Ahmed Fahim Morshed, Goi Chai Lee, *Adamu Abbas Adamu

Abstract:

Public relations practitioners and social media professionals have shifted to building customer relationships through social media. A recent study mentioned that PR practitioners should adopt social media as a relationship management tool, yet academic research addressing this remains limited. Apart from the academic research gap, practical problems were identified, where recent research found that practitioners need to understand how to effectively and strategically communicate via social media. Additionally, the geographical research gap in public relations studies in Bangladesh is getting limited attention. To address these gaps, this study used the organisational public relationship maintenance theory to conceptualise social media (Facebook) brand page engagement to understand further how relationships with key public members on Facebook can be maintained. Based on 12 in-depth interviews with Bangladeshi university students, the study found that a relational approach can create significant engagement on Facebook brand pages.

Keywords: Public relations, social media, relationship maintenance strategy, Facebook, brand page