ELECTRONIC WORD-OF-MOUTH SYSTEMS: CONSUMPTION INFORMATION CONTRIBUTION AND ACCEPTANCE WANG XINWEI (B. Eng, Dalian University of Technology; M. Sc, NUS) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2007 i ACKNOWLEGEMENT This dissertation could not have been written and accomplished without the generous help provided by many people throughout the way. My heartfelt thank first goes to Dr. Wei Kwok-Kee, for taking a chance with me and for being a mentor since the first day I embarked on the research journey. He is always dependable for invaluable advice and support whenever they are needed. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Teo Hock-Hai, who unremittingly has coached me through moments of both joy and despair. He has always been accessible for discussions and for providing advice and mentoring at any time of need. His insight, knowledge, and experience have tremendously helped improve the dissertation. I am also grateful to Prof. K. S. Raman, who has always shown his interest and confidence in my research. I would like to thank the other members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Chan Hock-Chuan, Dr. Sharon Tan, Dr. Jiang Zhenhui, Dr. Xu Yunjie, and Dr. Tang Qian for their valuable suggestions at different stages of my research. I am also full of gratitude to Dr. Sia Choon-Ling and Dr. Izak Benbasat for providing comments on my studies. I thank Mr. Tang Biao for helping me develop the experimental systems; Mr. Tan Chuan Hoo, Ms. Yang Xue, and Mr. Yu Jie for helping me administer the experiments; and Dr. Xu Heng for giving me suggestions on conducting online survey. I would also like to thank my other friends who have helped me in one way or another. ii Last, but not least, I thank my parents, from whom I have never failed to gain strong support and encouragement. I thank my husband, Zhou Bo. He has not only shown great understanding of my study, but also provided enormous advice. This dissertation would not have been possible without his support. I thank my daughter, Lingyue, for making me happy and proud. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEGEMENT .II TABLE OF CONTENTS . IV LIST OF TABLES . VIII LIST OF FIGURES X SUMMARY . XI CHAPTER .1 INTRODUCTION The Background of Word-of-Mouth .2 Electronic Word-of-mouth and Electronic Word-of-mouth Systems Comparison of Word-of-mouth and Electronic Word-of-mouth .7 1.1. 1.2. 1.3. 1.3.1. 1.3.2. 1.4. 1.5. 1.6. 1.7. Comparison of WOM and EWOM from the Information Contributors’ Perspective Comparison of WOM and EWOM from the Information User’s Perspective . 11 Analysis of Current Related Studies 12 Research Focus and Questions .14 Potential Contributions .15 Thesis Organization 17 CHAPTER .19 LITERATURE REVIEW .19 Overview of the Literature .19 Literature for EWOM Information Contribution (Theme 1) .21 2.1. 2.2. 2.2.1. Literature on WOM Information Contribution 21 2.2.1.1 2.2.1.2 2.2.1.3. 2.2.1.4. 2.2.1.5. 2.2.2. Goal Theories . 27 2.2.2.1. 2.2.2.2. 2.3. Communication-related Factors . 22 Consumption-related Factors . 23 Self-related Factors 24 Others-related Factors . 25 EWOM Information Contribution 25 The Information Processing Perspective on Goal Operation . 28 The Automatic Perspective on Goal Operation 30 Literature for EWOM Information Acceptance (Theme 2) 33 2.3.1. Accessibility-Diagnosticity Model . 34 2.3.1.1. 2.3.1.2. 2.3.2. Informant Credibility . 39 2.3.2.1. 2.3.2.2. 2.3.3. The Model . 34 The Antecedent of Information Diagnosticity 37 The Definition of Informant Credibility 39 The Antecedent of Informant Credibility . 40 Elaboration Likelihood Model . 41 CHAPTER .45 THE THEME STUDY - CONSUMER INFORMATION CONTRIBUTION TO EWOMS .45 3.1. The Research Model and Hypotheses 45 iv 3.1.1. Factors Operating through Unconscious Process . 47 3.1.1.1. 3.1.1.2. 3.1.1.3. 3.1.2. Factors Operating through Conscious Process . 51 3.1.2.1. 3.1.2.2. 3.1.2.3. 3.2. The Effect of Internet Communication Dependence . 47 The Effect of Personal Information Systems Innovativeness 49 The Effect of Opinion Leadership Disposition . 50 The Effect of System Economic Incentive Stimuli . 52 The Effect of Status Incentives Stimuli 53 The Effect of Consumption Reciprocation Goals . 55 Research Methodology 58 3.2.1. Operationalization of Constructs 58 3.2.1.1. 3.2.1.2. 3.2.1.3. 3.2.1.4. 3.2.1.5. 3.2.1.6. 3.2.1.7. 3.2.1.8. 3.2.1.9. 3.2.1.10. 3.2.1.11. 3.2.2. 3.2.3. 3.2.4. 3.2.5. Internet-based Communication Dependence (ICD) . 58 Personal Information Systems Innovativeness (INN) 59 Opinion Leadership (OPL) . 59 Attractiveness of Economic Rewards (AEC) 60 Attainment Expectancy of Economic Rewards (EEC) 60 Attractiveness of Status Incentives (AST) . 60 Attainment Expectancy of Status Incentives (EST) . 61 Attractiveness of Positive Product Reciprocation (APR) 61 Attractiveness of Negative Product Reciprocation (ANR) 62 Decision Influence Ability of EWOMS (DIA) . 62 Likelihood of Information Contribution to EWOMS (LIK) 63 The Experiment Design and Stimuli 63 The Experiment Subjects and Procedure . 67 Pilot Study 68 Control Variables . 68 Data Analysis and Results 69 3.3. 3.3.1. 3.3.2. Manipulation Checks . 69 The Assessment of the Measurement Instruments . 72 3.3.2.1. 3.3.2.2. 3.3.2.3. 3.3.2.4. 3.3.2.5. 3.3.3. 3.3.4. The Assessment of Instrument Reliability . 72 Exploratory Factor Analysis . 73 The Assessment of Normality . 74 The Assessment of Multicollinearity 74 The Assessment of Discriminant Validity . 76 Hypothesis Testing . 78 Control Variables . 81 Discussion and Implications .82 3.4. 3.4.1. Discussion of Results . 82 3.4.1.1. 3.4.1.2. 3.4.1.3. 3.4.2. Contributions and Implications 87 3.4.2.1. 3.4.2.2. 3.4.3. Discussion of the Unconscious Effects 82 Discussion of the Conscious Effects 83 Discussion of the Relationship between Unconscious and Conscious Effects . 86 Theoretical Implications 87 Practical Implications 89 Potential Limitations and Future Studies . 91 CHAPTER .94 THE THEME STUDY - CONSUMER ACCEPTENCE OF INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM EWOMS .94 4.1. The Research Model and Hypotheses 94 4.1.1. The Impact of Information Factor on EWOM Recommendation Acceptance . 95 4.1.1.1. 4.1.1.2. 4.1.2. The Impact of Informant Factor on EWOM Recommendation Acceptance 99 4.1.2.1. 4.1.2.2. 4.1.3. The Impact of Information Diagnosticity 95 The Antecedent of Information Diagnosticity 97 The Impact of Informant Credibility . 99 The Antecedent of Information Credibility 100 The Effects of EWOMS Decision Aid Indicators 102 v The Effects of Decision Aid Indicators on Diagnosticity and Recommendation Acceptance 103 4.1.3.1 4.1.4. The Moderating Effects of the Consumer’s Need for Cognition . 104 4.1.4.1. 4.1.4.2. 4.1.4.3. 4.2. The Moderating Effect of NFC on the Operation of Information-Need Congruence . 106 The Moderating Effect of NFC on the Operation of Concentration of Information Provision 108 The Moderating Effects of NFC on the Operation of System Decision Aids 109 Research Methodology 110 4.2.1. 4.2.2. 4.2.3. Laboratory Experiment Method . 110 Stimulus Development . 111 Study Variables 112 4.2.3.1. 4.2.3.2. 4.2.3.3. 4.2.3.4. 4.2.4. 4.2.5. Independent Variables . 112 Moderating Variable 114 Dependent Variables 114 Control Variables . 116 Pretest . 117 Study Procedure . 118 Data Analysis and Results 120 4.3. 4.3.1. 4.3.2. Manipulation and Control Checks 120 Assessment of the Instruments . 122 4.3.2.1. 4.3.2.2. 4.3.2.3. 4.3.2.4. 4.3.2.5. 4.3.2.6. 4.3.3. Exploratory Factor Analysis . 122 Normality Test 123 Assessing Multicollinearity . 124 Reliability Assessment . 124 Convergent Validity Assessment 125 Discriminant Validity . 125 Hypotheses Testing 126 4.3.3.1. 4.3.3.2. 4.3.3.3. 4.3.3.5. Testing the Effects of Information Diagnosticity and Informant Credibility on EWOM Recommendation Acceptance 126 Testing the Effects on Information Diagnosticity . 127 Testing the Effects on Informant Credibility 131 Further Analysis . 133 Discussions .135 4.4. 4.4.1. Discussion of Findings . 135 4.4.1.1. 4.4.1.2. 4.4.2. Study Contributions and Implications 142 4.4.2.1. 4.4.2.2. 4.4.2.3. 4.5. 4.5.1. 4.5.2. How Do EWOM Information Characteristics Affect EWOM Recommendation Acceptance? 137 How Do EWOM Informant Characteristics Affect EWOM Recommendation Acceptance? 139 Study Contributions . 142 Theoretical Implications 143 Practical Implications 145 Conclusions 146 Potential Limitations 146 Future Study Directions . 147 CHAPTER .150 CONCLUSION 150 APPENDIX 1_A. RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT – ITEM-CONSTRUCT STATISTICS 166 APPENDIX 1_B. FACTOR ANALYSIS .174 APPENDIX 1_C. THE SCREENSHOTS OF EXPERIMENT WEBSITES 180 vi APPENDIX 1_D. THE MANIPULATION OF ECONOMIC REWARDS AND STATUS INCENTIVES IN SYSTEM INTRODUCTIONS 183 APPENDIX 1_E. QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDY 192 APPENDIX 2_A. RELIABILITIES OF CONSTRUCTS (ITEM SCALE CORRELATIONS) 213 APPENDIX 2_B. EXPERIMENT TASK 215 APPENDIX 2_C. SYSTEM DECISION AID ARTIFACTS MANIPULATION PRIOR TO SYSTEM EXPLORATION 216 APPENDIX 2_D. NEED-INFORMATION CONGRUENCE MANIPULATION IN THE EWOM INFORMATION 217 APPENDIX 2_E. QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDY 218 APPENDIX 2_F. SCREEN CAPTURES .222 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1. Summary of Major Studies on EWOM 13 Table 2.1. A summary of WOM Motivation Literature .23 Table 3.1. Operationalization of Internet Communication Dependence .58 Table 3.2. Operationalization of Personal Information Systems Innovativeness 59 Table 3.3. Operationalization of Opinion Leadership .59 Table 3.4. Operationalization of Attractiveness of Economic Rewards 60 Table 3.5. Operationalization of Attainment Expectancy of Economic Rewards .60 Table 3.6. Operationalization of Attractiveness of Status Incentive .61 Table 3.7. Operationalization of Attainment Expectancy of Status Incentives .61 Table 3.8. Operationalization of Attractiveness of Positive Product Reciprocation .61 Table 3.9. Operationalization of Attractiveness of Negative Product Reciprocation 62 Table 3.10. Operationalization of Decision Influence Ability of EWOMS 62 Table 3.11. Operationalization of Likelihood of Initiation of Information Contribution 63 Table 3.12. Summary of Experiment Treatments and Procedures 65 Table 3.13. Subjects Demographic Data 71 Table 3.14. Cronbach’s alpha and Normality Tests .73 Table 3.15. Multicollinearity Test .75 Table 3.16. Discriminant Tests 78 Table 3.17. The Regression Model 78 Table 3.18. Regression Analysis Results .79 Table 3.19. The Comparison of R-square of Full Model, Research Model, and Control Model .82 Table 4.1. Measurement Instrument for NFC 114 Table 4.2. The Measurement Instrument for Information Diagnosticity .115 Table 4.3. The Measurement Instrument for Informant Credibility 115 Table 4.4. The Measurement Instrument for Acceptance of Recommendation 116 Table 4.5. Experiment Subject Profile .119 Table 4.7. Factor Analysis Results 122 Table 4.8. Normality Tests .123 Table 4.9. Multicollinearity Tests 124 Table 4.10. Reliability and Convergent Validity Assessment .125 Table 4.11. Discriminant Validity Assessment 126 viii Table 4.12. The Results of Regression Analysis with ACPT 127 Table 4.13. The Results of Regression Analysis with DIAT .128 Table 4.14. Summary of ANOVA Tests on DIAT 129 Table 4.15. The Results of Regression Analysis with CRED 131 Table 4.16. Summary of ANOVA Tests on CRED .132 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. The Mechanisms of EWOM and WOM Figure 1.2. A Life Cycle View of EWOM .14 Figure 1.3. Research Focuses .15 Figure 2.1. Conceptual Stages of Information Processing .28 Figure 2.2. The Single and Dual Route Models of Goal Pursuit .31 Figure 2.3. A Process View of Product Information Acquisition and Acceptance .35 Figure 3.1. The Research Model for Theme Study .48 Figure 4.1. The Research Model for Theme Study .96 Figure 4.2. The Interaction Effect between Need-information Congruence and NFC on DIAT 130 Figure 4.3. The Interaction Effect between Status Indicator and NFC on EXPT 134 Figure 4.4. The Main Effect of NFC on EXPT 135 x Appendix 2_A. Reliabilities of Constructs (Item Scale Correlations) Item-Total Statistics for ACPT Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted ACPT1 14.02 11.634 0.794 0.869 ACPT2 14.08 11.803 0.857 0.845 ACPT3 14.00 12.652 0.742 0.887 ACPT4 13.94 12.610 0.732 0.890 Mean 18.68 Variance 20.958 Std. Deviation Corrected ItemTotal Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted N of Items 4.578 Cronbach's Alpha 0.902 Item-Total Statistics for DIAT Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted DIAT1 13.87 18.986 0.579 0.864 DIAT2 14.29 13.911 0.795 0.772 DIAT3 14.35 14.098 0.763 0.787 DIAT4 14.34 15.016 0.686 0.822 Mean 18.95 Variance 26.293 Std. Deviation Corrected ItemTotal Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted N of Items 5.128 Cronbach's Alpha 0.855 Item-Total Statistics for CRED Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted CRED1 20.90 22.130 0.733 0.850 CRED2 20.42 24.383 0.626 0.868 CRED3 20.83 23.611 0.655 0.863 CRED4 20.93 21.747 0.662 0.865 CRED5 20.88 22.150 0.736 0.850 CRED6 21.09 22.610 0.720 0.853 Mean 25.01 Variance 32.017 Std. Deviation 5.658 Corrected ItemTotal Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted N of Items Cronbach's Alpha 0.879 213 Item-Total Statistics for NFC Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted NFC1 14.40 23.136 0.729 0.792 NFC2 14.48 23.060 0.788 0.776 NFC3 14.72 23.671 0.823 0.771 NFC4 13.26 25.191 0.589 0.831 NFC5 13.77 27.812 0.386 0.884 Mean 17.66 Variance 36.965 Std. Deviation 6.080 Corrected ItemTotal Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted N of Items Cronbach's Alpha 0.845 214 Appendix 2_B. Experiment Task Assume that you will be going to Naples in Italy for the first time WITH ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS for the vacation. You and your friend decide to search and book a hotel online for your two-days’ stay in the city. While searching for the hotel, both of you have two (2) particular needs that you expect the hotel to meet. First you hope the hotel is easily accessible. Second, you would like the hotel to be located in a safe area. You and your friend have decided that you assume the responsibility of searching and choosing a hotel for the trip and your friend handles other tasks. After you have made the decision regarding whether to book a particular hotel, you will need to explain to your friend why you have made such a decision. Click the button to proceed when you finish reading the above task introduction. 215 Appendix 2_C. System Decision Aid Artifacts Manipulation Prior to System Exploration Common Part Helpfulness Indicator and Status Indicator Helpfulness Indicator Status Indicator No system Indicator Common Part You will be browsing a set of Web pages. Assume these Web pages are taken from a consumer feedback website for hotel searching and booking. This website recommends hotels based on other consumers' reviews and recommendations. The website has certain indicators associated with consumer recommendations to aid decision making. One important indicator is on the helpfulness of consumer reviews. A review is deemed helpful based on other consumers' comments and feedbacks on the review. Another indicator, top reviewer, is related to the consumer who has submitted a review to the website, i.e., the reviewer. The reviewer acquires the top reviewer status if he/she is an authenticated consumer who has registered with the consumer feedback website and provides high quality reviews that are well-received by consumers. The website has certain indicators associated with consumer recommendations to aid decision making. One important indicator is on the helpfulness of consumer reviews. A review is deemed helpful based on other consumers' comments and feedbacks on the review. The website has certain indicators associated with consumer recommendations to aid decision making. One important indicator, top reviewer, is related to the consumer who has submitted a review to the website, i.e., the reviewer. The reviewer acquires the top reviewer status if he/she is an authenticated consumer who has registered with the consumer feedback website and provides high quality reviews that are well-received by consumers. None Assume what you are going to browse is the consumer feedback website that you come across when conducting an online hotel search. You are to make the decision as to whether or not to accept the recommendation from this website to book the hotel. While browsing the Web pages, you can stop at any time once you have made up your mind as to whether or not you accept the website's recommendation of the hotel. The exit buttons are provided on each Web page. Once you want to stop exploring the Web pages, simply scroll down to click on the EXIT button. However, you will NOT be allowed to go back again once you exit. Please click the button below to start browsing the hotel recommendation website. 216 Appendix 2_D. Need-information Congruence Manipulation in the EWOM Information Congruence Incongruence I have just returned from Naples, Italy. I stayed in the hotel Novella for days during my trip to Naples. After arriving at the hotel lobby, I was approached by friendly and helpful staff who helped to create a welcoming atmosphere in the hotel. The check-in process was efficient. The hotel is close to the subway so you can get there from the airport and train station straightway. The hotel is located in a quiet yet safe neighborhood and you don't need to worry if you come back late in the night. Both the room and bathroom were clean. I had my breakfast in the hotel restaurant which offered a lot of choices. The food quality was quite good. I would like to recommend hotel Novella to other tourists I have just returned from Naples, Italy. I stayed in the hotel Novella for days during my trip to Naples. After arriving at the hotel lobby, I was approached by friendly and helpful staff who helped to create a welcoming atmosphere in the hotel. The check-in process was efficient. The hotel was decorated in a tasteful and pleasant manner. The furniture went well with the decoration style and the materials used were of high quality. The room contained all essential amenities such as TV, minibar, fridge, hairdryer and was well maintained. Both the room and bathroom were clean. I had my breakfast in the hotel restaurant which offered a lot of choices. The food quality was quite good. I would like to recommend hotel Novella to other tourists. 217 Appendix 2_E. Questionnaires for Study Pre-expriment Questionnaire Section A. Please provide some information about yourself. A1 Gender: [] Male [] Female A2 Age [] Below 19 [] 20-24 [] 25-29 A3 School year: [] 1st year [] 2nd year [] 3rd year [] Honors year [] Postgraduate A4 Which school/faculty are you from? A5 How often you use the Internet? A6 Please indicate the number of times in the past six months you purchase products or information from a Web site. Section B. Please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with each statement. Strongly Neutral Strongly Disagree Agree B1 I travel a lot. B2 I am an experienced traveler. B3 I search traveling information online. B4 To me, the internet is the major source of traveling information. B5 I am familiar with hotel booking for traveling. B6 I know how to book a hotel to meet my traveling needs. B7 I rely on the Internet to search hotels when arranging my travel trips. B8 I book hotels on the internet when planning my traveling. B9 I have online hotel searching experience. B10 I have online hotel booking experience. 218 Section C. Below are some general questions that are not related to your task. Please indicate your agreement/disagreement with the following statements. Strongly Neutral Strongly Disagree Agree C1 I not like to a lot of thinking C2 I try to avoid situations that require thinking indepth about something. C3 I try to avoid doing something that challenges my thinking abilities. C4 I prefer simple problems to complex problems C5 Thinking hard and for a long time about something gives me little satisfaction Pre-expriment Questionnaire In the webpage you have just viewed, you are told that you will be going for an overseas trip and are looking for a hotel. We would like to know your understanding of the information given. Section A. What are the particular needs you would like the hotel to meet as instructed in the webpage? A1 The hotel should be clean. [] True [] False A2 The hotel should be easily accessible. [] True [] False A3 The hotel staff should be helpful and friendly. [] True [] False A4 The hotel should be located in a safe area. [] True [] False A5 The hotel’s food and beverage should be of high quality. [] True [] False A6 The hotel rate should be reasonable. [] True [] False Section B. According to the information given, how would you evaluate your responsibility in choosing the hotel? Strongly Neutral Strongly Disagree Agree B1 I assume the major responsibility of searching and choosing a hotel. B2 I am responsible to explain the hotel decision to my friend. B3 My responsibility for searching and choosing hotel is minimal. B4 My friend’s responsibility for searching and choosing hotel is minimal. 219 Post-expriment Questionnaire You were asked earlier to play the role of a traveler searching for a hotel in Naples. You have just visited a website which recommends hotel Novella in Naples. Assuming this role, please answer the following questions. Section A. The questions in this section are about your acceptance of the recommended hotel Novella. Extremely Unsure Extremely Unlikely A1 What is the likelihood for you to accept the recommendation of the hotel from the system? Likely Extremely Unsure Extremely Improbably A2 What is the probability for you to follow the recommendation of the hotel from the system? Probably Extremely Unsure How influential is the system recommendation on your decision whether to choose the hotel? Strong Extremely Unsure What is the likelihood that the system recommendation would lead to a positive consumption outcome? Extremely Unlikely A4 Extremely Weak A3 Likely Section B. This section is about the review on hotel Novella submitted by a customer on the hotel recommendation website. Please indicate your agreement/disagreement with the following statements. Strongly Neutral Strongly Disagree Agree B1 The hotel review submitted by the hotel customer helped me to evaluate the hotel. B2 The hotel review submitted by the hotel customer from the system familiarized me with the hotel in aspects that I am interested in. B3 The hotel review submitted by the hotel customer from the system let me know the performance of the hotel in aspects that I am interested in. B4 The hotel review submitted by the hotel customer from the system enabled me to directly evaluate if the hotel could meet my needs. 220 Section C. This section is about the Novella customer who provided the hotel review to the hotel recommendation system. Please indicate your agreement/disagreement with the following statements. Strongly Neutral Strongly Disagree Agree C1 The person who submitted the hotel review is reliable. C2 The person who submitted the hotel review is sincere. C3 The person who submitted the hotel review is trustworthy. C4 The person who submitted the hotel review is experienced. C5 The person who submitted the hotel review is knowledgeable. C6 The person who submitted the hotel review is qualified. 221 Appendix 2_F. Screen Captures 1. Screen Capture of Experiment Manipulation of Helpfulness Indicator and Status Indicator 222 2. Screen Capture of Experiment Manipulation of Helpfulness Indicator 3. Screen Capture of Experiment Manipulation of Status Indicator 223 4. Screen Capture of Experiment Manipulation- None Decision Aid Indicator 224 5. Screen Capture of Experiment Manipulation of Information Provision Concentration – Concentration Condition 6. Screen Capture of Experiment Manipulation of Information Provision Concentration – Nonconcentration Condition 225 7. Screen Capture of Experiment Manipulation of Information Provision History – Concentration Condition 226 8. Screen Capture of Experiment Manipulation of Information Provision History – Non-concentration Condition 227 9. Screen Capture of Presentation of Review 10. Screen Capture of Presentation of Hotel Information 228 [...]...SUMMARY Electronic word- of- mouth systems (EWOMS) are information systems that enable consumers to communicate their consumption information, generally referred to word- of- mouth (WOM) information, through electronic channels These systems have been touted to be an effective mechanism to alleviate information asymmetry and opportunistic behaviors in electronic commerce and therefore have become... various information and communication systems, WOM activities have rapidly moved beyond small groups and communities Word- ofmouth communications taking place on the Internet, coined as electronic word- ofmouth (EWOM) or word- of- mouse (Dellarocas 2003), are observed to have an unprecedented level of impact on businesses both offline and online For example, in a survey of 5,500 web consumers, 44% of respondents... perceived to be more reliable than that from formal marketing sources such as advertisements 1.2 Electronic Word- of- mouth and Electronic Word- of- mouth Systems Information and communication systems have offered new channels and platforms for WOM activities These channels and platforms allow WOM information senders and recipients not only to engage in WOM within their current established social networks in... initial participation in EWOM and EWOM users’ acceptance of EWOM information The thesis pursues the answers to these research questions through rigorous theory and model development and empirical studies 1.1 The Background of Word- of- Mouth Word- of- mouth is the most important marketing element that exists” (Alsop 1984) Being an ancient yet robust mechanism, word- of- mouth induces cooperative exchange behavior... as one of the most important information sources that influence consumption decisions (Whyte 1954; Katz and Lazarsfeld 1955) Assumed to be a less biased and manipulated source of information, WOM information is more relied upon than information from formal marketing channels such as advertising 2.2.1 Literature on WOM Information Contribution The supply of opinions, information, and evaluations of the... communications enabled and facilitated by various information systems on the Internet as electronic word- of- mouth (EWOM) The emergence of EWOM has promoted the powerful WOM effect to an unprecedented scale At lease four major factors contribute to the fast growth of EWOM activities and influences First, the vast population of Internet users constitutes the huge actual and potential participants of EWOM In 2005,... concerns in electronic commerce because the temporal and geographic separation leads to lack of contact between buyers, sellers, and products EWOM has been touted as an effective solution for opportunistic behaviors in electronic commerce because they share the same electronic platforms (Ba and Pavlou 2003, Dellarocas 2003) Fourth, the proliferation of various electronic word- of- mouth systems (EWOMS)... consumers’ WOM information Hence we will concentrate on the repository EWOMS in this thesis given its potency 1.3 Comparison of Word- of- mouth and Electronic Word- of- mouth EWOM is a special form of WOM This determines that EWOM and WOM would share some common characteristics Both EWOM and offline WOM communications exert tremendous influences on consumer behavior, although EWOM communications exhibit an unprecedented... extension of WOM communications in the electronic environment Due to the inclusion of information systems (EWOMS), the EWOM display some significantly unique characteristics Figure 1.1 compares the mechanisms of EWOM and WOM The next section details 7 the comparison of EWOM and WOM from the perspectives of both information contributors and information users WOM information contributors Direct Interactions... Summary of Major Studies on EWOM 13 Results in Consumption Engagement Consumers Post -consumption Consumption Processes Consumption Decision Human Computer Interactions for EWOM information Contribution EWOMS Consumers EWOM information Human Computer Interactions for EWOM information Usage Pre -consumption Affects Figure 1.2 A Life Cycle View of EWOM 1.5 Research Focus and Questions Against the backdrop of . Word-of-Mouth 2 1.2. Electronic Word-of-mouth and Electronic Word-of-mouth Systems 4 1.3. Comparison of Word-of-mouth and Electronic Word-of-mouth 7 1.3.1. Comparison of WOM and EWOM from the Information. 1.2. Electronic Word-of-mouth and Electronic Word-of-mouth Systems Information and communication systems have offered new channels and platforms for WOM activities. These channels and platforms. xi SUMMARY Electronic word-of-mouth systems (EWOMS) are information systems that enable consumers to communicate their consumption information, generally referred to word-of-mouth (WOM) information,