Title:
ELECTRONIC WORD OF MOUTH (EWOM) AND CONSUMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY: A MULTIPLE-MEDIATION MODEL OF CONSUMER-BRAND IDENTIFICATION (CBI) AND CONSUMER-BASED BRAND EQUITY (CBBE)

Authors:
Lin, Hung-Chun, Triyono Indrasiwi Kuncoroaji, Chang, Reed-Joe, Huang, Der-Hsiang, Taiwan

Abstract:

Drawing on theory and research on electronic word of mouth (EWOM) and consumers’ willingness to pay, we examine consumer-brand identification (CBI) and consumer-based brand equity (CBBE)as tow mediators of the relationship between electronic word of mouth (EWOM) and consumers’ willingness to pay. Using a sample of 361 customers in the context of hotels, we find support for our hypothesized model. We assessed reliabilities of the individual measurement scales using Cronbach's (1951) coefficient α, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Hierarchical regression and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient in SPSS 22.0. All final factor loadings, reliability calculations. Hence, we tested all hypothesized effects by constructing bias-corrected confidence intervals from 10,000 bootstrapped samples (Tepper, Moss, & Duffy, 2011). The results of the positive relationship between EWOM and consumers’ willingness to pay was full mediated by CBI. Second the results of the positive relationship between EWOM and consumers’ willingness to pay was full mediated by CBBE. Third EWOM is positive relationship with consumers’ willingness to pay, CBI and CBBE. Fourth examine multiple mediation results indicate that the CBI-based mechanism is significantly stronger than the CBBE-based mechanism for building consumers’ willingness to pay from EWOM initiatives. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings. We also offer several promising directions for future research.