Who's behind the screen? Segmenting social venture consumers through social media usage

Abstract

<p>With the growing popularity of social media as a tool for marketing social causes and the increasing significance of social ventures in today's market economy, it is important to understand the heterogeneous nature of social venture consumers in regard to their social media usage. Using cluster analysis of survey responses from 305 consumers of various social ventures, four distinct segments of consumers who support social ventures were identified – social observers, active contributors, social connectors, and moderate contributors – based on three dimensions of social media site usage: creating content, connecting with others, and control over the user experience. Further analysis of survey results revealed that these four segments of consumers show significant differences in supporting behaviors</p>