How social factors drive electronic word-of-mouth on social networking sites?

Abstract

Evolution of social media provides a great opportunity for marketers to investigate social factors that influence customer’s engagement in electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) via social networks. Given the collaborative nature of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as WeChat, Weibo, and QQ. This study investigates how social factors relate to eWOM in SNSs. The homophily and tie strength are found as important antecedents of eWOM in SNSs environment. The results confirm that the homophily have positive direct influence on eWOM. In addition to that, the homophily have positive indirect impact on eWOM, through mediation of the tie strength. This study represents a unique effort to focus on the combined direct and indirect effects of the homophily on eWOM. The implications for practitioners and marketers are discussed.