Building Web-Analytics system to Measure Perceived Source Credibility in Electronic Word of Mouth Communication

Introduction

Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has become one of the influential sources of information in recent times (Lindgreen et al., 2013). This growth in popularity of eWOM has got attention from marketer and researcher. eWOM is a new element in the communication mix of organization and to be considered as “free sales assistant” (Chen & Xie, 2008). Internet being new media provides numerous communication channels, such as email, social media platforms, blogs, virtual community, e-commerce websites which enable consumer to easily exchange information and experiences as one consumer to another consumer (Hennig-Thurau, 2010). Online reviews & rating (ORR) is a form of eWOM on third party website given by actual, former or prospective consumer to other information seeking consumer about product and regarded more reliable than conventional media (Bickart & Schindler, 2001; Kaplan & Heinlein, 2010).

The effect of ORR and the information adoption outcome of ORR have been researched by investigators from different viewpoint and context. Scholars have studied online review effects from brand reputation, attitude towards product, and sales performance (Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006; Duan et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2008; Park et al., 2009, Lin, 2013; Rahman et al., 2016). However, the scholars have widely accepted that perceived credibility of ORR is most substantial contributor in eWOM adoption and further influencing consumer behaviour (Cheung & Thadani, 2012). The perceived credibility of ORR source and message can essentially influence the information adoption which in return impacts consumer attitude, purchase intention and actual purchase of actual product. Understanding the factors influencing source credibility of ORR message is a topic of current relevance particularly in context of Indian consumer. According to Statista (2017), India has 462.12 million internet users making it 2^nd largest population for internet penetration worldwide. Indian retail e-commerce sales in 2017 have been estimated at 25076 million U.S dollars contributing 2.3 in countries GDP. In this scenario, ORR becomes significant for product purchase and establishing source credibility dimensions can help marketers and strategy maker to tap the advantage out of their organically generated ORR. The Source credibility can be defined as the extent to which receivers perceive that the author or message is believable, factual and unbiased (Chueng & Thadani, 2009). The aim of this research paper is to determine the factors influencing source credibility of eWOM communication and examine to what extent perceived source credibility influence consumer behaviour for durable products in India. The research also aims to find out whether eWOM source credibility can be measured through market analytics tools? This will further help in listing down the tools to capture real-time source credibility information which is so far has only been measured through consumer perception.