Webology, Volume 8, Number 1, June,

2011
The impact of electronic word-of-mouth in the distribution
of digital goods

Ravi S. Sharma Special Interest Group in Interactive Digital Enterprise and Wee
Kim Wee School of Communication & Information, Nanyang echnological
!niversity, "epu#lic of Singapore$ E%mail& asrsharma 'at( ntu$edu$sg
Tushar Pandey Special Interest Group in Interactive Digital Enterprise and Wee
Kim Wee School of Communication & Information, Nanyang echnological
!niversity, "epu#lic of Singapore$ E%mail& rd$tushar 'at( gmail$com Received April
28, 2011; Accepted June 25, 2011

Abstract
The rapid proliferation of social media networs has presented a platform of opportunities for the
distribution of digital products and related applications! This is commonly nown as word"of"
mouth or #iral mareting and intuiti#ely fits the re$uirements of digital goods in that consumption,
authentication and opinions are communal! %n this short paper, we point out the efficacy of the
phenomenon of electronic word"of"mouth &eWo'( in digital marets! 'ore specifically, we use a
model that encapsulates our understanding of how eWo' impacts economic and social acti#ities
that influence co"consumption! )n empirical study of a typical e*ample of digital products + music
albums + was conducted to test the fundamental premises of our framewor and deri#e $ualitati#e
findings! ,rawing on the results, we attempt to refine a prescripti#e framewor for eWo' in
general! This is part of an on"going study of the distribution channels for digital media and how
they may be effecti#ely designed! -i#en the proliferation of the %nternet and the complementary
nature of social networs, we belie#e that conte*t sensiti#e eWo' is a ey aspect of digital
distribution!
Keywords
.ocial media/ Web 2!0/ 0logs/ 1nline communities

Introduction and Background
he )*isdom of the cro*d), often captured #y *ord%of%mouth 'W+,( sharing of
opinions and comments, is apparently more e-ploita#le than the traditional print and
conversational opinion sharing paradigm '.rmelini & /illanueva, 01123 4err et al$,
5665($ In this paper, *e report the provisional results of a study on the efficacy of
electronic W+, 'eW+,( in the distri#ution of digital goods 'e$g$, content that may #e
consumed via net*or7ed, electronic devices$ 8y eW+,, *e generally refer to relevant
opinion sharing #y mem#ers of a social media community among themselves and
prospective others 'Dellarocas, 01193 Dellarocas et al$, 011:($ It is of particular interest
to the study of digital mar7ets *hen this *isdom is a#out hedonistic and utilitarian
products, #rands and services$ It has also #een sho*n that eW+, in virtual
communities does replace to some e-tent the traditional commercial sources such as the
sales force or product #rochures ';epsen, 0112($ hough not synonymous, social media
uses eW+, as a tool for disseminating such e-periential 7no*ledge$ 4ence the
e-ploita#le and moneti<a#le aspects of eW+, are research topics *orthy of scholarly
investigation 'cf$ 8ughin et al$, 01513 Chevalier & ,ay<lin, 01123 Godes & ,ay<lin,
011=3 4ogan et al$, 011=3 4ennig%hurau et al$, 011=3 ,udam#i & Schuff, 0151($
he popularity of a current #estseller on social net*or7s5 heralds the arrival of this
phenomenon into the everyday lives of the masses$ While privacy in the age of open
net*or7ing is a ma>or issue, more salient is the emergence of the phenomenon of
collecting and analy<ing suggestions, recommendations, opinions and comments and
disseminating them$ his has emerged as a ma>or gro*th phenomenon$ ?igure 5
depicts the rise of social media in the conte-t of the proliferation of the Internet, fast
net*or7s, po*erful mo#ile devices and rich *e# 0$1 content$ he vast success of
platforms and products such as ?ace#oo7, ,ySpace, ?riendster, 'and no* Google@(,
epinion$com, and foursAuare su#stantiates the impact of eW+, and suggests its role
in the moneti<ation of #rands$


Figure 1. The Rise and Rise of Social Media
.s seen from ?igure 5, the rise of social media as a preferred platform for W+, is as
much due to the phenomenon of the Internet and We# 0$1 as it is due to the
accompanying launch of ne* #logging and *i7i services$
he Word of ,outh ,ar7eting .ssociation 'W+,,.( has categorised W+, into 0
types& +rganic B *hen customers *ho are satisfied *ith a product or service
voluntarily #ecome its advocates3 and .mplified B *hen mar7eters launch campaigns
to increase W+, activity in ne* or e-isting communities 'W+,,., 011=($
.lternatively, 8ughin et al$ '0151( specify 9 types& experiential 'from a consumer)s
direct e-perience *ith a product or service, largely *hen that e-perience deviates from
e-pectation(, consequential '*hen consumers directly e-posed to traditional mar7eting
campaigns pass on messages a#out them or #rands they pu#lici<e( and intentional
'*hen mar7eters use cele#rity endorsements to trigger positive #u<< for product
launches($ In either case, the impact of W+, is the a#ility of any one *ord%
of%mouth recommendation or dissuasion to change #ehavior and reflects *hat is said,
*ho says it, and *here it is said$ In other *ords, conte-t is 7ey$
It has #een previously reported that in the face%to%face W+,, 5 person is capa#le of
affecting the attitude and #ehavior of appro-imately 0 other people '8urson%,arsteller,
011C($ 4o*ever, in eW+, 5 person can affect the #ehavior of D other people$
!nderstanda#ly so, given the pervasiveness of e%communities, these online influencers
have #een termed )e%fluentials)$
eW+, has hence not only empowered consumers, #ut also added value to economic
activity '?iona, 011C($ It has #een reported that consumer%created information has had a
clear impact on sales of #everages, electronic goods and other items '4ennig%hurau et
al$, 011=3 Dellarocas et al$, 011:3 Godes & ,ay<lin, 011=($
8ut a closer study sho*s that the phenomenon of W+, is neither recent nor novel$ In
his #est%seller, )he ipping Eoint), ,alcom Glad*ell '0111( had developed the idea of
a thought epidemic and its transmission #y the com#ined efforts of mavens
'connoisseurs of 7no*ledge, ideas and thought(, salesmen 'those *ho #elieve in a
cause and persuade others to do the same( and connectors 'people *ho have access to
a vast net*or7 of other people($ Glad*ell concludes that W+, epidemics are
functions of these three types of people, the FinfectiousF message #eing transmitted,
and the operating conte-t$ Eutting these together, *e note that We# 0$1 and social
net*or7s have lo*ered the #ar for a W+, epidemic to occur #y allo*ing continuous
interaction #et*een these 9 pillars of social epidemic and the consumers$ 4ence,
according to Glad*ell, a tipping point at *hich a ne* product either ta7es off, crossing
the threshold or fails can #e reached more easily than ever #efore$ he li7elihood of
success or failure may #e captured #y the com#ined strength of mavens, salesmen and
connectors in terms of their Dun#ar)s num#er0$ It could #e that social media is helping
the masses maintain a huge num#er of *ea7 ties$
+ther recent studies have also supported the connection #et*een online revie*s and
purchasing #ehaviors ',udam#i & Schuff, 01513 Chevalier & ,ay<lin, 0112($ In a
study of si- different 7ind of products on .ma<on$com, It *as found that the interplay
of three factors% revie* depth, revie* e-tremity, and product type can ma7e the
product revie*s helpful for e-perience and search goods ',udam#i & Schuff, 0151($
With such a #ac7ground, an e-ploration of eW+, at *or7 is a logical ne-t step to our
research$
eWOM at Work
Compared to traditional W+,, eW+, has unprecedented scala#ility, speed of
diffusion, persistence and measura#ility 'Dellarocas, 0119($ With the availa#ility of
interactive online tools over the Internet, user led innovation has inevita#ly touched
ne* heights '
Erahalad & Krishnan
, 011D($ ?rom *e#sites, to forums, and t*eets, many%to%many communication is the
dominant mode of sociali<ing and has #ecome the Fne* emailF, in the *ords of
?ace#oo7)s founder$
,ost importantly, some of these social media platforms are #eing used to provide end
user feed#ac7 on e-perience goods and promote user%centric design and innovation$
Earticularly *hen the #enefit of collective *isdom is capa#le of over%riding e-pert
critiAues or a lac7 of e-posure '.rmelini & /illanueva, 0112($ . recent study #y
8ughin et al$ '0151( reported that the 0 7inds of products *here eW+, is most
effective are& i( uniAue products *hich have a uniAue loo7 and feel, user e-perience, or
functionality3 and ii( the products *hich are readily visi#le$ eW+, commands a
greater importance *hen the products are hedonic and e-pensive B *hose consumption
is governed #y an affective e-perience 'Dhar & Werten#roch, 0111($ In such
e-periential products, consumer feed#ac7 and e-perience is all the more important
since the product attri#utes are a#stract$ his feed#ac7 serves as an uncertainty
reducing element in the consumer decision ma7ing process$ he positive effect of
virtual communities on consumer decision ma7ing has also #een studied earlier '/alc7
et al$, 0116($


Figure 2. Types of eWOM channels
With such a diversity of ideas and concepts, W+,,. has ta7en a step to*ards
standardising the W+, terminology$ he W+, episode, as defined #y W+,,.
9
'
W+,,.
, 011C(, does not really happen #y itself, most times '
Dye
, 0115($ he #u<< a#out a #rand is often a *ell%thought strategy using grassroots
mar7eting, and )influentials) '
8urson%,arsteller
, 011C($ Deciding on *hat to measure, in a sea of dispersed eW+, channels, as sho*n
in ?igure 0, is a challenging tas7$ ,oreover, due to the nature of the e-isting systems
B
dynamic and repository '
.rmelini & /illanueva
, 0112(, it is difficult to arrive at a causal relationship #et*een eW+, and sales$ he
eW+, phenomenon is a
product focused penomenon rater tan a !rand focused one
$ 4ence, the consideration of Customer Gong erm /alue 'CG/
B
the lifetime revenues that accrue from a given customer( '
4ogan et al$
, 011=( li7e in traditional W+, is minimal$
eW+, is loo7ed at #y firms primarily for three o#>ectives, the reali<ation of *hich
translates into retaining and acAuiring #rand eAuity&
"ncreased sales of e-isting or ne*ly launched products #y an ine-pensive means
of customer acAuisition or retention$
"mprovin# the Customer Satisfaction Inde- 'CSI B an often su#>ective rating on a
given product, service or #rand(, #y allo*ing managers to understand *hy people
complain and *hat they suggest to improve the service$
"deas for ne* Eroduct development, *here people ma7e suggestions on ne*
products
Similarly, 8ughin et al$ '0151( suggest a metric for assessing W+, eAuity as the
product of the average sales impact of a #rand and the num#er of eW+, messages$
It is *orth noting that )Dispersion) among the audience, has #een found to #e one of the
7ey metrics for the success of eW+, 'Godes & ,ay<lin, 011=($ Dispersion indicates
the e-tent to *hich the product or service is discussed in a heterogeneous population$
,ore importantly, eW+, is a conseAuence as *ell as an antecedent to consumer
actions$
Summing up, it is clear that researchers and practitioners agree that there are a num#er
of eW+, components *hich in turn produce various outcomes$ It is therefore
imperative that a model #e developed that *ould facilitate the empirical effectiveness
of eW+,$ his is the discussion in the follo*ing section$
Empirical study of Music Albums
?igure 9 depicts a typical eW+, episode, *here o#>ects of different classes interact
and this interaction leads to an outcome class$ +ur premise is that eW+, may #e
considered as an uncertainty reducing element in the consumer)s decision ma7ing
process$ Since eW+, is an antecedent as *ell as a conseAuence of the consumers)
actions it is sho*n as #eing affected #y the +utcome o#>ects and impacting the .ctions
o#>ects$ In the .ctions Class, the Creation o#>ect refers to creating a #log, or uploading
the video$ Creation is most effective *hen done #y mavens '
Glad*ell
, 0111($ Distri#ution refers to ma7ing a #log or comment pu#lic or sharing it in the
net*or7 or rating it$ Distri#ution is most effective *hen done #y connectors or
salesmen '
Glad*ell
, 0111( "eceipt *as ta7en as the act of vie*ing a videoH #logH commentH post or listen
to a song$


Figure 3. Interaction of different eWOM Obects to generate an Outco!e
Given the *ell understood phenomenon of social net*or7s and its role in the
moneti<ation of eW+,, *e undertoo7 a study that investigates the impact of several
eW+, channels on *ee7ly music al#um sales 'a digital, e-perience good( in a fairly
large, sophisticated mar7et 'the !nited States(, in presence of e-ogenous factors such
as the num#er of fans, release date of the al#um, and its chart age$ he sales data *as
collected for 55 consecutive *ee7s for 00 selected al#ums in the 0nd half of 0116$
hese al#ums had constantly featured on
8ill#oard
'0116( top 011 ran7s$ he motivation #ehind this study *as to esta#lish a clear lin7
#et*een eW+, activities and positive economic outcomes$ 4aving esta#lished that,
*e *ould underta7e further empirical *or7 that *ould loo7 deeper in to the nature of
this lin7$
+ne ma>or advantage of using the !S mar7et *as that sales ran7ings and figures *ere
availa#le and hence conveniently e-tracted from #ill#oard maga<ine 'cf$ 8ill#oard,
0116( and Eaul Grein)s Iahoo #log 'Grein, 0116( respectively$ he eW+, data in the
form of comments, vie*s, #log counts, and audio listening *as collected from some
e-amples of eW+, components as sho*n in ?igure 0& Iouu#e%Comments, /ie*s
and num#er of video uploads3 8logs% #log posts, and ,yspace% Gistenings and posts$
No data *as discarded #ut missing values *ere noted$ he al#um *ee7ly ran7s *ere
modeled as sales figures using a Eo*er Ga* distri#ution using ma-imum li7elihood
estimators$
We have used the +#>ect +riented heoretical ?rame*or7, adapted from W+,,.
definitions for W+, episode components sho*n in ?igure 9$ Since there are multiple
eW+, units, venues, actions, and outcome, *e have modeled them as eW+, classes
and loo7ed at a fe* o#>ects for each class and one outcome o#>ect% sales ran7ings$
Distinct from the sales data collected as reported a#ove, eW+, data *as collected for
a 2%month period in the 0nd half of 0116$ he 00 music al#ums *ere selected #ased on
their outreach among music lovers *ho stay socially connected$ he reason *e
collected eW+, data for a longer period of time than the sales data *as to supplement
our analysis of a time lag effect of the eW+,$ In other *ords, *e hypothesi<ed that
the effects of eW+, *ill #e felt in terms of sales some amount of time later$ his data
*as normali<ed *ithin each dynamic and repository system it originated from$
Correlating the eW+, data to sales *as performed using the ,ultivariate Ginear
"egression module of SESS 'version 5:$1($
Since there *ere several channels and types of eW+, *hich may potentially impact
sales, *e used t*o multivariate regression models& one considering the lag effect of
eW+, and the other *ithout considering the lag effect$ 8y lag *e mean the time
differential #et*een the posting of an eWo, message and its impact on sales$ he
*ee7ly correlation values in the t*o models *ere found to #e compara#le and did not
reveal the F#etterF fit$ In #oth instances, a positive correlation *as found #et*een the
eW+, units from different venues and the outcome o#>ects of the time scale model,
sho*n in ?igure 9$ In other *ords, in most of the instances, the research hypothesis
that the various eW+, o#>ects have a direct 'and lag( effect of sales *as found to #e
significant$ Summari<ing the empirical results in a#le 5, *e found three important
results&
Table 1. Multi"#ariate $inear Regression Results %considering ti!e lag&
Week 4 Week Week ! Week " Week # Week $ Week %& Week %%
'odel
Paramete
rs
"0J1$:C
SigJ1$1C
"0J1$C6
SigJ1$1C
"0J1$26
SigJ1$1C
"0J1$C2
SigJ1$1C
"0J1$2D
SigJ1$1C
"0J1$9D
SigJ1$1C
"0J1$C2
SigJ1$1C
"0J1$20
SigJ1$1C
comments
% I
'1$1CD( K K K K '1$15( K K
video
vie*s % I
K '1$10( K K K K '1$15(
'1$11(
'1$11(
'1$11(
video
uploads %
I
'1$1C( K '1$1D( K K '1$15( K K
#logs '1$10( '1$1=(
'1$1C(
'1$10(
'1$19(
K K K '1$10( '1$15(
Weeks in
(hart
K K K K K K K K
)irst
Rank
K K K K K '1$19( K K
*um )ans '1$11( K '1$15( '1$10( '1$10( K K K

' ( null hypothesis accepted %i.e.) research hypothesis not supported&.
here *as a time lag effect of 0$C *ee7s$ In other *ords, after this period, the
various eW+, types did not have any correlation *ith the sales$ Co%linearity
#et*een independent varia#les *as a#sent in all *ee7s$
8log postings and eW+, generated in Iouu#e #ecame more relevant *hen *e
considered the lag or latency$ . dynamic system *as more strongly correlated to
the sales figures among the other dispersed sources discussed$
he three control varia#les considered B num#er of fans, release date of the
al#um, and its chart age, had a greater correlation to the outcome o#>ect in the
model *ithout a time lag effect$ 4ence it can #e inferred that the time scaled
eW+, model *as less affected #y these e-ogenous varia#les and hence e-plains
more of the variance in sales ran7ings$
Discussion and Conclusion
he ma>or findings of this study are that& i( eWom have a shelf%life of a#out 0$C *ee7s
after *hich they do not have any significant impact on sales nor do they correlate *ith
the sales3 ii( #log postings and eW+, generated in Iouu#e #ecame more relevant
after a certain lag or latency3 iii( the three control varia#les considered B num#er of
fans, release date of the al#um, and chart age % had a greater correlation to the outcome
in the model *ithout a lag *hich *as hence less affected #y these e-ogenous varia#les
and e-plain more of the variance in sales ran7ings$
We may therefore attri#ute a direct and causal relationship #et*een eW+, activities
'such as #logs, video vie*s or do*nloads and referrals( and economic outcomes 'such
as demand for digital products and their #rand eAuity($ .s anecdotally suggested, this
causal relationship is far more significant than other metric such as the num#er of fans
or eye#alls '
8ughin et al$
, 0151($ 4o*ever, this study comes *ith several limitations$ ?or one, *e concede that
our study focused on the !S music al#um mar7et #ecause of the availa#ility of sales
and ran7 data as *ell as the maturity of social net*or7s and forums focused on such
genre of music$ his is a limitation #ut it opens avenues for further research$ In the
ongoing study *e shall loo7 at the Chinese and Indian mar7ets for digital music
al#ums$ .s *ell, other e-perience and hedonic goods in such emerging mar7ets$
.nother limitation is that our research may have created a sample selection #ias as *e
studied successful cases 'i$e$, #est%selling music al#ums( only$ hough *e #elieve the
results to #e relatively general across other digital media goods, it *ould #e interesting
to replicate the study in other categories offering different utility value to the
consumers$ he decision to #uy a music al#um is a lo*%cost, lo*%ris7 one, and it
*ould #e necessary to investigate the role of eW+, in the adoption of a ne*
technology, or the purchase of more utilitarian goods or services$ Identifying the most
effective eW+, channel for a digital good is significant not only for consumers #ut
also for the content providers and syndicators$ .nother aspect *e are currently
investigating is *hether or not eW+, more e-ploita#le and moneti<ed *hen directed
at a digital product or service or is it more impactful *hen relating to a #rand per se$
.n unintended contri#ution of our study is in the discovery of a time lag effect for the
online music #usiness and laying the foundation for a Auantitative model B using
po*er la* estimation B for the impact of eW+, on sales$ he results of such a study
can also #e used as a mechanism #y mar7eters to re%align their mar7eting, product
development, and consumer relationship management strategies$
.s 8oc7stedt et al$ '0112( pointed out in their in%depth study of music mar7ets, many
comple- factors characteri<e the forces at *or7 in the mar7et transformation and each
player)s role in the industry value chain is li7ely to change$ hus *e may con>ecture
that the other e-traneous effects such as ,/H"adio e-posure, *orld%tours #y artists,
real life e-periences etc$ *hich *ere not considered in our study *ould #e prime
candidates for inclusion as suggestions for further research$ ,oreover, in order to limit
our study, *e have not considered the sentiment 'positive or negative( of eW+,
messages$ his is an o#vious additional factor for inclusion as *e may con>ecture that
the sentiment of the eW+, message could have opposite effects on economic
outcome$ It *ould not #e trivial to include more e-ternal varia#les in the study and
perform panel data regression$ .s *ell, a Granger test of causality, *hich incorporates
a time lag #et*een dependent and independent varia#les, could #e performed as *e
*or7 *ith a larger data set, from other regions or for other products$
,uch remains to #e investigated in the area of eW+, and social media efficacy$ ?or
no*, our provisional findings indicate a strong and valid lin7 #et*een eW+,
epidemics and the commercial success of the genre of digital goods such as music
al#ums$ 4o*ever, there is reason to con>ecture that in the era of the mo#ile Internet
and the accompanying social media proliferation, conte-t%a*are 'e$g$, time and
location( eW+, is a potent tool in the digital mar7etplace$ o put our findings in the
conte-t of reasoned action and social identification, eW+, has emerged in the social
media space as more effective that search engine hits in the *orld%*ide%*e# precisely
#ecause its tipping point is a notion users related to personally and shape their
su#seAuent cy#er #ehaviors$
Acknowledgements
his *or7 *as supported #y the Singapore National "esearch ?oundation Interactive
Digital ,edia "&D Erogram, under research Grant N"?$011:ID,%ID,110:2$ We
are also than7ful to ,iguel .rroyo 'our colleague at SIGIDE( and to Dr$ Narayan
"amasu##u from the Singapore ,anagement !niversity for their valua#le input and
thoughts during the course of the study$
eferences
.rmelini, G$, & /illanueva, ;$ '0112($ Electronic *ord of mouth& What do *e 7no*
a#out this po*erful mar7eting toolL "$%$ "nsi#t Review, !niversity of Navarra$
"etrieved ,arch 91, 0155, from http&HHinsight$iese$eduH listado.rticulos$asp-L
tipoJ9&idJ.rmeliniM0C@Guillermo
8ill#oard '0116($ &ill!oard 200$ "etrieved ,arch 91, 0155, from
http&HH***$#ill#oard$comHchartsH#ill#oard%011LNHchartsH#ill#oard%011L
8oc7stedt, ;$C$, Kauffman, "$;$, & "iggins, ?$;$ '0112($ he move to artist%led on%
line music distri#ution& . theory%#ased assessment and prospects for structural
changes in the digital music mar7et$ "nternational Journal of $lectronic 'ommerce,
51'9(, :%9D$
8ughin, ;$, Doogan, ;$, & /etvi7, +$;$ '0151($ . ne* *ay to measure *ord%of%
mouth mar7eting$ (c)insey *uarterly, .pril 0151$ "etrieved ,arch 91, 0155, from
http&HH***$mc7inseyAuarterly$comH.One*O*ayOtoOmeasureO*ord%of%
mouthOmar7etingO0C2:
8urson%,arsteller '0115($ Influential Internet users rely on company *e# sites as
they spread*ord on #rands, products and services& Study finds that #ad ne*s has
greater reach than good ne*s$ "nternet +ire, Decem#er 55, 0115$ "etrieved ,arch 91,
0155, from http&HH***$ima7ene*s$comHhighpointsmH eOarticle115026510$cfmL
-J#55,1,*
Chevalier, ;$.$, & ,ay<lin, D$ '0112($ he effect of *ord of mouth on sales& +nline
#oo7 revie*s$ Journal of (ar,etin# Researc, =9'9(, 9=C%9C=$
Dellarocas, C$ '0119($ he digiti<ation of *ord of mouth& Eromise and challenges of
online feed#ac7 mechanisms$ (ana#ement %cience, =6'51(, 5=15%5=0=$
Dellarocas, C$, Phang, K$, & .*ad, N$?$ '011:($ E-ploring the value of online
product revie*s in forecasting sales& he case of motion pictures$ Journal of
"nteractive (ar,etin#, 05'=(, 09%=C$ Dhar, "$ & Werten#roch, K$ '0111($ Consumer choice #et*een hedonic and
utilitarian goods$ Journal of (ar,etin# Researc, 9:'5(, 21%:5$
Dye, "$ '0115($ he #u<< on #u<<$ -arvard &usiness +or,in# )nowled#e Arcive$
"etrieved ,arch 91, 0155, from http&HHh#s*7$h#s$eduHarchiveH56C2$html
?iona, S$ '011C($ .e added value of online word/of/mout to advertisin# in new
product adoption0 An empirical analysis of te movie industry$ !npu#lished Doctoral
Dissertation, !niversity of Ne* Ior7$
Glad*ell, ,$ '0111($ .e tippin# point$ Gondon, Gittle 8ro*n$
Godes, D$, & ,ay<lin, D$ '011=($ !sing online conversations to study *ord of
mouth communication$ (ar,etin# %cience, 09'=(, C=C% CC6$
Grein, E$ '0116($ (usic &lo#s$ "etrieved ,arch 91, 0155, from
http&HHne*$music$yahoo$comH#logs
4ennig%hurau, $, Q*inner, E$K$, Walsh, G$, & Gremler, D$D$ '011=($ Electronic
*ord%of%mouth via consumer%opinion platforms& What motivates consumers to
articulate themselves on the InternetL Journal of "nteractive (ar,etin#, 5D'5(, 9D%C0$
4err, E$,$, Kardes, ?$"$, & Kim, ;$ '5665($ Effects of W+, and product%attri#ute
information on persuasion& .n accessi#ility%diagnosticity perspective$ Journal of
'onsumer Researc, 5:'=(, =C=%=20$
4ogan, ;$ E$, Gemon, K$ N$, & Gi#ai, 8$ '011=($ Quantifying the ripple& Word%of%
mouth and advertising effectiveness$ Journal of Advertisin# Researc, =='9(, 0:5%0D1$
;epsen, .$G$ '0112($ Information search in virtual communities& Is it replacing use
of off%line communicationL Journal of (ar,etin# 'ommunications, 50'=(, 0=:%025$
,udam#i, S$,$, & Schuff, D$ '0151($ What ma7es a helpful online revie*L . study
of customer revie*s on .ma<on$com$ ("% *uarterly, 9='5(, 5DC%011$
Erahalad, C$K$, & Krishnan, ,$S$ '011D($ .e new a#e of innovation0 1rivin# co/
created value trou# #lo!al networ,s$ Ne* Ior7, ,cGra*%4ill Erofessional$
/alc7, K$D$, 8ruggen, G$4$/$, & Wierenga, 8$ '0116($ /irtual communities& .
mar7eting perspective$ 1ecision %upport %ystems, =:'9(, 5DC%019$
W+,,. '011=($ 2r#anic vs3 amplified word of mout$ "etrieved ,arch 91, 0155,
from http&HH*omma$orgH*om515H=H
W+,,. '011C($ .erminolo#y framewor, a standard metod for discussin# and
measurin# word of mout mar,etin#$ W+,,. "esearch Council$ "etrieved ,arch
91, 0155, from http&HH*omma$leveragesoft*are$com


!ootnotes

5$ .e %ocial 4etwor,, #ased on the #oo7 FAccidental &illionairesF #y 8en
,e<rich, directed #y David ?incher and starring ;esse Eisen#erg *as released on 5
+cto#er 0151$
0$ Dun#ar)s Num#er, also referred to as the 'ortex Ratio, is a measurement of the
Fcognitive limit to the num#er of individuals *ith *hom any one person can
maintain sta#le relationshipsF, and is a#out 5C1 at par value$ 4o*ever, this notion
has #een critici<ed #ecause it does not ta7e into account the strength of the
relationships B strong 'i$e$, influential( or *ea7 'less so($
9$ he Word +f ,outh ,ar7eting .ssociation 'W+,,.( is a premier non%profit
organi<ation dedicated to advancing and advocating the discipline of credi#le *ord
of mouth mar7eting$ hrough #est practices, industry education and mem#er value,
W+,,. advocates *ord of mouth as a solution to #usiness challenges and a 7ey
component in the creation of al7a#le 8rands$

0ibliographic information of this paper for citing2
Sharma, "avi S$, & Eandey, ushar '0155($ Fhe impact of electronic *ord%of%mouth
in the distri#ution of digital goods$F +e!olo#y, #'5(, .rticle D=$ .vaila#le at&
http&HH***$*e#ology$orgH0155HvDn5HaD=$html

+lert us when& Ne* articles cite this article

Copyright R 0155, "avi S$ Sharma & ushar Eandey$