8 - Empirical study of eWOM’s influence on consumers’ purchase decisions

Abstract

Consumers usually tend to seek word of mouth (WOM) from friends and acquaintances before making their purchase decisions, with WOM being the most influential media for product information. As Internet technology grows rapidly, consumers like to share their opinions about products, brands, and businesses over the Web; this is known as eWOM. eWOM plays a significant role in consumers’ purchase decision making and has been valued by businesses. This chapter focuses influences on consumers’ purchase decision with respect to the content of eWOM and the interaction between the suppliers and users of the information. The method of questionnaire is used for the empirical study. First, this study reviews pertinent literatures as the theoretical basis; WOM and online WOM are defined and distinguished by their characteristics. Second, this study makes the assumptions and establishes the model based on the content of eWOM and interactions between participants, with the research variables chosen and questionnaire designed based on the model. After the distribution and collection of the questionnaire, a result is obtained by analyzing the collected data. According to the result, among the five parameters chosen—the reliability and relevance of the eWOM supplier, the professionalism and trust propensity of the eWOM receiver—are proved to have influence the purchase decisions of consumers. The degree of credit of the sender and related strength have a significant influence on WOM reputation, with the professional degree of the eWOM recipient tending to trust the positive effect on the influence of WOM. The research conclusion arrived at in the eWOM domain has a significant referral value for viral marketing and for the management of eWOM businesses.