Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to shed light on the boundary conditions of the effect of the valence of word-of-mouth on social networking sites (sWOM) on consumer responses (attitude toward the service provider, purchase intention and positive word-of-mouth intention). Specifically, the authors examine two moderators: the tone of voice (factual vs emotional) of the sWOM and service type (utilitarian vs hedonic) of the service that the sWOM is about.Design/methodology/approachA 2 (message valence: positive vs negative) × 2 (tone of voice: factual vs emotional) × 2 (service type: utilitarian vs hedonic) full-factorial between-subjects online experiment with 400 respondents was conducted and the data were analyzed using Hayes’ PROCESS macro.FindingsThe results show that message valence exerts a greater impact on consumer responses with factual sWOM messages compared to emotional ones. Furthermore, the impact of message valence is stronger for hedonic services compared to utilitarian services. In contrast to the authors’ expectations, there is no significant impact of matching the tone of voice to the service type.Practical implicationsFirst, for sWOM senders, factual messages are found to be more influential: backing an sWOM up with arguments and specific details increases the chance of it affecting consumers’ responses. As a result, marketers, especially of predominantly hedonic services, should encourage their followers and customers to spread positive factual sWOM about their service.Originality/valueThe study tests two previously unstudied moderating variables that affect the relationship between message valence and consumer responses to sWOM messages. Moreover, this study provides interesting insights for marketers and bloggers or reviewers.
Highlights
Consumers’ increased use of online communications is reflected in their word-of-mouth (WOM) behavior (Karjaluoto et al, 2016)
Inspired by Barger et al (2016), we examine how message content and product related antecedents, such as a factual versus emotional tone of voice and the service type moderate the effects of sWOM message valence
In response to the call of Barger et al (2016) to examine the effects of content and product factors on consumer engagement in social media, the current study focuses on the moderating impact of a factual versus emotional tone of voice and a utilitarian versus hedonic service type on this relationship in a social networking setting
Summary
Consumers’ increased use of online communications is reflected in their word-of-mouth (WOM) behavior (Karjaluoto et al, 2016). Hennig-Thurau et al (2004) define electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) as: “any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or a company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet.” EWOM is acknowledged to greatly impact consumer attitudes, behavioral intentions (e.g., Cheung and Thadani, 2012) and sales (Rui et al, 2013). The limited research on sWOM seems to suggest that sWOM, like other forms of eWOM, is perceived by consumers as trustworthy and credible (Chu and Kim, 2011) and exerts a positive effect on consumers’ online brand engagement, brand awareness, brand attitude and purchase intention (Karakaya and Barners, 2010; Schivinski and Dabrowski, 2015; Wang et al, 2012)
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