Title: The effect of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on mobile application downloads: an empirical investigation

Authors: Sehwan Oh; Hyunmi Baek; JoongHo Ahn

Addresses: College of Business Administration, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-Ro, Gwanak-Gu, Seoul 151-916, Korea ' Department of Information Sociology, College of Communication and Social Sciences, Hanyang University, Ansan 426-791, Korea ' Graduate School of Business, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-Ro, Gwanak-Gu, Seoul 151-916, Korea

Abstract: In this study, we conduct empirical research to identify the effect of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on the downloading of mobile applications. In addition, we examine how consumers' involvement affects the relationship between eWOM and mobile application downloads, comparing consumer behaviours for free and paid application downloads. For this analysis, we use actual data from T store, the largest mobile application store in Korea. We find that eWOM plays an important role in mobile application downloads. Furthermore, external eWOM, which is provided by third-party informediaries, plays an important role in paid application downloads because consumers are motivated to make an extensive search effort to get additional information. From a practical perspective, this study provides strategic directions on eWOM management to mobile application stakeholders.

Keywords: mobile application downloads; eWOM; electronic WOM; word-of-mouth; search effort; mobile communications; consumer involvement; consumer behaviour; free downloads; paid downloads; Korea.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMC.2015.067960

International Journal of Mobile Communications, 2015 Vol.13 No.2, pp.136 - 156

Received: 06 Feb 2013
Accepted: 02 Nov 2013
Published online: 12 Mar 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article