Micro-blogging as online word of mouth branding

In this paper, we report research results investigating micro-blogging as a form of online word of mouth branding. We analyzed 149,472 micro-blog postings containing branding comments, sentiments, and opinions. We investigated the overall structure of these micro-blog postings, types of expressions, and sentiment fluctuations. Of the branding micro-blogs, nearly 20 percent contained some expressions of branding sentiments. Of these tweets with sentiments, more than 50 percent were positive and 33 percent critical of the company or product. We discuss the implications for organizations in using micro-blogging as part of their overall marketing strategy and branding campaigns.