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Purpose The practice of frontline employees articulating their brand voice and posting work-related content on social media has emerged; however, employee brand equity (EBE) research has yet to be linked to employees’ social media activity. This paper aims to take a methods-based approach to better understand employees’ roles as influencers. As such, its objective is to operationalize and apply the three EBE dimensions – brand consistent behavior, brand endorsement and brand allegiance – using Instagram data. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research uses a case study of employee influencers at SoulCycle, a leading North American fitness company and examines 100 Instagram images and 100 captions from these influential employees to assess the three EBE dimensions. Findings Brand consistent behavior (what employees do) was the most important EBE dimension indicating that employees’ social media activities align with their employer’s values. Brand allegiance (what employees intend to do in the future) whereby employees self-identify with their employer on social media, followed. Brand endorsement (what employees say) was the least influential of the three EBE dimensions, which may indicate a higher level of perceived authenticity from a consumer perspective. Originality/value This research makes three contributions. First, it presents a novel measure of EBE using public Instagram data. Second, it represents a unique expansion and an evolution of King et al.’s (2012) model. Third, it considers employees’ work-related content on social media to understand employees’ role as influencers and their co-creation of EBE, which is currently an under-represented perspective in the internal branding literature.

1548 Background: Recruitment to clinic trials is typically poor. Among barriers to recruitment may be the limited knowledge of trialists with respect to marketing techniques. Improvements in marketing could decrease recruitment time and shorten the time to access new interventions. We hypothesized that a marketing plan would improve recruitment to a lung cancer screening study. Methods: The Pan-Canadian Early Detection of Lung Cancer Trial recruited subjects from 8 centres to a screening study of low-dose CT scan and autofluorescence bronchoscopy. Recruitment processes were undertaken independently at each centre. One centre (M) used marketing expertise and a marketing plan, including surveying study candidates for motivators, resulting in specific newsprint advertisements. Screened trial candidates provided demographic and tobacco use data and indicated how they had heard about the study (bus, friend/family, MD, mail, newsprint, radio, TV, other). No site paid for radio or TV time. We used regression analyses to assess whether newsprint advertisements were more effective for recruitment at site M compared with all other sites. Results: From 2008 to 2010, 7059 candidates contacted all centres for eligibility screening, including 779 at centre M. Overall, 50.2% were female; median age was 59 yrs. Compared with other centres, candidates at centre M had less education (p < 0.001), a higher median 3-year lung cancer risk (2.3 vs 2.0%, p < 0.001), but were more likely to have learned of the study by newsprint (58.8 vs 53.3%, chi-squared p = 0.004), and were more likely to be recruited (44.0 vs 34.9%, p < 0.001). It was more likely that newsprint was the driver for screening contact among candidates with higher education level (OR 1.05/level), higher age (OR 1.03 / yr) and contact at site M (OR 1.31) (all < 0.001). Recruitment after eligibility screening was higher when newsprint was the driver for contact on univariable but not multivariable analysis. Conclusions: The effectiveness of newsprint advertising in motivating study contact may be improved by the formal use of marketing expertise. Newsprint advertising may improve the likelihood of recruitment after study screening, possibly through improved initial self-screening by the candidate. Clinical trial information: NCT00751660.

Background: Recruitment to clinical trials is suboptimal, increasing costs, and delaying the potential implementation of clinical advances. Among other barriers, the lack of marketing experience among trialists may limit recruitment. In this observational study, in the context of the Pan-Canadian Early Detection of Lung Cancer Trial, we assessed the value of a motivational survey of study participants in planning a tailored advertising campaign and analysed the value of individual components of advertising in generating telephone calls to the study and recruited subjects. Methods: The Pan-Canadian Early Detection of Lung Cancer Trial was a single arm study assessing risk modelling for lung cancer screening by low-dose computed tomography scan and autofluorescence bronchoscopy. Individuals were recruited to eight sites across Canada without a central marketing plan. On contact with the study, individuals reported how they heard about the study according to a predefined list. One site, the Juravinski Cancer Centre, worked with a marketing expert to develop a survey to assess participant motivations, source of study awareness, and personal habits. The survey was used to develop a media campaign for recruitment. Media events were collected from all sites. The primary analysis assessed the number of telephone contacts and recruited subjects associated with various media factors. Individual print media characteristics were assessed for their effect on recruitment. Results: At all sites, 7059 individuals contacted the study, and 2537 were eligible and recruited. Among 52 individuals completing the Juravinski Cancer Centre survey, motivation included concern for personal risk of lung cancer (71%), followed by desire to contribute to a cure (67%), followed by personal knowledge of a person with lung cancer (50%). Most reported hearing of the study from the newspaper (58%) despite no print ad yet being distributed. With survey input, a newsprint campaign was executed. The number of media events varied by site (median: 13, range: 3–28). Among all recruits, 56.4% reported referral by newspaper followed by family/friend (14%). Telephone contacts and recruited subjects per event varied significantly by site, while unpaid media events appeared superior to paid events. Print media characteristics associated with increased telephone contacts and recruitment included use of a rational appeal (vs a mixed rational–emotional), less use of white space, and larger headline font. Conclusion: A survey of trial candidates provides useful information regarding personal motivation, media use, and lifestyle. Unpaid media events appear superior in generating recruitment, while print media may be superior to radio and television in selecting eligible recruits. The utility of individual print media characteristics appears to differ from the commercial advertising literature. Further research on marketing in clinical trials is encouraged to improve recruitment ( ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT00751660, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00751660 ).

Purpose The paper aims to examine how employees influence their employer’s brand by applying Taylor’s (1999) six segment message strategy wheel in an employee influencer context. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a content analysis of employees’ public social media posts – including captions and images – to analyze the message strategies employees use to promote their employers. Findings While ego and social were popular message strategies in both the images and captions, the findings evidence the varying message strategies employees use in text-based versus image-based messages. Four “imagined audiences” of employee influencers are identified: current customers, prospective customers, current employees and prospective employees. Research limitations/implications The research provides insight into how employees act as influencers in building their employer brand on social media. Practical implications A unique measurement tool is developed that can be used by companies and future researchers to decode employees’ online communications. Originality/value This research contributes to theory and practice in the following important ways. First, the research provides a modernization of an existing framework from an offline setting to an applied industry context in an online setting. Second, this research focuses on a subtype of social media influencer, the employee influencer, which is an underdeveloped area of research. Third, a unique measurement tool to analyze text-based and image-based social media data is developed that can be used by companies and future researchers to decode employees’ online communications.

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This chapter focuses on strategic retailer-Non-Profit Organization (NPO) partnerships, based in North America and Europe, from a management perspective. It explores how and why these partnerships have had an impact on the retailer-consumer relationship, how they have shaped and influenced socially conscious shoppers, and how they have affected consumer trust as well as retail business practices and strategies, within the last decade. Retailer-NPO partnerships have emerged as a viable business strategy to support Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives now commonplace among most large retail organizations. Consumers have become empowered, with the help of new social media technologies, to efficiently communicate, influence, and persuade other consumers around the globe. Therefore, consumers increasingly expect retailers to have an ethical and social responsibility to their people, products, operations, and communities. CSR practices have become integral to retailer sustainability and managing complex retailer-consumer relationships. This chapter reviews relevant theoretical frameworks, discusses the latest research findings from literature sources, and examines the industry practices (case studies) of several retailer-NPO partnerships across North America and Europe.