Executive Summary
This paper relates to the examination of research findings on Ped’s Kafe’s application of communication theories. The report found out that there are opportunities for Ped’s Kafe to increase its customer base by using social media as an avenue for communication with its clients.
The recommendations offered to Ped’s Kafe based on the information integration theory and the uncertainty reduction theory is to determine the appropriate level of involvement in social media either as a predictive practitioner, a creative experimenter or as a social media champion. These options have an increasing commitment to social media participation
Introduction
Framework for the Report
The need to integrate day-to-day experiences into learning is becoming more important with the rapid changes affecting the world of information. More and more, people find it impossible to take time to reflect on the information they get simply because of the rate at which research reports reach end users.
The internet is working to remove all barriers of information exchange.1 It is possible to deliver a book to all parts of the world in a matter of seconds. The basis of this report is to provide the opportunity to give a greater amount of reflection on the issues uncovered in a previous research on the application of communication theories. The research focused on the theories of communication and sought to uncover the application of these theories at Ped’s Kafe in Australia.
The cafe is a not a large establishment. Is has a small number of staff members. The application of the theories focused on the interaction among the staff, and the interaction between the staff and the café’s clients. It is the objective of this report to investigate the findings of the report further to derive both academic and practical conclusions. This report will also use external sources to illustrate any assertions, and to confirm any of the conclusions it develops.
Context Analysis
The report that this work evaluates focused on communication theories and their use in the workplace. The report looked at various theories relating to communication, which fell within the broader framework of the research question.
While more than seventy theories relating to communication appeared in the course of research, only a handful of the theories were relevant and significant enough for inclusion in the final report.
The theories included the information theory, the attribution theory, groupthink theory, information integration theory, and the uncertainty reduction theory.2 These theories formed a consistent body of theories for use in the evaluation of the communication processes at Ped’s Kafe.
This report will focus more on how to actualize the potential benefits that accrue from the insights gleaned from the theories. Studying theories apart from real life application at best makes the process an academic venture. Industry requires people who have both the theoretical understanding of their profession, but also the skill to translate it to practical applications. Ped’s Kafe will once more provide the basis over which to apply the theories.
Methodology
In order to determine the benefits that the theories can bring to Ped’s Kafe, it will be important to start the exercise by examining the research findings of the paper under review. The focus of the exercise will be the identification of critical theoretical findings and practical implications of these findings for Ped’s Kafe.
This process will give way to an analysis of those findings to clarify further the benefits identified in the first report. The result of this exercise will be to clarify the findings of the report for Peds Kafe. Appropriate evidence from other scholars will come in handy to support the findings.
There will be an attempt to develop a prioritized method of implementing the recommendations. The final process will be identifying relevant examples of the operation of strategies based on the theories discussed. This should provide Ped’s Kafe with operational models of the theories at work. The objective of the exercise will be to clarify that the theories have value and that their application in real life situations can yield certain benefits.3
Discussion
Research Findings
The major findings made from the research carried out earlier included the identification of five interrelated communication theories. The information theory deals with the fact that all types of communication suffer from noise. Noise is anything that affects the effectiveness of the communication process by reducing the clarity of the message.4
The attribution theory postulates that people tend to draw inferences relating to other peoples character based on how their communication style. It explains the numerous instances of people developing attitudes towards other people based on their communication style.
The third theory, groupthink, explains the tendency of closed groups to look at problems from the same direction and to have a high degree of agreement over issues.5 The group members tend to look at disagreement as dissent, hence the high level of agreement.
Last two theories are the information integration theory and the uncertainty reduction theory. Information integration theory came from observations that people tend to make decisions based on the sum total of the information they receive about an issue. This means that decision-making is not necessarily an objective process, but is the result of exposure to evidence.
Whichever evidence occurs more often tends to win the day. Uncertainty reduction theory states that people seek to reduce uncertainty during decision making by gathering more information about the issue. There is a certain amount of information required to break the uncertainty threshold.
The findings related to Ped’s Kafe included the fact that Ped’s Kafe uses the telephone and the internet as the main means of external communication with suppliers and for social media interaction.
The main recipients of communication from Ped’s Kafe are target clients via social media platforms, and business suppliers via email and telephone. Internal communication processes at Ped’s Kafe involve the staff, supervisors, and the restaurant manager. Arguably, the most critical communication occurs at the café’s floor when the waiters interact with the clients.
The opportunities for improvement at Ped’s Kafe identified in the report included the need to encourage staff to speak up regardless of how well their views conform with the rest to avoid the dangers associated to groupthink. Secondly, Ped’s Kafe has the opportunity to strengthen its marketing efforts by utilizing social media and internet marketing opportunities.
The thinking behind this proposal came from the realization that if there is sufficient positive press on Ped’s Kafe on appropriate online platforms, then Ped’s Kafe can improve its market share. Based on attribution theory, it is important for the staff at Ped’s Kafe to treat all customers equally based on a polite disposition because of the risk of making character judgments on customers that may influence service provision negatively.
Analysis of Findings
The goal of this paper is to examine the findings more closely to determine the workability of the theories in the areas identified in the previous research. In particular, there is need to examine the need for the application of the information integration theory and the uncertainty reduction theory in the context of social media and electronic communication to improve the customer base of Ped’s Kafe.
Ped’s Kafe positions itself as a middle class restaurant aiming to serve professionals from nearby commercial facilities affordably in order to retain them as long-term clients. Serving the target market calls for the preparation of good quality yet affordable food. The clientele is sensitive to hygiene and service standards, and while they cannot afford to pay premium prices on a regular basis, they still would like access to such services occasionally.
Young professionals in the area, like the rest of the country, are avid social media users.6 They use social media to communicate ideas, to share jokes, to plan events and even for personal messaging. They find messages on social media platforms light and informal hence it is a welcome relief from the rigidity and official aura of email.
Ped’s Kafe needs a communication strategy that will take into account these demographic characteristics. The design of the message should portray Ped’s Kafe as a professional yet informal establishment. The target market should perceive Ped’s Kafe as a place to relax and eat. Since young professionals are sensitive to price, appropriate pricing must be part of the message.
The use of social media in this case refers to the use of Facebook and Tweeter. They are the most popular social media outlets used by young professionals who form part of the target market. Peds Kafe will need to open and maintain the content of the social media pages current.
The relevant information includes choice menus, special price offers, and house specials among others. The objective of the social media strategy will be to ensure that there is good press about Ped’s Kafe. The other reason for it is that social media will allow the clients to respond to any offers made there, and there is a good chance that they will leave a review of the services offered at the café.
On the other hand, there is need to ensure that the communication that goes out to clients and suppliers remains official in tone, and that it remains brief. The reason for this is that people get too many messages on any single day hence if Ped’s café sends very long messages, then the recipients will ignore the messages.
Examples of Application of Communication Theories in Social Media
The use of social media to place appropriate information about an organization is quite widespread. Many businesses, non-profits, and charitable organizations use social media outlets to reach their stakeholders in a relaxed atmosphere that allows for unfiltered feedback.7 We will consider three organizations that Peds Kafe can benefit from.
Three types of organizations use social media strategies to market the products. The classification includes, “predictive practitioners”, “creative experimenters”, and “social media champions”.8
Predictive experimenters limit the use of social media to specific aspects of their business. Those who fall under this category tend to be businesses that are new to social media hence are not ready for full-blown social media campaigns. Others in this category are organizations that want to limit their risk exposure in the social media scene due to historical reasons, or simply because of the perception clients may have if the organization becomes too active in the social media.
Clorox is an example of a company that falls under the predictive practitioner category.9 The strategy that Clorox used was to post specific question on its social media platforms stating that they were developing a particular product, hence what type of features were the clients interested in seeing in the finished product? The company also gave points to people who responded to the queries hence creating some competitive value in its postings.
The lesson for Peds Kafe from this example is that if it feels it risks negative exposure if it develops a comprehensive social media campaign, them it should use a predictive practitioners approach. It can give freebies such as free lunch or subsidized lunch to the most prolific participants.
Creative experimenters use social media to conduct different types of tests to uncover the needs of their clients before engaging in fully-fledged social media outlays. The thinking that guides creative experimenters is that there is a need to identify the strategies that will work for them by experimenting with different approaches before settling for one long-term solution.
On the other hand, some use it for creative experiments to keep the image of an innovative company in order to retain clients who value that aspect. A good example of a creative experimenter is EMC. The company developed an internal platform for its forty thousand employees to use social media to locate skills they needed within the company. The experimental platform led to savings in excess of forty million in its first year or operation.
The experiment is now a permanent feature of the company’s collaboration strategy. The lesson for Ped’s kafe is that it can develop experiments in social media among its clients to generate the feeling that it is innovative and that it listens to its clients. For instance, it can have a competition for recipes and share proceeds with the owner for a month. This will increase the interest of those who take pride in developing recipes, and those that enjoy trying out new dishes.
The last category of social media users is the social media champion. The main feature of a social media champion is that the social media strategy comes from a deliberate design with very predictable results. It is often very large in scope and may include huge offline investments.
The Ford Fiesta Movement of 2009 was such an outlay. The idea Ford developed for its reintroduction of the Ford Fiesta was to give away one hundred Fiestas for half a year to people that would relate their experiences in social media platforms. Within that time, the drivers posted more than sixty thousand items on social media platforms and the related YouTube videos had more than four million views.10
If Ped’s Kafe wants to be a social media champion, then it needs to identify its purpose for participating in social media and then develop the requisite following to conduct such large-scale marketing efforts. Ped’s Kafe can create a special group of clients, say fifty of them, who should undertake to make predefined social media postings on Ped’s Kafe’s social media platforms.
The incentives that Ped’s Kafe can use include charging them half price for their meals, or giving them a free meal once a week of a certain value. The options for this are many. Ideally, it should be something that encourages them to eat and review the meals and services at Ped’s Kafe.
Conclusions and Evaluation
Summary of Findings
Ped’s Kafe needs to develop a consistent communication strategy that takes into account its target market.11 It is clear that the target market for Ped’s Kafe includes the young professionals that work near the restaurant.
Their needs include having a place to eat that does not carry a very formal feel. However, they also require an establishment run professionally. This clientele is very active on social media hence there is potential benefit in reaching them using social media platforms.
There are many opportunities for Ped’s Kafe to improve its market by using the uncertainty reduction theory and the information integration theories. Social media provides an inexpensive platform for Ped’s Kafe to apply the uncertainty reduction theory and the information reduction theory.
It can use the social media to reduce the level of uncertainty about its service online thereby increasing the confidence the customers have with the services offered at the café. The theory points out that people try to find information to reduce their degree of uncertainty to increase their level of confidence by researching.
On the Information Integration theory, if Ped’s Kafe does not endeavor to develop positive press for its services in online platforms, then it risks losing clients who will make their judgment based on the information available to them. If the information is negative, then it will be very costly for the café.
Ped’s Kafe can use a variety of approaches in its social media efforts aiming at increasing its client base. There are three options available for Ped’s Kafe to engage in social media strategies to engage its clientele. It can do so as a predictive practitioner, a creative experimenter or as a social media champion.
Using social media as a predictive practitioners will some from the need to keep social media interaction minimal and within highly defined boundaries. An approach in this sense is marketing of a daily special. Using social media as a creative experimenter will mean that the café uses social media for experimental purposes, or as a means of maintaining the image of an innovative company.
This can take the form of creative recipe competitions for the reward of a free or subsidized meal. In the case of using a social media champion approach, the café will develop an elaborate marketing plan that will include a group of clients it can offer free or subsidized meals in exchange of reviews and other postings on social media platforms. It will be important to keep the information publicly available to reduce chances of accusation of unethical business practices.12
Evaluation of the Research Process
The research process involved in the development of the recommendations that Ped’s Kafe can use to increase its customer base has been useful in the development of several viable options that the café can use to increase its market share.
It shows that there is real value in pursuing theoretical research to develop practical leads to answer business concerns. The comparison of strategies used by companies in different sectors provided a wider horizon for looking the potential approaches and benefits that an organization can derive from using social media as a platform.
Reference List
Braunack-Mayer, AJ, “What Makes a Problem an Ethical Problem? An Empirical Perspective on the Nature of Ethical Problems in General Practice,” Journal of Medical Ethics, vol. 27, 2001.
Corson D, RL Heath, & J Bryant, Human Communication Theory and Research: Concepts, Context, and Challenges, 2nd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc, 2000.
Dube L, C Berner, &V Roy, “Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case – Part A,” International Journal of Case Studies in Management, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 1-13, 2009.
Forsyth DR, Group Dynamics. New York: Cengage Learning, 2009.
Froeb L & BT McCann, Managerial Economics: A Problem Solving Approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2009.
Griffin E, A First Look at Communication Theory, 8th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 1997.
Holmes D, Communication Theory: Media, Technology, and Society. London, UK: SAGE, 2005.
Iliescu DC, “Customer Based Time-to-Event Models for Cancellation Behaviour: A Revenue Management Integrated Approach,” Georgia Institute of Technology, Gorgia, Dissertation 2008.
Peppers D & M Rogers, Managing Customer Relationships: A Strategic Framework. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2004.
Wilson HJ, PJ Guinan, S Parise,& BD Weinberg, “What is your Social Media Strategy,” Harvard Business Review, July 2011.
Footnotes
1 L Dube, C Berner, &V Roy, “Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case – Part A,” International Journal of Case Studies in Management, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 1-13, 2009.
2 D Corson, RL Heath, & J Bryant, Human Communication Theory and Research: Concepts, Context, and Challenges, 2nd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc, 2000.
3 L Froeb & BT McCann, Managerial Economics: A Problem Solving Approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2009.
4 E, Griffin, A First Look at Communication Theory, 8th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 1997.
5 Holmes D, Communication Theory: Media, Technology, and Society. London, UK: SAGE, 2005.
6 DR, Forsyth, Group Dynamics. New York: Cengage Learning, 2009
7 DC, Iliescu, “Customer Based Time-to-Event Models for Cancellation Behaviour: A Revenue Management Integrated Approach,” Georgia Institute of Technology, Gorgia, Dissertation 2008.
8 HJ Wilson, PJ Guinan, S Parise,& BD Weinberg, “What is your Social Media Strategy,” Harvard Business Review, July 2011.
9 HJ Wilson, PJ Guinan, S Parise,& BD Weinberg, “What is your Social Media Strategy,” Harvard Business Review, July 2011.
10 HJ Wilson, PJ Guinan, S Parise,& BD Weinberg, “What is your Social Media Strategy,” Harvard Business Review, July 2011.
11 D Peppers & M Rogers, Managing Customer Relationships: A Strategic Framework. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2004.
12 AJ, Braunack-Mayer, “What Makes a Problem an Ethical Problem? An Empirical Perspective on the Nature of Ethical Problems in General Practice,” Journal of Medical Ethics, vol. 27, 2001.