Feeling warm or skeptical? An investigation into the effects of incentivized eWOM programs on customers’ eWOM sharing intentions
通过三项实验研究，发现利他型激励比经济型激励更能提升顾客的电子口碑分享意愿，且顾客对公司的温暖感知和怀疑态度起中介作用；利他型激励对独自顾客更有效，但对与公司关系弱的顾客效果较差。
Marketing managers frequently provide incentives to customers to encourage electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) sharing. Yet, the literature remains unclear as to which forms of incentives are more effective than others. We conduct three experimental studies to investigate the effect of incentive type (economic vs. altruistic) on customers’ eWOM sharing intentions. Drawing on social judgment theory and attribution theory, in Study 1, we show that altruistic incentives generate higher eWOM sharing intention than economic incentives. We also reveal the mediating roles of customers’ perceptions of warmth and skepticism toward the company in the incentive type–eWOM sharing intention relationship. Studies 2 and 3 aim to identify the target customers of incentivized eWOM programs. In Study 2, we find that altruistic incentives are better provided to customers who are alone, as opposed to those with fellow customers. In Study 3, we find an interesting reverse effect of incentive type: altruistic incentives are less effective than economic incentives in producing eWOM sharing intention if customers have a weak tie with the company.