Introduction

During the past 10 years Social Networking Sites (SNSs) have become increasingly important and now form a key area of academic research (Constantinides et al., 2013; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). The explosive growth of users and new platforms, along with increased internet access capabilities offered by mobile devices, affects the behavior and life of people from almost every socio-demographic group around the world. This new medium has dramatically transformed the marketing world and makes social media marketing a significant challenge for the private and public sectors (Belch and Belch, 2014).

Social networking sites provide digital infrastructures, allowing users to present their beliefs, interests, and points of view, while connecting with other people who share similar interests. Users can therefore be considered as social instruments of communication, as they interact with others who have also shared their personal information. These interactions can be highly complex and the digital platforms used to facilitate this social interaction can be considered as “multi-sided platforms” (Yablonski 2016). The importance of SNSs for young consumers is considerable as they are the main users of social media and are becoming increasingly dependent on it for entertainment, socializing, and information seeking. In order to respond to this challenge, marketers reconsidered the marketing mix and traditional media strategies by reassessing the influence media has on the consumer decision-making process. In order to more effectively communicate with consumers in the new digital age, changes had to be made to organizations’ Integrated Marketing strategies, at the expense of traditional media (Constantinides and Stagno, 2012).