The trustworthiness of anonymous eWOM
(2011)Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- The main purpose of this research essay is to understand why and to what extent consumers trust anonymous eWOM. Secondly, it aims to understand what role anonymous eWOM has on the consumer’s purchase decision. A qualitative approach were used where data is collected through semi-structured interviews. The research is conducted with a phenomenological method in combination with an abductive work approach. Furthermore, the data is analysed with hermeneutics and grounded theory. The choice of theories is a mixture of classic well-founded theories in combination with modern research. The theories depict three major blocks – trust, purchase process and consumer behaviour. These theories will be used to create a diversified theoretical... (More)
- The main purpose of this research essay is to understand why and to what extent consumers trust anonymous eWOM. Secondly, it aims to understand what role anonymous eWOM has on the consumer’s purchase decision. A qualitative approach were used where data is collected through semi-structured interviews. The research is conducted with a phenomenological method in combination with an abductive work approach. Furthermore, the data is analysed with hermeneutics and grounded theory. The choice of theories is a mixture of classic well-founded theories in combination with modern research. The theories depict three major blocks – trust, purchase process and consumer behaviour. These theories will be used to create a diversified theoretical framework, which will be of relevance to the research question. The empirical foundation is based on 15 in-depth interviews with anonymous eWOM users. The analysis is furthermore presented in combination with the empirical material to create a unified and coherent picture. The findings of the research indicates that consumers trust anonymous eWOM based on a mixture of previous experiences, product specific forums, increased seriousness online and the scarcity of other information sources. Additionally consumers use anonymous eWOM in their purchase decision process primarily as a complementary information source to reduce cognitive dissonance. Finally, factors, which influence trust towards anonymous eWOM sites, include; web-design, number of participants, number of comments and the level of activity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1982600
- author
- Cavalli Abrahamson, Henrik and Hornfeldt, Kasper
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2011
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Anonymous eWOM, purchase process, trust, risk & cognitive dissonance., Management of enterprises, Företagsledning, management
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 1982600
- date added to LUP
- 2011-05-31 00:00:00
- date last changed
- 2012-04-02 19:06:16
@misc{1982600,
abstract = {{The main purpose of this research essay is to understand why and to what extent consumers trust anonymous eWOM. Secondly, it aims to understand what role anonymous eWOM has on the consumer’s purchase decision. A qualitative approach were used where data is collected through semi-structured interviews. The research is conducted with a phenomenological method in combination with an abductive work approach. Furthermore, the data is analysed with hermeneutics and grounded theory. The choice of theories is a mixture of classic well-founded theories in combination with modern research. The theories depict three major blocks – trust, purchase process and consumer behaviour. These theories will be used to create a diversified theoretical framework, which will be of relevance to the research question. The empirical foundation is based on 15 in-depth interviews with anonymous eWOM users. The analysis is furthermore presented in combination with the empirical material to create a unified and coherent picture. The findings of the research indicates that consumers trust anonymous eWOM based on a mixture of previous experiences, product specific forums, increased seriousness online and the scarcity of other information sources. Additionally consumers use anonymous eWOM in their purchase decision process primarily as a complementary information source to reduce cognitive dissonance. Finally, factors, which influence trust towards anonymous eWOM sites, include; web-design, number of participants, number of comments and the level of activity.}},
author = {{Cavalli Abrahamson, Henrik and Hornfeldt, Kasper}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The trustworthiness of anonymous eWOM}},
year = {{2011}},
}