Electronic Word-of-Mouth in the Service Industry: An Empirical Analysis on Sharing Economy Services

Word-of-mouth is today considered among the most effective marketing communication tools. Indeed, consumers trust more their friends or other consumers than companies, advertisements, and brands. Moreover, due to the digital revolution, the electronic word-of-mouth plays a central role in consumers’ purchasing decisions. In particular, electronic word-of-mouth may be central in the context of services, where the perceived risk of the intangible offering triggers consumers’ need to find preliminary support from other consumers. This chapter focuses on comments and reviews regarding tourist products and other services shared by customers on different types of online platforms. The empirical analysis sheds light on the role that key motivational drivers, such as customer satisfaction, altruism, and self-esteem, may have in affecting consumers’ decision to share comments about traditional versus sharing economy businesses. Findings demonstrate that the observed motivational drivers significantly and differently affect consumers’ decision to engage in electronic word-of-mouth.