Online word of mouth and consumer purchase intentions

Gerard Prendergast, David Ko and Siu Yin V. Yuen International Journal of Advertising Vol. 29, No. 5, 2010

Title: Author(s): Source: Issue:

Online word of mouth and consumer purchase intentions Gerard Prendergast, David Ko and Siu Yin V. Yuen International Journal of Advertising Vol. 29, No. 5, 2010

Online word of mouth and consumer purchase intentions

Gerard Prendergast and David Ko Hong Kong Baptist University Siu Yin V. Yuen Classroom Publications Limited Introduction Consumers search for information prior to making a purchase in order to reduce perceived risk (Bettman 1973; Srinivasan & Ratchford 1991). One such source of information is word of mouth (WOM). Since the seminal book by Katz and Lazarsfeld (1955), marketing researchers have shown that WOM communication has an impact on consumer attitudes (Brucks 1985), consumer risk taking (Woodside & Delozier 1976), short-term and long-term product judgments (Bone 1995) and purchase decisions and choice behaviour (Lau & Ng 2001). It is even argued that since WOM is consumer-dominated, it is perceived as being more reliable and trustworthy than firm-generated communications (Arndt 1967). Indeed traditional forms of communication such as advertising appear to be losing their effectiveness (Nail 2005), possibly because consumers doubt their reliability and trustworthiness. The credibility of WOM, however, combined with the fact that consumers will be more involved with WOM than with, say, advertising, lends itself to the formation of higher order cognition and stronger effects (Brown et al. 2007). WOM need not just be communicated face-to-face. Increasingly, consumers are turning to the internet as an information source (Fallows 2005; Peterson & Merino 2003). This is enabling real-time content due to interactivity, response and conversation (Kliatchko 2008). There are considerable benefits for consumers in using the internet due to the large amount of information available, the entertainment available while searching, freedom from sales pressure, and 24-hour access (Alba et al. 1997; Hoffman & Novak 1996; Wolfinbarger & Gilly 2001). While internet information is often provided by companysponsored websites and advertisements, increasingly, online WOM, in the shape of online communities such as internet forums, bulletin boards, and newsgroups, is providing consumers with the ability to share their experiences, opinions and knowledge with others. As a result of such participatory media, audiences are no longer just receivers of media content but are simultaneously creators of the content through texts, pictures, videos, music, and so on (Kliatchko 2008). When the forums are consumption-related, the members may share enthusiasm and knowledge about a specific consumption experience or related group of activities (Kozinets 1999). As with offline WOM, online WOM may be positive or negative. Chevalier and Mayzlin (2006), for instance, studied online book reviews and found that the impact of negative reviews on book sales was greater
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than for positive reviews. Although probably 90 per cent of WOM communication takes place offline (Keller & Berry 2006), a growing role for online WOM is likely as consumers rely more and more on the internet as a source of information. Are the theories used to explain the effectiveness of offline WOM appropriate for explaining the effectiveness of online WOM? With offline WOM the communicators are in close proximity and can draw upon a wealth of social context cues (Knapp & Daly 2002). Online, however, people create fully formed impressions of others based solely on the linguistic content of written messages (Brown et al. 2007). Online WOM presents numerous opportunities for marketers, yet empirical evidence relating online WOM to firm performance is limited (Trusov et al. 2009). If online WOM does indeed influence consumer behaviour, then marketers need to know the mechanisms through which this occurs. To address this need, this study set out to borrow theory used in the offline WOM context and apply it to online WOM. More specifically, social comparison theory, social network analysis, and the theory of reasoned action were invoked to explain how WOM generated in online forums might influence purchase intentions about products discussed in the forums. Replicating the approaches taken to studying offline WOM in an online environment is felt to be both suitable and important, since theoretically WOM activity ought to operate generally in a similar manner in both environments,yetthecontextualissuemayresultinyettobediscoveredvariationsintheapplicationofthetheory. Background and hypotheses Offline and online WOM Traditional offline WOM involves face-to-face two-way communication within a social relationship (Money et al. 1998). In the offline situation, one WOM message can reach and potentially influence many receivers, but usually by passing through a chain or tree of correspondents (Lau & Ng 2001). Online WOM information, in contrast, ought to diffuse faster, since there may be hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people receiving and potentially spreading an initial message through email and other internet-based media. Although the decision as to whether to pass on a piece of information still lies with each recipient, compelling news may spread like a memetic viruson the internet (Gottsch 2001), such that the influence of online WOM can be greater than that of offline WOM. With online WOM, social context cues are much more limited. Does this inhibit our ability to apply WOM theory from an offline context to online communication? Grounded in attribution theory, an experiment by Lee and Youn (2009) examined how product reviews generated by various platforms (company website, independent website and personal blogs) influenced attitude towards the product, intention to buy and intention to recommend it to friends. Unexpectedly, they found that participants exposed to the review on the personal blogs were less likely to recommend the product to friends than those exposed to the review on the other platforms, supporting the discounting principle in attribution theory (Kelley 1971, 1973). While Lee and Youns experiment is of great value, the authors admit problems in terms of external validity, stating that future research should study more natural online WOM processing, as well as extending the research beyond student samples and single product categories. The persuasiveness of online forums An online forum is an online community where visitors may read and post topics. A sources intention in providing information is a major factor in the receivers perception of the informations trustworthiness (Romani 2006). Product experiences posted by forum members are likely to be perceived as reliable because the information providers are fellow consumers, who presumably have no interest in marketing the product. The forum members are sharing their experiences but they do not have the specific objective of influencing the reader. This is unlike advertising, where the company intends to encourage recipients to buy the

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product. Furthermore, online forums often generate empathy (the ability to connect emotionally with another individual) among forum members (Galinsky et al. 2008). Participants in online discussions are, in a sense, performingfor other forum members through their contributions to the forum (Baym 1997). Sharing personal experiences on a forum causes the reader to empathise with the feelings of the writer, enhancing persuasiveness (Deighton et al. 1989). Similarity of the forums interests to the receivers interests Source similarity or homophily refers to the degree to which individuals are similar in terms of certain shared social characteristics (Rogers 1983). Festingers (1954) theory of social comparison provides a mechanism explaining how source similarity influences persuasiveness. This theory proposes that people tend to compare their attitudes and capabilities with those of others. The tendency to compare oneself with another person increases as that person is seen to be similar to oneself, because, according to Festinger, individuals implicitly assume that similar people have similar needs and preferences. A source perceived as similar to the receiver is therefore more persuasive than a source perceived as dissimilar (Eagley & Chaiken 1993). Many related theories have followed from Festingers work. Heiders (1958) balance theory argues that people tend to like others who exhibit signs of similarity because it is reinforces their own self-concept and helps them to predict and understand others. Also, the source-attractiveness model (Kelman 1961) suggests that receivers can better identify with and understand sources that are similar to themselves, and therefore perceived sender similarity increases the persuasiveness of the information transmitted. Byrne (1971) has proposed a general law of attraction predicting that attraction towards an individual is a linear function of attitudinal similarity with that person. Whatever its basis, similarity can lead to greater persuasive influence (Hass 1981). The origins of the influence of source similarity, at least physical similarity, most likely lie in evolutionary psychology. A study by Alvarez (2005) indicated that facial resemblance was a strong driving force for matinghuman couples resemble each other significantly more than would be expected from random pair formation. Because facial characteristics are inherited, any such self-seeking likemechanism should promote reproduction between genetically similar mates, favouring the stabilisation of genes supporting social behaviour, as long as other mechanisms deter mating among close kin. The theories related to social comparison and source similarity were developed and tested in an offline context. Would they operate online as well? Online, information providers may or may not have demographics and lifestyles that are similar to those of the reader, but they are often similar to the reader in that they share a common interest in the topic of the forum (Blanton 2001) and to some extent a shared group identity (Brewer & Weber 1994). This makes the information exchanged more relevant to the reader, especially since it can be expected to reflect typical product performance. Supporting this logic, social network analysis (Haythornthwaite 1999) would suggest that greater similarity between the interests of the member and those of the forum should result in information being perceived as more credible and persuasive (Brown et al. 2007) because this matching enhances tie strength. The strength of a tie is a combination of the amount of time it has been in force, the emotional intensity, the intimacy (mutual confiding) and the reciprocal services which characterise the tie (Granovetter 1973). Such tie strength, even in an online context, influences behaviour (De Bruyn & Lilien 2008). This is especially the case when a participant in a forum shares the same interests as the other forum members. Consider forums relating to religion (e.g. MyChurch), pets (e.g. Dogster) or specific hobbies (e.g. Ravelry), Ploderer et al. (2008) suggest that sites such as these connect mostly people with no previous offline connection. Instead these online communities tend to be organised around a common interest providing a hierarchical structure for people to discuss topics. Active participation in such communities fosters behaviour in line with the groups norms to gain social approval, to uphold group identity and to maintain group harmony (Khaled et al. 2006).
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As Brown and his co-workers have argued (Brown et al. 2007), social network analysis is suitable for studying online WOM behaviour because its unit of analysis is the exchange of (tangible and intangible) resources between social actors. Each exchange is considered a social exchange relation, and individuals who maintain the relation are said to maintain a tie. Social network analysis suggests that the behaviour of online forum participants is affected more by the kinds of ties and exchanges involved than by individual attributes of the actors themselves (Haythornthwaite 1999). Indeed, in an online context the individual attributes of the communicators are usually unknown. Forum members may be anonymous to each other, but they are similar to the extent that they have voluntarily joined a forum which presumably deals with their common attitudes and interests. With extended participation, bonding (ties) would be expected to grow. Individual attributes of the participants themselves become irrelevant and the forum communication itself becomes the point of comparison and influence. In other words, the content of the forum becomes a proxy for the individual members and therefore the source in the communication process. This is analogous to the concept of self-brand connections (Chaplin & John 2005). As consumers engage in a matching process to identify products or brands that are congruent with their self-image (e.g. Birdwell 1968), consumers presumably also engage in a matching process to identify congruent online forums to follow. Indeed Brown et al. (2007) have suggested it is forum content, rather than the characteristics of the individual members, which demonstrates similarity of interests. Here, content refers to the actual textual content of the forums messages without reference to who provided them. So, source similarity is conceptualised here as similarity between the users interests and the forums topic. What is the mechanism through which similarity between the users interests and the forums topic influences a users behaviour? Social comparison theory suggests that similarity ought to be positively related to the persuasiveness of information being communicated, and to behavioural intentions as well. Since persuasiveness is the mechanism through which similarity influences behavioural intentions, the same logic might be expected to apply in the online context. While the process is the same, the underlying reasoning is somewhat different in an online context, since social networking analysis would suggest that the forum itself becomes the source rather than individual members, and members will be attracted to forums that relate to their interests. This shared common interest with the forum strengthens ties, resulting in the forums content having a more persuasive influence on the behaviour of its members. It is based on this reasoning that the following hypotheses are proposed: H1: Source similarity has a positive effect on the persuasiveness of an online forum. H2: Source similarity strengthens purchase intention with respect to products discussed in an online forum. H3: The persuasiveness of an online forum mediates any positive relationship between perceived source similarity and purchase intentions with respect to products discussed in the forum. Receivers attitude toward the forum Attitudes towards advertising in a specific medium appear to explain why consumers engage in advertising avoidance across a range of media (Lee & Lumpkin 1992), including the internet (Cho & Cheon 2004). Findings indicate that more positive attitudes towards an advertising medium generally lead to less avoidance of ads in that medium. Online forums, however, are not presenting advertising. How about consumer attitudes towards them? Would such attitudes predict the influence of the forum on their behaviour?

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Consumersattitudes toward interacting with online communities should be of central concern to marketers (Brown et al. 2007). According to Browns study, participating in an online consumer community can lead to increased purchasing and facilitate participation in community-related activities. If an individual has a positive attitude towards a forum, the intensity of the relationship between the individual and the forum is likely to increase, as manifested in the individuals visiting the forum more regularly. At the same time, the influence of any information picked up from the forum ought to increase. Fishbein and Ajzens (1975) research on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) serves as the basis for much of the work examining this link between attitude and behaviour. According to the TRA, attitude is a crucial predictor of behavioural intention. As with other cognitive decision-making models, the underlying premise of the TRA is that individuals make decisions rationally and systematically on the basis of the information available to them, but attitude is nevertheless a core construct in the TRA. The TRA has proven itself in extensive empirical testing in relation to a diverse range of health, social and consumer behaviours, and meta-analyses demonstrate strong support for the proposed determinants of intention (Sheppard et al. 1988). Using the TRA, we predict that a more positive attitude towards a forum should result in information gleaned there being more persuasive, and this persuasiveness should influence purchase intentions about any products discussed. H4: A members positive attitude towards an online forum has a positive effect on the persuasiveness of an online forum. H5: A members positive attitude towards an online forum strengthens purchase intention with respect to products discussed in an online forum. H6: The persuasiveness of an online forum mediates any positive relationship between attitude towards an online forum and purchase intentions with respect to products discussed in the forum. Methodology Sampling To test the hypotheses, a mall intercept survey was conducted in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has one of the largest internet penetrations in the world and internet use spans all age groups. According to the World Bank (World Development Indicators 2009) there are 59.1 internet users per 100 people in Hong Kong. Point Topic (2008) indicates that Hong Kong is placed 5th in the world in terms of internet penetration, behind Monaco, South Korea, Singapore and Macau. When collecting data for regression analysis, the number of cases should be at least 40 times the number of independent variables (including both moderating and mediating variables) to allow a reasonable chance of demonstrating any underlying relationships, assuming reliable measurements and a dependent variable which is not skewed (Tabachnick & Fidell 2001). This study was designed to investigate relationships involving three independent variables, so a total of 150 interviews were conducted. Mall intercepts (Sudman 1980) were used because many Hong Kong people pass through shopping malls on weekends, providing a convenient cross section of Hong Kongs population. The field work was conducted on weekends from 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm over a four-week period at major shopping malls in the three main districts of Hong Kong (Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories). The shopping malls selected were surrounded by dense residential developments. Every 4th passer-by was selected to avoid self-selection bias. Internet forums were explained at the beginning of the interview. Examples of forums were given to ensure that the interviewees fully understood them. The interviews were conducted by one of the authors who had been fully briefed. After the briefing a series of mock interviews were conducted. Measurements
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All scales are shown in the Appendix. At the start of the questionnaire, each interviewee was requested to specify the one consumption-related online forum (i.e. a forum that includes discussion of products/services) that they visited most frequently and to answer all questions in relation to that forum. Similarity between the individuals interests and the forum groups interest was measured using a four-item, seven-point semantic differential scale developed by Wolfinbarger and Gilly (1993), where 1 = strongly dissimilar and 7 = strongly similar. This scale was originally developed to measure similarity between people. This personwas replaced by forum group. The fifth item in the original scale was deleted as it was not relevant to the current context (it measured gift givers and gift receiverstastes in gifts). Attitude towards the forum was measured using an adapted version of the six-item, five-point Likert scale developed by Chen and Wells (1999). This scale was originally used to measure attitudes toward a website. The persuasiveness of the forums information was measured using a three-item, seven-point semantic differential scale developed byGrhan-Canli and Maheswaran (2000). Purchase intention was measured using a four-item, seven-point Likert-type measure. This was the same scale used by Coyle and Thorson (2001), who combined three items from Putrevu and Lord (1994) with one item originally developed by Kim and Biocca (1997). Covariates Internet familiarity may influence perceptions of forum information. For instance, those less familiar with the internet may be relativelynaveaboutthereliabilityofinternetinformation,resultinginaforums information persuading them too easily (or too little). Therefore internet familiarity was controlled for using a three-item, seven-point semantic differential developed by Roehm (2001) to measure each respondents familiarity with the internet. Demographic variables were also controlled for. Education was dummy coded, with 1 representing tertiary-level education and 0 representing secondary school or below. Sex was dummy coded with 1 representing males. Monthly income was dummy coded, with one dummy (income dummy 1) representing a monthly income of HK$10,000 or less and another (income dummy 2) representing more than HK$15,000. An income between these thresholds was used as the reference category. Age was dummy coded with one dummy for ages of 29 or less (age dummy 1), the other for ages of 40 or more (age dummy 2), and an age between these thresholds used as the reference category. As the majority of Hong Kong people are Cantonese speakers, the questionnaire was developed in English and translated into Chinese through a translation and back-translation procedure (Brislin et al. 1973; Tamanin et al. 2002). The questionnaire was then pretested prior to launching the full survey. Finally, to limit the possibility of common method variance (Podsakoff et al. 2003), varying response formats were used. Also, several distracter items (I believe that some people are lucky and some people are unlucky; I think Hong Kong is an attractive tourist destination; Hong Kong is notorious for its air pollution; If SARs came back to Hong Kong, Hong Kong would recover quickly) were inserted into the questionnaire to prevent respondents from guessing the surveys objective and underlying hypotheses. Harmans (1967) single factor test for common method variance was applied to the data collected. This test assumes that if significant common method variance exists, a single factor, or a general factor that explains a significant amount of the variance, will emerge from factor analysis when all the items are entered. The results of the factor analysis revealed that there were four factors with eigenvalues above 1.0, which together explained 67% of the variance. The largest single factor explained 21% of the variance, which is significantly less than half. Results
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54.7% of the interviewees were male and 45.3% were female. The 2029 and 3039 age groups occupied 34.7% and 39.3% of the total sample respectively. For education level, 32% and 27.3% claimed to have high school and diploma/certificate level education respectively. The largest group of respondents (35.3%) said they earned HK$5,001$10,000 per month (roughly US$7001400). The second largest group (21.3%) claimed HK$10,001$15,000 per month incomes. Validity and reliability The factor structure of each scale was analysed separately. Principal components analysis (PCA) using a varimax rotation revealed unidimensional structures for all scales, with explained variance ranging from 5588%. The mean scores, standard deviations, reliabilities, and correlations are shown in Table 1.

Hypothesis testing Regressions were used to highlight any relationships between source similarity and attitude towards the forum and (i) level of persuasiveness and (ii) purchase intention, and also any potential mediating relationships. At each step of the mediation analysis, demographics and internet familiarity were entered first as controls. Source similarity persuasiveness purchase intention The three-step mediated regression approach recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986) was applied in testing for any mediating effects of persuasiveness in the source similaritypurchase intention linkage. Source similarity was found to significantly predict persuasiveness (= 0.495, p 0.001).Thisresultsatisfiesthefirstconditionofthemediation,and supports H1. To test the second mediation condition, a new model was estimated which specified only a direct relationship between source similarity and purchase intention. Without the persuasiveness mediator, source similarity was significantly related to purchase intention (= 0.570, p 0.001).ThisresultsatisfiesthesecondmediationconditionandsupportsH2.To examine the third mediation condition, persuasiveness was added as a mediator. The results indicated that persuasiveness is significantly related to purchase intention ( = 0.246, p 0.01).Focusingonthesignificantpath,sourcesimilaritystill significantly predicted purchase intention ( = 0.449, p 0.001)inthepresenceofpersuasiveness,buttherewasareduction in (from 0.570 to 0.449). This suggests that persuasiveness partially mediates the impact of source similarity on purchase intentions toward products discussed in the forum. The third mediation condition was thus met, and H3 was supported.
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Attitude persuasiveness purchase intention The same three-step mediated regression approach was then used to examine the mediating effects of persuasiveness in the attitudepurchase intention linkage. To meet the first mediation condition, a positive attitude towards an online forum was found to have a positive effect on the persuasiveness of forum communications (= 0.387, p0.001).ThissupportsH4.To test the second mediation condition, a new model was estimated in which only the direct path between attitude and purchase intention was specified. Without persuasiveness as a mediator, a positive attitude significantly strengthened purchase intention (= 0.443, p 0.001).Thisresultsatisfiesthesecondmediationcondition,andsupportsH5.Afteraddingthe persuasiveness mediator, the results indicated that persuasiveness was significantly related to purchase intention ( = 0.340, p 0.001).Focusingonthesignificantpath,apositiveattitudestilldisplayedsignificantpredictivepowerforpurchase intention ( = 0.308, p 0.001)inthepresenceofpersuasiveness,buttherewasareductionin(from 0.443 to 0.308). This suggests that persuasiveness partially mediates the impact of a positive attitude towards the forum on the intention to purchase products discussed in the forum. The third mediation condition was therefore met, and H6 was supported. Discussion Considerable previous research has studied the effects of offline WOM on consumer behaviour. With the substantial growth in online forums, there is a need for marketers to better understand how online WOM might influence consumer behaviour. The persuasiveness of online WOM, however, has until now received limited attention. This research has replicated the approaches taken to studying offline word of mouth but in an online context. Building on this previous research in the offline context, Brown et al.s (2007) qualitative work relating to online WOM and the recent experiment by Lee and Youn (2009), this research examined how similarity between a forums topic and a users interests, as well as the users positive attitude toward the forum, influence the forums persuasiveness. In turn, the influence of a forums persuasiveness on purchase intention toward products discussed in the forum was examined. The results show partial mediation in both instances. These results demonstrate that theories used to explain how offline WOM influences consumer behaviour in daily life can also be used in an online context. Similarity between forum topics and the receivers interests has a direct relationship with purchase intention, as well as an indirect relationship through determining the forums persuasiveness. Persuasiveness is a mechanism through which similarity between the forums interests and those of the receiver influences purchase intention. Similarity in this context refers to Browns notion of shared group interests and group mind-set (Brown et al. 2007). As Brown has suggested, online communities can act as a proxy for individual identification. Consumers interact with the forum rather than individuals when processing information delivered online. The relationship between source similarity and persuasiveness and purchase intention is explained by Festingers (1954) theory of social comparison and its premise that individuals implicitly assume that similar people have similar needs and preferences. This explanation is amplified by social network analysis which predicts that greater similarity between the interests of the member and those of the forum should result in information being perceived as more credible and persuasive (Brown et al. 2007) because this matching enhances tie strength. Further explanation for these findings is found in Kelmans (1961) source-attractiveness model and Byrnes (1971) general law of attraction, which suggests that receivers can better identify with and are more attracted to sources that are similar to themselves. As with similarity, attitude towards a forum has a direct effect on purchase intention as well as an indirect effect through the forums persuasiveness. Persuasiveness is a mechanism through which attitude influences purchase intention. This is

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consistent with Fishbein and Ajzens (1975) theory of reasoned action. If a person has a positive attitude toward a forum, this has a positive influence on the persuasiveness of the information contained in that forum, which in turn increases the receivers purchase intention to products and services discussed favorably in that forum. What are the practical implications of these findings? It seems that online WOM can significantly influence consumer behaviour, so marketers should not ignore the proliferation of online consumer-to-consumer communication. The results of this research suggest that marketers wishing to capitalise on online forums as a marketing communications tool need to ensure that the groups interests closely match those of their products users. They might then consider funding concrete steps to foster positive attitudes towards the forum. A marketer considering creating a forum matching target consumersinterests should first undertake primary research to identify specific interests common among the intended users. Once the forum has been established, discussion topics could be monitored to identify whichdiscussions appear to be of most interest to the target consumers, and topics of less interest could be discouraged. Developing a forum which matches the shared interests of target consumers would ensure that they find the forum relevant, thereby increasing the persuasiveness of the information it delivers and, if the information is positive, increasing the likelihood of purchase. Having found or created an online group whose interests match those of the target consumers, marketers need to foster positive attitudes towards the forum. Users need to be convinced that using the forum is a good use of their time and that the forum is better than other similar groups. Most forums have rules and moderators, and presumably these are important in determining attitudes towards the forum. In all of this, marketers need to remember that online forums are consumer-generated and, in principle at least, marketers are on the sidelines. As Brown has pointed out (Brown et al. 2007), marketers need to be aware of the risks involved in attempting to influence online WOM. As soon as a forums discussion moves from being consumer-controlled to marketer-controlled, the forum can easily lose credibility and users. Related to this, marketers have the option of adding a forum feature to their company website (where, obviously, the creator of the forum is identified), or creating a stand-alone forum (see Procter and Gambles beinggirl.com). It is possible that consumer remarks posted on a standalone forum will be more persuasive than remarks posted on a forum that is part of a company website, although this is uncertain and warrants further research. Companies might experiment with establishing stand alone forums while also maintaining a forum on their own website to determine which approach is more likely to achieve their objectives. Marketing academics and practitioners often refer to brands being co-created by consumers and firms (Deighton & Kornfeld 2007), but in fact little is known about how firms can promote such co-creation. The firms role in maintaining some control of ostensibly consumer-managed forums is a crucial area needing investigation. Limitations and further research This research has used theory from an offline environment to explain how online forums influence consumer behaviour. The results extend the work of Brown et al. (2007) and Lee and Youn (2009). However, several limitations should be recognised. First, the research did not specify if the forum was part of a company website or a standalone forum. As pointed out by Lee and Youn (2009), these two different approaches to forum placement may produce different levels of persuasiveness. Second, the variables explored in this study do not offer an exhaustive explanation of how online word of mouth influences consumer purchase behaviour. Other variables would presumably offer additional explanation. Third, we only considered the influence of positive online WOM on purchase intentions. Again as pointed out by Lee and Youn (2009), online WOM can of course also
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be negative and therefore could have negative effects on purchase intention. Finally, our study looked at perceived influences of online word of mouth rather than actual influences and behaviour. The difficulty in researching offline WOM is that word of mouth cannot easily be traced. However in an internet setting it ought to be possible to track online interactions (Trusov et al. 2009), so future research might consider employing actual rather than perceived measures. Conclusions Several theories have been used by previous researchers to explain how WOM influences consumer behaviour in daily life. This study has taken some of those theories and applied them to the online environment, thereby extending our understanding of WOM in a new context. The results confirm that source similarity and attitude towards an online forum have a direct relationship with intention to purchase products discussed in the forum, as well as an indirect effect through helping determine the forums persuasiveness. Understanding how online WOM influences consumer behaviour is undoubtedly important, and will become even more important in the future as the internet continues to grow. To develop further theoretical and practical insights into this area, it is hoped that the findings reported here will be verified and built upon by future researchers. Appendix Think of one internet forum (it must contain product/service information) that you visit most frequently to answer all of the following questions.

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communication and social media. Address correspondence to: Gerard P. Prendergast, School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, HONG KONG. Email: Gerard@hkbu.edu.hk

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