What is eWOM ?

“Any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former

customers about a company which is made available to a multitude of
people and institutions via the internet” (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004).

13/05/2023 1
 Sources of eWOM

1.e-commerce websites

• Amazon.com
• Flipkart.com
13/05/2023 3
 Sources of eWOM

2. Blogs 3. Social Networking Sites

Blogger.com • Facebook.com
• Twitter.com
13/05/2023 • Whatsapp.com 4
 Sources of eWOM

4. Online Discussion
5. Online Review Sites
forums

https://geek.digit.in/community/ Tripadvisor.in/
13/05/2023 5
 Global Market Trends- e-commerce

e-commerce sales worldwide

6000 5695

5000 4927

4206
4000
Sales in USD Billion

3535

2982
3000
2382

2000 1845
1548
1336

1000

0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Year
https://www.statista.com/statistics/379046/worldwide-retail-e-commerce-sales

13/05/2023 6
 Rapid Rise of Online Reviews

Number of Reviews on TripAdvisor ( A leading travel portal for online reviews)

1000

900 859
Number of Reviews in mn

800
730
700
600
600

500 465

400
320
300
200
200

100

0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Year
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/684862/tripadvisor-number-of-reviews/

13/05/2023 7
 eWOM and consumer Behavior

Shoppers are more likely Rating and reviews are

89% of the consumers
to purchase a product among the top 5
consider online reviews
with a rating between 4.2 factors that impact the
before purchasing a
and 4.5 stars2 consumer purchase
product1
decision3

eWOM significantly influences customer purchase decision

1. https://www.powerreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/The-Growing-Power-of-Reviews.pdf
2. https://www.powerreviews.com/insights/from-reviews-to-revenue-nwu/
3. https://www.powerreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/The-Growing-Power-of-Reviews.pdf

13/05/2023 8

10% improvement in hotel
ratings can increase sales
by 4.4%1
eWOM has a positive effect on product sales
13/05/2023
Economic aspects of eWOM
Trip Advisor’s revenue has The purchase likelihood for a
grown by 400% in last ten product with five reviews is
years reaching 1560 million 270% greater than the
USD in 20192 purchase likelihood of a
product with no reviews3
1. https://www.powerreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/The-Growing-Power-of-Reviews.pdf
2. https://www.powerreviews.com/insights/from-reviews-to-revenue-nwu/
3. https://www.powerreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/The-Growing-Power-of-Reviews.pdf
9
 eWOM as marketing tool

Amazon 4 Star offline store is based on Use of online reviews as an indication

actual customer reviews and ratings, from of high quality in television ads (Sujata
its e-commerce website1 Mixer)2

Brands are using eWOM in their marketing communication

1. https://www.shopify.hk/retail/customer-reviews-in-store
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1S3uNOEhNE
13/05/2023 10
 Negative aspects of eWOM

34 % of the consumer 70% of the Indian According to a report in

believe that e-commerce
portals reject low product
ratings1
consumers believe that fake the New York Times, some
reviews are very common companies manipulate
in Indian e-commerce online reviews to increase
industry2 the rating of their products
on e-commerce platforms3

1. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/most-e-shoppers-dont-trust-online-reviews-study/articleshow/61719614.cms
2. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/most-e-shoppers-dont-trust-online-reviews-study/articleshow/61719614.cms
3. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/business/online-reviews-fake.html (accessed 27 June 2020).
13/05/2023 11
 eWOM Credibility???

‘eWOM is an integral part of the

consumer decision-making
process, but the credibility of
eWOM remains questionable’

13/05/2023 12
 eWOM Credibility???

Thus, how consumers evaluate

the eWOM credibility is gaining
considerable interest from
academics and practitioners.

13/05/2023 13
 Theoretical Positioning

Personal
Direct Selling Selling

Behavior Change/
Communication Attitude Change
Purchase Intention

Advertising eWOM WOM

Antecedents
(Ajzen, 1991; Hovland et al., 1953)
of eWOM

13/05/2023 14
 Managing Online Review
on TripAdvisor

Harvard Business School Case

Prem P Dewani, Ph.D. (IIM A)

Marketing Professor, IIM Lucknow
 Case Flow
• Introduction
• History of TripAdvisor
• How TripAdvisor Made Money
• Other Online Travel Review Sites (Competition)
• Consumer Usage of Online Reviews
• Reading Hotel Reviews
• Writing Hotel Reviews
• Hotels’ Management of Online Reviews
• Impact of Online Reviews on Reservations
• Managing Online Reviews
• Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
• Homewood Suites
• The Challenge Ahead
Trust in third party > Trust in First Party
Harvard Business School Case
16
A Few Case Facts

Harvard Business School Case

17
A Few Case Facts

Harvard Business School Case

18
A Few Case Facts

Harvard Business School Case

19
 A Few Case Facts
Y=a+b1X1+b2x2+b3x3+e
Sles = Price + ve+ promotions
Y=Sales
X1= Price
X2=Adv.
X3- Promotions
Error

B1=-0.80, B2= 0.50, B3= 0.25

Reservation of the hotel = A + 1.142 * Review score + 1.002 * no of reviews + 0.885 * position +
0.304 * relative price of the hotel

Harvard Business School Case

20
A Few Case Facts

Harvard Business School Case

21
A Few Case Facts

Harvard Business School Case

22
A Few Case Facts

Harvard Business School Case

23
Why study this
case?
24
 Objectives of this Case (1)
To understand and think through when, how, and if
to use certain communication channels

Harvard Business School Case

25
 Objectives of the Case (2)
In the case of online reviews, word-of-mouth (WOM) is a highly
trusted and influential source of information, but that does not
mean it is possible, appropriate or ethical for companies to
influence this consumer-to-consumer communication channel.

TripAdvisor
26
 Key Questions
1
• Why has TripAdvisor become a successful
source of hotel reviews?

TripAdvisor
 Key Questions
2
• How can TripAdvisor improve its product for
consumers?

TripAdvisor
 Key Questions
3
• Why is TripAdvisor so appealing to consumers?
• Why do users write hotel reviews?
• Why do users read hotel reviews?

TripAdvisor
 Key Questions
4
• How can major hotel chains influence online
reviews?
• Should they even try to? If so, how?

TripAdvisor
 Key Questions
5
• Which online Word of Mouth (WOM) approach
do you prefer. The one practiced by the Four
Seasons, or the Homewood Suites approach?
Why?

TripAdvisor
What is the present
situation?
32
 Situation Analysis (1/3)
TripAdvisor is a major online provider of travel-related
information (hotel review prepared by the former guests).

Consumers trust these reviews as authentic portrayals of the hotel experience,

and they perceive TripAdvisor to be a convenient platform to compare hotel
options before booking.

Online reviews can directly affect the prices hotels can charge, occupancy
etc., so the right approach is critical for hotel marketers, yet hotels lack direct
control over reviewers and online review platforms.

What is the right way for hotels to engage with this important source of
information? How can hotels marketers influence reviews of their properties
online?

TripAdvisor
33
 Key Questions
1
• Why has TripAdvisor become a successful
source of hotel reviews?

TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor VS Other Websites
1 • 27 million visitors per month
• Strong network effect
• Premier search travel research destination
• Other websites (Yahoo Travel (26 million unique
visitors) and Expedia (also 26 million unique
visitors are close behind (strong competition)

TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor VS Other Websites
2 • Company relies on user generated content
(UGC) and thus consumers perceive the
company to be transparent and unbiased about
which opinion(s) readers end up booking.

TripAdvisor
 TripAdvisor VS Other Websites
3
• Easy to write reviews on TripAdvisor, compared to Expedia or
Priceline (more stringent processes to confirm that a reviewer did in fact stay
at a hotel).
• TripAdvisor, however, essentially asks its reviewers to abide by an
honor code and only review hotels where they have stayed

TripAdvisor
 TripAdvisor VS Other Websites
4
• TripAdvisor’s original revenue model was heavily dependent
on advertising, including banner ad and click-through adv.

• Signaling authenticity, as not working like OTA i.e. Expedia or

Travelocity (no compulsion that readers have to choose from
particular option)

TripAdvisor
 TripAdvisor VS Other Websites
5
• Able to convince the hotels to direct their guest
to TripAdvisor to rate and review their stay.
(Give Placard and other displays the position that TripAdvisor is the best
place to share their insights (Case P6).

TripAdvisor
 Key Questions
2
• How can TripAdvisor improve its product for
consumers?

TripAdvisor
1
Identify Fake Reviews (Trust in the website), Why Trust is important?
(6 % of the reviews were not authentic)

Consumer Trust is critical to the success of TripAdvisor’s success.

If readers start doubting the accuracy of its reviews, the company’s value
will vanish.

TripAdvisor
2
Encourage continuously to generate new reviews (will build mass of
reviews for readers to make a decision)

Readers perceive that website is not stagnant or contain outdated

information

Fresh reviews can also help hotels that have made service or other
operational improvements not reflected in older reviews

TripAdvisor
3
Potential conflict of interest if TripAdvisor moves into offering more OTA
type Services

Case Exhibit 1 Shows that display advertising and revenue from readers
clicking-through to book with OTAs are still the company’s primary source
of income, but the company's reputation will be at risk, if readers perceive
Trip Advisor to no longer be an unbiased platform of information.

TripAdvisor
Why people write
reviews
44
1
People like to share their experiences with fellow travellers. They do this
for both altruistic reasons-to let others know about a particularly good or
bad experience-and because they simply enjoy writing about their stay or
vacation.

Writers believe that they have a unique perspective and want to share
their 'insider knowledge’ with others.

TripAdvisor
2 It makes people feel like they are contributing to a collective body of
knowledge. They might have used Trip Advisor when planning their trip
and now want to add their experience

Some may be motivated by the status they can achieve as a respected

reviewer by the broader TripAdvisor community. Students with
experience using the website will observe that users’ TripAdvisor profiles
show how many reviewes each person has written and whether others
found those reviews to be of food quality.

TripAdvisor
3 Writing a review is easy to do n TripAdvisor. Writers do not have to wait
for the special link sent by companied like Expedia or Priceline (Case p3).

The date in Case Exhibit 5 state that people primarily write reviews, in
order of importance, to ‘help consumers make food decision’, to ‘share
experiences’, to reward a (company) for food service’, and to ‘help
companies make an improvement’ (Case p8).

TripAdvisor
Why people read
reviews
48
1 Readers want an active role in deciding, where they stay instead of just being
marketed to.

TripAdvisor is a social website, and readers enjoy being part of the conversation
and learning about their options.

Readers are suspicious of hotel marketing materials, but expect guests to

provide the unbiased truth.

People rely on the opinion of fellow travellers more than anything else
(McKinsey & Co.s 2010 study (see case p4) demonstrates the power of WOM

TripAdvisor
2 To more accurately assess a hotel’s attributes, TripAdvisor allows readers to select
reviewers with similar tastes and expectations.

Case Exhibit 3 ranks the guest experience, hotel location, room price, and the hotel’s
loyalty program as the features and services that most influence where consumers stay.

Reviews allow guests and prospective guests to share information with one another on
the hotel experience, and thus reviews immediately impact that category.

Review content can also ultimately affect the prices a hotel can charge (e.g. depending
on whether it moves up or down in TripAdvisor’s ranking), and possibly even a loyalty
program if enough consumers cite it as a concern.

TripAdvisor
How to identify
FALSE reviews
51
 Identifying false reviews
Encourage reviewers to upload photos or videos of the hotel. These are harder to fake and will
also add to the quality of the website’s content.

Build algorithms that detect common words and phrases used in false reviews, and be proactive
about shutting, them down.

Rely on users to judge what is fake and what is not. People have a good sense of when something
seems phony, and case p 5 suggests that readers five more credence to valanced reviews rather
than those that either rave or rant about the hotel.

Focus on building a community of reputable and recognizable reviewers. TripAdvisor already

seems to be doing this by allowing readers to say whether a particular review was helpful.

Count on community members to police fake reviews

TripAdvisor
 How should
marketers engage
with TripAdvisor?
53
 Three Issues
1
Hotels should focus on generating a high volume of
reviews. (Exhibit 4 shows the strong correlation between
booking made and an increase in a hotel’s user review
score and number of reviews in online review platform)

TripAdvisor
54
 Three Issues
2

Hotel should put signage in their rooms and in

common space, and e-mail customers after their
stay to encourage them to write reviews

TripAdvisor
55
 Three Issues
3
Hotels should ask TripAdvisor for new tools or
information to help increase review volume, or even to
enable hotels to proactively identify those customers
most likely to write reviews based on their past
TripAdvisor activity.

TripAdvisor
56
Harvard Business School Case
57
Harvard Business School Case
58
Differences in How
Hotels Engage with
Digital Platforms?
59
Harvard Business School Case
60
A Few Case Facts

Harvard Business School Case

61
 Summary

Harvard Business School Case

62
 Summary

Harvard Business School Case

63
Harvard Business School Case
64
Harvard Business School Case
65
 Can hotels influence consumers’
opinions without compromising the
integrity of the review process and
platform?

66
 Take Away From Case
o Can we generalize the insights?

Harvard Business School Case

67
Study 1 a eWOM credibility: Classification of Factors

Content Communicator Context Consumer

 Recommendation  Source credibility  Platform Credibility  Confirmation of

framing  Source expertise  Platform Reputation Prior Belief
 Recommendation  Source  Platform Type  Propensity of Trust
sidedness trustworthiness  Platform Interactivity  Motivation for
 Recommendation  Source  Platform Familiarity Information
consistency attractiveness  Product Type  Culture
 Recommendation  Source identity  Customer Expertise
rating  Homophily  Consumer
 Visual information  Tie strength Knowledge
 Argument quality  Sponsorship  Involvement
 Review attribution disclosure
 Review quantity  Social capital

13/05/2023 68
Study 1 a eWOM credibility: A Comprehensive Framework
CONTENT
• Recommendation framing CONTEXT
• Recommendation sidedness
•
• Platform type
Recommendation consistency
• Recommendation rating • Product type
• Visual information
• Argument quality
• Review attribution
• Review quantity e WOM
CREDIBILITY
COMMUNICATOR
• Source credibility
• Source expertise
• Source trustworthiness
CONSUMER
• Source attractiveness • Culture
• Source identity • Involvement
• Homophily • Sense of virtual
• Tie strength community Direct Effect
• Sponsorship disclosure
• Social capital
Moderating
Effect
13/05/2023 69
 Study 2

The impact of eWOM Language and

communication modality on eWOM
persuasiveness and customer
purchase intention

13/05/2023 70
Study 2 Motivation

Top 10 Languages in the World

• Approximately 6,500-
1200
1132 1117
7000 languages are
1000 spoken in the world
today
800
Numbers in
million

600
615
534
• French, Arabic, Spanish,
Mandarin – Chinese,
400
280 274 265 258
Hindi – Urdu are the
200
199
170 fastest growing language
in the world
0
English Mandarin Hindi Spanish French Arabic Bengali Russian Portuguesse Indonesian

https://blog.busuu.com/most-spoken-languages-in-the-world

13/05/2023 71
Study 2 Languages in India

1.https://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/indianlanguages.htm
2. https://censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/C-16_25062018_NEW.pdf

13/05/2023 72
 Study 2 World Internet Users by Language

4000

3500 3399

3000
• English internet users have
grown by 121% from 2010 to
User in
Million 2500 2020
• Non- English internet users have
2000
grown by 245% from 2010 to
1500 2020
1186
985
1000
536
500

0
2010 2020

Internet Users
https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm
Non- English Internet User English Internet Users https://www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/internet-languages/

13/05/2023 73
Study 2 Indian Internet Users by Language

600
536

500

400
User in Million

300
234
199
200 175

100
68
42

0
2011 2016 2021

Internet Users
Non- English Internet User English Internet Users

https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2017/04/Indian-languages-Defining-Indias-Internet.pdf

13/05/2023 74
 Study 2 Indian Internet Users by Language

Non-English language internet users in India are growing at a CAGR of 18%

to reach 536 million by 2021 compared to the English internet user base
growing at 3% to reach 199 million.

Non-English language internet users are expected to account for nearly

75% of India’s internet users base by 2021. For example:
Hindi internet user base is likely to outgrow English user base by 2021, reaching 201 mn by 2021
Non- English language users on the social media platform in India is expected to reach 300 million by
2021

https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2017/04/Indian-languages-Defining-Indias-Internet.pdf

13/05/2023 75
Study 2 Role of Language in e-commerce

71% of Non- English users 44% of the Non-English 50% of the offline shoppers
report limited language users finding it difficult to are willing to access e-
support as a major comprehend product tailing sites/application if
roadblock in accessing e- description and customer provided with end to end
commerce websites reviews in English Indian language internet
interface
in English.
https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2017/04/Indian-languages-Defining-Indias-Internet.pdf

13/05/2023 76
Study 2 Role of Language in e-commerce

Amazon Japan Amazon Spain

13/05/2023 77
 Language as a means of communication

language is an important element which

can influence consumer behavior

13/05/2023 78
Study 2 Conceptual Model

Based on the qualitative study and literature review

Language
(L1 vs L2)

eWOM Credibility eWOM Adoption

Communication
modality
(Audio, Text+image,
Video)

eWOM helpfulness Purchase Intention

Review Valence
(Negative vs Positive)

13/05/2023 79
Study 2 Summary: Hypotheses

Language
(L1 vs L2)

H4a H9
eWOM Credibility eWOM Adoption
Communication
modality H7a H6a
(Audio, Text+image,
Video) H7b H4b H8
H5a H10
H6b
eWOM helpfulness Purchase Intention
Review Valence H11
(Negative vs Positive) H5b

13/05/2023 80
 Study 2 Methodology: Experiment Design (2*2*3)
2(Language as L1 and L2)
*2 (valence as +ve and –ve)
*3 (communication modality as audio, text + image and video)

eWOM Communication Modality`

Valence
Audio “Text+Image” “Video”

English, Positive, English, Positive,

English, Positive,
Positive Audio “Text+Image”
Video
eWOM Language

English
English, Negative, Audio English, Negative,
English, Negative,
Negative “Text+Image”
Video

OTE, Positive, OTE, Positive, OTE, Positive,

Positive
Other than Audio “Text+Image” Video
English OTE, Negative, OTE, Negative, OTE, Negative,
(OTE) Negative Audio “Text+Image” Video

13/05/2023 81
 Intended Managerial Contribution

e-commerce vendors can utilize this study to increase the credibility and
helpfulness of the online reviews which will enhance the purchase
intention of the consumers.

 eWOM platforms can use this study to enhance the consumer

engagement on their platforms by using language and communication
modality as tools.

13/05/2023 82
 Intended Managerial Contribution

This study will help e-commerce platforms to enhance their

communicating capability by using different language and communication
modality

Social media influencers and bloggers can improve their message's

credibility by focusing on the content-related factors mentioned in the
study

13/05/2023 83