[ecrea] CfP: JTAER Special Issue on the Use and Impact of Social Networking

Call for Papers: THE USE AND IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
Special issue of the JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ELECTRONIC 
COMMERCE RESEARCH
Guest editors: Frantisek SUDZINA, Hans-Dieter ZIMMERMANN, and Sherah KURNIA
http://www.jtaer.com/documentos/CFP_the_use_and_impact_of_social_networking.pdf

Social networking sites are already widely-spread and are here to stay. 
We experienced the rise of social networking sites and we learned that 
first-movers were not necessarily winners. We also saw Google+’s uptake 
that was faster than Facebook’s, and we observed efforts to revive 
MySpace. Whereas Social Networking Sites probably have a certain life 
cycle, it can be assumed that underlying communication and interaction 
patterns are more universal. In addition, the development of social 
networking sites in China is worth mentioning. Facebook is blocked 
there, while Renren seems to be a very successful substitute.

We have seen some integration between Web 2.0 tools, such as Twitter and 
Foursquare messages appearing on Facebook or LinkedIn. Conversion of 
connections from one social networking site to another is getting 
easier. As it is common with innovation, imitations come along quickly. 
For example, music once was mostly associated with MySpace, but now we 
also listen to music on Facebook and networking sites such as Spotify. 
On the other hand, some sites discontinued and outsourced some features. 
For example, Facebook discontinued its social coupon Deals, while 
Facebook’s Marketplace is owned by Oodle now.

A common feature of social games is that they involve virtual goods; 
these improve strength or the speed of levelling up. Virtually all 
social games allow to buy at least some virtual items, so players, who 
are willing to pay, are able to progress faster. This is also the reason 
why some people stopped playing social games. One may expect that as a 
response to that, there will be new social games developed, where the 
progress will not depend on money spent.

Another issue with virtual goods in social games is that the rules 
forbid players to trade with their virtual goods. But people sell and 
buy these goods anyway. In order to comply with the rules, the claim 
that it is not a sale but a contract for finding or achieving goals 
necessary for obtaining the virtual goods.

People tend to get bored with one game after some time. So, it is normal 
to expect players switching between games. There are various issues 
linked to the switching. It is also impossible to catch up with players, 
who started to play at the time the game was introduced. There is also 
no simple way to transfer the refund for virtual goods, which have not 
been used. This could be partially solved by Facebook Credits. Mandatory 
usage of Facebook Credits for all applications has a wide-reaching 
impact on the whole Facebook ecosystem.

Daily-deal/social-coupon sites grew rapidly in the last few years. 
However, it is difficult and expensive to attract new subscribers. There 
is an increasing number of anecdotal reports which suggest that this 
type of marketing is not suitable for everybody. Not all business can 
sustain such huge discounts. These deals also attract existing customers 
and potential customers, who already know about the company and who only 
want to take advantage of the lower price. So it is not so effective in 
attracting truly new customers. Even the conversion rate of one-time 
customers into regular customers is not so high. Not to mention that 
there is an increasing competition between big players (some of whom 
already backed down) and other local competitors.

Furthermore, marketing communication is worth exploring in the context 
of social networking sites, for example how organizations and even 
individuals advertise on social networking sites, including social 
games. A relatively recent phenomenon is related to promotion of 
organizations’ and (or) their products’ Facebook URLs in addition to (or 
instead of) regular organizations‘ web sites on marketing medium such as 
billboards. This raises interesting questions: How do organizations use 
social networking sites for marketing communication? Is it a one-way 
communication as it was the case with traditional media, or is it a 
truly two-way communication?

But social networking sites have also influenced communication between 
consumers. This may have a direct or indirect bearing on speed of 
product adoption. It is possible to argue that social networking sites 
made on-line shopping and of e-recruitment more socially acceptable. 
There are certainly other possible ways (other than those we are aware 
of) in which social networking sites adoption can influence business, 
although the extent of the impact varies from one country to another.


SUBJECT COVERAGE

Particular topics to be addressed in this issue might include, but are 
not limited to the following:

1. Business Models of
   - Social Networking Sites (of any type, i.e. LinkedIn/XING, 
Academia.edu/Researchgate.org, Facebook/Google+, ones with an unclear 
business model such as Twitter, even currently less used such as 
Fiendster/Myspace and controversial such as Netlog)
   - Games on Facebook and other social networking sites
   - Other sites residing above existing social networking sites, e.g. 
referral sites such as TopProspect and NotchUp
   - Daily-deal/social-coupon sites (business models and competition 
between Groupon, Living Social, Google Offers and alike, including 
discontinued ones such as Facebook Deals)
   - Mobile geolocation services (such as Foursqaure and Google Latitude)

2. Marketing and Social Networking Sites
   - Organizations advertising on any social networking site
   - People advertising on Facebook walls
   - Advertisement in games
   - Gamification of non-game applications (such as in the case of 
Foursquare)
   - Promotion of organizations‘ and/or products‘ Facebook URLs in 
addition to or instead of regular organizations‘ web sites even in old media
   - Usage of social networking sites for marketing communication

3. Societal Impact of Social Networking Sites
   - Impact of social networking sites on social acceptability of 
shopping on-line
   - Impact of social networking sites on consumers’ communication patterns
   - Impact of social networking sites on social acceptability of 
e-recruitment
   - Impact of social networking sites on speed of product adoption
   - Other business-related impact of social networking sites adoption 
on society


NOTES FOR INTENDING AUTHORS

We are seeking original manuscripts on the use and impact of social 
networking. Papers can focus on particular social networking sites or 
they can deal with more general communication and interaction patterns 
specific to a particular type or category of social networking sites. 
Empirical research papers are encouraged. Most of the journals and 
conferences focus on publishing papers, which report statistically 
significant results. However, contribution to the existing literature 
can occur also when no statistically significant impact is observed. One 
possibility is when the null hypothesis is interesting as such. Another 
possibility is when null impact is observed but previous research has 
indicated significant impact which suggests that the relationship of 
interest does not hold under certain conditions. Thus replications are 
acceptable as well.

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be 
currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Author guidelines can be found at 
http://www.jtaer.com/author_guidelines.doc. All submissions will be 
refereed by at least three reviewers. Submissions should be directed by 
email to (fransu /at/ asb.dk) with copy to (sherahk /at/ unimelb.edu.au) and 
(hansdieter.zimmermann /at/ fhsg.ch).

For more information, please visit the following web site: 
http://www.jtaer.com.


IMPORTANT DATES

– Full paper submission: 1 August 2012
– Notification of acceptance: 1 October 2012
– Revisions: 1 November 2012
– Final acceptance notification: 15 November 2012
– Camera ready version of paper: 15 December 2012
– Publication: April 2013


GUEST EDITORS

Dr. Frantisek SUDZINA
Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
Aarhus University
Denmark
E-mail: (fransu /at/ asb.dk)

Dr. Hans-Dieter ZIMMERMANN
Faculty of Business
FHS St. Gallen University of Applied Sciences
Switzerland
E-mail: (hansdieter.zimmermann /at/ fhsg.ch)

Dr. Sherah KURNIA
Computing and Information Systems
University of Melbourne
Australia
E-mail: (sherahk /at/ unimelb.edu.au)



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