10/9 Lecture I Crosscultural Online Communication: Intro
External Communication
The past
- Controlled info stream towards consumers (marketer generated content)
The present
- Less controlled info towards consumers (consumer generated content)
How can consumers communicate with each other online?
Tourism: societal and economic relevance
Cross cultural online communication: aim
Subject: Crosscultural research into experience & wording of reviews of E-WOM
Focus on intensified language
cross = comparison
cultural = collective mental programming
online = reviews
Source credibility
Perceived credibility
- lay persons have little expertise
- self-proclaimed expert has expertise
- rated expert high level of expertise
Perceived trustworthiness
- lay persons more trustworthy
- self-proclaimed expert not so trustworthy
- rated expert more trustworthy
,Role of E-WOM in consumer selection process
Positive correlation between review rating & degree to which product was bought
(Leskovec et al., 2007).
E-WOM more effective than wom
- speed
- comfort
- one-to-many
- absence of face-to-face pressure (Sun et al. 2006)
E-WOM users
- opinion leaders
- opinion followers
The 90-9-1 Principle
90% of the users never leave a post
1% of the users contribute heavily and are responsible for 90% of the posts
9% of the users are responsible for the remaining 10%
What motivates people who post reviews?
- Ego focused; I had a disadvantage, need revenge also self-presentation
- Socially focused: Helping others, desire for social interaction
Effect of review may depend on type of product
- Products for which the quality of information is easy to evaluate before purchase
e.g. camera’s: positive reviews are seen as more valuable
- Products for which the experience is more important than the product
characteristics e.g. airline & city trips: negative reviews are more useful
Implications for organisations
1. Online reputation management: monitoring image/reputation
2. Web care: reading & reacting on negative messages
3. Automatic sentiment analysis: what is the overall company sentiment?
Web care
- Directly responding to negative reviews & larger audience
- Ensure complaints stop & responds adequately when customers are dissatisfied
best method: mediated immediacy (Kerkhof et al., 2010)
1. Immediate (through same channel public)
2. A.s.a.p. (timely)
3. Personal (singed, first person)
Automatic analysis of reviews
- Opinion mining/sentiment analysis
- Computer evaluates subjective info
Difficulty with jargon/emoji’s/sarcasm/new words
, Therefore, still in early phase and no little research on role of nationality, multilinguals
or culture in automatic analysis of reviews research gap
Fake reviews
- Exaggerated superlatives
- First-person
- External aspects; e.g. husband/business
Main take home messages
1. Internet reviews are of great importance for companies and institutions
2. The automatic analysis of E-WOM is still in the early phase
3. Linguistic analysis is sparse
4. Earlier research: Nationality and culture have no role whatsoever
5. Research gap
6. Preliminary rq: Do cultures differ with regard to E-wom style?
Preparation Lecture II: Gudykunst & Ting-Toomy 1988
Verbal communication styles
Ochs (1986): most cross-cultural differences in language are differences in context
and/or frequency of occurrence
Style = meta-message that contextualizes how individuals should accept and
interpret a verbal message.
Verbal style = carries tonal coloring of a message. It is expressed through shades of
tonal qualities, modes of nonverbal channels, and consistent thematic developments
in the discourse process.
Four stylistic modes of verbal interaction
Direct versus indirect styles
! research evidence most extensive and persuasive !
Direct style = verbal messages that embody and invoke speakers’ true intentions in
terms of their wants, needs, and desires in the discourse process (explicit)
Indirect style = verbal messages that camouflage and conceal speakers’ true
intentions in terms of their wants, needs, and goals in the discourse situation.
(implicit)
External Communication
The past
- Controlled info stream towards consumers (marketer generated content)
The present
- Less controlled info towards consumers (consumer generated content)
How can consumers communicate with each other online?
Tourism: societal and economic relevance
Cross cultural online communication: aim
Subject: Crosscultural research into experience & wording of reviews of E-WOM
Focus on intensified language
cross = comparison
cultural = collective mental programming
online = reviews
Source credibility
Perceived credibility
- lay persons have little expertise
- self-proclaimed expert has expertise
- rated expert high level of expertise
Perceived trustworthiness
- lay persons more trustworthy
- self-proclaimed expert not so trustworthy
- rated expert more trustworthy
,Role of E-WOM in consumer selection process
Positive correlation between review rating & degree to which product was bought
(Leskovec et al., 2007).
E-WOM more effective than wom
- speed
- comfort
- one-to-many
- absence of face-to-face pressure (Sun et al. 2006)
E-WOM users
- opinion leaders
- opinion followers
The 90-9-1 Principle
90% of the users never leave a post
1% of the users contribute heavily and are responsible for 90% of the posts
9% of the users are responsible for the remaining 10%
What motivates people who post reviews?
- Ego focused; I had a disadvantage, need revenge also self-presentation
- Socially focused: Helping others, desire for social interaction
Effect of review may depend on type of product
- Products for which the quality of information is easy to evaluate before purchase
e.g. camera’s: positive reviews are seen as more valuable
- Products for which the experience is more important than the product
characteristics e.g. airline & city trips: negative reviews are more useful
Implications for organisations
1. Online reputation management: monitoring image/reputation
2. Web care: reading & reacting on negative messages
3. Automatic sentiment analysis: what is the overall company sentiment?
Web care
- Directly responding to negative reviews & larger audience
- Ensure complaints stop & responds adequately when customers are dissatisfied
best method: mediated immediacy (Kerkhof et al., 2010)
1. Immediate (through same channel public)
2. A.s.a.p. (timely)
3. Personal (singed, first person)
Automatic analysis of reviews
- Opinion mining/sentiment analysis
- Computer evaluates subjective info
Difficulty with jargon/emoji’s/sarcasm/new words
, Therefore, still in early phase and no little research on role of nationality, multilinguals
or culture in automatic analysis of reviews research gap
Fake reviews
- Exaggerated superlatives
- First-person
- External aspects; e.g. husband/business
Main take home messages
1. Internet reviews are of great importance for companies and institutions
2. The automatic analysis of E-WOM is still in the early phase
3. Linguistic analysis is sparse
4. Earlier research: Nationality and culture have no role whatsoever
5. Research gap
6. Preliminary rq: Do cultures differ with regard to E-wom style?
Preparation Lecture II: Gudykunst & Ting-Toomy 1988
Verbal communication styles
Ochs (1986): most cross-cultural differences in language are differences in context
and/or frequency of occurrence
Style = meta-message that contextualizes how individuals should accept and
interpret a verbal message.
Verbal style = carries tonal coloring of a message. It is expressed through shades of
tonal qualities, modes of nonverbal channels, and consistent thematic developments
in the discourse process.
Four stylistic modes of verbal interaction
Direct versus indirect styles
! research evidence most extensive and persuasive !
Direct style = verbal messages that embody and invoke speakers’ true intentions in
terms of their wants, needs, and desires in the discourse process (explicit)
Indirect style = verbal messages that camouflage and conceal speakers’ true
intentions in terms of their wants, needs, and goals in the discourse situation.
(implicit)
