To make informed buying decisions, online consumers increasingly turn to online product review systems, or electronic word-of-mouth systems (EWOMSs). Previous studies suggest that EWOMS designs can determine consumer behavior. Even some tiny changes, such as background color or picture, can greatly affect consumers’ buying behavior. Hence, it is critical to investigate how designs of EWOMS influence online consumers’ buying behavior.
This research develops a theoretical model of the effects of EWOMS designs on consumer purchase behavior. We conducted a study using experiments to test and validate the proposed theoretical model. Our findings indicate that online purchase behavior within EWOMSs can be enhanced by three conditions. First, perceived value should be enhanced by a design that ensures that the first review encountered by consumers is positive. Second, confidence in judgment about value should be increased by displaying the most helpful reviews first. Last, consumers’ emotional states should be enhanced by using a design that facilitates the processing of reviews. Such a design could further positively impact consumers’ confidence.
This research not only enhances our understanding of the effects of EWOMS designs but it also contributes to consumer behavior research by studying the effects of confidence in judgment about value. In addition, this research makes important contributions to ecommerce companies, online consumers, and policy makers. / published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/208578 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Qu, Lianzhuang, 曲连壮 |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Rights | Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License, The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works. |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds