Does the use of social media affect customer relationship performance? Evidences from Italy

The study investigates how social media information generation, internal information sharing and responsiveness affect the impact of the use of social media on customer relationship performance (CRP). 180 valid and complete questionnaires were collected from managers of firms operating in Italy. Results obtained from structural equation modeling analysis show that social media information generation and social media responsiveness have a significant and positive effect on the impact of social media on CRP (evaluated by managers). Moreover, internal information sharing does not directly affect CRP, but its effect turns out to be mediated by responsiveness.