Title: Combining RFID technology with social media marketing - a value network analysis

Authors: Minna Oinonen; Anne Jalkala; Jari Salo

Addresses: Department of Industrial Management, Faculty of Technology Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland. ' Department of Industrial Management, Faculty of Technology Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland. ' Department of Marketing, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4600, FI-90014, Finland

Abstract: This study focuses on the potential for value creation in combining radio frequency identification (RFID) technology with social media marketing. We analyse a value network comprising an RFID technology provider, a software supplier, a sports centre adopting the system, and the sports centre's end customers. The findings suggest that value creation related to new technology requires deep collaboration between the suppliers, as they need to develop value propositions that motivate companies to adopt new systems and end customers to use these systems. The threat to the end customer of losing privacy when RFID technology is employed, and the interactive nature of communication in social media, means that the value created by a system combining RFID technology and social media is highly dependent on the end customer's motivation to be involved in value creation.

Keywords: RFID; radio-frequency identification; social media; internet; world wide web; marketing; social networks; value networks; value creation; technology providers; software suppliers; sports centres; end customers; new technologies; deep collaboration; value propositions; system adoption; new systems; system usage; privacy; interactive communication; customer motivation; Facebook; social networking services; business information systems.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2012.050175

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2012 Vol.11 No.4, pp.426 - 441

Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

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