Word‐of‐mouth information processing routes: The mediating role of message and source characteristics

Abstract

This study investigates word‐of‐mouth (WOM) information processing routes from active WOM seeking behaviour. Employing the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), the direct and indirect effects of factors within information processing routes are examined in a credence service context. A deeper exploration of the causal chains of each route was conducted using serial mediation models of message quality and source characteristics. Data were collected in the higher education context from a survey of 509 high school students applying for tertiary study. Findings indicate that active WOM seeking and the serial mediation effects elicit two routes of information processing: central and peripheral. This study is amongst the first to intensively reveal the underlying causal chains of WOM processing and supports the application of ELM theory in WOM research.

The impact of online micro-influencers on behavioural intentions: The case of mobile phone customers in Ho Chi Minh city

“…Also, Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann (1983) proposed that information quality has a strong influence on attitude change only when receivers have the high motivation or high ability to evaluate information; otherwise, whether and the extent that receivers have attitudinal shift is strongly influenced by peripheral persuasive cues such as information sources. Drawing on ELM theory, previous studies often considered message/information quality (the quality of arguments) taking the central route and information source characteristics (e.g., source credibility) taking the peripheral route to influence consumers' attitudes and behaviours (Le, Robinson, & Dobele, 2020;Mahapatra & Mishra, 2017). There is also research examining the impact of both source and message (Cheung & Thadani, 2012;Mahapatra & Mishra, 2017), as the two drivers of communication effectiveness in accordance with Hovland (1948)'s social communication theory.…”

“…In the Internet environment (including social media), due to the characteristics of shortlived attention to and disproportionate popularity of the information (Susarla et al, 2016), the role of opinion leaders (information source) is very important, especially with a huge amount of information available on the Internet, it is challenging for consumers to be able to process all information. Several studies into information source often incorporated opinion leadershipa personal source characteristic (Casaló et al, 2020;Le et al, 2020). Opinion leadership is defined as the extent to which an individual is perceived as a role model to others and the extent to which the information provided by that person is considered to be interesting and to be his or her persuasiveness (Casaló et al, 2020).…”

“…In this way, social platform users can establish relationships with online opinion leaders (bloggers/vloggers) by following or subscribing to their social channels/accounts and following the content that online influencers share. Thus, unlike Le et al (2020)'s research including source intimacy that could be more of reciprocal relationship, this study considers parasocial interaction instead as the interpersonal source characteristic regarding online opinion leaders.…”

“…Prior research has examined the consequences of opinion leadership (Casaló et al, 2020) or final consequences of the causal path within the ELM (Le et al, 2020) that include behavioural intentions such as the intention to follow the advice of the opinion leader or the intention to recommend the message source. In the context of product reviews on social platforms, the current research investigated two behavioural intentions that are impacted by micro-influencership: The intention to follow the advice of the online opinion leader and the intention to recommend the social platform account/channel of the online opinion leader to others.…”

“…characteristics of the online opinion leader, then gradually with acquired knowledge and interactive experience with the source they develop the ability and motivation to process the information offered by the online opinion leader (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Le et al (2020)'s research has shown both characteristics of the source -personal characteristics and the interpersonal characteristics, have significant effects on the consumer perceptions of the message quality. In a similar vein, in the online environment, online opinion leadership and parasocial interaction, which are two persuasive cues of the information source, can be argued to relate to the perceived quality of the message, because the appreciation of the source can lead to thorough processing of information and positive message evaluation (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986).…”