The effects of electronic word-of-mouth recency and valency on consumer persuasion

• Grant number: 20/14848-5
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2021
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Administration
• Principal researcher: José Mauro da Costa Hernandez
• Grantee: Joana de Assis Pacheco Videira
• Home Institution: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of regency (recent vs. old) and valence (positive vs. negative) of comments made through electronic word-of-mouth on consumer persuasion. Recent (vs. old) comments and negative (vs. positive) have a greater influence on the purchase decision of the consumer. However, we believe that the effect of recent comments will result in different effects according to the valence of the comments and how these comments are willing (only recent comments, just old or recent and old) depending on the consumer's inferential process when reading the reviews. To test the interaction between valence and regency of comments, an experiment will be carried out laboratory. The process of persuasion on the respondents will be measured after their exposure to different combinations of comments about a particular product that simulates an electronic word-of-mouth context. The study will contribute to the literature of electronic word-of-mouth when investigating the combined effect of two variables (regency and valence) that haven't been jointly examined on the persuasion process of consumers. The study also contributes managerially by offering good practices to electronic media managers to organize comments on their websites. Finally, the study also contributes to consumers by demonstrating how they are subject to different assessment biases when exposed to comments made in the context of electronic.