The Confluence of Culture and Social Media in Changing Service Expectations

Today’s consumers are increasingly using technology as an effective tool in their shopping experience. Social media can be defined as Internet-based applications that carry information posted by end users. End users utilize several online formats (e.g., blogs, podcasts, social networks, bulletin boards, wikis, newsgroups, and chat rooms) to express their opinions about a product, service, brand, and/or organization. In addition to sharing ideas about a given product, service, or brand, end users utilize social media to reach out to other consumers, who are seen as more objective information sources than firms themselves. This information, produced by people who were assumed to only use or consume online content, is termed consumer-generated content (CGC). Likewise, consumer-generated media is defined as any positive or negative statement about a product or service, created by potential, actual, or former customers, and made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet.Keywords: Health value chain management, patient value, health care providers, sustainable development.