Journal of Marketing Management

eWOM Richness of Leisure Farm Tour Experience：Influences of Message Valence, Product Type and Consumer Knowledge
Shuling Liao, Crystal Tzu-ying Lee, Tzu-han Lin, Meng-chen Lin

Abstract
Rich information facilitates consumer buying judgment and decision-making, and therefore enhances marketing communication effectiveness. Drawing on the information richness theory, this study attempts to address how valence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), product type and consumer knowledge will yield different levels of eWOM richness perception for experience goods versus search goods. The results based on a three-way experimental study with 156 valid responses suggest that negative eWOM has a stronger effect in producing eWOM information richness than does positive eWOM, and such effect is more pronounced for a leisure farm tour (experience goods) than for digital camera (search goods). The tendency that negative eWOM will provide richer information for the leisure farm tour is more evident for high-knowledge consumers than for low-knowledge consumers. The study’s results caution against the aggravated harm of negative eWOM incurred from the dissatisfactory experience of a leisure farm tour. The managerial implications for the practitioners are provided.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jmm.v3n2a6