The Power of E-Word of Mouth Marketing on Consumers' Purchase

Abstract

This study aims to explore the causal relationship betweene-word-of-mouth(e- WOM)andits influence onpurchase decisionsthrough structural equation modeling (SEM). Five constructs were formulated through literature review: expertise, search extent, own experience, trustworthiness, and e-WOMeffect. Results of this study show that four constructs all have positive influenceone-WOMeffect, and own experience has the mostinfluence on purchase decisions.Existing electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) studies mainly focus on original e-WOM sending and searching/receiving behavior, investigating factors in the communication process and influences on the participants. While marketers repeatedly exclaim that original e-WOM communication is more and more difficult and expensive to create on the Internet; furthermore, it is less and less beneficial. This study addresses the gap between the marketers' needs and the existing academic studies, investigating e-WOM from a new perspective. Following an assessment of various literatures, this study incorporates a communication process model into electronic word-of-mouth communication and constructs a conceptual framework for re-word-of-mouse behavior on the internet. Based on the literature review and focus group interview, we find that e-WOM Motives can be generated by e- WOM Search and e-WOM Response. This study can help online companies to provide more effective and beneficial online information services for both consumers and themselves