Abstract
Social media have become considerable avenues for electronic word of mouth (eWOM) communication in religious organizations. Religious leaders use social media to share, interact and advertise church programs. The study seeks to evaluate the usage of social media, in particular, eWOM using the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) as a case study. The researchers first interviewed 12 church leaders to evaluate the usage of social media among religious leaders. The researchers further collected data from various SDA church social media websites (e.g., Facebook). The results from religious leaders’ data showed a high level of social media usage and sentiments in the area of advertising, promotion of church programs, communication and evangelism. Social media enabled religious leaders to create online closed communities for leaders, such as communities of elders, departmental leaders, the church board executive and district church communities where conversations and decision-making took place. There were challenges of circulation of improper content, diverting the purpose of the groups, irreverent use social media platforms and flooding of the groups with media content unrelated to the groups.
Recommended Citation
Matobobo, Courage and Bankole, Felix, "Evaluating eWOM in Social Media: Religious Leaders vs Religious Organizations: Functionality Approach" (2021). UK Academy for Information Systems Conference Proceedings 2021. 15.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ukais2021/15