| dc.description.abstract | As technology has developed and phenomenon such as the participative web has emerged,
the opportunities of communication and sharing has expanded simultaneously. The
participative web represents a revolution where users are empowered to develop, collaborate,
distribute and customize Internet content and applications. Word-of-mouth (WOM) has been
known for decades to be of profound influence in consumers purchasing behavior and as
consumers share their experiences and opinions, the need for advertisements decreases.
Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has enabled users to share information and opinions
with others within seconds giving them the power to influence other consumers’ behavior.
Although previous research on eWOM has shown effects of valence and argument quality,
no studies have explored these two concepts combined. For this reason, the purpose of this
thesis is to examine the relationship between valence and argument quality of online
consumer reviews on consumers’ purchase intention.
By conducting an online experiment and thereafter analyzing the data from 155
respondents, we discovered two main results. Firstly, we found that valence had a direct
effect on consumers’ purchase intention, where the effect of negative online consumer
reviews exceeds the effect of positive reviews. Secondly, we found that argument quality did
not moderate the effect of valence on consumers’ intention to purchase. Our findings suggest
that consumers focus more on the valence of an online review rather than the relevance of
the content. Furthermore, we discovered that the use of online reviews is widespread and a
key factor in consumer decision-making. Due to this, we suggest that both researchers and
companies implement a greater focus on eWOM in the future. | nb_NO |
