The role of social selling in enhancing the market presence of knowledge-intensive companies
: a case study of the APAC region

  • Maria Joana Miranda Carvalho (Student)

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

Increasing a company’s foreign market presence is a general problem that companies face, especially those operating in Knowledge-Intensive business sectors (KIBS). As many KIS companies operate in culturally diverse regions, such as the Asia Pacific region, it can be challenging to understand which tool to use to increase awareness and market presence. With the rise of social media and its use to engage with B2B customers, a growing approach is social selling. The objective of this thesis was to understand how KIBS companies can leverage social selling to increase their market presence in APAC. As such, critical stakeholders from two companies – a service provider and its customer - that operate in KIBS in the Asia-Pacific region were interviewed. This qualitative analysis was complemented by secondary data. It was possible to understand that companies in these sectors can benefit from the use of social selling to increase their market presence, but for it to be so, they need to be attentive to their customer’s cultural habits and need to allocate resources for content facilitation and training. The use of social media was seen as an enabler for awareness and interaction with possible customers.
Date of Award15 Jul 2024
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
SupervisorBožidar Vlačić (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Foreign market presence
  • APAC region
  • Knowledge-intensive business services
  • B2B marketing
  • Social selling
  • Social media

Designation

  • Mestrado em Marketing

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