Assessing Normative and Informational Influences on Students’ Opinion in Engaging Electronic Word of Mouth via Social Networking Sites

This study examines the effects of normative and informational influences on students’ opinion seeking, opinion giving and opinion passing while engaged in electronic word of mouth (eWOM) via social networking sites (SNS). A quantitative method was applied to test the hypotheses, which included the development of a self-administered, structured questionnaire distributed using the convenience sampling technique among 250 students at public institutions of higher learning in the Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia. Empirical results obtained using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach show that the relationship between normative influence and users’ opinion seeking, opinion giving and opinion passing while engaged in eWOM via SNS is a consistent one. Similarly, users’ opinion seeking and opinion asking are also affected by informational influence. Direction for future research is also presented.