Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Publication
    Influential Factors of Recommendation Behaviour in Social Network Sites : An Empirical Analysis
    (Aalto University, School of Economics, 2011-06-09) ; ;
    Wozniak, Thomas
    ;
    Tuunainen, Virpi
    ;
    Nandhakumar, Joe
    ;
    Rossi, Matti
    ;
    Soliman, W.
    This paper analyzes influential factors of recommendation behaviour in social network sites (SNSs). Extant research on both SNSs and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has given insufficient attention to SNSs as a potential eWOM channel. Considering the specificities of SNSs, this paper distinguishes implicit and explicit recommendation behaviour. Drawing upon research on eWOM, SNSs, and knowledge exchange, influential factors of implicit and explicit recommendation behaviour are identified. A theoretical model explaining why SNS users (do not) engage in implicit and explicit recommendation behaviour is developed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used for hypothesis testing. Data was collected via an online survey from 832 SNS users. The empirical results show a positive impact of reciprocity on both implicit and explicit recommendation behaviour, a negative impact of fear of producing spam on implicit recommendation behaviour, and a positive impact of both implicit recommendation behaviour and the perceived value of the recommended product on explicit recommendation behaviour
  • Publication
    An Examination of the Corporate Social Responsibility Discourse in the Blogosphere
    In this paper we utilize social network analysis to examine the interaction patterns between corporate blogs devoted to sustainability issues and the blogosphere, a clustered online network of collaborative actors. By analyzing the structural embeddedness of a prototypical blog in such a virtual community, we show the potentials of online platforms for engagement with an increasingly socially and ecologically aware customer base. It is furthermore demonstrated that consumer involvement via sustainability blogs is a valuable new practice for communications and brand management and opens new horizons for communicating corporate social responsibility issues to key constituencies online.