Abstract

Since creating a business Instagram profile is accessible, an increasing number of businesses discovered a new marketing potential. In addition to large enterprises, many self-entrepreneurs and small enterprises register on the websites. They use Instagram as a marketing tool. The authors noted that many valuable publications have already been published addressing the issue. The main objective of this study is to examine the business profiles in terms of Instagram users. The theoretical background to study was prepared using the available scientific literature in social media and Instagram marketing. The central question of the empirical research is whether it is necessary to perceive business profiles in different terms if the company is operating in multiple countries. The research operated with data from three European countries: Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. The main goal was to find out how Instagram users in the surveyed countries relate to business profiles. The research questions were as follows: Do Instagram users follow business profiles? How developed is the user’s brand recognition ability? What kind of posts do they like on business profiles? Do they show a willingness to advertise products on their profile? The online questionnaire survey was conducted between February 2019 and December 2020. The obtained data were analyzed in Microsoft Excel and SPSS statistical program. The methodological tools of research were cross-tabulation analysis to analyze the research hypotheses and graphical analysis to present the research results. Answers of Instagram users were analyzed by country. The results detected differences in users’ attitudes towards the business profiles by the countries involved in the research. There are only negligible differences, which do not indicate that treating Instagram users in the studied countries different would be necessary. The research results are accessible for businesses, marketing professionals, and agencies operating in one or all countries involved in the survey or outside the research area.

Keywords: business profiles, Instagram, Instagram marketing, online marketing, social media, social media networks.

JEL Classification: M30, M31, M37.

Cite as: Machova, R., Santa, K., & Basa, P (2021). International overview of business profiles from the perspective of Instagram users. Marketing and Management of Innovations, 3, 11-22. https://doi.org/10.21272/mmi.2021.3-01

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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