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The main goal of this study is to examine the communication that fashion brands make through Facebook. It is intended to ascertain if the fashion brands use a communication strategy based on dialogue with their followers. In order to reach the objectives indicated above, a content analysis has been carried out (quantitative methodology) of 326 publications made through Facebook by H&M, Zara and Ralph Lauren between January 1st and June 30th of 2017. The main results of this work show that, although Facebook has a wide dialogical potential, fashion brands do not use it to a great extent. Although we consider appropriate to have analyzed only the social network Facebook given its importance, this situation could be considered as the main limitation of the present study, since the fashion brands could, or not, be taking advantage of the dialogical potential of other social networks, such as Twitter or Instagram. It could be considered that this research stands out for studying a series of variables that allows organizations to know if they are using the dialogical potential offered by digital communication.

Purpose – This paper aims to understand the contribution made by Facebook as a marketing tool for companies, and through empirical observation (interviews and questionnaires) and theoretical analysis (studies and academic literature on the subject), to analyse the reactions of individuals in social media (particularly in Facebook) and its confluence with the organizations. The overall aim is subdivided into three objectives covering more precisely the two poles of marketing communication (the consumers and the businesses), within the context of Facebook: to learn about the users’ vision on Facebook and their point of view on being a part of it; to understand the strategic vision of Facebook from those responsible for marketing and communication in companies; and to analyse the role of Facebook in marketing activities and interactive communication (users and companies). Design/methodology/approach – The first part of this study is a theoretical study of the area and existing published research. The second part is a qualitative study. In this sense, the theoretical analysis in the field of social networks supports the propositions discussed in the empirical analysis, which is based on a random sample of individuals and representative companies. The analysed universe consists of a randomly unrepresentative group of consumers living in Portugal, particularly in the cities of Funchal (Madeira) and Lisbon, and company representatives established in Funchal (Madeira), to understand if the theoretical arguments are also verified in these regions regardless of their particular characteristics, especially the geographical and demographic. Findings – Today the focus continues to be very connected to sales and promotions and to traditional communication channels when it should move to create interactions with meaning for the audience through content before focusing on sales. Organizations should consider the way they communicate with their target audience and consider social networks and mobile technologies as a new way of expanding the business, adapting to this new consumer not contemplated by the traditional marketing and communication media. Research limitations/implications – Furthermore, the existing literature quickly becomes obsolete without addressing the issue in depth, sometimes referring qualitative studies based on demographic and geographic variables and traditional models. Moreover, most of the authors are Anglo-Saxon and discuss realities away from the one studied here. Geographical location and time are also other important limitations, as in Portugal, the phenomenon is recent and both individual users and company representatives (who constituted the study sample) have little practical experience in the use of online technologies and social networks; probably the main setback is the limited period of the study, concentrating the analyses on the current interviewee experience instead of an evolutionary people's behaviour analyses concerning the use of social networks. Although the evolution of information technology is a catalyst for a more intense online social experience, it is important to understand how to live the virtual experience and how the communication between individuals and companies evolves (how to adapt to this new consumer audience), face the current short-term models based on offline actions, reactive strategic actions, misperception of users and lack of information on social network consumers’ life. Practical implications – Organizations should consider the way they communicate with their target audience and consider social networks and mobile technologies as a new way of expanding the business, adapting to this new consumer not contemplated by the traditional marketing and communication media. The study presents a qualitative analysis of the behaviour, the reactions and the attitudes of individuals towards organizations, with the aim of understanding which are the social factors that contribute to sustainable competitive advantage to organizations and support strategies and future actions. Social implications – The social aspects are a part of the experience in the Facebook community and also of the shopping experience. So it is important to monitor these behaviours in Facebook or other networks to perceive users of social networks, and consequently define marketing and communications actions to transform fans into customers. Relevant factors come associated with tacit knowledge of the organization, particularly those related with learning and social interaction of the organization and organization knowledge about virtual communities. To a higher coexistence of these factors, the more difficult the replication is, and the higher the strengthening of the hypothesis of sustainability of competitive advantage. Originality/value – Organizational survival increasingly depends on the socialization, sharing interests and activities with the audience linked to the incorporation of digital technologies in their activities, especially those related to social networks. Technology emerges as a support for the satisfaction of social connection, transforming communication between people and companies, making it much more dynamic and transparent. As we have seen, there are many positive factors associated with the participation in the social networks. Prominent among these are the interactivity, the detection of customer needs, the adjustment of supply, transmission of content without geographical boundaries and the ease of implementation of viral marketing campaigns.

In a more transparent and dynamic world, in which consumers trust other consumers more for advice and recommendations on products and services, the continuity of organizations appears to be associated with socialization, the sharing of interests and the interaction with the audience. This is associated with the incorporation of digital technologies to business, specifically the use of social media. Consequently, it is timely and interesting to explore the phenomenon of virtual socialization, although it is a little-studied field and what is needed is an innovative and theoretical approach based upon theories of marketing and communication. Expertise in these areas is present in all organizations and their performance is important for appropriate development of them. This work is a qualitative analysis about the behavior, reactions and attitudes of individuals to organizations, in order to understand the social factors that contribute to sustainable competitive advantages of organizations which can support strategic and future actions. We conclude that relevant factors associated with the tacit knowledge of the organization, specifically to learning and social interaction of the organization and their knowledge of virtual communities. The higher the coexistence of factors, the more difficult is the replication and greater will be the hypothesis of sustainable competitive advantage.

Today, social media are the new way of public and political communication in digital marketing. Companies or organizations are no longer the exclusive owners of the relation of consumers with their products/services; instead, the survival of the organizations depends of the effective utilization of the social media. New web technologies have made it easy for anyone to create and distribute their own content. A tweet can be viewed by virtually millions of people for free, and advertisers don’t have to pay publishers huge sums of money to embed their messages. More consumers are on social media than ever before, and every second a company is not engaged is a wasted opportunity [1]. Consumers trust other people to provide recommendations about products and services in a very active way and it is important to know how and why social media influence organizations. This study analyzes through a literature review the importance of public and political communication through social media and proposes a model of business for successful marketing strategies.

La reinvencion de las sociedades y de las organizaciones aparece vinculada a la esencia social del ser humano y a la motivacion de la evolucion de la especie como un reflejo de la aglomeracion de la conducta individual de una sociedad. Y la satisfaccion de las necesidades de conexion social, han permitido el desarrollo de herramientas tecnologicas relacionadas con los blogs y las redes sociales a un alto nivel de cumplimiento en un corto periodo de tiempo. La tecnologia se presenta como un apoyo a estas necesidades humanas, haciendolas mas dinamicas y transparentes, y que influye en la comunicacion entre personas y organizaciones, por lo que la continuidad de las organizaciones esta asociada con la socializacion, que comparten intereses e interactuan con su publico y es inseparable de la incorporacion de la tecnologia digital en sus actividades, incluidas las relacionadas con los blogs y las redes sociales. El poder de millones de personas junto con el rapido desarrollo tecnologico, independientemente del exito, refuerza la "ola" de los catalizadores del cambio social, lo cual aumenta el grado de complejidad en la gestion de los negocios tradicionales y reduce el control de estrategias de comunicacion para las empresas. Abstract The reinvention of societies and organizations appears linked to the social essence of human beings and the species‘ evolving motivation as a reflection of the agglomeration of individual behavior of a society. The satisfaction of social connection needs has allowed that the development of technological tools related to blogs and social media to a high level of compliance in a short period. This technology comes as a support to these human needs, making them more dynamic and transparent and influencing the communication between people and organizations, so that the continuity of organizations is associated with socialization, sharing interests and interacting with its audience and it is inseparable to the incorporation of digital technology in their activity, including those related to blogs and social media. The power of millions of people combined with rapid technological development, regardless of success, reinforces the "wave" of catalysts of social change, which together increase the degree of complexity in the management of traditional businesses and reduces the control of communication strategies for companies. Thus the need to understand how the new relationships are formed in social media and the impact of technology.