Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Persuasiveness of eWOM Communications

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) in the Marketing Context

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Business ((BRIEFSBUSINESS))

  • 4668 Accesses

Abstract

Consumers use eWOM as one of the most important information sources to make buying decisions (Tsao and Hsieh 2015). Persuasiveness of eWOM communications is linked with the credibility and helpfulness of the content. Studies show that eWOM is perceived as more credible and relevant to customers than market created sources of information on the Internet (Gruen et al. 2006). Many studies prove the link between credibility and helpfulness of eWOM and information adoption, which can influence consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions and, hence, sales (Cheung 2014; Cheung et al. 2009; Lis 2013; Teng et al. 2014). Thus, it is important to understand how consumers evaluate persuasiveness of eWOM (O’Reilly and Marx 2011).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abrantes JL, Seabra C, Lages CR, Jayawardhena C (2013) Drivers of in-group and out-of-group electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Eur J Market 47(7):1067–1088

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad SN, Laroche M (2015) How do expressed emotions affect the helpfulness of a product review? Evidence from reviews using latent semantic analysis. Int J Electr Comm 20(1):76–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baek H, Ahn J, Choi Y (2012) Helpfulness of online consumer reviews: readers’ objectives and review cues. Int J Electron Commer 17(2):99–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bone PF (1995) Word-of-mouth effects on short-term and long-term product judgments. J Bus Res 32(3):213–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breazeale M (2009) An assessment of electronic word-of-mouth research. Int J Mark Res 51(3):297–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown J, Broderick AJ, Lee N (2007) Word of mouth communication within online communities: conceptualizing the online social network. J Interact Mark 21(3):2–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaiken S (1980) Heuristic versus systematic information processing and the use of source versus message cues in persuasion. J Pers Soc Psychol 39(5):752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang HH, Wu LH (2014) An examination of negative e-WOM adoption: brand commitment as a moderator. Decis Support Syst 59:206–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlton G (2009) How Amazon made $2.7bn with one small tweak. https://econsultancy.com/blog/3521-how-amazon-made-2-7bn-with-one-small-tweak. Assessed 8 Aug 2016

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen PY, Dhanasobhon S, Smith MD (2008) All reviews are not created equal: the disaggregate impact of reviews and reviewers at amazon. com. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=918083 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.918083

  • Chen Y-L, Tang K, Wu C-C, Jheng R-Y (2014) Predicting the influence of users’ posted information for eWOM advertising in social networks. Electron Commer Res Appl 13:431–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng Y-H, Ho H-Y (2015) Social influence’s impact on reader perceptions of online reviews. J Bus Res 68:883–887

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng X, Zhou M (2010) Empirical study on credibility of electronic word of mouth. Paper presented at the 2010 international conference on management and service science, MASS 2010

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheung R (2014) The influence of electronic word-of-mouth on information adoption in online customer communities. Global Econ Rev 43(1):42–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung CMK, Lee MKO (2012) What drives consumers to spread electronic word of mouth in online consumer-opinion platforms. Decis Support Syst 53(1):218–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung CM, Thadani DR (2010) The effectiveness of electronic word-of-mouth communication: a literature analysis. In: Proceedings of the 23rd Bled eConference eTrust: implications for the individual, enterprises and society, p 329–345

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheung CM, Thadani DR (2012) The impact of electronic word-of-mouth communication: a literature analysis and integrative model. Decis Support Syst 54(1):461–470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung CM, Lee MK, Rabjohn N (2008) The impact of electronic word-of-mouth: the adoption of online opinions in online customer communities. Internet Res 18(3):229–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung MY, Luo C, Sia CL, Chen H (2009a) Credibility of electronic word-of-mouth: informational and normative determinants of on-line consumer recommendations. Int J Electron Commer 13(4):9–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung CMY, Sia CL, Kuan KK (2012) Is this review believable? A study of factors affecting the credibility of online consumer reviews from an ELM perspective. J Assoc Inf Syst 13(8):618

    Google Scholar 

  • Chevalier JA, Mayzlin D (2006) The effect of word of mouth on sales: online book reviews. J Mark Res 43(3):345–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chih W-H, Wang K-Y, Hsu L-C, Huang S-C (2013) Investigating electronic word-of-mouth effects on online discussion forums: the role of perceived positive electronic word-of-mouth review credibility. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw 16(9):658–668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiou JS, Cheng C (2003) Should a company have message boards on its web sites? J Interact Mark 17(3):50–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chu SC, Kamal S (2008) The effect of perceived blogger credibility and argument quality on message elaboration and brand attitudes: an exploratory study. J Interact Advert 8(2):26–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daugherty T, Hoffman E (2014) eWOM and the importance of capturing consumer attention within social media. J Mark Commun 20(1-2):82–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David A, Glore PR (2010) The impact of design and aesthetics on usability, credibility, and learning in an online environment. J Distance Learn Adm 13(4)

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis FD (1989) Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Q 13:319–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doh SJ, Hwang JS (2009) How consumers evaluate eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) messages. Cyberpsychol Behav 12(2):193–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duan W, Gu B, Whinston AB (2008) The dynamics of online word-of-mouth and product sales—an empirical investigation of the movie industry.J Retail, 84(2), 233-242

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan J (2011) Research on the external factors of consumers releasing online comments. Paper presented at the proceedings of 2011 international conference on electronic and mechanical engineering and information technology, EMEIT 2011. p 3819–3823

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan X, Sun J (2012) Empirical study of the processes of internet Word-of-Mouth within an online community context. In: Proceeding of 2012 international symposium on management of technology (Ismot'2012), p 624–629

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan YW, Miao YF, Fang YH, Lin RY (2013) Establishing the adoption of electronic word-of-mouth through consumers’ perceived credibility. Int Bus Res 6(3):58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fogg BJ, Marshall J, Laraki O, Osipovich A, Varma C, Fang N, Treinen M (2001) What makes Web sites credible?: A report on a large quantitative study. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems. p 61–68. ACM

    Google Scholar 

  • Fogg BJ, Soohoo C, Danielson DR, Marable L, Stanford J, Tauber ER (2003) How do users evaluate the credibility of Web sites?: a study with over 2,500 participants. In: Proceedings of the 2003 conference on designing for user experiences. p 1–15. ACM

    Google Scholar 

  • Fong J, Burton S (2006) Online word-of-mouth: a comparison of American and Chinese discussion boards. Qual Res Organizations Manage 18(2):146–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Furner CP, Zinko RA (2016) The influence of information overload on the development of trust and purchase intention based on online product reviews in a mobile vs. web environment: an empirical investigation. Electron Mark:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruen TW, Osmonbekov T, Czaplewski AJ (2006) eWOM: the impact of customer-to-customer online know-how exchange on customer value and loyalty. J Bus Res 59(4):449–456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo G, Chen K, He F (2009a) An empirical study on the influence of perceived credibility of online consumer reviews. J Chin Mark 3(1):13–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Hao Y, Ye Q, Li Y, Cheng Z (2010) How does the valence of online consumer reviews matter in consumer decision making? Differences between search goods and experience goods. In: System sciences (HICSS), 2010 43rd Hawaii international conference on. p 1–10. IEEE

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho HY, Chien PHC (2010) Influence of message trust in online word-of-mouth on consumer behavior–by the example of food blog. In: Electronics and Information engineering (ICEIE), 2010 International Conference On (vol. 1, pp. V1-395). IEEE

    Google Scholar 

  • Hajli, N. (2016). Ethical environment in the online communities by information credibility: a social media perspective. J Bus Ethics 1–12. doi:10.1007/s10551-016-3036-7

  • Hu N, Liu L, Sambamurthy V (2011) Fraud detection in online consumer reviews. Decis Support Syst 50:614–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang YK, Yang WI, Lin TMY, Shih TY (2012) Judgment criteria for the authenticity of internet book reviews. Libr Inf Sci Res 34:150–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ismagilova E, Slade E, Williams M (2016) Persuasiveness of eWOM communications: literature review and suggestions for future research. In Dwivedi et al. YK (eds) Proceedings of 15th IFIP WG 6.11 Conference on e-Business, e-Services, and e-Society (I3E 2016), Swansea, UK, September 13–15, p 354-359, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen ML, Averbeck JM, Zhang Z, Wright KB (2013) Credibility of anonymous online product reviews: a language expectancy perspective. J Manage Inf Syst 30(1):293–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeong H-J, Koo D-M (2015) Combined effects of valence and attributes of e-WOM on consumer judgment for message and product. The moderating effect of brand community type. Int Rescuer 25(1):2–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeong H, Moon J (2009) Virtual social identity development for customer electronic word-of-mouth participation. Paper presented at the proceedings of the international conference on electronic business (ICEB), p 243–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Jin X-L, Xiang L, Lee MKO, Cheung CMK, Zhou Z, Zhao DT (2010) Electronic word-of-mouth contribution continuance in online opinion platforms: the role of multiple commitments. Paper presented at the PACIS 2010–14th Pacific Asia conference on information systems, p 1564–1571

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim J, Gupta P (2012) Emotional expressions in online user reviews: how they influence consumers’ product evaluations. J Bus Res 65(7):985–992

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kline DB (2015) Amazon takes a big step to ensure credible reviews. http://wwwfoolcom/investing/general/2015/10/23/amazon-takes-a-big-step-to-ensure-credible-reviewsaspx. Accessed 8 Aug 2016

    Google Scholar 

  • Koo DM (2016) Impact of tie strength and experience on the effectiveness of online service recommendations. Electron Commer Res Appl 15:38–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ku YC, Wei CP, Hsiao HW (2012) To whom should I listen? Finding reputable reviewers in opinion-sharing communities. Decis Support Syst 53(3):534–542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kulmala M, Mesiranta N, Tuominen P (2013) Organic and amplified eWOM in consumer fashion blogs. J Fashion Mark Manage 17(1):20–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson LRL, Denton LT (2014) eWOM watchdogs: ego-threatening product domains and the policing of positive online reviews. Psychol Mark 31(9):801–811

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee K, Yi H (2010) Effects of the valence of eWOM on perceived message credibility. J Internet Electron Commer Res 10(4):75–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee M, Youn S (2009) Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) How eWOM platforms influence consumer product judgement. Int J Advert 28(3):473–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee M, Rodgers S, Kim M (2009) Effects of valence and extremity of eWOM on attitude toward the brand and website. J Curr Issues Res Advert 31(2):1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy S, Gvili Y (2015) How credible is e-word of mouth across digital-marketing channels? The roles of social capital, information richness, and interactivity. J Advert Res 55(1):95–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim YS, Van Der Heide B (2015) Evaluating the wisdom of strangers: the perceived credibility of online consumer reviews on Yelp. J Comput Mediat Commun 20(1):67–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin TM, Lu KY, Wu JJ (2012) The effects of visual information in eWOM communication. J Res Interact Mark 6(1):7–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lis B (2013) In eWOM we trust a framework of factors that determine the eWOM credibility. Bus Inf Syst Eng 5(3):129–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lockie M, Waiguny MKJ, Grabner-Kräuter S (2015) How style, information depth and textual characteristics influence the usefulness of general practitioners’ reviews. Aust Mark J 23(3):168–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo C, Li W, Fu X, Zeng T, Lan Y (2014a) Managing uncertainty on eWOM: A comparison study between commercial and third party websites. Paper presented at the proceedings—Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, PACIS 2014

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo C, Wu J, Shi Y, Xu Y (2014b) The effects of individualism-collectivism cultural orientation on eWOM information. Int J Inf Manage 34:446–456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo C, Luo X, Xu Y, Warkentin M, Sia CL (2015) Examining the moderating role of sense of membership in online review evaluations. Inf Manage 52(3):305–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayzlin D (2006) Promotional chat on the Internet. Mark Sci 25((2)):155–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKnight DH, Choudhury V, Kacmar C (2002) The impact of initial consumer trust on intentions to transact with a web site: a trust building model. J Strateg Inf Syst 11(3):297–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metzger MJ (2007) Making sense of credibility on the web: models for evaluating online information and recommendations for future research. J Am Soc Inf Sci Technol 58(13):2078–2091

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell AA, Dacin PA (1996) The assessment of alternative measures of consumer expertise. J Consum Res 23(3):219–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore SG (2015) Attitude predictability and helpfulness in online reviews: the role of explained actions and reactions. J Consum Res 42(1):30–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moran G, Muzellec L (2014) eWOM credibility on social networking sites: a framework. J Mark Commun:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Mudambi SM, Schuff D (2010) What makes a helpful review? A study of customer reviews on Amazon com. MIS Q 34(1):185–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen C, Romaniuk J (2014) Pass it on: a framework for classifying the content of word of mouth. Aust Mark J 22(2):117–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pan X (2014) The path of influence of e-WOM on consumer purchase intention-based on electronic commerce in China. J Chem Pharm Res 6(6):976–983

    Google Scholar 

  • Pan L-Y, Chiou J-S (2011) How much can you trust online information? Cues for perceived trustworthiness of consumer-generated online information. J Interact Mark 25(2):67–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park D-H (2008a) The cognitive fit between the representation format of online consumer reviews and the level of consumer involvement. Paper presented at the 16th European conference on information systems, ECIS 2008

    Google Scholar 

  • Park JR (2008b) Linguistic politeness and face‐work in computer mediated communication, Part 2: an application of the theoretical framework. J Am Soc Inf Sci Technol 59(14):2199–2209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park D-H, Kim S (2008) The effects of consumer knowledge on message processing of electronic word-of-mouth via online consumer reviews. Electron Commer Res Appl 7(4):399–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park D-H, Lee J (2008) eWOM overload and its effect on consumer behavioral intention depending on consumer involvement. Electron Commer Res Appl 7(4):386–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park D-H, Lee J, Han I (2007) The effect of on-line consumer reviews on consumer purchasing intention: the moderating role of involvement. Int J Electron Commer 11(4):125–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peng CH, Yin D, Wei CP, Zhang H (2014) How and when review length and emotional intensity influence review helpfulness: empirical evidence from Epinions. com. In: Thirty fifth international conference on information systems, Auckland

    Google Scholar 

  • Petty RE, Cacioppo JT (1984) The effects of involvement on responses to argument quantity and quality: central and peripheral routes to persuasion. J Pers Soc Psychol 46(1):69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petty RE, Cacioppo JT (1986) The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. Springer, New York, pp 1–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollach I (2006) Electronic word of mouth: a genre analysis of product reviews on consumer opinion web sites. Paper presented at the annual Hawaii international conference on system sciences

    Google Scholar 

  • Purnawirawan N, Eisend M, De Pelsmacker P, Dens N (2015) A meta-analytic investigation of the role of valence in online reviews. J Interact Mark 31:17–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu L, Pang J, Lim KH (2012) Effects of conflicting aggregated rating on eWOM review credibility and diagnosticity: the moderating role of review valence. Decis Support Syst 54(1):631–643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reichelt J, Sievert J, Jacob F (2014) How credibility affects eWOM reading: the influences of expertise, trustworthiness, and similarity on utilitarian and social functions. J Mark Commun 20(1-2):65–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson R, Goh TT, Zhang R (2012) Textual factors in online product reviews: a foundation for a more influential approach to opinion mining. Electron Commer Res 12(3):301–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell J, Jarvis M (2003). Angles on applied psychology. Nelson Thornes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sher PJ, Lee SH (2009) Consumer skepticism and online reviews: an elaboration likelihood model perspective. Soc Behav Pers Int J 37(1):137–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shuang Y (2013) Effects of information quality and source credibility on EWOM adoption in context of virtual community. Paper presented at the international conference on management science and engineering—annual conference proceedings, p 194–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh JP, Irani S, Rana NP, Dwivedi YK, Saumya S, Roy PK (2016) Predicting the “helpfulness” of online consumer reviews. J Bus Res 70:346–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sussan F, Gould S, Weisfeld-Spolter S (2006) Location, location, location: the relative roles of virtual location, online word-of-mouth (Ewom) and advertising in the new-product adoption process. In: Pechmann C, Price L (eds) NA—advances in consumer research, vol vol 33. Association for Consumer Research, Duluth, pp 649–650

    Google Scholar 

  • Sussman SW, Siegal WS (2003) Informational influence in organizations: an integrated approach to knowledge adoption. Inf Syst Res 14(1):47–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teng S, Khong KW, Goh WW, Chong AYL (2014) Examining the antecedents of persuasive eWOM messages in social media. Online Inf Rev 38(6):746–768

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsao WC, Hsieh MT (2015) eWOM persuasiveness: do eWOM platforms and product type matter? Electro Commer Res 15(4):509–541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Wei K-K (2006) Consumers’ acceptance of electronic word-of-mouth recommendations: effects of multiple communication elements and processing motivation. Paper presented at the ICIS 2006 proceedings—twenty seventh international conference on information systems, p781–790

    Google Scholar 

  • Wathen CN, Burkell J (2002) Believe it or not: factors influencing credibility on the Web. J Am Soc Inf Sci Technol 53(2):134–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weathers D, Swain SD, Grover V (2015) Can online product reviews be more helpful? Examining characteristics of information content by product type. Decis Support Syst 79:12–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White TB (2005) Consumer trust and advice acceptance: the moderating roles of benevolence, expertise, and negative emotions. J Consult Psychol 15(2):141–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willemsen LM, Neijens PC, Bronner F, de Ridder JA (2011) “Highly recommended!” The content characteristics and perceived usefulness of online consumer reviews. J Comput Mediat Commun 17(1):19–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willemsen LM, Neijens PC, Bronner F (2012) The ironic effect of source identificationon the perceived credibility of online product reviewers. J Comput Mediat Communi 18(1):16–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu PF (2013) In search of negativity bias: an empirical study of perceived helpfulness of online reviews. Psychol Mark 30(11):971–984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yan J, Jiang Q, Adam Z, Fu C (2011) The role of eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) message format and direction impact on perceived informativeness of prospective browsing online consumers. In: Service systems and service management (ICSSSM), 2011 8th international conference on (p 1–5). IEEE

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin D, Bond S, Zhang H (2014) Anxious or angry? Effects of discrete emotions on the perceived helpfulness of online reviews. MIS Q 38(2):539–560

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu Y-W, Natalia Y (2013) The effect of user generated video reviews on consumer purchase intention. In: 2013 Seventh international conference on innovative mobile and internet services in ubiquitous computing (Imis 2013), p 796–800

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang W, Watts S (2004) Knowledge adoption in online communities of practice. Syst Inf Manage 9(1):81–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang W, Watts SA (2008) Capitalizing on content: information adoption in two online communities. J Assoc Inf Syst 9(2):73

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang JQ, Craciun G, Shin D (2010) When does electronic word-of-mouth matter? A study of consumer product reviews. J Bus Res 63(12):1336–1341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziegele M, Weber M (2015) Example, please! Comparing the effects of single customer reviews and aggregate review scores on online shoppers’ product evaluations. J Consum Behav 14(2):103–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emerging Markets Research Centre (EMaRC), School of Management, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK

    Elvira Ismagilova & Yogesh K. Dwivedi

  2. School of Management, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK

    Emma Slade & Michael D. Williams

Authors
  1. Elvira Ismagilova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yogesh K. Dwivedi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Emma Slade
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael D. Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ismagilova, E., Dwivedi, Y.K., Slade, E., Williams, M.D. (2017). Persuasiveness of eWOM Communications. In: Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) in the Marketing Context. SpringerBriefs in Business. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52459-7_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation