Social determinants of success: Social media, corporate governance and revenue

Abstract

This study examined how social media (Twitter and LinkedIn) relates to the operating revenue by investigating the effect of the use of social media by the board of directors. To tackle this question, we analyzed the mediating and moderating relationship of social media on the effect of board size in operating revenue (turnover). We studied the implications of the use of social media by the board members by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The data consisted of a random sample of 100 companies listed on the NASDAQ. The study makes two main contributions. First, it shows interesting differences in the use of social media for the operating revenue. Our results suggest that while Twitter mediated and inhibited the negative effect of board size on revenue, LinkedIn moderated and re-enforced this effect. Second, it offers marketers and managers some useful hints about the relationship between social media and financial performance.