Impacts of Word of Mouth (WOM) on E-Business Online Pricing

Abstract

In response to the rising power of electronic word of mouth (eWOM), marketers are gradually placing importance on the effects of their marketing strategies. The main objective of the study is to use both secondary as well as primary data to investigate the relationship and interaction between eWOM and online pricing. This study took BizRate UK, a price comparison website, as the database to investigate 100 mobile phone and tablet products and conducted interviews with online shoppers and managers from online retailers. After applying the test from quantitative methodologies, the result indicated the positive and negative reviews from online shoppers had an effect on pricing performance. Two types of reviews can be sorted out in a specific way as well. Finally, because the subject covers both quantitative (pricing) and qualitative (eWOM) aspects, future studies that are interested in this area should still apply the two methodologies for more accurate investigation.