An Explorative Mapping of the Belgian Social Media Marketing Value Network and Its Usage of Personal Identifiable Information

Research has shown an increase in both disclosure of personal data and means to gather this data on social media such as Facebook. Little research has been done to analyze what happens with this data and how it circulates between different actors. The aim of this research is to map a subset of the Belgian social media marketing companies are as a value network and how these actors use social media users’ data for marketing campaigns. The answer to this research question was obtained through expert interviews with experts from sector organizations and social media marketing companies. The consulted experts confirmed it was possible to use a myriad of personal information but their actual use was limited to age, gender, location and language. The main reasons are the unreliability of the data, legal insecurity and fear of scaring potential customers with privacy invasive questions.