The Effect of Social Capital and Outcome Expectations on Product Recommendations in Social Networks: An Empirical Comparison of Facebook and ASmallWorld (PDF)

Inhaltsangabe:Introduction:
Problem Outline:
The importance of information exchange through the Internet is growing and social networking sites are having a profound impact on the evolution of Internet business and e-commerce. According to Comscore, Facebook, the world¿s most popular and well-known social networking site, was the fourth largest site worldwide with 340 million unique users in July 2009 right after Google, Microsoft and Yahoo (Internet World Business 2009) and the number one website in the US as of March 2010. Facebook¿s growth underscores the ongoing shift away from algorithm-based search engines to social search, which are results based on interpersonal interaction. Interestingly, according to Nielsen, the growth of social networking for information searches coincides with an increase of global consumer trust in online channels with 70% trusting consumer opinions posted online in 2009 compared to 60% in 2007. Both of these current trends have been greatly facilitated by social networking sites.
Most consumers are members of multiple social networks and use these networks to fulfill different needs and desires. Social networking sites are generally classified into two categories: open social networks (OSNs) and invitation-only social networks (ISNs). Social networks are also organized around either a specific topic or general demographic such as friends or business partners. OSNs have no entry restrictions, whereas ISNs as private social networking sites require invitation, which results in a limitation in its membership base.
Whether social networking sites are OSNs or ISNs, previous research has found that qualitative and rich knowledge contribution is essential to successful online communities. Chiu et al. suggest that knowledge contribution is influenced by social capital and outcome expectations. Social capital is the network of relationships possessed by an individual or a social network and the set of resources embedded within it. Outcome expectations represent the expectations that an individual has towards the possible outcome of knowledge contribution for him/herself or for the community as a whole. From a marketing perspective, an important possibility to utilize member participation in terms of knowledge contribution is the encouragement of product recommendations between social networking site members, which may strongly influence the purchasing decisions of other members. A key aspect in this case is, whether or [...]