https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15206793/cfpewom
Consumers of all ages increasingly seek customer-generated reviews, ratings, videos, and pictures for assessing any type of product at the different stages of the decision-making process (Filieri, 2015). eWOM consists of individuals’ sharing of information, knowledge, opinions, and experiences through digital media (e.g., review platforms, social networks, multimedia content sharing, instant messaging) and in different formats (video, audio, text, visual or a mix of them), about commercial offers (i.e., products, services), experiences (e.g., travelling), or activities (spare time, lifestyle). There has been exceptional scholarly attention to eWOM in marketing (e.g., Filieri, 2015), information systems (e.g., Cheung, Lee, & Rabjohn, 2008), and service industries like travel & tourism (e.g., Park & Nicolau, 2015).
This research proposal focuses its attention on emerging sources, channels, and formats through which eWOM is conveyed, without neglecting its receivers. The proposal is centered on the idea that the medium is the message (McLuhan, 1967), which indicates that the medium of communication is not neutral and its structure and features can affect users’ forma mentis and, consequently, their perception and behaviors. By making this statement, we rely on previous scholarly works on face-to-face word of mouth, which demonstrated that communicating via oral versus written communication, through asynchrony and self-enhancement concerns, affects what consumers discuss (Berger & Iyengar, 2013). Specifically, the channel of communication shapes the psychological antecedents of inter-personal word-of-mouth communications (Berger & Iyengar, 2013). This special issue also aims to advance the literature on eWOM by looking at the evolution of the digital environment, its actors, and users. The digital environment evolves rapidly, showing the emergence of new formats (e.g., video and visual and hybrid), new sources (e.g., mega, micro, and nano influencers), new channels (e.g., TikTok, Instagram), and new audiences (e.g., new generational cohorts, such as Generation Z and Baby Boomers).
Research has widely investigated the role and influence of textual eWOM formats (e.g., textual online consumer reviews) (e.g., Cheung, Lee, & Rabjohn, 2008; Filieri, 2015; Park and Nicolau, 2015); however, less research has been devoted to other eWOM formats (Filieri et al., 2021; Babić Rosario, De Valck, & Sotgiu, 2020) such as conversational (i.e. questions and answers), hashtags (e.g., Stathopoulou et al. 2017), visual and pictorial (i.e. Instagram), and audio-visual (i.e. YouTube) (Filieri et al., 2022). Recent research demonstrates that audio-visual and visual cues in eWOM communications (user-generated pictures) have a stronger influence on consumer intentions and behaviors compared to textual cues (Filieri et al., 2021; 2023). Indeed, a picture is a thousand words and provides evidence of the purchase and actual use/consumption of products (e.g., photo of a dish in a restaurant). However, if a picture is a thousand words, a video is a million words because it conveys more communication cues (i.e., motion, verbal, visual, para verbal).
Existing research on eWOM has mostly focused on user-generated content produced by (often) anonymous sources (i.e., reviewers) with limited profile information and no followers’ information (e.g., Christodoulides et al. 2012). However, new (and more influential) sources are emerging in digital environments, such as influencers. Influencers are individuals who have gained a large number of followers outside of institutional settings (e.g., TV, sports, and cinema) (McQuarrie et al., 2013; Lee and Watkins, 2016; Djafarova and Rushworth, 2017). Some of the influencers’ videos are not sponsored by brands, hence, they constitute, theoretically, eWOM communications. Most of the eWOM research published by scholars has been focused on eWOM spreading through specific channels, such as online communities (i.e., Tripadvisor) and e-commerce platforms (i.e., Amazon, Booking.com).
However, new devices and platforms are emerging, and their popularity is growing among consumers. eWOM increasingly spreads on social networking websites (i.e., Wechat), instant messaging apps (i.e., WhatsApp, Snapchat), video sharing platforms (i.e., TikTok), content providers (i.e., Techradar), interest groups (i.e., Positively Sustainable), search engines (Google Reviews). Moreover, consumers are multi-device owners, and they increasingly use different devices (smartphones, laptops, iPad, wearables) to retrieve product-related information. Recent studies found that customers’ behavior differs significantly based on the device they use to post online reviews (Gvili & Levy, 2016; Mariani, Borghi, & Gretzel, 2019; Li et al., 2021). Other studies have revealed that consumer trust and perceptions of eWOM messages may vary across different platforms (Filieri, 2016). However, little research has investigated consumers’ perceptions of eWOM channels and their impact on behaviors. Furthermore, it would be interesting to research whether consumers’ attitude towards platforms affects their brand evaluations and intentions. Hence, further research on eWOM devices and channels is recommended.
Finally, we believe that different generational cohorts may affect the magnitude and nature of the influence of eWOM communications. Generational cohorts typically differ with respect to their values, myths, needs and behavioral patterns. A generational cohort represents a group of individuals who are born in the same period of time and have undergone similar social, economic, political and cultural events during their late adolescence and early adulthood, which have affected their values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors (Inglehart, 1977). These defining moments form the values, attitudes, preferences, expectations and buying behaviors of consumers that remain constant throughout the generation’s lifetime and constitute a generational identity (Schewe and Meredith, 2004). At present, the literature lacks cross-cohort studies examining how users from different generational cohorts process and evaluate eWOM.
Research on eWOM is still lacking qualitative, experimental, and longitudinal studies. This call for paper prefers studies using these methodological approaches rather than cross-sectional surveys. Specifically, this call for paper highly appreciates mixed and multi-method contributions, i.e., combining different methods (i.e., interviews + experiment) and data sources (perceptual + analytics) to investigate eWOM phenomena, as done in other studies (e.g., Filieri et al., 2021).
Articles considered for this Special Issue may focus on topics including, but not limited to:
Guest Editors:
Raffaele Filieri, Professor of Digital Marketing, Audencia Business School, Nantes, France. raffaele.filieri@audencia.com
Christy M.K. Cheung, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong ccheung@hkbu.edu.hk
George Christodoulides, American University of Sharjah, UAE, gchristodoulides@aus.edu
Juan Nicolau, Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business, US, jnicolau@vt.edu