Title: Reference group influence on user connections with social networking sites: a study of Facebook

Authors: Yujie Wei; Feisal Murshed

Addresses: Department of Marketing and Real Estate, Richards College of Business, University of West Georgia, 1601 Maple Street, Carrollton, GA 30118, USA ' Department of Business Administration, College of Business, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 15200 Kutztown Road, Kutztown, PA 19530, USA

Abstract: The increasing prevalence of social networking sites (SNS) and their interactive capability have been the subject to sustained interests for researchers and marketers alike. Yet, few insights exist regarding whether online consumer engagement is prone to social influences from other users. Drawing from literature on reference group influence (e.g., Bearden and Etzel, 1982) and social identity (Tajfel and Turner, 1986), this research investigates self-SNS connection – customers' overall experience with the SNS and provides insights into a user's susceptibility to reference group influence. Specifically, the focus is on three motivational influences: informational, value expressive and utilitarian. Employing data collected through a survey, authors find that informational influence and value expressive influence are positively associated with self-SNS connection, but contrary to conventional wisdom, utilitarian influence is not. Furthermore, males are more susceptible to value expressive influences than females, indicating that reference group influences exhibit some gender effect. The results offer insights into designing more effective dissemination of marketing communications through tapping into consumers' informal communication network.

Keywords: social networking sites; SNS; Facebook; reference group influence; self-SNS connection; self-concept; social identity; gender effect.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2019.104211

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2019 Vol.10 No.4, pp.333 - 350

Received: 29 May 2017
Accepted: 19 Nov 2017
Published online: 22 Dec 2019 *

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