Employee Advocacy in Generation Y - How to Use the Young Employee’s Voice in Social Media
(R2020-84908)

AUTHORS

Christina Reich, FOM - University of Applied Sciences, ifes Institute; Silvia Boßow-Thies, FOM - University of Applied Science, ifes Institute; Bianca Krol, FOM - University of Applied Science, ifes Institute

KEYWORDS

Employee Advocacy; eWOM; Theory of Social Interaction Utility

ABSTRACT

The importance of social media as a marketing instrument is further increasing, however with a lack of trust in the provided content. Employees acting as advocates by expressing themselves positively about their employers in social media might help here, for which it is important to understand underlying motives. Focusing on generation Y, hypotheses were derived based on the theory of social interaction utility and the theory of planned behavior. The results of the PLS-SEM indicate that attitude is influenced by altruism, enjoyment and self-enhancement and the intention of acting as an employee advocate is a solid predictor of behavior.