The Influence Of Facebook E-WOM On Belgian Consumer Behavior

Previous research already proved that Electronic Word of Mouth has a positive effect on consumer purchasing decisions.According to the Theory of Planned Behavior of Ajzen(1991),the intention to buy a product online can be predicted by three components: the attitude towards behavior,the subjective norm,and self-efficacy.This study researched if Facebook eWOM has an impact on online consumer behavior.So if someone sees that one of his or her Facebook friends liked or recommended a product/ brand on Facebook,would he or she be more likely to buy that product from that brand or still buy another brand.For this research,a survey was conducted and spread over the Facebook pages of the ten Belgian provinces.In total 389 respondents,of whom 377 were living in Belgium,filled in the survey.Of the 377 respondents residing in Belgium,211 were female and 166 male.The respondents received the task to indicate on a scale from one to seven if they disagreed or agreed with certain statements.From the results,it appeared that seeing a Facebook recommendation or a liked brand from Facebook friends,had a positive influence on the three components of consumer behavior namely on attitude,knowledge and purchase intention.A Facebook recommendation makes that a consumer likes the product more,thinks it has good quality and is more likely to buy the product.It was remarkable that Facebook eWOM had an impact on knowledge.When someone with a high need for knowledge saw a Facebook recommendation,he or she was more confident in the quality of the product and was more likely to buy the product in the end.The subjective norm appeared to have a significant influence on online consumer behavior.This means that marketers should check more often how many times people recommend their brand/ products on Facebook and what they say about it.So,in the end,they can use these recommendations and show them on their online web shops.Eventually social proof will do its work for them...