Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

Aurilla Aurelie Bechina and Eli Hustad
2.0” intends to illustrate <strong>the</strong> changes in <strong>the</strong> ways s<strong>of</strong>tware developers and end-users are using <strong>the</strong>
web.
Typical technologies that support user-created content are: wiki’s, like Wikipedia; blogging, such as
Blogger; social networking such as Facebook; and social bookmarking, such as Del.Icio.Us.
There are many tools that are available; however, it is important to understand <strong>the</strong> need <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Web
2.0 users and what type <strong>of</strong> limitation are encountered while using for instance social s<strong>of</strong>tware tools.
For example one example <strong>of</strong> limitation in using social s<strong>of</strong>tware tool is related to <strong>the</strong> perceived
difficulties in using such system by some people. Therefore it is important to understand who are <strong>the</strong>
users and <strong>the</strong>ir literacy in term <strong>of</strong> computer technologies.
More and more studies highlight that <strong>the</strong> young generation is more inclined to use new information
communication technologies.
With <strong>the</strong> expansion <strong>of</strong> computer technologies, <strong>the</strong> concepts <strong>of</strong> Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants
have emerged (Prensky, 2001). Digital Natives are individuals who were born and grew up during <strong>the</strong>
era <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Web, in which instant online access, instant communication with multiple peer groups are
part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir thinking mode. Computers, mobile phones, and video gaming are part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir lives.
Digital Immigrants were born and grew up before this era; thus, <strong>the</strong>se technologies and concepts are
not native to <strong>the</strong>m. Individuals belong ei<strong>the</strong>r to Digital Native or to Digital Immigrant groups (Prensky,
2001). Digital native have a more intuitive potential than digital immigrant to adopt quickly what Web
2.0 <strong>of</strong>fer (Phifer, 2008).
For a successful deployment and use <strong>of</strong> Web 2.0 technologies, it is crucial to categorize <strong>the</strong> Web 2.0
users in order for enterprises to understand how to deal with employees, customers. Psychographics
are essential, because <strong>the</strong>y relate to <strong>the</strong> user's lifestyle, interests, aspirations and attitudes towards
<strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> tool such blogs, wiki, and social networks. It is not <strong>the</strong> age <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> person that determines
<strong>the</strong> categories but ra<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> people inclination to use Web 2.0 technologies (Zhiyuan, Meiyan, Yang,
& Shao, 2009).
However, motivation <strong>of</strong> using Web 2.0 technologies is <strong>the</strong> decisive element. Today shopping in an
online environment is getting more and more popular and <strong>the</strong>refore, different types <strong>of</strong> users are now
more present in this virtual market place. Vendors and customers started to realise <strong>the</strong> potential <strong>of</strong>
WEB2.0 and social s<strong>of</strong>tware provide features allowing <strong>the</strong>m to tap into <strong>the</strong> collective knowledge
generated by customers in order to make a purchasing decision. However, <strong>the</strong>re are many challenges
and issues to understand and to overcome.
3. Implications <strong>of</strong> using social network on purchasing decision making
1.3 Research methodology
This paper describes at an early stage our explorative research study aiming to determine <strong>the</strong> factors
influencing <strong>the</strong> purchasing decision making in an online environment. At <strong>the</strong> preliminary stage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
study, we aimed at understanding <strong>the</strong> opportunities and challenges in using social network before or
after making a purchasing decision making. This paper reports <strong>the</strong> preliminaries outcomes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se
investigations.
The nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> study is exploratory; <strong>the</strong>refore we adopted an inductive approach in using interview
as <strong>the</strong> primary tool from which data has been ga<strong>the</strong>red. Analysis <strong>of</strong> websites and literature reviews
has complemented <strong>the</strong> data collection. Our goal was to delineate <strong>the</strong> relationship between usage <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> social s<strong>of</strong>tware and <strong>the</strong> purchasing decision making.
The interview questions were communicated in advance to potential participants in order to give some
time for some thoughts.
The interview encompasses a mix <strong>of</strong> open-ended and close-ended questions. People responded to
some questions in a Liket scale manner. For example, we used 5-point Likert scaled questions on
which <strong>the</strong> participants were asked to measure <strong>the</strong>ir satisfaction in using <strong>the</strong> feedbacks <strong>of</strong> user’s
community before taking <strong>the</strong> decision to buy or not a product or a service.
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