This Is AuburnElectronic Theses and Dissertations

Examining Social Networking Community Users’ Perception of Company Fan Page Use, Behavioral Intention, and Actual Visiting Behaviors

Date

2014-12-12

Author

Shin, Soo Il

Type of Degree

dissertation

Department

Supply Chain Management

Abstract

Seeking to capitalize on the widespread popularity of Facebook, many not-for-profit and for-profit organizations have started their own brand or fan pages in social media to better communicate with customers. Notably, such pages play an important role in providing regular new product or service information to users who subscribe to those pages. This dissertation research sheds light on various aspects of fan page users’ perceptions while they follow or subscribe to a company’s Facebook fan page. To measure page subscribers’ perceptions of those pages, this dissertation combines three distinct studies under a core topic: what are the influential factors affecting fan page followers’ intention to visit or actual visiting behaviors? Each study raises its own research questions and build a research model with a set of hypotheses. The author of this dissertation collected data through a survey of Facebook page subscribers and used partial least squares (PLS) to conduct data analysis to test suggested hypotheses. Pilot tests were conducted to check the validity of each set of survey questions. A total of 178 usable survey responses were drawn from 353 participants. All studies examined both convergent and discriminant validities prior to analyzing data and testing research hypotheses. Common method bias tests are also considered for both three studies, which tests include Harman’s one-factor test and the effects of a single unmeasured latent method factor. The first study examines factors affecting page followers’ intentions to visit company pages by incorporating media richness and uncertainty reduction theory. This study focuses on how Facebook users resolve their uncertainty of products or services presented on companies’ fan pages and examines the role of perceived richness of Facebook media on Facebook users’ intention to visit. The research findings reveal that uncertainty reduction strategies and the richness of Facebook media significantly associates to followers’ intention to visit companies’ pages. This study found interactive uncertainty reduction strategies have a greater effect on users’ perceived reduced uncertainty of products or services on company’s fan page. The second study examined the impact of Facebook information transmission capabilities on repeat visits to fan pages and found that the relationship is mediated by perceived usefulness of postings. Media synchronicity theory is employed as a foundational theoretical underpinning for this study. Additionally, Facebook loyalty is employed to identify mediating effects on loyalty between capabilities and perceived usefulness and between capabilities and visiting behaviors. The research findings reveal that transmission capabilities positively influence both loyalty and perceived usefulness of postings. Repeated visits to fan page are also accounted for by the perceived usefulness of a company’s postings. This study confirmed that loyalty plays a salient mediating role in the relationship between transmission capabilities and perceived usefulness. The third study examined the role of company page followers’ elaboration processes on the perception of trust by employing the elaboration likelihood model and its eventual influence on the user’s intention to visit a company’s fan page. The role of satisfaction with overall Facebook use is adopted to examine its moderating effects on elaboration. The research findings reveal that both posting quality and poster credibility are significant factors of emotional and cognitive trust. Additionally, a Facebook user’s intention to visit a company’s page is significantly impacted by both emotional and cognitive trust. Overall positive satisfaction with Facebook usage is also positively related to the interaction effect between a company’s postings and its credibility.