Activation of the Groundswell in the Segment of Bicycle Manufacturers

In addition to the massive home office, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought an enormous increase in the popularity of outdoor activities. This was also reflected in the very high demand for bicycles and accessories for cyclists, which led to the groundswell effect and an increase in fan interaction and engagement within the social media profiles of bicycle manufacturers. The research design in the present paper contains a consistent and synergistically balanced share of qualitative and quantitative methods. Within the theoretical background, methods of analysis of sources from leading authors are used, especially from articles based on leading scientific journals and proceedings. The practical part uses quantitative methods in the form of data collection through the tools Zoomsphere and Socialblade. The selection of assessed business entities consisted of a ranking of profitability and evaluation according to the leading portal designed for the segment of cyclists. The findings point to the content structure of profiles on social media in the segment of bicycle manufacturers. They also point to the content structure of the best contributions on these social media and to the recommendations in the form of categories for the bicycle manufacturers segment. The authors also define the best types of posts for future content in that segment. Domestic and global businesses in this segment require knowledge of the laws on social media in the form of user behavior and the groundswell effect. The limits of the findings are in the selection of business entities, which were selected on the basis of profitability and evaluation according to the leading cycling portal, also within the limits of social media analysis and management tools. Despite the above facts, the added value exceeds the limits within the author's contribution. The originality of the paper is based mainly on the fact that the selected segment from the point of view of the groundswell effect is unexplored. It is important to examine this segment, especially due to the high demand for products in this segment and the relentless interest in the form of user interactions. © The Authors, (2022). All Rights Reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission may be made without written permission from the individual authors.

THE AIRLINES COMMUNICATING THROUGH SOLOMO PLATFORMS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The coronavirus has triggered the crisis affecting not only Slovakia, but also the whole world as well as almost all undertakings operating in the market economy. The tourism industry, especially the airlines, is the worst-hit segment. Whereas e-shops profited from the crisis, the airlines segment was stagnating. The main objective of the authors is to clarify to what extent e-shops were reinforcing their position and what the airlines were communicating to their customers through social media during the most critical months. The authors use quantitative methods to interpret the results of the research and define consumer behaviour during the pandemic, e.g. company financial statements, as well as qualitative methods such as social media analyses, etc. Their subsequent findings will help specify the state of e-shopping during the pandemic in the light of the sale of airline tickets and company communication policies in the context of the coronavirus crisis.