Electronic Word-of-Mouth: A Comparison of Stated and Revealed Behavior on Electronic Discussion Boards
John FongMacquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Suzan BurtonMacquarie University, Sydney, Australia
INTRODUCTION
A number of studies have shown that Word-of-Mouth (WOM) has an important influence on consumer purchases, and that this influence is particularly strong when a consumer is considering the purchase of a new product or service (Engel, Blackwell, and Kegerreis 1969; Katz and Lazarsfeld 1955). For example, Katz and Lazarsfeld (1955) demonstrated that WOM was the most important source of information for purchasing new household items, while Engel, Blackwell, and Kegerreis (1969)...