Title: How does multimedia word of mouth influence consumer trust, usefulness, dissemination and gender?

Authors: Haibin Zhang; Chikako Takanashi; Steven Si; Guoqing Zhang; Lei Wang

Addresses: Economics and Management College, Zhejiang A&F University, 252 Yijin Road, Linan, Hangzhou City, China ' Technology Management Department, Ritsumeikan University, 2-150 Iwakura-cho, Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan ' Management College, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou City, China ' Economics and Management College, Zhejiang A&F University, 252 Yijin Road, Linan, Hangzhou City, China ' Economics and Management College, Zhejiang A&F University, 252 Yijin Road, Linan, Hangzhou City, China

Abstract: Multimedia word of mouth represents unofficial information produced by consumers. It is composed of multimedia files and text and has significant influence on consumers' behaviour. This study explores the interactive relationship of trust and perceived usefulness using the two-stage least squares method. A model based on two dimensions of trust theory and two dimensions of dissemination intention tests how gender-based differences in multimedia word of mouth influence consumer trust and information dissemination. The partial least squares method is used to analyse gender differences based on experimental data. The same data are used to conduct a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to confirm the results. The results indicate that trust and usefulness can enhance each other. Additionally, women's perceived usefulness of word of mouth is greater than that of men, particularly in the online environment. Finally, trust's influence on offline dissemination intention is more pronounced for men than for women.

Keywords: consumer review; information dissemination; multimedia review; gender difference; qualitative comparative analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2019.102814

European Journal of International Management, 2019 Vol.13 No.6, pp.785 - 810

Received: 12 Nov 2017
Accepted: 30 Jan 2018
Published online: 08 Oct 2019 *

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