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E-Fluence at the Point of Contact: Impact of Word-Of-Mouth and Personal Relevance of Services on Consumer Attitudes in Online Environments

Elias, Troy R.C.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1243885230

Abstract Details

2009, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Communication.
This 2-part study examines key factors that may play a critical role in determining consumer attitudes based on online consumer feedback. Study I indicates that positive online consumer feedback leads to significantly more desirable consumer attitudes than sites with no consumer feedback, or sites with overly negative consumer word-of-mouth (NWOM). Study I also indicates that with the consistent exception of a service not specifically related to Black culture, but which has overwhelmingly positive consumer reviews, Blacks tend to respond more favorably to services that are linked to their own racial ingroup as long as those services have some positive consumer evaluations. Additionally, Study I demonstrates that for Whites, the e-WOM (electronic word-of-mouth) effect is larger for negative WOM than for positive WOM. Study II reinforced the impact of NWOM on Whites such that even when the race and viewable identity of a source was revealed negative WOM was still more influential than PWOM for Whites. Study II demonstrates that in general, regardless of the racial relevance of a service, Blacks’ attitudes are influenced by online evaluations given by their racial-ingroup. Moreover, Blacks responded to the Black relevant condition favorably even with negative Black evaluations. This implies Blacks require only a minimal degree of ingroup association to display ingroup favoritism. Additional implications for Social Identity Theory and the Distinctiveness Principle are discussed.
Osei Appiah, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Dan McDonald, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Prabu David, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
167 p.
African Americans; Business Community; Communication; Marketing; Social Research
Viral marketing; word of mouth; social media; recommender system; e-commerce; race; ethnicity; social identity; distinctiveness

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Elias, T. R.C. (2009). E-Fluence at the Point of Contact: Impact of Word-Of-Mouth and Personal Relevance of Services on Consumer Attitudes in Online Environments [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1243885230

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Elias, Troy. E-Fluence at the Point of Contact: Impact of Word-Of-Mouth and Personal Relevance of Services on Consumer Attitudes in Online Environments. 2009. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1243885230.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Elias, Troy. "E-Fluence at the Point of Contact: Impact of Word-Of-Mouth and Personal Relevance of Services on Consumer Attitudes in Online Environments." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1243885230

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1243885230
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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.