From social to marketing interactions: the role of social networks

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact of social interactions on marketing interactions within social networks (SN). We propose and test a structural model of relationships embracing the following constructs: Social Relationships, Trust, Information Disclosure, Word of Mouth (WOM) and Attitude toward Advertising. Data were gathered through the application of a structured questionnaire to a sample of 150 university students. The results validate the proposed model and support five out of seven hypotheses. The findings evidence that Social Relationships are significant predictors of Information Disclosure, WOM and Attitude toward Advertising. Similarly, Trust acts as a predictor of Information Disclosure and WOM. Overall, social interactions have a positive and significant impact on marketing interactions.