Research Background

Academic research and everyday experience agree that we find product information from other consumers to be particularly influential in our buying decisions.  Until the Internet, our word-of-mouth information was limited to conversations with family members and friends.  If no one we knew had experience with a particular product, we were out of luck.

Now, the Internet makes it possible to hear about the buying experiences of people we have never met.  This promises to change the way we shop.  It also offers opportunities for consumer researchers like us to better understand how word-of-mouth information exerts its powerful effects.