When does electronic word-of-mouth matter? A study of consumer product reviews

摘要

Consumers may have two types of goals namely, prevention or promotion. The views expressed by the consumers in their review of the product in electronic word of mouth (eWOM). This study proposes that the consumption goal that consumers associate with the reviewed product which is contextual variable, moderates the effect of review valence on persuasiveness. For instance a photo editing software to create an ideal picture will invoke positive valence while an antivirus soft ware to avoid a system crash will attract a negative valence. This paper extends WOM to virtual products which have no social cues and there by the reviews are influenced by the product characteristics. This paper also examines the WOM valence on persuasiveness.