Measuring Motivations for Online Opinion Seeking

TLDR

Online interpersonal influence, or electronic word‑of‑mouth (eWOM), plays a significant role in e‑commerce by shaping consumer perceptions and sales. The study aimed to develop a 32‑item self‑report scale to assess consumer motivations for online opinion seeking. Data from a survey of 309 consumers were used to construct and validate the scale. The scale identified eight distinct motivations—risk reduction, social conformity, price seeking, easy information access, accidental use, novelty, offline stimulus, and pre‑purchase information—and a follow‑up study confirmed the scales’ reliability, the primacy of peer information over advertising, and the likelihood that consumers will continue to seek online WOM.

Abstract

Online interpersonal influence or electronic word-of-mouth (“eWOM”) is an important aspect of ecommerce. Consumers give and seek opinions online in much the same way as they do offline, thereby affecting the sales of many goods and services. To further the understanding of eWOM, the present study used data from a survey of 309 consumers to develop a 32-item self-report scale measuring consumer motivations for online opinion seeking. This study revealed eight distinct factors. Consumers seek the opinions of others online to reduce their risk, because others do it, to secure lower prices, to get information easily, by accident (unplanned), because it is cool, because they are stimulated by off-line inputs such as TV, and to get pre-purchase information. A second study using data from 109 consumers showed that: (1) the scales measuring these motivations are free from social desirability response bias and acquiescence, (2) other consumers’ information is more important than advertising, and (3) consumers are likely to continue to seek WOM online, thereby confirming its importance in ecommerce.