Antecedents of Satisfaction with Facebook in the Context of User Involvement, Privacy, and Trust

Social media networks such as Facebook serve as effective channels for the distribution of marketing information and news. Constructs such as privacy, trust, and involvement may impact user satisfaction which impacts advertising revenue earned by Facebook. A survey was given to 400 Facebook users using scales developed from existing literature. Questions on Facebook use, elements related to privacy, trust, involvement, satisfaction, and demographic data were collected from survey questions. Using the theoretical lens of ExpectationConfirmation Theory, the constructs of involvement, privacy, and trust were found to be significant determinants of satisfaction with Facebook. Gender, employment, and education tests showed interesting, though mixed, results, which are detailed in the study. Generational differences among Facebook users are also reported, which shows the trust construct being lowest rated. Given the dominance of the Facebook platform, the major contributions of this study include implications of developing involvement, privacy, and trust among Facebook users with the objective of increasing satisfaction, as part of marketing strategy.