Nexus of Electronic Word-Of-Mouth to Social Networking Sites: A Sustainable Chatter of New Digital Social Media

Md Hossain,Saiful Hoque,Nusrat Jahan,Yuantao Fang

doi:10.3390/su11030759

Md Hossain, Saiful Hoque + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030759

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Feb 1, 2019
Citations: 18	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Korea University, Jeonbuk National University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication of Facebook is influenced by social exchanges, social capital, and service quality dimensions. The online survey was conducted with a pre-tested and self-administered questionnaire, and a structural equation model was used to examine the hypothetical relationships. The results of the structural model provide insights into four key antecedents for the effective use of eWOM communication from a social capital and exchange perspective. In particular, reciprocity, tie strength, trust, and interaction service quality significantly and positively influence eWOM communication, demonstrating that social media users engage in online communication when they have a positive perception toward these psychological dimensions. The comprehensive study offers an extended theoretical perspective on eWOM literature for emerging market context and clearly examines the influencing factors of eWOM that remain to be addressed in this context. Since eWOM is widely used in social media to promote viral marketing through its powerful connection and interpersonal relationship-building capabilities, the results of the study have important implications for the practitioners with respect to sustainable advertising and business strategies.

Highlights

It is unthinkable to design any marketing strategy without integrating social networking sites (SNSs)
Reciprocity, tie strength, trust, and interaction service quality have a significant and positive impact on electronic WOM (eWOM) communication, revealing that social media users engage in online communication if they have a positive perception toward these psychological dimensions
The results of this study shed light on some important aspects related to the critical determination of eWOM communication from SNSs users, which remain to be addressed

Summary

Introduction

It is unthinkable to design any marketing strategy without integrating social networking sites (SNSs). SNSs are well-accepted online platforms for building social relationships between people and enabling them to share their activities, interests, opinions, or information, which creates a fantastic consumer-self marketing communication known as word-of-mouth (WOM). With the rapid growth of internet and information technology, SNSs became the universal electronic WOM (eWOM) channel to share brand-related information through their mobility, ubiquity, and interactivity [1]; they have influence on usage intention, decision-making, and attitude toward services [2,3]. Despite the growing attention on SNSs among researchers and marketers, the use of SNSs as eWOM marketing channels is an under-researched phenomenon [2]

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