2134/17117
Vera Blazevic
Vera
Blazevic
Caroline Wiertz
Caroline
Wiertz
June Cotte
June
Cotte
Ko de Ruyter
Ko
de Ruyter
Debbie Keeling
Debbie
Keeling
GOSIP in cyberspace: conceptualization and scale development for general online social interaction propensity
Loughborough University
2015
General online social interaction propensity
Individual difference
Scale development
Social media
Information Systems
Business and Management not elsewhere classified
2015-03-26 11:21:43
Journal contribution
https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/GOSIP_in_cyberspace_conceptualization_and_scale_development_for_general_online_social_interaction_propensity/9501923
The interactive nature of the Internet has boosted online communication for both social and business purposes. However, individual consumers differ in their predisposition to interact online with others. Whereas an impressive stream of research has investigated media interactivity, the existence of individual differences in the use of different online media, that is, differences in general online social interaction propensity, has so far received less research attention. An individual's predisposition to interact online affects many important consumer behaviors, such as online engagement and participation. Thus, in this paper, we propose and conceptualize general online social interaction propensity as a trait-based individual difference that captures the differences between consumers in their predisposition to interact with others in an online environment. Based on eight studies, we develop and validate a scale for measuring general online social interaction propensity and demonstrate its usefulness in understanding diversity in levels of engagement and in predicting online interaction behaviors. •Consumers differ in their predisposition to enter in online communication.•We conceptualize an individual difference trait termed GOSIP.•We empirically develop and validate a scale to measure GOSIP.•We show GOSIP's importance as antecedent of engagement and online behavior.•Interactive marketers can use GOSIP to assess consumer differences in online behavior.