Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to further explore customer’s motivation to write online reviews by understanding what factors motivate customers to write positive and negative online reviews.

Problem: Because of the shift in technology and the introduction of the Internet the way we communicate, search for information and the way we purchase products have significantly changed. This has opened up for a new marketing channel within e-Commerce, Electronic Word-Of-Mouth (eWOM) and more specifically the sub category Online Reviews. With regards to the novelty of this field of research, previous literature has primarily emphasized the effects of online reviews but not what motivational factors that result in positive and negative reviews. This is where the gap in the literature is found and the problem this thesis strives to understand.

Method: An exploratory strategy and deductive research approach has been applied in the attempt to fill this literature gap. Ten motivational factors for contributing with eWOM were identified in the previous literature, they were tested and challenged through a quantitative approach. Further, the quantitative approach used was based on an online survey targeted Swedish online consumers between the age of 18-34 years. The collected data was analyzed in SPSS with a primary focus on descriptive statistics and the exploratory approach allowed for further insights through a factor analysis.

Findings and Conclusion: The analyzed empirical findings presented that there is a small but not significant difference between the motivational factors behind why people write positive or negative online reviews. However, the findings did present which motivational factors that Swedish online consumers between 18-34 years old found to be the most important for writing both positive and negative online reviews. The findings of this paper further strengthens the previous literature arguing for the importance and influence online reviews have on customers’ purchase intentions in an online setting. With the findings in mind, the authors recommend a qualitative further study within this field of research that could bring new insights and add more depth to the literature.