The Individual's Disposition to Trust as a Moderator of the Relationship between Electronic Words-of-mouth and Consumer Brand Attitude

摘要

With the development of Internet, electronic words-of-mouth (eWOM) becomes an important means for consumers to be familiar with brands. Because of the characteristics of Internet anonymity, the individual's disposition to trust becomes an important variable in studying eWOM. However, research on eWOM spreading is scarce. After differentiating two dimensions of eWOM (positive eWOM and negative eWOM), the author explores the effects of two dimensions of eWOM on consumer brand attitude, and the moderating effects of the individual's disposition to trust. Empirical results show that positive eWOM is positively related to consumer brand attitude, and negative eWOM is negatively related to consumer brand attitude. What's more, the individual's disposition to trust significantly moderates the effect of positive eWOM on brand attitude, specifically, positive eWOM has a positive effect on brand attitude when disposition to trust is high and no significant effect when it is low;the individual's disposition to trust doesn't significantly moderate the effect of negative eWOM on brand attitude. The results of this article provide specific managerial guidelines as to how to take full advantage of positive eWOM to form positive brand attitude and avoid negative eWOM to form negative brand attitude.