TY - JOUR
T1 - Cross-national differences in e-WOM influence
AU - Christodoulides, George
AU - Michaelidou, Nina
AU - Argyriou, Evmorfia
PY - 2012/11
Y1 - 2012/11
N2 - Purpose: This paper aims to present a cross-national study that investigates changes in purchase intentions of UK versus Chinese consumers following exposure to successive e-WOM comments in the form of positive and negative user reviews for experience versus search products. Design/methodology/approach: A 2(e-WOM valence and order: negative versus positive most recent)×2(product type: experience versus search)×3(purchase intentions at t 1, t 2, t 3) repeated-measures factorial design is used to test a set of hypotheses developed from the literature. Findings: Chinese consumers are susceptible to recent e-WOM comments regardless of their valence, while UK consumers anchor on negative information regardless of the order in which it is acquired. This holds particularly for experience products. Originality/value: This cross-national study contributes to the scarce literature on the impact of e-WOM on consumer purchase decisions by comparing UK and Chinese consumers. The authors suggest that culture moderates the development of product evaluations following exposure to e-WOM.
AB - Purpose: This paper aims to present a cross-national study that investigates changes in purchase intentions of UK versus Chinese consumers following exposure to successive e-WOM comments in the form of positive and negative user reviews for experience versus search products. Design/methodology/approach: A 2(e-WOM valence and order: negative versus positive most recent)×2(product type: experience versus search)×3(purchase intentions at t 1, t 2, t 3) repeated-measures factorial design is used to test a set of hypotheses developed from the literature. Findings: Chinese consumers are susceptible to recent e-WOM comments regardless of their valence, while UK consumers anchor on negative information regardless of the order in which it is acquired. This holds particularly for experience products. Originality/value: This cross-national study contributes to the scarce literature on the impact of e-WOM on consumer purchase decisions by comparing UK and Chinese consumers. The authors suggest that culture moderates the development of product evaluations following exposure to e-WOM.
KW - consumer behaviour
KW - cross-national
KW - electronic word of mouth
KW - internet
KW - product type
KW - purchase decisions
KW - reviews
KW - valence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84869044903&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/03090561211260040
U2 - 10.1108/03090561211260040
DO - 10.1108/03090561211260040
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84869044903
SN - 0309-0566
VL - 46
SP - 1689
EP - 1707
JO - European Journal of Marketing
JF - European Journal of Marketing
IS - 11/12
ER -