IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v64y2011i1p18-23.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of word-of-mouth communication on attribute evaluation

Author

Listed:
  • Lim, Boon C.
  • Chung, Cindy M.Y.

Abstract

Wright and Lynch (1995) propose that the medium that best communicates the type of attributes is the one most congruent with that type of information. This paper extends on this media congruence hypothesis by examining the impact of word-of-mouth (WOM) communication on the WOM recipient's ratings of search and credence attributes in two different service contexts. Results from two experiments suggest that negative WOM (but not positive WOM) is more effective in changing the evaluation of credence attributes than that of search attributes for unfamiliar brands. This finding implies that marketers of such unfamiliar brands need to have different approaches to deal with the impact of negative WOM on different attribute types.

Suggested Citation

  • Lim, Boon C. & Chung, Cindy M.Y., 2011. "The impact of word-of-mouth communication on attribute evaluation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 18-23, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:64:y:2011:i:1:p:18-23
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148-2963(09)00252-5
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ford, Gary T & Smith, Darlene B & Swasy, John L, 1990. "Consumer Skepticism of Advertising Claims: Testing Hypotheses from Economics of Information," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(4), pages 433-441, March.
    2. Friestad, Marian & Wright, Peter, 1994. "The Persuasion Knowledge Model: How People Cope with Persuasion Attempts," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(1), pages 1-31, June.
    3. Robert B. Ekelund & Franklin G. Mixon & Rand W. Ressler, 1995. "Advertising and information: an empirical study of search, experience and credence goods," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 22(2), pages 33-43, May.
    4. Nelson, Phillip, 1970. "Information and Consumer Behavior," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(2), pages 311-329, March-Apr.
    5. Wright, Alice A & Lynch, John G, Jr, 1995. "Communication Effects of Advertising versus Direct Experience When Both Search and Experience Attributes Are Present," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(4), pages 708-718, March.
    6. Mizerski, Richard W, 1982. "An Attribution Explanation of the Disproportionate Influence of Unfavorable Information," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 9(3), pages 301-310, December.
    7. Berger, Lawrence A., 1988. "Word-of-mouth reputations in auto insurance markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 225-234, September.
    8. Nelson, Philip, 1974. "Advertising as Information," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(4), pages 729-754, July/Aug..
    9. Martin R. Zemborain & Gita Venkataramani Johar, 2007. "Attitudinal Ambivalence and Openness to Persuasion: A Framework for Interpersonal Influence," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(4), pages 506-514, December.
    10. Brown, Jacqueline Johnson & Reingen, Peter H, 1987. "Social Ties and Word-of-Mouth Referral Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(3), pages 350-362, December.
    11. Darby, Michael R & Karni, Edi, 1973. "Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 67-88, April.
    12. Burnkrant, Robert E & Cousineau, Alain, 1975. "Informational and Normative Social Influence in Buyer Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 2(3), pages 206-215, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Tianyu & Dong, Peiwu & Zeng, Yongchao & Ju, Yanbing, 2022. "Analyzing the diffusion of competitive smart wearable devices: An agent-based multi-dimensional relative agreement model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 90-105.
    2. Nora Abdullah Al-Masoud, 2020. "The Impact of Placing Electronic Word of Mouth on Instagram on Consumers’ Purchase Intention: Case Study of Food Products in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, Macrothink Institute, Journal of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, vol. 7(2), pages 1-51, December.
    3. Roy, Rajat & Naidoo, Vik, 2021. "The role of implicit lay belief, SEC attributes and temporal orientation in consumer decision making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 411-422.
    4. Ranaweera, Chatura & Jayawardhena, Chanaka, 2014. "Talk up or criticize? Customer responses to WOM about competitors during social interactions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2645-2656.
    5. Amin Ansary & Nik M. Hazrul Nik Hashim, 2018. "Brand image and equity: the mediating role of brand equity drivers and moderating effects of product type and word of mouth," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 969-1002, October.
    6. Erik Ernesto Vazquez, 2021. "Effect of an e-retailer’s product category and social media platform selection on perceived quality of e-retail products," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 31(1), pages 139-157, March.
    7. Zhang, Hao & Liang, Xiaoning & Qi, Chenyue, 2021. "Investigating the impact of interpersonal closeness and social status on electronic word-of-mouth effectiveness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 453-461.
    8. Lea Susanne Faerber & Dennis C. Ahrholdt & Oliver Schnittka & Zeinab Rezvani, 2021. "Visitor characteristics matter: how the positive impact of visit duration on visitor satisfaction at visitor attractions is moderated," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(3), pages 333-351, April.
    9. King, Robert Allen & Racherla, Pradeep & Bush, Victoria D., 2014. "What We Know and Don't Know About Online Word-of-Mouth: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 167-183.
    10. Chul Woo Yoo, 2020. "An Exploration of the Role of Service Recovery in Negative Electronic Word-of-Mouth Management," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 719-734, June.
    11. Niros, Meletios & Pollalis, Yannis & Niros, Angelica, 2017. "Effective marketing of mobile telecom services through brand personality: Empirical evidence from Greece," MPRA Paper 76477, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Tassiello, Vito & Lombardi, Sara & Costabile, Michele, 2018. "Are we truly wicked when gossiping at work? The role of valence, interpersonal closeness and social awareness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 141-149.
    13. Yi, Jisu & Lee, Youseok & Kim, Sang-Hoon, 2019. "Determinants of growth and decline in mobile game diffusion," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 363-372.
    14. Sipilä, Jenni & Herold, Kristiina & Tarkiainen, Anssi & Sundqvist, Sanna, 2017. "The influence of word-of-mouth on attitudinal ambivalence during the higher education decision-making process," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 176-187.
    15. Dina Lončarić & Ivana Ribarić & Vlatka Farkaš, 2016. "The role of electronic word-of-mouth in the tourism market," Tourism and Hospitality Industry 15, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management.
    16. Lim, Weng Marc & Ahmed, Pervaiz Khalid & Ali, Md Yunus, 2022. "Giving electronic word of mouth (eWOM) as a prepurchase behavior: The case of online group buying," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 582-604.
    17. Shneor, Rotem & Munim, Ziaul Haque, 2019. "Reward crowdfunding contribution as planned behaviour: An extended framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 56-70.
    18. Söderlund, Magnus & Mattsson, Jan, 2015. "Merely asking the customer to recommend has an impact on word-of-mouth activity," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 80-89.
    19. Cambra-Fierro, Jesús & Gao, Lily (Xuehui) & Melero-Polo, Iguácel, 2021. "The power of social influence and customer–firm interactions in predicting non-transactional behaviors, immediate customer profitability, and long-term customer value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 103-119.
    20. Hong Jun Huang & Jun Yang & Benrong Zheng, 2021. "Demand effects of product similarity network in e-commerce platform," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 297-327, June.
    21. Mbawuni Joseph & Simon Gyasi Nimako, 2015. "Modelling the Antecedent and Consequence of Consumer Perceived Deception in Loan Services," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 6(1), pages 43-55, January.
    22. Keeling, Kathleen A. & McGoldrick, Peter J. & Sadhu, Henna, 2013. "Staff Word-of-Mouth (SWOM) and retail employee recruitment," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 88-104.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yang, Jun & Mai, Enping (Shirley), 2010. "Experiential goods with network externalities effects: An empirical study of online rating system," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(9-10), pages 1050-1057, September.
    2. Animesh Animesh & Vandana Ramachandran & Siva Viswanathan, 2005. "Quality Uncertainty And Adverse Selection In Sponsored Search Markets," Working Papers 05-27, NET Institute, revised Oct 2005.
    3. Shalom Levy & Israel Nebenzahl, 2008. "The influence of product involvement on consumers’ interactive processes in interactive television," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 65-77, March.
    4. Korgaonkar, Pradeep & Becerra, Enrique & O’Leary, Bay & Goldring, Deborah, 2010. "Product classifications, consumer characteristics, and patronage preference for online auction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 270-277.
    5. Roy, Rajat & Naidoo, Vik, 2021. "The role of implicit lay belief, SEC attributes and temporal orientation in consumer decision making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 411-422.
    6. Breeda Comyns & Frank Figge & Tobias Hahn & Ralf Barkemeyer, 2013. "Sustainability reporting: The role of “Search”, “Experience” and “Credence” information," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 231-243, September.
    7. Franklin G. Mixon & Chandini Sankaran & Kamal P. Upadhyaya, 2019. "Is Political Ideology Stable? Evidence from Long-Serving Members of the United States Congress," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-19, May.
    8. Briggs, Elten & Janakiraman, Narayan, 2017. "Slogan recall effects on marketplace behaviors: The roles of external search and brand assessment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 98-105.
    9. Andreas Klein & Parimal Bhagat, 2010. "We-Commerce: Evidence On A New Virtual Commerce Platform," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 4(4), pages 107-124.
    10. Benjamin L. Campbell & Saneliso Mhlanga & Isabelle Lesschaeve, 2016. "Market Dynamics Associated with Canadian Ethnic Vegetable Production," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 64-78, January.
    11. Wu, Fang & Swait, Joffre & Chen, Yuxin, 2019. "Feature-based attributes and the roles of consumers' perception bias and inference in choice," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 325-340.
    12. Robert B. Ekelund & Mark Thornton, 2019. "Extreme Credence and Imaginary Goods," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 47(3), pages 361-371, September.
    13. J. K. Pappalardo, 2022. "Economics of Consumer Protection: Contributions and Challenges in Estimating Consumer Injury and Evaluating Consumer Protection Policy," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 201-238, June.
    14. Dhaval M. Dave, 2013. "Effects of Pharmaceutical Promotion: A Review and Assessment," NBER Working Papers 18830, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Suwelack, Thomas & Hogreve, Jens & Hoyer, Wayne D., 2011. "Understanding Money-Back Guarantees: Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Outcomes," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 87(4), pages 462-478.
    16. Marco Costanigro & Yuko Onozaka, 2020. "A Belief‐Preference Model of Choice for Experience and Credence Goods," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(1), pages 70-95, February.
    17. Tibert Verhagen & Daniel Bloemers, 2018. "Exploring the cognitive and affective bases of online purchase intentions: a hierarchical test across product types," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 537-561, September.
    18. Olivier Gergaud & Florine Livat, 2004. "Team versus individual reputations: a model of interaction and some empirical evidence," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques bla04015, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    19. Michael Hutter, 2011. "Experience Goods," Chapters, in: Ruth Towse (ed.), A Handbook of Cultural Economics, Second Edition, chapter 29, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Kim, Juran & Kang, Seungmook & Lee, Ki Hoon, 2021. "Evolution of digital marketing communication: Bibliometric analysis and network visualization from key articles," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 552-563.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:64:y:2011:i:1:p:18-23. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.