Companies-publics relationships on Facebook: Portuguese and Brazilian context

Abstract

This study analyzes how companies use Facebook to facilitate discussions with the public in two countries, Portugal and Brazil, through an exploratory content analysis of corporate Facebook pages. Overall, companies in both countries tend to recognize the relevance of Facebook in relationship development and therefore they use online strategies. Nevertheless, Portuguese companies are ahead of the Brazilian in providing calendars of events and partnerships with blogs/giveaways. They also tend to include more links to media reports. Compared to the Portuguese, the Brazilian public enjoys posting publications that express their feelings and/or emotions more. The article also discusses the implications of corporate relationship management practice.