Social Media Perceptions on In-Group and Out-of-Group eWOM Interactions among Adolescents in Jakarta

This research aims to identify the relationship between motivation drivers, social media perception and eWOM behaviour. A social network paradigm and a human-computer interaction concept is used to predict the type of eWOM, whether as an in-group or out-of-group. The study used a cross-sectional quantitative survey to test the hypotheses. A convenient sampling method was used to recruit 158 respondents, aged between 18 and 25 years, who were social media users. Data was analysed using a regression analysis. Mood enhancement was found as a significant predictor for experiential learning and escapism. Escapism in turn was found to be a significant predictor for social interactions. Both experiential learning and social interactions were discovered to be significant predictors for all social media perceptions: openness, participation, connectedness, conversationality, and commonality. Only social media perceptions, openness, and connectedness were found to be significant predictors for eWOM, for in-group and out-of-group. Social media motivation drivers that promote learning and social interactions can be used to make social media users proactive in engaging with the brand. The underlying social media motivation drivers create social media perceptions that demand the need for social media to be creative, adaptable, and sociable.