What makes one spread the word online - A study on electronic word of mouth motivations on social networking sites

The main focus of the study is to understand what motivates a person to give electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on social networking sites. With the increasing popularity of social networking sites, lots of consumers check these sites for reviews of products and services. Based on the literature review, a scale of motives that lead to giving eWOM by means of writing comments on social networking sites was developed. The study used a sample of 81 students from the University of Stavanger to validate the eWOM motivation scale for social networking sites. Findings suggest that the consumers who spread eWOM on social networking sites are strongly driven by the following motives respectively; drive for enhancing themselves (extraversion), social benefits, the need of getting assisted by the platform operators (platform assistance) and their concern for other consumers (Altruism). The author has suggested segmentation based on the motives and number of comments written online for future research and managerial purposes.