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The Influence of eWOM Communications in Consumer Review Websites: An Application of Online Social Network Framework

Kim, Soyeon
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373992250

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Human Ecology: Hospitality Management.
As a form of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), online consumer reviews have attracted tremendous attention from researchers and practitioners. This research investigates how eWOM plays an important role in consumer review websites within hospitality and tourism services and how it affects the purchase decision-making process of consumers. The author examined the influence of eWOM communications in various online review websites based on the online social network framework by Brown, Boderick, and Lee (2007). Their framework postulates that individuals consider the websites to be primary "actors" and develop social relationships with the websites themselves rather than the other online participants. Drawing on the perspective of the consumer-website relationship, the current research proposes and empirically tests an integrative model of three social network constructs associated with the website (tie strength, homophily, and source credibility) and their relationship to consumers' evaluations associated with attitudes and perceived influence of eWOM effectiveness. An online survey with a sample of 793 respondents drawn from a large Midwestern university was conducted to examine predictors and consequences of eWOM communications in consumer review platforms. The results suggested that the social relationship constructs (homophily and tie strength) between a website and a consumer are important drivers of source credibility, which in turn influence attitude toward the reviews as well as the website. Moreover, the attitudes formed through the perceptions of tie-strength, homophily and source credibility ultimately determines the influence of eWOM consumers' purchase decisions. When consumers perceive higher tie strength, homophily, and source credibility associated with the reviews, they are more likely to have a favorable attitude toward the reviews as well as the review websites. An interesting finding was that attitude toward reviews does not directly influence eWOM effectiveness; however, it influences eWOM effectiveness indirectly through attitude toward the website.
Jay Kandampully (Advisor)
Bilgihan Anil (Committee Member)
Binkley Margaret (Committee Member)
Stoel Leslie (Committee Member)
165 p.
Business Administration; Communication; Marketing
consumer review websites; electronic word-of-mouth; eWOM; social media; tie strength; homophily, source credibility; eWOM effectiveness; Social Network Theory

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kim, S. (2013). The Influence of eWOM Communications in Consumer Review Websites: An Application of Online Social Network Framework [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373992250

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kim, Soyeon. The Influence of eWOM Communications in Consumer Review Websites: An Application of Online Social Network Framework. 2013. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373992250.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kim, Soyeon. "The Influence of eWOM Communications in Consumer Review Websites: An Application of Online Social Network Framework." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373992250

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1373992250
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.