Effects of Tie Strength and Tie Valence on Consumer Word-Of-Mouth Communication and Altruistic Intentions

The current study extends Frenzen and Nakamoto's (1993) model of information exchange in order to address counterintuitive marketplace behavior, such as information exchange occurring across weak ties when moral hazard is present. By simultaneously considering both the strength and the valence of the ties individuals share with members of their social networks, we show that while consumers are more likely to transmit information and be altruistic toward individuals with whom they share strong ties, such exchange is more likely to occur across weak ties when the valence of the tie is perceived as positive (versus negative). Suggestions for future research based on this conceptualization are also identified.

Citation:

Joseph Paniculangara and Barney Pacheco (2009) ,"Effects of Tie Strength and Tie Valence on Consumer Word-Of-Mouth Communication and Altruistic Intentions", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 8, eds. Sridhar Samu, Rajiv Vaidyanathan, and Dipankar Chakravarti, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 324-325.