Understanding social media business value, a prerequisite for social media selection

While the value of technology has been one of the key areas of research within the Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) domain, the area is characterised by disagreement and a lack of consensus regarding what constitutes appropriate measures for technological value. Notwithstanding the fact that this represents a key obstacle to daily IS/IT operations, it is also a concern given the emergence of new technologies which have a significant impact on future operations. More specifically, this study highlights the lack of value understanding on social media, which is seen as a key prerequisite and part of the intelligence phase in Simon’s (1977 Simon, H. A. (1977). The new science of management decision. Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice Hall. [Google Scholar]) normative decision-making process, as applied to social media selection. Incorporating Amit and Zott’s (2001 Amit, R., & Zott, C. (2001). Value creation in e-business. Strategic Management Journal, 22, 493–520.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) model of value creation, this study examines the sources of value in 68 not-for-profit social media projects. Furthermore, utilising an adaptive theory approach, the study extends the model of Amit and Zott (2001 Amit, R., & Zott, C. (2001). Value creation in e-business. Strategic Management Journal, 22, 493–520.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and formally defines key relationships between the sources of value creation, providing a more solid foundation for the process of social media selection. The study makes contributions to the IS/IT value, social media and not-for-profit domain and highlights that value is primarily created through efficiency and novelty, with secondary value sources being identified as lock-in and complementarities. The study also provides a refined value creation model and a number of propositions for further research.