Investigating the Impact of Social Networking Features on Customer Loyalty and Word of Mouth with Social Capital Approach (Case Study: Alibaba Tourism Services Company’s Instagram)

A large number of audiences and members of virtual social networks have caused the success or failure of many large businesses that their performances depend on virtual platforms. Since previous researches viewed customer relationships with service providers as their social capital, the present study develops a model to measure the effects of interactivity and media richness (as features of a virtual social network) on the dimensions of social capital, then explains the effect of this form of capital, which is influenced by the social network, on marketing variables, including loyalty and word of mouth. This research is quantitative in terms of the main strategy, applied in terms of the purpose and descriptive and correlational in terms of data collection method and analytical technique. The statistical community consists of followers of Alibaba Tourism Services Holding Instagram page. The sampling method is random and the sample size according to Cochran's formula with an error level of 0.05 is 385 people. In order to collect the data, a questionnaire with a reliability of 0.941 was used and the validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by management professors. Data analysis was performed using SPSS vs.26 and Amos vs.22 software with structural equation modeling approach. Findings show that a high level of interaction and media richness in the Instagram network can lead to the enhancement of the relational capital of service providers. This type of social capital underlies the attitudes and loyal behavior of customers and word of mouth.