TY - JOUR
T1 - Interactive communication with the public
T2 - Qualitative exploration of the use of social media by food and health organizations
AU - Shan, Liran Christine
AU - Panagiotopoulos, Panagiotis
AU - Regan, Áine
AU - De Brún, Aoife
AU - Barnett, Julie
AU - Wall, Patrick
AU - McConnon, Aine
PY - 2015/1
Y1 - 2015/1
N2 - Objective: To examine the use and impact of social media on 2-way communication between consumers and public organizations in the food safety and nutrition area. Methods: In-depth qualitative study conducted between October, 2012 and January, 2013, using semi-structured interviews in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sixteen professionals worked on the public interface within 5 national organizations with a role in communicating on food safety and nutrition issues in this thematic analysis. Results: Five main themes were identified: gradual shift toward social media-based queries and complaints; challenges and limitations of social media to deal with queries and complaints; benefits of using social media in query and complaint services; content redesign driven by social media use; and using social media to learn more about consumers. Conclusion and Implications: Social media penetrated and brought new opportunities to food organizations' interactions with the public. Given the increasing use of social media by the public, food organizations need to explore such new opportunities for communication and research.
AB - Objective: To examine the use and impact of social media on 2-way communication between consumers and public organizations in the food safety and nutrition area. Methods: In-depth qualitative study conducted between October, 2012 and January, 2013, using semi-structured interviews in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sixteen professionals worked on the public interface within 5 national organizations with a role in communicating on food safety and nutrition issues in this thematic analysis. Results: Five main themes were identified: gradual shift toward social media-based queries and complaints; challenges and limitations of social media to deal with queries and complaints; benefits of using social media in query and complaint services; content redesign driven by social media use; and using social media to learn more about consumers. Conclusion and Implications: Social media penetrated and brought new opportunities to food organizations' interactions with the public. Given the increasing use of social media by the public, food organizations need to explore such new opportunities for communication and research.
KW - 2-way communication
KW - Food
KW - Online monitoring
KW - Public engagement
KW - Social media
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84918502417&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2014.09.004
U2 - 10.1016/j.jneb.2014.09.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jneb.2014.09.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84918502417
SN - 1499-4046
VL - 47
SP - 104
EP - 108
JO - Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
JF - Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
IS - 1
ER -