I constantly find the need to refer back to academic studies around social media to avoid biases and conflicts of interest that can occur with commercial research.
Here are some studies conducted within some of the top business schools in the world that I think are helpful. If you would like to submit your own, please feel free to email me. All I ask is that the study is not promotional material for any specific for-profit organization.
The Complementary Roles of Traditional and Social Media in Driving Market Performance - INSEAD – Andrew T. Stephen and Jeff Galak
Trends in Social Media: Persistence and Decay – Stanford and HP Labs - Sitaram Asur and Chunyan Wang
The New Conversation: Taking Social Media from Talk to Action - Harvard Business School
Social Media and the Burger King Brand - Tuck School of Business - Andrew Schneller and John Marshall
Audience Selection for On-line Brand Advertising: Privacy-friendly Social Network Targeting - NYU Stern - Foster Provost
Using Social Media and Viral Marketing to Launch Ford’s Global Car in the United States Ford Fiesta Movement – INSEAD – Andrew Stephen
Eli Lilly: Social Media and Web 2.0 – INSEAD - Soumitra Dutta and Lydia Ng
Adding Social Media to the Marketing Mix - Harvard Business School – Guillermo Armelini and Julian Villanueva
Social Transmission, Emotion and the Virality of Online Content - Wharton - Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman
Sephora Direct: Investing in Social Media, Video, and Mobile – Harvard Business School - Elie Ofek and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld