International Journal of Information Systems

Management Research & Development (IJISMRD)

ISSN (P): 2250-236X; ISSN (E): 2319-4480
Vol. 6, Issue 1, Jun 2016, 1-8
TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

THE EFFECTS OF CONSUMERS BELIEF REGARDING INTERNET RUMORS ON

PURCHASESE INTENTION FROM DIFFERENT SPREADING CHANNELS
HUI-LING YANG1 & WEI-PANG WU2
1
2

Department of Accounting and Taxation, Shih Chien University, Taiwan

Corresponding Author, Department of Accounting Information, Kun Shan University, Taiwan

ABSTRACT
The different types of rumors spread on the Internet have shown their potential danger to business, especially to
business of consumable products. Internet rumors can be easily accessed by consumers through various channels and
influence their purchase behavior. Previous researchers have discussed the contents, formation and transmission of
rumors. Few researchers have investigated the different impact from rumors spread on familiar channels. Therefore, the
purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of different ways of spreading internet rumors on college students beliefs
regarding internet rumors and their effect on purchase intention. Questionnaires were distributed to 292 college students
in Taiwan during class time through convenience sampling in 2014.The results of the current study suggest that different
media sources of rumors will not affect consumers belief related to internet rumor, or affect their purchase intention.

Received: May 05, 2016; Accepted: Jun 04, 2016; Published: Jun 09, 2016; Paper Id.: IJISMRDJUN20161

INTRODUCTION

Original Article

KEYWORDS: Internet Rumor, Electronic Word-of Mouth, Purchase Intention, Rumor Spreading Channel

The rapid development of information technology has led to a high percentage of internet users all over the
world. Because the virtual network environment includes the advantages of convenience, privacy, instant
communication, and breaking the boundaries of temporal and spatial limitations (Afuah & Tucci, 2003), electronic
commerce (e-commerce) has been widely studied by both scholars and practitioners. Recently, the electronic wordof-mouth (eWOM) issue not only poses new challenges to companies with regard to e-commerce since they cannot
control its creation and dissemination, but its influences have also been widely discussed by researchers. eWOM
allows consumers to obtain brand information through internet browsing and social media platforms, and influences
their purchase decision; previous studies indicate that unfavorable eWOM can negatively influence consumer's
attitudes and behaviors (Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006; Davis & Khazanchi, 2008; Doh & Hwang, 2009; Park & Lee,
2009). However, just because you read a rumor on somebodys blog or in an email from a friend or relative does not
mean that the internet rumor is true. Internet rumors may also damage brand reputation and further influence the
sales and profit of firms.
Previous researchers have discussed the contents, formation and transmission of internet rumors. Few
researchers have investigated the different impacts resulting from familiar channels spreading rumors. Therefore,
the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of different ways of spreading internet rumors on college
students beliefs regarding internet rumors and their effect on purchase intention.

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Hui-Ling Yang & Wei-Pang Wu

LITERATURE REVIEW
eWOM and Internet Rumor
Word-of-mouth (WOM) about products spread by other consumers is more persuasive than advertising or other
forms of communication. Positive WOM communication can bring many benefits to marketers, but negative WOM is not
under the control of firms and could be disastrous (Bayus, 1985; Richins, 1983; Schiffman & Kanuk, 1991). Therefore,
firms are often concerned about negative WOM, so-called rumors, particularly when those communications are
unconfirmed and transmitted to the public. Unlike WOM, eWOM has the advantage of enabling consumers to share
information at any time and place that are most convenient for them(Sun, Youn, Wu, & Kuntaraporn, 2006). Online wordof-mouth, as described by (HennigThurau, Gwinner, Walsh, & Gremler, 2004), is any positive or negative statement made
by a former, actual or potential customer about a product, service or organization to more than one person or institution via
the internet.
Peterson and Gist (1951) define the term rumor as: (1) social communication against an object, event or issue
consistent with the public interest, and (2) to be disseminated without official verification. Similarly, rumors have been
described as widespread public communications that intend to make people believe negative statements without official
confirmation(Rosnow, 1991). People disseminate rumors in order to achieve the purpose of increasing awareness,
slandering others, diverting attention, causing panic, and so on (Kosfeld, 2005; Zhang & Watts, 2004) Usually, rumors are
spread through word of mouth and have limited impact. As described previously, negative eWOM could be labeled
internet rumor disseminated on the web. The communication form of internet rumor can take place in various channels.
For example, consumers can post their opinions, comments and reviews of products on weblogs, review websites
(e.g. tripadvisor.com), e-bulletin board systems (BBS), newsgroups, social networking sites (e.g. facebook.com) and
through e-mail. These internet media could be studied separately or in more depth to analyze the effects of these channels
on internet rumors. However, few researchers investigated if there are different influences with regard to beliefs from these
familiar spreading channels. This study proposes that consumers will use their familiar internet media, such as email, blog,
BBS or social network sites to search for related product information before spending money on a product or service. Due
to the different internet channels spreading characteristics, consumers will have different recognition toward internet
rumors. Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:
H1: There is no significant difference in consumers belief regarding internet rumors in relation to different
internet spreading channels.
Internet Rumor and Purchase Intention
Ajzens (2001) theory suggests that behavior changes are a result of attitude, which is an outcome of a change in
beliefs formed by reliable sources of information. Previous researchers have found that eWOM influences brand
awareness(Davis & Khazanchi, 2008), brand attitude (Doh & Hwang, 2009) and purchase intention (Bickart & Schindler,
2001; Cheung & Thadani, 2012). A number of studies demonstrate that consumers purchase intention is influenced by
negative rumors or bad news (Calantone & Schatzel, 2000; Frenzen & Nakamoto, 1993; Kamins, Folkes, & Perner, 1997).
Similarity, previous studies indicate that unfavorable eWOM can negatively influence consumers' attitudes and behaviors
(Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006; Davis & Khazanchi, 2008; Doh & Hwang, 2009; Park & Lee, 2009). If consumers view
internet rumors as conforming to the social norm of their media community and forming negative attitudes toward the firm
(or brand), this will damage brand reputation and further influence their purchase decision (Duan, Gu, & Whinston, 2008).
Impact Factor (JCC): 1.8789

Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 6.1

The Effects of Consumers Belief Regarding Internet Rumors on

Purchasese Intention from different Spreading Channels

Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:

H2: Consumers beliefs regarding internet rumors have an impact on purchase intention.
METHODS
Sample Rumor
As previous research has found that word-of-mouth plays the most important role in influencing the purchase of
household goods(Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1955), a sample rumor was selected in considering daily life purchasing products.
The authors typed in the keyword internet rumor to several search sites (e.g. http://www.nownews.com,
http://www.ettoday.com/etrumor/index.htm) and finally selected a sample rumor regarding a famous brand of detergent
containing alcohols with an environmental hormone. The sample rumor was further confirmed as rumor by a trusted
nonprofit organization.
Instrument
Before we did a survey on internet rumors, the respondents were asked to imagine themselves in the role of a
scenario including the sample rumor, and then to answer the questions that followed. The scenario begins by explaining a
situation context regarding an inspection result of commercial laundry detergents from Consumers' Foundation.
The scenario is described as follows:
One day, you turned on the computer and logged in your favorable media. Suddenly you received a message
which read as follows: "Recently, both Consumers' Foundation and the Bureau of Standards, Metrology & Inspection
(BSMI) inspected twenty commercial laundry detergents and found a well-known brand XX super-concentrated laundry
detergent has added nonyl alcohols which are a kind of environmental hormones."
After reading the scenario, the respondents were asked to answer the questions referring to the message heard or
read from various media to obtain their belief regarding internet rumors. The questionnaire design was modified from the
literature of (Lichtenstein, Lichtenstein, & Ireton, 1989) and (Dodds, Monroe, & Grewal, 1991). All survey questions are
designed with alternative answers expressed on a Likert scale of 1-5 (1= disagree strongly, 5= agree strongly). A reliability
analysis of the construct produced a Cronbachs alpha of 0.831 & 0.86, which surpasses the standard acceptance value of
0.7 (Cohen, 1988). Table 1 outlines the question items and the results of the reliability analysis.
Table 1: Questionnaire Items and Reliability
Constructs
Spreading
channel
Beliefs
Purchase
intention

Items
A1: Whats your familiar channel to access internet messages? (pick one only)
(1) email (2) BBS (3) yahoo/ Google web site
(4) social networking sites (ex. Skype, Facebook, Line)
A2: Overall, I think this message I just read on the internet is credible
A3: After reading the message on the internet, I will continue purchasing the XX
laundry detergents because its a well-known brand.
A4: After reading the message from the internet, I will continue purchasing the XX
laundry detergents because of consideration of its capability.

Cronbach

0.831
0.86

Data Collection
According to a survey on broadband usage from the Taiwan Network Information Center in 2014, over 99% of
college students frequently use the internet, 64.31% of broadband internet users use internet communities, ranking first,
while 51.45% use instant messaging, ranking second, followed by searching and playing games. The internet has become
an essential tool for education, entertainment and purchasing in the life of students; dissemination of information is much
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Hui-Ling Yang & Wei-Pang Wu

easier and faster than it used to be and widely accepted among students in a university setting (Karim, Zamzuri, & Nor,
2009; Lysonski & Durvasula, 2008).
Questionnaires were distributed to 292 college students in Taiwan during class time through convenience
sampling in 2014. Of the 292 surveys, 224 were usable, for an effective response rate of 76.7%. The demographic
characteristics of the sample are outlined in Table 2.
Table 2: Profile of Respondents
Characteristics
Gender
male
female
yes
Have you ever read the similar message
from internet?
no
e-mail
e-bulletin board systems
Which is the internet channel that you read (BBS)
the similar message frequency?
Portal site (i.e. yahoo/google )
Social networking site (i.e.
FB, line)
Online frequency
Once weekly
2-3 times weekly
4-5 times weekly
daily
Demographic (N=224)

Frequency
79
145
203
21
20

Percent(%)
35.27%
64.73%
90.63%
9.38%
8.93%

35

15.63%

144

64.29%

25

11.16%

13
32
36
143

5.80%
14.29%
16.07%
63.84%

RESULTS
Consumers Belief Related to Internet Rumor Through Different Internet Channels
As the current study has previously discussed in regard those popular online activities, the testing rumor spreading
channels include: email, BBS, portal sites and social networking sites. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to
examine the spreading channel differences in regard to the level of consumer beliefs. Table 3 demonstrates the lack of
significant differences from rumor spreading channels on consumer beliefs (F = 2.271, p>0.05). Therefore, null hypothesis
one was accepted.
Table 3: ANOVA Results for College Students Beliefs by Rumor Spreading Channels (N=224)
Dependent
Independent
Email
BBS
Portal sites
Social networking site
p<0.05 *p<0.01 **

Beliefs toward internet rumor

Means

Std. Dev.

F value

3.15
3.60
3.63
3.56

1.26
1.29
1.38
1.22

2.271

The Effects of College Students Belief Regarding Internet Rumor on Purchase Intention
To investigate which college students belief toward internet rumor contributes to the prediction of purchase
intention, linear regression analysis was performed. The regression model of the results had a good fit and explained
variance with a R2 > 0.244 (F=54.331; p<0.01), as seen in Table 4. The coefficients were significant and exhibited negative
relationships with purchase intention (=-0.494; p <0.01). The result implies that college students with an increased belief
regarding internet rumor may lead to a decreased purchase intention.

Impact Factor (JCC): 1.8789

Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 6.1

The Effects of Consumers Belief Regarding Internet Rumors on

Purchasese Intention from different Spreading Channels

Table 4: Results of Regression Analysis to Purchase Intention (N=224)

Independent
beliefs

value
-0.494

R2
0.244

F value
54.331

df
1

P value
.000

DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Prior researchers who have studied the development of the internet have made consumers thoughts, opinions and
personal feelings easily and quickly accessible to the global community of internet users (Dellarocas, 2003; Inversini,
Marchiori, Dedekind, & Cantoni, 2010). eWOM communication can bring many benefits to marketers, thus reducing
retailers ability to influence these consumers through traditional marketing and advertising channels, but it can be positive
or negative. Previous studies indicate that unfavorable eWOM can negatively influence consumers' attitudes and behaviors
(Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006; Davis & Khazanchi, 2008; Doh & Hwang, 2009; Park & Lee, 2009). The finding of
regression analysis is consistent with previous research that points out that there is a significant and negative influence of
internet rumor on consumerspurchase intention. Upon reading unconfirmed internet rumor messages, consumers are more
likely to attribute the rumor event to the product, which is likely to create negative attitudes toward the product and reduce
their purchase intention. The result of Anova analysis demonstrates the lack of significant differences from rumor
spreading channels on consumers belief. This result implies that the consumers belief concerning internet rumor would
not vary from different spreading channels such as e-mail, BBS, portal sites and social networking sites. A possible
explanation is that negative product information is generally weighted more heavily in consumer judgments
(Herr, Kardes, & Kim, 1991), and is also more likely to be attributed to the product rather than to the transmitters, giving
the information more credibility(Mizerski, 1982). Thus, the spreading channel is not an important factor to influence
consumers judgment but the negative product information is.
IMPLICATION AND LIMITATION
Internet information labeled as rumor is likely to be evaluated negatively no matter which channel spreads it.
The present study suggests that different media sources of rumor will not affect consumers belief regarding internet
rumors, and thus affect their purchase intention. The findings increase both scholars and practitioners understanding of
the different channels spreading internet rumors will not be an important issue to impact consumers purchase decision.
Instead, the brand and product managers should pay attention to the expressed unfavorable eWOM messages and provide
reactive interventions early. For example, the companies could customize response strategies to respond to internet rumors.
Despite the implication, potential methodological limitations need to be taken into account. First, because the survey was
conducted after a scenario with sample rumor, it may not ask the respondents for their perception about the internet rumors.
For future internet rumor research, controlling the change of cognition as time goes by should be considered. Second,
utilizing a sample of college students for the specific scenario could limit the generalizability of this studys outcomes. This
study suggests that a study integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches could be conducted to examine the
convergent validity of findings obtained in this research.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to the Shih Chien Univeristy, Taiwan, for the full financial support granted to this
research project (103-05-05005).

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Hui-Ling Yang & Wei-Pang Wu

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