Electronic Word-of-Mouth Impacts on Consumer Behavior: Exploratory and Experimental Studies

Theoretical approaches of online social network interventions and implications for behavioral change: a systematic review

“…The methodologies used in these studies involved random allocation to either an intervention or a control group, with an exception of one study, which used a quasi‐experimental design with a control website as a comparison group. All the other studies involved RCTs and controlled laboratory experiments …”

“…In all these studies, the outcomes were associated with behavioral changes, either as an adoption of a new behavior (eg, physical activity, smoking cessation, and registration on a website) or the intention of new behaviors (eg, intention to get vaccinated, purchase intention, intention of engaging in a community, or of joining an activist group) …”

“…The participants were either university students, or they were recruited according to their specific medical condition, or their assumed risk to develop a specific condition. These conditions included: sedentary lifestyle, risks of coronary heart disease, human immunodeficiency virus and sexual transmissible infection, smoking, and relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis .…”

“…Various theoretical frameworks were used in the 15 studies reported: social cognitive theory (SCT) was cited as a basis for social network interventions in 5 articles; electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) effects in 2 articles . Other theoretical models that were reported in at least one article were (a) technology acceptance model (TAM), (b) the theory of planned behavior (TPB), (c) “strength of weak ties” theory, (d) perceived risk influence, (e) learning from peer‐facilitated interactions, (f) Internet popular opinion leader (i‐POL) model, (g) a model of the degrees of personalness of networks, and (h) a model of online brand community …”

“…The common approach of most studies was to consider the structure and characteristics of the adopted online social networks and test for their effects on the new behaviors. The different theoretical components used are as follows: eWOM:Two studies used eWOM, which could be considered as an approach more than a proper theory; it explores social influence of consumers regarding commercial products . These studies considered network structure (ie, density, tie strength, and position in the network) and the influence of positive and negative comments in order to explain the effect of eWOM on online purchase intentions.…”