Extending Our Understanding of eWOM Impact: The Role of Source Credibility and Message Relevance

ABSTRACT Using qualitative data from consumers who have previously purchased online and who read online product reviews, this work expands current thinking on determinants of the impact of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communications on consumer decision making. Specifically, beyond source credibility, findings suggest that consumers also assess how similar the source of eWOM is to them in terms of personality and product usage. In addition to source credibility, the notion of message relevance is introduced as the second first-order factor of eWOM impact. In turn, the underlying dimensions of source credibility (expertise and trustworthiness) and message relevance (persona similarity and usage similarity) constitute four second-order determinants of eWOM impact; providing a comprehensive view of the determinants of eWOM impact. Additionally, a conceptual framework depicting the sequential and cumulative effect of the four assessment dimensions along with possible gender differences in the processes used to assess eWOM credibility and message relevance are discussed.

[1]  B. Sternthal,et al.  Highly Credible Sources: Persuasive Facilitators or Persuasive Liabilities? , 1977 .

[2]  D. Bem.  Self-Perception Theory , 1972 .

[3]  Amitava Chattopadhyay,et al.  The Persuasive Role of Incidental Similarity on Attitudes and Purchase Intentions in a Sales Context , 2010 .

[4]  C. Kurzman.  Introduction: Meaning-Making in Social Movements , 2008 .

[5]  Matthew K. O. Lee,et al.  The impact of electronic word-of-mouth: The adoption of online opinions in online customer communities , 2008, Internet Res..

[6]  Dwayne D. Gremler,et al.  Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: What motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the Internet? , 2004 .

[7]  Kelley O'Reilly,et al.  How young, technical consumers assess online WOM credibility , 2011 .

[8]  Anselm L. Strauss,et al.  Basics of qualitative research : techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory , 1998 .

[9]  G. Mathews,et al.  Meanings of Life , 1936, The Journal of Religion.

[10]  Christina Goulding.  Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide for Management, Business and Market Researchers , 2002 .

[11]  R. Goldsmith,et al.  Measuring Motivations for Online Opinion Seeking , 2006 .

[12]  Dale T. Miller,et al.  The Effect of Regional Similarity-Dissimilarity on Communicator Credibility , 1973, Language and speech.

[13]  R. J. Repique.  Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants , 2013, Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.

[14]  D. Cowles,et al.  Interpersonal Communication and Personal Influence on the Internet: A Framework for Examining Online Word-of-Mouth , 2002 .

[15]  Matthew B. Miles,et al.  Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook , 1994 .

[16]  B. Glaser.  Doing grounded theory : issues and discussions , 1998 .

[17]  Daniel L. Sherrell,et al.  Source effects in communication and persuasion research: A meta-analysis of effect size , 1993 .

[18]  A. Mattila,et al.  Effects of Gender and Expertise on Consumers’ Motivation to Read Online Hotel Reviews , 2011 .

[19]  Gianfranco Walsh,et al.  Electronic Word-of-Mouth: Motives for and Consequences of Reading Customer Articulations on the Internet , 2003, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[20]  M. Zanna,et al.  Attitudes and Attitude Change , 1993 .

[21]  T. Brock,et al.  COMMUNICATOR-RECIPIENT SIMILARITY AND DECISION CHANGE. , 1965, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[22]  Victoria D. Bush,et al.  What We Know and Don't Know about Online Word-of-Mouth: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature , 2014 .

[23]  Ingoo Han,et al.  The Effects of Consumer Knowledge on Message Processing of Electronic Word of Mouth via Online Consumer Reviews , 2008, ECIS.

[24]  M. Patton.  Two Decades of Developments in Qualitative Inquiry , 2002 .

[25]  Robert M. Schindler,et al.  Internet forums as influential sources of consumer information , 2001 .

[26]  S. Chaiken,et al.  Heuristic processing can bias systematic processing: effects of source credibility, argument ambiguity, and task importance on attitude judgment. , 1994, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[27]  Dimple R. Thadani,et al.  The impact of electronic word-of-mouth communication: A literature analysis and integrative model , 2012, Decis. Support Syst..

[28]  Jhanghiz Syahrivar,et al.  The Impact of Electronic Word of Mouth (E-WoM) on Brand Equity of Imported Shoes: Does a Good Online Brand Equity Result in High Customers’ Involvements in Purchasing Decisions? , 2018 .

[29]  Laura S. Abrams.  Sampling ‘Hard to Reach’ Populations in Qualitative Research , 2010 .

[30]  Amy Koerber,et al.  Qualitative Sampling Methods , 2008 .

[31]  Duane T. Wegener,et al.  Attitudes and attitude change. , 1997, Annual review of psychology.

[32]  Bettina Lis,et al.  In eWOM We Trust , 2013, Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng..

[33]  A. Strauss,et al.  The Discovery of Grounded Theory , 1967 .

[34]  Pamela Jordan.  Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques , 1994 .

[35]  D. Dolinski,et al.  Social Influence , 2007 .

[36]  J. Swait,et al.  Brand Credibility, Brand Consideration, and Choice , 2004 .

[37]  Jen-Hung Huang,et al.  Herding in online product choice , 2006 .

[38]  Arik Ragowsky,et al.  Establishing Trust in Electronic Commerce Through Online Word of Mouth: An Examination Across Genders , 2008, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[39]  D. Silverman,et al.  Ensuring rigour in qualitative research , 1997 .

[40]  J. Gotlieb,et al.  The Moderating Effects of Message Framing and Source Credibility on the Price-perceived Risk Relationship , 1994 .

[41]  Pradeep Racherla,et al.  What We Know and Don’t Know About Online Word-Of-Mouth: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of the Literature , 2012 .

[42]  K. Charmaz,et al.  20 GROUNDED THEORY IN THE 21 5 T CENTURY Applications for Advancing Social justice Studies , 2010 .

[43]  M. Prensky.  Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants , 2001 .

[44]  Robert R. Harmon,et al.  The Persuasive Effects of Source Credibility in Buy and Lease Situations , 1982 .

[45]  M. Prensky.  Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1 , 2001 .

[46]  Debora Viana Thompson,et al.  Consumer-Generated Ads: Does Awareness of Advertising Co-Creation Help or Hurt Persuasion? , 2013 .

[47]  Christina Goulding,et al.  Working Weeks, Rave Weekends: Identity Fragmentation and the Emergence of New Communities , 2002 .

[48]  Craig J Thompson.  Interpreting Consumers: A Hermeneutical Framework for Deriving Marketing Insights from the Texts of Consumers’ Consumption Stories , 1997 .