I. INTRODUCTION:

eWOM is information about products, services, and experiences that is transmitted from consumer to consumer through online and it includes all kind of information that can be spread about various consumer behaviors ^[1]. eWOM communication refers to any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, and former customers about a product or a company via Internet. eWOM communication can take place in various settings. Consumers can post their opinions, comments and reviews of products on weblogs (e.g. xanga.com), discussion forums (e.g. zapak.com), review websites (e.g. Epinions.com), e-bulletin board systems, newsgroup, social networking sites (e.g. facebook.com).

Word of Mouth is the most influential source of product information for consumers in their purchase decision. The power of WOM to influence consumers’ decision-making processes has long been known to researchers and practitioners ^[2]. All companies need to be aware that word of mouth is an important part of marketing strategy and may go a long way in creating new customers. Social networking sites are ideal targets for participation in word of mouth marketing efforts. Their participation in online social networks allows members to be more open to word of mouth marketing messages from their online community and they naturally want to share information with other members ^[3].

Word-of-Mouth (WOM) marketing has recently attracted a great deal of attention among practitioners ^[4]. Marketers are particularly interested in better understanding about WOM because traditional forms of communication appear to be losing effectiveness ^[5].

This raises the need to study how firms can measure the effects of WOM communication and how WOM can be compared with other forms of marketing communication.

1.1 Social Networking Sites:

Social networking is a free way to promote oneself or one’s business as well as a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. Social networks operate under an autonomous business model, in which a social network’s members serve dual roles as both the suppliers and the consumers of content ^[6].

One of the fastest-growing areas of the World Wide Web is the space of so-called social networking sites. A social networking site is typically initiated by a small group of founders who send out invitations to join the site with the members of their own personal networks. In turn, new members send invitations to their networks, and so on. As social networking sites mature, they may further endorse the effective use of traditional marketing tools.

They enable consumers to read the opinions and experiences of other consumers relating to a wide range of product and service categories and to write their own reviews. It is found in the United States, South America, Europe, and China. As of November 2003, the two largest German opinion platforms, ciao.com and dooyoo.de, had fast-growing archives of more than 6 million articulation that consumers can view at any time at no charge ^[7].

II. LITERATURE REVIEW:

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in the form of a blog is a new form of advertising to share one’s viewpoints and engage constituents [^{8] [9]}. WOM had greater impact on brand choice than advertising or personal search ^[10]. Customizing messages across sites help the message spread but it keeps users from receiving multiple identical communications ^[11]
[12]. Tremendous flows of information and revolution in communication technology have pivotal impact on the world community and global business ^[13]. WOM campaigns have become a standard part of many marketing plans ^{[14] [15]}. Advertising and WOM exert dynamic, yet diverse, influences on demand for new products. Repeated advertising with entertaining and informational value could increase, not decrease, advertising effectiveness. Advertising and WOM exert independent yet interdependent influences on demand ^[16]. The quantity of eWOM has a positive influence on the perceived credibility of consumers^{[17] [18] [19] [20] [21]}. The information gained from the eWOM forum is more influential in their decision than speaking with friends in person (WOM) ^[22]. Consumers tend to depend on online reviews for purchasing electronics. For purchasing an experience product, however, more elaborate interpersonal communication would be needed to affect customer’s decisions ^{[23] [24]}. Gender differences have also significant effect on eWOM credibility, eWOM acceptance, and intent to purchase [^25]. There are three factors that have an indirect impact on positive word of mouth namely perceived quality, perceived value and customer expectations ^[26].

III. NEED AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

Various studies conducted in the past ^[15] ^{[19] [27] [28] [29]} endorse that electronic word of mouth has been recognized as the most influential source of product information for consumers. It will help the marketers to project the perceived impact of such word of mouth on their purchase behavior. Besides, it will help them to understand the youth perceptions towards electronic word of mouth and offer useful implication regarding the same.

Objectives of the Study:

1. To find out the perceived impact of eWOM on laptop purchase decision.

2. To identify the role of online referrals in different stages of purchase decision making.

IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire distributed among students of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara (Punjab). The questionnaire contained multiple choice questions as well as it also incorporated various parameters that were identified for analyzing the purchase behavior of students towards laptop. The study was conducted in two phases. In first phase, about 500 students owning laptops were identified having strong engagement in social networking sites. From this data, about 300 respondents were contacted for detailed survey.

V. FINDINGS:

5.1 Significance of Factors in SNS Engagement:

In order to understand the key considerations in SNS engagement, the respondents were asked to rate five factors (viz. level of relationship, similar attributes, trust, influence of personal views, and knowledge of the person) on five point likert scale. Z test was applied here and hypothesis framed were as follows (Table I):

Table I Showing Hypotheses:

Sr.No.	Null Hypothesis	Statements
H01	H₀	The perceived impact of relationship level in SNS use is insignificant
H02	H₀	The perceived impact of similar attributes in SNS use is insignificant
H03	H₀	The perceived impact of trust in SNS use is insignificant
H04	H₀	The perceived impact of personal views in SNS use is insignificant
H05	H₀	The perceived impact of person’s knowledge in SNS use is insignificant

i. Level of Relationship:

Z Value for this factor is 34.49 with 299 degree of freedom (Table II) and Mean value is 4.11; p value is 0.000 and the level of significance is 0.05 which exceeds the p value thereby, rejecting the null hypothesis in favor of alternative hypothesis i.e. the perceived impact of relationship level in SNS use is significant.

ii. Similar Attributes:

Z Value for this factor is 28.52 with 299 degree of freedom and mean value is 3.88. P value is 0.000 and the level of significance is 0.05 which exceeds the P value thereby rejecting the null hypothesis in favor of alternative hypothesis i.e. The perceived impact of similar attributes in SNS use is significant.

Table II Showing One Sample Statistics & Sample Test

Factors	Mean	Z-Value	Sig. (2-tailed)	SD
Level of Relationship	4.11	34.49	0.000	0.80
Similar Attributes	3.88	28.52	0.000	0.83
Trust	4.19	32.93	0.000	0.88
Influence of Personal Views	4.03	33.35	0.000	0.79
Knowledge of the Person	4.29	37.74	0.000	0.82

(At 0.05 Level of Significance)

iii. Trust:

Z Value for this factor is 32.93 with 299 degree of freedom and mean value is 4.19. P Value is 0.000 and the level of significance is 0.05 which exceeds the P Value thereby rejecting the null hypothesis in favor of alternative hypothesis i.e. the perceived impact of trust in SNS use is significant.

iv. Influence of Personal Views:

Z Value for this factor is 33.35 with 299 degree of freedom and mean value is 4.03. P Value is 0.000 and the level of significance is 0.05 which exceeds the P Value thereby, rejecting the null hypothesis in favor of alternative hypothesis i.e. the perceived impact of personal views in SNS use is significant.

v. Knowledge of the Person:

Z Value for this factor is 37.74 with 299 degree of freedom and mean value is 4.29. P Value is 0.000 and the level of significance is 0.05 which exceeds the P Value thereby rejecting the null hypothesis in favor of alternative hypothesis i.e. the perceived impact of person’s knowledge in SNS use is significant.

5.2 Perceived Impact of eWOM:

From Table III, we can interpret that impact of respondent’s engagement in social networking sites on their laptop purchase decision is high. People are using lot of time in social networking sites and they get all the information about the company at their home. It is easy to gather information by taking opinion of their friends and relative through social networking sites.

Table III Showing Impact of SNS Engagement on Laptop Purchase Decision Making

Impact factor	Frequency	Percent
Very high	60	20.0
High	117	39.0
Neutral	78	26.0
Low	29	9.7
Very low	16	5.3
Total	300	100.0

Table IV Showing Laptop Purchase through Online Referral

Description	Number of Respondents
Referral Used	68 (22.7%)
Referral not used	232 (77.3%)
Total	300 (100%)

People have high engagement in social networking sites on their laptop purchase decision but only 23% of the respondents have purchased their laptop through the referral of social networking sites (Table IV).

Table V Showing Use of Online Referrals in Various Decision Making Phases

Description	Number of Respondents
During Problem Identification	07 (10.3%)
During gathering the information	24 (35.3%)
During choosing the best option	25 (36.8%)
During purchasing the product	12 (17.6%)
Total	68

Majority of respondents use online referrals at the second and third stage of consumer decision making (Table V). They were facing problems during choosing the best option and gathering the information.

VI. SUGGESTIONS:

· Result shows that the perceived impact of relationship level in SNS use is significant i.e, respondents have more engagement through strong relationships in social networking sites; so, company need to further strengthen its relationship with the customers through eWOM in SNS through initiatives like blogs, brand communities and provide them better solution for their queries.

· The perceived impact of similar attributes in SNS use is significant. Hence, Companies need to focus more on those people who are similar in attributes (like gender, age, social class, and education) and impart necessary awareness regarding the importance of laptop purchase in professional life. Integrated Marketing Communication tools should be aptly used here.

· Homophily plays a crucial role in determining credibility and influencing the persuasive process on both websites and online discussion groups. So, companies have to focus more on similar attributes.

· People think that trust is the most important thing in use of SNS. Companies need to generate trust about their products and services and capture the potential customers through eWOM as well as retain existing ones through such advertisements endorsing USP like loyalty, trust etc.

· Result shows that the perceived impact of personal views in SNS use is significant. So company has to target those people who have more engagement with SNS and company should give counseling and advice through its online services.

· People intend to seek knowledge about the product from their referred person in SNS. Hence, companies need to provide more knowledge to their customers according to their expectations.

· From the result, we found that the impact of customer’s engagement in social networking sites on their laptop purchase decision is high; i.e. customers want to purchase their product through referrals from the SNS. Companies need to craft more promotion through SNS which should be easily approached by the customers.

· Word-of-mouth can enhance the popularity of an enterprise. The influence of the Internet is far reaching. Information can be quickly spread out. To draw up a marketing strategy effectively, marketing managers have to consider which type of strategy should be used in addition to making good use of word-of-mouth. It is suggested that laptop companies should make efforts to establish more positive word-of-mouth to attract more customers for higher profits and to achieve sustainable growth.

· Majority of respondents use online referral at the second stage (during gathering the information) and third stage (during choosing the best option) of consumer decision making. Company need to focus on these stages and provide appropriate information to the customers in social networking sites related to laptop and also mention the configuration of laptop clearly so that customers can choose their best option in purchase of laptop.

· The most astonishing observation is low use of eWOM in laptop purchase. Out of 300 respondents, only 68 (22.6%) laptop users availed online referral for laptop purchase. One probable reason might be the superficial nature of SNS engagement (lacking trust, homophily and strong bonding). This concern of the potential as well as existing users needs to be addressed properly. Attractive sales promotion offers should be attached to persuade the potential customers for high SNS engagement thereby, establishing an environment of rapport and bond with the customers.

· The demographic environment especially education system is in transition phase with enhanced use of Informational Communication Technology (ICT) and active government involvement. This development offers immense opportunity to laptop manufacturers for penetrating this industry in timely and most effective manner. Tie-up with leading education groups and institutions in this regard, will be right initiative.

· Considering the high involvement in online referrals at second and third stage of typical consumer purchase decision making process, initiatives like brand communities and viral marketing may go a long way in tapping the potential customers as well as in enhancing customer satisfaction.

From the above discussion, it seems that despite the favorable demographic environment and untapped laptop market, the customer possesses inertia towards eWOM and consequently, the desired benefit through online referrals has not been generated by laptop marketers till date. The need of the hour is to adopt the initiatives proposed above and capitalize the opportunities hidden in this industry over next one decade.

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Received on 17.05.2013 Modified on 15.08.2013

Asian J. Management 4(4): October –December, 2013 page 312-316