Social And Personal Factors Influencing Individuals Participation In eWOM on Social Networking Sites

Online marketing communications are moving toward interactions between individual recipients and consumers rather than being directed from a marketing organization to masses of consumers. As more and more marketers attempt to harness the power of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in social networking sites, rigorous investigation of determinants that lead to consumers’ engagement in eWOM via the social networks is becoming critical. Considering pervious studies that have recognized determinants of eWOM, knowledge sharing and email receivers pass along behavior, a framework of the most effective factors have been developed. Using a national sample of Iranian adults, this study investigates relationship between self-efficacy, extrovertedness, social capital, homophily, trust, and consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence, and eWOM behavior in social networking sites. Results from a series of multiple regression analyses indicate that Self-efficacy and Extrovertedness are significant predictors of opinion leading and opinion seeking behaviors. These findings show how different is Iran social network environment from other countries, and provide marketers with valuable information to establish their long-term relationships with consumers and use beneficial eWOM to promote selected brands.

Keywords:

Social Network Sites , Online Marketing , Word of Mouth