Online Social Networks and Insights into Marketing Communications

Even though online social network services have become enormously popular among general public, there is a laxity of empirical investigations on the individual's level in this domain. This paper examines the impact of personality factors such as extraversion, self-esteem, opinion seeking and opinion leadership on brand communication and online social behaviors. Our results show that gender and extroversion predict online social network size and time spent online; that opinion seekers spend more time online and have larger networks relative to opinion leaders; and that opinion leaders are more likely to communicate their brand use online. We also find the mediating role of opinion leadership and opinion seeking in explaining the impact of general personality traits on online brand communication and social networking. Directions for future research are provided and some practical implications are discussed. (C) 2007 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved.