Babbling through social media: A cross-country study mapping out social networks using eWOM intentions

Abstract

This research aims to determine the factors affecting the users’ electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) seeking and sharing intentions and to reveal the interactions among and within clusters using social network analysis (SNA). This study includes three hierarchical sub-studies conducted in two countries, Turkey and Poland. First, we develop a segmentation for social networking site (SNS) users based on the frequency of sharing product-related information on SNSs. Second, we investigate the impact of several factors that affect eWOM seeking and sharing intentions using regression analysis. In the second sub-study, we also include the identified segments developed in the first sub-study as another factor that may have differentiated eWOM intentions. Third, to understand the degree of interaction among SNS users, we apply an SNA using the forecasted eWOM intentions scores from the second sub-study, which gives us hypothetical social networks. The results of SNA present strong interactions inter- and intra-clusters in both countries. Some key findings include the identification of three SNS user segments, including “Middlers,” that may be of particular interest to brands. We also find that in terms of eWOM intentions, users in Turkey are more active than in Poland. Although some predictors of eWOM seeking and sharing intentions differ between the two countries, users intend to be more active in eWOM seeking than in eWOM sharing. The comparative study provides valuable insights for decision-makers to engage different market segments via SNSs with various proposed features using suggested information contents for selected product categories.