Data Analytics Skills and the Corporate Value of Social Media

38 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2016

See all articles by Lorin M. Hitt

Lorin M. Hitt

University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department

Fujie Jin

Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Lynn Wu

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

Date Written: August 18, 2016

Abstract

Despite the rapid adoption of and increased spending on social media in the recent years, there is little existing research on the economic value of corporate social media investment or the factors that affect this value. In this study, we first provide empirical evidence using a large sample of firms across industries to show that firm market value increases with active social media usage, not just adoption. However, the return on using social media depends on having a larger number of employees with data analytics skills (rather than just IT skills), and this complementarity is increased if employees with data analytics skills are dispersed throughout the firm. Overall, these results suggest that the value of social media for firms lies in the firm’s ability to facilitate the gathering and use of external data, and that the use of social media becomes more valuable if a firm adjusts its human resource and organizational structure to facilitate data analysis and decision making.

Keywords: Social Media, Data Analytics, Skills, Market Value, Complementarities

Suggested Citation

Hitt, Lorin M. and Jin, Fujie and Wu, Lynn, Data Analytics Skills and the Corporate Value of Social Media (August 18, 2016). Kelley School of Business Research Paper No. 16-61, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2826115 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2826115

Lorin M. Hitt

University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department ( email )

571 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
215-898-7730 (Phone)
215-898-3664 (Fax)

Fujie Jin

Kelley School of Business, Indiana University ( email )

Business 670
1309 E. Tenth Street
Bloomington, IN 47401
United States
812-855-0943 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://kelley.iu.edu/facultyglobal/directory/FacultyProfile.cfm?netID=jinf

Lynn Wu (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School ( email )

3733 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6374
United States

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