Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM)

Abstract

With the growth of Internet technologies more and more consumers are using it as a tool for information seeking about a product or a company. Enhancement of the Internet, popularity of e-commerce, and widespread diffusion of social media appli- cations led to the emergence of eWOM. Although eWOM may be less personal than traditional WOM, it is seen as more powerful because it has significant reach and is publicly available (Hennig-Thurau et al. 2004). This chapter starts by providing an overview of existing definitions of eWOM and discussing the difference between traditional and electronic WOM communica- tions. After this, characteristics of eWOM are discussed followed by new challenges and opportunities introduced by the development and growth of eWOM communi- cations for companies and consumers. The next subsection presents the advances in eWOM research, which can be categorized into three themes: engaging in eWOM, persuasiveness of eWOM, and impact of eWOM. The section ends with a discussion of the importance of eWOM communications for business and consumers providing key points for practitioners and outlining future research directions.