The influence of EWOM characteristics on online repurchase intention

Multi-feature fusion-based consumer perceived risk prediction and its interpretability study

E-commerce faces challenges such as content homogenization and high perceived risk among users. This paper aims to predict perceived risk in different contexts by analyzing review content and website information. Based on a dataset containing 262,752 online reviews, we employ the KeyBERT-TextCNN model to extract thematic features from the review content. Subsequently, we combine these thematic features with product and merchant characteristics. Using the PCA-K-medoids-XGBoost algorithm, we developed a predictive model for perceived risk. In the feature extraction phase, we identified 11 key features that influence perceived risk in online shopping. During the prediction phase, the model performs excellently across different sample types in the test set, achieving a precision (P) of 84%, a recall (R) of 86%, and an F1 score of 85%. Through the model's interpretability analysis, we find that quality, functionality, and price are key features affecting perceived risk for electronic products. In the case of skincare products, skin safety is the most critical feature. Additionally, there are significant differences in feature characteristics between high-risk samples and normal samples.

Factors Influencing Users' Perceptions of Digital Platform Indispensability: A Comparative Study of Korea and Finland

The pervasive integration of digital platforms into daily life has amplified their perceived indispensability. This study investigates the factors influencing this perception across countries with contrasting platform landscapes, focusing on platform quality and usage patterns. We conducted surveys in Finland and Korea, countries representing distinct platform ecosystems. The results revealed higher perceived indispensability in Korea than in Finland, with usefulness and habitual platform use emerging as significant predictors of indispensability in both countries. However, the specific aspects of platform quality influencing this perception diverged. In Finland, the platform's comprehensiveness and security risk significantly impacted indispensability, while social interaction features played a negligible role. Conversely, in Korea, social interaction features significantly influenced indispensability, while platform comprehensiveness and security risk were non-significant. These findings underscore the multifaceted nature of digital platform indispensability, shaped by the interaction of platform quality and usage patterns. The contextual variations highlighted by our cross-country comparison suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach to platform regulation or user education may be ineffective. Future research should explore these cultural and platform-specific nuances to devise tailored policies.

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on social networking sites (SNS): Roles of information credibility in shaping online purchase intention

Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on social networking sites (SNS) has become crucial in shaping online consumers' purchase intentions, reflecting the growing reliance on rich nature of user-generated content and recommendations shared on these platforms. This study aims to investigate the intricate relationships among different factors of eWOM information, including information credibility, information usefulness, information adoption, attitude towards information, and their impacts on online purchase intention. This study draws upon the Information Adoption Model (IAM) and the Information Acceptance Model (IACM) foundation theory which reveal the steps individuals take in adopting new information, and focuses on how perceptions and attitudes towards information shape acceptance. The study used a quantitative approach, utilizing a structured questionnaire to collect data from 337 Vietnamese individuals actively engaged in eWOM activities on various SNS platforms. Statistical analysis was conducted using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that information credibility significantly influences both information usefulness and adoption. Interestingly, while information usefulness shapes user attitudes, it does not directly impact online purchase intention. Similarly, a positive attitude toward eWOM does not necessarily lead to information adoption. This suggests that consumers may hold favorable views of eWOM content without actively adopting it. Information adoption emerges as a critical determinant of online purchase intention, emphasizing the importance of promoting user engagement and trust in eWOM information. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of online consumer behavior and provide valuable guidance for stakeholders seeking to leverage eWOM effectively in digital marketing.

A comparative study of positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth on the SERVQUAL scale during the COVID-19 epidemic - taking a regional teaching hospital in Taiwan as an example

BACKGROUND

In recent years, studies have shown that electronic WOM (eWOM) directly reflects consumers' post-purchase psychological perception and directly affects repurchase behavior. This information is valued by institutions in various fields. Within the scope of the evaluation of service characteristics, medical service is the least visible and most difficult service attribute to evaluate. Service organizations must have high trust attributes. Therefore, an eWOM review significantly influences people's decision-making process when choosing a healthcare provider. The purpose of this research is to combine eWOM reviews with the SERVQUAL scale in a comparative study of positive and negative eWOM reviews of a regional teaching hospital in Taiwan.

METHODS

This research obtained data from publicly available eWOM reviews on Google Maps of a regional teaching hospital in Taiwan over the past 10 years (from June 24, 2011, to December 31, 2021) using website scraping technology. The semantic content analysis method was used in this study to classify eWOM reviews according to the revised PZB SERVQUAL scale.

RESULTS

Statistical analysis was conducted. During the COVID-19 pandemic, positive reviews showed a downward trend. Among the five determinants of the SERVQUAL of PZB, positive eWOM reviews performed best in "assurance" with a positive review rate of 60.00%, followed by 42.11% for "reliability". For negative eWOM reviews, "assurance" performed the worst with a positive rate of 72.34%, followed by "responsiveness" at 28.37% and "reliability" at 26.95%.

CONCLUSION

Since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, negative eWOM has increased significantly and exceeded the amount of positive eWOM. Regardless of positive and negative reviews, what patients care most about is "assurance" of the professional attitude and skills of medical staff, which urgently needs to be strengthened. In addition, good "reliability" will help to develop positive eWOM. However, "responsiveness" as indicated by poor service waiting time can easily lead to the spread of negative eWOM. Hospital management should focus on these service-oriented qualities.

Integrating online and offline channels for online customer loyalty: the moderating role of retailer credibility

Purpose

Understanding customer behavior from the perspective of channel integration has become a major stream of research in multi-channel retailing literature. Yet, despite recent advancements in scholarship, how retailers can most effectively sustain customers in online retailing remains unclear. Scholars have suggested online–offline channel integration (OOCI) as an effective multi-channel approach for increasing online loyalty; yet, few studies have explored OOCI's influencing mechanism. This study addresses that gap by investigating how OOCI helps achieve customer loyalty online and further examines the moderating role of retailer credibility in the influencing mechanism of OOCI.

Design/methodology/approach

The research model driving this study draws upon the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model and cue consistency theory. The authors collected a sample of 259 customers in China with experience making multi-channel purchases from retailers that have implemented OOCI in online retailing. Structural equation modeling and response surface analyses were employed to conduct data analysis.

Findings

The results revealed that the relationship between OOCI and customers' online channel loyalty was mediated by customers' perceptions of the usefulness and risks of online channel usage. The results also found that congruence and incongruence between informational OOCI (IOOCI) and fulfillment OOCI (FOOCI) had different curvilinear associations with perceived online channel usefulness and perceived online channel risk. In addition, retailer credibility weakened the effects of IOOCI on perceived online channel usefulness and FOOCI on perceived online channel risk but strengthened the effect of IOOCI on perceived online channel risk and had no impact on the effect of FOOCI on perceived online channel risk.

Originality/value

Theoretical and practical implications of this study are also discussed.

What is the impact of eWOM in social network sites on travel decision-making during the COVID-19 outbreak? A two-stage methodology

Social media users share a variety of information and experiences and create Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) in the form of positive or negative opinions to communicate with others. In the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, eWOM has been an effective tool for knowledge sharing and decision making. This research aims to reveal what factors of eWOM can influence travelers’ trust in their decision-making to travel during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, we aim to find the relationships between trust in eWOM and perceived risk, and perceived risk and the decision to travel. These relationships are investigated based on online customers’ reviews in TripAdvisor’s COVID-19 forums. We use a two-stage data analysis which includes cluster analysis and structural equation modeling. In the first stage, a questionnaire survey was designed and the data was collected from 1546 respondents by referring to the COVID-19 forums on TripAdvisor. Specifically, we use k-means to segment the users’ data into different groups. In the second stage, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed to inspect the relations between the variables in the hypothesized research model using a subsample of 679 respondents. The results of the first stage of the analysis showed that three segments could be discovered from the collected data for trust based on eWOM source and eWOM message attributes. These segments clearly showed that there are significant relationships between trust and perceived risk, and between perceived risk and the decision to travel. The results in all segments showed that users with a low level of trust have a high level of perceived risk and a low level of intention to travel during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, it was found that users with a high level of e-trust have a low level of perceived risk and a high level of intention to travel. These results were confirmed in all segments and these relationships were confirmed by SEM. The results of SEM revealed that visual and external information moderated the relationship between eWOM length and trust, and experience moderated the relationship between trust and perceived risk. For the moderating role of gender, it was found that the perceived risk has a higher impact on the decision to travel in the female sample.

Reconnoitering enablers of travelers' online hotel booking intention: moderation of service affordability and perceived pandemic risk

Purpose

The meddling of foreign players into the Indian hotel industry has triggered fervent competitiveness, and therefore, consumers' attitude, intention and behavior have been the epicenter of all activities. This study endeavors to explicate enablers of online hotel booking intention (OHBI) in the Indian hospitality industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The study examined OHBI of 560 travelers during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India using structural equation modeling and an extended technology acceptance model. Direct and indirect associations were explored using mediation and moderation.

Findings

The results manifest that hotel website credibility, perceived website interactivity and perceived ease of use (PEU) aggrandize perceived usefulness (PU), which, in turn, considerably magnifies travelers' OHBI. PEU and PU partially mediate the relationship in the model. Into the bargain, service affordability reinforces the relationship, while perceived pandemic risk enfeebles the relationship between PU and OHBI.

Research limitations/implications

The study unfurls pressing determinants of PEU, PU and OHBI that may facilitate hoteliers to lure travelers and enhance profitability.

Originality/value

There is a paucity of literature on “hotel website credibility” and “perceived pandemic risk” in the hospitality industry. Hence, the study enriches literature by assimilating underlying constructs through an epigrammatic conceptual model. The study is distinctive because it unearths the possibilities of mediation and moderation amongst the aforementioned constructs and posits the calamitous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism and hospitality sector.

A new mechanism for purchasing through personal interactions: fairness, trust and social influence in online group buying

Purpose

The purpose of this article was to explore the influence of individual perception and social climate on consumer-initiated group-buying purchase decisions. An extended cross-level research model was used to explain how a new mechanism for purchasing through personal interactions could work.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilised a questionnaire survey for data gathering. The subjects of the investigation were group-buying initiators. Hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) was used to experimentally examine the research hypotheses.

Findings

The empirical results of the study indicate that the social influence of critical mass can effectively promote positive attitudes and intentions towards consumer-initiated online group buying. An individuals' perception of an initiator's fairness influences their trust in the initiator. In addition, trust in the initiator can positively and significantly influence buyers' attitudes and intentions to online group buying.

Originality/value

Most previous studies on online group-buying focus on how social media influences group-buying behaviours. This study extends social media research by introducing an extended cross-level model to provide a comprehensive investigation into online-shopping. It is a preliminary attempt to systematically verify relationships at the individual and aggregate levels. The decision to group buying requires a relationship of trust to be formed before any transaction takes place, thereby increasing the intention to make a purchase. As a result, group buying is perceived as positive when interpersonal communication is very efficient, or when social influence is high.

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

The influence of online customer reviews on customers’ purchase intentions: a cross-cultural study from India and the UK

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of online customer reviews (OCRs) and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on customers’ purchase intention (PUI). This study also investigates the cultural differences between the customers in India and UK as regards the influence of OCR and customers’ PUIs.

Design/methodology/approach

This study has used socialisation theory, theory of reasoned action, congruity theory and expectation value theory, along with the existing literature to develop the conceptual model. The theoretical model has been validated using the PLS-SEM technique on a survey involving 305 and 280 respondents for India and UK, respectively.

Findings

The findings highlight that gender has no effect on UK customers’ PUIs, whereas age and gender have considerable impacts on Indian customers’ PUIs.

Research limitations/implications

The study only examines the cross-cultural difference between a European country (UK) and an Asian country (India). Also, since the sample size is low, the findings did not represent a generic view.

Practical implications

The proposed model has provided important inputs to the organisations to understand consumer behaviour particularly the study would help marketing departments to formulate their marketing strategies regarding OCR and customers’ PUI.

Originality/value

This study is unique in understanding the implications of OCR and their influence on customer purchase decisions of UK customers and India’s customers. This study also helps to understand the impact of age and gender on OCR and PUIs.

Segmenting customers according to online word-of-mouth about hotels

There is a renewed interest in the study of online word-of-mouth behavior due to the increasing use of the Internet and the development of social networks. This paper focuses on the receiver perspective to analyze the unequal influence of the antecedents of online consumer searches. The main purpose is to detect the heterogeneity of the effect of different motivations (convenience, risks reduction and social reassurance) and the volume of comments on the willingness to check online reviews. Based on 393 guests of hotels, a mixture regression model indicates the existence of three internally consistent segments, which reveal the varying influence on consumer intentions to look at online comments.

Boosting Customer E-Loyalty: An Extended Scale of Online Service Quality

The Customer trust, satisfaction and loyalty with regard to the provision of e-commerce services is expected to be critical factors for the assessment of the success of online businesses. Service quality and high-quality product settings are closely linked to these factors. However, despite the rapid advancement of e-commerce applications, especially in the context of business to consumer (B2C), prior research has confirmed that e-retailers face difficulties when it comes to maintaining customer loyalty. Several e-service quality frameworks have been employed to boost service quality by targeting customer loyalty. Among these prominent frameworks is the scale of online etail quality (eTailQ). This scale has been under criticism as it was developed before the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies. Consequently, this paper aims to fill this gap by offering empirically-tested and conceptually-derived measurement model specifications for an extended eTailQ scale. In addition, it investigates the potential effects of the extended scale on e-trust and e-satisfaction, and subsequently e-loyalty. The practical and theoretical implications are highlighted to help businesses to design effective business strategies based on quality in order to achieve enhanced customer loyalty, and to direct future research in the field of e-commerce.

Demystifying the Communication-Driven Usefulness Hypothesis

Healthcare insurance applications are increasingly vital to and have gained popularity with consumers. Previous information systems research featured perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness as key independent variables to explain behavioural intention impacting the use of information systems. In today's environment, however, many consumers already rely on websites and mobile applications as a key means of communication with healthcare insurance providers. Examining the data from 333 survey respondents, this study reports that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are strongly influenced by three communication content variables (information quality, interaction ease, and provider competence). Importantly, consumers may judge applications' ease of use based on the quality of communication contents. Once applications reach some maturity, the prominence of communication quality may drive their use more significantly than before.

Influence of eWOM information on consumers’ behavioral intentions in mobile social networks

Purpose

Today, consumers play an active role in creating, generating and distributing the electronic word of mouth (eWOM) independent of marketers. Customer acquisition through referrals and word of mouth (WOM) has thus become an important goal for firms. In addition, mobile social networks have created valuable opportunities for eWOM. People are now able to discuss products and services of brands with their friends and acquaintances. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of eWOM information on consumers’ behavioral intentions in mobile social networks.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed the information adoption model (IAM), theory of reasoned action and social exchange theory to investigate the influence of eWOM information on consumers’ behavioral intentions in mobile social networks. The study used 394 respondents to evaluate the proposed model using SmartPLS software.

Findings

Results show that the quality and credibility of eWOM information has a positive direct effect on perceived information usefulness. Attitude toward eWOM information mediates the influence of perceived information usefulness on information adoption. Also, attitude toward eWOM information has a significant positive influence on behavioral intentions, such as purchase intention and forwarding of eWOM information. However, information adoption does not have any significant relationship with the forwarding of eWOM information.

Research limitations/implications

This study seeks to address the dearth of research in the field of mobile social networks, especially regarding eWOM information. The study proposes a new model and empirically validates the hypothesized relationships. This research can serve as a stepping-stone for future research in this field.

Practical implications

This research is one of the first studies focusing on the influence of eWOM information, especially in mobile social networks. The research offers comprehensive and empirically validated factors pertaining to eWOM information in mobile social networks. The results of this study may be useful also for practitioners and managers of online companies.

Originality/value

A new eWOM IAM in mobile social networks is proposed based on information characteristics and consumer behavior. The model is validated afterward.

The influence of the diffusion of food safety information through social media on consumers’ purchase intentions

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the diffusion of food safety information through social media affects customers’ purchase intentions in China. This leads to the identification of the critical factors that impact the purchase intention of individual consumer through the diffusion of food safety information using social media in China.

Design/methodology/approach

A research model is proposed based on a comprehensive review of the related studies. Such a model is then tested and validated using structural equation modeling based on the survey of 199 individuals who have experience in purchasing food products online while having social media accounts.

Findings

The study reveals that friend recommendation and perceived risk directly affect consumers’ purchase intentions and opinion leader recommendation, quality of information, credibility of information and demand for information indirectly affect consumers’ purchase intentions through the diffusion of food safety information using social media in China.

Originality/value

This study is the first of this kind in China for exploring the critical factors that affect consumers’ purchase intentions through the diffusion of food safety information using social media. The findings of the study are significant for the government and food enterprises to make a full use of the advantages of social media to improve the communication of food safety information in ensuring the safety of the food supply in China.

The credibility and attribution of online reviews

Purpose

To understand the effectiveness of electronic word of mouth, the purpose of this paper is to examine how high- vs low-knowledge consumers judge and attribute the credibility of positive and negative online reviews by drawing upon accessibility–diagnosticity theory and attribution theory.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducts an observation-based study in an online forum and a 2 (review valence) × 2 (consumer knowledge) between-participants factorial experiment to examine the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

High-knowledge consumers elicit less perceived credibility and make more non-product-relevant attribution than low-knowledge consumers in negative online reviews. Consumer attribution is also found to mediate the effects of the review valence by consumer knowledge interaction on review credibility.

Originality/value

This study adds to extant research by examining how consumer knowledge plays a key role in determining consumer perception of online review credibility. This study also advances the understanding of different casual inferences about online reviews between high- and low-knowledge consumers.

The perception of e-servicescape and its influence on perceived e-shopping value and customer loyalty

Purpose

The popularity of online shopping has grown in the recent years, enhancing the interest in identifying the factors that influence shoppers’ loyalty. The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through aesthetic appeal, layout and functionality, and financial security, the impact of customers’ perceptions of the e-servicescape in online shopping on perceived e-shopping value and customer loyalty defined as a two-component construct (attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty), following the sequence of the S–O–R framework.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were gathered using an Internet survey in which 221 active online shoppers participated who had at least one online purchase in the past six months. The research model was analysed using the partial least squares approach to analyse structural equations (SEM).

Findings

Based upon empirical evidence of a web-based survey of online shoppers, this study shows that consumers’ interpretation of e-servicescape exerts a positive influence over perceived e-shopping value and loyalty. Specifically, the study finds that layout and functionality and financial security, as the salient attributes of the e-servicescape dimension, set the point of perceived e-shopping value which affects attitudinal loyalty.

Practical implications

The authors expose several practical implications how marketing management could use the dimensions of e-servicescape perceived e-shopping value. Managers are advised to incorporate the dimensions of the e-servicescape to build perceived e-shopping value and loyalty. Online shops need to invest in particular in layout and functionality and financial security, dimensions that had a stronger effect on perceived e-shopping value in order to achieve costumers’ loyalty in a fashion product context.

Originality/value

The transition from physical service locations to virtual service processes has increased the research interest of e-servicescape. This study analyses it through its aesthetic appeal, layout and functionality, and financial security connecting them with the constructs of perceived e-shopping value and customer loyalty in the application for fashion products. This work emphasises the connection between servicescape attributes in creating perceived value which affects attitudinal and behavioural loyalty. In this way, the e-servicescape is seen as stimuli, the perceived e-shopping value represents the organism and the loyalty the response of the sequence of the S–O–R framework. This research provides insight into the new effects of each dimension of e-servicescape on perceived e-shopping value and the two dimensions of loyalty, thus improving the existing knowledge in the field of servicescape and online shopping customer behaviour.

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.

Providing consumers with a representative subset from online reviews

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find a representative subset from large-scale online reviews for consumers. The subset is significantly small in size, but covers the majority amount of information in the original reviews and contains little redundant information.

Design/methodology/approach

A heuristic approach named RewSel is proposed to successively select representatives until the number of representatives meets the requirement. To reveal the advantages of the approach, extensive data experiments and a user study are conducted on real data.

Findings

The proposed approach has the advantage over the benchmarks in terms of coverage and redundancy. People show preference to the representative subsets provided by RewSel. The proposed approach also has good scalability, and is more adaptive to big data applications.

Research limitations/implications

The paper contributes to the literature of review selection, by proposing a heuristic approach which achieves both high coverage and low redundancy. This study can be applied as the basis for conducting further analysis of large-scale online reviews.

Practical implications

The proposed approach offers a novel way to select a representative subset of online reviews to facilitate consumer decision making. It can also enhance the existing information retrieval system to provide representative information to users rather than a large amount of results.

Originality/value

The proposed approach finds the representative subset by adopting the concept of relative entropy and sentiment analysis methods. Compared with state-of-the-art approaches, it offers a more effective and efficient way for users to handle a large amount of online information.