Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.4 Social Relation Gratification
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The other dimension through which to evaluate consumer attitudes is hedonic value (Batraand Ahtola 1991). Hirschmanand Holbrook (1982) defined hedonic consumption as involving emotional arousal and feelings such as joy, jealousy, fear, rage, and rapture. It is a cognitively consumption object meaning “how pleasant and agreeable those associated feelings are.” Therefore, the hedonic value of content means how pleasant and agreeable the feelings associated with the benefits of information on social networks (Batraand Ahtola 1991).
In the online environment, content often reflect an author’s emotional state such as someone’s evaluation or judgment about a topics or product (Stieglitzand
Dang-Xuan 2013). In addition, content that is fun, surprising, highly visible, with emotional attributes is more likely to promote conversation and sharing of
information (Mangoldand Faulds 2009). Mangoldand Faulds (2009) state that people like to discuss something that they feel is outrageous or something that makes them feel special. So emotional messages are a successful factor in getting customers to pass messages along (Dobele et al. 2007). For example, Stieglitzand Dang-Xuan (2013) find that emotional Twitter messages tend to be retweeted quickly and more often than neutral messages. In other words, customers are more likely to tell others things they are emotionally connected to. In sum, researchers have suggested that emotional content is a main driver of information diffusion that results in user information-sharing behavior (Stieglitzand Dang-Xuan 2013). Thus, the following hypothesis is developed to understand the relationship between information of hedonic value on sharing and replying behavior in relation to customer resonance.
H1B: The hedonic value of content is positively related to resonance on social networks.
2.4 Social Relation Gratification
Chuand Kim (2011) developed a conceptual model of social relation that has an influence on customer engagement that includes five factors: tie strength, homophily, trust, and normative and informational-interpersonal influence are all important factors resulting in word-of-mouth behavior.
2.4.1 Tie Strength
Tie strength refers to ‘the potency of the bond between members of a network’
(Mittal et al. 2008). Researchers divided strength of a relationship can be divided
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strong and weak relation and users are connected not only by one type of relationship (Granovetter 1973; Kietzmann et al. 2011). Strong ties such as close friends or family means that we develop deep relationships with these people and a strong tie of social relation means that we are within an individual’s personal network in order to provide substantive and emotional support (Piggand Crank 2004). One the other hand, weak ties such as acquaintances seeking information on specific topic are those that we would not develop a deep relationship with and weak ties of social relation are often among weaker and less personal social relationships (Piggand Crank 2004).
In terms of social media, relations that are associations between individuals that connect them and converse is an important function (Kietzmann et al. 2011). We can classify tie strength to strong ties and weak ties by previous research definitions of social ties on social networks (Granovetter, 1973). While customer browsing on social networks, choices of different kinds of products may be influenced by both stable and intimate “strong-tie” interactions and randomly or remotely connected “weak ties”
(Chuand Kim 2011). For example, friendships on YouTube could be seen as based on users’ interests and tastes (Susarla et al. 2012). Users can follow their friends or classmates to learn about their online actions. This is called a strong tie. On the other hand, users can communicate with people whose identity they may not know to acquire information. In other words, we consider that strong ties definitely have an impact between individuals or groups replying to posts from their friends, but the anonymous characteristic of weak ties on social network sites will make individuals more willing to express their opinions or share posts with their friends.
Based on strong ties and weak ties of perceived tie-strength value would
motivate individuals to exchange information with one another and to expand content out, thereby creating resonance. Weak ties act as a bridge function that allows
information to disseminate and propagate among people and strong ties are more likely to be activated for recommendation behavior (Chuand Kim 2011). Therefore, the following hypothesis is developed to understand the relationship between tie strength and customer resonance on social networks.
H2A: The tie strength of a social relation is positively related to resonance in a social network.
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2.4.2 Homophily
The definition of homophily is the degree to which individuals who interact with others have certain similar characteristics (Rogersand Bhowmik 1970). Prior research suggests that people and groups are likely to have same socio-demographic
characteristics such as age, gender and race (Gilly et al. 1998). They also have and share the same attitudes and beliefs (Festinger 1962). So the connections that exist between them are often based on having similar characteristics such as attitudes or interests (Gremler et al. 2001).
In an online environment, Sheldon (2008) indicates that individuals like to find others with similar interests and with whom they feel would be a member of their community. Sometimes people spread an online message because they want to meet others who share their interests (Riegner 2007). For example, on YouTube’s social network platform people who reply and share user-generated contents such as videos based on user interests could be characterized as a phenomenon of homophily
between users (Susarla et al. 2012).
From the perspective of sociology, people who feel a high level of similarity tend to form relationships (Gremler et al. 2001). In addition, individuals are more likely to communicate and interact with those who share similar attributes (Mouw 2006). In other words, interpersonal communication often happens under conditions in which two individuals have similar preferences (Chuand Kim 2011). According to the above discussion, the following hypothesis is developed to understand the
relationship between homophily and customer resonance on social networks.
H2B: Homophily within a social relation is positively related to resonance in a social network.
2.4.3 Trust
Trust is defined as a willingness to rely on an exchange with partners in whom one has confidence (Moorman et al. 1993). Morganand Hunt (1994) also define trust as the perception of confidence in the exchange partner’s reliability and integrity and state that trust can be seen as an important factor to maintaining successful
relationships.
In an online virtual community, trust is an essential factor for individuals who take part in exchange messaging to other members (Jarvenpaa et al. 1998). In social media, reputation helps to identify the status of others and is considered a matter of
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trust, referring to people and content (Kietzmann et al. 2011). The reputation of a video may be based on the “counts of views,” “ratings” or “number of comments and replies” on the YouTube platform content (Kietzmann et al. 2011). Thus trust is one factor that affects customer-engagement behavior in a customer-based relationship (Van Doorn et al. 2010).
From the users in online environments, Ridings et al. (2002) suggest that trust plays an important role in disseminating messages or exchanging information. Most individuals on social networks are relatively invisible rather face-to-face; thus, it is hard to communicate or share information. As a result, a higher level of trust will lead to a higher level of word-of-mouth behavior (De Matosand Rossi 2008). We assume that trust can create an open atmosphere in which communication and sharing are more likely to occur. Therefore, the following hypothesis is developed to understand the relationship between trust and customer resonance in social networks.
H2C: Trust within a social relation is positively related to resonance in a social network.
2.4.4 Interpersonal Influence
Interpersonal influence is an important social factor that affects customer
decision-making (Chuand Kim 2011; D’Rozarioand Choudhury 2000; Parkand Lessig 1977). Interpersonal influence could be classified into two dimensions: normative influences and informational influences (Bearden et al. 1989).
2.4.4.1 Normative Influences
The definition of normative influences is the idea of corresponding to
expectations from others, which affects attitudes, norms and values (Burnkrantand Cousineau 1975). People who have a high level of normative influence are more likely to correspond to others’ expectations and seek others’ approval (Chuand Kim 2011).
In the online environment, Dholakia et al. (2004) have mentioned that individuals hope to receive acceptance and approval from other members. Many individuals take part in activities to escape their loneliness, find other members who have similar interests, or obtain approval from others (Dholakia et al. 2004). For instance, people taking part in YouTube could be seen as representing a form of
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normative influence because users customize their personal pages in order to obtain peer recognition from interacting with other users (Susarla et al. 2012).
From the perspective of users, Riegner (2007) mentions that people want to spread their message because their friends are talking about it. According to the studies discussed above, we consider that people who refer to a high degree of normative influence tend to communicate, reply, or share information because they want to be accepted or find others who have the same interests. Thus, the following hypothesis is developed to understand the relationship between normative influences and customer resonance on social networks.
H2D: Normative influences of a social relation are positively related to resonance in a social network.
2.4.4.2 Informational Influences
The definition of informational influence is the tendency to accept information from others and the degree to which an individual is directed to search topics,
products, or brand (Bearden et al. 1989; Deutschand Gerard 1955). People who have a high level of informational influence tend to gain more social benefits such as
friendship, supports, or knowledge in an online environment (Dholakia et al. 2004). In addition, Chuand Kim (2011) state that people who with a high level of
informational influence are likely to obtain information and acquire useful contacts from others while they seek or decide whether to buy.
According to the above viewpoints, people who refer to a high degree of informational influence tend to communicate, reply, or share information because they want to obtain more useful information from others in social networks. The following hypothesis is developed to understand the relationship between informational influences and customer resonance on social networks.
H2E: Informational influences of social relation are positively related to resonance in a social network.