Forest Products Industry in a Digital Age: A Look at E-Commerce and Social Media

Abstract The business of marketing, promotions in particular, has changed substantially during the past decade. Physical means of promotion (e.g., newspapers, magazines, radio, billboards) have seen a decline, and the use of social media as a marketing tool has increased significantly. While a number of studies regarding the use of social media among Fortune 500 companies have been conducted, very limited information is available regarding social media use in the US forest products industry. This article presents part one of a two-part series and addresses the first three of the following five objectives: (1) identify the type(s) of e-commerce and social media tools forest products companies use, (2) identify and describe the reasons a company chooses to use or not use social media as a marketing tool, (3) identify and describe perceptions held about social media as a marketing tool, (4) examine factors affecting the use of social media marketing in the forest products industry, and (5) examine the effect...