Citation
The Effects of Arousal on Word-of-Mouth Communication

Material Information

Title:
The Effects of Arousal on Word-of-Mouth Communication
Series Title:
18th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium
Creator:
Crooke, Emily
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Center for Undergraduate Research
Business, Marketing, Political Science, etc.
Genre:
Conference papers and proceedings
poster ( aat )

Notes

Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of arousal on individuals’ intention to share information through word-of-mouth (WOM). Prior research indicates that arousal tends to cause people to increase their WOM communications. This effect has been demonstrated for intrinsic arousal (arousal due to the shared communication, Berger and Milkman 2012) and extrinsic arousal (arousal due to communication-irrelevant influences, Berger 2011). However, the extant research subsumed WOM and recommendation under a single dimension, and also did not consider the valence of the information being shared. In this research, we examine whether extrinsic arousal increases WOM communication equally for positive and negative messages, and further analyze potential differences between simple WOM and recommendation. We completed one experiment which was conducted using mTurk participants, and are in the process of completing a second, field experiment. The preliminary results suggest that the effect of arousal on WOM does not depend on the valence of the information, and that WOM (i.e. willingness to share information) and recommendation (i.e. willingness to recommend) respond differently to arousal. ( en )
General Note:
Research Authors: Emily Crooke, Alan Cooke, Sang Kyu Park - University of Florida
General Note:
University Scholars Program
General Note:
Faculty Mentor: Alan Cooke - Marketing, University of Florida

Record Information

Source Institution:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
Copyright Emily Crooke. Permission granted to University of Florida to digitize and display this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.

Downloads

This item is only available as the following downloads:


Full Text

PAGE 1

!"#$%&&#'()$*&$+,*-)./$*0$ 1*,2 3 *& 3 4*-("$5*66-07'.(7*0 !"#$%&'())*+,&-./0& 1%2 3.(*,&4(5&6$./&'))*+ 4+7.(8"+/8& )9& :.(*+8#/0,& ;/#<+(=#8%&)9&>$)(#?.,&@.#/+=<#$$+,&>A !"#$%&%'%() *%+,'-./%+. 0"1"2"+,". 3+#2%&-,#/%+ 0".-'#. 4)5%#$"./.6 7-#-2"6 8/2",#/%+. The current study extends the literature on Word of Mouth, and factors affecting the willingness to share information. Our research further aims to fine tune the differences between simple word of mouth and recommendation activities. Previous research showed that arousal tends to cause people to increase their WOM communications both for arousal due to the shared communication (Berger and Milkman 2012) and arousal due to extrinsic influences (Berger 2011). Ho wever, previous research fails to sufficiently explain how arousal impacts WOM and under what circumstances. We study the effect of extrinsic arousal on willingness to share information in a controlled manner, and analyze the relationship between arousal a nd emotional valence which tended to be confounded in the previous literature. We propose that the sharing of positive and negative WOM depends interactively on extrinsic arousal and on the communicator's social distance from the receiver. The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of arousal on individuals' intention to share information through word of mouth (WOM). Prior research indicates that arousal tends to cause people to increase their WOM communications bo th for arousal due to the shared communication (Berger and Milkman 2012) and arousal due to extrinsic influences (Berger 2011). However, this research fails to consider the valence of the communication. In this research, we examine whether extrinsic arousa l increases WOM communication equally for positive and negative messages. We propose an asymmetry in the effects of extrinsic arousal on WOM of different valence. In particular, we propose that the sharing of positive and negative WOM depends interactively on extrinsic arousal and on the communicator's social distance from the receiver. We further aim to document the systematic differences between plain Word of Mouth communication and product/brand recommendation, which the extant literature have largely tr eated as equivalent. We will test our hypotheses using a combination of lab/online experiments and a field study. Our methods will typically involve three phases: In the first phase, we will tell participants that we are interested in studyi ng their social interactions, and ask them to think about a person who is either a close friend or an acquaintance. In the second phase, w e will then ask participants to rate the social closeness between them and this other individual. I n the third phase, we will ask them a series of questions relating to their social distance (e.g., length of relationship, frequency of interaction) and relationship e.g., attitude towards this person). The second field study will test our hypotheses by asking participants of an event administered by co investigator Emily. The content of the event is related to doing push up challenge, and will consist of fraternity members at UF. Note that this is an event that was already scheduled irrelevant to the research, and it was on ly very recently (during the second week of January) that the idea of running the research at this event was contrived because of busy times at GHFC. This push up event is totally independent from our research. Careful attention will be paid to avoid parti cipants from feeling any sort of obligation or coerciveness to participate. All participants will be given out a paper card that has a 1) informed consent and 2) shortened link to the survey that can be accessed at their will on their smartphones. The key predictions for this study is that arousal leads to higher willingness to share, potentially regardless of valence. In addition, we plan to see if there is any interactive effect regarding the valence of reviews. As for the manipulation check, this measure came both before after the arousal manipulation. We used arousal measure from Jonah Berger's study (we could do th e citation like above). It seems that after participants viewed the video, the arousal manipulation was good (M high =4.91 vs. M low =3.09, p<.05), and it persisted until the end of the survey (M high =4.06 vs. M low =3.35, p<.05) ~ and this did not interact with the valence of the target to be shared Counter to our prediction, a 2x2 ANOVA on willingness to share information did not reveal a significant interaction effect (F(1,150)=1.711, p>.10) and there was no main effect of arousal (F(1,150)=1.883, p>.10) nor valence of information (F(1,150=0.351, p>.10). The absence of main effects demonstrate that arousal did not influence willingness to share. On the other hand, a 2x2 ANOVA on willingness to recommend revealed a marginal main effect of arousal (F(1,150)=3.11 2, p=.08) and a main effect of valence (F(1,150)=463.995, p<.001). The two way interaction term was not significant (F(1,150)=1.437, p>.10). The two main effects suggest that arousal manipulation increased participants' willingness to recommend (M high =3.3 55 vs. M low =3.141), and that positive information was more likely to be recommended (M positive =5.051 vs. M negative =1.347). Taken together, the differing impact of arousal and valence manipulation on willingness to recommend and willingness to share provide a hint that there may be a systematic difference underlying the two intentions that were often subsumed as the same WOM in the previous literature. At a glance, it may look like that the results regarding willingness to share information is not aligned wi th the previous literature (Berger and Milkman 2012 ) However, one reason why we may not have found the effect of arousal here is because our valence manipulation was too extreme. In the subsequent studies, we aim to utilize less extreme manipulations of v alence, or implement a neutral valence condition as a control group. At a glance, it may look like that the results regarding willingness to share information is not aligned with the previous literature (Berger and Milkman 2012). However, one reason why we may not have found the effect of arousal here is because our valence manipulation was too extreme. In the subsequent studies, we aim to utilize less extreme manipulations of valence, or implement a neutral valence condition as a control group. We were frustrated in our efforts to perform a field experiment. There were many barriers to our communication with GHFC and we were unable to arrange data collection at their site. Management seems to be undergoing a lot of changes, and the timing of our experiment did not align well with their plans. As the school year approached us, communication slowed due to Joe Cirulli's frequent international travels and the rebranding campaign for the GHFC Women's Center. We then tried to replace this experiment wit h another using a push up contest held at organizations here on campus but failed to achieve a reasonable response rate. Our goal is to continue the study until we are able to receive a sufficient amount of responses in order to truly evaluate the results. Although we have encountered problems with both fields of studies, we are trying to get either one of them to work. We also intend to perform additional studies using the behavioral lab and/or mTurk samples. Jonah Ber ger, Katherine L. Milkman ( 2012 ) What Makes Online Content Viral?. Journal of Marketing Research: April 2012, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 192 205.