Title: Third-person effect comparison between US and Chinese social networking website users: implications for online marketing and word-of-mouth communication

Authors: Jie Zhang, Terry Daugherty

Addresses: Department of Advertising, CMA7.142, 1 University Station, A1200, University of Texas at Austin, Texas 78712, USA. ' Department of Marketing, CBA 320, 302 Buchtel Common, Akron, OH 44325, USA

Abstract: This study employs a framework of third-person effect to understand how users perceive the effect of SNWs, with an attempt to uncover the important indirect influence of SNWs. The findings may contribute to consumer psychology, and be relevant to practitioners who are interested in targeting young consumers via SNWs. Furthermore, this study compared the framework in two contrasting cultural contexts – the USA and China. The results provided empirical evidence to previous studies| theoretical assumption that the third-person effect is less pronounced in a typical collectivistic culture.

Keywords: third-person effect; TPE; social networking websites; SNWs; word-of-mouth communication; cross-cultural comparison; USA; China; United States; social networks; e-marketing; electronic marketing; online marketing; consumer psychology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2010.034833

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2010 Vol.3 No.3, pp.293 - 315

Published online: 23 Aug 2010 *

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