Amount of CER-Related Social Media Posts; in Total and Per Platform

Figure 2. Amount of CER-related posts in total and per platform by the aviation entities+

number of links to further information posted per aviation entity.

According to the results of the social media CER-marketing communications study and Figure 2. above, Air France-KLM Group had posted the highest amount of CER-related posts. During the observed period, the group posted a total of 32 CER-related posts, equaling to 11.3% of the total number of posts across all its studied social media platforms, as well as 4.5 posts worth of Instagram highlighted stories. KLM was the only airline in the study that had posted CER-related stories on Instagram and saved them during the observed timeframe, showing additional resources and time being used on Instagram CER-marketing communications by the airline compared to the other studied airlines. Finnair had the second highest number of CER-related posts, 19, equaling to 5.4% of all posts across studied social media platforms. Lufthansa group had posted a total of four CER-related posts, equaling to 1.3% of the total number of studied social media posts. As the results demonstrate, the differences in the total amounts of CER-related posts are significant between the three aviation entities, with Air France-KLM’s total percentage of CER-posts out of all posts being 8.7 times higher than the respective percentage of Lufthansa group.

Taking a closer look at the preferred CER-communication platforms of the airlines, the results indicate that Twitter is the main channel for each studied entity. Finnair posted

19

Finnair Lufthansa Group Air France-KLM Group

78.9% of their CER-related posts on Twitter, Lufthansa Group 100% and Air France-KLM Group 78.1%. Finnair and Air France-France-KLM Group have very similar results in this category, whereas Lufthansa appears to have placed all their social media CER-marketing communications on Twitter. This method can be argued to be inefficient, as by only utilizing one platform and only posting a considerably small number of CER-posts, Lufthansa Group risks losing a large audience that uses other social media platforms rather than Twitter or only uses Twitter rarely. It also suggests the Lufthansa Group is not actively communicating about CER-related matters on social media in general. As can be seen from Figure 3. below, out of all posts that Lufthansa posted on Twitter, 5.6% are CER-related. The corresponding percentage for Finnair is 9.4%, and for Air France-KLM Group it is 25%.

Figure 3. Percentage of CER-related posts out of all posts, in total and per platform.

As can be seen from the figures above, Lufthansa Group’s percentage reflects their minimal posting regarding CER-matters, whereas Air France-KLM’s CER-posts on Twitter form ¼ of all their posts on the platform, which is a considerably larger amount than that of Finnair or Lufthansa Group. This indicates that Air France-KLM are actively utilizing Twitter as a mean of communicating their CER-values. However, as can be seen from the results, each of the studied airlines has a significantly lower number of followers on Twitter compared to their Facebook and Instagram accounts. Hence, the airlines reach a smaller audience by focusing their CER-posting on Twitter as they would with

5.40% Finnair Lufthansa Group Air France-KLM Group

the other two platforms. The airlines could also extend their reach to varying targets by utilizing the other platforms more.

Regarding Facebook posts, 10.5% of all Finnair’s CER-related posts were posted on the platform, compared to 0% of Lufthansa’s and 18.8% of Air France-KLM’s CER-posts.

These numbers are relatively low compared to the companies Twitter CER-posts percentages, suggesting that Facebook has significantly smaller role in the communication of these matters for any of the studied airlines. Out of all Finnair’s Facebook posts, 3.4% are CER-related, compared to respective figures of Lufthansa Group, 0%, and Air KLM Group, 8.1%. This suggests that Finnair and Air France-KLM Group do use Facebook to communicate about CER, but this communication forms only a minor part of the airlines’ total communication on the platform. Instagram, on the other hand, forms again 10.5% of Finnair’s CER-posts coverage, 0% of Lufthansa’s and 3.1% of Air France-KLM’s. According to these results, Finnair uses Instagram as a CER-marketing communications platform over three times more frequently than Air France-KLM. Out of all the posts posted by Finnair on the platform, 1.4% are CER-related, whereas Air France-KLM’s respective figure is 0.9%. While Finnair has more followers on Facebook than Instagram, these two platforms form a similar percentage of Finnair’s CER-posting. The utilization of Instagram for CER-marketing communications enables Finnair to reach extended audiences and communicate CER-matters to public that chooses to use the platform over other social medias. Young audiences under 34 years old are estimated to form over two thirds of the whole Instagram userbase. (Statista, 2019) This provides Finnair the opportunity to reach young, environment-minded people on the platform. Creating an environmentally friendly image in the minds of such target offers Finnair the possibility of attracting future customers and affecting their decision when choosing an airline that fits their sustainability needs.

A significant note to make regarding Air France-KLM Group’s combined results from Facebook and Instagram observation is that Air France did not post any CER-related posts during the observation period on either Facebook or Instagram. The airline did post 24 times on Facebook, regarding other matters, such as travel inspiration to their destination cities, and 54 times on Instagram, with similar types of posts. Out of KLM’s posts from the same timeframe, 12% of their Facebook posts and 1.9% of their Instagram posts were CER-related. This demonstrates that while Facebook and Instagram are not the main CER-marketing platforms for the Air France-KLM group, KLM is taking a considerably more active part in communicating CER-related matters to the public on

these platforms. One matter to consider regarding KLM’s posting on CER on Facebook and Instagram is that the company has significantly more followers on Facebook, which could be one reason for the higher amount of CER-posts on the platform.

As part of the research the amount of social media posts with a link to further information regarding CER-topics was calculated. Referring to appendix 5., across all the studied social media platforms, 63.2% of Finnair’s CER-related posts include a link to further information. The respective figure for Lufthansa Group is 75% and for Air France-KLM it is 50%. These figures indicate that while Lufthansa Group has the lowest amount of CER-related posts, a high percentage of them includes a link to further information, indicating they carry extended content and information. Air France-KLM with the highest amount of posts has the lowest percentage with links to further information, and Finnair stands in-between these two aviation groups. The high percentages indicate that they aviation entities are actively offering the public the possibility to conveniently find out more information about the issue in question. This is a way of spreading knowledge about environmental issues beyond social media posts.