University of Twente Student Theses
An ancient concept in modern setting: electronic word of mouth about employers: two studies providing insight in motivations of writing and reading online reviews about employers
Jentink, Inge (2012) An ancient concept in modern setting: electronic word of mouth about employers: two studies providing insight in motivations of writing and reading online reviews about employers.
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| Abstract: | The internet enables consumers to share their opinions and experiences about products and services through opinion platforms. Whereas the concept of a review website was not a ‘general’ thing at all 5 years ago, in the year 2012 we cannot exclude these websites anymore. Consumers rely increasingly on review sites to obtain more realistic information and engage in electronic Word of Mouth; an ancient concept in modern setting. A relatively new subject in this area are reviews about employers. Reviews that give inside information about jobs and companies and give an image of how it really is to work at a certain organization. But do people feel the need to know this inside information about employers? And, more important, what motivates them to write a review about their (former) employer? By two online studies, a questionnaire and an experiment, this research founded that most people do feel the need to read reviews about employers, but do not have the intention to write them out of own experi-ences. Respondents said they were afraid it was not really anonymous and were scared their reviews influenced their actual or potential job in the future. Furthermore, ‘concern for others’, ‘anonymity’ and ‘self enhancement’ played a significant role as predictors for writing a review. People more self en-hanced all had a higher intention to write a review about an employer. Further theoretical and mana-gerial implications are discussed. Keywords: eWOM, Review Websites, Motivations, Anonymity, Concern for Others, Self Enhancement |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies |
| Programme: | Communication Studies MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/61655 |
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