Prosumer motivations for electronic word-of-mouth communication behaviors

Abstract

Purpose "Prosumers" (combining "producer" and "consumers") describes consumers' ability to openly share their product/service experiences and thereby drive sales and digital marketing. Understanding what motivates active prosumers to engage in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and share or review their hotel experiences online can help organizations empathize with consumers and utilize their messages to co-create value. Identifying prosumers' motivators can enable companies to properly target them as resources for review or consumer feedback studies. This study investigated the influence of motivators (intrinsic and extrinsic), service quality, and age on consumers' electronic word-of-mouth communication behaviors. Design/methodology/approach A panel of 204 travelers was surveyed regarding their hotel travel experiences, propensity to write online reviews, preferred review-writing platform, motivations for writing reviews, and impressions of service quality. To test the hypotheses, a multivariate regression analysis was performed with eWOM as the dependent variable. Differences in eWOM as a function of preferred review platform were also tested using ANOVA, with a multiple comparison analysis that underlines the differences between prosumers who prefer different types of review platforms and their eWOM behaviors. Findings Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, as well as service reliability, had a significant influence on eWOM behavior, while service tangibility had a negative relationship. Additionally, prosumers' engagement in eWOM about their hospitality experience differed according to their preferred review platform. Originality/value This paper develops a better understanding of what motivates people to engage in the eWOM communication behavior of writing online hotel reviews, by showing the effect of consumer motivations and service quality variables on prosumers' engagement in online review behavior.

A study of the factors affecting the content created by international travellers in Vietnam

“…Specifically, the SMA factor consists of five observational variables which are derived from the study by Skogland in 2017; The TPA consists of four observational variables that are derived from the study of Yuzhanin and Fisher (2016) and Reinhold et al (2017). The four-variable eWOM factor is derived from the study of Lu and Gursoy (2015) and Fine et al (2017). The UGC of five observational variables which are derived from the study by Kim and Lee (2017) and Presi et al (2014).…”

“…This content is considered more reliable than advertising source (Varkaris & Neuhofer, 2017;Presi et al, 2014). This information is a type of electronic word-of-mouth (Fine et al, 2017), which has a two-way interaction and a rapid spread on the Internet. Tourism is an information-intensive industry (Ajagunna & Crick, 2014).…”

Influence of Negative eWOM on Switching Intention

“…Research shows that negative word-of-mouth can have an even greater influence and impact consumer attitude and behaviour than a positive word-of-mouth (Fine and Petrescu, 2017). Consumers who take into consideration brand and product information from other consumers could be more inclined to pay attention to negative reviews and comments than positive ones (Robson et al, 2013).…”

Value added knowledge by prosumers in Poland and the UK specifically for service process stages

“…Therefore, it is proposed that those consumers who actively participate in a knowledge exchange process, which can be explained as a discourse between an enterprise and various consumers to share knowledge with the enterprise and other consumers are described as prosumers. The term prosumer is directly connected with a prosumption term which means the process in which prosumers actively share knowledge with enterprises or other prosumers (Bylok, 2013;Fine, Gironda, & Petrescu, 2017;Hernández-Serrano, Renés-Arellano, Graham, & Greenhill, 2017;Rayna & Striukova, 2016;Ritzer & Jurgenson, 2010;Tapscott & Williams, 2006;Xie, Bagozzi, & Troye, 2008). Prosumers' activities are also referred to as the activities undertaken to produce new products and services of value for enterprises, as well as for themselves (Ziemba, Eisenbardt, Mullins, & Grabara, 2018).…”