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Communication theory has yet to fully integrate social media into their media tool set. Media Synchronicity Theory in combination with Media Richness Theory offer a solid ground on which to establish a communication theory including social media. This is necessary since marketers have been using social media´s powerful means for their online marketing campaigns for years already. Yet, there is very little research as to how specifically airlines integrate social media platforms into their social media canon and whether there are industry-wide similarities or not. Also, regional differences and disparities between different airline types with regard to online marketing behavior have not been analyzed satisfactorily before. This Book outlines the theoretical foundations for a communication theory including social media, describes the most important social media platforms and elaborates how a sample set of 12 airlines uses them.

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Oesterle, Berenike
Berenike Oesterle studied Comparative Politics and Aviation Management in Cologne, Castellón de la Plana and Berlin. So far she accumulated over a decade´s worth of experience as Social Media Manager and Digital Marketing Strategist for IT organisations, car park operators, insurances and not-for-profits. Berenike lives in Wellington/New Zealand.

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