VERIFICATION OF SOCIAL IMPACT THEORY CLAIMS IN SOCIAL MEDIA CONTEXT

Social media explosion changed the way of communication. It affected the ways companies used to interact with their consumers. Most important it changed the way consumers used to think. Present study attempts to verify the claims and assumptions of social impact theory in the social media environment. Based on social impact theory present study examines the impact of number of users (NUs) on the perceived credibility of user generated content (PCUGC). Furthermore, it examines the impact of PCUGC on the consumer attitude towards the product related content embedded in UGC (ATUGC). Empirical evidence was collected from a random sample of 459 students. Results substantiate the claims and assumptions of the social impact theory in the social media context. Results show positive impact of NUs on PCUGC. Similarly, they show positive relationship between PCUGC and ATUGC. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]