Abstract Introduction Word-of-mouth (WOM) is based on personal recommendations where the sender is known by the consumer, thus, the persuasive nature of WOM is attributed to trust between the sender and the receiver of a message. Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) however, eliminates the consumer’s ability to judge the credibility of sender and message. Nevertheless, a high amount of people read online reviews about products and therefore make use of eWOM. Online reviews can be anonymous or can offer additional personal details of the sender and can have an influence on the credibility of the message, which in turn, can induce different attitudes towards specific products. Purpose This study aims to identify as well as understand the relationship between anonymous and semi anonymous eWOM and its corresponding characteristics in regards to the attitudes of consumers towards a laptop computer. Methodology A qualitative research method was conducted with the intention to understand the relationship between anonymous and semi anonymous eWOM towards consumers attitude. Primary data was collected, as the authors of this study were not able to locate research studies concerning the difference between anonymous and semi-anonymous eWOM and its relationship towards consumer’s attitudes. For this reason, four focus groups were carried out with students from the Jönköping University. During a pilot study, differences between male and female participants became visible therefore the focus groups were separated between men and women with the intention of collecting significant data. Conclusion The research was successful as it led to identify a relationship between the personal attributes of an online reviewer and the consumer attitudes towards a laptop. By reading online reviews and thus, observing the opinion of other people as well as using comparisons of different laptops, consumers form attitudes towards laptops. Moreover, it appears that consumers’ attitudes are more likely to be influenced by the message if it is perceived as credible. Several personal attributes of a reviewer such as name, photograph of a person, pseudonym, age, gender, country of residence and profession were identified to have an influence on the credibility of a message, whether they might increase or decrease the credibility. Additionally, it became visible, that women are relatively more likely to be influenced by personal attributes of a reviewer than men.

Cette thèse explore le concept, l’état de la littérature, et les implications commerciales de la bouche-a-oreille électronique (eWOM). Elle est basée sur un article conceptuel et deux articles empiriques. Dans le premier essai, j’apporte une clarification conceptuelle en mettant en évidence la multidimensionnalité du concept qui comporte cinq aspects (qui, quoi, où, quand et comment). Dans le second essai, le modèle résultant du premier essai est suivi d'une analyse historique des dimensions, terminologies équivalentes, théories et méthodes utilisées dans la recherche existante pour étudier l’eWOM.Utilisant l'analyse de réseau de citations, j’identifie des lacunes dans la littérature scientifique afin de faciliter la construction progressive de connaissances dans ce domaine. Enfin, dans le troisième essai, j'utilise une méta-analyse pour tester empiriquement les effets modérateurs de quatre des cinq dimensions de l’eWOM sur l'efficacité des ventes. J’observe que l’eWOM est corrélé positivement avec les ventes (.091), mais que son efficacité diffère grandement en fonction de la plateforme, du produit considéré et des mesures utilisées. Les implications théoriques et managériales, ainsi que des pistes de futures recherches, sont discutées. / This dissertation explores the construct, prior scientific inquiry, and market implications of electronic word of mouth (eWOM), and it is based upon one conceptual and two empirical papers. In the first essay, I provide conceptual clarity by dimensionalizing the construct according to five aspects (the Who, What, Where, When, and How of eWOM). In the second essay, the resulting organizing framework is followed up with a historical analysis of eWOM dimensions, aliases, theories, and methodologies used in prior research.Additionally, I employ citation network analysis in order to identify gaps in scholarly communication and facilitate progressive knowledge building in this area. Finally, in the third essay, I use meta-analysis to empirically test the moderating impact of four of the five eWOM dimensions on sales effectiveness. I find that eWOM is positively correlated with sales (.091), but its effectiveness differs across platform, product, and metric factors. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as avenues for further research are discussed.

This report is conceptualized as a research proposal that aims to investigate culturally differentiated consumers' motivations to engage in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication through one of the newest and most popular social networking sites: micro-blogging service in the U.S and China. Instead of actually collecting data, the report uses a social cognitive approach and tries to explain eWOM motives in outcome expectations by applying Bandura’s six outcome expectations and three additional dimensions to eWOM communication, some of which will be influenced by apparent cultural differences that exist between U.S and China. / text

Background: Online reviews generated by consumers are a vital source of information driving purchase decisions by consumers. Nevertheless, identifying the credibility of online reviews remains an obstacle, since not all online reviews are credible. This paper aims to determine the influence of credibility on the consumption of eWOM and S-eWOM in the tourism industry. Design/Methodology: This research provides an in-depth analysis of the insider experience connected to challenges facing travelers (customers) to evaluate online reviews and grant credibility to eWOM in the TripAdvisor platform. Specifically, this research explored the end-user experience and the role of social media in providing new opportunities to help customers overcome challenges they face in trusting eWOM and S-eWOM, in addition to the possible influence of COVID-19 in shaping participants’ credibility judgment. Guided by a qualitative approach, this interpretive study is conducted through an observation using the walkthrough and interviews with 18 participants from uOttawa. Nvivo12 software was used to organize, categorize, and analyze the data. Results: This study draws on Media Richness theory to provide a broad theoretical lens and a grounded theory approach which uncovered Two fundamental theories: the four maxims of cooperative principles by Grice and the Big Five personality traits to help interpret findings. Using thematic analysis, five main themes were uncovered: (1) Quality and quantity of the content, (2) Consumer, (3) Credibility and expertise of the communicator, (4) The platform, product type, and COVID-19 (context), and (5) The strength of social tie in the community. Research Limitations/Implications: The inability to generalize the data due to a small sample of respondents is a limitation of this research. Outcomes can help tourism managers support the reviews that accommodate a balanced view of the positive and negative aspects of travel-related products and services.

In recent years, destination marketers have experienced increasing pressure to compete in niche marketing, where critical analysis of each unique target market’s consumer needs is essential for marketing success. Destination marketers spend considerable time and financial resources identifying, characterizing and accommodating consumer needs in niche markets. Meanwhile, consumers are utilizing all aspects of information technology to plan, book, and better inform their travels. Youths’ growing participation and influence in the travel and tourism industry has received moderate attention both conceptually and empirically. Furthermore, despite the increasing availability of travel information online, youths’ predisposition toward media usage and their growing propensity toward travel and tourism, there has been relatively little to no attention paid towards young travelers’ use of the Internet as a multifaceted travel information source. This thesis focused on broadening our knowledge of young travelers online travel information search behavior within the context of media-induced tourism. Taking a netnographic approach, this study explored how electronic word-of-mouth regarding travel destinations, products and services is mediated through Internet technology, specifically how online communities and online discussion forums are utilized as important venues, which support conversations among travelers (Wang, Yu & Fesenmaier, 2002; Wang & Fesenmaier, 2004). Study results supported previous arguments that online communities and social networking play an important role in mediating travel information search and decision-making, especially for youth, fan culture and media-induced tourism. The overall findings, limitations to this study, suggestions for future research, and practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Det huvudsakliga syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur eWOM (Electronic Word-of- mouth), det elektroniska sättet att sprida information samt erfarenheter av ett resmål via internet, påverkar oss som individer vid val av ett resmål. Genom användandet av kvalitativa intervjuer, enkätundersökning samt litteraturstudier inom ämnet har författarna för denna uppsats undersökt användandet av eWOM utifrån tre punkter: Hur stor påverkan eWOM har på en individ vid val av resmål, När använder sig individen av eWOM samt Vilken slags information inhämtar individen med hjälp av eWOM.  Efter utförandet av intervjuerna, så väl som enkätundersökningen, kom författarna till denna uppsats fram till slutsatsen att hur personer använder sig av samt sprider eWOM beror helt och hållet på vem man är som person, dock finns eWOM med genom hela beslutsprocessen vid val av ett resmål på ett eller annat sätt. Den information som respondenterna av de kvalitativa intervjuer samt enkätundersökning tog mest till sig samt det som de ansåg var viktigt, var kommentarer om tidigare erfarenheter samt åsikter kring de resmål respondenterna söker information om.

Yes / Purpose- Numerous studies have examined factors influencing eWOM providing behaviour. The volume of extant research and inconsistency in some of the findings makes it useful to develop an all-encompassing model synthesising results. Therefore, the aim of this study is to synthesise findings from existing studies on eWOM by employing meta-analysis, which will help to reconcile conflicting findings of factors affecting consumers’ intention to engage in eWOM communications. Design/methodology/approach- The findings from 51 studies were used for meta-analysis, which was undertaken using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Findings- Factors affecting eWOM providing behaviour were divided into four groups: personal conditions, social conditions, perceptual conditions, and consumption-based conditions. The results of meta-analysis showed that out of 20 identified relationships, 16 were found to be significant (opinion seeking, information usefulness, trust in web eWOM services, economic incentive, customer satisfaction, loyalty, brand attitude, altruism, affective commitment, normative commitment, opinion leadership, self-enhancement, information influence, tie strength, homophily, and community identity). Originality/value- Applying meta-analysis helped reconciliation of conflicting findings, enabled investigation of the strengths of the relationships between motivations and eWOM providing behaviour, and offered a consolidated view. The results of this study facilitate the advancement of current knowledge of information dissemination on the Internet, which can influence consumer purchase intention and loyalty.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur restauranger påverkades av recensioner och ratings gjorda av konsumenter online. De valda recensionssidorna var Tripadvisor och Yelp, samt Facebook som ett socialt nätverk. Detta undersöktes genom en kvalitativ och kvantitativ studie, i form av två intervjuer och statistisk analys av data som vi samlades in från 89 restauranger i Stockholm.  Vi konstaterade att det inte fanns någon stark koppling mellan recensioner, ratings och ett företags nettoresultat. Trots detta var elektronisk word-of-mouth (eWOM) en viktig del av en restaurangs marknadsföring och recensioner var en stor del i beslutsprocessen om kunder valde att gå till restaurangen eller inte. För restauranger var det viktigt kunna bemöta och kompensera missnöjda kunder, även om det inte direkt syntes på deras resultat så kan det få konsekvensen att restaurangen fick dåligt rykte online. Vi kunde se vissa skillnader på synsättet mellan en restaurang med hög rating respektive låg rating på områden så som interaktivitet online. Synen på vilket av WOM och eWOM som är mest effektivt skiljde sig även mellan företagen. Överlag kunde stora skillnader dock inte påvisas.

Syfte: Enligt litteraturen kommunicerar människor idag inte bara via nya kanaler utan även merEn bidragande faktor till detta är framfarten av sociala medier som skapar nya kommunikationsmöjligheter. Syftet med vår studie är att undersöka hur företag utifrån konsumenters motivationsfaktorer Jagfaktorn, Mottagarfaktorn, Budskapsfaktorn och Produktfaktorn arbetar för att stärka sitt varumärke genom eWOM.  Metod: För att samla in data till studien använde vi oss utav en kvalitativ metod och genomförde 10 stycken semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Vårt urval baserades på respondenter som arbetade med marknadsföring på respektive företag samt att företaget arbetade mot konsumenter, det vill säga Business to consumer (B2C). Vi sammanställde empirin i en tabell utefter de fyra motivationsfaktorerna för att lättare kunna göra en analys som slutligen mynnar ut i en slutsats.  Resultat & slutsats: En intressant upptäckt med vår studie är att företag istället för att ta hänsyn till konsumenters motivationsfaktorer utgår från vad de själva anser vara viktigt. Detta visas tydligast av företagens rankning av motivationsfaktorerna. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Ett förslag till vidare forskning är att genomföra denna studie ur konsumenters synvinkel för att sedan koppla samman de två resultaten. En annan intressant aspekt är att undersöka om det möjligtvis finns fler motivationsfaktorer för eWOM än Jagfaktorn, Mottagarfaktorn, Budskapsfaktorn och Produktfaktorn. Uppsatsens bidrag: Vår studie har bidragit till litteraturen genom att beskriva och skapa förståelse för, utifrån företags perspektiv, konsumenters motivationsfaktorer till eWOM. Även hur företag arbetar med att bjuda in konsumenter till eWOM.

Friendvertising är en metod marknadsförare använder sig av för att få konsumenter att själva sprida reklam via sociala nätverk. För att konsumenter ska sprida ett företags budskap krävs att de motiveras till det. Den här studien har undersökt vad som motiverar Facebookanvändare att dela reklam på Facebook, med syfte att skapa förståelse för dessa motiv. Totalt genomfördes fyra gruppintervjuer, med respondenter från gruppen unga studerande. Resultatet visar att Facebookanvändare motiveras att dela för att kunna påverka sin omgivning, kommunicera med vänner och vara altruistiska, samt för att stärka sin identitet. Resultatet visar också att Facebookanvändare anser att reklam bör ha ett nyhets- och underhållningsvärde, och därmed ett egenvärde. Därför kan reklam idag betraktas som en produkt i sig, där innehållet spelar större roll än varumärke och marknadsförd vara.