Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The online presence of environmental NGOs (ENGOs) has opened the opportunity to gain independence from the limitation of the news media coverage they can get. However, multiple challenges, including dealing with interactions on social media, are among the complexities of using those channels. Communication in those spaces usually takes a positive or negative character, including strong criticism towards the ENGOs. To date, only a few studies in the environmental communication literature have analysed the implications of social media interactions for the ENGOs. Marketing studies about online brand communities, though, have developed several concepts that are tested in the analysis of this thesis.

This thesis aims to better understand online interaction on an ENGO social media page, in order to find out if the ENGO could adapt their online posting or interaction to promote beneficial interaction for the organisation with their visitors on Facebook. The approach selected includes a netnographic study and a thematic analysis of comments on different kinds of posts on the Greenpeace UK page. The qualitative data shows that there are important differences between the brands and ENGOs and missing aspects when using the online Brand community framework, but also new possibilities for understanding favourable and unfavourable comments of visitors on a Facebook toward the community. Finally, the practical implications of managing the social media of an ENGO are discussed regarding the use of the idea of ‘community’ understood as a group of people with shared concerns and values that co-creates a page.