Title: What makes eWOM viral?

Authors: Charu Sijoria; Srabanti Mukherjee; Subhojit Sengupta

Addresses: Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India ' Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India ' Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India

Abstract: The online communities and social media have evolved the way of communication among the customers. Customers tend to depend more on the information obtained from social networking sites and online reviews about the products they wish to purchase. With an increasing need of being connected with rest of the world 24×7, obtain and share product related information, today's customers engage in electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) communication. This study by structural equation modelling revealed that the information quality, satisfaction and patronage, source attractiveness, loyalty, and social relationship are the key factors that make eWOM viral. The study contributes to the literature by identifying that the marketers should focus more on quality of information that is being shared online and the platform of sharing the information, to spread product related eWOM. They should also try to satisfy the customers' needs and emphasise on building social relationships and loyal customers.

Keywords: word of mouth; electronic word of mouth; factors; viral.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMA.2017.087268

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 2017 Vol.11 No.4, pp.287 - 306

Received: 11 Feb 2017
Accepted: 08 May 2017
Published online: 11 Oct 2017 *

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