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Ethical Environment in the Online Communities by Information Credibility: A Social Media Perspective

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  • Nick Hajli

    (Newcastle University London)

Abstract

With the increasing popularity of social media, a new ethics debate has arisen over marketing and technology in the current digital era. People are using online communities but they have concern about information credibility through word of mouth in these platforms. Social media is becoming increasingly influential in shaping individuals’ decision-making as more and better quality information about products is made available. In this research, a social word-of-mouth model proposes using a survey to test the model in a popular travel community. The model highlights the role of social media and social support in social networking sites (SNSs), identifying increasing credibility and information usefulness resulting in an ethical environment to adopt word of mouth. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are both detailed.

Suggested Citation

  • Nick Hajli, 2018. "Ethical Environment in the Online Communities by Information Credibility: A Social Media Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(4), pages 799-810, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:149:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3036-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3036-7
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    3. Charitha Harshani Perera & Rajkishore Nayak & Long Thang Van Nguyen, 2019. "Role of social word-of-mouth on emotional brand attachment and brand choice intention: A study on private educational institutes in Vietnam," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 8611115, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
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    8. Kseniia Zahrai & Ekant Veer & Paul William Ballantine & Huibert Peter de Vries & Girish Prayag, 2022. "Either you control social media or social media controls you: Understanding the impact of self‐control on excessive social media use from the dual‐system perspective," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 806-848, June.
    9. Nadeem, Waqar & Juntunen, Mari & Shirazi, Farid & Hajli, Nick, 2020. "Consumers’ value co-creation in sharing economy: The role of social support, consumers’ ethical perceptions and relationship quality," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
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    12. Kobby Mensah & Justice Boateng Dankwah & Gilbert Mensah & Judith Aku Masope-Crabbe, 2021. "Choice, Purchase Decision and Post-Purchase Dissonance: The Social Media Perspective," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 13(3), pages 1-13.
    13. Liu, Fu & Wei, Haiying & Wang, Xingyuan & Zhu, Zhenzhong & Chen, Haipeng Allan, 2023. "The influence of online review dispersion on consumers’ purchase intention: The moderating role of dialectical thinking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    14. Hanne Knight & Mohamed Yacine Haddoud & Phil Megicks, 2022. "Determinants of corporate sustainability message sharing on social media: A configuration approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 633-647, February.
    15. José Alberto Martínez-González & Eduardo Parra-López & Almudena Barrientos-Báez, 2021. "Young Consumers’ Intention to Participate in the Sharing Economy: An Integrated Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, January.
    16. Costa, Ana & Guerreiro, João & Moro, Sérgio & Henriques, Roberto, 2019. "Unfolding the characteristics of incentivized online reviews," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 272-281.
    17. Perez, Dikla & Stockheim, Inbal & Baratz, Guy, 2022. "Complimentary competition: The impact of positive competitor reviews on review credibility and consumer purchase intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Sunanda Nayak & Vijay Pereira & Bahar Ali Kazmi & Pawan Budhwar, 2024. "To Buy or Not to Buy? Exploring Ethical Consumerism in an Emerging Market—India," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(4), pages 811-835, May.
    19. Mourelatos, Evangelos, 2021. "Personality and Ethics on Online Labor Markets: How mood influences ethical perceptions," EconStor Preprints 244735, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    20. Nilashi, Mehrbakhsh & Ahmadi, Hossein & Arji, Goli & Alsalem, Khalaf Okab & Samad, Sarminah & Ghabban, Fahad & Alzahrani, Ahmed Omar & Ahani, Ali & Alarood, Ala Abdulsalam, 2021. "Big social data and customer decision making in vegetarian restaurants: A combined machine learning method," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    21. Jianrong Yao & Xiangliang Guo & Lu Wang & Hui Jiang, 2022. "Understanding Green Consumption: A Literature Review Based on Factor Analysis and Bibliometric Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-13, July.
    22. Waqar Nadeem & Mari Juntunen & Nick Hajli & Mina Tajvidi, 2021. "The Role of Ethical Perceptions in Consumers’ Participation and Value Co-creation on Sharing Economy Platforms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 421-441, March.

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