders a great opportunity to act as messengers delivering information, while potentially reaching the largest masses of people. As such, considering all factors, it can be argued that opinion-leaders, such as company’ directors, CEOs and other similar senior position professionals, on social media networking platforms are creating, establishing and maintaining a function of corporate branding (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012; Hamzah, Alwi & Othman, 2014). By establishing a credible profile and image, opinion-leaders are thus partially taking over the role of what traditionally been considered as advertising. In turn, making the opinion-leader communication on social media platforms particularly important field of study. However, despite the growth of technology as well as the growing influence of opinion-leaders, surprisingly little empirical research has aimed at investigating their use 2 of social media. Moreover, not only better understanding of opinion-leader communication on social media would contribute to the already existing literature on corporate communication, particularly, how corporate communication is changing over time (including PR, corporate branding, advertising); but also, companies, as well as opinion-leaders, could benefit from understanding what factors are associated with the highest social engagement (Grunig & Grunig, 1992; Abratt & Kleyn, 2012; Sundar & Limperos, 2013). Social engagement describing the overall social participation or interaction based on the number of likes and comments can be seen as an indicator of how large of an audience the post has reached. Assuming that the more people are reached, the better the expected outcome could be, social engagement can be considered a particularly vital aspect. Taking into account the algorithms, which social media platforms utilize, including LinkedIn, to promote both useful contents, and social interaction, results of this study would allow opinion-leader to use the findings as the guidelines for creation of more engaging posts, allowing them to be consequently more visible to wider audience for a longer period (Sehl, 2019; Foote, 2019). In other words, as it is safe it concludes that based on the logic of algorithms, those posts with a higher number of social engagement (likes and comments) would have a much higher lifespan, and thus, would appear on the follower timelines more frequently for a longer period. As such, understanding what factors are associated with higher social engagement is essential. Since there have been no studies previously done specifically with regards to characteristics of company leader (chief executive and founder) online posts, this paper aims to shed light on their communication on online social networking platform 3 LinkedIn. Based on the fact that it is the world’s largest professional network, as well as affords the possibility to both observe and engage with each other, LinkedIn is considered the perfect medium for the study of opinion-leader computer-mediated communication. Additionally, since opinion-leaders are viewed as those individuals “positioned at the strategic location of the network into which useful information and resources flow, their remarks are likely to be worthy of gaining attention”, this exploratory study aims to shed light particularly on the communication of those opinion-leaders of high ranking positions, like company chief executive officers (CEOs), co-founders, and/or founders. (Choi, 2015, p.70). As such, aiming to shed light on opinion-leader communication within social (media) networks, the following research question is proposed: What are the opinion-leader post characteristics and to what extent do they relate to social engagement on LinkedIn? Theoretical framework According to Grunig and Grunig (1992), “excellent public relations departments practice the two-way symmetrical model of public relations” (p.290). With the presence of new technologies, social media platforms, and attributes companies can practice the two-way symmetrical model much easier than in the past. Although, the model has also been criticized for its accuracy and limited possibilities for generalization, the two-way symmetrical communication model is nonetheless, considered not only an ethical 4 approach to public relations (PR) but also due to interactivity, the model allows for organizations to be more effective (Leichty & Springston, 1993; Grunig & Grunig, 1992, p.307). Grunig and Grunig (1992) indicate the core underlying assumptions of the two- way symmetrical model are - communication of truth; possibility of interpreting the client and public to one another; possibility for stakeholders to understand the viewpoints of each other; and understanding as the principal objective of public relations rather than persuasion (p.289). Moreover, as the