Abstract
Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is a prevalent consumer practice that has undeniable effects on the company bottom line, yet it remains an over-labeled and under-theorized concept. Thus, marketers could benefit from a practical, science-based roadmap to maximize its business value. Building on the consumer motivation–opportunity–ability framework, this study conceptualizes three distinct stages in the eWOM process: eWOM creation, eWOM exposure, and eWOM evaluation. For each stage, we adopt a dual lens—from the perspective of the consumer (who sends and receives eWOM) and that of the marketer (who amplifies and manages eWOM for business results)—to synthesize key research insights and propose a research agenda based on a multi-disciplinary systematic review of 1050 academic publications on eWOM published between 1996 and 2019. We conclude with a discussion of the future of eWOM research and practice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 422-448 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 12 Dec 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2020 |
Funding
Some of the research was conducted when Ana Babi? Rosario was a doctoral student at the Department of Marketing at HEC Paris, and an earlier version of this article is part of Ana Babi? Rosario?s doctoral dissertation. The authors thank Michael Haenlein, Ko de Ruyter, Donald Bacon, and the participants of the 2017 INFORMS Marketing Science, 2018 BI-JAMS Thought Leaders?, and 2019 AMA Winter conferences for their constructive feedback on earlier versions of this work, as well as Daniel Zheng and Stephanie Panozzo for valuable research assistance. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the HEC Foundation (F1307), Labex ECODEC (Investissements d?Avenir ANR-11-IDEX-0003/ Labex Ecodec/ ANR-11-LABX-0047), and the University of Denver?s Internationalization Office (grants 86587-150401 and 86849-150401). The authors also thank the JAMS review team for their very constructive comments. Some of the research was conducted when Ana Babi\u0107 Rosario was a doctoral student at the Department of Marketing at HEC Paris, and an earlier version of this article is part of Ana Babi\u0107 Rosario\u2019s doctoral dissertation. The authors thank Michael Haenlein, Ko de Ruyter, Donald Bacon, and the participants of the 2017 INFORMS Marketing Science, 2018 BI-JAMS Thought Leaders\u2019, and 2019 AMA Winter conferences for their constructive feedback on earlier versions of this work, as well as Daniel Zheng and Stephanie Panozzo for valuable research assistance. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the HEC Foundation (F1307), Labex ECODEC (Investissements d\u2019Avenir ANR-11-IDEX-0003/ Labex Ecodec/ ANR-11-LABX-0047), and the University of Denver\u2019s Internationalization Office (grants 86587-150401 and 86849-150401). The authors also thank the JAMS review team for their very constructive comments.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Donald Bacon | |
| Ko de Ruyter | |
| Michael Haenlein | |
| University of Denver?s Internationalization Office | |
| University of Denver’s Internationalization Office | 86849-150401, 86587-150401 |
| Labex | ANR-11-IDEX-0003/ Labex Ecodec/ ANR-11-LABX-0047 |
| Labex | |
| Higher Education Commission, Pakistan | |
| Fondation HEC | F1307 |
| Fondation HEC | |
| Labex Ecodec | ANR-11-LABX-0047, ANR-11-IDEX-0003 |
| Labex Ecodec |
Keywords
- electronic commerce
- electronic word of mouth