Book Reviews 241

The fourth section, The Behavioural Side of Investing, today’s interconnected network of communities. In this
discusses about biases in investing and mistakes made by transitional era, a new approach to marketing is required
investors. It begins with a very interesting question; Can which can harness the power of social media to understand
GOD create a perfect investment fund? The fickle nature customers and succeed in business situations. The book,
of assessing performance over short term can be damaging. Social Media Marketing, by Tuten and Solomon explains
Short-term underperformance is necessary to outperform the evolution of digital marketing using the building blocks
the market. The author advocates simplicity as against of traditional marketing and provides insights, using essen-
unnecessary complexities in investing. Investors can gain tial theory and examples from real world situations, on
from systematic strategies. how social media can be used as a tool for strategic plan-
The last section, Personal Finance and Wealth Building, ning to achieve core objectives by facilitating exchanges
discusses strategies for savings and investment for retire- between consumers and organization. The text builds on by
ment. Earn, save, grow and preserve is the mantra advocated. highlighting the four channels (zones) of social media
The author also provides very useful tips on personal and summarizes by stating the metrics that can be used to
finance, such as importance of saving over investment, evaluate the effectiveness of strategies.
avoiding credit card debt, covering insurable needs, under- The book, in the beginning, discusses the horizontal
standing one’s net worth. Today people are living on the revolution, a change which social media is bringing in the
edge with unemployment, inflation and unfavourable public daily lives of ‘digital natives’, modern day consumers.
policies to cater to. Hence a deep change in the pattern of A culture of participation, open access to venues to freely
thinking is required. interact with others is encouraging people to not just join
To summarize, the book touches upon different aspects social communities but rather also contribute. The litera-
of investing by experts in a lucid and refreshing manner. ture analyses how user generated content has enabled busi-
The highlight of the book is the number of topics dwelt nesses to be in a state of perpetual beta, always responding
upon. But it leaves the reader asking for more details and to changes like in a beta test, and how social media infra-
explanation. This book will definitely add value to new structure has developed to evolve a 5th P of marketing:
investors and management students. Participation, the process of creating new customers
through customers. Continuous consumer interaction is
Jyoti Nair
becoming an essential component in marketing strategies
Faculty—Finance
in order for brand to succeed and social media provides a
N. L. Dalmia Institute of Management
platform at all stages of a brand life cycle be it increasing
Studies and Research
awareness, influencing desire, encouraging trial, facilitat-
Sector-1, Shrishti, Mira Road (E), Mumbai 401107
ing purchase or cementing brand loyalty which results in
E-mail: [Link]@[Link]
further advocacy to other users. With access to CRM soft-
ware, brands also have the capability to fine-tune customer
Tracy l. Tuten and Michael R. Solomon, Social Media information so as to build further intimacy between organi-
Marketing, 2016, 352 pp., New Delhi: SAGE, `450 zations and consumers. The volume discusses the three
(Paperback). ISBN 978-93-515-0924-0. phases of social media maturity: trial, transition and strate-
DOI: 10.1177/0972262918766148 gic. Social media marketing plan needs a clear identifica-
tion of situation analysis, marketing objectives, relevant
Tracy L. Tuten, PhD, is a Professor at East Carolina customer profiles and correct communication channels.
University with an expertise in social media marketing and It is also important to devise organizational structure
advertising. Her publications have appeared in various to efficiently support and manage social media systems.
journals such as Journal of Marketing Communications, The standards of conduct, disclosure requirement and
Psychology and Marketing and Journal of Business standards of posting, at minimum, should be pre-identified.
Research. In 2013, she was inducted into the Incredible The book essentially highlights, what the authors call,
Women of ECU series. four zones of social media channels which conveniently
Professor Michael R. Solomon, PhD, is a professor of organize social media into a compact space by grouping
marketing and director of the Centre for Consumer similar channels together. These four zones, social com-
Research in the Haub School of Business, Philadelphia, munity, social publishing, social entertainment and social
Pennsylvania. He has published a wide array of books commerce, provide an efficient way to focus on the essen-
before this, the most recent being The Truth About What tial functions of various social media platforms on the
Consumers Want. basis of which various social media platforms can be seg-
With the evolution of Internet there has been a funda- regated to better understand their usage in marketing activ-
mental change, which is characterized by the presence of ities. Authors describe social communities, as channels that
social media, in the way we live, work or play. Social focus on relationships and common activities that people
medial platforms are becoming the new means of commu- indulge in using easy to use tools and applications.
nication, collaboration, conveyance and cultivation among They also highlight how brands can use social networking
242 Book Reviews

communities for promoting and branding activities by con- from brands like Honda, Coke, Coldplay, Diigo, 4chan,
tinuous engagement. Social publishing sites are described etc. to demonstrate its point. The authors have used a
as those sites that help in the dissemination of online special column ‘FROM BYTES TO BUCKS’ which high-
content such as blogs and micro-sharing sites. The authors lights various live cases and provides relevance to the
educate the readers about who creates the content, what mentioned literature. There is also a highlighted ‘DARK
kind of published content enhances perceived quality and SIDE OF SOCIAL MEDIA’ through which the authors
value and how social media content can be promoted. communicate why one needs to be careful about the goals
Social entertainment comprises of channels that provide and strategies in online marketing and how, if gone wrong,
opportunity for play and enjoyment. The authors discuss they can lead to administrative burden.
how social entertainment is an efficient and effective The advent of social media has provided a platform to
approach to engage with target customers. Since social not only corporates but also to individuals for continuously
games make up the largest active area of social entertain- market himself/herself (or their products) so as to succeed
ment, the authors have keenly discussed the categorization in creating the desired impact (on the society) and this
of social games and their role in game-based marketing book deals with the concepts and fundamentals of digital
and in-game advertising. Social commerce refers to sites marketing in such a comprehensive, well organized and
that assist in online sell and purchase of products or strategic manner that, with the integration in a user friendly
services. The authors establish a relation between social layout, it provides a perfect platform even to somebody
commerce and ecommerce to highlight how reviews and naïve to the digital world to understand and explore the vast
ratings provide value for both customers and e-tailers. offerings of the modern day Internet. From an academic
The text also identifies six major psychological factors that viewpoint also, the book successfully integrates closely the
help in the purchase decision-making process: affinity, concepts of traditional digital marketing practices with
authority, scarcity, consistency, social proof and reciprocity. those of digital marketing that it would encourage and
The authors conclude the book by discussing how social facilitate students, and managers apply digital marketing
media platforms are used to gather consumer insights and concepts for succeeding in their business strategies and
what are the various social media metrics. With enormous processes. The book is well versed and neatly covers all the
amount of data availability on the Internet, a careful and essential components of social media marketing that will
strategic research methodology should be used by the brands enable students to channelize their social media marketing
for collecting, processing and analysing data. The authors skills.
also mention the common errors and biases associated with
social media research and how can brands manage the Kirti Sharma
process. They use the DATA approach, define, access, track Assistant Professor, MDI, Gurugram, India
and adjust, to organize a data measurement plan and shed [Link]@[Link]
light on how to calculate social media ROI by accessing the
costs and benefits of social media programme. Praval Kumar
The book is written in a simple, easy to understand Consultant, Marketing at DoneThing, Gurugram, India
language and has dealt with several real-life examples Praval.kulshreshtha04@[Link]