Social networking from a social capital perspective: a cross-cultural analysis

Abstract

Purpose Using social capital theory (SCT), the purpose of this research is to determine the success of social networking in societies that may be lower in social capital, for example in Poland, versus those which are higher in social capital, such as the USA. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a partial least squares approach with a cross-cultural sample. The complete sample consists of 556 participants for this study across the USA (n = 258) and Poland (n = 298). Findings Results indicate that social media success is lower in Poland and that this result is related to lower social networking capital in Polish society. However, the proposed model shows that social media functionality can overcome some of the barriers. Research limitations/implications Limitations include a very specific set of countries rather than a larger set of countries and sample, survey methodology which could be augmented with a mixed methods approach and convenience sampling which ensured homogeneity and matching. Practical implications Based on this research, media designers should attempt to keep information quality high but even more importantly, they should increase interactivity. For Poland in particular, well-designed interactivity can mitigate societal barriers to success of social media, as it can enhance trust in such platforms. Social implications Because of Poland’s history of more than 40 years of communism, the newer generations may eventually become more adaptive to social networking tools and such acceptance could lead to greater social capital, which is important for Polish society from a business perspective as well. Originality/value The most important contribution of this research is that it theoretically and empirically establishes the importance of SCT in relation to social networking across two different countries.

Exploring online comments from a strategic marketing stance to reduce wildlife crime

“…Research finds that individuals utilize social media platforms for a variety of purposes such as word of mouth and hashtag activism (Appel et al, 2020). Social networking communities span countries of various levels of affluence (c.f., Krishen, Berezan, Agarwal, et al, 2019; Krishen, Leenders, et al, 2019) and multiple generations (Berezan et al, 2018), though motivations to engage may differ. Therefore, social media represents a potentially economical and globally viable media mechanism through which to raise awareness for counter‐IWT communities.…”

The Impact of Individual Motivations and Social Capital on the Continuous Usage Intention of Mobile Social Apps

“…Social capital can diminish through under-use, and social media users are always searching for the next new feature [14], and can be associated with social media success [15]. Users with weak social capital tend to use social media less, as they have not obtained the intended goal of social media, i.e., to increase social capital [16,17,19].…”

“…Secondly, this study provides insight into the potential value of social capital to promote continuance usage intention. Social capital can also be reduced through under-use, and social media users are always seeking the next new factor [14] and can influence social media success [15]. Moreover, users with weak social capital are likely less utilize social media, as they have not realized the intended goal of social media to increase social capital [16,17,19].…”

“…Moreover, it is being applied toward more specific aspects and mechanisms after undergoing a maturation period [13]. Social capital can also expire through under-use and social media users are constantly searching for the next new feature [14]; this can be related to social media success [15], and the users with weak social capital are likely to less use social media as they have not accomplished the intended goal of social media to increase social capital [16][17][18][19]. As the pace and power of social media are having a major impact worldwide on expanding networks [20,21], it is necessary to study the impact of social capital of social media on its continuous usage in order to verify the role of social capital from social media empirically with regard to attracting users.…”

Feelings and functionality in social networking communities: A regulatory focus perspective

“…incorporating regulatory focus theory to test how individual differences moderate motivational orientations. Future research can augment our findings related to social networking experiences and regulatory focus, including: (a) cross-cultural differences related to social capital and electronic word of mouth (e.g.,Krishen & Hu, 2018;Krishen, Leenders, Muthaly, Ziółkowska, & LaTour, 2018), (b) loneliness and social exclusion (e.g.,Berezan, Krishen, & Jenveja, 2019;Dennis, Alamanos, Papagiannidis, & Bourlakis, 2016), and (c) privacy…”