Examining the antecedents of persuasive eWOM messages in social media

A Study on the Characteristics of Sports Athletes' YouTube Channels and User Reactions

This study examined the content characteristics and user responses of athlete-run sports YouTube channels, providing empirical insights for content production strategies and contributing to the development of athlete-run sports YouTube channels. Content analysis was conducted on 3306 videos posted on 20 popular YouTube channels of South Korean athletes from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021. The formal characteristics analyzed included video length, the presence of foreign language subtitles, paid advertisements, and information sources. The content characteristics examined were the types of sports events, main content themes, and whether the content matched the athlete's sport. Results revealed significant differences in content characteristics and user responses based on whether the athletes were active or retired. This study's distinctive contribution lies in highlighting the evolving role of athletes as content creators and providing strategic implications for enhancing the competitiveness of athlete-run sports YouTube channels. Future research should consider a broader range of sports YouTubers and a wider variety of YouTube channels to gain comprehensive insights into the sports content ecosystem on this platform.

Exploring consumer responses to official endorsement: roles of credibility and attractiveness attributes in live streaming

Introduction

Official endorsement, distinct from celebrity, expertise, and peer endorsement, introduces a new paradigm where local government officials use online platforms, particularly live streaming, to promote local products and brands.

Methods

This study examines the influence of official endorsement on consumer responses using the source credibility and source attractiveness models. We developed a framework that considers official credibility and attractiveness attributes as antecedents, and consumer perceived security and enjoyment as mediators, affecting purchase intention and local brand awareness. The study also incorporates variables such as consumer region and power distance belief.

Results

Data from 594 responses obtained through an online survey were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that official credibility attributes (expertise, trustworthiness, government credibility) enhances consumer perceived security, while official attractiveness attributes (physical attractiveness, interaction friendliness, and similarity with consumers) increases consumer enjoyment. Both perceived security and enjoyment positively influence purchase intention and local brand awareness. These relationships are partially moderated by consumer region and power distance belief.

Discussion

This research pioneers the study of official endorsements, expanding the endorsement literature. It also provides practical insights for marketing professionals and government officials on leveraging official endorsements to enhance the value of local products and brands..

Consulting doctors online after offline treatment: investigating the effects of online information on patients' effective use of online follow-up services

Introduction

The use of online follow-up services (OFUS) is becoming an increasingly important supplement to hospital care. Through OFUS, patients can find their doctors in online health communities (OHCs) and receive remote medical follow-ups after hospital treatment. However, the rate of effective use of OFUS by current patients is still low, and there is an urgent need for research to investigate the online information factors that affect patients' effective use of OFUS.

Methods

Based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion and an analysis of a panel dataset including 3,672 doctors in a leading OHC in China, this study explores how online information from doctors' knowledge contributions and patient feedback influences patients' effective use of OFUS.

Results

The results show that both doctors' knowledge contributions and patient feedback positively influence patients' effective use of OFUS. Doctors' paid knowledge contributions and patients' paid feedback have stronger persuasive effects than doctors' free knowledge contributions and patients' free feedback, respectively. Moreover, there is a substitutional relationship between doctors' paid and free knowledge contributions and between patients' paid and free feedback in influencing patients' effective use of OFUS.

Discussion

The findings of this study suggest that OHC platforms and healthcare providers should account not only for the persuasive effects of doctors' knowledge contributions and patient feedback but also for influential differences and relationships between the types of doctors' knowledge contributions and patient feedback to better persuade patients to effectively use OFUS.

Is information evaluated subjectively? Social media has changed the way users search for medical information

Objective

In recent years, social media platforms, such as TikTok and RedBook, have emerged as important channels through which users access and share medical information. Additionally, an increasing number of healthcare professionals have created social media accounts through which to disseminate medical knowledge. This paper explores why users obtain their medical information from social media and how the signals transmitted by social platforms affect use behaviours.

Methods

We combined the elaboration likelihood model and signal theories to construct a comprehensive model for this study. We used simple random sampling to investigate users' behaviours related to social media usage. A total of 351 valid questionnaires were completed by people in Mainland China. The participants were enthusiastic about social media platforms and had searched for health-related information on social media in the past three months. We analysed the data using partial least squares structural equation modelling to investigate the influence of two pathways and two signals (objective and subjective judgement pathways and positive and negative signals) on social media use behaviours.

Results

When seeking medical information on social media, users tend to rely on subjective judgment rather than objective judgment, although both are influential. Furthermore, in the current era, in which marketing methods involving big data algorithms and artificial intelligence prevail, negative signals, such as information overload, have a more pronounced impact than positive signals.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that the subjective judgment path has a greater impact on users than the objective judgment path. Platforms are encouraged to focus more on users' emotional needs. The paper also discusses the negative impact of information overload on users, sounding an alarm for enterprises to control their use of homogeneous information resulting from the excessive use of big data algorithms.

A model of purchase intention of complementary and alternative medicines: the role of social media influencers' endorsements

BACKGROUND

Social Media Influencers (SMIs) are a fashionable way of marketing products by creating electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) on social media. The marketing of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) by SMIs is becoming increasingly popular and gaining credibility within consumers on social media platforms. Nonetheless, advising about healthcare products on social media should be examined as it is different from endorsing other kinds of commercial products. The aim of this study is to develop a model that provides the underlying mechanisms of the stimuli of SMIs on social media towards consumers' purchase intention of CAMs.

METHODS

This study used best fit framework synthesis methods to develop the model. A priori theory selection was conducted by identifying a BeHEMoTh strategy (Behavior of Interest, Health context, Exclusions and Models or Theories) to systematically approach identifying relevant models and theories relative to the research aim. Further evidence derived from primary research studies that describe the behavior identified is coded against selected a priori theory to develop the model.

RESULTS

This study presents a novel model for understanding the purchase behavior of CAMs using SMIs as a marketing strategy. The model included two well-known theories (theory of planned behaviour theory and source credibility theory) as well as extensive existing research from a multidisciplinary perspective. The model is exclusively designed to help identify elements affecting perceived source credibility and factors that have an influence over consumers' preferences to purchase CAMs by taking into consideration SMIs' endorsements.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides unique insights introducing new research areas to health literature and offers, new roles for healthcare professionals in this digital era by gaining new skills and competencies required to provide more credible and accurate information about CAMs. The study also highlights the new marketing era of online health-related product endorsements and recommends that policymakers and researchers carefully evaluate the impact of SMI's on the use of CAMs, as well as to regulate the content of these promotional materials.

Unlocking luxury purchase intentions in China: A study of consumer attitude, perceived value, and the moderating effect of perceived enjoyment

This research aims to provide a picture of the elements influencing customers' intentions to purchase luxury products online using social exchange theory (SET). Second, we determined whether perceived enjoyment moderates the relationship between perceived value, consumer attitude, and intention to purchase luxury products. Data were collected from 389 participants through an online survey. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. The results showed that eWOM, perceived value, and consumer attitudes significantly affected luxury purchase intention. Moreover, perceived enjoyment moderates the relationship between perceived value, consumer attitude, and purchase intention. This study is designed to help practitioners and researchers understand why young Chinese consumers are interested in purchasing luxury goods online. Luxury brand companies can improve their marketing strategies by developing strategies aligned with the mindset of digital native Generation Z.

The effect of social media influencers' on teenagers Behavior: an empirical study using cognitive map technique

The increase in the use of social media in recent years has enabled users to obtain vast amounts of information from different sources. Unprecedented technological developments are currently enabling social media influencers to build powerful interactivity with their followers. These interactions have, in one way or another, influenced young people's behaviors, attitudes, and choices. Thus, this study contributes to the psychological literature by proposing a new approach for constructing collective cognitive maps to explain the effect of social media influencers' distinctive features on teenagers' behavior. More in depth, this work is an attempt to use cognitive methods to identify adolescents' mental models in the Tunisian context. The findings reveal that the influencers' distinctive features are interconnected. As a result, the influencer's distinctive features are confirmed in one way or another, to the teenagers' behavior. These findings provide important insights and recommendations for different users, including psychologists and academics.

Investigating the Effects of Video-Based E-Word-of-Mouth on Consumers’ Purchase Intention: The Moderating Role of Involvement

Short videos have been increasingly prevalent around the globe and have become an important channel for users to share product and service information and for marketers to attract potential customers. However, rarely have studies empirically examined the impact of product review videos posted on short video platforms on consumers’ purchase intention. Grounded in the elaboration likelihood model, this study proposes a research model to investigate how the product review video features (i.e., video information quality, product information visualization, video emotion polarity, and video publisher credibility) influence consumers’ purchase intention. Moreover, the moderating role of involvement (i.e., product involvement and video involvement) in the above-mentioned relationships have also been examined in this new research context. We empirically validate the research model with survey data. It is interesting to find that product information visualization and video publisher credibility are significantly and positively related to purchase intention. Video involvement negatively moderates the relationship between video publisher credibility and purchase intention. Furthermore, video emotion polarity negatively moderates the relationship between product information visualization and purchase intention. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Love Is Blind! Exploring the Impact of Brand Love on eWOM in Chinese Hospitality Industry

The rising penetration and value of online information reviews in the hospitality industry have been extensively examined. People are increasingly interacting on interactive online media, prompting firms to create online communities to share electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) with them and with one another in order to increase brand love. This study seeks to discover what drives consumers to participate in these online brand communities. To examine the research model, an online survey was conducted on 508 consumers who had shared eWOM on social networking sites (SNS). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test all hypotheses. The findings show that each of the variables has a high impact on brand love, with information quality and virtual interaction having the most significant impact. As a result of brand love, eWOM is significantly increased. Additionally, findings show that the gender gap in the online setting is increasing, as the influence of all characteristics then reward of online brand communities on brand love was adaptable among both male and female associates. Considering the effects of online features (information quality, system quality, virtual interaction, and reward) on online brand communities' impact on brand love and eWOM. Online hotels manager is advised to carefully develop their marketing strategies to retain and attract new consumers. Furthermore, online hotels manager can use the findings from this study to understand the consequences when eWOM is strongly influenced by online brand communities' features. This study is one of the first to illustrate and empirically confirm insight into how online features affect brand lovers in online brand communities. The study adds to the body of knowledge concerning the effectiveness of social media marketing in the Chinese hotel sector.

The Yale model of green message sharing and environmental consciousness on social media platforms

Purpose

In this paper, Yale model was adopted to understand how the characteristics of a green message (goal framing, argument volume and argument consistency), its source (source credibility) and its receivers (environmental consciousness) influence the communication process regarding the receivers' perceptions and attitudes (information value, persuasiveness and communication effectiveness) and their intention to spread the green message.

Design/methodology/approach

Eight scenarios of factorial design were developed to test the effects of a message on receivers' perceptions and attitudes. 1,157 valid questionnaires were used to conduct AMOS-SEM and ANOVA analyses.

Findings

The analytical results showed significant differences between the persuasive effects of Scenarios 1 and 8. A high level of environmental consciousness significantly affected the relationships between the message characteristics, source credibility and information value, leading to a higher intention to share the green messages.

Research limitations/implications

The Yale model was applied to online persuasion to examine the receivers' perceptions of and attitudes toward a green message and their intention to share it on social networking sites (SNSs). Being environmentally conscious can strengthen the perception that the receivers of an online green message have of the source credibility and information value. The Yale model proved to represent the online green message-sharing context and explain how to persuade online users more effectively.

Practical implications

This study suggests that green message providers should present content emphasizing the losses associated with inaction, thus increasing the receivers' acceptance of the message's persuasiveness. Additionally, with the assistance of supportive measures, such as national education programs, government policies and actions showing corporate social responsibility, the environmental awareness of individuals can encourage them to share green message posts on SNSs and engage in green practices.

Social implications

A significant effect of the message characteristics (goal framing × argument volume × argument consistency) was observed on SNS users' perceived source credibility and information value. Therefore, key opinion leaders, governments, and organizations who want to promote green ideas and attract public attention are encouraged to provide messages emphasizing the costs of inaction and contain arguments with a sufficient number of responses strongly supporting the original message. This could arouse the concern for green issues among online communities.

Originality/value

A Yale model research framework was developed to investigate the effect of message characteristics on the intention to share green messages online. Receivers' environmental consciousness played a vital role in this message-sharing process.

The role of social influencers for effective public health communication

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to explore the suitability of social media influencers (SMIs) for communicating public health messages via social media platforms. The study identifies key persuasive communication components that influence individuals' attitudes and, subsequently, intentions to follow health-related information shared by SMIs.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative interviews with healthcare workers and interactions with 332 active social media users via structured online questionnaires were used for data collection. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse responses.

Findings

Results indicate that SMIs' credibility, SMI–individual homophily and quality of information shared by the SMI are the significant factors determining individuals' attitudes towards the information received. Furthermore, the individual's attitude significantly impacts their intention to follow information shared by the SMI. The study thus verifies the mediating role of attitude in persuasive communication.

Research limitations/implications

The current study can serve as a foundation for future work to examine the suitability of SMIs for tasks other than marketing.

Practical implications

The study provides insights for planning and implementing SMI-sourced communication in the public health context. The study enhances the understanding of the tested relationships and thereby increases scholars' and practitioners' ability to leverage SMIs for health-related communication.

Originality/value

Whilst SMIs are attracting increasing attention in consumer markets, the study suggests that they can be used in public health communication. Considering the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation, the empirical study provides insights into SMIs' role in persuasive public health communication amid a health crisis.

Peer review

The peer review history for the article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-01-2021-0012

Social Marketing of Electronic Coupons Under the Perspective of Social Sharing Behavior

This study aimed to (1) explore the correlated influential factors that promote consumers' sharing behaviors of electronic coupons, (2) identify relevant knowledge gaps on e-coupon sharing, and (3) develop a theoretical model to explain the e-coupon sharing behavior of consumers. This study suggested that familiarity and professionalism of the referral source have significant and positive impacts on the feeling of credibility of e-coupons, which promote consumers' willingness to share. Moreover, this research used electronic coupons as the product from (1) the concept of social marketing and (2) the perspective of the social sharing behavior of consumers. The research findings of this study showed that (1) community-based social marketing is covered in the social norm as social individuals frequently hope to share benefits with others. (2) People's sharing purpose is to promote their established social relationship via sharing the benefits to others. In this case, benefits referred to advantageous products' attributes and values consumers found on the products such as credibility of the products. (3) The interlaced display of products and social psychology in the field of social marketing was also discussed in this study. In short, the research results of this study theoretically contributed to indicate the connection mechanism between (A) social benefit-sharing behavior and (B) product benefits. That is to say, the feeling of credibility and willingness to shares are covered by the social benefit-sharing behavior mechanism, while the product-benefit mechanism covers professionalism, feeling of credibility and willingness to share. Note that the (A) social benefit-sharing behavior mechanism works in the form of social norms in sharing benefits to an individual's social networks; the (B) product-benefit mechanism work in the form of product values and attributes.

Impact of Online Consumer Reviews on Amazon Books Sales: Empirical Evidence from India

This study aims to assess the effect of online reviews on online book sales performance in the Indian context. A sales rank was used as a proxy measure for sales. The total sample size was 2028 books from the ‘bestseller’ and ‘recent’ book categories on Amazon.in. Cross-sectional analysis and difference-in-difference analysis approaches were adopted for data analysis. The results revealed that online reviews shared by the Indian consumers impact books sales, as the consumers prefer to analyze the books on the basis of available online reviews before making their purchase decision. Overall, the results indicated that reviews had a positive impact on the sales in both book categories.

The Mitigators of Ad Irritation and Avoidance of YouTube Skippable In-Stream Ads: An Empirical Study in Taiwan

On YouTube, skippable in-stream advertisements (ads) are critical income for both YouTube and content creators. However, ads inevitably irritate viewers, and as a result, they tend to avoid ads. Thus, this study attempts to identify potential mitigators—source attractiveness and reciprocal altruism—of ad irritation and avoidance in the context of YouTube skippable in-stream ads. Using an online survey (n = 512) in Taiwan, the proposed model is examined by a partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis. The findings show that while ad irritation has a positive effect on ad avoidance, reciprocal altruism can significantly reduce both ad irritation and avoidance. However, source attractiveness fails to mitigate ad irritation and avoidance. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed, and several solutions for reducing ad irritation and avoidance are provided.

A good dentist or not: understanding the role of storytelling in online dentist reviews

Purpose

Narrative comments about dentists on physician review sites have been documented to increasingly influence people's selection of their dentists. From a communication standpoint, these comments are a type of narrative communication that people share their experiences with dentists by telling stories. Based on the frameworks of rhetoric structure theory and extended elaborated likelihood model, this study aimed to examine the effects of such storytelling from two perspectives including narrative structure and narrative focus.

Design/methodology/approach

A 4 (narrative structure) × 2 (narrative focus) between-subjects experiment was conducted to examine the proposed hypotheses and research questions

Findings

The results showed that a one-sided comprehensive comment focusing on technical competence generated the strongest persuasion effects measured by attitude and behavioral intention. These effects were mediated by perceived narrative credibility and enjoyment.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the extant literature in two ways. First, it extends previous studies of online narrative comments by showing which narrative structure and focus are deemed to be more persuasive when selecting a dentist. Second, it offers a test of two routes of information processing (i.e. cognitive and experiential) to understand the mechanism underlying the effects of narrative comments.

Peer review

The peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-08-2020-0359

Understanding the Effects of eWOM Antecedents on Online Purchase Intention in China

Drawing on social identity theory, this study aims to examine the impact of antecedents of eWOM on the online purchase intention (OPI) of fashion-related products. In addition, social media usage moderates the relationship between eWOM and OPI. A structured questionnaire was completed by a sample of 477 Chinese WeChat users. An online survey was conducted in two metropolitan cities (Beijing and Shanghai). The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) generated by AMOS 22. The findings of this study found that all five antecedents of eWOM, such as fashion involvement, sense of belonging, trust, tie strength, and informational influence, positively related to the OPI of fashion products in China. Furthermore, eWOM significantly mediates the relationship between fashion involvement, sense of belonging, trust, informational influence, and OPI. The current study is considered the first to examine the role of eWOM in stimulating OPI through social media usage for fashion-oriented products in China. As such, it enriches the online buying literature by exploring the OPI mechanism through eWOM antecedents and validating the importance of social media factors in the development of online buying intention compared to previous studies. Furthermore, it provides several theoretical and practical implications, along with future opportunities.

Effect of eWOM review on beauty enterprise: a new interpretation of the attitude contagion theory and information adoption model

Purpose

This study developed a new interpretation of the attitude contagion theory, with the information adoption model (IAM) as the theoretical basis. A review of electronic word-of-mouth studies was conducted by using informational and individual determinants to develop an integrated empirical model that identified the antecedents and consequences of consumer attitude toward online reviews.

Design/methodology/approach

This study recruited 750 members of Facebook beauty fan pages in Taiwan and used the structural equation model to test research hypotheses.

Findings

Results revealed that perceived “ electronic word-of mouth (eWOM) credibility of online reviews” and “product involvement” could be used to explain the effects of attitude toward online reviews. Regarding the attitude contagion effect, the effect of “attitude toward online review” on both “attitude toward a product” and “attitude toward a brand” is stronger than that on “eWOM adoption.”

Originality/value

This paper provides valuable insights into the antecedents, consequences and mediating mechanisms that determine consumer attitude toward online reviews.

Understanding the Adoption of Incentivized Word-of-Mouth in the Online Environment

Nowadays, word-of-mouth is a very important component of e-commerce activity because consumers are very sensitive to other people’s opinions. Depending on the companies’ politics, these opinions can be incentivized or non-incentivized. One of the major dilemmas consists in establishing which kind of word-of-mouth has more influence on customers’ perceptions. The purpose of this study is to assess the relationships between perceived argument quality (PAQ) and perceived source expertise (PSE), on the one hand, and electronic word-of-mouth adoption intention on the other hand, for an incentivized message compared to a non-incentivized message. We processed answers from two different random groups by using adapted PAQ and PSE inventories of questions. The constructs, latent variables and items were analyzed in IBM Amos software, and our findings confirm the hypotheses regarding the relationship between the attributes of the message (argument quality and source expertise) and message credibility. Additionally, we found a significant positive relationship between message credibility and electronic word-of-mouth adoption intention. Our research also explores the moderating role of the message type (incentivized vs. non-incentivized) in the relationships above, and we discovered that the message type significantly moderates the relationship between perceived argument quality and credibility, but the type of message does not moderate the relationship between message credibility and eWOM adoption intention.

Instagram Users’ Information Acceptance Process for Food-Content

Taking pictures of food and sharing them on social networking services has now become a general consumer trend. In particular, many companies are interested in Instagram marketing due to the increase in users and word-of-mouth effect generated by using hashtags. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate Instagram users’ food-content acceptance processes by applying the information adoption model. Sample data for this study was collected by an online survey company and a total of 333 valid responses were analyzed. The study found significant relationships between food-content quality—accuracy, relevance, and conciseness—and information usefulness. Among the factors constituting source credibility, source trustworthiness and hashtag scalability were found to have a significant relationship with information usefulness. Information adoption mediated the relationship between information usefulness and continued use of food-content Instagram/information sharing intentions. The theoretical and managerial implications based on these findings can contribute to designing marketing strategies.

Realfooders Influencers on Instagram: From Followers to Consumers

(1) Background: Realfooders have positioned themselves in social networks such as Instagram by posting photographs of recipes, advises, habits and nutritional behaviours which are advertised as reliable nutritional patterns and by their self-promotion as highly trained people in the field of nutrition which sometimes jeopardises the health of digital citizenry. (2) Methods: In this article, we develop a quantitative study for analysing the influence of selected Realfooders on 2,866,980 followers on Instagram, taking into account channel variables (gender, location, interests and motivations), followers’ variables (engagement, interaction and consumption) and some variables related to the message of 54 posts about breakfast. (3) Results: Selected Realfooders concentrate their followers in Spain, mostly women between 18 and 24 and between 35 and 44 years old who link their interests on food to the cult of the body and recreational areas. On the other hand, the content generated by Realfooders has been increasing its impact using advertising and marketing techniques for awaking consumer’s interest. (4) Conclusions: Educational and social agents are facing the challenge of low health literacy in young population. Therefore, it is necessary to design and implement strategies for developing critical thinking that allow them to assess the content generated by Realfooders and identify which recommendations can be harmful or beneficial to their health.

Understanding Online Consumer Behavior and eWOM Strategies for Sustainable Business Management in the Tourism Industry

Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has been widely used by most consumers on different digital platforms. This review aimed to obtain further insights into online consumer behavior through social networking sites and online reviews sites to help tourism businesses develop sustainable eWOM strategies. To this end, an exploratory study was developed to analyze available literature on eWOM strategies and online consumer behavior. The systematic literature review analysis focused on the following two main topics: (i) tourism and (ii) eWOM. The scientific database, Web of Science, was used to collect relevant literature on the subject. The search terms “Tourism” and “eWOM” were used. Searching the database, Web of Science, yielded a total of 124 articles; upon application of different filters, a total of 14 studies were included in the final dataset. The results of the present study provide new insights into consumer behavior for social sciences and businesses for the adoption of sustainable strategies to increase the influence of eWOM on the tourism industry.

Using the Social Influence of Electronic Word-of-Mouth for Predicting Product Sales: The Moderating Effect of Review or Reviewer Helpfulness and Product Type

The social engagement of eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) can reduce the threat of adverse selection in e-commerce. As studies that examine the social influence of eWOM are rare, the present work suggests the moderating effect of review or reviewer helpfulness and product type (experience or search goods) on the relationship between eWOM and product sales. The volume of eWOM, which is defined as the multiplication of the average length by the number of reviews, is shown to be moderated by review and reviewer helpfulness and search goods to affect product sales. Review ratings are moderated by reviewer helpfulness, and review extremity is positively (negatively) moderated by search (experience) goods and review helpfulness to affect product sales. As previous studies of differentiated sampling strategies that consider review helpfulness for predicting product sales using eWOM are lacking, this study compares the prediction power of business intelligence methods for different subsamples of products created according to high or low review and reviewer helpfulness levels. The subsample with high review or reviewer helpfulness demonstrates greater prediction performance than the subsample with low review or reviewer helpfulness when eWOM variables are used as predictors of product sales. Hence, preliminary filtering data preprocessing should consider review or reviewer helpfulness as a crucial criterion of the data quality. This will contribute to the sampling or preprocessing strategy used to predict product sales using eWOM.

Who will land and stay? Page-specific antecedents of news engagement on social media

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of page-specific factors such as page language, posting frequency and community size on online engagement in the context of social media pages of news channels in Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

For this research, official Facebook pages of news channels in Pakistan were defined as the target population. Secondary data were obtained from the Facebook pages of 28 news channels in Pakistan. For the selected period between August and September 2019, a total of 420 cases were obtained and manually entered in SPSS 21 for analysis. Tweedie estimation was run to check the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

Results show that English pages are more engaging than Urdu. Additionally, posting frequency and community size have a negative relationship with online engagement.

Practical implications

The findings of the study suggest that administrators of social media pages of news channels should target English news readers more than Urdu news readers. Additionally, they should manage a low posting frequency so that readers may not get irritated. Administrators should not sponsor their pages to expand community size on a single page. Instead, they may opt to build a separate page for each news category with smaller community size.

Originality/value

While previous studies have discussed the post-specific factors of engagement, this study has checked the impact of page-specific factors such as page language, posting frequency and community size on online engagement.

Consumer acceptance of social recommender systems in India

Purpose

Collaborative filtering based recommender systems (CF–RS) are widely used to recommend products based on consumers' preference similarity. Recommendations by CF–RS merely provide suggestions as “people who bought this also bought this” while, consumers are unaware about the source of these recommendations. By amalgamating CF–RS with consumers' social network information, e-commerce sites can offer recommendation from social networks of consumers. These social network embedded systems are known as social recommender systems (SRS). The extant literature has researched on the algorithms and implementation of these systems; however, SRS have not been understood from consumers' psychological perspective. This study aims to qualitatively explore consumers' motives to accept SRS in e-commerce websites.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews of frequent online shoppers. SRS are currently not very widespread in the Indian e-commerce space; hence, a vignette was shown to respondents before they responded to the questions. Inductive qualitative content analysis method was used to analyse these interviews.

Findings

Three main themes (social-gratification, self-gratification and information-gratification) emerged from the analysis. Out of these, social-gratification acts as an enabler, while self-gratification along with some elements of information-gratification act as inhibitors towards acceptance of social recommendations. Based on these gratifications, we present a conceptual model on consumer's acceptance of social recommendations.

Originality/value

This study is an initial attempt to qualitatively understand consumers' attitudes and acceptance of social recommendations on e-commerce websites, which in itself is a fairly new phenomenon.

Improving information spread by spreading groups

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel method to enhance the spread of messages in social networks by “Spreading Groups.” These sub-structures of highly connected accounts intentionally echo messages between the members of the subgroup at the early stages of a spread. This echoing further boosts the spread to regions substantially larger than the initial region. These spreading accounts can be actual humans or social bots.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reveals an interesting anomaly in information cascades in Twitter and proposes the spreading group model that explains this anomaly. The model was tested using an agent-based simulation, real Twitter data and questionnaires.

Findings

The messages of few anonymous Twitter accounts spread on average more than well-known global financial media groups, such as The Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg. The spreading groups (also sometimes called BotNets) model provides an effective mechanism that can explain these findings.

Research limitations/implications

Spreading groups are only one possible mechanism that can explain the effectiveness of spread of tweets from lesser known accounts. The implication of this work is in showing how spreading groups can be used as a mechanism to spread messages in social networks. The construction of spreading groups is rather technical and does not require using opinion leaders. Similar to the case of “Fake News,” we expect the topic of spreading groups and their aim to manipulate information to receive growing attention in public discussion.

Practical implications

While harnessing opinion leaders to spread messages is costly, constructing spreading groups is more technical and replicable. Spreading groups are an efficient method to amplify the spread of message in social networks.

Social implications

With the blossoming of fake news, one might tend to assess the reliability of news by the number of users involved in its spread. This heuristic might be easily fooled by spreading groups. Furthermore, spreading groups consisting of a blend of human and computerized bots might be hard to detect. They can be used to manipulate financial markets or political campaigns.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates an anomaly in Twitter that was not studied before. It proposes a novel approach to spreading messages in social networks. The methods presented in the paper are valuable for anyone interested in spreading messages or an agenda such as political actors or other agenda enthusiasts. While social bots have been widely studied, their synchronization to increase the spread is novel.

Electronic Word of Mouth engagement in social commerce platforms: An empirical study

The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that encourage customer engagement with Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) from the perspective of information characteristics, consumer behaviour, consumer motives, technological and social factors. Drawing from the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Social Support Theory (SST) we propose a new model of eWOM engagement in s-commerce. This model was assessed using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique based on a survey of 218 s-commerce users in Nigeria. The findings confirmed that eWOM engagement is strongly determined by information credibility, information quality, social support, innovativeness, altruism, self-enhancement and sense of belonging. Additionally, using the Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA), this study identifies information credibility, sense of belonging, attitude towards eWOM and social support as the most important factors that should be giving priority by managers in order to encourage consumer eWOM engagement in s-commerce platforms. Implications of the study and suggestions for future research are presented.

Investigation of electronic-word-of-mouth on online social networking sites written by authors with commercial interest

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the credibility assessment and adoption of electronic word-of-mouth on online social-networking sites, social word-of-mouth (sWOM), where the author writes product reviews on Facebook and hopes their Facebook friends will buy these products. The readers of the sWOM message are aware of the author’s commercial intentions. sWOM messages on search goods and experience goods are considered separately.

Design/methodology/approach

Author of sWOM messages invites their closed circle of Facebook friends to participate in a survey. The respondents are randomly assigned to read a product review of a search good (i.e. a laptop computer) or an experience good (i.e. a moisturizer cream (beauty product)). The partial least squares method is used to analyze the data from 339 returns (166 for the search good and 173 for the experience good).

Findings

The sWOM readers’ assessments of the messages’ credibility remain free from commercial influence. While the traditional factors of credibility and author-reader tie strength continue to influence the adoption of sWOM message, readers’ perceptions of the sWOM author’s marketing skills is also a factor. The relationships between the constructs depend on whether the products are search or experience goods.

Originality/value

Few studies investigate the type of sWOM considered here. Commercially influenced sWOM messages are effective since the author’s marketing skills, and other often-cited factors, affect the credibility and adoption of sWOM. Thus, the equality-matching (friendship) relationship and the market-pricing (sales) relationship can work hand-in-hand in the sWOM context.

Online advertorial attributions on consumer responses: materialism as a moderator

Purpose

Based on the Mehrabian–Russell theory, the purpose of this paper is to view the attributes of advertorial information as a stimulus in an online environment to examine the emotional states of consumers and their sequential behavioral responses. Moreover, materialism is proposed as a moderator in the relationship between advertorial attributions and emotion.

Design/methodology/approach

By adopting a quantitative approach, 421 consumers with browsing forums or blog experience participated in the study. SEM techniques were adopted for the formal data analysis.

Findings

There was a causation found among control, arousal and pleasure. Advertorial attributes influenced the consumers’ emotional states via control, and emotional states directly affected the information acceptance and purchase intention. Materialism partially moderated the relationship between the advertorial information attributions and emotional states.

Practical implications

Advertorial editors should provide detailed product information with credible sources in a positive manner and should attach videos or interesting pictures to avoid boredom and attract reader attention, especially in the case of materialists. In addition, editors should also provide some related hyperlinks for consumers to stimulate their further reading and then should observe the number of clicks and shares to estimate the popularity of the advertorial, so adjustments can be made if necessary.

Originality/value

This paper confirmed the causation of pleasure, arousal and the validity of the dominance (PAD) emotional model and found a partially moderating effect of materialism on the relationship between the attributes of advertorials and the emotional states of consumers.

A study of antecedents influencing eWOM for online lecture website

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the antecedent factors – perceived usefulness (PU), perceived switching cost (PSC) and perceived web security (PWS) – affecting learners’ attitude toward online lecture website (ATW), which, in turn, affects electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and finds the factor that online lecture business should focus on the most to make learners have positive attitude.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper investigates the functional relationship among those five constructs; and examines the moderating role of personal interactivity. Data were collected from learners who had taken online lectures and were using social network sites, and a research model was analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that PU and PSC positively influence ATW but PWS has no significant influence on ATW; PU is the most influential factor to ATW; ATW positively influences eWOM; personal interactivity has a moderating effect on some paths; and path coefficients are higher in the high-interactivity group than the low-interactivity group for all the links except the link from PU to ATW.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to online lecture business by understanding learners’ perception and behavior to the websites. Unlike many previous studies, this study designates eWOM as dependent variable and personal interactivity as moderation variable. This study shows interesting results occurred between low- and high-interactivity groups.

Consumer engagement with eWOM on social media: the role of social capital

Purpose

The nature of digital media channels are important factors in explaining consumers’ behavior over the Web, and specifically on social network sites (SNS). The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework explaining consumer engagement with electronic word of mouth (eWOM) communication via SNS, based on key attributes of this media channel.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the expectancy value theory (EVT), a conceptual framework is proposed to model the effect of eWOM channel attributes on eWOM engagement process. Consumer eWOM engagement is conceptualized as a second-order construct. A structural equation modeling procedure was employed to empirically test the model using data collected from two social media communication channels.

Findings

First, results suggest that engagement with eWOM can be conceptualized as a second-order construct based on user tendency to receive or share eWOM with other network members. Second, the path analysis model supports the employment of EVT and shows that two key attributes of eWOM channels, social capital and credibility, significantly affect consumer attitude toward eWOM via SNS. Attitude toward eWOM, in turn, affects eWOM engagement. Third, SNS channel type moderates the effect on attitude.

Practical implications

Marketing communication practitioners should note that the strength of social ties plays a key role in spreading eWOM on SNS effectively. This insight should be employed a part of social media marketing strategy.

Originality/value

This is first research that models the effect of social media attributes on eWOM engagement and demonstrates the moderating role of channel type. The model is highly valuable in light of the importance of the concept of engagement in internet research.

Peer-to-peer word-of-mouth: word-of-mouth extended to group online exchange

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how peer-to-peer word-of-mouth (PPWOM) conversations evolve over time because of the dynamic social nature of the community in which they take place.

Design/methodology/approach

This study analyzed PPWOM conversations in an online community website for new and expectant mothers. Two data collection phases were undertaken during a four-year period. In phase I, messages were collected for a one-month period from five different bulletin boards (i.e. cross-sectional data) and at two points in time (i.e. semi-longitudinal). In phase II, a full longitudinal study was conducted, and the complete text of all messages of a newly formed bulletin board was captured for a nine-month period. The corpus of messages was examined in line with the basic tools of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis.

Findings

This research developed a typology of PPWOM genres and showed that these genres change over the community lifespan. The findings confirmed that the levels of social cohesiveness and the interaction communicative motives are the main factors that distinguish different PPWOM genres.

Research limitations/implications

This research has offered a new perspective into the study of PPWOM, and hopefully it will serve as a starting point for a broader dialogue regarding the social context in which PPWOM is exchanged.

Originality/value

In contrast to traditional word-of-mouth research, this study demonstrated that PPWOM conversations go much beyond the exchange of functional information, and instead serve numerous social and emotional goals.

Examining the effect of eWOM on the customer purchase intention through value co-creation (VCC) in social networking sites (SNSs)

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on the value co-creation (VCC) and purchase intentions of consumers in Facebook fan pages of smartphone brands in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected using a structured questionnaire from a sample of 762 members from India present in the selected fan pages of smartphone brands in Facebook, and the data were analyzed through structural equation modeling.

Findings

This empirical study revealed a positive relationship among the three variables and provided new insights after analyzing the collected data. There was clear evidence of VCC being partially mediated by eWOM and purchase intention.

Research limitations/implications

The perspective of the study was to validate the proposed conceptual model by considering members’ perception of the product, as put forth on Facebook fan pages. The methods used in this study could be adapted to conduct further studies on other social networking sites like Instagram and Twitter.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the existing literature of eWOM, VCC and consumer behavior in social networking sites, and our findings will help marketers to develop a new method of disseminating product information to and within India through social networking sites.

To integrate or not to integrate? Understanding B2B social media communications

Purpose

Social media communications on platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn can allow managers to interact cost effectively with trading partners. However, although most firms have an online presence on multiple social media platforms, the question remains as to whether marketers’ widespread social media investments are beneficial for firms. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents competing hypotheses to explore how firms’ investment in one form of social media impacts activity on another form of social media. To do so, the authors draw on a data set of 208 large Australian organizations using objective social media activity metrics that measure business-to-business (B2B) audience engagement.

Findings

The findings suggest that widespread social media activity on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube negatively affects a firm’s marketing activity on Facebook. The results indicate that having a social media preference whereby firms focus on a specific social media platform is more effective in forming successful inter-organizational relationships than a multiplatform approach.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the sparse research that seeks to leverage social media for audience engagement beyond a business-to-consumer context. The study’s findings provide insights into the key mechanisms that underlie firms’ B2B social media strategies, and in so doing, offer a fresh perspective on the importance of interactive marketing communication.

Don't be so emotional! How tone of voice and service type affect the relationship between message valence and consumer responses to WOM in social media

Purpose

The 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/approach

A 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.

Findings

The 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 implications

First, 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/value

The 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.

The influence of EWOM characteristics on online repurchase intention

Purpose

With the expansion of internet as a tool for exchanging information, companies include in their websites a virtual space to share information among users. The purpose of this paper is to explore the characteristics of consumers’ reviews (electronic word-of-mouth quantity, credibility and quality) as antecedents of customers’ online repurchase intentions. Specially, it proposes a model where trust on an online seller and perceived usefulness of a website mediate the influence of electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM) characteristics on repurchase intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling was employed on a sample of 252 online customers. An online questionnaire was aimed at internet users who had previously made an online purchase and read online reviews received from the vendor’s website.

Findings

Results show that only EWOM quality has a positive direct effect on consumers’ repurchase intention while quantity has a negative influence. Perceived usefulness mediates the influence of all EWOM characteristics on online repurchase intention. EWOM credibility and quality also indirectly influence repurchase intentions through trust on the online vendor.

Practical implications

This paper outlines ways to improve managerial implications by developing mobile applications or websites where the reviews have an appropriate volume and quality of information. Moreover, it suggests general advice to present online reviews in a useful manner to users who visit these websites.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first to propose an integrative model that studies in depth the three main EWOM characteristics and customer responses for understanding their repurchase behavior.

The role of trust management in reward-based crowdfunding

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of trust management on the fundraising performance in reward-based crowdfunding.

Design/methodology/approach

– A research model was constructed based on elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and literatures with five hypotheses developed. Data were collected from www.demohour.com - the first and one of the largest reward-based crowdfunding platforms in China. In total, 829 reward-based crowdfunding projects were analyzed to test hypotheses. To test the hypotheses, partial least squares was used to analyze data of entrepreneur/sponsor profiles, entrepreneur/sponsor behaviors, and crowdfunding projects.

Findings

– Results indicated trust management significantly promoted fundraising performance via central (entrepreneur’s creditworthiness) and peripheral (entrepreneur-sponsor interactions) routes. The peripheral route (entrepreneur-sponsor interaction) showed significantly higher effects than the central route (entrepreneur’s creditworthiness). The finding aligns with authors’ assumptions derived from unique characteristics of reward-based crowdfunding – community and collaboration because personal, dynamic message interactions were more effective than static, historical success records on the trust establishment. In addition to the main effects, the results also showed entrepreneur’s prior success crowdfunding records positively moderated the effect of entrepreneur-sponsor interaction on fundraising performance.

Originality/value

– This study is the first paper that reveals the value of trust management in reward-based fundraising, especially the effect of dynamic entrepreneur-sponsor message interactions. Entrepreneur-sponsor interactions not only promoted community benefits in crowdfunding, but also cultivated trust relationships between entrepreneurs and sponsors. Previous studies mainly focussed on the entrepreneur’s popularity level on third-party social media (such as Facebook) toward fundraising performance. This study examines the effect of direct entrepreneur-sponsor interactions on the crowdfunding platform. Additionally, this study found one moderating effect from the central route to the peripheral route. It is a rare case in studies based on ELM. Finally, this study demonstrates how to incorporate a theoretical framework guiding the analysis of structured and unstructured data for in-depth analysis, result interpretation, and corresponding intervention strategy development.

Understanding the role of argument quality in the adoption of online reviews

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop a research model that examines the effect of argument quality and argument perspective on the adoption of online reviews in a value-based decision model. In addition, the paper investigates the moderating effects of argument quality from needs theory.

Design/methodology/approach

– To validate the research model, a questionnaire survey was conducted in the Chinese online shopping context. Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares analysis on a data set of 208 online consumers.

Findings

– The results suggest that argument quality and argument perspective have positive impacts on perceived value, further influencing the adoption of online reviews. Moreover, the results confirm that the information credibility and quantity sufficiency of online reviews are positively associated with argument quality. The findings also indicate that argument quality mediates the relationship between argument perspective and perceived value.

Originality/value

– This work contributes to the literature by employing a value-based decision model to study the adoption of online reviews in the online shopping context, as well as the moderating effect of argument quality on the argument perspective to perceived value. The main conclusions of this study can be valuable to online marketing managers.

Online word-of-mouth as a predictor of television rating

Purpose

– Despite the growing importance of online word-of-mouth (WOM) with regard to television (TV) ratings, it is usually excluded from early prediction models. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of online WOM in TV ratings predictions, focussing on whether the incorporation of online WOM could improve predictions of TV ratings, and extracts meaningful rules for decision-making.

Design/methodology/approach

– The author uses online WOM as a potential predictive variable in the TV ratings prediction model. The author matches a list of programs based on TV ratings for the movie channel with internet user reviews and TV ratings information from Yahoo! Movies (YM) and XYZ Company. The data set includes 71 movies, for which the data were analyzed with a hybrid model.

Findings

– Grey relational analysis shows that online WOM is a useful ex ante determinant of TV ratings. As a predictive variable, it plays an essential role in enhancing TV ratings predictions. The experimental results also indicate that the proposed model surpasses other listed methods in terms of both accuracy and reduction of variables, while the proposed procedure yields a set of easily understandable decision rules that facilitate the interpretation of TV ratings information.

Practical implications

– This paper identifies critical predictors of TV ratings and suggests that online WOM messages are a credible source. A hybrid model is developed to illustrate an intelligent prediction system for TV ratings.

Originality/value

– The study demonstrates the effectiveness of online WOM and its impact on TV ratings. It offers an intelligent prediction system for TV ratings with practical implications for managers within the TV industry.