Effectiveness of customer social participation for academic purposes: a case of informal WhatsApp groups

A.A.I Lakmali,Nalin Abeysekera,D.A.C Suranga Silva

doi:10.1108/aaouj-08-2021-0093

A.A.I Lakmali, Nalin Abeysekera + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/aaouj-08-2021-0093

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Abstract

PurposeCustomer social participation (CSP) is a new phenomenon that has emerged with the evolution of social media. Current literature designates customer participation in social media as “CSP”. Although CSP has been investigated in the online brand community context in social media, it has been little investigated in the context of student customers using WhatsApp – a highly trending social media platform among learners. Thus, this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of CSP in informal WhatsApp groups for academic purposes among undergraduate students of management studies.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a single cross-sectional survey design. A structured online questionnaire was employed. Using convenience sampling technique, data were collected from 170 undergraduates of the Bachelor of Management Studies programme at the Open University of Sri Lanka.FindingsThe results revealed significant positive effects of functional, social and hedonic benefits with CSP. Meanwhile, the relationship between psychological benefits and CSP was insignificant. Furthermore, there is no influence of age and level of study on CSP among the learners in informal WhatsApp groups. Moreover, at present, the level of CSP in WhatsApp for academic purposes among students is moderate.Originality/valueThe role of the student as the customer and student behaviour in informal WhatsApp groups established for academic purposes have been little investigated in the field of open and distance education services. In this context, this study empirically validated the model of participation benefits and CSP in WhatsApp groups informally established for academic purposes.

Highlights

Internet is more than just a new medium of information transfer because it is becoming increasingly social and communal (Preece and Shneiderman, 2009; Kamboj and Rahman, 2017)
This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of Customer social participation (CSP) in informal WhatsApp groups for academic purposes among the undergraduates of Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) (Hons) degree programme at the Open University of Sri Lanka
The results revealed that the level of perceived benefits of participation is high among the learners

Summary

Introduction

Internet is more than just a new medium of information transfer because it is becoming increasingly social and communal (Preece and Shneiderman, 2009; Kamboj and Rahman, 2017). Internet with web 2.0 commenced to facilitate platform-based online interaction among people from 2004, for example, with platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. This created a new paradigm of individual and social life. It facilitated various forms of communication such as blogs, collaborative projects, social networking sites (SNS), content communities and virtual communities (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010; Ali et al, 2017). Asian Association of Open Universities Journal Vol 16 No 3, 2021 pp. Published in Asian Association of Open Universities Journal. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http:// creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

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