Electronic word of mouth and the impact of source factors

Abstract

This study has evaluated the aspects of source factors and their influence on perceived credibility in the context of word-of-mouth (WOM) and compared it with the literature on electronic-word-of-mouth (eWOM). Through this comparison, holes in the literature regarding how the receiver of eWOM evaluates credibility when the information about the sender is scarce or missing are revealed and a two-part study is conducted. The main findings indicate that a larger amount of information about the sender will result in a higher degree of credibility independent of what the content of the message is. It is also found significant differences between men and women in the evaluation of both the product presented and the credibility of the eWOM source. Previous findings in regular WOM studies have indicated that knowledge about the product category works as a moderator of the WOM received, this was in this study also confirmed in an eWOM setting. The thesis ends with pointing out future directions in the research of eWOM.