Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.7838/jsebs.2011.16.4.241

How eWOM Reduces Uncertainties in Decision-making Process： Using the Concept of Entropy in Information Theory  

Lee, Jung (Bang College of Business, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research)
Publication Information
The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies / v.16, no.4, 2011 , pp. 241-256 More about this Journal
Abstract
The present study examines the impact of eWOM on consumer decision making process by viewing eWOM as the product information supplier. We employ the concept of information entropy which was proposed in the information theory to explain different consumer responses to various types of product information in eWOM. Information entropy is the degree of uncertainty associated with the information in the message. In eWOM, a variety of information with different levels of entropy is available, and these different entropy levels result in different impacts on consumer behavior. The preliminary hypotheses are formulated to examine the impact of eWOM on consumer behavior, at the product attribute level and the purchase action level separately. An experiment was conducted to online shopping mall users and the analysis gives valuable insights into our future research.
Keywords
Electronic Word of Mouth; Information Theory; Entropy; Uncertainty; Electronic Commerce;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 4  (Citation Analysis)
연도 인용수 순위
1 Ba, S. and Pavlou, P. A., "Evidence of the effect of trust in electronic markets : price premiums and buyer behavior," MIS Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 243-268, 2002.
2 Bowie, D. and Chang, J. C., "Tourist satisfaction : A view from a mixed international guided package tour," Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 303-322, 2005.   DOI   ScienceOn
3 Chang, C. W., Lin, C. T., and Wang, L. Q., "Mining the text information to optimizing the customer relationship management," Expert Systems with Applications, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 1433-1443, 2009.   DOI   ScienceOn
4 Clemons, E. K., Gao, G., and Hitt, L. M., "When online reviews meet hyperdifferentiation : a study of the craft beer industry," Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 149-171, 2006.   DOI   ScienceOn
5 Davies, B. and Downward, P., "Exploring price and non-price decision making in the UK package tour industry : Insights from small-scale travel agents and tour operators," Tourism Management, Vol. 28, No. 5, pp. 1236-1261, 2007.   DOI   ScienceOn
6 김진화, 배재권, 전한철, "오프라인 구전과 온라인 리뷰간의 정보 캐스케이드 영향 분석", 한국전자거래학회지, 제15권, 제1호, pp. 39-60, 2010.
7 이국용, "온라인 상품검색사이트의 이용후기 특성과 친숙성이 충성도에 미치는 영향", 한국전자거래학회지, 제15권, 제1호, pp. 17-37, 2010.
8 장재영, "온라인 쇼핑몰의 상품평 자동분류를 위한 감성분석 알고리즘", 한국전자거래학회지, 제14권, 제4호, pp. 19-33, 2009.
9 Lee, J. and Lee, J.-N., "Understanding product information inference process in electronic word-of-mouth : an objectivity-subjectivity perspective," Information and Management, Vol. 46, No. 5, pp. 302-311, 2009.   DOI   ScienceOn
10 Koller, M. and Salzberger, T., "Cognitive dissonance as a relevant construct throughout the decision-making and consumption process-an empirical investigation related to a package tour," Journal of Customer Behaviour, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 217-227, 2007.   DOI
11 Lee, J., Lee, J.-N., and Shin, H. J., "The long tail or the short tail? The categoryspecific impact of eWOM on sales distribution," Decision Support Systems, Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 466-479, 2011.   DOI   ScienceOn
12 Mason, K. and Bequette, J., "Product experience and consumer product attribute inference accuracy," Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 343-357, 1998.   DOI   ScienceOn
13 Mudambi, S. and Schuff, D., "What makes a helpful online review? A study of customer reviews on Amazon.com," MIS Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 185-200, 2010.
14 Sengupta, J. and Johar, G. V., "Effects of inconsistent information on the predictive value of product attitudes : towards a resolution of opposing oerspectives," Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 39-56, 2002.   DOI   ScienceOn
15 Mukherjee, A., and Hoyer, W. D., "The effect of novel attributes on product evaluation," Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 462-472, 2011.
16 Murray, K. B., "A test of services marketing theory : consumer information acquisition activities," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 10-25, 1991.   DOI   ScienceOn
17 Promomagazine, "Online Consumer Product Reviews Have Big Influence," http://promomagazine.com/research/onlineconsumer-reviews-influence-0416/.
18 The e-tailing group, "Merchant and Customer Perspectives on Customer reviews and user-generated contents," Commissioned by Power Reviews, February. 2008.
19 Wang, K.-C., Hsieh, A.-T., and Huan T.-C., "Critical service features in group package tour : An exploratory research," Tourism Management, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 177-189, 2000.
20 Ehrich, K. and Irwin, J., "Willful ignorance : the avoidance of ethical attribute information," Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 266-277, 2005.   DOI   ScienceOn
21 Ghose, A., Mukhopadhyay, T., and Rajan, U., "Impact of Iinternet referral services on the supply chain," Information Systems Research, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 300-319, 2007.   DOI   ScienceOn
22 Ghose, A. and Ipeirotis, P., "Estimating the helpfulness and economic impact of product reviews : mining text and reviewer characteristics," IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, forthcoming, http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/TKDE.2010.188.
23 Hong, S. and Wyer, R. S., "Effects of country-of-origin and product attribute information on product evaluation : an information processing perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 16, pp. 175-187, 1989.   DOI   ScienceOn
24 Gruen, T., Osmonbekov, T., and Czaplewski, A., "eWOM : the impact of customer-to-customer online know-how exchange on customer value and loyalty," Journal of Business Research, Vol. 59, No. 4, pp. 449-56, 2006.   DOI   ScienceOn
25 Herr, P. M., Kardes, F. R., and Kim, J., "Effects of word-of-mouth and productattribute information on persuasion : an accessibility-diagnosticity perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 454-462, 1991.   DOI
26 Heung, V. C. S. and Chu, R., "Important factors affecting Hong Kong consumers' choice of a travel agency for all-inclusive package tours," Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 52-59, 2000.   DOI   ScienceOn
27 Howcroft, B., Hamilton, R., and Hewer, P., "Customer involvement and interaction in retail banking : an examination of risk and confidence in the purchase of financial products," Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 21, No. 7, pp. 481-491, 2007.   DOI   ScienceOn
28 Hsu, P. F. and Hsu, M. G., "Optimizing the information outsourcing practices of primary care medical organizations using entropy and TOPSIS," Quality and Quantity, Vol. 42, pp. 181-201, 2008.   DOI   ScienceOn
29 Johnson, R. D. and Levin, I. P., "More than meets the eye : the effect of missing information on purchase evaluations," Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 12, pp. 169-177, 1985.   DOI   ScienceOn
30 Dellarocas, C., "The digitization of word of mouth : promise and challenges of online feedback mechanisms," Management Science, Vol. 49, No. 10, pp. 1407-1424, 2003.   DOI   ScienceOn
31 Desouza, K. C., Chattaraj, A., and Kraft, G. D., "Supply chain perspective to knowledge management : research propositions," Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 129-138, 2003.   DOI   ScienceOn
32 Duan, W., Gu, B., and Whinston, A. B., "Do online reviews matter? An empirical investigation of panel data," Decision Support Systems, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 1007-1016, 2008.   DOI   ScienceOn
33 최재원, 손창수, 이홍주, "전자상거래에서의 신뢰 형성을 위한 단서적 신뢰의 역할", 한국전자거래학회지, 제14권, 제2호, pp. 1-22, 2009.