Abstract
Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is rapidly gaining importance in consumer decision making. This proposal focuses on online reviews, a type of product information shared online by consumers, based on their personal experience. Despite the recognized impact of online reviews, there is little understanding of HOW they affect the formation of attitudes and behavioral intentions. We propose a series of four well-controlled online experiments aimed at studying the influence of new contextual factors on the processing of information following (a set of) online reviews, to try and better understand the underlying processing mechanisms. In one of the studies, we focus upon a special type of online reviews, i.e. on social network sites, a topic that has received no research attention so far. Specifically, the project tries to answer four research questions:
1. How are reviews varying in attribute importance processed and is this effect moderated by the number of repetitions and/or the balance of the review set?
2. What is the effect of central and peripheral review cues on impression, attitude and intention formation?
3. What is the role of homophily, tie strength and source credibility of internet communities and their members for consumer responses to positive and negative reviews?
4. How do tone of voice and service type affect the relationship between online message valence and consumer responses to WOM in a social network site?
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