Shopping on Social Networking Web Sites: Attitudes toward Real versus Virtual ItemsJiyoung ChaUniversity of North TexasAbstractAssuming that shopping is a business area into which U.S. social networks can expand, this study explores whether and how factors affecting shopping attitudes on social networking sites may differ according to product type. This study focuses on two types of items that social networking sites carry: real and virtual. It reveals that shopping services have different target consumers and factors according to product type. Age, usefulness, ease of use, security, and fit are critical in establishing favorable attitudes toward shopping for real items. For virtual items, gender, social networking site experience, ease of use, and fit influence the attitudes.Keywords: Social networking Web sites, online shopping, virtual, real, technology acceptance model.IntroductionMost social networking Web sites based in the United States have relatively short histories. The growth of these sites is, however, exponential. According to ComScore Media Metrix, MySpace ranked second in visitor page views, behind only Yahoo, by May 2006 (Knowledge @ Wharton 2006). As of August 2007, six social networking Web sites ranked in the top 20 of U.S. Web site traffic lists: MySpace was ranked 6th, Orcut 8th, Facebook 10th, Hi5 11th, and Friendster 18th (Alexa.com 2007). Moreover, major U.S. social networking Web sites have seen a rapid increase in the numbers of their registered users. As of May 2009, Facebook and MySpace had more than 307 million and 123 million users worldwide, respectively (Albanesius 2009).Social networking Web sites have succeeded in attracting not only users but investors too. Media conglomerates have tried to acquire or invest in social networks. Despite some doubt about the stable revenue structures of social networks in their nascent business stage, News Corp. acquired MySpace, the largest U.S. social network, for $580 million in 2005. Yahoo and Viacom both offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in 2006. Venture capital firms recently put up $25 million in funding for Facebook (Rosenbush and Mullaney 2006; Vara 2007). Several venture capitalists also invested from $1 million to $10 million in Friendster (Kawamoto 2006).Despite the success of social networking sites with respect to attracting users and investors, academics and industry observers are concerned about their potentially vulnerable business models (Knowledge @ Wharton 2006; Olsen 2004). Specifically, the profitability of some social networks is highly questionable (Claburn2006; Tedeschi 2004) because the growing number of users and explosive Web traffic do not necessarily mean that the social networks will make a profit. The finances of social networking Web sites also depend substantially on revenues from outside advertisers. For example, Friendster's revenues come solely from advertisers (Hopkins 2003). According to Framingham, a media research firm, MySpace generated about $125 million in advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2006 (Havenstein 2007) and $440 million in revenue in fiscal year 2007. There is little doubt that the primary source of revenue is advertising (Williamson 2007). Facebook generated $150 million in revenue and $30 million in profit during calendar year 2007, through August; an advertising deal with Microsoft accounted for half of that revenue (Vara 2007).For community-oriented Web proprietors, network externalities are a critical factor for success. Researchers suggest that companies with the greatest installed network bases will dominate the market (Arthur 1996; Brynjolfson and Kemerer 1996; Katz and Shapiro 1985; Lee and O'Connor 2003). As an increasing number of people register on popular Web social networking sites, they may eventually turn away from smaller social networkseven though these smaller social networks serve as niche sites that gratify specific needs. Such a trend seems to be occurring in the United States, where as of August 2007, six social networking sites ranked in the top 20 list of most visited sites, but two years later, only Facebook and MySpace remained on that list (Alexa.com, 2009). In addition, Facebook has started to outperform MySpace in terms of traffic and the number of unique visitors (Albanesius 2009). Given the importance of network externalities in the context of social networking sites, it is imperative for social networks to develop stable revenue structures that utilize their massive user bases.In retrospect, myriad Internet companies have drawn huge numbers of users and received substantial attention from the press, but then disappeared within a short period of timelargely due to their lack of solid business models that generate profits. Advertisers and investors remain in flux as interesting new technologies emerge. For example, e-Marketer, an online business research firm, has cut its ad spending estimates for social networking Web sites; advertisers were thus predicted to spend $1.4 billion on U.S. social networking Web sites in 2008, a significant drop from its previous estimate of $1.6 billion. Specifically, the company cut revenue estimates for MySpace and Facebook, predicting MySpace would take an 11.2% hit and decline from $850 million in advertising income to $775 million. Facebook was projected to suffer a 12.5% drop, from $305 million to $265 million (Nicole 2008; Sanders 2008).The economic downturn is one plausible reason for these lowered advertising spending estimates, but the industry pinpoints another primary cause, namely, the lack of advertising and business models customized for social networking Web sites. The U.S. social networking sites are still trying to figure out how to turn their massive audiences into advertising dollars (Sanders 2008). From a managerial perspective, the key to success lies in learning how to monetize their mass user bases by building stable and relevant business models. This need reflects the intense competition in the social networking site market segment, as well as the lack of existing solid business models in the overall online industry. In that regard, this study suggests that shopping services may provide an area of possible business growth for social networks.Operators of social networking sites must establish user bases, which gives them potential shoppers in hand. It would not be necessary for social networks to invest a huge amount of money in promoting and advertising shopping services or attracting potential shoppers; large social networks already have potential shoppers in hand. In addition, whatever it is that keeps users coming back to a particular social networking site should be pivotal for shopping services in general. The socially interactive nature of social networking sites also likely increases the exposure of these returnees to the goods and services that the sites market.This study also considers shopping services attractive for social networking sites because of the user demographics of social networking sites. Audiences of traditional media spread across all age groups, whereas social networks are highly concentrated on teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s. As of July 2009, users between the ages of 13 and 34 years accounted for nearly 65% of Facebook users. The largest age group of users, between 18 and 25 years, constitutes 30% of all Facebook users (Inside Facebook 2009). In addition, 85% of U.S. college students use at least one social networking Web site, and 60% and 85% log on to social networking sites daily or once a week, respectively (Arrington 2005). A more recent industry report confirms these trends remain valid, in that more than 80% of U.S. college students use social networking sites on a regular basis (The Info-Shop 2007). Users who range in age from their teens through their 30s are particularly attractive targets for sellers of goods and services; they also are more likely to purchase products or services online than are older consumers (Akhter 2003; He and Mykytyn 2007).Due to the unique characteristics of social networks, items sold through social networking sites may differ from those sold in other online stores, whose businesses focuses entirely on shopping services. Online shopping sites mostly sell "real goods" or "real services," whereas social networks can carry not only real items but also "virtual items." Real items refer to goods or services that can be used offline, regardless of whether the goods or services are bought online or offline, such as books, furniture, clothes, flight tickets, DVDs, and so on. Virtual items instead are products or services whose use and purchase are constrained to a particular Web space. Profile layouts, avatars, virtual gift items, and music that can be only used on specific Web sites are examples of virtual items. Despite the considerable amount of buzz around social networking sites in the press, academia has paid scarce attention to them, and most existing studies consider social aspects or privacy issues (e.g., Barnes 2006; Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe 2006; Tong et al. 2008) rather than investigating social networks from a managerial perspective.By integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM) with other perceptions of social networks and characteristics of individual users, this study aims to investigate whether and how the factors that affect attitude toward shopping on social networking sites differ according to product type (i.e., real versus virtual items). This investigation therefore sheds light on the similarities and differences between the drivers of consumers' online shopping for real and virtual items. Also, it offers insights into whether widely accepted theories in the e-commerce context apply to shopping on social networking sites as well. Unlike shopping-driven sites, such as Amazon and eBay, shopping services are not the primary business domain for social networking sites, so consumers may perceive their shopping services differently. From the perspectives of social network operators, launching shopping services represents a category extension, and this study may help them find ways to boost the chances of success for their shopping services venues.Shopping on Social Networking Web SitesSocial media play increasingly important roles as a marketing platform. More and more retailers use social media to target teens and young adults, and social networking sites are a central venue in that trend (Market Watch 2008). A survey commissioned by the American Marketing Association reveals a positive outlook for likelihood of e-commerce on social networking sites, in that 47% of consumers said they would visit social networking sites to search for and discuss holiday gift ideas, and 29% said they would buy products there (Horovitz 2006).Some U.S. social networks have geared up to provide shopping services. Facebook added a shopping application that enables users to search for products they want to buy, then share their opinions of those products with other Facebook members (Forbes2007). Facebook has supplied virtual gifts, valued at $1 apiece, since April 2007. The addition of shopping services to social networking sites is in the nascent stage in the United States, but social networking sites in some other countries employ shopping services aggressively. For example,Cyworld.co.kr, a popular Korean social network that attracts more than one-third of the country's population and 90% of people in their 20s, carries both real and virtual items. It generates approximately $300,000 daily from individual users by selling virtual items such as music, avatars, and customized profile layouts (Schonfeld 2006). Although U.S. social networking sites provide users with similar items, such as music and profile layouts, they usually are provided for free. Cyworld also generates revenues from selling real items, such as clothes and fashion accessories.Research suggests that consumers rely on two different sets of values in making their shopping decisions: hedonic and utilitarian (Babin and Darden 1995;Babin, Darden, and Griffin 1994). Batra and Ahtola (1990, p. 159) define these values as follows: "(1) consummatory affective (hedonic) gratification from sensory attributes, and (2) instrumental, utilitarian reasons." Hedonic shopping value thus reflects the value received from the multisensory, fantasy-related, and emotive feeling a consumer receives from a particular product, whereas utilitarian shopping value focuses on the acquisition of products and/or information in an efficient manner, which reflects a more task-oriented, cognitive, unemotional outcome (Babin, Darden, and Griffin 1994;Holbrook and Hirschman 1982). Utilitarian value therefore is more associated with cognitive aspects of attitudes, such as economic benefit (Zeithaml 1988), convenience, and time savings (Jarvenpaa and Todd 1997; Teo 2001).Online shoppers tend to seek utilitarian values rather than hedonic values (Reibstein 2002), because online shopping services lack multisensory attributes. The primary utilitarian values that online shoppers seek include the convenience of locating and comparing merchants, evaluating price/quality ratios, and conserving temporal and psychological resources (Grewal et al.2003;Mathwick, Malhotra, and Rigdon2001).Adding virtual items to social networking sites could expand the value of online shopping. Shopping for virtual items also is more relevant to hedonic than to utilitarian values, because consumers would not purchase virtual items out of necessity. Thus, whether a social networking site sells real or virtual items may determine consumers' attitudes toward shopping on that site. Considering the different nature of real and virtual items in a shopping context, this study explores the differences and similarities between factors that affect shopping for real and virtual items on social networking sites.RQ1. Are there differences between real and virtual items with respect to which factors affect attitudes toward shopping on social networking sites? How different or similar are the factors?Perceived Usefulness, Ease of Use, and EnjoymentThe technology acceptance model (TAM) posits that the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of a particular information technology drive users' attitudes and intentions to adopt that technology (Davis 1989; Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw 1989). According to empirical tests in different technologies and settings, the TAM is a parsimonious, robust model for predicting technology acceptance intentions (Gefen and Straub 2003). Perceived usefulness is "the degree to which an individual believes that using a particular system would enhance his/her job performance" (Davis 1989, p. 320), whereas perceived ease of use refers to "the degree to which an individual believes that using a particular system would be free of real and mental efforts" (Davis 1989, p. 323). Recent studies show that perceived usefulness and ease of use both affect consumers' intentions to use e-commerce (Gefen and Straub 2000; Lee, Park, and Ahn 2001).Another construct added to the model is perceived enjoyment. Perceived enjoyment is defined as "the extent to which the activity of using the computer is to be perceived enjoyable in its own right, apart from any performance consequences that may be anticipated" (Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw 1992, p. 1113). Enjoyment usually emerges as important for shopping experience, along with convenience and social interactions (Javenpaa and Todd 1997). Thus, perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use may be able to predict attitudes toward shopping services offered on social networks.H1a(b). Perceived usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment of shopping services on social networking sites are positively associated with attitude toward shopping for real (virtual) items on social networking Web sites.Perceived FitThe perceived fit construct often appears when a brand introduces a new product or service in different product or service categories. In marketing literature, perceived fit refers to the degree of similarity between an extension product category and existing products affiliated with the brand (DelVecchio and Smith 2005). Previous studies suggest that perceived fit between parent brands and their extensions can enhance the performance of the latter. If new products or services are perceived as similar to their parent brand, consumers are more likely to evaluate the new product favorably (Boush et al. 1987; Papadmitriou, Apostolopoulou, and Loukas 2004). The fit between the brand and the extension category also can reduce uncertainty triggered by a particular extension category (Smith and Andrews 1995). Papadmitriou, Apostolopoulou, and Loukas (2004) confirm the significant impact of perceived fit on intention to purchase the extended products or services.Even though some U.S. social networking Web sites have introduced shopping services and applications, the extension is considered fledgling; these sites are not yet very aggressive about selling goods and services in general. Therefore, introducing and developing shopping services can be considered category extensions from a managerial standpoint. In that regard, consumers' perception of the fit between social networking sites and the individual items they sell would influence their attitudes toward the shopping services. Therefore,H2a(b). Perceived fit between social networking Web sites and real (virtual) items to be sold on the sites is positively associated with attitude toward shopping for real (virtual) items on social networking Web sites.Perceived SecuritySecurity is a salient issue for e-commerce because users must submit sensitive information to purchase goods or services online. Salisbury and colleagues (2001, p. 166) define perceived security on the Web as "the extent to which one believes that the World Wide Web is secure for transmitting sensitive information." They also find empirically that perceived security on the Web positively affects purchase intentions online. That is, the less secure someone perceives the Web to be, the lower the probability that he or she will make a purchase through that channel. Yenisey, Ozok, and Salvendy (2005) assert that this barrier causes increasing numbers of people to hesitate when asked to submit sensitive information over the Web.Perceived security also may be critical for social networks that introduce e-commerce. Unlike online shopping malls, such as Amazon, shopping services are not the primary business area offered by social networking Web sites. If people doubt the transactional security of social networks, they may not shop for or purchase things on social networking Web sites. Therefore,H3a(b). Perceived security of social networking Web sites is positively associated with attitude toward shopping for real (virtual) items on social networking Web sites.Experience with Social Networking Web SitesZajonc (1968) suggests the influence of a "mere exposure effect," such that continuous exposure tends to increase people's liking for given stimuli. As a person experiences more exposure to a particular stimulus, he or she establishes a more positive attitude toward that stimulus (Monroe 1976; Wilson 1979;Zajonc 1968). The more familiar they are with a medium, due to their frequent use of it, the more favorably people feel toward that medium. Several prior studies specifically focus on the relationship between overall Internet experience and purchase intentions and behaviors on the Internet. Aldridge, Forcht, and Pierson (1997) assert that the likelihood of buying online increases as overall use of the Internet increases, and Hoffman, Novak, and Peralta (1999) empirically find that Internet experience has a positive association with purchase behaviors on the Internet. Applying this theory to social networking sites,H4a(b). Experience with social networking sites is positively associated with attitude toward shopping for real (virtual) items on social networking sites.Online Shopping ExperienceDespite promising outlooks for online shopping in its nascent stage, Forrester Research projects that online shopping will account for only 9% of overall U.S. retail sales in 2010 (Linn 2007). Although online shopping has grown rapidly in recent years, some Internet users remain reluctant to purchase goods on the Internet because they are skeptical of how much privacy and security they have in doing so (Aldridge, Forcht, and Pierson 1997; Wang, Yeh, and Jiang 2006). Others may hesitate to shop online because they would miss the social interaction or direct experience with products. Online shopping analysts argue that people who have not purchased online tend to continue to buy goods or services offline (Linn 2007). Rogers (1995) also explains that people are more likely to adopt an innovation they are comfortable with and that is compatible with other technologies they already use. Therefore,H5a(b). Online shopping experience is positively associated with attitude toward shopping for real (virtual) items on social networking sites.GenderMore men used the Internet in its nascent years than did women, so online shopping was more prevalent among men than among women in the late 1990s (Ernst and Young 1999; Pew Internet 1998). Research also indicates that male consumers spend more money and buy more frequently online than do female consumers (Graphics, Visualization, and Usability Center 1999; Li, Kuo, and Russell 1999). Yet the gender gap has decreased in recent years; according to the Pew Internet (2001) survey, 58% of men and 54% of women were Internet users as of 2001. More recent surveys, such as the Pew Internet (2002) and Sky News (2002), indicated that women are more dominant than men when it comes to e-commerce. Focusing on expenditures online, women accounted for 58% of online shopping, whereas men were responsible for 42% between April 2004 and March 2005, according to comScore (Maguire 2006). Nevertheless, men still report higher levels of online purchase intentions than do women (Doolin et al. 2005).Dittmar, Long, and Meek (2004) maintain that differences in conventional shopping motivations between men and women may explain why women are less likely to buy online. Because the online shopping environment does not offer emotional involvement or social interaction, women may be less likely to shop online. However, the situation could differ on social networking sites. Unlike other e-commerce sites that tend to mitigate opportunities for social interaction during shopping, social networking sites enable users to interact with their friends. For example, Facebook's shopping application allows users to rate and discuss products they want to purchase with their friends. Therefore, users of social networks can obtain their online friends' opinions about the products they want to buy.Meanwhile, Girard, Korgaonka, and Silverblatt (2003) find that online shopping preferences depend on product types. Men are more likely to shop online for books, computers, and other "utilitarian experience" goods (e.g., cell phones, televisions). Women instead shop online for hedonic experience goods, such as perfume and clothing. The unique characteristics of social networks as venues for shopping and product types suggest the following hypothesis:H6a(b). The female gender of consumers is positively associated with attitude toward shopping for real (virtual) items on social networking sites.AgePrevious studies indicate that age and technology adoption have an inverse relationship in various technology contexts. Older people tend to exhibit more negative perceptions of new technologies and feel greater reluctance to adopt them (Gilly and Zeithaml 1985; Pommer, Berkowitz, and Walton 1980). Madden and Savage (2000) specify that age is negatively associated with Internet use, and the Pew Internet (2004) project supports this relationship. These findings extend to the adoption of specific Internet-related technologies, such as online chat rooms and Webcasting (Lin 2004; Peter, Valkenburg, and Schouten 2005). Age also has a negative relationship with the adoption of e-commerce. Akhter (2003) suggests that younger people are more likely than older consumers to purchase products or services using the Internet, and He and Mykytyn (2007) reveal a negative relationship between age and the intention to adopt online payment methods. Therefore,H7a(b). Age is negatively associated with attitude toward shopping for real (virtual) items on social networking sites.MethodSample and ProceduresThe data for this study come from a survey. Before the main test, two pretests, using two samples of 38 and 40 college students, were conducted. On the basis of the pretests, the questions and wordings for the questionnaire were carefully refined. For the main survey, a total of 167 students at a large university located in the southeast part of the United States participated. Although the use of college students can be viewed as convenient, Basil (1996) suggests this sample is valid if their demographic group is of interest to the topic of study. A college student sample is reasonable to study shopping services on social networking sites, because college students are the primary users of social networks (Arrington 2005; The Info-Shop 2007) and represent a significant portion of the demographic age group that social networking sites and related retailers target for marketing (Market Watch 2008).The sample for this study consists of students enrolled in two large introductory mass communication courses. The courses were open to all of the majors across campus, so the participants' majors were heterogeneous. The sample consists of 77.2% women (n = 129) and 22.8% men (n = 38); 6% of them where first-year students (n = 10), 13.8% second year (n = 23), 17.4% junior (n = 29), and 62.9% senior (n = 105). Their ages range17 to 30 years, though more than 95% of the participants were between the ages of 17 and 25 years, and the average age was 20.71 years (SD= 1.52). Of the participants, 99.4% used at least one social networking site (n = 167). With respect to time spent on social networking sites per week, 57.7% said that they spent 1 to 5 hours per week on average; 29.8% spent 6 to 10 hours; and 9.6 % spent 11 to 20 hours.The participants were first asked to indicate the social networking site with which they were most familiar; they answered the remaining questions on the questionnaire with regard to that social networking site. This approach was taken because their perceptions (e.g., perceived security) of and familiarity with social networks vary. For real and virtual items that social networking sites could carry in their shopping services, this study considers 10 products or services: computers and computer accessories, DVDs, video games, books, tickets, clothes and accessories, profile layouts, avatars, virtual gifts, and playable music. The selection of real items reflects the products college students purchase most often online (Pew Internet 2001), and the virtual items include items available on social networks that already offer shopping services in the United States and other countries.MeasuresAppendix 1 shows the measurement items and reliabilities for the constructs. Appendix 2 indicates the descriptive statistics for the constructs. Three items are adapted from Davis (1989) and Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw (1989) to assess perceived ease of use; four items from the same sources measure perceived usefulness. The measures for perceived enjoyment come from Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw (1992). Two items that measure perceived security are adapted from Vijayasarathy(2003).To measureperceived fit, one item captures the holistic similarity between items that a site might sell and the social networking site that the respondent uses. Morrin (1999) and Tauber (1988) suggest that the similarity between existing products affiliated with the brand and the extension category can be construed holistically. The one item for the perceived fit comes from Keller and Aaker (1992). All these measurement items use a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). In contrast, respondents indicate their experience with social networking sites and Internet purchasing, on the basis of their frequency of using the social networking site and online purchasing, on seven-point scales ranging from 1 (never) to 7 (all the time). Respondents also specify their age in years. To measure attitude toward shopping for the 10 real and virtual items on social networking sites, an item from Goby (2006) provides the measure, which uses a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).A principal component factor analysis using Varimax rotation was conducted first to examine whether attitude toward shopping for individual items differs according to product type. Bartlett's test shows that the overall correlations for individual shopping items are significant ( = 900.66,p< .001), which suggests factor analysis is an applicable method for classifying the shopping items. As Table 1 summarizes, the factor analysis successfully yields two factors: real items ( = .89) and virtual items ( = .81). The first factor (attitude toward shopping for real items) refers to six items: computers and accessories, tickets, clothes and accessories, books, DVDs, and video games. The second factor (attitude toward shopping for virtual items) includes four items: profile layouts, music that can be played on social networks, virtual gifts, and avatars. The real and virtual items account for 53.08% and 12.87% of the total variance, respectively. The means of attitude toward shopping for real items (M = 4.16, SD = 1.37) and virtual items (M = 4.10, SD = 1.41) are similar.Table 1. Factor analysis results for attitude toward shopping on social networksAttitude toward Shopping for ItemsReal ItemsVirtual Items

Book.84.09

Ticket.82.17

DVD.81.31

Clothing and accessories.71.26

Computers and accessories.68.44

Video game.61.52

Profile layouts.10.84

Virtual gifts.18.77

Avatars.42.69

Music played on profile.28.69

Notes. The first factor (real items) achieves an eigenvalue of 5.31. The second factor (virtual items) reaches an eigenvalue of 1.29.

ResultsTwo separate multiple regressions assess the research question and hypotheses. Tables 2 and 3 show the results from the regressions. The conceptual models explain 76.4% (adjusted R= .75) and 58.0% (adjusted R= .55) of the variance for the attitude toward shopping for real items and virtual items, respectively. Neither model suffers from multicollinearity problems. The variance inflation factor (VIF) values range from 1.07 to 3.25.Table 2. Multiple regression for attitude toward shopping for real items on social networking Web sitesBSE

Perceived usefulness.15.06.16**

Perceive ease of use.27.05.26***

Perceive enjoyment-.12.07-.12*

Perceived security.07.04.07*

Perceived fit between social networks and real items.67.05.66***

Experience with social networks-.09.06-.07

Internet purchasing experience.05.05.04

Age-.10.04-.11**

Female.23.14.07

Notes: R = .87; R = .76.*p< .05.**p