Research On Electronic Word-of-Mouth Determinants In Social Media Environment

Word-of-Mouth(WOM)is the piece of trading marketing associated information among consumers,plays an energetic role in shaping customers'attitude and behavior towards products or services.Because consumers usually trust a reliable source of information than company-generated persuasive messages.They often depend on it when looking for information to make purchase decisions.The dawn of internet-based media has given rise to WOM online-that is,electronic word-of-mouth(eWOM).eWOM is "any positive or negative statement made by present or previous customers about a product,service or company,which is made available to large audiences via the Internet".eWOM can take place through an extensive range of online media such as emails,blogs,review sites and forums,virtual communities,chat rooms,instant messaging,and SNSs.We found that eWOM communication can be categorized into two forms,which are motivational sharing factors and eWOM effects.Motivational sharing factors such as egoism,trust,informational influence,Website quality,etc.On the other hand,eWOM effects on customer purchase intention.The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effects of review motivational factors on eWOM.The effects of eWOM motivations,which are egoism,trust,informational influence,website quality,social support,internet usage,emotional experience,subjective norm,perceived behavioral control,and tie strength,are determined.The sharing of eWOM under motivational and attitude toward eWOM are evaluated through empirical investigation.Moreover,we investigated the moderating role of Perceived ease of use,perceived usefulness,personal interactivity,and social media.In addition,we also investigated the mediating role of informative internet,normative internet,and eWOM.The effects of eWOM on customer purchase intention were also determined in the context of Chinese social media.An online and personal survey was conducted in four large Chinese cities,Beijing,Shanghai,Tianjin,and Hefei.Convenience sampling techniques were used to collect the data from 2026 online customers.Data were analyzed by employing the validity(discriminant and convergent)and reliability tests,missing value treatment,common bias method,variance inflation factor,exploratory factor analysis,confirmatory factor analysis,and Structural Equation Modelling(SEM).The moderations were analyzed by(SEM)technique.To test the mediation analysis,the indirect test methods of Preacher and Hayes were applied.All statistical tests were generated by SPSS and AMOS version 23.This study makes three contributions by enabling researchers to understand better what motivates members to exchange eWOM in an online community of interest.The main contribution is this dissertation as follows:(1)The Internet is more prominent as a new online marketing zone than offline scenarios.Moreover,the Internet is a global source of current and boundless knowledge of products,and spreads universal changes in consumer behaviors and product recognition.This dissertation developed a new model and applied it to Chinese consumers,which is created by combining egoism,sense of belonging,internet users,perceived usefulness,perceived ease of use,informative internet,normative internet and eWOM under social media environment.(2)Social media channels provide a critical opportunity for sharing electronic word-of-mouth(eWOM)communication.eWOM has been considered a prominent factor in shaping consumer behavior.This dissertation constructs a novel research model that is applied to the Chinese consumer.Additionally,this dissertation has investigated the eWOM of Chinese consumers using the following variables:website quality,emotional experience,social support,attitude towards eWOM,subjective norms,perceived behavioral control and personal interactivity.(3)Online purchasing has undoubtedly become an integral,useful,and attractive activity on the social media platform.Nowadays,social media has enormously changed the style of the consumers' purchase decision.The ease of approach to information online has led to the spread of the online purchasing phenomenon.Therefore,the current dissertation contributing in the existing studies by developing new framework which is associated with fashion involvement,sense of belonging,trust,tie strength,informational influence,eWOM intention,social media usage and online purchase intentions.We found that egoism,sense of belonging,and internet usage have positive effects on eWOM.The relationship between egoism,sense of belonging,and eWOM is significantly moderated by two TAM factors(perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use,and informative and normative internet significantly mediates the association between eWOM and internet usage.The finding also shows that website quality,social support,emotional experience,and the subjective norm has positive impacts on eWOM.Personal interactivity significantly moderates the relationship between attitude toward eWOM and eWOM.Furthermore,trust,informational influence,sense of belonging,and fashion involvement are crucial antecedents of eWOM in SNSs that positively influence online purchase intention,and social media significantly and positively moderates the relationship of eWOM with online purchase intentions.The results of the thesis also suggest that social media managers should build a unique understanding related to eWOM influence on consumers' attitude and online purchase intentions in SNS forums.SNS have become powerful marketing channels to share eWOM.Consumers in these platforms actively spread their personal experience with other consumers in SNS.Marketing practitioners should understand how to engage with the SNS platform.The findings should encourage marketers to add the determinants of eWOM into their marketing campaigns through SNS.Marketers should also focus considerably on providing up-to-date,consistent,and reliable information.Moreover,marketers may improve their marketing policies by understanding consumers' involvement in eWOM communication based on SNS.Marketers should also engage consumers to spread eWOM(positive or negative)and immediately relate to particular services or products.This study provides a deeper understating of eWOM communication.This empirical study is unique which integrates the eWOM motivations and its effects on purchase intention in the context of Chinese social media.This provides the insights for marketers to design a comprehensive distinct marketing plan for customers to get them involve in spreading eWOM that would enhance their purchase intentions.Furthermore,implications for scholars,practitioners,policymakers,and marketers are discussed.