The influence of online recommendation mechanisms in the Smartphone market in the context of electronic word-of-mouth

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyse how online recommendation engines promote the transmission and reception of opinions in the Smartphone market through the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) context. The model was adapted from Arenas-Gaitan et al. (2013) by adding two variables: reputation of online service and virtual shopping. This single cross-section survey research design consisted of a sample of 560 Smartphone users, whose data were analysed by structural equation modelling with estimation by means of partial least squares. The results indicate that the influence on consumer Smartphone purchase decision was not significant for the constructs 'virtual shopping' and 'social networking service' in relation to 'recommendation'. However, the 'reputation of online service' was the most influential construct on 'recommendation' in the context of eWOM. The results confirmed the significance of the structural paths, and demonstrated that the proposed model is consistent, given appropriate adjustment, and can be applied in future research.