Electronic Word of Mouth: Definitions and Concepts

Because of its great impact on the consumer’s behavior, electronic Word Of Mouth (eWOM) has become an important concept for the researchers and during the last decade, a great deal of attention was paid to the concept of eWOM. However, despite the growing number of studies on the subject, related literature remains fragmented, possibly affecting the long term development of the eWOM research. Fragmentation of this research can be traced back to a lack of conceptualization of the term eWOM. Therefore, this chapter proposes to highlight the great impact of eWOM on consumer’s behavior and to shed light on this concept. Then, this chapter will first introduce the context in which eWOM takes place, define the concept and distinguish it from other close concepts like traditional word of mouth, buzz marketing and viral marketing. At the end, the last section will focus on the importance given by consumers to eWOM.