How Managers' Shared Mental Models of Business–Customer Interactions Create Different Sensemaking of Social Media

•Managers’ social media sensemaking is confined by mental models of traditional business-customers interaction.•Four mental models of business-customers interaction uniquely affect how managers make sense of social media.•The activation of reflective mental models is required for managers to fully utilize the potential of new and disruptive technology.•Managers can be trained to develop reflective processing to identify innate categorical (non-reflective) thought processes.•Managers who apply mental models in a categorical fashion, forgo potential tactical and strategic opportunities embedded in new technology.

Building on empirical research, we identify four mental models of business–customer interactions and show how each uniquely affects how managers conceptualize and use social media. The four models are “business-to-customers,” “business-from-customers,” “business-with-customers,” and “business-for-customers.” The mental model approach helps explain why managers' use of social media does not necessarily lead to radical changes in their interaction with customers, despite the opportunities facilitated by these media. We provide a conceptual framework that enables managers to introspectively investigate their own mental models and thereby revise their sensemaking and use of social media.