The Effect of Valence of eWOM Amongst Online Information Sources on Consumer’s Purchase Intentions

Abstract

Seeking information about a product has always remained the most important element before purchase a product. The drive behind this study is to look in detail at the mediums where consumers land up to seek information about a product on the World Wide Web. The most common sources a consumer can look into are: electronic word-of mouth, expert opinion-based websites (neutral groups), and manufacturer’s website. The study will also look into how these sources influence consumer’s purchase intentions and their responsiveness to get influenced by information provided through these mediums. The positive and negative valences of comments when talking about social media marketing has provided an unmatched mode for consumers to disclose their experiences and evaluations of the products they consume hence fostering an effective word of mouth. This study is also focusing on studying the patterns that influence the positive and negative valence of comments in electronic word-of-mouth that will show the effect on consumer purchase intentions. For the purpose of this study questionnaires were filled online by 150 respondents. Their answers were then analyzed for this research using smart plus as a tool. The results have helped us analyze how online sources of information produced on a variety of forums creates an impact on consumer’s purchases.