Expectations and benefits of utilizing social media tools in new product development

This paper discusses drivers of the use of social media tools by organizational members. Specifically, we contrast the expectations of senior managers of social media tool adoption with the benefits perceived by organizational members after the implementation of these tools. We analyzed empirical findings from 252 respondents to a survey of three global companies before and after social media tool adoption. The respondents to the survey held various internal functions and were from several organizational layers. According to our results, the working practices, notably in terms of information sharing, among organizations become more similar due to the social media tool adoption. We present individual-level drivers of the use of social media tools based on expectations and perceived benefits, such as increased transparency inside the organization. Additionally, based on the empirical evidence, we present both managerial and theoretical implications. The identified drivers can be used by practitioners as guidance in social media tool implementation. From a theoretical perspective, the study contributes to discussions on absorptive capacity, new product development (NPD) performance, and company-level social media tool adoption.