Empirical Study on Credibility of Electronic Word of Mouth

By empirical research, it's found that the site trustworthiness, the sender's expertise and the receiver's disposition to trust havepositive effect on the credibility of eWOM, which then has positive effect on consumer's purchase decision.

Abstract

With the popularity of internet, electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has become a major information source for consumers' purchase behavior. The influence of eWOM depends on its credibility. Therefore, it is very important to research on the credibility of eWOM. By empirical research, it's found that the site trustworthiness, the sender's expertise and the receiver's disposition to trust have positive effect on the credibility of eWOM, which then has positive effect on consumer's purchase decision. Implications for research and practice are further studied.