Exploring the antecedents of “deep” eWOM providing behaviour in mobile shopping: a multi-country study

Abstract

PurposeThe study aims to look at deep eWOM providing behaviour in m-commerce and attempts to explore its antecedents. Personalisation is proposed as an indirect antecedent of deep eWOM providing behaviour mediated by hedonic and utilitarian value perceptions and personal identification.Design/methodology/approachBased on social-exchange theory, the conceptual model links the study antecedents to deep eWOM providing behaviour. The conceptual model was validated through a multi-country study. A large sample of m-commerce users in the UK (n = 505), India (n = 422) and Vietnam (n = 618) were contacted to collect the data. Data were analysed through structural equations modelling procedure with invariance analysis conducted to ensure that the results from the three samples could be compared. The authors also conducted post-hoc analysis to explore the mediation paths between variables.FindingsThe study finds support to the conceptual model across the samples from the three countries. Personalisation is found to increase value perceptions – both utilitarian and hedonic – and personal identification which leads to “deep” eWOM providing behaviour across all the three countries. The serial mediation also provides comparable results across the three countries.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the understanding of deep eWOM providing behaviour – a construct with high practical relevance which has however not been explored sufficiently in current literature. The study also contributes to the literature that analyses the consequences of personalisation in m-commerce.