Does valence of product review matter?

Abstract

Purpose As YouTubers began to create videos about their personal experience of using products, these video testimonials have become a powerful form of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). This study aims to investigate the mediating role of self-effect and third-person effect in the relationships between eWOM seeking and passing along YouTube product review videos (video-based eWOM – vWOM) as a specific form of eWOM. Design/methodology/approach The paper used a survey to interview a total of 282 respondents at a public university in the Midwest USA with about 18,000 students. Findings The results show that perceived third-person effect leads to sharing more positive vWOM, while perceived self-effect results in a high likelihood of passing along negative vWOM. The general eWOM consumption does not have a direct effect on the sharing of vWOM. In addition, the YouTube sharing habit contributes to sharing vWOM regardless of valence. Practical implications The results provide marketers’ insights on how to utilize the social media such as YouTube to improve the visibility of promotional brand messages. Sharing of positive vWOM is due to perceived third-person effect (presumed influence), but sharing negative vWOM is due to perceived self-effect. It also suggests marketers take immediate remedial measures to avoid spreading of negative reviews to other users because if viewers are persuaded to think it could happen to themselves as well, they will spread the video. Originality/value The paper has theoretical implications. It contributes to the third-person effect and presumed influence literature by exploring its role in spreading the word for products. It also fills the gap in effects of eWOM literature by examining the mediating role of the valence of video-based eWOM in the spread of eWOM.

Should I suggest this YouTube clip? The impact of UGC source credibility on eWOM and purchase intention

“…There are many ways the existing research model can be enhanced for future research. In establishing a more comprehensive model, we encourage researchers to incorporate other relevant variables either as direct predictors, mediators or moderators such as third-person effect of positive and negative eWOMs (Bi et al , 2019), message quality (Le et al , 2018), brand-user-imagery fit (Lee and Watkins, 2016; Pelletier et al , 2020) and message consensus (Suwandee et al , 2019). The inclusion is expected to increase the variance explained in the criterion variables.…”

The impact of Internet celebrity characteristics on followers' impulse purchase behavior: the mediation of attachment and parasocial interaction

“…Previous studies of YouTube Internet celebrities investigated followers' reactions to these celebrities to enhance the advertisement effect of intense parasocial interaction (Bi et al , 2019; Corrêa et al , 2020; Lee and Watkins, 2016). YouTube Internet celebrities have been deemed content creators who encourage viewers to follow them as they perform in YouTuber-generated content (Smith, 2016).…”

“…Previously, celebrities became famous as singers or movie stars, but today, YouTube Internet celebrities arises from the blurring of performers' private and public lives, and a sense of realness that comes from a perceived amateur performer (Corrêa et al , 2020; Jerslev, 2016). On YouTube platform, YouTubers are vloggers (Internet celebrities) who share their video blogging (vlogs) in the blog format (Bi et al , 2019; Gong and Li, 2017; Lai and Yang, 2015). Berryman and Kavka (2017) operated the practice process of intimate access to a YouTube Internet celebrity's life and the carefully planning of their role in facilitating close relationships with followers.…”

“…In 2020, YouTube was the world's second most visited website (after Google), with an average user visit time of 23 min (SimilarWeb, 2020). YouTube allows users to create and upload videos that are seen and shared by hundreds of millions of viewers (Hwang and Zhang, 2018; Rosaen and Dibble, 2016), because YouTube provides a space to discuss products and brands given the interaction of social media and social networks (Bi et al , 2019; Corrêa et al , 2020). YouTube Internet celebrities (YouTubers) are the site's most active and well-known users, who use their interactions to “influence words, goals, and activities on the platform” (Bao and Wang, 2021; Corrêa et al , 2020; Ferchaud et al , 2018).…”

Why is a picture ‘worth a thousand words’? Pictures as information in perceived helpfulness of online reviews

“…Third, the focus of this study was to test the hypotheses on whether, why, and when hybrid reviews were perceived as more helpful than word-only reviews. As video testimonials have become a powerful form of electronic word-of-mouth (Bi et al, 2019), it might be interesting to investigate related issues for other kinds of images (i.e., short videos, animated faces or images, or even star ratings) that might also influence the perceived helpfulness of reviews. For example, when consumers have a limited time to view all posted reviews, a simple star rating or score might be sufficient to indicate the quality of retailers or products.…”