• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.127-146
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• 2013

The online social networking services (SNS) have been growing as the means of communication. In this study, we investigated word-of-mouth (WOM) effect under the SNS environment and evaluated the impact of message sender's influence on the WOM effect. Especially, this study focused on the betweenness centrality calculated through the social network analysis (SNA) of SNS network information, and proposed it as the measure of WOM message sender's influence, SNA may provide more accurate and objective measures than subjective self-reporting survey method. Fifty-one Facebook users responded to each of their four Facebook friends, who had been selected based on their betweenness centrality, Statistical analyses were performed using the responses and the betweenness centralities of the Facebook friends. The results showed that the direction (positive vs, negative) of a WOM message in SNS had an impact on the attitude of the message receiver toward the product. Moreover, the betweenness centrality of the message sender as well as his/her opinion leadership had a moderating effect on the WOM effect. Opinion leadership is a measure that has been frequently used for indicating the influence of WOM message sender in the previous studies. Considering the result that the betweenness centrality of the message sender was Significantly correlated to his/her opinion leadership, the betweenness centrality can be used for indicating the influence of WOM message sender.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.49-63
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• 2020

Purpose - This study aims to assess six aspects of resident satisfaction (satisfaction with room, home, social interaction, meals service, staff care, and resident involvement) and to identify the most influential aspect of satisfaction upon word-of-mouth (WOM) intention in a continuing care retirement community (CCRC). Design/methodology/approach - A total of 293 paper survey questionnaires with a cover letter and postage paid envelopes were mailed to the CCRC residents. To test reliability and validity of the multidimensional resident satisfaction, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used. Then, the structural equation modeling technique (SEM) was applied to test causal relationship between resident satisfaction and WOM intention. Multiple regression was used to identify the most influential aspect of resident satisfaction on WOM intention in the CCRC. Findings - The results of EFA and CFA on the 157 responses received out of the total 293 surveys indicated that six dimensions of resident satisfaction were statistically distinct. Among the six dimensions, satisfaction with resident involvement, social interaction, and staff care significantly influenced their WOM intention. Furthermore, the most influential aspect of satisfaction upon WOM intention was resident involvement. Research implications or Originality - This study empirically tested the six dimensions of CCRC resident satisfaction, and identified resident involvement as the most influential factor upon WOM intention in a CCRC where WOM intentions plays a crucial role during the selection process of prospective residents.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.271-283
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a scale measuring the Tae-Wom in nurses. Methods: The initial items were based on an extensive literature review and in-depth interviews with seven nurses with varied careers. Thirty-five items were derived from a pilot survey. Data were collected from 196 hospital nurses, and analyzed to identify items of the scale as well as to verify the exploratory factor analysis, reliability, and validity of the scale. Results: The results of the exploratory factor analysis showed that six factors contained 26 items and 65.2% of the total explained variance. These six factors comprised negative behavior exhibited by the Tae-Wom recipient, personal character of the Tae-Wom giver, personal character of nursing unit managers, work attitude of the Tae-Wom giver, overwhelming workload, and unskilled relationships. Furthermore, convergent and discriminant validity testing verified these items. The internal consistency reliability was acceptable (Cronbach's α= .93), and Cronbach's α for each factor ranged from .62 to .90. Conclusion: The developed Tae-Wom scale will serve as a tool for verifying the Tae-Wom state in nursing organizations. Therefore, this scale is expected to mitigate the negative effects of the Tae-Wom.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.1-25
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• 2010

Motion pictures are so typical experience goods that consumers tend to look for more credible information. Hence, movie audiences consider movie viewers' reviews more important than the information provided by the film distributor. Recently many portal sites allow consumers to post their reviews and opinions so that other people check the number of consumer reviews and scores before going to the theater. There are a few previous researches studying the electronic word of mouth(eWOM) effect in the movie industry. They found that the volume of eWOM influenced the revenue of the movie significantly but the valence of eWOM did not affect it much (Liu 2006). The goal of our research is also to investigate the eWOM effects in general. But our research is different from the previous studies in several aspects. First, we study the eWOM effect in Korean movie industry. In other words, we would like to check whether we can generalize the results of the previous research across countries. The similar econometric models are applied to Korean movie data that include 746,282 consumer reviews on 439 movies. Our results show that both the valence(RATING) and the volume(LNMSG) of the eWOM influence weekly movie revenues. This result is different from the previous research findings that the volume only influences the revenue. We conjectured that the difference of self construal between Asian and American culture may explain this difference (Kitayama 1991). Asians including Koreans have more interdependent self construal than American, so that they are easily affected by other people's thought and suggestion. Hence, the valence of the eWOM affects Koreans' choice of the movie. Second, we find the critical defect of the previous eWOM models and, hence, attempt to correct it. The previous eWOM model assumes that the volume of eWOM (LNMSG) is an independent variable affecting the movie revenue (LNREV). However, the revenue can influence the volume of the eWOM. We think that treating the volume of eWOM as an independent variable a priori is too restrictive. In order to remedy this problem, we employed a simultaneous equation in which the movie revenue and the volume of the eWOM can affect each other. That is, our eWOM model assumes that the revenue (LNREV) and the volume of eWOM (LNMSG) have endogenous relationship where they influence each other. The results from this simultaneous equation model showed that the movie revenue and the eWOM volume interact each other. The movie revenue influences the eWOM volume for the entire 8 weeks. The reverse effect is more complex. Both the volume and the valence of eWOM affect the revenue in the first week, but only the volume affect the revenue for the rest of the weeks. In the first week, consumers may be curious about the movie and look for various kinds of information they can trust, so that they use the both the quantity and quality of consumer reviews. But from the second week, the quality of the eWOM only affects the movie revenue, implying that the review ratings are more important than the number of reviews. Third, our results show that the ratings by professional critics (CRATING) had negative effect to the weekly movie revenue (LNREV). Professional critics often give low ratings to the blockbuster movies that do not have much cinematic quality. Experienced audiences who watch the movie for fun do not trust the professionals' ratings and, hence, tend to go for the low-rated movies by them. In summary, applied to the Korean movie ratings data and employing a simultaneous model, our results are different from the previous eWOM studies: 1) Koreans (or Asians) care about the others' evaluation quality more than quantity, 2) The volume of eWOM is not the cause but the result of the revenue, 3) Professional reviews can give the negative effect to the movie revenue.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.77-85
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• 2020

Purpose: This study examined marketing value as online word-of-mouth media in the foodservice industry, and it did research on online word-of-mouth (e-WOM) communication marketing schemes using mass communication in the industry. The study is also intended to investigate the impact of electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) information and communication on product awareness risks, benefits, and word-of-mouth (WOM) impacts on restaurant consumers. Research design, data, and methodology: The analysis was conducted on a valid questionnaire of 425 menu product consumers. The survey was conducted for two months in March 2019. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS and hierarchical regression analysis was applied. Results: It did empirical research on the reciprocal casual relations to online and the existing word-of-mouth communication that have to be preceded to understand characteristics of online word-of-mouth communication for the purpose of this study. The result is summarized as follows. First, the online word-of-mouth (e-WOM) effect on product recognition risk shows the statistically significant effect of information sender characteristics, information recipient characteristics, and online word-of-mouth (e-WOM) communication on product recognition risk. Second, the influence of online word-of-mouth (e-WOM) on product risk benefits shows that the information sender characteristics, the information receiver characteristics, and online communications have a statistically significant effect on product risk benefits. Third, online word of mouth risk recognition had a statistically significant effect on word of mouth acceptance. Fourth, online risk benefit had a statistically significant positive effect on word of mouth (WOM) effect. Conclusions: The communication between online word of mouth (e-WOM) sender and recipient had a positive influence on the product evaluation and attitude change in the foodservice industry, and the word-of-mouth (WOM) effect affected financial and non-financial performance. The results mentioned above indicated that the communication between the sender of the information and the receiver of the information had a positive effect on the product evaluation and attitude change of the menu consumer, and the word-of-mouth (WOM) result affected the financial. Therefore, the online word-of-mouth (e-WOM) effect has a positive effect on the word-of-mouth (WOM) effect of menu products when performed simultaneously and positively between the information sender and the information receiver.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.81-93
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• 2016

An actual analysis was made regarding how different the effect of the online WOM information characteristics on the expansion of the WOM information characteristics was depending on the level of the receiver's expertise in consideration of the sender's expertise, the vividness and Consensus of WOM information which can affect the acceptance of WOM information in this study. To begin with, the analysis results showed that the online WOM information characteristics had the positive effect on the information acceptance intention in proportion to the sender's expertise and the vividness and Consensus of WOM information. Secondly, the information acceptance intention was found to have a positive effect on the re-WOM intention. Finally, the level of receiver's expertise was found to control the effect of the online WOM information characteristics on the information acceptance intention.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.155-168
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• 2013

This study describes consumers' movie choices in conjunction with other group members and attempts to reassess the effect of the online word of mouth (WOM) source in a joint decision context. The tendency of many people to go to movies in groups has been mentioned in previous literature but there is no modeling research that studies movie choice from the group decision perspective. We found that ignoring the group movie-going perspective can result in a misunderstanding, especially underestimation of genre preference and the impact of the WOM variables. Most of the studies to measure online WOM effects were done at the aggregate level, and the role of online WOM variables(volume vs valence) is mixed in the literature. We postulate that group-level analysis might offer insight to resolve these mixed understanding of WOM effects in the literature. We implemented the study via a random effect model with group-level heterogeneity. Romance, drama, and action were selected as genre variables; valence and volume were selected as online WOM variables. A choice-based conjoint survey was used for data collection and the models was estimated via Bayesian MCMC method. The empirical results show that (i) both genre and online WOM are important variables when consumers choose movies, especially as group, and (ii) the WOM valence effect are amplified more than the volume effect does as individuals are engaged in group decision. This research contributes to the literature in several ways. First, we investigate movie choice from a group movie-going perspective that is more realistic and consistent with the market behavior. Secondly, the study sheds new light on the WOM effect. At group-level, both valence and volume significantly affect movie choices, which adds to the understanding of the role of online WOM in consumers' movie choice.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.131-154
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• 2013

New internet technologies have created a revolutionary new platform which allows consumers to make decision about product price and quality quickly and provides information about themselves through the transcript of online reviews. By expressing their feelings toward products or services on virtual opinion platforms, users extend their influence into cyberspace as electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM). Existing research indicates that an impact of eWOM on the consumer decision process is influential. For both academic researchers and practitioners, investigating this phenomenon of information sharing in online website is essential given the increasing number of consumers using them as sources of purchase decisions. It is worthwhile to examine the extent to which opinion seekers are willing to accept and adopt online reviews and which factors encourage adoption. Discerning the most motivating aspects of information adoption in particular, could help electronic marketers better promote their brand and presence on the internet. The objectives of this study are to investigate how online WOM influences a persons' purchase decision by discovering which factors encourage information adoption. Especially focused on the self-efficacy, this research investigates how self-efficacy affects on information usefulness and adoption of online information. Although people are exposed to same review or comment about product or service, some accept the reviews while others do not. We notice that accepting online reviews mainly depends on the person's preference or personal characteristics. This study empirically examines this issue by using cognitive dissonance theory. Specifically, in the movie industry, we address few questions-is always positive WOM generating positive effect? What if the movie isn't the person's favorite genre? What if the person who is very self-assertive so doesn't take other's opinion easily? In these cases of cognitive dissonance, is always WOM generating same result? While many studies have focused on one direct of WOM which indicates positive (or negative) informative reviews or comments generate positive (or negative) results and more (or less) profits, this study investigates not only directional properties of WOM but also how people change their opinion towards product or service positive to negative, negative to positive through the online WOM. An experiment was conducted quantitatively by using a sample of 168 users who have experience within the online movie review site, 'Naver Movie'. Users were required to complete a survey regarding reviews and comments taken from the real movie page. The data reflected user's perceptions of online WOM information that determined users' adoption level. Analysis results provide empirical support for the proposed theoretical perspective. When user can't agree with the opinion of online WOM information, in other words, when cognitive dissonance between online WOM information and users' preference occurs, perceived self-efficacy significantly decreases customers' perception of usefulness. And this perception of usefulness plays an important role in determining users' intention to adopt online WOM information. Most of researches have been concentrated on characteristics of online WOM itself such as quality or vividness of information, credibility of source and direction of online WOM, etc. for describing effect of online WOM, but our results suggest that users' personal character (e.g., self-efficacy) plays decisive role for acceptance of online WOM information. Higher self-efficacy means lower possibility to accept the information that represents counter opinion because of cognitive dissonance, whereas the people that have lower self-efficacy are willing to accept the online WOM information as true and refer to purchase decision. This study suggests a model for understanding role of direction of online WOM information. Also, our result implicates the importance of online review supervision and personalized information service by confirming switching opinion negative to positive is more difficult than positive to negative through the online WOM information. This implication would help marketers to manage online reviews of their products or services.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.302-318
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to verify the effects of benefit sought of food products on SNS-WOM information characteristics, purchase intention, and SNS-WOM with regards to food products. In addition, the mediating role of SNS-WOM information characteristics was also examined. A survey was conducted from March 10th to 30th using an SNS based convenience sampling method. A total of 350 responses were collected, of which 326 were used for analysis, after excluding responses containing missing data. Multiple regression and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to verify the hypotheses. The results from this study are as follows. First, it was found that diversity and utilitarian benefits of food products had a greater effect on consensus of SNS than the symbolic and experimental benefits. However, symbolic and experimental benefits of food products had a greater effect on neutrality of SNS than the diversity and utilitarian benefits. Second, only consensus of SNS-WOM information characteristics significantly impacted purchase intention of food products. Third, consensus of SNS-WOM information characteristics had a greater effect on SNS-WOM intention of food products than the neutrality of SNS-WOM information characteristics. Fourth, SNS-WOM information characteristics were found to mediate the relationship between benefit sought and purchase intention of food products. Fifth, SNS-WOM information characteristics were found to mediate the relationship between benefit sought and SNS-WOM intention of food products.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.39-52
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• 2016

Present study was performed to identify the effects of SNS WOM characteristics on attitude and purchase intention as perceived in restaurant participants and to confirm the moderating effect according to SNS receivers' characteristics on formulated model. Survey method was employed to consumers who are using SNS to find restaurant foods through convenience sampling method in Seoul area. A total of 250 surveys were distributed and 230 were used for analysis, after excluding missing and unusual data. The results from this study are as follows. First, vividness of SNS WOM characteristics had a greater effect on attitude of restaurant food than timeliness, but the consensus and neutrality of SNS WOM characteristics have no significant effect on attitude of restaurant food. Second, SNS receivers characteristics found to moderate the relationships between vividness and timeliness of SNS WOM characteristics and attitude. However, SNS receivers characteristics did not have a moderating role relationships between consensus and neutrality of SNS WOM characteristics and attitude. Third, attitude of restaurant food had a significant effect on purchase intention.