Investigating How Word-of-Mouth Conversations About Brands Influence Purchase and Retransmission Intentions

This study investigates how the valence, channel, and social tie strength of a word-of-mouth (WOM) conversation about a brand relate to the purchase intentions and WOM retransmission intentions of WOM recipients. The analysis uses a nationally representative sample of 186,775 individual conversations about 804 different brands. The authors find insights linking WOM valence, WOM channel, and social tie strength that could not be revealed if the WOM conversations were analyzed in an aggregated form. The findings contribute to research that investigates differences between offline WOM and online WOM. The authors find that the relationship of WOM valence with purchase intentions is exacerbated when the conversation occurs offline, whereas offline conversations tend to be more strongly associated with WOM retransmission intentions regardless of the conversation's valence. The results also provide insights into how interpersonal characteristics influence WOM outcomes. Specifically, the authors find that the strength of the social tie relationship tends to influence a WOM receiver's intentions to purchase a brand; however, social tie strength has a much weaker association with a consumer's WOM retransmission intentions.