The Application of Social Networking as a Marketing Platform to Young Adults - Adoption, Usage, and Global Impact of Broadband Technologies - page 190

rity and safety is activated. In an online commu-
nity, physiological needs incorporate issues such
as basic system access, while safety needs include
issues such as protection from hackers and vi-
ruses, and maintaining online privacy. Consumers
who engage in online social networking are nec-
essarily those who have already satisfied their
physiological and security/safety needs, as they
have already attained online access and clearly
signal their feeling of security by engaging in
social networking behaviour. Therefore, it seems
that the needs most likely to stimulate online
WOM communication behaviour are those of
social, self-esteem and self-actualisation (Kim,
2006).
In an effort to uncover more specific motives
for online WOM communication, a multiple
frequency analysis was conducted on a 12-item
multiple response table. Here, respondents were
requested to indicate which factors best described
their motivation for interacting and communi-
cating with others on a social network. Table
2 includes the items which were included for
selection, as well as the response rates for each.

Of all respondents, 98% indicated that they
utilise social networks to keep in contact with
friends, while 78% said they use online networks
to find long lost friends. Half of the respondents
stated that they engage in online social network-
ing because their friends do, whilst 30% of re-
spondents admitted the desire to be part of a group
or community. Additionally, it was found that
22% of respondents use online social networks
to meet new people, whilst 18% noted that they
engage in online networks to share information
about themselves. This empirical evidence par-
tially verifies research by Kim (2006), who argues
that the needs most likely to stimulate online
WOM are those of social, self-enhancement (or
self-esteem) and self-actualisation. While the
research leans more heavily towards the need for
social interaction, limited is given to the need for
self-actualisation with a handful of respondents
indicating the use of social networks to establish
or enhance their personal identity.
The concept of self-enhancement is supported
by Engel et al (1993) as well as Sundaram et al
(1998), who identify the tendency of consumers
to initiate WOM in order to share product infor-

Figure 6. A comparative study of the application of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to both offline and
online environments (Source Kim (2006))