XOPHIA CHOREGIA

Sport Management
International Journal

Scientific Forum in
Sport Management

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

Effects of Electronic Word - of - Mouth Messages

D.O.I: http:dx.doi.org/10.4127/ch.2012.0064
Choong Hoon Lim, Jinwook Jason Chung,
Paul M. Pedersen
Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University at Bloomington

Abstract
With the increased usage of online technologies, there
has been an escalation of Electronic Word - of - Mouth
(eWOM) messages related to sport products and services offered and consumed. Therefore, in this original investigation
by applying eWOM to the sport industry, this study examined how the combination of the quality of the eWOM message and the provider of the eWOM message affects purchase intentions depending on the expertise level of the
consumer. This study which involved the collection of data from 134 students at a large university situated in the
Midwest of the United States utilized repeated measures
of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with tripartite groups of expertise and experimental conditions as independent variables. Purchase intention was the dependent variables. The
results indicated that the quality of the eWOM message
moderated the effect of the provider of the eWOM message.
The subjects level of expertise also had a moderating role
on purchase intention.

KEY WORDS: Online Consumer Behavior, Sport Marketing, Expertise, e - commerce, Consumer Review.

56

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

With the development of Internet technology, which is being used by approximately 2 billion people around the world as of 2010 (Internet world stats,
2010), annual e - commerce spending exceeds $225 billion with retail e - commerce of over $140 billion in the U.S. (SBRnet, 2011a). As popularity of ecommerce is growing, official e - commerce websites of major sports such as
the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA),
National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and Entertainment Sports
Programming Network (ESPN) have extended their businesses into sport merchandise licensing (SBRnet, 2011b). There are an estimated 60 e - commerce
stores for professional sports, intercollegiate athletics, and sport media outlets
(SBRnet, 2011b). As e - commerce and the entire online sport industry grow,
marketers need to better understand the online shoppers consumption behavior (Hur, Ko, & Valacich, 2007).
One of the unique characteristics of online consumption behavior is that
the consumers can have access to other consumers experiences with or opinions about the product through online interaction such as Electronic Word - of Mouth (eWOM) messages (Dellarocas, 2003). Further, online customers often
search for product information before making purchase decision, and use other customers reviews as primary sources that influence their buying decisions
(Chen & Xie, 2008). Currently, many leading online sport retailers such as
Dicks Sporting Goods, Golfsmith, and Golf Galaxy, now foster online communities in which customers can engage with each other and the retailers themselves. For example, the online retail outlet for Dicks Sporting Goods provides interactive elements such as customer reviews, average customer
ratings, and product information.
Yet while these dramatic shifts are being made online, there is little to no
academic research covering the area of online sports retail shopping and in
particular there have been no empirical investigations focused on consumer
reviews. In other words, the influence of other consumers opinions on online
sport consumption has not been examined to date. Over four decades ago,
Arndt (1967) noted that Word - of - Mouth (WOM) was one of the most effective marketing sources for consumers. Twenty - one years later Richins and
Root - Shaffer (1988) explained that WOM communication actually influences
consumers purchase intentions. In the ensuing years with the introduction
and growth of the Internet, Electronic Word - of - Mouth (eWOM) communication has become one of the most important and powerful marketing sources
(Lee & Youn, 2009). The usage of eWOM commenced and has grown over
the past couple decades. For example, in 1995 Amazon.com began to give
opportunities to the consumers to post reviews from their experiences with
certain products that they purchased through the online store (Chen & Xie,
2008). Research has shown that online consumer reviews have a significant

EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WORD - OF - MOUTH MESSAGES

57

impact on book sales (Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006) and box office revenues for
movies (Liu, 2006). Overall, it is estimated that upwards of 10 million product
reviews are available to Internet users on web based consumer opinion platforms (Hennig - Thurau, Gwinner, Walsh, & Gremler, 2004). With the significant number of consumer-generated content and the importance of eWOM
messages on the impact of purchase decisions, previous research has examined the influence of eWOM messages on conventional goods and services
such as television (Park, Lee, & Han, 2007), laptop computers (Xue & Zhou,
2011), fast food restaurants (Xue & Zhou, 2011), digital cameras (Chen & Xie,
2008), and Internet book (Lin, Luarn, & Huang, 2005).
While, there have been some research conducted in different products, no
research has examined the effect of eWOM messages on purchase intention
of sport product. Consumption behavior of the sport product is different from
consumption behavior affiliated with other products. According to Holbrook
and Hirschman (1982), sport consumers are influenced by the hedonic components of the product (i.e., experiential consumption), while consumers of
conventional goods and services are influenced by the utilitarian components
of the product. Thus, when examining consumption behavior of the sport
product, it is important to investigate how sport consumers evaluate other
consumers experiential reviews of the product. However, there are no studies investigating sport consumers experiential reviews affecting the consumption of sport product. According to Holbrook and Hirschman, pleasure
oriented consumption derived from the product usage experiences can be
explained through hedonic components of consumer behavior. For example,
hedonic components of consumption behavior include seeking for fun, amusement, fantasy, arousal, sensory stimulation, and enjoyment. These components are one of the major factors affecting the consumption of novels, plays,
and sporting events (Holbrook, 1980). Further, previous studies found that experiential components are important in consumption behavior of the travellers
(Bronner & de Hoog, 2010).
Examining the impact of eWOM messages on sport product consumption
provides face validity as consumers share their experiences of the hedonic
product (e.g. travel) and these experiential reviews of the product effectively
influence the purchase decision of the consumers (Litvin, Goldsmith, & Pan,
2008). For example, travellers searched for other consumers experiences before making decisions regarding their own destinations, prices, and schedules
(Litvin et al.). Thus, eWOM messages are important factors to those experiential consumption activities. However, no studies have examined the effect
of eWOM messages on the sport products. Based on the above studies (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982; Bronner & de Hoog, 2010; Litvin et al.), the current study attempted to examine the unique consumption behavior of sport
consumers purchase behaviors which are based on experiential consumption.

58

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

In particular, the characteristics of eWOM messages such as quality,

quantity, and the provider of messages, as well as consumer factors such as
the expertise of the consumers are important factor that influence consumers purchase decisions relating to the sport product in response to the
eWOM messages. However, there has been only limited research examining
the characteristics of eWOM messages that influence consumption behavior.
For example, Park et al. (2007) explained that high quality messages which
include information that is specific, objective, and logical increase product
purchase intentions while low quality messages which are vague, subjective,
and emotional decrease product purchase intentions. They also suggested
that there are positive relationships between the number of messages posted
online about the product and purchase intentions.
Other studies have suggested that the source of the eWOM message plays
an important role in the decision - making activities of consumers. For example, Bronner and de Hoog (2010) found that some consumers visited only
marketer - generated sites during their decision making process with other consumers visited only consumer - generated sites. In addition to the investigating the influence of the source of the eWOM messages, it is important to understand consumer behavior and the perceived credibility when evaluating
messages from different sources. Thus, Dellarocas (2003) suggested that information posted by the consumer was more credible and trustworthy than information given by the marketer (e.g., seller, advertiser). Furthermore, Sen
and Lerman (2007) explained that consumer-generated review messages are
more influential because consumers generally trust their peer consumers more
than the advertiser or marketer. As a result, consumers are relying on these
consumer-formulated reviews, when just a few years ago online consumers often simply made purchase decisions based on marketer-created information
such as advertisements or professional advice from online platform (Dellarocas). In addition, Chen and Xie (2008) noted that online consumers now attempt to find product review messages that best match their situation. While
previous research (Bronner & de Hoog; Park et al., 2007) examined both the
quality and the provider of the eWOM messages separately, the current sportbased research sought to investigate the interaction effect of both factors.
Different from traditional media consumers, eWOM consumers are both
communicators and receivers of the information posted on online platforms. It
is important, however, to understand the consumer - evaluation process of the
eWOM message as a recipient. Among the consumer factors, expertise should
be vital to evaluating messages because researchers (e.g., Petty, Brinol, &
Priester, 2009) have argued that the level of expertise is determined by the
level of knowledge which leads to the different message interpretation skills.
Maheswaran and Sternthal (1990) also suggested that experts have the ability to process messages in detail when exposed to advertisements that only
include attribute information. On the contrary, they found that novice con-

EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WORD - OF - MOUTH MESSAGES

59

sumers processed messages in detail only when exposed to advertisements

with beneficial information. While the study by Maheswaran and Sternthal was
groundbreaking in terms of WOM research, the current study extends their
work into the electronic age as no study has as of yet examined the role of
consumer expertise on evaluating eWOM messages.
The current study operationalized an eWOM message as a product review
generated from the experience a consumer had with that product (e.g., consumer review, customer review, third party review of the product). Hoffman
and Novak (1996) conducted a typology study of the media and communication depending on the flow of interactivity. Various types of eWOM messages
exist in different formats such as product review, blogs and virtual communities, newsgroups, websites, hate sites, chatrooms, emails, and instant messaging (Litvin et al., 2008). With the various types of eWOM communication
methods, it is recognized that eWOM is an effective and economical marketing source in which marketers can gather product information from a large
community (Dellarocas, 2003). Not only does the usage of eWOM influence
the marketers, as noted above eWOM is a useful and influential source for
the consumers when they need information about the sport product. The
emergence of the Internet developed the consumer - opinion platform where
the consumers were able to obtain product - related reviews and information
(Hennig - Thurau & Walsh, 2003). While eWOM is widely used and its influences are quite evident, there have been relatively few research studies on
eWOM communication (Hennig - Thurau et al., 2004). Moreover, Litvin et al.
emphasized the need for more eWOM communication research. Therefore, as
the popularity of eWOM messages is increasing and is found to be a useful
source for consumers pre - purchasing activities, it is important to examine
what element of the eWOM message affects the purchasing intentions of consumers. Further, it is important to examine how eWOM messages influence
sport consumers as compared to other consumers of non-sport products.
Thus, the purpose of the current study is to not only investigate the uniqueness of sport consumers but also to examine how the combination of the quality of eWOM messages and the provider (source) of eWOM messages affects
purchase intentions related to sport products. Further, the current study examines the effect of expertise level of the consumer in sport when s/he evaluates the different types of eWOM messages. In addition to extending previous studies (e.g., Bronner & de Hoog, 2010; Park et al., 2007) and filling the
gaps in the research involving WOM and eWOM communication, the current
study is the first known attempt to conduct eWOM research in a sport context.
Electronic Word - of - Mouth (eWOM)
According to Henning - Thurau et al. (2004), eWOM is any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a prod-

60

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

uct or company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet (p. 39). Litvin et al. (2008) add that eWOM is considered as interaction between the consumers about the products, brands, and
services with which they have had experiences. While the above definitions
are affiliated with eWOM, it should be noted that word - of - mouth (WOM) has
been considered for several decades as one of the most influential marketing
sources for consumers (Arndt, 1967). As technology has developed and communication has increasingly transitioned online, the traditional WOM has to a
large extent transformed into eWOM, and the characteristics of this communication source have changed. Park et al. (2007) explains that the characteristics of the eWOM communication compare to the WOM communication.
First, WOM communication was limited to the local social network (Brown &
Reingen, 1987) whereas eWOM messages can be viewed and read by anyone, at any time, and anywhere if the access to the Internet is possible (Chen
& Xie, 2008). Second, the medium for WOM was through the direct communication of consumers and there was no control over the spreading of information or messages (Park et al.). However, with eWOM messages online sellers may have some control such as where to locate the message on the
website, or which review message to post on the front of the website in order to get the consumers attention (Park et al.). Third, information passed
through WOM was obtained through people nearby such as family members
or friends (Ratchford, Talukdar, & Lee, 2001). In contrast, information communicated through eWOM messages is most often obtained from consumers
who are unfamiliar and unknown to each other (Ratchford et al.).

Characteristics of the eWOM

There are several elements of the eWOM process and eWOM messages.
According to Brown and Reingen (1987), the relationship of strong ties is that
the communicator and the receiver of the WOM process are very close and
know each other very well. In contrast, the scholars noted that the relationship of weak ties is that the communicator and the receiver do not know each
other or do not have a prior relationship. The relationship between the communicator and the receiver in the eWOM process is considered as weak because anyone can post review messages and anyone may receive those messages posted (Chatterjee, 2001). In addition, Chatterjee noted that as the
source of the eWOM message is from an often unknown consumer, it is difficult to determine the level of information quality and the credibility of the information posted. However, Dellarocas (2003) suggested that credibility is
higher for consumer - created information compared to seller - created information. Based on the concept of attribution theory, consumers will believe review
messages (stimulus attribution) if the consumers think that the attributes of

EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WORD - OF - MOUTH MESSAGES

61

the reviewers are credible (Mizerski & Green, 1978). Mizerski and Green
added that consumers do not believe review messages (non - stimulus attribution) if the consumers think that the reviewers received something in order to
put positive review messages. Attribution theory suggested that the more consumers attribute the reviewers message to the actual product performance,
the more consumers believe the reviewers message and feel confident about
the accuracy of the review message (Mizerski, 1982). In other words, sellercreated product information will be less credible because the consumer suspects that the positive reviews are posted by someone who is engaged with
the seller or advertiser. Consumer-created product information will be more
credible because the consumer does not have selling intent (Bickart &
Schindler, 2001). In addition, Sen and Lerman (2007) argued that consumergenerated review messages are more influential compared to messages posted by advertisers, marketers, or sellers.
Park et al. (2007) also suggested that the quality of eWOM messages is
an important factor influencing the purchase intention of consumers. These
scholars postulated that high quality (e.g., specific, objective) messages have
a greater impact on purchase intentions than do low quality (e.g., emotional,
subjective) messages. Meanwhile, Petty et al. (2009) noted that expertise is
determined by the prior knowledge which is referred to as an ability to
process a message. These scholars stated that the elaboration likelihood model suggested that when the knowledge level is high people have the ability to
evaluate the merits of the argument, but when the knowledge level is low
people do not have the ability to evaluate the argument merits. Based on the
theoretical framework explained in the previous pages and the research examined in the literature review above, the following hypotheses were created
and guided the research investigation in the current study:
Hypotheses
H1: The sport consumer will have a higher purchase intention when exposed
to the low quality message as compared to the high quality message.
H2: The provider of the message will moderate the effect of the message
quality on the purchase intention.
H3: The provider of the message and consumers expertise will moderate the
effect of the message quality on the purchase intention.
H4: The sport consumer will have a higher purchase intention when exposed
to the consumer - generated message as compared to the marketer - generated message.
H5: The quality of the message will moderate the effect of the message
provider on the purchase intention.
H6: The quality of the message and consumers expertise will moderate the
effect of the message provider on the purchase intention.

62

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

Methodology
Sample and Procedure
Subjects (N = 134) were recruited from undergraduate students enrolled at
a university located in the Midwestern region of the U.S. The subjects consisted of 67.9% males and 32.1% females with ages ranging from 19 - to - 36
years old. Caucasians (82.1%) made up the major of the sample, followed in
representation by Asians (9%), Hispanics (4.5%), African - Americans (3%),
and Native Americans (.7%). The remaining .7% of the sample reported that
they belonged to other racial backgrounds.
In order to test the hypotheses, the current research utilized repeated
measures of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), with tripartite groups of expertise
(i.e., high, medium, vs. low) and experimental conditions (i.e., high quality/consumer generated, low quality/consumer generated, high quality/marketer
generated, and low quality/marketer generated) as independent variables,
while the dependent variables were credibility and purchase intention. The advantages of the repeated measures analysis can be identified with reducing
unsystematic variability and providing greater power (Scariano & Davenport,
1987). Given that the repeated measures of ANOVA employs the Multivariate
Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) technique, several assumptions in MANOVA
including the equality of covariance matrices, error variances, and sphericity were tested. Furthermore, results of Mauchlys tests for both experiments
(i.e., Experiment 1 and Experiment 2) were not able to estimate the level of
significance between the treatment conditions. This was the case because the
current research had only two repeated measures. Therefore, the degrees of
freedom were corrected by Greenhouse-Geisser estimates of sphericity
( 2 = 1). The experiment information was delivered to the study participants
through student - information letters, with minimal explanation about the study
in an effort to minimize the intent of the study. The experiment took roughly
15 minutes to complete.
The eWOM messages were manipulated into four different combinations regarding the quality (high vs. low) of the eWOM message and the
source/provider (consumer generated vs. marketer generated) of the eWOM
message. High quality messages generated by the consumer included specific and objective messages such as the driver increased the distance by 20
yards whereas the low quality messages generated by the consumer included emotional and subjective messages such as I am so happy that I have
purchased this driver. High quality messages generated by the marketer included specific and expert messages such as dual crown technology whereas the low quality messages generated by the marketer included opinion such
as the driver provides more distance. The manipulations of the eWOM messages were examined by three experts in marketing.

EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WORD - OF - MOUTH MESSAGES

63

Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 were conducted in the following order:

pretest the independent variables (golf expertise), exposure to the first manipulated eWOM message, measure the dependent variables (i.e., purchase
intention and credibility), exposure to the second manipulated eWOM message, and then measure the dependent variables. Experiment 1 was examined by showing the first sample (n = 34) the first set of eWOM messages
(high quality/marketer generated, and low quality/marketer generated), while
showing the second sample (n = 35) the second set of eWOM messages (high
quality/consumer generated, and low quality/consumer generated). Similar to
the first experiment, Experiment 2 was examined with the third sample
(n = 33) by showing the third set of eWOM messages (high quality/marketer
generated, and high quality/consumer generated), while the last set of eWOM
messages (low quality/marketer generated, and low quality/marketer generated) was shown to the last sample (n = 32). The order of the eWOM messages
shown to each subject was randomized for both experiments.

Measures
Expertise. Expertise toward the product mentioned in the eWOM was measured with 5 - point semantic differential items of Expertise, which is part of
Ohanians (1990) source credibility scale. The current study modified the scale
to test the subjects expertise level with golf equipment. The scale consisted
of inexperienced - experienced, unknowledgeable - knowledgeable, unqualified qualified, unskilled - skilled, and not an expert - expert.
Purchase intention. Purchase intention after the exposure to the eWOM
message was measured with a 5 - point Likert scale, which was developed by
Dodds, Monroe, and Grewal (1991). Dodds et al. explain that the scale was
developed from previous research, however the source of the items was not
specified. The scale was found to be a reliable measure of purchase intention
( = .97) in Dodds et al. In previous research, the scale was used to measure
the willingness to buy. The same scale was used in this study in order to
measure the purchase intention.
Credibility. The credibility scale was used only for validity checking. In order
to measure the credibility toward the eWOM message, the present study used
Meyers (1998) credibility index, which was modified from Gaziano and McGraths
(1986) credibility index. The scale was a five - item, semantic differential index.
The index included unbiased-biased, cant be trusted - can be trusted, unfair - fair,
doesnt tell whole story - does tell whole story, and inaccurate - accurate. The
scale was used to measure if the eWOM messages were believable.
Attitude. The attitude scale was also used only for validity checking. Attitude toward the product was measured using a 5 - point semantic differential
item. The scale was modified from the attitude scale that Shamdasani, Stanaland,

64

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

and Tan (2001) used. The scale was found to be a reliable measure of attitude
( = .95) in Shamdasani et al. Previous research has used the scale to measure
the attitude toward the brand. However, the current research modified the scale
to measure the attitude toward the product mentioned in the eWOM message.

Results
Reliability and Validity Tests
The reliability testing of the scales used in this study showed satisfactory
levels of Cronbachs Alpha for expertise ( = .96) and purchase intention
( = .95) which was consistent with existing research (Dodds et al., 2001).
Validity for the purchase intention and the credibility scales were supported by Guido and Pelusos (2009) study as correlation was positively significant (r = .31, p 0.05). In addition, correlation between the attitude and the
purchase intention was positively significant (r = .26, p 0.01), which was
supported by Tsai, Chin, and Chens (2010) study.

Testing of Hypotheses

Purchase Intention

Experiment 1. The first experiment was conducted with the provider of the
product review message being a within - subject variable while the quality of the
product review being measured as a between - subject variable. Hypothesis 1
stated that the sport consumer will have a higher purchase intention when exposed to the low quality message as compared to the high quality message.
Table 1 reveals that the main effect of the quality was significant on purchase
intention ( F (1,63) = 5.09, p .05, 2 = 0.08) . As shown in figure 1, post hoc
testing indicated that purchase intention was higher for subjects exposed to the
low quality message (M = 2.06, SD = .93) than for subjects exposed to the high
quality message (M = 1.92, SD = .90). This result supports the first hypothesis.
2.15
2.10
2.05
2.00
1.95
1.90
High

Low
Quality

Figure 1: Purchase intention for quality type.

65

EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WORD - OF - MOUTH MESSAGES

In addition, the second hypothesis stated that the provider of the message
will moderate the effect of the message quality on the purchase intention.
Table 1 reveals the significant results for the interaction effect between the
quality and the provider on the purchase intention ( F (1,63) = 4.27, p .05,
2 = .06 ) . Thus, this finding supports the second hypothesis. Figure 2 illustrates this result by noting that the purchase intention for the consumer-generated low quality messages (M = 2.10, SD = .87) was significantly higher than
for the consumer-generated high quality messages (M = 1.85, SD = .85).

Purchase Intention

2.15
2.10
2.05
2.00
1.95
High Quality Message
Low Quality Message

1.90
1.85
Consumer

Marketer
Provider

Figure 2: Purchase intention for provider and quality type.

Table 1. Effects of Quality on Purchase Intention

Source

Type III SS

df

Mean Square

Sig.

Between subjects
Provider

.00

.00

.00

.00

.95

Expertise

17.88

8.94

6.77

.18

.00

1.14

.04

.33

Provider Expertise
Error

3.02

1.51

83.15

63

1.32

Within subjects
Quality

.70

.70

5.09

.08

.03

Quality Provider

.59

.59

4.27

.06

.04

Quality Expertise

.61

.31

2.23

.07

.12

Quality Provider Expertise

1.19

.59

4.30

.12

.02

Error (Quality)

8.68

63

.14

66

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

Hypothesis 3 specified that the provider of the message and consumers

expertise will moderate the effect of the message quality on the purchase intention. Table 1 reveals that the three - way interaction between quality,
provider, and expertise was significant on purchase intention ( F (2,63) = 4.30,
p .05, 2 = 0.12) , which indicates that purchase intention between expertise
and provider was significantly different for each provider. Figure 3 shows that
the quality of the message did not influence the purchase intentions of people with low expertise (low quality, M = 1.40, SD = .43; high quality, M = 1.40,
SD = .67) when the message was generated by the consumer. People with
medium expertise (low quality, M = 2.04, SD = .66; high quality, M = 1.90,
SD = .76) and high expertise (low quality, M = 3.02, SD = .64; high quality,
M = 2.33, SD = .95) had higher purchase intentions related to a low quality
message when the message was generated by the consumer as compared to
the high quality message.

Purchase Intention

3.00
2.75
2.50
2.25
2.00
Low Quality
High Quality

1.75
1.50
Low

Medium

High

Expertise

Figure 3: Purchase intention for quality type on consumer - generated product

review.

Meanwhile, the fourth figure illustrates that people with low expertise (high
quality, M = 1.80, SD = 1.29; low quality, M = 1.73, SD = 1.16) and high expertise (high quality, M = 2.35, SD = .87; low quality, M = 2.24, SD = 1.06) had
higher purchase intentions when they were exposed to a high quality message as compared to when they were exposed to a low quality message generated by the marketer. However, people with medium expertise (low quality,
M = 2.06, SD = .83; high quality, M = 1.85, SD = .64) had higher purchase intentions when they were exposed to a low quality message as compared to a
high quality message generated by the marketer.

67

EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WORD - OF - MOUTH MESSAGES

Purchase Intention

3.00
2.75
2.50
2.25
2.00

Low Quality
High Quality

1.75
1.50
Low

Medium

High

Expertise

Figure 4: Purchase intention for quality type on marketer - generated product

review.

Purchase Intention

Experiment 2. In order to test the remaining hypotheses, the quality of the

product review message was measured as a within - subject variable while the
provider of the product review message was measured as a between - subject
variable. Hypothesis 4 specified that the sport consumer will have a higher
purchase intention when exposed to the consumer - generated message as
compared to exposure to the marketer - generated message. As revealed in
the second table, the main effect of the provider on purchase intention
( F (1,59) = 8.18, p .05, 2 = .12 ) was significant. This finding supports hypothesis 4. Figure 5 reveals that the subjects who were exposed to the consumer-generated product review (M = 2.22, SD = 1.01) had the highest scores
related to purchase intention, whereas those who were exposed to the marketer - generated product review (M = 1.97, SD = .94) had the lowest scores.

2.25
2.20
2.15
2.10
2.05
2.00
Marketer

Consumer
Provider

Figure 5: Purchase intention for provider type.

68

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

Meanwhile, the fifth hypothesis stated that the quality of the message will
moderate the effect of the message provider on purchase intention. The interaction effect between the provider and the quality of eWOM message was
not significant. This finding which is illustrated in Table 2 does not support hypothesis 5. Table 2 reveals that interaction effect between the
providers with expertise was not significant. Furthermore, the three - way interaction effect between the provider of the message, the quality of eWOM
message, and the consumers expertise was not significant. Such a finding
does not support the final hypothesis of this study.

Table 2. Effects of Provider Type on Purchase Intention

Source

Type III SS

df

Mean Square

Sig.

1.31
5.90
.22
.64

.83
3.71
.14

.01
.11
.01

.37
.03
.87

1.97
.06
.00
.01
.24

8.18
.24
.01
.06

.12
.00
.00
.00

.01
.63
.99
.95

Between subjects
Quality
Expertise
Quality Expertise
Error

1.31
11.80
.44
40.29

1
2
2
63

Within subjects
Provider
Provider Quality
Provider Expertise
Provider Quality Expertise
Error (Provider)

1.97
.06
.01
.03
14.24

1
1
2
2
59

Discussion
This eWOM sport industry investigation was based on previous studies
(Bronner & de Hoog, 2010; Chen & Xie, 2008; Dellarocas, 2003; Park et al.,
2007) which provided the theoretical framework for examining purchase intentions for experimental conditions (high quality/ consumer generated, low
quality/ consumer generated, high quality/ marketer generated, and low quality/ marketer generated) as independent variables. Furthermore, the research
design examined the role of expertise level when evaluating different types of
eWOM messages, while comparing the information acquisition process for
sport consumers as compared to the process used by consumers of non sport products.

EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WORD - OF - MOUTH MESSAGES

69

The results of this study reveal that the quality of the message significantly
influences the purchase intentions of sport consumers. As noted above, such
a finding supports the first hypothesis of this study. This result which indicates that low quality messages generated higher purchase intentions as compared to high quality messages is inconsistent with Park et al.s (2007)
study. The Park et al. investigation focused on the consumption behavior of
conventional goods and thus the inconsistency between the findings of the
two studies could be explained as revealing the different consumption behaviors of sport and non - sport consumers. This result is consistent with Holbrook
and Hirschmans (1982) study which found that hedonic consumption is influenced by the subjective characteristics of consumers.
In addition, a significant finding of this study is that the provider of the
message moderates the effect of the message quality on purchase intention.
This finding supports the second hypothesis that was proposed. A conclusion
based on this finding is that consumers are more likely to purchase a product
after being exposed to a low quality product review message with emotion,
feelings, and subjective opinions in a consumer - generated online platform as
compared to a high quality product review message with logical, and objective
opinions. In addition, the finding reveals that when consumers are exposed to
the marketer - generated message, the quality of the message does not affect
the purchase intention. Park et al. (2007) argued that people have higher purchase intentions when they are exposed to a high quality message as compared to a low quality message. However, the current study found that low
quality messages influence higher purchase intentions. Again, a possible explanation for such contradictory finding is that the sport industry and consumer behavior related to sport products are unique. Thus, the finding of the
current study would provide support for the postulation regarding the experiential consumption of the sport consumers.
Consistent with the studys expectations (in terms of the third hypothesis),
the provider of the message and the consumers expertise moderated the effect of the message quality on purchase intention. Thus, the significant threeway interaction effect between provider, quality, and expertise, meant that
people with high or low expertise had higher purchase intentions for high
quality messages compared to low quality messages when the provider was
the marketer. However, people with medium expertise had higher purchase intentions for low quality messages as compared to the high quality message
when the provider was the marketer. Meanwhile, the quality of the message
did not influence the purchase intentions on people with low expertise when
the message was generated by the consumer. People with medium or high
expertise had higher purchase intentions for low quality message when the
message was generated by the consumer as compared to the high quality
message. With this finding, people with high expertise have the ability to eval-

70

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

uate the quality of the message of consumers, which results in different patterns of purchase intention.
The main effect of the provider was significant, which indicates that purchase intentions were higher for the consumer - generated message as compared to the marketer - generated message. This result, which supported the
fourth hypothesis, is in line with Sen and Lermans (2007) study that consumers are more affected by consumer-generated messages rather than by
marketer - generated messages. Thus, a conclusion that could be drawn here
is that sport consumers and consumers of conventional goods have similar
patterns when exposed to different providers of messages.
On the contrary, both the interaction of quality of the message, and the interaction of quality of the message and expertise did not have a significant moderating effect on the provider of the message. Such findings did not support the
fifth and sixth hypotheses in this study. Such results indicate that the quality of
the message did not have a different effect on the provider of message. However, for both quality types of message, consumer-generated messages had
higher purchase intentions as compared to marketer-generated message.
People with high expertise have higher product or sport knowledge (in this
study, higher knowledge about golf) which can lead to more elaboration about
the product. Because of possible perceived biases, the expert consumers
might not perceive the information that marketer provides as important as the
information other knowledgeable consumers provide. It can be suggested that
because they have greater knowledge of the product, their own experiences
or others experiences with the product are more trustworthy. Contrary to the
people with high expertise, people with low expertise do not have the knowledge or experience about the product that they may have tendency to trust
the marketers objective information compare to consumers subjective information. Another suggestion can be that people with low expertise was not
able to match themselves with the consumer review since they had low
knowledge or experience about the product.
Additionally, the current study suggests that purchase intentions are influenced by the interaction between the source of the message and the quality
of the message. When the message was generated by the consumer, low
quality messages influenced purchase intentions to a higher degree than did
high quality messages. Given such results, it is important for the manager of
the consumer-generated online platform to emphasize the low quality messages being posted in order to increase the consumers purchase intentions.
On the contrary, the quality of the message did not influence consumers purchase intentions when the message was generated by the marketer.
Lastly, in addition to its focus on sport, this study is unique as it is a first
to have examined the role of eWOM messages with combination between
quality (high vs. low) of the message and the provider (consumer vs. mar-

EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WORD - OF - MOUTH MESSAGES

71

keter) of the message with the level of expertise (high vs. medium vs. low)
on purchase intention. Furthermore, current research found that purchase intentions in response to the eWOM message were different between hedonic
consumers and utilitarian consumers.
Limitations and Practical Implications
While the results of current research were in line with several of the proposed hypotheses, future research is needed to replicate and extend the findings. The generalizability of the sample is one of the limitations of this research. The data were collected from a convenience sample of college
students. In future research, it will be important to use randomized samples in
order to fulfill the generalizability of the sample. Meanwhile, these findings
should be replicated with different sport product. The current study focused on
the golf product which is luxury item (Bearden & Etzel, 1982) and thus it
would be of interest to replicate the study with other less expensive sport-related products (e.g., basketballs, baseball gloves). In addition, the current study
focused on the eWOM messages of the online platform. However, as technology continues to develop it is recommended to replicate the research in different eWOM formats related to social media outlets (e.g., Twitter, Facebook).
Although the current research had limitations, there are still several recommendations based on findings of this study that can be made for sport marketers.
First, this study reveals the importance of managing the online product review effectively. Online product reviews function as recommendation outlets for and informational channels about the product and can lead potential consumers to purchasing behaviors. Therefore, it could prove beneficial for organizations to engage
consumers through incentives for providing product reviews so potential consumers could match their needs to actual customer feedback. When a consumer
posts product review that helps the product marketing such as most seen messages, the marketer may give an incentive such as gift card. In addition, one marketing practice could be to display product reviews on the home page or top of a
website ensuring these reviews obtain maximum influence on the firms desired
target market.
Second, the expertise level that a consumer has with a sport or sport
product may influence the preference of sport equipment. As sport products
are diverse, the specialty of the equipment may differ. Consumers have a tendency to fix their problems or enhance their sport skills through the use of different equipment depending on their level of expertise with the product. Because there are diverse reasons for purchasing sport equipment, it is
important for sport marketers to constantly update the online review platform
with diverse information for a variety of expertise levels about the product. The current study indicates that a variety of information from consumers

72

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

with different experiences needs to be posted. It would be the role of the

sport marketers to encourage consumers to post their experience online.
Third, it is important for the online outlet for the sport product to have a
diversity of review messages and to emphasize the best matching reviews to
the potential consumer. Sport marketers need to post and manage trustworthy information about their sport products. Some consumers purchase products from offline markets while others purchase products from online stores.
However, both types of consumers may use the online source to learn about
the product. Thus, it is crucial for online sources of sport products to provide
trustworthy, updated, relevant, and factual content. This is especially true to
increase the purchase intentions of consumer who do not visit the onsite retail store. It is essential for the marketers to reduce the gap between the online information with the actual performance of the product.
Lastly, based on this research, the sport expertise level of consumers is
an important factor regarding sport product purchase intentions. It is important
for sport marketers to examine the expertise level of their focused demographics of current consumers and potential consumers. After examining the
expertise level, the marketer can emphasize the eWOM message that has a
greater likelihood of affecting the targeted consumers. For example, in order
to maintain or increase the purchase intention of consumers who are high and
low expertise level, the sport marketers may emphasize high quality messages in the marketer generated online platform. On the contrary, sport marketers may emphasize low quality messages in the marketer generated online
platform for consumers with medium expertise level.

References
Arndt, J. (1967). Role of product-related conversations in the diffusion of a
new product. Journal of Marketing Research, 4, 291-295
Bearden, W. O., & Etzel, M. J. (1982). Reference group influence on product
and brand purchase decision. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 183-194
Bickart, B., & Schindler, R. M. (2001). Internet forums as influential sources
of consumer information. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 15(3), 31-40
Bronner, F., & de Hoog, R. (2010). Consumer-generated versus marketer-generated websites in consumer decision making. The Market Research Society, 52(2), 231-248
Brown, J. J., & Reingen, P. H. (1987). Social ties and word-of-mouth referral
behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 14, 350-362
Chatterjee, P. (2001). Online reviews: Do consumers use them? Advances in
Consumer Research, 28, 129-133
Chen, Y., & Xie, J. (2008). Online consumer review: Word-of-mouth as a new element of marketing communication mix. Management Science, 54(3), 477-491

EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WORD - OF - MOUTH MESSAGES

73

Chevalier, J., & Mayzlin, D. (2006). The effect of word of mouth on sales: Online book reviews. Journal of Marketing Research, 43, 345-354
Dellarocas, C. (2003). The digitization of word of mouth: Promise and challenges of online feedback mechanisms. Management Science, 49, 1407-1424
Dodds, W. B., Monroe, K. B., & Grewal, D. (1991). The effects of price,
brand, and store information on buyers product evaluations. Journal of
Marketing Research, 28, 307-319
Gaziano, C., & McGrath, K. (1986). Opinion leaders and opinion seekers: Two
new measurement scales. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,
24, 137-147
Guido, G., & Peluso, A. M. (2009). When are baby-faced endorsers appropriate? Testing effects on credibility and purchase intention. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 31(2), 67-74
Hennig-Thurau, T., Gwinner, K. P., Walsh, G., & Gremler, D. D. (2004). Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: What motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the internet? Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18(1), 38-52
Hennig-Thurau, T., & Walsh, G. (2003). Electronic word-of-mouth: Motives for
and consequences of reading customer articulations on the internet. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 8(2), 51-74
Hoffman, D. L., & Novak, T. P. (1996). Marketing in hypermedia computer-mediated environments: Conceptual foundation. Journal of Marketing, 60, 50-68
Holbrook, M. B. (1980). Some preliminary notes on research in consumer esthetics. In J.C.
Olson (Ed.), Advances in consumer research (Vol. 7, pp. 104-108). Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research
Holbrook, M. B., & Hurschman, E. C. (1982). The experiential aspects of consumption: Consumer fantasies, feelings, and fun. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 132-140
Hur, Y., Ko, Y. J., & Valacich, J. (2007). Motivation and concerns for online
sport consumption. Journal of Sport Management, 21, 521-539
Internet world stat. (2010). Internet usage statistics. Retrieved June 30, from
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Lee, M., & Youn, S. (2009). Electronic word of mouth (eWOM): How eWOM
platforms influence consumer product judgement. International Journal of
Advertising, 28(3), 473-499
Lin, T. M. Y., Luarn, P., & Huang, Y. K. (2005). Effect of internet book reviews on purchase intention: A focus group study. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(5), 461-468
Litvin, S. W., Goldsmith, R. E., & Pan, B. (2008). Electronic word-of-mouth in
hospitality and tourism management. Tourism Management, 29, 458-468
Liu, Y. (2006). Word of mouth for movies: Its dynamics and impact on box office revenue. Journal of Marketing Research, 70, 74-89

74

SMIJ VOL. 8, Number 1, 2012

Maheswaran, D., & Sternthal, B. (1990). The effects of knowledge, motivation,

and type of message on ad processing and product judgments. Journal of
Consumer Research, 17, 66-73
Meyer, P. (1988). Defining and measuring credibility of newspapers: Developing an index. Journalism Quarterly, 65, 567-574, 588
Mizerski, R. W. (1982). An attribution explanation of the disproportionate influence of unfavorable information. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 301-310
Mizerski, R. W., & Green, S. (1978). An investigation into the causal links between attribution schema and decision-making. Advances in Consumer Research, 5, 126-130
Ohanian, R. (1990). Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. Journal of Advertising, 19, 39-52
Park, D. H., Lee, J., & Han, I. (2007). The effect of on-line consumer reviews
on consumer purchasing intention: The moderating role of involvement. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 11(4), 125-148
Petty, R. E., Brinol, P., & Priester, J. R. (2009). Mass media attitude change:
Implications of the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. In J. Bryant
& M.B. Oliver (Eds.) Media effects: Advances in theory and research (3rd
ed., pp. 125-164). New York: Routledge
Ratchford, B. T., Talukdar, D., & Lee, M. (2001). A model of consumer choice
of the internet as an information source. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 5(3), 7-21
Richins, M. L., & Root-Shaffer, T. (1988). The role of involvement and opinion leadership in consumer word of mouth: An implicit model mad explicit.
Advances in Consumer Research, 15, 32-36
SBRnet. (2011a). E-commerce sales up double-digits in 2010. Retrieved February 21, from http://www.sbrnet.com/publication.asp?function=detail&ma gid=188852
SBRnet. (2011b). GSI commerce Expands sports licensing business with fanatics acquisition. Retrieved February 21, from http://www.sbrnet.com/ publication.asp?function=detail&magid=188849
Scariano, S. M., & Davenport, J. M. (1987). The effects of violations of independence in the one-way ANOVA. The American Statistician, 41(2), 123-129
Sen, S., & Lerman, D. (2007). Why are you telling me this? An examination
into negative consumer reviews on the web. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 21(4), 76-94
Shamdasani, P. N., Stanaland, A. J. S., & Tan, J. (2001). Location, location,
location: Insights for advertising placement on the web. Journal of Advertising Research, 41, 7-21
Tsai, M. T., Chin, C. W., & Chen, C. C. (2010). The effect of trust belief and
salespersons expertise on consumers intention to purchase nutraceuticals:

EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WORD - OF - MOUTH MESSAGES

75

Applying the theory of reasoned action. Social Behavior and Personality,

38(2), 273-288
Xue, F., & Zhou, P. (2011). The effects of product involvement and prior experience on Chinese consumers responses to online word of mouth. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 23, 45-58

Address for correspondence:

Choong Hoon Lim:
Assistant Professor
Department of Kinesiology
Indiana University at Bloomington
Email: limc@indiana.edu