Consumer Level of Trust to Written Word - Research Proposal Example

?E-WOM: Determination the consumer level of trust towards the written word in an online context The world is advancing very fast with the advancing state of technology. In this scenario, business enterprises have been evolving at a rapid pace. Marketing is an important part of the business activities and companies are developing various strategies to make effective marketing of their products. The use of the internet has increased significantly. Households as well as business organizations have started making use of the internet. It has become an important medium of communication in the current business world. Written words that are published online act as an important source of information for the customers. In this context, electronic word of mouth or eWOM helps customers increase interaction amongst them. Companies are also participating in the communication in order to get relevant information about their customers. Research shows that customers consider the online channels as a very reliable mode of communication. Their trust on these online platforms further increases the value of these channels in the view of marketers. With advancement of the business scenario, organizations are becoming more customer-oriented. Research shows that consumers show the tendency of studying available information in-depth before making any purchasing decision. This paper provides the opportunity to study the extent to which the modern day consumer values eWOM. The more detailed information is received from the websites, the more value customers attach to such information. This research paper creates a path for future research on relevant research topics. After studying this paper, future researchers would be enriched by the knowledge about customer attitude towards eWOM that might lead to the development of new aspects about the eWOM. Table of Contents Chapter 2: Research problem/ research questions 5 Chapter 3: Literature review/ Hypothesis 6 Chapter 4: Theoretical Framework 10 Chapter 5: Research methodology/sample plan 12 Chapter 6: Significance of research 14 Chapter 7: Research Implication 15 Chapter 8: Timeline 16 Reference List 17 Chapter 1: Introduction/Background Communication is the fundamental factor that allows smooth ramming of businesses in the modern world. Marketing is, therefore, one of the most important functions of business organizations in the present business environment. Enterprises, both large and small, put huge emphasis on proper marketing planning and implementation of these strategies (Wangenheim and Bayo'n, 2004). Word of mouth is considered as an important channel of marketing. Although, this form of marketing has been prevalent in the world since the early days, when advanced channels of marketing did not take shape, modern marketers put special attention on the effectiveness of word of mouth. Word of mouth has taken a new from; companies as well as customers have started to utilize the facilities provided by the World Wide Web. Online channels are nowadays found to be highly effective in spreading messages, establishing company to customer relationship, increasing interaction among consumers and between the marketers and the consumers (Smith, Menon and Sivakumar, 2005). Chapter 2: Research problem/ research questions This research work is based on the issue of reliability and consumer trust on the written materials published online. The research problem is to determine the significance of consumers’ perceived credibility in the online decision making process made by the consumers. The research objectives are to understand the relevance of eWOM in the modern day business environment, to assess the extent to which customers consider the eWOM channels trustworthy for making purchasing decisions and to identify the channels that are the most commonly used for the purpose of eWOM communication. The research questions are as mentioned below: Which are the most popular channels of eWOM in the present business world? What are the motivations behind studying online reviews before purchasing a new product? Is it beneficial to consult with other customers online about the product features and its ratings when a new product is launched in the market? Why? Chapter 3: Literature review/ Hypothesis In the field of marketing research, electronic word-of-mouth (commonly known as eWOM), is recognized as one of the most stimulating areas of research inquiry. Research shows that an unforeseen attention in emerging about the effectiveness of eWOM mode of communication (Saade and Kira, 2007). This field of research is gaining importance from author, scholars, companies as well as advertisement agencies from different parts of the world (Seyal, Rahman and Rahim, 2002; Zhang and Watts, 2008). Literature review for this paper has been made by collecting relevant information from academic sources, peer reviewed journals, books and published works from reliable online sources. These articles address the impact of electronic word-of-mouth and help in understanding the extent upto which the eWOM influences consumers. Various studies have been made by researchers to evaluate the process of eWOM communication and its impacts (Sher, and Lee, 2009). However, these studies have been made on a broad conceptual framework and are fragmented. With the advancement of technology, the use of internet has become highly common in households as well as commercial purposes. According to some sources, technology, more than 2 billion people from across the globe access the internet on regular basis and both for private reasons and commercial requirements (Internet world stat, 2010). Use of internet has come out of business houses and has entered into the daily lives of common people. Internet has become of the mediums that are widely used for communication in the globalised world (Steffes and Burgee, 2009). Increased spending on e-commerce by various organizations shows that organizations are considering this medium as an important channel for expanding their business. The perceived credibility of consumers in the eWOM communication refers to the “extent to which one perceives a recommendation or review as believable, true, or factual" (Fan, et al., 2013; Sussman and Siegal, 2003). When interacting online, consumers generally do not have the opportunity to touch the good physically. They can only do so after the product is delivered to their doorstep after they purchase it (Park and Lee, 2008). Often in a eWOM communication system, customers interact with a person that they do not know personally (Cheung, et al., 2009). They make their purchasing decisions on the basis of the reviews, ratings and critics that are mentioned on the website pages. Hence, customers are concerned about the credibility of the source from where the information is released (Park, Lee and Han, 2007). Only after assuring themselves of the credibility, can customers consider this information for their own purchasing decisions (Chen and Xie, 2008; Dellarocas, 2003). The way messages are coordinated and administered on a website depends reflects the credibility of the website. At an early stage, the level of trust that the consumer bestows on the source of information depends on the level of coordination amongst the messages exchanged, the details of information received from the website and the speed with which customers receive response against any query that they post on the website (Dabholkar, 2006; Dou, et al., 2012). Awad and Ragowsky (2008) consider perceived credibility as the prime determinant of the decision-making process of consumers. According to the researchers, uncertainty is reduced by remarkable extent with increase in perceived credibility of consumers in business as well as social interactions. It fosters online communities that allow customers to engage with one another as well as the retailers (Riegner, 2007). When companies participate in the communication that take place among the customers, they get relevant and valid information such as, customer ratings about certain goods or services and customer reviews (Lim, Chung and Pedersen, 2012; Sen, 2008). Credibility of the source is one critical predictor that influences consumers while they make their choice of websites. This in turn develops the perceived credibility about the eWOM channels among consumers (Hennig-Thurau, et al., 2004). According to the study, nearly 74 percent of consumers that use the internet for their online purchases have indicated that blogs and online communities significantly affect their purchase intentions (MIC, 2008; Chatterjee, 2001). Therefore, the following hypothesis is presented: H1: Higher credibility of source directly affects perceived credibility of eWOM among consumers. One important aspect that has been emphasised upon by researchers recently is that adoption of eWOM is guided by the psychological behaviour of individuals. In an online environment, a large number of consumers reflect the tendency to go through available information in-depth before making any purchasing decision. Particularly, when customers intend to buy any product that has been newly innovated or is available in the market very newly, they show specific interest towards eWOM (Sen and Lerman, 2007). They depend on their selected trusted sources to gather information regarding the new product. It has been found through a recent survey that the social networking sites, such as, Facebook and Twitter, act as strong eWOM platforms. Hence, the hypothesis is presented: H2: There is positive relationship between higher perceived credibility of eWOM in consumers and adoption of eWOM by them. eWOM is currently used as a way of developing a recommender-seeker relationship with the stakeholders of the firms. Individuals associated with the firms might convey their opinions and recommendations in the form of interaction (Park and Jun, 2003). Thus, consumers feel the importance of their position to the firms, since their opinions reach the marketers easily. Due to advancement of technology, customers feel more involved into the activities made by firms and they reflect higher level of awareness about the products and services offered by firms. This allows them to depend more actively on the electronic channels of communication (Sweeney, Soutar and Mazzarol, 2008). Therefore, the hypothesis follows: H3: Higher level of involvement affects consumers’ trust towards eWOM. Chapter 4: Theoretical Framework Word-of-mouth is a very valuable channel of communication (Hu, Liu and Zhang, 2008). With advancement of the business platforms companies are becoming more customer oriented. Since consumers attach high level of importance with word of mouth communication, marketers are increasingly considering this channel as valuable (Nadine and Burkell, 2002). Written words or documents published online are a huge source of information for the customers. They receive much relevant information from the company websites, regarding the activities of the companies, the products and services offered by them and occasional promotional events (Xia and Bechwati, 2008). In this paper, the researcher has focused on the eWOM communication process at the individual level. Theories of customer relationship and interaction and the concepts about influence of technology on these two aspects are being used for developing the theoretical understanding of the research issue. These results act as salient guidelines for conducting research studies in future (Park and Lee, 2009). Theories for this paper have been chosen from a classic mixture of well-founded theories of eWOM. These theories are combined with the evidences received from the daily activities of customers of the modern world to analyse the level of consumers’ trust on the eWOM communication channels. Three distinct blocks can be identified in this regard; trust, purchase process of consumers, consumer behaviour and trust. Consumers face huge time constraint in the current fast paced competitive world. Hence, many customers consider the internet as a channel for making their purchases or for gathering information about a product or service before making a purchase. Theories about eWOM show that one of the unique characteristics of online consumption is that customers mostly rely on the opinions and experiences gathered by other consumers in the past. eWOM helps customers to avail increased interaction amongst them and establishes a platform for online interaction. The researcher would follow the interpretivist method of research and would undertake the research activity in the pattern of making an inquiry in social sciences. The primary motive of the researcher would be to investigate the attitude of customers towards the eWOM and to assess the level of trust they have on the information published on the online sources. Qualitative method of research would be made for this research on the basis of the theories of eWOM consulted for this study. Chapter 5: Research methodology/sample plan This section has a broad significance in the paper. The sample plan is the outline of the method that would be followed in the paper for completing the research study. The research can be made successful if a realistic plan can be prepared prior to the research and it be followed stringently throughout the progress of the research work. The sample plan includes a detailed description of the research design and the method of data collection and analysis. Another purpose of this section in the paper is to inform the reader about the ethical considerations of this study as well as the limitations of this research method. Research philosophy: Interpretivist The philosophical underpinning of the research determines the research strategy and approach. In this paper, interpretivist philosophy of research would be adopted. Under this philosophical framework, the researcher investigates various social aspects and phenomena. This method helps the researcher to attain a deep insight about individual behaviour and the perspectives from which these behaviours appear to be most rational. Individuals are social agents and their motives are prejudiced by a variety of perceptions and emotions (Ward and Ostrom, 2003). Research approach For this research, inductive approach to research has been adopted. In this approach, the researcher studies the relevant information available from various sources and reaches a conclusion on the basis of this study. These results are then made universal and used as a general theorem. Method of analysis: Qualitative research The researcher has chosen to study the behaviour of customers with respect to the electronic method of communication, i.e., eWOM. The dependent variable for this study is consumers’ level of trust on eWOM communication channels. The independent variables are source credibility, perceived credibility and customer involvement. The researcher would collect information from existing sources that provide information about the level of trust that customers attach with the eWOM. The researcher would also collect primary information by conducting primary interview with 50 customers that frequently make online purchases. Thus, the data collected would be evaluated in a qualitative manner. Sampling and data collection Both secondary and primary data would be collected for this research study. The secondary sources of data would be academic journal articles, books, newspaper and magazine articles as well as online sources such as websites and social media channels. The researcher would collect primary data by conducting interviews with 50 customers. The researcher would conduct face to face interview with 20 customers and collect information through emailing from 30 other customers. The same set of questionnaires would be administered for face to face interviews as well as online interviews. Each questionnaire would contain 10 open ended questions. The method of convenience sampling would be used to collect data from the 30 customers through online survey. Chapter 6: Significance of research This study provides the opportunity to study the value attached to eWOM by modern day consumers. In course of this study the researcher would verify whether and how the perceived credibility of consumers influences their faith and dependence on eWOM. Hence, the results of this study would be useful for a range of practitioners, particularly, customers that consider the reviews of other customers about some particular product or service. It also would help other content writers or critics or authors to that use the information published online. The more detailed these information are, the more value customers would attach to this information. The paper would identify the ways in which customers participate in the online communication, which would enable the companies to recognize their reactions. Marketers themselves can participate in these communications (Duana, Gub and Whinston, 2008). The recommendations mentioned in this paper would help marketers to remember the ways in which they might interact with existing and potential customers to get the maximum benefit of eWOM. The recommendations that would be made on the basis of the outcomes of this research would be useful for organizations in formulating their marketing strategies and increasing their market share in the long run. Chapter 7: Research Implication Research Implication refers to the section of the research that contains the comments on the discussion made on the research topic. Implication of a research can be presented in two parts. Firstly, results of the research work that has been undertaken and secondly, the path created for future research by the current research work. In context of the current research, the results of the research would indicate whether customers value the information available on the online sources and would help the readers to understand the extent to which they use such information for making their own purchasing decisions (Yang and Chou, 2000). This implies that the research on eWOM paves the way for researchers to analyse the behaviour of consumers while making their purchasing decisions, which in turn allows companies to modify their marketing strategies and make innovations that would be more readily adopted by the customers. The second implication of this research is that it develops the platform that researchers in future might use for conducting research on similar or related topics. By studying this research paper, future researchers would gather rich insights about the trend of customer attitude towards eWOM and henceforth use it for making more useful research works. Chapter 8: Timeline Activity Date Month1 Month2 Month3 Month4 Month5 Month6 Month7 Month8 Month9 Month10 Month11 Month12 Developing research design                         Determining research methods                         Literature review                         Completion of research proposal                         Submission of proposal                         Approval of proposal                         Collecting Primary data                         Data Analysis                         Working with the 1st draft                         Submission the 1st draft                         Editing and submission of 2nd draft                         Final editing and final submission                         Reference List Awad, N. F. and Ragowsky, A., 2008. 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Zhang, W. and Watts, S. A., 2008. Capitalizing on Content: Information Adoption in Two Online communities. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 9 (2), pp. 73-94. Read More

 

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