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Introduction
Online social networking has become a global phenomenon and an integral part of the daily lives of many consumers around the USA and around the world (Kaul, 2012). Along with traditional email communication, blogs, message boards, chat rooms, social networking sites and instant messaging, there has been a creation of online communities where people interact, communicate, follow trending issues and express their opinions more freely and actively than ever before across the globe. Broadband access, mobile communication tools and easy-to-use software technology have allowed consumers to get their voices heard instantly, exert greater influence on issues that matter to them (issues that offer practical and emotional benefits) and provide crucial information by either volunteering (online product ratings and reviews) or on-demand when requested by others (Valenzuela et al. , 2012). Studies show that more than a third of online participants review products, frequently post opinions and participate in online content creation activities (Riegner, 2007).
According to the Pew Research Center Report (Hampton et al. , 2011), 79 per cent of American adults use the Internet, and nearly 59 per cent of Internet users say that they use at least one social networking site. Facebook, a popular social networking site, allows anybody around the world to sign up for free and helps users to easily communicate, follow and/or participate in real-time discussions with anybody else with a Facebook account. Reportedly, 52 per cent of Facebook users and 33 per cent of Twitter users engage with the platform daily. In addition, studies show that the an average Facebook user has 229 Facebook friends, 7 per cent of which they have never met (Hampton et al. , 2011). The typical Facebook user regularly interacts with their friends by posting messages about very specific aspects of their personal lives, popular/unpopular trending issues and/or their opinions or experiences with products/companies. Typical online consumers talk with their friends in chat rooms or through instant messaging, provide their opinions or feelings about these products on their personal blogs, write product reviews or even, in some cases, post videos on YouTube. Previous research shows that this form of communication is an important resource for many consumers and may be considered more effective than advertising in influencing certain purchase decisions (Peterson and...