Marketers, refiners try to turn social media into profit center

摘要

Add independent refiner Murphy and c-store chain Thorntons to the list of companies looking to boost profits via Facebook and other so-called social media Web sites.rnThorntons, based in Louisville, Ky., sent a message to his Facebook 'friends" earlier in the week telling them that wholesale gasoline prices had jumped overnight an most of its competitors had already raised pump prices. However, Thorntons said, it would wait two hours - until 1 p.m. that day - before increasing its prices at the 162 stations it supplies in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.