Social media impact on corporate reputation: Proposing a new methodological approach

The aim of this paper is to propose a new theoretical and methodological approach to the study of how social media conversations influence corporate reputation, beyond the current practices based on social media monitoring. The approach proposes to build a multi-level model of the relationship between online communication and corporate reputation, in line with the research tradition on media effects developed within the agenda-setting theoretical perspective when applied to the study of complex social and cultural phenomena (McCombs et al., 1997; Weaver et al., 2004). This approach is also consistent with research practices in the field of reputation management and public relations (Carroll and McCombs, 2003; Fombrun and Van Riel, 2003; Downing, 2001; Safon, 2009; Einwiller et al., 2010).