A Snowball Effect of Emotional Infomration in Electronic Word-of-Mouth Communication

Abstract

Owing to the development of the internet, people often establish various virtual communities (e.g., online product review forums, Internet discussion groups, instant messaging chat rooms, mailing lists and Web logs) to exchange unique information related to common goals or topics of interest. The vast majority of information exchange on the web, also known as electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM), is triggered by consumer-to-consumer messaging that has no basis in a traditionally existing (or trusted) relationship. These consumer-generated-messages in virtual communities may or may not have an intended “target” within the trusted social network, yet an individual’s archived opinion may have a lasting impact on the awareness, trial, and purchase behavior of other consumers. Viewed as a special diffusion mechanism for information, e-WOM thus facilitates an individual’s ability to communicate to people with similar interests on a macro-level rather than to small-size networks in the off-line environment.