Purpose

Dynamism has been the key to the success and popularity of social media, and users always try to adapt to the available new changes. Continuous growth in the access and reach of social media in the past decade has enabled the users to make a calculative assessment of their social media usage. Social currency is a phenomenon that helps the customer in their evaluation of social media usage. However, this concept is still in its infancy phase, and there have been hitherto no studies to understand the influence of social currency dimensions on Indian users. This paper aims to study the dimensions of social currency for a better insight into social media usage of Indian customers.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 384 respondents from the biggest residential university in Varanasi through a structured questionnaire using the snowball sampling technique. Responses were taken on a seven-point Likert scale. Responses were analyzed by the factor analysis method using the maximum likelihood estimation model.

Findings

The result of this study empirically demonstrated that six dimensions, i.e. conversation, information, utility, affiliation, advocacy and identity, constitute the social currency of the user while browsing social media sites. It was also found that among the factors described above, advocacy emerged as the most influential dimension of social currency for Indian users, followed by identity and affiliation.

Practical implications

The findings have various managerial implications for the firms that want to have a significant social media presence. These findings can help marketers to design a tailored social media campaign for Indian users in an efficient manner by successfully incorporating the aforesaid social currency dimensions in their strategy.

Social implications

This study also reflects the societal impact of the dimensions of social currency on Indian users, as any change in the usage of social media can have a long-lasting effect on the mood of the people. The influence of the social currency dimension differs significantly in the context of Indian users compared to the existing literature, as they give more value to the behavioural aspect of the social currency (advocacy, identity and affiliation), strengthening the sense of belongings among the members.

Originality/value

This paper highlights, for the first time, the level of influence social currency dimensions have on Indian users, as there have been hitherto no studies to understand the influence of social currency dimensions on Indian users. Another significant contribution of this research is the empirical validation of the social currency determinants. Thus, this study may contribute to the social media strategy of the firm for Indian users by incorporating the social currency dimension, as discussed in the study.

中文翻译：

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识别社交媒体营销策略的社交货币因素

目的

活力一直是社交媒体成功和流行的关键，用户总是试图适应可用的新变化。在过去十年中，社交媒体的访问量和覆盖面的持续增长使用户能够对其社交媒体的使用情况进行计算性评估。社交货币是一种帮助客户评估社交媒体使用情况的现象。但是，这个概念还处于起步阶段，目前还没有研究了解社交货币维度对印度用户的影响。本文旨在研究社交货币的维度，以便更好地了解印度客户的社交媒体使用情况。

设计/方法/方法

数据是通过使用雪球抽样技术的结构化问卷从瓦拉纳西最大的住宿大学的 384 名受访者中收集的。回答采用李克特七点量表。使用最大似然估计模型通过因子分析方法分析响应。

发现

本研究的结果实证表明，六个维度，即会话、信息、效用、从属关系、倡导和身份，构成了用户浏览社交媒体网站时的社交货币。还发现，在上述因素中，拥护度成为对印度用户影响最大的社交货币维度，其次是身份和隶属关系。

实际影响

调查结果对希望拥有重要社交媒体影响力的公司具有各种管理意义。这些发现可以帮助营销人员通过成功地将上述社交货币维度纳入其战略，以有效的方式为印度用户设计量身定制的社交媒体活动。

社会影响

这项研究还反映了社交货币维度对印度用户的社会影响，因为社交媒体使用的任何变化都会对人们的情绪产生长期影响。与现有文献相比，印度用户背景下社交货币维度的影响显着不同，因为它们更重视社交货币的行为方面（拥护、身份和归属感），增强了成员之间的归属感.

原创性/价值

本文首次强调了社交货币维度对印度用户的影响程度，因为迄今为止还没有研究了解社交货币维度对印度用户的影响。这项研究的另一个重要贡献是对社会货币决定因素的实证验证。因此，正如研究中所讨论的，本研究可能会通过纳入社交货币维度，为印度用户的公司社交媒体战略做出贡献。