Linking organizational members' social-related use of enterprise social media (ESM) to their fashion behaviors: the social learning and stimulus-organism-response theories

Abstract

Purpose

This study through the lens of social learning theory and using the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework aims to show that employees' social-related use of enterprise social media (ESM) can positively affect their intentions to purchase the fashion products used by their coworkers by mediating role of their perceptions toward their coworkers' credibility in fashion (i.e. physical attractiveness, reliability in communications and experience in fashion).

Design/methodology/approach

To evaluate the validity of the measurement and structural models, 361 employees who were able to take advantage of ESM with social-related motivations were surveyed within seven Iranian organizations. The collected data were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The results of the study confirmed that employees' social-related use of ESM positively affects their perceptions toward their coworkers' credibility in three dimensions of physical attractiveness, reliability in communication (trustworthiness) and fashion experience (expertise). Employees' perceptions toward their coworkers' credibility in three dimensions of physical attractiveness, reliability in communications and fashion experience positively affect their intentions to purchase the fashion products used by their coworkers.

Practical implications

This study shows that ESM technology can shape a trusted online community of practice in which employees can share the same interests and learn about different types of [fashion] products and services from each other. Thus, ESM can be considered an online instrument for marketing purposes with which organizations can obtain revenue from other organizations by letting them advertise their products on ESM.

Originality/value

The main theoretical implication of this study is to extend the use of two advanced theories in the workplace, especially regarding employees' social-related use of ESM. In fact, this study through the lens of social learning theory and based on the S-O-R model shows that employees' social-related use of ESM can be considered as a stimulus in the workplace, influencing employees' perceptions toward different objects (e.g. their coworkers' credibility), and resulting in several changes in their behaviors. This is among a few studies addressing marketing outcomes of ESM in the employees' communities.

Citation

Olfat, M., Ahmadi, S., Shokouhyar, S. and Bazeli, S. (2022), "Linking organizational members' social-related use of enterprise social media (ESM) to their fashion behaviors: the social learning and stimulus-organism-response theories", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 91-109. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-04-2021-0044