The Influence of Opinion Leaders’ eWOM on Online Consumer Decisions: A Study on Social Influence

Opinion leaders and eWOM are becoming two of the most effective ways to launch a brand on social media by creating viral marketing. However, how much influence does an opinion leader’s eWOM (OL eWOM) have on consumer purchasing decisions? This research looks at the role of OL eWOM as well as the eff...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Tobon, Sandra, García De Madariaga Miranda, Jesús
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/7369
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/7369
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Opinion leader’ eWOM
Online consumer decisions
Product type
eWOM’ valence
Personal influence.
Marketing
5311.05 Marketing (Comercialización)
Descripción
Sumario:Opinion leaders and eWOM are becoming two of the most effective ways to launch a brand on social media by creating viral marketing. However, how much influence does an opinion leader’s eWOM (OL eWOM) have on consumer purchasing decisions? This research looks at the role of OL eWOM as well as the effect of its valence and product type on the decision to buy or not buy from a realistic experimental online store design. In total, 300 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of five scenarios in a 22 experimental arrangement. Results show that OL eWOM influences consumer online decisions when purchasing experience-type goods and the valence of eWOM is positive. However, if we compare the OL eWOM with a control group, then OL eWOM does not have a significant influence. This research provides novel empirical evidence for the limited influence of OL in modeling shopping behaviors in e-commerce contexts.