Consumers’ Behaviours on Online Opinion Platforms: Motivations and Levers to Increase Participation

Abstract

With the spread of Web 2.0, a new type of consumer arises: the consumer 2.0, also qualified as “consum’actor”. Consumers are more informed, engaged, and increasingly rely on the eWOM (electronic Word-Of-Mouth) spread by their peers on social media when making a purchase decision. The purpose of the thesis is to analyse the participation of consumers on online opinion platforms in the context of Web 2.0, and to find levers to increase the participation, which can then be used by marketers. Indeed, although the number of internet users reading online reviews is dramatically increasing since the emergence of web 2.0, the number of users writing reviews, and so participating, remains relatively low. Yet, both companies and users would benefit from stronger participation: more users writing and not only reading reviews . The thesis finds out in the literature the reasons why users read or-and write reviews. A list of potential levers to increase participation was created and tested through a survey done in June 2016 on 232 Internet users writing and/or reading reviews. The results of a factor analysis identify two underlying constructs (involvement and incentive). The results of the PLS (Partial Least Squares) analysis show that the “involvement” motivation contributes positively to a more active participation, whereas the “incentive” motivation contributes negatively. Interpretations and leverage recommendations for marketers are provided based on the study’s results.