The Effects of Electronic Word-of-Mouth: An Exploratory Study.

Although marketing and advertising professionals tend to believe the effectiveness of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), few studies have confirmed the eWOM effects. Therefore, this study conducted a test of eWOM effects in a laboratory experiment. Subjects were randomly assigned into three groups: advertising only, advertising and positive eWOM, and advertising and negative eWOM. Results showed that eWOM possesses influences on consumers attitudes and purchase intentions, however the effects of positive eWOM are very limited. Results also showed that the effects of negative eWOM carry more weight than positive eWOM. This study also uncovered the complexity of eWOM effects. It is likely that the eWOM effects on changing attitude toward the brand are more direct and significant than the effects on attitude toward the ad and purchase intention. Besides, the effectiveness of eWOM may rest on the fulfillment of other antecedents. Implications for marketing practice were discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Communication

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Communication and Journalism

Year

2009

Author dc:creator

• Li, Bodi

Contributors dc:contributor

• Werder, Olaf
• Schaefer, Richard
• McGivern, Elaine

• Electronic Word-of-Mouth
• eWOM
• Word-of-Mouth
• online customer review
• WOM
• Diffusion of Innovations

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cj_etds/59

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalrepository.unm.edu:cj_etds-1058