SEGMENTING EWOM ENGAGERS ON ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS BASED ON PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BEHAVIOUR

Yıl 2013, Sayı: 57, 33 - 50, 29.11.2013

Ayşegül Sağkaya Güngör Tuğçe Ozansoy Çadırcı

Öz

The evolution of the Internet has extended consumers’ options for communicating their
opinions or experiences without any company filters by engaging in electronic word of mouth
(eWOM). One of the mediums in which eWOM is effectively disseminated to multitude of people
is online social networks (SNSs). SNSs are different from other channels of eWOM, because of
their unique characteristic; source trustworthiness. The received information is from a person
which is accepted as contact with the consent of the person. In this study, we tried to understand
the eWOM engagers on SNSs by personal characteristics and SNS usage behaviour based
segmentation. With a sample size of 244, we conducted an online survey. Data was analyzed by
factor analysis first. Then, the factor scores were entered in a cluster analysis using a combined
hierarchical and non-hierarchical method. At the end, we defined four segments: viral producers,
active communicators, average participators, passive communicators.

Anahtar Kelimeler

electronic word of mouth; eWOM; online social networks; personal characteristics; segmentation; internet marketing.

Kaynakça

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