Social Movement Theory
“Previous research indicates that movements maintain the commitment of their members by engaging in an interactive collective identity process that aligns collective identity with personal identities.”(Gongaware, 2011, p.3). This concept is absolutely fundamental when designing a social media marketing campaign. A campaign can be interpreted as a movement whether it is social or consumption driven. Longevity and success in these movements has always been made apparent in the interactivity of communities, which have both a “collective identity” and individual “personal identities.” Through the innovated design of profiling, social medias have progressed the globalization of campaign potential at a phenomenal rate. Social media marketing is the construction of an “interactive collective identity” for your campaign.
There has been little research into sustaining social movements across time, which is perhaps why there are few social media campaigns that are elevated long enough for a community to form and sustain the campaign. “Certainly, movements emerge and decline, ebb and flow, adapt, or remain static for various reasons over spans of time….The creation of that continuity, particularly as regards the process of collective identity, has seldom been the explicit topic of consideration.” (Gongaware, 2011, p.3). This is a key purpose of our research: sustainable marketing strategies within the global social sphere. Of course the transient nature of social movements can perceived as common knowledge, however, it is the degree or the extent of time to which a digital social campaign is made relevant online that is of interest to social media marketers.
As movements evolve within their environments, it is possible that major shifts in the collective identities may occur. Among other things, the collective identity moment the audience identifies, requires the articulation of past actions alongside new ideas – a visible evolution. This is another fundamental element to social media marketing: flexibility in its very design. It is necessary to have an intrinsic ability to respond and engage with consumer or community feedback and opinion, otherwise the sustainability of the campaign is condemned.
“A New Paradigm of Understanding Today’s World argues that social phenomena, qua social, are lost forever, replaced by an ever-changing social field dominated by extreme individualism driven by vigorous pursuit of happiness,” (Poljarevic, 2011, p. 2–3). In a Western, capitalist society collective identities may be lost in the relentless self-absorption that is consumption and self-improvement. However in recent times, there has been a cultural shift in the way digital marketers can manipulate online identities to sneak their way into the ‘private’ world of social media, away from the advertisement saturated World Wide Web. Now marketers have new opportunities to design their campaigns and technology to simultaneously appeal to both extreme individualism and to collective community identities. This shift merges previously removed discourses into an exciting new cultural marketing era revolved around the social media movement. “The conceptual wall between lifestyles and social movements has created a theoretical blind spot at the intersection of private action and movement participation, personal and social change, and personal and collective identity.” (Haenfler, Johnson & Jones, 2012, p.2). Social media’s functionality allows this blind spot to be dissolved into a realm in which collective identities are shaped from lifestyle niche communities than encourage personal and social change. “Private action,” and collective participation are fused within social medias which provides a unique opportunity for digital marketers.
“Perhaps the most recognized attempt to connect culture and social movements comes from scholars working in the new technological movement. They bring renewed attention to the role of culture and identity in movements. In particular, how movements construct protests, create and maintain collective identities, and engage in symbolic action in the cultural sphere…Such movements struggle over postmaterialist values, identities, and cultural practices rather than class-based economic concerns and material resources. People identify with ‘communities of meaning’ as they pursue ‘lifestyle politics.’” (Haenfler, Johnson & Jones, 2012, p.2). Pursuing “lifestyle politics” in social or digital “communities of meaning” are the fundamentals of our research in social media marketing. If as a marketer, one has a thorough understanding of these social theories and employs well researched strategies, the social media marketing campaign can be sustained long enough to grow a community which will become the company’s biggest asset.