An empirical study on tendencies towards word-of-mouth communication of mobile phone users

Abstract

Word of Mouth (WOM) Communication has become one of the most important channels to share information about products and services. Significant research has been done by various scholars to evaluate the influence of Word of Mouth communication and its impact on purchase decisions. The role played by opinion leaders in triggering such WOM communication has also been well researched. With today s rapid technological advancements, it becomes imperative to analyze the impact of Technical Savviness and its role in the creation and consumption of Word-of-Mouth. Through this study, we have analyzed the inter-linkages between WOM Creation, WOM Consumption and Opinion Leadership based on existing literature. We have introduced a new dimension Technical Savviness among the prevailing inter-linkages and have evaluated its influence on WOM Creation and Consumption. Using a survey administered on a convenience sample of mobile phone users, we have been able to draw some insights on the correlations between Technical Savviness characteristic, Opinion leadership traits specific to mobile phones, WOM Creation and WOM Consumption. The results show that there is a correlation between opinion leaders who spread WOM through social media and tech savviness. Among the non-opinion leaders, it is significant to note that the level of tech savviness depends upon the consumption of information from friends, co-workers or colleagues. Non-opinion leaders also show a correlation between tech savviness and tendency towards creation of codified buzz. The analysis also reveals that non-opinion leaders are less likely to be opinion seeking. It also shows that tech savviness is correlated with both information consumption and information creation from both friends and social media.