eWOM and the importance of capturing consumer attention within social media

Abstract

Word-of-mouth (WOM) is widely regarded as one of the most influential factors impacting consumer behavior, yet traditional models were constructed oblivious to the potential of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and social media. In particular, very little is known about the dynamics affecting consumer attention within two-way many-to-many mediated environments even though attention constitutes a critical step. Thus, we construct a conceptual framework that grounds consumer attention within a larger progression of behavioral responses to eWOM. We then conduct an experiment (n = 28) that isolates contextual antecedents of attention to positive, negative, and neutral WOM for both luxury and non-luxury brands within a social media platform. Using behavioral eye-tracking, we find that WOM message valence interacts with brand type to affect attention differently. Implications of these findings for facilitating eWOM are discussed with future research directions suggested.

Keywords::

• electronic word-of-mouth
• social media
• consumer attention
• eye-tracking

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Kathleen Kennedy for her consultation, the Suarez team for their invaluable assistance during the data collection, and anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Terry Daugherty

Terry Daugherty (PhD, Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing and the Academic Director of the Suarez Applied Marketing Research Laboratories at The University of Akron, USA. His research focuses on investigating strategic, social and technological issues within consumer psychology and interactive marketing. Terry's work has appeared in the Journal of Advertising, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Marketing Communications, Journal of Interactive Advertising, and the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communications, among numerous others.

Ernest Hoffman

Ernest Hoffman is a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology and Research Assistant for the Suarez Applied Marketing Research Laboratories at the University of Akron, USA.