Establishing and demonstrating US hospital brands through Facebook
Author
Media, Pablo
Buil, Pilar
Heath, Robert L.
Publication date
2016ISSN
1646-5954
Abstract
Medical treatment, patient satisfaction, and hospital brand equity are positively related to three communication contexts: interpersonal, internal, and corporate. To integrate those contexts and expand that line of research, visceral analysis suggests that social networks are transforming the impact of institutional communications conducted by hospitals. Specifically, questions continue to need answered to fill gaps in, clarify and reinforce previous research. To that end, this article analyzes the strategic impact of social media networks in spreading the brand architecture of hospitals. To this end, the Facebook profiles of 400 hospitals in the United States were analyzed. Each profile was examined to determine whether it utilized 10 indicators related to brand architecture. The results indicate that regarding the leading hospitals in the United States 94% of the surveyed hospitals have an active profile on Facebook but one that only utilized 3 to 5 of the recommended indicators. The professional management of this social network, the more widespread use of corporate video and a strategic orientation toward results have become cornerstones for the effective dissemination of hospital brands through Facebook.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Accepted version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
316 - Sociology
Keywords
Facebook
Hospitals
Hospitales
Comunicació en l'empresa
Business communication; Communication in organizations
Comunicación empresarial
Pages
21
Publisher
OberCom (Observatorio da Comunicação)
Collection
10;3
Is part of
Observatorio (OBS*)
Citation
Media, Pablo; Buil Gazol, Maria Pilar; Heath, Robert L. «Establishing and demonstrating US hospital brands through Facebook». Observatorio (OBS*), 2016, vol. 10, núm. 3, p. 20-40. Disponible en: <http://obs.obercom.pt/index.php/obs/article/view/912>. Fecha de acceso: 26 nov. 2019. DOI: 10.15847/obsOBS1032016912
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Comunicació [97]
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
The following license files are associated with this item:
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/