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Effect of eWOM Valence on Online Retail Sales

Author

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  • Gobinda Roy
  • Biplab Datta
  • Rituparna Basu

Abstract

Online retail sector in India has witnessed a phenomenal growth in recent times. Online shopping has also become a popular trend among the younger generation in India. Increasing number of shoppers visit online retailer websites and read online reviews before making their purchase decision. The online reviews or electronic word of mouth (eWOM) becomes an important guiding tool for the online shoppers with its intrinsic product information and evaluation characteristics. The present study aims to analyze the effects of various eWOM antecedents on online sales by considering the effects of positive and mixed-neutral eWOM (MNWOM) valence (stimuli) on sales. It also explores the role of market-level eWOM factors, such as price, on online sales of security products like antivirus software. The confirmatory bias of these factors was noted, while the elaboration likelihood model (ELL) has been used to understand the relative importance of these factors in influencing customers’ purchase decision and sales. Further, a content analysis method supplemented by a multiple regression method was used to analyze 205 real-time online sales (reviews from verified purchasers) data pertaining to popular and top-selling antivirus products taken from two leading e-commerce websites. The study contributes as a pioneering effort in the domain with the use of innovative methodology of capturing real-time online data with a subsequent kappa statistics validation. The results showed a new insightful perspective of eWOM valence and price on sales, and provided further research directions.

Suggested Citation

  • Gobinda Roy & Biplab Datta & Rituparna Basu, 2017. "Effect of eWOM Valence on Online Retail Sales," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 18(1), pages 198-209, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:globus:v:18:y:2017:i:1:p:198-209
    DOI: 10.1177/0972150916666966
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    2. Supratim Kundu & Swapnajit Chakraborti, 2022. "A comparative study of online consumer reviews of Apple iPhone across Amazon, Twitter and MouthShut platforms," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 925-950, September.
    3. S. G. Li & Y. Q. Zhang & Z. X. Yu & F. Liu, 2021. "Economical user-generated content (UGC) marketing for online stores based on a fine-grained joint model of the consumer purchase decision process," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1083-1112, December.
    4. Shankar, Amit & Jebarajakirthy, Charles & Ashaduzzaman, Md, 2020. "How do electronic word of mouth practices contribute to mobile banking adoption?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    5. Arijit Bhattacharya & Manjari Srivastava, 2020. "A Framework of Online Customer Experience: An Indian Perspective," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 21(3), pages 800-817, June.
    6. Takumi Kato, 2022. "Rating valence versus rating distribution: perceived helpfulness of word of mouth in e-commerce," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(11), pages 1-24, November.
    7. Bidyanand Jha, 2019. "The Role of Social Media Communication: Empirical Study of Online Purchase Intention of Financial Products," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 20(6), pages 1445-1461, December.
    8. Gobinda Roy & Rituparna Basu & Samudyuti Ray, 2023. "Antecedents of Online Purchase Intention Among Ageing Consumers," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 24(5), pages 1041-1057, October.

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