Nancy Eufemia Dalman & Vinita SangtaniNorth Georgia College & State University

ADOPTING AND PROMOTING A CAMPUS BIKE SHARE THROUGH

SOCIAL MEDIA

Word of Mouth

• The individual consumer, alone or collectively, no longer needs or accepts being told by any aspirants to higher authority what to do, what to think, what to buy

• Instead, – Brown 2008

Word of Mouth

•Word of mouth—the opinions of one’s peers—became more authoritative.

•Word-of-mouth has been widely reported to be many times more influential than information from prints, radio, and personal selling

•more so on college campuses

Brown 2008

Lam, Mizerski, and Lee, 2005

Steffes and Burgee, 2009

Antecedents for Word of Mouth

• Paucity of studies testing antecedents of WOM. • Most studies have looked at consequences of WOM• Some antecedents offered by Kaplan and Haenlein

(2011) were: • memorable and interesting message• Presence of messengers, such as market mavens,

social hubs, and salespeople• Luck to be in the right place at the right time

Research Hypotheses

• Environmental concern

• Liking for the green program

• Green behavior

• WOM about a green program on campus

+

• Intention to use a green program on campus

Green Program

http://www.konabiketown.com/

Greenfest

Launching the Bikes

Method

• A survey was conducted at a regional university by handing out questionnaires in several business and science classes

• Final sample size was 159

Measures (7 point Likert Scales)

• Environmental Concern ( = 0.83)– I believe that/ wish that• Environmental conservation is an issue for the human

race• More students were willing to discuss the environment• More students were concerned about the environment

Measures (7 point Likert Scales)

• Green Behavior ( = 0.64)– In my personal life, I:• Use energy efficient lighting• Recycle most recyclable materials I use• Turn off lights when leaving a room• Turn off my computer when not in use• Unplug appliances not in use

Measures (7 point Likert Scales)

• Liking for program ( = 0.86)– From the description, I like this program – I am very interested in this program

• WOM ( = 0.88)– I will discuss the program with other students– I would try to promote the program to my friends

on campus

Results

• Environmental concern

• Liking for the green program

• Green behavior

• WOM about a green program on campus

• Intention to use a

green program on campus for free

t=8.77; 0.000

t=4.86; 0.000R2 = 0.62

t=12.3; 0.000

t = -2.5; 0.013R2 = 0.50

Results

• Liking for the green program

• Green behavior

• Intention to use a

green program on campus for 10 cents per use

t=8.96; 0.000

R2 = 0.37t= - 2

.10; 0.037

Discussion

• The program appears to be well received on campus and it appears that students are likely to use as well as talk about the program to other fellow students

• The most significant finding was that green behavior did not influence WOM and

• negatively influenced both likelihood of using the program for free and for a small fee– An artifact of the measure, reflected in the low

reliability?

Future Research

• Leveraging Facebook to make the program successful

Facebook and other social networks have taken Word of Mouth (Mouse) to a new level

Unverified Figures

• 78% trust what their social network says about a product or service compared to 55% for TV ads and 49% for brand sponsorships

Research Suggests..

• Information gained from the eWOM forum is more influential in their decision than speaking with friends in person (WOM)

• Therefore, future research would focus on the role of online social networks as media for WOM on environmental sustainability and other issues on college campus

Steffes and Burgee, 2009

Green Program

http://baltidome.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/jhu-student-government-considers-bike-share-program/

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Bike-sharing-gets-students-around-off-campus-1330890.php