Does Social Capital Matter on Social Media? An Examination Into Negative e-WOM Toward Competing Brands

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the use of social media contributes to the creation and dynamic process of social capital. By employing social capital theory, the study examined three dimensions of social capital (social interaction tie, community trust, and shared vision) and investigated the relationships between social capital, brand trust, brand loyalty, and negative e-word-of-mouth (e-WOM) about competing brands on restaurants’ Facebook fan pages. Data was collected with 242 student samples and analyzed with structural equation modeling. Our findings indicated that all the three dimensions significantly contribute to social capital. Social capital has a significantly positive effect on brand trust, which in turn positively affects brand loyalty. However, no significant relationship was found between brand trust and negative e-WOM about competing brands. The study enriches the research body of social capital theory and provides marketers strategies of designing Facebook fan pages.

本研究旨在评估社交媒体的使用如何有助于社交资本的创造和动态过程。本研究基于社交资本理论，探讨了社交资本的三个维度（社交互动关系、社区信任和共同愿景），并考察了Facebook粉丝页上餐馆竞争品牌的社交资本、品牌信任、品牌忠诚度和电子化消极口碑（e-WOM）之间的关系。在研究中，使用242个学生样本进行数据收集并用结构方程模型进行分析。我们的研究结果表明，所有三个维度对社交资本都有明显的影响。社交资本对品牌信任有显著的积极影响，从而对品牌忠诚度也产生积极影响。然而，未发现竞争品牌在品牌信任和电子化消极口碑之间存在明显关系。这项研究丰富了社交资本理论的研究内容，为设计Facebook粉丝页的营销人员提供了参考战略。

KEYWORDS:

• Social capital
• brand trust
• negative e-word of mouth
• social media