A New Perspective in Developing a Social Network Website Loyalty
Keywords:
SOCIAL NETWORK WEBSITE, SOCIAL NETWORK, MARKET TOOLS, FACEBOOK, LOYALTYAbstract
The purpose of this research is to propose a model in which motivation and de-motivation factors are the determinants of two technology acceptance factors, ease of use and perceived usefulness which affect the social network website loyalty. Furthermore the moderating effects of technology acceptance factors are examined.
This study employs survey research. Questionnaires were collected from people who live in Bangkok aged between 15 and 34 years old (n = 400) Simple regression was employed to test bi-variate relationship of variables in the model, whilst mediation regression purposed by Baron and Kenny (1986) was used to test the mediating effect of technology acceptance factors in the model.
The findings supported the premise that people who are highly motivated by community membership and information value tend to positively perceive the usefulness and ease of use of social network website that they can thus become loyal to the website. On the other hand, the de-motivation factors have a less effect on both perceived usefulness and ease of use of social network website. Additionally, the findings revealed that technology acceptance factors partially mediate the effects of motivation factors on social network website loyalty. The results of the study contribute to our understanding of the role of motivation and innovation adoption factors in predicting the social network website loyalty. The findings from this research have practical implication for both social network website developers and marketers. Both parties need to have a good understanding of how social network website loyalty is developed. The main contribution of this paper is the incorporation of motivation/de-motivation factors, technology acceptance factors, and website loyalty within an integrated model and the testing of their interrelationship. Although these variables have been studied in the social network marketing before, they have not been tested in an integrated model.
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