Determinants of writing positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth: Empirical evidence for two types of expectation confirmation

Abstract

While many studies focus on how electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) affects the readers of eWOM, this study examines what influences the writers of eWOM. We analyze survey results from 438 TripAdvisor hotel reviewers to reveal that two distinct types of expectation confirmation influence the writing of eWOM, as do satisfaction and consumers' personal characteristics. Thus, this study makes two primary contributions, first by identifying and describing consumers' two types of expectation confirmation, and second by noting that one set of antecedents leads consumers to write negative eWOM while a different set of antecedents leads consumers to write positive eWOM.