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Word-of-Mouth

To what extent influences Word-of-Mouth, in the field of music, the receiver's purchase intentions?

Word-of-Mouth wisdom:

6.5 Research Limitations

Like any research project, this thesis is limited by several constraints that could serve as starting points for further research. Whereas this thesis forms an inquiry into eWOM and its effect on the consumer decision process with regard to music, it lacks a comparison with data retrieved from other products, thus hampering generalization.

A second constraint of this thesis is the one-shot character of my survey-based study. A n investigation over an extended time is necessary in order to arrive at a better understanding of online development overtime in terms of influence on the consumer decision process. For instance, various authors have depicted online communities as being cyclical (e.g., Kozinets, 1999).

Third, some of my findings might not generalize to other contexts; for instance, while I found the influence of the opportunity and ability not significant, it could be much more critical in other contexts (e.g., Gruen et al., 2005). Hence, there is clearly a need to validate and qualify these findings in other contexts.

MusicRemedy focuses on a topic that almost everyone is related to: “music”. Thus, the website attracts visitors from all sorts of backgrounds. Their contributions spur variety, differentation, and discussion. However, websites that focus on topics that only a small defined population takes an interest in (e.g., gothic), could turn out to be more homogeneous in character and less diverse in content. It is interesting to examine if the determinants and effects of eWOM's influence on consumer decision-making in such websites and online communities are similar to the determinants and effects found with regard to the music related website. Likewise, it would be interesting to investigate participation and interpersonal influence in websites and online communities that address a different category of products and consumption activities.

Finally, eWOM is a new phenomenon that keeps evolving in a dynamic marketplace, and to which both firms and consumers are still adapting; its long-term role in the marketing mix is unclear: will the dissemination of a marketing message through eWOM programs will remain effective over time? In other words, the same study conducted several years hence in a more mature market and with more accustomed users, might report different results. How consumers adapt their behaviors to marketers’ attempts to leverage their personal networks of acquaintances warrants further research, as well.