Journal of Consumer Psychology· 2014Q1· Review
Word of mouth and interpersonal communication: A review and directions for future research
- 1,434citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2014year
Short summary
Word of mouth is driven by five self-serving psychological functions, including impression management, emotion regulation, information acquisition, social bonding, and persuasion, often operating unconsciously.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Word of mouth is driven by five distinct, self-serving psychological functions.
- These functions include impression management, emotion regulation, information acquisition, social bonding, and persuasion.
- The motivations behind word of mouth often operate unconsciously.
- Contextual factors like audience and communication channel can influence which functions are prioritized.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract People often share opinions and information with their social ties, and word of mouth has an important impact on consumer behavior. But what drives interpersonal communication and why do people talk about certain things rather than others? This article argues that word of mouth is goal driven and serves five key functions (i.e., impression management, emotion regulation, information acquisition, social bonding, and persuasion). Importantly, I suggest these motivations are predominantly self‐ (rather than other) serving and drive what people talk about even without their awareness. Further, these drivers make predictions about the types of news and information people are most likely to discuss. This article reviews the five proposed functions and well as how contextual factors (i.e., audience and communication channel) may moderate which functions play a larger role. Taken together, the paper provides insight into the psychological factors that shape word of mouth and outlines additional questions that deserve further study.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2014 · DOI ↗
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Field: Literature and Literary Theory
Literature and Literary TheoryArts and Humanities