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ANTECEDENTS OF E-WOM INFORMATION DIFFUSION
The rapid development of the internet has enlarged the scale and scope of marketing communication and supported a base for electronic word–of-mouth (e-WOM). According to Bickart and Schindler (2001), e-WOM usually includes personal experiences and opinions transmitted via the written words in virtual social networks. Studies on e-WOM in virtual communities suggest that e-WOM strongly influences attitudes and behaviors of consumers and thus importance of e-WOM is growing in marketing communication and advertising.
Accordingly, a lot of researchers have investigated to identify factors influencing e-WOM activity. Noticeably, characteristics of e-WOM receivers (e.g. Awad & Ragowsky, 2008; Godes & Mayzlin, 2004) and usage experiences of e-WOM in Social Network Service (SNS) (e.g. Flanagin & Metzer, 2000; Johnson, Kaye, Bicard, & Wong, 2008) have been frequently examined. These factors are expected to contribute to a research model in the current research.
Based on previous studies, this research investigates factors which have a positive impact on diffusion of e-WOM information. Specifically, three characteristics of e-WOM receivers are suggested as antecedents: perception of instrumentality of e-WOM, perception of usefulness of e-WOM, and perception of trust in e-WOM. In addition, a moderating variable is proposed: usage experiences of e-WOM.
A Structured questionnaire is designed to measure the proposed factors and diffusion of e-WOM information with a five-point Likert scale. An online survey is used to collect responses of consumers who have experienced e-WOM information on a certain goods or services in SNS within the last three months. 358 usable responses are used for statistical analyses to examine the proposed research model.
This study will contribute to the e-WOM research field where there is little published work to identify characteristics of e-WOM receivers and their effects on diffusion of e-WOM information, suggest the model of information processing of e-WOM, and consider both roles of e-WOM receivers and senders of consumers. It may also provide managerial implications to devise a better marketing communication strategy by harnessing e-WOM and encouraging influential individuals as considerable promoters to shape the scope of advertising and e-WOM processes.
