The influence of social media on the relationship between firm strategy and performance

The topic of social media has been at the forefront of individuals' and firms' interests. Although scholars have investigated and revealed various benefits of social media, limited studies examined whether social media can be favourable to a firm's existing strategies. This study, therefore, relies on data from 1,392 firms to support the advantages of using social media for firm's strategies. Specifically, the study found that market diversification strategy, R&D intensity, and capital intensity have a significant impact on the performance of a firm. In addition, social media can moderate the impact of R&D intensity on firm value-based performance. The results also indicate that social media can undermine certain strategies as it was discovered that social media can negatively moderate the relationships between R&D intensity, product diversification, and the return on assets (ROA). The findings of this study shed light on both advantages and disadvantages of social media usage for firms.